Here goes: Climbing FONSFAQ

[rydra_wong]

Frequently (Or Not So Frequently) Asked Questions About Climbing

How it works (wording stolen from crossedwires):

-- ask questions/leave prompts about anything climbing-related in the comments; please put 'prompt: [your prompt]' in the subject line

-- claim prompts or make up your own climbing topics you would like to write about for 'Three weeks for Dreamwidth'; please put 'claimed: [your claim]' in the subject line

-answer in the comments or provide a link to your post

-- fonsfaq is a comm created for fonsfaq answers if you'd rather not answer in your own journal

ETA: I don't see any reason why multiple people can't "claim" a prompt and answer, especially as different people will have different advice and perspectives. So don't be afraid to jump in.

Topics so far:

Where to begin
Strengthening muscles

Guess I should...

[georgmi]

...introduce myself, since I've started commenting. If this isn't an appropriate use of the comm, I apologize.

Hi, all! I'm George.

By rights, I probably should have been climbing all my life--my dad used to TA the University of Washington's summer extension mountain climbing courses in the '60s before he got drafted, but he didn't climb much after he got married, and by the time I came around and was big enough to go, time and money constraints were preventing him from climbing, let alone from outfitting the kids to go. But I've always known that climbing was something I'd eventually do for myself. Unfortunately, it took me until my fortieth birthday loomed on the horizon to actually go and do something about it.

I've been climbing for about a year now (I will leave calculation of my current age to the advanced students; please DO NOT show your work), and I'm at the point of trying 5.10s. I am very much a throw-myself-at-the-wall, brute-force climber right now; I wouldn't know technique if it climbed circles around me on the way up. I suspect I'm approaching the point where I'll have no choice but to start thinking about what I'm doing, and I expect a lot of skinned knees and elbows from resisting that transition to the very last possible second. :)

For my day job, I've been in software development and test for nigh on twenty years; I've been married for fifteen years and have a nine-year-old (almost) son, whom I do take climbing once a month or so. Among my other hobbies, I am most serious about my photography; my climbing icon (above) is a picture I ganked off the Internet of Galen Rowell, who was already a world-class climber when he started his world-class photography career. (To the extent that an old, decrepit cynic can believably claim to have a hero, Galen Rowell is mine.)

My current job is coming to an end next month; I'm thinking I'll be climbing quite a bit this summer--I'm fortunate to have known this was coming and to save up for some downtime.