New to Tucson , anyone out there?

Hey was wondering if anyone was still going to Mt. Lemmon if I could tag along :)? New to town but have climbed on my Lemmon a couple times it was sweet. My friend I used to go with just got deployed so I don’t know anyone around here to go to the crag with... I’m good at belay and have been climbing for about a year now..can’t lead climb yet and hardest climb I’ve tackled so far was a 5.9....in sport climbing if anyone is out there let me know otherwise will wait this thing out and do some hiking instead ..

Do some hiking unless you are living with your climbing partner.

Have you not heard? There is a global pandemic. You shouldn't be meeting up w strangers or probably going sport climbing at all until case numbers start to decline and stay at home orders are lifted.

Hey Hunter... get tested for Corona antibodies.   If you have already had Covid, you will be in VERY high demand as a partner !  We can put up new routes.

What if he has antibakerbodies?

U R trying to say I make my partners ill ? Well... good point.

You guys are adorable

don't let anyone shame you into not climbing Hunter, just do it responsibly. i would invite you to join me except i've already got my group of regulars whom i climb with while the pandemic is on and i'd like to keep it small until things start to improve. if you can find one or two other people to get out with on the weekends don't feel bad about it, just avoid crowded crags and don't climb with more than a couple of different folks (who are also doing a good job isolating during the week as well).

when the pandemic is over i'll gladly meet you at Rocks and Ropes and introduce you to some folks.

Mike Broad wrote: You guys are adorable

seconded. love you old blokes.

Jon Ruland wrote: don't let anyone shame you into not climbing Hunter, just do it responsibly. i would invite you to join me except i've already got my group of regulars whom i climb with while the pandemic is on and i'd like to keep it small until things start to improve. if you can find one or two other people to get out with on the weekends don't feel bad about it, just avoid crowded crags and don't climb with more than a couple of different folks (who are also doing a good job isolating during the week as well).

when the pandemic is over i'll gladly meet you at Rocks and Ropes and introduce you to some folks.

Most sane and logical thing I have read on MP in a month...

Lee Chandler wrote:

Most sane and logical thing I have read on MP in a month...

Jon is a most sane and logical guy!!!

The isolation thing is pretty interesting. I went to Walgreens today to get a prescription for my wife.  The pharmacist was crowding my space and had no mask.  WTF ?  So then I went to Target to pick up a grocery order.  The whole point of pickup is to minimize exposure right ?  The person serving me crowded my space and no mask. Huh?  And only about 1/3 of the patrons at each place had masks.  Guess they don't care about the employees serving them.  Tucson's response seems pretty lax from where I sit.

But then it's all about risk assessment.  If we really cared about preventable death, we would all wear racing helmets and 5 point harnesses when we drive. And have roll cages and fire extinguishers. Airbags would be unnecessary.

I tried climbing with 2 other people a few days ago.  We all took it seriously and 2 of us are smart guys.  We tried to make it a logic game.  Since I know the 2 other guys take it seriously 24/7, I wasn't really concerned about infection, just wanted to see how complicated it would be to try to think the whole process through.

We drove separately. We went to a crag that we knew would not be crowded (because no one knows about it). We wore masks.  We set our packs 15 feet apart.  We sanitized after each run (after untying and pulling).  We sanitized before eating or drinking or touching our faces.  Once we had achieved 15 feet separation we felt free to unmask, but remask while being lowered. We even sanitized before belaying and I squirted my belay device from time to time.

Later I thought the experience through.  If you start with the assumption that your partners may be contaminated, you have to assume your clothes are contaminated very quickly.  So you have to sanitize before eat/drink/touch face even if you only touched your own clothes.  How do your clothes get contaminated ?  Rope, draws, contact with the rock after someone else climbs... that's enough.

When you leave and get in your car, your car is now contaminated.  You get home.  Take off all your clothes in a quarantine area (my garage) and leave them there overnight so the virus dies.  Then you sanitize your feet and hands, go in the house and shower. Maybe leave the clothes 2 nights.  Leave your pack in the trunk overnight for same reason. Don't use the car until the next day. Or 2 days. That is a LOT of complication.

A good addition to the scheme would be air-tight goggles for the  belayer. A steady prevailing wind might be a bonus, but a swirling wind is probably bad.

Oh... and try not to put the rope in your mouth while clipping !!

And your chalk bag and the chalk in it may be contaminated.  Dump out the chalk bag at the end of a session?  How long can the virus survive in chalk?

I went bouldering and went through the same line of thought.  Even though I was by myself at a deserted obscure bouldering area, the holds were chalked, so maybe contaminated.  Sanitize hands between problems... but maybe it got from the holds to my hands and onto my clothes, bouldering pad, shoes, or in my chalk bag before I sanitized.  My decon strategy is similar to yours, except I spread everything out on the patio figuring the UV would be helpful.  Cheers, man.

Lee Chandler wrote:

Most sane and logical thing I have read on MP in a month...

the Tucson Rock Climbers Facebook group is having similar issues. it should be renamed to Tucson Climber's Cult of Corona-shaming. it seems that to many of those folks there are only two types of climbing: "climbing" and "not climbing", and right now "climbing" is bad. they do not seem to understand that there is a nice middle ground called "responsible climbing" which if we all adhere to it will be good for our mental health as well as our physical health.

Jon Ruland wrote:

the Tucson Rock Climbers Facebook group is having similar issues. it should be renamed to Tucson Climber's Cult of Corona-shaming. it seems that to many of those folks there are only two types of climbing: "climbing" and "not climbing", and right now "climbing" is bad. they do not seem to understand that there is a nice middle ground called "responsible climbing" which if we all adhere to it will be good for our mental health as well as our physical health.

I think this speaks to the point, myself and others have come to. Whereas, yes the pandemic is black in white in a lot of areas, in terms of spreading and etc. I do not feel outdoor rec is as black and white. I climbed for the first time with two different people on Friday, we were transparent about our social distancing practices, we took separate vehicles and nobody carried a "community" water bottle up the multipitch, we did our best to climb as ethically as possible during these times. 

Was it enough precaution for the,  militant "stay the fuck home" faction? I am sure no, but it was enough for us to get out on some rock together. Everything I have read, clearly states that an outdoor contraction of this virus through the air is nearly impossible and the virus' ability to live outside is greatly diminished by an array of factors. AZ seems to be the only state where the climbing community has not devoured itself over this issue yet, but I fear we are moving that direction.

I think people just simply need to apply common sense and climb as ethically as possible when they go out. AZ is not the east coast and it is not the front range of CO. We are not forced to all climb at the same 3 crags or etc. If you live in NY and your only option is a busy overrun crag than yes you prob should not climb. If you live in the front range and your only options are overrun busy crags, then yes you prob should not be climbing. But nobody is going to tell me that climbing in a remote are with a trusted partner who has been social distancing or the partner you are quarantined with is some how going to be the thing that pushes us into the apocalypse.  

The experts have already said that until there is a vaccine we are not out of the clear. So unless people are ready to commit to not climbing until 2022 or so, some need to start applying common sense and logic here. Choose your partners wisely, choose your crags wisely, make good decisions and don't be an idiot...

I don't know why---but this is what I imagine happened when JBAK got home and tried to go into his garage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSIKBliboIo

Jon Ruland wrote:

the Tucson Rock Climbers Facebook group is having similar issues. it should be renamed to Tucson Climber's Cult of Corona-shaming. it seems that to many of those folks there are only two types of climbing: "climbing" and "not climbing", and right now "climbing" is bad. they do not seem to understand that there is a nice middle ground called "responsible climbing" which if we all adhere to it will be good for our mental health as well as our physical health.

I was out at Smith Rock the last day before it closed in the lower gorge. There wasn't another soul around and we were getting blasted by the sun's UV rays the entire time. I live with my climbing partner so that part isn't an issue. There and back on a single tank, sandwiches and beer pre-made. It can be done responsibly. 

So this has drifted a bit from the original posting. Hunter, if you're still around Tucson when all this Covid stuff is all over and we're free to cough all over each other, I think you'll find that Tucson has one of the most welcoming climbing communities anywhere. I moved here ~2 years ago and had basically no trouble meeting partners.

The" Tucson Rock Climbers" facebook group is a great resource in addition to MP.

Which is the more destructive force... Covid or Facebook ?

Bob H !! My main man.  I have been joking lately that chalk kills Covid.  Or at least pisses it off.

Other thoughts... don't talk much.  Leader doesn't talk, grunt or do "Karate Pete" kung-fu thrutchs.  Doing easier routes helps not over-breathing.

Scott... have I mentioned that you are whack ?

Jared Willis wrote:

I was out at Smith Rock the last day before it closed in the lower gorge. There wasn't another soul around and we were getting blasted by the sun's UV rays the entire time. I live with my climbing partner so that part isn't an issue. There and back on a single tank, sandwiches and beer pre-made. It can be done responsibly. 

My personal decision is not to climb right now (I also live on the Colorado front range, which factors heavily into that), but I'm not interested in shaming others who choose to do so. That being said, don't you think it's likely the reason there "wasn't another soul around" was because a lot of people were choosing not to climb, in the spirit, if not the letter of the stay-at-home order? 

Charles Vernon wrote:

My personal decision is not to climb right now (I also live on the Colorado front range, which factors heavily into that), but I'm not interested in shaming others who choose to do so. That being said, don't you think it's likely the reason there "wasn't another soul around" was because a lot of people were choosing not to climb, in the spirit, if not the letter of the stay-at-home order? 

Not at all, Smith in general was absolutely packed the last day it was open with the Morning Glory wall having lines to get on routes.