climbing is 33% mental

the bouldering area at the spire climbing center, bozeman, montana

(image taken from their website)

in eric horst's training for climbing, climbing is described as equal parts technical, physical, and mental. (as opposed to his breakdowns of golf, as 50% technical, 40% mental, 10% physical, or the 100 meter dash, as 80% physical, 10% technical, 10% mental)

anyways, it would follow that if every part is just as important as the others, and one is falling short in one area, it's going to affect overall performance.

woah! cool huh? rant time!

so after that nice little intro, i have to admit that bozeman has been a motivational dud as far as my climbing is concerned. none of the current problems in the gym are very difficult move for move, but they're all really, really long compared to what i'm used to. the atmosphere is radically different than stonewalls, the music is too mellow, no one wants to work on stuff with ya, or even talk to each other. and strangely, i feel intimidated by the amount of strong climbers in this community, and it keeps me from trying stuff because i don't want to fail and get judged. every time i've been to the gym in the past few weeks i've left feeling like i didn't get anywhere in the hour i spent trying to climb, that i sucked at climbing, basically, not having fun...

i took a few days off from climbing, then came back today and for whatever reason, felt so much better. i was able to climb problems that stumped me before. but most importantly, i got over myself and decided to actually try stuff, and quit bitching about it. even though it was still just an hour and some change, i had fun today. hoping to build off that.

also, the weather is looking good for this weekend, and i really want to get out on the rock. (probably the main reason i've been going crazy)

a little motivation...

chris sharma on dimencia senil, .15a

margalef, spain.

from the film "progression".

(it's kinda blurry... sorry... he's such a bad ass)

(update: sorry folks, the video was taken down by whoever put it up... it has some other cool videos to watch. if you are dying to see sharma on this specific route, either find/buy progression or hit me up sometime and we can watch it, as i do own that movie)

the highline project

this past weekend i headed up to helena to visit peter and check out his crazy high line project.

the line: roughly 110 feet across and 100-120 feet off the ground

the anchor!

the black/yellow cord is attached to a pulley system and used for tightening the line. after the line is tight, the load is shifted to the black/orange rope and a hefty steel chain. the blue webbing is then brought in to back up the orange rope and prevent shockloading if one of the bolts fails. (the orange is set up using a "magic x", which equalizes the anchors nicely, but if one fails, the other three take huge loads that can rip them out.)

due to the intense forces exerted while slacklining, these fools used amsteel as a safety line for the system. the stuff is thinner and lighter than climbing rope, but ridiculously strong in comparison. also, amsteel cannot be knotted due to how slick it is. to overcome this, it is woven loosely and one has to splice the ends as in the photo. basically just threading it back through itself.

i believe the weakest links in this anchor are the steel carabiners, rated to 60 kN. roughly 13,500 lbs. seems like overkill to me, as that would be far and beyond the strongest piece in any rock climbing situation. but then, better to be safe than sorry!

"Highlining is like completely starting over slacklining. Every step is a fight to stay on the line, calm your nerves, and remember to breath. Looking out, trying to focus on the line over the abyss, and fighting back any fright is nearly overwhelming. This line was extreme. It will be conquered."

-peter

still a project...

the alien. and zombies...

ok, so i went over to watch a movie with my friend robbi (who just happens to be a nationally ranked college rodeo star). for whatever reason, we decided to watch alien.

not really the scariest movie in the world, but still, it's pretty gripping.

then, for some reason she pops in this zombie movie about little kid zombies in the woods, with a crazy catholic guy that lets his own blood, sacrifices pigs, etc.

now... while i'm watching this movie, the wheels in my head start turning:

-robbi totally lives in one of those country farm houses where creepy stuff happens in every single scary movie.

-it's pitch black outside, and i have to walk through this darkness to get to my car.

-this is totally one of those situations in movies where something bad happens....

so, i got my coat, my shoes, walked outside, heart pounding... i pulled out my cell phone for a makeshift light, get to my car, can't see inside, i reached for my keys, and...

they weren't in my pocket! i walk back into the house and look around until i find them. and then go back to face the darkness.

i don't handle horror films very well. even lame ones.

it's been a while

i had an internet crisis when i returned to idaho, and as such was without internet for a good two weeks. i decided to just hold off until i got to montana.

but anyways,

the holiday break was all over the place. revisiting stonewalls, meeting up with friends, yet another cancelled indian creek trip... basically shenanigans galore.

-stonewalls (the IF climbing gym) is always fun to come back to. before bozeman, that smelly building was like a second home of sorts, i used to spend so much time in there. but yeah, mostly i just wanted to see how the finger is doing. i don't feel the need to tape my finger anymore when i climb, definitely a good thing, and it no longer takes 3-4 days for my finger to recover from a 2 hour session! very good. actually i climbed a good 4 days in a row without really noticing any pain.

i also set some new routes, some of which got mixed reviews, but whatever, the gym needed some new lines, and i liked all the routes i set.

(so to all who may go to stonewalls: if you see any routes in there with "ninja" names, let me know what you think, i hope you enjoy them!)

also, i was meaning to do some sort of deep reflection on some of my favorite climbs of the past year... oh well. but here is a small piece of that.

my favorite climb of 2009:

soul slinger, v8/9, the buttermilks (near bishop, california)

"wave-police" down at crank cave came in a very close second. both climbs are pretty brilliant in their own ways, but soul slinger is far more aesthetic, both in rock quality and scenery.

-on to other news, because as this is a climbing blog at heart, and as one cannot climb all day, every day(although i did try).

i did manage to see most of my friends over the break, some a bit too briefly to really catch up, but it was definitely good seeing everyone.

i also played 5 games of risk over the break. it was almost like too much of a good thing in a way. i found myself thinking in terms of moving armies via dice rolls, among other strange things...

the seeds of an epic were planted as well. pedro and i are planning a huge peak bagging trip across 4 states that will take roughly 2 weeks to complete. more on this coming in the summer time.

i feel like this was kind of rushed, but it'd be hard to sum up in a single post. anyways, i'm heading off to montana tomorrow, or actually later today i guess, ready for another fun filled semester! (or something like that)

cheers,

tom