5.11d

numerous falls

not bad

mock leading 5.11b and repeatedly falling on 5.12a

bouldering

elbow pain is not good. But it's mostly gone now. I guess my tendons' strain tolerance level got higher, will see tomorrow.

progress report

While I am feeling comfortable with several 5.11b routes I still suck on V4. But my confidence is growing and nowhere it was a month ago.

fail

I tried 5.11b/c and I failed numerously. That's discouraging. But I should've start with no overhang route, of course.
Campusing on the other hand is progressing a bit. At least i can do more than just hang on :) Even if that costs me some skin.

i must note

that climbing while recovering from the carbon monoxide poisoning is not as fun as it can be:)

yesterday was exhausting

I am in pain in many places (strangely legs too). But my confidence in 5.11 appears to be growing, even though I don't seem to progress much. I will only warm up/cool down on 5.10s from now on.

I am also back to a 100 pushups. What should be my next focus? Crunches, squats or pull-ups? Can't decide.

Cobra Crack (5.14)

Found it on the Youtube yesterday while watching Patagonia videos. The climb looks great. I wonder how many years will pass before I start climbing 5.14 if ever :)

v4

So, I was fighting with one V4 recently and then just realized that I can do it without any major effort. It is interesting to see how things that seem undoable under normal circumstances then suddenly become doable. Why is it discrete? I don't know.

scam

So, I just got an email from Five Ten saying that they have everything 15% off. First thing I went to checked were their Dæscent shoes. Which were $90 before (just a couple of months ago when my wife bought the pair, this price is still everywhere online), and are $105 now, so -15% puts us back to ~$90. This is not how you behave if you respect your customers.

And I will not say anything here about what they did to the sizes, that's something people should experience and be frustrated about without my help.

Tahoe was nice

We tried to assault the Lover's Leap and I stayed second all the time by choice. Our communication sucked until the very end, and clusterfucks were abundant.

80 pushups

So I decided to go back to doing 100 pushups and today realized that there isn't much of going back to do. Some time ago I realized that regular pushups is the only thing that elevates pain in my wrist (carpal tunnel? no idea). Even though I went from usual 30 to  100 in 2-3 month it never became regular. I guess I should work on this.

lol

failure

I tried leading the real rock yesterday. And miserably failed (and also have numerously fallen too). We were climbing the corner (5.10b) on the north face of the Main Rock at Mickey's Beach.

While I had no problems with a top-rope. I couldn't repeat my success and couldn't find my way up when I tried to lead it.

Nevertheless it was fun. To much dirt around though, for my liking. 

goog gives good ideas

Looking at driving directions to Mickey's Beach I just found a Google Earth kmz from rockclimbing.com with places to climb in the Northern California. It's pretty cool considering that there are bunch of geotagged photos you can find around locations.

What is missing is the approach from parking lots. Since I have the gps logger I will start creating them  for the places I visit.

Lead Test

I've passed my lead test today in the gym. It was uneventful. It's been 3-4 month since I took the lead clinic but my regular partners were not ready until now. 

I am not sure if I was anxious or afraid of falling during the test. Some irrationality that was put aside. 

well

Attempt to mock-lead 5.11a was not a total fiasco :) In a month or so leading it should be no big deal.

yesterday

5 x 5.10b mock lead

2 x 5.11a

~2hrs or so

Can't say I was exhausted, but GU definitely helped with those 11s.

oops

I failed my lead test. Not sure if a short-roping by my belayer has something to do with it :)

V3

I expand into the V3 territory and I am sore. Nothing else to report.

v3

Ok. Was back to same old 5.11a, it was easy. Also did like 2.5 v3 problems, it was fun too. But I guess bouldering really abused my fingers. Couldn't do much after that 5.11.

new shoes

I think I am back to my healthy self. I was able to mock-lead a 5.10d on which I only tried the first couple of moves a week before. Probably will start taking lead test(-s) in June. Now I need some time to study..

Anyway, I got Katanas because I need to resole my Mythos and I like them a lot. They are a half size bigger though. So, this is how yesterday has ended. 

trad

So, I went today to another trad clinic. In the end Dave said that I wouldn't die. Do I feel confident?  Yeah, I can't see why I wouldn't be able to lead. Some of my placements totally sucked, but in general I was ok.

Today I also saw that I need to resole my mythos... and that just after 6 month of climbing? Well, I just hope my footwork will get better than that.

ok. I'm getting back in shape

It feels like my muscles are still not recovered since Sunday. Yesterday I couldn't do my regular 5.11a (maybe I had to actually warm up :). And realized that I forgot most of the sequences for a favorite 5.10d. So I had relearning experience. Spend a night climbing in the lower 10s and found another interesting 10d. But all of this is ridicules TRing, I got to go into leading.

v3?

I think I was in the gym once in the last 3 weeks. In addition to that, just starting to recover from the nasty cold/virus I lost my belay partner :( 6 stitches on the index finger puts her out for another couple of weeks. But this is nothing comparing to what people in Burma and China are experiencing right now, so I don't complain.

However, miserably failing to finish a v2 I actually was able to do all the moves on a v3, I don't think I've properly sequenced them, but I think in my last attempt I only cheated on the first move. So, there you go. 

New Shoes and more

Before I started to climb my shoes/boots of choice were Dr. Martins. Long story from my past life. Anyway. After I started to climb I have noticed that my view is shifting. First thing after the Mythos I got were 5.10 approach shoes (Clogs), that I got on sale. I can't say I like them much, but I probably wear them 90% of the time now. Still thinking about new approach shoes I saw at Red Rock Rendezvous, but today I finally went "just" to see Vibram FiveFingers 

and... well, I have them now and already tried to walk, drive, run and traverse. They are so cool, I want another pair!

But what I really wanted to say in this post,  is that in the gym I tried to spend as much time on straight-arm climbing as I could handle. After that I tried to climb same old 5.11a and I don't think I felt the difference, but I definitely felt something. Also blind-climbed 5.10a, that was fun. I think I should start to systematically work on my technique. Let it be so.

Oh, yeah. Since this week, on toprope I can finally climb that route without falling (usually after I fail to start for a couple of tries). 

climbing vocabulary: free climbing

I am sure you have heard it before. I constantly do. This story  (http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6088297) is just a recent repetition. I also constantly hear it in the gym. People do not understand what a free climbing is. The term free is very confusing to those who do not pay attention but just hear it from somewhere.

Climbing can be free from aid, free from falls, a rope-free and whatelse. You just can't take such a general term and hope it will stick only to a specific context. 

what the hell

I hardly understand my low performance yesterday.  I guess I skipped lunch, but it shouldn't have been that bad. Considering that eventually i wrestled my way up. Just a slight turn of hips, shift of balance can do as much as giving you way up where you had miserably failed for 4-5 times? I don't think I have changed my footholds. Anyway, I understand now how much I don't understand and don't feel at all.

I also think about visiting a local SCS competition. Maybe just as an observer, since my partners can't lead/lead belay..

5.11

For some reason I have a memory of a successful attempt to climb up 5.11a in the end of January. But considering the fact that I spent last 4 months struggling with 5.10s it doesn't make any sense.

I usually spend from 6 to 9 hours a week in a gym. And while until recently I was able to climb 40-50 feet 5.10c routes without falls I could not do  the same with 5.10d. 

So, yesterday I was able to finish never before tried 5.11a with 3 or 4 falls. And some old familiar 5.10d without any. I had big problems starting both of the routes. But I do feel a huge progress from just a couple of weeks before. Yet I never stop laughing at the numbers.

beginning

I started to climb when I was 9 or so. Climbed exposed strips of wood inside the apartment building I was living back then. Fell approximately 2 meters and could not talk for 5 minutes but otherwise was fine. I think I was impressed by Wolfgang Güllich  climbing in Yosemite videos, but can't say for sure. Before and after that I climbed trees, fences and what else, but never rock.

Next attempt to join climbing was maybe 11-10 years ago. One of the colleagues at that time climbed Everest and I believe I expressed the desire and he willingness to go teach me some climbing skills outdoors. That never happened for whatever reason.

And now for 5 month or so I lick plastic in the gym, occasionally letting myself play outside.

I've been having various blog posts about this struggling for some time. But being tired of LiveJournal and lazy/occupied to write my own blog engine decided to create a dedicated blog.

At this stage I probably can climb any 5.10c in the gym without falls, practically have sufficient sport rack (but no real leading skills) and ropes (70m Mammut and ~40m Sterling). Run for 15 minutes without loosing my breath, can hang for 5 seconds from the lower pocket of the Metolius Rock Rings, do a set of 80 pushups and maybe 10 pull-ups. When I started in November I maybe could do 5.7 with just a couple of falls. So, essentially I am very far from where I see myself in 5 years :)