Cragmama

Jun 10 2015

Happy child in the dirt.

Our good luck with good climbing conditions has fortunately continued into late spring (which probably means we’ll be smothered by a hot blanket of humidity any day now.) And while 80’s may not be ideal sending temps, the weather felt darn near perfect for June in the Southeast…so off to the New we went!

We decided to climb in the shade at Kaymoor on Day 1. Steve was psyched to work Lost Souls (5.12a), and I figured it was probably about time for me to give that one another try. I’d been on it several times before Baby Zu (most notably of which was during the NRG Craggin’ Classic back in 2012 for some Trango photos), and it never went particularly well.

For those not familiar with this classic, it’s one of those that gets the grade based on linking the sum of its parts rather than individual moves. There are 3 cruxes, all of which are giant jug to jug tosses. Very straightforward, and the very definition of power endurance. It’s a very common “first 5.12” since none of the individual moves are that “hard” compared to other similarly graded routes in the area (ie, anything Endless Wall.) So if you are a tall climber that loves gymnastic movement, get out there ASAP for an easy send! If you are vertically-challenged and/or lean towards more technical climbs…you should still get on it because it’s awesome! (But bring your “try hard” pants and be ready to launch!)

Happy child in the hammock.

The Crag-Daddy (Steve) went up first and managed a one-hang even while hanging draws, so things were looking pretty good for him. My first run, however, was dismal. I started hanging before the 1st bolt, and struggled on just about every move. My performance was so ridiculously bad that I almost didn’t get on it again. However, of late I’ve been surprising myself on the 2nd go, so I thought I’d give it at least one more burn.

Steve made it through all 3 cruxes on his second go! And also his 3rd and 4th go…unfortunately the pump factor kept spitting him off literally one move away from the no hands rest at the end of the traverse! My 2nd go was decidedly better than the 1st – I did the 1st crux clean, and the 2nd and 3rd cruxes only took a couple of tries. My 3rd go was even more progress – just one fall each at the 2nd and 3rd cruxes.

I was definitely in better spirits by that point, but still unsure whether I had a send in me or not. I had crazy shortie beta for the 2nd crux, and I had never been able to link it with ANY of the previous moves, let alone coming in hot on a redpoint run. Steve convinced me to give it one more try,, and I shocked myself with an almost send! I made it clean all the way through to the last toss. I had the distance…but my arms were so pumped that I couldn’t open my hand in time to latch the jug, and I ended up bashing my knuckles into the wall (FYI we refer to that phenomenon as “T-Rexing…”).

Flying feet on big move #1

I was disappointed I didn’t send, but thrilled to know that my beta was solid. It was the first time I actually believed that the route could go at the current fitness level I was at, rather than always thinking “Come back when you’re stronger.” But lucky for us the whole crew had unfinished business at Kaymoor, so it was a no-brainer to come back the next day.

I did everything I could think of that night to maximize recovery – good food, lots of water, Arm-aid, finger acupressure, yoga, and as much sleep as I could muster in a tent with a 15 month old that hates sleeping.

Shortie undercling beta for Big Move #2

Sunday dawned a little bit warmer, but the rock still felt surprisingly crisp. Steve was up first and sailed through the first three cruxes yet again…but YET AGAIN fell inches before the rest! I was feeling good, but not at all like a send was a sure thing, as any of the cruxes could easily spit me off if I didn’t execute them perfectly. But thankfully my first go of the day was my last – my beta worked, and the send was mine! (And Steve sent next go as well, which made for a happy ride home for the whole family.)

One big, happy family!

After Lost Souls, there was still plenty of time left to climb, so I rounded out my day with Hardcore Female Thrash (5.11c) and Boing (5.10d). Hardcore Female Thrash is a one move wonder that moves up a very cool dihedral feature (took 2 tries for the send), and Boing is a high-steppin’ slab climb. Both are fantastic lines that are definitely worth hopping on if you find yourself in the area.

How to Make Reachy Moves

Training.

4 Comments.

Jun 08 2015

Stretching tall on Techman 5.12c at the New River Gorge

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been shut down by a crux sequence because of a hold that is juuuuust out of reach. Unless you are 7 feet tall, most of us should have our hands up at this point. While it’s probably safe to say that a climber who is 5 feet tall probably deals with this more than one who is 6 feet tall, learning how to make long reaches is a skill that can benefit all climbers.

Standing at 5’5″ tall, I’m certainly not short by female standards (average height for adult American female is 5’4″), although since I often end up climbing with a bunch of guys, it can sometimes feel that way. Very rarely is my beta the same as my male counterparts. And since one of my “home” crags is the New River Gorge, which is notorious for giant expanses of featureless rock in between holds, I’ve had to really get creative sometimes to be able to hit that hold that looks (and feels) miles away. Thankfully, there are actually a lot of really good techniques that, when performed correctly, can literally add inches to your reach! So the next time you are shut down at a reachy move, don’t automatically break out the bail biner – ask yourselves these questions first!

1. Can you move dynamically? Dynamic movement isn’t always (or even usually) the wild, all points of contact off hail mary dyno to the glory jug. A lot of times, just using a little bit of momentum is all it takes to bring a faraway hold into reach. (That, and a little bit of commitment, because the more momentum you use, the less likely you are to be able to reverse the move if it doesn’t work out!) But if your fall zone is safe, don’t be afraid to launch a little bit, especially if the hold you are going for is good!

While this sort of movement might seem more difficult at first, especially if you’re not accustomed to it, moving dynamically is often more efficient than a long, static reach, so if you are starting to feel the pump, this is probably your best bet! If the hold is not very good, or the distance too great, look around and move to the next questions…

2. Can you get your feet up? Footholds are often the great equalizer of cruxes. Often times my 6’1″ hubby and I end up making the exact same move, but using different feet. Sometimes the move is easier for him because he can go off of the “good feet.” Other times, however, a long move is actually easier for me because the best footholds are too high for him to use. If there are no additional footholds, try just smearing your feet and seeing what happens. If you are struggling, look for a way to get one foot up. Close, but still not there? Try and get BOTH feet up, then pop!

Feet up…

…and POP!

3. Are there any intermediate holds? Small, intermediate holds also have a way of leveling the playing field. Generally speaking, small climbers tend to have smaller hands, and smaller hands often have an easier time using smaller holds. A lot of times you won’t even have to really crank on an intermediate hold, but perhaps just use it to reset your feet before bumping up to the better hold.

4. Can you undercling? Finding a way to stand tall into an undercling (or turn an existing down-pulling hold into an undercling midway through the move) is a great way to go-go gadget your arms. Add high feet to the equation, and you can literally measure the increase in reach by the foot!

Utilizing every inch on Flash Point 5.11d

5. Can you press out at the end of your lockoff? If you are pulling for all your worth and your arm is locked off as deep as you can go, try to change the angle of your hand so that rather than pulling down, you are pressing out, as in a mantle move.

But if you find yourself hand/foot matched and pressed out from fingertip to fingertip and STILL can’t reach, there is ONE other strategy to employ that might latch the hold…

6. DON’T LOOK! Seriously, just look away. Set up as best you can for the move, reach up, and then look DOWN, not up. The act of looking down will actually get your head “out of the way” so that you can press even closer to the wall. It won’t give you much, but sometimes all you need is a quarter of an inch or so! (My friend Mark Pell was actually the person that shared this tip with me, and although I’ve only used it once, I know for a fact it made a difference!)

From Farm to Table – Strawberry Season!

Miscellaneous.

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Jun 02 2015

Stoked to be at Hall Family Farm!

When it comes to local eating, strawberry season is my favorite time of year (although autumn apples are pretty high on the list as well…) So much delicious goodness from such a beautiful little berry! The past few weeks have been a yummy blur of picking, eating, and experimenting in the kitchen. Some of our results were gobbled up right away, others got tossed into the deep freeze for later. Below are our favorite ways to take advantage of the strawberry season.

Strawberry Chia Freezer Jam

This is seriously the bomb, ya’ll! And the best part about it is that we’ll be able to resurrect it come December when we are all yearning for a taste of summer! As far as jam goes, I made this one pretty low sugar – a little over 1/2 cup for 5 cups of berries. Simmer on the stove to let the juices run, then toss in 1/4 cup of chia seeds along with lemon zest and juice (I used just under 1/2 a lemon.) I used a single serving blender to puree it (the chia seeds still gave it plenty of good texture), then poured everything into mason jars after about 15 minutes when it got nice and thick. YUM!!!

Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet

My neighbor let us experiment with her ice cream maker…and all I can say is WOW! We made the most brightest, most intense sorbet I’d ever had. For a crisp, refreshing dessert that has a lot of good-for-you in it, this is the ticket! Best part was no weird ingredients, just strawberries, lemon juice, and a little sugar (I’m starting to notice a theme with ingredients here.)

Dried Strawberries

This was so easy to do that it can hardly be called a “recipe”, but they were so good that I have to mention it. All we did was chop up some berries, spread them out on parchment paper, and dry them out in the oven for a few hours….and voila! The only problem was that out of two trays of berries, the yield was only about a cup. Not so great in the efficiency department, but they were as tasty as candy!

On our list of yet to try is some sort of strawberry cobbler/pie and fruit leather. If anyone has any favorite recipes they’d be willing to share, we’d love to hear ’em!

Ups and Downs Climbing at the OBED

Climbing. Other.

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May 29 2015

She sure is sweet…if only she would sleep at night.

Last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, which meant it was time for our 5th annual climbing trip to the Obed Wild and Scenic River. Usually this trip marks the start of the humid sweatfest that is otherwise known as summer climbing in the Southeast…but we actually lucked out with a spring-ish weekend. Nights were cool, and midday highs were in the low 80’s with very little humidity. Definitely the best Memorial Day conditions we’ve ever had!

But when the whole family is involved in the climbing experience, there’s a lot more to great “sending conditions” than just weather. Without wasting too many words in this post, I’ll just say that we’ve been having some major “sleep issues” with Baby Zu in recent weeks. (While she’s pretty much never been the greatest of sleepers at night, she’s recently taken to being awake and generally unhappy for hours at a time in the middle of the night.) We’d hoped that fresh air and all that running around at the crag would give us a reprieve for the weekend, but no such luck. And that meant that in addition to a dismally low amount of sleep, I spent large portions of the night bending over backwards keeping her quiet, completely stressed out about how the rest of our crew would feel about us/her the next morning. By the end of the weekend I felt very drained, both emotionally as well as physically.

Best climbing crew ever.

I start with all of that NOT to come across as a “Debbie Downer,” but to share that family dynamics aren’t always perfect, and if you put your life on hold until they become so, you’ll never venture out of your house! So with all of THAT said, we still had a fabulous time! (And thankfully our climbing crew still seems to be on speaking terms with us…) Here’s how our days were spent.

Day 1 – Lilly Bluff

Paraphernalia (5.10b) – Great warm-up with just the right amount of pump!
Yakuza (5.12b) – I decided to give this one a go since Steve was working (and sent!) Gangsta (5.12a.) Great route, but I was disappointed with how it went for me. I put all the moves except for one together fairly quickly, but the first hard move completely shut me down and I couldn’t do it even once. The move involved yarding on a crimper to pull over a bulge. The hold wasn’t that bad, but I just couldn’t pull hard enough on it with my feet way up underneath the bulge. After pulling through and doing the rest of the route twice, I know I could have sent had I been able to do that move, so that was frustrating.
Krieg’s Crack (5.11d) – By the afternoon the area was getting pretty crowded, so we hopped on this seldom-traveled line. I’d gotten on it once before on a miserably humid day and it had felt darn near impossible, but this time around it was way more manageable, and a lot of fun! The first 3 bolts contained all the business, a broken crack system that required footwork with a side of burly. The rest was probably no harder than 5.10, but got pretty pumpy at the top.

Yakuza (5.12b) Photo: Chuck Bridgen

Steve on Gangsta (5.12a) Photo: Chuck Bridgen

Day 2 – Little Clear Creek

Finders Keepers (5.10b) – Another great warm-up.
Losers Weepers (5.11a) – If you enjoy coming across odd-shaped holds and features, this route is for you! Great position, and coming out of the roof is probably easier (less awkward) the shorter you are.
Standard Issue (5.11c) – This is only the 3rd route I’ve ever tried in the Hangar, and it was epic. Like the other routes, it starts 40 feet off the deck on a narrow shelf, and to be completely honest, I was so intimidated that I almost bailed before I even got started. Getting off the ground and into the almost horizontal roof was by far the crux, but the movement was pretty in-your-face until a good jug stance ~~keeps your forearms from exploding~~ allows you to get some back.

Once I finally committed to the long reach and was able to reel my wildly flying feet back in, the climbing turned from intimidating to fun, although I pretty much went bolt to bolt on my 1st go. I hemmed and hawed about whether to get back on it again – I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to send it, and wasn’t psyched on trying the start again. But this was a perfect example of a mantra Steve and I always remind each other of: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SECOND GO!

Pulling into the start of Standard Issue (5.11c) Photo: Chuck Bridgen

Reeling in the swing…

Trying to move efficiently through the roof. Photo: Chuck Bridgen

It was quite the battle. There was a lot of yelling (usually I’m a fairly quiet climber), a lot of almost falls and desperate tosses, but I kept breathing and kept climbing. (It helped that I found a couple of shaky hand jams that were just good enough to warrant a pause.) At the anchors I didn’t quite get the distance I needed to to hit the clipping jug correctly and almost punted off with the chains in my face, but managed to keep it together for the send.

Trying that hard and succeeding felt very rewarding, especially on something that far out of my comfort zone. Makes me psyched to get back to some of the steeper projects I’ve got at the New!

Electric Sky (5.12a)

Day 3 – Lilly Bluff

We wanted to get back on the road before Baby Zu needed to go down for her nap, so we took advantage of the short approach at Lilly to maximize our climbing time.
Alien (5.10d) – Never done this one before…maybe it was the Day 3 exhaustion talking, but I thought pulling the bulge was pretty darn hard for the grade.
Electric Sky (5.12a) – Really interesting position on this one with some burly moves powering up the overhanging arete. The rest of the climbing was pretty moderate until the very top. On my second go I felt confident in the lower crux, and then watched the send slip right out of my hands when I couldn’t clip the anchors. What a frustrating note to end the trip on!!!

But despite the frustrations both on and off the rock, our family still had a blast! We had a huge crew, so the nightly campfire was always lively and entertaining. The river was cold but so refreshing after a long day of climbing, and I loved hearing Big C’s squeals of delight every time he went in. And as always, there’s nothing like spending a weekend outside and unplugged to clear your head and refresh your perspective. Hopefully everyone else’s Memorial Day adventures were just as fun!

Softstar Minimalist Sandals – A Review

Gear Reviews.

22 Comments.

May 25 2015

Her gear testing methods are a bit unorthodox.

Caught red-handed with some unorthodox gear testing methods.

One thing you may not know about Baby Zu is that she is rather into shoes. At least twice a day I catch her in our mud room camped out in a giant pile of shoes. No matter how many times we organize the shoes, by the end of the day, they are scattered out around the house again. They don’t even have to be hers. In fact, she takes it upon herself regularly to make sure that everyone in the house has a pair of shoes available to them at arm’s reach.

So it only made sense to let this girl try out some shoes from Softstar, one of our family’s favorite brands for tiny feet. This is actually the second time I’ve reviewed these shoes on this blog – back in 2013 Big C got to try out the Softstar Ramblers, reviewed here. My little princess got to check out a pair of sandals from Softstar, and immediately fell in love with them.

It probably goes without saying that her favorite parts were the flowers, which she tried yanking off for 2 days straight before finally realizing they were attached. As for me, I’m a fan of the way all Softstar shoes allow my kiddos’ feet to develop naturally – using a simple, minimalist design. There is nothing bulky or stiff, and no molded footbeds. These shoes provide what every growing foot needs – a thin layer of warmth and protection from harsh and potentially dangerous terrain (hot asphalt, broken glass, etc.), without hindering natural development.

If you are uneasy about getting the correct fit, the “elves” at Softstar have a nifty little size chart on their website. Just print it out, and put those sweet little tootsies on the chart! We were forewarned that the sandals tend to run a size bigger than the rest of the shoes, so we sized down. The result was a perfect fit with just the right amount of growing room!

Soft Star has graciously offered to gift one lucky reader with a $30 gift card! Entries are easy via the Rafflecopter widget below. Leave a comment below about your fave brand of kiddo shoes for the first entry. Multiple entries will be given by liking Cragmama and Soft Star on facebook as well. Best of luck, and happy shoe-shopping! Contest will run through June 1st.

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Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

A Family Sunday “SEND-day” at Kaymoor