Injury and Injury Prevention Exercises

This site is worth checking out, especially the video on shoulder exercises. Some of these are the exact same exercises my PT gave me this past year. Don't be fooled by the small weights. These exercises will get you pumped and work your shoulders in ways they don't normally get used--which is good for us, even if it ain't fun, like eating our veggies. Here's the link:

http://climbinginjuries.com/page/exercises



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Grandfather Service Project Day

Special thanks to guest blogger Zachary Lesch-Huie. Zachary's a Boone local, volunteer for the CCC, advocate for land conservency, and a solid climber ta boot. Some folks also say he's a helluva a nice guy. This is his report on the volunteer work at Grandfather this weekend, where us climber folk would one day love to have access.From the photos it looks like they had a pretty wild day...
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Organized by Phil Trew of the Boone Climbers' Coalition, last Saturday's service project on Grandfather Mountain was a complete success. Seven motivated Boone-area climbers partnered with Grandfather Mountain State Park, lending their assistance to the installation of signs in Grandfather's back country camping zones. The group of climbers was joined by two Grandfather Mountain State Park staff, including Ranger Andy Sicard who directed the effort.

The group departed from the parking lot at Grandfather's famous Swinging Bridge. The winds were high and ominous storm clouds obscured most of the view. With unwieldy tools and supplies, our group headed over Grandfather's high ridge. In an email announcing the service outing a few days before, Phil said, "If you've never hiked that trail before, it is sweet but will be a challenge carrying materials." He may have meant this as a clever under-statement. Or maybe he was just sandbagging. Either way, negotiating the many exposed wooden ladders and constricted boulder gardens while carrying 8' long posts and heavy tools made for an interesting approach. But it didn't hurt that the group was all climbers, and the chutes and ladders didn't seem to slow anyone down much.

I joined the outing and have to confess I had never hiked this ridge trail before. For natural beauty, it's an amazing trail to be sure, with unrivaled views and position. Unfortunately, it also gives one an ideal view of how high-end mountain development ran amok in the High Country. Looking across numerous mountain ridges west and north, there is a staggering lack of unfilled green space--and there are so many houses. It's somewhat ironic since Grandfather is deservedly regarded as a special natural area.

As a climber, one of the most interesting things I saw along the way were the climbing bolts and hangers used to fix the trail's wooden ladders and hand-cables to the rocks. The hardware was mostly self-drive bolts with old SMC hangers or Petzl caving hangers. I saw maybe two modern stainless steel bolts and hangers, and one rickety old cold shut. The best one though was at the top of the tallest set of ladders. The anchor was a makeshift "piton", cabled to the top of the ladder. Check out the photo. It seemed solid.

We eventually made it to our first work site, which I believe was the campsite at Cliffside. The park personnel showed us where to plant the sign. Our charge was to dig a two-foot hole and firmly install the sign in it. "Here's the post-hole diggers, go on and get your PhD," said Phil Trew. He handed me the tool and I proceeded to get pumped on that counterintuitive tool after 10 seconds. Turns out the PhD Phil was referring to is the one that stands for "post hole digger." The joke was on me. Phil proceeded to demonstrate his advanced degree. He went to town with that thing and had a hole up to spec in no time. On to the next install.

As the sun slowly came out, our group worked our way back along the ridge, digging holes and installing signs at Cliffside, Calloway Gap, Alpine Meadow (a really pretty spot) and Attic Window. Amazingly, we never once hit a slab of rock that prevented us from digging a hole. I found this hard to believe, but to the state park's credit they had come to each of the sites beforehand and made sure there was actually some topsoil in which to anchor a sign.

Eventually the sun came out and the day turned nice. The climbers managed to wrap up the service project by 3:00 in the afternoon. Ranger Sicard expressed the state park's sincere appreciation for the help, and all of us climbers present made it clear we were more than happy to help and would gladly help again in the future. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for climbers to assist Grandfather Mountain State Park in the future soon.

Service projects that successfully partner with land managers, like this one by the BCC (boone Climbers' Coalition), demonstrate the good will and cooperation of Carolina climbers. More importantly, they demonstrate climbers' long-held ability and willingness to be responsible stewards of the land and rocks on which we climb.

Thanks to the state park and the BCC for this opportunity, and to the great volunteers who showed up to help!

*Besides Ship Rock, which is a legal climbing area, keep in mind that rock climbing and bouldering are not allowed on Grandfather Mountain. Any climber caught breaking this rule is directly imperiling any possible future chance of legally climbing on Grandfather. Don't do it!

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Hound Ears 2010

In preparation for Hound Ears this weekend, here's a really nicely-produced video showing a few classic lines from the perspective of a strong local. Also, check out my list of tips for the comp after the video.



For anyone coming to the comp, hope you've been sanding your fingers and eating your Wheaties. Hound Ear is tons of fun but it'll kick yer butt at the same time. Every year I've competed I've been totally wasted by around 2 in the afternoon, well before the comp's officially over.

On that same note, here are a few tips I've learned the hard way:

1. Don't rush! The psyche is so high and there's so much good rock to climb, it's hard not to go crazy. But warm up well and pace yourself. A lot people are slowing down early in the afternoon so there's plenty of time then to get on the good stuff.

2. Don't get hung up on one problem. I've done this in the past and totally wasted myself for a single send. There's tons of good rock to climb and we can only get in once a year. Sample the goods!

3. Eat lunch. This goes along with number one. I never took the time to chill and eat a solid lunch, so I always bonked out from low energy earlier than I should have. Its hard to make yourself sit down for 45 minutes, but you'll be better off if you do.

4. Don't work the sharp stuff too much. All the rock is pretty sharp/rough, but some problems are worse than others. Know when to walk away and save your skin!

5. Bring good brushes. Hundreds of sweaty climbers all vying for many of the same lines. 'Nuff said.

6. Bring a good jacket for the morning! I always get caught off guard by how durn cold it is when you're waiting for the shuttles in the morning. It usually warms up nicely later in the day, but it takes longer to get warmed up for climbing if you've been too cold in the AM.

7. Head for the woods. There are tons of cool problems off the beaten path at Hound Ears. You'll get away from the main area crowds and find some cool stuff. Also, from my experience, it seemed like newly-developed areas had softer grades, which meant more points for less work.

8. Don't be a wanker and sandbag yerself! Some folks may be tempted to climb below their ability level all day to place high in the category below them. If you like winning on these terms, well, that's just crappy. So there. Plus, you're screwing yourself out of killer problems at your level. So don't be lame.

9. Get to the parking lot early to get a t-shirt that fits! The triple crown shirts are shweet; it sucks getting there and having to take a pink extra-large (unless that's your bag). I've got like three shirts that don't fit me 'cuz I'm not an early riser.

Well, those are my tips / advice from past years. Anybody else got tips to share? My first HE was comp #3 or #4; can't remember exactly. Hard to believe it's now #17 or something. Good luck and have fun!

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La Sportiva Boulder Xs

I just got the La Sportiva Boulder Xs about a week ago, and so far I'm really digging them. Lately I've been wearing a pair of beatup old trail running shoes on campus and for climbing approaches, so I'm psyched to have a shoe with some more support and that's more geared towards actual rock endeavors. So far I've just been breaking them in and will do a full review in about a month after I've had a chance to really use them. As of now, I've mostly been wearing them on campus, but I've been pleased so far. I'm even noticing small stuff like it's easier going up and down stairs with a loaded pack full of books and a laptop because of the rise in the heels compared to running shoes. Besides all that, I think they look pretty dang cool, too. Anyway, look out for the full review in a few weeks!



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Grandfather Mountain Service Project

Join other area climbers on Saturday, September 25th for a service day of trail and campsite maintenance at Grandfather Mountain State Park. Grandfather has long been closed to climbing and this good will gesture is an effort to improve relations between climbers and the new park, and show that we climbers are a responsible and conscientious user group. Here's the lowdown from Phil Trew who has put the event together:

We've got a service project lined up with Grandfather Mountain State Park for Saturday September 25. We will meet at 8:45 at the Grandfather Mountain Entrance Gate. You can park to the left or right of the gates. The project will consist of carrying posts, signs, and tools from the Mile High Bridge parking lot to five campsights along the ridge. We will also be installing the signs. If you've never hiked that trail before, it is sweet but will be a challenge carrying materials.

Grandfather State Park will provide the tools, but bring your own water, lunch, and gloves. The campsights are a good distance from the parking lot, so a small pack to carry your supplies would be a good idea. I told the Grandfather Ranger that we wanted to be done by 3:00 so we would have time to do some climbing afterwards.

Contact Phil here for more info.


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Reel Rock Tour 2010

The 2010 Reel Rock tour came through town this weekend and it was a great collection of vids. The people who put it together did a great job showing the gamut of hard bouldering, hard sport climbing, scary trad, alpine speed climbing craziness, and some freaky free soloing (or "free basing", wherein he climbs with a parachute) by Dean Potter. It was a perfect blend that never got boring. One of my favorite parts was watching Peter Croft, who is 52, climb a 5.12 corner with total style and psyche. Climbers like Peter are the real deal and give me hope that climbing hard doesn't have to end just 'cuz of aging. Another great scene from the same video showed Lisa Rands totally losing it and getting pumped on a scary 5.12 crack. She was cursing and slamming in gear that looked sketchy as hell. Anyone who's climbed trad for very long knows that gut wrenching feeling of fear; I laughed nervously as she struggled to get past the crux and finally whipped on a tipped out cam.

If the tour comes through your town, check it out. It's totally worth the 5 bucks.

Also, thanks to Mike Grimm at Misty who sold some overstock products at the event and raised about $200 for the CCC. Nice work, Mike--and great idea. Misty will also be at the WNC Climbers' Weekend at Looking Glass, so you have another opportunity to buy some discount harnesses, chalk bags, gear slings, and whatever else they're selling off. Remember to bring cash (I forgot and was wistfully eyeing a new Misty harness all night).




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The Kitchen Sink

Right now my apartment looks like a cross between a retirement home and a new-age health center. I'm taking prescription pills, multivitamins, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements. I'm also rocking the ice packs and PT bands. Give me another week and it'll probably smell like Ben-Gay up in here, too. On the new age side, I've got my yoga mat and a back buddy. I'm trying everything I can think of to better this nagging shoulder. In short, I'm throwing the kitchen sink at the wanker:

A typical day involves:

-Vitamins and supplements in the morning, plus ibuprofen 2x a day. Yoga if I can fit it in.
-Pt bands and light weight lifting in the afternoon to strengthen the shoulder and keep it flexible.
-Ice for reducing swelling and the back buddy for massaging to increase bloodflow (which helps healing)
-Then the most fun: Flexiril (muscle relaxers) which I'm finally taking 2 months after I got the prescription. So far, after just a few nights, it seems to be making a difference.

I'll keep posting on how things go...


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Holloway Mountain Road Climbing

Have I beaten a dead horse yet in saying how much I love being back in Boone? Even though classes are a total butt kicker right now and we don't get out of classes until 5pm, there's still enough time to get out and climb since there is so much stuff nearby. Recently, Melissa and I have been running near the parkway and then hitting up Holloway Mountian Road, which has a fun, albeit short, cliff with some easy cracks for leading and some top-ropable face climbs. The 3 main cracks, from 5.7 to 5.9, are really fun. The only problem with this wall is how limited it is; after a just cuople of trips, we're already running out of new stuff to climb. But, hey, it's better than gym climbing and it's a great place for new climbers. It's strange, but trad climbing seems to actually be therapeutic for my shoulder. I wake up the next day and my shoulders feel looser than usual and not very sore. So at least I can still trad it up for now!

Here I'm leading the 5.7 Tree Crack:

For directions to Holloway Mountain, click here.


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Rock Climbing Blog Aggregator

I began working on this project a few months back and totally spaced on it since moving and starting school. Since I just remembered it, I figured I'd finally "go live" with it. I used Blogger's blog feed tool to set up a page dedicated to collecting climbing blogs. What I have now is just the start--I just started pulling from my favorites and other random blogs I found online--so if you have suggestions or if I left your blog out, just drop me a line on the contact link and I'll get your blog on there. 

From what I can tell, there's nothing else out there that pulls in a bunch of climbing blogs this way. Of course, I'm also of the opinion that if I can think an idea up, someone has probably already done it on the web. Regardless, I hope this helps people find new blogs and connect to other climbers.
You can check it out here:

frixtionclimbingblogs.blogspot.com

And it can now always be found on the link on the right side of this page.

Also, just in case you're wondering, I organized the blogs alphabetically by topic to avoid any appearance of favoritism.


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Looking Glass Weekend & Fundraising Events

Looking for something fun to do on the weekend of September 25th & 26th? The usual Adopt-A-Crag event at Looking Glass is now going to be a weekend-long event. Here's the info from the CCC website:

This year Fox Mountain Guides is expanding the classic Looking Glass Rock ‘Adopt-A-Crag’ trail day into a weekend long event for climbers from across the Southeast region to get together and to raise funds and awareness for the Access Fund, Carolina Climbers Coalition and Southeastern Climbers Coalition

The event will have three main components, Saturday 9am-1pm is the Access Fund Adopt A Crag trail day at Looking Glass Rock, with time to climb through the afternoon at the Glass. Saturday evening will be the Carolina Climbers Coalition Event of a catered BBQ, slide show and multimedia presentations from local climbers with a huge silent auction and fundraiser for the CCC. On Sunday Fox Mountain Guides and Climbing School will be offering two Climbers Self Rescue courses with 100% of the proceeds going to the Southeastern Climbers Coalition.

Misty Mountain will also be showing up to support fundraising efforts by selling lots of goods at serious discounts (Thanks to Misty for their continued generous support). Also from the CCC site:

Are you going to the Western NC Climbers Weekend at Looking Glass? The Hound Ears comp? Do you want to score a killer deal on some Misty Mountain goods? Well, you're in luck. The fine folks at Misty will be having a gear sale at both events with all proceeds going to the CCC. There will be piles of stuff at different price ranges - sales samples, overruns, all great stuff that can't be sold at retail. Cash only, so stuff a few bills in your pocket and trade them in on some new gear. Many thanks to Misty Mountain Threadworks, who continue to find new ways to support climbing in the Carolinas!

Sounds like a good chance to have fun, enjoy the fall temps, and help support the crags and the folks that look out for em. More info can be seen at the Access Fund calendar.


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New Slackline Obsession

During my first week on campus I noticed a bunch of outdoorsy-looking undergrads hanging around a couple of slacklines they had set up on the grassy quad. I'd only tried slacklining once before years ago, but I figured what the hell else is college for if not trying new things (and falling on your ass in front of hundreds of people)? So I talked to the guys, jumped on the line, and preceded to really suck and fall on my ass in front of hundreds of people. But it didn't matter; I was hooked. I've been hitting the slackline a few times a week now, including an old (seriously moldy) one that's been set up for years behind the place I'm living. I'm now able to walk the whole length of the line most of the time. I just keep hoping the old one doesn't snap and take out my ability to reproduce as it whips old locking 'biners towards me at 100mph.

So I've been searching out how to set a new line online and also looking at some vids on youtube. People do some insane stuff on slacklines; just take a look at the vid below. I can't believe it took me so long to get into this sport since it dovetails with climbing so well. Also, it's a fun diversion as I work with my shoulder injury. It's nice to try something completely new and be on the steep end of the learning curve for a change, where progress comes quickly. I've been climbing so long that my timeline of ability looks like a seismograph during a earthquake, it's so full of ups and downs with injuries and periods of strength building. Now, with slacklining, I can work on ruining the lower half of my body for a change!



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The Simple Joys (and Unexpected Trials) of Table Rock

Before I get going on my post about our recent rip to Table Rock last weekend, I want to say that it's been busy as hell lately with starting school, and things are only going to pick up from here! So apologies in advance if my posts get a bit more rare. I love blogging on climbing and will try to update on my adventures as much as I can. But if it comes down to having the time to either go climbing or blog about climbing--I'm going climbing! As I mentioned awhile back, not sitting at a desk for work for 8 hours a day really cuts into my blogging time!

As for Table Rock: I love this place. I learned to lead trad here 15 years ago and I've always loved the laid back routes. It's such a great place to train new multi-pitch climbers like Melissa. That said, we had a damn mini-epic this past weekend on Rip Van Winkle (5.7). It re-learned me on the notion that you should never underestimate a climb, ever. To make a way-to-long story short, our rope got stuck on the 2nd pitch and a lot of downclimbing, rapping, and reclimbing ensued. Also, the guidebook's route descriptions seemed off and the top 2 pitches never seem to get climbed. We actually had to launch a huge dead limb down the face so Melissa could follow one pitch. This 4-pitch route took us 7 hours! WTF?! I felt mired in gumbyland; this from someone who has climbed Half Dome. Gumbyness can strike at any time, I guess.

Anyway, here are a few pics from our misadventure! And remember, always bring your headlamp (we didn't!)




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