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KingColliwog posted:If I campus it and make eye contact while hanging one armed on the finish hold it's charming though right? Only if you do it shirt off and power-screaming every move.
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Jul 26, 2023 23:03
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Not specifically rock climbing, but does anyone do any alpine here? Just wondering if there are recommended B2 boots, I've been climbing in B3s but the lack of flexibility is a big drawback especially now I'm doing more technical routes. They're also heavy as gently caress and suck to walk in on approaches.
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Jul 28, 2023 12:53
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I'm not familiar with the context you're climbing in, but this is how I think about it in the northwest US: I default to trail running shoes. My favorites are very light, and have medium lugs and vibram soles. Is there going to be rock climbing serious enough that I need a rope? Throw a pair of climbing shoes in the pack. Is there going to be crevasse hazard serious enough that I need a rope? Bring crampons. Is it going to be enough time below ~40F or enough time on snow that the misery of wet feet outweighs the misery of wearing boots? Use lightweight 3-season mountaineering boots. example days: - hiking a big mountain: huge approach, limited glacier hazard. wait for late summer conditions, trail runners and strap on crampons. - a couple pitches of 5.8 in early summer with snow on the approach: wet runners and rock shoes - a very short pitch of easy rock with a long approach: just running shoes - hiking a bigger mountain with lots of snow time: boots, but preferably late spring/early summer so it's ski boots instead I don't know anyone who uses a proper mountaineering boot (e.g. sportiva nepal) with any frequency - they're too heavy and the conditions here don't justify them. If it's winter, I'm wearing touring boots instead. If it's spring/summer/fall and the weather is bad enough to justify 4-season boots, I'm doing something else that day. A lot of people prefer climbing-brand approach shoes (sportiva TX, five ten tennies, scarpa crux) over trail runners. They climb a bit better than running shoes but weigh more. IMO the tradeoff isn't worth it - I spend a lot more time hiking than scrambling.
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Jul 28, 2023 15:39
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For summer European alpine stuff, I see a lot of things like Scarpa Phantom Techs and Charmozes on guides in lift queues in the alps these days. I've got stumpy feet, so everything is B3 for me and I find the stiffness of Scarpa Mt Blancs is OK once you get used to using it advantageously. I use trail running shoes for long walk ins though. I'd probably buy lighter fabric boots if I did more than a couple of weeks alpine a year or didn't do any Scottish stuff. If your comparison point is an older pair of B3s like Sportiva yellow wellies then most modern boots have a lower cuff and sole rocker that makes walking and climbing significantly more OK. Content 
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Jul 28, 2023 23:08
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Sorry yeah I was not very specific, I'm doing AD and I guess soon D routes in the Alps at 4000m+. I have La Sportivas Nepals which as you say are too much boot. Just wondering if there are particular boots like those Charmozes that people recommend. Holiday snap from the Zinalrothorn: 
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Jul 28, 2023 23:14
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knox_harrington posted:Sorry yeah I was not very specific, I'm doing AD and I guess soon D routes in the Alps at 4000m+. I have La Sportivas Nepals which as you say are too much boot. Just wondering if there are particular boots like those Charmozes that people recommend. Holy poo poo, what a place! What kind of gear would you need for this kind of climb? I've been strangely intrigued by alpine/technical climbing ever since I read Touching the Void some years back but don't have it in me to expand beyond a sizeable trad rack/equipment.
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Jul 28, 2023 23:50
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I like Salewa for my narrow feet
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Jul 29, 2023 14:17
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beat9 posted:Holy poo poo, what a place! You probably have most of what you need other than crampons, ice tools, and maybe a pulley for crevasse rescue. And long twin/half ropes for abseils. My experience on PD/AD snow and rock routes in the Alps is you probably carry a smaller rack than at the crag since you'll frequently be moving together on easier ground and where you're pitching there's typically fixed gear. Something like a set of nuts, a couple of cams, plenty of slings, and spare tat and maillons for replacing bad in-situ stuff and setting up abseils. Obviously it varies by route, you can also climb 15 pitches of steep stuff where you'll need a full rack, but the majority of the easier classics are a long walk in the snow with the occasional technical step. The main thing is just to practice a lot with your partner so you're confident moving fast and not wasting time on belays and abseils.
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Jul 29, 2023 17:51
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^yea absolutely, the technical pitches are not /that/ hard and may (or may not) have some fixed gear, but it does make a difference having several hundred metres of drop under you. I'm not sure about other countries but for Switzerland there are really excellent "topo" books which break down the route nicely and indicate where fixed gear is. This is the Besso which was a really nice climb the other day 
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Jul 30, 2023 08:51
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Wow! That is so detailed! And if I understand it correctly it's fairly easy and with markings to indicate the correct route? I do like the route-finding aspect of long trad routes but I'd be nervous to take a wrong turn if I'm 3000m up in the mountain. Highest peak where I live is about 1000m and you can usually hike that in around 12h. How long did it take to climb this?
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Jul 30, 2023 10:08
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The Besso was a 7.5 hour up and back from the hut which is at 2800m. Bear in mind the hut is a 5 hour walk from the last village. The Zinalrothorn traverse was more like 10 hours from the Grand Mountet hut to the Rothorn hut. The routes are normally marked by cairns and at lower elevations by painted markings but I wouldn't say they're 100% reliable on less well travelled routes, thus the topo book I guess. I took this on a ski tour in April, that's the zinalrothorn on the left and the Besso on the right. Obergabelhorn is peeking through in the middle. On the ski trip we traversed the ridge and then skied down the glacier, that was a really nice day. 
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Jul 30, 2023 12:09
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That's awesome! I miss the Alps, I don't have a partner who wants to climb big stuff any more and in all honesty I'd need a season or two getting back into shape for it as well. Even the super easy routes can be a lot of fun though, maybe I should just go for a week or two of alpine rambling.
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Jul 30, 2023 14:42
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Anything I should really consider when buying a harness? I assume mostly fit and that any legit brand should be as safe as any other. Just getting into top roping and going consistently enough it's probably worth buying one rather than renting, after bouldering for a while, might try learning lead eventually.
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Jul 30, 2023 15:21
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A Banana posted:Anything I should really consider when buying a harness? I assume mostly fit and that any legit brand should be as safe as any other. Make sure it's well padded, because you will spend a lot of time hanging in it. The first harness I bought was fairly cheap and it got uncomfortable after a while, you could also really feel it when taking a big fall. Second harness was much more padded and comfortable.
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Jul 30, 2023 15:58
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A Banana posted:Anything I should really consider when buying a harness? I assume mostly fit and that any legit brand should be as safe as any other. Ask if they have a hook or something you can hang from in the harness. Hanging from the harness could be fairly comfortable to extremely uncomfortable but it's hard to tell when you're just wearing it on the ground. My local outdoor shop has a big winch hook so you can see how it feels to hang.
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Jul 30, 2023 16:00
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vonnegutt posted:Ask if they have a hook or something you can hang from in the harness. Hanging from the harness could be fairly comfortable to extremely uncomfortable but it's hard to tell when you're just wearing it on the ground. My local outdoor shop has a big winch hook so you can see how it feels to hang. This. Most good shops should have a place where you can hang in the harness. You'll probably hang for 5 second and feel like it's comfortable enough, but if you don't feel too stupid, hang a real 5 minutes or so to get a good idea of how the harness will really feel. When I bought my second harness the comfort level was like 10x better than my first. I can literally hang for 30 minutes while talking with someone and be comfy. My second one would be painful after 3 minutes or so
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Jul 30, 2023 17:27
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Also some harnesses feel better on some people then others, it's a personal thing so you really gotta try it out. But overall don't overthink it, any harness will at least be Okay
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Jul 30, 2023 17:45
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Do you guys know of any resources more focused on route setting than actual climbing? I've been attending some 'Adult Team' thing my gym does once a week - team is a misnomer, it's an open group for whoever wants to join for a slightly more focused climbing session with people who want to be more social too. Anyways, one of the things the coach has been doing recently is giving a few of us a roll of tape and says, "Go build a problem using the holds on that wall" I've been having a lot of fun with my opportunities to set problems, and I seem to get a lot of positive feedback from the coach as well as the rest of the class too  https://youtube.com/v/Bh08etlTHHI?feature=share This is the one I came up with today. For these exercises we generally say only to use the indicated handholds but anything can be used as a foothold, although of course the goal is for the climber to challenge themself. I quite like the movement, although I couldn't quite force the sequence at the end like I wanted. The coach today was like, "You should set part time for us" which in theory sounds cool, but to me I think being able to pull a cool traverse together out of existing problems seems very different than actually setting problems 
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Jul 30, 2023 17:48
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Sab669 posted:Do you guys know of any resources more focused on route setting than actual climbing? It’s one of those things mostly learned through doing it a lot. I have a copy of ‘Fundamentals of Routesetting’ I’d be happy to send you, send me a DM if you’re interested.
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Jul 30, 2023 21:28
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just to spam the thread with my holiday snaps a bit more, this is me on the Besso. 
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Jul 31, 2023 13:22
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knox_harrington posted:just to spam the thread with my holiday snaps a bit more, this is me on the Besso. That looks like a lot of fun! When my kids are older I want to get into that kind of stuff
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Jul 31, 2023 13:26
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knox_harrington posted:just to spam the thread with my holiday snaps a bit more, this is me on the Besso. That's loving awesome.
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Jul 31, 2023 18:10
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knox_harrington posted:just to spam the thread with my holiday snaps a bit more, this is me on the Besso. Loving the photos. Some of the rock in the Valais is so beautiful with the different lichen patterns and the red gneiss underneath.
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Jul 31, 2023 21:37
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So what have been the most uncomfortable gut-churning experienced you've had climbing? When attempting to top out a boulder and realize your tiny looking pad is in the wrong sport. Stepping above a marginal piece of gear and watch the rope stretch lifting the piece off the wall. The sketchy exposed ridgeline descent when its been raining. Lead soloing when tired and mix up the anchor end and the free end of your rope for the tenth time. Multiple pieces of rock whizzing past you on a multipitch when you're stuck at an anchor. Leaning back and loading your marginal anchor just to swing sideways as a piece pops. Halfway up a free solo remember you had a beer (just one!) on the ground and feel noticably drunk. Watching your partner botching the second clip of a runout route. Pulling a microwave sized piece of rock off the wall and realize as it sails down that there are multiple families with small kids on the ground.
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Aug 15, 2023 15:29
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Sigmund Fraud posted:So what have been the most uncomfortable gut-churning experienced you've had climbing?  thankfully nothing like any of those (yet) since im just a babby climber. probably the only one so far is selecting a route for my partner to climb, seeing the sketchy belay position, and him reassuring me "yeah no way i'll fall, it's just a 5.8". then him getting to the crux, starting to have a minor panic since he's never fallen on lead outside yet, and me facing the prospect of being yanked up the wall into an overhanging roof to destroy my shins/knees on. thankfully he figured it out and topped it but whew the combination of his fear and mine made me sweat
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Aug 15, 2023 15:47
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I wish I've had more positive experiences such that my sketchy experiences would be proportionately higher. On one of my first few outdoor bouldering trips, my buddy flashed this problem I couldn't figure out the start to. So I asked him to repeat it so I could pay attention to his beta, which caused me to be a bit less focused on my spotting duties and he ended up falling off and rolling over and sprained his thumb. Small potatoes in the scheme things, but a good "Hey spot responsibly" warning. Although that's easy to say when it's not my thumb. He seemed to have a similar "poo poo happens, honest mistake" mentality at least, but he never did go outdoors again (I assume that was his wife's decision). Other than that, only other thing was a minor floot slip on a high ball. I wish my local climbing scene was bigger/better; it's hard to find people who you want to travel with, who want to travel with you, who have the means to travel & climb etc. Although I've tentatively got a guided trad day next month in the Adirondacks with some friends I've met from this 'adult team' I've been attending so that's pretty cool
Sab669 fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 15, 2023 |
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Aug 15, 2023 15:54
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My friend almost falling to the ground in a belay mishap from an inexperienced belayer was definitely the worst. All the sketchy slabby mossy crack full of pine needles 2nd parts of top outs that are easy but there's absolutely nothing to catch you if you slip since you had to turn a corner and now a fall means 10meters down to a pile of sharp rocks. Oh and first time leading outdoors on a route that was at my limit and actually mixed climbing but you could skip the part with a pro by following a massive flake for 3-4 meters and suddenly you're 10 meters off the ground and a fall is 100% a ground fall and it's too late to back down since you've been overgripping in fear for the past minute. Special mention to all the top outs where you look at the pads and think yeah, better not fall or my climbing career might be over. The more I climb the more I realise feeling like you might die or be severely injured and then surviving is probably a huge part of the fun since our dumb brains like chemicals. The good thing is that almost all situations just feel dangerous but the actual risk is really low. Like it's almost always something super easy but with big consequences if you gently caress up that gives me the right brain juices. KingColliwog fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Aug 15, 2023 |
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Aug 15, 2023 16:07
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Mine is accidentally getting on the super run-out variation multiple pitches off the ground and having to make easy (but scary) moves WAAAAAY above my last piece of (marginal) gear.
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Aug 15, 2023 16:10
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A couple more: Go for the OS of poorly protected route, place a very marginal micro nut at 5 meters, a couple meters later decide to back down to the nut, weigh it only for it to pop, sending you into the terrible landing 5 meters below, dislocating your foot, causing it to point 90 degrees in the wrong direction. E: You see a gym climber accidentally going up a mixed route believing it to be a sport route, watch him start cruxing out at 8 meters up and asking his belayer to spot him as the only bolt clipped is 5 meters below him. Sigmund Fraud fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Aug 15, 2023 |
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Aug 15, 2023 19:29
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My girlfriend and I had been climbing for years - maybe 5? She tied in indoors and started climbing, I was belaying. She got up to maybe 20ft? And missed a move . . . Only to fall straight to the ground. Neither of us had checked that she was actually roped
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Aug 15, 2023 20:11
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Sigmund Fraud posted:So what have been the most uncomfortable gut-churning experienced you've had climbing? There are the various run-outs or climbing above ledges where falling definitely feels scarier. Or getting your rope stuck on a multi-pitch rappel and having to figure out how to safely get it unstuck. But by far, my climbing partner ground falling from the top of a single pitch sport route after making a mistake setting up for a rappel. He lived but that was terrifying. So grateful search and rescue organizations.
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Aug 15, 2023 22:16
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This past weekend I pulled off a torso-sized flake while following a route. No idea how my leader managed to keep it on the wall, but I wouldn't have had anywhere to run if it came down over me. A while back I did my first serious R-rated route, not crazy dangerous put still really puttin it out there, sent it, got to the anchor, weighted the rope and realized I had forgotten to do up my leg loops. Spooky, and crushed my balls.
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Aug 15, 2023 22:32
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Realising once my climbing partner was like 8 metres up that I'd set my belay device up incorrectly and I had no idea if it would actually function to break a fall was pretty scary. I made that mistake exactly one time and luckily nobody got hurt, but I still think about it occasionally. The funny thing is that looking back at it later there were a lot of things I could have easily done to make it safer (hell, I had a second device on my harness for exactly this sort of weird situation and had plenty of rope to play with) but I was so freaked out that I didn't even think about it until afterwards.
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Aug 15, 2023 22:59
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Easily the worst was abseiling from a summit on a munter hitch during a thunderstorm and hearing my screwgate click open as I dropped about a foot because I'd set up the hitch with the rope running over the gate in my haste to get down. Luckily my prussik held and there was a ledge a little lower where I could fix things to ab the rest of the way. Working at a climbing wall, someone asked me to tighten a loose hold just as I was taking my harness off at the end of my shift. Climbed up to the top of the wall, fixed the hold, and was about to call to lower off when I realised my harness buckles were all still undone from taking it off. I downclimbed carefully. Seconding on an icefall, my partner spent ages setting up the belay. When I got there it consisted of one of his axes, the head driven in a half inch and tied off, and a hex wedged between the ice and some frozen turf. The second pitch was a little nerve-wracking. I've also done this one in reverse where my ropes were at full stretch after finishing the top pitch of a winter climb, no actual gear in reach, and I had to belay off my axes driven into the snow. My partner was not happy when he arrived, but at least they were both in to full shaft depth. Watching a friend soloing and have a flake break off in his hand, him barndooring waaay out and only just holding his balance. Probably the whole thing took about 3 seconds but it seemed like forever thinking I was about to see him die. The crunch of some guy's ankle breaking after he came off the crux of a highball/solo (Archangel at Stanage) has stayed with me a long time. We were climbing a couple routes over so we called him an ambulance and waited with him until help arrived.
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Aug 16, 2023 01:17
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Running out of rope, nowhere to place gear, and sitting around a bush belaying off my harness to bring up my second. Granted it was only 5.5 terrain but not ideal. Quickdraw unclipping from a bolt during a fall somehow. Still don't know how. Made for a long fall. Spotting some random 5 year old on a V1. He pops off at the very top. I more or less catch him after he bounces off a tree and plop him into the mat. Too many times people yelling up to others how to clean and watching them unclip and maybe about to plunge. Climbing past marginal pieces that the rope immediately lifts out of place. I really haven't had too many crazy things happen. Kept things solid I guess.
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Aug 16, 2023 03:05
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Hand slipped off a hold with the rope still in my teeth puling up slack for a clip. I didn't get hurt (let go in time), but it's a really drat scary thing to have happen. The extra slack also turned a normal fall into a whipper, I think a good 20 feet. My partner and I both wore ourselves out finishing a route at the limit of our ability at the time, and neither of us had the energy left to do another climb to clean it. I had the bright idea to use my ascender to go up to the top, only to discover that the webbing I was using for the foot loop was about half the length it should have been. I persevered and managed to clean the route, but it was one of my most uncomfortable climbing experiences ever. My first time lead belaying was outdoors with a Grigri. I'm left handed, so everything I was doing felt backwards. I felt a bit better about it afterwards after giving him a good catch when he fell near the top, but during the climb I was tense as hell.
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Aug 16, 2023 07:15
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One of my first times climbing multipitch trad. The route started with a scramble up a gully, about 50m, then a traverse into the cliff face proper. My partner did the traverse and I was supposed to the second pitch. When I started up I realised we didn't have big enough cams and the only placement I had was under a precarious flake. A second team of friends followed up and we decided on an emergency abseil. Found a good spike and set up probably 4 slings with screw gate biners and two cams for backup just in case. It was probably way overdone but we were inexperienced and nervous as hell. When I went to clean our anchor before the abseil I also noticed to it was absolutely terrible, one piece was completely loose, one placed between some loose rock and the last one barely hanging on. Then I also remembered my partner jumping up an down with exitement when I first climbed up to the anchor, tugging and pulling on the whole setup.... I don't think we climbed again after that.
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Aug 16, 2023 07:28
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My first attempt at multipitch trad, which was supposed to be sport or maybe mixed, but it turned out there were some rusty pitons and poo poo else, but I'd brought a rack up with me anyway so I had some protection. I finally got to the top of the first pitch and dropped my belay device, had to down climb the entire thing. It was like a 5.5 or something so it wasn't exactly *hard* but it felt very dumb (and I had no idea what I was doing then, I'm not sure why I didn't just rap on a munter.) Somehow the guy I was with stuck with me and we finished all 3 pitches after that too, I'd have bailed on myself, honestly. My last attempt at multipitch sport, I got the top of the 2nd pitch, which was a really runout traverse into a mantle onto a belay ledge, and the belay ledge is covered in ice/freezing water, so I'm mantling myself up onto it in a "don't fall or eat a pendulum across slab situation" crimping some tiny edge that is literally under freezing water. I don't know, I think multipitch is not for me. Those are separated by like 20 years, maybe I'll try again when I'm 60.
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Aug 16, 2023 16:50
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OK but we have to do good experiences next, otherwise people get the wrong idea. Fleeing collapsing seracs. Clipping through but not clove hitching the anchors, then calling safe and leaning back. Rope drag I owe you one. The whirring of incoming rocks. Do you look for them, or cower? Cam dentistry. That sound of the last wire lifting out. The way an abseil rope skips along the edge just as you commit.
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Aug 17, 2023 20:31
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Huh, dang. I've completely worn out my Evolvs, can see my bare toe through a nice big hole in the box. Ordered some Tarantulas, got 2 different sizes as I wasn't 100% sure what to get but even the smaller of the two sizes feels too big. Slightly annoying as now I'm gonna order a third smaller pair to see if those fit even better than the smaller of the original two. My Katanas in a 42 are hard as hell to put on, but these 41.5 Tarantulas slip on easier than whatever size my current Evolvs are (the tags are so worn off I have no idea)
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Aug 23, 2023 21:17
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