What makes a good training session?

Forget “state-of-the-art” facilities. Professionally set problems. Fresh brewed kombucha and gourmet salads served upstairs. A true transcendental session? That’s about your crew. The partners and psych that push you to try harder than you thought was possible.

Black Diamond X SOHI: Sessions
Video: SOHI Studios

We recently rolled tape during a session with the local SOHI squad. Taking place on a legendary woody in Steven Jeffrey’s garage, this motley crew of SLC climbers got together for an evening of pulling plastic. Built in the 90’s while Jeffrey was quietly establishing some of the world’s hardest problems at the time, like his 1997 masterpiece No Additives (V13) in Joe’s Valley, this board still stands. Only now it’s a training ground for a new generation of under-cover crushers.

A climber trains on a woody.

Featuring Noah Keithly, Toinon Beigné, Sean Faulkner, Sophia Hoermann, and Finn Stack, this session is as real as it gets. With Bobby Vannoy and Leo Wilson behind the lens, we catch a glimpse of what makes a true training night stand out.

 

It’s when the music, friends, and energy all combine for that perfect moment.

 

And a move that felt impossible goes down.

 

That’s what the session is all about.

 

Believing in possible.

A climber gets a spot from a friend on a training wall.

The partners and psych that push you to try harder than you thought was possible.

A man stands on a ladder to take a photograph.
A pair of climbers watch their friend climb above them
A climber training on a woody in the shed.
A climber grips a crimp on a home gym spray wall

And a move that felt impossible goes down. That’s what the session is all about. Believing in possible.