Slopers

Well,  last night I went into the gym and climbed around.  It went petty well,  but I figured out something about myself.  I am terrible at slopers.  People always joked that I would be more likely to crimp a sloper than to hold it properly but I never realized to what extent. 

If the sloper has a thumb-catch, I am typically okay, but big, exposed slopers with nothing but sloping surface really get me.  Even slopers that you can kind of "meat-hook" aren't too bad, but something about them is really hard for me.  It also doesn't help that I spent the last 3 years climbing at Hueco Tanks where slopers are not as common.

Here is the problem I was having trouble with.  It's probably about a V8 and I kept getting to the last move and not being able to get to the finish.

One thing that was nice, however, was that I was working on a problem that one of the guys there made up which involved two of what I previously thought were my weaknesses, and did very well.  The first was a very dynamic move to a small crimp, which was much harder than I expected it to be.  Then I pulled up from there with just one hand on the small crimp past my shoulder rotation reach, relying solely on my left bicep.

It is really great to be seeing results from my workouts.  I hope they keep coming.

Central Rock Gym - Worcester, MA

So I am in Boston for the week and I am looking for a job.  However, I also am looking to check out each of the 6 climbing gyms in Boston.  Today we went to the school Alex is trying to get into and on the way back we went to Central Rock Gym in Worcester.  I have to say, it was a much better experience.  I really had a great time there climbing and interacting with the other climbers.  First off, the setting was wonderful.  I would say that it was some of the best setting I have seen in a long time.  The moves were genuinely hard, and not too tricky.  They were clean and taped well, and adequate for the climate.  I would also like to give props to their main setter, Shane, who was not only crushing, but had his ratings right on the money (at least in reference to Hueco).  It was nice to go into a gym and feel like I was working on stuff within my grade, but also feel like I was accomplishing something.  I got on some great problems of all different ratings and felt like they were great all around.  As far as pricing, it was $10 just to boulder, which still doesn't beat exposure, but they at least had a boulder-only price. Overall, I would be glad to recommend this gym to anyone, but would wager a bet that this is the gym I end up calling my "home gym." We'll see though, there are 5 more gyms in Boston and they may each be a force to be reckoned with.

                      

Size of Facility:          Great

Route Asthetics:         Great

Route Climbability:    Great

Route Maitenence:     Good

Training Equipment:  Great

Staff Friendliness:       Good

Staff Knowledge:       Great

Grade Trueness  V1-V4: True  V5-V7: True  V8+: True

Boulders - Madison, WI

Alex's sister's wedding shower was this past weekend and we made a trip up to Madison, Wisconsin to visit and take part.  The in-laws and many of their friends were there and it was nice to see trees and grass, if only for a few days.  While we were up there, we went out with friends, saw some local attractions and did family bonding type things.

As is the norm on any vacation, I made an attempt to go climbing.  For this locale, it was the local gym, Boulders Rock Gym.  After climbing there, I came to some interesting conclusions about gyms.

First off, gym prices are outrageous.  First off, I had to pay $14.00 just to boulder.  I was maybe there 2 hours at most, and no climbing is worth that.  I paid $70.00 for my parks pass and about $7.00 in gas to get out to Hueco maybe costing me a total of $10.00 or so per trip, and I STILL think that is high.  At a lot of gyms, if you want to boulder only, you can pay a discounted fee.  Of course this is hard to regulate, considering you can't always ensure the climbers will stay off rope, but $14.00!

Anyway...rant over, the next thing I noticed has to do with setting and rating.  I understand that in a gym that is in Madison, Wisconsin, you can probably set things pretty slopey. But...when it gets to be 80 degrees outside and you don't turn on the A/C and your gym is nearly 90 degrees, you have to consider that none of those "sick" sloper problems are going to be any fun.  I understand that you can't always predict the weather outside, but you go to a gym to train first, then if you want to set a nemesis and climb all day on one problem, go for it.  The gym had a good number of good boulder problems, but everything had a slopey pinch on the left hand for the crux.  Not just a pinch, an inverted wedge on a roof slopey.  I was getting spit off of V5s based solely on one hold.  Which leads me to my next point.  Rating.

I have been to and worked at a lot of gyms.  Every place has a different setting, rating and climbing style.  Whether they may have big juggy throws, or crimpier is synonymous with harder, or slow static movements, the ratings vary greatly depending on the style.  However, this is the first gym I have ever been to that gimmicky was how they based their ratings.  Granted, I almost fell off a V3 because it was so dang hot and humid, but there was this V7 that had these slopers that were just not to be grabbed.  Each problem had a move in it that was just too tricky to get every time.

Some may read this and say "Oh, Eric, you are just bitter you got spit off a V7" or "It just sounds like you need to get on more sloper pinches" and that is fine.  My issue is not that I didn't get a problem, or not even about a grade, but rather that this is someone's home gym.  I can only imagine that there are guys that do climb these boulder problems and are super frustrated with their ability.

At our gym on Fort Bliss, they have for a while now, not rated the problems.  That is fine, except people are going to want to know regardless.  Their justification for it is that they don't want kids (by that I mean Soldiers) climbing a "V4" in the gym and then going out to Hueco and getting hurt.  My philosophy, however, is quite the opposite.  If I climb a V4 in the gym, I would be more accurate in judging my abilities before I tried the throw on T-Bone Shuffle with only one pad; maybe saving my ankle.

I can't say there is any danger to sandbagging at a gym, but the main reason to rate accurately is to measure progress.  If the V7s in the gym are the hardest thing...and they're actually V7s-V10s what is the use of rating them at all?  You are better off rating back in the B Scale. I have got to be sure that there are climbers there, fully capable of bouldering double digits but to them they aren't pulling harder than V7. As well, when people visit your gym, you want them to be able to walk up to a problem and know if they are even going to want to spend time trying it.  Especially if you only have a few in their ability anyway.

Overall, it was a good gym and the setting was also good and this is in no way a knock on Boulders or its setters.  The gym was wicked sandbagged, but to each his own.  That is why there are consensus ratings outside.

If you have any comments, feel free to share.  I would like to know if people prefer ratings in gyms or not.

Size of Facility:          Good

Route Asthetics:         Good

Route Climbability:    Fair

Route Maitenence:     Good

Training Equipment:  Fair

Staff Friendliness:       Fair

Staff Knowledge:       Fair

Grade Trueness  V1-V4: True  V5-V7: + 1-2  V8+: N/A

Campus Board!

For a while now I have been trying to figure out how to put a campus board up in my apartment without being completely in the way.  Finally I have figured it out.  In college, I built one that just happened to be out of the way enough to not bother anyone.  In this apartment, I don't have that luxury.  Therefore I had to build one that could be put away and to Alex's specifications, wasn't ugly.  Cue the following series of pictures.

The initial step was to build a frame out of 2x4s that was 2' by 4'.  It would be the base for the plywood to mount to.  We didn't get any pictures because we were so excited about the build but it was pretty basic carpentry.  I attached the plywood with wood screws and used carriage bolts to attach legs.  To the back I attached a 2x4 with hinges onto three more 2x4s (pictured later).

Once we had the base built and the legs attached, we mounted it on the wall and got to painting.  I started with masking tape and made rock walls.

Then we got to the computer and printed out some silhouettes of climbers.

Alex very meticulously cut out the climbers with a knife.

Once the climbers were cut out, I sprayed the backs of them with adhesive and applied them as a stencil.

I made sure to keep their feet and hands touching the rock to give the appearance of them climbing the faces I had previously made.

Once I had them where I wanted I did any of the necessary masking to keep my stencil clean.

I had a few cross sections to cut away and it was ready to paint.

Once I started peeling the tape away, the design started to take shape.

A few pieces to remove and we almost had a work of art.

I used tape to keep the climber safe and create rope back to his belayer.

Viola!  A work of art...now let's make it useable.

I started by taking the cut dowels and drilling pilot holes.

Keeping them level, I attached them with wood screws.  

After a good bit of time and lots of drilling later, I had a functional campus board.The legs, attached with a carriage bolt, take most of the weight.

The top is held by a chain, making it adjustable with a small carabiner keeping the chain attached to the screw eye.

As mentioned before, the 2x4 with the hinges is screwed straight into the studs behind the wall.

And there you have it.  It is a functional, collapsable campus board that is not an eyesore.

Let me know what you think!

Hueco with the Baylor guys.

So, Alex is in Ecuador doing POYi which is the Photo of the Year competition. She is helping to facilitate the competition and most importantly making good connections with people in the photo world. While she was gone I had a few chances to go out and climb with some guys from Baylor. It was a lot of fun and I ended up getting a few new V7s and got really close on some V10s. We'll see how everything goes down but today I am really sore and tired. I'll train tomorrow and wed and see how climbing goes this weekend. Here are some pics from this last week. Also I put up a video of "Be Flat - V4" on youtube if you want to check it out.


Here I am on "Schadenfraud" A really fun V5 in the bottom of Martini Cave


Here is a one finger snag on "Be Flat" as I was trying out different beta for Landon.