Climbing Ethics - Preparing for your first Lead Class

By Aubrey Wingo

Many people, when they first walk into the gym get to witness lead climbing for the first time. They see the attentive belaying, the active communication and of course the thrilling whippers. In our facility, if you enjoy rope climbing, many of you make it a goal to get better as quickly as possible just so you can join the "rope elite" and learn to lead as well. However, lead climbing shouldn't be just rushed into; sure, you can probably elvis-leg your way through the route, but wouldn't you enjoy being able to walk up to a route and the difficulty of the climb wasn't a factor? You have enough to worry about in between clipping, leg placement, and those wonderful falls. This article is to teach and prepare you for taking your first lead class, or possibly, making you take a second look at yourself and your climbing to ask yourself if you are prepared. I spoke to our three lead instructors, Dean, Doug, and Alex, to get their insights on the subject as well.

Gear Geek - Arc'teryx R-275 LT and S-220 LT

 By Aubrey Wingo

We love to bring new products to Aiguille, but in this case, it's also a new brand!  Aiguille is proud to announce that now carry two Arc'teryx harnesses: the R-275 LT and the S-220 LT.  I'm sure you're reading this saying those are the lamest names on the planet, but in actuality they are very resourceful!

Into the Mind of... a Divisionals Competition Routesetter

Photo from Team Urban Core

By Aubrey Wingo

One of the number one questions I hear the most in all my responsibilities at the gym is “How do you set routes?” or “Do you have pre-made paths that you create?” While my own path hasn’t quite been determined, one of my many choices is continue on to become a professional route setter. I was fortunate to be invited as an intern to set this past June at my first USA Climbing sanctioned Divisionals held this year at X-Treme Rock Climbing Gym in Miami, FL. This article will be a first hand look into the chaos of setting a onsight competition and my own personal learning experiences as a route setter and even as a person. If you know nothing about routesetting, hopefully I can clear some things up!

A Short Guide to Climbing Breeds

By Tina Manner

Climbing is a strange and unique world, filled with a variety of peculiar species of climbers. During my climbing ventures to study climbing and climbers throughout the American landscape, I stumbled upon a small, but transit climbing gym right here in our very own backyard. It was in this gym that I discovered a new abundance of different climbing breeds and began to document their wild and eccentric behaviors.

"VOLUMES .015"

By Guillermo Casanova

We live in Orlando and we love to climb, so we’re already pretty screwed, but it is this mutual pain that binds us together as a community. Lacking mountains or boulders to climb on, we search for other forms of entertainment outside of the gym. Because of this, we created VOLUMES; a series of music compilations curated by yours truly, meant to showcase fresh music from talented artists right here in our local community. You may download the full compilation here or stream below.

Hang Outs - Central Florida Venues Pt. II

By Joshua Jimenez

Three of Central Florida’s largest music venues have held such big names from rapper 50 Cent to rock band Rise Against. But now we move over to the hole in the wall. The sort of venues where sometimes your parents tell you not to go there, but you go anyway because you know that’s where the real music is. Part two will go over the three most popular music venues that Central Florida has to offer. So for those looking to continue dancing after a night of climbing at the Aiguille Rock Climbing center, then continue on reading.

"VOLUMES 0.14"

By Guillermo Casanova

We live in Orlando and we love to climb, so we’re already pretty screwed, but it is this mutual pain that binds us together as a community. Lacking mountains or boulders to climb on, we search for other forms of entertainment outside of the gym. Because of this, we created VOLUMES; a series of music compilations curated by yours truly, meant to showcase fresh music from talented artists right here in our local community. You may download the full compilation here or stream below.

Climbing in the Media - Going Mainstream

By Aubrey Wingo

Many of you have probably come to notice rock climbing not only when you walk into the gym, or check your Facebook feed. It's on your TV, it's in advertising, even in your educational sources! This is a fun array of different images and videos that you might not have seen, but show how popular our sport is becoming.