A week ago I was at my home climbing gym in Upper Saddle River, The Gravity Vault. I didn’t have much time to climb that day, as I had to cover for a girl at work in the afternoon, but I was making the most of it. I bouldered hard for a little over an hour and was going to pack up when my former coach, Ferdie, approached me.

Ferdie sets routes for the gym every few weeks. He doesn’t set as much in the Upper Saddle River location, but you can see his signature on the start of many routes there regardless. He asked me what I thought of the setting at the gym, having had the opportunity during the school year to climb in gyms in Colorado, a major climbing state. read more