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

Yearly Archives: 2015

Softstar Minimalist Sandals – A Review

Softstar Minimalist Sandals – A Review

One thing you may not know about Baby Zu is that she is rather into shoes.  At least twice a day I catch her in our mud room camped out in a giant pile of shoes.  No matter how many times we organize the shoes, by the end of the day, they are scattered out around the house again.  They don’t even have to be hers.  In fact, she takes it upon herself regularly to make sure that everyone in the house has a pair of shoes available to them at arm’s reach. So it only made sense to let…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

To All the Guy Climbers: A Rant and a Salute…

To All the Guy Climbers: A Rant and a Salute…

It was pretty crowded in the gym last Sunday.  The weather was crappy and there were a LOT of birthday parties going on.  I was patiently trying to maneuver through my fairly extensive warm-up routine before retreating to the training area to do some Power Enduro laps.  I was almost ready, just needed to do a handful of more challenging problems that I had really dialed. There was already someone (a 20-something guy) working one of the boulder problems I was interested in doing.  He tried several times, and kept getting stuck at the crux, 3 moves in.  I waited until he took a break…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Hidden Wall and a New Camera

Hidden Wall and a New Camera

This past weekend’s adventures were pretty low-key – a Saturday spent at Hidden Wall.  We started late, ended early, and kept things simple.  Our main objective actually was trying out the new camera we’d purchased the week before – a Sony Alpha a6000.  For years we’ve been pretty dissatisfied with our point and shoots, but we had a hard time justifying the bulk of a digital SLR in combination with all the other gear we have to carry into the crag.  But recently we’d been hearing a lot about the mirrorless system, which is a lot more compact.  So after reading…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Hidden Valley Fundraiser!

Hidden Valley Fundraiser!

Tuesday night was a great one for the Charlotte climbing community.  It proved to me once again that NC climbers are a special group of people!  A few weeks ago, Garrett Gossett from the Charlotte Chapter of the American Alpine Club invite me to attend their next “Pint Night” to promote my new guidebook.  Once we put our heads together, we decided to take things a step further – why not turn this shindig into a fundraiser to benefit the Hidden Valley land acquisition? Sycamore Brewery was kind enough to host our event, and the Bleu Barn Bistro’s food truck was…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Rock Climber’s Training Manual: Performance Phase (aka RESULTS!)

Rock Climber’s Training Manual: Performance Phase (aka RESULTS!)

I’m writing this climbing-related post from just about as far away from the mountains as I can possibly get.  Hubby’s out of town on business, so me and the kiddos are taking the opportunity to hang out at my in-laws beach house in Sunset Beach, NC.  It’s the perfect way to enjoy my week of rest after wrapping up my very first Rock Prodigy training cycle. To catch up any new readers, since January I’ve been using the program outlined in the Rock Climber’s Training Manual, written by my fellow Trango athletes Mark and Mike Anderson.  This periodized program took me through 4…Read the rest of this entry →

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