Climbing Diary

How much does equipment for this kind of hobby run? I have friends (abroad) that do this and I have always thought about getting into it. Then again, I don't wanna end up like Cliff Hanger you know.

To get started,

Shoes - $70-100 essential
Chalk bag - $15 essential

You can do light bouldering with just the first two items, especially inside a gym (pics of that to follow). If you want to go outdoors and do stuff higher than about 15 feet high, you need more gear, in this case -


Crash pad - $100 optional
Harness (you'll need at least 2, one for you and one for the belayer) - $70
Rope - $150-200, only need this if you are going to do stuff taller than about 15 feet high or so.

So, I'd say an investment of $200 is more than enough to get started. I also pay a monthly gym membership of around $60, which is a good deal considering that it's a huge gym.

I can't even begin to describe how much fun it is.

Cycloptichorn

I have been told that many Californians measure a day's success by how much "fun" was extracted during the day. I believe that might be a regional idiosyncrasy, if it is true to any degree. I would have guessed though that "cool" would be the unit of measurement for a day's success, at least back in the '60's?

Times have changed?

It has nothing to do with location, but rather, state of mind. A day's success is only measured by 'fun' if fun is the original object of the day.

Cyclopichorn

The problem with describing something as "fun" is that it seems to be so subjective, yet many who designate something as "fun" may be giving the impression that the "fun" designation is an objective truism. And, if one suffers from anhedonia, nothing can be fun.

If one can break a leg, arm, or other body part by climbing, I think climbing should be in another category besides fun. Possibly, "thrill seeking behavior to enhance one's brain dopamine"? Or possibly, "male bonding activity that has few women"?

And, the rappeling experience can get one hired as an extra, perhaps, in a WWII commando type movie?

I would guess that many a mother, girl friend, fiancee, or wife has doubts that climbing as an activity is the best use of someone's leisure time. Not that any anxiety in these ladies would deter an avid climber from his "fun", I would guess!

You might think so, but you would be completely wrong. Women make fantastic climbers and I know a lot of them personally.

I don't blame you; I too had an impression that climbing was a male, upper-body strength dominated sport. And to a certain extent, upper body strength is very important. But my first time going to the gym, I was shocked to see that the place was full of women, and what more, they were ALL better than me, even though I had more upper-body strength than 90% of them.

Balance, poise, breathing, technique; all these things are the REAL skills and attributes needed to be a successful climber, and women have them in abundance.



Another misconception on your part. The odds of breaking a leg or other body part through climbing are close to zero. Safety equipment has evolved to the point where, if a simple set of safety rules are followed every time, there is little to no danger at all; certainly less than riding a bicycle or many other physical activities which could well be described as fun.

Went climbing in the gym yesterday, started to do some tough cave problems; these completely invert your body and require a greater deal of grip strength than I am used to or comfortable with, so I've been working on this deficiency in my form. So much of climbing lies not in the arms but in the core muscles; control of one's center and center of gravity are critical to success.

This isn't me, but it's essentially what I was doing -



Cycloptichorn

very awesome I miss it much!!

Climbing going well. I am a hair away from conquering my first V4 problem. I can get to the last piece but am so exhausted that it's hard to keep my balance and reach the finish. I'll take a picture of it tonight and post here.

This is my friend Leon's Nephew, I've been following his workout advice lately -



Highly recommend it.

Cycloptichorn

It's great fun. Climbing is one of the things that kept me sane in grad school. And if I'm very much mistaken, I was climbing at the same place you were, Cyclo... the Ironworks, no? An absolutely amazing place.

Is there a helmet that you wear for that (I worry)?

Used to climb but it was as a part of mountain climbing. Back in the '70s, when I was a teenaged jes. Come East, I can recall that scrambling up Katahdin was great fun.

This pic is of the lower piece, as you're going past base camp at Chimney Pond:

I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear a helmet for indoor climbing, though I see it often enough outdoors. (I've done outdoor climbing myself only once... coincidentally on the exact same rock Cyclo posted.) The head tends not to be one of the "targets" in climbing injuries; mostly it's leg injuries in my experience.

Yeah, Ironworks! Cool.

Jes, we don't really wear helmets b/c we're not in an environment where you need 'em. In the gym is super-safe and a head injury would be almost unheard of. Outdoors, I would wear a helmet if I was doing sport climbing or multi-pitch in an area with looser rocks, but... I have yet to do this. the Bouldering that I mostly stick to is pretty light, by climbing standards, though full of hard moves.

Cycloptichorn

Went climbing this past weekend at Castle Rock state park near Santa Cruz, CA.

Here's what the park looks like -



The rock at Castle Rock is Sandstone, great for climbing, not sharp, with a nice rough surface for grip -



Those huge pockets are called Jugs or 'huecos' and make for great grips on most climbs there.

Started with a huge highball climb up the Mossy Slab -



Almost 40' high - scary! - but not too steep, you could just rest whenever you wanted. Great warm up.

Moved on to a crowded section of rock (Mr. Magoo) with several v1's and 2's.

Here I am going for a hold on a v1 traverse which was really sequencey on the feet -



I have a video of me making that one if I can figure out how to post it here. Here's the link to it tho -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjadventures/4364043901/in/set-72157623451908770/

Here's a hard v1, about 15' high with a big mantle topout at the end -



A video of me mantling to the finish on this problem -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjadventures/4364050199/in/set-72157623451908770/

And my buddy Chris doing big dyno to awesome topout of the same problem -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjadventures/4364793906/in/set-72157623451908770/

This rock is called The Spoon, and it's super-tough to finish. I couldn't finish but my friends did -



There is no graceful way over the top of this rock. Everyone ends up looking like this -



Or this -



My buddy Chris was happy that he made it tho.



Here is a tough v3 down the hill from the Spoon with a tiny crimp. It's even worse then it looks - there's nothing to hold onto there at all. My finger form is really bad in this picture -



The middle fingers should be pointed down like so -



Topping out from that tiny crimp is tough, here's Dan doing it -



The collaborative nature of climbing is fun, it's everyone working together and pumping each other up. Fun to applaud when your friends make tough routes.



A fun day! I'm progressing with the outdoor climbing pretty well.

Here I am calling my wife to tell her we'll be home soon.



Cheers
Cycloptichorn

RG showed me how to link the videos, so here we go:

v1 traverse topout -



Hard v1 mantle topout -



My buddy Chris doing a big Dyno on that same v1 -



A great day!

Cycloptichorn

On Sunday I pegged a v4 problem at the climbing gym for the first time. It only had one really tough move in it, the rest was easy; I think the problem was likely over-rated. But it is difficult to tell, as I keep getting better, if that's true or if I'm just progressing... must be a little of both, as there are a lot of v2 and v3 problems which are dead easy for me now, and I remember not being able to do ANY v2 problems last July.

Time to start working on a back and shoulder workout... gotta get a little more strength in some specific areas.

Cycloptichorn

Pegged another v4 yesterday and am close to getting several more. I guess I've officially leveled up now.

Tweaked my left groin muscle a little bit, must remember to stretch more before attempting difficult problems.

Cycloptichorn

I've done several more v4 problems over the last month and have reached the point where I feel very confident at working problems at that level. My biggest challenges now are keeping my core muscles tight on difficult moves, and working on my overall endurance for long and difficult routes.

As for top-roping, I got a 5.11a for the first time - yeah! Big step up for me, the best I ever finished before was a 5.10c. It was on the Slab at Ironworks so the pitch wasn't much of an issue.

Totally on pace for my goal of getting v5's this year... been working some of them but no success yet. Need more forearm and muscle strength, the 5's I've worked call for super-hard crimps and pinches and slopers...

Cycloptichorn

Neat.

I love watching rock climbers when I come across them on my journeys.

Lot's of concentratin' going on.

Wow, been a while since I posted anything in the diary.

A shoulder injury this year has been nagging me and I haven't progressed too much farther in terms of raw power. But my chest and back have filled out considerably and my technique has definitely improved.

Goat Rock, CA - this is where the ending to The Goonies was filmed back in the 80's. A fun day with some really highball v0 R-X routes (easy, but you could die, and it runs out at the top).













That was a damn good day.

Cycloptichorn