This play house comes with its own climbing wall. And it’s only $109,000. A steal.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
What, Women Can Climb Too?
This was a stunner to me:
Women possess some physical and mental advantages that make them as good if not better than the men, says Hansen. “They are able to remain calmer in the high-adrenaline type situations. The ladies I would take out guiding were always calmer. The men had that macho attitude. If they couldn’t do it they would get mad.
“It was 10 to one, men to women. Now what I am seeing is 50/50,” observes Ted Hansen, a longtime climbing guide... He remembers a decade ago when the women he guided were the girlfriends of men who wanted to try rock climbing. Today women are learning to climb on their own and buying their own equipment.
Women are actually buying things on their own? The world is spinning too fast. Please let me off.
Sandstone Ice Cont’d
We did a lot of gentle ice picking because the ice was so thin and one route of dry tooling. 
We even went over to the Jazz wall and did a sport lead climb. Which was tough in double mountaineering boots. And gloves. But more fun almost as much fun as shopping at Amazon.
Sandstone
Lisa, John, Dr P. (Mike) & I went to Sandstone on Saturday. The weather was in the 20s which made for a nice day. A 3 minute slideshow below.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Pre-Climbing Stretching?
This site has lots of info on training for rock climbing. Including this:
“Here’s a good bet on a better pre-climb ritual, for both competition and training.
1. Get a general warm-up. Think hiking to the crag. 10-15 minutes of nice, easy activity. Sure you think it’s a waste of time now, but wait until you are 50. You’ll wish you’d listened to me when you’re hanging out at Mt. Rainier instead of Hueco Tanks.
2. Move to a more specific warm-up. Grippers, hangboards, easy climbing, pull-ups. Whatever it takes to get good and ready to climb. This should take about 10 minutes.
3. Ease into it. Sure we’ve all heard about the guy who “never warms up” or sends hard off the couch. That ain’t you. Here’s a quick test: Were you in “King Lines” or did you pay to watch it? If the answer is the latter, take it slowly.
So dump the pre-climb stretches, stretch all you want afterward, get real with your warm-ups, and realize that if you are “training” but have not improved in the past 6 months, you’re doing it wrong.”
Your Own Climbing Team
This family has 18 kids – just barely enough to make their own climbing team. Here’s the family climbing an indoor wall. This part I love, “The family finishes off 15 large pizzas in one sitting.” Not sure Jen would like that.
Problem Of The Week
This is from a rock climbing gym in Boston. I like the idea of a problem of the week.
Problem of the Week #6 from Chris Mireault on Vimeo.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Still Not Ready for Prime Time
This is the ice at Homer’s on Thursday morning (12/10.) Looks like only a few days more for some good ice.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Feet First
Quite a feat using his feet above his hands. And resting by grabbing behind his knees with one hand.
Impossible Crack from Tom Randall on Vimeo.
7 Swans A-Swimming
This is a real gyp – two days ago there were 3 Tundra Swans on our lake and I figured, “Good, we only need 4 more for Christmas.” But today, when I checked, there’s only one left. I’ve got a 6 swan deficit! (The photo below was not taken by me; I really can count to 3.)
Let me explain, just once.
People often inquire " Do you guys climb everyday"? The answer is "no, that would be crazy".
But now I have been asked, "So you guys never get injured"? The answer to that is, "sometimes a little, but the only injuries that stop us from climbing, were not sustained while climbing" for example, I fell running last night ( I am ok, thanks for asking) Richard hurt his knee running, requiring surgery.( He was back before you could blink) I pulled my shoulder doing yoga. (slowly recovering thanks for asking). The truth is, if am and sore or I strained something, the shot of endorphins and adrenaline I get from climbing makes me feel better.
I also would like to admit that some days are better than others. If you climb alot some days will be just plain substandard, but that ok. I win when I show up. Anything to add Ricardo?
Ricardo sez:
It’s way more likely I’ll get hurt driving to the gym that when I’m at the gym. Or walking down stairs. Or using a machete to cut carrots.
About two years ago, I did a lot of bouldering on small crimpy holds and campus boarding (it’s a lot like water boarding but you don’t need a towel when you’re done.) I got tennis elbow from using the same type of crimpy holds so frequently. So now I try to balance out big hold climbs with slopers and with overhangs and with drinking a beer. (Plus, I’m not that good, so that helps too.)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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