Rad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmnqhQBJ0E&feature=fvsr Make sure to watch the part starting around 2:00

Reading your post again, it sounds like the landings from unexpected falls on routes near your limit are what's causing stress to your system. Some of my comments above are not relevant to that. Here are two more quick thoughts then: - Before you climb a route, figure out where a fall is likely and pad the landing as much as possible. If it involves an awkward body position imagine/plan how you will fall safely. There is a fine line here, because you don't want to visualize failure. At the same time, you don't want to be making your falling plan when you're airborne. - Get tips from veteran boulderers about how to fall and not get hurt. Watch them too. - Skip problems that have higher impact or dangerous falls, or only do them when you're fresh. - Shorten your workouts. Perhaps the biggest danger in bouldering is climbing too much. Because you aren't swapping with a partner, tying in and out, lowering, and can go straight to the hard moves, bouldering trends toward higher intensity, shorter duration workouts than roped climbing. I can get a better workout in 45 minutes of bouldering than 2 hours of roped climbing.

Hmmm. For a variety of reasons most of my workouts are indoor bouldering. I have come to love it as I find more creative movement than most roped routes. I know you're a very experienced climber, but some basics still apply (like listen to your body and rest). Here's what works for me (may or may not work for you). 1 - Warm up. Traverse. Multiple easy routes (climb up and down). Stretch all parts (back especially important). 2 - Set a goal for your session and stick to it. It might be to do all the routes under a certain grade, or to try a target problem at your limit, or to do a certain number of routes at a target grade (1-2 levels below limit). Many other options are possible, but don't allow yourself to do a huge number of routes and then do a lot of attempts on your hardest problem. 3 - Be willing to say no to a problem. I won't do routes at my limit where the hardest moves set you up for injury. For me, this might mean hard moves that put your body in an awkward position way above the pads. Or moves right down near the ground where there's no time in the air to adjust yourself. Or moves on vertical or slab routes where you can get hurt hitting other holds. It might mean certain holds or hold positions that seem likely to cause finger, wrist, shoulder, or other injuries (you'll know these after one attempt). Sometimes routes are just shitty. It's not worth injuring yourself just to prove you can climb it. 4 - Downclimb from the top when possible on easier holds. This is almost always possible - or at least you can get lower and control your fall/landing. 5 - Fall/land properly. Land on two feet whenever possible and never land with straight legs or put out a straight arm to stop yourself (think martial arts falls). Absorb fall energy by couching down toward fetal position. Roll if necessary, but watch out for others. 6 - Some gyms are better than others. I find that VW Seattle has the hardest landings in the area. The pads you pull around the room are a joke and there are often unruly kids underneath you wanting to get squashed. SG has better padding. 7 - Listen to your body. I don't climb more than two days in a row or 4 days a week because it is hard on the system. Your body needs time to rest between workouts otherwise you won't be getting stronger. The exception to these is if you're just doing endurance workouts. If you feel a shoulder or elbow is on the edge of tweakage avoid routes that aggravate it. Ditto any other hand/finger/wrist situation. Don't ride ibuprofen to get through as it will set you back in the long run. When you're old like me staying healthy is hard work! I could probably ramble on but I'll stop. Have fun! Rad

He has twice responded promptly to emails sent to the address listed. If you have something to say/ask perhaps send it there. Last time I checked, we live in the land of "innocent until proven guilty"

I traded an email with Clay and filled out the survey, but you guys have made me wonder. Googling shows he's posted the survey on a host of climbing sites, but there's no one by that name at UO Medicine. Clay, care to provide some evidence of your connection to UO Medicine? If not, maybe we should post warning notes on the other forums where information requests have been posted...

Yep. Some great routes in the woods are rarely climbed. Two examples: Lay of the Land. Goldrush. Digitalis and the climb just right of it could probably use some cleaning too.

Thanks Frank. The book calls it 11d. Is it as good as it looks?

I don't have experience on St Helens, but I did tote my kids around when they were smaller and lighter. My thought is that it's not that confortable for kids to be immobilized in a pack for a long time (>45 minutes), particularly in cold weather. Their legs/feet can go to sleep/get numb from having thighs/hips press into the pack. They are not exercising and so get cold fairly easily. They are not likely to benefit much from the outing. Then they weigh you down and slow you down, add to the gear/food/drinks you must carry, must be attended periodically based on their needs. etc. My 2 cents: if your goal is the summit find someone to watch the kid. You'll both be happier. If your goal is to have quality outdoor time, then skip St Helens as they'll (are you going in spring?) have as much fun or more at any snowy trailhead as 5000ft up the side of mtn. Other parents can chime in here.

I saw one in Argentina years ago. Haven't seen one in the US yet.

For smearing at index, I'd take cool and damp over hot and greasy any day of the week.

I find the original bold visions of these two climbers inspiring. Turning it into a pickle sprayfest would be unfortunate and uninteresting. I'd like to see these two take their fitness and creative energies to new objectives.

Snafflehaus or House of Snaffle

Nice. I love the high Sierra. Miss it.

Now I want to see one where a multi-piece rock anchor with cams is hitched up so the triggers are pulled when you pull the rope so the anchor comes down with the rope. LOL! These may sound and look crazy, but I like the idea of inventing and testing solutions for extreme situations BEFORE you are in those situations.

:brew:

If you have something to say to someone about calling in a rescue say it straight up. This passive aggressive internet game smells more like a smear campaign than an honest attempt to elicit advice from total strangers, which is silly anyway. Lame. Maybe better to just send a note to the rescued climber that says, "Brought down your gear. Call me if you want it back." That puts the onus on the friend to do the right thing rather than rubbing his nose in it, which is guaranteed to kill any remaining friendship.

Above all, I encourage experimentation. Don't lay out an elaborate plan that we debate publicly. Surprise us. Wondering what will come next is also a draw. The best way to strengthen behavior patterns is to provide intermittent (random) reinforcement. This is true on studies of rodents all the way up to people. Think about slot machines... make it work for you.

I like the idea of having more attention on TRs and applaud your creative efforts to achieve that. But I vote against a Best of All Time prize for reasons below. Random prizes for new TRs in March was a GREAT idea. It got everyone to contribute, no matter whether they had Patagonia FAs or cragging TRs. Mission accomplished. Threads to resurrect and debate the best TRs in all of cc.com may have the unintended consequence of alienating the average joes and actually discourage them/us from posting less exciting TRs. The thought chain might go, "Why should I post my TR of climbing Stuart when everyone is oooing and aahing over Patagonia FAs? I can't compete, so I won't bother posting at all, I'll just admire fat cats and post on bolting threads." Backfire. So how to incent more TR focus? Change it up. April could be three prizes: two from randomly drawn new freshiez TRs and one for the best March TR as determined by voting in a poll. May could be three prizes: 2 drawn randomly from new ice TRs and one for the best TR from April. June could be cragging routes....July for the best climbing video...and on Then get creative for other categories you want to incent. A starving newbie award to get kids some gear. A community service award for someone who helps in the newbie forum. Another prize for someone who contributes to access issues. These are just random ideas. Prizes are powerful motivators. I'd be curious to see if the traffic to your site changed in March 2011. If so, use that result to entice sponsors to pony up bigger prizes for future work. A positive spiral. Just a thought. Rad

wet and wet

Actually, I think they're working on replacing spray with a new forum called "Bolts".

Caption on last picture: "...Per user feedback the next generation will include an optional chisel to allow for better hold creation."

And gullible is not in dictionary.com

3rd place: A pirated version of Photoshop to alter photos of your slab climb to make it look steeper. 2nd place: One 500 pill bottle of ibuprofen for carpal tunnel syndrome acquired by excessive speed typing on spray posts. 1st place: Phone numbers for BOTH of the girls who visited cc.com last year.

If you want to get better you need to climb harder climbs, whether following others, toproping, or dogging up routes. No amount of 5.8 and 9 routes will prepare you to climb 11s. If your goal is to climb a ton of 8s and 9s you can always go to Ltown. You can throw yourself on trad routes that are over your head provided the combination of the route and your rack allow you to plug in pieces and hang when needed. A stick clip can help you get up sport routes. There is no shame in dogging up a route so you can then work it on toprope. Safety is the most important priority. You may want to save some of the best routes to try to lead onsight when you get stronger. Be safe and have fun and save the stumps!

Nice. I was just looking through the Becky N Cascades guide and am again astounded at how prolific Doorish was/is at putting up routes on big alpine walls. Respect.