NUTS + BOLTS

• ASCEND Point Breeze

• Six Weeks: Each "week" will begin on Tuesday evening after setting concludes and will run through the following Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays during the day are for setting, scoring, and regrouping.

  • YOU MUST LOG SCORES EACH AND EVERY WEEK OR ELSE YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. If you know that both teammates cannot make a week, please do not sign up. See below for more about substituting a teammate.

  • Week 1 [3/19 - 3/24]: Seeding

  • Week 2 [3/26 - 3/31]: Seeding

  • Week 3 [4/2 - 4/7]: Bracket Round 1 (Quarterfinals)

  • Week 4 [4/9 - 4/14]: Bracket Round 2 (Semifinals + Rd 1 Consolations)

  • Week 5 [4/16 - 4/21]: Bracket Round 3 (Consolation Semifinals + Byes)

  • Finals Night [Wednesday, April 24, 6-9p]: Place Matches

• Teams Of Two: Mixed abilities is okay... nay... it's encouraged! Each teammate's scores will be totaled together for a combined score.

• $50 Per Team: General admission is not included. Meaning, Members pay nothing additional, Punch Pass holders may debit a punch, and guests may purchase a Day Pass for each visit.

• What You Get: We want to make this experience valuable, so for $25 per person you get:

  • A well-run league that promises to balance competition and fun.

  • A Finals Night event just for you!

  • A one-of-a-kind event t-shirt.

  • Top bracket finishers will win some modest prizes... TBD!

FORMAT OVERVIEW

The league will take place over six weeks. For the first two weeks, teams will compete to log their highest scores and seed themselves within the league. We’ll use these scores to break the teams up into groups of eight similarly skilled teams that will compete in "head to head" matchups, bracket style, for the remaining four weeks. The tournament will be double elimination, so even if you lose you’ll be competing right up until week six (some teams will have a bye week five depending on where they are in the bracket). See below for images of how the brackets will work.

Any climbs in the canyon on anchors 1-31 (excluding the speed route) will be eligible for league scoring, not just the new climbs, meaning that climbers may repeat climbs from week to week. Each climb will have a base point value that the climber will receive regardless of attempts on the day, and a bonus point value the climber will receive for finishing the climb in one or two attempts on the day. These bonus points will be subject to a deduction for repeating a climb multiple weeks, but the base value of the climb won’t change.

Each week, each team will choose a day to log scores. Both climbers on the team must be present, climbing together, and logging scores on the same day. This doesn’t need to be the first day the team climbs on the new routes. Climbers are encouraged to work the routes before deciding to have their “scoring session.” If a team wants to work the climbs from the new week’s set every night from Tuesday to Saturday, and then have their scoring session on Sunday, when they each log their four best climbs they’re able to send on that day, that’s within the rules. This is a redpoint competition, not an onsight competition. As stated above, there will be bonus points awarded if the climber sends on their first or second attempt on the day they decide to log scores.

If a climber sends on their first attempt on the day they’ll receive an additional 25 points on top of the base score for the climb. If they send on their second attempt they’ll receive 10 bonus points. If a climber has previously logged that climb on their scorecard the bonus points they receive will be reduced by 5 points for every week it’s been previously logged. For example, if a climber sends a 5.12a in week 1 on their third attempt during their scoring session, they’d receive the base number of points for that climb, which is 2,000. If they send that same climb on their second try the following week and log it during their scoring session, they’d receive the base points plus only 5 bonus points. They’d receive 5 bonus points instead of 10 because they’d logged that climb once before.

• Bonus points awarded is equal to: Total bonus points earned – 5 *number of weeks previously logged.

In this example, if the climber then sends first go on a subsequent week during their scoring session and wants to log it again they’d receive base points plus 15 bonus points. They earned 25 bonus points for sending on their first try on the day minus 10 points for having logged it twice before. 

Ties will be broken by these criteria in this order:

1. The number of new climbs your team has sent that week. Not newly set, but newly sent by you/not repeated from a previous week.

2. The total number of bonus points for your team that week.

3. The total scoring session length of time for your team that week.

RULES

• Your team must be able to compete each week and be present for the finals event. If you know of a conflict, it's on you to arrange for a suitable, similar ability substitute. We will not assist in this process. If your team misses a week, it will simply be counted as a loss for that week.

• Teams of two - you should find a substitute person, just in case.

• Each person logs their top FOUR scores each week during the scoring session. Each send must be unique for that week. No repeated sends in the same week!

• A league week runs from Tuesday evening to the end of the day on Sunday. There’s no league climbing on Monday or Tuesday during the day. Resets will happen and scores will be tallied during these times.

• Teammates must climb together and log their scores on the same day

  • This doesn’t need to be the first day they come in to climb for that week.

  • Teams are encouraged to work on climbs that will be hard for them and attempt to redpoint at some point in the season.

  • The team can only have one scoring session during the week.

• All climbs, regardless of style, are counted the same, meaning, there are no bonus points for lead-climbing vs. top-roping vs. auto-belaying. There will be some climbs in lead-only zones that are only available to climbers who are able to lead climb.

• You must finish the climb without weighting the rope or auto-belay to score the climb.

• Bonus points, repeats, and ties are described above in detail.

  • Sends on first try of the day – 25 points

  • Sends on second try of the day – 10 points

  • Sends on three or more tries – 0 points

• Deductions – For every week that a climb has been previously logged, 5 bonus points will be deducted from any that are earned by a climber sending that climb. Base points will not be affected. 

• Ties will be decided on the aforementioned criteria and order

• Climbs will be scored on their Yosemite Decimal Grade. Each climb of a certain grade will have the same value. The number of each grade will fluctuate throughout the league from week to week. Some climbs will be stripped and other climbs will go up. The league setting schedule has been provided and climbers should refer to it when deciding what to invest time into for projecting and redpointing. 

  • 5.6 – 500

  • 5.7 – 750

  • 5.8 – 1000

  • 5.9 – 1250 

  • 5.10a – 1500

  • .10b – 1550

  • .10c – 1600

  • .10d – 1650

  • 5.11a – 1750

  • .11b – 1800

  • .11c – 1850 

  • .11d – 1900

  • 5.12a -  2000

  • .12b – 2050

  • .12c – 2100

  • .12d – 2150

  • 5.13a – 2250

  • .13b – 2350

  • .13c – 2450

  • .13d – 2550

  • 5.14a – 2650

FAQs

• How will we all communicate? We will invite you all to a GroupMe, where League Admins can share all the important, week-to-week information, and where competitors can ask questions and share the hype!

• Calibration Period? To assist us in making the route grades as accurate and as fair as possible, during the two weeks prior to the start of the league, we will obtain consensus grades from the community. You can submit your grade recommendations at ASCEND Point Breeze.

• How will scores be tallied? Each night you compete, you will be given an ol' fashioned paper scorecard to log all your team's scores. Once you are done with that session, the Team Captain will enter the scores into an ol' fashioned Google Form.

• Why does leading, top-roping, or auto-belaying a route get you the same points? Mostly to keep things simple and to allow more people to get involved with fewer barriers. More to the point, this is a REDPOINT league, where the goal is to climb the hardest routes you possibly can and we don't want anything to imped you from focusing on the task at hand.

• How will scores be shared? Each Monday, our League Admins will post the previous week's scores for all to consume.

• What if someone on the team doesn't send four problems? Zero points will be added in for each blank space, so do your best to send four routes!

• Can someone other than my teammate belay me? Yes, of course!

• What about gender identity divisions? For this league, we will not be factoring in gender identity, or age, or perceived ability.

• What if our team is down a person for a particular week? Your team must be able to compete each week and be present for the finals event. If you know of a conflict, it's on you to arrange for a suitable, similar ability substitute. We will not assist in this process. If your team misses a week, it will simply be counted as a loss for that week.

• Will the rope area be closed down just for league competitors? No, absolutely not. The masses would revolt. So please, play nice, be respectful, and remember that there is a life outside of the league.

• How will finals work? Finals will be held on Wednesday 4/24 from 6-9p. This evening will in fact be dedicated to you, the league folk. After the 3 hours is up, scores will be tallied and final bracket placements will be announced.

SETTING SCHEDULE

Understanding the setting schedule will help you plan by letting you know which climbs are coming down when. Each lane is marked on the wall, but you can also reference the image below.

Week 1 [3/18]: Lanes... 1, 16, 17, 26, 27

Week 2 [3/25]: Lanes... 13, 14, 15, 24, 25

Week 3 [4/1]: Lanes... 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23

Week 4 [4/8]: Lanes... 7, 8, 9, 29, 30, 31

Week 5 [4/15]: Lanes... 4, 5, 6, 26, 27, 28

Week 6 [4/22]: Lanes... 1, 2, 3, 23, 24, 25

REGISTRATION

One person from each team will register on behalf of both teammates. Click the button below to get started!

DISCLAIMER

This is our first attempt at hosting a rope league, but we've thought about it for years. We intend on running more at other ASCEND locations. We hope that you enjoy and keep coming back for more! To help us with that, please share any and all feedback with us. We love to hear it, learn from it, and adjust.

Find some friends - climb some climbs - learn some things - have some fun.

Those are the goals of ASCEND's Bouldering League!

Nuts + Bolts

• ASCEND South Side

• Six weeks: 9/7, 9/14, 9/21, 9/28, 10/5, and finally 10/12 (finals night!). It's okay if your team can't make it on Thursday nights, except for finals night! You'll want to be available for that.

• Teams of three (mixed abilities is okay... nay... it's encouraged!)

• 25 new problems each week

• Themed nights TBA - think... live DJ, team spirit night, etc. Got ideas for us? Let us know!

• Giveaways, prizes, bragging rights - we're going to put a lot into the setting and organization of the series and finals night, but we also want to hook yinz up with special offers and swag etc.

• $30 per person / $90 per team: General admission is not included. Meaning, Members pay nothing additional, Punch Pass holders may debit a punch, and guests may purchase a Day Pass for each visit.

FAQs

• So, when do we show up and climb each week? In a perfect world, we'd all do this on each Thursday night at 6p, but we want to provide some flexibility. The setters will set the 25 boulders on Wednesday and Thursday, and as soon as they are done on Thursday, cones removed, you can get started! COMPETITORS MUST REFRAIN FROM CLIMBING THE PROBLEMS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. You have unlimited time, BUT, your team must climb together and all during one single session. So, coordinate your schedules and feel free to show up anytime after Thursday night to throw down. The latest possible night you can climb would be the following Wednesday, though, so don't wait too long! Scores must be submitted by EOD on Wednesday before the next round.

• How will scores be tallied? Each night you compete, you will be given an ol' fashioned paper scorecard to log all your team's scores. Once you are done with that session, the Team Captain will enter the scores into an ol' fashioned Google Form.

• How will scores be shared? Each Thursday, our League Admins will post the previous week's scores for all to consume.

• How will scoring work, exactly? Of the 25 climbs set, each climber on the team will log their top 5 redpoints (completion/sending of the problem from start to finish, in good form, without falling). Each week, however, we will change it up via new scoring rules, for an added element of fun. Stay tuned each week!

• How will ranking work, then? All of your team's scores (15 each week) will be averaged into a team score. We'll do this for 5 weeks and will then add the averaged team scores, to get your ultimate qualifier team score. Those scores will be used to determine whether your team is in the Recreational, Intermediate, or Advanced category for finals night.

• What if someone on the team doesn't send 5 problems? Zero points will be added in for each blank space. That being said, we are intending that most beginner/recreational climbers will have a good chance at sending at least 5 problems.

• What about gender identity divisions? For this league, we will not be factoring in gender identity, or age, or perceived ability.

• What if our team is down a person for a particular week? Reach out to us immediately for assistance. We want to be flexible and we will work with you, but we don't want to open up a giant can of worms with a complicated substitute policy. That being said, substitutions may be permitted, but only once per team, and not during finals. The person being replaced should be considered of a similar ability to the replacement. In the unfortunate event that a climber is injured and cannot return to the league, we will work with the team to find a suitable permanent replacement.

• How will finals work? Finals will be held on Thursday 10/12 from 6-9p. This evening will in fact be dedicated to you, the league folk (see below). After the 3 hours is up, scores will be tallied and winners will be announced.

• Will the section be closed down just for league competitors? No, absolutely not. The masses would revolt and we're already anticipating non-league climbers to be annoyed at the attention the new set is getting. So please, play nice, be respectful, and remember that there is a life outside of the bouldering league.

How To Register

Select either the "Team" or "Individual":

• Select "Team" if you already have a team of three and you are the designated Team Captain. Instruct your teammates to do nothing.

• Select "Individual" if you are in search of teammates. We'll work to link you up with some stellar folk. If you can, attend our TEAMMATE MATCH NIGHT on AUG. 31, but if you can't, we'll still make it happen. See below for details.

Disclaimer

This is our first attempt at hosting a bouldering league, but we've thought about it for years. We intend on running more at other ASCEND locations. We hope that you enjoy and keep coming back for more! To help us with that, please share any and all feedback with us. We love to hear it, learn from it, and adjust.

DETAILS FOR TEAMMATE MATCH NIGHT

If you'd like to try and meet some prospective teammates, consider visiting ASCEND South Side's front desk between 6-8p on Thursday, August 31. We will have name tags and give you a wristband to help others like yourself find each other. We're merely trying to be a helpful matchmaker!

Once you match up, either have your designated team captain register for the team as a unit, or have everyone sign up as individuals. That doesn't matter to us! Once registration closes, we'll be having the designated team captains complete a google form on behalf of your team.