The VooDoo Climbing Blog

1/6/08

happy new year!

I didn't think anything could top the Christmas Santa brought my super cool silver glitter ten-speed, OR the year the oh-so-hot barbie dream house was under the tree!
It's snowing like crazy here in Flagstaff, AZ & it's hard to adjust after a fabulous holiday in Maui! Thanks P&W for the best Christmas ever!

12/10/07

fun with friends, bouldering, brownies & snow...

...Pretty much sums up my birthday. Our wonderful friends Rich & Rox brought over loads of deliciously evil snacks and we went out to our climbing wall, put up lots of holds & climbed until the brownies & homebrew started calling our names.... what a fun night, thanks guys! So happy Jeff & Sam were able to join in the fun!

12/4/07

so in love with voodoo

Planned on going to the climbing gym or yoga with my girlfriends tonight. It’s been difficult to squeeze in some “Gina Time“ now that the holiday busy season has kicked in at VooDoo. Frank kept busy sewing today. He roped me into selecting fabrics for the next run of everything - my favorite part of the job. In between his huge day of sewing & his tig welding class he managed to put up a couple more panels on our climbing wall… I love that man! My Birthday is just around the corner and he’s trying to finish the wall before then (this wall is supposed to be my gift)…. See why I love him???? So I bailed on the climbing gym & the yoga class. Instead - while Frank was learning more about welding titanium - I spent my evening digging out our long lost stash of climbing holds, wrenches & bolts. Blasting every Pixies album in our music library... I slapped loads of holds onto our climbing wall! Oh what FUN! Uncovered so many classic shapes that are missing in our current production line. Inspiring to say the least… I'm really motivated to get some of the classics back into production… and even more psyched to get our NEW stuff molded! I love my new wall - Yes, sooooo in love with VooDoo… after all these years ;-)

some pics before I went to work - more to come

11/30/07

the dirtbag diaries

Had a fun visit this week with our friend Fitz. He produces the Dirtbag Diaries; an adventure podcast dedicated to untold stories of near misses, life changing experiences and humorous moments in wild places. Check it out http://www.dirtbagdiaries.com/

11/21/07

our old / new climbing wall

Those of you that have been out to the VooDoo compound might remember the pile of climbing wall panels under tarps being used as a napping spot for our 2 cats - well they're finally being resurrected & redesigned. So we'll have about a 25x12' climbing wall just in time for winter.

wall construction

Frank

rough draft model

right panel

side view

11/17/07

white rim trail - canyonlands national park

6 friends, 3 days of riding, 2 nights camping & 100 miles covered in one of the coolest places on earth! Such a fun trip - we're already planning a longer white rim adventure for the Spring or Fall of '08 - we're hoping to squeeze in at least one tower next time.

Jeff - Shelly - Gina (me) - Frank

Shelly & Gina playing on the Musselman Arch

Gina

Art - Frank - Jeff

Frank - Gina - Shelly - Mary - Art - Jeff

A few VooDoo Innovations

Environmentally Responsible
The original environmentally responsible urethane climbing hold: VooDoo holds are made with a bombproof semi elastic mix. Our specially formulated polyurethane mix is non TDI, non mercury and our pigments are lead free, creating a safer climbing hold for the buyer and the manufacturer. After 15 years of working with urethanes and understanding all of the benefits we’re happy to see other hold companies are finally switching to urethanes.

Pure Base Technology
VooDoo created a unique manufacturing process that allows us to laminate a pure, semi-flexible base (comparable to the consistency of a modern skateboard wheel) to the standard core material of our holds. The advantages:
*Semi-flexible base adjusts to the surface contours of climbing walls
*Softer base creates more friction between the hold and the wall, dramatically reducing spinning holds.
*Improves the safety and durability of our holds by allowing the edge of the hold to flex rather than chip off and create ugly and sometimes dangerous sharp edges.
*Pure Base does not alter the shape or the texture of the climbing hold, and has been tested to withstand the common cleaning solutions used by climbing gyms across the country.

Dual Texture holds
VooDoo was the first to create dual texture holds and we are still the best at it. The slick texture forces the climber to use the textured gripping surface on the hold which requires more accuracy. Dual texture holds are many course setters’ favorites because they make it difficult to cheat a move.

Hollow Back holds
VooDoo revolutionized the hold industry by inventing the hollow back hold. The hollow backs make our holds lightweight and easier to handle while setting routes. By using less material we keep the cost of the hold and shipping down.

Sliding bolts
Another VooDoo innovation, with a sliding bolt there are more options to use existing t nut locations, allowing you to slide the bolt where you need it. Two attachment points make it so the bigger holds can’t spin.