So Nothing can be better than going on an expedition road trip right? Last night I got the email that I got an upgrade to first class for the first leg to AZ. I was thinking to myself. OK Nothing can be better than going on a expedition climbing trip and getting a free drink within minutes of the first hours of your trip... Then this morning I got the complementary call saying flights were delayed... I hope that all goes well. Right now I am writing this post as my wife gets ready to drive me to the airport and let me go for almost 3 weeks and also trying to come up with some of my own personal goals for the trip. I am thankful to have someone that cares for me but that can also let me go for a little while. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
It occurs to me also that I am going to be in the air and flying to go on my trip on the most American day of the year. Super Bowl Sunday... I know that as a Boston native I should be routing for the patriots and watching but some part of me wants to just play dumb.
Now what teams are playing this year?? When is the Super Bowl??
The one thing that I have thought lately is about watching athletes before they race or play. They all have a warmup routine that they do religously before they start their sport. I have been wondering about trying this type of thing before every climb. I really have always just put on my shoes and gone for it. That is the one reason why I would be interested in watching the bowl this year. To see the pro athletes routines before they perform at their best. Get some pointers.
So a lot of what I have been thinking about the last short times that I have had free coming up to this trip has been what goals I want to try to accomplish on the road trip and how I want to start off this year on my trip after about 6 months of training for things. I know that one of my downfalls has always been my self talk. I usually get up on a hard section and after trying it once or sometimes not even at all I tell myself I cannot do it and talk myself out of it. This needs to go away so it is what I have told my partner Justin I want to get rid of and work on this trip. Easier said than done is what I am thinking but I have to try otherwise I am doomed to the same grades.
Hopefully I will get a post in half way through the trip when we come out to civilization for a resupply.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Going to Cochise!
One of my very good friends from college will be at Cochise
Stronghold for a while this winter and I am looking forward to making it there.
I have told him to wait for me to get
there since there is always some extra adventure in going to a new area and
exploring and getting into the local rock.
This is something where once one partner has been there it is easy to get
into the rut of sharing rock climbs that one of the partners has already done
and that takes away from the adventure a little. And even if you play the silent partner
without giving beta you run the risk of being called a sandbagger. This stifles both partners growth because neither is on new terrain adding new climbing moves to their lexicon.
So finally it is coming to fruition this week and I am flying out there for two weeks. This trip to Cochise Stronghold in Southeastern Arizona should be really interesting. The climbing is on granite but it is unlike other areas at times because the protection relies on natural rock flakes called chicken heads that you just throw a sling over. Some of the rock looks just like the skin of a dragon hide or something. I think that at first this is going to be difficult because where you normally look for a crack in the rock to protect yourself it is going to be different. I am hoping that this and the rock variety from other areas I have been to make this a good learning experience.
Looking at the guidebooks it seems like all of the climbs will have a little bit of everything in terms of runnouts and protection and change in moves.
So finally it is coming to fruition this week and I am flying out there for two weeks. This trip to Cochise Stronghold in Southeastern Arizona should be really interesting. The climbing is on granite but it is unlike other areas at times because the protection relies on natural rock flakes called chicken heads that you just throw a sling over. Some of the rock looks just like the skin of a dragon hide or something. I think that at first this is going to be difficult because where you normally look for a crack in the rock to protect yourself it is going to be different. I am hoping that this and the rock variety from other areas I have been to make this a good learning experience.
Looking at the guidebooks it seems like all of the climbs will have a little bit of everything in terms of runnouts and protection and change in moves.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The Year End Results
The most important part of blogging for me is keeping track of my goals both large and small and providing myself with a means of achieving those things which I want. I started thinking about what I have been doing this year and so I went back to my workout log for the year and my goals that I had and started looking to see if I had accomplished what I started out to do and so that I can track where to go from here.
My general goals were to maintain my weight and get out there and I think I have done those two things and also evolved this into more which is what I consider taking the next step.
So Going back to my logs and counting what I did this year I have counted:
Climbing
- 71 days this year climbing either in a gym (29) or outdoors (42 days)
- 9 new outdoor areas visited that I had never been to before
- 134 pitches roped climbing ,12 lead pitches of Ice, 122 outdoor pitches rock (Lead 73)
- 57 total new bouldering routes with; one V5, ThreeV4, six V3, 8 V2 and the rest lower than that!
- Climbed one featured climb in each of the 10 climbing magazine issues that I received this year.
- I am top roping and getting 5.11c climbs on my first try and leading 10d.
- I am still scared of falling when it is safe to do so and I have trouble pushing myself to failure.
Running
- 10 miles at one go
- 30 miles cumulatively in one week
- got myself down to 7:15 minute miles over a four mile riverside run including sand/snow/or mud
I had thought that I would get more outdoor climbing and pitches in and that is the hardest thing for me to do as of late. There is only a limited amount of time in the day and people that I climb with are not always the all day type. This one is the challenge for the new year because I have to step it up a notch to step the climbing up a notch or the general athleticism to compensate for what is needed. I was challenged this year by a random partner that I met from the neclimbs.com partner forums named Captain Mo who told me that I was not trying hard climbs enough. I still feel like this is true because after less than a month of work I was able to send Hepatitis which is supposed to be a stiff rated 70s problem from one of the local hard men.
2012 Goals
Flash 5.11a on lead
Toprope 5.12d in 5 tries
Redpoint 5.12a in 5 tries (the ultimate first blog goal)
Redpoint 5.11a, b, c, and d.
Get a V6 boulder problem outdoors
Get a V7 Boulder problem (I have my sights on green goddess)
Climb 2 days a week
Run 3 days a week
Yoga 1 day a week
do a 10 mile trail run with at least 4000 feet of vertical gain
do a 14 mile trail run with 6000 feet of vertical gain
run my first 5k race
run a 6:30 mile
Climb at 10 new areas in 2012
My general goals were to maintain my weight and get out there and I think I have done those two things and also evolved this into more which is what I consider taking the next step.
So Going back to my logs and counting what I did this year I have counted:
Climbing
- 71 days this year climbing either in a gym (29) or outdoors (42 days)
- 9 new outdoor areas visited that I had never been to before
- 134 pitches roped climbing ,12 lead pitches of Ice, 122 outdoor pitches rock (Lead 73)
- 57 total new bouldering routes with; one V5, ThreeV4, six V3, 8 V2 and the rest lower than that!
- Climbed one featured climb in each of the 10 climbing magazine issues that I received this year.
- I am top roping and getting 5.11c climbs on my first try and leading 10d.
- I am still scared of falling when it is safe to do so and I have trouble pushing myself to failure.
Running
- 10 miles at one go
- 30 miles cumulatively in one week
- got myself down to 7:15 minute miles over a four mile riverside run including sand/snow/or mud
I had thought that I would get more outdoor climbing and pitches in and that is the hardest thing for me to do as of late. There is only a limited amount of time in the day and people that I climb with are not always the all day type. This one is the challenge for the new year because I have to step it up a notch to step the climbing up a notch or the general athleticism to compensate for what is needed. I was challenged this year by a random partner that I met from the neclimbs.com partner forums named Captain Mo who told me that I was not trying hard climbs enough. I still feel like this is true because after less than a month of work I was able to send Hepatitis which is supposed to be a stiff rated 70s problem from one of the local hard men.
2012 Goals
Flash 5.11a on lead
Toprope 5.12d in 5 tries
Redpoint 5.12a in 5 tries (the ultimate first blog goal)
Redpoint 5.11a, b, c, and d.
Get a V6 boulder problem outdoors
Get a V7 Boulder problem (I have my sights on green goddess)
Climb 2 days a week
Run 3 days a week
Yoga 1 day a week
do a 10 mile trail run with at least 4000 feet of vertical gain
do a 14 mile trail run with 6000 feet of vertical gain
run my first 5k race
run a 6:30 mile
Climb at 10 new areas in 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Waiting for the mountains to freeze!
On Saturday Steph and I spend all day hiking since it has been warm and wet with very little in the way of freezing temps. I was optimistic at first that the ice would freeze enough for us to go ice climbing but it was a lost dream this weekend. We ended up going for a hike to Mount Whiteface which is one peak north of Smugglers Notch ski resort and is also normally a ski trail into a hut in the good season.
My sneaker after the 8.2 miles of snow. It is not ice climbing season yet but I think I might be done with trail running until it is colder.
Most of the hiking was on these old logging roads that had been converted to ski/hiking trails and the trails were sooo wet. We ended up doing 8.3 miles and by the end of the day we were both really tired. It was a nice day for it and it was a cool spot to see. There was one lodge that was 3 miles in that I think we will ski camp at this winter at some point. It was a really cool spot and I can totally see heading out there for a night on skis. The hut is first come first served and it has a wood stove in it as well so it is not just a lean to.
This past week at the climbing gym I went with Zack and I ended up getting one V5 on my first try and a couple V4 problems. It is not much of a breakthrough but it is definitely a noticed increase in strength/ability/technique. Not really sure what to attribute it to. Hopefully in the next week it really freezes and we can can make it ice climbing before new years.
This was the Lean to that was at 4 miles.
The view from the lean to at four miles!
My sneaker after the 8.2 miles of snow. It is not ice climbing season yet but I think I might be done with trail running until it is colder.
Most of the hiking was on these old logging roads that had been converted to ski/hiking trails and the trails were sooo wet. We ended up doing 8.3 miles and by the end of the day we were both really tired. It was a nice day for it and it was a cool spot to see. There was one lodge that was 3 miles in that I think we will ski camp at this winter at some point. It was a really cool spot and I can totally see heading out there for a night on skis. The hut is first come first served and it has a wood stove in it as well so it is not just a lean to.
This past week at the climbing gym I went with Zack and I ended up getting one V5 on my first try and a couple V4 problems. It is not much of a breakthrough but it is definitely a noticed increase in strength/ability/technique. Not really sure what to attribute it to. Hopefully in the next week it really freezes and we can can make it ice climbing before new years.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Turkey Day Hike
So after spending this Thanksgiving down in Methuen at my Uncle Al and Aunt Betty's we went for a 2 night backpack in the White's near the Pemi. My Father and his friend Strad have had a tradition of hiking every year after Thanksgiving. I have spent many years hiking Monadnock or some other small peak after the holiday. This year my wife and I decided to step it up a notch and go out for the weekend.
We were going to do the Mt. Hancock trail but the parking lot was not plowed and there was about 4 inches of slush and we ( I mean me) got the car stuck trying to get into the lot. I should have just swallowed my pride and forgot the fact that I used to go and get into bad roads with 4 wheel drive for a living. Maybe it was because all the foresters would have laughed at me if I turned around instead of trying to gun it into the snowbank to get through. I am not sure.
I ended up having to kick the snow out under the tires and make steph drive while I pushed the front end back. We ended up at the Lincoln Woods Parking lot and just on a whim we started hiking in with really no plan. As we were hiking we decided on Mt Flume since steph had not done it and it was the shorter of three options. We camped out about 2 miles in on the Osseo trail in some slightly dense beech stands which definitely had a good mast year. I was seeing empty pods all over the place and no nuts....
Day two we hiked up Mt Flume and it was almost 45 degrees. We took a self portrait on top. I was surprised how mild the temps were. As we were hiking up it occurred to us that this would actually be the last peak on the great circle trail run that I am thinking of. I snapped a picture of steph nearing the summit.
We were going to do the Mt. Hancock trail but the parking lot was not plowed and there was about 4 inches of slush and we ( I mean me) got the car stuck trying to get into the lot. I should have just swallowed my pride and forgot the fact that I used to go and get into bad roads with 4 wheel drive for a living. Maybe it was because all the foresters would have laughed at me if I turned around instead of trying to gun it into the snowbank to get through. I am not sure.
I ended up having to kick the snow out under the tires and make steph drive while I pushed the front end back. We ended up at the Lincoln Woods Parking lot and just on a whim we started hiking in with really no plan. As we were hiking we decided on Mt Flume since steph had not done it and it was the shorter of three options. We camped out about 2 miles in on the Osseo trail in some slightly dense beech stands which definitely had a good mast year. I was seeing empty pods all over the place and no nuts....
On Sunday we hiked out in the morning and when we were driving back home I could see a red jacket/blob of someone climbing Whitney Gilman Ridge. I love that climb but there is no way that I would put myself there in late November. This year I took some guy that I had never met before with almost no climbing experience up it and I can remember freezing in the wind on a 60 degree day as he struggled trying to pull a fixed piece of gear out for ten minutes trying to take apart his belay. I figured he would have guessed that a rusty stemmed cam was not mine but he was a little new to it all I think. I cannot imagine being up there without a lot of experience under my belt in the winter. Even though it was 50 degrees it had to be cold for that guy in the red jacket. As we were driving home Steph suggested that we round out the weekend and get limber by going to a bikram yoga class so we did that on sunday evening. It was nice to do that after sleeping on partly slushy snow and roots where our tent was for two nights.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Hepatitus Send
So this weekend I was with my parents and I got out for about 30 minutes of bouldering during the day at Hammond Pond. Normally I try to get in hours or more but I guess that I have underestimated what can be done in 30 minutes or less when it comes to bouldering and running. It was a really good session.
I ended up sending this project that I have had on my radar and wanted for a long time called Hepatitis. It is an Old Henry Barber Line that he gave a rating of 5.12 back when people were climbing in hiking boots and there was not any sticky rubber. It now has a rating of V5 under the the Vermin scale. In Mass there is a rich history of small boulders and short 30 foot routes and their first ascents. Some of the lines although really short are a neat place to spend a couple minutes or hours on when you are in the Boston area. I would not travel here just for them but feel that it is a good place to get a proud line in. Since Hammond Pond is near my parents house where I grew up I have been looking at this line for almost 10 years. It is a thin seam that has little crimps along the seam and a few jugs near the top. As you go out the seam the feet get progressively worse and you really have to concentrate on footwork and core tension to stick on the wall. It was a good send.
I ended up sending this project that I have had on my radar and wanted for a long time called Hepatitis. It is an Old Henry Barber Line that he gave a rating of 5.12 back when people were climbing in hiking boots and there was not any sticky rubber. It now has a rating of V5 under the the Vermin scale. In Mass there is a rich history of small boulders and short 30 foot routes and their first ascents. Some of the lines although really short are a neat place to spend a couple minutes or hours on when you are in the Boston area. I would not travel here just for them but feel that it is a good place to get a proud line in. Since Hammond Pond is near my parents house where I grew up I have been looking at this line for almost 10 years. It is a thin seam that has little crimps along the seam and a few jugs near the top. As you go out the seam the feet get progressively worse and you really have to concentrate on footwork and core tension to stick on the wall. It was a good send.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Chipping away at each goal one chunk at a time
The last three weekends I have found myself out working away at the goals. Three weekends ago it was a long trail run with a large elevation change. Last weekend it was leading a crack climb that I had never heard anyone tell me anything about and never climbed before on sight. This weekend it was going out with a crowd and getting 4 laps in on a hard overhanging 5.10 for endurance and many others on some moderates to round out the day while also being in a good positive atmosphere. I put a list of mega goals over my desk at work that I want to do. My coworkers immediately started making comical remarks about how they were going to add things to my list like have 10 children or win the baby making race. It just made me want to train harder but I am sure that after my next week of travel there will be something added to my list when I come back. I feel like the process of adding things to a list on paper and making goals is an important one. I tried to put some thought into things and I came up with one non climbing goal that is called the great circle. 33 miles of trail running over rocky terrain and 8000 feet of vertical gain in the white mountains of NH. Other goals include things like El Capitan and climbing 5.12 or 5.13.
I find myself wondering if it is possible for me to get some of these goals and I think that for each goal I am going to have to start small. With the example of the great circle, the current Richmond hill run has about 800 feet of vertical gain so that is about one tenth of what is needed and it is in 20 percent more miles at seven miles and this run has been hard for me. I am not even sure how to step it up enough to get to that level.
Three weekends ago I did the Mt. Hunger to White Rocks trail run which is 7 miles with 2000 feet of vertical gain. For this run I averaged 18 minutes a mile because the uphill portion and scrambling on the rocks and ice at the top slowed me down and I just couldn't sustain the heart rate. I found myself saying well if this were the great circle I would have to do better because 18 minutes a mile at 33 miles is about 10 hours and that is longer than I think I could sustain myself. maybe if I can get it to 12 minutes a mile or less would make it 6 hours and 45 minutes or less. So that is the goal. After doing the short loop and being really happy I found myself thinking of all the other trail runs that I would want to do as training for the loops. There is one loop at work that during lunch I am just going to have to run it fast because it is over 1000 feet of gain and like 7 miles. If I can get up to getting this one in 60 minutes I will be happy. If I can get it in 49 minutes I feel like someone should be giving me a medal.
This weekend my wife and I went out climbing with a friend named Zack that was a really good time. It had been a while since I was out with someone who needed some watching to make sure that the belay was solid and that some techniques were foreign to. I forgot how much just being at the crag and watching people climbing can be fun and I had a good time explaining some techniques and going from there. We ended up adding a fourth to our group at the cliff when my coworkers husband showed up at the crag to get a couple of burns in before going back home to the kids. It was good. I forgot how simple it can be to just be out there with friend in the woods and to just be there. I ended up getting in four burns on a 5.10a that is steep and pumpy that was good for me to remember overhangs and keep the technique up.
This next weekend I will be at home with the parents and it is close to some great bouldering on pudding-stone which after years of looking at climbing magazine pictures makes me think that it is a mini cobble canyon. I have never been to cobble canyon but I am sure that I will make it there some day and I will be ready. I have two V4s that I have been trying for years that I want to get this weekend. One of them is a Henry Barber line called hepatitis that is really not my style of a climb but is really aesthetic for a short route. I am hoping to get it because it would be a breakthrough to get it. Each time that I have been home recently I have tried it and got one hold farther. It is also one of those routes that I have never seen anyone try so every year as my technique has improved I have tried new things and got farther with no beta from others and no help. I think I have only had a spotter there once. If I do start getting the topout I am going to make my dad or mom come out and belay me.
I find myself wondering if it is possible for me to get some of these goals and I think that for each goal I am going to have to start small. With the example of the great circle, the current Richmond hill run has about 800 feet of vertical gain so that is about one tenth of what is needed and it is in 20 percent more miles at seven miles and this run has been hard for me. I am not even sure how to step it up enough to get to that level.
Three weekends ago I did the Mt. Hunger to White Rocks trail run which is 7 miles with 2000 feet of vertical gain. For this run I averaged 18 minutes a mile because the uphill portion and scrambling on the rocks and ice at the top slowed me down and I just couldn't sustain the heart rate. I found myself saying well if this were the great circle I would have to do better because 18 minutes a mile at 33 miles is about 10 hours and that is longer than I think I could sustain myself. maybe if I can get it to 12 minutes a mile or less would make it 6 hours and 45 minutes or less. So that is the goal. After doing the short loop and being really happy I found myself thinking of all the other trail runs that I would want to do as training for the loops. There is one loop at work that during lunch I am just going to have to run it fast because it is over 1000 feet of gain and like 7 miles. If I can get up to getting this one in 60 minutes I will be happy. If I can get it in 49 minutes I feel like someone should be giving me a medal.
This weekend my wife and I went out climbing with a friend named Zack that was a really good time. It had been a while since I was out with someone who needed some watching to make sure that the belay was solid and that some techniques were foreign to. I forgot how much just being at the crag and watching people climbing can be fun and I had a good time explaining some techniques and going from there. We ended up adding a fourth to our group at the cliff when my coworkers husband showed up at the crag to get a couple of burns in before going back home to the kids. It was good. I forgot how simple it can be to just be out there with friend in the woods and to just be there. I ended up getting in four burns on a 5.10a that is steep and pumpy that was good for me to remember overhangs and keep the technique up.
This next weekend I will be at home with the parents and it is close to some great bouldering on pudding-stone which after years of looking at climbing magazine pictures makes me think that it is a mini cobble canyon. I have never been to cobble canyon but I am sure that I will make it there some day and I will be ready. I have two V4s that I have been trying for years that I want to get this weekend. One of them is a Henry Barber line called hepatitis that is really not my style of a climb but is really aesthetic for a short route. I am hoping to get it because it would be a breakthrough to get it. Each time that I have been home recently I have tried it and got one hold farther. It is also one of those routes that I have never seen anyone try so every year as my technique has improved I have tried new things and got farther with no beta from others and no help. I think I have only had a spotter there once. If I do start getting the topout I am going to make my dad or mom come out and belay me.
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