Glee time!

[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 a good time; 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.

To enhance this week's glee: Goats: still more hardcore than you. (You have to click to enlarge the photo, but it'll be kind of obvious which one.)

Comments

[rydra_wong]

I have glee because the Arch expansion is proceeding apace and it's going to be amazing:

http://archclimbingwall.com/?p=534

Also, my new shoes seem to be breaking in nicely. I still have to take them off a lot, but they're not distracting me at all when I'm climbing.

[be_themoon]

oh wow, that looks FABULOUS. so much fun to climb on, I bet.

[rydra_wong]

They're really inventive with the route-setting as it is, and have been dreaming big with the new space (there was lots of huddling round the front desk making wild sketches).

The "tunnel" is basically an incredibly long slanted roof, with the mats rising up underneath it so you never get that far above them. And they're going to have evil rounded top-outs, and all sorts of fun. And a second slab (this one just fractionally off-vertical), which fills me with glee, because slab climbing doesn't get nearly enough love.

[juliet]

I went climbing twice this week :) And *nearly* made the final move on the V2 that I can't quite do (I was loathe to try again as it is fairly hard on the hand I'm not grabbing with).

Also v much looking forward to the Arch expansion opening!

[rydra_wong]

I was loathe to try again as it is fairly hard on the hand I'm not grabbing with

That's sensible -- you have to conserve your tendons and/or skin, I think.

In the last couple of weeks I've been working obsessively on the V4 under the roof I was trying to get before they re-set it (I didn't quite make it, alas), and that's worked my fingers really hard, especially on my left hand. So this week I'm trying to back off anything too fingery and give them a chance a recover.

[wpadmirer]

I climbed with Kim and Fred twice this week, and they put me through strength training twice. I'm scheduled to climb again with them on Sunday.

Last Sunday we climbed and then Fred had a potluck dinner at his house where he has a slack line set up. I did not try out the slack line as I value my body and I'm too old to be springing off and landing on the hard ground. (grin)

But I watched several of the younger climbers try it out and it was very entertaining.

[rydra_wong]

*g* I have been known to trip over my feet walking across the floor at the climbing wall, so I suspect slacklining would not be a good idea for me either ...

What sort of strength training are you doing? I always want to pick other people's brains for ideas.

[wpadmirer]

I'm doing hang-board workouts. A series of pull-ups, dead hangs, bent-arm hangs, l-lifts, off-side pull-ups, on different holds - from jugs to three fingers. (It has a two finger hold, but I can't use that, my fingers won't hold me.)

Between each set of hang-board things I do sit-ups, push-ups, Mason Twists, bicycles (forward and backward), and crunchy frogs. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to do the whole thing with a stretching cool down.

I'm always completely beat afterward, and my longest dead hang is 15 seconds! EGADS! I'm a wuss. (grin)

[wpadmirer]

Oh, a lot of the push-ups, sit-ups, etc. come from the P90X workouts. Both Fred and Kim do those.

[rydra_wong]

Hardcore! Your deadhang definitely beats mine. *g*

[wpadmirer]

Really? I feel like I suck at things like dead hangs. 15 seconds seems like FOREVER to me. I've been known to collapse on the mat flat on my back immediate afterward and refuse to rise. (grin)

[rydra_wong]

Maybe my fingerboard's meaner than yours, but I'm struggling to reach 6 or 7 seconds deadhang on some of the "easier" holds.

[wpadmirer]

Maybe so. I'm using the Metolis Simulator CNC Training Board at the gym. The thing is nice. I wish I could afford one and if I could afford one had somewhere to put it. (grin)

[rydra_wong]

Ooh, nice. I've got some Metolius rock rings, then I got one of these for my birthday a few months ago. Half the holds are too tough for me to even try to use, but at least I can look lovingly at them. *g*

[wpadmirer]

You are definitely using a harder board than I am. I'm very much a beginner!

[be_themoon]

That freaking goat. *grumbles* Just because I can't magically walk straight up walls.

I'm going rock climbing tomorrow with the guy I like! (and his girlfriend, but she's pretty cool, so that's fine.)

ALSO I GOT NEW SHOES. they are black and white checkered and I looooove them. (late birthday present from my mom. :DDD)

[rydra_wong]

YAY SHOES! What make are they? I wanna see!

[be_themoon]

Mad Rock Trickster's, as seen here. :D I looove them.

[rydra_wong]

Snazzy!

[auntysarah]

in the week I found an 8 metre 5+ lead at The Castle with an overhang of doom, and upon climbing found it to be a bit of a sandbag. Being a good girl and not wanting to clip too early, I waited until the third clip was below my shoulder before trying to clip it, at which point I discovered I couldn't.

I could have carried on climbing to the 4th clip, but that was well into decking territory. I let my belayer know I was having trouble, and started to down climb - not easy on a monster overhang where I can't see the holds for my feet.

So naturally I fell, and stopped with my raised feet about 30cm off the floor. It was a busy night, there are a bunch of top rope lines nearby. The looks on the top rope belayers' faces after seeing me fall 5ish metres and stop just off the deck was something to behold.

Yesterday I went back and despite my apprehension, I climbed the bugger, which was still tougher than a 5+ had any right to be (harder than both of the 6a leads either side of it).

[rydra_wong]

Eeep! But rock on for going back and getting the bastard.