Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

Yearly Archives: 2015

The Perfect Hand-Me-Down: 3 Kids and 1 Down Suit

The Perfect Hand-Me-Down: 3 Kids and 1 Down Suit

Before I became pregnant with my first child, I was blessed to have some like-minded friends who were just phasing out of the life stage we were just getting ourselves into.  Their then-toddler would be their last child, and they were actually preparing to move to Germany…which meant our family was one of the many to benefit from their infant outdoor gear archives! We scored bigtime in the clothing and shoe department, most of which at this point has either been worn into the ground or given to other families of outdoorsy little boys who like to play in the mud.  However,…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Performance Week 1: New River Gorge

Performance Week 1: New River Gorge

This past weekend marked the first trip of my “Performance Phase” in my first training cycle using the Rock Climber’s Training Manual.  There were a few ups and downs, but overall I am very pleased with how I climbed, and am optimistic about how the next few weeks will go.  I’ll start with the downs, so I can end on a good note! DOWNS On the routes I’d previously been on (and thus already worked out the moves for), I got shutdown.  I failed miserably on Techman (5.12c), which had been my primary goal for the weekend.  The crux went…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Rock Climber’s Training Manual Part 2 – Power/Power Endurance

Rock Climber’s Training Manual Part 2 – Power/Power Endurance

A few weeks ago I posted about how things were going for me in first two phases (Base Fitness and Strength) of the Rock Prodigy Training Program.  Now that I’ve completed the latter two training phases (Power and Power Endurance), it seems appropriate to share another progress report. Power has never been my strong suit.  When I get shut down on a route/problem, it’s generally because I just cannot execute a particular move.  On the flip side, however, if I CAN do all the moves on a route, linking them together *usually* comes fairly quickly.  Bouldering at the gym has helped, as well…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

We finally had an entire weekend free to head up to the New River Gorge, which of course meant it was going to be snowing and in the THIRTIES (after highs in the 60’s the weekend before…).  But at least the weather was good in our neck of the woods, even if it did feel more like a warm winter day rather than spring.  And even though we had to settle for Plan B, it ended up being a weekend filled with important milestones! The whole family marched up to Red Wall at Crowders Mountain on Saturday morning.  Steve had his sights…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Climbing with a 5 month old (Reader Question from Megan D.)

Climbing with a 5 month old (Reader Question from Megan D.)

When it comes to logistics of climbing with young kiddos, I’ve written about every age in the 5 and under set, sometimes more than once. But as my kids are growing (sigh), it’s easy for those posts to get lost in the archives, especially the itty-bitty-baby ones. So I thought I’d try something different with a question I received recently from Megan D out of Seattle, WA, about getting back into climbing with her 5 month old.  As I was digging through old posts, I realized that it might not be a bad idea to share her question with the masses –…Read the rest of this entry →

Share
“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN