Yep! I got me some new pants and in 45 minutes I will take them to Taylor's Falls to see what they can do. Apparently I will be able to climb trees. explore the artic, train elephants and defuse bombs! I am so excited. Check out this website to meet some very interesting people that have been in my pants.
home from college, it was a way to blow off some steam after finals. Garter snakes ran rampant of the foot of the Sax Wall. I set up a top rope and said "Go for it boys, let's see what you can do!" Although inexperienced, they made a couple of passes at Sandy and said they would be back after their big summer adventure when they have picked up a trick or two.I am training this weekend for high altitude by simulating the conditions found above 15,000 feet or more. I will be smoking cigars 
- which is a way to decrease O2 to the lungs and train my body to function with less oxygen. I will be drinking 
alcohol - which kills brain cells and is similar to altitudes above 19,000. I will be standing outside for hours at a time exposed to the elements. Risking hypothermia or sunstroke. 
But for me, the biggest risk is to be without the Internet. So I'm relying on you to fill in the blanks. And hoping I'll have enough brain cells remaining, when I get back, so I can understand your posts.
Seeing the two guys yesterday climbing with old gear at Sandstone, I did some research to find info about the harness they used. It's very similar to the Whillans Sit Harness which was quite controversial here in the US in the 70s. Here's a quote from the 1972 Chouinard Equipment Company (the precursor to Patagonia Clothing.)
"Chouinard and others are positively opposed to harnesses and such contraptions, but as a concession to Frost, (who has sold out to the British technocracy,) the Whillans Sit Harness is herein offered to American climbers. It provides greater comfort than the Swami Belt for falling, taking tension and belaying on inadequate stances"
CHOUINARD EQUIPMENT CATALOG, 1972
Prior to this, climbers used the Swami Belt which was webbing wrapped around the waist. You really don't want to do a lot of hanging on a climb when all your weight is held by a waist band.
Yesterday at the park, some hikers asked us about the caves along the river. (They assumed we were experts because, well, we are experts on most everything - just ask.) I was reading about the Kettle River and I found this:
"Robinson Ice Cave is a 200 foot deep cave in the bluffs between Wolf Creek Falls and Sandstone. The cave is not open to the public and the entrance is gated to protect the little brown bats, big brown bats, and Keen's myotis bats that hibernate in it. In winter large stalagmites of ice often form on the cave floor, but in a strict sense it is not an ice cave because the ice does not persist year-round."
The sandstone rock is Precambrian sandstone known as the Hinckley Formation. So that's a good thing, I guess.
Here's a map of the whitewater route between Banning Park and Robinson Park.
Some of you are too young and/or too new to climbing to even recognize this gear.
These guys who were climbing at Sandstone had lots of traditional/old school gear. Like the "RR" (Royal Robbins) climbing shoes, the Figure 8 belay device, the leather gloves for belaying, the Wilhans Sit Harness, the blue REI day pack. All of these are at least 20 years old. Perfectly good and almost collectible on ebay.
Mel-lo, Sunbeam, Aaron and I got there under gray skies and about 55 degree temps. And, amazingly enough, no one else was there. For the first ten minutes. And then two guys showed up to climb on the Jazz wall. They'd been climbing in Sandstone for over 20 years. Always top roping. Which means they had many more options than we did. 'Cuz I think we did every sport climb there except the three 5.12s.
Lisa (at left) leading an unnamed 5.10+ on Sax Wall. (Only a few climbs have names.)
The rock feels solid, warm to the hands, frictiony and stable. (It's similar in feel to a new hold at VE.)
Almost everything that looked like a good hold from below, was a good hold. (Occasionally there were surprises.)
We usually rapped down when we were finished with a route because the anchors just had rings - which is kinda fun and a little more time consuming.
Mel leading "Quantum Chaos" on Diagonal Wall.
Mel and I used the advantage of our tiny hands at Sandstone today. We enjoyed many new routes on the Sax Wall at Robinson Park. It was well worth the drive. There were 4 climbers, and I expect they will express themselves in 4 blog entries. I seem to remember in year's past, we had warmer weather in Spring. Well, that's correct. Minnesota used to be on the equator.
Text is hard to read below the image. It says, "Position of drifting North American continent, from Cambrian (upper left) to present (lower right.) Position of equator shown by dashed line.
Wouldn't it be fun to have your very own climbing area? Already established? In the mountains? With a via ferrata? It's for sale.
Dream no more, here it is:
"Two free-standing “fins” of Tuscarora Sandstone tower up to 300' above the mountainside, very similar in scale and appearance to Seneca Rocks. Nelson Rocks has a rich history of climbing activity, with nearly 200 established climbing routes of various styles and
difficulty."
