autobelay woah!

autobelays are great things.

when you're itching to hit the climbing gym and have no one to climb with, these devices allow you to pull on your own. you hitch the carabiner to your belay loop and climb up. when you get to the top, you simply let go and the autobelay slowly lowers you to the ground.

but they can also be dangerous.

a few years ago there was an extensive recall of autobelays after a few devices failed to properly engage. climbers were dropped.

yesterday, at my usual climbing gym, i saw a very scary situation involving an autobelay. as i sat on a crash pads, i noticed a climber walk up to a 35' wall. he proceeded to pop in his ipod earbuds and start climbing. i assumed he was simply bouldering some. then, out of nowhere, some woman next to me said, "do you think he realizes he isn't tied in??" oh f*** i thought. she sprints over to him and quickly taps his head with the autobelay strap that's running from the top of the climb to the gym floor. at this point, the guy is free soloing 25' off the ground. feeling the strap, he calmly realizes what's happening and proceeds to down climb. very close call. had he gotten to the top he probably would have let go and fallen 35 feet.

having a partner to check your harness and rope is a good thing. when using an autobelay you are on your own. don't take that self-check lightly!

outside magazine: lovin' on a rock ledge

the july 2007 issue of outside magazine has a special "how to do everything" write-up. helpful tips include: (4) brew a seasonal beer, (1) fake a sick day, & (19) create a b&w digital photo.

the best how to?

(13) shag on a portaledge

"so you've just climbed a 5.12 with a 10.0 and you're all sweaty and hot and ... ok. sometimes there's no avoiding getting it on in a tiny bit of elevated shelter. according to one anonymous (and persuasive) climber and pro photographer (no, not jimmy chin), sex on a portaledge is a beautiful thing, damnit...as with sex in a hammock, rolling around isn't an option. instead, choose one position (harnesses allowed) and commit; otherwise the 'ledge might get a bit tipsy. 'baby wipes also make things nicer,' he's proud to share."

ewwwww!

clif wine too?

when hunger strikes at the crag, nothing quite hits the spot like a clif bar. the ingredients are wholesome and the bars are tasty. for climbers, it seems, the stuff is like manna from god (or flying spaghetti montster or what/whom-ever.)


now wine? the climber, a 2004 north coast red wine from the clif bar family winery and farm, is "ruby red in color with aromas of strawberry, raspberry jam, nutmeg and hints of cedar. the wine is soft and balanced on the palate with a delicate raspberry candy finish." at $15 a bottle, i may have just found my long-awaited climbing recovery drink.

salut.

the best (worst?) mountaineering costume ever

i found this ridiculous foam halloween costume is the storage area outside my photo studio. after doing some diggin', i learned that an art director decided to welcome himself to colorado with a bit of landscape/lifestyle humor.


although the mountain looks more like a half eaten potato, the details are pretty sweet. check out the snowy shrubbery and the "wolf stalks deer" scene.


many thanks to my co-worker hillary j for being such an enthusiastic model. (i now owe her some unmentionable favors in return. don't ever say i don't sacrifice for you dearest readers!)

taking instruction from (a not so) new climber

(note: this guest blog entry was written by my friend matt d. i thought you all deserved a break from my usual dribblings.)

this past weekend, i had the distinct (read: dubious) honor of taking instruction from the purveyor of this blog. to set the scene: a massive, sparsely populated climbing gym in the heart of san francisco’s mission district. the muffled music of a street festival just outside the gym, distracting a bit from the otherwise serene atmosphere. yours truly, clumsily stepping into the wrong spaces of his tangled climbing harness.

having not climbed or bouldered in over a decade—and even then, only every other month or so, on random boy scout treks—i suspected the experience would be vaguely familiar. after a quick refresher from my patient instructor, i whizzed through my belay test, and felt strong enough to tackle any track on the wall.

impressions after my first 5.8: this isn’t as daunting as it looks from the ground.

5.9: what? is this supposed to be challenging? bring it on!

5.10a: oh, wow. now I get it. not so easy when you jump to the next level. technique really does make a difference, apparently.

(a quick aside: am i the only one that thinks the yosemite rating system is nonsensical? maybe it’s the mathematician in me, but shouldn’t a difficulty scale be somewhat uniform? if a 5.9 is 10 times harder than a 5.8, shouldn’t a 5.12 be 10 times harder than a 5.11? even the dewey decimal system seems straightforward by comparison.)

back to a 5.9: rounded out my day as a new climber with a solid, speedy climb in my skill range. endorphines running high after a successfully traversed track.

the experience left a great taste in my mouth…or perhaps the more accurate cliché would be: ‘a tingling sensation in my fingers’. actually, that’s literally how my hands felt after 3+ hours. at the risk of sounding like a drinker of the kool-aid, this is a pastime that everyone should try at least once. going vertical can be quite a rush! and if you’re a seasoned veteran and taking a newbie to the gym with you, practice patience and give vague helper hints—your new climber companion will thank you. who knows, you might even gain a long-term climbing buddy out of the episode.

one last thing. the keeper of this diary isn’t so new to climbing anymore.