December '08

VooDoo has been super busy this holiday season! We sold out of crash pads this week and holds are still flying out the door. Our next run of pads will be ready to ship late January - depending on production of our new metal buckles. Yes, custom metal buckles... we're so excited! Drop us a line if you'd like to reserve a crash pad from the next run.
Thank you to everyone that helped make 2008 a great year for VooDoo!

We're attending the Southwest Regional ABS Championships at Hangar 18 Riverside on January 10th. Our booth will be stocked with lots of chalk bags, haul bags, posters, and maybe a few crash pads - stop by for screaming deals on VooDoo gear!





Our hometown has been getting hammered with snow this week - we dug ourselves out a couple of times to bring packages to UPS and the Post Office - I think we need a snow plow & a mini truck ;-)

VooDoo is closed until January 5th - we're off to Mexico... looking forward to warmer temps.

Happy Holidays!
Gina & Frank

trick or treat

This year I spent Halloween with my good friends in San Diego. It was a last minute fun/work trip and a fantastic time. My flight was supposed to be uneventful - Flagstaff to Phoenix then on to San Diego - a total of 3 hours travel time. Sounded great to me - but I have this habit of chatting with people everywhere I go and I missed my connection in Phoenix! Totally embarrassed - I called my friends in San Diego to explain - they let me off easy and the airline booked me on the next flight to San Diego 3 hours later. So no big deal, I enjoyed dinner with my new airport friends. Boarded my next flight daydreaming about the Crow's Nest sunset cocktail hour in San Diego and waking up to a glorious view of the Pacific Ocean... unfortunately the fog came in - the pilots tried to land in San Diego.... twice.... no luck. My flight was sent back to Phoenix! Luckily, Lucy saved me from an overnight stay at the airport - she took great care of me and made sure I arrived at the airport on time the next day for my flight to Las Vegas then on to San Diego. Once I arrived at my final destination I was able to relax, soak up the fabulous scenery and the wonderful company. Thank you Stan, Margot, Mike, Cindy & of course my guardian angel - Lucy!

Little Devil Sunset

Halloween Gangsta

Margot & Gina - handing out candy on the Boardwalk

Great company at the Crow's Nest

Another beautiful sunset

c & m

What a treat! Our old friends Cal & Marsha made an appearance in Flagstaff last week - they live in Bishop, CA - yeah, I know - why do you leave Bishop to vacation? Well, Flagstaff is pretty darn awesome & I think Marsha is falling in love with our little hometown.... or is she just in love with our dog Sue???? hmmmmm ;-)
I forgot the Camera when we headed out to the Priest Draw Monday but I can assure you - these two tore-it-up! What a fun day - I secretly reminisced about the days we used to spend bouldering at Black Mountain and various other So. Cal spots together - good times - I couldn't help but smile the entire day.
We went for a fun Mountain bike ride on Tuesday and when Marsha said she wanted to go bouldering afterward I thought she was kidding - I was WRONG! The whip cracked & we quickly headed out to Gloria's Boulders for an evening session.
The next day Cal & Marsha went for a ride on Mt. Elden and then spent another evening session at the Priest Draw with Frank as I boarded a plane for San Diego.
On Thursday they all headed to Sedona for some Mountain Biking and a mini Vortex tour - I hear it was a great time. Cal & Marsha headed to Moab that evening - rumor has it that they'll be heading back to Flagstaff this week - I won't forget my camera and I'll keep a close eye on Sue!
A super fun time catching up with friends!

Cal, Marsha & Frank

Marsha

Marsha warming up at Gloria's

Sedona

Last Sunday Frank & I decided to climb a fun route in Sedona to get in the desert climbing groove. The first chimney pitch was my favorite, but the summit was definitely the highlight of the day.

what a cute tower

approaching the queen

Super fun first pitch

Frank taking in the view

loving it!

Frank & I celebrating the summit

Gear updates

Our Pet Beds are on Sale! They're made with the same materials we use on our crash pads. Quit wasting $$$ on the cheap beds that disintegrate in a couple of months and get your best friend a VooDoo bed!

Chalk Bags will be back in stock next week! We found a bunch of fun fabrics & some mellow fabrics for the earth muffins out there!

Chalk Kegs - (the really big chalk bucket) are in stock and will be listed on our website soon.

Our Mini Haul bag is in production (at Lisa's request) and should be available on our website November 25th.

We're working on a new purse for the ladies - keep checking in.

November 4th is just around the corner - REMEMBER TO VOTE!

VooDoo's new Lisa Rands Poster

Here's a sneak peek at our new Lisa Rands on the Mandala poster. It's going to print and should be ready to ship next week.

Happy Hump Day

Got a ton of VooDoo work done this morning & figured out a new office configuration - I need more space for VooDoo work, school work & a marketing side project I'm doing for RockBiz Software. I think my new office is going to be a lot more efficient. After a nice lunch outdoors with Frank I took off to meet Susan at the climbing gym... it's fun to be climbing on plastic again - our gym has a ton of VooDoo Holds and it's like visiting family since I stopped making holds by hand two years ago (you know, if your family was made of plastic) so many cool old school shapes - what happened to that Giant Disc mold anyway!!!?? - it should be back in time for Christmas ;-) After getting back to work I checked out some final drafts of our new Lisa Rands climbing the Mandala poster and I'm very excited to see it go to print! To end hump day we met Stan & Margot at the Monte Vista to watch their friend's band play - lots of fun! So "le tired" & tomorrow is another party night - the Reel Rock Tour is in Flagstaff!!!!...WooHoo!

New Climbing

This past weekend we got a tour of a new area some friends have been developing and it was amazing! The routes were so much fun - I'm exhausted and anxious go back! I can't believe the potential for more routes and all of the beautiful boulders we passed along the way!!!

Today's Score

Our Garden keeps on giving & the tomatoes are taking over - yummmm! The evenings are getting chilly, hopefully we'll get a few more harvests before we freeze.

September

The Pine Mountain Pull Down was a ton of fun. This was the first year for the event so not a huge turnout (where were you???) - I can see this event getting bigger every year. We had a great time reminiscing about our days in So Cal, soaked up some great scenery, sold lots of gear, hung out at the beach, and best of all caught up with old friends and made a bunch of new ones - I love my job.

A few pics of what I've been up to in September.

Me, My Dad, Marla & My Mom enjoying one of Flagstaff's fun trails

My Nephew & Pups - a fun day at Lake Mary

Me, My Dad & Marla - Ventura, CA

VooDoo Booth Set up for the Pine Mountain Pull Down

These guys were the life of the Party!

Joe sporting the best tee shirt ever - I'm wearing mine right now! ;-)

Having fun on my Single Speed in Flagstaff

Taking a break with Mr. Red at the West Elden Boulders

Pine Mountain PullDown - This weekend 9/5 - 9/7

We're heading to the Pine Mountain Pulldown this weekend with screaming deals on crash pads, chalk bags, climbing holds, ... basically all the VooDoo gear we can fit into our vehicles! Looking forward to the Reel Rock Tour and meeting up with old friends & making new ones.

To attend the festival it's only $25 - if you're entering the comp it's $65
We're donating some awesome VooDoo gear for competition prizes so if you're looking for something fun to do this weekend come out to the Pine Mountain PullDown!

The Pine Mountain Pulldown is the west coast's premier outdoor
bouldering competition and festive gathering for all levels of
climbers. The event is designed to instill environmental stewardship
that benefits the climbing community as a whole.

The Festival includes
· Live Music
· The west coast premier of the Reel Rock Tour
· Camping
· Sponsor Booths
· Dyno Comp.

Located 28 miles north of Ojai with easy access to Hwy 101 and Hwy 5
Pine Mountain is centrally located in California.

For more information and to register please visit www.pinemountaincomp.com

Is it August Already?

Earlier this month I went on a road bike tour of Idaho with Shelly, Ross & Ed – we rode over 400 miles in a week - took in some fabulous scenery, tackled plenty of rough hill climbs, relaxed in the lava hot springs, explored the local breweries, laughed so much that my face and abs were sore – basically had a blast every single day of the ride! Thanks Guys!

Ed, Carrie, Shelly, Me, Ross & a giant potato

Beautiful Idaho scenery

Me on a road in Idaho

Ed and a geyser in Soda Springs

After miles of riding all summer my legs feel super strong but I’ve got the itch to climb again! Not just bouldering mind you, I’m dying to do some trad & sport climbing! Frank and I decided to start exploring more of our local areas. We’ve lived in Flagstaff for 8 years but we haven’t climbed at several of the areas Flagstaff has to offer - embarrassing. This past weekend we hit The West Elden boulders – well, we wanted to check out the trad climbing there but got sucked into the bouldering. We thought this might happen so luckily we brought a crash pad. We had so much fun! We’re definitely going back to boulder but a handful of routes were calling our names… I love Flagstaff.

Frank exploring the West Elden Boulders

Sunset after a fun day at West Elden

Right now I’m trying to catch up with work since I’ve been on vacation. Ugh! Summer’s not over yet, My Dad & Marla are arriving tomorrow for their annual Flagstaff adventure. Lots of climbing, mountain biking & kayaking to be done and next weekend I’m dragging them to the Pine Mountain Pulldown for the ultimate climbing festival. My goal is to make sure they return home good & tired ;-)

My Dad & Marla on their 2007 Flagstaff Adventure

Looking for a fun place to play!

I'm planning our fall trips to climbing areas and events. If you know of any events this fall where a VooDoo Climbing Hold & Crash Pad Booth would be welcome please send an email to gina@voodooholds.com
I promise to bring lots of screaming deals on VooDoo Climbing & Bouldering Gear!
Looking forward to a fabulous fall season "on the rocks"
Cheers!
Gina

New Climbing Gym - Hangar 18 Riverside

The New Hangar 18 in Riverside, CA opens tomorrow! I hear climbing is free on the grand opening day - too bad Riverside is about 8 hours from here. Congrats Zach & Louie - the gym looks beautiful!

Construction shots of the new gym:

happy 4th!

I'm really behind on the blog posting lately! You know how Summer is... after months of cold winter weather it's tough to stay indoors and stare at a computer when you really don't have to. I've been riding my bike like crazy - putting in lots of miles in preparation for a week long cycling trip in August. I'd like to be out climbing - but my finger injury is back and it seems like a good idea to let it rest for a while. I figure all of this cycling will just make heel hooks and mantles feel sooooo easy when I do get back to bouldering & oh the endurance! If you've tried calling VooDoo this week you know we're closed - we took off for a week to Surprise Frank's Mom & Dad in Bend, Oregon. They're celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow & boy were they surprised when we showed up at their front door! It was great! Just got back from Bend's famous pet parade downtown - so funny, I'll post photos as soon as I can find my usb cable.
Happy 4th!

Long time, no blog

Maybe it’s the weather but it seems like all of the blogs I check out on a daily basis are at a standstill – mine included ;-) I have a few good excuses… I started summer school classes and I plan on taking more classes this fall…why? Well, I’d like to learn some serious graphic and web design skills so I can contribute more than just the concepts and a bunch of pencil sketches to our ’09 VooDoo print catalog and our new website. I’m really psyched on this new challenge. Another reason I’ve been slacking on the blog is because we’ve been crazy busy here at VooDoo! It’s awesome! Typically in the summer things start to slow down a bit - as most people head outdoors to play (Frank & I included), but this year we’re “getting busy” in our so called off season. Crash Pads are rocking; holds are flying out the door. I’m still working on sorting through the 1000+ climbing hold molds heading to our manufacturer this summer to increase our line – it’s been tough finding time to fit it all in but I’m getting oh so close. Did I mention Frank finally agreed to make dog beds for me??? We’ve had a surprisingly great response to the beds – I’m so happy, I just got a new VooDoo Royale in Aqua Velvet and a Dog bed to match ;-)
So many new things going on at VooDoo and lots of new opportunities to explore with great people – the future looks bright…

Some photos from the last week or so

Frank's latest custom hand built bike frame - a 650B single speed

Rich showing us how it's done

Rox, looking good

Frank bouldering while Rich & Sue (our little dog on top of the boulder) share a moment

Rox starting the traverse

Mr. Red and our 12 year old cat Chunks testing the new Pet Beds