New and experienced climbers over 50 #38

Weird. Not wearing a harness.. 

 years ago some Green Mountain college graduates made a rather heavy plaster body, dressed it up complete with harness and helmet. They then hung it over the big Spiders from Mars roof on the right side of Deer leap. After a day or so I thought it should be cleaned up. Rapped in and cut it loose. The problem was that some state highway workers were on lunch break watching me. With the weight of the plaster it made a really loud noise crashing through the trees and hitting the boulders. Not a real body impact if you happen to know that sounds like but a serious crash none the less.  Naturally they freaked out called up to me to see if everyone was ok. I hollered down that everything is fine. He,s tough. Just had to get to the pub in a hurry. The crag being right above an Irish pub this made sense in a strange way.. 

Skiing good snow is never "luck", it takes knowledge, preparation and schedule flexibility. Similar to climbing on perfect weather days I guess, it's probably why I won't commit to any trips more than 10 days out. I'm not going to give up precious time to get screwed by weather!

Why I Hate Reservations- chapter one.

dragons wrote:

She does look limbless, doesn't she?

100%

I will now think of her as "Tanya Torso, attorney at law"

dragons wrote:

Actually it doesn't really look like the body is tied in with a knot, it's a twisty tangly mess.
While watching, I almost thought the body was supposed to somehow be limbless. But I think it was just the shot of the angle.
Or maybe AI doing a bad job.
The resolution is kind of poor, sorry about that. Here's the shot. She does look limbless, doesn't she?

Thank you dragons. That whole scene required anyone with climbing experience to suspend reality a bit so I guess I just extended it to the tie in supporting the body.

Same is true with respect to Yosemite. None of the show was shot in Yosemite except from some opening credits flyover video. It was shot in B.C. entirely. Yosemitites will recognize none of the terrain, cabins, roads, nature... 

GabeO wrote:

I'm on week three (of five) of this bouldering comp. Got a video of one of the problems (not a dynamic one which i suck at).  Figured I'd share. Rule is you have to start with hands and feet on the marked holds, which is why i touch the two holds with my feet at the start.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rq3pTDk7_9M?si=U19oTOnv7rSQXocR

GO

I was mistaken, last week was week four, which makes this the last week. 

Anyway, i realized that the last video i posted from the comp was both boring and unrepresentative of my typical performance. So I thought I'd post for your entertainment what most of my attempts at dynos looked like last week: 

https://youtube.com/shorts/1JPHZHVkMbs?si=0v78fZGgmI9QB40w

After doing this a few too many times all my parts (lower back, knee, elbow, etc) were mad at me for a few days. But ice and rest have me on speaking terms with my broken bits again, so it's back into the fire. Today is the last day of the comp. Wish me luck! 

GO

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

Same is true with respect to Yosemite. None of the show was shot in Yosemite except from some opening credits flyover video. It was shot in B.C. entirely. Yosemitites will recognize none of the terrain, cabins, roads, nature... 

Didn't realize that! Thanks Cherokee.

Bill and I got out for a quick run up Jackie this morning. It was already getting pretty hot where the sun hit the cliff.

After coming down, we hiked on over to where Buck was leading Easy Keyhole (5.2! in the gray Dick).
It was really Easy, wasn't it Buck?  

dragons wrote:

Didn't realize that! Thanks Cherokee.

Bill and I got out for a quick run up Jackie this morning. It was already getting pretty hot where the sun hit the cliff.

After coming down, we hiked on over to where Buck was leading Easy Keyhole (5.2! in the gray Dick).
It was really Easy, wasn't it Buck?  

I don't know whether I should be impressed or concerned that you folks are out climbing in this heat, especially since the Gunks gets early morning sun!!!! That famous phrase will now be modified to: 'Only mad dogs, Englishmen, Dragons, Bill, and Buck...'!!!!

GabeO wrote:

I was mistaken, last week was week four, which makes this the last week. 

Anyway, i realized that the last video i posted from the comp was both boring and unrepresentative of my typical performance. So I thought I'd post for your entertainment what most of my attempts at dynos looked like last week: 

https://youtube.com/shorts/1JPHZHVkMbs?si=0v78fZGgmI9QB40w

After doing this a few too many times all my parts (lower back, knee, elbow, etc) were mad at me for a few days. But ice and rest have me on speaking terms with my broken bits again, so it's back into the fire. Today is the last day of the comp. Wish me luck! 

GO

So Gabe,

having viewed your video I have to ask...

Why on earth would you even want to do that?

In 50 years of climbing I have never had to resort to such nonsense to gain progress, it seems more guaranteed to create injury than improve climbing skills.

But, then again what do I know.

dragons wrote:

Didn't realize that! Thanks Cherokee.

Bill and I got out for a quick run up Jackie this morning. It was already getting pretty hot where the sun hit the cliff.

After coming down, we hiked on over to where Buck was leading Easy Keyhole (5.2! in the gray Dick).
It was really Easy, wasn't it Buck?  

Shoot I need to go back to the Gunk’s.
Climbing vert 5.0-5.6 is exactly what the doctor ordered.

fossil wrote:

So Gabe,

having viewed your video I have to ask...

Why on earth would you even want to do that?

In 50 years of climbing I have never had to resort to such nonsense to gain progress, it seems more guaranteed to create injury than improve climbing skills.

But, then again what do I know.

such is the state on modern comp problems.... if there isn't a double dyno are you even competing?????  sarcasm....

fossil wrote:

So Gabe,

having viewed your video I have to ask...

Why on earth would you even want to do that?

In 50 years of climbing I have never had to resort to such nonsense to gain progress, it seems more guaranteed to create injury than improve climbing skills.

But, then again what do I know.

They are actually pretty fun, and surprisingly depend on more technique than you would think rather than pure strength.  I do them in the gym but generally several V grades below what I boulder on crimpy problem as they are definitely an injury risk for us older folks, especially the sideways double dynos (I tweaked my shoulder on a V7 sideways double dyno this spring, fortunately not badly).  They are definitely more applicable to indoor “comp style” routes, but are making their way into outdoor routes at the upper grades; watch Dawn Wall for a 14c double dyno 2,000 feet up El Capitan!   

GabeO wrote:

I was mistaken, last week was week four, which makes this the last week. 

Anyway, i realized that the last video i posted from the comp was both boring and unrepresentative of my typical performance. So I thought I'd post for your entertainment what most of my attempts at dynos looked like last week: 

https://youtube.com/shorts/1JPHZHVkMbs?si=0v78fZGgmI9QB40w

After doing this a few too many times all my parts (lower back, knee, elbow, etc) were mad at me for a few days. But ice and rest have me on speaking terms with my broken bits again, so it's back into the fire. Today is the last day of the comp. Wish me luck! 

GO

Well done, young man!   Keep at it.  A Gold Star for effort. Trad climbers may be aghast at such foolery, but what you are attempting is what I had in mind 71 years ago - a more athletic approach to climbing.   

dragons wrote:

Didn't realize that! Thanks Cherokee.

Bill and I got out for a quick run up Jackie this morning. It was already getting pretty hot where the sun hit the cliff.

After coming down, we hiked on over to where Buck was leading Easy Keyhole (5.2! in the gray Dick).
It was really Easy, wasn't it Buck?  

Holy COW!!!

Easy Keyhole (Art Gran's guide also has it at a 5.2!!!) is NOT Easy!

Man, I've done some off-widths out west (Kor Ingalls being one of them) and that first pitch KICKED MY BUTT!  Well, the first 30 feet did!  

As Gran's guide says "If you manage to pass the start, the rest should be no problem!"

Took my daughter back to the Gunks again today and thought that we'd "warm up" on that one!  Big mistake.  She did NOT enjoy pitch 1 at all.

She did complete pitch 1 but after that I led pitches 2 and 3 together and she said that she was done with the climb so I rapped back to her by the big boulder.

That route is definitely not one for the faint of heart!  

We then did the short one pitch climbs around the corner (Cordelette Arete and Short and Simple). Cordelette is a .2 and Short is a .3 but both are in an infinitely easier universe than Easy Keyhole.  Not even comparable.  So wild that you can have three routes within 25 feet of each other all graded about the same but not even close to the same difficulty, in my very short Gunks experience opinion.  

After we had totally finished "Easy Keyhole" we also decided to rename the route.  Lets just say that it still ends in "Hole" but the first adjective and the first half of the noun are not the same as Easy and Key!

;)

And yes Alan!  We called it a day at 2 pm as it was just getting sooooo hot in the sun!

Alan Rubin wrote:

I don't know whether I should be impressed or concerned that you folks are out climbing in this heat, especially since the Gunks gets early morning sun!!!! That famous phrase will now be modified to: 'Only mad dogs, Englishmen, Dragons, Bill, and Buck...'!!!!

Bill is the voice of reason in my household. He cannot be convinced to endanger his health, unlike some of us.

Buck Rogers wrote:

Holy COW!!!

Easy Keyhole (Art Gran's guide also has it at a 5.2!!!) is NOT Easy!

My favorite comment on Easy Keyhole comes from Kevin Heckeler:

"5.2 my ass. Heaven help the novice lead climber looking to do the "easy" 5.2 climb at the Gunks! Apr 10, 2011"

Buck Rogers wrote:

Holy COW!!!

Easy Keyhole (Art Gran's guide also has it at a 5.2!!!) is NOT Easy!

Man, I've done some off-widths out west (Kor Ingalls being one of them) and that first pitch KICKED MY BUTT!  Well, the first 30 feet did!  

As Gran's guide says "If you manage to pass the start, the rest should be no problem!"

Took my daughter back to the Gunks again today and thought that we'd "warm up" on that one!  Big mistake.  She did NOT enjoy pitch 1 at all.

She did complete pitch 1 but after that I led pitches 2 and 3 together and she said that she was done with the climb so I rapped back to her by the big boulder.

That route is definitely not one for the faint of heart!  

We then did the short one pitch climbs around the corner (Cordelette Arete and Short and Simple). Cordelette is a .2 and Short is a .3 but both are in an infinitely easier universe than Easy Keyhole.  Not even comparable.  So wild that you can have three routes within 25 feet of each other all graded about the same but not even close to the same difficulty, in my very short Gunks experience opinion.  

After we had totally finished "Easy Keyhole" we also decided to rename the route.  Lets just say that it still ends in "Hole" but the first adjective and the first half of the noun are not the same as Easy and Key!

;)

And yes Alan!  We called it a day at 2 pm as it was just getting sooooo hot in the sun!

2pm is when the shade comes sir! Simmer down now.

Buck Rogers wrote:

Holy COW!!!  Easy Keyhole (Art Gran's guide also has it at a 5.2!!!) is NOT Easy!

...

And yes Alan!  We called it a day at 2 pm as it was just getting sooooo hot in the sun!

The Gunks App has it at 5.3 and says that the opening moves are harder than they look.  Art Gran had some seriously off grades in the original guide, perhaps the worst being Jacob's Ladder at 5.8 when it is really 5.10c X and in 1960 was, I think, the first 5.10 in the Gunks (McCarthy freed Retribution and Nosedive a year later at 5.10b.). It seems that Gran sometimes graded the climber rather than the climb.  If he didn't think you were "that good," your route might get a lower grade than the actual difficulty demanded.

As for calling it a day at 2 pm, you've got the summer protocol backwards.  You go out at 2 pm when the cliffs go into the shade and climb until dark.

rgold wrote:

As for calling it a day at 2 pm, you've got the summer protocol backwards.  You go out at 2 pm when the cliffs go into the shade and climb until dark.

Yeah, but looking at the smiles on their faces? Forwards or backwards, they did something right ;)

rgold wrote:

...

The Gunks App has it at 5.3 and says that the opening moves are harder than they look.  Art Gran had some seriously off grades in the original guide, perhaps the worst being Jacob's Ladder at 5.8 when it is really 5.10c X and in 1960 was, I think, the first 5.10 in the Gunks (McCarthy freed Retribution and Nosedive a year later at 5.10b.). It seems that Gran sometimes graded the climber rather than the climb.  If he didn't think you were "that good," your route might get a lower grade than the actual difficulty demanded.

As for calling it a day at 2 pm, you've got the summer protocol backwards.  You go out at 2 pm when the cliffs go into the shade and climb until dark.tfew things, surely after all this time it must be pretty fairly rated.

You would think after all of the times past that Easy Keyhole would have settled into a grade that reflects reality

2nd correct me if I am wrong rgold but wasn't Art kinda ridiculed (outside of the gunks anyway) for pantomiming the moves but maybe not being able to deliver?

just asking...