CityRock hosts state high school finals, American Bouldering Series Championships this weekend

From Mike Moran, Colorado Springs Sports Corp
If you enjoy watching expert climbers perform their unique physical poetry, then City Rock and the Colorado Springs Auditorium are the places to be this weekend.

The Colorado High School Climbing League State Finals are set for Friday and Saturday at City Rock and USA Climbing’s ABS (American Bouldering Series) Citizen’s National Championships go on Sunday at the Colorado Springs Auditorium.

The high school varsity final slated for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday is an invitation-only event with invitations issued by region. Junior varsity competitors will compete from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday.
This is the fourth annual competition for the Colorado High School Climbing League whose mission is to promote high school climbing around the state.

In addition to schools from Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock and Denver, teams will be traveling from Grand Junction, Ouray, Montrose, Ft. Collins and Carbondale to participate in the event.

To be invited to the State Finals, teams are selected by their respective regions.  The top individuals in each region are also invited to participate. Competitors will have three hours to climb as many roped climbs and boulder problems (lower climbs with no ropes) as they can.
Their top five scores will be added together to get a final score.  Team scores are composed of the top three individual scores.

The competition is free to watch and spectators are encouraged to attend.

The ABS Citizen’s National Championships are open to any competitors that would like to enter.  The entry fee of $42.50 and includes a commemorative competition T-shirt and a ticket to the Open Semifinals and Finals that will be taking place at the City Auditorium in Colorado Springs on February 24 and 25.

Registration is on-line at www.absnationals.org.  Same-day registration will also be available but will not include a t-shirt or tickets to the ABS 13 Open National Championships. There will be two sessions for the competition, with each session limited to 100 competitors.  The first session, for youth 15 and under, will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with check-in one hour before. The adult session will be for those 16 and over and will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. with registration one hour before.

2012 Invitees Colorado High School Climbing League State Varsity Finals

Female varsity teams: Fountain Valley School, Castle View

Female varsity individuals: Michele Espenlaub, Pine Creek; Shelby Johnson, Air Academy; Alison Bemis, Alyssa Mavor, Sarah Beth Koch, Fountain Valley School; Andrea Dekowzan, Miranda Erickson, Castle View.

Male varsity teams: Fountain Valley School, Castle View High School

Male varsity individuals:  Dominic Carrese, Matt Gilbert , Isaac Radner, Owen Sheperd, Fountain Valley School; Graham Espenlaub, Pine Creek; Ethan Lockett, Caleb Lieser , Liberty; Josh Kumpf, Weston Iannone, Castle View; Karl Maes, Rampart; Wyatt Geibig, Cheyenne Mountain.

CityRock (www.climbcityrock.com) is an indoor climbing gym that is open to the public, with lessons, parties, youth programs, and competitions. CityRock also offers outdoor climbing classes and trips.