Hoping to get out next weekend. If I do I would have climbed every month of this year. Not a common thing for a NYer. But we had such a middle winter I was able to sneak a day in all winter long here and there.
Too funny. So I took a new girlfriend to the Gunks today. I wanted to get a climb in for December which was the 12th month I climbed this year. Not a bad feat for someone who lives in NYC. We went to Rock and Snow and she was so into the culture (she went to SUNY New Paltz but had had no interest in climbing then) and this was her first time going to R&S as a climber. OK, but back to the point. She mentioned Valley Uprising and I told her about the Vulgarians and some of the Gunks history and her comment "They need to make a movie about the Gunks and the Vulgarian." Guess she thinks the same as you.
My wife and I will be in Vancouver and Calgary in two weekends. Bringing the trad rack for Squamish. Not sure what we'll end up on in the Calgary area - could be snow, could be ice, could be rock. I guess it's shoulder season up there right now and conditions change day to day.
For any of you climbing folk who might be interested, Benduro and I got into a fairly interesting exchange of reminiscences/photos devoted to big wall climbing. It starts about here and continues as about 15-20 scattered posts over 12 pages up to this morning, when we got run off. But beware, it's in jo momma and "there be monsters."
I started climbing in 1980 in RMNP while visiting my wife's parents in Estes Park. Took a course at Colorado Mountain School. Was hooked and did a lot of rock and mountain stuff thru the 80's and 90's. Back then everything was "traditional" climbing. Pitons were out and bolts were frowned on. Still got all of my gear. Can't seem to part with it although I'll never use it again. Did some fun stuff in another life ........... Longs, Meeker, Orizaba, Mont Blanc, the Eiger (west face), and McKinley/Denali.
The concept of failure has become very shortsighted in Western culture. If you go out to try a climb and come back without sending it, it is perceived that you “failed” rather than as a step closer to climbing it. The only true failure is giving up. Not succeeding is an important part of the process. The most memorable things in life are not the ones that came effortlessly—no matter how impressive—but the ones you struggled with and overcame in the end. When you push beyond your own limits, the mental aspect becomes the biggest challenge—even with a physical activity. In the back of your head you know that nobody has ever done this before. We know that when something has been done before, it can be done. But when we’re talking about new frontiers, unexplored territory, things beyond the current grasp, there are no guarantees. On a personal level, pushing beyond your limits really comes down to the battle between the unconscious and conscious mind. You can rationalize and prove to your conscious part of the brain how you should be capable of something. And you can be genuinely convinced that you’ve got what it takes. But your subconscious mind may disagree. Your subconscious mind—in control of your survival instincts—has to be the realist. Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Yet this is precisely what we do as climbers … try and try again. When I started working on Burden of Dreams, it wasn’t any more meaningful to me than some other climbs I had my sights set on. But over time I’d invested such an enormous amount of energy that it had passed the threshold of being just another project. To climb a small rock tucked away in some forest can’t possibly be that important in it’s own right. Just to climb up a small rock, why care so much? Why get so affected by such a trivial pursuit? But when you’ve poured your heart and soul into something, it becomes a test of character. Video in link: http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en...prowire&utm_content=20170412-burden-of-dreams
I weight 285# and am afraid of heights. I love climbing because the entirety of the sport is about pushing myself physically and mentally.
Just got back from a week in NC, climbing around Linville Gorge. First time there and some good fun, longish moderates. Off Monday and may be up in the Gunks.
Does the community college still offer the climbing classes? Thats a good way to find climbing partners. That and just go and find people top roping at crowders. I spent alot of weekends there it was fun
Not only does CPCC still offer classes, but the guy that's been teaching them forever has a FB group page for former and current students. Along with that I am, or was, a regular down at Inner Peaks Southend. I'm not petite, and therefore, am not generally taken seriously as a climber. People will talk craft with me, but physics is a bitch and I've taken people off the ground even in a gym setting so that tends to put a damper on volunteers.
So cool they are still at it! I was suspended between belay anchor and climber a couple of times, just hung on and went for the ride. But yea I understand it is hard for you to find a belay, most climbers are pretty thin. The guy I climbed with had me by about 75+ lbs. There was one guy very good climber but built like a gorilla he made a trip to Denali but didn't summit and was traing for his next trip. I left Charlotte 18 yrs ago, it was fun and crowders seemed to have a good vibe overall
Crowders has had just about every inch of developable rock worked with wrt climbing. The problem is everybody and their dog wants to be out there now, and in some cases quite literally.
I am also not a thin climber at all. I outweigh my current partner by about 75 pounds. When leading she anchors herself in on a longish leash to give me somewhat of a dynamic catch (if needed) uses a GriGri for a small insurance policy, though she has caught me on an ATC and is very attentive. I thought about buying an Edelrid Ohm what takes some shock off of catches as well http://blog.weighmyrack.com/for-cli...ce-the-edelrid-ohm-detailed-technical-review/ but need to know more about it. They say not to use it for trad as it could pull gear, but my thought was have another piece right above it for protection or below it.
