Friday glee has the perfect icon for this

[rydra_wong]

The Friday post of glee is where you get to tell us about your climbing-related happiness this week.

It can be a new achievement or adventure, or just that you climbed and had fun; it can be that your favourite climbing wall is expanding or that you bought new rock shoes or that you found a cool ice-climbing vid on YouTube. No glee is too small -- or too big. Members are encouraged to cheer each other on and share the squee.

N.B. Please feel free to post your glee on any day of the week; the Friday glee is just to get the ball rolling.

To enhance this week's glee: Alex Honnold, who appears to have been born without a nervous system, flashes 'Gaia'. Rather charmingly, Honnold insisted that this didn't count as an onsight as he'd seen Hard Grit on TV a while ago.

(Note: icon is of Lisa Rands's hands on the crucial sloper.)

Comments

[emperor]

I was sitting here thinking "cam! put a cam in the top of the groove!" - it's pretty run-out by the time he gets to the sloper and heel-hook!

I love my cams. Last weekend's climbing was a bit rained-upon, so we didn't get as much time on the rock as we'd like, although we managed my partner's first big multi-pitch route (4 pitches, 66m). Then we had a mini-epic on a Severe (not sure if I was off-route, incompetent, my shoes were too damp to grip properly or what), and I took two leader falls above my number 1 Dragon. It held beautifully, although I do have an impressive bruise from where I landed and whacked my leg against my nuts[0].

Oh, and yesterday saw my first lead at F6a+ :-)

[0] Let's not go there, OK? :-)

[rydra_wong]

I was sitting here thinking "cam! put a cam in the top of the groove!"

There's nowhere to place any pro further up in the groove, as I understand it -- it just peters out. It's a big (and usually painful) potential fall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK7DfNZLK9E (the infamous Hard Grit footage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRmEukG-ouQ (really good view of the total lack of holds aaaaaaaahhhh)

Hey, go you for taking the leader falls on solid pro! I think there's a lot to be said for having the mini-epics and finding that you do have the resources to get yourself out of them.

Btw, I rec Neal's Yard comfrey oil or arnica oil for rubbing into bruised/strained bits (I go for comfrey for strains, arnica for bruises). Actually seems to accelerate healing.

[emperor]

Biiig falls!

[rydra_wong]

I have nothing in particular to report, but I'm working on developing my stamina on an 18-metre roof route (I don't know if I'll ever be able to link it, but I'm putting it together in chunks), and it's making me happy.

I seem to enjoy being upside-down lately, possibly because I've only recently hit the point where I've got the strength to work on this sort of thing.

[emperor]

I had a punt at the competition wall again this week; I didn't get very far, but I'm beginning to be strong enough to clip while on nearly-horizontal rock. It still feels ... improbable.

[rydra_wong]

Yeah, that's one of the things I like about it. *g*

And for me, it's quite a long way into the realm of "things I never, ever would have imagined I'd be capable of doing."

[emperor]

Cool :-)

[wpadmirer]

Wow. Everyone's doing exciting things! I have only climbed once this week, but I did a 5.8 that I find particularly difficult because the first left foothold is at the height of my head when I stand on the floor and look at the route! (I'm 5'7".)

Beyond that, I'm still enjoying having a regular climbing partner. This week she bought her gear - harness, shoes, chalk bag - so that she will no longer have to rent.

[rydra_wong]

Yay for the conquest of difficulties and for having a regular partner!

This week she bought her gear - harness, shoes, chalk bag - so that she will no longer have to rent.

And another person falls to the addiction ... *g*

[ridicully]

I've just come back from my second climbing session of the week.
And I've got my first climbing blisters! I firmly believe that blisters show that you're doing something right.

[rydra_wong]

W00t! And yay for blisters and other righteously-acquired war wounds!

Have you got some Climb On bar, or similar balm-type stuff? That can help heal shredded hands faster (so you can climb more).

[ridicully]

I'm ok with blisters (drain them, tape them, ignore them) and they heal reasonable fast on me anyway, but I will have a look at some balmy stuff, thanks.

The really embarassing injury is a bruised and swollen lip - because I clipped it in my water bottle. Now to convince people I *didn't* get into a fight *g*

[rydra_wong]

Commiserations! I have an amazing knack for really embarrassing self-injury, especially as I bruise very easily and have no co-ordination.

[fadeaccompli]

My bouldering gym, which had recently reset things so that all of the easy V0 routes were gone, finally put some more V0 routes back in, including one which (aside from a fiddly start) is a nice easy laddery climb. Given that a few of my friends are even newer at climbing than I am, this is excellent news; it means at least one of them can finally get to climb a full route again, where she couldn't before.

I also nearly bought a harness, and didn't, mostly because I was annoyed by all of the harnesses for women being available only in pale purple. Sigh. But still! I'm definitely at the point where I can go "Yes, I should buy a harness because I'm going to use it often enough to make it worth buying instead of renting," so I call that some good Friday glee anyway.

[rydra_wong]

Yay V0s! And yay harness, even if it's pale purple!

[emperor]

I'm considering marking Getting Older later this year with a new harness - my current one is getting a bit long in the tooth.

[rydra_wong]

Climbing gear does provide such wonderful excuses for consumerism. *g*

Though as a boulderer, I can only manifest this by obsessing about shoes and designing my own chalkbags.

Seriously, though, when it comes to anything your life may depend on, I think you've got a good reason to replace it sooner rather than later.