Tag: Latest

Something Old, Something New – Part 2

zhengman August 5, 2019

In the beginning of May, I booked a trip to Red River Gorge with Woohan, Ellen, and Alex. This would be the first new location I’d climbed at since Rumney back in September, and would also be my first trip with Ellen and Alex. Although I didn’t know the two very well, I knew from my interactions with them in the gym that Ellen and Alex were strong, and were serial redpointers. I knew this trip would be one where I could push myself alongside another group of similarly motivated climbers, and was excited to train hard in the lead cave for preparation.

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I had heard that The Red was all about steep jug hauling through long, endurance testing routes. With this in mind, I spent as much time as possible in the month or so I had after coming back from Red Rock to train my endurance on steep climbing. I decided to not project anything seriously during this period (very rare for me) and just focused on getting lots of mileage every session, averaging around 8-9 long/cave routes a session. This included doing doubles on cave routes, where I would go up and immediately jump on another cave route with no rest in between. Although this was a bit more structured than I typically preferred, I was hoping that all this endurance training would pay off and give me a head start on the Red’s endurance style.

Before we even got to the climbing though, we had a few mini-epics, including with our travel plans. Our flight to Lexington, KY kept getting delayed, and eventually went from arriving at 11:30 PM to arriving at 2:00 AM. Unfortunately, the car rental desks close around 12:30 AM, and all of a sudden we were worried about not having a car to drive to our Airbnb in Slade, KY. We were lucky to have Woohan land before us, and he managed to both get the car and get some groceries before coming back to pick us up. With a few wrong turns on the drive to Slade, we arrived at the Airbnb at 5 AM, and agreed to try for an 11 AM departure.

Even though I slept decently, the travel debacle definitely crushed any hopes of productive climbing on day 1. We arrived in the Motherlode with high psych but little else. I have to say, this crag was truly a beautiful and surreal environment straight out of a climbing brochure/guidebook, complete with a waterfall in the middle of a massive cavern of overhung walls. I tried Ale-8-One 5.12b that day, which was around a 60 foot overhung slopey/juggy crimp climb. The conditions were okay at first, but after an hour of rain (where we all managed to stay completely dry due to how overhung the walls were, the holds became extremely slimy and I made negative progress with each attempt.

Climbing vocab word of the day:
"Man·ky": adjective  
- Slimy, wet, worthless climbing conditions

Day two, we split up where Ellen and I went to Solarium crag to try Super Best Friends 5.12b, while Alex and Woohan went to try some harder climbs at a different location (Cell Block Six). Super Best Friends (SBF from here on out) was quite a long climb, but had a nice sit down no hands rest ¼ of the way up. Here, the real climbing starts, as you climb out of a cave on mostly jugs and heel hooks, culminating in a crux where you have to exit the roof of the cave onto the easier head wall. I made all the moves my first run up, and felt pretty good on my second go before taking at the lip of the cave. Unfortunately, this is where I got stuck for the next two days, as I continued to fall at the same place over and over.

In hindsight, I should have taken the time and really dialed in the beta at pulling the roof, but I felt so close each redpoint burn, and after I fell, there was no reasonable way to get back onto the climb. As such, I was still uncertain and trying new beta all the way leading up to my send go, and kept waffling in a general feeling of uncertainty (especially since strong people kept flashing SBF with different beta). Ellen was making good progress herself, initially being stopped by a bouldery move in the middle on each attempt. I was also trying to move through the crux by skipping a clip, and subsequently taking 40 foot whippers when falling afterwards. Interestingly enough, when I finally sent SBF, I was so calm and in control that I ended up clipping the bolt that I always skipped, kept my head, and pulled the roof by doing what felt natural for my body (which in this case was cutting feet and pulling them up high). I think that I chose a good project for my abilities and conditioning at the time, as I felt that I developed more and more endurance as I got “acclimated” to the route, but I would refine my redpointing process more next time and work the crux section specifically if I fell more than twice there.

Something Old, Something New – Part 1

zhengman May 26, 2019

Back in early April, I went out to Red Rocks again for the umpteenth time. I’m starting to feel like it’s my second home; in fact, the style and rock quality has lost a bit of the novelty I initially felt when I went on my first outdoor climbing trip almost exactly a year ago. Obviously, this means I’m becoming a more seasoned, experienced climber who knows what to expect from outdoor bouldering/sport climbing

Sport climbing – Mostly hanging, with a little climbing in between

zhengman February 26, 2019

This most recent trip to Red Rock was probably the least productive in terms of sending that I’ve ever done, but I feel that I’ve learned the most and have the most to reflect/think on out of any climbing trip I’ve been on. Overall, it was an amazing trip with unique and positive experiences.

Day 1, we (Woohan, Daniel, and I) headed out to The Gallery, a crag off the 2nd pullout in Calico II. Woohan had some unfinished business with The Glitz 5.12c, and the crag offered a lot of high quality options in the 11 – 12 range for Daniel and I to work on. We were initially worried about it being too cold, but the crag was in the sun the entire day, and instead we fought to stay shady and hydrated. I started off by warming up on Running Amuck 5.10c, which proved to be heady and tricky as the crux was near the 2nd clip and involved some awkward maneuvering, the classic 1 star route shenanigans. I then moved to hopefully onsight or at least quickly send Yaak Crack 5.11c, a 3 star route and probably the most popular route at the crag. Unfortunately, I severely underestimated the problem as well as overestimated my own ability to do overhanging problems. Yaak Crack starts with a sequency beginning near the first two bolts where it’s difficult to find your feet, and I had to solve this part by just reaching very tall to a good sidepull. From this sidepull jug, you begin climbing on somewhat steep, crimpy jugs, and accumulate a ton of pump. There are a lot of different options in terms of positive hold choices and body positioning, and you can find a good rest on many different holds if you want; I honestly think it’s an amazing climb for any climber, tall or short, as it feels hard and pumpy regardless. To top it off, the final portion of climbing from the last clip to anchors is no gimme, as the key beta is to use a hand jam in the crack to pull yourself over the lip, something I didn’t figure out until my third attempt (and probably only the 3rd handjam I’ve ever done). After 4 solid attempts, I finally sent, but was pretty gassed to try anything harder. Daniel decided to try a different problem but accidnentally hopped on Minstrel in the Gallery 5.12c instead, which I ended up cleaning bolt to bolt at the end of the day – whoops! Lots of end of day shenanigans as the sun started to set and we realized we had put draws up on too many routes.

With the sweat and heat of day 1 in mind, we decided to try a shadier crag, The Pier, on the following day. Nestled in a small alley within a 5 minute walk from the parking lot, this was truly a dream crag when it came to approach and convenience. But we swung too far the other way in terms of temperature, as the temperature difference was probably 20+ degrees cooler in the alley and I was forced to wear all my layers even when climbing. The Pier has a wealth of 5.11 and higher climbs, but the lack of easy routes meant we had to warmup on the 3 star 5.11a Under the Boardwalk. A broken hold at the top marred an otherwise perfect climb around and into large huecos. I then started to project Geometric Progression 5.12 b/c with Woohan, which was a very short, very bouldery ~30 ft climb. The climb has a challenging crux section starting with a slopey right hand pocket, to left hand sloper catch, to a right hand bump to another slopey pocket, and then a multiple left hand bumps off of a left heel where I’m very outstretched. I think the cold temps made me move in stiff and awkward manners, but I also know that I might have been able to send if I poured on a bit more effort. Nevertheless, it was a great climb to project and I’m confident it’s only a few attempts away if I want to come back to it.

Day 3 was the best day condition wise, as we headed to Cannibal Crag to try New Wave Hookers 5.12c. It was sunny to start, but in the early afternoon, cloud cover gave us shady and comfortable conditions. New Wave Hookers was probably the favorite climb of the trip for me, as it honestly has it all: slopers, crimps, pockets, heel hooks, a dyno, and technical feet sequencing. A true 3 star problem, and just thinking back to the movement gets me hyped. I didn’t feel that I had quite the energy (both physical and mental) or the finger strength to finish it, but I definitely want to come back for it. In addition, I tried the iconic Caustic Cock 5.11b that Daniel eventually redpointed that day. Although I feel that climb is par for the grade, something about the overhung, arete style climbing with heel hooks etc. really overpowered me, and I didn’t even make it to the anchors. I think this climb more than anything showed me how lacking I was in my overhung technique, and I resolved to hit the 45 degree wall/lead climbing cave when I got back to the gym. I finished off the day by top roping Save the Heart to Eat Later 5.12a, an incredibly long, technical slab climb on thin, smeary feet; think of the classic scary cheesegrater climbs where you’re constantly afraid of slipping and leaving behind more skin than rubber on the slab. As a bonus, we ran into Sonnie Trotter and his family/friends (!), who gave me some beta on New Wave Hookers. The guy was incredibly nice, as was his wife, and his kids were so, so cute. We also got to see him cruise through an onsight of Wonderstuff 5.12d (literally his kid was telling him to climb faster and he was laughing) which was a pretty shake-your-head, my goodness type of experience. What a cool first run in with a professional climber.

Some reflections:

Less ego: I think I’m most proud of being able to remove my ego from the climbing during this trip compared to my past experiences. We all have certain expectations and want our hard work in the gym to reflect when we finally get that rare chance to go outdoors and tryhard. While it’s good to gauge your level of climbing from your indoor grades, outdoor climbing has so many additional factors (conditions, actual risk of injury, type of rock, etc.) that make the experience different/more difficult compared to the sterile gym environment where most variables are accounted for. I’ve thrown wobblers in the past from falling before the anchors, I’ve gotten tilted from getting scared and taking on 5.10’s, and of course I’ve been that negative cloud when I’m not performing up to my own preconceived standards. I feel that I was definitely able to keep my head level and process setbacks well on this trip, which ultimately led to my second point…
Open mind/build your base: At my current level, I have an expectation of onsighting most 5.11a’s, and view 5.12a as the level at which climbs become “projects” requiring serious effort and commitment. I’m not trying to be pretentious or elitist by spouting off these numbers, but if I am honest with myself, these are the expectations I have of my own ability. That’s why I’m thankful that I took the time to send Yaak Crack 5.11c even though I had planned to project mid 12’s this trip. Everytime I fell, I could point to new a lesson learned that helped me progress further up the climb, and I wouldn’t have learned as much about body positioning, overhung climbing, or checked off a 3 star classic if I had written it off and proceedeed to the harder climbs at the crag. In fact, this was the first 5.11c I had ever redpointed clean, and I’ve only done two 5.12’s ever, so clearly I could flesh out my base a lot. If I fail to send a climb, I should think that there’s more for me to learn from that particular climb regardless of what number grade other people have assigned it.
Learn from your betters: This was the first climbing trip I’ve done in awhile where someone I was climbing with was significantly better than me and I have to say…it was great! You always have the insurance of being able to clean a climb that’s at/beyond your limit, they probably have beta you can steal when you’re both working out the moves on a new project, and there’s probably lots to learn from their larger general climbing experience. One example of things I learned from Woohan was having the belayer walk out to let the climber grab the belay rope and then walking back in to the climbing side of the rope when the climber falls away from the rock on an overhung climb. I also liked his overall redpointing strategy which involved taking and figuring the best beta out on the first time up the climb, using subsequent attempts to make links. I also realized top roping is awesome…thank god I wasn’t leading that 5.12a slab nightmare phew.
Don’t project before a trip: I think my mental energy for redpoint projecting was very low to start with at the beginning of the trip. The 6/7 week battle with the black 5.13a gym climb had really taken its toll on me mentally, and I just wasn’t psyched to push myself as much as I normally am on outdoor trips. Of course it’s fine to have a chill trip and just enjoy the experience once in awhile, but I had planned beforehand for this to be a projecting type of trip. I had not recognized that I probably needed 2-3 weeks to taper both physically AND mentally, as I sent my indoor project barely a week before leaving for Red Rock. Even coming back from the trip, I am feeling a lack of motivation to train and am thinking I might take a few weeks to just enjoy climbing again; I definitely don’t want to push myself to the point of hating the sport.
Enjoy the process: Of all the things that impressed me about Sonnie Trotter, it was definitely his general attitude that made me say “Oh that’s why he’s sponsored by all those brands”. Patagonia etc. doesn’t sponsor just because he’s an incredibly strong climber who’s sent 5.14 sport and trad, or because he looks good wearing their gear, they sponsor him because he’s a natural at being an outdoor and climbing ambassador. He was friendly and outgoing at the crag with random strangers, asking us for beta when he clearly didn’t need it/was doing it to be polite and friendly. And with all the demands of his family and friends there, he continued to be positive, encouraging and inclusive of everyone at the crag. Sure, this was a relaxing vacation day for him and he wasn’t trying anything close to his limit, but I could see in his interactions that he was just a great guy to be around when you’re enjoying the outdoors. I also want to one day take my family outdoors to share with them the joy of scrambling around rocks like Sonnie has clearly imparted on his kids; his little boy of 5 or 6 was trying his hardest to scramble up a little ledge like it was his lifelong project.

Trip Reports

Red Rock – October 2018 Trip Report

zhengman November 25, 2018

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Had a great time last month in Red Rock with the usual gang, where we did a bit of sport and bit of bouldering (with day 3 rained out). Although I didn’t do much projecting, it was great to see a few friends do their first outdoors sport lead, and also to go back and finish some boulders that had given me a lot of trouble 6 months ago.

On day 1, we went to Black Corridor to do some sport climbing. I suggested this location since we had a few people new to outdoor climbing, and I had heard that it was a convenient area with lots of options up to 5.11+. Mountain Project describes it as a zoo, and well…it was basically as crowded as your indoor climbing gym at peak hours, with every route occupied when we first got there. We started in the upper area, where a few of my friends climbed Dancin’ with a God (5.10a) and one of the 5.9s to the left of Dancin’. My objective for the day was to work on my onsighting skills, which is my favorite style of climbing, and so after warming up I set my sight on Oils Well that Ends Well (5.11a). I had onsighted a few 5.11a’s prior to this so I expected to feel confident on this route, but immediately felt shaky and insecure after the first bolt. I ended up deciding to bail after realizing how low to the ground I was and the groundfall potential, and even after downclimbing a move and telling my belayer I was going to drop, I ended up kicking him accidentally. After thinking a bit, I decided to move on and try a different route, and am really glad I did so. My expectations can sometimes add a lot pressure to myself, and I didn’t want to tilt myself when the day had just started, so I decided to try Sandstone Enema (5.11 a/b) next to Oils. In hindsight, this was a great lesson to learn, as not all climbs are going to be “worth” climbing; Oils involved a seriously small and tricky crux before the second bolt, and there were honestly better ways for me to spend my pysche and energy. Sandstone Enema ended up taking about 3 tries as well as a decent amount of time to figure out the crux sequence (and I would is a pretty solid 5.11c), but I had a lot more fun figuring out a crux that didn’t involve groundfall potential. Later on in the day, I tried again to onsight a 5.11 b/c (Hips Don’t Lie/ AKA Punchdrunk) that I ended up getting on my second go.

We went to Kraft Boulders on day 2, and I was able to send Jones’N (v4+) on my second go. This boulder gave me a lot of trouble the last time I came to Red Rock, and I was unable to top it out after working it exhaustively for 2 hours in the sun. I would say that I felt stronger on the boulder this time around, but there’s no better way to put it than that the holds felt better to me for some reason. I think a combination of more experience, better head game (from more experience topping out boulders), and overall being slightly stronger made the previously enigmatic, slopey topout feel obvious and juggy. It’s nice to see that all of my recent outdoor climbing experience has had a postitive effect regardless of send or fail. After Jones’N, I worked on The Pearl (v5) and managed to put it down after a few tries. The start was much trickier than I expected after seeing the holds, since the starting holds are quite large and featured; the left hand starts in a large crimp hueco, and the left hand has a positive sidepull feature to pull off. It was the feet placement that was the most difficult to figure out, and as the first move involves doing a large right hand reach to a not great intermediate crimp. At first I wasn’t even able to start the problem with both feet on the rock, and eventually just had to pull my body as close as possible to the rock with my left hand hueco-crimp. I think over all I could put in some more hours to bouldering/doing moves on slightly overhanging rock. After The Pearl, we moved to Monky Bars area and I tried my hand at Monkey Bar Right (v6). This was probably the hardest boulder problem I’ve attempted so far, and I’m happy I was able to suss out all the moves, making it to the last hard move before falling, multiple times. It’s an exciting, overhung problem with large committing moves at the end, and definitely feels like something the moonboard was designed to train you for. Definitely looking forward to going back to put it down.

Overall, I was able to enjoy the sport climbing without letting my unnecessary expectations negatively affect my experience, while also enjoying watching my friends push themselves mentally and physically. Even though most climbers say that having fun is the ultimate goal, all the talk about beta and sending and projects clouds that perspective and can make it hard to see why we tied in in the first place. For myself, I am still trying to find the best balance between striving for my personal goals while remaining in the moment and positive around my friends and climbing partners. It helps when I have set expectations before hand internally on what type of trip I am expecting. I especially enjoyed our third day where we did no climbing whatsoever, and played basketball at a local community court for almost 4 hours; I was reminded how much fun it is to just hangout with friends on a sunny day with nice weather, as well as how fun other hobbies can be. A reminder to not get too caught up in the climbing bubble.