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Updated 9/4/00

Bouldering News-July 2000

7/30/00 Burlington, VT
    Three of four events have been completed in the Petra Cliffs Summer Bouldering Competition Series. Most of the scores below reflect only one competition visit--since scores are cumulative, either someone with a lower score who makes a second (the last) comp could win, or someone could win in a single fell swoop--don't give up before it's over!! We have over $400 in prizes to raffle off for the last event (see the Events Calendar for the date and time) from Climb High, PrAna, Bison Chalk, Magic Chalk, The Outdoor Gear Exchange www.gearx.com and others. Everybody will leave with something. The standings after three events:

7/4/00 Peru
    Two Bates College, Maine students, Dave Sharrat and Taki Miyamoto, recently completed a ten pitch all-free route on La Esphinge (The Sphinx) in the Paron Gorge of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Taki had this to say about the route (Intuition  5.8R, 5.10R, 5.12c, 5.11, 5.11+/12, 5.12a, 5.10R, 5.10-, 5.9, 5.7), "The wall went really, really well. Its all free, 10 pitches. Every single pitch is awesome and worthy. I think 14 bolts in total, up to 5.12c and lots of good runout climbing as well.

7/4/00 Salt Lake City, UT
    On June 7, 2000, Scott Franklin was involved in a serious paragliding accident. Scott was flying as a mid-level student when he was hit from behind by an inexperienced paragliding student. The impact and resulting tangle of equipment sent both crashing to the ground from about 50 feet. The other flyer had some broken bones but is doing well (she fell approx. 30 feet). Scott suffered a broken femur and a catastrophic shattering of the ankle, heel, tibia, and fibia, which will cause him chronic pain and may require fusing or amputation of the ankle/heel/tib/fib. At the moment, the ankle/heel/tib/fib have been pieced back together with multiple surgeries and only time will tell how it will heal. Scott's surgeon (one of the top 2 surgeons for below-the-knee injuries in the Intermountain area) said he sees these types of breaks only once every three or four years, and on a scale of 10 out of 10, it is a ten in the severity of the fractures.
    Scott's broken femur, while relatively easy to fix, required an emergency surgery to place a rod in the bone. Scott developed a fairly uncommon life threatening disease from breaking his femur called fatty emboli syndrome, which subsequently developed into the very threatening Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) that essentially forced him into a coma for almost two weeks. He was in intensive care for over two weeks until he woke up and became mostly coherent.
    Scott also suffered a head injury that showed up on an early MRI as "brain shear." No one is sure what, if any, problems this will cause in the future. Until Scott is off morphine for the pain, his mental faculties cannot be fully addressed. Scott is now in rehabilitation at the hospital for at least another 2 - 3 weeks before he will be released, according to his doctors' latest estimate.
    We at newenglandbouldering.com received this from Robbins Levy a Franklin family friend:
   I think all of us have felt helpless since hearing of the accident that tumbled Scott from the sky. Now there is a way for us to help. We have created the Scott Franklin Recovery Fund at Zions Bank in Salt Lake City. As you know, Scott is facing a long road to recovery. Unfortunately, that road is going to involve great financial hardship because Scott will be unable to work for the foreseeable future. Neither Scott nor Gea is very comfortable with the idea of accepting financial help. Nonetheless, we were able to talk them into this idea by explaining that this is a way that their family and friends, the climbing and adventuring community, can help out one of its own. As we all know, Scott and Gea would be the first people stepping up to the plate to help someone else in need. Now, most of us don't have enough money to give to make a real difference individually, but collectively we can insure that Scott and Gea keep their home and their financial security in the upcoming months and years of recovery. Any amount that you can give will make a tremendous difference.
    What to do? Make checks out to "Franklin Family" or "Scott and Gea Franklin" with "For Deposit Only" written on the back. Send the checks to "Franklin Family c/o Robbin Levy, P.O. Box 3580, Jackson, Wyoming, 83001." I will deposit them directly to the Zion's bank account set up in the name of Scott and Gea Franklin. I will keep a record of donators (but not donation amounts) for Scott and Gea (they requested this so they can properly thank everyone) but if you prefer to remain anonymous, just put a note in with your check and I'll make sure to leave you off the register. If you want to send notes or cards to Scott and Gea with your checks, I'll forward them to their home in SLC.
    Other ways to help - for those of you who participate in the adventure life, hold a slideshow of your latest or greatest exploit at your local rock gym or high school auditorium with proceeds (some or all) going to the Scott Franklin Recovery Fund. In addition, Gea would like to create more awareness of the lack of regulations and protection (i.e. lack of liability insurance) for students learning to paraglide. If you're a paraglider and can put on a show in the hopes of educating, supporting and/or creating advocacy for safer skies and protection for fliers it would mean that Scott's accident can make a difference for other paragliders in the future (a relatively small community of folks do this so this should be a call out to create safer skies as the sport grows).
    If you have any questions/concerns/comments or just want an update on Scott's condition or the progress of the Fund, please email me at rlevypc@msn.com. Thank you for supporting our friends at this challenging time in their lives. May we all have such love and support should we ever -unfortunately - need it.
Very truly yours,
Robbin Levy

7/4/00 Northampton, MA
On Thursday June 22, 2000, the Northampton Athletic Club hosted a bouldering comp to raise money to get its JCCA team to Nationals. Competitors ranging from very young, to very middle-aged showed up and had a great time thrashing themselves. The comp began at 7pm and the gym was transformed into a bouldering club complete with DJ Rick House (Howes) spinning on top of the cave. Competitors had 36 problems to choose from, and three hours to climb as hard as they could. Eight-year old Amanda Roncone claimed the comp's first ascent by styling a 25 point warm up onsight. From there, things just got better as the grown-ups got in on the act as well. In a wildly inspiring display of power and technique, Jason Danforth and Sam Messmer Came within one hold of collectively sending every hard problem in the competition. Their friendly duel made for a truly entertaining spectacle. For more details on the happenings of at the comp check out northamptonac.com. Prizes were donated by The Mountain Goat of Northampton, and Rao's Coffee of Amherst.

Men's Expert 1. Sam Messmer 2. Jason Danforth 3. Tyson Holub 4. Quinten Longratchet	Women's Expert 1. Eve Preuss 2. Alyssa Bennett
Men's Intermediate 1. Jeff Daniels 2. Matt Roncone 3. Kenneth Thoman 4. Chris Decoteau 5. Brett Normandeau 6. Jesse Robinson	Women's Intermediate 1. Tory Michak Women's Beginner 1. Caitlin Folchman-Wagner 2. Zoe Folchman-Wagner
Men's Beginner 1. Ben Hathaway 2. Christian Guertin 3. Richard Wagner 4. Jeff Douchkoff	Children 1. Sam Hathaway 2. Loretta White 3. David Decoteau 4. Amanda Roncone

Ken Majka represents Western Massachusetts with his WM gang signal as Jason Danforth laments his loss at the hands of Northampton's Sam Messmer.

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