Interesting weekend
Mar. 2nd, 2009 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pandora_parrotWell... I spent a fair bit of change this weekend.
I bought some really pretty and interesting clothing. What I like best is that it is much more form fitting than the clothes I've been wearing lately. In my new outfits, you can really see my curves, especially my bust, which makes me rather jolly.
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andrea_lambda and I were comparing muscle tone the other night, and I was stunned to discover that my muscles are actually pretty hard when flexed. This is yet another new experience for me. I don't think I've ever had this level of strength in my muscles. And I'm really flexible. I needed to tie my shoe over at parmonster's place today, and instead of kneeling down, I put it on top of a chest-high light fixture that was in the ground, and it didn't bother me at all. It's blowing my mind.
Top-rope climb: - When top-roping, the rope is attached to a fixed point above the climber. The rope is usually set there by a lead climber or by finding another, safer, route to the top of the climbing route to set up the top-rope anchor. Usually, top-rope climbs are belayed from the ground underneath the climber, but sometimes the belayer may be above the climber.
Lead climbing - If there is no safe way up to the top-rope anchor, or if there simply isn't any pre-set top-rope anchor, someone needs to go up the wall first to set up anchors for other people to climb. This first person is called the lead climber and must bring the rope up with them as they climb. This means they are setting up anchors along the way, so that they don't fall too far if they should lose their grip on the rock. This is a lot more challenging than top-roping, and far more dangerous, since it requires the climber to be hanging onto the rock while setting up anchors with slings, carbiners, etc.
Multi-pitch climbing - In a lot of your beginner/basic climbs, you're just doing a single pitchwhich means that there's nowhere else to go once you've reached the top. You just come back down to the ground. Or perhaps you do a single pitch climb only to get to the top and move on from there. But there's only the one climb. In multi-pitch climbing, the lead climber goes up as far as they are able to go based on the rope length, and then stops. There's still further to go, so the second climber climbs up to where the lead climber is, cleaning up the anchors and such as they come up while the lead climber basically top-ropes the second. Once they meet, the second transfers all of the equipment back to the lead, and the lead transfers the rope back to the second. The lead then continues up the wall. So basically, you have to do the entire climb in several different sections, or pitches, as they are termed. This is harder than doing a single-pitch lead climb, obviously, as you have to keep going up the wall, and there is no easy way to rappel back down to the ground, as you don't have enough rope to do so.
Big wall climbing - My ultimate goal. Once you can do multi-pitch climbing pretty well, big wall climbing can come next. Simply put, big wall climbing is a multi-pitch climbing that is so big, you can't do it all in one day. We're talking 3000 ft. tall cliffs here. That means you have to actually camp out on the rock face itself. So you're not only climbing, but hauling a ton of camping shit up with you as you go. But the idea of doing this is utterly fantastic to me. It seems like an incredible accomplishment.
Climbing Ratings - Climbs in the US are often rated using the Yosemite Decimal System, which classifies climbs according to type and difficulty. A 5.3 is a class 5, difficulty 3 climb. Class 5 climbs are ones that require rope. difficulties up to 6 are easy, from 7 to 9 intermediate, and 10a to 10c advanced. After that, you're starting to get into expert climbing.)
chirik and lilyth_lindorie both started later than I did, but are already doing 5.10b climbs. chirik even did a 5.10c climb the other day. andrea_lambda and parmonster are both right there on roughly the same level as I'm at, a little better in some places, a little weaker in others.
That's not to neglect the others that are getting into climbing as well. We have a few newer climbers that are starting to build their skills and really get involved in climbing, likechainsaw_hime, sonyalynn, and dana_grrl. Then there are the irregular climbers that come every once in a while, like cyberspice, ef2p, foxgrrl, and changelingjane. And of course, my co-worker and his other climbing buddies. It's great to climb with such a variety of people at such diverse skill levels, and it's neat to introduce more people to the sport as time goes on.
As folks come more often, they are starting to get involved in the excitement of sharing the battle against the various routes.chainsaw_hime and I were having fun discussing how to assault a really interesting 5.9 the other day, for example. It won't be too long before she's doing 5.10a climbs as well. And even when there's a disparity in climbing ability, everyone is still there to offer encouragement and celebration for their accomplishments.
It's basically the complete opposite of any sport I've ever heard of. It's lovely. :)
andrea_lambda's place this weekend, hanging out and playing Rock Band. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown on Saturday and played games to kind of escape from reality a bit and just veg out. It was a nice and relaxing experience, and I really got a lot of my angst out on beating up that drum set. Apparently, I kick ass at drums, as I think I've completely mastered the medium difficulty on them now. Maybe I should think about getting a real drum set if I keep doing fairly decently at those. However, I was rocking out so hard that I managed to really bang up my hand, giving me some pretty nasty blisters that are going to take some time to heal.
parmonster again this weekend. She's been off to England to hang with auntysarah, zoeimogen, the_local_echo, and many others for a lovely vacation for nearly 3 weeks. Of course, I've missed her terribly, and it was really nice to spend some time with her today and make stew.
New Clothes
With all my weight loss since last June, none of my clothes fit me anymore. I've been wearing size 24-26 jeans, size 10 panties, and women's XL to XXL tops in the past, but they're all baggy and horrible looking on me. So this weekend, I decided to finally go out and buy some more clothing. I was stunned to discover that I am now a size 18 in jeans, a size 6 in underwear, and am wearing women's size L tops! Holy crap!I bought some really pretty and interesting clothing. What I like best is that it is much more form fitting than the clothes I've been wearing lately. In my new outfits, you can really see my curves, especially my bust, which makes me rather jolly.
New Shoes
I also went to REI and bought myself my first pair of GOOD shoes that I've ever owned in my entire life. I've never owned a pair of shoes that cost me more than like $20 at a super-store like Target or Walmart or K-mart. I bought a pair of $135 Vasque VSL hiking shoes. They're the most comfortable and supportive shoes I have ever had the pleasure of walking in. I wore them all day today and for part of yesterday, and I just can't get enough of them. They're grippy as all hell with all that lovely tread, surprisingly flexible for the amount of support they offer, and just oh so right for my feet. I'm seriously considering making them my everyday walking shoe and maybe buying another pair for pure hiking stuffs.Ready to climb!
I also finally finished collecting all the necessary parts to start doing top-roping out in the wild. Rope. Slings. 'Biners. I am now fully ready to do out door rock climbing, at least in terms of equipment. I still need to get someone to take me out and show me how to set up safe top-rope anchors. I've read a few books on it by now, but I really should work with someone that knows what they're doing first. I'm going to take a class towards the end of the month, and my coworker that got me into climbing has indicated that he would love to take me out climbing outdoors in April sometime, if he can ever find 5 minutes to rub together to do it. Either way, I should be edumicated by April. Weather permitting, I may actually start doing outdoor climbing every weekend, in addition to the other climbing I do. I'm really focused on building up my strength, flexibility, and ability to climb.Changing Body
I'm really really excited by the changes happening to my body with this.andrea_lambda and I were comparing muscle tone the other night, and I was stunned to discover that my muscles are actually pretty hard when flexed. This is yet another new experience for me. I don't think I've ever had this level of strength in my muscles. And I'm really flexible. I needed to tie my shoe over at parmonster's place today, and instead of kneeling down, I put it on top of a chest-high light fixture that was in the ground, and it didn't bother me at all. It's blowing my mind.Loose Skin
The thing that annoys me at times about it, though, is that I still have a lot of loose skin from being overweight for most of my life. Even with all the exercise and fitness I'm doing, there is always going to be loose rolls of flesh hanging from my body. I just stretched it out too much and broke it, I guess. I imagine I'm probably too old for it to happen naturally any more. It's not something that really bothers me TOO too much, as I didn't really have a problem being fat before... but it is a little bit sad that there's not too much I can do about the loose skin without some sort of cosmetic surgery to fix it. Meh. As long as I can climb and run and jump and all that, that's all that really matters.Climbing Goals
I'm really dedicated to the idea of pushing myself and training up to eventually do big wall climbing. For now, that's several years off. The first step is to get outdoors and start climbing with top-rope climbs. Then keep training and having fun until I'm able to start learning how to do lead climbing. Then I can start to train on multi-pitch climbs. Then finally, big wall climbing.Definitions
So, a few definitions:Top-rope climb: - When top-roping, the rope is attached to a fixed point above the climber. The rope is usually set there by a lead climber or by finding another, safer, route to the top of the climbing route to set up the top-rope anchor. Usually, top-rope climbs are belayed from the ground underneath the climber, but sometimes the belayer may be above the climber.
Lead climbing - If there is no safe way up to the top-rope anchor, or if there simply isn't any pre-set top-rope anchor, someone needs to go up the wall first to set up anchors for other people to climb. This first person is called the lead climber and must bring the rope up with them as they climb. This means they are setting up anchors along the way, so that they don't fall too far if they should lose their grip on the rock. This is a lot more challenging than top-roping, and far more dangerous, since it requires the climber to be hanging onto the rock while setting up anchors with slings, carbiners, etc.
Multi-pitch climbing - In a lot of your beginner/basic climbs, you're just doing a single pitchwhich means that there's nowhere else to go once you've reached the top. You just come back down to the ground. Or perhaps you do a single pitch climb only to get to the top and move on from there. But there's only the one climb. In multi-pitch climbing, the lead climber goes up as far as they are able to go based on the rope length, and then stops. There's still further to go, so the second climber climbs up to where the lead climber is, cleaning up the anchors and such as they come up while the lead climber basically top-ropes the second. Once they meet, the second transfers all of the equipment back to the lead, and the lead transfers the rope back to the second. The lead then continues up the wall. So basically, you have to do the entire climb in several different sections, or pitches, as they are termed. This is harder than doing a single-pitch lead climb, obviously, as you have to keep going up the wall, and there is no easy way to rappel back down to the ground, as you don't have enough rope to do so.
Big wall climbing - My ultimate goal. Once you can do multi-pitch climbing pretty well, big wall climbing can come next. Simply put, big wall climbing is a multi-pitch climbing that is so big, you can't do it all in one day. We're talking 3000 ft. tall cliffs here. That means you have to actually camp out on the rock face itself. So you're not only climbing, but hauling a ton of camping shit up with you as you go. But the idea of doing this is utterly fantastic to me. It seems like an incredible accomplishment.
Climbing Ratings - Climbs in the US are often rated using the Yosemite Decimal System, which classifies climbs according to type and difficulty. A 5.3 is a class 5, difficulty 3 climb. Class 5 climbs are ones that require rope. difficulties up to 6 are easy, from 7 to 9 intermediate, and 10a to 10c advanced. After that, you're starting to get into expert climbing.)
More on goals
So... I have a ton to learn about all of this as I grow on this. There's technique, concepts, moves, and general information about the entire sport that I still need to consume and grok. I don't have much of a clue what big wall climbing entails, but as I get better at climbing, I will learn. I'm just in love with the idea of waking up at dawn, attached to a makeshift ledge on a sheer rock face, 1500 feet above the ground. It's an accomplishment that is pretty unique and personal.Non-competitive climbing
I think that's one of the things about climbing that really makes me happy. When you're climbing, there's not much about competition going on. It's all between you and the rock. When you accomplish a particular climb, that success is yours and is a very personal kind of badge to wear. It's not like there's all these merit badges that you get to walk around and share them with folks. Each route has its own personality and quirks, and the fun of working with that route to figure out how to move your body to the top is just a delightful mental and physical challenge.Climbing with friends
I'm really lucky in that many of the people I'm climbing with are basically advancing right along with me in terms of both skill and passion for the sport.chirik and lilyth_lindorie both started later than I did, but are already doing 5.10b climbs. chirik even did a 5.10c climb the other day. andrea_lambda and parmonster are both right there on roughly the same level as I'm at, a little better in some places, a little weaker in others.That's not to neglect the others that are getting into climbing as well. We have a few newer climbers that are starting to build their skills and really get involved in climbing, like
chainsaw_hime, sonyalynn, and dana_grrl. Then there are the irregular climbers that come every once in a while, like cyberspice, ef2p, foxgrrl, and changelingjane. And of course, my co-worker and his other climbing buddies. It's great to climb with such a variety of people at such diverse skill levels, and it's neat to introduce more people to the sport as time goes on. Similar skill levels
As I said, many of us are basically at the same level, roughly speaking. We push one another to keep growing and building our skills. Like, one of us will try a new climb out and tell the others about it. Then we'll all go at it, giving encouragement and advice where appropriate to get through the route. And when someone finishes the route, we all cheer and clap for the person that did it. If we find a really challenging route that we're all having trouble with, we'll all take shots at it over time, as we struggle to figure out what the solution is. It's mostly a collaborative experience, with just enough competition to make it a fun bit of encouragement as well, without making it a contest to see who is the better climber.As folks come more often, they are starting to get involved in the excitement of sharing the battle against the various routes.
chainsaw_hime and I were having fun discussing how to assault a really interesting 5.9 the other day, for example. It won't be too long before she's doing 5.10a climbs as well. And even when there's a disparity in climbing ability, everyone is still there to offer encouragement and celebration for their accomplishments.It's basically the complete opposite of any sport I've ever heard of. It's lovely. :)
Rock Band
I spent a lot of time over atandrea_lambda's place this weekend, hanging out and playing Rock Band. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown on Saturday and played games to kind of escape from reality a bit and just veg out. It was a nice and relaxing experience, and I really got a lot of my angst out on beating up that drum set. Apparently, I kick ass at drums, as I think I've completely mastered the medium difficulty on them now. Maybe I should think about getting a real drum set if I keep doing fairly decently at those. However, I was rocking out so hard that I managed to really bang up my hand, giving me some pretty nasty blisters that are going to take some time to heal.Sara!
I was also really really happy to seeparmonster again this weekend. She's been off to England to hang with auntysarah, zoeimogen, the_local_echo, and many others for a lovely vacation for nearly 3 weeks. Of course, I've missed her terribly, and it was really nice to spend some time with her today and make stew.
