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

Guidebook Update…Sans Boot!

Climbing. North Carolina.
5 Comments.

A beautiful day in the Piedmont

 Well, it’s been quite a while since my last guidebook update, but rest assured it’s not from lack of progress.  Since a fractured talus and a walking cast put my vertical research on hold for a while, I’ve chained myself to my computer the minute Cragbaby falls asleep, fervently finishing up route descriptions and working in all of the creative anecdotes so many folks have been so kind as to send/tell me.  But there’s only so much work I can do without actually touching the rock, so as soon as my doctor officially de-booted me I hit the ground running…well, not actually for real running, it’ll be another 3 weeks before I’m (hopefully) cleared to do that.  After rain thwarted our original Saturday plans, we set our sights on Monday – Steve took the day off and C’s grandparents came up to watch him for the day (thanks GaGa and Paw Paw!).  I not only got a partner willing to spend a large part of the day scrambling and exploring rather than climbing, but also one that was willing to be patient with me if my ankle wasn’t ready and we needed to cut the day short. 

Nice angle of Pink Flamingoes (too bad there's no climber on it...). It's the face just right of the sharp arete, on the left side of the chimney.

With three successful gym days under my belt, I was more worried about the hike in on steep, uneven, terrain with a pack on than the actual climbing.  Thankfully, my sweet husband carried all the heavy stuff.  I was pleasantly surprised with how good the ankle felt – We probably did 3 times the amount of scrambling than we would on a normal crag day, and my ankle got through it all with only a very minor amount of complaining, and even that wasn’t until the last 20 minutes of the day, on the steep, downhill jaunt back to the car. 

We attempted to warm-up at the Gumbies Roof area, but with the stray rain shower and chilly wind, it was anything but that.  It wasn’t a total loss though.  I was able to take some cliff pictures and confirm all of my route descriptions for those route as well as the whole Fortress Area.  Next we headed over to David’s Castle, all the while taking notes on the best way to provide directions to each of the jumbled buttresses along the summit ridge.  We toproped 2 seldom climbed lines, as well as a classic that we’d never done before – Pink Flamingoes (5.11a), Temporary Tradition (5.11a), and Instant Karma Direct (5.10d).  Pink Flamingoes is a delightful little number that follows the left side of a gully/chimney type feature on the right side of David’s Castle.  I stayed on the face in keeping with the original line, and Steve gave the arete variation a try, which ended up being a good deal easier (5.10a), though the rock quality is not as good.  Temporary Tradtion was really just a hard boulder problem off the deck followed by 5.8 climbing.  I’d gotten the skinny from First Ascensionist Mark Pell on both of these routes just a few days prior, so it was really cool to climb these routes with all of the history behind them fresh in my mind.

Topping out on Smoke Signals (5.10c/d), in the dark recesses of the Car Wall

After more photos and another round of route confirmations all along David’s Castle, we headed back up to the summit ridge and ventured over to the Two-Pitch Wall.  We didn’t climb anything there, but we located all of the routes and took photos.  Our final destination was the Car Wall, a small, secluded wall that rarely sees the sun.  The right side of this wall is probably the most continuously steep rock that I’ve seen at Crowder’s, and several of the lines looked really good.  We wanted to climb more, but were running out of time at that point, so we opted for the lone sport route on the wall, knowing that would be the quickest option.  Even though it put us back a little later, I’m so glad we stayed, as it was the perfect way to end the day, on so many different levels.  First of all, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Smoke Signals (5.10c/d) may very well be the best 5.10 at Crowder’s.  It’s a shame that the Car Wall is such a pain to get to, otherwise I’m sure it would see non-stop action every weekend!  As it is though, this line is definitely worth the extra shenanigans required to get to it. 

Secondly, I’ve learned that anytime coming back after a nasty fall ultimately ends up being more of a mental than a physical battle, and this line definitely went a long way towards getting my head game back.  I had been hoping to lead something on this outing, but the routes we needed to check out for the guidebook didn’t really lend themselves well for someone who was still supposed to be “proceeding with caution” with regards to climbing (ie, trad routes that most people nowadays mostly toprope due to suspect rock and small, tenuous gear placements…).  Hopping on something familiar would have made sense, but not in the context of today’s outing being in the name of guidebook research.  Since I’ve been on almost all of the bolted routes in the Main Area, options for safe leads were slim pickings, until we took a gander at Smoke Signals.  Ridiculously steep (read: clean, safe falls), and at a grade that I shouldn’t have too much trouble with, this line was just what I was looking for.  I’m not gonna lie – I was definitely scared making moves above the bolts, even though I knew there wasn’t a chance I’d hit anything…and my right arm got ridiculously pumped from dilly-dallying too long in one spot working up the nerve to commit to a couple of moves, but I managed to hang on for the onsight.  It may not have been pretty, but I’ll gladly take it.  Baby steps I guess. 

So as far as where things stand, it seems like as soon as I cross something off the guidebook list, 2 more items get tacked on, but I’m getting there.  Except for a few edits here and there, I’m basically done with all of the route descriptions save a few punchlist type items for each crag.  The hard part is going to be finding the time to get to each place (preferably sans C…) to get everything done.  I’m still in the market for stories and especially pictures, so if you’ve got any/and/or/both to offer, please drop me a line!

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Climbing Rules! …and Regulations

Parenting. Creating a Cragbaby. Reflections.
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Recently I was asked about how our family handles Cragbaby’s enthusiastic climbing skills in and around the house – and more specifically, in areas that aren’t safe to practice heel-hooks and fist jams.  In non-climbing families, its probably easiest to implement a few hard and fast rules.  For example – NO CLIMBING.  For obvious reasons that mixed message would cause a lot of confusion in our house.  Though we are definitely learning as we go, here are a few concepts that have proved to be helpful for us – by all means they aren’t gospel, and I am very interested to get some discussion going on this topic – so please read on and feel free to comment below!

1.  DON’T SQUELCH CREATIVITY:  Climbing is a developmental skill that all toddlers enjoy learning.  By providing secure, age-appropriate outlets for your child to hone their emerging skills, he or she can explore their vertical world in a healthy and safe environment (as well as give them the opportunity for some exercise!)  The best options are usually found outdoors – on playgrounds, at parks, and of course rocks.  Especially for the smallest climbers, however, sturdy everyday objects such as stools, chairs, and boxes can make for great indoor jungle gyms.  Just make sure that your budding explorer is within close proximity for the inevitable tumbles, which brings me to number 2…

2.  REINFORCE THE VALUE OF A GOOD SPOT:  If you’re child is born into a climbing family, odds are good that they’ve seen this concept put into practice more times than they can remember.  But even if he or she isn’t familiar with technical climbing, the idea of having someone behind you providing a “spot” is still a valuable lesson to learn,especially when you’re little one is still in the “projecting phase” and trying to figure out all the moves to hoist themselves and and onto that living room chair.  A good example of one of these limited access areas in our house was Cragbaby’s Changing Table Problem. When he first tackled this project, he was pretty unsteady on his feet.  We tried to establish a “wait for Mommy/Daddy to spot you” routine early on.  C took to this pretty easily, and even now will generally wait excitedly for a spot before getting too high off the ground. 

3.  IT’S ALL ABOUT WORD CHOICE:  Regardless of how aesthetic a line may look, it is inevitable that some parts of the house will always be closed to climbing (unstable shelving units, lampstands, china cabinets, etc).  In situations where access is closed and the law needs to be laid down, choose a word or phrase that is clear but not confusing to a toddler that does not possess the powers of abstract reasoning.  For example, instead of just saying “Get down, no climbing,” which is clear at the time, but gets muddled at the climbing gym, we usually say something like “Get down, that’s not safe.”  As he gets older and has the developmental capacity to understand reasoning, we’ll probably have a fair amount of discussions about safety with regards to climbing. 

Admittedly our family probably allows Cragbaby to be more on the adventurous side when it comes to scaling household walls, but I do think there is value in letting children explore (in a safe way of course).  In my opinion the act of climbing is intuitive and natural to most kids.  Sadly, however, I think a lot of times that instinct is squashed by overprotectiveness, and replaced instead with activities that are “easier” for adults to “supervise” – ie video games and TV.  Not that video games and TV are inherently bad, but I’ve seen a lot of instances where they are used as baby-sitters in lieu of spending quality time together.  I know this is taking it one step further from the original topic of this post, but I’d be willing to go out on a limb to say that maybe if we as grown-ups allowed our kids to explore and just be kids more often, we wouldn’t have the obesity and couch potato epidemics we have today…  But enough of the soapbox rant.  That’s our family’s take on climbing rules around the house, for what its worth, which may or may not be much.  I’d love to hear from other families (climbers as well as non-climbers) as to how you handle boisterous toddler forays into the vertical world!

 

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Tales of a Broken Talus – Update #4

Climbing. Training. Reflections.
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For those of you that want the quick version, here’s the skinny – I’m finally out of the boot! Yay! For those that want the nitty gritty, here’s the play by play…

Mmmmmm, cupcakes. 🙂

Day 31-32:  Feeling strong on the hangboard, as I’m back up to 7-10 seconds again, despite the added weight.  Today I also added weight to my offset hangs on the large  edge.  My plan is to stick with this for another week, then next week toss in another weighted bean bag.  The warm spring weather has me frustrated because I’m afraid by the time I’m back up to par it’ll be hot and humid again. I dutifully did my power walk and dreamed about running.

Day 33:  Felt really strong today – was able to “boot-sight” three 10c’s, one up as well as down, the others only up.  Also making some progress on downclimbing the 10a in the lead cave (toproping only, of course) without being pumped stupid by the time I’m done. 

Unbelievably, 2 non-screaming rappels in a row!

Day 34:  My speed on the elliptical is almost back to where it was pre-boot, but its way less fun since the boot is still awkward (and not to mention it smells like a men’s locker room).  But I’m also starting to regularly get weird pains in the backs of my knees from too much booting around with a weird gait.  Don’t tell my ortho, but when Cragbaby is asleep and the house is quiet I take it off and go bootless… 

Day 35:  Cragbaby’s Birthday Party!  At where else – Inner Peaks!  Friends and family came from all over to see where C spends a good bit of his time (and give it a try if they wanted to!) as well as to enjoy some bangin’ monkey-face cupcakes!  NCAA basketball and time with family provided more good distractions from the beautiful spring weather during the afternoon.

Day 36:   I added another 3 lb bag to my hangboard routine, and again, its amazing how much of a difference such a little bit of weight can make…kinda makes me think twice before going for that second slice of pizza…  I also achieved one of my goals for this 6 weeks of hardcore upper body work – 50 pull-ups in 5 sets! Previously I’d been hovering in the 36-40 range, but I’m assuming was able to crank more this time since I didn’t rope up at all.  Either way, I’ll take it!

Day 37:  Today was the big public announcement about Trango’s Grassroots Athlete Team for 2012, so it was a fun, smile-filled day, despite the fact that my boot is getting smellier and sweatier by the day.  I’ve had to remind myself about 43 times to be thankful that this didn’t happen in mid-August. 

Day 38:  Even though the hangboard has now become a swirling vortex of boredom (aka bore-tex?) I managed to conjure up a renewed zeal for it today.  It must be because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that a week from now the hangboard will be nothing but a distant memory.  I’ve been planning out my “training regimen” for the first couple of bootless weeks down to the minute detail.  It goes a little something like this – pick routes that look like a lot of fun and climb them. 

Sans boot!

Days 39-44:  All of my aforementioned zeal completely fizzled out.  Since I’d managed to squeeze in an extra session earlier in the week, I was completely unmotivated to get on the hangboard on Thursday.  I did my token laps on the steeps and called it done, and skipped out on the gym on Saturday for the first time in 6 weeks (although I did pop in for an obligatory elliptcical session at least).  With just a few days left until freedom, all I can think about is moving forward, and I have no desire to drag that awful boot up the wall anymore. 

Day 45:  Today was the day – the 6 week X-ray!  To be perfectly honest, I left the doctor’s office with kind of mixed emotions about it.  From what he’d said at the 2 week visit, I was expecting to get the all clear.  However, though I am thankfully rid of this boot, I’m still not cleared for any sort of pounding, high-impact activities – which most applicable to me, means no bouldering and no running.  Most importantly however, I did get cleared to climb on a rope, so long as I “proceed with caution.”  It’s a good thing he said that because between just me and the cyber-world I was probably gonna do that anyway…And it felt fantastic to be able to climb again.  I was cautiously optimistic when some low, easy traversing didn’t seem to bother the ankle at all.  Once I roped up I didn’t have any problems except for a few stiff twinges here and there.  I toproped a bunch of brand new routes, as well as several older routes that were new to me.  I even hopped on the sharp end to get an official send of the steep 10a in the lead cave that me and my boot had grown to love/hate.  I’ve got a feeling that all my upper body training might actually pay off, because effort-wise I didn’t feel like I climbed very hard at all, but the numbers seemed to speak otherwise. 

So it appears that I’m still in a little bit of limbo for another 4 weeks until I go back for yet another X-ray.  But at least I’m finally free of this dreaded boot!  As much as I would love to put it in the street and run over it with my car, Blue Cross/Blue Shield did pay $350 for it, so I’ll probably just end up stuffing it in a closet somewhere, hopefully to never ever have need of it again…

 

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Athleta Allotments: Spring Threads Review

Gear Reviews.
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Part of my endorsement agreement with Athleta is that I will publish feedback on their products.  That’s pretty standard, but ya wanna know the cool thing about it?  They weren’t afraid to tell me to be brutally honest – no sugar coating, no last-minute editing by desk jockey executives, just the plain, hard truth.  I definitely respect a company with that much confidence in their brand quality.  I’ve participated in a few reviews online before on www.chatmeter.com and found it very easy to use and compare my opinions with others. Now,I’m at it again with spring well underway and summer right around the corner, I’ve been psyched at all of the beautiful clothes that have been arriving at my door step.  Many have turned into go-to workout wear, others have become everyday staples in my closet, and a couple of items weren’t what I was expecting and got exchanged for more faves in different colors…

Here’s a quick sum-up of the clothing products I’ve received as well as my thoughts on those specific items.  To my regular male readers, I apologize ahead of time for the overload of estrogen contained in this post.  Keep reading though, as you never know, you might learn a thing or two…not to mention you might come up with some good gift ideas for the ladies in your life.  🙂 When doing exercises this Kratom Plant supplement can help you improve your performance, visit the website if you’re thinking about using kratom.

Not the greatest of shots, but here’s me, the Switchback Tank, Kickbooty Pants, and Das Boot trying to campus up the wall.

KICKBOOTY PANTS:  These pants are without a doubt my favorite item out of the whole lot.  Advertised as a way to “turn your backside into your best side”, these pants are tight enough to be flattering, without being so tight that random lumps start appearing (ladies, you know what I’m talking about, right?)  The flared leg gives these pants some pizzazz that makes them right at home for post-workout endeavours as well.  I basically have been living in these pants, and loved them so much I ordered them in another color as well!

ANANDA CAPRI: I was psyched about these capris because I really liked the cute little split at the back of the knees. However, I ended up sending them back because I wasn’t happy with the fit. Nothing all that important, just boiled down to personal preference.

FLASH CAPRI: I replaced the Ananda Capris with these, which I am very happy with. A nice feature is an internal drawstring, so that you can cinch it up a little without adding the bulk of a drawstring on the outside.

PATHFINDER PANTS:   I figured there was no better way than to promote the “Power to the She” message at the crag than with a pair of bold, pink pants.  The fabric was stretchy and pliable, the color was hot, but even though I ordered my usual size based on the measurements on the size chart, they felt like they were easily 2-3 sizes too big.  I couldn’t even keep them on.  With all of this freakishly warm weather we’ve been having, it didn’t seem prudent to reorder in another size, so I decided to cut my losses and go with a pair of shorts…but I’ll save those for my summer review, since they haven’t come in yet.

SWITCHBACK TANK:  The design on the back is really cool, which is important to me as a climber since that’s the part of the shirt that’s most visible when I’m on the rock.  Support was good without resorting to a uni-boob (I can’t be the only one…)

FIRST TRACKS TANK:  My favorite part about this top was the color.  I got the “Passion Pink” which I was afraid might be too girly looking, but it ended up being a deep, purply color that is feminine without even a hint of prissy.

PAVITRA TOP:  What attracted me to this top was the pretty design on it.  I was disappointed however to find that it was way too big, so I ended up returning it.

SEAMLESS STRIDE TOP:  Of all the tops I’ve received, this one has hands down been my favorite.  The fabric is super lightweight and is comfortable enough to wear as a baselayer, but pretty enough to stand alone.  I ordered the hibiscus, which is a striking reddish color that works great with any color bottoms.

SLEEVELESS TWIST TOP:  I expected this to be similar to the Stride Top that I liked so much, as the fabric and design looked similar, but the fit was way different.  I ordered the same size, but this top was ridiculously tight.  To be honest I was less than enthused about the real life color than how it had appeared online (fresh lilac).  I sent this one back and exchanged it for a sports bra.

SPRINT SEAMLESS BRA:  This is the best sports bra I’ve ever had.  The support is great, the fabric is wicking and comfortable, and there is just the slightest bit of padding to keep the headlights on dimmer mode.  Plus, the funky, stand alone pattern keeps me from feeling like I’m working out in my unmentionables when its hot enough to go sans shirt.  This is another one that I liked enough to reorder in a second color.

3 STRAND HEADBAND:  Anyone who climbs with me knows that I have an affinity for hair paraphernalia.  I’m always on the lookout for something that will not only keep hair out of my face, but also look cute doing so.  This headband checks out on both counts.  The triple strand design is pretty ingenious – it allows me to place each strand exactly where I need it, and also stays in place way better than similar single strand headbands…I liked it so much I put in an order for three more  🙂

Seamless Stride Top in Hibiscus

Sprint Seamless Bra

All in all, I’d have to say I’m pretty happy with my haul for spring!  Every article of clothing I received seemed to be really well made, even the items I ended up returning.  At first glance a lot of the clothing looks similar to something you could get much cheaper at Target or any department store, but online and catalog looks can evidently be decieving, because once I saw the clothes in person I could tell right away that there was no comparison in the quality.  In every way possible, Athleta’s clothing outshined other brands that I’ve worn.  The fabric was a lot more durable and comfortable, and the support in the tops was plenty good enough to handle a run.  A few times I found myself hesitating to wear my new clothes for fear of “messing them up,” but after a couple of months of rough and tumble use, they are no worse for the wear!

My only negative would be that there seems to be some inconsistencies with the sizing.  While a few of the tops are fitted at both the chest and the waist, a couple of them flare out at the waist, even though they are advertised as having a snug fit throughout.  Now granted I’m not the most curvy girl on the block (I still buy clothes in the juniors section…), so it very well might have been that my rectangular body type was to blame, and that someone with a more womanly figure would have had a better fit.  But then there was the Pavitra Top that was way too big everywhere (even in the smallest size they make), but that same size in the Sleeveless Twist Top almost cut off my circulation!  I also noticed a discrepancy with the pants.  On the one hand I got the Kickbooty Pants, which fit like a glove in XS, whereas an XS in the Ananda Capris felt way too tight – then there were the Pathfinder Pants, where a size 2 may as well have been a size 22.  However, the silver lining of all of these exchanging shenanigans is that I got to see firsthand how professional and easygoing Athleta’s customer service department was.  A lot of times I hate ordering things online because the return/exchange process is so annoying.  But with Athleta, I didn’t have to pay any extra shipping to exchange my items (even though a couple of them were over and over again…), and all the people I spoke with on the phone were very friendly and happy to help.  At the end of the day, I got exactly what I needed for a stellar spring workout wardrobe.  So ladies, if you’re in the market for some spiffy new workout threads, dive into Athleta’s spring and summer collections – you won’t be disappointed!

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Favorite Cragtivities for the Under 2 Set

Creating a Cragbaby. Toddlers at the Crag.
6 Comments.

As I said in yesterday’s Sentimental Snapshots post, I’m not so sure that “Cragbaby” is such a good moniker anymore…but that for nostalgia purposes, we’re gonna let it stick as long as he’ll tolerate it.  But regardless of semantics,  our modus operandi at the crag has certainly evolved a good bit from those early weeks with an infant.  Since we’re celebrating moving from baby to big boy phase, I thought it would be fun to have a look back at C’s favorite “cragtivities” from the past 2 years.  Hopefully this stroll down memory lane will provide some good ideas to all the parents of very wee ones out there for how to entertain your little one while the rest of the family crushes (or at the very least, prove that it doesn’t take too much to keep a baby happily occupied!)

1.  SLEEPING:  Ok so this might not have been Cragbaby’s favorite cragtivity, but he certainly spent a lot of time doing it that first year, which was a great time to really focus on sending projects.  Nowadays I’m psyched if I can get an hour out of him at the crag. 

 

2. EATING: Especially around the 9-12 month stage when fine-motor coordination skills are starting to emerge, something as simple as a bowl of Cheerios could provide entertainment for a solid 30 minutes, which in baby time is the equipvalent of 3 hours.

3. DRINKING: I guess its no surprise that sucking on a Camel-bak nozzle would be intuitive for a baby, but C certainly took great delight in staying hydrated. Initially he just wanted to suck – it didn’t even matter if the mouthpiece was locked or not. It was a lot easier to keep clean (and keep track of) than a paci!

 

4. MAKING A MESS: It’s shocking to me how much dirty laundry we bring back from a weekend at the crag! I shudder to think at how much dirt (and probably worse) Cragbaby has swallowed in the course of his 2 years so far, but I think there may truth to the idea that “a dirty kid is a happy kid.” A lot of the early months at the crag were literally spent wallowing in the dirt with C – and in his defense its hard to stay clean when you get from point A to point B on all fours!

 

5.  LEAVES:  Pile ’em, throw ’em, jump in ’em, wave ’em around.  Big ones, small ones, green, yellow, red, and brown.  No matter the season, leaves were (and are) always in style with Cragbaby.

 

6.  HUNTING AND GATHERING:  Collecting and stacking rocks (along with pine cones, sticks, etc) turned into a favorite past time sometime shortly after C’s 1st birthday.  Actually, the stacking part was really just a means to get to the good stuff – the complete and utter annihilation of the entire stack.

7.  CREEPY-CRAWLIES: Spiders and Crickets and Worms, Oh My!  Whether it was just observing with fixed fascination (first few months), daring to reach out and touch (around a year), or putting a creepy-crawlie lovingly in some unexpecting person’s face for closer inspection (early toddler…), our climbing trips usually involved encounters with all three of the above.

 

8. HIKING: C knew he was a happy hiker at heart even before he could walk. Whether it be an actual trekking pole or a stick/stick clip used for that purpose, an astonishing number of our pictures feature C and some sort of hiking apparatus.

 

9. CLIMBING GEAR: In the beginning it was all those shiny cams. Then for a while it was Mommy’s nut tool, for which C discovered an untold number of off-label uses. But the common theme has always been – the rope.

 

10.  CLIMBING:  This is, of course, the end goal after all.  From patting his hands on the holds, to crawling over small boulders, to actually slapping on shoes, chalkbag, and harness, C has always been an avid participator at whatever level he was developmentally ready for at the time.  I have no idea whether or not climbing will become his “thing” as he grows older, but regardless, our family will always treasure these memories we have made together these first two years.  And it wouldn’t surprise me if the day comes when I’m relegated to top-roping his warm-ups…

   

 

We were never ones to want to lug in a whole bunch of toys to the crag.  I always felt like there was more than enough in nature to keep him occupied, and so far we’ve been right.  Now that C is older and into mobile exploring, our playspace has certainly expanded, but the premise remains the same.  His imagination runs wild and his pockets are filled to the brim with special treasures.  Some days I’m convinced that Cragbabyhas even more fun than we do! 

We’ve had so many fun memories, both on the rock and off these past two years.  While saying good-bye to C’s “baby” years is certainly bittersweet, I’m looking forward to seeing what lies ahead of us!  For you families out there still in the infant phase (or with fond memories of it anyway), what are (were) your little one’s favorite “cragtivities?”

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