Friday glee is on the road

[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: Ashima Shiraishi goes bouldering in Colorado for the first time. And climbs V13, as she does.

Comments

[astridv]

Beautiful climbing, in that vid!

I just got back from the gym (regular, not climbing). I think I'm getting a feeling for that new pegboard. It's really challenging and fun. I'm using a different technique from all those muscle guys though... I don't see the point of even trying to keep my arms at a 90° angle while moving; that burns strength like nothing else. I'm keeping my arms extended, it's a lot easier that way.

[rydra_wong]

Ooh, pegboard! I've seen pictures of them, but never been to a climbing wall or gym that has one -- they don't seem to be common over here.

[astridv]

Ours is brand new and it made my gym about 200% more appealing to me. I more or less joined for the winter so I'd have a place to train and sauna on cold, rainy days, but now it's become a real alternative to my climbing wall (where I have to pay for each visit).

[wpadmirer]

I have never seen a peg board. What is it?

[astridv]

This is the basic principle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMjboACdI5c
(Holy shit, the guy in that video is a machine!)

[wpadmirer]

Oh shit. Yeah, I would suck at that.

[astridv]

It's only, I'd say, 50% grip strength, the rest is coordination. It's very interesting.

[wpadmirer]

Really? Only 50%? Huh. I'd have thought much more. Coordination I've got. Strength, yeah, I'm not the best.

[astridv]

Yeah, I'd say that coordination/technique is at least as important as strength, because it's already become a lot easier after the fourth or fifth short training session and there's no way my grip strength has noticeably changed in that period. In the beginning one kinda wastes a lot of physical and mental energy on flailing and not stabbing the holes right on the first attempt. But once you get the hang of putting the pegs into the holes cleanly, it suddenly feels a lot more comfortable.

[mongrelheart]

Wow, that looks like fun... Very challenging fun...

[astridv]

Really, really fun!