$8 to climb?

I recently moved back to my hometown crag from a near three year “sabbatical.” During that time I was lucky enough to climb on some of the best rock from the Gunks in New York to Bishop in California. For the last year and a half of that time I have been blessed with SoCal weather and access to tons of great rock and route diversity.

I definitely feel like the different styles I climbed and different rock types, ethics, partners, etc. all helped me improve. However, the move from Cali to Texas definitely didn’t help my endurance. I don’t think I have climbed more than a handful of times in the past three months. I don’t even want to talk about my diet.

Regardless, being back at my hometown crag, where I started climbing, has been great. Not only because I have great local climbing partners and tons of limestone to crawl, but because I get to come back to the rock that I have plateau-ed on so many times with a new skill set and a new, diversified background.

The only bad thing is I think the NY and CA prices followed me back. My once $3 entry fee at the local crag is now a whopping $8. But, it was still worth it.

Rest?

A few weeks back I went to Vegas to visit some friends, Jarrett and Crista, and climb some of the area crags. Our first stop was the Roost out at Mt. Charleston.

The area is named after the tourist attraction, Robber’s Roost, which often results in climbing becoming more of a spectator sport. The Roost is one of Vegas’ local summer crags with climbers visiting weekly. The drive is comparatively short as is the approach and many of the routes even have fixed draws to speed up the process, at least when hikers or other climbers haven’t snagged them.

I found a great route, Highway Man, which I thought I might try to flash. This did not happen. I actually didn’t even send it. Best I could guess, I rested too much. The route was long. The crux was at the top. Actually, the top 20 feet out of about 80.

My theory at the time was that I would climb up right below the crux and rest on these two decent crimps. I would shake out for a minute or two, then head half way through the crux before trying to rest again on crimps about half as good for another minute or so trying to get my heart rate and pump down. I hadn’t been climbing much lately and felt my endurance would crumble in the long crux.

This turned out to be my biggest mistake on this route. Although my pump went down slightly and my heart rate leveled out, I still had to finish out about 10 feet of strenuous crimpy climbing. Resting on crimps was not the answer. If the remainder of the route had been steep jugs, resting would have been a good idea, but it wasn’t.

The best thing for me to have done would have been to just bite down and go for it from the bottom up. At the least I should have left that last rest out. I almost always try to get a good shake out before a crux, but that apparently isn’t always the answer. You have to find a balance of resting for endurance yet not resting too much and ruining your power, especially on crimps. Although I didn’t send the route, I definitely walked away with some knowledge.

Review: Black Diamond Momentum Harness

I recently bought the newest version of BD’s Momentum harness. The new harness has several upgrades and technical improvements that made it worth the buy. What I am most excited about is that they added an elastic Velcro band to prevent you from having to do yoga moves to keep your harness on your waste while strapping in. The material is also finer making it much more comfortable and allows it to glide through the buckles with more ease.

Overall the weight of the harness seems significantly less as well. The fabric seems to be much less rigid and the foam more comfortable. My biggest complaint about their previous version was that the plastic “stays” on the waste belt portion that hold the gear loops into place would dig into your waste if you were hang dogging or if you were belaying someone who was hang dogging. That was one of the most annoying things I had ever experienced about a harness. Luckily, this is not the case with the new version.

Although the new version is much more comfortable than the previous, my first day out I took two really big whippers and had bruises on my waste I had never experienced before that lasted about four days. I am not sure of the harness constricts more or if I am just gaining weight.

Black Diamonds description of the Momentum harness:

“The Momentum is functional across all disciplines. The waistbelt and leg loops are padded with seven millimeter closed-cell foam for comfort and lined with BD-Lux for breathability. The anatomically contoured, bullhorn-shaped waistbelt and Y-style leg loops allow unrestricted movement yet still provide support. An excellent, affordable all-around harness, it is equipped with four molded gear loops and a full-strength haul loop, so it’ll hold enough draws for a bolted endurance fest or enough pro for a gear-eating crack.”

I agree with everything except the last statement. That is actually my only complaint with this harness is that the gear loops are super small and really only hold about 5-6 draws each – not ideal for trad climbing or long multi-pitch routes requiring a lot of gear. Also, the main loops connected by the belay loop is smaller and a little harder to work with. It’s not restrictive, but will take a little getting used to.

Overall I would give it a 9 out of 10. Here’s the breakdown:

Waste belt: 10
Leg belts: 10
Belay loop and connected harness straps: 8
Gear loops: 7
Comfort: 10
Weight: 10
Ease of use: 10

Price: Low at $43

Link:

http://www.bdel.com/gear/momentum.php

Rest days in La Bufadora

The area referred to as La Bufadora means blowhole in Spanish and is essentially a marine geyser that spouts every time a wave blasts through an area of underwater caves sending a spray of ocean water and a thunderous roar. According to WikiPedia, “folklore describes a baby whale entering the underwater cave over a century ago and becoming stuck. The spout of water is from the whale’s blowhole.”

La Bufadora is located on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja, Mexico. The peninsula is just south of Ensenada, Mexico, which is about an hours drive south of the border. Most American tourists don’t make it much further than Ensenada or Rosarito, making La Bufadora a bit of a retreat from the shot bars and pollution.

Jen and I headed from LA down to Ensenada, where we picked up fellow Austinites, Sean and Kristen, and cruised down to La Bufadora to Casa de Candaele(link below). The Casa was this solar-run, U-shaped house that rested on a mountain top overlooking the ocean. It was on several acres and had very few neighbors. We ultimately had the area to ourselves, which included crazy tide pools, lagoons, cliff-bands towering over the ocean, little private beaches and a Bocci court (of course we used it).

The crags were deceiving. They looked like perfect climbing spots, but would crumble in your hands as you applied any sort of pressure. The tide pools were amazing though. They were like little underwater gardens spread all along the beaches. Each pool had its own diverse set of sea life.

Although we only saw a few, in the distance we always heard the constant “barking” of sea lions off in the distance. It sounded like there must have been a beach full of them, but we never ventured far enough to find them. We did go fishing one of the days and caught a fish that I have yet to identify. Stay tuned for that.

The Sunsets were madness. Each night the sky would explode with color over the ocean and the mountains behind us with all the succulent plants would contrast against the brilliant colors. Some of the best sunsets I have ever witnessed.


On the way back, Jen and I stopped by Porto Nuevo to sample their famous lobster and margaritas. If it wasn’t for the heat we may not have ever left.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bufadora
www.casadecandaele.com

Tahquitz and Suicide Rock

Earlier this month my friend Justin and I packed up the truck and headed to Idyllwild to see what all the fuss was about with Tahquitz and Suicide Rock. Right off the bat we were impressed with the 45 degree uphill hike that put a burn in our legs and about drained half of our water supplies. Our first day we hit Suicide Rock and climbed a mellow two-pitch route to get a lay of the land and give me a chance to get my trad feet back under me. It had been almost two years since I was climbing trad regularly out at the Gunks and I had only placed gear once or twice since out at Joshua Tree.

Suicide Rock was amazing and the climbing was excellent with great gear placements. Everything was super sticky and the belay ledges were comfy. Not to mention, the views were spectacular.

Day two we headed straight to Tahquitz with a very slow start in our day not even reaching the crag until about noon. We decided to take down an “easy” multi-pitch 5.7 on the north side of the rock. Pitch one was kinda dicey in that I definitely didn’t have enough small pieces to be on that route and had to get creative and run it out at the top. The belay ledge was confusing in that it seemed non-existent, was very uncomfortable and there weren’t great placements to make it a relaxing experience.

Next, I headed off on pitch two where I was about twenty feet from the next belay ledge and about fifteen feet run-out before I realized there were no placements under a #4 cam, which I had none of. Evidently, the guide book stated you need plenty of small pro and up to a #4 cam. Ooops.

At this point I didn’t feel like taking any more chances and getting to a belay ledge where I had no pro that would fit and would be belaying for a beginner who was only on his second day of trad climbing and maybe sixth day of climbing at all. We were also out of water, baking in the sun…the list of excuses goes on and on. Instead of continuing to run it out and top the mysterious route, we decided to bail – submitting to Tahquitz.

Regardless if I got put in my place, we got some great experience out of it and enjoyed the time we had on the rock and in Idyllwild. Overall I highly recommend the area, but would definitely suggest you climb only the starred routes, which this was not one of.

Merrick Ales gets cover shot on Rock & Ice

Merrick Ales, a photographer in Austin, Texas, is known for having a picture or two grace the pages of climbing magazines, but this time his shot earned him September's cover of Rock & Ice magazine. The shot of Andrew Oliver soloing a route over the waters of Lake Travis is definitely spectacular.

Water soloing in the area isn't new, but its long been a local secret that rarely made it outside of the Texas borders. The proliferation of water soloing on the lake outside of Austin has grown dramatically as people like Andrew, Merrick, Rick and others have been searching high and low for new rock in the Texas Hill Country.

I highly recommend grabbing your floaties, a pair of old shoes and cooler and hitting the cliffs of Lake Travis.

Links:
http://www.merrickales.com/

Texas Limestone Bouldering Guide Book

In late September Jeff Jackson's new "Texas Limestone Bouldering" guide book should be arriving on the shelves of Whole Earth Provision Company, REI and other Texas outdoor shops. You can also order an e-copy today if you just cannot wait to get your hands on it.

According to Sean's site, www.erockonline.com, the book will cover "nearly every" boulder problem in the areas covered (central and north Texas) and includes 1,350 routes with just about any rating known to climbers. The book goes at $24.95 plus shipping and handling unless you pre-order getting it at a cool $12.

Here's the description posted on erockonline, which is also found in the link below:

"Jeff Jackson's magnum opus comes in the form of Texas Limestone Bouldering. This book covers so many areas around Texas that the local and visitor alike will never be without a new project at every destination. Complete with amazing pictures from local Austin photographer Merrick Ales, a forward by Andrew Bisharat from Rock and Ice, and excellent maps and topos, this guidebook is a must have for anyone who has ever carried a pad on their back! Descriptions are included for nearly every problem."

I just ordered mine. Stay tuned for a review later this fall.

Links:
http://www.erockonline.com/newbook.html