Gear I’m reviewing right now…

I’ve been doing a bunch of product reviewing lately… mostly for gear that I’ve purchased for myself for this season’s outdoor adventures. For those of you who couldn’t care less what I wear or use, I’ll refrain from repeating my reviews here on the blog. But, in case you’re interested in what I’m reviewing this season, here are links to the various reviews in other places on the interwebs:

Ibex Wool

I have been an Ibex fan for years, since their wool doesn’t make me itch, it smells and stays cleaner than synthetics, and their products are exceptionally durable given the abuse I subject them too. I just did a big Ibex order, and have submitted reviews of the Ibex women’s Balance Sport Top, Rue skirt and Jacy capri. I love and am wearing the crap out of each piece. If I could live in nothing but Ibex, with a piece here and there from my other apparel favorites, I would. As we speak, I’m in my Jacy capris… and have been off and on since last Wednesday. Even after several days of wear and air travel and sleeping in them, they still look great. I’ve found the Rue skirt to be a very pleasant surprise — it’s great for camping (stays super cool and is easy to change clothes with a bit more modesty, and … um … well … I’ll just say it. It makes peeing in the woods really easy and a bit more discrete than pants).

I know Ibex is higher priced than apparel made with other, less expensive fabrics, but I’d rather have a few pieces I adore that I can wear over and over between washes, and that will last even with hard wear than a closet full of cheaper, less durable clothes. I’ve recommended Ibex to many friends, and have chatted Ibex with other gear heads, and so far I have yet to hear anything other than thumbs up. Look forward to more Ibex reviews, in an upcoming mountain bike gear special post.

Lole Swimwear and Victoria Tank

Lole is one of my favorite apparel lines, so I was stoked when they came out with swimwear. The pieces I ordered — two tops and a bottom — have exceeded my expectations both for swimming and, the tops, for climbing wear. I reviewed the Regatta top and the Coral Triangle Top at Backcountry.com.

For a bonus, I got to review my favorite tank of the year, the Lole Victoria tank. It’s a tank I fell in love with trying it on at REI, then it has exceeded my expectations for climbing, bouldering, and for casual wear. I’m thinking I should have titled this post, apparel that’s WAY cuter in real life than in the picture, since it doesn’t look like anything special in that picture… but on, it looks great. I like the way it shows off my climbergirl back and my shoulders, but it skims the middle nicely so it isn’t snug around the waist. It’s got an effective built-in shelf bra, but because the outer fabric is a bit looser, you don’t get that smooshed look that some sportsbra / tank combos give. All in all, I really like this tank.

Jetboil PCS

My buddies at PembaServes have been advocating the Jetboil line to me since I started shopping stoves, but I was really drawn to the big, old, liquid fuel Coleman stoves. After trying a Coleman liquid fuel, which is a great stove for its purpose, but which is more complication to light than I care for before my morning coffee, I saw a Jetboil PCS on sale and thought about giving it a try. After a quick call to the good folks at Pemba Serves to arm me with comebacks for my liquid-fuel-fan friends criticism of a canister stove, I plunked down the change for my Jetboil PCS, and we’ve been living in bliss together ever since. Here’s the full review at campsaver.com.

Oboz Valhalla

I recently reviewed the Oboz Valhalla (and Bridgedale Ventum Light Hikers) for RockClimbing.com. They look like an approach shoe, and I found them to be a great replacement for my old approach shoes, despite the lack of truly sticky rubber. The full review is here at rockclimbing.com.

KT Tape

The big surprise out of my review pile recently has been KT Tape. It may not be glamorous, but this stuff is awesome. I have a history of patellar tendinitis, so I go through a cycle with my knees of training, injury, rehab, training, injury, rehab. One thing that’s really helped is McConnell Taping, but McConnell Taping has distinct downsides. For one, it means packing bandage scissors for cutting the tape required. Two, the tape has a limited “life span,” especially in hot weather. Three, the McConnell technique is really “strong” … it holds the kneecap pretty firmly in place, which is good for healing tendinitis, but it doesn’t feel to me like it’s good for all the surrounding muscles and tendons, because it’s a pretty firm hold.

I first learned about Kinesio taping during my first big round of elbow tendinitis a few years back. My Physical Therapist used Kinesio taping to help with my elbow rehab, and it helped in a HUGE way. The theories are explained on that website, but my experience was that it provided incredibly gentle support, while allowing a more regular range of motion — it was less of a “hard stop” than the McConnell Taping, and more of a light support. The downside of Kinesio taping is that the tape had to be applied by the physical therapist, and it only stayed on for a day or two before the adhesive lost its stick.

When KT Tape asked me to review their new at-home, consumer-oriented product I was stoked. I’m increasing my hiking and biking, which means I need to have a strategy for managing my knees. I was optimistic that KT Tape could be part of that solution and it has.

The tape is easy to apply, without scissors. The strips are pre-cut, and instructions are included for a number of typical injuries. The KT Tape website has videos demonstrating proper application and so far, the KT Tape has been performing great for my knees. I’m curious to try it on my bicep tendons, since there’s a “front of shoulder” application video, but I haven’t yet. I’ll keep you posted, as I continue to use it, on how it performs over time.

That’s about it for now… I have a bunch of other reviews in the pipeline, but nothing ready for prime time just yet. If you have a product that you’d like to see reviewed on retail sites or on my blog, please email me!

Filed under: Gear, Shameless commercialism

Boulder Canyon, Outdoor Retailer & a PDX event this week!

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on the road most of last week and this week. Last week was Denver / Boulder / Colorado, and it was absolutely fantastic. I hope to do a more detailed trip report, but for now, you can enjoy a few photos by the talented Ben Fullerton of our Tweetup in Boulder Canyon. I’m incredibly grateful to all of my CO friends who turned out (and, especially, Erika and her puppycats and kittens who shared their home with me).

Today I’m off again, but more on that later.

In the meantime, if you’re going to be at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show, and we haven’t connected, please drop me a comment or an email. My schedule is pretty booked up, but I still have windows available for appointments. I’ll be covering the show here, and on my Twitter feed as media, and I’m super excited to meet even more of my outdoor biz Inernet friends in person.

Finally, this just in from Portland, OR:

If you’re in or around Portland, OR, come on out this Thursday, June 25th. Keith Daellenbach will be discussing the Madrone Wall Preservation Committee’s 12-year fight to create a public park at Portland’s premier rock climbing area, which is currently closed to access.

Learn how YOU can help save this civic treasure and create a new Clackamas County park.

See the Committee’s details here:
http://www.savemadrone.org/

Keith will do a Q&A after the formal presentation, and FREE door prizes will be raffled too. Come by the Mountain Hardwear store at 722 SW Taylor Street – the talk starts at 6 pm.

More details are here:

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Events.aspx

Get out and show your support if you’re able! Thanks, and I look forward to catching up once this jet setting month is over!

Filed under: Climbing Photos, Events, Good Causes

Busy weekends, busy weeks…

This has to be snappy, since it’s late, and I’ve prescribed myself eight hours of sleep a night to try to help my body recover from a hectic and intense schedule the last few weeks…

First, join ClimbFind.com, and follow @climbfind on Twitter. The guys, and their sweet van, may be coming to a town near you soon (and, they want to make sure you never have another Friday where all your climbing partners have bailed). More on that in a minute…

Despite the necessity of packing for this week’s Denver trip (come tweetup with me in Boulder! I decided to do the irresponsible thing and go climbing instead. GR and I headed for Tieton, one of my favorite Washington climbing areas. We had another fantastic day, armed with an ambitious ticklist, at Lava Point. He was on fire, and I was able to tick another 10b on lead, and worked a hard 10c on lead, which are the grades I’m trying to consolidate. I felt mentally ON during the 10b lead, which is something I’m working hard on, so all in all it was a rewarding day despite me not being able to clean all of GR’s routes thanks to my still-healing fingers.

This morning we changed plans… original plan was to hit the Bend for some trad climbing, but we were both pretty worked from Saturday, so when our third didn’t join us, we decided to join some new friends at the Caldera bouldering area. While we waited for them to show, we scouted the boulders and enjoyed the local wildlife. There are a few worthwhile boulders, and I’d definitely wind up a day out there, but when our new friends from Saturday didn’t show, we decided to try again to get to South Fork.

For South Fork aspirants, wait until after June 21. We did the long drive almost up to the crag following the directions in the Tieton guidebook, and the road was closed for a road construction project. We asked a passing construction truck if we could do the approach to the climbing at all, and they said no. They also indicated the road is still snowed in, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to sample the routes at South Fork.

The weather was only getting more ominous, and we were only getting more tired, so we turned toward home. Which, actually, worked out for the best!

We made it home in time to catch Jonathan from ClimbFind.com at our very own Kitsap Vertical World. Jonathan is traveling the western U.S. to spread the word about ClimbFind, which allows you to find and connect with climbing partners both close to home, and far from it. There’s also extensive information about climbing areas and gyms on there (more information in some geographic areas than others). I joined a few weeks ago (bucking convention, I’m just plan “sara” on there), and have already posted a couple of pictures from Tieton, and look forward to connecting with climbers via the site. We had a great time, GR and I working endurance for the first time in weeks after overindulging the last few months at our bouldering buffets, and Candace and Jonathan leading their way around the gym. Jonathan and Kevin are stopping next in Portland, then heading south to San Francisco, so get out and say hi at your local gym, and they’ll be happy to give you the grand tour of their incredibly sweet van.

Now, back to packing. Tomorrow night’s the deadline for submitting your most romantic climbing or outdoor stories to enter to win a great gift basket from Kiss My Face… then Tuesday I’m off to Colorado for a week of meeting friends, seeing family, and hopefully a little climbing if I’m lucky!

Filed under: In the gym, The climbing life, Tieton

Wrist schmist, or how to train for climbing without using your arms (much)

Right now, I’m typing with one hand while the other soaks in an ice bath. I’ve been rehabbing my left bicep tendon, and my right index finger, for the last couple of weeks. Luckily, neither is serious, but both were overtrained and headed for serious if I didn’t back off, get some rest, and shift my focus to rehab exercises, stretching and conditioning.

Luckily, I have friends with stories, who can type with two hands.

Cue the amazing, bad ass Lydia. Read on for her story of climbing injury heartbreak, rehabilitation, and unfailing optimism. Plus, I’m the least yoga’d person I know, so enjoy the tips from Lydia that I could never give you myself! And, allow me one editorial comment… this is an example of why I don’t ski! Thank you for sharing your story, Lydia!

About Lydia… she climbs, hikes and designs and loves adventures with her dog Isabel. For more info, check out www.lydiawhitehead.com or follow her on Twitter.

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It was end of January and I was just starting to feel the mid-winter blues. I couldn’t go outside to climb (unless I wanted to hike through snow and freeze my fingers and toes off, which I did not), so I’d begun a super regular regime of gym climbing and was excited at the prospect of being ready for harder climbs outside in the spring. To help with the winter blues and enjoy the outdoors, I thought I’d try a winter sport. So I went snowboarding for the first time with a friend of mine who’s a seasoned snowboarder.

And that’s when it happened.

I took a lesson to get comfortable with the basics and at the end, I strapped completely into the board (we’d practiced with just one foot strapped, to get used to the feeling of the board on snow) and proceeded to take a nasty backwards fall down the bunny hill.

Not one of my finer moments.

In the process of taking that spectacular fall (and oh, was it spectacular, feet up over the head and everything), I also managed to sprain my right wrist. Brilliant. My first thought was, Crap, I need this wrist to climb on! I’ve just been injured in a sport that isn’t even one I practice regularly! Oh funny sense of humor the universe has.

The pain was intense for the first hour, but after some ice and immobilization, it waned oh-so-slightly and I thought to myself, at this rate, I could probably be back climbing in a week or so. Optimist, I am.

The doctor had other ideas. The diagnosis was no climbing, no putting any weight on the wrist for any reason, move it as little as possible for 6-8 weeks. Which meant that Super Regular Climbing Regime for Maximum Spring Fitness® was out the window.

What now?

While I was totally bummed, I knew that I didn’t want the inability to use my wrist stop me from training for climbing. Instead, I decided I would do everything I could training-wise that didn’t require the use of my wrist. This, by the way, was frustrating, because at that point I really wanted to focus on strengthening my upper body. Let’s not talk about how many pull ups I could do at that time (pull ups are still a big challenge for me).

So, I put an emphasis on strengthening my core and working on my balance, both important things for climbing. Here’s what I did:

Yoga Poses

For balance, I started in Mountain Pose, moved to Tree Pose, then moved to Warrior III Pose. I returned to Mountain Pose and then repeated the sequence with the other foot. As it got easier, I held the poses longer and also practiced them with my eyes closed.

For core work, I held Full Boat Pose and slowly lowered to the floor into Corpse Pose. I then did Dolphin Plank Pose, and from there moved down into Locust Pose to strengthen my back.

Balance Ball Exercises
For back strength, I did something similar to Locust Pose, see here and here.

For core strength, I did ab crunches (on a balance ball, these are much more difficult!)

Aside from the above, I did regular floor crunches with variations, as well as lunges. I added more cardio by running at least 3 times per week (which was difficult to find motivation for, it was winter, remember?)

In training that way, I found that I was happy to be doing *something* to advance my climbing ability and I felt my balance and core did improve. It also made those six weeks seem to go by faster. And it brought me back to running, something I enjoy but had fallen out of the practice of doing.

I’ve had my wrist back for a few months now, but I’ve kept most of those exercises in my training schedule. Now that I can climb again, I feel that I’m climbing with a bit more control and balance on the wall. Routes at the gym that were somewhat wobbly for me before the injury are less so now, which makes my heart do a tiny little fist pump and say “Yesssss!” I’m still no climbing bad ass, but I’ll take any improvement I can get.

Your results may vary, but this worked quite splendidly to get me through my climbing hiatus and keep me out of the injury doldrums.

Filed under: Guest Posts, Injuries and Rehab, Training

What’s your most romantic climbing (edit, or outdoors) story? Enter to win!

Two very dear climbing friends, Sarah and Jeff, are getting married. Sarah is my climbergirl mentor… were it not for her careful nurturing during my formative climbing years, I would not be the climber — or, for that matter, the woman — I am today. In the best of relationships, the parties bring out the very best in each other, and that’s what I know of Sarah and Jeff together. I’m excited to celebrate with them, and their friends and families tomorrow, and excited to see where their life together takes them.

So, right now I’m wrapping wedding presents and listening to nontraditional love songs. It got me to thinking…

There’s got to be room for romance in climbing, right?

With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce the second RockClimberGirl.com contest!

To enter, please send your most romantic climbing or outdoors story to thegirl@rockclimbergirl.com by Monday, June 15th at 8:00pm, Pacific Time. Send pictures, if you’ve got ‘em!

Originally, this was announced as a “romantic stories in rock climbing” contest, but so far there hasn’t been an overwhelming response. Maybe the answer to the question posed above is… not so much. As a result, I’m expanding the criteria. Tell me your most romantic climbing or outdoors story, to enter to win!

Thanks to the fantastic folks at Kiss My Face, the winning story will receive a set of the Kiss My Face Suncare line. Kiss My Face is one of my all time favorite skin, hair and sun care brands. Their sun line provides UVA/UVB protection, with high SPF, no parabens, gentle ingredients, and recyclable packaging (and I’ve used and loved products from their line for years).

I can’t wait to start reading, so start writing! And, to the uber-patient @dloo, who’s still waiting for his prize from my first contest, I swear, I haven’t forgotten!

Filed under: Contests, Partners, The climbing life

Option secured to purchase Index Lower Town Walls, preserves climbing access

Thanks to the hard work of the Washington Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund, an option has been secured for climbers to purchase the Lower Town Wall area at Index, WA. I’d expect an update to go online at the WCC site today or soon…

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/

And in the meantime, here’s the message Matt Perkins sent out earlier to the Friends of Index Facebook group.

On Monday June 1 we actually received a signed “option” from the owner of the Lower Town Wall at Index. Yesterday, the Owner received the down payment and we recorded the option in Snohomish County property records. This document sets the purchase price and gives the Washington Climbers Coalition time to raise money. It also gives climbers the right to climb at Index Lower Town Wall in the mean time. That’s a lot better than a “no trespassing” sign, huh?

And, here’s the press release by the Access Fund, when the option was first secured.

Now, get ready to fundraise!

Filed under: Access, Index

Option secured to purchase Index Lower Town Walls, preserves climbing access

Thanks to the hard work of the Washington Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund, an option has been secured for climbers to purchase the Lower Town Wall area at Index, WA. I’d expect an update to go online at the WCC site today or soon…

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/

And in the meantime, here’s the message Matt Perkins sent out earlier to the Friends of Index Facebook group.

On Monday June 1 we actually received a signed “option” from the owner of the Lower Town Wall at Index. Yesterday, the Owner received the down payment and we recorded the option in Snohomish County property records. This document sets the purchase price and gives the Washington Climbers Coalition time to raise money. It also gives climbers the right to climb at Index Lower Town Wall in the mean time. That’s a lot better than a “no trespassing” sign, huh?

And, here’s the press release by the Access Fund, when the option was first secured.

Now, get ready to fundraise!

Filed under: Access, Index