Matt_Anderson

regarding the injury question, you'll have to find a way to determine if it was a real injury or just a ripped ring finger tendon.

So long as you know in your head that the gear is fine, but you are still all clustered up, its generally just an irrational, subconscious fear. The best way past it is to increase your time outside and make being above gear the friendliest place to be. As far as little exercises I use to get past the irrational fear? I do these: I start up a pitch with good gear and jump. Make sure your partner knows your purpose, so he won't let you weenie out of it. Jump multiple times over different pieces of gear. If you want to progress beyond that, have your partner start calling out where he thinks you should fall. If you protect so that the falls are always ok, you'll start accepting that doing it anywhere (so long as the gear is adequate) is ok. The theory is that the more times it happens without a bad result, the less it will seem like a big deal. By having your partner call out when, you give up a bit more control and start experiencing that giving up that control (so long as you are reasonably protected) is ok on both a conscious and unconcious level. The danger you're guarding against is climbing up to a spot where you are scared and refuse to fall, then repeating, thus making yourself more and more scared as time goes on. I also find that working a red point on a pitch that is quite hard for me and rather continuaous over a long period of time helps. You'll log a lot of air time, and as you get the moves dialed and are able to climb closer to your limit, you'll start getting that much further. This will give you positive reinforcement for pushing forward when your forearms don't feel like they will get you to the next piece, but they might. I find that the usual reason for me hanging is that I thing "I'm way to pumped, no way I can get to the next rest, I may as well hang here." This is a cop out that masks the "I'm afraid to fall even though I know on a rational level that the fall is ok." Once you get past that, you surprise yourself. Understand that going out and accepting top-ropes allows you to enjoy the candy (hard, fun moves on nice routes) without the work (the falls). If you stop allowing yourself to do that, your motivation to take the falls will likely increase. Good luck! I'm jealous of you being so close to the trad routes in the New! [ 02-05-2002: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

That's a lot of money for a boulder . . . Maybe I could affor a piece of talus?

Well Shit . . . I was all jazzed becaouse my honey bought me one of those for Christmas and I couldn't wait to try it out. Anybody want a good deal on a new cam?

1) Vanishing Point on Mt. Baring2) Todd Kutzke - long time partner3) Lotus Flower Tower [ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

Friend-0-Mine was camping on the Olympic Peninsula when a couple of local dogs came over. Friendly and Kissy as can be. He and his wife hung out with the animals all evening. Next morning he got up for the morning constitutional, walked to the woods, dropped Trau and bent over. Quickly noticed that nothing that left his rear was hitting the ground. He hates those dogs now.

Did Rodchester just ask me to smoke him?

In my office: A photo of the honey, a couple of rocks I've picked up in different places, a summit shot after El Cap with a couple of friends, a tracing of the climber carving from the lower gorge at Smith. A friend did it and put it in a nice frame for me. The funny thing is that I work for the prosecutor's office, so eveybody thinks its some kind of weird outline from a crime scene. matt.

Aliens. Why:1) subjective, they just seem to fit in far more places.2) the flexible stem is the most flexible out there and that is often helpful.Narrow head enables them to fit in more places. 3) Excellent expansion range, matter of fact, italmost as good as the new .3 and .4 double axle camalots.4) softer metal seems to bite the rock better (actually, I suppose it gets bitten by the rock - whatever - same effect).5) For marginal placements, the two cams for them will actually hold you where two cams of a tcu will not. Other cams that are great for specialty reasons - a) "splitter" two cam unitsI have one of the new two cam units by "splitter" gear - great b/c of narrow profile. b) .3 and .4 micro camalot, the expansion range is best. Don't waste time on .1 and .2, no real advantages. but they're heavy c) lowe ball's: great expansion range in the small stuff and goes smaller than any other camming unit.matt

This thread got me thinking and this is what I think I'll try on my home gym for hand crack (awkward to describe in words, but here goes): 1) Cut a four-inch wide two-foot long (up/down) gap in my 50 degree angle wall. The wall is supported by 2"X6" studs.2) Drill holes in the studs that lie on either side of the gap. On each stud, there will be two holes at each end (botom and top)of the two foot gap. One hole close to the area where the stud touches the plywood (about an inch away). One close to the the rear edge of the stud (again, an inch away). The line that runs between the two holes in the bottom will be perpendicular to the line that the plywood face forms (same for the top). This makes a total of eight holes.3) Run four metal rods with threads running down the entire length of the rod between the holes. Anchor the rods with nuts.4) Attach a good sized block of wood (two feet long, about six inches deep, wide enough to be very rigid) to each of the four rods. Either drill a hole in the block or attach metal loops to the bottom and top edges of it. Secure the attachment points with nuts on each end. (8 more nuts, total)5) Make sure that attachment points (the holes through which the rods pass) on the floating piece of wood are larger than the rod, and then the floating piece of wood hole jam will be adjustable to flare/constrict the jam in every direction. 6) The jam is defined by the floating wood on one side and one of the the 2"X6" studs on the other. 7) Sand/form as necessary. Instead of the threaded rods, I may use quick release clamps and bicyicle seat stop. I did not intend all of the phallic references that seem to infest this description. Advantages: Low profile (on the climbing side); Adjustable (more so if I use the quick release clamps.Disadvantages: complicated, need easy access to the rear of the wall to adjust. I'll add another gap higher up if I think it's worth the space. Otherwise, little climbing space is lost. Matt

Oh, looks like I gotta write faster . . . That design looks sweet! Seems like it wouldn't to be to hard to just cut out a portion of one of the vertical two foot sections in any existing home gym and do a similar idea without needing a 4 X 8 section that was adjustable. At present, I have a couple of finger jams carved out of wood blocks. I made them using some small drill bits, chisels and a rasp. The bad thing is that the holds are rather large; the good things are that they can be placed anywhere on the wall and modified so that they fit my fingers, not my climbing partners . [ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

quote: Now, watching Lisa Gnade do a painful(and improbable)looking highstep on Model Worker...that's another story... A story worth telling . . .

Diving further into it . . . I mainly climb granite but I've also been squeamish about their holding power on the soft stuff. I'm looking for clarification because there are some long sandstone routes that I'd love to have small light protection on. You said perfect looking placements: does that just mean that the positioning looked right or that the rock was also good sandstone (i.e. vranish/wingate). When the red and blue ripped on you, were they catching a fall, yanking during a bounce test or just wizzing out when you weighted them aiding without a test? Did you go back and see tracks where they came out? It seems to me that one difference between ball nuts and cams is the following: since their expansion works on metal sliding/grinding against metal (as opposed to the rotating action on a cam) that they expand less easity than a cam. My guess is that this is less of an issue on really solid/nongranular rock (a non-issue from my experience, on good granite) but more of an issue on soft/granular rock (grainy sandstone) where it is easy for things to track out. Do you think that explains our different experiences? In short, I'm guessing that they'd be scary on the granular sandstone, but seem like they'd be just fine on the varnish. What think? Is it that? Is it something else? matt edit/P.S. Another way to look at the question: Would you have been suprised to see a blue alien track out of a similar quality placement on the same quality of stone (obviously the alien would need a wider crack)? When I go down south for routes would I be foolish to consider a blue alien well placed in quality *varnish* bomber? They sure are in granite. [ 12-21-2001: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ] [ 12-21-2001: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

Sold American! but I gotta run right now. Will buy at that price if you hold on till I'm back on line. matt

I've got the two smallest ballnuts (I know - easy target) and I love 'em. They slot where nothing else will, they have cought me repeatedly on falls this summer, and the myth about them being impossible to clean is just that - a myth. My partners have only had trouble removing them once (a single jab with a nut tool to the "block" part of the piece usually does the trick, even after catching a fall). I was checking out the specs for the third smallest one when I did some comparisons on the large ones (4 and 5). They cover the same expansion range as the smaller aliens, camalots, etc, have far better expansion range than the corresponding aliens, camalots, etc. and are lighter to boot! Has anybody used the larger ones? Any anecdotal evidence about them placing beter/worse than your 3 or 4 cam units of choice? Any times they yanked out where you didn't think they should? Any times they held when you didn't think they would? Of course, people talking out of their ass who have never used them or even seen one but have opinions anyway are also welcome. They look like a better mouse trap. matt

Hey Will, who the hell is nitro?

RURP Bigwalling = Sexual Chocolate moondancing?

Last year, I was suffering from the last in a long line of injuries that had kept me from progressing in climbing for about the past three years. I was starting to think that I my body would break down everytime I pushed my limits. Life was stressful because the one I loved hated her job and that effected other things. Now she's got a new one and I've been injury free for the past year, enabling the best season of climbing since I started. Several dream climbs went down suprisingly easily and the realm of what is possible has expanded dramatically. I'm looking forward to more of the same this year, but with less time because we'll be gettin hitched late summer/early fall. Yahoo!Happy New Years!

Will's got me beat. But I did use my nut tool as an ordinary hook once. And it never got bent. Matt

Hey Will,Was on the Original Route in October. Lats of micro's should get you through most of it. A good spread of hooks should get you through the rest (especially if you bring some cam hooks). Lots of finger sized cams! There's a wide section and you'll have to layback 5.11 if you don't bring anything larger than a # 3 camalot. Caveat: we were tyring to free it, so we didn't have to place as often. The hike's not as bad as everybody says. Give me a yell if you want hauling and bivy beta, (there are a few sites at the bottom), sections that are fun to free at a given difficulty, etc. Also, did a trip report in late October, but it looks like it is no longer on the post list. Jon/L-bone - Is there anyway to access the old posts after they get off the list? I never copied it and would love to do so to have it around for memories! Matt [ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: Matt Anderson ]

Put a lot of time in on the planning. It pays off. Check out a lot of other home walls in person and grill their owners on what they like/don't like. Climb on the walls for an evening, if possible. Most people who put time into a decent wall are jazzed to show it off. Re: books - there's a little how-to booklet you can probably find at most gyms, I forget the name and don't have the time to check on it. Email me if you can't find it. My present wall takes up all of the typical Seattle one-car garage; My last one took up 1/4 of my last apartment's living room; so both sound similar to what you're gonna be working with. Give me an email and I'll write/call back. I'll be off line much of the week tho', so it may not be for a couple of days. matt

A friend of mine who is married to one of my climbing buddies doesn't climb, but has totally mastered the vernacular (if only to make fun of his overeducated punk talkin' ass). Case in point. She called him on his cell phone while he was at a crag and a friend picked up the phone, informing her that he was currently on a route. Two seconds later, the guy yelled up to my climbing buddy, "Dude, your wife wants you to muckleup on the gizler!"I nearly pissed myself.

Just sport, but no, his first outside climb was also his first lead of any type. Give 'm time . . .

Climbed at M&M Wall and Powerhouse wall at Vantage. Took a buddy from work out for his first day ever outside - He's been going to to the gym once a week for the past month and a half or so . . .. An auspicious beginning for this guy: He'd never lead or lead belayed before. He tried to lead everything he got on; managed to onsight everything except one. On that one, he took his falls like a man but finally accepted a top rope, where he was able to do the route no falls. He also caught my ass quite nicely a few times. Nice to see people adapt to outdoors so well. . . The weather was great, during one spot, was actually warm enought to climb w/o a shirt.

I'm going with my honey to Spokane for Thanksgiving and would love to find a partner to hook up with for some climbing on either the Thursday or Friday (weather permitting). I'm open to anything, but am probably most excited about China Bend, Deep Creek or Metaline falls. I know it'll be chilly, but I'm pretty stalwart when it comes to cold weather climbing. If transportation is an issue, I can probably borrow the future in-laws car, but would prefer to trade beer, use of my rope, etc. for a lift to the crag. If I don't find anyone, what's the best place for to boulder in the area (maybe with the possibility of scaring up some belays if there are people there)? Matt