Ascend Summer Vault Club 2026

Peak Athletics has made a big change this year. This is the first year we will operate under our new name. Ascend Athletics is our new name and we will move to our new website this fall. (AscendPV.com) We are glad to be coming back for another great summer. We are a pole vaulting development group that’s goal is to improve athletes in not only pole vaulting, but overall athlete development. As well as pole vaulting we work on the development of strength, gymnastics, and speed development. We have use of an indoor turf area at the gym next door as well as a weight room.

Ascend has several options to get started for the summer. You can start in either May or June depending on your schedule. If you plan on doing the May and summer session please indicate which group you would like to attend for each.

The Coach: Chris Spear
26 Years involved in Pole Vaulting
Coaching: 20 Years
High School: Spain Park (2006)
College: Clemson (2010)
Post Collegiate: Bell Athletics
Personal Best: 17’ 3”
Accomplishments:
Former high school indoor record holder, 3 time state champion, All-ACC Athlete, NCAA qualifier, 2008 Penn Relays Medalist. Coach of multiple Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia State medalist and champions. Coach of a national runner up and 2 time national champion. Our athletes consistently medal and score at the state championship meet.

Cost: $950 June 1st - July 31st

$1,100 May 4th - July 31st

Cash or Check or Venmo (chris-spear-5)

Cards are also accepted with a 4.5% fee

Payments due by May 25th

May Session

Practices:

May 4th - May 30th

Monday/Wednesday: (4:00PM-6:30PM Group 1) (6:00-8:30PM Group 2) Jump Days

Tuesday/Thursday: (4:00 PM - 7:00 PM) Training Days

Summer Session

Jumping Days

Monday/Wednesday:

(2:30-5:00 PM Group 1)

(4:30-7:00 PM Group 2)

(6:30-9:00 PM Group 3)

If it rains on your jump day we will have a make up day on Fridays unless we have a meet or traveling for competition.

Form Running/Lifting Days

Tuesday/Thursday

(4:30-7:30 PM for all groups)

Location:

2790 Pelham Parkway

Pelham, Alabama 35124

Meets: (these are subject to change)

May 30th: Mary Birdwell Memorial (Hoover, AL)

June 6th: Yacht Club Beach Vault (Ocean Springs, MS)

June 13th: TBA Open

June 19th: Ascend Athletics Meet #1 (Pelham, AL)

June 28th: No Meet

July 4th: No Meet Independence Day

July 11th: Vulcan Vault (Pelham, AL)

July 18th: Dauphin Street (Mobile, AL)

July 25th: Atlanta Meet at Roundtrip Brewery (Atlanta, GA)

July 31st: Ascend Athletics Meet #2 (Pelham, AL)

Note:

Sign Ups for these meets are extremely limited so as soon as you sign up I will send you the information to register for these competitions. Also if you plan to do any (Mary Birdwell, Yacht Club, Vulcan, Dauphin, Atlanta)

Summer Club Athletes
As an athlete at Ascend you get Coaching, training, and weightlifting. You get use of nearly 200+ poles, access to gym, no entry fee for home meets at the facility and a uniform top your first year. (Travel, Hotels, USATF membership, and Entry fees for non home facility meets are not included.)

Commonly asked questions:

Q: Do the athletes have to attend every practice and every meet?

A: Athletes are not required to attend all practices and meets. Athletes are encouraged to come to all the practices. Consistent practice leads to a much more consistent jump. Hard to increase your PR if there is a big break between training sessions.

Q: What if you can only make it to the jumping sessions? (I.E. Live way out of town, work, Etc.)

A: That is a common problem for our athletes. We have several athletes who can only make jump days or the jump days and maybe one of the training days. All the workouts for the week we will be doing will be typed up and emailed out to the athletes by Monday night so that they can do them from their home facilities if they can’t make it on training days.

Q: Why does the camp cost what it does?

A: The camp for the summer I believe is priced at a reasonable cost for what all is being provided for the athletes. Most weekend camps cost $250 or more and are several hours away and require hotel stays. Members are also provided a uniform their first year and training. Also equipment and poles are expensive. I provide a full series of poles from bottom to top that is for the athletes use at practice and at competitions. Also we have doubles of most on hand so that if we have one break we don’t have to wait for another one to be delivered. If a pole breaks I do not charge the athlete for breaking a pole, unless they clearly broke it intentionally. One pole can cost nearly what a summer fee costs. We don’t want one to break, but we have to plan for the unforeseeable.

If attending please email me the sign up sheet with the subject line "Ascend Athletics Sign Up 2026" or if you have any other questions email me at chris.spear@ascendpv.com. Please send information below about doing the by May 6th so that I can order all the uniforms and sizes.