Friday glee has a meme

[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: Katy Whittaker on Kaluza Klein (E7 6c).

In case it's of interest: I made an Exercise/Sport/Movement Friending Meme.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Last weekend I climbed for the first time outdoors. I went to Foster Falls, Tennessee. The climbing is amazing there. The group I went with lead climbed two easy routes and set ropes so that I could top rope the routes. Climbing on real rock is SO different. The feel is amazing. I was able to do things like smear that I have trouble with in the gym because there is so much more friction on the rock.

Also, the area was beautiful and the weather was perfect!

On Sunday, on our way back to Florida, we stopped into Stone Summit, the largest rock climbing gym in the USA. It's a pretty amazing set up, and especially if you want to practice lead rope. 100 foot walls and tons of levels and lips and overhangs.

The top roping is graded soft, and it was incredibly crowded. There wasn't much of a presence of staff on the floor and we saw some incredibly dangerous things going on in terms of belaying and climbing. Mostly people taking their hands off the brake rope, and with lead climbing we saw a woman who was belaying and totally not looking at her climber. She was standing with her back to him and looking around the gym!

So we were not impressed by that, though we thought the facility itself was impressive.

[rydra_wong]

Yay outdoors! Aren't the differences fascinating?

(Booo, poor belaying and safety practices in indoor gyms.)

[wpadmirer]

The feel of real rock cannot be described. It has to be experienced. It's SO cool! Foster Falls is sandstone, and the rock is beautiful. Lots of flakes and cracks to climb. I really look forward to doing it again.

I have heard that Stone Summit has already had some accidents, including a broken arm. My rock gym is fanatical about checking on new climbers and making sure they're doing things correctly. They stop people who are doing things dangerously. It's the one big problem I saw at Stone Summit.

Like I said, the facility is amazing! If anyone is on Facebook, I have photos there and would be happy to friend someone so they could see them.I'm WPAdmirer there as well. (grin)

[originalkitsune]

Yay for real rock climbing! and on sandstone even!

[wpadmirer]

I have to say, I don't know much about outdoor climbing, but the sandstone was amazing!

[rydra_wong]

I have glee because there's a new intermediate circuit up -- 20 problems, all allegedly between V2 and V4 -- and I am having a torrid affair with it.

[wpadmirer]

Oooo, cool!

[originalkitsune]

Yes to new circuits!!! I hate it when problems get old and there's a build up of chalk on some crucial sloper/boss thingy.

[emperor]

I had a great day on Holyhead Mountain leading trad in perfect conditions earlier this week :-)

[rydra_wong]

Yay for more outdoors love!

[originalkitsune]

Nothing is better than this! +1

[wpadmirer]

I have great respect for anyone who can lead trad!

[originalkitsune]

My glee...is going climbing right now...
see yas! Sort of unexpected serendipity but i take it as it comes.

:)

[rydra_wong]

Yay for serendipitous climbing! *g* Have fun!

[wpadmirer]

Enjoy!