The inevitable ebb and flow of climbing

This week will be a bit quiet since I’m in full swing of preparation for Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2009, which I’m attending for the first time, as working media. I’m very excited to see and meet so many industry folk I admire, and to get a peek at what my favorite brands are up to for next season. I’ll be covering the event here at RockClimberGirl.com and via Twitter. If you’re going to the show, please drop me a note so that we can try to meet up.

In climbing news, I’ve spent most of the last few weekends getting my ass handed to me on trad routes at Index, WA. While the logical progression would be to spend some time at Squamish and Leavenworth, which have an abundance of good, confidence-building 5.7 – 5.9 trad routes, my schedule hasn’t allowed for Squamish, and my climbing partners have been at Index, so that’s where I’ve been. And, that’s where I’ve been getting spanked, repeatedly, by routes that are well within my climbing ability, but which feel absolutely impossible when I add in the complexity of placing my own gear.

I’ll figure it out. I’ve had some successes each weekend, even if I haven’t ticked off a bunch of routes. I’ve tried routes on lead even with the risk that they’ll be hard for me, and so far I’ve had a strong showing on the technical cruxes of routes like Godzilla and Toxic Shock, but I haven’t had the tank full of bold that it takes to finish the entire route. I get half-way up those long-ish pitches, and I just can’t summons the bold to set out into the unknown any longer. I had a success on Toxic Shock last weekend, even though I didn’t finish my lead — I bailed off the lead after the crux, after the slabby transition, and partway up the upper crack. I pro in, which I knew was good, but I just couldn’t get myself to commit to the upper crack. Every time I’ve toproped it, I’ve wound up in a lieback, so my muscle memory was of how strenuous that lieback is, and my thoughts were about how difficult it would be to place gear from that position. I tried a few times to advance without liebacking, and ultimately, gave up. I lowered off, my partner finished the lead, and I set out to clean.

That time, I was determined to climb the upper crack straight in, without liebacking. A funny thing happened — I did exactly what I set out to do. I climbed the crack straight in, and it actually felt EASY. I felt, at each step, like my jams were solid, and like I’d be just fine to place gear on that part of the pitch (contrary to my worries from the stances I bailed off of). The climbing was much easier straight in than in a lieback — it just takes discipline to stay in a straight-in position, ’cause the crack really tries to throw you into a lieback. I’m optimistic, now, that I can lead Toxic Shock, and look forward to getting back on it.

I’m also proving my worth as an incredibly good gear cleaner (knock on wood), having now recovered a #4 Camalot and a yellow C3 that the leader thought were stuck. That gave me the epiphany… I’m really good at the things that I have lots of experience with. I have a LOT of experience as a gear cleaner and follower, and I’m really GOOD at it as a result. I have less experience as a gear leader, so it’s just going to take me awhile to build up that base of experience, and I need to be patient with myself.

Luckily, my climbing partners climb with me even when my head’s in one of these “not bold” stages. And, I just had my first fantastic post-rehab climbing gym session tonight, where I climbed hard, on lead, and took risks, and succeeded part of the time and took some fun falls the rest of the time. So, hopefully I’m getting over the psychology of coming off an injury, and I can get my bold tank back to “Full” for my next few tries at trad leading.

How’s your climbing season going? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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

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

In the gym… and a fear of falling update…

So, my March has been unusually light on outdoor climbing. I think partly, I was spoiled rotten to get to go to Red Rock once in January and again the first weekend in March (which is usually my season opener at Vantage or Smith) so my trip rhythm is just a little bit off. Combine that with work stress, and the more-than-usual recovery I needed after my second Red Rock trip, and I’ve been a mostly indoor climber lately.

Usually when I get back from a trip, the gym is a necessary evil. I know I need to do it, but the last thing I want to do is pull on plastic. I usually spend my first day back in the gym on the cracks, since they’re at least a little bit like climbing outside. I ease myself back onto routes, usually climbing a level or two below what I did before my trip and recovery, then work my way back up to climbing at max. I also keep up with my antagonist muscle training (dips, bench, push-ups) and abs, which I never bother to do when I’m actually on trips. That’s been the rhythm that’s kept me from getting frustrated, and kept me making forward progress, for the last two seasons or so.

Lately, though, I’ve been having an unusual amount of fun in the gym. It all started with a whipper…

I was in the gym with Climbing Partner… we’ve been making an effort to lead in the gym more than we had through the winter, to work on our lead heads for the outdoor season. The gym doesn’t directly translate, since the bolts are SO close together compared to outside, but still — it’s better than nothing. We had gotten in a good warm-up, and I’d just started doing sets of leads at about my lead onsight level, and some a bit harder. I hopped on a route at a grade that would typically be difficult but do-able for me with maybe one take; I made it two bolts, got scared, wasn’t feeling it, and lowered off. I cursed the route (“that’s no fun! It’s just stupid, and scary!”) indulged in a momentary bad attitude about it, then had a drink of water, had a snack, belayed my partner, and tied back in and sent the route. It wasn’t pretty — I was scared, and nervous, but stubborn, and I knew I had to reset my head, so I went at it. Afterward I felt proud of myself for turning it around, but I knew I needed to relax and work on my flow, so that I wasn’t just panic-ing my way up routes the rest of the night.

I got on to lead a known, trusted route one tick easier that I’ve toproped about three hundred times. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s a route I’ve done a bunch. I started up, feeling good, relaxed, having fun. I flowed, I climbed, I clipped bolts, and then, about a bolt from the top…

“uh…

I don’t remember this…

um…

wow, I’m unbelievably pumped…”

I moved out right to a slopey envelope slot, but my feet just felt off. I downclimbed a move to an easier rest, and tried again. My feet were still off. If I trusted the envelope slot, and got my other hand up to the next good edge, I’d make a clip off that edge. I was way too pumped to try to clip off the envelope slot, so if I trusted it to move up, I was risking a few-foot lead fall since I was just above the bolt. I decided I’d rather try than take, thinking that usually when I try I stick it and the risk is worth it, and plus – my belayer will catch me… so I moved out to the envelope slot, tried to push up with my still-not-right feet and I fell.

I fell so fast, and with so much surprise (even though I should have seen it coming) that I didn’t even get a warning out to my belayer. He caught me, surprised himself since we’ve been climbing together for a year plus and I’m not sure I’ve ever taken a real lead fall on him before. I climbed up to my high point and tried it again, and fell again. By that point, I was STOKED. Two lead falls, not scared, still relaxed, still having fun, and ready for more. I figured out the footwork (I was missing a hold entirely) and finished the route.

It was awesome.

I have always struggled with my fear of falling. I’ve done test falls, which actually haven’t helped a whole lot… yes, I gain the muscle memory that falls can be safe, but for some reason, test falls don’t help my head. They make me scared. That night in the gym was a breakthrough for me… real training falls, caught by my belayer, were what I needed in order to be less afraid and to more accurately calculate my risk in a given situation.

The very next time I went into the gym, a Girl Scout group was there for an intro class. One of my friends asked if I’d do a lead climb demonstration and take a lead fall for the girls… I was stoked to get to do both. I didn’t get in a solid warmup… just one route at way sub-max… and then tied in for a climb I’d onsighted on toprope before and climbed many times on toprope since. I started up the route, plan in place with my trusty belayer that I’d get to a safe high spot then fall at the last clip before the anchors… it would be a nice dramatic fall on safe terrain for the girls to see. I clipped the first, then second bolt, and worked my way up, feeling that I wasn’t warm, and getting a bit pumpy, but staying calm and having fun. I got about 2/3 of the way up and realized… um… I’ve toproped this a bunch of times, but never lead it. And, it’s HARD.

I made it up to just below where I’d planned to take a fall, and I was so pumped I could hardly hold on. I had to make a dynamic move up to the next hold, and I went for it and again — fell with so much surprise that I don’t think I got a “falling” out, but I do think I made a little “peep” of surprise. My belayer caught me, I smiled broadly and shook out my arms, then got back on and finished after de-pumping just enough to pull the move. When I got to the ground, some of the Girl Scouts were shaking their heads, “I’ll NEVER do that, how scary!” (things I used to say, myself but don’t bother with any more)… but I saw a handful of shining, smiling faces, bright-eyed girls, who you could see by the look on their faces were thinking, “I can’t WAIT to do that.”

It was so satisfying that things fell into place for me to be able to do that. Those Girl Scouts (and, the friend who asked me to do the demo) had no idea what a big deal it was for me. But, now I’m having fun on lead in the gym, and am pushing my limits and taking falls, finally. I’m getting on hard projects onsight, and I can feel that it’s going to make me stronger physically and mentally. It’s been good for my trust in my climbing partners, and plus, it’s just so much FUN. I can’t wait to see how I feel outside… I’m not going to go purposely signing up for any whippers, but I do look forward to pushing my limits just a bit more than I have been up until now.

How is your gym training going this season? If you’re a “faller,” how did you get there? If you’re not yet, what are the challenges you’re dealing with? Please join in, in the comments!

Filed under: In the gym, Training

Not so much…

There’s just not that much to report this week, since it’s another super busy work week, so I’m going to just give you a quick climbing update then go back to work… or maybe sleep… yeah… sleep sounds like a good idea.

I’ve been having fun in the gym, loosely in preparation for my next Red Rock trip in March.

My endurance workout has always been to get in 20 pitches in a gym session, but Friday night I did that without much trouble, so I’m going to have to step it up. I climbed hard tonight, working one project most of the night after a long, slow warm up… and now have to decide whether to try it again on Wednesday or whether to wait another day and do just endurance on Wednesday. We’ll see. It may depend on the routesetter, who plans to take my project down. I may have had my best go today… finally made it through the crux once, but then blew it on the easy finish. I’m happy with the work, either way.

I started, but didn’t finish, a redesign of the blog this weekend… I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to work on it again, but hopefully it at least loads a tiny bit faster now, and I’ll be working on speeding it up more.

In other news, I took a peek at Warehouse Rock Gym in Olympia this weekend during a quick Sunday Olympia field trip… the place looked cool. It reminds me of the Everett Vertical World, a bit… routes looked good, the size looked adequate to get in good training, they’ve got a great campus setup, and the people were INSTANTLY friendly. I didn’t get a chance to climb — so I look forward to getting back there when I can.

In shameless commercialism news, I’m still having trouble with my new BD harness, so it’s shelved in favor of my old BD harness for a bit. I picked up a new pair of Scarpa at the
REI Winter Clearance for a steal (thanks to Climbing Partner’s sharp eye)… they’re not listed on the website, so it must be a bargain basement thing. If you’re near their retail locations and can check them out before the sale’s over, they had 5.10 mens’ models and Scarpa womens’ models for cheap (mine were $29, his were $30-something I think). After sending off a box of shoes for resoling this weekend and swallowing hard when I wrote the check, I decided if I find shoes for less than the price of a resole, it’s worth picking them up even if I’m not in the shoe market right that moment.

I’m also in the market for a haul bag, so please share your thoughts. I’m looking at the 2000-ish cubic inch / 35-ish liter bags. Most of my climbing partners use the Black Diamond Haul Bags, but I’m seeing a lot of favorable reviews of the Metolius Haul Bags, so we’ll see. I’m going to keep reading reviews, and look forward to your comments on both. It’s not as much for hauling, as for checking (as in, when flying) since I’m super concerned about checking my climbing pack.

Last… Patagonia’s winterfest sale is now on. Link is below. I’m not even looking… I just seriously can’t. Bummer, since I still am in the market for a sweet new puffy…

That’s it for now. What’s up with you?

Filed under: Gear, In the gym, Shameless commercialism

Not so much…

There’s just not that much to report this week, since it’s another super busy work week, so I’m going to just give you a quick climbing update then go back to work… or maybe sleep… yeah… sleep sounds like a good idea.

I’ve been having fun in the gym, loosely in preparation for my next Red Rock trip in March.

My endurance workout has always been to get in 20 pitches in a gym session, but Friday night I did that without much trouble, so I’m going to have to step it up. I climbed hard tonight, working one project most of the night after a long, slow warm up… and now have to decide whether to try it again on Wednesday or whether to wait another day and do just endurance on Wednesday. We’ll see. It may depend on the routesetter, who plans to take my project down. I may have had my best go today… finally made it through the crux once, but then blew it on the easy finish. I’m happy with the work, either way.

I started, but didn’t finish, a redesign of the blog this weekend… I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to work on it again, but hopefully it at least loads a tiny bit faster now, and I’ll be working on speeding it up more.

In other news, I took a peek at Warehouse Rock Gym in Olympia this weekend during a quick Sunday Olympia field trip… the place looked cool. It reminds me of the Everett Vertical World, a bit… routes looked good, the size looked adequate to get in good training, they’ve got a great campus setup, and the people were INSTANTLY friendly. I didn’t get a chance to climb — so I look forward to getting back there when I can.

In shameless commercialism news, I’m still having trouble with my new BD harness, so it’s shelved in favor of my old BD harness for a bit. I picked up a new pair of Scarpa at the
REI Winter Clearance for a steal (thanks to Climbing Partner’s sharp eye)… they’re not listed on the website, so it must be a bargain basement thing. If you’re near their retail locations and can check them out before the sale’s over, they had 5.10 mens’ models and Scarpa womens’ models for cheap (mine were $29, his were $30-something I think). After sending off a box of shoes for resoling this weekend and swallowing hard when I wrote the check, I decided if I find shoes for less than the price of a resole, it’s worth picking them up even if I’m not in the shoe market right that moment.

I’m also in the market for a haul bag, so please share your thoughts. I’m looking at the 2000-ish cubic inch / 35-ish liter bags. Most of my climbing partners use the Black Diamond Haul Bags, but I’m seeing a lot of favorable reviews of the Metolius Haul Bags, so we’ll see. I’m going to keep reading reviews, and look forward to your comments on both. It’s not as much for hauling, as for checking (as in, when flying) since I’m super concerned about checking my climbing pack.

Last… Patagonia’s winterfest sale is now on. Link is below. I’m not even looking… I just seriously can’t. Bummer, since I still am in the market for a sweet new puffy…

That’s it for now. What’s up with you?

Filed under: Gear, In the gym, Shameless commercialism

Peninsula Pulldown at Vertical World Kitsap

First off, since I haven’t done an update on the issue in some time…

The Vertical World location in Kitsap is OPEN.

The gym is still on the market, but the owners have kept the gym open instead of closing their doors (which was the talked-about plan last year). The local community is growing, and with some staff changes the gym has become more like the place we all knew and loved when I first started climbing. The sense of community is back, we’ve got tons of new climbers just getting started, and the place has been hopping a lot of the time.

So – if you haven’t been in because you thought it closed, come visit! We’re open, and would love to have you.

Right now is a great time to come for a visit, Seattle-area climbers. Yesterday was our Peninsula Pulldown — a non-ABS, local comp. The gym crew worked their butts off, so the entire bouldering area is new, high quality routes. Alex, Tyler and Kelly even put up some new features on the vertical bouldering walls — a HUGE improvement, that we’re all super excited about. The routesetters did a truly amazing job this time around, putting up challenging, fun and inspiring problems at all levels.

When we have comps here in town, I sometimes climb, sometimes work. I climb in comps because…

well… it’s just so much fun. I’m not a very accomplished boulderer — I took a bad fall from the top of the bouldering wall maybe two years ago, and wound up with bone bruises in my ankle. That was a reality check for me about the importance of remaining injury-free, if I wanted to climb the way I want to climb. I took a long break from bouldering, and especially in the last year have gotten into much better shape. Now, I boulder a few times a month, but am still pretty chicken about dropping off, because I’m afraid to hurt myself.

Comps are gloves off, though. There’s just something about the vibe… about being surrounded by other amped climbers, with a panoply of freshly taped and bolted problems all spread out before me… I take risks, and commit, and try, harder than any other time. I even took drops from the last hold or 2nd to last hold on some problems, because I was so dialed in it was worth trying, even if it meant big falls. The sign of a really good bouldering problem is when *I’m* willing to fall off it, it’s that good!

I’m not competitive… I just get a chance to dial in my internal motivation, and have fun. I also tend to meet great folks at comps — In “normal” life, I climb with partners with a broad range of skills, but very few who climb right at my level. Most climb harder than I do. Comps are a fun way to meet other climbers who are working problems right at my grade, and yesterday was the jackpot for that.

Anyway – I’d strongly encourage you to turn out for the next Kitsap comp… the guys are talking about doing one this summer. And, in the meantime, come pay us a visit while the holds are all shiny and new. You won’t be disappointed.

Filed under: Climbing Photos, Comps, In the gym, VWSale

Peninsula Pulldown at Vertical World Kitsap

First off, since I haven’t done an update on the issue in some time…

The Vertical World location in Kitsap is OPEN.

The gym is still on the market, but the owners have kept the gym open instead of closing their doors (which was the talked-about plan last year). The local community is growing, and with some staff changes the gym has become more like the place we all knew and loved when I first started climbing. The sense of community is back, we’ve got tons of new climbers just getting started, and the place has been hopping a lot of the time.

So – if you haven’t been in because you thought it closed, come visit! We’re open, and would love to have you.

Right now is a great time to come for a visit, Seattle-area climbers. Yesterday was our Peninsula Pulldown — a non-ABS, local comp. The gym crew worked their butts off, so the entire bouldering area is new, high quality routes. Alex, Tyler and Kelly even put up some new features on the vertical bouldering walls — a HUGE improvement, that we’re all super excited about. The routesetters did a truly amazing job this time around, putting up challenging, fun and inspiring problems at all levels.

When we have comps here in town, I sometimes climb, sometimes work. I climb in comps because…

well… it’s just so much fun. I’m not a very accomplished boulderer — I took a bad fall from the top of the bouldering wall maybe two years ago, and wound up with bone bruises in my ankle. That was a reality check for me about the importance of remaining injury-free, if I wanted to climb the way I want to climb. I took a long break from bouldering, and especially in the last year have gotten into much better shape. Now, I boulder a few times a month, but am still pretty chicken about dropping off, because I’m afraid to hurt myself.

Comps are gloves off, though. There’s just something about the vibe… about being surrounded by other amped climbers, with a panoply of freshly taped and bolted problems all spread out before me… I take risks, and commit, and try, harder than any other time. I even took drops from the last hold or 2nd to last hold on some problems, because I was so dialed in it was worth trying, even if it meant big falls. The sign of a really good bouldering problem is when *I’m* willing to fall off it, it’s that good!

I’m not competitive… I just get a chance to dial in my internal motivation, and have fun. I also tend to meet great folks at comps — In “normal” life, I climb with partners with a broad range of skills, but very few who climb right at my level. Most climb harder than I do. Comps are a fun way to meet other climbers who are working problems right at my grade, and yesterday was the jackpot for that.

Anyway – I’d strongly encourage you to turn out for the next Kitsap comp… the guys are talking about doing one this summer. And, in the meantime, come pay us a visit while the holds are all shiny and new. You won’t be disappointed.

Filed under: Climbing Photos, Comps, In the gym, VWSale

Redpoint success

So, I’ve been talking awhile about this hard, steep route in the gym that I’ve been pretty much singularly obsessed with since trying it and just *not* being able to put it together despite more than the average amount of work and dedication. It looked like a killer lead project for me… steep, good clipping stances, clean fall potential, pumpy, and fun enough to spend the time working it. I spent a couple good gym sessions on it, refining the moves, working out the sequences, identifying the best rests… but even so, it took a lot of work to put together. Last week, I tried mock leading (no luck) then finally nabbed a clean run on toprope, and could almost get it clean on toprope back to back… leaving only one option…

Getting on it on lead. I climbed last Monday, but then because of the holiday and other interruptions I didn’t get back into the gym until tonight — a full week later. That whole week, I’d had the route stuck in my head. This weekend, I even passed on a chance to climb with my climbing life partner (I’m so sorry, Kari!) because all I could think about was coming home and getting on — and taking falls on — that route. I am usually such a tentative leader… I’m very risk averse, and honestly, I think I could count the number of times I’ve actually committed on lead in my four-ish years of climbing on one hand. I usually take, climb bolt to bolt, and am a total pansy about it.

But, this route was different.

Tonight, I warmed up, pretty amped to get on that route. I didn’t feel 100%… I felt a bit weak after the week off… but I figured I’d at least get on and work it, and finally, take some lead falls. I tied in, my belayer checked me, and I walked up to the start of the route. I’ve started giving myself a pep talk as I approach and start climbs, since my natural tendency is toward negative self-talk. I gave myself my little pep talk and started climbing. I worked through move after move, just like I’ve done it so many times before. I milked the good rests, and then moved tensely up to the crux of the route making an excessive amount of noise … grunting, and yelling with tension and exertion… the crux is a slap to a big sloper you have to hit just right to get your fingers behind a sidepull ridge ridge for a bit of a crimp, then move your feet up just so… then push up to a jug off the less-than-stellar sloper. Clip, then a pretty good sidepull to a tough kind of dishy fingertip edge, another foot adjustment then…

I just couldn’t pull it. I was two and a half moves above a bolt and I couldn’t pull it, so I took a real, live, lead fall. I didn’t even give it a thought… I knew my belayer had me… I didn’t want to take… so I gave a half-assed push toward the next hold and fell. I was so amped to have actually taken a lead fall that I didn’t care that I’d blown the route. The feeling of wanting the move so bad that I’d risk a fall… without even consciously *thinking* of the fall because I’d already scouted the falls from the ground and knew they were safe… was incredible. I was embarrassed at all the noise I’d made… but stoked by the effort, and really, really pumped.

I took my turn belaying, then decided to get back on, on lead. I took a good rest, talked my way up the route, calmed myself down, and decided to try to do a silent ascent, instead of making all the noise I’d made on that first go. I tied in, pep-talked, and started the route…

Made the crux move to, then off the big sloper… got the jug, clipped the rope. Moved to the sidepull, then up to the dishy fingertip edge, then got my feet into place. My hand almost gave as I reached for the next sidepull out left, which I barely stuck. At this point, I’m a good distance out from my bolt, and my hands are both at about 20% and headed toward failure… but I wanted it so bad, that I wanted to really try, despite the risk of a big lead fall, instead of giving up.

I pushed with my legs… and hit the finish hold.

I wasn’t *totally* silent… I think I probably grunted a bit at the top… but my tension level was much lower… I felt calm, and had fun, the whole way up. I didn’t worry about my belayer, I knew if I fell I would be safe, and I wanted that send so bad, that it was worth risking the falls.

At first, I thought — great, now I never have to do that again. But a few minutes later, I started to pine for the route, again. I could do it smoother. Quieter. More solidly at the top.

I’m not going to say that my leading-chicken-ness is gone, but that was definitely a step in the right direction. That success is really, really sweet. And the success of taking a lead fall is also really, really sweet. Now, I’m super excited about getting back outside, finding an outside project that’s equally inspiring, and pushing my leading outside to my next level.

But first, sleep. How are your winter projects going? Add your comments, below!

Filed under: In the gym

Tuesday Training Update: Campus Workout, Dips, and Sticky Hands

In another half-assed attempt at imposing some order on my blogging, I’ll make a stab at posting a training update on Tuesdays. One of my climbing partners and I have been reading up and studying up on climbing-specific training, including campus board workouts and hangboard or fingerboard workouts.

The disclaimer — I didn’t even start sport-specific training until now… just around my fourth anniversary as a climber, because I didn’t have the tendons for it until just now. Before you do any sport-specific training, read up, learn how to do it right, and make sure that you’re doing exercises that are appropriate to your fitness level and climbing experience.

Last Friday I did my first proper campus board workout. One, properly performed ladder move (basically, 1-3 on the biggest boards) on each side, up and down, lead to failure (if I could even finish the “back down.” It was AWESOME. It’s as much mental as physical, since the first time I tried it (less fatigued) I was way weaker than the last set (more fatigued). I’m going to carefully campus train about once a week, on a day where I can take a solid rest for a couple of days after.

I also added dips into my workout a couple of months ago. We have a dip bar at the gym that I use, but I’m pleased to see this is something else I can do with my rock rings, according to that link. I had been doing lightweight, high rep benching, and pushups, but wanted to mix up the routine. Climbing Partner swears by dips, so I started to try them. My first few attempts were pretty pitiful… but now I’m up to three sets of ten. They feel good for everything from my back to my elbows, and my upper back is definitely stronger for them. I try to do my dips at least once a week, but some weeks I focus more on pushups or bench… it just depends.

In addition to the physical training (I think I forgot to mention that I’m also climbing a ton in the gym)… I got some great technique feedback on Friday from Climbing Partner. He observed that I spend a lot of time repositioning my hands when I’m climbing hard. I exert unnecessary energy to get my hand position *just right* when I should be placing my hands confidently in the right place instead. I did some “sticky hands” drilling, where I had to “stick” each hand placement, without adjustment them, right where I placed it on first touch of each hold. After just a couple of moves, my climbing speed went up, and I suddenly felt the benefit of the momentum I’d been losing by climbing so slowly. My movement felt much more efficient, and more dynamic… like I was flowing up the route using my momentum, instead of moving from hold to hold. Just by climbing more efficiently with my hands, I was able to complete a route on toprope that has been my nemesis for the last couple of months — making it my newest lead project. I made an effort to apply the same principal to my bouldering this evening, and felt a big difference.

I’ve never (before climbing) been a very good athlete, but that’s definitely changed. I actually really enjoy training for climbing… the hardest part is forcing myself to take rest days.

How’s your training going? Chime in, by commenting below.

Filed under: In the gym, Training

Better…

Apparently, people who know me in real life could hear the melancholy in that last post… so here’s the more uptempo update. Thanks to my climbing partner’s extrememobile, I got into the climbing gym last night for one of my best climbing nights in a long time.

I warmed up with a traverse, then got right on lead. I figured I’d work my way up to the 10c I’ve been eyeing as a lead project, starting with a good new 5.9. Did the 5.9, did a 10a, did a 10b, then there weren’t any 10c’s other than my project (which is really freaking hard) so I looked around and spotted a 10d I figured I could do since it plays to my strengths. It was the perfect amount of difficulty… not scary, but not a gimme, either… and I felt so happy after finishing a 10d on lead (since it doesn’t happen often). I still couldn’t bring myself to get on that big, scary, hard, pumpy, overhung 10c, though — until Erin suggested I mock lead it. BRILLIANT!!! I made it to just below the crux, only about two moves lower than I usually blow it on top rope. Getting to the top was a battle… it’s super pumpy, slopey, and pinchy at the top and the clips are hard, but I did manage to make it up, two ropes and all. I’m super stoked, even though it was a mock lead, because now I know what I’m in for at each clip… my belayer left out some slack so I got the sensation of falling (a little, not like a lead fall)… and I think now I’m ready to get on it and work it with falls the next time I feel like leading. YAY!

We got a surprising amount of new snow last night, so it’s a work-at-home day again today. Fingers are crossed for the possibility of a gym field trip this Friday or weekend… it’s not Red Rock, but it’s better than nothing!

Filed under: In the gym