NY Gym Opens Amid Controversy
The Cliffs at LIC, a massive, long awaited and controversial new climbing gym is opening October 5 in Long Island, New York. Massive, yes, at 30,000 square feet it is one of the largest climbing gyms in the country. Long awaited, yes, the project which started construction at the first of the year was slated to open in May, but has been sidelined by stop work orders and a police arrest. Controversial, yes, ever since owner Mike Wolfert has been mired in a bribing scandal that has cost him $5000,0000 and may put him in prison for seven years.
Quoted in the Long Island City Post:
The Cliffs will be so large that 500 climbers will be able to scale the walls at the same time.
The center will include a gym that offers full-fitness cardio and free weights, as well as a retail store that sells climbing gear.
Wolfert said the club is currently selling annual memberships for $1045, which come with a monthly guest pass, gym access and climbing classes.
He said he is looking to introduce programs for children – with scholarships for children from low income families.”
The gym is located in a former cell phone accessory warehouse and took $5 million to renovate. According to the New York Daily News, Brooklyn Boulders also looked at the warehouse but passed and is now looking into other locations within Queens.
With 60 and 45 foot walls built by Waltopia, 16 foot bouldering walls and a full retinue of fitness equipment, the Cliffs is a welcome addition to the former industrial neighborhood.
But it has not been an easy path for Wolfert. The Queens Courier reported:
According to the Department of Investigation, Mike Wolfert, owner of a rock climbing facility called The Cliffs, received a Stop Work Order for failing to obtain the correct permit to convert a large warehouse into a 30,000-square-foot climbing arena. An unannounced inspection by the City’s Department of Buildings (DOB) reportedly prompted the order.
Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer said on April 10, he received a “disturbing” and “inappropriate” message from Wolfert allegedly asking for help with the violations. The message allegedly offered to provide assistance promoting Van Bramer’s campaign in return for the favor.
After reading the email several times, Van Bramer believed the only appropriate response was to tell the City Council’s General Counsel, who then notified the Department of Investigation (DOI). The tip led to a four-week undercover investigation of Wolfert.
“I don’t believe there was an option here, I had an obligation to report it,” said Van Bramer. “I’m not a hero. Every elected official, if presented with something like this, should always respond like this.”
According to a criminal complaint issued by the district attorney, on two occasions Wolfert allegedly paid a total of $1,094 to a DOI undercover investigator posing as a DOB inspector offering help getting the Stop Work Order withdrawn.
Wolfert is charged with bribery in the third degree and unlawful continuance. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison for the bribery charge and fines up to $25,000 as well as up to a year in prison for the unlawful continuance.
Wolfert’s next court date is Nov. 22 2013 said a spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Wolfert also runs a second 13,000 sq foot facility in Valhalla, New York.
Study Finds Indoor Climbing Safe
Originally reported at baltimoresun.com
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Injuries are extremely rare at indoor climbing walls, a new study of more than a half-million visits to a gym in Germany suggests.
Over a five-year period, 30 injuries occurred, most minor and none fatal, which translates to a rate of 0.02 injuries per 1,000 climbing hours – lower than the rate seen among surfers, skiers and Nordic walkers.
“Rock climbing, especially indoor climbing is a very safe sport,” Dr. Volker Schoffl, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Klinikum Bamberg in Bamberg, Germany, and lead author of the new study, told Reuters Health.
“It’s a sport that we can have all ages of people perform together, kids and grandpas can go do the sport together.”
Schoffl, who is also the team doctor for the German national climbing team, said he hopes the findings, which are published in the journal Wilderness Environmental Medicine, will help dispel the perception of rock climbing as a sport for “adrenaline junkies.”
The researchers collected data on 515,337 visits from 2007 to 2011 at an indoor climbing wall, in which the climber’s age, sex and time spent climbing were recorded electronically.
About two-thirds of the climbers were male, and ages in the entire group ranged from 8 to 80 years old.
During the five-year observation period, there were 22 injuries among male climbers and eight among female climbers. Most commonly the injuries were due to mistakes made in “belaying,” or the use of various techniques to exert friction on climbing ropes to ensure the climber does not fall, or only falls for a short distance.
More than half of the injuries were among intermediate climbers, about 17 percent were among beginners, 20 percent were among experts and 10 percent among professional climbers.
Half of the injuries were moderately severe, 13 were severe but not life-threatening, and two – which included multiple fractures and abdominal injuries – were life-threatening.
“We are safer than badminton and other indoor sports, we are also much safer than contact sports,” Schoffl said in an interview. However, he added, the risk of a fatality is always present.
“You might think that inherently rock climbing is going to be very dangerous, because after all, all it takes is one little slip and you can fall quite a distance,” Dr. Jonathan Chang, a clinical associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, told Reuters Health. Chang, a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, did not participate in the German study.
“If you pay attention to safety issues, it can be a rather safe type of recreation,” he added. And given liability concerns, Chang added, gyms in the United States with indoor climbing walls are likely to be fairly scrupulous about safety. “You can never say never of course, but as this study is showing when done properly the injury rate is relatively low,” he said.
But outdoor rock climbing is another story as far as safety goes, Chang said. “When you’re dealing with Mother Nature, everything is unpredictable.”
Casper Granado, the climbing wall supervisor at Life Time Fitness in Centennial, Colorado, said the new findings are in line with what he sees on the job.
“The average weekend climber that comes in maybe two, maybe three, days a week, they’re not really the ones that are getting hurt, they might twist an ankle because they landed wrong for bouldering, but that’s very rare,” Granado said. More commonly, he added, advanced climbers may pull tendons because they haven’t warmed up adequately.
Indoor climbing, like swimming, is a great workout for the whole body, according to Granado, and it can also be a powerful confidence booster.
At his gym, Granado said, he and his colleagues check ropes and other climbing gear weekly. And instructors focus on telling students why safety measures are important, rather than just telling them not to do certain things. “We’re making our climbers more knowledgeable, which I think is really good.”
STUDY SOURCE: Wilderness and Environmental Medicine online.
Justen Sjong Keeps The Beat
If you feel your climbing team could use a leg up on the competition then the use of a heart rate monitor might just be the thing. Though used widely in most other sports, HR monitors have not had a traditional place in climber’s training. But in Boulder, Colorado Justen Sjong, co-founder of the training company Team of 2, has been pioneering the use of heart rate monitors as a climbing training tool.
Sjong has been coaching since 1996 when he started a youth team at Cascade Crags in Everett, Washington. Today he is a go-to coach for top climbers trying to push into the next level. Most of his time is spent with adults and pros like North Face Athletes Daniel Woods, Emily Harrington and Matt Segal. Recently he helped top female climber Chelsea Rude take third place finish at SCS Open National Championships.
But youth competitors still seek Sjong out for additional training. “Now when I work with kids my time is spent on their specific needs and empowering them to make positive changes in their climbing. Most of the kids are still on a youth team and I encourage that because my services don’t provide the camaraderie that a youth team provides,” said Sjong.
Sjong along with this Team of 2 trainer Kris Peters are transforming climbers not only into better climbers but into better athletes. “Team of 2 gives athletes access to both a Coach and Trainer to determine the best strategy for them to improve. The Coach’s job is to improve a climber’s technical and mental skills. The Trainer’s job is to improve the strength and maintain balance in the climber’s body. It’s a one-two punch.” says Sjong.
CBJ asked Sjong to break down how he uses a heart rate monitor in his climber training. Here’s what he said:
The Heart of the Matter
If an athlete is climbing above 5.10 they have the opportunity to improve their training with a heart rate monitor. With the monitor the climber can figure out the heart rate above which they are vulnerable to making mistakes and where they lose the ability to maintain control. Knowing this range allows the climber to focus their training in that ‘Red Zone’.
The heart rate monitor is easy to use. The climber wears the monitor during a climb and identifies the heart rate where their technical skills fall apart. For instance, if a climber enters the ‘Red Zone’ at 150 Beats Pre Minute (BPM) then the trainer can push the athlete into the 140-160 BPM zone while focusing on improving their ability to maintain technique in that troublesome zone.
Maintaining Technique in Four Steps
As a coach I use the heart rate to focus on the climber’s skills, how their skills might break down on certain routes and help figure out what might help the athlete stay on the right course. Another way to put this is that when we climb our best we trust our intuition, even experience a state of ‘Flow’ or of being ‘In the Zone’. But after a few minor mistakes our conscious thought takes over and we lose the fluid aspect of unconscious thought. Our technique degenerates.
To stay in the flow Sjong teaches the climber to focus on four things: Balance, Thought, Movement and Rate. 
- Balance. The climber must find ‘Balance’ which is very different than stability. A quick way to confirm balance in the body is to release the lower hand. When a climber releases the lower hand with a relaxed core does the body shift much? Stability is when one releases the lower hand and the body doesn’t shift … but the core is tight to create that stability. When the climber is in balance he or she will use less energy and have time to think, which leads to the next step.
- Thought. Ideally one will want a relaxed breath so one can scan the available hands and feet. With that information the climber can create a logical plan of action.
- Movement. After the climber has a plan it’s time to move. To create flawless movement the athlete must act on instinct. The ability to regulate the climbers relaxation and tension is critical to have seamless momentum. But can the athlete maintain their coordination when tired? Elite athletes climb fluidly and move instinctively. Beginners also move through these same steps but it’s more conscious, more choppy.
- Rate. Finding the ideal tempo for the moves ahead. I prefer the term tempo over speed because most people think of speed as climbing fast and faster isn’t always ideal. Tempo is about finding the ideal pace for the current conditions. Balance – Thought – Movement. Repeat.
Example: Joe Climber is starting up a difficult climb. At first it’s easy but he fumbles the third clip. He reaches for the next hand hold but it’s actually down and right from where he reached. Joe makes the correction then hesitates on the next four handholds. He struggles with the fourth clip, then falls just before the fifth clip.
What does the Coach observe? When the climber makes a minor mistake like a clip it’s common for the eyes to become stern and very determined. The breath gets tight because the climber needs more stability for the clip. With a tight breath Joe Climber will begin to make minor mistakes that add up. Making mistakes when the climbing was easy crushed his confidence. He shifted away from intuition and into conscious thought. His coordination got worse, amplified by negative thought. Basically his technique fell apart.
What should the climber have done? The sooner he became aware of a minor mistake the easier it is to correct course. I use the metaphor of hitting the ‘Reset Button’. The Reset Button is more challenging to hit when under stress.
How to Hit the Re-Set Button
- Fix your eyes on a single object to calm the mind and body.
- Listen to your relaxing breath.
- Feel the muscles relax in your body.
- Refocus your attention to the next move.
Every athlete has a heart rate where they are vulnerable to negative emotion during a stressful performance. I get athletes to train in that zone so they struggle. Those moments of struggle gives them opportunity to correct course. The more success they have in correcting course the more they gain confidence. Athletes that know they can lose their magic BUT get it back are stronger for it.
As a coach it’s wrong to think athletes won’t ever make mistakes and lose confidence. We must help them gain the tools to find their magic again.
Final Words on Coaching
“Most climbers love having their own brand of climbing and style. I like to honor that. I don’t want to over-coach people or homogenize climbers. Success for me is when an athlete has a better understanding of how their technical and mental skills affect their brand of climbing, and when athletes are excited because they’ve reached a goal.
“It is rewarding to see people reach out for help and embrace change in their life. That takes courage.”
Read more about Justen Sjong’s training methods at:
