I know, it's been a while. It always seems to be a while. Fact is, I spend a lot more time than I plan on every single time I post something on here. I'll work on it in the future.
This past Saturday (Jan 23th), Float the Boat finally went down. After being snowed out, then subsequently rained out, it turns out third time's the charm. The weather turned out good enough, with cool temps, a little cross wind, and drizzle that disappeared right before the comp started at 10.
Besides being my first outdoor bouldering comp, this was also my first trip to Boat Rock. The type of climbing there is very similar to most climbing in NC and SC - that is it say, slabby. Really slabby, with hard-as-balls top outs. Not my style, to say the least. Despite this, I managed to have a pretty good day, sending some classics such as Yellow Arete, Firewoman Sit, and Lost Digits. I even surprised myself and sent some slabs!
Although this was a comp, I knew it would be a while before I made it back again, and projected accordingly. By accordingly, I mean I threw myself at stuff I had no real chance of climbing in less-than-ideal conditions. I wasted about 2 hours not climbing Paint Can, Lost Boys Throw, Venom, and Anti-venom. Because of this, I ended up with two V2's still on my scorecard. Not exactly ideal, and I ended up middle of the pack in the Men's Intermediate class, 9th out of 19 climbers.
The rest of our group did much better. George won the beginners class, Brad faired better than I, and Brian (one of Brad's friends I met Saturday) got third in the beginner's. Big props to all of those guys. George climbed his ass off.
Overall, Float the Boat 2010 was awesome. I got to explore somewhere new, meet and climb with several cool people (most of which I called by the wrong name), and in general have a kickass time.
Best of all, I got to take home a new water bottle and block of chalk. WOOP!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Are you a SC climber?
If you are a climber that lives in SC the following email might be of interest:
Like many SC Climbers, I was recently sent this e-mail from Stephen Scoff. If it is at all possible for you to make this meeting, please do so...and you can get a sweet day of bouldering in at the Bald too. Together we can all unify our voices to help solidify access to SC's incredible climbing and bouldering opportunities. Please contact Stephen on the CCC website, if you are a member or use the messageboard, or directly by e-mail at SCOFFS@mailbox.sc.edu Many thanks to Stephen for your previous and upcoming hard work to help make all of this happen!The Carolina Climbers Coalition is holding their Spring Meeting on Saturday, February 27 at Lake Lure (exact location has yet to be determined). The meeting will be a “public” one open to CCC members and non-members alike.This is a great opportunity for us to not only to impress upon the CCC the “SC contingent”; but also assist us in banning together for the sake of SC climbing and bouldering resources.It’s hard to beat Rumbling Bald in February so there should be no better excuse to save this weekend for there.SO, please rally your partners, fellow gym rats, spouses, spotters, subs, belay slaves, girl friends, boy friends, acquaintances, frienemies, etc. Numbers count—let’s make our mark.Please let me know if you plan on attending. Please pass this info on and do your best to encourage others to attend.I’ll keep everyone up to speed on responses. I just hope I get a confirmation back from YOU!
Thanks
Stephen Scoff
SC RepCarolina Climbers’ Coalition
http://carolinaclimbers.org/
SCOFFS@mailbox.sc.edu
Thanks to my buddy George for the tip off.
Caleb
Like many SC Climbers, I was recently sent this e-mail from Stephen Scoff. If it is at all possible for you to make this meeting, please do so...and you can get a sweet day of bouldering in at the Bald too. Together we can all unify our voices to help solidify access to SC's incredible climbing and bouldering opportunities. Please contact Stephen on the CCC website, if you are a member or use the messageboard, or directly by e-mail at SCOFFS@mailbox.sc.edu Many thanks to Stephen for your previous and upcoming hard work to help make all of this happen!The Carolina Climbers Coalition is holding their Spring Meeting on Saturday, February 27 at Lake Lure (exact location has yet to be determined). The meeting will be a “public” one open to CCC members and non-members alike.This is a great opportunity for us to not only to impress upon the CCC the “SC contingent”; but also assist us in banning together for the sake of SC climbing and bouldering resources.It’s hard to beat Rumbling Bald in February so there should be no better excuse to save this weekend for there.SO, please rally your partners, fellow gym rats, spouses, spotters, subs, belay slaves, girl friends, boy friends, acquaintances, frienemies, etc. Numbers count—let’s make our mark.Please let me know if you plan on attending. Please pass this info on and do your best to encourage others to attend.I’ll keep everyone up to speed on responses. I just hope I get a confirmation back from YOU!
Thanks
Stephen Scoff
SC RepCarolina Climbers’ Coalition
http://carolinaclimbers.org/
SCOFFS@mailbox.sc.edu
Thanks to my buddy George for the tip off.
Caleb
Sunday, January 17, 2010
rumbling bald trip report - 1/9/10
Last weekend, Adam and myself drove out to Rumbling Bald to meet up with George and his roommate. It was a little on the cold side, but the only time it truly felt like 30 degrees was in the shade. The sunny side of things were pretty comfortable. Adam took a bunch of pics but there was some kind of error and only a few survived, the best of which I'll give you here in a sec.
Adam and I warmed up near the washing machine boulder, and then quickly went to work on a problem called Contact. After sorting his beta, Adam sent in a couple of tries. Unfortunately I was not as lucky, and only managed to sort through the first half of the problem and fall off the crux. Maybe next time...
After leaving the washing machine boulder, we stopped by Lost Cause. This is a super classic line that I have worked a little bit before, so I wanted to get on it again.
Adam and I warmed up near the washing machine boulder, and then quickly went to work on a problem called Contact. After sorting his beta, Adam sent in a couple of tries. Unfortunately I was not as lucky, and only managed to sort through the first half of the problem and fall off the crux. Maybe next time...
After leaving the washing machine boulder, we stopped by Lost Cause. This is a super classic line that I have worked a little bit before, so I wanted to get on it again.
Lost Cause.
The problem has some really cool movement, and is really fun to climb. The "move" is a weird dyno up and left to a jug that's angled about 30 degrees away from you. Holding in the swing after the throw is the hard part. Too hard for me on the day, so I worked the top out a little and we moved on.
The pit boulder, in the middle east, was our next destination. This is by far one of my favorite boulders in the entire area, and is full of must-do climbs.
One of my many unsuccessful attempts on Pit BBQ
Pit BBQ is one of my all time favorite climbs at Rumbling. It's tall, overhanging, and is very sustained. After working it for a little bit, we met up with George and Brent. They had been in the east all day, and hiked up to where we were at. Shortly thereafter Adam got his send on and bagged the repeat. I was not so lucky, falling off the last move three times in a row. This is the breakdown of the following 30 minutes:
0 mins: 3 falls, missing the crash pad each time. Frustration ensued. Pep talks began.
5 mins: Luay, another Clemson climber, and Martha, his girlfriend, showed up.
10 mins: More frustration and increasingly worse pep talks.
15 mins: Adam did the Grease Pit dyno in his tennis shoes, and then sent the whole problem on his first attempt with climbing shoes.
20 mins: I switched from Pit BBQ to Grease Pit and managed to send the problem in three attempts.
25 mins: Luay asked if he could try Grease Pit. He sent as well. SEND TRAIN!!!!!
30 mins: We left the pit.
After getting lost and bushwacking down a hill, we finished up at the slave driver area. Adam, George, and Brent were smart; they climbed some really cool V1 highballs.George got extremely close to sending another really cool V2, but the name of which escapes me. In the mean time, I was not smart. I fruitlessly worked another hard problem called Master of Torque.
Long story short, they finish on a good note, I do not, we leave and Adam and I enjoy some Bojangle's.
The End.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
changes...
I know, it's been a while. I suck. Work at Bosch Rexroth and at the climbing wall has kept me pretty busy as of late. Look for new stuff coming in the next 2-3 days.
Besides that, I'm changing it up a little bit here. First off, the name. Schrodinger's Climber flows a little better, and has an added bonus of not being as conceited. I used to get annoyed every time I read that old title. The photo is different too, again to something not as me-centric.
Second, I'm going to start using proper capitalization and grammar, and at least make some kind of attempt at editing my stuff before I post it. Hopefully in the future my writing "style" will not be dominated by a lack of capital letters and ridiculously long sentences. Some of those things had more commas than Tiger Woods did mistresses.
Third, I still have absolutely no idea where I want to go with this blog. It will always have a hefty lean towards climbing, but other than that it's up in the air. For the immediate future I'm going to quit being lazy and get the last two (or three?) of my long-ass training posts up. I will also start throwing in trip reports, as well as a few oddball things here and there, so let me know what y'all think about it.
But now, it's bedtime. 6 am comes way too early.
Caleb
Besides that, I'm changing it up a little bit here. First off, the name. Schrodinger's Climber flows a little better, and has an added bonus of not being as conceited. I used to get annoyed every time I read that old title. The photo is different too, again to something not as me-centric.
Second, I'm going to start using proper capitalization and grammar, and at least make some kind of attempt at editing my stuff before I post it. Hopefully in the future my writing "style" will not be dominated by a lack of capital letters and ridiculously long sentences. Some of those things had more commas than Tiger Woods did mistresses.
Third, I still have absolutely no idea where I want to go with this blog. It will always have a hefty lean towards climbing, but other than that it's up in the air. For the immediate future I'm going to quit being lazy and get the last two (or three?) of my long-ass training posts up. I will also start throwing in trip reports, as well as a few oddball things here and there, so let me know what y'all think about it.
But now, it's bedtime. 6 am comes way too early.
Caleb
Sunday, January 10, 2010
aerobic endurance
i am by no means a training expert. the following is simply my understanding and what i have come across while researching for my own training regimen.
first, an brief overview for those who didn't pay attention in biology:
your body uses two systems to produce energy, the aerobic and anaerobic systems. the aerobic system is extremely efficient at bringing the important stuff (oxygen, nutrients, etc) and removing the waste, and is the ideal system for sustainable energy production. the anaerobic system, on the other hand, produces massive amounts of energy but does so at a cost: gross lactic acid build up. this lactic acid is the burn you feel in your forearms when are pumped. to generalize it, long distance runners rely primarily on their aerobic system and sprinters rely on their anaerobic system.
raising your local aerobic endurance in your forearms will raise the difficulty at which you can climbing without reverting to the anaerobic system at all. as you can probably tell, this is of little importance to climbers that primarily boulder; most problems are strenuous enough that the aerobic system rarely survives the first or second move, and short enough that it doesn't matter anyway. to route climbers, however, it is of utmost importance. this is especially highlighted on sustained climbs that lack a crux; the longer you can go without reverting to the anaerobic system, the higher your chances of success will be.
this training raises your aerobic threshold by making physical changes in your forearms: it enlarges the capillary network, increases the number of enzymes in the muscles, and strengthens the tendons.
i'm sure if you climb often you have noticed the veins in your forearms swell. if you've been in the game a while you will have also noticed that there seems to be more and more veins each time you take remember to think about it. this is the visual evidence that your capillary network is getting larger. now, you obviously don't grow new veins, but the existing ones do get larger. the new veins you notice are the same ones you have always had, except since they are larger now, they are more visible. these bigger veins and arteries can both supply more oxygen to the muscles, as well as remove more waste. they can also do it quicker, so it's a win-win all the way here.
while there is no visible evidence of the increased number of enzymes in your muscles, it definitely occurs. this higher amount of enzymes means that the muscle can process more nutrients while at the same time reducing the amount of lactic acid produced. efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.
finally, the increase of tendon strength is simply the icing on the cake. the general belief among climbers is that increasing tendon strength requires months of climbing before one should think of tendon training. also, it continues that the accepted method of tendon strengthening (hangboarding) is the realm of experienced climbers only. while it is true that overdoing it (like a beginner would while working on a handboard) will cause injuries, the idea that simply climbing in and of itself could create a noticeable increase in tendon strength is relatively unknown. if more people realized this, they would be less likely to injure themselves by over-stressing their tendons.
unfortunately, the only way to to train aerobic endurance is mind-numblingly boring: traversing or running laps on either top rope or lead. the idea is to climb 30-45 minutes at a difficulty just hard enough to get your forearms a little warmed up, and then maintain that same slight tingling for the duration of the workout. you don't want to ever be pumped, so avoid anything that makes your forearm feel worse than carrying the groceries in from the car. it should be noted that if there is no burn at all, then the climbing is too easy for you. this is a great time to work on your footwork, proper hold usage, or any other techniques you need to practice. if you're going to be climbing for this long at a time, you might as well take advantage of it.
now before you get all crazy on me, i know that climbing for 30 minutes straight is hard no matter how easy the moves are. if it is simply impossible for you to do, try starting at a shorter interval, 15 minutes or so. then bump up 5 minutes after you can complete the initial time interval successfully 2 or 3 times. rinse and repeat until you are at the target 30 minutes or more. if it's hard because climbing for that long is so freaking boring, then there is less you can do. the best answer to that is to find one of your climber friends and trick them into getting really stoked on training and getting strong. now, you should have someone that wants to train with you. having someone to talk to will make worlds of difference over the course of a workout.
it should be noted that if you are doing this on rope, make sure you are climbing both up AND down the route, and preferably on a rope that has multiple routes of similar difficulty on it. this way, it is possible to climb different things instead of taking the extra time to change ropes. also, changeover time DOES NOT count towards your climbing time, so switching all over the gym will lengthen the workout to even longer than necessary.
after a few weeks of this, you will have raised your anaerobic threshold by a sizable portion. once you step up your aerobic game a little bit, it will be time to get on with the real pain in the ass of anaerobic endurance training. stay tuned...
first, an brief overview for those who didn't pay attention in biology:
your body uses two systems to produce energy, the aerobic and anaerobic systems. the aerobic system is extremely efficient at bringing the important stuff (oxygen, nutrients, etc) and removing the waste, and is the ideal system for sustainable energy production. the anaerobic system, on the other hand, produces massive amounts of energy but does so at a cost: gross lactic acid build up. this lactic acid is the burn you feel in your forearms when are pumped. to generalize it, long distance runners rely primarily on their aerobic system and sprinters rely on their anaerobic system.
raising your local aerobic endurance in your forearms will raise the difficulty at which you can climbing without reverting to the anaerobic system at all. as you can probably tell, this is of little importance to climbers that primarily boulder; most problems are strenuous enough that the aerobic system rarely survives the first or second move, and short enough that it doesn't matter anyway. to route climbers, however, it is of utmost importance. this is especially highlighted on sustained climbs that lack a crux; the longer you can go without reverting to the anaerobic system, the higher your chances of success will be.
this training raises your aerobic threshold by making physical changes in your forearms: it enlarges the capillary network, increases the number of enzymes in the muscles, and strengthens the tendons.
i'm sure if you climb often you have noticed the veins in your forearms swell. if you've been in the game a while you will have also noticed that there seems to be more and more veins each time you take remember to think about it. this is the visual evidence that your capillary network is getting larger. now, you obviously don't grow new veins, but the existing ones do get larger. the new veins you notice are the same ones you have always had, except since they are larger now, they are more visible. these bigger veins and arteries can both supply more oxygen to the muscles, as well as remove more waste. they can also do it quicker, so it's a win-win all the way here.
while there is no visible evidence of the increased number of enzymes in your muscles, it definitely occurs. this higher amount of enzymes means that the muscle can process more nutrients while at the same time reducing the amount of lactic acid produced. efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.
finally, the increase of tendon strength is simply the icing on the cake. the general belief among climbers is that increasing tendon strength requires months of climbing before one should think of tendon training. also, it continues that the accepted method of tendon strengthening (hangboarding) is the realm of experienced climbers only. while it is true that overdoing it (like a beginner would while working on a handboard) will cause injuries, the idea that simply climbing in and of itself could create a noticeable increase in tendon strength is relatively unknown. if more people realized this, they would be less likely to injure themselves by over-stressing their tendons.
unfortunately, the only way to to train aerobic endurance is mind-numblingly boring: traversing or running laps on either top rope or lead. the idea is to climb 30-45 minutes at a difficulty just hard enough to get your forearms a little warmed up, and then maintain that same slight tingling for the duration of the workout. you don't want to ever be pumped, so avoid anything that makes your forearm feel worse than carrying the groceries in from the car. it should be noted that if there is no burn at all, then the climbing is too easy for you. this is a great time to work on your footwork, proper hold usage, or any other techniques you need to practice. if you're going to be climbing for this long at a time, you might as well take advantage of it.
now before you get all crazy on me, i know that climbing for 30 minutes straight is hard no matter how easy the moves are. if it is simply impossible for you to do, try starting at a shorter interval, 15 minutes or so. then bump up 5 minutes after you can complete the initial time interval successfully 2 or 3 times. rinse and repeat until you are at the target 30 minutes or more. if it's hard because climbing for that long is so freaking boring, then there is less you can do. the best answer to that is to find one of your climber friends and trick them into getting really stoked on training and getting strong. now, you should have someone that wants to train with you. having someone to talk to will make worlds of difference over the course of a workout.
it should be noted that if you are doing this on rope, make sure you are climbing both up AND down the route, and preferably on a rope that has multiple routes of similar difficulty on it. this way, it is possible to climb different things instead of taking the extra time to change ropes. also, changeover time DOES NOT count towards your climbing time, so switching all over the gym will lengthen the workout to even longer than necessary.
after a few weeks of this, you will have raised your anaerobic threshold by a sizable portion. once you step up your aerobic game a little bit, it will be time to get on with the real pain in the ass of anaerobic endurance training. stay tuned...
Friday, January 8, 2010
the titanic, round 2
apparently ice can sink more than huge ships of yore, because tomorrow's float the boat comp at boat rock has been postponed. the boulders have frozen over after a spurt of bad weather thursday night. its unfortunate they chose next saturday as the rain date; it overlaps with a snowboarding/rock climbing/whitewater canoeing trip, so i will not be able to compete.
they should have changed it to a mixed bouldering comp:
anyway, now i'm hauling up to rumbling bald tomorrow with adam, george, and one of george's friends. hopefully we're gonna use the cold temps (high of 31, feels like 22) to send like crazy. we'll see...
they should have changed it to a mixed bouldering comp:
fancy mixed (rock/ice) climbing move
anyway, now i'm hauling up to rumbling bald tomorrow with adam, george, and one of george's friends. hopefully we're gonna use the cold temps (high of 31, feels like 22) to send like crazy. we'll see...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
intro to training for climbing
i am by no means a training expert. the following is simply my understanding and what i have come across while researching for my own training regimen.
it seems like every strong guy or girl at the gym or local crag/boulders/whatever has a different training plan that got them strong, ranging from "ya bro, i just climb all the time" to "get on a hangboard for x hours a week" to "i just sit on my ass and eat a lot." honestly, all of the above will probably make you a better climber to some extent (well, except the last one), but i am going to simplify it for you, and hopefully explain what it is that helps you.
there are many training techniques used to become a stronger climber. in this context i mean "stronger" in a purely physical sense - not common climber context, which is interchangeable with "good". all these techniques fall into what are essentially 3 and a half different physical attributes: (1) your aerobic endurance, (2) anaerobic endurance, (3) strength/power, (1/2) contact strength.
aerobic endurance - how long you can go without getting a pump. raising your aerobic endurance increases the difficulty at which you can climb before anaerobic energy production begins/lactic acid starts building up/you get pumped
anaerobic endurance - once pumped, this is how long you can tolerate the pain before you pump out and fall. this also plays a large part in stamina, which is your ability to recover from high-intensity work. raising your anaerobic endurance will let you continue to climb longer once you start getting pumped; raising your stamina will increase how many high quality attempts you can make on your project over the course of a day
strength/power - how physically strong you are as a whole/your ability to apply that strength quickly. they are separate but similar, so for our purposes we will talk about them together. an increase in strength will raise your ability to lock off or campus; an increase in power will help with dynos and quick movements off of hand holds.
contact strength - refers to local strength in your forearms and how much force you can exert through your fingers. increasing your contact strength will make it easier to use smaller holds. contact strength is extremely dependent on the situation: you can be really strong on crimps and small edges, while at the same time horrible at slopers or pinches. some people include this with strength/power, but as it is entirely possible to be able to do 100 pull ups and at the same time not climb a v2, i am separating them.
i will elaborate on each of these, one at a time, in the future. the specific posts will be much more in depth and include exercises to train each attribute. i plan to get a training section up on here, with links to notable training websites and other good information. unfortunately, i'm swamped with work, so it may be a while before this is done. bear with me
lastly, i will say that no matter how hard you train, if your technique sucks it will mostly be in vain. unless you've been climbing a long time, it is probably better for you to work on footwork/turning/fluid movement than squeeze off another campus burn at the end of a session
it seems like every strong guy or girl at the gym or local crag/boulders/whatever has a different training plan that got them strong, ranging from "ya bro, i just climb all the time" to "get on a hangboard for x hours a week" to "i just sit on my ass and eat a lot." honestly, all of the above will probably make you a better climber to some extent (well, except the last one), but i am going to simplify it for you, and hopefully explain what it is that helps you.
there are many training techniques used to become a stronger climber. in this context i mean "stronger" in a purely physical sense - not common climber context, which is interchangeable with "good". all these techniques fall into what are essentially 3 and a half different physical attributes: (1) your aerobic endurance, (2) anaerobic endurance, (3) strength/power, (1/2) contact strength.
aerobic endurance - how long you can go without getting a pump. raising your aerobic endurance increases the difficulty at which you can climb before anaerobic energy production begins/lactic acid starts building up/you get pumped
anaerobic endurance - once pumped, this is how long you can tolerate the pain before you pump out and fall. this also plays a large part in stamina, which is your ability to recover from high-intensity work. raising your anaerobic endurance will let you continue to climb longer once you start getting pumped; raising your stamina will increase how many high quality attempts you can make on your project over the course of a day
strength/power - how physically strong you are as a whole/your ability to apply that strength quickly. they are separate but similar, so for our purposes we will talk about them together. an increase in strength will raise your ability to lock off or campus; an increase in power will help with dynos and quick movements off of hand holds.
contact strength - refers to local strength in your forearms and how much force you can exert through your fingers. increasing your contact strength will make it easier to use smaller holds. contact strength is extremely dependent on the situation: you can be really strong on crimps and small edges, while at the same time horrible at slopers or pinches. some people include this with strength/power, but as it is entirely possible to be able to do 100 pull ups and at the same time not climb a v2, i am separating them.
i will elaborate on each of these, one at a time, in the future. the specific posts will be much more in depth and include exercises to train each attribute. i plan to get a training section up on here, with links to notable training websites and other good information. unfortunately, i'm swamped with work, so it may be a while before this is done. bear with me
lastly, i will say that no matter how hard you train, if your technique sucks it will mostly be in vain. unless you've been climbing a long time, it is probably better for you to work on footwork/turning/fluid movement than squeeze off another campus burn at the end of a session
Sunday, January 3, 2010
thoughts on the scarpa stix
in august, when my beloved 5.10 galileos kicked the bucket, i decided it was time for me to get some new kicks. while looking for a pair of la sportiva solutions i stumbled across these almost by accident, the scarpa stix. they were on sale and i had a friend who swears by their velcro-clad brethren, so i figured what the hell and went home a proud new owner.fit/sizing
i have a big, very full foot, and usually wear a size 12 in tennis shoes. sometimes i can squeeze into an 11.5 or have to bump up to a 13, depending on the brand. i was apprehensive about going with slippers, but surprisingly was able to squeeze into a euro size 43.5. they were numbly tight around the middle of my foot, so i decided to go with a 44. although these are slippers, they have a good deal of elastic in the forefoot of the shoe, and as such are very accommodating for those with thick feet. it should also be noted that these shoes have a deep heel pocket.
the rubber
the rubber on these shoes is pretty sweet. it grips well, and covers a large portion of the shoe. there is plenty of rubber on the center of the toe, but on both sides the supple lorica is exposed. while this material scuffs up easily, it seems very durable and i have not had any problems with it wearing thin. i tried to "upgrade" this issue with the 5.10 stealth rubber kit, but i'll save that for another post. the heel is definitely minimalist, with rubber only where you need it most. this is especially obvious to anyone who has climbed in a pair of mad rock hookers (or similar), which have the entire heel cup covered in rubber. it should be stated, though, i have yet to find myself wanting for more back there.
how they climb
these shoes are very aggressive. they downturn like a son of a gun and the rand puts all the power on your big toe. as you could guess, where the scarpa stix really shine is the steep stuff. it seems the closer to horizontal you get, the better these things work. they are by far be best toe hooking shoes i have ever climbed in, and have proven adequate for all but the most demanding heel hooks. being a slip-on, they do not have the heel hooking prowess of a velcro or lace-up, but so far i have only found one time when i hooked my way out of the shoe. while uncomfortable, they do alright edging and on climbs of the vertical persuasion. i've never had an issue with blowing off holds, but thin edges are definitely not where they excel, if for no other reason than the intense pain that goes along with it.
how they age
the one thing i was afraid of with these shoes is their unlined leather nature. luckily, the toebox is a synthetic material called lorica that is both comfortable and does not stretch. after 4 months of use, the toebox feels exactly the same as it did when i first bought them. the upper seems to have stretched some, because they are much easier to put on now, but do not feel looser on my feet when climbing. the fit seems to come from the toe box and heel cup, so as of now it is a non-issue.
in summary
9 times out of 10 these are my go-to shoe, with slab and crack climbs being the only time i reach for something else. they surprised me with how good they are, and if you get a chance to pick up a pair of these or their velcro (booster) and lace-up (mago) brothers for a good price, go for it.
booster
mago
in fact, i think i may pick up a pair of the scarpa magos to use as my next pair of outdoor route shoes...
Saturday, January 2, 2010
new years resolutions
happy new years everybody!
i know, i'm a few days late. sue me.
with this new year ahead of us, i figured it was time to make some resolutions for a kick ass year. they cover several different topics, so for convenience i'm going to break them up into 3 categories: climbing, school, and life.
climbing resolutions
because i'm optimistic, i have several:
1. train more, instead of just climbing whatever tickles my fancy at the gym
2. set some goals and keep track of what i have climbed and what i want to climb in the future
3. become a more well rounded climber, aka take something besides bouldering seriously from a performace viewpoint
4. work on my head game
school resolutions
due to a slight priority mix up, i have fewer of these:
1. get my scholarships back
2. find out exactly what kind of engineer i want to become
3. talk to my professors outside of lecture
life resolutions
for stuff that doesn't fall into the other two categories:
1. remember people's names the first time they tell them to me.
2. be less condescending
3. keep in touch with people
i'll be back with a more detailed plan to carry these out later
i know, i'm a few days late. sue me.
with this new year ahead of us, i figured it was time to make some resolutions for a kick ass year. they cover several different topics, so for convenience i'm going to break them up into 3 categories: climbing, school, and life.
climbing resolutions
because i'm optimistic, i have several:
1. train more, instead of just climbing whatever tickles my fancy at the gym
2. set some goals and keep track of what i have climbed and what i want to climb in the future
3. become a more well rounded climber, aka take something besides bouldering seriously from a performace viewpoint
4. work on my head game
school resolutions
due to a slight priority mix up, i have fewer of these:
1. get my scholarships back
2. find out exactly what kind of engineer i want to become
3. talk to my professors outside of lecture
life resolutions
for stuff that doesn't fall into the other two categories:
1. remember people's names the first time they tell them to me.
2. be less condescending
3. keep in touch with people
i'll be back with a more detailed plan to carry these out later
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