Too Pooped To Pop

Or, more accurately, he can’t poop before he climbs El Cap. Quite a story of two older guys who are experienced Yosemite climbers, climbing “The Shield” on El Cap last Fall. The photo on the left is particularly funny with its caption:

  “Mark, on the other hand, can pretty much poop on demand. Bastard!”

You can see why his friend is frustrated by this because he says:

“I couldn’t poop! I probably sat there on the crummy campground can reading the topo twenty times over. How many times can you look at a little line labelled “The Groove”? No luck. Not even a walnut. I have never - not once in 7 walls - pooped pre-launch. Nevertheless, off we went, up to Mammoth one last time and on to Gray Ledges.”

 

As you can tell, it’s quite overhanging on “The Shield.”

How Climbing Rope Is Made

This 5 minute video shows climbing rope and yachting rope made at New England Ropes. I like the “Maypole Machine” the best.

Wow! Even Old People Can Climb

Who knew people older than 30 could climb?  A 66 year old woman who only stated climbing when she was 42 is still climbing now.How neat is that?  (I hope I will be able to get off the couch if I ever hit 66,) This is a great quote from her:

“If you could offer one piece of advice to a woman in her 40s that has never tied into a rope before but is curious to try, what would it be? Here is how you tie a figure 8 knot.”

 

A photo of her cleaning a route in Laos. (Of course, it’d have to be somewhere exotic ‘cuz that’s where old people hang out.) More details here.

Ratings & Why Older Routes Have Lower Grades

A short essay about ratings of climbs and why routes of a similar difficulty today would get a higher grad than the same route 20 years ago. He believes a higher rating on a new route makes it more popular to climb because people feel better if they make it and, likewise, feel better if they don’t make it; they’d rather fail on a 5.13 than fail on a 5.12.

(I found his writing confusing. So that’s my short version of what he’s saying. He could be saying the reverse but I think I get his point.)  Here’s a quote about why the old timers wanted to sandbag their routes:

“This is a strange turnaround from 20 years ago…when routes were intentionally underrated to burn you off and make you feel angry and low, and, ideally, quit the sport.”

Save Money With A Buddy

The Chicks with Picks climbing clinic in Devils Lake is offering a discount if you sign up with a buddy. Or two buddies. Details here.

Helping Women Go Outdoors

The Outdoor Women Alliance’s goal is::

“…: getting women outside the city limits and into a new comfort zone. We strive to promote and grow women & like-minded organizations in their efforts to get women hiking, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, camping, kayaking, rock & ice climbing, mountain & road biking, canyoneering, trail running, fly fishing, backpacking.”

Women need a lot of encouragement to leave the kitchen and go outside, I guess. Maybe it’s my feminine side, but I too struggle to get outside into a new comfort zone. Because, at least for me, being indoors is more comfortable than being outdoors.

"You Have To Be Happy When You Are Climbing"

She's climbing a multi-pitch, overhanging route in France. At the end of the video she says "You have to be happy when you are climbing...That's the key to success."

2 Women Climbing On Sandstone In Jordan

I’m not sure what’s more dangerous, climbing “crack that funneled into a bottleneck with rock crumbling underneath her hands and feet all the while.” or gong to the Middle East to climb . The story of a new route climbed by two women in the Jordanian desert.

(Although this is about two women putting up a new route, I was glad to see they brought a husband along to drill out anchors so they could rappel down. Finally, a use for husbands!)

Ok Spring, welcome.

I am having a hard time saying goodbye to winter, it has been a lovely season of skiing, mushing, ice climbing and I even went camping, a first for me. I decided to sew an anorak, I have been meaning to for years. So I did. Traditional, you ask? Nope. Pink with flowers. Why?

• like it or not, it's the first day of Spring
• the fabric was free
• I am a girl.

Happy Spring!
If I can just go telemark one more time, I can let winter go. Oh no, it is raining.....

36’ Dive Into 12” Of Water

This has got to hurt! A new world record for highest dive into shallowest water.

“Prof. Spash jumps into 30 cm of water from 11.03 meter at University of Science and Technology in Norway 10.02.2011.”

Climbing Logbook

I saw this logbook advertised and thought it’s a good idea for any climber – especially if you climb in different areas.. Don’t know if you need to spend $13. Maybe just a notebook listing where you were, what the weather was, who you climbed with, what routes you did, additional beta, and gear you used, would be sufficient. I used to just write info on the sides of my guide books. But years (weeks?) later, it is fun to review where you’ve been and what you’ve done

Has Climbing Peaked?

According to the most recent recreation survey of the U.S., there’s been a decline in the number of young people climbing.

“Looking at this data, which is, of course, incomplete, indicates that climbing has passed its peak, at least for now. The sport grew considerably from 1990 when indoor climbing gyms became popular and served as an introduction to a lot of tyros to climbing. Now it appears there is a lessening of recreational climbers as the ones who came of age in the last 15 to 20 years have begun to settle down to careers and family responsibilities.”

I was a little surprised that the number of people who call themselves climbers was this high. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

“Overall 2009 participation in rock climbing, including bouldering, sport climbing, indoor climbing, traditional climbing, and mountaineering was 6,148,000 Americans or 2.7% of the population six years and older. It broke down to 4,313,000 participants in bouldering, sport climbing, and indoor climbing, and 1,835,000 in trad climbing and mountaineering.”

I wonder how many indoor only vs outdoor climbers are represented in these numbers. It appears as though you won’t find crowds of people trad climbing or mountaineering.

Endurance for the Durrance

by Steven Davis on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 6:39pm

Training for (En)Durrance: A Guide's Guide

If you want to climb routes like the Durrance, let alone guide them, you need to be in excellent

physical condition, meaning that you always have enough left over to meet any contingency. Leading

clients up the Durrance will take you 7-12 hours of intense physical and mental exertion, so the focus is

on endurance. I've broken this guide into three parts: endurance, route-specific training, and general

physical conditioning.

Check with your doctor to make sure you don't have any conditions that would prevent you from doing

these work-outs safely. And see a doctor if you notice any unusual symptoms afterwards.. And start

tapering your work-out 7-10 days before you set foot on the Tower.

1. Endurance.

Durrance is known for crack climbing and off-width, though you will find some face holds on every

pitch. Off-width is notorious for being a full-body work-out. It's hard to think of any upper body and

core muscle group that you won't be working. The following exercises can be done every day, with low

weight and high reps. Repeat every exercise to exhaustion. Intensity of effort is critical. If at the end,

you feel like puking, you've done well. Be sure that you are hydrating during and after. If you aren't

familiar with any of these exercises, look them up on-line.

Forearms. Do forearm curls using a bar to which is attached a seven-pound weight with a waistto-

floor length of cord. Roll the weight up to you, then roll it back down.

Bicep curls. EZ bar curls. Two-arm dumbbell curls. Alternating hammer curls.

Pecs. Flat bench dumbbell flyes.

Back. One-arm dumbbell rows.

Triceps, pecs, back. Push-ups.

Calves. Calf raises. Essential for the stemming you'll be doing on the Second Pitch.

Belay Muscles. That's right. There are belay-specific exercises. Imagine you'll be belaying three clients

up the Durrance route, which is 500 feet of climbing. You will be pulling 1500 feet of rope through

your Reverso or Grigri, against resistance. This doesn't include the short-rope belaying you will be

doing on the approach. On top of that, you will flake the three ropes at least 24 times, and coil a rope at

least 21 times! So yes, you will work your trapezius, deltoid, and rhomboid muscles big time!

Exercises:

1. Hang a reverse in autoblock mode from the loop next to the pull-up things in the B-Cave. Drop

in a couple of fat gym ropes, tie the ends of each rope together to form a continuous loop. Pull

through the full 60 meters of rope, re-feed the reverso past the knot. Experiment with creating

resistance, for instance, taking the rope also through an ATC at your feet.

2. Coil a 60 m. rope over your shoulders. Drop it to the ground, and flake it into a 60 m. rope into

a stack.

2. Route-Specific Training

We don't have off-widths in our gym, but we do have cracks and chimneys. Work them!

Crack Climbing. Run laps, on lead, on the big hand crack. Rack some pro, and place it in the crack as

you go up, and clean it on the way down (of course, clipping the rope into the hangars!) Run laps on

the art wall crack on top rope, also placing pro. Experiment with an arm bar up top.

Chimney Climbing. Get into the wide chimney by the A-Buttress. Run laps up and down without using

the holds. Then face the opposite direction and repeat. The chimney will work core muscles, triceps,

and quads. Make sure you do some laps with the left leg outside, keeping your right leg underneath

you. This will mimic the 'death crack' on Durrance.

3. General Conditioning.

Combine the above two types of workouts with aerobic activity. (Note: if you are doing the above

exercises with enough intensity, they should also be aerobic). With a full summit pack and rack, spend

thirty minutes on the Stepmaster (use only your toes). Then an endurance workout to exhaustion. Then

climbing laps to exhaustion. Finish it off with a challenging sport lead climb that forces you to keep

your head while exhausted, while maintaining a confident smile and reciting the history of climbing on

Devil's Tower. This will give you a little taste of the guide's life.

Be careful to give yourself some rest days. The day after a workout like the one above, take a rest day.

4. Sample Workout Schedule

Day One.

Bike to the gym.

Rope Work. 10 sets of: 2 rope flakes, 2 rope coil. Do for time.

Climbing. 4 crack laps (hand crack), 4 chimney laps. Pack and Rack.

Biceps Curls. High reps, low weight, 30 minutes.

Forearm curls. 3 sets of maximum reps.

Day Two.

Stepmaster. 30 minutes, moderate pace (keep it aerobic), summit pack.

Rope Work. 1/4-mile belay. 5 reps. Pull 2 rope-lengths through your belay device.

Climbing. ARC training. 30 minute continuous boulder traverse. (work up to 1 hour).

Dumbbell Flies alternating with One-arm dumbbell rows. Total 30 minutes.

Day Three

Stepmaster. Intervals, 1 minute max and 2 minutes aerobic. Maximum reps.

Rope Work.

Climbing. Bouldering laps. Find a problem you can climb and down climb. Max laps, 5 reps.

Calf Raises. 5 sets, max reps.

Day Four: Rest Day

Don't work a muscle group if it is tired or sore. Substitute. Keep your work-out intense.

5. “The Durrance”

Stepmaster. 45 minutes, 2 steps at a time, aerobic, on toes. With pack and rack.

Dumbbell Flies, 20 reps.

Crack. 4 laps, lead, place and remove pro. With rack and pack.

Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m, 2 ropes at a time.

Rope Coil + Rope Flake. 4 reps.

Stepmaster. 30 minutes, 2 steps at a time, threshold. With pack and rack.

Dumbbell flies, 20 reps.

Chimney. 4 laps, alternate sides. With rack.

Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m, 2 ropes at a time.

Rope Coil + Rope Flake. 4 reps.

Stepmaster. Intervals. 1 min max + 2 min aerobic. 5 reps. With Pack and Rack

Dumbbell flies, 20 reps.

Sport lead at your max difficulty.

Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m., 2 ropes at a time.

Rope Coil + Rope Flake. 4 reps.

Stepmaster. 30 minutes, 2 steps at a time, threshold. With pack and rack.

Dumbbell flies, 20 reps.

Chimney. 4 laps, alternate sides. With rack.

Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m, 2 ropes at a time.

Rope Coil + Rope Flake. 4 reps.

Crack. 4 laps, lead, place and remove pro. With rack and pack.

Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m, 2 ropes at a time.

Rope Coil + Rope Flake. 4 reps.

Dumbbell flies, 20 reps. Rope Pull. 2 x 60 m, 2 ropes at a time.

Stepmaster. 45 minutes, rest pace. With pack and rack.

Once per week. Goal: Do this under five hours. Hydrate and Gu. Rest day (or 2) afterwards. Do this

with a partner who encourages and keeps track of your progress.

First Ascent Of Mt Edgar In China

These guys made the first ascent last November. Quite a story of just missing a huge avalanche, getting lost while descending and running out of food.( I like his “Old Style” cap.) More of their story here.

A Report On Red Rock Rendezvous

A Salt Lake City reporter tells why she loved last year’s Red Rock Rendezvous.

(Alas, I am not going to the Rendezvous this year. My biggest regret is that I will not be able to meet the boys pictured at left.)