sprocket

My girlfriend is training for a marathon and has picked up one of the myriad of colds going around. Nothing terrible but just enough to make training uncomfortable. The question is do you think it is better to rest completely until fully recovered or do some easy cardio to keep from losing too much fitness. The issue is the marathon is 6 weeks away and she is worried she may not be able to recover if she loses a week of training. I know a lot of this has been covered before but just curious what your experience/thoughts are. Thanks

Utah is definitley on the wish list. The mandatory long drive or airline tickets makes it a bit spendy for 3-4 days on the slopes. I have heard it is the place to go though. Brundage sounds exactly like what I'm looking for, moderate terrain, lots of snow, reasonable accomodations and an 8 hour drive isn't too bad. Thanks for the reponses.

Having tasted a little local powder this year I'm starting to think ahead for next year and am wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good resort that would be a good introduction to powder. I'm looking for someplace that has good moderate terrain for snowboarding and would be relatively easy to get to and isn't too expensive. Utah? B.C Interior? Thanks

Cyclocross seems like a seriously hard workout. Need to get my hips checked out to see if I can run again someday and try it. If it didn't require driving cross-country skiing would be back in my routine, great workout, probably the best cardio workout around. But it's hard to beat being able to roll out my front door and bike for 2 or more hours.

It's not. Your max heart rate will be higher running. Running will be harder on your body physically and you'll have a longer recovery time. Not a big deal to spend 8 hrs on a bike working hard. Try that running. The recovery times are not easy to compare. Your max heart rate is the same no matter what exercise you do. How close you get to it might be different with different activities. You can get your heart as high riding a bike as you can running, you just need to pedal harder. Find a hill, do some sprints or intervals, train with a group etc. Running is harder on your body and recovery is tied to the pounding you take but I guarantee that if you were to go with some bike racers and you tried to keep up when the hammer is down you will get into the red very quickly. I do think you can probably get a more efficient workout with running and the pounding mimics approach hikes better. But since my body can’t take the pounding of running anymore I’ve found that regular riding coupled with weekly conditioning hikes usually get you in pretty good shape. There is no substitute for carrying a pack up hill.

I've climbed on all 3 and can barely tell the difference. But I am a fairly mediocre climber. Supposedly Vibram is a little less sticky than C4 but more durable. Onyx is supposed to be as sticky as C4 but also more durable. When I had my Mythos resoled with C4 a few years ago they did feel a bit stickier but I recently got a pair a Miuras and they almost feel like cheating they stick so well and they have the Vibram rubber. I'm on my first resole with the Onyx on another pair so can't say if they last any longer than the C4. One guy working at the shop down by Smith said he was going through C4 soles in a month and that bumped to 3 months with the Onyx. I will say that all 3 are superior to rubber I've experienced with a pair of Boreal and Acopas that I own.

In case you missed it this was a trad climb. No bolts. Not a sport climb. Apparently in the same time frame she was "working" this climb she on-sighted 5.13a on gear. I don't glorify this event but I think it is cool. I'm not going to go out and buy whatever gear Beth may be hawking because she did this, I will not create a shrine in her honor and I won't join a fan club but if a few folks want to sent out their kudos on this site I'll chime in and say good job. Similarly if someone on this site came out and reported on a personal accomplishment that was a big goal for them I might chime in and say good job and think that is cool.

Yah....all the pseudo-egalitarians out there don't hold women to the same standard in climbing. Same standard of ethics and style. In terms of physical attributes differences still exist. Regardless of gender or time working the route 5.14 trad ranks as an accomplishment in my book. And for that matter so does onsight 5.13a on gear. I'm not really sure what your argument is other than being contrarian.

How many 5.14 trad routes have been climbed? I suspect it's not that many and that there are only a handful of climbers that have accomplished it. There aren't that many women that have redpoints on bolts at that grade. In the Alpinist link posted earlier it mentions that she onsighted Phoenix 5.13a, is that impressive? Is there something wrong about getting excited when a woman does something that has maybe been done by a man before but not by a woman?

If men had vagina's we'd never leave the house Because you couldn't find it? Ouch!

Glad to see some positve responses. I've just embarked on a brave new world for me, dating a female friend that I've climbed a fair amount with in the past several years. Some of the issues I've heard hopefully won't affect us since neither one of us is hardcore and mostly we crag together with friends plus kids aren't part of the equation. I'm looking forward to it, especially long weekends at Squamish and Smith.

Link to Alpinist article. http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08s/newswire-rodden-yosemite-hard-trad She's a freak, glad to see a woman pushing hard trad. Awesome is right!

People come into climbing for different reasons and have different levels of risk tolerance. I am fairly risk averse and have an innate fear of heights but find climbing extremely exhilarating even if I’m sewing up a crack or clipping bolts. Every time you leave the ground there is an element of risk even if it’s in a climbing gym or on a ladder. I’m never going to be a free soloist but I also respect people like Bachar and Croft for the mental aspect of what they were willing to risk. I find most of the arguments about bolting to be somewhat disingenuous, it’s ok to place a bolt on lead if certain criteria are met (even if that includes hanging on hooks while doing it) yet placing a bolt while hanging from above is a sin/crime. Life and climbing are full of compromises, most of us use modern ropes, protection, sticky rubber, we drive to most of our climbs etc. In my opinion adding some bolts to a top rope problem is not a big deal, this is not some alpine climb or traditionally protectable climb. I’m sorry if it ruins the experience for some but you can still stick to your own principles and climb with your own ethics and hopefully not have to compromise them. Like Blake said and I mentioned earlier, places like Squamish have tons of routes that were first ascent free solo’s since Croft did a lot of the route development there. If you were a true purist you’d not use a rope on them and to me that would be a shame since lots of nice climbs would sit unclimbed. I don’t know Peter Croft but I suspect I didn’t ruin his day by using a rope on that climb a couple of years ago.

I don't think anyone said it was better, just that they would rather lead a bolt line than top rope it.

I owned a Sterling Marathon and got several years out of it before I retired it. A little stiff but very durable. When I was looking I did a little research and there seemed to be a fair consesus that Edelweiss, Sterling and Mammut made solid ropes. If money were no object I would look into one of the Mammut Supersafes or Edelweiss ARC ropes, they seem to be very durable. You'll pay about $200 for a 60M dry rope of this quality. The cheaper ropes by these brands aren't always up to the same standards. If you are willing to shop around you get get some screaming deals. I picked up a Maxxim 50M dry 10.5 for something like $60-70 at REI-OUTLET a while back with an online coupon they send out occasionaly. They don't always have ropes there but if you have time and are patient deals show up. Look at gearexpress.com too. I picked up a real cheap glacier rope there, $30 I think for a 32Mx9mm. It's real light but thick enough to use my regular prussiks.

I was up in Squamish a couple of years ago and led what I thought was one of the coolest 5.8's I've ever been on. Sewed it up real good with cams and stoppers. When I got down I looked in the guide book and realized that the first ascent by someone named P. Croft was a free solo, man I hope he isn't mad at me for not respecting the style of the first ascent. Oh, and there is a really cool bolt line to the left of that 5.8 at Squamish. Sorry for the thread drift lancergranite.

I'm curious how it crowds anything? What difference does it make if someone is leading it on bolts or toproping it? You can't compare two different styles of climbing. A lot of people get practice face climbing in the gym or sport climbing areas, that doesn't mean it is easier, just that they have more practice at it. Dogleg is strenuous for the grade and penalizes climbers with big hands but it is not harder IMO than the bolt line. It's not a bolt line that impedes any trad lines, why make a big deal out of it. Just another line to climb or not. I doubt a bunch of sport climbers are going to show up and crowd the crag and they certainly won't be leading Dogleg if they don't have a rack and some trad/crack skills.

Cool show, nice to get some alpine stoke! Loved seeing that cam remove that nice block when the follower fell on the climb in the Black Canyon!

Thanks JH, I would enjoy that. A friend and I have enjoyed your posts from afar.

Never been there but heard the snow is great. Any advice on time of year to go or not to go? Same for accomodations and any possible lift ticket deals? Thanks

I've only followed the first pitch of Saber once a few years back. The lasting memory was the traverse protected with a piece behind a flake that you could "conveniently" move to remove the piece. This year wasn't as big as last year but had some memorable pitches nonetheless. After following it for several years I finally was persuaded to lead Moonshine Dihedral, probably one of the prettiest single pitch climbs I can think of. Repeated Air Guitar in much better style than my first time where I was quivering the first twenty feet or so. Also led a face route to the left of Ring of Fire (I think it is Dance with Fire) at Smith, depending on who you talk to it’s either 10a or 10b, if 10b it would be my first redpoint at the grade. But the winner for me is Penny Lane, stared at that opening sequence many times. Worked the finger crack at VW for months to learn some technique and still it took a friend to drag me by the ear at the end of the day when I was trying to bag off and give no option but to lead it. Had like four pieces to protect the thin crack in the opening before you can get good finger locks. The part where you get into the hands was probably the sweetest climbing experience of my life, was on cloud nine.

If I'm near trees I'll use them to my benefit but that isn't always an option, like the upper part of Whistler and Skyline at Steven's. Thanks Hugh, heard about the sensor mirror from a sales person at the shop at Steven's but wanted some unbiased opinions. Found a few pairs at AtionVillage for $52.49, looks like a good price. Thanks all.

Maybe not the right thread for this but being one of the Seattle "snobs" I'm curious if Beacon is a good destination for a moderate trad leader (5.8ish+)? I enjoy reading the posts about trips there but most of the climbs mentioned seem way beyond my abilities and sound fairly committing.

Curious if anyone has any suggestions for lens reccomendations forCurious if anyone has any suggestions for lens recommendations for flat light conditions that seem to be the norm around here. Brands, coating, colors? I’ve got some reddish Bolle’s that are a big improvement over some older amber Smith lenses but often I have very little depth perception. Other question/hope would be do they work for night skiing? Thanks

...with fingernails that shine like justice.