Sacramento State University: Regional Championships

The Northern California CCS Regional Championships took place for the second consecutive year at Sacramento State University's student recreation center, aka "The Well". The facilities are impressive, and boast taller climbing walls than any other school gym in the California State University system. In addition to the tall roped climbs is an impressive set of bouldering surfaces, including a free-standing boulder in the middle of the gym. The wall is highly textured with natural features, which makes for lots of hidden holds and hidden beta. With hidden beta came some hidden resentment from some of the climbers who thought that the competition was not run as well as it could have been.

What the climbers who thought the comp was a lacking did not know, was that this was the first event that the new rock wall coordinator at the Well was responsible for hosting. Having never been to a CCS competition before, there were understandably some differences in the way things were run compared to last year's competition. However, what was important was that the organizers of this event hosted a fair comp, and worked their asses off to make sure things were organized and according to plan.

As far as the climbing goes, the teams had quite a fun time climbing together. Special shout out goes to Cal Berkeley for bringing the biggest and most spirited team to this event, and for climbing very well all around. Humboldt State University was present to win 1st as a team for the series overall, while Alex Borst and Arielle Rensink took 1st place overall in the series for Men's and Women's, respectively. Thank you to everyone who competed in, attended, organized, or otherwise helped support this 2012 CCS season!

Sanctuary Rock Gym Community Comp

Sanctuary Rock Gym could probably tell a million-and-one secrets. It's old-school, home town feel attracts  climbers of all generations to enjoy its quality climbing terrain. The facilities are small in volume, but the space is very well used, with bouldering islands and 40' overhung sport lines to bout. Being that the gym is also situated in the beautiful coastal city of Monterey, it served as the perfect venue for the fourth stop and first ever sport climbing competition in the Northern California Collegiate Climbing Series.

The route setting crew for the comp was small, but they produced quality work that ranged in difficulty from about 5.7 to about 5.13. There were enough routes so that no matter what difficulty you were climbing, by the end of the day you were pumped. The relaxed attitude of the local community shined during awards, when the prizes were raffled off rather than given to the winners. It was Humboldt State University that won the collegiate competition, perhaps partially due to the fact that they were the only team to attend... That makes the second comp in a row that HSU has swept podium in Men's and Women's. During the awards ceremony, pizza and good micro-brews helped keep everyone's spirits high, and they stayed high well into the evening when the after party took place at a local alehouse. 

All in all, it was a positive experience to switch disciplines from the usual bouldering competitions, and clip some draws. The price tag for admission to the comp was higher than most, and was probably responsible for the lack of collegiate attendance. However, the experience was worth it in the author's opinion. For any climber looking for a good gym experience, be sure to get in a session at Sanctuary Rock next time you pass through Monterey!