Last Saturday I began a project I’ve been planning on doing for a long time: I started building a home rock climbing wall.

My original plan was for an almost horizontal roof in the basement rafters but they have been unreachable due to the fact that I need a large workshop (for renovations) and the amount of crap Emily and I are storing in the basement. Saturdays are for brainstorming and working on house projects, so as I was organizing some stuff downstairs I realized I had a perfect start for the climbing wall under my stairwell due to my recent stair replacement project.

I started on the easiest to reach stair by cutting a piece of plywood and reinforcing it to the stair frame. Then, I attached a second plywood piece two stairs up. I opened my box of climbing holds [Thanks, Dave!] and decided on the optimum placement for each. Then I tested and played around until my hands lost most of their skin and I could no longer do a pull-up.

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I came to an interesting realization today: My two passions, lindy hop and bouldering, are relatively new hobbies in mainstream media. Both were emerging and gaining popularity just as I was in high school. Things that didn’t exist in my childhood like having a local climbing gym or a local dance scene (on certain levels the dance scene did exist but not as it does today) are something that would actually be accessible and cool to someone of age 16 today. I don’t doubt there were areas around the world that picked up on these cultures sooner than others but it makes me wonder about the future of my investment in both if they are so incredibly new. And if they are just a phase, they must be leading to bigger and better passions. But what could be better? I have no freaking clue!

Last Wednesday, I had a really great climbing session with Tio Dave at ET in Timonium. They were setting a bunch of new boulder routes and I quickly sent a couple of the new unrated problems. It’s always fun to do that as it is a “no limits” kind of night. You might try something that is v9 but you’d never know because there is no official rating. Also, there was NO ONE there so we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The bummer came towards the end of the night after trying some “easy” routes that were setup by Jason Kehl. I say “easy” because they were only rated 5.10 but were damn hard and took a few tries to figure out. I don’t think it was anything in particular that I did… I never heard a snap or a pop or anything. It didn’t even hurt much during the evening but the next morning my finger was swollen and hurt like crazy when I curled it in to my palm. It’s an old-school injury from when I was just out of high school rearing its ugly head again (at least, I’m pretty sure). It’s a fracture of the right index finger right at the big knuckle where the tendon from the palm pulls on the knuckle. It just ends up pulling a little chip off the bone which then floats around and hurts like crazy.

I’ll find out for sure on Wednesday when I have my appointment with the hand specialist. In the meantime, I’ve splinted my finger and I’m not climbing. What a drag. I’m not sure what I could have done to prevent this from happening again. This is the 4th or 5th time it has happened now. All from playing one stupid game of basketball in high school gym class and getting my finger jammed. I hate that game.

Update (12/21/07): Nothing conclusive came up with the doctor visit. The swelling went down after 2 days and after a little time off things felt great. I climbed again on 12/18 and again on 12/20 with no pain. Not sure what happened but I’m happy to say things are just fine as of now.

After spending a couple weeks away from the gym, instead opting for outdoor routes and bouldering, I went back last night and finished up the 5.11c/d that was giving me a fit back in September. First try was a bit awkward and I had to relearn some of the route. Second try I sent it clean and felt really strong after. I’m not sure where the endurance came from since I have not really had much time to climb recently. I won’t complain about it though.

The weather looks drab on Friday. I was really hoping for some good weather and the possibility of some more bouldering over at Rocks State Park. Last Friday Dave and I went there and had an awesome day. We setup two top ropes along Breakaway Wall and climbed 5 different routes. One of my best days climbing, ever!

Dave, Emily, Chris, and I went over to climb in Rocks State Park for the first time last Sunday, the 14th. I’ve been there a couple times to hike and see the view from the king and queens seat, but climbing there is a very different experience. The rocks are very high and the walls have some really nice features.

Normally when I visit a crag, there’ll be a few climbs easily marked out from one of our guidebooks. The problem with Rocks is that it’s really big so I felt very overwhelmed. It’s really hard to know which wall you’re looking at. The bottom isn’t easily accessible and from the top it’s simply impossible to see where the good climbing is 50ft below you. I climbed down to the bottom. Emphasis on CLIMB — it wasn’t the easiest with a bunch of gear. Funny enough, Emily dropped Dave’s water bottle and the bottom split so he had to drink from the bottom. Dave stayed at the top and we yelled back and forth until we found a great beginner wall, Breakaway wall. We stuck to the right side of the climb on a route called Vertical which was rated 5.6.

Setting up anchors for the top rope was an interesting process because we were simply on a little shelf at the top of a big wall with more rocks above us. We found one great one and one decent one but when you’re used to tying your rope around a couple trees it can be freaky to trust a smaller crack or rock to support things. But hey, that’s why we have a backup rope!

After setting things up and managing to get everyone and all the gear to the bottom I tied in only to realize we setup the rope about 20 feet too far to the left of the climb we wanted to do. The choice was clear, climb and know I’ll have a big swing if I fall or scramble/climb back up the side. Either way would take some time and I knew the climb would be very reasonable so I went for the actual climb. It’s a little freaky being that high and knowing if you fall you’re going to be a little pendulum. It worked out though. At the top I fixed the ropes and everyone else got their climbs in. We didn’t have time to do more than one climb each but now that I’ve been there once I think we’ll be a bit more prepared for next time. I also want to find a couple of the bouldering problems I’ve been reading about. More pictures can be found on my picasaweb album.

On Saturday I went bouldering at the Gunpowder with Em. This was my first time ever really bouldering outdoors: meaning the first time I’ve ever taken a crash pad along with some climbing shoes and given something my all without regard (or much regard) to falling. It was exciting.

I don’t think the Gunpowder is really considered much of a hot spot for bouldering and I’ll admit from other videos of places like Bishop on YouTube this doesn’t really compare. Gunpowder is just a small 20ft cave with a 45 degree roof that is about 12 or so feet high. Still, it’s really fun and I can see myself going there a little more once the weather gets cooler. It was super hot and humid — 88F with 90% humidity.

Since the area isn’t all that popular, I actually can’t find any information on what climbs are there. That means whatever we do there we’re just making up. That part was actually quite fun. I found what I thought the easiest route would be and figured it out in a couple tries. It’s not that serious of a route and would probably rate something along the lines of a v3. My parents came along, which meant extra spotters so one of us could videotape.

One of the trickiest things was the first time I got to the top I realized it was entirely covered in leaves. My parents threw up a brush and I cleaned it off, but it was a little dicey hanging on to the top and cleaning everything.

After losing interest on the first route I made up, I moved on to one that starts at the back of the cave. Hopefully I’ll work that out and get a video on that one.

Videos: The first is Emily trying the route with a few little modifications of her own since she’s shorter than me. The second is me doing the route for the 4th or 5th time.

Chris and I went hiking last Sunday on the Gunpowder Central trails. I can’t help but go in the woods and get poison ivy. I don’t know why I’m so prone or how I manage to get it even when I’m careful to wash myself down after. This time I have it on my elbow. I figure I had the oil on something of mine (shoes maybe?) and scraped my arm with them.

It was worth it though. I found some cool bouldering in a little cave just off the trail. The picture below was taken before I put my five fingers on and tried climbing in them. Unfortunately, I was a little high so I needed Chris to spot me which means no pictures of what I ended up putting together. My plan is to go back there on Saturday with a crash pad, real climbing shoes, and a brush or two to clean the rock. I forgot how annoying dirt was. I also forgot how sharp real rocks feel compared to rocks in the gym. Hope I don’t tear up my hands too bad!

My mother convinced my father to start climbing with us, so last week was the first time I’ve seen him climb. Pretty cool if you ask me! It was his second time climbing and he did a couple 5.7’s. So now the group is even bigger. I don’t think I’ll be able to convince them to climb outdoors anytime soon but perhaps after some more time they’ll begin to open to the idea.

I worked on my hardest top route to date that day, a 5.11c/d. I don’t normally work on really hard top rope climbs (I prefer to boulder hard) but I think I was a little inspired by seeing both my mom and dad as well as having Chris there with us. After 3 tries I was clean up until the second to last hold. After the fall, I’d perform the last 2 holds clean but I just couldn’t get a good rest in between. I’ll work on this again, probably next week. If I can start pulling 5.11c’s off consistently, I’d be really happy to begin doing projects on 5.12’s.

I’m still stuck on v6 boulder problems. I’ve done one v7 but for the most part the 6’s really take some work to complete. Emily and I went down to Rockville’s Earth Treks to visit a friend of hers and climb down there a couple weekends ago. There was this slick v4 with a dyno into a 2 finger pocket that I really don’t think was a v4. It was just totally insane when I stuck it. I love that flying-then-catching-a-super-tiny-flake-with-nothing-on-it feeling.

I’ve planned all along to leave the rafters in my basement exposed once I’ve finished it due to a variety of reasons (ease of access, the impression of additional height, more room for bouncing heads while dancing, etc) but one thing came to mind the other day, which was the ability to fix some sort of climbing wall. The idea of having a climbing wall isn’t new for me, but having one in my house seemed like something unobtainable because I don’t have the space or height for a wall that would keep me interested.

But after looking around at some wall boards for strength training and realizing that one of the best places for the wall board would be in my rafters, I figured surely I could devise something up in my rafters that could take the place of a wall board.

If I did something in my rafters, I have virtually unlimited space to work with. I could make something horizontal or vertical, although you’d have to keep in mind that vertical holds would require placement of hands/feet above the rafter which might mean scrapes/splinters reaching up into the rafter.

I could use the basic idea of plywood directly into my beams but that means I need lots of larger holds since you’re climbing completely vertical. If I did some sort of plywood box around a beam that would allow me to have vertical and horizontal holds. As long as it was out of the way when people walk through and dance in the basement, that might work. Shoot, if I did it in a corner maybe I could even use a wall. Who knows. It’s an idea to think of more for sure once I’m moved in and have some free time.

I’ve been meaning to note a few things related to climbing. First, I’ve been making some real progress on my goals earlier this year. Goal 5 was to complete a 5.11, which I knew I’d do but maybe not so quick. I’m pretty sure I sent my first 5.11 early last month, which was actually a 5.11b. It was super bouldery with a roof-like start but very short, so it played off my strengths. I’m still really weak on endurance related climbs. I’ve been working on a few 5.11’s since then but have not done a clean ascent of anything in the 5.11 range. The crazy thing is that I can flash most 5.10’s, so I don’t get why I can’t get a 5.11 with a little work. Most have been crimpy and small with some very technical footwork. There’s this one called slap and untickle over at Earth Treks timonium that seems so possible but I just lose my strength halfway through. I was feeling really strong last week and tried a 5.12a, made it about 3/4’s of the way through and couldn’t figure out how to get past this nasty sloper that wouldn’t hold any weight. That’s two of more of my goals knocked out right there.

On the other side of climbing, my bouldering has been going well, but I feel like I’m really hitting a wall there. Roped climbs seem to have an easy solution: I just need more endurance. But the boulders, well, they sort of evade an easy solution. I just don’t know where I need to go to get better. I’m pretty strong so it has to be some type of technique. Or something. But it’s completely unknown to me what I need to do. I’ve climbed a variety of v5’s, but still need a few tries on each to complete. I’ve done one v6. v7’s are totally lost on me.

Earth Treks is doing a little seminar next month on some weight training techniques to improve your climbing. I think I’ll probably head over to that to see if strength is a factor, but if I really want to improve on bouldering I think I’m going to need to start doing it more often. 1 day a week doesn’t seem to get me past this wall.

Last week, while climbing, I flashed a 5.10c. That was first and foremost, the hardest climb I’ve tried to date. In addition, I flashed it! I’m starting my work on 5.11’s. If you read a list of goals I had back in January, I wanted to be climbing 5.12’s by the end of the year, so I think I’m well on my way. I sure hope so at least!

If you’re wondering what a flash is:

An ascent is considered a flash if climbed the first try, without falls but with some prior knowledge such as, but not limited to, watching another person climb it or discussing it with another climber.

More terminology at wikipedia »

I completed my first V5 boulder problem last night at the rock gym. The nice thing about it was that I started it about 20 minutes or so before I finished, which leads me to believe that it was a rather easy V5 — or it simply played to my strengths. There are some easier rated problems out there I’ve spent a few weeks on (I climb about twice a week) so finding one that challenges my current level and that I can complete in a day is pretty exciting. I’ll spend the rest of this month working on some of the tougher V4 and V5’s, hoping that sometime early next month I can begin trying some V6’s. First I must get a little more finger strength. Those crimpy little buggers get to me after a while.

Emily and I spent our weekend camping at Big Meadows in Shenandoah. Each day had a point where it rained, but overall the trip was relaxing, fun, and adventurous. The rain was good too because we didn’t know you had to/or could make reservations at Big Meadows, which meant we didn’t know where we were staying on Saturday night because they were booked full. Luckily, space opened once the rain started so we were able to stay at the campground.

I was surprised at how cold it was. I know it’s fall now, but the weather was much more like winter. Each night lead to a low in the low 30’s, and each day was only about 50 or so. Very surprising, and something I’ll need to plan for next time.

I was able to start a matchless fire on Sunday night, something that might sound hard to do on the face of it but little do you know I actually found a fire pit that someone had recently cooked on with charcoal. Placing my wood on top with some kindling soon started a great fire for cooking. Food always tastes better when you’re camping and this time was no exception.

I packed my climbing shoes with the rest of our camping gear and scoped things out the first day, looking for some good climbs. There is a great 50 foot rock face about 1.25 miles (or a 35 minute normal paced hike) north of the Big Meadows Amphitheater going north along the Appalachian Trail. After seeing it the first day and snapping some pictures, Emily and I took some rope, my new hammock, and some other gear to spend the day on these new-found rocks. There are some great climbing routes there and I’m really hoping I can convince some climbing friends to come back there and backpack/camp there with me to check things out further.

And so it is that I turn the big quarter of a century, or half a half of a century today. I’d like to point out that I’m wearing jeans with holes in them and still feel quite young, although my body is feeling a little ragged from climbing rather extensively last night. I’d also like to point out that 5.8’s have begun to seem easy, whereas 5.9’s are impossible to complete. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s annual gala was last weekend, and to make myself seem older I wore a tux and pretended to be important. I have pictures and promise to see them soon, although who here actually cares what I look like in a tux? You all just come here for the pictures of my hot girlfriend anyway. Admit it.