We all suck sometimes....

Before I rant.... understand that I know that I have a wonderful life and I am very greatful for what I have....but Im human ok....

You know what sucks? Sucking. Lately I just really suck at rock climbing. I mean my head sucks, my body sucks and after flailing on my one day a week I get out climbing, I have been officially flailing for over a month. So, now my ego sucks and my feelings are hurt. I went out yesterday after working for 4 days strait, and I was amped and fired up to go climbing. I watched climbing vids all morning and I was ready to pull down. I proceeded to flash pump, flail, tweak and sketch my way up (and off) everything. Hell, I got fucking pumped just looking at rock climbs. This time was different from the other flailing days I've had. I was fed up with being tired and climbing had officially become un-fun. Climbing is about pushing my physical and mental limits to their max and it is hard to do that when you start out with a run down mind and body. Not so fun. The worst part is that not only is my body tired, but now my mind is "injured" which is a recipe for more flailing

All of our climbing careers are full of ups and downs, and we cant all climb well all the time. I remember when I was living in Ottawa, one night at the climbing gym everyone was going on and on about how Jason Kehl fell on a V5 at Val David that day. Seriously?? COME ON.... give the guy a freaking break, maybe he was having a bad day. Its just hard because when you get to a certain level in your climbing ability, there are these hidden expectations that you should always be living up to. Its hard to have a bad day when you have expectations to live up to, not just others expectations, but your own too. Well, I'm letting it out right now..... for the next 2 months, I SUCK, so just let me suck.

A very obsessivly crazy rock climber I once met said, "The best job for a rock climber is a bank teller, cuz if pregnant ladies can do it, then it cant be that tiring." Kinda fucked up, but the premise is right. If you want to perform, you need to find a perfect balance between work and play. If work is too tiring or too physically demanding, then your climbing will suffer. If you dont work enough, then you cant afford to go climbing. If you work too much, then you cant even go climbing at all. So somewhere in between there is a balance of the perfect job with the perfect amount of hours and with just enough of a wage to enjoy some sweet climbing trips.

Balance is key to success, happiness and climbing strong.

At least I'm sucking in this beautiful place........ thanks for letting me rant.

Piece by Piece

Slowly the pieces are coming together and life is falling into a routine. I'm realizing that life really hasn't changed much at all, as we have been working over the summers for the last couple years, then travelling in the winters. Now we just have jobs and a home to come back to, not a bad deal.

Work is steady, I'm finding a good groove, and getting plenty of hours. I love the variety of work I'm getting... one day I could be guiding a family sea kayaking and the next day I could be doing a one on one technique lesson with a new rock climbing enthusiast. However, work is definitely labour intensive: lifting boats and digging gardens plays a toll on your body. I have definitely come to grips with the fact that my climbing performance (and time) will have to suffer for the next couple of months. We have been brainstorming ideas about the fall and spring trips though.... we are thinking about keeping it in north america for a month and a half this fall and then Europe in the spring. And Oh Yes, the Red River Gorge is managing to call me back....White Mans Shuffle, Dracula, The Madness...... oh yes.

To fill my climbing void, Kyle and I have put up another part of our soon to be fucking rad as hell climbing garage. We have AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE friends that have donated so much wood, holds, t-nuts and padding. It is really turning into a community climbing gym, I predict that we will all get retardedly strong on this wall and a new breed of Clarksburg climbing mutants will be born, watch out! I dont think there are even words to describe the awesomeness of this wall.

As for outdoors, I haven't been out much, weather has not been working in with my days off unfortunatly. However, I did get out once last week and if you can believe it, I was all motivated to lead a classic 5.11b gear line at TV Tower. It went silky smooth and I hiked it effortlessly (after figuring out my gear placements on rappel). Weird. Oh and Wild Orchid is still there and is still a bastard and I swear to the climbing gods that the day that weather coorperates and it isn't wet, I will destroy it.

We got out to a local crag yesterday and I tried a sweet route called Lucifer Effect and it is high on the awesome scale. I had a super good first go, falling on the last move of the crux. It proceeded to rain on me before I could get to the anchors. Boo. THen when I was pulling the rope, the hanger came right off the crux bolt with my draw still in it.... CRAZY!!! I whipped twice on that damn bolt.

Cherries are edible now on our cherry tree, and little baby pears and plums are popping out now too. We are officially eating our own home grown lettuce and radishes too. Kyle is so cute, he is so proud of his garden and his roses. So adorable.

Little baby pears

Gary and Dee are huge contributors to the home gym and regulars at the late night boulder sessions

Dave and Erin plastering the wall with holds

A little bit a this, a little bit a that...

Life has been a little all over the place for me over the last little bit, therefore so is this blog entry. I've been really trying to juggle a lot of stuff lately and things are just starting to pick up and get busier too. My hours were upped at work and I've been taken on as one of the main crew for the paddling side of freespirit tours. I'm really excited about this because it is 5 minutes from my house and it isnt rock climbing. I was a little nervous about the thought of guiding just climbing all summer and trying to stay motivated to rock climb as well. So I'm really happy with how that worked out, it is so nice to be on the water again. I'm also guiding hiking trips once and a while and I might be taking on leading some "boot camps" this July. All of this while fixing up the house, studying for my personal training course and somehow finding the time and weather to coordinate for me to get out climbing. I just keep saying to myself... "we are saving up for a trip, its going to be an awesome trip....." Its really not that crazy, I am really enjoying all the new things I'm learning, the new people I'm meeting and my new life in general. It's so nice to have purpose again and I have the easiest/best job in the planet. Nothing like getting paid to float down a river :o)

Kyle is doing well too, hes working a shift a week at the Mill restaurant and it should be picking up soon. This job is so perfect for him as it allows him/us to get away in the winters for at least a couple months....how perfect is that? We've started a jar to save for our winter road trip, we are already up to 500 bucks and its not even July yet! Its gonna be a sweet trip!

We got so much lumber and holds donated to us from friends in the area. People are really psyched to get the gym up and running and so are we. We gotta come up with a gym name... any ideas? We got a little temporary wall up in the meantime, and now we are just making a layout plan.

The garden is in full force, little baby plants popping up everywhere. Squash, beans, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, chard, onions, potatoes..... yeeeeeeeeeeeeah!! We got some damn good soil :o)

Well, that is pretty much the spray down. I definitely have no exciting sends, but Lions Head has really started to dry up nicely, so the season is here baby! YEAH! I even managed to do my first

rope solo the other day, pretty cool experience!

Check out that poison ivy yo!! This shit is like radioactive around here.

She Climbs Clinics- August 1st and 22nd

PSYCHED!! I am super excited to have been given the opportunity to teach "She Climbs", womens climbing clinics this summer. I'm going to be working with another guide (Meg Mckerrol) who will be running the July clinics. The focus of my classes are going to be technique on different angles and also a look at different "tricks" to save you energy. I will also be focussing on how to improve the mental side of your climbing, which is a bigger part than most realize. Most importantly though, its going to be a lot of rock climbing and good times!

I can only run it for a max of 8 ladies per day, so get your spots quickly and tell your friends! Clinics will be held at Metcalf Rock, for a full day of climbing.

Thanks to my number one supporter "Jtree Dave" for helping us out with this, check out his site at http://www.jtreelife.com/ and to the awesome folk at madrock www.madrockclimbing.com.

For more info and to register go to http://www.freespirit-tours.com/ or call 705-444-3622

Hope to see you out there!

Yeeah rock climbing!

Forget the grades

"The Pearl", a damn stout little V4 , Red Rocks Nevada


I have been dying to find a project and start getting on some harder shit. So, I was a little disapointed the other day when everyone wanted to go to TV Tower, as there is nothing there harder than 5.12d. It is time to start upping the ante, but I accepted that it was going to be yet another mileage day, but atleast a great day with friends.


"Wild Orchid"is the classic at TV Tower. Its got it all: big moves, technical footwork, boulder problems and a serious pump. Now I had heard that it was significantly harder if you were short, but I had to sample this tasty classic and see. I fucking hammered the crux, like hammered it... I'm talking controlled feet cutting, leg swinging, fucking kung fu action. I wasn't as composed for the rest of it, but I held on (forever as usual). I wasn't rewarded with clipping the anchors and a solid 5.12+ flash to log on 8a, but instead I was rewarded with two back to back dynos to finish. I worked them out and I stuck one, I know I can stick the other too, its just a matter of going full out on the fly. I came down and realized that this route was every bit of 5.13a/b for me. Well thats perfect, now I have a project to obsess over, right? Wrong. For some stupid reason I don't care about it, because it is a "sandbag". Why is that? If someone called it a 5.13b, I would be driving out there right now to send it! Instead it is on my list of "routes to clean up after Ive done all the other routes at TV Tower". It is so weird. We all do it, instead of accepting the sandbaggedness (I definitely just made up that word) and enoy the route for what it is, we complain and move on to a different proj.


I'm seeing a trend here in Ontario, that grades are merely suggestions. I mean I know that they always are and that the guidebook isn't a bible. Here, I am talking 5.11's that are everybit of 5.12. Then you get on a 5.12a that is easier than the 5.10c beside it. It's awesome though, it is teaching me to appreciate a route for its movement rather than its ranking. Its features are so limited that it can create a casual sequence for a certain body type/size, and a heinous move for others. Obviously this isn't the case at all areas and all climbs, but it's always a suprise what the grade will be and it always keeps your ego in check. I find myself saying "You can do this, its a 5.11, its a 5.11, its a 5.11....." alot.


You know that feeling you get in your stomach, when you are a little nervous about a hard onsight or redpoint? I get that when I look up at these blank faces at Lions Head. It almost brings it back to basics, before everyone and their grandma was out on a number hunt. A local said " You dont see very many people ever onsight 5.12 here at Lions Head and there is a lot of strong guys". I try not to look too far ahead on a route or I have panic attacks due to the non-existent features/holds. I can't name how many times I just lock off a hold and feel around blindly until I find somthing I can weight, how sick is that?


Well right now I'm slowly chopping off the heads of my multiple headed ego dragon.... once I kill him, I will go project Wild Orchid and feel damn good about my 5.12c/d redpoint.

The home of the humbling sandbag, Joshua Tree, California. Here Kyle is on "PigPen aka. Bachar Cracker" repeating to himself "you can climb v4, you can climb v4...."

The Season Opener

The last 2 days were incredible, 25'C and sunny with a nice wind. No bugs, sunshine, and somehow we had nothing scheduled for both days! We set out to Lions head for our first time of the season, and it is just as beautiful as I'd remembered. It felt like we were in a tropical paradise with these summertime conditions, too bad the bay is frigid cold. As for the shape of the cliff at Lions Head, well there is definitely lots of seepage right now, but I think soon enough things will dry.


We spent the first day at Whites Bluff and the second day at Lions Head. It was so nice to not get eaten alive, as we have had to bail the last few rock climbing attempts due to black flies. Old baldy, Metalfe and The Swamp are write off's right now, fucking miserable. We got the spray down on the crags from local Lion's Head hard man, Greg Williamson, and we cushed out pitches for 2 days with our new buddies Mike and Trevor. Greg is a legend......... so we hike out to Lions Head, epic on this sketch fest approach up to the Manitou Ledge and then by the time we did 3 pitches, it was like 6pm. Greg shows up after work and busts out 6 pitches in 15 minutes rope soloing and he was still going by the time we hiked back up to the top of the cliff to hike out. He's awesome to watch, he's got that system dialed. Up and down, up and down.


The climbing there is unlike anywhere I have ever climbed. It was the first time I'd been on anything harder than 5.11a there, and man we have so many new routes to do!!! The rock is really difficult to read, really hard to onsight. Balancy, technical, white faces. If you ever let yourself tunnel vision or rush a move, you're screwed. Its all about patience, and taking your time. I learned a lot climbing there for just one day and still so much to learn. Its funny though, once you find the beta in the sea of non-existent holds, the moves feel casual. Incredible rock climbing.

Well here is some shitty pics, from our shitty camera, enjoy. (If you cant tell, I think our camera sucks ass).

The view from White's Bluff''s beach of Lion's Head across the bay.

Cairn marking the White's Bluff trail and a view of the bay through the trees at the base of White Bluff

Kyle came so close on his flash attempt of Reanimator 5.12b, but he unfortunatly caught some"shut fever" at the top.

Mike had a similar fate with his redpoint attempt at Reanimator. So close at the top, but he atleast always puts on a great show. This guy gives 100%.

Trevor's perma-psych is contagious. Here he is having a blast on the crag classic"They Live" 5.12B

I felt right at home on my onsight of Reanimator. Steep pocket haulin'.

Tour de Bloc Championships

So I myself have never been a competitor. I have no experience in this side of the sport, and it is much different than the road trippin rock climbing sport I have been a part of. Plastic, Crowds, spot lights, isolation, cameras..... crazyness! I get stressed if some assholes dog wont stop barking at the base of the crag, let alone 500 people watching and screaming at you. Crazy. What I can tell you though is that it looks fun as hell. Crazy holds, wild features, amazing problems, lots of amped up energy and motivation. I was inspired.


Tour de Bloc had a live stream on the net for the championships. AWESOME! So we were sitting in our house, drinking beers, watching the finals, cheering people on.... totally pulling some armchair climbing action. It was the closest we will ever get to climbing being on TV for a little while. SICK.


The competitors were solid and we were really proud of all of our friends who competed and did really well. The B-unit and Team Madrock kicked ass! You guys all inspired both Kyle and myself with your efforts. So much so, that maybe....just maybe.... I may consider getting out next season.... MAYBE haha.





Womens:

1.) Eva Pepin-Helie--> Yeeeah girl!! Never met her, but super well rounded little lady. She was crushing out some hard sport lines last fall too AND she didnt let the American steel the Canadian title. Way to represent! OH Canada, da da da dada........

2.) Sasha Digiulan--> The young American lady that coulda woulda but didnt steel it!

3.) Elise Sethna---> Look out for her....shes like 15 years old dude.


Mens:

1.) John Bowles--> Yeeah dude!

2.) Terry Paholek--> The commitment this guy gave on the last 3d problem was fucking entertaining. SICK

3.) Andre Defelice--> The crowd favourite. Has any body checked out this dudes 8a bouldering scorecared WTF???

Clean and Climb this Sunday!

Free Spirit Tours is hosting their annual Clean and Climb this Sunday, May 24, at Metcalf Rock. Come out and help out. They have been hosting this clean up since 2000 and they will be focussing on garbage clean up and trail maintanance around Metcalf. In return for all of the help, Free Spirit Tours will be setting up free rock climbing and caving tours after the clean up. Should be a fun time, with lots of good prizes! Meet at Metcalf Rock 10am-1pm. For more info go to www.freespirit-tours.com

Life in Clarksburg...

Life is good baby! Spring is here and we are so in love with where we are. Heres some pics of spring on the escarpment and life around the house. Unfortuneatly though, today it was confirmed; it is officially black fly season. They are out in full force, time to migrate to Lions head!

The trilliums are out, blankets of them everywhere.

Our humble abode.


Look at this pimpin couch! Fits 11 people (we tested it). These are our new buddies, little baby robins.

The view from our porch of our garage and shed and some crazy ass storm brewing in the distance.

The future vegetable garden and climbing wall!

Its almost New River Rendezvous time!

I am sad to say that I wont be making it. However.... if you are free and you have a car, you gotta go! BEST RENDEZVOUS EVER. Dude this event is so much fun. Tons of REALLY GOOD BEER, awesome wines, sweet sandstone, desserts, great dinner and breakfast, climbing clinics, beer, comps, party, videos, beer, cool people, big name athletes, beer, sumo wrestling, rednecks, oh ya and BEER. It is a guaranteed good and messy time.

Lucky 7

May 14-17

http://www.newriverrendezvous.com/

Juggling Act

Tailspin.... From road trippin' life to a new home, new climbing, new friends, new job, new lifestyle. It is a pretty incredible feeling to really have no idea what life will bring next, it is almost as though the pages to this chapter of our lives are empty, waiting to be written. Wow, look at how philisophical I am. haha. This game of life is pretty crazy isn't it? Considering Kyle and I live life a little spontaneously and like to leave everything to last minute, I think we are doing pretty well though.


We are both sniffing out some promising job leads, and keeping our fingers crossed that they work out. I am really excited about guiding a climbing clinic called "Sheclimb" that runs in August that I am going to instruct for Freespirit Tours. A really amazing lady named Jennie Elmsilie runs this company and runs caving, climbing, canoeing, hiking and even some winter trips too. She is full of life and if you know anyone who wants to explore some outdoor adventures in the Collingwood area check out her site at http://www.freespirit-tours.com/.


While looking for work, we are also plugging away at fixing up the house. We've been painting and stripping the nightmare wall paper, as well as plugging away at any of the other five billion things that are on our gigantic never ending list of things that need to get done.


Aside from that, we are taking a little bit of some down time from climbing. It is hard to put the focus on that when life is so crazy. Besides, I've already made the cover of Gripped, so I might as well just quit climbing now. hahaha. I must say though, the little bit of climbing we have done, has been friggin' rad and we haven't even been to Lions Head yet. Yeaaah sweet rock climbs!!

Our new home iz the shizzzzzz. It is nice and cozy and we are lovin' the location. It is like we are smack dab in the middle of it all, but we get that country bumpkin feel. We are 10-20 minutes from hundreds of sport routes, miles of mountain bike trails, ski trails, a beautiful little whitewater river, Georgian Bay and the city (Collingwood). Its perfect really. The folk around here are super chill, and down to earth too. Almost too good to be true really.


I was just reminissing on our last night in the Red. Boo hoo. Shit too much fun. I miss those guys.
Heres some late but good pic's of our "going away party". Some how we all managed to look a lot more sober then we were.


---Look at the cute Canadian cupcakes they gave us! aaaaw....little Dunbar....your too sweet.




---Team Awesome. Nuf said.



---My little ladies!



---These two are up to NO good.

Hippy Van Retirement

Happy, sad, excited, scared, lost, curious, calm, anxious, overwhelmed…. I don’t really know what I’m feeling right now actually. I’m just kinda floating around, living in the moment right now. We’ve officially left the Red River Gorge, and we are officially back in Ontario again. Currently, I’m swimming in a pile of boxes, organizing and sorting through our collection of junk we've acquired over the years. Our closing date for our new home was today and our moving date is soon approaching. Our vagabond life is quickly coming to an end. Its pretty freakin exciting to see where life leads us next. It hasnt changed much yet, we plan to climb all weekend and party on Saturday night with some new friends. Same thing as the road, but just in Ontario....our plan is working excellently.....wahaha.

Our month in the Red was too much fun, but definitely a little different then past trips. With the stresses of our new home and feeling a little run down from the road, we had a hard time focussing on just climbing. I think we’ve both been very ready to move on from our life on the road for a few weeks now. This is not to say that we won’t be busting out some sweet climbing trips, but we will at least have a home to come back to now!

Over the last couple years, the world class rock climbing in the Red has been secondary to all the rad people we’ve come to know in the southeast. Our Red River Gorge posse is a crew of legendary characters to whom we’ve grown to love and we will miss those guys so much. “Salt of the earth folk” as my mom would say.

They threw us a big going away party on our last night. BBQ, music and lots of laughs in front of the hippy van, where the weekend parties in the Red started and where they’ve now finished. I’m so lucky to have met such incredible friends! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! I will definitely post some pics, when I get them.

Anyone wanna buy a hippy van? I guess I will have to change the name of my blog now… how about, “Life as a completely obsessed rock climber that doesn’t want to work but somehow wants to have a lot of money, a nice house, travel all over the world, eat good food, drink nice wine and rock climb full time.” I think it has a nice ring to it. What do you think?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Team Awesome Forever!

The Madness Cave and Brent Perkins go together like Peanut Butter and Jam. Brent crushed out his first 13d this season on "Last of the Bohicans"... SICK!

Morning coffee just wont be the same without the hippy van and Jason's eggs :o)

April 25, 2009- OAC Earth Day Clean Up

What is the Earth Day Cleanup? Each year as a gesture of goodwill, the Ontario Access Coalition organizes an event to help clean up park areas, maintain trails or plant trees. Our relationships with the conservation areas are invaluable in dealing with access issues as they arise, ensuring continued access to some of our most popular climbing areas.

When: Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 9:00 am

Where: Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area

RSVP: earthday@ontarioaccesscoalition.com

BIGA Beats

Reggae is the sountrack to my life right now and these freestyle beats are amazing. Check out the new video I posted on my video bar on the left of the page. BIGA is the white guy and Joseph Cotton is the other tall dude. These guys are HOT.... there freestyle will blow your mind. If you like this....search youtube for "biga freestyle (Kickass Riddim)" for just Biga or "Combi Live Part 2" for a bunch of other guys that rock, including a guy that freestyles in french.

Redneck Seafood Dinner

NOW THAT IS FUNNY NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE....

Paradise was lost in controversy

Every crag has them... that one particular climb that everybody debates its grade. Locals spray about it being one grade if you use a particular hold or its easier if you use the kneebar. I find it so dumb that eliminates exist on natural rock. If you didn't know the locals, you would use the kneebar and never know that you "cheated". I don't really understand why these climbs don't just get downgraded, its like people are trying to hold on to something that isn't there. Then it can just be a harder locals variation if you eliminate holds or rests.

I finally went to climb one of the most controversial routes in the Red the other day, "Paradise Lost". This is the kinda route that when you send it, the first thing people will ask is, "Did you use the ledge?". I have no clue as to why the FA didn't use the ledge, in fact I heard the FA didn't even use the jug rest, even more mind boggling because they are both RIGHT THERE. Paradise Lost is an outstanding route, aesthetic and solid perfect rock. It has been plagued by a ledge mid route that allows for a no-hands rest. This rest definitely breaks up the quality and flow of the climb, but lets face it, it is there. So there are two options...dynamite the ledge or downgrade the route.

I myself, did use the ledge, because it is RIGHT THERE. Given, the route is awesome without it, its funny because who even cares if it is a soft 13b or not.... it isn't a groundbreaking ascent that will go down in history anyways. The rock trip athletes used the ledge (Because it is RIGHT THERE) and thought the route was soft, same with BOHICA and FLOHICA. BOHICA is yet another eliminate that I fell victim to; you are allowed to heel hook the ledge, but you cant sit on it. So funny.

Road Trip Recovery

Train Wreck would sum up the way Im feeling lately. After over almost 2 months of travelling and climbing, slowly my body is telling me to stop. I've never actually begged for rain to come before and that is how tired I am. I put my try hard on there for a couple solid weeks after the rain and its been downhill from there. Every climbing day we have to take more and more rest days and still we arent recovering. Climbing definitely isnt as fun when you feel tired either, especially cuz I'm in denial about it and I jump on 13d's and thrash myself and get extremely frustrated. Its especially frustrating because everybody keeps asking "what are you projecting?" "What did you send?" and Im just working at tring to stay psyched to even go climbing. Ive definitely come to grips with the fact that it may be time to take it down a slight notch.

It reminds me of the end of our road trip a year ago. We were in the New River Gorge and I hit a serious peak in my climbing performance. I crushed out a mad climbing day in which I felt superhuman and then after that, for a solid week I couldnt get up anything much harder than 5.11.

I know when I was training in the gym a lot, I learned that while training and climbing, you are always setting yourself up for mini-peaks. When you are on the road all the time, you will hit a peak, then crash, then another mini peak, then crash and then eventually your body just says "Ok man, I seriously need some fucking rest."

To maximize recovery and prevent injury while on the road, Ive learned a few things the hard way. Its super imporant to follow these steps or you may jeopardize your trip with injuries and fatigue. Although a lot of it is common sense, you'd be suprised how many of these steps you skip.

Road Trip Recovery Plan:

Feel free to add any ideas.

1. Try not to have more climbing days then rest days. This is especially true if you are on the road for a while. This just sets you up for imbalances in muscle development and crashing hard. Remember that climbing is more fun when you feel strong. If you get excited and climb too much, you'll just end up sucking.

2. Sleep. Get lots of it.

3. Hydrate. This is the one I'm bad with. Drink tons of water while climbing and on rest days. This also means not getting wasted on your rest days.

4. Stretch. Do this after climbing and on your rest days.

5. Ice. We all have aches and pains after climbing. Try icing certain muscles on your rest day and after climbing. I also like to rub arnica on sore muscles and tendons sometimes. Keeping the inflammation down is key.

6. Hydrotherapy. This is only doable if you have access to a shower, I swear by it though. Just have a hot shower for 2 minutes, then turn it to cold for a minute and repeat 3 times always finishing with cold. This is so good for muscle recovery and for your soul. It helps boost your immunity too. You will thank yourself for trying this.

7. Take more than one day off. Do 2/3 days off at least every 2 weeks.

8. Eat properly. Get lots of protein, nutrients, carbs, etc. Try to avoid high glycemic foods during rest days and while climbing. They increase your blood sugar levels which gives you a quick boost of energy and then you'll crash. However, eating somthing high on the glycemic index immediatly after a climbing sesh is good for recovery as it restores glycogen to the muscles.

http://www.womentowomen.com/insulinresistance/glycemicindex.aspx

9. Cardio. Go for a light jog, get the blood flowing.

10. OPPOSITION EXERCISES. You will hate yourself for not doing these when you get injured. It is so important to balance all of the overdeveloped climbing muscles with opposition exercises. For example: Rotator cuffs, triceps, chest, lower back, gluteal muscles, shoulders, scapula exercises, etc... I bring light weights on the road and a resistance band, yoga mat and excercise ball. You can do pretty much any exercise with just those.

11. Warm up and Warm down properly. I have tweaked so many muscles due to warming up like an idiot. I also get really tight and stiff if I just end the day cold turkey rather than finishing with some light easy pitches to loosen up.

12. Dont be lazy. Climbers are inherently some of the laziest people on earth. Don't procrastinate doing these steps, you will regret it. Injuries aren't fun and you will wish you could go back in time.

13. Listen to your body. If you think you need more rest, YOU DO. Dont climb yourself stupid either, injuries happen when you are thrutching. End the day on a good note sometimes.

Its funny that Im posting about these things...its only because I myself have been lazy and now I regret it. I haven't been doing much opposition, I haven't been drinking enough water and I've been climbing too hard and too much. Now I regret it! I dont know if I can emphasize how important it is to take care of your body with the amount of stress we put on it.

Funny Shit...

Check out this site. Dude this chick is fucking helarious.... If you have some free time to browse her blog, I gaurantee you will laugh your ass off.... seriously classic shit.

http://www.mistymurphy.blogspot.com/

Worth the Wait

Over the past few years and several trips to the Red River Gorge, I would always pass by the climb “White mans Overbite” at the Motherlode and stare with awe. I was never competent at that grade level and I was definitely not confident enough to climb that grade and skip 2 out of 4 draws in the crux. I would watch people take massive flyers from the top and I would always wonder what would happen if they fell in the crux after skipping the clip. With my shoulder back to 100% and after climbing several 8a and 8a+ on different rock, I felt ready.

White Mans Overbite is a proud standing line that works up a prow that resembles a man’s face. Although it is 80 feet long, it climbs much differently than your typical Red River Gorge endurance route. It is pretty much only 4 bolts of 8a+, and it is so sustained and bouldery that you can only stop to clip 2 of the 4 draws in the crux. It has incredible movement on sloping crimps, and its exposure and spice make it an absolute classic.

The moves came together quite easily for me with a month of crimpy limestone under my belt. It was just a matter of keeping a strong mind and trying really hard. As we’ve sat in a cloud of rain for 2 weeks and pulling a lat on a warm up, I had lots of time to obsess and obsess and obsess. Then the clouds opened up, the sun peeked through, and I popped enough advil for one good attempt on this perfect day :o) It was one of those climbing days I will never forget. The sun was shining, spring waterfalls were running over the caves, good friends were watching and cheering and a beautiful proud rock climb that in that moment came together perfectly.

It was worth the wait, for that day and that moment when I latched the jug….barely. It was such a "barely" that everyone had already sighed and gone quiet. I swear I was campussing the air, infact I think that the wind blew at a perfect time to boost me back onto the jug.

Hmmm, what to obsess over next...

Gear Review: The perfect all purpose Harness

Who would have thought that Madrock (who specializes in shoes) would come out with the sickest harness that I have ever used. I have spent the big huge dollars on expensive harnesses which suck and I have spent less and been disapointed as well. All harnesses I have tried are either missing a key feature, wearing out quickly, or they are just plain uncomfortable and unpracticle.

Madrock has come out with an amazing harness called the Beta. It is ultra light, and fits so comfortably that you feel as though you aren't even wearing a harness. The material is soft, so it doesn't dig in anywear. You can get it with adjustable/ non adjustable leg loops. The adjustable ones use tiny light buckels that aren't cumbersome or annoying. It is automaticly double backed to save you that extra step too. This harness also has good sized gear loops so you can swing from sport to trad without having to own 2 harnesses. The best feature however that it feels comfortable when you are hanging. It doesnt put ANY strain on my back and feels almost as though I'm sitting in a seat. SWEET.

Oh and it is only 59-69 bucks!!!

Seriously, this harness iz the shizz. I don't know how it could be any better. Try it out and let me know what you think.

www.madrockclimbing.com/beta.aspx