P90x...

So I officially started my P90x workout Sunday evening - I climbed Sunday, but not really enough - so I did Arms and Chest...I'm glad that I pregamed last week - I didn't TOTALLY suck with that workout.

The plyometrics workout was the one that I was the most worried about (last night) - but It went MUCH better than it did the previous week as well - I was pretty excited that I only had to pause it once (or maybe twice I don't remember) - The abs workout wasn't so bad either - I had to pause it a few times and I couldn't do all the workouts to the max reps, but it went much better than the previous day.

P90x Workout

As with the energy it takes to workout and lose weight, I've greatly improved my dietary efforts as well. I had 3 eggs for breakfast this morning, and a slice of Pies and Pints Pizza. I bought a bunch of fruit at the store for lunch (and probably finish off the Pies and Pints Pizza) - Dinner will be a salad at Panera.

Tonight's P90x is going to be Shoulders and Arms.

So - Those of you that know me - know this - but its funny because I'm a pretty crappy climber for one who does it with his life...I've sent one V7 - and it was a while ago - and have only RPed a handful of 12ds....I'm really hoping that this workout will push me into being more solid on 12+ and maybe - just maybe I'll send my first 5.13a this fall? I sure hope so.

I'm planning a two week trip the first two weeks of November - I'm thinking about driving out to Bishop, with a stop at Joe's Valley on the way there and back (its like an hour and a bit out of the way!)

My P90x workout will take me to about two weeks before that. Also, I'm getting a hangboard in the mail here soon and am hoping to add a weekly hangboard workout to my P90x routine.

so yeah - life is hard (not) - I've been going to sleep at 830 - so I can wake up at 530 - to go to work - then I come home, train and then sleep....(I only work four days a week though.)

I'll keep updating on my P90x and if/how its improving my climbing.

Maple Canyon Climbing: The Beta Page

Planning a trip to Maple? Here's our thoughts from spending two weeks in this cobble-filled canyon...

Camping

• You can book online and pay $8 a night. The benefit of this is you reserve your campsite (most are booked solid on the weekends). You also get one of the 12 "nice" campsites that have firepits, several flat tent spots each, big table and shade. It's also possible to just turn up, and if one of the $8 sites is free, you can book and pay, but more interestingly for dirtbags are the $3 per night campsites. These are a first come first served basis and are great for long termers. They're not reservable.  They are less deluxe, not having a table, and might be a big hike to the nearest toilet.

Amenities

• There are several pit toilets located within the campground. They are kept in quite good order.
• There are no showers.
• There is no water. Bring your own.
• You'll get no phone reception anywhere in the canyon.

Laundry

• Nearest and best is the coin laundry behind the Fast Trax service station in Mt Pleasant.

Food and water

• In Ephraim, you can buy groceries at either Kent's Market (very cheap specials for dirtbags) or Wal-mart. Nephi and Mt Pleasant also have supermarkets.
• For rest day meals, there is a Subway and McDonalds in Ephraim. Nephi also has a Wendy's. I recommend Roy's Pizza (formerly known as Fat Jack's) in Ephraim or Cavalier Pizza in Mt Pleasant. And for something sweet, you can't go past Ephraim's Malt Shop for great shakes and slushes.
• Water is easily obtainable at the service station adjacent to Ephraim's Wal-mart (near the air hose).

Wifi

• Various unsecured home routers on main street of Manti, good for picking up emails on the move, or updating your scorecard ;)
  
  For longer stints you have two options: 

1. McDonalds in Ephraim has power, free wifi and endless soda. Use the ice machine to top up your esky on the way out.
2. Computer lab in the Snow College in Ephraim. Drive around Snow College until you spot a bell tower. Park there. The building left of the bell tower is the computer lab and has free Internet access on very fast computers.

Showers

• There are $2 hot showers and an indoor pool in the Gymnasium/Recreation centre at Snow College in Ephraim.

Guidebook

• There is an online guide available (link) for $12. It is not a new guide. It is over 10 years old but is the best that is on offer currently. Supplement this with the online information on Mountain Project. Ask around for info on new sectors if you're interested.

Climbing

• Routes tend to be endurance affairs. Holds tend to be open grips, but there is some crimping to be found where cobbles have fallen out. A 60m rope is fine. There is enough to occupy the 5.10 climber (unlike Rifle), and plenty if you climb harder than this. Because of rockfall, helmets are good. Especially for belaying. And for routes 5.12 and above, you're going to want your kneebar pads.

Grades

• Grades of routes are all over the shop at Maple. For example, routes at the great cliff "The Minimum" are so ridiculously soft I'm surprised the bolts don't fall out. And yet, routes in Box Canyon are often quite stout. The best thing to do is take the grades with a large pinch of salt, and if you want to see what consensus is saying about a route, check it out on 8a.nu's Maple ticklist. And if it's obviously soft, don't take the higher grade ;)

If stuff changes, email me and I'll keep this post updated.

P90x...

So I've decided to try the P90x workout - It was suggested to me by Ray Ellington (he's a beast) and I figured it would be good for me to do some general fitness stuff. It will certainly cut into my climbing performance; its a 7 day program and I'm going to cram it into 5 days (Day 6 is Yoga and Day 7 is stretching - gonna skip stretching and put Yoga)

I'm officially starting next week - though I'm going to do some of the workouts this week just to get some of them down.

Yesterday - I did the "Chest and Back" + ABs. - I did one cycle through Chest and Back (it does each twice) - then did abs...and it just crushed me...it was awesome - Tonight is Plyometrics....to quote my facebook post "I've always wondered what it would be like to wake up hours later in a pool of my own blood" - since plyometrics is the "art of leaping"...Its a 3 month schedule and I modded it to get it into five days...

I also did a bitch of switching around so Friday's are "light"


Week 1-3:
1. Monday – Chest and Back/Abs
2. Tuesday - Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Shoulders and Arms/Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday - Kenpo and Yoga
Week 4:
1. Monday – Yoga
2. Tuesday – Core
3. Wednesday – Kenpo
4. Thursday – Core
5. Friday – Yoga
Week 5-7:
1. Monday – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps/Abs
2. Tuesday – Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Back and Biceps/Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday – Kenpo and Yoga
Week 8:
1. Monday – Yoga
2. Tuesday – Core
3. Wednesday – Kenpo
4. Thursday – Core
5. Friday – Yoga
Week 9:
1. Monday – Chest and Back/Abs
2. Tuesday – Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Shoulders and Arms/Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday – Kenpo and Yoga
Week 10:
1. Monday – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps/Abs
2. Tuesday – Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Back and Biceps/Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday – Kenpo and Yoga

Week 11:
1. Monday – Chest and Back/Abs
2. Tuesday – Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Shoulders and Arms/Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday – Kenpo and Yoga
Week 12:
1. Monday – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps/Abs
2. Tuesday – Plyometrics
3. Wednesday – Back and Biceps/ Abs
4. Thursday – Legs and Back
5. Friday – Kenpo and Yoga

and that's all folks.....

Day 3: Continued
The hike out to the boulders – for once – wasn’t a horror show…and the boulders were quite cool. We met up with a couple dudes that have been helping to establish and keep the place open – they were really cool and I shot a bunch of photos of them and their female counterparts.
We’re talking about maybe checking out the “TV-Tower” crag tomorrow – with the major draw being the short(er?) approach. I sure hope it’s a short approach.
The interesting part about “the Dump” is that is a really sensitive ecological area. The Ontario group (OAC) was pretty key in negotiating the opening of the boulders, but you have to be really careful to not trample/mess with the flora – especially this special “Daisy.”

Day 4:
The bugs were really bad last night – I basically said – ok sorry dude, but screw this I’m going to bed (despite napping twice and the fact that I wasn’t tired) - I just couldn’t stand the swarm of mosquitoes…A few made it into my tent, though I didn’t wake up with any painful bites – I do remember swatting at a few that were buzzing around my head.
On a road trip – I think that rest days are the most difficult thing...more so making the decision that we need a rest day. We need a rest day today…but screw it – we’re going climbing. We’ll definitely need a rest day tomorrow – for sure...I think we’re talking about checking out this white sands beach or something...
I’m not sure where we’re going to today yet, though we may check out the “TV Tower” crag since it supposedly has a short approach (God I wish!!!)
This trip is really nice – It feels like I’m climbing full time again – I’ve been gone away from work long enough that I don’t really think of that as my “life” – not that I really do much anyways – having a 3 day weekend every weekend.

-----Day 4: Part 2-------
Today has definitely been the most humid day – we drove out to the T.V. Tower crag (funny enough the one guidebook lists it, but doesn’t even give directions to it – how lame right?) – well it was a total poison ivy fest/chosspile….well maybe the one route there looked good – but we said screw it – not worth it….well maybe…but not really…We ended up just taking a rest day….
I think we’re gonna climb at Lion’s Head tomorrow…

Day 5:
Totally got my butt kicked – its sad for me to admit, but I’m not climbing 5.12a anymore ☹. I really need to whip myself into shape – I put 3 more goes into “Busted at Bedford”, but was unable to do it…the third go I made it all the way to the anchors and was just too scared to risk the forty foot whipper on rusty bolts…the anchor clip is probably the crux – the holds end about 2 feet below the anchor so you basically need to dead-point clip the anchor, then lock-off and pull up rope and clip…well maybe next year right?
I did manage to scare myself up this really cool 5.10c trad route (on the Latvian Ledge) – Fastball? Or something like that…Totally thought I was gonna die...but whatever right? If you’re not scared – its not a trad climb? I need to get back into tard shape – I was feeling pretty good last season…
The bugs here….are….reallllllly…bad!

Day 6:
Today was more of a “mellow” day – at least we didn’t try anything harder than 11a – though we did try, but fail miserably to find “Katrina and the Wave” – after a nastyish bushwhack and a bunch of arêtes that all looked the same (and we didn’t seen any bolts), we headed back to past the Latvian Ledge to do a line that caught my eye several days ago – we rappelled in and did “Lady Slipper” 5.10a which was probably the best pitch we’ve done so far – then we did the companion line (mind you it took me three goes) – “Magica Moment” 5.11a. I didn’t expect to do anything hard so I only brought my “one-size big/comfy/smear shoes” to the rappel ledge…oh well…you got hosed tommy…you got hosed…
..I’ve come to realize that I am a very smear oriented climber – and well…smearing on blank limestone walls doesn’t cut it like it does on sandstone…I really need to work on my edging…I just always default to smearing when I can…We finished up by doing “Skunks Do It In Tevas” 5.9 – a high quality, variety climb with two mono moves….it was really cool. Looks like two more climbing days – and so far – NO RAIN…did I just curse myself? We shall see…
We’ve been hitting the Lion’s Head Inn every night for dinner…the food is…well pretty good – a big pricey- but I guess you get what you pay for – especially in Canada…

Day 7
You know is gonna be a tough day when its 10:00 am and you’ve already taken your daily max of Ibuprofen…
Totally hosed us – it rained today. We got exactly as low of an elevation from the car as possible when the storm hit – we went into the boulder field at Half Way Dump only to get totally dumped on…well that’s life I guess right? So we went driving around a bit – and found this really really nice, warm beach on the other side…of course it was raining… jumped in anyways…the water was actually warm…and nice – of course it was freezing so I got out pretty quick and high-tailed it…
We’re not sure but if it rains again tomorrow, we may be pissing on the fire and calling in the dog and heading to a boulder/climbing area in PA called the Allegheny Nation Forest (ANF.) – not sure yet…
We drove up to Tobermory today – it was…well…it was nice. There were trees. And some roads…and I think we saw a few rocks. We got out at this visitors center and Bob got to see what a Fisher looked like “oh and a biiiiiig bear too”. I just waited in the parking lot. I used his phone and saw a picture of a Fisher too. Of course – all these photos of this gorgeous blond popped up too. Go figure. Try doing a Google image search for a “Fisher.”

One thing that I’ve noted here on the Bruce Peninsula is the people – they’re really nice and cool – I think every night at the Lion’s Head – we chit-chatted with locals – the waitresses – other patrons – we even had two people stop by our campsite to talk to us. Super rad…

Day 8 (The day that the music died):

Coopers Rock Guidebook...

Its funny - I just bought a Coopers Rock guidebook on Amazon - it was actually cheaper (including shipping) than I can buy it from the publisher myself....funny right?

Day 2 and Day 3 at Lion's Head...

Day 2:
We did Lion’s Head proper today – you know – I’m starting to see a theme around here (other than limestone and pockets) – freaking long and heinous hikes! At least there aren’t any hills…but man – they’re really long!!! – especially when carrying the camera…
We did a handful of pitches today – including two really good moderate warm-ups, a decent 11b (that felt easy) and I put two burns into this HEINOUS 5.12a called Busted at Bedford. The 2nd burn, I made it through the crux, but was just too scary to clip the darned draw! I think if I get back on this one – I’m gonna hang a dyneema from the bolt and clip mix crux instead of trying to clip off of good hands and no feet.
The climbing at Lion’s Head was on the “blue” limestone, though the nature of the routes, the movement and the sketchy bolting was very reminiscent of climbing on Endless Wall at the New River Gorge…We saw this really cool crack climb – I think we’re gonna come back and do it (and maybe hopefully send that darned 12a)
I snapped a few images today – once the sun came over, the lighting was just exquisite. After loping back (more like staggering the way my feet were feeling), we did Dinner for the 2nd night in a row at the Lion’s Head Inn.

Day 3:
“We were pondering how many ‘Toonies ’ it would take at the local brothel to figure out what a ‘Rusty Blackbird’ (V5) was, but later learned they named the problems after the Flora and Fauna in the park.”
Has it really only been three days? I’m feeling totally whooped – I guess that we’re calling today a rest day anyways – but not really – we went bouldering at this place called “Half Way Dump” or “the Dump” – the bouldering was pretty good – though limestone (I was hoping for granite – but you can’t always get what you want…)
I basically got my butt kicked – though I’m totally blaming “day 3 in-a-row” – my guns were just thrashed and I kept falling any time I needed to call in the reserves. I did do a handful of V3s that were quite good.

Lion's Head Part 1!

I typed a trip report while at Lion's Head - I'm gonna post it in parts....
I'm holding photos hoping to get an article in DPM


Day 0:
…was basically that – Day 0 – driving….about 8 or 9 hours of it with stops from Pittsburgh, to the campsite which is - what – not at Lion’s Head – yeah that’s right – Cape Croker. It was fairly expensive here - $100 CAD for a week – I guess all said in done that’s not terrible though.

There was a lot of cool things on the way up – though I drove the whole way and just wasn’t into the “take photos of things” mood – though I will probably try and shoot all the goodies on the way back – granted – all the cool stuff was in Canada – like the Wind-mill farms….We saw a place that had an “anti-wind energy sign” – I think I’m gonna write a separate satire against wind energy…that sounds fun?

I had threatened to be sassy to the border guard – to basically tell him to piss off – I’m an American and could go wherever I wanted – but I ended up being more like – ummm yyyes sssssir….nnooo nooo sir….West ViiiVirginia Sir….tthhhthahhank you sir.
Last night = we hiked up to the climbing at Cape Croker, though I think that we are seriously lacking for a guidebook to the area – the area was cool, with some good looking lines, but short. The mosquitoes were in fact, really bad…I must have killed 30 or 40 of them – I’m glad that I brought my hoodie – to keep them off my face and arms.
Yesterday was “Canada Day” – I guess it celebrates the day that Canada fought and won it independence or something….I’m not sure what we’re up to today, though I think that we had mentioned doing White Bluff – since its in the sun for Bob and STEEEEEEP for me ☺

I warmed up this morning on the playground at the campground here – it really is quite nice, though really busy. I guess all the Canadians are really happy to celebrate the day that they fought for their independence…

Day 1:

Not a bad day – I did sorta get spanked though! We climbed at White Bluff – which actually has a pretty crappy and long hike – no seriously – it was long! Nice though – nice scenery, nice million and half million dollar houses that we walked by on the way.
The mosquitoes here really suck which is a bummer – but they’re not horrible horrible – no worse than WV during the worst time of year for them.

I did manage to onsite two 11s and a 5.8 – though totally got spanked (one hung) this really good route – They Live (5.12b) – pretty sketchy and pumpy – I fell the first go on it because my feet slipped (Limestone is tough!) and the second time I just pumped out – I’m hoping to send it next go or two – if we make it back there.

We drove around a good bit today – mostly being tourists. I went into the water -which was cooooooold but nice…just up to my knees – I knew better than to jump in jump in – I would have frozen my butt off!
I think that we’re gonna try and climb at Lion’s Head proper tomorrow…

The Rifle Kneepad Ritual

A quick pictorial demonstration of what you have to do to climb here at Rifle.

Updated P-wall topo

Dan and Brian getting out while the getting was still good. We went to climb at the P-wall and in the morning, the clouds left and gave us a beautiful day. But by lunch time, our luck was up and it was time to get out!

Brian and I still able to see each other in the thick cloud that covered Mt Evans.

Me, just hanging around on my latest new route, A Vacation from Your Problems.

Taylor came out to check out the P-wall and liked what he climbed on. Here he is at the top of Rocky Mountain High.

The latest topo of the P-wall. There are two new climbs at the base of the wall. The new routes are both mixed with crack gear and a couple of bolts where the wall was blank. The left of the two new climbs is called Baby Steps (5.11-/pumpy) and the right line is called Tenacious P 5.12/technical). I just want to thank J-Star for coming out and rock climbing with me on the routes and for helping unlock the sequences on the two new first pitches to the wall. Now this place is starting to look and feel like a crag!

So a quick summary of the routes and their estimated grades:

Back to the Earth 5.13 c/d (mixed gear to 1 inch and bolts)

A Vacation from your problems 5.13b (all bolts)

Open Arete Project (V12/V13 bouldery 2 bolt route) (all bolts)

Hopeless AKA High Hopes Closed Project 5.14ish (all bolts)

Rocky Mountain High 5.12+/13- (mixed gear to 3 inches and bolts)

Aqualung 5.13- (mixed gear to 2 inches and bolts)

It's a Homonym 5.12b (mixed gear to 4inches and bolts)

Tenacious P 5.12c (mixed gear to .75 inches and bolts)

Baby Steps 5.11- (mixed gear to 1 inch and bolts)

Get out and have fun, I hope to see you there!

piz : )

A Vacation From Your Problems 5.13

Dan Gambino took another round of photos the other day.
They really let you see the wall and where the heck we are climbing on the P-wall.
Enjoy them and if you like contact Dan and buy one up!

http://www.dangpix.com/pwall%20traverse%202/index.html

piz : )

Rifle USA - home of the kneebar?

Rifle Mountain Park, Colorado USA. Where the strong come to send (eventually) and the weak come to weep.

First impressions? Way more beautiful than I expected. Rifle is a long canyon with 60-80m high limestone walls on either side (which means there's always shade, even in summer) and a rushing alpine stream running through the middle. The stream is conveniently filled with brown trout so you'll share the campsite with fisherman and camping families. Bring your fishing gear or buy a complete setup for $16 at Wal-Mart like I did.

The camping in Rifle costs $7 a night, plus $5 per car, or buy an annual car pass for $40, which makes sense if you're staying for more than eight nights. Amenities include toilets and firepits. That's about it. The nearest showers and food are in at the town of Rifle which is about 20 minutes away by car, or (better) Glenwood Springs (45 minutes away).

Easy routes? Pfft! Good luck! There's maybe one or two sectors which have a handful of routes in the 5.8 - 5.10 range (17 - 19 or 5c - 6a+). If you're climbing under 7a / 23 / 5.11c I wouldn't bother. Just go elsewhere. But for this grade and upwards (especially the 7c / 27 / 5.12d grades) the place offers some serious quality. To me, the routes all seem hard for their grades. Who cares though when the quality is so good?

Walk-in's vary in length from zero minutes to about 1 minute. Great for lazy sport climbers.

I've found the climbing to be less steep than I'd imagined. With far fewer kneebars damn it. Maybe I'm just not finding them? There's lots of just gently overhanging sectors (which I love) and the routes demand a ton of endurance. There's a lot of polish, so you have to learn to trust those "buttery footholds".

Nearly all the routes have clip and lower anchors which is nice. And nearly all the classics have permadraws like these. These are also nice, although the wear on the biners means that your rope will turn black (from the aluminium oxide) and you should wear gloves when belaying.

So we're one week in and those are my initial ramblings. As for routes, I really enjoyed Beer Run 5.13a and Easy Skankin' 5.12b - both rated as the best of their grade in the wider Crankinverse. And I've fallen in love with The Anti-Phil 5.13b, so I'll see if I can get that sent before we leave.

Enjoy some pics...

New Route at the P-Wall

I have not named the line yet, but it traverses on bolts from Back to the Earth out to the the finish of my mega project named Hopeless (aka High Hopes).
The wall is steep and the traverse is really pumpy. Getting to the finishing moves is a real bear that is for sure and I have taken some fun whippers at the end of the route.
It feels like its 12+ or 13- for sure and I am really excited to have this quality addition to the wall.
I am currently taking ideas for route names. Keep them appropriate please.

There are some Dan Gambino photos of Brian Young and I trying the route and some other wall photos from the P-Wall.
http://www.dangpix.com/pwall%20traverse/index.html

piz : )