Some of our Club and Team members gave us the low-down about their experiences climbing with the EVO crew and what keeps them going:

For any climber, getting new climbing shoes is a big deal, but there’s always a special level of excitement when it’s your very first pair.

Like our last featured member, Grant, Ron has been around EVO since its inception – he donated some of the holds that are still on the walls upstairs. 

What do you get when you have a bunch of bored climbers, some extra webbing, and a couple of strong trees? If it’s the 1980s, those climbers are Adam Grosowsky and Jeff Ellington, and they’re looking for something to do in Yosemite Valley, the answer is slacklining.

Yesterday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved climbing as an event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with the goal of attracting a younger audience.

Blogger and parent Rory Moulton’s article “Why Climbing is the Perfect Activity for Your Kids,” highlights various benefits of climbing as a sport and lifestyle for your tiny humans.  Here are his main points:

Some of the strongest climbers in the world threw down Saturday night in the final round of the third IFSC Lead Climbing World Cup competition of the year in Briançon, France.

Grant is all about comps, crimps, and climbing. He’s been with Team EVO for about three and a half years (practically since its inception) and is a real fixture around EVO Concord – even the day after a national comp! He graciously took some time to chat the day after returning from a top-20 finish at this past weekend’s Youth Sport National Championships in Georgia:

A frequently asked question among humans who are unfamiliar (or new) to climbing, might be: “What’s the difference between “free climbing” and “free soloing?”

Have you ever considered trying rock climbing, but had a doubting little voice in your head shut you down and keep you on the sidelines? 

On July 7, just days before the 2016 Youth National Sport and Speed Climbing Competition, Ashima Shiraishi, 15, took a 45-foot ground fall at Stone Summit Climbing Gym in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Oh my gosh…this is amazing.  And we’re not just talking about the purple spandex.  It’s a good thing David Letterman kept his day (night) job.

Excitement is brewing at EVO Concord.  This spring, under the guidance of their Head Coach Sydney and Assistant Coach Tim, all five Team EVO members (Skylar and Kira Bergeron, Nate Milliken, Matt Schwartz and Grant Dreffer) qualified for USA Climbing’s Sport and Speed Divisional Championships.

Have you ever wondered why we don’t belay off the same points we tie into when we climb? It has to do with the physics of a piece of gear you might not expect: your locking carabiner.

Man….Poor Puccio.  Just months after recovering from major knee surgery (click here for more info) she’s gone and obtained “a very bad herniated disc in between C5 and C6 vertebras.”  The disc is pushing on Puccio’s spinal cord, and she has surgery this Sunday, June 19, 2016.  Here’s a link to her Facebook page, or you can read the whole post here:

We just stumbled across these training series on bouldering by Mr. Eric Karlsson via YouTube; he’s not a member of EVO, nor have we ever met him, but he certainly has some good technique tips. 

Last Saturday EVO Rock + Fitness Concord held the 2016 Sport & Speed Youth Regionals Comp.  We asked routesetter Sydney McNair (one of four setters for the event and head setter for Concord) about the stoke that surrounded the process, but first, here are the EVO Team qualifiers moving on to Youth Divisional Championships:

The first annual EVO Rock + Fitness Summit will be taking place this week, May 17-May 21, 2016 at the Climbing Wall Association (CWA) Conference.  General Managers, Partners, and Operations Managers of all four gyms will be meeting to collaborate with one another on how to make EVO Rock + Fitness the best it can be as a unified climbing community.

Mark your calendars: We will be closed on Memorial Day!

When I first started climbing in 2006, there were two things that got me hooked on climbing: spending time with good friends and the amazing granite of New Hampshire. Starting by climbing outdoors meant I had a lot to learn.