Cute...but odd

Okay, I work in the media industry. I know it's a challenge to find new content areas that haven't been explored. Finding a new niche gets you audience, and audience either gets you paid or gives you warm and fuzzies for getting your word out to the masses. But Cute Climbing Girls of the Week? I ain't no hater, but this just seems like...pandering? Something? Can't quite put my finger on it. But it just seems odd and makes me think some old-school traddy is rolling over in his grave (or van by the river) somewhere. But then, I guess you gotta take any climbing website with a whiskey glass logo with a grain of salt.

Check 'em out: pimpinandcrimpin.com



Photo: pimpinandcrimpin.com

Side note: Since I've been able to climb a lot less lately, I find myself looking at climbing websites a whole lot more. Something's gotta get you through the dry spells, ya know? I may continue to share more of the weird and cool stuff I find out there...

Life changes... and finally, a little time on the rock

Major life changes are happening right now and most of them are pretty exciting, except for my climbing ability (but more on that in a minute). Last week I finally made the decision to attend graduate school. I had been dragging the decision out for some time, party because Melissa wasn't sure if she wanted to go and thus pay out of state tuition. (We both got accepted into the Speech Pathology program at Appstate.) We finally decided last weekend to go for it and do school. Aside from the tuition issue, I just got promoted to Editor at my job from Assistant Editor, and that made it a hard choice, too. I'd been working hard for years to get this promotion, but now I'm walking away after having the promotion for a month to give Speech Patho a try.

I've tried for a long time to find a career that could provide a good fit for climbing, and this seems like a good choice. Decent pay, you can work pretty much anywhere, you can have summers off if you work in the schools, you can do travel therapy. And you also get to help people. So I'm thinking it's worth going for it. Plus, I get the bonus of going back to Boone for a couple more years. The irony is, of course, now that I'm finally getting to go back, I can't climb worth a damn. Oh yeah, that made the decision harder too! Why pursue a career that has more freedom for climbing if I can't climb so well anymore? Hope springs eternal, I guess. Nothing inspires me like climbing, so I just gotta keep hoping I get over this injury stuff. Regardless, life is changing fast. I'll be leaving my job, fixing up and selling my house, and moving to Boone in the next 2 months. As well as completing 2 intense online courses. Whew.

Speaking of injury, it was just about a year ago that I jacked up my shoulder and neck and have been climbing like crap, with differing amounts of pain, ever since. But I have a new plan! For the rest of the summer I'm not climbing anything harder than V2/V3 or 5.10. I feel like I've been both babying my injury then overdoing it over and over again for the last year. So I'm going to try this approach and see if it makes a difference. Build the strength back up slowly, that's the goal.

It worked pretty well this weekend, when I got a chance to quickly run out to the North side boulders at Looking Glass early Sunday morning. I climbed a bunch of easy stuff and had a total blast. There are some really fun problems there, and the place gets so little traffic that it feels really isolated and natural. There are still plants and leaves at the base of the climbs--how often do you see that? Aside from the mank and the bugs (of which there are many) this place is at least a cool summer destination that can be a fun diversion.




Now that the cats out of the bag to work about me going to school, I'll keep updating as things move along. It's a lot of changes, but exciting ones, too. I can't wait to have boulders within a 10-15 minute drive from my house again. Now I just hope I can climb 'em....

It's Summer-Going to the Gorge?... Use This Guide

I just stumbled across this great online resource: It's a webpage guide set up by Mike Stam that shows problems and locations for TONS of sick looking bouldering in Linville Gorge. Mike has been developing problems in the gorge for years, and this site is a great resource for anyone wanting to get down there and explore. Get your adventure bouldering hat on, as well as yer swim trunks, and check out this guide:

movementonstone.blogspot.com


UPDATE: For a bit more info, including obviously important directions into the different bouldering areas, see UpstateBouldering's post on the gorge (Thanks, Brad):

http://upstatebouldering.blogspot.com/2009/10/wnc-local-spot-linville-gorge.html

photo: Mike Stam

Rumbling Bald Cleanup Day June 12th

Chris Dorrity has lined up a work day with the park folks overseeing Rumbling Bald. Here's the lowdown:

We will be able to do a trail / boulder clean-up on the State's property on Saturday, June 12th. Meet at the parking area at 8:30 AM. We will be removing downed trees at the Obscure Area, Hull Area, and Central Boulders.

Let's not miss out on this opportunity to clean up these trees to be ready for next season!

if you want to help out, just show up!

Big Whip!

Is there anything more fun than watching people take giant whips on video? Well, maybe going climbing is more fun, but when you're killing time at work, it doesn't get much better. There's the build up of anticipation because you know they're gonna take the ride--but when? It's good desk-job therapy, so I thought I'd share.

Watch this kid take a HUGE whip on a small TCU on the Cobra Crack (5.14) at Squamish. Oh, and check out the gnarly mono lock at the crux, too.

Climbing Magazine sold...again

Many folks probably know that Climbing magazine has been sold quite a few times in the last few years. Well, now it's been sold again (read more here). Sorry to say it, but in my opinion the magazine is starting to look like a washed up girl that used to be hot that's now been around the block too many times, and gets worse with each new partner. The quality has nose-dived over the last 10 years. At least in this case, the whole of Skram media, the company that owns Climbing (and Urban Climber and UCTV), is going with it to the new owner and not just selling off Climbing. But it's a sad state when something iconic that used to try to represent the best of climbing culture is being bought and sold again and again at the whim of large media companies trying to connect to our specific demographic (while slashing costs and quality), and not out of any apparent joy or love for the sport itself. That said, it looks like the new owners are getting some good folks in place to work on the mag, so maybe the love'll be represented by the staff, if not the owners. Time will tell. But I haven't renewed my subscription in 2 years, and it's gonna take a kick-ass refresh to get me back.

As a side note, if this stuff interests you, check out this interview with the past editor of Climbing. It speaks a lot to why the mag has declined over the years.

Injury rant (tired of these yet?)

Last Thursday I went back to the Walker Creek boulders and my pal Pascal tagged along. We did the usual warmups and then Pascal, being the badass that he is, proceeded to add sit down starts to all of my established problems. Oh, and he also did a straight up top out on Not a Prayer, instead of trending left into easier terrain as I had done. He turned that problem, which was V4-ish, into a V6 at least, I'd say. Nice work, Pascal. It was fun having someone out there to look at the problems with a fresh eye. I hope he goes back soon to try the ridiculous looking project just to the right of Not a Prayer.

So now to the ranting. I got injured when we were at the Boulders. Again. I somehow tweaked my upper back this time. So for 3 days I had shooting pain going across the tops of my shoulders and spine right a the base of the neck. That intense pain has gone away, but the base of my neck is still tweaked to the point where I don't dare go climbing for fear of making it worse. So here's my rant: I don't drink much at all, I don't do drugs, I eat well, I do yoga, PT, I cross train; in short, I'm that annoying type-A guy about being in good shape and trying to do all the right things to climb well. And yet I still get hurt. All of the time. Almost every time I go climbing, it seems. Maybe 15 years of hanging on crimps has caught up with me, but I know other people who are still cranking after 20+ years. And Chris Sharma has climbed a few more routes than me and that mutant's still going strong.

So it appears the answer is to start drinking, eat like shit, stay out late, get an STD, and buy an Xbox. Or, I hear there is some cardio value in a Wii.

I'm trying hard to stay motivated, but damn. I'm just sayin'.

Schizophrenia

Nope, you're not crazy or stuck in a time warp. I've gone back to the old format for this blog. After experimenting with the new style I realized that I didn't like the segmented posts on their own pages. So I'm taking it back to the old school format. I'll be working on updating the images sizes in old posts over the next week or so.

Walker Creek Boulders

I went for a hike with my friend Alex in the National Forest outside of Barnardsville a couple of weeks ago. I was totally psyched to find some boulders along the Walker Creek trail, including one pretty large boulder in particular. I've been back 3 or 4 times now to do some cleaning (there's lots of moss and a few loose flakes) and put up some lines. I've been calling the big boulder 'the sanctuary'; it's near a creek, is shady in the afternoon, and is a short hike in. So far, I've put up about 8 lines from V0 to V4/V5. There is a great warm up wall with a few Vo problems and a 25 foot (or so) v1-ish traverse. On the overhanging wall, the best lines so far are Chakra Khan (V3) and Not a Prayer (v4/V5). It's been a long time since I've been climbing well and these climbs were really dirty for the FA; both of those factors are possibly affecting my ratings, so I look forward to getting consensus. I've also begun work on a really hard line that'll probably be V8 or so. I'm having trouble just making the first moves!

Aside form the Sanctuary boulder, there are some more rocks up the trail at about 10 minutes in. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and clean these up yet. My feeling is there are probably more boulders out here if I found all of these right next to the trails.



A few videos (and I've already caught hell from numerous people for wearing the tank top, but feel free to add to the abuse) :

The Path (V2-ish), Sanctuary, Walker's Creek from Frixtion on Vimeo.

A fun problem that would be way harder if it weren't for the HUGE footholds. I almost fall off the top when I grab a bunch of dirt instead of rock.

Chakra Khan (V3), the Sanctuary boulder, Walker's Creek from Frixtion on Vimeo.

This is the first ascent of a new line on the Sanctaury at Walker's Creek boulders, Barnardville, NC. Sorry for the hands getting cut off. This more about showing the new boulder.

Rope Marking?

This is an open question to anyone who thinks they know an answer.

I'm thinking about ordering a New England 10.2 60 meter rope from REI that's only like $140. The only problem with the rope, besides the fact that it's ugly, is it has no middle markings.

Is it safe to use a Sharpie (or something like it) to mark the middle? I'd hate to somehow corrode the sheath and not realize I'd weakened it until I'm belaying you on that project you keep taking whippers on. What do rope makers use to mark the middle?

Thanks for any advice.

**UPDATE:

Here's some info from Stewart Green from his page here:

How do I mark the middle of my rope?

If your rope doesn’t have a middle mark, then you can use a black permanent marker to designate the mid-point. Look for a marker made specifically for your rope by checking the manufacturer’s website. Be aware that the UIAA Safety Commission did tests with felt-tipped permanent marker pens, including those made specifically for marking ropes, and found a decrease in the “energy absorption capacity of the rope.” They therefore warn against marking a rope with any marker or substance not specifically approved by the rope manufacturer. But they also say that the chances of a rope breaking where you marked it as “nearly zero.” So you take your chances.

Marking With Tape or Thread

Some climbers use a piece of tape—duct tape or electrical tape—wrapped around the middle of the rope. This works…for awhile, but after a few pulls through carabiners the tape is gone. An alternative is to use some bright sewing thread and stitch it through the middle of the rope for a dozen or so turns. This works too but if the rope gets dirty, than the thread gets dirty. Using thread or tape won’t harm the rope and both are easy to replace.

And another post from Traditional Mountaineering:

No manufacturer will condone the use of permanent marking ink on the middle mark of a climbing rope. This would require the chemical analysis of the ink (which might be different over time) by the rope manufacturer. Bluewater sells a (non-permanent) marking pen with a Ph only approved for their own ropes.

The option of marking the middle of a climbing rope with tape is also questionable. How does the adhesive in the electrical or athletic tape react over time with the materials of the rope? One climbing rope wholesale representative states that the Ph of athletic tape may not damage the rope but points out that tape can come loose quickly and slide away from the original placement.

So, everything I found is kind of conflicting. Some sites claimed it wasn't a good idea to use a marker and that in some cases it weakened the rope by 50%. Then, in others it noted the weakness but said it wasn't really a problem. And tape can move and the chemicals can possibly harm the rope, too. And thread? Really? Maybe I'm crazy but it seems like the worst idea to actually pass a needle through the actual core of the rope!

The Dump

It's hard to believe that I spent 4 years at ASU and never went to the Dump (AKA Warpin Endorphin wall). I was just way too obsessed with bouldering, I guess. But thanks in large part to my many various and ongoing injuries, I'm not so obsessed with bouldering and have found renewed interest in sport climbing (where there are a lot less repetitious hard moves done in one day). It's crazy that it's been almost a year now since I tweaked my left shoulder and neck and it's still bothering me.

Anyway, Melissa and I went up on Sunday and the weather was perfect, though a little warm since the cliff is south facing. I had no idea that this crag is so popular, either. There was a constant flow of people all day, and I even had to ask some college kids to turn off the country music they were blasting from an iPod while Melissa attempted her first sport lead ever (she did great). It was so loud and they were so obnoxious that she couldn't concentrate.

We only had a few hours to spend at the crag, but it was fun and definitely worth going back to. I stayed on pretty easy terrain--a few 5.10s and 5.9s, but everything felt a few letter grades harder than the rating. There are definitely a few routes at the Dump in the 12+ range worth projecting, and most of them stay in the shade of the big roof a lot of the day, so I may head there a few more times this summer and try to get some strength back. The stiff grades combined with the fact that I haven't climbed in 3 weeks made me realize how freaking weak I'm getting, even though I've been working hard in the gym to counteract muscle imbalances. I guess the strength just doesn't translate. The good news is I have no pain in my shoulder today. Sweet. Hopefully all the non-climbing work is finally paying off.

This Commercial is Kinda F**

Panasonic released this commercial in an effort to appeal to climbers with their rugged waterproof camera. It's kinda funny, but kinda fucked up, too. See if it appeals to you: