Bakasana- Crow Pose

If you're interested in taking flight and venturing into the exciting world of arm balances, Bakasana is one of the most beloved and accessible arm balances for new practitioners. I like to think of Crow Pose as the foundation upon which other arm balances are built. Once a student understands the mechanics and balance in Crow Pose, other arm balances become more accessible. For more advanced practitioners, there are plenty of fun transitions to play with like Crow to Headstand or Crow to Chaturanga.

To begin, come to Malasana (Yogic Squat) to set up.

The Boston Coach Garage across the street from our Everett facility is tearing up the parking lot for a major repaving project so we'll be short a few parking spots for the next month or two. If you need a spot to park you can use our overflow parking. Just click the map to enlarge.

We are pretty much obsessed with climbing. It’s what takes up our weeknights, our weekends and most of our vacation time. The amount of time we spend climbing, talking about climbing, choosing and buying new climbing gear and planning our climbing trips is probably equal to the time we spend working or at school. It’s easy to understand why: the beauty of the movement, the pure joy of sending your project, the way it affects your fitness and well-being, and the fun you have climbing with friends—these are all things that make climbing so frickin’ great. But what do you do when your limits as a climber start to bring you down and instead of being pure fun, it becomes frustrating?

In the gym, we see a lot of this frustration so we understand the tough mental dynamics between wanting to climb for fun and satisfying the urge to climb better, harder and stronger. Many of us want to get better but when it comes time to do a set of pull-ups, work the core or spend time in the gym NOT climbing, that urge fades away and instead, we go top-rope that fun route in the corner for the 10th time.

With this in mind, we have set out to emphasize the benefits of training and put a few programs together to help you find a regimen and stick with it. Check out our options and see what fits your needs and wants. From one-on-one PT sessions to group training to 90 minute pick-me ups, we have a some great options to choose from. Our goal is to give you the skills, knowledge and discipline to make training a part of your climbing life. We’re sure that as a result, you’ll be a better climber, you’ll feel better about your abilities and when the time comes for that extra bit of power to get to the top, you’ll have it in you!

Quinn Brett recently set the new women’s speed record for The Nose on El Capitan! Come see her slide show and hear her talk about her amazing adventure! Monday, October 22 at 8pm at Metrorock, Everett. $10 at the door, all proceeds go to benefit two great nonprofits, Urban Peaks and Paradox sports!

Hey climbers!

Yoga is alive and well at MetroRock and now we’re part of the blog team! Check this blog for news about the MetroRock yoga program and yoga-related happenings in the area. In addition, we will be posting a pose-of-the-month to try out in class or on your own.

Attendance in our classes has been great and is steadily growing. We currently offer classes Monday-Thursday from 7-8PM in Everett, Monday at 7pm in Newburyport. We have a wonderful group of teachers, all of whose styles differ in ways that make for a rich and diverse set of yoga experiences.

It's been getting to know lots of you in the yoga studio as well as on the climbing walls. I hope you'll try out a class if you haven't already. You'll feel great, and your climbing with only get stronger as you experience improved focus, greater strength, better balance, and a greater flexibility. Plus, at least in my class, you'll hear some kick-ass tunes.

Namaste,
Ken
ken.miller@yogaflow.us

Winter in the climbing world means either you’re psyched for ice or you hang up the climbing gear and wax up your skis. But for us, we train even harder for competition season! At MetroRock, it's a very busy time: between our own events, hosting USA Climbing and attending other comps, we’ve got our hands full. This means we’ve got at least one a month from October through January with even more events to be announced for late Winter!

Our pride and joy is the Dark Horse Series. Now in its fourth year, it just keeps getting better and bigger. Last year’s finals hosted a packed house to watch the country’s best climbers get nasty for the grand prize and all the glory. This year we’ve changed the schedule a bit and added a day to maximize the sickness!

At Halloween time, we give you the Blackout Boulder Brawl. With the boulders glowing in the blacklight and competitors decked out in their brightest neons, it looks like a climbing comp taking place in the Tron universe. Climbers fight the pump and disorientation to get to the top in this warped and weird setting.

USA Climbing hosts a wide range of comps in the region and we are proud to host our share. Whether it’s boulders, speed or difficulty, we have the facilities for it all. These range from school age kids to college and beyond so there is always something for everyone. You will probably see future pro climbers competing at these events.

Our schedule to date is listed below, with some events still pending for Spring. Please remember that competition in the Dark Horse and Blackout Brawl is open to everyone at all levels. You don’t have to be a pro to win prizes!

The results from the  Sport Climbing Series competition held in Newburyport on April 7 at MetroRock North are now available online.

The results of the CCS Climbing competition held in Newburyport, MA at MetroRock North on February 18, 2012 are here!

Just click the link below to see the final results and standings.

CCS at MetroRock North, Newburyport, MA Feb-18-2012 - Registration and Scores

After several weeks of open voting, the tallies have been counted, the hanging chads were disputed and the results are in! Scores were based on creativeness, funness and how well they matched to the grade listed.

Congrats to all the winners and thank you to all of you who voted!

5.8 category:

1. Jeb Bruno, station 62
2. JP Mial, station 31
3. Rob Alpert, station 24

5.9 category:

1. Boof, station 99
2. Jeb Bruno, station 38
3. Dave Wetmore, station 65

5.10 category:

1. Mark Heffley, station 25
2. Erik holmes, station 20
3. Alex Enright, station 21

5.11 category:

1. Raff, station 94
2. Dave Wetmore, station 74
3. Boof, station 63

Photo by Pat Bagley

Dark Horse Series 2012 went out with a bang last weekend as some of the best climbers in the world came to throw down to fight for the prize and glory. The series, which began last November, is our homegrown compeition and we couldn't be happier with the way it has grown. Each passing year and comp, things get bigger and better and we were floored by what we saw last Saturday: hundreds of spectators cheering their lungs out for the pros as they tackled some of the sickest boulder problems we've ever set. It was an amazing show and we can't wait for next year!

We want to thank everyone involved, especially:

• The setters and organizers who worked long and hard to set everything up and put up some amazing climbs. It's not as easy as it looks!
• The staff at MetroRock for their hard work at making everything work so smoothly.
• Our sponsors who made it all possible and provided awesome prizes. We appreciate all your help.
• To the spectators who created all that buzz and excitement. Without you, it would just be a cool boulder session, with you, it was a party!
• Most of all, HUGE thank you to the competitors. From the novice competing for the first time to the pros who do this for a living, you all made it possible by putting your best efforts up to see how hard you can climb. Climbing competitions are about the individual challenging him or herself to push beyond their limits and we can't say enough about the amazing performances we saw during those three days. Congratulations to ALL of you!

For complete wrap-up and information, including results, see the Dark Horse homepage.

For pics and video, see the links below: