Name that Derriere

If you have every taking any pictures of people climbing, it has inevitably happened to you. The "Butt Shot".  If you don't remember what color your friend's pants were that day,  you may not remember who the climber was. Mostly those pictures are useless. That is why Rockman came up with his new segment/contest Name That Derriere.  Here is how it works.  Look at the three photos;  try to identify  the Adventure Rock members pictured.  E-mail your Answers to rockman@adventurerock.com.  The winner will receive a Kreig Chalk Bag, one of these bad boys will fancy up your derriere for sure.  All submissions will need to be in by April 2nd, 2010.  Winner will be chosen at random from the most accurate submissions.  Here are the photos:

Photo #1 by Chris Hannes

Photo #2 by Unknown

Photo #3 by Daniel Clifford

Good luck.  If you can't get enough of Butt Shots you may want to join the Facebook group Nothing Butt Climbing Pics.  Feel free to e-mail Rockman your Butt Shots, he will try to use them in future Name The Derriere posts.

In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman

The Humble 9/16th Wrench

When was the last time you were out climbing and clipped a bolt that the hanger spun?  Or maybe you got to an anchor and one of the quick links was opened just a little bit.  You may have thought to yourself,"Self, that can't be good".  Maybe you tried to tighten it by hand and thought, like Rockman did, "Someone should do something about this bolt".  Rockman can honestly say he was missing something about how things get  in the climbing world, to think someone else should do something.  The person that needs to do something is the person who sees the problem.

Rockman's epiphany came when he met a climber named Terry Kindred, an outspoken southern climber and member of Team Suck, a group of folks that climbed, played and rebolted routes together.  Terry wasn't full of a lot tact, but he called them like he saw them.  He was not afraid to come up to a climber and tell them what they were doing wrong.  He had a sense of responsibility to the climbing world and he did not want anyone to mess it up (he used other words).  Terry and the rest of Team Suck spent a lot of time and money replacing bolts in the Red River Gorge, and still do (without Terry).    Replacing bolts is pretty unglamorous, it doesn't get your name in the guide book like bolting new lines does, but when that new line's bolts aren't so new any more most RRG climbers should be grateful for Team Suck.  Terry would proselytize almost as much as he climbed or screwed around.  The thing Rockman remembers most about his rants was: We are responsible for the world of climbing, not someone else.  He would go on about reading kiosks at the trail head, parking in the right area, packing out your climbing tape, obeying closures, following land owners rules and host of other really simple things.  Most climbers can't, won't or shouldn't be replacing bolts, but we should do what we can when we can.  Thankfully Team Suck does a great job with bolt replacement in the Red River Gorge.

Terry died in 2006, and while Rockman didn't know Terry well, he still felt his loss.  Rockman feels as though the climbing community needed some like Terry to give us  a wake up.  To tell us what should obvious.  So as spring draws near and you start putting you climbing gear together, throw a simple 9/16" (or adjustable) wrench in your pack.  When you come across a loose bolt tighten it down.   Not because Rockman said so, not because Terry would have told to do so, because it is the least you can do for the sport.

In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman




P.S.   Terry and the rest of Team Suck have a "How to Climb" section on their website.  If you go to their website you can read a lot of fascinating Terryoids (quotes from Terry), report bad bolts, and, of course, donate to the rebolting fund.  Rockman just did his part a made a donation to both Team Suck and RRGCC.

Classic Climbing Cinema

Back in the day Cliffhanger was the best Hollywood Climbing  ever made.  Rockman loved it.  The best part of the film is the opening scene.  Rockman and lots of other climbers used the Ol' Black Diamond Bod harness pictured in the scene.  As cheesy as it is, this scene is what climbing nightmares are made of (the free falling to death, not hanging out with Sly Stallone).  Give the opening a look  then check out the parody.



In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman

Hints to an effective gym work-out

Climbing at the gym is fun, for a lot of reasons.  Great people, wide variety of changing routes and grades, climate controlled, comfy floor and a host of other amenities.  It is easy to see why climbers, while they love the outdoors, still flock to climbing gyms all over the world.  Adventure Rock is no exception.  Climbing gyms are kinda like bars for active people, lots of camaraderie, laughter, pick up lines and good times.  Rockman will often walk through the gym and comment that Adrock is a sitting gym more than it is a climbing gym.  This atmosphere, unfortunately, can lead to less working out and more hanging out.  If you have been coming to the gym and you don't seem to be getting better or your performance has plateaued, here a couple of hints to a more effective gym work-out.

• Decide why you come to the gym-If you come to the gym to hang out , Great.  If you come to get strong for a trip to the Red, fine.  If you come to for fitness, totally cool.  What ever the reason you come to the gym it is important for you identify those reasons. It will help you.....
  
• Set some goals-Once you have idea of why come to the gym, you will need to set some goals.  I want to climb X grade.  I would like to be able to get to the top of the CCC trail without passing out.  I would like to be able to do this route or that  route.  What ever you decide your goal is it will help determine your workout in the gym.
• Warm up-Try to warm up slow and on moderate grades.  This will help reduce injury and help lengthen you work outs.
  
• Work out-We do call it a gym.  Based on your goals you should have some idea of what you need to do.  If you are working towards a bouldering trip you shouldn't be doing routes.  If you are working to increasing your endurance, stay out of the bouldering cave.
• Use your time-Get into the gym an appropriate amount to meat your goals.  No more, no less.  Coming into the gym to often will cause either ineffective workout or injuries.
  
• Get some help-For whatever the reason once climbers learn to belay they think they don't need any help.  There are many places to get help; Adrock offers personal training,there are lots of book out about training, online resources, other climbers, lots of options just don't be afraid to utilize help.  Often time a partner who pushes you can make the difference. Your partner doesn't help.....
• Lose the dead weight-This could be literally and figuratively.  It is easier to climb when you are lighter, however climbers carry around a lot of figurative dead-weight.   This weight could be a under-motivated partner, climbing with new climbers that chew into your work-out, trying to mac at the gym, people that want to tell you how to run your business.  Lose it all.  Tell people you are at the gym to work-out, not talk and try to say no to the doughnut, too.  
• Know your body-What do you need to do to get a good work out?  Back in the day Rockman would have to ~20 route for a good work out, these days its more like 7 or 8.  Keep a log if you need to.  Once you have a base of what is a good work-out you can keep better track of what you are doing and how you are progressing.  Knowing your body pertains to getting a climbing injury, as well, know when your body is telling you to take a couple days off.
• Failure is good-When you can't get up your warm-ups at the end of the night, you've done good.  Think about it, when was the last time you were so tired that you failed getting up a warm-up?  Maybe you should be doing a little more each time your in the gym.  Try doing laps on your last route or down climbing your last route or killer hangboard session.

If your goal is just to hang out, ignore most of this.  If you want to improve try a couple of these hints, while firing you partner is kinda harsh, most of these things are easy to implement.  Give them a try, the nice thing is you can always go back to hanging out  on the floor and telling people how to run their business.

In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman


P.S.  For all of you faithful readers, sorry for that lack of posts this past week.  Rockman's brain stopped working altogether.  Hopefully were up to normal functioning now and will posting on a more regular basis.  

Parental Guidance Suggested

Not everyone sees things like Rockman. He understands this.  Rockman is no angel. He has said his fair share of inappropriate things and dropped his fair share of less than gentlemanly language.  That being said, Rockman thinks climbing should be a family  sport.  Folks should be able to take their family to the gym or to the crag without a bunch of earmuffs and oxygen masks.  For the most part, Rockman has been pretty psyched on how well the climbing community has toned it down when his family rolls up to the crag.  It may be a slight buzz kill, but 70% of the climbers get it. The others, well, they may never get it and that's really sad.

Recently, Rockman has been viewing trailers of new climbing videos that are about to be released.  It has been amazing to see not only how climbers have improved but how the production value of climbing films has improved. Climbers are making videos that are pretty interesting to watch.  Lots of camera angles, great graphics, and editing make for easy viewing.  It seems like a great way to make some money in the sport. Unfortunately, it seem as though many of the guys making the videos are part of the 30% that may never get.  This video is a great example of how clueless some folks are(Warning:This video has a lot of pointless swearing and other dumb behavior.  Rockman has posted it to illustrate a point.  You don't need to watch it to understand the point): 

Classy.

This particular video is not super high quality, but illustrates the point.  The language, the music and the behavior are all inappropriate.  Was this movie made for a family audience?  One would hope not. Rockman is not suggesting that we sanitize the climbing world to make it family friendly, but the editing process makes it wee bit easier.  "Artistic" decisions were made to make these videos what they are and  these videos are on the cutting edge of rock climbing.  All of the professional climbers in the industry are in them.  All of the sport's leading gear manufacturers sponsor and advertise in these movies.  Is this what the sport is?  Is this what you want the sport to be?  Rockman doesn't.  Adventure Rock doesn't.  This is one of the reasons Adrock doesn't do many climbing movie premieres, because we feel strongly about the family nature of sport.  Now watch this video:

If you actually got to the section of the first video with Daniel Woods, you realize how different these two videos are.  Why?  $$$$$$$. Daniel Woods likes his sponsorship with The North Face.  Even though Rockman isn't a huge fan of The North Face, they get it.  They want to be associated with the best things this sport offers.  They want what Adventure Rock wants.  The difficulty of the moves, the conquering of something that was thought to be to hard, "the triumph of victory and the agony of defeat", all of the things that attracted many of us to the sport initially.  And, Rockman would add, stuff he would like his kids to be a part of.  Climbing: Parental Guidance Suggested-But does it need to be?

In the Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman

Summit Shots

The Summit Shot, that all important proof of success.  These, often out of focus, poorly composed, photos are some of a climbers most treasured possessions.  Rockman totally spaced these from Everest Day.  They are great, take a look.



These hold up to any of the Summit Shots, Rockman has seen.

In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman