Archive | Asides RSS feed for this section

Angie Payne’s Nemesis

Posted December 6, 2012 at 7:13 am · Comments { 1 } ·

I’ve been meaning to link to Angie Payne‘s blog for months now but for whatever reason I’ve never quite gotten around to it.  After largely avoiding the online climbing world1 over the years, Payne has opened up on her blog with stories about her trip to Greenland with Ethan Pringle, her experiences in big competitions and her ongoing battle with Freaks of the Industry (V13) in RMNP.  It’s this last topic that has most intrigued me, and while she unfortunately didn’t send the problem this season it was interesting to get some insight into her mindset:

Freaks is a nemesis that surpasses all nemeses I have ever had.  This is not the first time I have invested multiple seasons in a boulder problem, but it is the first time I have experienced a mental battle of this magnitude.
buy avanafil online https://thefreezeclinic.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentytwo/assets/fonts/inter/new/avanafil.html no prescription

  I have done every conceivable link on the boulder problem, save starting from one or two moves in, and I know I am capable of completing it.
buy priligy online https://thefreezeclinic.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentytwo/assets/fonts/inter/new/priligy.html no prescription

  Yet, I have climbed to the end section of the problem more times than I’ll ever be able to count, only to fall at or a few moves past what is typically considered the linkage crux.
buy lasix online https://thefreezeclinic.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentytwo/assets/fonts/inter/new/lasix.html no prescription

  I have tried countless mental approaches—getting angry, relaxing, letting my mind wander, repeating a mantra as I climb, screaming, rhythmic breathing, acting like my life depends on it, pretending I couldn’t care less about it, even drawing positive reminders on my arm—you name it, I have probably tried it.  But the battle continues.

  1. Defined for the purposes of our story as either having a blog or having a scorecard ↩
∞ · Comments { 1 } · Climbers { 1 } · Areas { 1 }

Courage & Heroism In Climbing

Posted December 4, 2012 at 8:34 am · Comments { 4 } ·

Alex Honnold in this lengthy profile by Esquire:

“No, I am [proud], I guess, but that’s what I do. I’m a climber. Everyone’s got their thing. I could never hit 30 free throws in a row, but a basketball player would think that was trivial.
buy fildena online https://aclsedu.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentyone/assets/js/js/fildena.html no prescription

”

LeBron James doesn’t die if he misses, I tell him. Free soloing and free throws aren’t the same. One takes courage. It’s like his fans say on his comment threads: “It must be hard, climbing with balls that big”.

He grins. “The balls part is true. They are pretty freaking huge. But I wouldn’t say courage. Courage is doing something that you don’t want to do, like a soldier. I want to be halfway up a mountain. I think it’s awesome.”

I couldn’t agree more. To me words like courage or hero or brave have no real place when describing the actions of climbers.
buy stromectol online https://aclsedu.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentyone/assets/js/js/stromectol.html no prescription

On the subject of free soloing, The Stone Mind has an insightful post today on this very topic:

…I admittedly feel a sadness at the thought of losing my friends and acquaintances. But the memento mori reminds us of our shared and universal fate. When we lose site of this, it becomes all to easy to imagine ourselves living forever, or that our success and wealth will somehow shield us from mortality. Death is the ultimate context, and we must live and act accordingly, whatever that means for each of us.
buy lipitor online https://aclsedu.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentyone/assets/js/js/lipitor.html no prescription

∞ · Comments { 4 } · Climbers { 1 } · Areas { 0 }
  1. No Areas associated with this post

The Access Fund’s Existential Crisis

Posted November 29, 2012 at 8:10 am · Comments { 0 } ·

Dan Nordstrom, Outdoor Research CEO and former Access Fund Board President, writing about the “existential crisis” the Access Fund faced in 2007:

Climbers had come to rely on the Access Fund to be there when a climbing area was threatened with any kind of closure. Whether the access restriction was related to raptors or real estate developers, climbers assumed the Access Fund would take on the bad guys when they came knocking.
buy doxycycline online https://buywithoutprescriptiononlinerx.com/dir/doxycycline.html no prescription

But what most climbers didn’t know was that there was no “fund,” despite our name.

The ultimate result of this crisis was the creation of the Access Fund’s Land Conservation Campaign which has been a resounding success raising over .
buy ventolin online https://buywithoutprescriptiononlinerx.com/dir/ventolin.html no prescription

6 million and already aiding in multiple crag purchase situations.

The Access Fund relies on our support for this type of initiative, so if you’re not already a member or you let your membership lapse like I did1, now is a great time to show your support.  And if you’re looking to give the climber in your life a great gift, the Access Fund once again has great holiday packages on sale that include an Access Fund membership in addition to some sweet schwag.

  1.  Embarrassing, I know ↩
∞ · Comments { 0 } · Climbers { 0 }
  1. No Climbers associated with this post
 · Areas { 0 }
  1. No Areas associated with this post

Patrick Edlinger Tribute

Posted November 28, 2012 at 5:03 pm · Comments { 0 } ·

Great compilation by UKC of thoughts from well-known climbers about Patrick Edlinger. Thanks to those of you who chimed in on yesterday’s post with some cool stories as well.

∞ · Comments { 0 } · Climbers { 1 } · Areas { 0 }
  1. No Areas associated with this post

Use It Or Lose It

Posted November 20, 2012 at 2:53 pm · Comments { 0 } ·

Climbing legend Ben Moon, who is now 46-years-old, on his renewed motivation to sport climb:

Time really does seem to be relative and goes faster the older you get which is why you have to seize it with both hands and not waste it, especially if you are lucky enough to have good health. This is not always as easy as it sounds since nothing is possible without the motivation to do it and motivation can be a fickle friend, but if you have it you owe it to yourself to use it. As the old adage goes, use it or lose it.
buy flagyl online https://www.neurolinkchiropractic.com/wp-content/themes/twentytwentytwo/inc/patterns/php/flagyl.html no prescription

∞ · Comments { 0 } · Climbers { 1 } · Areas { 0 }
  1. No Areas associated with this post

Will Stanhope Repeats The Prophet

Posted November 19, 2012 at 8:16 am · Comments { 10 } ·

Will Stanhope on his 4th ascent of The Prophet, a route on El Cap best known for its stunning “A1 Beauty” crux pitch:

I didn’t sleep much that night, instead just blinking at the stars from the portaledge, enjoying being up there.  I felt enormously grateful for all my friends that helped me along the way.  Leo Houlding and Jason Pickles, for the inspiration in the first place.  If it wasn’t for those two brits, the Prophet wouldn’t exist.
buy dapoxetine online https://cialisnextdaydeliveryusa.com/dir/dapoxetine.html no prescription

  And Sonnie Trotter, for ropegunning the route last year.  He took the leads when I was having serious doubts, terrified of re-breaking my foot.
buy furosemide online https://cialisnextdaydeliveryusa.com/dir/furosemide.html no prescription

  He never made me feel guilty about anything, instead he just gently took over the sharp-end, and showed me how it was done.  The night seemed to drag on forever, but I was ecstatic, savoring every minute of darkness, high on the wall.

I don’t know much about big wall free climbing, but it is a bit confusing how Stanhope and 3rd ascenionist Nik Berry can take a variation around one of the crux pitches and still have repeated the same climb that Leo Houlding established.  I’m inclined to take their word for it since they climb rad shit and I don’t, but it’s just something that crossed my mind as I read both their reports.

∞ · Comments { 10 } · Climbers { 1 } · Areas { 1 }

Don’t Not Climb

Posted November 15, 2012 at 11:10 am · Comments { 2 } ·

Brendan Leonard on Semi-Rad:

You think you’re desensitized to violence because you’ve seen a million violent movies and TV shows,and then a young kid with his whole life ahead of him and all that smashes himself on a ledge three feet from you and you realize how scared you can really get.  If what I had seen had been on a movie screen, I would have hidden behind my hand.
buy zydena online https://www.phamatech.com/wp-content/themes/twentysixteen/inc/new/zydena.html no prescription

Scary story.

∞ · Comments { 2 } · Climbers { 0 }
  1. No Climbers associated with this post
 · Areas { 0 }
  1. No Areas associated with this post