Hmmm, a small company from Edmonton that is completely dedicated to producing the finest shapes, it’s what they’ve been doing for 10 years, and they’ve lasted that long, because they are professional.  I have not been to a single competition in North America (and I’ve been to a lot of them all over) where at least a dozen UNIQUE Teknik shapes were used in the finals problems.  Why is that?  Because they are great, it’s cliche, but often imitated, never duplicated.  I will apologize for them not carving a bunch of stupid circles in their holds, or making them in the shapes of faces or numbers, actually no I won’t because there is no apology needed, those shapes end up tweaking fingers and tearing skin.  Teknik doesn’t.

Teknik has put a considerable amount of resources into this competition, probably at least equal if not greater than many of the other companies.  Most of the other hold companies offering a whopping 10% off the price of their holds so gyms can BUY THEM.  BUY THEM, get it.

Anyways, the competition is definitely going to be amazing.  Big ups to Al for doing all the organizing and keeping us up to date.  There are two of the best route setters in North America - and I personally would go so far as to say in the world - coming to set.  One who is setting for the Vail World Cup, whom Teknik footed the bill to fly up to Edmonton.  The rest of the routesetting team is excellent at what they do as well.  There is a brand new wall being built as I type that nobody has climbed on before so there will be very little homegym advantage.  There is an extremely strong field of climbers attending and gonna be one hell of an after-party.  Props to all the sponsors of the Tour de Bloc that make it happen, and thanks Teknik for putting in the resources at the end to make this Nationals a great one!

Dan

Maybe we have different ideas of support, but I for one don’t really consider giving gyms a 10% discount on holds and sending them a ten pack of holds that cost the company to be a significant amount of support, but that’s their prerogative.  I’ll give lots of credit to Luigi/Friction for putting the tour together, but from what I understand five dollars from every competitors entry fee is going back to the TDB so there is definitely some accessory compensation happening there besides advertising.  I’d do the same thing if I was running the show.

All in all, no company is really bucking up as much as we’d like to see for these competitions and I don’t really blame them.  The climbing market is very small, there isn’t much money in it, and thus it’s hard for small companies to contribute a significant amount of resources.  The companies that do support climbing and the TDB donate the resources that they can afford to, or the value they feel the events are worth to them.

Teknik was under no obligation at all to donate anything to the TDB or to Nationals.  Their business is a two person operation and they’ve put considerable hours into designing, shaping, moulding and pouring holds for the Nationals, all of this could have been done to fill their orders and make profit, but it was wasn’t.  On top of that they’ve flown a World Cup route setter up to set for the competition.  So it seems to me that they’ve put their resources into making the biggest competition of the tour the best one, as it should be because it’s the competition that EVERYBODY should be attending.

If there is anything to be disappointed or upset about it’s that there are only 60 competitors competing in the open category, there were 57 open competitors in the Edmonton January Tour de Bloc LOCAL.  If there is anybody not showing support for the climbing community it’s the competitors themselves.  It’s time all the lame ass climbing bums got jobs and started contributing their own money and resources to ATTENDING these competitions and then maybe the sponsors would feel like their getting their moneys worth and start putting more resources into the Tour.  This means the competitors from the East coming to the West when the Nationals are here and vice versa.  The TDB has organized it very reasonably so that the Nationals alternates from East to West every season, which means competitors only have to travel across the country every two years (Sorry Manitoba you’re kinda screwed either way).  Yet of the hundreds of people that competed this year in the Tour de Bloc competitions only 60 are coming to Nationals?  Props to them and thanks for coming despite sad rumors being created that nobody famous from out East was setting… cuz that should matter.

Anyway, I for one am psyched for the competition and looking forward to partying with everybody after the comp.  Thanks to all the SPONSORS, ORGANIZERS, VOLUNTEERS AND COMPETITORS who are showing up and contributing to making this a competition to remember!

PS - That’s might be why none of the problems from last years Nationals were memorable, the setting style was great but the holds… nothing.
PPS - Lets keep the gay fantasies on gay chat boards and keep both Seth and Myself out of it cuz we don’t swing like that.
PPPS - Nice one Red Stallion.

I happen to agree with slopey, danimal, and stallion, and anyone else who is on the same page. I don’t happen to be from edmonton, or even Alberta, so we don’t all love eachother. I climb in BC and have worked for climbing hold companies before, this is a tough industry to be in, tres expensive. So what luigi has been doing for the bloc is fantastic no doubt about it. It is difficult for a hold company to be giving away buckets of holds all the time. What Seth and Z are doing is fantastic, so what if people in edmonton climb on teknik all the time, they’re a strong bunch regardless of what they climb on, be it teknik or plywood. Getting supported by a hold company for a comp, especially one as large as this is great for the gym. If there was a comp in any city that had a climbing hold company located there, that company would most likely donate a bunch of holds. It happens all the time, and it usually doesn’t cause such an uproar. So everyone chill out, go to the comp, let mccoll win it, have a good time and thank Seth and Zoe for the great shapes.

Dear Wankers (HUGE ONES),

I just wanted to call you wankers.

Red Stallion, Well said. I haven’t seen this much wanking since i caught Dan in the changing room at Urban Urprising staring at a picture of Lauren Lee… Not that i blame him…

As far as an all Teknik finals goes i can’t say i’m either for it or against it. All i know is that Teknik is donating a LOT of holds and flying in a phenomenal route setter, and that it’s going to make a big difference in the quality of the comp. From a competitor’s perspective I would rather have someone sponsor ONE event for the year and do it right.

Teknik is choosing to sponsor one event and as far as i know there is nothing illegal or unethical about it. I believe they have payed fairly for what they are getting in return, and i would argue that they are giving more than some of the title sponsors have this year. They are also at the wall right now, working, and i’m sure they won’t be leaving any time soon.

As for the outdated shapes comment and the petty name calling, it reeks of jealousy, it’s uncalled for and it’s embarrassing.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE ANY OTHER SPONSOR TO DO THE SAME THING NEXT YEAR!!!

-Terry

p.s. Sorry Dan. I had to mention the story above so that people wouldn’t think you were gay. Apparently that’s some sort of insult on this board.