New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #26

Giving it your all Ward!  Looks really nice. I keep thinking about those pockets on a previous climb. They can cut like a knife.

After thinking about it for a couple of years I bought a GoPro. There have been so many times when I’m trying to learn a difficult crimp or hold and I always wish that I had a picture to think about it later and it’s impossible to take such a picture when you’re actually climbing. But after spending most of the afternoon trying to assemble and figure this thing out, install the app and go back to the store to get an SD card, etc. I think I am going to return it unless someone here tells me I just missed  an obvious set up. Or that maybe I needed to get a better model. This one is the Hero 8. I just wanted the most basic thing – – not like I’m going to be mountain biking, or something with a ton of action.

I was also thinking about a comment rGold made a long time ago that go pro movies make him nauseous— so it might not be so fun to watch a video with a lot of panting and head turning. I’ve seen a few climbing videos made by a GoPro – – one was from a climber on Taquitz who was crack climbing, and there’s nothing like a close-up of that technique so it was great. Unfortunately, he died a few days later, soloing I believe.

My level of technology is about the Shoecam level, so maybe someone here has a suggestion? It’s all boxed up and ready to go back, but I’m wavering. Does anyone own one? And do you actually use it?

The weather is about to turn to shite here in the Mid-Atlantic.  Had fantastic weather for a Red River Gorge trip last week. Will probably get a couple/few more days in, but not much.  Perfect day today though.  Stats indicate 39 climbing days outside and just over 300 pitches.  I'll take that considering I missed a total of 14 weeks due to injuries. 

Great time at Araps. More relaxing being done than climbing but fun fun fun. Just a short trip.
Following a grade 11, hard for the grade.

https://youtu.be/RNsl-TH3oU0?si=3arFubrMExl_ldFv

So the Wife and I are holed up in our super-airconditioned and swanky hotel room here in Ao Nang, Thailand(8 scenic minutes hike to the beach, then a 10 minute long-boat ride to the isolated beaches with allll the killer climbing. Our 1st day we climbed "Humanality" 10a, 10b/c, 10c/d, 10b/c, 10c/d. We got there early and 1st but the hordes were approaching rapidly, lots of climber teams that all wanted to pass us as we hear this is the game. Not us boy, we took off, a bunch of 5.10 isn't slowing me down at all. We were rapping off the route before the next party was starting the 2nd to the last pitch and we were on the ground before they started the last pitch. There were 6-7 parties duking it out on the route by the time we were on the ground(the final rap literally puts you on the roof of the famous Freedom Bar) and the rest of your day could be an adventure starting right there. But we started hiking back up around the backside and then both made a BASE jumps off the top jumping right over the crazy big wall we'd just climbed and landed back onto the beach just to make it really special for us. 

It's a really long and really expensive plane flight to get over there but then it's suuuuper inexpensive once you're here. The food is International and stellar and the fresh fruit smoothie stands are every 10yds. Nothing costs much here so you really feel like a king! On the rest days renting a very nice scooter is peanuts so you can get to all the Buddhist temples, Elephant sanctuaries and various National parks etc etc.

I can't reccomend it enough as a serious vacation destination, the hotels are very very nice, modern and less than $50 a night, they place a premium on having badass coffee and pastry services all over as well. It ain't roughing it!

Tomorrow I'll fire "Lord of the Thais" a 7 pitch 12b climb Sam Lightner Jr says "I HAVE GOT TO DO!!". so we'll repeat the same grueling approach again

"Repeating that same grueling approach again" is obviously being facetious, there are no grueling approaches here. This place is really scenic and cushy for all known approaches. And as I already mentioned, it's all post card beautiful.    

Mountain Project keeps clipping off the end of my trip report, sort of frustrating, but at this point you guys get the point. I wish I could post some pics here but when only using the MP App it has never let me so y'all get just a dry ass report full of added hyperbole as is my style, but it's all true! I hope you guys are all doing great. Get out there and take trips before the airline industry globally caves in on itself. Aging infrastructure, aging pilots not getting replenished in the amounts required, at all, the decline and lack of replacement TSA agents Worldwide nobody seems to know what to do about. It seems to me this could easily go South soonerer rather than laterer, so stop thinking about it and just go do it, wherever you've always dreamed of going to, go there if that's your thing. Nothing fucks you like time.

Thanks for reading you y'all. Our parents and  grandparents weren't the greatest generation, we are, so get sum while you still can!! Cheers

Thanks for the report!  Thailand sport climbing has always been on my bucket list.  

Please, promise, Hank. Photos when you get back.
It’s great hearing about everyone’s trips, Carl, Ward, Tim, Nick, etc.
I love taking road trips. My new RV/van drives like a car, so that has made the past year’s trips easier. For cross-coast trips and international trips,  I hate the flying unless I can go business class these days. A coach seat on a plane is torture on my body after more than four hours.

Phylp  I am just so spoiled with having my house with me that I hate the thought of flying, getting an rental car and then not having all my gear for different typs of adventures and I can't sleep in hotels. too much weird energy from all the other people that have been there.  Love to see shots of your camper. 

yesterdays sunrise from my place. 

phylp phylpwrote:

Please, promise, Hank. Photos when you get back.
It’s great hearing about everyone’s trips, Carl, Ward, Tim, Nick, etc.
I love taking road trips. My new RV/van drives like a car, so that has made the past year’s trips easier. For cross-coast trips and international trips,  I hate the flying unless I can go business class these days. A coach seat on a plane is torture on my body after more than four hours.

I you don't fly business your heirs will!!

Idaho Bobwrote:

I you don't fly business your heirs will!!

??????? Did I miss something? 

Hank -living the dream I see.

Lori- nix the go-pro idea. And as far as the shoe cam goes -You know they make really good phone holding tripods. 

And I just returned from driving to Arkansas. Took my time, drove through Navajo, Zuni land and looked at tons of rocks n boulders… but I can’t seem to be able to post photos on MP anymore?????

Later all 

 Send that thing back Lori. Helmet-mounted Go Pro is terrible---unless it is one of the 360 degree models.  Not only generally nauseating to watch, but also really thin on useable information from a climbing perspective.  It isn't just the lurching around of the frame, showing typically disembodied body parts functioning in isolation from everything else and almost never giving a sense of general body position.  It is also the extreme wide-angle perspective that distorts everything.

If you insist, then you want one of the 360 degree cameras set up to make the selfie stick invisible, carried with a back bar waist strap like this

or else rigged to a backpack.  These give a pretty good view of the entire body, filmed from an apparent position out in space.  The software eliminates the selfie stick (but not its shadow if the sun is behind you).  The stick bounces with body movements, so the frames can still be very jiggly, and the super wide angle perspective can make it hard to understand what the rock angles are, but if you really want to analyze body movement on the climb and don't have someone to operate a drone (obnoxious for other reasons and banned in various venues), this is probably the only viable solution.

Here's a good video illustrating the possibilities.  The climber has the selfie stick mounted on (or in) a backpack,  You can see the shadow of it in some of the shots,

Lori Milaswrote:

Giving it your all Ward!  Looks really nice. I keep thinking about those pockets on a previous climb. They can cut like a knife.

After thinking about it for a couple of years I bought a GoPro. There have been so many times when I’m trying to learn a difficult crimp or hold and I always wish that I had a picture to think about it later and it’s impossible to take such a picture when you’re actually climbing. But after spending most of the afternoon trying to assemble and figure this thing out, install the app and go back to the store to get an SD card, etc. I think I am going to return it unless someone here tells me I just missed  an obvious set up. Or that maybe I needed to get a better model. This one is the Hero 8. I just wanted the most basic thing – – not like I’m going to be mountain biking, or something with a ton of action.

I was also thinking about a comment rGold made a long time ago that go pro movies make him nauseous— so it might not be so fun to watch a video with a lot of panting and head turning. I’ve seen a few climbing videos made by a GoPro – – one was from a climber on Taquitz who was crack climbing, and there’s nothing like a close-up of that technique so it was great. Unfortunately, he died a few days later, soloing I believe.

My level of technology is about the Shoecam level, so maybe someone here has a suggestion? It’s all boxed up and ready to go back, but I’m wavering. Does anyone own one? And do you actually use it?

I have a GoPro, I like it. I don’t like ‘helmet cam’ climbing movies as has been said. The GoPro is handy as it’s 4K so you can crop the resulting video in an editing app (I use WonderShare Filmora) and retain good resolution. I also like the voice commands, the ability to synch several together to get different angles of the same topic (although I’ve not done that), the ability to set it up to film at a certain time and the fact it reads QR codes of settings. The super wide view is handy to get all a route in the video from the ground. I think they’re well worth the money. 

 go pro on a stick is rad. makes easy climbs look horrific!  if however you are a skier, rider or ice climber go pro increases your chances of a wreck by at least 30%. cold and nasty here. too cold for rock and not cold enough long enough for ice. maybe by the weekend.  doing some biathlon training and going through old photos.  This is not just posed. I did a lot of barefoot training in the snow. . testosterone really does make us stupid ;) 

Thank you so much rgold and Carl. My first thought on reading this is that sounds awful! And probably presumptuous for a climber like me to feel the need for a GoPro, On the other hand, I love pictures.

It’s hard to imagine strapping on a backpack with a selfie stick and a camera. I don’t even know if it’s safe! Climbing is so not a spectator sport – – it’s slow and it’s boring. But I sure don’t need distractions packed to my back!

Last night over dinner, I tried to explain to Tony the movement on a route called Arturo’s Special that involves tightroping along a thin ledge, foot over foot, with no real holds and a pretty steep wall to the right. Actually, Tony went pale. There’s a sequence about halfway up that route that was suddenly too strenuous for me and I wanted to see if I could work out an easier way-– and I did. I would love to have captured that on video so I could see it again. so I guess I need to think it over some more. I realize not everything is about the picture. But I do cherish all the pictures from all the routes because they make such stunning memories.

Sort of a humorous aside, I bought my GoPro at Walmart. I assumed that with an electronics department of that size someone there would know something about electronics. The guy who sold me the GoPro neglected to tell me it would require an SD card, so I made another trip back for that. But I returned the camera two days ago and spoke with a new person in that department and asked her if there would be a better model for me. She just stared at me. So I reworded the question and told her what my issues were with the one that I purchased and asked her if an upgrade would help.  She literally stood there and stared without a word. Finally I asked her if there was anyone in the entire department who knew anything about this equipment and after a long pause, she said “no“. She said no one is trained on anything in the department. And I got kind of shitty about it and said “you mean to tell me that you are selling me at $300 camera and no one here knows anything about them?“. So no more fancy electronics from Walmart for me. 

Don't blame the poor peon, Lori, it's Chinatown Walmart.

Lori - Actually there are some people in the electronics dept at the Yucca Valley Walmart that know about that stuff, but the returns desk workers wouldn't know who they are.

Lori Milaswrote:

Finally I asked her if there was anyone in the entire department who knew anything about this equipment and after a long pause, she said “no“. She said no one is trained on anything in the department.

Funny. I had a similar experience at Nomad. I can't believe there are retailers that expect us to know what we want and how to use it.

Lori Milas wrote:

Finally I asked her if there was anyone in the entire department who knew anything about this equipment and after a long pause, she said “no“. She said no one is trained on anything in the department.

Jay Goodwinwrote:

Funny. I had a similar experience at Nomad. I can't believe there are retailers that expect us to know what we want and how to use it.

You guys expect too much.  Research the holy hell out of your item on this thing called the internet.  Go to Walmart, tell the zombie in electronics to unlock the case, take your purchase home and actually be able to use it because you got all edumacated on the interwebs.  Asking for advice in stores these days will only make you up your thorazine dose and reapply for that concealed carry permit.

Lori, not trying to convince you of anything, but climbers wear backpacks all the time on routes longer than a pitch or two, and there is the specialized waist strap option as well.  Nothing dangerous about it, especially for a top-roped follower.  One possible awkwardness would be having the pole bump into a ceiling if one has to climb directly under it, but this is a predictable situation so easily avoided.  Another problem might be damage to the camera, especially if the climber falls off, spins around, and hits the wall facing out.  Taking photo gear on a climb always comes with risks to the gear, but as someone who once dropped a pack 1500 feet with a lovely Nikon in it, the financial pain still hurts.

Here is a local guide, (Silas Rossi, IFMG) leading a Gunks 5.5 classic with a 360 degree camera mounted on a backpack-supported pole (and what must be a pretty long pole at that). He manages to get around a ceiling and some trees at the top.

Horseman is a beautiful looking route! The music is nice, too.