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

Obed: To Crush or To Be Crushed?

Climbing. Other.
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Quickdraws make good tree ornaments.

If that were the question, then the answer would most definitively be YES to both, which is great since our plans almost got squashed before we even left the house because of a poor, sick Cragbaby. Thankfully though he started feeling better just in time (when we asked him if he wanted to get in Mommy’s car and go sleep in in a tent he started jumping up and down shouting, “TENT!  TENT!”).  Despite a later-than-planned start, we made it to Tennessee only slightly worse for the wear.  

This trip was an interesting balance of both success and failure on the rock.  It’d been almost a year since our last Obed trip, and it felt good to come back and feel noticeably stronger on routes I’d struggled on before.  I was also able to get on a bunch of routes I’d never been on, and I was able to send all but one…but more on that later.  Here’s my quick and dirty tick list from our 4 days of hot, humid, (but shady!) craggin’

Day 1:  Little Clear
We didn’t want to ruin ourselves on the first day, so we kept the grades low and the onsights high.  
Roofus Doofus  (5.10a) 
Sweat Lodge (5.10b) – This packs quite a pump for the grade – we all thought it was a big sandbagged at .10b
Alzheimer’s Onsight (5.11a) – How can .11a be this steep?  Because every hold is a giant bucket!   Lots of jug-hauling fun on this one!
Lowers Weepers (5.11a) – Techy face to a signature Obed roof crux that cranks out on jugs.  

Steve on his redpoint run of Aneurysm (5.11c)

Day 2:  Lilly Bluff  
Lounge Lizards (5.11b) – Probably not the best warm-up.  I got pumped out trying to figure out the crux and fell.  Came back to it later on in the day and nabbed the redpoint.
Clyde the Mega-Dude (5.11b/c) – Pretty psyched to send this one second go, as I had struggled with it a year ago.  It’s got one mega-move at the crux to a big, flat hold.   It’s not quite a dyno for me, but pretty close to it.  

Day 3:  Lilly Bluff
Ticks are for Kids (5.10a)
Aneurysm (5.11c) – Out of character for the Obed, this technical arete with a long move at the top was a great diversion from my flailings over on Gangsta (5.12a).  Happy to flash it, but even more psyched for the Crag-Daddoo, who snagged his hardest redpoint to date – on the second go no less!

By this point we were so dirty that our clothes could probably stand up by themselves, so we went down to the river for a dip – and playing in the “BIG wah-wah” was most definitely the highlight of Cragbaby’s trip!  

Day 4:  Lilly Bluff 
Poison Ivy (5.11a) – Amazingly good!  One long lock-off move at the 1st bolt, then fun climbing up a steep face.  Again props to the Crag-Daddoo – his first .11a flash!)
Egyptian (5.11d) – I’d tried this one once the day before and it went well – was sure I could get it the next go if I was fresh, but had my doubts about whether I’d have enough guns to power through a Day 4 send.  The climbing up to the 3rd bolt was reminiscent of the burly, grunt-fests found closer to home at Hidden Wall – long, scrappy moves between good holds off high feet.  After the crux there’s a few more big moves, a pumpy bulge, a no hands rest, and a couple of slopers at the top just to make sure you’re still awake.  My second go I struggled to summon up enough power to make a big move to the clipping hold for the 2nd bolt, but I dialed in my foot beta and rehearsed the crux 3 or 4 times in a row, then lowered off.  I waited around for a bit, then gave it another go and sent!  The crux felt a little more desperate than I would have liked, but I’ll take it!  
Dinosaur Jr. (5.10c) – The newest guidebook gives this one a .10b, but our crew thought that the Dixie Cragger grade of .10c was even a little sandbagged…a tricky layback start and a steep bulge at the top made for an exciting line!  

Mid-crux on Gangsta (5.12a)

 The UN-TICK LIST:  

There’s just one, and I left my heart and soul on it.  Gangsta (5.12a) was recommended to me by a number of people – short but powerful, it has a fairly long and intense crux down low on slopers that are all decent except for the last one which is outrageously bad.  The last half of the route is probably hard 5.10 climbing on steep, juggy terrain.  It’s pretty ironic that I just recently posted about projecting versus onsighting, and how when I go on longer trips I usually only climb routes that I have a good chance of onsighting or sending in a couple of tries.  Well, I knew I wouldn’t onsight it -me and 5.12 have gone as little as 3 and as many as 12 rounds together in the past – but I figured since we were going to be spending at least 2 days at Lilly, I’d just give it a whirl and see if it felt doable…and clearly I need to change my working definition of what the word doable means, because 3 days and 8 tries later, I still went home empty-handed.  

I got on it twice the first day and was pleased to find that although the crux was sustained and hard, I was able to figure out and do all the moves pretty quickly.  The next day I definitely made progress – I used an extended quickdraw to solve the mid-crux clipping problem, and got my beta completely dialed in on my first attempt.  I took 2 redpoint runs later in the day, both resulting in a one-hang at the crux.  That means I’m close, right?  A one-hang means you’ve done the hard part – figuring out the beta – and just need to rest up and come back refreshed and ready to send, right?  Wrong.  Day 4 brought nothing but 3 more one-hangs – the second of which had me literally falling at the last move of the crux.  

Cragbaby learns how to tie a figure-8.

Clearly the logical part of my brain understands that “refreshed” is a relative term on Day 4, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.  Part of me regrets investing so much time and effort into a route to just come up short, especially when there was a whole host of other (slightly easier) lines all around it that were just as good that I’d never even seen before.  I obviously only kept trying because I felt like I was close – I would have thrown in the towel pretty early on had I even suspected it was going to take so much work.  In some ways I wish I’d never even gotten on it – over the course of the trip I sent seven 5.11’s in ten attempts, so had my eight tries on Gangsta been spread out along the rest of Lilly Bluff, I’m fairly certain I could have hit double digit 5.11’s.  

But of course there are two sides to every coin, a silver lining on every cloud, blah, blah, blah.  On the bright side I feel good about committing to push myself, since that’s the only way I’m going to get better.  And speaking of improvement, I know for a fact that last year at this time I wouldn’t have been able to even get to the top of a route like Gangsta, let alone think I could actually send it.  Even though I don’t have anything tangible to show for the effort I put in just yet, Gangsta isn’t going anywhere, and I’ll most certainly be back for it.  If I can one-hang it on Day 4 in 90 degree weather, I’m pretty sure it’ll only be a matter of time when I come back in the fall.  And as far as wasted effort, I do think that spending so much time on hard terrain made every other route I did that weekend seem loads easier by comparison.  And somehow in the midst of all that “wasted effort” I managed to nab seven .11’s – certainly not a bad haul, and it kinda has a cool ring to it.  : )

All smiles at the overlook!

 

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Sentimental Snapshots: The Weedman

Sentimental Snapshots. Reflections.
1 Comment.

Our household has been logging a lot of landscaping hours in recent weeks – we’ve been digging holes, planting flowers, pruning branches, and of course, pulling weeds. While Cragbaby is thankfully proving to be a fan of all yardwork, his favorite activity so far seems to be yanking up the weeds. In the interest of out new plants, this probably means that a few plant identification lessons are in order (maybe we’ll make a field guide!)

I like this picture because of how happy my little guy looks amidst what most people would think of as a mundane chore at best. It makes me realize that many times we may miss out on everyday joy because of our attitude.  Cragbaby sees every activity as a learning experience and a chance to have fun, and I can only imagine how different my day would be if I adopted the same perspective.  What life lessons have you learned from your toddler lately?

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Pilot Projects – aka The Day of Reckoning

Climbing. North Carolina.
11 Comments.

Look out ladies, he's a heartbreaker...

If you’ve been following the blog for the past few weeks, you’ll probably remember that my friends and I have all been on a search for significant sendage on some of the best lines at Pilot Mountain.  My climbing partners have thankfully been gracious enough to allow me to pick their brains a bit so that I can share multiple perspectives on projecting strategies.  Since Steve (aka Crag-Daddy) was the only one that scored a send on our last visit to the area, the rest of us couldn’t stay away.  So two weeks later we returned with guns blazing, ready for what my friend Adam refers to as the “Day of Reckoning”…

BLIND PROPHET (5.12b)
Erica: “I think the A-Team sums it up best…”I love it when a plan comes together.”  I was so close last time, so ever since then I’ve been envisioning my crux sequence and the moves leading up to it, trying to find any sort of subtle nuance that would give me the extra ounce of efficiency needed to keep it together at the finish.  “Stay in the arm bar longer…lock off the left arm harder…keep core tighter…”  were the thoughts swimming around in my head all week.  My first go I was ridiculously flash pumped by the time I got to the no hands rest, but I felt much better after chilling on my little pedestal for a while.  I got to the crux – and nailed the crimp!  I continued with my crux beta, which at this point is so dialed I can do it in my sleep, but evidently I was pretty adrenalized since I overshot the last deadpoint move to the juggy handrail…by a LOT.  Despite my desperate groping I peeled right off.  Falling off was quite the buzz kill, as everyone (myself included) thought it was over when I snagged the slopey crimp.  Oh well – nothing a PBJ and a few Cragbaby snuggles can’t fix!  I waited around about an hour and then hopped on again.  This was by far my smoothest run in all sections.  This time I was hardly tired at all when I got to the no hands rest, and I felt great moving into the crux.  I was even able to lock off and go straight to to the slopey crimp instead of bumping up from the horrible one below it, and went almost completely static to the hand rail.  Yay for sending projects!  At 8 tries over 3 days, my time investment in this route is second only to Slabster’s Lament, and it’s my first .12b, so I’m definitely psyched! “

The ever-elusive handrail!

BLACK AND BLUE VELVET (5.13a/b)
Bennett:  “I showed up at Pilot Mountain motivated and confident that Black and Blue Velvet would go.  I had all the moves dialed in and there was nothing left to do but send.  When I got on the route, I was a bit jumpy.  Perhaps my nerves needed a little calming.  Unexpectedly, my foot popped on the third move…This was surprisingly to say the least, as the “business” is definitely near the top.  I decided that instead of thinking about the send or the outcome, I would simply try and enjoy making the moves, focusing only on what was presently before me.   The real joy of climbing is the feeling of physical health and the social aspect of identifying with others that accompanies the sport.  Once I was able to stay in the moment, I think I did a better job at flowing through the route – and 27 moves later, I was clipping the anchors!  As great as it felt, the pinnacle of exuberance was quickly followed by the crashing realization that I had to find something else to push, challenge, and inspire me.  Good thing I like climbing so much…” 

 With the business out of the way before lunch, the rest of the afternoon was free to hop on whatever we felt like.  Steve was psyched to send 2 more routes off his tick list – Devil in the White House (5.10d), and Herculean Test (5.11a), while Bennett got really close on Ethics in Bondage (5.12c).  Herculean is one of my favorites, so I jumped on it as well, and was thrilled to also nab a send on Any Major Dude (5.11d).  We rounded out our day by sampling the new bolts on Bat Out of Hell (5.11).  

Bennett gettin Black and Blue

Our car had an interesting discussion on the way home about projecting versus onsight climbing (sending a route first try).  We decided they are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum.  Obviously, you can project at a much higher level than you can onsight, since on a project every move is wired and executed near perfectly, as opposed to an onsight attempt where you’re pretty much winging it and often compensating for mistakes such as botched beta, missed holds, etc.  An onsight attempt is exciting, edge of your seat, not knowing what comes next type of climbing.  Projecting is much more methodical, and culminates in a zen-like moment where everything goes right and a route that you previously struggled to even get to the top of  just flows.  There’s only once chance to do something right the first time, so onsighting can be pretty intense, both mentally and physically.  With a project route the mental pressure is more long-term, a “savor the journey” type exercise.  Though there are no expectations in the early stages of working a project, there comes a point where you realize a send is within reach and its just a matter of time, which can elevate the “must send now” pressure to a steady boil.

So is it better to be a good onsight-er or a good redpoint-er?  Which style requires more mental muscle and physical toughness?  In my opinion, the answer is all of the above.  A smart climber is able to find that balance between the two.  If you only climb routes you can onsight, you’ll never know how hard you could really climb if you’d invest more time on a route and push yourself a little.  However, only working routes that are at the outskirts of your limit not only keeps you from being well-rounded and consolidated at a particular grade, but is also a great way to get injured.  

Steve passing The Herculean Test (5.11a)

For me personally,  I prefer to stick mostly to routes within my onsight range when we go on multi-day trips – if I don’t onsight it, I may pull the rope once and try again, but I won’t spend all afternoon on one route.  Most of my projects are on local rock that I can get to any time I want.  Logistically, the onsight pool at the home crags is pretty picked over at this point since we’ve been in the area for a while.  Also, since I’m just down to a handful of routes that I haven’t done, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on a whole slew of area classics by narrowing my focus to just one route on the day.  But my strategy is really just one out of probably a million different ones however, and my only expertise is based on trial and error.  With that in mind, I’d love to hear everybody else’s approach – do you climb a route once and move along to the next, regardless of the outcome, or do you work, work, work a line until you can completely dominate it?

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Cameron and Jonathan Horst – aka the Send Brothers!

Interviews.
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Jon and Cam - aka The Send Brothers

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve done any interviews, so I figured the best way to make up for lost time was to bring you two interviews for the price of one!  Prepare to be absolutely amazed (and also a little bit sheepish, since these boys are more than likely hiking laps up your projects for their warm-ups…)  Cameron and Jonathan Horst (or Cam and Jon for short) are the sons of training guru Eric Horst, author of numerous books on climbing-specific training, including the well-known titles “How to Climb 5.12,” and “Training for Climbing.”  I first met Eric several years ago at the New, but had the pleasure of meeting the entire family last spring at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.  For me it was fun to see the “next phase” of a crag-family in action, as it gave me a little glimpse of what to expect once Cragbaby starts “for real” climbing.  And when I say “what to expect,” I’m  not talking about numbers, since these guys are in the nationwide elite of crag kiddos.

Here’s what 11 year old Cam and 9 year old Jon had to say about life on (and off) the rocks.

How long have you been climbing?
Both were so young they don’t remember it, but according to dad, they began on their home wall at age 3, and on real rock around age 4.  Both did their first lead climbing (on bolted routes) at the age of 6.

Cam sending God's Own Stone (5.14a)

What do you like most about climbing?
Cam:  The movement, the challenge, and the outdoor experience.
Jon:  It’s fun – I love doing hard moves and getting high up on a cliff.

When you’re not climbing, what do you do for fun?
Cam:  We both play tackle football in the fall and basketball in the winter.
Jon:  We also like playing with our friends, and training in our home gym.

What style of climbing do you like best and why?
Cam:  I mostly sport climb, but I also really enjoy trad.  I’d like to lead more trad routes, but I’m just starting to get into placing gear.
Jon:  I like overhanging sport climbs the best.  But I also really enjoyed climbing Devil’s Tower and Independence Monument on our summer trips out west.

What are your favorite crags?
Cam:  Red River Gorge, Ten Sleep Canyon, the Gunks
Jon:  Red River Gorge, Maple Canyon, Ten Sleep Canyon

Describe your proudest send.
Cam:  God’s Own Stone (5.14a) is the hardest route I’ve done, but it fit me perfectly and I did it in 4 tries.  However the route that took me the longest (7 tries over 2 days) was Ultra Perm (5.13d).  It’s about 100 feet long and overhangs about 50 feet.  It’s so steep, and reachy for me.  The crux was near the end of the route and it’s pretty runout, so I took a few 40 foot falls.
Jon:  A route at the Motherlode in the Red River Gorge called Skinboat (5.13a).  It had a big lunge (for me anyway, since I’m short) at the start, then a 5.12+ crux, followed by a long sustained section of 5.12a.  It took me 4 tries over 2 days.

Jon projecting 5.12d

What’s the best part about family climbing trips?
Cam and Jon:  Traveling to new places, camping and cooking outside for weeks on end!  We love exploring new cliffs.

How do your teachers and classmates at school react to your climbing?
Cam and Jon:  They mostly don’t get it…and they definitely don’t understand how hard and challenging it is.  But our teachers are curious and our gym teacher can see how strong we are from climbing and training.

What goals do you have for the next couple of years?
Cam:  This year I want to do another 5.14a; next season I’d like to climb 5.14b or 5.14c.  At age 12, that would be something only one other person has done before (Adam Ondra).
Jon:  I’d like to project a few more 5.13’s…and hopefully send a couple of them!  At my height (4’6″) it’s hard to find hard routes without big reaches that I can’t do.  Next year I hope to climb 5.13b/c.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Cam:  I’d like to be a pro climber for a few years so I could travel and climb full-time, then perhaps work in the climbing industry…or be a climbing coach or researcher.
Jon:  I’d like to climb a lot as an adult, but I don’t really know yet what I want to do as a career.

Jon making the most out of all 4'6"!

    

Cam on Arms for Hostage (5.13a)

As a climbing mommy it was inspiring for me to watch these little guys out crushing at the crag with their parents.  On the rock they were sending machines, but when it wasn’t their turn to climb, they were building forts at the base of the cliff, just like any other energetic boys their age would do.  It reminded me that kids are kids, regardless of athletic prowess.  While there choice of weekend activity differs from the majority of their peers, to them this is what makes life fun!  So whether Cragbaby goes on to become one of the top climbers of his generation or not, I cherish the memories we’ve made (and will continue to make) at the crag together as a family.  Obviously Eric is proud of his kids, and when I asked him what it means to him as a father to share these types of experiences with his wife and boys, I think he summed it up pretty nicely: “Climbing with my wife and boys is gratifying on many different levels.  It’s great to get out in nature and recreate as a family…and its quite profound revisiting the crags of my youth and climbing with my boys on routes I did 30 years ago…and it definitely humbles me to see the boys climb so well – doing routes at age 11 that I couldn’t have done in my best days as a top climber in the 1980’s!”

The Horst Family

What’s the moral of the story?  Whether its climbing, fishing, biking, skiing, bird-watching, or just having picnics in the backyard, make sure you’re providing meaningful learning experiences for the whole family in the great outdoors!  Modeling a healthy, active lifestyle will go a long way towards making the next generation healthier and happier!  Many thanks to the Horst family for agreeing to share a glimpse of their family’s story!  I hope it’s as motivating to you all as it was to me!

 

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A 5.12 for Mother’s Day (and a bunch of other awesome stuff…)

New River Gorge. Climbing.
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Cragbaby and Caleb planning out the day's routes

The build-up to this weekend at the New was admittedly a bit chaotic.  But despite last-minute partner bailing, a forgotten ankle brace, and a moody weather forecast, this Mother’s Day ended up being the best yet!  I had two goals in mind – to send as many hard .11’s as I could, and to get redemption on a 5.12 project from last summer…

Day 1 Routes (Butcher’s Branch and Seven-Eleven Wall):
The Greenpiece (5.10b):  I’d only been to Butcher’s Branch one other time, and it was almost exactly 4 years ago.  I remember having an epic almost-onsight of this route that ended with a pumped-out heartbreaker at the anchors.  It felt good to come back and tick this one on my warm-up lap.

The crux clip on Scenic Adult (5.11c)

Sancho Belige (5.11c): Wow, speaking of pump fests…the first half of this gently overhanging route was loaded with big moves from sloper to sloper, with a hard clip just before the crux.  The crux was a stand-up move off of an out of place half-pad crimp.  There was a nice rest stance a bit above the crux, then a few more long moves and another hard clip.  My first go came with a fall at the crux, a hang on one of the upper bolts, and a flash-pump like you wouldn’t believe.  I debated pulling the rope, because I didn’t want to go through all the energy of climbing it again when I wasn’t sure I could send it.  But I’m so glad I did – because on my next go I cruised it.  Lesson learned?  Don’t underestimate the energy-saving powers a redpoint run has over an onsight attempt.
Scenic Adult (5.11c):   This is one of the best routes I’ve ever been on – tall, exposed, and ridiculously intimidating from the ground.  It began with technical climbing using both sides of a beautiful, sharp, arete for about 70 feet, then launched into a long, pumpy crux sequence with a really hard to reach clip and a funky rock on move across an overhang.  The terrain is a bit easier the rest of the way, but not without a few heady moves here and there to make sure you’re still awake.  The first time I was way too gassed trying to make the crux clip, and slumped onto the rope as soon as the rope went in.  The rest of the climb went well, so I thought for sure I could send it my next go, but that darn pump clock started ticking in my ear too loudly and I rushed my footwork at the crux and popped off.  Oh well.  I didn’t send it, but a classic line like this is definitely worth a revisit.

Steve onsighting Totally Tammy (5.10a)

Day 2 Routes (Kaymoor): We were disappointed upon glancing at the latest weather updates during dinner and realizing that the 30% chance of afternoon showers had turned into a 70% chance starting mid-morning.  Our plans all along had been to hit up the Rico Suave area so I could tackle Pockets, but considering that this is one of the few areas at the New that stays dry in the rain, we figured it would be mobbed, so we got up at 6:15 and made sure to be in the Kaymoor parking lot by 7:30.
Rico Suave (5.10a):  Ah, the token rainy day warm-up.  Fun, technical face climbing at it’s finest!
Pockets of Resistance (5.12a):  DONE!  SENT! TICKED!  However you want to word it, this route can finally be crossed off, as well as Goal #3 on my 2012 Hit List.   This line was “supposed” to be my first 5.12, but better late than never I guess!  My last bout with Pockets was last August, when the summer heat and humidity ganged up on me at the crux, making for a desperate and frustrating fall at the last move 5 times in a row.  Not only were conditions way better this time, but I can tell I’m a lot stronger than I was last summer.  It took me a while to reacquaint myself with all the moves, and I figured out some new beta at the crux that felt way easier.  When I went up again, everything felt perfect and the send went off without a hitch.  Redemption!
Out of the Bag (5.11d):  Still no sign of rain, so we all kept climbing…With Pockets out of the way, I felt lighter than air, and decided to take a run up this nearby 4-star classic.  A group of guys had been working it all morning, and only one of them had been able to complete it.  Their draws were already up, and the group was ready to leave, so I volunteered to take a run up it, assuming I would flail around at the dyno-esque crux in a similar fashion.  I carried my own draws with me, so that I’d have the option of swapping theirs out with mine on the way down if I felt close to sending…but turns out that was just training weight since I sent it first go!  I feel guilty calling it an actual flash, since technically it was not my first time on the route – 4 years ago I threw a toprope on it after climbing Rico, but I obviously had no business being on it then, since my recollections of the route are nothing but a blur of bumper belays and aiding on draws.  I think it’s safe to say that my prior experience on the route gave me no advantage.  But regardless of what you call it, effort-wise it feels like a flash to me, and that’s definitely an exciting breakthrough for me.

Eyeing down the crux on Pockets of Resistance (5.12a)

Another breakthrough?  I climbed without an ankle brace for the first time since the fracture.  It wasn’t on purpose, actually – I realized on Friday night while we were setting up camp that my brace was sitting in the front pocket of my gym bag, which I’d removed from the car about 10 minutes before getting on the road.  I wasn’t too worried about it, considering that my doctor had said I no longer need it 3 weeks ago, but I was afraid that not having it would get in my head a little bit and cause me to be timid – but in fact I think it did the opposite.  All weekend I felt strong and confident, without an ounce of hesitation.  At first I was puzzled as to why, but I think I figured it out.  The brace was a constant reminder that I’d gotten hurt.  Every time I looked down to place my foot, I saw it.  Every time I reached out for a far away foot hold, I could feel the brace restricting my movement.  Without it, the injury wasn’t occupying any head space during my climb, and I was able to climb freely without any negativity lurking around in my head, conscious or otherwise.  That’s not to say that I haven’t learned from the experience or am trying to forget that it happened, just that I’m ready to put it behind me.   I knew I wasn’t going to climb in it forever, but hadn’t been sure how or when to leave it behind, so this accidental oversight may have been just what the doctor ordered! So that was my Mother’s Day weekend, culminating in a rainy pit stop for homemade pizza at my own mommy’s house on the way back to Charlotte (and to her credit she’s still happy to see me when I come to the door stinky and dirty!)  I hope all my other readers who are mommies were able to do something fun with their loved ones this weekend too – please feel free to share your adventures below!

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