Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

SwashedBuckles posted:

So a guy at my gym took a ground fall from the top (40ft) the other day. He let go after topping out and then just plummeted to the ground.

He hosed up both of his ankles really bad but he could feel all his limbs and his spine seemed to be intact. He was texting or posting while laying on the mat waiting to get carted off to the ambulance.

A pretty sobering reminder to do your safety checks before climbing and all, but here's the mystery to me: how did he manage to tie in enough to pull the rope up with him but have it come completely undone as soon as it was weighted, with no visible damage to the rope or his harness?

Best guess I have is he didn't do the figure 8 follow through and just looped through the harness and tied a stopper knot.

So yeah, pay attention and triple check your poo poo before climbing.

I've seen this happen because someone tied in through the guide loop part of the harness. He let go at the top of the climb and just dropped

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 00:22

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 17:25

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

cheese eats mouse posted:

I guess this is a good time to solicit feedback. I've been stuck in a fear zone for about a month now and I noticed I drag a bit more when I'm scared, esp after watching this video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDtCrnBAcg/

Decide what your route will be before you get on the climb - you spend like half the video switching your feet back and forth. If you plan out your movements before you start, you'll have a lot less wasted energy.

Also try to be more accurate/controlled with your foot placement. Look at where you want to place your foot and place it there in a controlled manner. Focus on putting your big toe on the center of the foothold

# ¿ Oct 27, 2018 17:11

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

If you contact the manufacturer they might be willing to sell you a pair of shoes in different sizes. It's pretty common for people to have different sized feet so I'm sure they are used to that kind of request

# ¿ Oct 10, 2019 17:08

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Mokelumne Trekka posted:

here's the situation

Those are unsalvageable

# ¿ Nov 15, 2019 03:34

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Lincoln woods in RI is supposed to have pretty good bouldering, but I haven't had a chance to go there yet.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2019 17:11

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Kasumeat posted:

1st problem: I tried that, but there's no way to stay on the wall if you put your right foot that high. If you look at the side view, the wall is quite overhung and from there there's nowhere to put your left foot because the other large pink hold is blocking the lower footholds. The angle is too much to stand on it with your left foot just flagging. I'm pretty sure I could finish the problem if I hit that hold, there's enough opposition between the handhold I'm on and going to that it looks pretty secure to me, like a crossover gaston. From there, it doesn't look very difficult to match by putting your weight on your left foot and scooting it over to the far right.

2nd: Interesting thought, I never tried that. I wish I'd taken a better angle to show this, but the difficulty here is that the volume tapers out from being very narrow at the top to larger at the bottom, so you'd have to get your

You almost definitely need to just put your right foot on the hold your right hand starts on, turn your right shoulder into the wall and straighten out as you reach with your right hand. If you can't keep your foot on while doing that it is probably a footwork problem. Even if you were on a horizontal roof that would be a great foothold

# ¿ Dec 24, 2019 17:11

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Kasumeat posted:

Which problem are you referring to?

The pink one on the jugs

# ¿ Dec 24, 2019 17:19

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Kasumeat posted:

That's not possible, look at it from the side. The lower of the pair of pink holds blocks it.

You literally put your foot on it to do the heel hook.

# ¿ Dec 24, 2019 17:27

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Eventually you'll get calluses on your big toe knuckle, which helps cut down on the pain from aggressive shoes (until the callus gets too big...)

# ¿ Feb 25, 2020 23:17

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

One time I found a snake hiding behind a big flake I grabbed, which was horrifying. Thank God for bail biners

# ¿ Mar 5, 2020 00:57

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Trango gear is scary to me. There were a lot of problems with the Cinch breaking because a pin got worn down, then they had the Vergo recall. Very hesitant to trust their gear after all that

# ¿ Mar 6, 2020 18:29

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

spwrozek posted:

What I really want to know is who is going to go to a climbing gym anytime soon.

I'm certainly going back the instant my gym re-opens because I already recovered from covid, and with the infection rates we're seeing I have to imagine a lot of other people are in that category as well.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2020 20:51

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

bvj191jgl7bBsqF5m posted:

I wonder if having grip that dies after an hour is just sort of part of life for me as a fat sack of crap, or if there is anything I can do to increase my endurance for grip other than "stop overgripping"?

Today I felt real good other than some DOMS in my arms that went away after a good warmup, then I found a fun looking V3-V4 on a slightly overhanging arete with babbys first slopers and decent jugs. After 3 attempts my grip seemed totally done for the day and I struggled to keep a grip on the V0s and V1s that I had warmed up on earlier in the day.

It sounds like you're pretty new to climbing, so you might just need to give it time for your body to adjust. Otherwise, the way you'd want to train is to find problems which are around flash level or slightly below and just climb like 15 of them with minimal rests in between (I do 3 min rests). If you're failing early on then use easier problems - the goal is to barely complete all the climbs or only start falling towards the end.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2020 01:26

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I've never been to a gym where I needed my own rope. I'm surprised that the insurance companies are ok with that.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2020 15:16

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Everybody wears masks, but the social distancing/crowd size at my gym is terrible, especially since they restarted junior team practices + set up an adult training league. I'm not too worried though because cases in my state have been extremely low for a while now, plus it's probably harder for me to get covid a second time (I hope)

# ¿ Oct 20, 2020 21:23

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Sab669 posted:

What do you guys do for shoulder health? I got an impingement last November in my left shoulder which was pretty prohibitive, like "Can't even turn my steering wheel to take a right turn" while driving. Had to do a few weeks of PT and even then it was painful for a few months. It seems I again I overdid myself on Monday, with my right shoulder this time. I get some pretty hefty pain if I put my hand behind my back to try and scratch my shoulder blades, and some minor pain in a variety of other motions.

Just turned 30, abused my body heavily in college with a lack of exercise and fast food. Only started to become active in the last few years. Guess I need to start taking fitness more seriously

IYTs with a theraband, dumbbell rows, external rotations. Also chest exercises can help a lot to balance out the stress on your shoulders from overdeveloped back muscles

# ¿ Oct 22, 2020 14:31

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I started actively training for climbing around fall last year, so my main goals for this year are to keep up high effort and consistency with my training plan. I'd love to send V10 too, but grade goals are always pretty iffy.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2021 20:05

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Sab669 posted:

I haven't climbed in 9 days because my finger hurts. It's a little stiff when I wake up, random dextrous tasks will hurt (eg grabbing my phone and flipping it over) and sometimes simply just making a fist / opening my hand will come with a tinge of pain. I've also started holding my dog's leash in my other hand as it hurts to grip hard if she pulls.

I didn't hear that dreaded "pop" noise I've heard associated with pulley injuries, but I definitely did something.

Aside from not climbing, is there anything I can do to expedite recovery?

If the pain goes away quickly and it's a tendon problem it's usually time to start progressively loading the injured finger. Basic idea is to pull hard enough to cause some pain during the exercise that goes away right after you stop.

That protocol doesn't necessarily work for all injuries so some more info on what type of pain and where it's located would help

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 16:48

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Working on your pushing muscles (pushups, dips, etc) and shoulder stability are areas that will help you a lot to prevent future injuries. I wish I had known the importance of strong shoulders when I started climbing, because I ended up with injuries and time off climbing because of weakness in my rotator cuffs.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2021 20:10

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Yeah, it feels like the head to head needed to be BO3 or BO5 to reduce the volatility

# ¿ Aug 5, 2021 22:56

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I think the beta you tried in the video looks fine, you just need to get a bit more explosive power from your leg in order to reach the hold before your body starts sinking.

You could also try right toe pulling into the hold on the right and left pushing off the foot you've tried to toe hook to generate power

# ¿ Sep 21, 2021 14:50

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

KingColliwog posted:

I thought eliminates are when you take a route and then remove a hold each time? What we do is usually called +1 I think? One guy gives the starting holds, then the other one add one move, then the other guy adds another move and so on

That's called add on. Eliminates are outdoor problems where some holds or useable features are declared off route.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2021 02:39

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

tildes posted:

Any Manhattan gyms for bouldering y’all would recommend? Ideally south of Central Park just given the rest of the schedule, but if there’s somewhere great elsewhere I’m interested!

I think Central Rock Gym is considered the best in Manhattan, but if you're willing to take the subway to Brooklyn Vital is large and usually has good setting.

# ¿ May 14, 2022 14:50

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I'm going to be sport climbing in Squamish for a week, does anybody have suggestions for must do climbs? Mostly looking for 10a-12b recs, but will probably pick out a 12+/13- to work for a day or two.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2022 15:19

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Get ready for some brutal cold if you go outside. I'm spending Thanksgiving week at Rumney and the whole week has highs in the mid 30s :cry:

# ¿ Nov 16, 2022 16:54

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Hand warmers in the chalk bag is another good trick

# ¿ Nov 16, 2022 17:56

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Thanksgiving at Rumney was super cold, but there were a couple days with the sun out that were good climbing conditions. Nobodu was around so I got to do a bunch of popular moderates that alwaya have lines and my wife scouted out her spring project.

Didn't get on my projects, but almost sent Get It On, a fun short and crimpy route in 2 sessions. My foot slipped right after the easy V3 start and then I pulled right back on and climbed through the crux to the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XyHidhpNz0

# ¿ Nov 29, 2022 18:49

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I'd suggest NOT top roping with a secondary rope to practice clipping. IMO the biggest part of learning to lead is becoming comfortable clipping while tired and not freaking out about potential falls, and practicing on top rope doesn't help with that.

If you want to practice clipping technique get a quickdraw and short rope and practice clipping whenever you have some free time at home

# ¿ Dec 15, 2022 23:39

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Baronash posted:

This is bizarre advice. If you’re top roping or on an auto belay at the gym anyway, it costs nothing except a bit of time to clip draws on your way up.

The point is that you shouldn't be top roping at all if you're trying to get better at leading.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2022 16:08

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Slow News Day posted:

This was just an addition to my regular climbing, which I do 4-5 times a week (bouldering once a week, TR/lead the rest). It was the first hangboard training program I followed with any kind of actual discipline.

This is probably the actual reason you saw such big improvements. If you spent twice a week doing repeaters instead you'd see similar results. If this routine helps you keep consistent though, then it's doing the most important thing.

If I understand correctly you're measuring the maximum time you can hang at bodyweight? That sort of short-term endurance tends to increase very quickly for the first 3-4 weeks of training, then pretty much stop improving. Most people measure progress hangboarding by looking at max weight they can hang for X seconds (usually 5-10) because it's a much better measure of long-term gains.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2023 22:12

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Your kid's fine - anybody who actually gets upset by someone flashing their project or doing drills on it needs to fix their own viewpoint, and you shouldn't change what you're climbing because of them. Don't be the weirdo campusing V2s trying to pick up girls, but also don't worry about campusing V2s if that's good training for you.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2023 21:23

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I'm actually looking into a home wall too, trying to figure out what size I can comfortably fit in my garage and whether I should just build it myself. I wasn't a big fan of the kilter board so I was thinking of getting a tension board 2.

We haven't gotten any quotes, but public pricing for adjustable walls is painful.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2023 15:41

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

We ended up going with Revival Climbing for an 8'x12' 45⁰ fixed angle wall, ended up costing around 8k for the frame and shipping. Now I just need to wait two months for it to get here.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2023 18:00

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I married my climbing partner :shrug:

# ¿ Oct 13, 2023 18:09

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Finished building my home wall on Christmas, just waiting on crash pads and it'll be strictly better than climbing at my current gym.

We originally wanted an adjustable angle, but ended up going with a fixed 45 degrees so we could have a 12' high wall. Warming up is a little rough, but realistically we'd almost never climb less than 40 degrees so an adjustable angle wouldn't add much.

Right now the plastic holds are super rough on the skin and I dry fire off all the slippery wood holds, so if anybody lives near Yonkers and wants to help breaking in a TB2 PM me.

Some highlights from the build:

Anchoring the frame into concrete. I've never drilled/anchored to concrete before so it took me a bit to get comfortable with using a rotary hammer, and then actually getting the tapcons fully sunk into the holes was a pain.

Board is connected to the base through a hinge and two support struts:

Finished adding all the plastic holds:

I measured everything like 10 times because I knew ceiling clearance was gonna be tight:

The wiring and LEDs at the back of the board. Plugging all the lights into the wall was the hardest part of this process and I think I have an RSI for my thumb because it takes a lot of force to get the lights into the little holes in the wall.

Final product with a poodle for scale:

# ¿ Dec 27, 2023 18:44

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Baddog posted:

That looks awesome man!

I'm foolishly heading down the path of building our own, I think the kilter holds are gonna get here way before we get the board made though.

Are those 2x6s on the framing? Feels way solid even with just 3 cross pieces? I've seen some where people just go nuts with bracing, but this seems pretty minimal.

If you get a sec, can I get a picture of the hinge?

Yeah the frame is 2x6s, and it feels as solid as the freestanding walls I've climbed in a gym. It wobbles a bit when I do big moves at 165 lbs but it's steady for my wife who's closer to 115.

The limited frame did seem a little sus to me at first, but I checked and it seems to be common in these kind of walls. More backing might cut down on the wobble but I feel safe climbing it.

I'll try to take a pic of the hinge tomorrow.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2023 05:10

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

Baddog posted:

That looks awesome man!

I'm foolishly heading down the path of building our own, I think the kilter holds are gonna get here way before we get the board made though.

Are those 2x6s on the framing? Feels way solid even with just 3 cross pieces? I've seen some where people just go nuts with bracing, but this seems pretty minimal.

If you get a sec, can I get a picture of the hinge?

Hinge pics:

# ¿ Dec 31, 2023 22:54

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 17:25

Xyven: Jun 4, 2005; Check to induce a ban

I've just been buying the same shoes for over a decade now. Once you find something that fits might as well stick with it.

If you're trying to find the right shoes, look around for gyms doing shoe demos

# ¿ Apr 9, 2024 04:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way