Anyone "On Belay"?
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Didn't discover water sports until the summer of 2011. Arthritic hip finds wakesurfing MUCH more agreeable. Any other climbers out there?
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I've done indoor but haven't made it to a rock yet
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Used to do a ton of indoor and outdoor climbing, but my elbow joints no longer allow me to do it. Climbing is such a great thing, strongest athletes from the elbow down! Love the lead climbing pics!
Definitely miss it, hopefully I can somehow get back to it someday. |
I "dabble" a bit in it. Mostly indoors though. Not much outdoors due to the pending weather and difficulty in finding a mentor for trad/lead. I agree, climbers are a lot like gymnists, lots of strength to body weight.
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Been waiting to find out who climbs on WW!
This is on mechanical persistence, tough one but fun! http://mountainproject.com/v/mechani...ence/105817398 http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../mechpers1.jpg |
Nicely done, Joe! Looks like P3 is the MONEY pitch. Couldn't help but notice the redundance in your anchor. Excellent. "When you know it's backed up... back it up again!". However, I must say that I'm not a fan of a gri-gri. Only time I use one is ascending indoors when putting up routes. For me... it's a REVERSO kinda world!
Not at all computer savvy, so I can't provide a link to Mountain Project for the pics above. LOVE that site. Pictures posted are: 1. Burning Daylight, 10b, Devils Tower. 2. Some obscure piece of run-out CRAP (4 bolts in 125 ft), 10c/d, Needles of South Dakota. 3. My wife on Katey's Route, 5.8, also in the SD Needles. Always was a "trad guy"... then I got married. My wife hates crack climbing... so I've adapted and become a "Crystal Pinchin, Pocket Pullin, Bolt Clippin Pad Person". Ahhh... the toils of getting "old". CLIMB HARD... CLIMB SAFE! |
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Fortunately my buddy who climbed it with me had one condition, I had to climb the .11 pitch haha :D Nothin like taking a decent lead fall (bolted of course) on the 3rd pitch haha. And I am the guy in the group of friends I climb with that is overly cautious when it comes to backing things up. Ive actually just picked up a reverso 3 and I love the thing, its great to pull up the second, I used it for the first time hauling my old man up the praying monk at camelback mountain last weekend, but I still love the added security of the grigri for everyday lead belay. Have seen some pretty scary first hand accounts, and been involved with one, where a grgri would have made the situation a heck of a lot less sketchy! |
The Needles themselves are incredible. Only one crux: FA Ethics. It's an "old school" area that requires all first ascents to be etablished ground up, on lead, no power drills and no hooking. So... all bolts are placed from natural stances with a hand drill. Hence the fact that most 100 ft. routes have only 2 or 3 bolts. The rock is awesome... but if you're not all there in the head, it can be really scary.
The BETTER place for most is the Mt. Rushmore area. "Euro Style" ethics were adopted there back in the mid 80's. Bolts installed on rappel. MUCH more "user friendly" for the un-annointed. Rock is similar to the Needles... conglomerate that frictions like you can't believe. Check out these Rushmore routes on MP: 1. Marker Area, Middle Marker, Weird Water 5.7 and Stardancer 5.9. 2. Monster Area, Picture Window, Gossamer 5.7 CLASSIC 3. South Seas Area, Shipyard Rock, Waves 5.8 CLASSIC 4. Chopping Block Area, Chopping Block formation, Baba Cool 5.10a (Ignore MP rating on this one) and Valdez Overhang 5.9. If you'd like beta on anything up in this area, let me know. Spearfish Canyon is incredible YEAR ROUND, and Ten Sleep Canyon is world class with a 9 month season. |
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View from the summit of Spire 2... SD Needles. You can just see the Picket Fence formation in the background. BEAUTIFUL country!
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Took a summer working in "The Valley"; this ones from a year later when we did Leaning Tower, my only Grade V. Looking down about 500 ft.
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Yo John! Planning a trip in may with my brother, making a road trip up to Monterey, CA from Arizona....Know of any cool sport/boldering spots to check out!? Planning on hitting Joshua tree for sure, Hopefully next week as well :)
Anyone been climbing!? |
Pinnacles has some good climbs
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Yo Joe. Haven't spent any time in that part of the country. Joshua Tree would probably be your best bet, though!
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Heads up for ya if you are ever in Phoenix... Queen Creek Canyon is a blast! I went out to "the pond" with my buddy yesterday, very cool spot! Endless sport climbing, short approach, a pond for swimming, shade, its the ultimate climbing spot! minus the traffic noise from the US60 :rolleyes: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...ps92c523c2.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...pseb04734c.jpg Climbs to the left and right of the waterfall http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...ps694ba461.jpg 3 climbs on the face directly next to the waterfall. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...ps0e412e3d.jpg first pond you can see from the road. Literally climbing on everything you can see.....hard, easy, short, long, you name it! Super fun spot. |
Another local spot, "The Pit" up in flagstaff. Learned to climb here :)
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...ps76b15f9c.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...psfd64cd14.jpg http://www.mountainproject.com/v/jon...grey/106030113 South Mountain, some bouldering right in the middle of phoenix. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...ps10f9bd8e.jpg http://s85.photobucket.com/user/some...tml?sort=3&o=0 |
Pinnacles has camping and just became the newest National Park.
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