Pulling Plastic

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've always loved climbing. When it was a kid and even through most of my adult years it wasn't really difficult climbing, but I've always been drawn to the vertical walls of rock and finding out if I could climb them. Well, it's winter now so I've been doing all of my climbing in the gym. My local climbing gym is The Quarry in Provo. I've seen worse and I've seen better, but it's a pretty good climbing gym. There's a great area for bouldering upstairs and the rope climbing has a lot of variety for top roping and even a few lead climbing routes. They've built in cracks for the "usual" crack sizes, which only reinforces the fact that I have much larger hands than are "normal" My fingers don't fit in the finger cracks and the hand cracks are more like ring locks or some sort of finger jam.

I know it's kind of wussy or whatever, but I enjoy top roping. It's nice to be able to work on tough routes and holds without any fear. It doesn't bother me one bit to fall off the wall and either climb back on or get lowered down.

The bouldering area is where I do most of my climbing, mostly because other people have lives and can't go climbing every time I want to go. Though my climbing partner is pretty good about fitting climbing and other adventuring into his schedule. If you walk into a bouldering area in a gym it's a lot like the free weights area in a health club, people are posing and checking out what everyone else is doing. I'm very unconcerned about what anyone thinks of me, but even I don't want to appear too weak by doing a fun easy route in front of a bunch of bouldering jocks.

I've seen people try to explain why they're drawn to climbing rock and no one really has a good explanation. I think because there isn't a good explanation. It's mostly a pointless endeavor. Though I feel my heart beating pretty hard at times, it's not much of a cardiovascular workout. I'm not making any scientific exploratory observations in the cracks of the rock or nooks of the plastic holds. It think it's just a place where a person can test their mettle. It's both physical and mental. You're slowly losing your grip and your arms are pumped, can you mentally hold on for just a moment longer until you can move to that jug and get a chance to rest? You make the hold and finish the climb and feel that much stronger.

Rock climbing shoes make my feet hurt. I recently got new shoes, La Sportiva Tarantula, and I like them, but I can last maybe 30 minutes before taking them off. Tight shoes make edging a small hold so much easier, but it's barely worth the pain. I'm glad these new shoes are velcro, makes it easier to whip them off when I can't take the pain anymore . That said, they are pretty comfortable as far as climbing shoes go. I've worn other shoes that are like water boarding for the feet. I think the companies that make climbing shoes try to make them as comfortable as possible, it may just be that my paddle feet (as my wife calls them) just don't fit a lot of styles very well. Since one of my daughters (as my wife points out) also got my paddle feet, she'll probably have the same problem I have, sorry.

With spring slowly creeping in I'm looking forward to heading out to the local crags to climb rock instead of plastic, Rock Canyon is only 15 minutes away.  I've been looking for a new harness, one that was padded well and had leg and waist straps that would allow me to open them fully and put it on without having to try to slip crampon covered boots through the various loops and straps. Something that I could use for both rock and ice climbing. The climbing shop, Mountain Outfitters, really more of mountaineering shop, located in the same building as The Quarry climbing gym just got in a great new Wild Country Vision harness; exactly what I was looking for.

 Thick wide straps that can be totally undone to be put on over winter clothes if needed. It has great gear loops and even a wear guide to warn you when you need to replace your harness or risk breaking through a strap during a fall. I've had a chance to wear it a few times and it's worked out great. It's a tad heavier than other harnesses, but if I was that worried about hauling a few extra ounces up a wall I'd cut out my evening ice cream habit. Which reminds me, I'm out of Thin Mint ice cream, better head to the store before they're out of it for the year.

Snowshoeing

Whenever I heard of someone going snowshoeing I always pictured Jeremiah Johnson with giant beard and matching giant woven snowshoes. Most likely made from supple willow branches and buffalo intestines. A couple of years ago my wife asked for a pair of snowshoes as an unlikely Valentines gift. My wife goes for romantic type stuff too, but I was quite happy to shell out for some outdoor gear, especially when I found out I wouldn't have to string up the snowshoes with some fresh buffalo guts. We found a good deal on some Atlas snowshoes made for Cabelas. They had nice features and weren't extremely pricey. She started going out snowshoeing on Saturdays with the Utah Velo club and had a lot of fun, but I was still sceptical of her inner Jeremiah Johnson.

After another winter of watching her come back from having a great time out in the snow filled canyons near our home I decided I'd like to give it a try. We headed back to Cabelas and bought a set of snowshoes for me, the same model, only bigger. Now we have a pile, really, literally a pile of snowshoes from which to choose on any given day that we go out. I only have two pair, sounds silly just typing that; only two pair, ha. My wife has 4 pair with another set on the way. Granted, most of these she has acquired as a product tester for Triedge.com, so it's not as if our children's college education has been reduced to the pile of snowshoes in the gear area of our basement. It's amazing how different snowshoes perform in different conditions. My Atlas are great for deep fresh snow, the kind I like to hit after a new snowstorm.

My other set, with their beautiful shining crampons covering the length of the platform, and which I have named "The Snowshoes of Justice" are from the Tubbs flex series. These don't perform as well in deep snow, but really shine when going up or down steep hills, and over technical terrain. I really like how they grip logs and other oddities that I encounter as I march around wherever I want. They're light and don't make a lot of noise. They also don't shoot show all over the back of your legs and back like my Atlas.

What I really enjoy about snowshoeing is that I can walk wherever I want. I enjoy hiking, but you're more of less confined to actual hiking trails. This is due to a combination of thick vegetation and a moral obligation to not trample small animals, insects, plants and other forest dwelling things. I also try to keep trails from getting wider and wider by staying on the existing path. In winter all bets are off. Snow covers everything. Vegetation is safely under a crust of snow and I can walk anywhere, including up very steep hills because of the crampons of justice that adorn my snowshoes. If regular hiking is freedom than snowshoeing is the William Wallace of hiking. Taking freedom to a whole new level. Want to get closer to that stream, walk on over. Want to see where those deer tracks to, head on out.

My favorite place to go snowshoeing is Big Springs up the South Fork in Provo Canyon. Sadly it's also popular with a lot of people. It's not uncommon to go up on a Saturday and mind hoards of BYU students with rented snowshoes packing down the trail. Because of this I usually try to get out first thing on a Saturday morning to beat the crowds. Even then sometimes I find I really have to head off trail to find some snow that isn't packed down so much that a pair of hiking boots would suffice. I can usually find something. Even when the trail gets somewhat packed down it can still be a lot of fun, especially when you're willing to head out really far. Just like hiking most people don't go out further than one hour will allow so if you just push on you'll find some great snow eventually. It's also a great cross training activity for cycling. I don't manage to get on my trainer much during the winter so I have to do something to keep my cycling muscles from disappearing.

Snowshoeing is eons away from the burly mountain man activity that I always envisioned. Go rent or buy some snowshoes, or if I really like you I might have a spare set somewhere to lend to you. Just stay out of the Big Springs area because someone keeps packing down all the new snow.

Ice Climbing - Provo Canyon

Years ago, after stopping to look at a photo of someone climbing a waterfall, my wife asked me if I would ever go ice climbing. I think she was hoping that I'd say no, and that's exactly what I said. But it was more like, "Are you kidding me? Those guys are nuts. They're just waiting for a crampon point to slip or a giant icicle to take their head off."

Fast forward a few years and I'm totally hooked on climbing ice. I'm not sure what it is, but it probably has something do with the fact that you don't need a hold to move up the vertical face of the ice, you make your own. It's almost like being Spider-Man, only Spider-Man is covered in spikes that could sever an artery or tendon if he takes a fall. I'm not sure how I made the move from being scared to death of climbing ice to staring out of my cubicle window at the frozen mountains and wishing I were up there kicking and stabbing the ice.

I'm fortunate to live in a really great area for outdoor recreation. I'm just 10 minutes from Provo Canyon and 15 minutes from Rock Canyon and American Fork Canyon. Three playgrounds full of rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing, cycling, mountaineering and snowshoeing. Provo Canyon is probably my favorite, it's not only close, but it seems to have the widest variety of things to do. This is also where you can find a lot of great ice to climb. We have an excellent ice formation that comes in each year called Stairway to Heaven. The bottom pitch is a large thick apron with bolts above for top roping love. It's a great place to hone your skills and get into early season condition for tougher and sketchier ice. Depending on the year and the height at which the ice forms, Stairway to Heaven has the potential to be the longest ice climb in the US, 800 ft.

Along with Stairway to Heaven, there are at least 4 other decent pitches of ice to climb in Provo Canyon. On cold Saturday mornings every inch of ice is covered in climbers, too many for my taste. I usually go climbing after work, which means by the time I hike to the base of the climb daylight is pretty much gone. This means solitude and and no one knocking ice on you from above. A good headlamp is all that is needed, you're only working in an 8 ft. space of ice anyway. Everything above and below is extraneous and not to be thought about anyway. Many times I've been up on the ice and heard cars honking as they drive by on the highway several hundred feet below. It must look like quite a site from below to see an illuminated sheet of ice with some crazy person on the wall like some deranged fly on a wall. I wonder what they think when I take a fall?

I've been lucky to have discovered the joys of ice climbing in the modern times. Ice climbing gear has seen a lot of advances over the last few years. I've recently acquired some new crampons and ice tools(ice axes for technical ice climbing). If you're not in the ice climbing circles then you probably have no idea of the current debate of whether crampons with mono or dual points are better. I went back and forth between the two when trying to decide which to buy for my new set of crampons. I found the solution, local gear innovators Black Diamond have created the Cyborg crampons which can switch from dual to mono with the twist of an hex wrench and a spacer. I haven't switched to the mono yet as we've had warm spells and the ice has been mushy in parts and I've wanted the security of dual points. If we don't get a good cold snap I may just switch to the mono-point when I do some dry tooling or mixed climbing in spring.

I really love these new Black Diamond Cyborg
crampons, especially for the variety of conditions in which I've climbed recently. They come complete with anti-balling plates for glacier use as well as just keeping the snow from collecting underfoot on the trek from the car to the base of the climb. All this gear costs a lot of money it's nice when you get the product and use it and don't wish you had your money back.

Adventure in the Mountains

All of my favorite adventures seem to be in the mountains. My earliest memories of exploring and really feeling alive are from my time in the mountains. From my 8th birthday trip to Yellowstone to the trips to the summit of Willard Peak. I loved the variety of things the mountains had to offer, raging waterfalls, animals big and small. My favorite thing has always been the high overlooks and cliffs where you could see for miles and miles out over river basins and farmland. I recall being amazed that the mountains I could see from my home were not the end but just the start of of the great Wasatch Range. I wanted to see was behind each wave like ridge, what sort of things would I find in the valleys.

I've always loved climbing rocks and boulders. Even as a non-rock climbing adult I often felt like a kid as my family and I ventured out in the area canyons and I soon found myself scrambling up easy 5.3 and 5.4 type walls. Working out moves and holds just always seemed like so much fun.

As I've become more adept at the various types of climbing I've found even more joy in realizing the opportunities that open up because of my new found talent. Mountaineering and heading off into the wooded hills and snow clogged chutes is a lot more fun now that I have some knowledge and experience to back it up. Learning the technical nature of ice and rock climbing keeps my mind working as well as my fatigued limbs.

I hope to be able to chronicle my various adventures and do a better job of getting photographic evidence to share the beauty that is to be had in the Utah mountains and the mountains all over the world.