Mountains and Water

Elbow Improvement

2009-07-13T16:17:00.002-06:00

So Saturday morning, I was getting pretty tired of how my elbow was feeling so I decided after a thorough warm-up on the west side of Nook's rock, to try That Flakes It, the hardest V4 on the mountain for my money and nailed the dyno first try and without any pain. I went to Cloudshadow and did Hagans, The Consideration, East Inside Corner and the Pedestal Traverse as well. I caught up with Bruce Miller there, one of the great unsung talents in the Boulder scene. Then I went up to Red Wall and did the Standard Red Wall problem and Varney's from the lower start (V7?) and after did a bunch more really easy stuff. The temps were pretty hot and the rock greasy so I definitely had to work for the holds. Sunday my arm felt like somethung had definitely loosened up so that even a fairly hard run up and down Green Mountain felt OK.

I am increasingly convinced that many elbow issues can be traced to excess biceps tension as that seems to be what is at the root of the problem. Stretching the area seems to produce the best results. Brent Apgar's last treatment focused a lot on my left triceps and biceps and while my arm hurt quite a bit the next day, clearly something was beginning to change for the better. I hope this remains the trajectory for the future.

Ten Commandments for Aging Climbers Revised

2009-07-11T14:56:00.010-06:00

Matt Samet, in the Sporting Life column in Climbing writes about the big elephant in the room of climbing, i.e. the problem of age. Readers of this blog know that this is an ongoing interest of mine, not least because everyone is an aging climber to some degree or another. Maybe age is just another name for gravity.

Anyway, while I admire Matt's writing (and really think he has done a lot to get Climbing back to where it should be editorially speaking) and think of him as a friend, I would like to address some issues, maybe even errors in his piece and suggest some alternative "commandments."

1. "Thou shalt have no other hobbies"
Climbing is not and never can be a hobby or even a pastime for an "aging" climber. If you are climbing past 30, you will probably keep at it to the bitter end and that's not a hobby, it's a passion. However, as you get older other passions can compete with climbing. That's a good thing, especially if you get injured. Take good care of your lower extremities, i.e. stay away from highballs, so you have an ambulatory option when things go pear-shaped.
2. "Thou shalt not display thy graven image shirtless in the rock gymnasion (past say 30)"
Sure there is some justice in this, though the placing seems a bit high, even if MS is following the original. However on reflection, which would you rather be, "a goggle-eyed man-child who's just discovered sprinklers in the park" or someone who's self-conscious and uptight about appearances. In Boulder you see all types and that's the way it goes. I'd rather be goofy, goggle-eyed, but inspired to climb better and not give a hoot about the rest of the crowd. But maybe I'm just not hairy enough.
3. "Thou shalt not say take in haste"
Again some justice in this one. Getting upset and angry about routes is a waste of time no matter what your age bracket. But on the flipside, "Thou shalt not be a weekend climbing tool and spend free time grimly pounding out the route mileage" is a good thing to consider. Balance, always balance.
4. "Thou shalt learn to use thy feet."
OK, but I would say if you haven't done this by now, you had better get as strong as possible instead.
5. "Remember rest days and keep them holy."
Good point except that older climbers have plenty of rest days enforced upon them by the demands of real life. No real need to worry about that one.
6. "Thou shalt not attempt routes thou onsighted in thy youth."
I would amend that to never go back to an onsighted route regardless of age unless you are going to be cool about the outcome. And good luck with that.
7. "Thou shalt not hate on the younger generations."
This is an important one. You can learn quite a lot from younger climbers and even if you have to work at it, make friendships with kids young enough to be (gulp) grandkids. It's good for them as well. They will be 30 before they know it.
8. "Thou shalt not wax poetic about "Back in the Day" (BITD) nor bear false witness on climbing forums."
Absolutely yes on this. Nothing traps you in the past like bad nostalgia.
9 "Thou shalt not tell other people how to rock climb"
Except when they are clearly committing a safety faux pas that will lead to the hospital and/or the morgue. Some experience might carry weight here.
10. "Thou shalt not wear socks with thy rock shoes"
Well I don't and never have but I would say if you're still climbing and having fun, wear whatever you want, however you want. Watch out for those old ratty harnesses and other obsolete gear though. Fashion is one thing, safety another.

Some replacements suggested
1. I'll keep it, reword
2. Replace with "Thou shalt be considerate of others"
3.Replace with "Thou shalt keep it fun, no matter what"
4. Replace with "Thou shalt always be learning to become a better climber"
5. Replace with "Thou shalt be committed to staying healthy and injury-free"
6. Replace with "Thou shalt pick thy battles carefully"
7. I'll keep it, maybe reword a bit
8. Yes as stated above.
9. Replace with, "Thou shalt be mindful in sharing thy experience"
10. Replace with "Thou shalt use climbing gear that helps you climb your best"

Oh and I almost forgot, weigh carefully any commandments for "aging" rock climbers from writers who are less than 40, however much they say they are "over the hill." Things are not as "confused" and "terrible" as you might think from Matt's intro. That state is reserved for your late 20s, when you are no longer young and still have no idea what to do with your life.

John Bachar 1957-2009: The End of an Era

2009-07-06T15:37:00.005-06:00

The climbing community is truly reeling from the report of John Bachar’s death while soloing near Mammoth Lakes in California. Tributes are being posted at various sites by close friends and distant admirers alike. And as I read them I sense that a particular kind of loss has been experienced, one not quite like any other I have seen or experienced in the world of climbing and one that deserves closer inquiry and examination.

First of all, I was not a friend of Bachar and only met him once in Joshua Tree, a very long time ago, and briefly talked with him about bouldering. My only other connection was my sole appearance in a climbing magazine being in a very old issue of Climbing with him soloing Outer Limits on the cover. So I can’t speak to his character or personality except of course as he was depicted in the media, and there was a lot over the years. He came across to me as someone who knew very well how good a climber he was and had incredible skills and confidence along with a keen sense of understanding what the game of climbing was about. The famous $10,000 Camp 4 wager speaks of a climber who was not merely commenting on his own ability but that of his peers, a gesture unprecedented in American climbing not least because of its aggressive forthrightness.

So why does his death matter to anyone besides family and friends? I believe it matters because he became a symbol for an idea of something far greater than climbing. For anyone who cared about the problem of climbing harder routes, he represented an ideal of perfection and grace fronted by a cool and remote personality that appeared even and measured no matter how intimidating the path ahead. The eponymous Bachar-Yerian route epitomized this quality as Bachar seemed to have placed just enough bolts to encourage others to see where he could take climbing if he really wanted to push it out even further. Bachar went way beyond where the rest of us would choose to go but he did it with an icy edge of rationality that contrasted with the more out-there personas of his time.

Thus to watch Bachar was to believe that poise, control and reason were at the heart of climbing well. Somehow with him soloing 5.11 onsight made sense or you could at least try to make sense of it. He never looked remotely in any danger or ill at ease with his surroundings. His example could encourage you to master yourself and your own fear to live up to your aspirations. Even if you found his sense of climbing ethics overly strict or his media persona overdone, at the core something endured that was hard as steel and genuine.

Yet a reading of John Long’s short and masterful essay The Only Blasphemy points to a darker side, an atmosphere of almost inhuman severity that Bachar inhabited and even seemed at times to cultivate. We all marveled at the ease with which he climbed difficult and dangerous routes. See for example Bachar soloing the 12c route The Gift at Red Rocks on the video Masters of Stone 3. Anyone who has climbed on this route knows that it is not very secure and hardly on solid rock. The crux is up high on a sloping sidepull/gaston that certainly had me in suspense when I did the route. I have soloed some climbs myself back in the day and I know that I would never have dreamed of going there. Bachar deliberately explained himself in the video by saying “You don’t try, you just do” and somehow watching you know you can’t, won’t ever do it. Why? Because you realize there are other ways of finding out what you are made of that don’t require the isolation, the total inner focus, or the deadly risk of free-soloing. Some have it and some don't, that is all.

Now Bachar’s era is truly over and with it the sense of youth and immortality that he almost literally embodied, even as he aged. Bachar stood for the 1970s, a time before climbing became much more circumscribed and defined. With nothing but the famous blond hair, a chalk bag, running shorts and his Firé climbing shoes, he tackled climbs that had been considered cutting edge just before he arrived. He became an emblem of the American climbing scene, especially that of the Valley, a symbol of fresh, brash, energy with no limits or precedents to obey. Along with the surfers and the skateboarders, Bachar represented a vision of California as the land of youth and sunshine and open, endless freedom. The world is different now, climbing is different now, we are ambivalent about where to turn next, and now one of our guides is no longer with us.

When the Legends Die: John Bachar dead at 51

2009-07-06T07:06:00.003-06:00

UK Climbing reports that John Bachar, whose career represented the epitome of American free-soloing in the seventies and early eighties is dead, apparently while solo climbing near Mammoth Lakes. This truly marks the end of an era. The influence that he had upon the sport of climbing was immense and his contributions in the form of very bold ascents will live on forever.

Working with Brent Apgar

2009-07-05T15:42:00.005-06:00

Last Thursday I went to the Spot to meet with Brent Apgar, an old friend of mine who is now a chiropractor. Brent read of my recent issues with my elbow and offered to help. I accepted and volunteered to share my experiences with readers who may be interested in finding solutions to similar problems. Brent began by asking about the nature of the injury and its likely origins and explained his views on how tendinitis starts, views which made sense to me. Essentially the issue is almost always the disparity between muscle growth and tendon adaptation, a disparity which can result in a separation and irritation where the tendon inserts in to the bone. This will eventually heal but usually in an unproductive and weakened fashion resulting in more pain and problems down the road. Brent proposed a few sessions using the Graston technique which is a massage technique using specially designed stainless steel instruments to break down and realign muscle and tendon fiber and promote circulation of blood. In practice this means a few minutes of fairly painful work on a specific area, just painful enough to make you want to kick something but not enough actually to do it.

After this was over, we talked a bit about how to proceed with regard to climbing. Having taken two weeks off, I was definitely hoping to find some way of resuming climbing that would not re-injure me and hopefully promote healing. Brent suggested that at this point it would be more productive to resume climbing at a pain-free level, i.e. whatever grade or type of move allows unimpeded movement. The theory behind this is that movement is always better than rest in regard to recovery and strength-building only happens in response to manageable stress. This creates an interesting problem for the climber of course in that the challenge is to find but not get to where you are making things worse. It is a game of self-control which I believe many climbers have had difficulty with, myself included.

So this morning I did about 15 very easy problems at Flagstaff up to roughly V2 but mostly much easier and for the most part had no issues. The biggest problem is crimping on a steep wall. I don't think I have ever had my elbows hurt from crimping before but such is the nature of lateral epicondylitis. It was surprisingly busy up there, not least because of two teams from Rocky Mountain Rescue doing drills in the ravine west of the Monkey Traverse.

Finally, I want to recommend a novel by Italo Calvino, The Baron in the Trees. It is a fantastic little novel about an Italian nobleman who abandons his family and station in life to live in the trees of the valley he grew up in. Any serious climber will recognize something of him or herself in the attitude of Cosimo the main character and his determination to leave the mundane terrain of the world behind. I first read it about 10 years ago on a road trip when I was working on the Present at the Gorilla Cliffs near Saint George, UT. Everything I have read by Calvino is beautifully written and thought-provoking and if you like this book, I would add Invisible Cities and If on a Winter's Night a Traveler to your list.

Local News? Not so much

2009-07-01T07:04:00.004-06:00

Since Jamie Emerson is in South Africa, I will add my slightly jaded perspective on the local bouldering scene which can be summed up in this sentence: Evans and the Park are now like Rifle. Exhibit A is Nalle Hukketaival's rampage where he repeated Jade(V15) quickly, established a beautiful and tall V13 called Sunseeker (check out Carlo's video) and dispatched the old-school testpiece Nuthin but Sunshine (V13) in 30 minutes. Now the rest of us are making the drive "over the hill" and doing the approach to throw in a few burns on the "proj" before heading back to town. The filling in the gaps era is here, the veterans, lifers and addicts spending weeks and months on a problem or a grade are all going to be here. Colorado is no longer where it is happening. Go to South Africa or Switzerland or who knows where else but not here.

As you can tell from other posts I am trying to stay off climbing altogether as my left elbow is stubbornly refusing to let up. This is a difficult condition to work with as sometimes it feels as though the slightest movement in the wrong direction can aggravate it. This has prompted looking at a number of training books, as I have mentioned already, and I am reading in preparation for a survey of the most recent, in particularly Eric Horst's Training for Climbing and Hague and Hunter's The Self Coached Climber. Both contain useful advice but both ultimately are missing the point in my opinion but more on this topic later. So I am doing a lot of running and painting and generally trying to keep hopeful.

Boulder Skyline Run

2009-06-29T14:56:00.004-06:00

This morning I went up Green Mountain via the Greenman trail with the intention of doing Bear Peak if things felt alright. The temps were still cool but warming quickly as I left the trailhead in Gregory Canyon at 8:50. I was pretty slow on the ascent taking about an hour but this was OK as it meant I had plenty of energy for the Green Bear trail and the Bear Peak West Ridge. Surprisingly nobody was at the summit of Bear when I arrived at 10:45. I had a relatively quick jog over to South Boulder Peak and back to Bear and I head back down the West Ridge at 11:15. By the time I rejoined the Green Bear trail I was definitely tiring and made it up to the West Ridge on Green by noon, the last two hundred yards being a total death slog. I headed back down the Ranger Trail to Gregory Canyon, getting to the car at 12:40 completely fried. I will look up the miles and elevation gain later but this route has to be one of the best local runs around with stellar views, terrain, and lots of climbing. I would say that coming back on the Mesa Trail is not my first option now, even with the hot plod up Green Bear.

Thinking about Longs again this week, maybe Chasm View?

( I worked out the mileage and total elevation gain for the Skyline run at more or less 11.6 miles and 5325')

Longs Peak Training Run

2009-06-27T15:01:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I left Boulder at 8:30 and headed up to Estes Park and the East Longs Peak Trailhead. About an hour later, I arrived there and after a few preparations and a chat with the trailhead RMNP volunteer started heading up. I have not been at altitude since some forays to Chaos Canyon last year so I wanted to get above 11,000 feet. A quick run up to Chasm Junction (7 miles out and back, 9400-11,500') or thereabouts seemed a good plan and great preparation for doing the whole Keyhole route. The altitude definitely kept me from putting on much speed and as the trail is relatively low angle, I certainly felt like I was plodding, a feeling that lasted until I encountered some hikers and saw more clearly the difference in pace.

It was really nice to clear the treeline and soak in the tremendous ambience that Longs offers. Extraordinarily wet conditions have really fostered the alpine wildflowers which are everywhere. The soaring snow gullies and jagged ridges have a genuine alpine feel and the mist that periodically swept across the face of Diamond reminded me how serious this place can be. I saw that the snow was now clearly retreating on the section to the Boulderfield, making a run to the Keyhole a next likely destination if for no other reason than to immerse myself in the atmosphere of clear light and tremendous space that this part of the mountains offers.

The run back down was speedy and uneventful (approximately 2 hours out-and-back time) and I felt pretty good overall and ready for another excursion. I was back in Boulder at 1:30 to give Sophia lunch. Wednesday's run up Green Mountain was good preparation for yesterday's and I plan to keep building on it. It is too bad that parking near the trailhead after the Keyhole route is opened for hiking is so difficult. That is the number one hassle I foresee in trying a run/speed ascent.

Shadowline Video

2009-06-24T07:13:00.005-06:00

Here is the video of Shadowline, a problem just right of Hagans Wall. For full credit, you finish up on the crux of The Ramp Traverse, a very reachy and somewhat bold problem than I find about as hard as Hagan's or the Consideration, sometimes harder.

Father's Day Session

2009-06-21T15:59:00.006-06:00

I got up really early this morning to hit Flagstaff before the temps warmed up and found myself at Cloudshadow after a short warm-up on the slabs at Nooks Rock. I wanted to get started by doing a problem I did a few weeks earlier before my elbow got wonky, Shadowline, a very thin and crimpy V9 right of Hagans Wall. I eventually want to link this into the regular traverse and then go into the Undercling Traverse. After a little bit of time checking out the holds I was surprised to do it first try so I then checked out a problem a bit west on Rear End Rock called Tongue in Cheek, V9. I did this for the first time last year and it took many many tries and at least 4 days. After a bit of work and maybe 4 tries, I did this problem as well. The last problem I wanted to try was the L to R traverse of the Red Wall into the Red Wall Regular Route which is probably easy V9. After an initial try to the last move, I did it on the next one, though barely. A great short session and some light at the end of the tunnel for the elbow?

As a relatively new father myself, Father's Day has an entirely new meaning and given me a new appreciation for what my father has given me. If you're a dad and you're still climbing (and of course even if you're not) congratulations! And if you have (or had) a father, take a moment to consider what that relationship is all about (even if it hasn't been easy) and give thanks for all you have experienced in this world.

Here's a video of Tongue in Cheek, Shadowline to follow.

Trail Running Today

2009-06-19T15:45:00.004-06:00

This morning I embarked on a run up in the foothills, planning on a simple trip up Flagstaff and over to Green Mountain. I felt pretty week on the first part of Flag, especially at the start but for whatever reason started getting into a rhythm that kept me going to the top of Green. I decided to head down to Bear Canyon and think about Bear Peak and since running down this part felt OK, I headed up the Bear Peak West Ridge Trail. This is always a slog so I kept it very slow and reached the summit in decent shape. This is important since the hard part is next, heading back down Fern Canyon and the Mesa Trail, especially if you didn't quite bring enough water or food. Next time, two Clif Bars! I made it back to the car, got home and drank about half a gallon of water. I have done this run only once before and consider it one of the great hikes/runs in the area. The weather was surprisingly crisp most of the way and the views from the three summits were spectacular.

I am aiming to get in shape for some higher elevation excursions soon once the snow retreats from the high peaks a little more. Moving fast across high terrain has a magical appeal of its own. For a local blogger with some extensive experience at this, go here. If any readers have recommendation for runs in RMNP or the Indian Peaks let me know.

Working Things Out (I hope)

2009-06-18T16:20:00.003-06:00

This morning I went up to Flagstaff and after warming up did three problems in the V7/8 range pretty easily. It was a little warm but reasonably dry so a nice session overall. I am trying to explore the limits of my strength while not aggravating anything which is a delicate balancing act indeed. In addition to easier problems, I have been trying the low start to an old problem called That Flakes It Direct and finding it quite difficult. The grade feels like solid V10 and I would like to know the beta from the FA.

A recent post from the Climbing Narc has highlighted the imminent completion of a new gym in Boulder which I plan on visiting soon and posting some pictures here. About two years ago I made a conscious decision to climb indoors as little as possible, including CATS where I climbed almost nonstop for many years before, a decision that has reaped some benefits in terms of maintaining a fresh attitude about training and progress. Although it is true that nothing will get you stronger than an indoor gym/wall, there are pitfalls as well, which I am learning, or re-learning.

For those interested in the nitty-gritty of the physical mechanics of training, I am recommending a book called One Move Too Many which specifically lays out what happens physiologically while climbing and makes some very valuable suggestions for avoiding and healing injuries. If you are not aware of just how complex, versatile, and effective your arms, hands, and fingers in fact are, this book will enlighten you. The book is not cheap but well worth it, though the picture of the severed thumb (page 45) is a bit much.

I hope to present some thoughts on the contemporary literature out there on training and would love to hear from readers about which books, websites, etc they find helpful and why.

Flagstaff Run and Climb

2009-06-16T15:37:00.007-06:00

I am still pretty tired from a session on Sunday where I ran from the mouth of Gregory Canyon up the Flagstaff trail and began bouldering from Nook's Rock on up to the First Overhang Ridge before heading back down. 35 problems from VB to V6, 1.75 miles, and 750 feet elevation gain. Oddly this is the same elevation difference from Bear Lake to Lower Chaos. I am still working on my elbow issues and my theory is that rapid ascents of easy problems help to loosen things up a bit. We shall see whether this works or not.

The big news in local bouldering is the 4th ascent of Jade by the unstoppable Nalle H who managed the problem in just two days and with very unpromising conditions both weather-wise and in terms of the approach. You can get a great description and photos at his blog. This ascent has started the Park season off with a bang. It will be interesting to see who else climbs this world-class problem this season.

Interesting to note two fairly critical articles in the new Deadpoint Mag Online, one about sponsored climbers and their tenuous relationship to reality and the other about the new bland face of competition climbing. The first piece is too vague and general in nature but is a start in seriously discussing what "sponsored" and "professional" really mean these days. Abbey Smith in the latter piece makes some good points about the problems with professionalizing climbing comps but I doubt much will change on this front as noted in posts elsewhere by me. For example in the local paper there was absolutely zero about the World Cup event in Vail. The Denver Post has a good write-up here. Anyway it's good to see a more feisty journalistic stance coming from the new kid on the block and makes me hopeful for the future though they really need a good copy editor!

Make sure to read this short article at Planet Mountain about the new reality of climbing. Is anything really interesting in climbing news anymore? What constitutes innovation and a unique contribution? Is harder climbing just becoming more of the same old same old?

Finally Joe Kinder posted this link to a great video of Adam Ondra in the Czech Republic. The slow-mo warm-up sequence is readily skipped but the last third is extraordinarily good as it illuminates Ondra's spidery yet powerful climbing style, similar to Dave Graham's. Be sure to watch full-screen HD.

Transience

2009-06-11T07:37:00.002-06:00

This June has seen some remarkably changeable weather. The sky is constantly shifting as clouds mass over the foothills and empty onto the plains. The sun breaks through with shafts of gleaming light picking out ridges and valley, moving with silent and unbelievable swiftness over the land below. Nothing stays the same for too long and even as Boulder Valley glows an intense emerald green, there is the certainty that the heat of July and August will turn this joyous riot of foliage yellow and brown as summer reaches its height.

It's a great time to be a painter and watch the rapidly changing light and color and try to find ways to capture some of the essence of this movement and its beauty. Yet there is also the sober reminder at its heart that nothing exists forever. There is a Latin phrase, from Vergil's Eclogue IX (thanks Google), Omnia fert aetas, animum quoque, meaning "The ages carry everything away, even memory itself."

I am reminded not just of recent tragedes such as the deaths of Johnny Copp, Micah Dash, and Wade Johnson but of a recent item that surfaced in UKClimbing.com about the demise of some "crucial" holds on a 14a route known as Mecca. The reaction from many was shock and dismay followed by proposals to "restore" the route to its former condition. A curious but understandable response from climbers, to want to hold something in place that once was. There is another great sentence, this time from Leonardo da Vinci, who studied the ways in which erosion shaped the world. Dimmi se mai fu fatta alcuna cosa, which reads, "Tell me if anything was ever finished." In this world nothing is, a thought that inspires both wonder and despair.

Wait a while and news will happen

2009-06-07T16:44:00.005-06:00

The stormy skies over Boulder seemed to echo the mood of many locals as word emerged of the likely fates of two local legends Micah Dash and Johnny Copp. The two plus a cameraman Wade Johnson were on an expedition in China when they did not come back for their flight home. So far the body of Johnny Copp has been identified. The full scoop can be found here and here. No doubt more information will emerge as Chinese and American teams explore the likely accident site near Minya Konka.

Nobody really needs reminding of how dangerous tall mountains are but events such as this bring this reality back in focus to a community for whom this environment is a second home. Climbing is a dangerous sport and sooner or later someone you know will be killed or seriously injured doing it. All you can do is remind yourself and others to be as careful as you can to keep the odds in your favor.

Speaking of pushing the envelope, Alex Honnold, with partner Sean Leary, redpointed the Salathe Wall in 8.5 hours. I am ambivalent about speed climbing on a lot of levels and this ascent is no exception as the only real way to cut free climbing time substantially is essentially to solo long sections of the climb by simul-climbing with little protection. Alex is the only climber I know of who has the ability to climb at that level without a rope way up there on a big wall as his solo of Half Dome made clear. However the margin for error on climbs done in this style is exceptionally thin and the consequences of failure correspondingly drastic. His reply to the question of soloing Freerider was refreshingly candid but the fact that the question keeps coming up in climbing media is kind of scary.

Lastly an interesting question of ethics emerged in the case of a repeat of all things) of a Markus Bock boulder problem rated Fr8c (V15) in the Frankenjura. You can get the drift of the discussion at 8a.nu and Bjorn Pohl's blog. Periodically this emerges as an issue and then drifts away again. Interestingly, Markus Bock's route Corona was just repeated by Adam Ondra and rated soft for 15a.

As for me I am considering how best to deal with a case of lateral epicondylitis, "tennis elbow" that emerged over the last few weeks. This is something I have never had before and relatively rare for climbers compared with medial epicondylitis, tendinitis on the inside of the elbow. If you are wondering why I am not discussing my climbing wall yet, it is that I am not yet ready to absolve it (and myself of course) of guilt for my present condition. I can still run (I did Green Mountain on Friday, my 45th birthday) , and paint, and periodically update this blog. This definitely spoils some plans I had for summer bouldering however. Only time will tell.

Oh yeah there were the Teva Games as well. Congratulations to Alex Puccio on her win! Alex Johnson took second and Daniel Woods second for men. A German, Jonas Baumann, won the men's competition.

Where is the "Payoff"?

2009-06-02T07:30:00.002-06:00

There's a great article in the Times today about the winner of the 2008 Olympics Decathalon winner Bryan Clay that should give pause to any aspiring "professional" climbers out there. The story relates how Clay, who by definition is the best all-around athlete in the world, lives a life of near-anonymity with his wife and two children, still sponsored as an athlete but hardly at the level worthy of a real champion.

Speaking of anonymity, I am crawling out from under a sinus infection that left me literally lying under a rock at Flagstaff yesterday unwilling to get up and climb. Hopefully it will begin to subside soon. I had a good session on Saturday doing 25 problems from V0 to V6 in a couple of hours. I started by running up from Gregory Canyon and then picking off problems as I went along before running back down to Gregory Canyon. It can be very liberating climbing without a crashpad but you have to be careful.

Master of Rock: An Appreciation

2009-05-29T15:44:00.003-06:00

In 1977, two seminal books in the history of rock climbing literature were published, Climb! Rock Climbing in Colorado by Godfrey and Chelton and Master of Rock by Pat Ament. Both have become classics, even seeing later editions published, but I am beginning to think that the first edition of Master of Rock was the most significant book published about climbing in the U.S. since Chris Jones Climbing in North America. Its significance lies in its innovations and its sense of pointing forward rather than backward, but also in its peculiar homemade feel, its unique mixture of the mystical and the mundane, the surreal and the ordinary. (This may be a merely personal view but the second revised edition lacks much of the magic of the first.)

I am struck particularly by the contrast that exists between John Gill as a biographical subject and the typical climbing biography that preceded the book, the likes of Hermann Buhl, Gaston Rebuffat and so on, in other words the hero par excellence who eventually faces the existential sublime on the high peaks, returning with frostbitten extremities, if at all, muttering words of ironic implications. Ament wrote about a college professor of mathematics who explored a world of microscopic dimension, whose struggles were within the ordinary confines of human experience. By way of example, recall that Gills legendary ascent of The Thimble, a formation named after a diminutive household implement, presented its most formidable hazard in the shape of a parking barrier below the hardest part of the climb.
Even more striking though was the extraordinary series of images that include so many mundane aspects of mid-60s suburbia. Iconic in this regard is the famous image of Gill doing a front lever on a child's swingset, the chains of the swings pulled around the uprights, the profile of a slide visible in the background.

And there is an image of Gill doing a one finger pull-up, his torso intersecting with the curving contour of a camping trailer. The same trailer shows up in a photo labeled "Fort Collins, Colorado, late '60's" with Gill doing a one-arm pullup with two weights added on. In the background are a chain-link fence, a utility post and folding lawn chair, their ordinariness standing out against the imagined intensity of Gill's athleticism. Today in the age of Vimeo, Youtube, and Facebook such images are accepted as the inevitable result of everpresent cellphone video and digital cameras, now as common as air and water. Yet the sheer mundane quality of much of the photography in the book anticipates a new aesthetic for climbing that refused the consciously heroic and crafted images of an earlier age as here:

Master of Rock emphasized the domestic, the intimate, the unrehearsed and in so doing unleashed the potential of a new psychology that saw climbing for what it was, simply the act of moving across rock. Ironically the master of alpinism and big walls, Yvon Chouinard, saw it clearest, "I think it's going to be Zen and the art of rock climbing...When it gets to the point where we can, at will, conjure up these exceptional days, there'll be some incredible things occurring. It'll happen in the boulders before it happens in other areas of climbing." Yet to get there, a lot of baggage had to be dispensed with. In fact you can see it in Gill himself. The heroically static and poised photos of the 60s give way to a more dynamic and relaxed vibe in the 70s, my favorite being a pair of photos of Gill on the Ripper Traverse wearing a funky fishing fat. The future lay not in the existential agony of climber versus big wall but in the small scale laboratory of a suburban backyard in mid-60s Colorado and nearby boulders. Ament deserves credit for not merely seeing this but articulating and expressing this new mode of climbing. Master of Rock documented the beginning of the sport of climbing as we know it today.

Pat Ament Part 2

2009-05-29T11:04:00.001-06:00

Here is the remainder of the Ament interview about Flagstaff bouldering:

3. What are the most memorable problems from this era for you and why?

During the 1960's I was particularly taken by certain routes. One was the north bulge of Cookie Jar Rock, called Jackson Overhang. I first saw it done one day when Bob Culp and I went up to boulder. He worked at Holubar, and after work he drove me up the mountain. Still in his suit and tie, we strolled up to the rock from the parking spot. He slipped off his suit jacket, laced on his Kronhoeffer shoes, and climbed Jackson Overhang, spreading his tall body out over the rock. I was amazed at his ability, and he would remain one of my initial bouldering inspirations. I couldn't quite figure the route out that day, as it has a long reach, but soon I did it. Even in my best form, years later, I found that route to be a respectable challenge. I also was impressed with Northcutt's Roll, on the southeast side of Cookie Jar. Legend had it that Ray Northcutt fell off and rolled down into the road. We weren't sure if Ray ever had actually done the whole route or simply gone up to try and fallen off. We did know he was strong. That was when the tree was still there and much more actual earth and ground around the rock than there is now. Since the road cut widened, it's now a drop almost straight to the road, but one day Dalke did the route, in his Hush-Puppies. Larry Dalke was my high school buddy, a grade and year older. He could perform miracles in those Hush-Puppies. He might possibly have made the first ascent of that route, although only Northcutt could tell us. I also was taken by Pratt's Overhang, although the famous Yosemite climber, Chuck Pratt, had never actually done the route. It simply was named after him, in part because of the legendary mantel problems he authored in Camp 4, in Yosemite. Later these routes became moderate alongside the routes I began to put up, such as the Right Side of the Red Wall.... I often enjoyed simply climbing moderate routes, one after the other.

4. What was meeting with John Gill like? Did you meet him first at Flagstaff? What was his view of the bouldering there?

I had participated on the University of Colorado gymnastics team, as a "walk-on," and I was bouldering and training at gymnastics quite a few hours every day. In 1968 I learned John Gill had moved to Fort Collings (he had gone there to finish his Ph.D. in math). I simply phoned him. He had heard of me, and he invited me to visit him in Fort Collings. We went out bouldering, with his protege, the very talented Rich Borgman. We took a tour of the Dakota sandstone around Horsetooth Reservoir. John was every bit as amazing as all the legends. But he was humble and human. He was so far beyond other climbers of the time he could have had a big head or been arrogant, but he remains one of the finest people I've ever met. It wasn't too long after my visit to Fort Collins, a humbling experience, that he and Rich visited Flagstaff. Rich never did anything in the way of a new route himself but could virtually repeat anything anyone else could do. Rich was very light, had hardly any weight to lift. I learned he was on the gymnastics team at Colorado State University, and soon he and I competed against each other, when CSU, CU, Denver University, and Air Force Academy had a meet. I was on parallel bars, and Rich was on side-horse. On that visit to Flagstaff, Gill was wary of the knobby, flaky sandstone. He refused to try certain routes, such as my South Face of the Amphitheater, because of his fear the nubbins would break off in hand. I assured him the knobs were really solid and rarely ever broke off. Right at that instant, he grabbed a softball-sized quartzite crystal that looked good, and it pulled right out in hand. He stood there laughing, that deep "ho ho ho," with the crystal in his hand, and said, "They never pull out, eh?" It was always fun to be with Gill, and many times we visited each other, at Flagstaff and at Fort Collins, and lots of times later at Pueblo, where he moved when he got a teaching job. Gill was impressed with my routes on Flagstaff, atlhough he one day put up an amazing first ascent of his own not far to the right of Pratt's Overhang, called the Gill Swing. He pinched a slimy hold at about chest level and swung far up through space to where his open left palm slapped onto a ragged, slant of rock. He then did a one-arm pull-up and completed the route. I've never seen anyone do that route, although I've seen a few concoct some variation of it.

5. In your view how does Flagstaff Mountain fit into the history of bouldering?

Flagstaff Mountain was one of those places where, through quite a few decades, the standards of the time were set. There were the boulders of Yosemite, the boulders of Ogden, Utah, where Greg Lowe developed, and there were the short routes of the Needles of South Dakota. But Flagstaff was a premier bouldering location that, perhaps at one time during the late 1960's, had routes that were at the top, if not slightly beyond, the standard. Of course wherever John Gill went, that was the top of the standard. But there were areas around the United States where a certain level of difficulty was pioneered, such as the Gunks, in New York, and Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, and the Tetons, and the Needles of South Dakota, and various places in California. Boulder was one of the two or three main climbing meccas, and through the years it has continued to produce some of the best climbers in the country, such as Jim Holloway.

Recreation versus Procreation

2009-05-28T14:37:00.003-06:00

The local paper publishes a regular climbing column by Chris Weidner, a well-traveled and experienced local climber. It is typically a thoughtfully written (and often thought-provoking) exploration of the more human side of the climbing experience and this week was no exception. You can find the column here. In it he ponders the potential problems of a life dedicated to climbing past the age when many adults have opted for domesticity and child-rearing. While I agree that the experience of climbing is intense and committing, in the end, I would have to assert that its value is insignificant related to the intensity and commitment of caring for a child (and we have an easy one!). Climbing is a game which ultimately is contrived to its core, a lot like art, another passion of mine. Its value I would suggest lies elsewhere, outside of the actual practice of the sport, perhaps more in reflecting on the experience.

For me a large part of maturity (and I am by no means mature) is recognizing where real value lies and I feel that while having children and long-term relationships are not essential to a fulfilled life, going completely in the opposite direction and focusing on "a lifestyle where things like climbing, travel and self-awareness are priorities" will ultimately prove a dead end. Boulder is definitely a bubble in this regard as many people who live here have chosen this path; however I am not sure that genuine "self-awareness" is a likely by-product of following it. In any case, it is not and really should not be an either/or proposition that one chooses climbing or family. This is seems to be an American thing, and I applaud the more appealing European example where one sees multiple generations climbing, often together at the same time. I look forward to seeing more recognition by climbers that life doesn't end with a mortgage and children; it just gets more complicated and if climbing isn't about solving problems, what is it about?

Watch this Film

2009-05-26T12:05:00.003-06:00

I've been lying low with a bad cold and carefully watching a slight soreness in my left elbow. It's been OK since the weather has been damp cloudy and raining for almost a week anyway.

I found this movie at the Grimper website. I think it's pretty cool; though it's only in French, you can get the drift pretty quickly. Climbing is about doing what we can with what we have...

Pat Ament Interview about Flagstaff Mountain Bouldering

2009-05-25T14:17:00.004-06:00

Anyone familiar with the history of climbing in the U.S. is aware of the contributions of Pat Ament in terms of climbing but perhaps even more importantly for a new approach to climbing culture as seen in his books and films. I asked Pat a few questions about the history of bouldering at Flagstaff and he very graciously replied at length with great stories and details that evoke a now-vanished time. I present the first part of the interview here; the second will be posted shortly with stories about John Gill and much more. Thanks Pat!

1. How did you start bouldering at Flagstaff?

I don't remember the first time I visited Flagstaff Mountain, but it was certainly very early in my career, probably in about 1959. One of the first memories I have was with Joe Fullop, who wanted to teach me how to climb. To make that story short, Joe set up the rope to make the rappel off the overhanging west side of Pumpkin. I started off the edge, with great reluctance, lying there and scraping my whole front side as I went over. Just off the edge, I saw a ledge to the right and somehow stepped onto it. I don't know, to this day, how I managed to get standing on that ledge (because since then I tried to repeat the maneuver, as an experienced climber, and couldn't do it). Anyway, to resume the rappel I would have to swing back left, and the idea of the swing made me freeze. I wouldn't move for hours. Joe yelled and threatened, exasperated. Baker Armstrong, forty years my senior (I was 13) happened along, through the forest. He instantly recognized the situation and, an experienced and very gifted instructor, scrambled quickly to the top. Suddenly a loop of his gray-whie Columbian rope was lowered to me. He told me to slip it around my head and arms, and he made me feel safe enough to continue. That was the beginning of an eternal friendship, with Baker. I think I went to Flagstaff often after that, with one of the "rock schools" I first participated in as a student and then for which I became an instructor. It didn't take long to become a real boulderer, though when I was fourteen I fell off Pratt's Overhang one night. Larry Dalke and I found ourselves up there after dark, when our parents agreed to have a picnic dinner. Larry was spotting me, as I attempted this challenging, overhanging boulder. I was over the hardest part and got standing up on the big horn, which meant all I had now to do was walk over the top and traverse down the descent. Larry saw I had made it and walked away, when suddenly I found myself on my back, on the ground, and the stars were spinning around. I started to say, "Nice catch," but I couldn't say a word. It was that horrid feeling of when the wind is knocked totally out of you. I got up, walked around a bit, then fell back down, in agony. Larry started pushing on my chest, a form of artificial respiration, and surprisingly it worked. I got to breathing again, and panic on both our parts turned to uncontrolled laughter. In the morning, I woke up and had a fierce pain in my wrist. It was stiff as a board, and an X-ray revealed a fracture. I must have hit it on the ground when I landed, or on the big round boulder that sits there at the bottom. Flagstaff Mountain... a place I spent many hundreds of hours bouldering, often during the later 1960's all by myself in the evening as the sun would go down. I was the most serious boulderer in Colorado for years, apart from John Gill -- who first moved to Fort Collins and then to Pueblo. He and I also became lifelong friends. I must have done fifty or more of those routes over a hundred times each.

2. Can you describe the ambiance of bouldering at Flagstaff in the mid-1960s?

The atmosphere of Flagstaff, during my prime in the late 1960's, was not terribly unlike what it is today, although there were far fewer people and far fewer serious boulderers. I often had the whole mountain (or at least the bouldering areas) all to myself. I have precious memories of standing up there at the start of some problem and hearing a slight wind in the pines. I would notice the color of the clouds. It seemed the rock itself, that fragile sandstone with which I was so intimate, had a spirit and was alive. It almost seemed to welcome me as a friend. I listened to the sound of a block of chalk, as I brushed it against my fingers and palms. I felt there was some kind of communication between myself and the whole environment. It was very nice to be up there alone. I could set my own standards. I had a high standard and, for example, climbed that direct South Face route in the Flagstaff Amphitheater without a rope. There was no spot, no top rope, only my ability and control. I reached a point where I could smoothly climb the Right Side of the Red Wall, hold in with my left hand and arm, with the fingertips of my left hand in that finger-tip hole. I felt those were days of mastery, but within my own world. No one else would know or comprehend what I had done or was doing.

Is Climbing in Pause Mode?

2009-05-21T07:49:00.003-06:00

Did I miss something somewhere? The main bit of news recently is Matt Wilder's 9th (by the Climbing Narc's count) ascent of the Fly. Is there anything actually new going on or are people just making Facebook entries and tweeting while the world goes by? Let me know if there is anything I am missing here.

Running Mount Sanitas

2009-05-20T12:52:00.002-06:00

A nice run up Sanitas this morning which I haven't done in a long while. I never cease to be amazed by the sudden sight of Boulder laid out below you once you get past the first steep section below Dakota Ridge. I didn't feel too out of shape which was nice though it was definitely a bit warm. I really hope to get some high-altitude trail running in later this summer once the snow retreats a bit.

I am working on a review/appraisal of the famous Pat Ament book, Master of Rock which should be ready soon...

A Successful Session

2009-05-18T07:18:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday went pretty well for once. I have been trying to develop a little more endurance and spread out my efforts across different styles of problems but owing to various factors have stalled out early on. Saturday conditions were quite reasonable so I did the following problems: Don't Touch the Glass V7, Full Nook's Traverse V9, Valhalla V7, Valhalla Eliminate V8(?), Reverse Battaglia V8, Shadowline V9, Hagans V5, and the Consideration V4. As I have written before, I want to break the 70 V-point barrier for 10 problems and time is the usual issue, plus of course finger skin. I suppose it's a bit like golf in a way (and it would be nice to have a pad caddie). You have to know the terrain pretty well and gauge how many attempts you can make before you are out of contention for further progress. Summer conditions up the ante considerably so I am hoping for a trip to Evans or RMNP soon.

Blogging will Resume

2009-05-17T21:11:00.002-06:00

Now that the semester is over I am ready to resume authoring. Coming shortly: Flagstaff bouldering tours, the new resident climbing wall, and thinking about the places that we climb at...