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First off, I'm going to put it out there that the climbing gym guys (and gals) at the CSU climbing tower have never been anything but friendly and helpful. I am happy to have a nice set-up to visit. |
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Hey John, I can't really say anything about the CSU ratings as I live in AZ and have not climbed there. I can say that I have had this same experience at almost every artificial rock wall. I've just come to accept that I climb better outside or on actual rock than I do inside or artificial rock. To be honest I'm really fine with this. Indoor climbing is mostly just training for the real thing anyways right? |
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Hey John I would have to disagree for me personally at least. I lead a 5.10a/b outdoors and can top rope a little higher than that, but I can run laps on every 10 and even get as high as 11+ in that gym. I started climbing outdoors and am only using the gym as a training aid, but I guess you are lucky because outside is what really matters. If you are leading at that level outdoors and cannot do the routes in that gym I you just have a natural ability to climb outdoors I suppose. Lucky you! |
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-10 for complaining about gym ratings outloud. |
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It's a proven fact that you will climb harder if you take your shirt off. Perhaps it's that gym's shirt policy that is holding you back. |
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Mike Anderson wrote:-10 for complaining about gym ratings outloud.LMFAO! |
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Tom R wrote:It's a proven fact that you will climb harder if you take your shirt off. Perhaps it's that gym's shirt policy that is holding you back.you can go up a full number grade if your shirtless with a beenie!! |
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I know a few people who can sip beers after a casual day on the Naked Edge, and yet they still struggle up 9's and 10's in a gym. It's just different climbing. Ratings will always be different. |
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Part of it is that the setters and graders know each hold very well, so the process of testing each hold to find the best spot is eliminated entirely. Additionally, they know at what angles to pull on each hold. Consider the grade to be the "redpoint" grade, and act accordingly. |
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Rayna wrote:As someone who's climbed indoors and outdoors for numerous years and at different gym's around the country I can tell you that the climbs at CSU Pueblo are sub par and are difficult because they have NO FEET and the routes do not flow well. Their holds are also polished to death. I'm sure that doesn't help. I'd recommend climbing at a different gym (cityrock in Colorado Springs has some good rope routes and if you're into bouldering the sport center is more bouldering centered)to get a feel of what a gym should feel like. The routes at CSU Pueblo require you to pull on your arms the entire way. Sure you can get to the top, but doing one arm pull ups while smearing your feet is not climbing. ( I guess at times it is, but it's not 5.9 climbing). In your case, it should feel easier to climb outside, most of the climbs in southern Colorado are less than/about vertical and you can get a lot of the weight off your arms and onto your feet. This isn't the case at the CSU-P gym. Unfortunately, I've found this to be the case at most college gym's as the setters tend to be good climbers but have little experience setting. No offense to the setters at CSU but being a great climber does not equal being a great route setter.The OP was talking about CSU Fort Collins... |
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Nathan, |
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Climbing on plastic is almost a different sport. Most routes are vertical to overhanging, you pinch a lot more, feet are way bigger, holds in general are bigger, and everything is low-texture. Setters routinely concoct ridiculous sequences to make things "interesting" or "fun", or make cruxes dependent on hucking dynos. Setters rarely add many, if any, extraneous holds that can serve as intermediates, sucker holds, or alternate sequences. You're pretty restricted to using the feet they set, as the walls themselves rarely offer realistic smearing, or alternative options. I've done a dozen toe hooks in a single gym session and maybe 3 outdoors in 20 years. Heel to hand matches and bicycle moves, ditto. |
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Hey everybody. Before I get started, some full disclosure. I run the the CSU Climbing Wall Facebook page and work at the wall. With that out of the way, I'd like to say that on behalf of the staff at the wall, we are all stoked to see feedback from you about the gym and the routes/problems we set. Without you guys there would be no climbing wall. Indoor climbing is indeed inherently different than outdoor, occasionaly featuring moves you'd never see outside. The gym provides an opportunity to do some crazy stuff that just isn't possible with real rock, and we try to take advantage of that, with the overall goal being fun! |
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+1 Nate for folks telling the RecCenter how much they do or don't like the various rules (shoes, shirts, chalk, etc). |