Hand On Sword, Eye On Prize
When you get up at 6AM with a whole week’s worth of to-do collapsed into a single day…everything turns into a blur. Especially when you’ve been awake half the night stressed out about All The Things You’ve Decided To Do Today. I was up pretty early this morning, and I got everything accomplished. My list, which looked like a mad scientist’s scratchpad, has EVERYTHING crossed off. If I wasn’t so damn tired I’d go get myself a glass of wine to celebrate. Unfortunately the wine would put me straight into a coma.
So I’m just checking in with a couple of quick things.
* To Reader Shelly H.: your letter made me cry. It’s those types of letters that get me through and remind me why I’m doing this on days when I’m deluged by bad reviews or deadline panic, revision hell or Muse bonbon shortage. Thank you for taking the time to write. You really made my day. Hell, my month. Keep swinging, kid. I’m right there with you.
I do read every piece of fanmail you guys send. I can’t respond much (if at all) because of Deadline and Life Pressure. I know you guys understand because you tell me you do, often in the the first paragraph. I do read and treasure–and in some cases, reread–your letters. Thank you so much for writing to me. You’re all awesome.
* I’ve signed myself and the kids up for a rock-climbing basics class in April. (The Krav Maga place was always closed when I went by to check it out. Oh well!) It’ll teach belaying for me, and other stuff for the small ones. They’re absolutely thrilled. I hadn’t realized we had TWO community centres with indoor rock walls in Vancouver. (The mind boggles.) Plus there are other ones in Portland.
However, I know next to naught about climbing. I’ll be climbing indoors for the foreseeable future. Reader TJ Tradekraft (hi TJ!) has already given me some great advice, and if anyone else around here is a climber, feel free to advise me in comments or drop me an email. Yes, I am actually asking for advice. Don’t look surprised, I do this all the time.
I’m looking for stuff like:
what to look for in a good climbing wall
what to look for in a good instructor
general safety tips
general comfort tips (like TJ says, “tape your fingers!”)
general advice
That about covers it. I’ve got dinner cooking and some wordcount to get in so today is a total win instead of a qualified win. I suspect I’ll feel better with more food in me; lunch was good but it was hours ago.
Whew. Off I go…
Related posts:
Tags: questions from the edge, the internets they know everything
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Glad to hear that you and the fam are taking up climbing. It’s a *great* sport which I think has similar effects to weight training, without being quite so boring. The best part is it’s really social.
Don’t just confine yourself to rope based climbing. There’s a whole world of bouldering, short climbs that are very intense, but don’t involve ropes and harness (since you have a very short way to fall). The climbs are highly dynamic and dramatic, and so have much greater appeal to younger folks and extreme sports types.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions or need advice on how to get started, and good luck!
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 am
Aha! You just became significantly more awesome to me, as rock climbing is pretty much the only sport I enjoy doing.
Some things I’ve learned over the years:
-trust your belayer. This is especially important if you are afraid of heights. If you don’t believe the person attached to the other end of that rope is going to catch you, then you aren’t going to get very far. You are going to be far less willing to take chances. I would recommend getting a good friend to belay you.
-try to work out any concerns on the ground. Trying to have a conversation with someone 20 metres in the air is not fun and pretty much unproductive. For example, if you like having absolutely no slack in the rope, tell your belayer that before you climb. It will save much time and effort later.
-proper equipment. Skater shoes are a bad idea. If you can, invest in climbing shoes and chalk. You’re hands are going to get awfully sweaty, and though you might have the strength, it will mean nothing if your hands are sliding off the rocks (which is as gross as it sounds).
-wear pants. You will be in a lot of pain if you wear shorts (harnesses chafe).
-tie long hair back. You will be in a lot of pain if you don’t (hair gets caught very easily in a GriGri).
-have good support. Someone saying “oh, you’re not going to make it” might make you want to just out of ‘well I’ll show you!”ness, but it’s more enjoyable if someone is yelling “You can do it!”
-have fun. I know this might sound obvious, but don’t get too worked up if you don’t get to the top of a wall. Every time you climb you get better, so just try again next time.
Those are a few off the top of my head. Mostly it’s just about experience though. Make sure you’re safe and jump right in; you probably won’t regret it.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I’m glad. =) Thank you for responding.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:50 pm
just catching up on reading a bunch of writer’s blogs and saw this entry.
one thing that has helped me when i climb is to visualize the climb before i do it. most climbing gyms have a route marked for you to follow. i like to look at it and think about where and how i want to place my feet and hands before i go up.
some other tips: 1) climbing is a lot of leg work. having to grip the rock will definitely work out your forearms and fingers, but it’s almost better to push yourself up with your legs. 2) if you need to rest on a wall, try to do so with straight arms. straight arms use a lot less energy and engage your muscle less than bent arms. 3) shake out your hands once in a while wherever you can. 4) stretchy pants are good.
and lastly, try bouldering as well. it can help you get power and dynamic moves down and doesn’t require other people because you don’t need someone to belay you.