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Solly posted:I'm looking for some new shoes since apparently you don't need to break your toes to have an effective climbing shoe any more. Are these shoes with padded heels as much of a gimmick as they look? Seems like the padding wouldn't last that long and it would make using your heels more difficult. I think that's Mad Rock? Some of their stuff seems gimmicky I think But if that shoe fits and feels the best then just wear it. My choice for comfy shoe is the La Sportiva Mythos. Only shoe I've never needed to take off to give my feet a break. Having a non-painful shoe also let's me focus on the climbing at hand and rest on footholds more easily. French Canadian fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Aug 3, 2014 |
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Aug 3, 2014 19:55
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Yet again I turn for advice to all knowing climb thread - it seems that the skin on my fingertips decided to part ways, leaving me with newer, shinier, itchier new skin! I'm still peeling off parts and feeling in my fingers is still weird though. Now the question - is there anything I can do in the future to prevent that? While previous time I've had this happen to me with pointer fingers only, now it affected hm.. strangely enough, my non-primary hand more, with all the fingers. I've used a lot of moisturizer this week, every day and as I was able to climb, I climbed. Is it sensible? What do you do?
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Aug 3, 2014 22:22
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Tarnien posted:Looks like I'll be in Denver for 5 days in late September. I'll have probably 2-3 days to climb. Any recommendations for good outdoor bouldering circuits? It'll be me and the GF, so as dense with as wide a range of difficulties as possible. Can probably drive/hike 2-3 hours in any direction. Also, anywhere in Denver/Boulder rent crash pads or guidebooks? Shoot a PM. I can take you up to Satellites or if you're game for sport, anywhere in Boulder Canyon.
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Aug 4, 2014 05:29
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Rain, august, and Colorado are not supposed to mix... Ruining my climbing plans. 30% chance of rain... Blah
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Aug 5, 2014 22:55
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gamera009 posted:Shoot a PM. I can take you up to Satellites or if you're game for sport, anywhere in Boulder Canyon. Dude he's a boulderer, you can only go to the canyon for The Game. I have two pretty nice bouldering guidebooks for the area, one for the front range in general, and one for Mt Evan and RMNP (these are both of the drive 1-2 hours + hike 1-2 hours variety). Shoot me a PM if you're interested in borrowing.
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Aug 6, 2014 00:17
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modig posted:Dude he's a boulderer, you can only go to the canyon for The Game. Haha ya, definitely looking to boulder. Looks like the plan is RMNP Wed-Fri (9/24-9/26), so I might just take you up on that guidebook offer. I'll send you a PM a bit closer to the date!
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Aug 6, 2014 00:42
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modig posted:Dude he's a boulderer, you can only go to the canyon for The Game. Being a boulderer doesn't mean you can't lead. 
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Aug 6, 2014 03:52
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Hi, all, I'm interested in getting into climbing! I'm looking at taking an introductory course to begin with, but I'm stuck between two nearby climbing gyms: Vertical World in Redmond or Stone Gardens in Bellevue. Hopefully some Washington residents here have opinions on those places. I'd be open to outdoor classes with real rock as well if anyone has recommendations. One other thing I'm curious about. Is there a recommended way of getting into ice climbing? Are there prerequisites of sorts before taking classes for that?
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Aug 7, 2014 03:43
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I climbed in clear creek today, it was fun. My friend forgot his hiking shoes and since we left from work he was rocking the dress shoe approach. Very classy.
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Aug 7, 2014 04:35
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lime rind posted:Hi, all, I'm interested in getting into climbing! I don't know anything about ice climbing, so I can't really help you there. I haven't been to Vertical World in Redmond, but I've heard from friends that the walls are pretty short (though the Vertical World in Seattle is fantastic...unless you're in to bouldering) and pales in comparison to Stone Gardens Bellevue. I've been to Stone Gardens in Bellevue, and it's awesome (the Seattle one is not as nice). They've got pretty tall (~40ft) roped walls and a huge selection of bouldering (plus your membership lets you climb at the one in Seattle as much as you want). Both gyms offer a Climbing 101 class where you'll learn how to tie yourself in and how to belay a climber (side note: if you're getting in to roped climbing, having a friend to go with on a regular basis so you can belay each other is recommended  ). The Stone Gardens class is $55 and the Vertical World class is $50. Both include a 2-week membership to their respective gyms.For what it's worth, I have a membership at Stone Gardens in Seattle and a 10-visit punch card to Vertical World for the times I feel like switching it up.
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Aug 7, 2014 05:19
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lime rind posted:Hi, all, I'm interested in getting into climbing! Seconding Stone Gardens recommendation. Only been there's few times because I'm a giant weenie who sticks to Seattle Bouldering Project but I have heard my more serious climber friends have this debate and Stone Gardens won unanimously.
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Aug 7, 2014 05:37
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lime rind posted:
I can only give you my experience and general impressions of having had exactly one ice climbing class (but hoping to do a lot more this season). I'd say general experience with rope handling and knots is the only real similarity between rock and ice. You might look for a class through your gym or a local guiding group. I ended up going through a local meetup that hosted a discounted class through a guiding group, so that may be a resource for you, too. If nothing else - ask peeps at your gym that are hanging out on the dry tool routes.
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Aug 7, 2014 05:38
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I'm pretty new to Seattle and looking for someone to climb with. Actually I've been here since about April and I'm tired of hanging out in SBP missing out on the summer. I've got a car and next week I'll have sport climbing junk. About me: I've been climbing about a year and a half around 5.8 and I'm really hoping the last four months have improved that a little. Ive led exactly one trad climb and would dig learning some more.
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Aug 7, 2014 08:00
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lime rind posted:Hi, all, I'm interested in getting into climbing! Nthing Stone Gardens. Vertical World has some guys who know their poo poo, but the facility is getting a little old. Ice climbing is for people who want their obituary to be memorable. Unoriginal Name fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 02:48
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lime rind posted:One other thing I'm curious about. Is there a recommended way of getting into ice climbing? Are there prerequisites of sorts before taking classes for that? No wimps, no whining, no flaking out.
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Aug 8, 2014 07:03
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lime rind posted:One other thing I'm curious about. Is there a recommended way of getting into ice climbing? Are there prerequisites of sorts before taking classes for that? Apart from that train those calves and go swing some axes.
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Aug 8, 2014 20:05
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Speleothing posted:What shoes with padded heels? I've never heard of such a thing. I loooove my Vapor Vs. Once they wear out (it'll be a while) I'll probably try out the Katanas just to try something new
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Aug 8, 2014 22:35
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Anybody climbing in the competition at Sportrock in Alexandria, VA today?
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Aug 9, 2014 15:34
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Just got back from my second alpine trip, to the Ecrins this time. So much fun. I like how efficiency is the core ideal of alpinism and I'm fascinated by the techniques involved. Stuff like short roping and using natural protection seems so ridiculously risky at first, but in the right environment it just makes sense.
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Aug 9, 2014 16:48
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Took my first trip out to a real crag yesterday  . I went with a friend of mine that climbs a lot and he showed me how to properly clean and set up anchors since there was a place at the top of the rock where he could stand and walk me through everything (we were at Gritscone off Exit 38 for any WA climbers out there). His method was to set up a rappel system (and I'm confident that I could do it again since I tried it three times). This is different than another method that I've seen people do where instead of tying the figure-8 back in and having your belayer lower you. Any reason to pick one method over the other or is it just personal preference (also holy poo poo untying your figure-8 knot at the top is the freakiest thing ever )?
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Aug 11, 2014 03:36
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If you lower off you are slowly destroying the gear at the top of the climb. If possible you should always rappel. Some routes require you to lower if you are going to get your gear back though.  Plus it is more fun to rappel and really doesn't take all that longer.
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Aug 11, 2014 04:36
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In general, it's fine to lower of the anchors at well-traveled sport crags. It wear the gear faster, but lowering is much safer than rappelling and more and more sport anchors are being equipped with beefy quick clips, whose express purpose is to make lowering easier. And yeah, on steep routes you pretty much have to lower, or have your 2nd clean on TR which isn't always feasible. At less travelled crags, it's better to rap off -- preventing wear is more important if the gear is not regularly inspected/maintained by the crag's stewards (or if the crag doesn't have any stewards!). One trick to make cleaning sport anchors a little less stressful is to push a bight of rope through the chains and tie a figure 8 on a bight with it that you can clip into your belay loop with a locker. This way you never have to come off belay. May not be possible depending on the gear at the anchor, but it's worth considering.
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Aug 11, 2014 16:18
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Sharks Eat Bear posted:One trick to make cleaning sport anchors a little less stressful is to push a bight of rope through the chains and tie a figure 8 on a bight with it that you can clip into your belay loop with a locker. This way you never have to come off belay. May not be possible depending on the gear at the anchor, but it's worth considering.
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Aug 11, 2014 18:18
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When you untie you should have the rope clipped to you somewhere at all times. Make a quick bight and clip it to a draw or something.
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Aug 11, 2014 19:35
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spwrozek posted:When you untie you should have the rope clipped to you somewhere at all times. Make a quick bight and clip it to a draw or something. Yeah I was taught to do that so I don't drop the rope . Made a small knot at then attached it with a carabiner so I don't drop the rope. Thanks for all the advice
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Aug 11, 2014 20:08
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Some people here are making cleaning a route seem way harder than it actually is. Do you really get scared about being off belay? I'm usually relieved when my life is in my own hands.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:19
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spwrozek posted:When you untie you should have the rope clipped to you somewhere at all times. Make a quick bight and clip it to a draw or something. I was taught to pull enough slack to feed through the hardware, tie off an 8 on a bight on the feed-through that gets clipped to me, and then untie to feed the rope through completely. Seems to be the safest way as far as I can tell.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:21
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Speleothing posted:Some people here are making cleaning a route seem way harder than it actually is. Do you really get scared about being off belay? I'm usually relieved when my life is in my own hands. Nah I don't get that freaked out. Just the concept of untying yourself up there is a little strange the first time you do it.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:52
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Speleothing posted:Some people here are making cleaning a route seem way harder than it actually is. Do you really get scared about being off belay? I'm usually relieved when my life is in my own hands. IMO it's just as easy if not easier to push a bight through, tie a figure 8 on a bight and clip that than to untie, thread, and re-tie in. and you never come off belay. not sure what makes it harder, other than just being something different than what you're already used to doing.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:55
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Sharks Eat Bear posted:IMO it's just as easy if not easier to push a bight through, tie a figure 8 on a bight and clip that than to untie, thread, and re-tie in. and you never come off belay. not sure what makes it harder, other than just being something different than what you're already used to doing. Why lower when you should rap?
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Aug 11, 2014 21:01
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Speleothing posted:Some people here are making cleaning a route seem way harder than it actually is. Do you really get scared about being off belay? I'm usually relieved when my life is in my own hands. I generally agree with you but a heathy fear up there is OK. Not getting freaked out just in a concentrating zone so to speak. Not paying attention has big consequences. All I do is: PAS Bight in rope, push through rap rings Quick knot, clip to extra draw Untie, pull up rope Un clip rope, toss down ATC in, add prusik Weight rope, clip off PAS, rap and clean
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Aug 11, 2014 21:12
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Speleothing posted:You need to come off belay anyway. it's generally safer, and more convenient, which at many high traffic sport crags is an accepted tradeoff vs. the increased wear on the anchor gear. incidentally, those characteristics are two hallmarks of sport climbing, so it's not surprising that lowering off is becoming SOP at most sport crags
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Aug 11, 2014 22:09
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kraken! posted:I'm pretty new to Seattle and looking for someone to climb with. Actually I've been here since about April and I'm tired of hanging out in SBP missing out on the summer. I've got a car and next week I'll have sport climbing junk. About me: I've been climbing about a year and a half around 5.8 and I'm really hoping the last four months have improved that a little. Ive led exactly one trad climb and would dig learning some more. I'm going to visiting Seattle Aug 19-24 with the BF (who is somewhat new to climbing, but making good newbie gains)-- I'm unlikely to do much outdoor climbing stuff during that trip (unless there are some easier things to boulder that don't involve loving up my ankles), but we are most definitely stopping by Seattle Bouldering Project. Let me know if you want some people to climb with during that week! I'm bouldering around a v3-v4ish level indoors, and.. like.. probably v0 outdoors.
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Aug 11, 2014 22:17
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Sharks Eat Bear posted:In general, it's fine to lower of the anchors at well-traveled sport crags. It wear the gear faster, but lowering is much safer than rappelling and more and more sport anchors are being equipped with beefy quick clips, whose express purpose is to make lowering easier. And yeah, on steep routes you pretty much have to lower, or have your 2nd clean on TR which isn't always feasible. This is entirely location dependent. In Red Rocks, the gear is getting replaced all the frigging time regardless of whether people are lowering down because it's so humid and wet that the gear doesn't last anyway. In a lot of the desert in Southern California, the locals would murder you if they saw you top roping off the rap rings.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:01
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Irving posted:This is entirely location dependent. In Red Rocks, the gear is getting replaced all the frigging time regardless of whether people are lowering down because it's so humid and wet that the gear doesn't last anyway. In a lot of the desert in Southern California, the locals would murder you if they saw you top roping off the rap rings. agreed that every crag has its own local "ethic"*. in general, though, i think it stands that lowering off of the anchors is an accepted and common practice at most well-traveled sport crags. i don't think TRing off the anchor is accepted anywhere, and i agree with that. also i don't know what red rocks you're going to that's humid and wet -- did you mean the RRG? *i hate when climbers talk about ethics because 99% of the team, really what we're referring to is tradition, which often has little to do with morals or right vs. wrong
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Aug 12, 2014 00:33
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Sharks Eat Bear posted:agreed that every crag has its own local "ethic"*. in general, though, i think it stands that lowering off of the anchors is an accepted and common practice at most well-traveled sport crags. i don't think TRing off the anchor is accepted anywhere, and i agree with that. also i don't know what red rocks you're going to that's humid and wet -- did you mean the RRG? Yes, for some reason talking about California changed Red River Gorge into Red Rocks in my head. [edit] Also, even though it's accepted practice a lot of places, I'd stick to rapping until you know the crag and the local "ethics" (I also hate that word). Even at 100% sport crags people sometimes get ratty about lowering off the anchors, especially in places where the equipment can last a long time with care. Unless you're funding replacement anchors, it seems polite to take the extra time to just rap off. Irving fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Aug 12, 2014 |
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Aug 12, 2014 01:28
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The newer stuff showing up in Boulder Canyon is using mussy hooks for anchors. Easy to slide into, and burly enough for rap or lowering.
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Aug 12, 2014 04:01
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I took a climbing class at my local gym yesterday, and man am I sore. Found a bunch of muscles I wasn't working hard enough lifting (gonna go back to basics and do Starting Strength as soon as climbing doesn't knock me out every time.) I haven't seriously climbed since high school and it felt great to get back to it. Even completed an easy course on my first try! I'm more intrigued by bouldering, but climbing really high is also fun as hell. Any Chicago Athletic Club goons wanna climb with a beginner?
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Aug 13, 2014 05:32
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^^^ sup fellow Chicagoon Years ago, I took a rock climbing class for a quarter in college and I really liked bouldering (especially with my fear of heights). I'm gonna try to pick it back up today at a bouldering gym (Hidden Peak). I already run four times a week and lift three times. Hopefully, adding a climb won't be too much strain.
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Aug 15, 2014 16:44
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My first day of climbing: complete! The climbing session was open for up to four people, but I ended up being the only one there. One straight hour of climbing certainly took its toll on my forearms. I managed to send a 5.4 at the start. I tried some 5.6 and 5.7, but I only got up them half way or so. I also tried a bit of bouldering, and completed a VB. I tried a couple V0s, but I didn't feel comfortable going for the top holds because of how far off the ground I was. I'm not sure what my next step will be. I definitely need some technique training and stronger forearms.
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Aug 16, 2014 20:43
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