Heads UP...REVIEW from Crag X

Kaleb Thomas from Crag X just dropped a review on Red Point holds, link below:

NEW REVIEW
We reviewed some Red Point Holds a while back; Kaleb Thomas, setter extraordinaire, drops his view on some holds he received for a local comp: here

NEW COMPANY
Coming in from Slovenija meet Chao Climbing:

And Goliath Climbing Holds from Japan!!

NOODLES ANKLE UPDATE
Read about Noodles pain and suffering here, it's an interesting read, he doesn't go fully into what he's doing for rehab but it's an English look at hurting yourself and kind of laughing about it... or something

NEW INTERVIEW

We have a little chat with Sean Hollick from the Hollick foundation and the owner of PUR Climbing Holds.. you can find it: here

Full post here!

Review > Red Point Climbing Holds > Various

 Kaleb Thomas; Head Routesetter at Crag X recently collaborated with Noodles and B.A Gear on a setters bag that we've been working on.... they recently hosted a competition and as he's part of the CHR family he wrote a review on some of the Red Point Holds that he received for that comp. It's a little different format than you're used to but he goes through a bunch of holds in quick succession, enjoy:

So Recently at Crag X (The gym in which I set) we held a big bouldering competition, and one of our sponsors for the comp was Red Point Climbing Holds out of Kelowna. We used this opportunity to pick up a few holds and see what these guys are all about. We bought several sets of holds, which I will individually touch on, but first, lets cover all the “non-hold related stuff”

Full post here!

Review > Beastmaker 1000 & 2000

Soo with Noodles having a douched ankle and with a slight depression that's been and gone from not climbing; we're back on the go and we're back with a doozy of a review. Not with just a single review but a double header that will be updated as we go, this is a mix of Gui and Noodles, Noodles is being the "normal" climber and Gui being the "Strong" climber in this review, confused... you should be... basically Gui's comments are like a full on review of the 2000 boards, the main body of the text is about both and Noodles comments are about the 1000!

So lets begin and go from there ok?

There was a thought running around the CHR camp for many years that the Moon board was the hardest thing on the planet, and it was and in some cases still is but there are new boards hitting the market all of the time that could take the crown. Both are from the same company that's based in the UK; and that company is called Beastmaker; yes Beastmaker. The Maker Of Beasts, it seems like a big claim just from the name doesn't it? Just a little... :)

If you're looking to "train" then there's the 1000, if you want to "TRAIN" then there's the 2000... do you know what we mean? NO!! HA, read on... both of these boards are going to get you strong and they're going to test you in ways you didn't know existed; you will be frustrated, you will cry a little but you will get stronger that's for sure... oops it seems we started the review before the review really started.... let's start again:


As we amble along this path that hopefully is an informative and amusing review lets look at what we're talking about:

Beastmaker 1000:

Beastmaker 2000:

Full post here!

Win a Rock Town Guide Book

Right, want to win some stuff?? All you have to do is name the routes that are in the below images!! What you'll win is either a copy of this:

A copy of the Rock Town guide book, of which there are 7 to win, or you could win this:

A CHR baseball hat months before they go on sale, there are 7 of these as well :)
So 14 prizes for 14 winners.... just name the routes, it's that easy!!

Here are the routes:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

You need to email in your answers (top left of the page is a link to our email) with your answers, have the subject line read "I WANT A GUIDE BOOK OR A HAT" or you'll be disqualified, this comp is open to Canada and the US only (sorry (or unless enough people bitch and we extend it to the rest of the World)) and in the case of a tie then you need to answer this question "What the name of the CHR cat?"

It's pretty simple, have fun and safe climbing!!
Full post here!

The Seeming Death Of An Ankle

 NOTE: This is about Noodles and his ankle and there are some horrible images of sprained ankles, if you don't like the sight of this stuff or self pity turn a way now!

So I guess this story starts with me and what happened prior to my ankle getting blown out... I have a trainer and he's part of the CHR family and I'd spent about 4 months training my ass off for this years Tour De Bloc. That's me on the left there are the first comp of the year at Joe Rockheads in Toronto cranking down to a 5th place finish in my field. I'd had a good comp and training was fitting into my daily life and around the comps so I was happy.


Then what happened was something of a freak accident :( During a rest period I was at the gym and I was showing someone how I did a move and I fluffed it, my hand slipped and I fell... about 4ft, yup 4 bloody feet. I landed a little lopsided (the mats are angled) and as soon as I hit I knew my ankle was done. Now, I've never had an ankle problem but when you do something like this you just know. I crawled off of the mat with Bobby laughing at me as he thought I was just messing around. This is the image about 10 minutes after I did it... looks a little broken; a few beers later I went to hospital.

Yes man logic, I iced it when I got home and I'm pretty damn good with pain but even after a while it started to get to me. If the beer isn't going to help then I'll go see a professional :)






Full post here!

Review > Brewers Ledge > Boudlerboard

Some months ago, well when we say months we mean a year ago a young fellow called Garnet from Brewers Ledge was in Montreal from Boston filming for a Quebec TV segment with one of their Boulder Boards; since his was in town and we were up for a review he dropped past and he let us borrow the board for review.

Now some of you know Brewers Ledge, they’re the people that make the Treadwalls, you know the free standing walls that rotate when you climb on them they rotate when you climb on them; well they make a freestanding non-rotating wall called the Boulderboard, here’s what their site says about it:

• Compact footprint
• 175 Symmetrically placed t-nuts for tons of route setting fun
• Sleek and attractive design with commercial grade silver paint
• Collapsible frame constructed from welded steel
• Packs down small allowing for no-hassle transport (when the rent is due)
• 40 degree angle for all around strength, power, and endurance training 

If those details don’t ring any bells let’s look at this board and get to reviewing:

Full post here!

Interview > Sean Hollick > PUR Holds

Name and job:
Sean Hollick / Optimist

You own PUR Climbing Holds, whats the name mean?

PUR is the scientific abbreviation for Polyurethane. This also ties into my philosophy of life and climbing and hold making. Pure is very compelling for me and climbing can be the purest state of focus its simplistic and pure and just really moved me. So not only does it stand for the PUR chemical it stand for the Purity of the sport of climbing.

Full post here!

Review > X-Cult > Volumes

So X Cult, they’re a new company to us but anyone European has probably heard of them or has climbed upon their products. When they talked to us about a review we jumped at the chance… we always want to see more holds from around the World and Bulgaria is known to be the home of hold production (for many companies) that reside in the EU

The story begins with a box arriving, a big ass box that was at the post office. Noodles goes to get it and the ladies there make him go to the backroom and get it because they weren’t going to try to pick it up; the room smelt strangely of cheese (they apologized about this) and we saw the box it was massive

It was also pouring rain… He pays for the import fees and he grabs the box, it’s not super heavy but it’s huge and covered in plastic, wet plastic in the rain isn’t fun but despite a few drops the box and it’s toys got back to the house without too much swearing.

The box was huge and has given us months of work, months of reviews and months of fun for you the readers. We’ll only be talking about the four volumes that we received and what we did with them. You know us by now, if someone sends us something crazy then we’re going to do something crazy… in this case we decided to give Guillaume a little something to play with, something that would test him but with enough go to give the other strong climbers a little fun to play on.

What are we talking about? We’re talking about these bad boys:

#19

#23

#5

#26

Full post here!

Top Ten Home Training Aids

      Normally we publish a top ten of climbing holds, we're in the middle of that and some reviews right now so we asked someone who is a professional trainer for climbers what his top ten home training aids... there are links to each product here so you can go and find them!!

      Although the Moonboard and Beastmaker got top billing there is something else that`s kind of in a class of it`s own... and it`s well worth a look (its also the subject of an upcoming review)... the Boulderboard from Brewers Ledge. Why is it in a class of it`s own? Because it's more expensive than the other items that are featured here; but if you have the space and you want to train then it's well worth it. We have one and it's setup purely as a system board, it's covered in Atomik Climbing's System Holds and there are a pair of Bombs (number four on this list) hanging from it... it's just flat out awesome because you can come home and get your training on easily!!

1. Moonboard or Beastmaker Hangboard: why ? Takes no space and it’s going to make you a beast, name says it! For the US and Canadian customers it's good to know that Revolution Climbing stock the boards, everyone else in Europe them click: here.  It's also good to know that there is a nice iPhone app for the Beastmaker board
2. Gym ring : for that awesome core that you`re going to get. Takes no space, it’s like climbing on the ground. You have to generate force from toes to fingers. Check out the Friction Climbing rings here
3. Blank Slate: Jf you don’t have a owner like mine, who doesn’t care about holes in his walls, then you need this. As long as your door frame is strong you`re going to be fine! The only down size, no jumping to catch holds. Our review of it is: here
4. Atomik Bombs: do you want brutal pinch power or not ? Takes no space and are super practical for training all you need to do is hang them up. Our review is: here
5. Japanese Thai ball: awesome for warming up, cooling down and injury prevention. They reinforce your fingers from the tip to the wrist
6. A small pad, like the Organic Starting Pad: if you do fall it will catch your carcass. Or you can do a good deed to the planet and reuse and old pad.
7. Swiss ball: for cross training, balance is the name of the game.
8. Weight Vest: if you want to improve you have to increase the intensity. You don’t need one that can take 75 pounds, but a 10 to 40 adjustable one will do the trick.
9. Hand Weights: for cross training and injury prevention
10. The book, Mental Training for Peak Performance from Steven Ungerleider, you have to do something while you rest, so make it count !

 So there you go for a home trainer that's short on time then here's your top ten of things you need to get strong. We'd like to thank Guillaume Raymond for compiling the list for us! He's a member of the PCI and is sponsored by: Uncarved Block, Organic Climbing, Climbing Hold Review, Climb It. He's also a professional trainer and you can find him at Shakti Rock Gym in Montreal

1.  

Full post here!

Review > Redpoint Holds > Coefficient / Currency Pinches and Conductors

Originally we were going to run three reviews for these holds, do them one at a time but as we got around to setting we decided to get them all done at the same time, we only filmed one route of myself and Chris climbing and we were going to film some more on different problems but you'll see why we had to stop that for a little while :)

Redpoint is a new company that started this year in Canada and it's always good to see new companies especially Canadian ones come into the market and begin the journey of making climbing holds, and Redpoint although new are doing it the hard way, they actually mix and pour their holds unlike some other people that have joined into the fray this year... so a new Canadian company and three sets of holds... lets roll!!

So as there are three sets we'll talk about them specifically and then about the route that was set... but first... why didn't we film some more?


Full post here!

Review > Synrock > Mixed Bag

So, when we talked to Jim about doing this review and we agreed for him to send us some of his Synrock holds we were all up for it! We've wanted to see some of these holds since we started the site... and now we have some; Jim also specified that for us to do this review that we'd have to mention that these are some of the cheapest holds on the planet... we don't really bow to that kind of stuff but we think that in the course of this review we think his point will become clear.

This review is a different one... despite the holds we received we're going to talk more about what you the consumer can buy for your home wall, of course we'll talk about what we are reviewing but lets really talk and look at these holds because it's pretty damn interesting...

First lets look at the holds; well we'll look at what's currently on sale:

A: 132 holds: $79

B: 42 holds: $69

D: 46 holds: $79

C: 50 holds: $41

Full post here!

Review > Atomik > Bombs

Ahahaha; Kenny the owner of Atomik has just made our life easier!! This week we're looking at the Atomik Bombs, something that we've had for a while and we've been using as part of our training program... a bomb! Actually... these:

Full post here!

Review > \Figure Four > Line Two

If you know anything about us and new companies you know that we don't just review one line from a company, we generally look at one or two to see if their shaping and pouring is consistent. So here's a second set from Figure Four; they're called Lines Two, lets take a look:

Full post here!

Review > EP Volumes > Various

So we seem to be in volume mode right now, first HRT and now these guys from EP. Now the HRT volumes were fun, but you're going to run out of options pretty quickly with them, there were plus' and minus' to them so we figured as we had them just kicking around that we'd look at some of the stuff that Sander from EP sent us... so we present to you....

EP 2XL Porta Ledge

EP 2XL Phat Lip

EP 4XL Earlobe

Full post here!

Review > HRT Volumes

HRT are probably one of the bigger company's on the planet right now, there are lots of big guys but maybe these guys are the biggest... they have their awesome compozit shapes that are so light it's not even funny and then they have their polyurethane which even though it's bomb proof is heavy as all hell. Where the compozit is a routesetters dream the urethane is a heavy nightmare!.... and then, well and then we were sent three of their screw on volumes:

Full post here!

The Trials and Tribulations of Building a Wall

If you want a wall built then you call in the mfking A Team, or in our case Seb J, Dead Seb, Eve and Noodles. In case you’re wondering this is my excuse for being late with the review for the HRT volumes!!

Full post here!

Interview / Review > Brayackmedia > Rocktown guide

Do you read guide books before you go? Or after you've been to someplace? We do, and after spending a couple of winters at HP40 we were looking at trying somewhere new this Christmas... Rocktown was pretty high on the list and thankfully Bravackmedia have just published a new guide to the area. Which is great timing for us and GREAT timing for you if you're looking for somewhere new to climb this Winter.

Now we've interviewed / reviewed a guide on Stone Fort (here) and that is a good guide to the area; the new guide to Rocktown is well written, succinct and has a touch of humor to it... and we're not just talking about the names of the area names (Vagina Area, Idiot roof or Police brutality) or even some of the route names (Touchin' Cotton, Mr. Stiffy or Butt Crack) but we're talking about the proposed 27 star system that they tried and failed. Sean Kearney and Zak Roper have done a good job of writing a guide that gives you the facts on all the good lines and has a great touch of humor added into the mix. So much so that it's a fun read from start to finish and on reading it makes you want to go there (for me again) and to wrap up some problems.

Full post here!