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2019 The Rock Climbing Thread

Jiggy-Z

By Jiggy-Z
in Other Sports

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  • 5 weeks later...
NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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The 2.5 year old is big enough to start climbing now and says she is rock climbing any time she climbs on something, but now there's another in the oven. So not a whole lot of climbing in the near future here unless grandparents or someone comes along to watch the new baby. May have to try and get a trip in before it's too late.

HCR back in October:

Gy8a6fI9_o.jpg

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Domedriver

Domedriver 655

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On 4/8/2019 at 10:57 AM, davidg said:

Good interview with James Crump with a lot of tidbits of  ERock climbing history.   James was on the old site but don't know if he showed up here.

https://player.fm/series/hangdogdays/episode-22-texas-climbing-with-james-crump

Hey I am still around and have an announcement:  the Friends of Enchanted Rock are pleased to announce the rerelease of the Dome Drivers Manual, a Climbers Guide to Enchanted Rock.  Available mid May.

Hook’em Horns!

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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Little NAAL, Class Clown, 5.4b

r6Cpl28g_o.jpg

zlX1wGS8_o.jpg

That's about as far as she got before she wanted to come down, but it's not bad for a 2.5 year old. She was looking for footholds and handholds all on her own. The wife is 4.5 months pregnant and we didn't have a system set up for her where she can use a harness comfortably, so I didn't get to do much but free solo to the top and set up the top rope. We got something that works now, so we should be able to do a bit more tomorrow.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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Was down in Katy yesterday with the family to climb the tall walls at Momentum in preparation for the youth Divisional sport climbing round.

1st the fun stuff.

We were trying to get the kids to strategically plan their shakeouts and rest rather than their usual tactic of just shooting up the route only to fail on a move close to the top due to fatigue.-a favorite gotcha tactic of the youth route setters in competition.  We didn't do much lead climbing as the competition is top rope only for the age divisions my kids are in.  Changes next year for one of them.

They climbed a bunch of routes.  The 11 year olds were able to top out as high as 5.12.d , and that was after being pretty pumped.  I think they each got in 15 routes, but a lot of those were one attempt only just like competition.  My 13 year old bonked because he did not eat breakfast or lunch and spent most his time bouldering just to piss me off, I think.  He was able to work some things and get a bunch of V6 and V7s -not his greatest day but at least he worked it.

Now onto the interesting stuff.

I am not a very experienced or good climber, but I know when shit does not look right.  I noticed these two dudes that somehow managed to slip past the eye of the staff and were doing some pretty dangerous stuff on their descends.  I had to narc on them.  they got warned a couple of times, but they really need to be sat down and retaught.  Hope they got kicked out after we left or something.  The staff had already had a tough day because:

Earlier that day a male climber had ascended and topped his route and looked to have passed out right after topping out.  Witnesses thought he was fooling around with some kind of victory pose at first.  His belayer brought him down only to find out he was not breathing and his heart had stopped.  The fast thinking general manager and  youth coach immediately started administering CPR and mouth to mouth while 911 was called.  They were able to get him to throw up (not on his own) and continued CPR and MtoM for seemed like an hour but I'm sure it was only 5 to 10 minutes before EMS arrived.  EMS was able to get his heart started but were unable to get him breathing on his own, but were able to get some kind of respirator going.  I have no idea how the gentleman ultimately did, but I am sure he would have dead on arrival if not for the work of the GM and coach.

I left the area when asked by staff and did not return until he was on the way to the hospital.  What I did see was pretty scary. The climber was very pale and had started to get a bluish and purple color at his ears and extremities...and this was fairly early on.  Rumors and scuttlebutt had indicated that the man's wife had indicated he had recently been diagnosed with some kind of heart issue.  First time I had ever really seen anything like that up close.

So, take those CPR classes or get re-certified.  I plan to. 

 

 

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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OK.  Divisional update:

Both of my boys advanced in sport climbing (ropes) to the national competition in Philadelphia  next month. So in theory, they are among the top 50 in the US for their age and sex for this discipline (see breakdown below for those interested).  So a nice Father's Day gift for me.

For those of you with kids interested in youth competition a quick rundown: 

There are two seasons:  Bouldering  which is typically summer/fall local competition with regional round in December, Divisional round in January and Nationals in February.

Sport and Speed which is typically spring/summer competition with regional round in  May, Divisional round in June, and Nationals in July.

 

Regional qualification is pretty easy, just enter some official local comps and finish in the top 20 in 2 of them.

Regional competition at the younger levels is typically 30-40 climbers of both sexes.  Top 10 in each advance to divisional comp.  Regional comp is one day.

Divisional comp is top 10 from two regions.  Our region is  Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  Our divisional region partner has Arizona and New Mexico.

Divisional comp is 2 days.  20 competitors are whittled down to top 10 for the second day. Second day comp is for top 10 of which the top 6 are selected for Nationals.

There are 8 divisions in the US, so 48-50 climbers in each age group of both sexes qualify for nationals. There are 5 age groups (D =<11, C 12-13, B 14-15, A 16-17, and Jr. 18-19.)

Nationals is 3 days/rounds.  1st day/round gets the top 20, Semi final round gets it down to top 10.  Final round orders the top 10.  Top 4 get US National Team standing.

It is not unusual to have both male and female climbers from B, A, and Jr. also compete in the Open category, which as the name implies is not dependent on age.

 

Speed climbing has different qualification standards and I believe all that is required to compete at the national competition is participation at regional and divisional.  Speed was kind of an afterthought competition until it became the third leg of Olympic and International competition.    

There are also plenty of non sanctioned competitions such as the outdoor comps Granite Gripper at Enchanted rock and Limestoner at Reimers or various fun "themed" comps around Halloween or Valentines Day etc. 

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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Probably won't get to do any climbing. We had to cross the border to cancel our driving permit, so we figured we might as well check this place out. The wife is 25 weeks pregnant, so I don't exactly have a climbing partner. If I can convince the wife I might try to find something really easy to climb up and set up a top rope up for the nearly three year old just to get her her first international climbing experience. 

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drt

drt 638

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12 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Probably won't get to do any climbing. We had to cross the border to cancel our driving permit, so we figured we might as well check this place out. The wife is 25 weeks pregnant, so I don't exactly have a climbing partner. If I can convince the wife I might try to find something really easy to climb up and set up a top rope up for the nearly three year old just to get her her first international climbing experience. 

Wait, have you not been there before?

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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On 6/18/2019 at 8:26 AM, Jiggy-Z said:

Testing new pic upload.  From Red River Gorge Spring 2018. First one is my 11 year old (10 in pic). 2nd is my 13 year old (11 in pic).  Don't remember the routes but this was in the Motherload area.

 

g-rrg-v-20180315-165614.jpg

s-rrg-v-20180315-153541-1.jpg

Headed back to "The Red" in Spring 2020 for family spring break trip.  It will be interesting to see how much the kids have grown as climbers since two years ago. 

The 13 yo went back to the "red" in summer 2019 and sent a 5.12d on lead and we have friend whose 11 yo has done a 5.13a on lead but that was in Spain(will also be on red trip).   Should be an interesting trip with 11 year olds duking it out.  I bet all three get 5.13a or better on lead.

The old man will be trying for a 5.10a on lead.  Damn kids.

Also,  my kids just advanced to the Divsional round of bouldering where they will compete to go to the national competition in Oregon. 

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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Yeah, I don't get out enough and there isn't a local gym to practice on, so my best is a 5.10a, Season of the Storm I think at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. My biggest problem is getting pumped out on more overhanging stuff and not having the grip strength to pull crux moves. Really I just need to get in better shape for climbing. 

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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On 1/7/2020 at 7:16 AM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Yeah, I don't get out enough and there isn't a local gym to practice on, so my best is a 5.10a, Season of the Storm I think at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. My biggest problem is getting pumped out on more overhanging stuff and not having the grip strength to pull crux moves. Really I just need to get in better shape for climbing. 

Yeah, I started a couple of years ago and got a finger injury almost right away...so I decided I was going to get in better shape and lose some weight...and then got injured doing that...but by then my finger injury had healed...and for some reason climbing did not bother my other injury...so I was back to square one, only more compromised and older.

Even if you have the "want to", a gym, a crag, and a support group, there is just only so fast you can take this stuff at my age (53)

What I did find I could do that really helped (I have been doing 5.10c's in the gym on the 60' walls) is just building up my hang time from the jugs on my kids hang board.  I have built up to 1.5 minutes at 190lbs, several times a day.  Its easy on the fingers and and the shoulders.

The other thing is working on mobility.  Really helps with the execution of technique and helps get those moves in before you get tired.  Also is good prehab and rehab especially for the wrists, shoulders, elbows, hips and ankles.

My 13 yo is just about ready to send Elephant Man (5.13a) at Reimers.  He can get out from under the lip and do the rest of the route after a quick shakeout, but he put it together in 2 pieces so he is ready. He is pretty close on House of Pain (5.13a) also.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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So hard to imagine a more conducive covid 19 petri dish than a rock climbing gym.

Asymptomatic carriers aged 10-30?  Check.

Bodily fluids all over the place?  Check

Hard surfaces touched by hands and feet? Check.

Indoors? Check 

So those are out for awhile.

Anybody keeping their game sharp in other ways?

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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The kids went to Colorado with their team a couple of weeks ago and got some good climbing in. They are pretty hush hush about what they climbed though.

On the Covid Front, gym shutdown and pensiveness over crowds have shut the climbing down for us, so we started a home gym wall build.  We should be finishing with the phase one structure in the next couple of days.  After that its a little painting, some crash pad work, and real route setting (kids are setting routes when I turn my back just for a second).

Phase two will be a 8' X 10' 5 degree slab wall and a beam install for support and hanging of various training stuffs. 

Phase 3 will be working all of the behind wall space into storage and upgrading the garage n general.  Will post some picks when we have a few routes up on phase 1.

I can't wait for this build to be over.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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On 7/7/2020 at 11:02 PM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Are y'all able to find holds? It seems everyone built a home wall during the quarantine and holds everywhere were sold out.

Whoops, gotta look at this thread a little more often.

Holds:  We had a about 200 attached to the back of the garage and we are taking those down.  We have friends in Houston who dismantled their climbing wall and we picked up some foam, plywood with t-nuts installed (about 1/3 of what we needed), a few boulder crash pads, and about 400 holds.  We ordered some more juggy holds and some interesting volumes, but I am not sure where from, but did not have any issues.  I would say we are about up to 800ish holds at this point.

We picked up plywood in Austin from Ace contractors supply (B-B sanded and plugged at ~$30.00/sheet), t nuts (screw in and pound in)and some other miscellaneous construction stuff from Atomic, all the 2X material was from my construction yard (concrete), I bought 1" thick closed cell sheets from The Foam Factory and used 3M spray adhesive to stick them onto 5" thick open cell pads we got from Houston.  Not sure how I am going to cover just yet, but I have a ton of 15mil poly and some strong construction seam tape-I would cover that with some cloth tarps or something.  Underlying all the pads is a 2" thick layer of polystyrene, which was left over material from jobs as well.

I'll try and post a pic of some of the route setting, mostly on the 40 degree wall.

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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Anybody here watched GRIPPED Climbing the Killer Pillar yet? It's a rock climbing movie that just came out on amazon for like $5. Super cheesy, but I think a little bit self aware. Fun to watch and laugh at with a few drinks, and they actually got a lot of the technical aspects of climbing right, at least compared to most other Hollywood stuff.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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On 9/12/2020 at 9:53 AM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Anybody here watched GRIPPED Climbing the Killer Pillar yet? It's a rock climbing movie that just came out on amazon for like $5. Super cheesy, but I think a little bit self aware. Fun to watch and laugh at with a few drinks, and they actually got a lot of the technical aspects of climbing right, at least compared to most other Hollywood stuff.

Nope.

Been trying to catch any international comps on ESPN3 but they are few and far between.

Practice started up for the kids a couple of weeks ago but it is a just a 2 hour session and then they get kicked out.  Thinking of unfreezing my membership to climb while they are there, but I was hoping to do that only after I got rid of my COVID weight.  Also, I was hoping to hold off just a bit longer to see what happened with school and other things opening.

I would use the home climbing wall more but I have to tape up and warm up so much that it loses its spontaneity.

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10957

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Is there a newer thread than this one? It seems that smaller bouldering gyms are opening up everywhere these days.

 

The wife and I have been making the 45 minute drive to our closest full gym lately and are really starting to dig it. Supposedly we're going to get a full gym about a mile from our house in the next year or so and we really want to take it up a notch then. I've thought about building something like the garage build up above, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money on it.

 

 

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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19 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Is there a newer thread than this one? It seems that smaller bouldering gyms are opening up everywhere these days.

 

The wife and I have been making the 45 minute drive to our closest full gym lately and are really starting to dig it. Supposedly we're going to get a full gym about a mile from our house in the next year or so and we really want to take it up a notch then. I've thought about building something like the garage build up above, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money on it.

 

 

Austin just got it's first real tall wall gym. Mesa Rim. Kids are there 3 days a week plus 2 days at ABP.

USA Climbing regional comp is tomorrow. 

Home gym is more expensive than you think. Exhaust all possible avenues before building.

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