New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #12

Guy Keeseewrote: Hi.... to make a comment I’d need to know this: did it get stuck Top Roping?       

Yes. 

Lori

The next time you go to Echo Rock area, you should try Funny Bone. Jean, Soo and I did this last year. It is a blast. Jean and I both said it was super fun with a lot of different types of climbing on it.

It is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main parking lot. We then TR Humerous. I fell about 3 times before the 1st bolt until I figured out how to do the moves. Jean as usual just cruised it, I thought that the initial start was the only hard spot on the climb.

If you want to get a work out, try Eff Eight. It is between the main parking lot and Snickers area (Funny Bone). Nice crack climbing. You can rap or easily walk off climbers left.

John

Guy Keeseewrote: Hi.... to make a comment I’d need to know this: did it get stuck Top Roping?      

Hah, that was my question too. Typically ropes only get stuck pulling them from a rappel. But what happened to you has been known to happen once in a while. 

Lori, if you are REALLY worried about getting stuck top roping all you need to do is learn how to climb a fixed rope. There are a million ways to do it but in your case and with your medical issue you might just want to get a couple Petzl Tiblocs or Microtraxions and keep them on your self with a couple slings. Then, next time this happens, up you go. I've got a couple extra Tiblocs around and can send them to you if you need that.

Get one of your guide friends to teach you this skill. 

Lori Milaswrote:

Yes. 

When that happens- it’s no big deal- just walk back up and clear it. It can be most dangerous for the follower - lucky for you, you could untie and down climb safely. What if you were 20 feet from the top? I see a bunch of that today with the “gym” mentality so common today and people want to sit at the base. Many- if not most- of the climbs at JT are designed to be climbed the “traditional” way. The leader leads and sits at the top and the follower follows up to the end of the pitch. If you notice, few climbs have TR anchors- even the bolted ones. My rule is you must SEE the biners the rope runs through. This way you can’t get it trapped.                                
So put this lesson into your brain filled under “things that might go wrong”....  

Experience is the best teacher

So I climbed for many years with a diabetic (RIP C. Olin) who always had hard candies, honey packets, Sugar etc. along with his needles and insulin. He had a rule: If you see me “spacing out” dig out something and make me eat it. It was in the same place he kept his weed at and at times he would say “dig out the rescue bag, I need something- fast”
Lori do you use a Grigri? You should. One of my partners has sudden seizures- he was always dead set against them (the Grigri) until one day when he started to seize while belaying me and realized that he could go-down at any second. 

Something to ponder. 

Guy Keeseewrote:

When that happens- it’s no big deal- just walk back up and clear it. It can be most dangerous for the follower - lucky for you, you could untie and down climb safely. What if you were 20 feet from the top? I see a bunch of that today with the “gym” mentality so common today and people want to sit at the base. Many- if not most- of the climbs at JT are designed to be climbed the “traditional” way. The leader leads and sits at the top and the follower follows up to the end of the pitch. If you notice, few climbs have TR anchors- even the bolted ones. My rule is you must SEE the biners the rope runs through. This way you can’t get it trapped.                                
So put this lesson into your brain filled under “things that might go wrong”....  

Experience is the best teacher

So I climbed for many years with a diabetic (RIP C. Olin) who always had hard candies, honey packets, Sugar etc. along with his needles and insulin. He had a rule: If you see me “spacing out” dig out something and make me eat it. It was in the same place he kept his weed at and at times he would say “dig out the rescue bag, I need something- fast”
Lori do you use a Grigri? You should. One of my partners has sudden seizures- he was always dead set against them (the Grigri) until one day when he started to seize while belaying me and realized that he could go-down at any second. 

Something to ponder. 

Thank you, Guy and Senor. When I am tempted to really get down on myself I step back and realize that this is A LOT to learn, even as fast as I can. 

Your diabetic friend was right. Sugar and all the accoutrements have to go along, plus frequent testing and I do bring a new medication that can be squeezed up the nose to revive a comatose diabetic. I’ve never come close to needing one but grateful it’s there.  

It’s just an extra layer of stuff to think about and I think it’s partly behind my NEED to be able to build anchors, rappell on down if I have to get to ground.

May I add it’s not just blood sugar but also direct sun (it was 100 degrees today) and dehydration . I had to find shelter on the ground under a cactus today... the sun had just finally gotten to me.  

I’m guessing this is no big deal to you veteran climbers.  Just part of the drill?  You know to expect it and come prepared. 

I only use a gri gri in Joshua Tree and half the time I am belayed from above.  I can see the value of that.  I also thought of it as a tool in case I should fall over (blood sugar) however I am SO vigilant about this, I would never forgive myself if I harmed someone... my partner will ALWAYS see me pulling out my tester before every climb and making sure I am really solid. I show them my numbers if they are interested and I keep a 7up in my chalk bag also, just in case a belay went long and I needed a quick fix.

I believe we did see the rings the rope went through however the right-side rope hooked around a jut about 2/3 way around a corner on the route  and rope wedged deep into a crack.

Senor... Sounds like something to learn. I’m all in. Every single thing helps with safety and self-rescue!

Oldtradguywrote: Lori

The next time you go to Echo Rock area, you should try Funny Bone. Jean, Soo and I did this last year. It is a blast. Jean and I both said it was super fun with a lot of different types of climbing on it.

It is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main parking lot. We then TR Humerous. I fell about 3 times before the 1st bolt until I figured out how to do the moves. Jean as usual just cruised it, I thought that the initial start was the only hard spot on the climb.

If you want to get a work out, try Eff Eight. It is between the main parking lot and Snickers area (Funny Bone). Nice crack climbing. You can rap or easily walk off climbers left.

John

I think we’ll be right there tomorrow evening.  What a life!  Could it be any more fun?    

Yesterday I got to do one of my favorite things.  I saw a great looking crack from the road.  I couldn't find the crag on MP, so I dropped a pin. We figured out our way there, and dropped a rope without knowing name, grade, or anything.  It was a heck of a good time! 

Buck Rogerswrote: Few more photos and then I'll stop!

One year ago I took my first ever trip to Bleau.  I hired a guide for half a day to learn the system and ropes.  Then on Saturday when I showed up to climb at Apremont I looked across the boulder area and there HE WAS!  Crazy coincidence!  100's of acres across so many miles and we happened to run into each other again. Such a great reunion!

My wife's first ever outside boulder problem!  Talk about starting out with the best!

Me getting ready to walk out on Sunday late afternoon after the last boulder of the trip was climbed.

And no trip to France is complete for me if I do not get a nice bottle of Sauternes!

;)

Cool. Photos. My son wet to Font a few years ago. I always thought the boulders there look very similar to the boulders in The Grampians here in Australia... 

Oldtradguy - Funny Bone, Humerous, and Eff Eight are all on my list of favorites. I'll make sure to get Lori on them at some point this summer!

Buck Rogerswrote: Look out!  Bunch of photos coming from me!  ;)

Just back yesterday from climbing for 2.5 days in Fontainebleau.  Kiddos climbing.

I climbed this one and was psyched and then my 13 year old son came and climbed it barefoot!  Yeeesh!  What a punk!  ;)

Awesome photo's Buck, thanks for sharing...

Lori, think Prusik....  

Fontainbleau 1970...my friend Bob Williams.  (No crashpads or chalk.  Bob is wearing RD's.)

Wow, I've never had a top-rope jam.  If that happened to you higher up, I think your only option (short of some kind of rescue) would be to either full-on prusik up the rope or, depending on the difficulty, continue to climb, protected by sliding a prusik up the rope with you.  (You can alternate between these methods if some parts are too hard to climb and others are more moderate.) You could also use tiblocs, a plaquette in guide mode, or a grigri.  You'd have to be able to move up to get slack install the plaquette or the grigri, and might want to be protected with a prusik for that.

I always have a short prussik loop in a zipper chalk bag pocket.  It's more versatile than a tiblock because you can wrap it around a pair of rappel ropes and so ascend weighting them equally.

rgoldwrote: Fontainbleau 1970...my friend Bob Williams.  (No crashpads or chalk.  Bob is wearing RD's.)

Bob Williams, one of the early "pioneers" of bouldering?  Isn't he one of the "founders", along with Gill, of modern bouldering in the US?  If so, so cool!

Any idea at all what boulders you guys are on?  I'd love to go and see them next time I'm there and probably just look as I'm sure that they are Black or White graded!

(no pad or chalk but I do see the "required" floor mat.  Surprisingly, I only used chalk on the final day when the temps were in the 80's)

Haha, that was 50 years ago. I bought a map of Fountainbleau in a climbing shop in Paris and just wandered around.  I came around a corner and met Bob; had no idea he was in France, much less Fontainbleau.  Bob is not the Bob Williams of bouldering fame, but he is a very notable mathematician (and is married to an even more notable mathematician...)

I subsequently met some French climbers who were enchanted to have an American climber in their garden and so took me around to all their earthly delights.  Yes, we all had the little tapis, which you stood on to brush the sand off your not very sticky rubber soles.  And the French were found of resin, which they called pouf, which they carried in a bandanna and smacked on their boot soles to make up for the fact that sticky rubber hadn't been invented yet.  The pouf  had the very unfortunate side-effect of transfering shoe rubber to the footholds, which seemed to be permanently blackened.  But no chalk meant you had to locate the handholds by your own damn self!

rgoldwrote: Haha, that was 50 years ago. I bought a map of Fountainbleau in a climbing shop in Paris and just wandered around.  I came around a corner and met Bob; had no idea he was in France, much less Fontainbleau.  Bob is not the Bob Williams of bouldering fame, but he is a very notable mathematician (and is married to an even more notable mathematician...)

I subsequently met some French climbers who were enchanted to have an American climber in their garden and so took me around to all their earthly delights.  Yes, we all had the little tapis, which you stood on to brush the sand off your not very sticky rubber soles.  And the French were found of resin, which they called pouf, which they carried in a bandanna and smacked on their boot soles to make up for the fact that sticky rubber hadn't been invented yet.  The pouf  had the very unfortunate side-effect of transfering shoe rubber to the footholds, which seemed to be permanently blackened.  But no chalk meant you had to locate the handholds by your own damn self!

Great stuff!  

I've heard of pouf but only the "more mature", i.e. older french climbers are "allowed" to use it anymore according to my French guide friend Ivan.  Pretty much banned these days!

Brandt Allenwrote: Oldtradguy - Funny Bone, Humerous, and Eff Eight are all on my list of favorites. I'll make sure to get Lori on them at some point this summer!

Brandt

I am sure that Lori will like 2 out of those 3 climbs. Eff Eight will give her a real work out. There are good hand jams all the way up, however, part way up my left leg was useless trying to find something to smear on. My friend Soo said before I led it, in his broken English, physical. He was right.

Of all the climbs that Jean and I have done at Jtree, we haven't done a lot there, Funny Bone was our favorite. Part of it reminded us of climbing at the Gunks.

We are trying to get out there in late September time frame if things go well, I would like to meet up with some of yous guys (Philly accent).

John

 Some of my favorite places to climb, hopefully I'll be climbing there again not too far off in the post-pandemic future!

 Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range

Slick Rock, McCall, Idaho
Kalymnos
City of Rocks

Peña de Bernal with Mary Ann and Keith, thanks to American Alpine Grant for a Live Your Dream Grant

rgoldwrote:

Rich, if I could pick your brain I was wondering what you would suggest for half ropes for a week long trip to Switzerland I'm planning for late August.

We'll be doing multiple 8-15 pitch climbs from 5.8 to 5.10 with many requiring raps to get back down.  Slabs, chimneys and general face climbing.  

Amazingly the routes are well bolted and have double bolted belay and rap stations throughout.

I was wondering what thickness you'd suggest for the ropes?  8.5?  9?  I remember that you used half ropes in the Gunks.  Any particular brand you like?   I love Edelrid as acompany and I can get their stuff pretty cheap here in Germany as they are a German company.

Thanks!

rgoldwrote: Haha, that was 50 years ago. I bought a map of Fountainbleau in a climbing shop in Paris and just wandered around.  I came around a corner and met Bob; had no idea he was in France, much less Fontainbleau.  Bob is not the Bob Williams of bouldering fame, but he is a very notable mathematician (and is married to an even more notable mathematician...)

Rich, Does Bob Williams live in Texas and look like Willie Nelson? Or would that be too much of a coincidence? 

Oldtradguy - I hope conditions allow you to make it to JT this Fall. I lived outside Philadelphia from '64-'68. Would be cool to reminisce.

And yes, Eff Eight is brutally hard for 35 feet of 5.8!