TF On Friday

Netta did her first trad lead at Taylors Falls today with the intrepid Russell as her belayer.

Build Grip Strength And Live Longer

Research indicates if you have a strong grip, you’ll live longer. At least that’s what this article says. And it gives 4 handy tools to build your grip strength  “while you sit in front of your TV.”  (Of course, maybe you’ll be healthier if you didn’t sit in front of your TV.)

Treasure Hunt

“Find the Go” treasure hunt starts this week. Looks like you could win a lot of great stuff if you want to drive around the US looking for it.

FindtheGO 2011 from kurt mann on Vimeo.

They Just Opened Up The North Pole Base Camp For The Year

It’s quite a process explained in this video. More details here.

Missing Winter Yet?

This couple made an attempt on Denali 2 months ago. The weather wasn’t all that good. At one point in the video, the thermometer registers minus 55 degrees F. They stayed in snow caves which look warm and spacious. More details here. I like the way he carried an aluminum extension ladder into the mountain by just shoving his waist thru two of the rungs.

Need To Make Some Quick Cash?

Join the porters hauling trash away from Mt Everest. They’re making about 70 cents per pound they carry. There are an estimated 11,000 pounds.

Onsight 14c

Adam Ondra climbing in Spain was captured on video onsighting a 14c. He sure seems relaxed – especially when he goes by several draws without clipping. More info here.

 

BD athlete Adam Ondra onsights Mind Control (8c+), Oliana, Spain from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

1 Route, 1 Try

This is a highlight video of the women’s sport climbing championship held last weekend in Boulder. They had only 1 try on   Men’s video here too. Here’s a play-by-play description including what shoes most of them wore.

“Alex Johnson, who won fourth in the women’s division, stated “It was super-duper fun. Bouldering is more my element. Route climbing is scary — you only get one chance!”

2011 SCS National Championship Highlights • Women from Louder Than 11 on Vimeo.

Newbies At Joshua Tree

A couple new to climbing, spends several days at Joshua Tree doing a lot of moderates. A great story of their experience. I like this quote:

“This climb solidified Noe's love of Joshua Tree. The longest approach we did all week, it still wasn't more than 20 minutes with no elevation gain or mosquitoes. It probably helped that we were carrying just one rope and 12 or so quickdraws, too.”

Making A Climbing Harness

Quite a lot of technology involved in making a harness.

How to Make a Climbing Harness from Far From Home Productions on Vimeo.

A Hard Mixed Route In The Canadian Rockies

He uses every kind of protection except bolts. I like the part where he throws his leg over a piece of ice right at the summit and pulls himself up. More details here. (Plus, what a great gear room he has, And organized too.)

“From Cripple To Climber”

A young man talks about how he fell in love with climbing despite the terrible pain of his Fibromyalgia. When he first started climbing, he would climb for only 20 minutes and then be in “screaming pain for three hours.” Now he is leading 5.12s and planning to climb some of Sharma;s hardest routes. 

Quite a story of perseverance. (He reminds me of myself in two ways:

1. I feel excruciating pain just thinking about doing a really hard route.

2. I, too have a goal to climb some of Sharma’s routes; there must be a 5.8 or 9 he did when he first started. I’d do one of those.)

A Lot Of Times I Ride A Bike Like This

It's hard to get others to go riding with me while I am doing this and I need really tight clothing in order to make these moves work.

She's 9, Give Her A Break

She touched a tree with her foot when she was climbing a V12 so it doesn't count as the first female ascent of the boulder problem. She's 9 years old. 

Train Less, Get Stronger

Climb Strong’s website writes about doing “the minimum necessary training to see continued progress.” If you want endurance, train on not so hard routes for longer time. If you want power, train on hard routes for less time. Read all of the details at the link.

“I’ve said it before-fatigue creates endurance, heavy loads (difficult moves) create power and strength. So it works really well to build power when you don’t have tons of time. Test this yourself. Write down all the problems and grades you send in your next bouldering session. Note the session length, level of fatigue/soreness post-session, and the number of days between sessions. Now, reduce the duration of your session by 25%. If you trained 2 hours, train only 1.5 hours next time. Do a couple of sessions at this new duration, keeping the same notes as before. After 2-3 sessions of 1.5 hours, reduce your time again by 20-30 minutes. Repeat the process again, then reduce again, in our example, you’d drop to 45 or so minutes per session. What you’ll see is a drop in volume (duh!), but an increase in overall performance at high levels.”