Kimmo

Anyone game for a session at Fossil Rock in the next few days? Visiting my folks in Yelm, and would like to check it out, especially the harder lines there. btw, never climber there, so you'd need to know the place or have good beta....

yeah it seems a bit silly to make any sport into macho gamesmanship. the youth often seem more susceptible to this, still needing to prove their worth through whatever activities they engage in (been there done that, and gotta say i enjoy myself soooo much more having passed that phase). having said that, competition is still way fun, as long as it stays lighthearted and non-judgmental for me, as is going for it in face of risk, ie soloing and such.

some routes are purposefully set up with first bolt stick clips, so it's not really a question of cajones, just common sense. sport routes aren't generally head-points or somesuch, although there's nothing stopping one from making them such.

which means it's subjective. everyone varies in their recovery needs. i've heard of some peeps campusing 5 days in a row. which again means it's subjective. with the tape, it's firstly somewhat controversial whether or not tape really supports the pulleys; secondly, my point is that you'd want to expose all structures to the training stimulus in order for them to strengthen. even if taping did work, it would artificially support the pulleys, disallowing proper training stimulus for strength gains. my opinion obviously, and yes there are differing thoughts on this.

nice vid btw. thanks.

is there any chance that this person could be stopped from posting in non-spray columns? this kind of crap has no place in forums where people want to share their passions about what they do, free from cynical asides. removing these kinds of posts from non-spray columns would probably help in having actual psyched climbers who are pretty good at what they do post more.

http://www.mikedoyle.ca/climbing/traininglinks.shtml more good free training stuff, from a semi-local. i didn't understand layton's "must do's", such as taping the fingers for campusing (never done that or seen it done!) and other modes of training; i think you wanna strengthen your fingers without tape aid. only time i've ever taped is when skin pain warrants it. another comment regards his time off between training days. i think this is highly subjective, depending on the fitness of the climber. there's the idea of getting in shape to train, and when that is accomplished, one can do many forms of training multiple days in a row. i'd say though that for the beginner to intermediate climber, his ideas are pretty good, if not too geared towards weights. good work!

Just my $0.02 here... Who cares what they've done? I'd care what athletes coached by them have done; fair enough. so i would ask then what people coached by them have done. i think that's a critical piece of information, along with the coach's credentials, if one is seriously considering shelling out the bucks that these "seminars" cost! plus, again, judging by the pseudo-questions posed by johnfrieh, one would be much better off spending their money on some very basic training books for oh, say, 20 bucks each. and, wouldn't it be nice if he offered the answers to these questions, instead of using them as teasers to get people to go to an expensive seminar? some great (free) online training info for rock climbing: www.moonclimbing.com www.davemacleod.com both these free sources are very good climbers indeed, and their training advice is excellent. and crackers, can you share exactly what was the best information you got from the seminar, and how did it help you?

yeah what you say is fair enough (although there wasn't anything to "clear" up). i can't argue that outside structure won't help one's training program; many top climbers in europe and elsewhere have had or do have coaching. my amusement was provided by your eager claims of "rad deal!" pontifications, that's all. i think this statement is simply wrong, even if i pretended to understand its relevance to the guru seminars you are cheerleading for. but regardless, i'm sure peeps would get something out of shelling a few hundred bucks to some feller who'll tell 'em what to do; i'm just saying these same peeps can talk to good climbers (maybe even on a forum such as this!) and read certain books, and get the same or better results (when combined with some motivation and discipline). it also reaaalllly depends on what the person's goals are, too. again, my reaction has simply been as much towards the sales-pitch as anything else. i'm sure these dudes teaching are swell guys (who are they anyways and what have they done?) who have useful info. cool on your psych and improvements, btw.

if you can barely afford a gym membership, i think there are wayyyy better ways to spend your hard-earned cash than some seminar. hehe, quite the sales-pitch. what cut are you getting? i think first of all, the questions listed above can be researched and learned about through questions on forums where peeps actually climb hard (read some climber's web-sites that outline their workouts, and read lotso books; good info out there), and really, the silliness of some of the questions above make me wonder about the (pricey) seminar's legitimacy. just my modest opinion!

thanks for info all, looks like ya had a fun float trip shapp! (we went down the john day river a couple of years ago. super fun stuff!) thanks rudy, i'll talk to mike. orion, i'll let you know what i find.

anyone ever been? how long a drive from seattle? time of year for climbing? any guide available? a bunch of harder sport climbs there, from what I hear, and a bit steeper than smith?

on a roped climb, i've probably tried 20 times. on a boulder problem, maybe 50? on roped climbs, i kinda have a feeling as to whether or not it'll go for me pretty quickly or not. if it feels like it might be a long long process, i'd rather at this point in my life train and get more fit at home than hoof out to the climb to beat it into submission. but everyone's different. maybe go 24'll be the magic one for ya. good luck and fire!

there's only one size grigri, as far as i know, and i've used it down to a 9.1. i don't know if i'd recommend that though, since it feels a bit slick at that diameter. a friend doesn't have any qualms using it with his 9.1 i bought an eddy for skinny rope climbing, and that works really well.

hey orion, been hiding at home and getting ready for some work stuff coming up. was hurt too so didn't climb much the last coupla months. now back in it and going to smith for a week. you guys gonna be down? hope to see ya soon.

i think most of the cave will be dry. i've climbed there in downpours, and the tops of some routes were wet, but the cool middle routes were all dry. unless it's really really windy of course. the caves at vantage will be dry....

i've had it occasionally over the years from bouldering mainly. i've found lots of push-ups to help a lot for the spot you speak of. shoulder width on hand separation, sets of 20 to 30 a few times a week, and that's actually worked miracles of sorts for me and a few others i know. having a good deep tissue therapist has helped me a lot with tendinitis in other body parts. i can give you her name if you want. she's kind of expensive at 85 an hour, but worth it, and is covered by insurance. i've also heard that cortisone is usually a pretty bad idea. i've recently read that inflammation plays a lesser role in tendinitis than previously thought, meaning ice and such might not be so effective after all ( it seemingly hasn't helped me before). good luck.

It's kinda funny how the right used to be referred to as "realists", whereas Libs were the "Idealists". Democracy in Iraq, spreading like wild-fire!

Five best? Don't know about that, but I've had a lot of fun on the following (or if I didn't have fun ie. mewling like a kittie on Vanishing Point, then rewarding). Liberty Crack Chronic Yellow Fever Vanishing Point Cunning Stunt

Lots of sizes. Make offer. Brand new.

GD, do yo think the US should have gone into Iraq in the first place?

Bringing this to the top. Still have a few.

Did you get my pm? checking....

Hey, I think the price is quite excellent for good cams. Brand new, no tax, and volume purchase deals offered.

You might want to consider the source of the criticism and take it with a grain of salt. I have a mixed rack of various brands, and reach for each with impunity. HB have the smoothest action of any cam I've used, and the quality of workmanship is second to none.