Tricks

[max]

OK, it seems pretty slow around here. Maybe it's cause I check the posts every 20 minutes as an excuse not to study. Maybe someone will have something to say about this:

As I've progressed in my climbing career, I've picked up little tricks/methods that have improved my climbing, made climbing funner, and enabled me to climb more. I'll share a couple just to give an idea of what I'm talking about. Now these probably aren't mind-blowing to many of you. But for every tip, there's someone at the right level to benefit from that tip, so shareing even the most obvious idea's going to help someone.

My tips:

Organization: My climbing mentor turned me onto using rubbermaid totes to carry my stuff in. Makes it easy to load into the car and easy to unload when you're tired.

Leading: I adopted a mindset of "this sucks, can't get any gear? Move through it even though it sucks... ahh! there's some gear" Having adopted this "seems impossible but I bet I can do it" mindset really helped me leading. (anyone remeber "You can dooo it!") And this was a consciencous focusing, not just something I learned to do. I really had to "mantra" it to myself until I believed it.

More rock: Another climbing mentor thing. He filled a waterbottle with grapes and crushed ice, then topped it off with water. I remember how divine this bottle seemed before the last pitch of orbit in early june. Cold water, then some refreshing grapes!

So those are my examples. It's obviuos I'm not trying to spray "I'm so hard", cause my examples show I'm a pathetic, know-nothing climber. I just want to hear what tricks some of you more exerienced climbers use. Try to think of a snappy one most peoiple wouldn't think of.

One more: snacks, cold beer, clean clothes, and a pair of sandals are worth their weight in gold after a hot day in the icicle. Definately worhtthe time they take to pack.

[Dru]

buy a pair of cheap teva type sandals sized big enough to fit over your rock shoes, then walk around the base of the crag in them, and keep your soles clean.

look for thumb pinches when crimping.

crash pads are worth it.

if you carry two nut tools, you can remove booty cams much easier.

look for spare change under amusement rides and playground swings

go into restaurants, order water, wait for people to leave food on their plates when they leave then grab those plates quick.

[willstrickland]

The day after a soaker summer thunderstorm or early season snowstorm rolls in, pack the packs and head for your closest super-classic trad climb. Once the rain/snow abates, get on the route and collect the booty. This works especially well on the longer easy Valley climbs. Four cams, eight nuts, and 15 biners in 12 pitches on Manure Pile one day.

[Matt]

quote:

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Originally posted by willstrickland:

The day after a soaker summer thunderstorm or early season snowstorm rolls in, pack the packs and head for your closest super-classic trad climb. Once the rain/snow abates, get on the route and collect the booty. This works especially well on the longer easy Valley climbs. Four cams, eight nuts, and 15 biners in 12 pitches on Manure Pile one day.

---

A veritable "booty call"? Nice! Nothing better than climbing on somebody elses gear . . .

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Ghengis Khan, "There is no greater pleasure in life than having another man's wife, riding his horse, slaughtering his prize animal and eating it for dinner, listening to him beg for his life before cutting his throat. . ." No wonder the Chinese build the Great Wall to keep him out.

If Ghengis were a climber he would undeniably add, "snagging another man's #4 camalot."

[MATT_B]

I carry a flat head screwdirver in addition to a nut tool. A large handle will allow you to hit it fairly hard to pop out a stubbern nut. The narrow probing head can be easier to get into some tight spots that nut tools can,t. It can be very useful for clean aid, especially if your partner bounce tests a lot.

[Gary_Yngve]

One of the instructors at the Basic field trip on Sunday had his nut tool attached to his harness by a telephone cord.

[Dru]

leeper z stacks in the lock arm are really useful for opening locked gates with. or you could just use a crowbar.

if you can infallibly catch the end of a rope when you pull it through the anchor, you MIGHT get lucky one day. or maybe not.

if you can buy headlamp batteries for $4 CDN at MEC and they sell for $8 US in California, a case can get you a long way on a road trip.

if worse comes to worse, you can catch birds with a fishing line, hook and bread crumbs.

[roger_johnson]

I once saw a guy stand on a tuna can.

[goatboy]

On the lighter side:

How about the old "Open a wine bottle with a small stopper" trick?

Push the cork into the wine bottle, then slip a small size stopper down into the bottle and hook the cork from beneath, then pull the cork up and out with the stopper.

Or use a biner to open a beer.

Another good one is to put beer into one of the small streams crossing the snow creek trail as you hike up to the wall, then get your beers on the way out, ice cold!!! So good.

[imorris]

quote:

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Originally posted by goatboy:

Another good one is to put beer into one of the small streams crossing the snow creek trail as you hike up to the wall, then get your beers on the way out, ice cold!!! So good.

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I've left 6 packs scattered around the OR cascades doing that. Somehow I just forget about them. Seems impossible, since it's beer, after all.

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by willstrickland:

The day after a soaker summer thunderstorm or early season snowstorm rolls in, pack the packs and head for your closest super-classic trad climb. Once the rain/snow abates, get on the route and collect the booty. This works especially well on the longer easy Valley climbs. Four cams, eight nuts, and 15 biners in 12 pitches on Manure Pile one day.

---

No giving out the good secrets like that one!!!! Next thing people will be giving away the locations of secret free bivvy suites

[willstrickland]

I kind of thought of that Dru, that's why I didn't name my favorite booty collecting climbs, but for bivies...you should all just bivy on the flat 6ft high boulder in the Awahnee parking lot, and when that fills up, El Cap Meadows...yeah and in the line-up for camp4 at the ranger hut/kiosk thingy. Oh yeah, right behind the SAR site too, they'll never catch you in those places Some dumb ass actually complained to me about getting caught bivying on that boulder at the Awahnee, "uhh, what do you want? the stupid prize or something?"

[chris_w]

On the grand this past summer I saw girl that was carrying down slippers for the belays. The rock\air was cold so she would put them on over her rock shoes while belaying. Then packed them while climbing.

I haven't tried it, but I wish I had them on that climb. I will try it the next really cold rock climb I do.

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by chris_w:

On the grand this past summer I saw girl that was carrying down slippers for the belays. The rock\air was cold so she would put them on over her rock shoes while belaying. Then packed them while climbing.

I haven't tried it, but I wish I had them on that climb. I will try it the next really cold rock climb I do.

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shake n heat pads in the chalkbag as noted under the red rox thread.

take 1 down jacket per 2 persons. swap em at belays.

if climbing chimney with a pack, hang pack off your harness with daisy chain and get it out of the way of your back.

black lycra makes your muscles look bigger

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by goatboy:

On the lighter side:

Another good one is to put beer into one of the small streams crossing the snow creek trail as you hike up to the wall, then get your beers on the way out, ice cold!!! So good.

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So... my next bit of advice is "Look for free beer in every creek along the Snow Creek trail".

[jordop]

Jeez, can't ya just take the beer with you? Used to pack Grolsch flip top bottles around the North Shore and have summit nips Alps style! If you "have" to do the Grind, ie with coworkers/females, take a couple of bottles with you for the Skyride down. Haven't been kicked off yet, but then what are they going to do? My buddy's got another odd summit habit, which he calls "topping it off." So far he's got most of the volcanos (its sort of payback to have to share the mountain with victims of the dreaded "Cascade Volcano Syndrome"). He figures there's so much giardia/crypto up there anyway . . ..I am the king of Thread Creep with this one!

[jordop]

Real tricks:

-mini plastic golf balls for snow anchors: it works!

-7 mil rap line: you can cut it up for anchors, but you can't jug on 'em.

-North Wall hammer/axe/third tool

-glue neoprene to the outsides of your ski boots and add evazote 5 mil insoles: toasty

[Retrosaurus]

Before meeting a partner for a climb of Castle Rock I would take the beers down to the river and screw them into the sand under the water about two feet out from the bank. The look on my partner's face when we went down to the river to cool off after the climb was priceless when while wading in I reach under the water into the sand and pull out a cold one. And then another. And then another...

[texplorer]

Texplorers tips

1# Tricks are for kids

2# Make a modified anchor clip in by taking a piece of tubular webbing and run a smaller piece of surgical tubing through the inside. Instead of hanging way off your harness or getting in the way like a long daisy it scrunches up when not in use. When time to clip in it the surg tubing stretches out to the length of the webbing

3# If you drink 6 shots of tequila and eat 8 extra caffeine gu's there is a 15 minute period where you think you can do anything and your stupid enough to try.

[chucK]

These are sort of simple one but WTH:

Wrap up your ice-chest (in your car) in a sleeping bag, it'll keep it way colder.

Take a mini-wallet with only a few essentials (license, 1 credit card, insurance card, some cash) and leave the big bulky thing at home. Makes it a lot easier to carry while climbing when you're at some crag where you're even a little worried about your pack getting ripped off/rifled. Do the same thing with your keys. Only take the ones you are going to need (car keys IF you're driving, housekey).

For a pillow at a bivy, put the desired bulk of stuff in a stuff sack, then zip your fleece around the outside for a soft comfy slobber cloth.

Chuck

[willstrickland]

If you enjoy soda (I don't), here's your hook up:

Save a cup from each of the big chains - McD, BK, TacoBell, Subway, shellac that baby and store them stacked up in your car. Want a soda? Hit the closest one and fill 'er up at the self-serve soda fountain, Beckey-style.

Need a private place to spot-bathe, shoot-up, or wash your roadtripping dishes? Taco Bell bathrooms' outer doors all lock, KFC too if I'm not mistaken.

Hungry? Costco almost always has several tables handing out samplers during the day. They only check membership when you are actually purchasing something. Wal-Mart, the censoship supporting fuckers that they are, have the cheapest fig-neutons on the planet...$0.88 for what would cost $3 sold as Nabisco at your local grocer.

Sore and hungry? The chain motels right off interstates typically have a hot-tub and free continental breakfast, if you hit one of the mostly full ones at around 8-10am when everyone is checking out, you can stroll through eat, hit the hot tub, and shower for free.

Need a money maker to fund your stay in the valley? Yeah you've heard batteries, heads, pins brought down from Canyukada, but here's the winner. If you have no morals concerning others' health, load up on Drum or American Spirit roll-your-own tobacco on one of the reservations and re-sell it at a markup, you'll still beat the prices they'd otherwise pay, and therfore are providing a useful service.

-Will, your dirtbag climber trash consultant

[ScottP]

I use a length of bungee as an axe keeper on my pack. I put a length of it on a gear loop, double it and put a thumb toggle thingy on it with knots at each end. I also make it just long enough that when fully extended, it will stretch over the tip of my axe. It's a snap to remove or secure my axe.

[Dru]

if you are going to be photographed, WEAR BRIGHT COLOURS!! cant emphasize that enough.

[mr._happy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by willstrickland:

If you enjoy soda (I don't), here's your hook up:

Save a cup from each of the big chains - McD, BK, TacoBell, Subway, shellac that baby and store them stacked up in your car. Want a soda? Hit the closest one and fill 'er up at the self-serve soda fountain, Beckey-style.

Need a private place to spot-bathe, shoot-up, or wash your roadtripping dishes? Taco Bell bathrooms' outer doors all lock, KFC too if I'm not mistaken.

Hungry? Costco almost always has several tables handing out samplers during the day. They only check membership when you are actually purchasing something. Wal-Mart, the censoship supporting fuckers that they are, have the cheapest fig-neutons on the planet...$0.88 for what would cost $3 sold as Nabisco at your local grocer.

Sore and hungry? The chain motels right off interstates typically have a hot-tub and free continental breakfast, if you hit one of the mostly full ones at around 8-10am when everyone is checking out, you can stroll through eat, hit the hot tub, and shower for free.

Need a money maker to fund your stay in the valley? Yeah you've heard batteries, heads, pins brought down from Canyukada, but here's the winner. If you have no morals concerning others' health, load up on Drum or American Spirit roll-your-own tobacco on one of the reservations and re-sell it at a markup, you'll still beat the prices they'd otherwise pay, and therfore are providing a useful service.

-Will, your dirtbag climber trash consultant

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mr. strickland has dirtbaggin down to a science!

hats off to you, and thanks for the tips!

[slothrop]

Cut two short pieces of 1" webbing, slice open the hot-sealed ends, and slip them over the straps of your gaiters that go under your bootsoles. Replacing 1' of webbing is cheaper than a new pair of gaiters if the straps wear out. The nylon tends to collect snow like a mutha, though, until you're balancing on an inch of ice under your arch with every step. Some guy at Feathered Friends showed me this trick.