Category Archives: Climbing

Posts about…you guessed it – climbing! Trip reports, anecdotes, and musings about my favorite recreational pasttime.

How to Make Reachy Moves

Jun 08 2015

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been shut down by a crux sequence because of a hold that is juuuuust out of reach. Unless you are 7 feet tall, most of us should have our hands up at this point. While it’s probably safe to say that a climber who is 5 feet tall probably deals with this more than one who is 6 feet tall, learning how to make long reaches is a skill that can benefit all climbers. Standing at 5’5″ tall, I’m certainly not short by female standards (average height for adult American female is 5’4″), although…Read the rest of this entry →

Ups and Downs Climbing at the OBED

May 29 2015

Last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, which meant it was time for our 5th annual climbing trip to the Obed Wild and Scenic River. Usually this trip marks the start of the humid sweatfest that is otherwise known as summer climbing in the Southeast…but we actually lucked out with a spring-ish weekend. Nights were cool, and midday highs were in the low 80’s with very little humidity. Definitely the best Memorial Day conditions we’ve ever had! But when the whole family is involved in the climbing experience, there’s a lot more to great “sending conditions” than just weather. Without wasting too…Read the rest of this entry →

Hidden Wall and a New Camera

May 17 2015

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 →

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

May 11 2015

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 →

4 Days of Pump at the Red River Gorge

Apr 22 2015

Spring. One the two times per year that our family heads to the Red River Gorge with the sole intention of obliterating our forearms. For those of you not familiar with the Red River Gorge, the climbing style is the polar opposite of the climbing we typically engage in at our favorite weekend crag, the New River Gorge. “The New” is all about technical face climbing – long, intricate, well-defined crux sequences involving tiny crimps and great footwork. In contrast, most routes at “the Red” lack a distinct crux – the difficulty comes not in the individual moves, but in linking them all…Read the rest of this entry →

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