The Connecting Fiber of Climbers

Notes 3 Responses »
Apr 102011

There is something special about climbing.  It is the most amazing, yet circular and pointless pursuit. Places, goals, and motivation vary. Sometimes I’m there to live a dream, or maybe just to get in a good workout. I’m drawn to the idea of exploration and the following video gives a glimpse of this kind of dream.

Ideally, climbing a mountain, a boulder, or a rock face doesn’t change nature. Instead, the thoughts and emotions of our ascent are stuck in our soul. For some, the struggle, the failure, and the ability to overcome is most important. Other strive for difficulty, competitiveness, and pushing personal limits to try to be “the best”.

It has taken longer than usual for me to come to a clear understand of my most recent climbing trip to Indian Creek. My mind is still chasing the fleeting images of parallel cracks. Feelings of success and failure still linger, but I am unable or unwilling to quantify them. I am stuck with the need to achieve and the expectations that I create trap me. I want to know that I have pushed as hard as possible. I aim to succeed or at least to fail spectacularly.

Death of a Cowboy - 5.13-

Climbing is many things to many people. So with this post I’d like to ask you to think of what climbing means to you. Why do you really climb? What gets you out of bed early for a long day in the mountains? What pushes you to train harder, read more and improve yourself? For some it’s that final moment when you shine. The work you put in pays off and for an instant you are on top of the world.

 

A happy Lizzy after sending Sacred Cow.

 

I am constantly asking myself where the motivation comes from. Is it a line? A single pitch? Or is it an idea, an endeavor or even a grade? Do I even need a reason to go hang out in beautiful places with my friends?

I’m grateful for my experiences and can’t wait for the next one!

- Luke

 

P.S. Photos and TR’s from Indian Creek are coming soon!

Posted by lstefurak at 10:57 am Tagged with: , ,

DreamInVertical on Facebook and Twitter!

Notes No Responses »
Mar 192011

Lizzy and I are off to Indian Creek for the week.  It’s been over a year since we’ve been and we are itching for the desert. You can read about our past trips under the Indian Creek tag!

The beautiful Indian Creek!

A great way to follow our adventures on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/lizzy_t and  http://twitter.com/lstefurak

If you are looking for more content to peruse while we are away you should checkout our Multi-Pitch Route Beta page and our past Sweet Gear Reviews.

I also wanted to mention that we are about a month away from the #YosemiteTweetup. Lizzy and I will be in the Valley in late April to meet up with friends from all over. If you have any interest make sure to post up on the Tweetup Page.

We also wanted to announce that we now have a Facebook Page (check out the widget on the upper right!).

Enjoy,

Luke

Posted by lstefurak at 9:28 am Tagged with: , , , ,

South Bay Duathlon

Notes 2 Responses »
Mar 182011

I spent a lot of the winter getting psyched on climbing again and running (and dealing with IT band issues – no fun). I recently signed up for a Long Course Tri in San Jose in June. This means 1mi swim, 56mi bike, 9mi run. This is long. Long enough that it would genuinely suck to go into it with insufficient training, so I’m making sure I’ll be ready.

Last weekend I did a little warm-up race down in Morgan Hill, CA to help me get back into the zone of racing and assess my fitness. I signed up for the sprint duathlon (vs. the international distance) so I could have a low-stress, fast race to get the feeling of riding my tri bike and doing my transitions.

Tri bike all set up in the transition area.

I drove down in the early morning light on Sunday and set up my bike in the transition area. I was really early, so I had plenty of time to do all of my pre-race routine at a leisurely pace, including a nice warm-up for my legs. We lined up to start at 9am and… we were off. I was initially hopeful I could stay with the leaders of the women’s wave, but I listened to my legs and eased back. I think the leaders were going 6:00 pace, which is definitely way too fast for me to start off my run. Fortunately, this fast start left me feeling very comfortable at a ~7:30 pace, which I was able to keep up for the first 2 mile run (2.2mi according to my Garmin). I had some minor bike shoe issues in T1 (not using my tri shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take my socks off), then headed out onto the bike. I felt good, but got passed more than I would have liked. I can tell that my cycling shape is not where it was last season, so it’s something to work on. T2 went very smoothly and I was out on the 2nd run, legs feeling tired but warm. I passed two women who’d passed me on the bike very early on into the run. Despite my tiredness, I was actually going a pretty good pace, not much slower than my first run. After a winter of half marathons, 2 miles went by really fast and in no time the finish was in sight. The announcer remarked on my strong kick (damn straight) as I came through the finish and I felt pretty awesome.

I ended up finishing 16th in the women’s division, and 1st in my age group (20-29) with a time of 1:08:37 for 2mi run, 10mi bike, 2mi run. It was a really perfect beginning-of-season race . It was not too stressful, helped me work out the kinks, showed me some current weaknesses (bike!), and I got to enjoy the benefits of all the running I’ve done the past 6 months. Hello, triathlon season!

Lizzy

P.S. Don’t worry, I’m totally still psyched on climbing, I pushed my next tri from April to May so I can have more weekends to climb in April and take advantage of my post-Creek fitness!

Posted by Lizzy at 1:27 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Pulling Plastic

Notes 3 Responses »
Mar 112011

Since winter returned to the Bay Area in mid February, we’ve been logging a lot of time in the gym, and as a result I’m climbing harder on plastic than I ever have before. Planet Granite has a series of route climbing competitions (free for members, which is cool) during the winter, so we decided to head up to the Belmont gym for some competitive plastic-pulling action.

Lizzy on open route 11 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

Luke was planning on going to Jailhouse for the weekend (while I stayed at home and worked), so he graciously agreed to be my belay slave and beta gatherer, which was very awesome. My last experience at a Planet Granite route comp climbing in advanced (toprope only) was not super fun (only had time to climb 3 routes in 3 hours due to the lines), so I decided to climb open (my first time). Open is supposed to be 5.11d and harder, but I’d recently redpointed my first gym 5.12a, and the routes are usually graduated in difficulty with 3 score zones at ~1/3 height, 2/3 height, and the top, so I was fairly confident I could at least score on three of the four open routes. Also, I knew that very few women usually compete in open, so I had a pretty good chance of winning (which is always motivating).

We warmed up on non-comp TR routes to avoid the crowds, then I hopped on the easiest open route and made it to the 2nd score zone on my first try, which I was very happy with. Then another girl (who won) flashed that and the 2nd easiest open route, so I pretty much knew I was not going to win (I definitely don’t flash 5.11+/12- in the gym yet). This, surprisingly, was ok with me – I usually am competitive to a fault. Instead, I realized I could still get second in women’s open (still pretty cool) and qualify for the onsight finals at the last comp in the series, all without the pressure of needing to send on my first try. With my new relaxed attitude, I made it to the first score zone on the 2nd and 3rd open routes on my first try (the 4th, hardest route was just too crazy, I didn’t even try it), and made it to the 2nd score zone on one of them on my second try.

Lizzy moving out of Zone 1 on open route 11 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

Luke flashing open route 9 (photo thanks to Planet Granite)

I had a super fun time hanging out with friends between burns, and it was an all around awesome confidence-boosting night. I ended up with 2nd in women’s open and had no regrets about how I climbed – I really pushed myself, I fell without fear, and I’m even currently in the 3rd slot for the onsight final (although I might be in Yosemite in hopes of sending Tales of Power, oops!). Thank you to Planet Granite for putting on a great event (and for making open routes that were fun, technical, and possible for a short person like me!).

Have you had any winter comp success?

Lizzy

Posted by Lizzy at 8:51 am Tagged with: , ,

3 Weeks to the Creek: Training Progress Report

Notes 20 Responses »
Feb 252011

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m super psyched for our spring break trip to Indian Creek. Not only do I LOVE crack climbing, especially beautiful Creek splitters, but I’ve also learned from experience that I need to put in the work and training to prepare myself for a successful trip. So training is what I’ve been doing, in a more focused way than I think I’ve ever trained for climbing before.

Feeling strong in the Creek in November 2009 (on Swedin-Ringle)

My primary focus was endurance, because I had great endurance on my last trip to the Creek, which helped me send a couple of my projects and not get pumped on any route (except one) until I was being lowered. It made a huge difference. I usually climb at the gym 2 nights a week, so I’ve started working an endurance night into most weeks: either a crack endurance night (climbing 2-3 laps on a crack without rest x 7-8 cracks = a lot of pitches) or a TR face climbing endurance pyramid (2 laps per route on  10b, 10c, 10d, 11a, 11b, 11a, 10c, 10a, or similar pyramid, with rests only between routes, to belay my partner).

On my other weekly climbing night, I’ve been pushing myself to try harder on lead and work on projecting things, rather than trying to onsight something and getting discouraged and moving on if I don’t send first try. Over the course of the past couple months, I’ve become more comfortable getting on routes that I can’t onsight. I’ve focused on being relaxed and playing on the moves, enjoying trying to push my highpoint. I’ve previously had a lot of trouble with nearly crippling anxiety before a hard lead (or, at it’s worst, before any lead), but now I’m relaxed and excited for a lead. I’m able to accept a little bit of nervousness and move on. I’ve also been improving a lot in my redpoints. I recently sent my first gym 12a on only my 3rd try (yes, until this week I’d climbed harder outside than inside, and I hope to revert to that state in the Creek!), and I hopped on another 12a (and fell, which was ok with me) right afterward.

I’m also running and doing core exercises regularly. In almost any measure (except for leading trad outside, for which the weather is not cooperating), I’m in better shape than my last Indian Creek trip (and I was in really good shape for that trip). My psych and confidence are high, my lead head is good, and I’m working really hard on school stuff to get as much done as possible before my little (well-deserved) vacation.

The only picture of Tricks are for Kids on mountainproject (from Karsten), doesn't it look AMAZING???

In other news, I really want to go check out Tricks Are For Kids at the Creek. I’ve scoured the internet for inspiring photos, but it’s slim pickens out there. Photos or beta to share would be awesome and greatly appreciated.

So, as it turns out, training works! Whoa. Imagine that. And I’m actually still enjoying my 2 nights of climbing in the gym (I’d previously thought training=drudgery=no fun). How’s your winter training going?

Lizzy

Posted by Lizzy at 12:03 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

From Truck to Camper, One Tacoma’s Journey

Notes, Tips 21 Responses »
Feb 142011

When buying a car they say you always want to be flexible about the color. One is not supposed to get caught up in the aesthetics. I just couldn’t help it. I wanted BLUE! (Form over function…) Also, I’m a Subaru guy; they have been my favorite for a long time. So why am I showing pictures of a Toyota Tacoma? Well, I needed function. Subaru doesn’t make trucks and Toyotas last forever.

Still shiny on its first climbing trip.

Roadside Attraction required a long approach from the truck.

Over the past many years our Toyota Rav4 has taken us many places. However it is too small (for road-trips with four people) and doesn’t have as much clearance as we would like.  With these requirements in mind I set out to look at trucks.

Lizzy takes measurements for another board.

I wanted to be able to sleep in the back and fuel economy was important. This left me with the many variations of the Tacoma. What I truly wanted is quite a mouthful and something that doesn’t exist. There is no Double Cab, Long Bed (73”) , TRD Off-Road Tacoma. You can either get the TRD-Off-Road package OR the Double Cab with Long Bed. I lucked out and found next best thing, a TRD, Double Cab Long Bed in Speedway Blue.

Luke figures out how to angle in the new plywood.

The first step towards making the truck road-trip ready was was getting a camper shell and after looking at A.R.E., Snug-Top and Leer I settled on the Leer 180. This looked to be the largest (tallest) shell on the market and had quality construction and the options I wanted. All brands offered color matching and were about the same price with a 3 week delivery time. I also considered the Flip-Pac but wanted something a bit more weather proof (snow camping).

One of the salesmen at Custom Truck was really helpful with the different window options for the shell and enlightened me on proper placement. If you plan on having a dog, or other living thing, in the back of the truck you need to have vents. It is important to have the vent on the opposite side as your exhaust pipe. So if you are stuck in traffic your puppy can breath good air. Useful advice!

Halfway done with the platform.

On the opposite side, the one with your exhaust pipe,  I choose a a “win-door”. This option was suggested to me by my friend Hartley and it is an easy way to get things out of the bed without opening the gate or rear window.  I also opted for a removable sliding front window. This helps getting stuff out of the cab, and vice versa. A removable window is also useful for for cleaning the outside of the cab window.

Final assembly in the under-platform "coffins"

The bed of a Tacoma is not wide enough for two people to sleep due to the two wheel wells. A “small” construction project was started to build a flat platform across the bed that would sit on-top of the wheel wells. It was a simple design with two pieces of plywood on for the main surface and a board underneath to support our weight. After a few rounds of shopping and many many hours of thinking, sawing and carpeting we were done! The biggest challenge was that it was a very snug fitting platform. It was hard to get the pieces in and out of the bed. We ended up using the win-door on the side to slide each piece into place since the back of the truck bed has a slight taper.

Lizzy applies glue to our platform in prep for the carpet

We carpeted the top with blue indoor/outdoor carpet and glue and stapled down edges of the carpet for extra security. Ikea makes a 55 by 78 inch folding foam mattress which just fits in the back with a little squishing. The plan is to cut off a bit of foam on the end so that it fits the 57 x 73.

Lizzy enjoys "snow camping" in the back of our Tacoma

The final project is to add some weather proofing around the tailgate to make sure dust and water doesn’t get into the bed. We’ve bought some industrial strength Velcro and will use some carpet scraps to seal it up! Curtains will also be in the works to keep out light and reduce condensation buildup.

Killer Yosemite view from the bed of the truck - Priceless!

Enjoy the photos! Have you built a road-trip mobile? What is your favorite car-camping accessory? Tips are welcome!

- Luke

Posted by lstefurak at 11:59 am Tagged with: , , ,

Climbing Goals for 2011

Notes 10 Responses »
Feb 102011

Given the month of January to take into account my fitness and focus, I feel ready to be hopeful for 2011.

Unmet goals can be seen as failure, but I like to start by aiming high.  It is hard to know how the year will unfold. I am excited for 2011 and my  “success” will be brought about more by spending days outside with friends more than completing the items on this list.  Much of this list will be Yosemite-centric and I’m leaning towards shorter routes. Crack technique (& off-widths)  and endurance (climbing while pumped) will be focal points of this year.

Looking up at Astroman.

In 2011 I would like to do the following:

Redpoint a 5.12 each month for eleven months of the year.

Spend at least three weekends at the Incredible Hulk (the same as 2010)

Climb at two new crags (Star Wall, Mt Watkins and Calaveras Dome come to mind)

Lead Ruby’s Cafe in Indian Creek (a RP would be nice too)

In Yosemite I would like to climb Astroman and redpoint two of the following:
Crimson Cringe
Tales of Power
Fish Crack
Separate Reality
Red Zinger

Fish Crack!

More Fish Crack! Photo from katerutherford.com

I would also like to attempt one or two of the following:
Stigma
Cosmic Debris
The Phoenix
Heaven

I also have unfinished business on El Capitan. Time and weather are everything and I hope do some big “links” on Freerider.  First from Sous-le-toit to the summit and then from the ground to the Boulder Problem.  If these two sections can be freed then it just comes down to multi-day endurance to put it all together.

Looking down on the picture-book dihedral, one of Freerider's crux pitches

My biggest goal of the year is to stay injury free. I’ve had “major” injuries in both 2009 and 2010 and would like to be healthier this year.  Opposition exercises and diligent “pre-hab”  will be in my weekly routine. Over-training or over-climbing can happen and I need to build my fitness over time.

The Capitan is always watching

Madaleine Sorkin and Kate Rutherford on Freerider!

Do you have a tick-list for 2011? What are your goals? Leave a comment!

- Luke

Posted by lstefurak at 7:38 am Tagged with: , , , ,

Yosemite Humble Pie

Notes, Trip Reports 12 Responses »
Feb 072011

One of my climbing goals for myself for 2011 is to work on projecting climbs. I have a strong tendency to idolize my dream climbs and save them for an onsight go. Sometimes, this works out great (as with Sunshine Dihedral). Other times, it does not. Although onsighting is a great skill to have, I know there is also a lot to be learned from taking the time to work through a route that is initially above my head (as with Swedin-Ringle, which, at 9 tries including successful redpoint, was my longest-worked-on trad project). Trying to onsight every “project” means (1) I’m setting myself up for disappointment, because the route might have unexpected difficulties that I’m not prepared for and (2) I have a harder time switching that route to a redpoint “project” because I put so emotional and physical energy into the thought/effort of onsighting it, that don’t want to get on it again. So, for good reason, I’m trying to make 2011 The Year of the Redpoint Project.

Fish Crack (left) and Crimson Cringe (right)

In between us and the base of Fish Crack and Crimson Cringe...

The awesome weather recently has meant that south-facing crags in the western part of Yosemite Valley (e.g. Cookie Cliff, Arch Rock, etc.) are perfect for climbing, even in February. This opportunity to start climbing in Yosemite unusually early in the year is perfect for my goal of projecting, because it means I have lots of time to try out routes and come back to them many times during the rest of this year. This past weekend, we did just that: go find routes a little off the beaten path (i.e. not in the SuperTopo book, gasp), get on them, and gather information for projecting.

On Friday morning, we pulled up to the Cascade Falls parking lot on Hwy 140 (just east of the Pat & Jack parking) and gazed through the trees towards Fish Crack and Crimson Cringe, two ultra-classic Yosemite cracks. We scrambled towards them and gazed at their awesomeness. We also gazed at the torrent of water separating us from the base of the climbs and the water draining from the base of Crimson Cringe. At least now we know where they are, and we can come back when the water level is lower – step 1 for projecting (find route). Plan B for the day was Tales of Power, which doesn’t have a nearby warm-up, so we went and top-roped Roadside Attraction.

Lower stem corner on Roadside Attraction.

We then drove back up to Hwy 120 and parked just east of the longest tunnel. We geared up and carefully worked our way down (starting at the eastern end of the tunnel) until Luke found the rappel trees above Separate Reality (yes, THE Separate Reality). We set fixed Luke’s 80m rope (I’m sure a 70m would be long enough, not sure about a 60m) and rappelled down past Separate Reality (which was wet in places) to the base of Tales of Power, which is basically directly below Separate. The entire rappel after the Tales of Power top anchor was freehanging – the route is STEEP.

Looking up at Tales of Power.

Very afraid at the base of Tales of Power.

I had been prepared and psyched for the “crux” steep thin hands, but when I made it to the sloping ledge at the base, I was terrified. The route starts with a leaning, overhanging squeeze chimney/slot, and finishes with another squeeze chimney. I am not very good at squeeze chimneys, because I’ve spent hardly any time learning how to climb them properly. I don’t think I’ve been so terrified of a route in a long time. Luke convinced me to rack up and try the squeeze, so I put cams on my gear loops and pulled on my Miuras in between sobs of terror. I stood in the base of the squeeze chimney and took deep breaths. I thrutched up and placed two cams, then took and lowered. I struggled up slightly past my highpoint, but couldn’t figure out how to transition from chimneying to climbing the flare (i.e. both hands and feet in the crack), and lowered again. I gave Luke the cams.

With a number of takes, Luke made it to the top. He agreed that the bottom squeeze/flare was hard and awkward, and he found the hand crack to be surprisingly painful. I put my shoes back on (to follow the pitch) and stood in the squeeze chimney again. I took more deep breaths. I thrutched up and took out cams. I slipped and squirmed some more and was able to transition into the flare (which felt really steep). I made it to a no-hands rest below the hand crack without falling. The hand crack was AMAZING. The jams were perfect for me the whole way and it didn’t feel as steep as it looked. The squeeze chimney at the end was another story. I sobbed and thrutched and hung on the rope. I eventually made it to the top.

The prize: beautiful, amazing, steep hand crack (the rope in the top of the photo can give you an idea of how steep it is).

I haven’t had a real climbing project since Thanksgiving 2009. I tried, but I just couldn’t seem to find any route that inspired me like my 2009 projects had. Despite all the sobbing and thrutching (or maybe because of it?) I have found a project again. I found a route that is truly inspiring (really, the hand crack is INCREDIBLE), that pushes me both physically (endurance fest) and mentally (steepness, exposure, fear of squeeze chimneys), and challenges me to become a better climber by learning new techniques (squeeze chimneying…) that I’ve previously avoided like the plague. I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m wondering when I can get in the gym and thrutch in the squeeze chimney next.

It’s amazing what a little humble pie and the right attitude (redpoint project, not onsight) can do. Instead of frustration, I’m filled with motivation. I want to work on my weaknesses. I want to go back and sit beneath the steepness and be afraid. I’d say this is a good start to The Year of the Redpoint Project.

Cramming at This and That Crag

Damage after Tales of Power + Cramming in same weekend. Notice different location of blood reflecting different hand sizes...

On Saturday, we did a little more exploring, climbing Cramming and Tips (which Luke really enjoyed) at the This and That Crag. I totally tore up my right hand through the combination of Tales of Power and Cramming. It was awesome. Luke still had some energy, so he also did Lunatic Fringe and Stone Groove at Reed’s Pinnacle. I had to go home on Sunday morning for some school-related stuff, so I dropped off Luke with Matt for a day at Jailhouse and I drove the truck home by myself. I felt awesome. I was floating. I still am, really. I have a project. It is not an onsight project. It is difficult for me in many ways. It will require a lot of effort to get ready for it, and to actually climb it. I couldn’t be happier.

Looking up at Tips at This and That Crag.

Do you want to join me in making 2011 The Year of the Redpoint Project? Do you already have some projects lined up for the year? Let me know in the comments and let’s share the psych!

Lizzy

Posted by Lizzy at 11:50 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,

There is No Off-Season in Yosemite

Notes 2 Responses »
Jan 262011
I slip on the ice for the third time in as many feet. I can see my breath and there is snow everywhere. The valley floor, in Yosemite, is covered in a foot of frozen water (snow). Why am I here?

A very snowy Half Dome

At the end of 2009, I left the land of eternal sunshine (San Diego) and traded up (North) for the land of “more” seasons. Climbing shirtless and in shorts this past weekend, I can’t honestly say that we have four seasons, because although Camp 4 is still covered in snow, down-valley south-facing crags are very pleasant. It’s January and elsewhere in the US people are climbing ice and hitting the ski slopes.

It is definitely still winter in Camp 4

The recent weather pattern has been phenomenal. After a stormy and wet December, things have almost completely dried out. Lizzy and I have gotten out climbing each of the last three weekends and I’m climbing better than ever. The best training for me is climbing and there is nothing like volume to build strength and endurance.

A touch of snow on the bear boxes…
Steep sport climbing at the gym and outside does wonders for my endurance but when the face holds disappeared after the start of Catchy, I had to remember how to jam.  My hands were getting pumped from the thin hands crack. The feeling had been even worse the day before on the first pitch of Gripper. Wrapped too tightly in tape, my hands threatened to fall out of a hand jam. A HAND JAM! I’ve heard a few quotes about how a hand jam is like a belay: solid, secure, unfailing. This was not the case.

Yosemite Falls is really pumping!

Climbing in the Valley reminded me of the important of small foot holds, balance, and persistence.  While sport climbing, I marvel at climbing for over a 100 feet without getting too pumped. In Yosemite, every pitch we climbed was 150 feet long!

Time to go back to the gym, climb on the cracks, and remember that knowing how to move your body is more important then how hard you can pull.

- Luke

Posted by lstefurak at 8:38 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

Save the Jailhouse – Fundraiser

News, Notes 3 Responses »
Jan 202011

The Fundraiser was a success. A total of $12,656 was raised and $10,000 was matched by Planet Granite. Thanks to those who donated and those that came to the slideshow/auction!

Access for climbing is one of the things that I used to take for granted. I naively thought that access was not my problem and I didn’t need to worry where I would climb.  Then I started seeing crags close at the Red River Gorge, around San Diego, and other places in the country.

At the same time, many crags, like Index in Washington, were saved as result of climber and Access Fund intervention. I learned that fund-raising is essential for keeping crags open and giving future generations the opportunities to climb in many spectacular places.

When I first heard from Tom Addison that he was working with the Access Fund to buy an easement to the Jailhouse I was very excited. This would insure climbing for the next century at a vital crag not too far away from the Bay Area. The obvious hurdle would be the money needed to buy the land for a new road and parking lot.

The Jailhouse contains a large concentration of steep and difficult routes. Called by many “the Rifle of California”, you will see climbers knee-barring their way to success in this giant cave. Since the Jailhouse sits on private land, the first rule of Jailhouse has always been not to talk about Jailhouse.  With authorized access I expect more people will visit the crag especially since the Jailhouse functions as a wet weather and winter crag providing off-season entertainment when Yosemite is too wet or cold.

Whether or not you live in California, supporting access is a big part of being a climber. Even $5 makes a difference!

I plan on taking all funds that I can collect to the Planet Granite fund-raising event on February 9th. By donating via my PayPal fundraiser widget you guarantee that all funds will be DOUBLED!! Thanks again to Planet Granite for offering to match donations! My personal goal is to raise $2500 dollars for the Jailhouse.

The Access Fund progress can be seen below on the right.  We can do this!

SUCCESS!! All funds were raised for the Jailhouse! Thanks to everyone who donated through DreamInVertical! Adam K, Torger J, David S, Brian L, Kenneth V, Matthew R, Brian R, Lizzy T, and Jeffery G.

If you would rather not donate through me then please donate directly to the Access Fund between Febuary 1st and 15th!

Thanks again! If you have a blog I would appreciate it if you could link to this post or even embed my donation gadget.

Your support is much appreciated!

- Luke

Posted by lstefurak at 10:52 am Tagged with: , , , ,

Winter is for Training

Notes 9 Responses »
Jan 182011

Winter here means two things: training and skiing. Storms come through and dump tons of snow in the mountains, which means a lot of granite areas are covered in snow (or snow melt), but the ski slopes are also fantastic. Skiing turns a negative (storms –> no climbing) into a positive (great skiing!). But all skiing and no climbing isn’t very good preparation for an awesome Spring Break climbing trip (Indian Creek, this year), so training is the other important theme of winter in NorCal.

In the past, I haven’t really focused on training much, since having fun and staying psyched is higher on my priority list (because training is hard to do when you’re not actually psyched or having fun). Now, however, I am really excited about returning to the Creek, and I realized how my “training” in Fall 2009 (climbing regularly in the gym and on the weekends) lead to a very successful Creek trip in Thanksgiving 2009. I want to be strong physically and mentally for our trip this year, and this doesn’t just happen without a little bit of work.

Crack technique, endurance, a good mental space, and general fitness are all key for any good Creek trip (at least in my previous experience), so I’m focusing on those for the next ~2 months.

This is how we feel about the cold, damp, fog-cloud weather.

Crack Technique

The weather isn’t great for much actual crack climbing right now, so for the time being I’m just doing lots of laps on the cracks in our climbing gym. I’ll definitely want to be getting outside to climb cracks before our trip, if nothing else to do laps at the Grotto. In particular, many of my potential projects involve fingerstacks, so I’ll be getting my technique dialed for that crack width.

Endurance

Routes in the Creek are long and often involve doing the same move (e.g. handjam + footjam) over and over again. Endurance is really important. Great crack technique will get you nowhere if you still get pumped after only 30 feet of handjams. I’m working on endurance in the gym, both on lead (long, steep, challenging-for-me routes) and on TR (multiple laps on a route with no rest, and hopefully no falls). I’m also trying to generally climb more (while still listening to my body and not pushing myself to injury) to work on my all-day endurance. Last year, it took me about 4 hours to recover after a very committed redpoint effort on Digital Readout (I fell about 3 feet below the anchor – I was crushed and exhausted). In general, I’d like to be able to recover faster and climb more pitches per day.

Gosh, look at the great views from the crag!

Mental Space

The Creek is a great place to push myself on lead, because the gear is solid, the falls are generally clean, and the nearly infinite variety of climbs provide perfect challenges. When I don’t climb (and lead, and fall) consistently, I become a little less brave.  I need to be in a good mental space before our trip in order to take advantage of my potential. I’m working on pushing myself in the gym and planning to lead more outside (as soon as the crag stops seeping – wet holds make me a huge wimp).

General Fitness

General fitness is usually a good thing for my climbing fitness. I’ve been going to the Abs and Core class at our local climbing gym regularly, and I’ve started to notice my core actually getting stronger, which is beneficial for climbing, running, cycling, etc. I’m also planning on doing more half marathons and triathlons this year, so keeping my fitness level up is important. Running and cycling (and, when it gets a little warmer, swimming) are incorporated into my average week.

Heading back home after a winter training day at the Table Mountain.

I am lucky to not be taking any classes this quarter, so I have a very flexible schedule – work when I’m most efficient (including the weekend if I’m not climbing), take breaks to train (run, bike, climb, etc.), and actually have time to go to the grocery store so we can eat well. I won’t be so lucky, training-wise, during Spring Quarter, so I hope to take advantage of the flexibility of this quarter so I’m in a good place before the somewhat crazy times of April and May.

What are your winter training plans?

Lizzy

Posted by Lizzy at 8:08 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,
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