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Wor
Oct 21, 2005
Hello again thread. Ice climbing season is in full swing in the Rockies. Anyone else getting after it outside on the ice yet??

Here's to 2014 - send an M10 roof, and climb the Weeping Pillar before the end of season.

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Speleothing
May 6, 2008

Spare batteries are pretty key.
On that note, if you're looking to buy a new pair of ice tools, Bentgate in Golden has decided to do a demo program for ice gear this year. Great chance to try out the top-quality tools and figure out exactly which pair you like most before dropping the dollars.

Wor
Oct 21, 2005
That's a fantastic idea if you're just starting out. I highly recommend the Petzl Nomics, or a similar bent-shaft tool, especially if you want to do mixed climbing and cragging at your local choss pile. They all climb about equally well (BD Fusion, Cassin X-Dream, Grivel Quantum Race) with their own nuances in terms of grip and swing.

I have a buddy with new Petzl Quarks, and while they are an excellent waterfall ice and alpine/easy mixed tool, they are not nearly as fun at the drytooling crag.

Borrow and swing as many sets of tools as you can before you drop the coin!

Kylaer
Aug 4, 2007
I'm SURE walking around in a respirator at all times in an (even more) OPEN BIDENing society is definitely not a recipe for disaster and anyone that's not cool with getting harassed by CHUDs are cave dwellers. I've got good brain!
When you're climbing multiple times a week, is it normal for your fingers to develop consistent pain if they've been immobile for any time? When I first wake up, the first movements of my fingers will be extremely painful until I've stretched them a bit. Is this alright, or is it a sign I'm doing too much and am injuring myself?

I don't only climb, I also lift weights, but I didn't have these pains back when climbing was a weekly thing instead of two or three times a week.

Irving
Jun 21, 2003

SlimPickens posted:

Any Los Angeles goons in need or want of a climbing partner for the next month? I'm spending all of January in Orange County and would like to get on some rock while I'm there.

Or if anybody has climbed there and has suggestions that would be awesome too.

Malibu Creek! There's a ton of great sport climbing out there and the rock is fantastic.

[edit] Gym wise, Sender One is the new big one in Orange County.

Irving fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Jan 6, 2014

brakeless
Apr 11, 2011

Kylaer posted:

When you're climbing multiple times a week, is it normal for your fingers to develop consistent pain if they've been immobile for any time? When I first wake up, the first movements of my fingers will be extremely painful until I've stretched them a bit. Is this alright, or is it a sign I'm doing too much and am injuring myself?

I don't only climb, I also lift weights, but I didn't have these pains back when climbing was a weekly thing instead of two or three times a week.

That sounds bad. Climbing isn't different from any other sport in that there's muscle soreness and then there's pain. Your forearms being stiff and sore would most likely be no cause to worry, but what you've got probably means that the tendons and related parts in your fingers are being worked too hard. I'd suggest taking it easy for a while.

Tarnien
Jul 4, 2003
Champion of the World!!!

Kylaer posted:

When you're climbing multiple times a week, is it normal for your fingers to develop consistent pain if they've been immobile for any time? When I first wake up, the first movements of my fingers will be extremely painful until I've stretched them a bit. Is this alright, or is it a sign I'm doing too much and am injuring myself?

I don't only climb, I also lift weights, but I didn't have these pains back when climbing was a weekly thing instead of two or three times a week.

Only you can really answer this for yourself. Generally, discomfort is an ok/good thing, but I wouldn't call it "pain." It's at the worst in the mornings for sure, but if they're becoming painful consistently throughout the day, you might want to rest a bit.

If you really want to know, keep going until you hurt yourself. Congratulations, you've found your limit (I'm only partly kidding -- anyone who climbs for an extended length of time will start to figure out their own limits simply by trial and error -- overuse injuries are very common in climbing).

Baldbeard
Mar 26, 2011

Kylaer posted:

When you're climbing multiple times a week, is it normal for your fingers to develop consistent pain if they've been immobile for any time? When I first wake up, the first movements of my fingers will be extremely painful until I've stretched them a bit. Is this alright, or is it a sign I'm doing too much and am injuring myself?

I don't only climb, I also lift weights, but I didn't have these pains back when climbing was a weekly thing instead of two or three times a week.

This is likely inflammation and is not good, -do not climb- when they are like this. You aren't giving your fingers enough time to recover between sessions and so they are getting hosed up.

But yes, it's perfectly normal. A lot of people, especially climbers in their first year, climb too many times a week and/or too hard and mess up their tendons.

Baldbeard fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Jan 6, 2014

Kylaer
Aug 4, 2007
I'm SURE walking around in a respirator at all times in an (even more) OPEN BIDENing society is definitely not a recipe for disaster and anyone that's not cool with getting harassed by CHUDs are cave dwellers. I've got good brain!
Ugh. That's what I was worried about. I know muscle pain, I'm well accustomed to that, and this isn't it. I figured it was either the tendons or the tendon sheaths, I just wasn't sure whether it was a sign I was overdoing things or if it was normal and expected. Thank you for the confirmation, even though it isn't what I wanted to hear.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Hi thread

I've been bouldering now for about 6 months, and I go about once a week. I'm a big dude (6 foot, 220lbs) and I can consistently dummy the yellow routes without any issue. But it feels like the jump from yellow to blue is huge, and I don't seem to be making much improvement in tackling the blues.

Anything I could be doing to help improve? I think a lot is just technique.

Blog Free or Die
Apr 30, 2005

FOR THE MOTHERLAND

Kylaer posted:

Ugh. That's what I was worried about. I know muscle pain, I'm well accustomed to that, and this isn't it. I figured it was either the tendons or the tendon sheaths, I just wasn't sure whether it was a sign I was overdoing things or if it was normal and expected. Thank you for the confirmation, even though it isn't what I wanted to hear.

Some advice I wish I'd taken earlier was to crimp as little as possible. It makes using tricky holds a lot easier at first, but seems to lead to finger injuries a lot faster as well. Using an open grip is possible/better 90% of the time; it just takes some getting used to at first. Consider doing some open hand only days, although you'll probably have to climb a few grades lower than usual for a while.

Baldbeard
Mar 26, 2011

MA-Horus posted:

Hi thread

I've been bouldering now for about 6 months, and I go about once a week. I'm a big dude (6 foot, 220lbs) and I can consistently dummy the yellow routes without any issue. But it feels like the jump from yellow to blue is huge, and I don't seem to be making much improvement in tackling the blues.

Anything I could be doing to help improve? I think a lot is just technique.

Does your gym use V+number ratings? I'm not sure if gyms have some kind of standardized color scheme -- but I definitely don't know what blue or yellow means.

Speleothing
May 6, 2008

Spare batteries are pretty key.

MA-Horus posted:

Hi thread

I've been bouldering now for about 6 months, and I go about once a week. I'm a big dude (6 foot, 220lbs) and I can consistently dummy the yellow routes without any issue. But it feels like the jump from yellow to blue is huge, and I don't seem to be making much improvement in tackling the blues.

Anything I could be doing to help improve? I think a lot is just technique.

Do I get a bonus for being the first person to say focus on your footwork?

Sigmund Fraud
Jul 31, 2005

Dumbdog posted:

What are everyone's aims for the new year then? Id really like to get more 7B+s done and maybe break into 7C. Also trips to the lake district and north wales as often as possible would be good.
Find and send several short term 7a+ projects outdoors.
Two climbing trips this year.
Do more rehab and antagonist exercises in general and especially for my bicep tendinitis.
Eat more protein and visible abs

Discomancer
Aug 31, 2001

I'm on a cupcake caper!

MA-Horus posted:

Hi thread

I've been bouldering now for about 6 months, and I go about once a week. I'm a big dude (6 foot, 220lbs) and I can consistently dummy the yellow routes without any issue. But it feels like the jump from yellow to blue is huge, and I don't seem to be making much improvement in tackling the blues.

Anything I could be doing to help improve? I think a lot is just technique.
Not sure what grades the colors correspond to, but if that's the v3-v5ish range, a lot of people start plateauing there for a long time. If you're tall and strong, a lot of what you're probably doing is powering through these routes, which is getting you up the wall, but not in a way that hones your technique (body positioning and footwork). Spend some time focusing less on simply completing the route, and more on completing it smoothly and quickly. So try working working on quiet feet/hands, keeping your weight over your feet, keeping your core tight through a sequence, route reading, and skills like that. Work on moves you haven't had a lot of exposure to like flagging, drop knees, heel hooks, mantles, etc. When you get done with a route, ask yourself if a 5'0 100 pound person would have been able to do it your way, and if not, try it a different way.

Try looking at How to Climb 5.12, which has some pretty good exercises to build strength and technique

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Sorry, V0 is White, V1 is Yellow, V2 is Blue. I'm basically at V1 and some V2.

Footwork doesn't seem to be a huge issue, it's more grip. I find the holds for V2 are much, MUCH more difficult.

armorer
Aug 6, 2012

I like metal.

MA-Horus posted:

Footwork doesn't seem to be a huge issue, it's more grip.

A lot of bouldering comes down to exactly where your weight is with respect to the wall / move you are trying to make. Your feet may be placed securely, but still be completely wrong for the move you are trying to make. When people say "footwork" here they are sort of lumping a lot of body positioning technique into that word because footwork is how the technique often manifests itself. If grip is an issue, it's entirely possible that you don't have the strength yet to make the move, but it's equally possible that your body positioning is making the move require significantly more grip strength that it otherwise might.

Baldbeard
Mar 26, 2011

MA-Horus posted:

Sorry, V0 is White, V1 is Yellow, V2 is Blue. I'm basically at V1 and some V2.

Footwork doesn't seem to be a huge issue, it's more grip. I find the holds for V2 are much, MUCH more difficult.

I can almost guarantee you it's not your grip, but rather a technique issue. It can be hard to conceptualize at first, because chances are when you fail a route it's while making a hand movement, but poor balance and footwork is actually sabotaging your grip by putting too much weight on it. Strong and/or tall people get a free pass on V0/V1 and even V2+ depending on the particular gym.

V2/V3 is where you start to see holds that make it difficult to support your full weight on and so you have to actually learn the correct sequence(s) to complete the route. This is like every climber's first major plateau. Watch better climbers and try to figure out why they are doing what they are doing. Experienced climbers move pretty gracefully on routes within their comfort zone, and you will see a lot of movements that looks like squatting or lunging while on the wall -- this is all about putting the maximum possible weight on your feet/legs.

TotallyUnoriginal
Oct 15, 2004

Damnit bob
You'll be amazed at how much easier it is to hold on to bad holds once you get your footwork and body positioning down!

Spudalicious
Dec 24, 2003

I <3 Alton Brown.
Nthing that holds are a lot better based on how you grip them and where your body's mass is relative to the hold. I worked on a V3 for a week or so that had a move that went around a corner and pretty much every single time I did it, I swung way out and off the hold. I stuck at it an eventually figured out the exact sequence necessary, and any other motion I did would sabotage the whole thing. Bouldering problem moves can be extremely finicky if you aren't set up correctly on the wall to execute them.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
Some of our local climbers had an accident :stare:

quote:

"Witnesses told them they saw Farrar and DiPaolo arguing in the parking lot. One witness later found Farrar with major head trauma and saw DiPaolo running up the trail." (Via WJLA)
The 69-year-old Geoff Farrar was rushed to the hospital but died later that day. At first, speculation was that Farrar had fallen to his death because he frequently climbed without a rope. But the investigation revealed much more.
Police eventually arrested 31-year-old David DiPaolo, who admitted to killing Farrar. (Via WRC-TV)
According to court documents, DiPaolo says it was self-defense.
"DiPaolo admitted to the argument but said the next thing he remembered was being choked by Farrar. ... He said he used the claw hammer to strike Farrar in the head." (Via WJLA)​

It happened at Carderocks. Didn't know either of them, but wow. WTF dudes?

Sound_man
Aug 25, 2004
Rocking to the 80s
Went to the climbing gym for the third time today. First time going alone so I was stuck with the auto belay routes. I was able to climb for a lot longer than before. I am using rental gear and I want to know if buying my own would make a difference. I can live with the harness but the shoes bug me. The gym just got a bunch of new gear so maybe its because it isn't broken in yet but I fell like the shoes are too stiff. I have a hard time 'feeling' the holds on the wall. What should the soles feel like?

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

IF you plan on continuing to climb buy your own stuff. Plus it will motivate you to go outside and climb.

foolish_fool
Jul 22, 2010
Inevitably there will be a point where you will save money by having your own gear rather than renting each time (for me it was ~12 visits, YMMV), if you think your climbing experiences are going to last at least that long, then you may as well gear gear...

Sound_man
Aug 25, 2004
Rocking to the 80s
I have four visits with gear left on my pass at the local gym. (climb Nashville if anyone is in the area) after that I will make the call if its worth sticking $200 into a shoes and harness. I have already ordered chalk and a chalk bag.

evol262
Nov 30, 2010
#!/usr/bin/perl

Sound_man posted:

I have four visits with gear left on my pass at the local gym. (climb Nashville if anyone is in the area) after that I will make the call if its worth sticking $200 into a shoes and harness. I have already ordered chalk and a chalk bag.

It's about half that price. $120-$140 with a locking biner and ATC or reverso is about right

jiggerypokery
Feb 1, 2012

...But I could hardly wait six months with a red hot jape like that under me belt.

Don't spend a fortune on really expensive tight shoes though, until your footwork improves you will demolish shoes. See it as an incentive to work on it. Bad footwork is expensive!

TotallyUnoriginal
Oct 15, 2004

Damnit bob

Sound_man posted:

Went to the climbing gym for the third time today. First time going alone so I was stuck with the auto belay routes. I was able to climb for a lot longer than before. I am using rental gear and I want to know if buying my own would make a difference. I can live with the harness but the shoes bug me. The gym just got a bunch of new gear so maybe its because it isn't broken in yet but I fell like the shoes are too stiff. I have a hard time 'feeling' the holds on the wall. What should the soles feel like?

The "feel" of a climbing shoe is completely subjective! I wear Solutions and Testarossas and prefer to have stiff thick soles that I can't feel much of anything through.

Other people like to wear shoes with thinner soles so that they can feel holds and rock through the shoe better.

But yes, having your own shoes will definitely make a difference. Most rental shoes are made to be durable and long lasting so they don't perform quite as well as ones that you can buy.

skudmunky
Apr 28, 2010

jiggerypokery posted:

Don't spend a fortune on really expensive tight shoes though, until your footwork improves you will demolish shoes. See it as an incentive to work on it. Bad footwork is expensive!

I finally retired my Nagas after 2+ years of solid climbing - I actually wore a thumbnail sized hole under my big toe on one side. Just got Muiras and holy crap I climb so much better with stiff, sticky rubber again.

First shoes do absolutely get destroyed by sloppy foot placement, I'm glad I didn't go over $100 for my first pair.

Sigmund Fraud
Jul 31, 2005

skudmunky posted:

I finally retired my Nagas after 2+ years of solid climbing - I actually wore a thumbnail sized hole under my big toe on one side. Just got Muiras and holy crap I climb so much better with stiff, sticky rubber again.
Holee poo poo two years. I consider myself a decent climber with good footwork but by shoes need resoling every 3 months. What's your secret?

Sigmund Fraud
Jul 31, 2005

No climbing vacation for me and my main climbing buddy this semester due to incompatible schedules. :( Buuut me and another friend might go on a 3 week car trip centered on California in June. I've never been to the US so which crags would you recommend? It wouldn't be a dedicated climbing trip but we could perhaps squeeze out 5 days at one crag and a couple at some other. We'd be looking for sport pitches in the 6a-7b range (font).

On another note I think we should be posting more videos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvJK5IuS5Z4

pbpancho
Feb 17, 2004
-=International Sales=-

Sigmund Fraud posted:

No climbing vacation for me and my main climbing buddy this semester due to incompatible schedules. :( Buuut me and another friend might go on a 3 week car trip centered on California in June. I've never been to the US so which crags would you recommend? It wouldn't be a dedicated climbing trip but we could perhaps squeeze out 5 days at one crag and a couple at some other. We'd be looking for sport pitches in the 6a-7b range (font).

On another note I think we should be posting more videos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvJK5IuS5Z4

If you're after sport Red Rock Canyon outside Vegas has plenty. Joshua Tree has some sport as well, and bouldering. Yosemite and Joshua Tree have TONS of trad though.

skudmunky
Apr 28, 2010

Sigmund Fraud posted:

Holee poo poo two years. I consider myself a decent climber with good footwork but by shoes need resoling every 3 months. What's your secret?

My secret is being a poor college kid who didn't buy new shoes till the old ones had a hole in them. Still keep em around though actually, pretty comfy for super long bouldering sessions.

I definitely need to look into the resoling thing though, I want my new shoes to be usable for a long time yet.

Dumbdog
Sep 13, 2011

Sigmund Fraud posted:

Holee poo poo two years. I consider myself a decent climber with good footwork but by shoes need resoling every 3 months. What's your secret?

Unless your climbing on some kind of super rough rock that kills your shoes then thats amazingly fast. If you dont mind me asking how long have you been climbing?

Sigmund Fraud
Jul 31, 2005

Dumbdog posted:

Unless your climbing on some kind of super rough rock that kills your shoes then thats amazingly fast. If you dont mind me asking how long have you been climbing?
3 years. I climb 4 times a week at around 7b. I wear La Sportiva Python which has very sticky rubber so it wears easier than less sticky shoes (like Mad Rock).

Dumbdog
Sep 13, 2011

Sigmund Fraud posted:

3 years. I climb 4 times a week at around 7b. I wear La Sportiva Python which has very sticky rubber so it wears easier than less sticky shoes (like Mad Rock).

Sounds like your foot work should be ok then. I havent had pythons but they are quite thin arent they? I dunno though 3 months still seems really quick.

modig
Aug 20, 2002

Sigmund Fraud posted:

No climbing vacation for me and my main climbing buddy this semester due to incompatible schedules. :( Buuut me and another friend might go on a 3 week car trip centered on California in June. I've never been to the US so which crags would you recommend? It wouldn't be a dedicated climbing trip but we could perhaps squeeze out 5 days at one crag and a couple at some other. We'd be looking for sport pitches in the 6a-7b range (font).

Owens River Gorge. And if you are already at Owens, you have to at least stop in Bishop and visit the Buttermilks, even if you don't have pads you just need to see it.
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/owens-river-gorge/105843226

jackchaos
Aug 6, 2008
Just got back from bishop and I'm going to have to agree. Go to bishop. Roll up on people with pads already out if you have to. Or climb something that looks easy. Either way just do it.

TotallyUnoriginal
Oct 15, 2004

Damnit bob
This morning I woke up, grabbed my shoes, and had a short drive out to Stone Fort for some casual solo bouldering.

Then I woke up and I was in Florida again :smith:

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any colour you like
Jul 19, 2006

Prying open my third eye
I've been bouldering and climbing harder than usually lately (harder grades, not more often), but yesterday I had stop climbing because of a pain in my middle and ring finger on my right hand. I was hoping the pain would go away after a night of sleep, but the fingers are still numb and it's a litte painful to clench my hand to a fist. Should I take a break from climbing until the pain goes away, or is it ok to just tape the finger when I go climbing? I've had a lot of advances in techinque and strength lately so it would suck if I have to stop climbing for a while.
Then again, if climbing worsens the fingers that would probably lead to a more serious injury and a longer break. I don't know a lot about climbing related injuries, so I hope someone here have some tips.

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