Saturday, March 25, 2006

Train To Climb


As I mentioned a while back, my goal was to complete more technical mountaineering climbs this year. I have focused my goal now to completing the climbs in Colorado Scrambles. The goal for this year will be to complete 5 of these.

So I am prepping for this goal in two ways. In April I will be taking the Mountaineering 101 course from CMS. I plan to follow that with a Trekking class from CMC followed by Mountaineering next winter with CMC.

This post however is about climbing skills. I recently started climbing at Rockn and Jamn with my co-worker Kathy. After 4 weeks in the gym, I decided it was time to focus my training a bit. I remembered listening to the PodClimber Podcast titled Training with Calvin. Here is my adaptation of his training schedule:

Endurance
Pick a lower level, do 30-40 moves in 10 minutes. My goal is to do this 5 times a night, twice a week on the same route.


Power Endurance
One hard, one moderate, one extra hard. On the wall, no rest. 15-40 moves, 2-3 minutes on wall. Done the route before. Rest 2-3 minutes. 2-3 times, then a longer rest.

Fartleks for Climbers
Pick a route one level lower than your max. I'm currently a 5.8 climber, so 5.7 would be my goal. Start the route quickly with some energy, then go easy in the middle, then finish hard. Finish the route in 2-3 minutes, then rest the same amount of time.

Power at End
Pick a hard, but doable problem of 5-10 moves. Traverse into this hard part after 15-20 moves. Do this 2-3 times, then take a longer break.

Hard Red Point
Pick a difficult route to climb. If unsuccessful, go back to bottom, maybe a 5 minute rest then learn it as you climb. Do this 2-3 times.


Power
Warm up on moderate boulder. Pick your 5 hardest problems in bouldering, write them down, and try to beat record next time at gym
Add on move, partner does 2-3 moves, then you add one, they add one (2-4 times)
Hand strength: do weighted hangs from hardest hold
System board: 5-10 moves, slowly, hang a moment between holds
Arm&Back: moderate hold, pull up and lock off for 5 seconds before moving up: one handed traverse
Core body: powerful stemming. Find a small hold in corner, press with legs to hang on. For ab strength do slide outs on an exercise ball. Finish with nice long endurance cool down.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Salt Lake City



"I never killed anyone who didn't need killing." -- Porter Rockwell

I took SouthWest Airlines $49 deal to Salt Lake City to visit my brother and his family. Friday night we had a great dinner in a little hole in the wall named after Porter Rockwell.

Saturday we took a hike around the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The caves were closed for the winter, but we had fun exploring the beautiful valley. We also went to the local rec center and hit the climbing wall. Beka is a natural on the rock. Kari, Dusty, and I also climbed.

I also stepped foot inside my first Cabela's store. It is quite impressive with the outdoor scenes and live aquariums. The Pro Bass Store in Denver holds its own against this store though. Can't wait for our Cabela's to open, or better yet to visit the flagship Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska.