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

3 Ideas for Preserving Family Beach Memories

Miscellaneous.
No Comments.

Scores of seashells just waiting to be crafted with!

In a previous post about our family’s beach trip this past summer, I mentioned that we brought a few seashells home with us.  Well that might have been an understatement considering that our stash still has leftovers after multiple craft projects and some garden accents.  I had initially wanted to wait until we had used up all of our seashells to post, but what with school starting and the perfect fall weather we’ve been having, it makes more sense to put indoor craft time on the back burner for a little while.  (Holiday gift ideas, anyone?)  That being said, all 3 of our seashell projects turned out great, and I’m excited to share the results…

1.  DRAINAGE DECOR:  We’d been having a problem with pooling water below one particular gutter, so we made a shallow trench to funnel the excess water out onto the sidewalk.  I used some extra stones I had lying around to help maintain the grading, but I wasn’t completely happy with the way it looked.  When we got back from the beach I knew the seashells would be a perfect accent to fill in around the stones!  C was very meticulous about which shells went where, and it took some doing to convince him that we were all done with moving the shells around. 😉  

Step 1 – wash all the sand off the shells!

  

Step 2: Place in garden…and wait for spring bulbs to come up!

2.  PICTURE FRAME:  If pictures speak a thousand words, a picture in a homemade frame must be a dissertation in family memories!  This was hands-down C’s favorite project of the 3 – what toddler can pass up a chance to get messy with glue and sand!  We put the shells on first, then painted glue on the “un-shelled” parts of the frame and sprinkled the sand on just like it was glitter.

3.  BEACH IN A JAR:  This one was a no-brainer.  C put the shells in the jar, and I did a bit of organizing so that our favorite ones were on the outside and easily seen.  It adds a bright and happy touch to our mantel.  

 

TADA!!!

 C and I had a lot of fun working on these projects together.  I think it was an especially good learning experience for him as he had a part in the entire process – gathering the shells, washing them off, and then using them in different ways for each project.  And even though he’s probably not at the age yet where he’ll have any long term memories from this trip, he sure does enjoy talking about his beach trip in the short term, and our seashell memories scattered about the house encourage the discussion!  In fact, just this past weekend our family enjoyed a day at the lake, and as soon as C saw it, he said, “That’s the ocean, Mommy.”  

Does anyone else try to get creative with vacation memories?  Anyone got any more fun seashell craft ideas for our leftover shells?  Please share! 

Share

The NRG Craggin’ Classic…

New River Gorge. Climbing.
3 Comments.

Trango’s unofficial sticker liason.

This weekend marked an exciting milestone for the American Alpine Club, as well as any climber frequenting the New River Gorge (which is probably the majority of us in the Southeast…)  The “Craggin’ Classic” event gave climbers a chance to get a sneak peek at the latest progress on the new AAC climbers’ campground.  It’s pretty bare bones right now, but from the sounds of it, it has the makings to become a staple part of the NRG!  The crowd was small, but the camaraderie was high, and it seemed as though everyone was relieved to finally see some fall temps again!  

“All right m’am, I just need a credit card number…”

I was especially excited to have the opportunity to help out with the Tenaya shoe demo with fellow Trango teammate Dan Brayack, and Trango rep Adam Sanders.   Cragbaby took it upon himself to be don the title of “sticker-passer-outer.”  No one could resist his charms (and no one left without at least 3 stickers…)  The demo was a chance for anyone and everyone to try out a new pair of Tenaya climbing shoes.  (For my thoughts on these fabulous shoes, click here).  Climbers were able to get fitted in their shoe of choice at the event, at which point they could climb to their heart’s content in them, so long as they were returned back to us during the evening festivities.  (One girl liked her Tatanka’s so much that she bought them right there on the spot!)  But now I’m getting ahead of myself…after spending the early morning hours talking with folks about shoes and drinking way too much coffee, it was finally time to climb!

 

A rare moment when the stars (clouds) aligned.

 

We headed out to Kaymoor (Butcher’s Branch) and after a quick run up Flight of the Gumby (5.9+), I hopped on Lost Souls (5.12a).  Since Trango just recently purchased an ad in the upcoming edition of the NRG guidebook, Dan was hoping to get some good images to use as the backdrop for the advertisement.  Climbing photo shoots are a funny thing.  The goal is to get an image that packs natural, fluid movement into a neat little package all wrapped up in strategic product placement.  The end result will hopefully be a beautiful and artistic shot that showcases Trango climbing gear on a classic NRG route.  But the actual photo shoot was a lot of hang dogging and talking while we waited for the lighting conditions to be perfect.  Then Dan would bark out orders to climb and I would work a sequence, drop off, and repeat to make sure Dan got his shot.  Every time Dan pressed the shutter button it sounded like machine guns were going off beside me, so it’s not surprising that he took close to 400 pics of just that one route…I didn’t get to see any of the shots, but the next day Adam mentioned one good one that he saw where my tongue was sticking out and my eyes were really big.  Hmm, just the look I was going for…

I obviously didn’t send Lost Souls on the photo run, but I got on it several more times throughout the day – and unfortunately none of those other attempts were successful either.  I didn’t have trouble with any move in particular, I just couldn’t do them all in a row without falling.  Oh well.  I was definitely disappointed, but there was no room for pity parties with an evening of shenanigans ahead.  It was great to enjoy some Pies n Pints and then catch up with some of my Raleigh buddies from Triangle Rock Club.  

Lost Souls (5.12a)

The next day dawned cloudy, dry, and with a high in the low 70’s – a perfect day for giving Adam a tour de Endless Wall!  Here’s what we hopped on…

Discombobulated (5.11b):  This one had been on my 2011 Hit List, and I hadn’t been on it since I first redpointed it a year and a half ago.  The crux was just as heinously reachy as I’d remembered it, but the rest of it felt easier than I was expecting, so that’s good progress.
Mississippi Burning (5.12b):  After seeing the scary clips on this one, this seemed like a good candidate for a first lap on toprope.  This ended up being a great decision, as I flailed and flopped my way miserably through the crux.  Clearly not the route for me right now, but the rest of the route was quite fun –  5.10+ climbing up a beautiful arete.
Bullet the New Sky (5.12b):  This is my latest obsession.  Another arete climb, but this one is much longer with a less powerful (and far less reachy) crux, but with much more sustained climbing above it.  It’s an exercise in high steps and keeping your head together high above your bolt, and I loved every minute of it.  After my other 5.12 experiences this weekend, I really wasn’t that confident going in and figured I’d be lucky to get to the top.  But I was pleasantly surprised that I only had trouble in 2 short sections down low, both of which I was able to work out pretty quickly.  I thought it was worth another shot, and I surprised myself with falling only at the crux.  I was able to dial in my beta a lot better for the upper section, and I’m convinced I’ll be able to send it soon.  

Steve gettin’ through the business on Discombobulated (5.11b)

Legacy (5.11a):  Despite it’s uber classic status, this was the first time I’d been on this route.  A couple of my friends had been on it earlier that morning, and had left the draws up for me since I had said I wanted to do it, but to be honest I’d forgotten about it.  I’d be lying if I said part of me wasn’t disappointed when I came around the corner at the end of the day, still pumped from New Sky, and saw those draws still hanging on Legacy…But I dutifully tied in and started up the route – fun face to a straightforward roof move to a no hands rest at the base of a funky dihedral that climbs like a trad route.  Exiting the dihedral my pump clock started ticking faster and faster and I had trouble committing to the sloper traverse with my last bolt below my feet and way to the left.  I thought long and hard about climbing back down to the bolt to rest, but I’m so glad I didn’t because there was a giant meat-hooking, arm bar waiting for me 5 feet later (as well as another bolt, thankfully…).  I felt like the hardest moves were right before the anchors, and I was definitely running on fumes by the time I got there, but I managed to hang on for the flash, which was a great way to end an already great weekend.

Peeping around to find a foothold on Bullet the New Sky (5.12b)

Although once again this trip didn’t end with any epic numbers for me, I think it was a good boost in confidence.  I’ve been feeling a little down recently about my 5.12 goal for the year.  I’ve got a lot of “almost” projects floating around that I just can’t seem to wrap up.  Looking at it objectively, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we’re just now coming out of the worst sending conditions of the year.  Also I think I’ve been pushing myself to get on things that aren’t really “my style,” in hopes to improve my overall climbing ability.  It’s been fun getting out of my comfort zone, and I think those experiences have made me a more well-rounded climber, but it has come at the price of less sends on paper.  Getting on Bullet the New Sky almost felt like a reward, since it was nothing but that tic-tacky, techy stuff that I love so much!  I kinda wish I had gone straight to it yesterday instead of tiring myself out on Mississippi.  But even though I didn’t send it (yet), it’s the first .12 in a long time that has felt doable from the outset, and I am chomping at the bit to get back to it and cross it off!  Plus it’s good to have a brand new set of sequences to run over and over through my head on my afternoon jogs…

 

 

Share

Why You Need a Pair of Tenayas in Your Climbing Shoe Quiver

Gear Reviews.
3 Comments.

Adam trusting his Ra’s on Mississippi Burning (5.12b) at the New River Gorge

When I found out a few months ago that Tenaya would be joining Trango under the Great Trango Holdings, Inc umbrella, my first thought was, “YES!!!  Free shoes!”  But then my second thought was, “Geez, what if I don’t like them?!?”  I mean let’s be honest here.  Though at first glance many climbers may seem like easy gear junkies who will try anything and everything if its free, the majority of our flirtations with gimmicky swag is just temporary before we toss it aside in favor of our old stand-by gear.  And there’s probably no piece of climbing gear that is more personalized to a climber than their shoes.  They have to fit perfect.  They have to perform perfect.  Well, maybe not ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.  Then we wouldn’t have anything to blame our botched send attempts on but ourselves…

Anyway, the bottom line is that I was admittedly a bit skeptical about committing to some new shoes I didn’t know anything about.  But I’m so glad I did because now I can honestly say I don’t want to climb in anything else.  (And that is the cold hard truth, NOT the Trango kool-aid talking…while I did get my shoes for free, the following is my honest, unbiased opinion.)    So what is it about Tenaya that makes me willing to kiss my Miuras good-bye without so much as a parting glance?

Enjoying the limestone of Spearfish Canyon in my Tatankas this past summer

 

1.  EXPERIENCE:  Just because you hadn’t heard of them in the US until a few weeks ago at the Outdoor Retailer show doesn’t mean Tenaya is a rookie company.  Founded in 1997 by one of the lead designers of Boreal, these guys have been blowing up all over Europe for the past 5 or 6 years.  Not to mention their headquarters is in Southern Spain…which, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, is kind of a hot bed for climbing.

2.  PERFORMANCE:  Now granted, my biggest pre-Tenaya numbers didn’t contain a 4 (or even a 3 for that matter…), and (surprise, surprise), none of my recent Tenaya sends have either.  I’m not trying to make outlandish claims that these shoes will  automatically make you jump a number grade.  But I will say that my Tenayas have performed consistently well on a wide variety of terrain and rock type.  The fact that I onsighted my hardest (by 2 letter grades) route to date a couple of onths ago in the Tatankas solidifies my confidence in the brand.

3.  COMFORT:  Obviously, the proportion of “comfort” to “performance” depends on how you like to size your shoes, but I think Tenaya has done a fantastic job of offering the best of both worlds.  My performance-sized shoes fit my feet like a glove – tight, but not too tight.  I wouldn’t want to walk around in them all day, but my feet aren’t screaming at the top of every pitch.  My larger, comfort-sized shoes are great for multi-pitch or long gym sessions, but are still reliable enough to edge on a dime when I ask them to.  

That being said, the only remaining question is WHICH PAIR(S) DO I GET?!?  Here’s a run-down of Tenaya’s 2012 offerings…

TATANKA – 
 What Tenaya Says:  A high-performance shoe designed to take maximum advantage of the biomechanical properties of your feet for optimum performance.  

What Cragmama Says:  These are my go-to shoes on hard routes, especially on steeper rock. I have “duck feet” – wide forefoot with a narrow heel, so often I am either dealing with shoes that are too loose in the back or too tight in the front, but the fit on these is absolutely amazing, without a doubt the best fitting pair of climbing shoes I’ve ever had.  When I put them on it feels as though they specifically conform to my foot, with hardly any break in time.  The neoprene tongue on the side of the shoe makes for easy on and off, even in my tightest pair.  

RA – 
What Tenaya Says:  Maximum technical performance meets ease of use and comfort.  This shoe provides the ideal balance between stiffness and sensitivity.  

What Cragmama Says:  If you are looking for one multi-purpose shoe, this is it.  I honestly never liked velcro shoes before these, as the fit was never quite right, but Ive been surprisingly happy with these.  My heels have a little more room in the Ra’s than the Tatankas, but I haven’t had any trouble with my heel slipping.  The Ra’s are also a little stiffer than the Tatankas, and are trustworthy on just about any foothold, whether it’s smears, edges, or tiny pockets.

MASAI – 
What Tenaya Says:  Tenaya’s best-selling shoe, the Masai is a balance between technical excellence and aggressive force, and this balance is why the Masai is the ultimate shoe to climb, well, just about anything! 

What Cragmama Says:  These shoes are reminiscent of a stiff, technical shoe such as the Anasazi Verde, and are a great choice for vertical faces.  This shoe is significantly lower volume than the Ra or Tatanka (awesome for anyone with narrow feet!), so keep that in mind when sizing.  Because of my duck feet as well as the fact that I’m using mine mostly for multi-pitch, I got these in a full-size larger than my Tatankas.

Local bouldering haunt in my Ra’s

INTI – 
What Tenaya Says:  Sharing some of the best features of the Ra, the Inti employs an asymmetrical last to put your toes at an ideal attacking angle to generate high forces in the shoe’s “sweet spot,” while maintaining ultimate sensitivity to the rock.

What Cragmama Says:   These shoes are very similar to the Ra, just not as sexy looking.  They also have a softer mid-sole, so they are ideal for slabby climbs requiring a lot of smearing, or wearing for an entire session at the gym without making your toes go numb.  

 

So where can you get them?   Well, if you’re a local Charlotte-an you can buy them  at the Inner Peaks Climbing Center‘ – Inner Peaks was lucky enough to get in on the action pretty early as the very first US Tenaya dealer – and more vendors are being added to that number every day!  Inner Peaks will be having a shoe demo sometime in October (stay tuned for details!), and there will also be free demos going on at the Red River Gorge Rocktoberfest the first weekend in October, and at Triangle Rock Club on October 21st!  If there’s not a location near you that carries them, you can order them directly from the Trango website.  

Has anyone else tried Tenaya?  If so, which shoe and what did you like and dislike?

 

 

Share

Toddlers on the Trail – Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Toddlers at the Crag. Hiking.
7 Comments.

…And don’t forget a few steps off trail to go look at that mushroom under the log…

Cragbaby putting his hiking legs to the test at 9,000 feet in Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming.

In the past year we’ve gone from hiking with an enthusiastic little Cragbaby who loved to take in the world from the confines of his backpack carrier to chasing after a headstrong toddler that wants to do it “on my own.”  In some ways its a lot easier (when C decides to hoof it there’s an automatic 30 pound decrease in pack weight…).  But C’s newfound independence has also opened up a whole ‘nother can of issues that we’ve had to work through.  Here’s a few basic ideas that we’ve found useful to get us all from Point A to Point B in one piece.  

-FOCUS ON THE JOURNEY – As rock climbers, 90% of our hiking mileage is logged as secondary to the main event.  The approach hike is simply that – a way to get to the base of the cliff so that we can start climbing.  We don’t waste time and walk at a pretty good clip, rarely stopping to linger at overlooks or picturesque vistas (we’ve figured out that the best views are gained from the side of the cliff, or better yet, a summit). But if you have any experience with 2 year olds, you’ll know that “hurry” is not in their vocabulary.  And that’s the thing – I don’t want him to feel hurried or rushed.  My legs are 3 times the length of his sweet little chubby ones, so it’s unfair of me to expect him to keep up with the grown-ups.  So needless to say as C has steadily increased the amount of time he spends hiking in on his own, so have our approach times.  If my mindset was purely destination-focused, this speed bump would prove quite frustrating.  Instead I shift my focus to the actual journey – and I can see that the extra time on the trail is time well-spent with my son as we discover (often hand in hand) what a beautiful Creation we are a part of.  Which brings me to my next point…

C usually starts off as a strong leader…

ALLOW EXTRA TIME – Taking time to enjoy the process may mean you’ll have to get started a little earlier if you’re itching to be the first to tie in at the crag.  We’ve also had success with sending 2 scouts on ahead to get the rope up on our warm-up, while everyone else saunters along.  Usually the timing works out perfectly, and the Cragbaby crew arrives right as the scouting party is finishing up.  Of course, if the goal of the day is simply to hike rather than climb, you may not have to make any changes other than your mindset, although if your toddler’s pace will put you back by more than an hour or so, I’d recommend packing extra food and water.  

GEAR JUNKIES UNITE – If your closet is overflowing with outdoor paraphernalia, don’t forget that the apple doesn’t far too fall from the tree.  A solid pair of approach shoes (like these from KEEN!), trekking poles, and/or a small backpack can make your little guy/gal feel prepared and part of the gang.  Keep in mind that successfully gearing out a toddler doesn’t have to break your budget, especially if you aren’t afraid to get creative.  Long sticks often make better hiking sticks than their carbon fiber counterparts.  I’ve also found several nice pairs of shoes and outdoor clothes at consignment shops – many of which look like they had never been worn.  

…and he’s determined to tackle every obstacle…

 

 

IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES – Toddlers do not buy into the “no pain, no gain” strategy.  When their legs get tired, their first instinct is to give up, regardless of how close they are to the end or a convenient stopping point.  However, if you can keep a child’s mind occupied with thoughts other than how tired they are, it’s amazing how much longer they can last.  For example, C is really into chasing right now, so a lot of times all I have to say is, “Mommy’s going to get you!”, and he takes off giggling.  (This is also a subtle way to shave a few minutes off your hike time 😉 )  For an older child, turning the hike into a game, such as a scavenger hunt with items that can be checked off along the trail, can be quite effective.  Finally, most kids are quite receptive to bribery extrinsic motivators using treats or other special incentives.  I know one family that doles out M n M’s at certain waypoints along the trail.  We’ve never employed that strategy with C since he’s still in that in between stage – when he poops out, we just load him up in the pack, no questions asked.  But I can certainly see where a reasonable amount of splurge items like candy could come in handy with an exhausted 60 lb child that doesn’t have a “carry me” option.  

…but sometimes it catches up with him by the end of the day.

 

 

BE PATIENT IN TRANSITIONS – Know your toddler, and know his/her limits.  Sometimes C is into it, and sometimes not.  On epic hiking days he’s got unbelievable endurance – on several occasions I’ve seen him hike in and out of crags with a steep, strenuous approach that would take most pack-laden adults 20–30 minutes.  But there are just as many other times where he doesn’t want to hike at all.  Most days fall somewhere in between.  Since I want him to grow up with positive experiences of hiking as a family, as opposed to fleeting memories of parents giving out death march orders, we haven’t pushed.  We let him set the pace, and his ability to maneuver over tough terrain continues to amaze me week after week. 

SAFETY FIRST – If you’re goal is to turn your toddler into a happy hiker, make sure to choose kid-friendly trails more often than not.  Each successful outing will lead to another and another.  On the other hand, don’t feel bad if every now and then you want to hit up an area that is less conducive to toddler tracks – just be safe about it.  Sometimes we hit sections of trail that aren’t okay for C to handle on his own.  He may not always be happy about it, but his brief forced stints in the backpack are long forgotten once we get to our final destination.  

Who else out there has gone through the transition from Cragbaby to Happy Hiker?  I would love to hear some more input, especially from those with older children (it’s always nice to get a glimpse into the next “phase.”)  What has (or has not) worked for your family on the trail?

Share

Dixon Bouldering: All’s Well That End’s Well

Climbing. North Carolina.
3 Comments.

Pad people on the move…and C with his crag bag.

 

John gettin the party started on the Y-Axis boulder, while the kiddos entertain each other below.

This weekend marked 7 months (almost to the day) since I broke my ankle on a funky lead fall last winter.  I paid my dues in a boot for 6 weeks, worked my butt off on the hangboard, and got back on the sharp end of a rope the second I was given the green light.  I waited a good long while before bouldering in the gym again, and when I finally got back to it I mostly kept it to problems I had wired and could use for 4×4 training sessions.  Because the hubs and I take turns with Cragbaby-duty at the gym, I often find myself without a spotter, so it made sense to take it easy.  I was making progress however, until the beginning of June when I tweaked my other ankle 15 minutes into the approach hike at the New – nothing serious, but enough to put bouldering on the back burner again.  So here we are at the beginning of fall, with prime bouldering season on the horizon, and the thought of even a controlled jump down on a pad elevates my blood pressure.  When some friends of ours from Raleigh suggested we plan a bouldering trip together, I knew it would be a nerve-wracking experience, but would hopefully go a long way towards boosting my confidence above a pad. 

Even though roped climbing has always been more of our”thing,” pebble wrestling has always been a great cold weather option for our family.  It’s an efficient way to cram getting outside, exercising, and keeping the down jackets on as much as possible into the short daylight hours of winter.  Not to mention that bouldering is a great way to improve upon one of my biggest weaknesses on a rope – the fact that I’m not very strong!  So overcoming my fear and getting my head back to where it was pre-injury is important to me.  That being said, this particular trip was about nothing more than mileage for me.  

 

 Our friends rolled in to our house early Friday evening, with just enough time for some s’mores in our fire pit.  After a lazy start on Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and made the short drive to our local bouldering haunt.  Cragbaby was psyched to have a friend to play with (especially one with pretty, bouncy curls!), and they both spent the morning scavenger hunting and collecting nature treasures with their new homemade “crag bags.”  Mia and her Mommy had been working on them all week, and they had surprised C with his very own bag stocked with crayons, paper, magnifying glass, and small satchels for storing his nature items.  He loved it so much that he refused to put it down all weekend!

Galvatron (V3)

We started our day at the Y-Axis boulder, which has several vertical lines in the V0-V1 range, all with great landing zones.  Next we headed up the hill to the next group of boulders.  I did Classic Overhang Direct Finish (V2), which in my opinion is one of the best lines in the field, as well as 2+2=5, and the awkward lowball Baleen (V2).  Our next stop was at the popular Snake Jam boulder, which contains several high quality lines.  Both The Rattler (V2) and Snake Jam (V3/4) took a ridiculous amount of tries to commit to the top out for me, even though I’ve done both of those problems numerous times before.  Eventually I was able to work it out, and I think that boosted my confidence a good bit.  

One of my goals for this year was Venom (V5), which I had intended to work on at the beginning of the year before getting derailed by a broken talus bone.  My friend John wanted to hop on it so I decided to give it a few go’s just to familiarize myself with the holds again.  At first I couldn’t even get off the ground, (which was pretty disheartening), but after a few tries I was consistently getting to the same high point I was at last year.  Considering how timid my head was, I’m gonna count that as progress…for now.  🙂

We ended our day on Backsplinters (V2), Galvatron (V3) and Unicron (V4), at which point the skies were looking (and sounding) rather menacing, so we packed up and headed out.  We couldn’t have timed it any better – the skies let loose just as we were all hopping into the car, and we rolled into the driveway right at dinnertime.  Our day was drawn to a close with takeout pizza and climbing videos, but my smile has lasted well into this week.  Though it wasn’t without some frustrations, it felt good to chisel away at some of my fears, and it felt even better to do it in a no-pressure atmosphere surrounded by friends.  Camaraderie at the crag makes up for a lack of crushing anyday! 

 

 

Share
“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN