New Rope

With the arrival of my new rope I have all the equipment I need now to sport climb. It's color coordinated too! I will be off next week until Thursday night and able to climb (Red Wing) mornings to early afternoon. The late aftenoons and evenings are going to be kayaking on the Vermillion river. Anyone up for this? Climbing or kayaking....kayaking went insane with the rain we recieved last night!

Chambres Flottement sur l'air

Days 7-8 Meyronne to Rocamadour
Enjoy the final day's walk to Rocamadour. The terrain today is diverse and colourful, from thickly wooded forests, to open meadows, to stunning views of the valleys and hills.The sudden view of the houses of Rocamadour, clinging to the edge of a huge cliff, is breathtaking. The terraces that hold up the stone buildings here are shrouded in shadow at night, making it seem as if the houses are suspended in air.

That's it crew! The last of my scheduled posts. I hope I have had a lot of fun on my trip. We will be back on Saturday. I have Monday off! All Day! Who wants to go to RW? I will tell you what ACTUALLY happened.

Lots of Technical Testing of Gear Here

This guy's web page - he's a quality control tester for Black Diamond - makes for a interesting reading about how safe climbing gear is. Like testing 10 year old quick draws and finding they still have 75% of their original strength.

Coloradie!

Colorado is definitely as awesome as I thought it would be. I have been bouldering at a place called lumpy ridge every day and plan to do a 5 pitch trad called bat man and robin. I bought a membership at an indoor gym for the rainy days and I live with a couple of good climbers. It has been snowing at where we work at 12,000 feet. Although it is my day off today the road was closed due to weather conditions so everyone also has the day off. Get back to you soon!

This Is More for Mike

Mike, have you been here in China? I think you should go.

Video of them climbing it is here.

Rope Usage and Wear

A1 and I were talking about how long he should use his rope. Google that bad boy topic and you'll find lots of info.

Here's an edited summary - by me - of the UIAA's testing:

• Ropes cannot break in the tie in knot, or at the running belay.
• There have been no known rope failures in sport climbing.
• UV radiation does not damage ropes. Nylon is UV stabilized and only the color will be lost.
• Standing on a rope in the snow with crampons did no damage. Neither did standing on it on rock with a 75kg body weight. In a further test crampon points were forced right through the rope with no strength reduction/damage occurring!
• The suggested life span of 10 years which has been given for ropes is to help the user determine life span . ...aging itself would not cause a rope to break, unless it was loaded over a sharp edge.

Official report from UIAA here. More detailed summary of the above is here with added discussion. I think, if you're worried about your rope, get a new one. (Or borrow one of mine. I've got two new ones in reserve.) Of course, the usual blah, blah, blah applies: climbing is unsafe, don't do it, don't listen to anyone else's advice - including mine. And most importantly, if you do it and you get hurt, call my brother 'cuz he's an attorney.

We Didn't Have A Work Ethic So We Climbed It

A1, John and I (as well as Killer, Fluffy and Stella the perros) made our way to Red Wing this morning. Almost turned around in Inver Grove when it started to rain. And we didn't. And the weather was fine. Not hot and nasty like summer - cool like fall.

Because none of us had enough work ethic to go to work, we substituted climbing Work Ethic as well as some others rated 5.TUFF. We had the whole place to ourselves. Which was lonely. But we managed.

Photo of Lisa in Meyronne

Here is a photo of Meyronne along the Dordogne River.

And here's Lisa after successfully climbing a castle wall in Meyronne:

Serpents glissants et araignées rampantes

Day 6 Martel to Meyronne
Walk across the rolling hills of the Causse de Gramat, through woods and past farmland to the tiny riverside village of Meyronne. Take to the streets to see beautiful old houses that are typical of the region.

OH NO! Look what I found!!

Red Wing Climbing Wednesday AM

Unless it's raining, we've got 3 peeps going to RW arriving about 9ish. Everyone's welcome. Mel?

The More You Climb, The More You Make

What a great world. Climb rocks for 24 hours and raise money so more climbing is available.

It Was Quiet at Red Wing Today

What happened to all the people? Only 3 climbers and two dogs were there this morning. We managed to do some climbs even though it was hard to identify the routes since there wasn't a person at the base of each climb as on Sunday. Que lastima.

 

 

Fluffy    

 

 

                                                       Killer

Où sont-ils aujourd'hui ?

Days 4-5 Carennac to Martel
Cross the river Dordogne and enter Martel, the medieval town of seven towers. Stroll the narrow cobbled streets with their fascinating old doorways and mullioned windows. Take a day to relax and rest tired legs, ride the local Truffadou steam train, or enjoy an optional circular walk to Mont Mercou.

Here's a Video of Lisa & Carl Caving in France

This is where they went today- Le Gouffe. Man, they're in a deep depression, probably  'cuz they're missing us.

Where Did All the Climbers Come From Today?

Red Wing was packed! (Good thing Lisa's out of town, 'cuz RW couldn't have fit one more climber.)

We had guys trad leading loose cracks with a belayer who'd never belayed before. We had wet rocks, full rocks and, of course, me who's dumb as a box of rocks.

"J" showed up with Mel-lo and they climbed like a house-a-fire. Mike was there with The Warden and they were doing 5.12s as warm-ups. The drillmaster was there drilling new holes, the feral dogs were roaming freely. It was like Apple Valley - a zoo.

Here's what Mel and J climbed today:

Danger High Boltage

Rock-a-holics

Cinq Jour D'Affile - both of you led this one

Micro Balls

Looking for Lust - J led this one and Mel climbed it even though it was a little manky at the bottom. Good views from the top though, right J?

Sleeping Bat in a Ziplock Bag - J led this and Mel climbed it too

We worked on Cyclops courtesy of  Ward                       

 

             Team MJ

 

                               Liz & The Warden

                       

 

 

 

 

 

All photos of today are here. Sorry guys, I didn't take any of you. You ran away too quickly.