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

Julbo Kid’s Eyewear: I Gotta Wear Shades…

Gear Reviews.
6 Comments.

Everybody knows that kids need lots of healthy doses of sunshine, right?  Well, yes and no.  Sunshine, yes!  Harmful UV rays, no.  Most of us in this day and age are aware of the damaging effects of the sun, (probably due to lessons learned the hard way back in our younger years…).  However, while a lot of parents are religious about lathering up the sunscreen on the kiddos before sending them outside, I’d wager that many of those same parents don’t think twice about protecting their child’s eyes from the sun.

Did you know that children under the age of 10 are at a much higher risk for both skin and eye damage from UV rays than their older counterparts?  According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, not only is the skin on their eyelids more delicate than adult skin, but until age 10, “the lens of a child’s eye is clear, allowing greater solar penetration and greater UV ray induced ocular changes.”  Sometime around the age of 10 the lens becomes more opaque, which provides better protection.

Scoping out chicks incognito in the grocery store…

But easier said than done though right?  As a family that spends the majority of our free time outdoors, we are all too well aware of just how impossible keeping a hat and sunglasses on a full throttle toddler can be.  While Cragbaby could usually be counted on to keep his hat on (which was good since he was pretty much bald well past his first birthday…), I must be honest and say that we’ve been pretty hit or miss with the sunglasses.  Aside from a few short-lived spurts here and there, C’s willingness to throw on his shades has been sporadic at best…until recently!

To be honest, I never imagined that C wouldn’t be into his shades.  My husband and I both are aesthetically blessed with attractive eye colours but we care about our sight so we’re always donning our own defensive eyewear – and toddlers are monkey see, monkey do right?  Besides, they were just so darn cute on him!  We didn’t push, but always made sure fashionable eyewear was available at all times on the freak chance that he would keep them on.  We tried a couple of pairs but the ones that have finally stuck are made by Julbo.

Though slowly but surely C has become more tolerant of wearing his shades, I think a lot of the recent zeal can strangely enough be contributed to the laser treatments I’ve been getting for my fractured ankle (Mommy, the doctor, and “big boys” all wear their special glasses in the treatment room…), C’s Julbo glasses (we have the Looping 3) do have a lot going for them that I think make them superior over the other brands we’ve tried. Shop now the greatest selection of designer sunglasses at reasonable prices.

Perfect peeper-protection in the sun!

…and easy to keep track of in the shade!

Here’s what we liked:

    • INDESTRUCTABLE – These glasses have certainly taken quite the licking and somehow they keep on ticking.  The frames are ridiculously flexible, which means they can withstand endless amounts of yanking and stretching and still stay in one piece.
    • REVERSIBLE – The frames are reversible, meaning regardless of how big boy C puts them on all by himself, they won’t be upside down!
    • STAY PUT STRAP – Though we’ve found that these glasses stay on pretty well even without the strap, the strap adds a peace of mind.  Even when C decides mid-hike that he’s “all done,” he can just take them off and wear them around his neck, so we don’t have to worry about keeping track of them.
    • GENEROUS SIZING – Just like most kid’s fashion, these glasses aren’t what I would call cheap (although at $32 they aren’t unreasonable).  However, unlike your child’s shirts and pants, these glasses should definitely last long enough to get your money’s worth out of them (provided your tyke doesn’t lose them!)  We ordered the 2-4 year size when C was around 16 months – they fit great then, and at 23 months, he’s still far from growing out of them.

Shades for everyone!

TRADE!
Here’s what we didn’t like:
      • SCRATCHES – I would have expected that glasses made for free-spirited (and often teething…) babies and toddlers would have been a little more resistant to scratches. I was disappointed when C got a few decent size scratches initially, but now that he’s older (and not chomping on them), the scratching is now at a minimum.  Thankfully the scratches aren’t too bad, and don’t seem to bother him at all.
Overall we’ve been really happy with Cragbaby’s eyewear choice (and thrilled with his newfound enthusiasm for them!).  I’m hoping that now that he’s getting used to wearing them, they’ll be a permanent fixture at the crag in a few weeks when I’m hopefully cleared to climb again.  What about your family – are some family members more psyched than others on keeping their shades on?  What strategies have you found that worked (or didn’t work) for encouraging little ones to jump on the shades bandwagon?

 

 

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An End to Winter Recreation in our State Parks?

Climbing. Reflections.
10 Comments.

So I usually tend to stay out of politics, but there’s been a recent issue that’s come up that I just can’t ignore.  A lot of you North Carolinians may have seen it already, but there’s been a nasty report going around social media circles recently about NC State Parks, and the government’s latest and not-so-greatest budget-cutting ideas.  The whole report can be found here, while a short synopsis can be found here.  But for the gist of it, and my (fairly strong) opinion, read on.  (And feel free to comment – I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts).

Basically, the state legislature is considering closing state parks during the winter months of December through February, as it would supposedly save $2.4 million dollars annually.  This closure would effect parks throughout the state, from the coast all the way to the mountains. This issue is near and dear to my heart because it affects all 4 of the climbing areas that will be included in the new Central NC guidebook that I’m working diligently on.  Although Moore’s Wall generally tends to be cold during the winter (except for “winters” like this one!), Pilot and Crowder’s Mountains are very climbable during cold weather due to their south-facing aspect – and winter is by far the peak season for getting your friction on at Stone Mountain!  Not to mention Chimney Rock State Park, which houses some of the best traditional climbing and bouldering in the state – again with winter being its best season!  When I first saw the link to the sum-up of the report, I thought it was a joke.  They can’t really do that, right?  But as I read the full report, I realized that although this proposal is definitely still in the infant stages, it is very possible that these closures can and will happen if enough people don’t stand up for their state parks.

The good news is that we don’t have to sit by and helplessly watch public lands that we as tax payers maintain go idle and unused for a quarter of the year.  Since the idea is only just starting to be investigated, there’s plenty of time to influence local legislators by informing them what we think of their so-called money-saving idea.  I for one am sending a letter to the senate and house representatives in my district, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.  If you are unsure who your local reps are, its easy to find out here.  Just type in your address and click on “State Legislative.”  If you’d like to also contact the committee members involved in researching this issue, there names are found here.

Cold weather doesn't keep this guy from sending...

For what its worth, here is the letter I sent.  Please feel free to use it (verbatim if your situation fits mine and you don’t have time to tweak it) to mail to your government officials…

Dear ____________,
I recently read the report published by the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee with regards to possible seasonal closures for NC State Parks.  I must be candid and say that I am appalled that government officials would even entertain such a harsh option that would affect so many people in such a negative way.   My personal fears with this new proposal are three-fold.  I’m looking at this report from three different perspectives – as rock climber, mother, and tax-paying citizen – none of which can justify any money-saving advantage from this plan, and all of which implore you to vote against this proposal. 

 My husband, son, and I spend a good deal of time utilizing the NC Park System throughout the year.  We live in Charlotte, and are avid rock climbers.  One of our favorite things about living in North Carolina is that the climate lends itself well to participating in our sport of choice year round.  During the cold winter months we are thankful to not only have Crowder’s Mountain 45 minutes from our home, but also Pilot Mountain, Stone Mountain, and Chimney Rock State Park accessible in less than 2 hours.  These three areas have the distinct winter advantage of facing south, which means the rock bakes in the sun all day.  These conditions are not only manageable in the cold, but are in fact ideal – in fact due to the nature of the unique friction climbing at Stone Mountain, winter is actually the best time of year to climb there!  A seasonal closure to these areas would be devastating to the climbing community.  

As a mother of an active toddler who loves to burn off his endless energy in the park system, I find it sadly ironic that state officials are suggesting eliminating one of the major venues that children have for outdoor recreation, especially with so much mention of childhood obesity rates on the rise.  An inability to access safe, outdoor natural areas during the winter will rob NC children of a multitude of natural learning experiences.  

But probably what outrages me most about this proposal is that the land in question is public property.  The idea of closing access to areas that we as tax-paying citizens pay for the use and maintenance of is proposterous, and clearly short-sighted. I understand the need for saving money, but there must be a better way to do it than the logistical nightmare of taking away such a valuable state resource for several months out of the year. 

Again, I applaud state officials for trying to make the best money-saving decisions possible, but as a climber, mother, and tax-paying citizen, I strongly advise you to consider all of the negative costs to seasonal closures in our parks.  I think a quick look at the numbers will show that this is not an effective way to meet budget criteria.  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, 
Erica Lineberry

I’m assuming that the majority of readers here are in agreement with the idea that state parks should remain available for year-round enjoyment, but I want to caution against a couple of things.  First of all, don’t assume that this is all idle talk – this report by the Oversight Committee is very real, and if the idea gains momentum, this proposal can and will be put into effect.  Second of all, don’t assume that we can’t make a difference.  Flood your representative’s mailboxes, inboxes, and voicemail with individual reasons why this idea is preposterous.  Remember – its the squeaky wheels that get the grease!

 

 

 

 

 

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Tales of a Broken Talus – Update #1

Climbing. Reflections.
15 Comments.

In light of my latest footwear trend, all trip reports to climbing destinations, exotic or otherwise, will be on hiatus for a quite some time.  However, since injuries are an unfortunate and inconvenient fact of life for everyone at one time or another, I thought it might be worthwhile to document how I’m getting through this without going crazy (more or less).  I’m certainly not the only one that’s been sidelined for a while, and since writing has always been a therapeutic outlet for me, I thought that weekly injury “trip reports” might be a healthy coping mechanism, as well as a way to measure my progress.

Elephantitis foot at the doctor Monday afternoon.

Day 1:  After being hauled out to the road (thanks Steve, Bennett, Norbert, Manuela, and Chuck for carrying more than your fair share), I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening soaking my foot in a pot of ice water and feeling sorry for myself.  I also scrounged around and found some hydrocodone leftover from my last incident involving pain meds in Maple Canyon a few years ago…  I slept well Saturday night.

Day 2:  Hobbled around all day as we went to church, Jesse Brown’s Outdoor Store, and the locally famous (and sometimes infamous) Gus Glitch’s bouldering barn, where we stopped by to visit a few friends and pick up a birdhouse Gus had made just for Cragbaby.  Popped a few more hydrocodone and watched helplessly as my ankle continued to swell all the way down through my toes, despite all of my icing and ibuprofen efforts.

Day 3:  Frustrated that I couldn’t get a same day appointment with the orthopedic doctor (apparently I wasn’t the only one that got hurt over the weekend), I went to see a podiatrist…who was the worst doctor I’d ever been to.  She told me it was broken, but proceeded to give me nothing but vague instructions and prognoses and was far too wishy-washy than I wanted to hear.  In one breath I needed to stay in the boot for 6 weeks before coming back for a checkup, and in the next sentence she was telling me it was okay to climb in a week if I had a brace on.  I did a lot of crying and feeling sorry for myself on the way home.  More hydrocodone ensued that night.

I'll be spending a lot of time here over the next few weeks...

Day 4:  Went to see a very sports medicine minded orthopedic doctor, who despite delivering the same diagnosis (small, non-displaced fracture of the talar dome), seemed much more knowledgeable and organized.  As someone who can get easily obsessed with small things I find that I do well with a doctor that pays attention to detail and will give me very specific instructions about what I can (and cannot) do at every stage in the game.  I was told to be in the boot constantly – the only time I’m allowed out of it is for icing and for showering.  We are going to reassess with new X-rays in 2 weeks.  I went to the climbing gym this afternoon to take out my frustration on the hangboard (since I don’t need 2 good feet for pull-ups…).  Of course there was a lot of explaining to do to everyone there when they saw me hobbling around in a boot.  In some ways it felt good to talk about it, but in other ways it was dangerous – with each person that asked, I felt closer and closer to bursting into tears.  Thankfully I held myself together long enough to burn my forearms up.

Day 5:  When I went to bed last night I was pleased that I was pain-free with the boot on and hadn’t had any pain meds (narcotic or otherwise) since the afternoon, so I was really disappointed to wake up to a constant dull ache this morning.  Not only was sleeping in the boot NOT fun (I gave up and came out of it sometime around 4 am), but my ankle is already amazingly stiff from not being able to move.  Everything in me wants to stretch it out and give it a few good rotations, but movement is off limits until it heals some so as not to displace the fracture.  I went to the chiropractor today – its far too soon for it to be adjusted (although I’m sure that the impact knocked everything out of whack down there), but I got a couple of different treatments that are supposed to speed up the body’s healing process.  One involved a laser and the other involved some sort of electromagnetic something.  Both encourage blood flow, reduce inflammation and promote healing at a cellular level.  Both modalities were easy to do and harmless to try, so even if its a bunch of mumbo jumbo snake oil, I figure its worth a shot.  It feels good to at least be able to do something proactive.  While everyone else in my house went jogging I perfected my gymnast ring push-ups and did a lot of other upper body work on my antagonist muscles.

Just in time to oversee the stretching!

Day 6:  I made an executive decision for my own personal sanity to lose the boot while I was sleeping (or lack thereof).  Instead I slept in my ankle brace, which still kept my ankle stabilized without the added bulk, extra heat, and overall annoyance of the big boot.  I still woke up a little stiff, but with a much better outlook from a full nights sleep.  Got in a great hangboard session – worked pinch, sloper, open-handed crimp, and offset hangs, and rounded the session out with 5 sets of pull-ups to failure.  The best part of the afternoon was watching Cragbaby schmooze his way into climbing team practice.

Try to convince him he's not really on the team...I dare you.

 

 

Day 7:  I hate wearing shoes in the house, but its a necessary evil unless I want to gimp around like a pirate with a peg leg.  The only shoe that comes remotely close to matching the height of the boot is my running shoes.  At least Cragbaby has come to terms with my new footwear.  Initially he was afraid of it, but today he spent a good bit of time today patting it affectionately and saying, “Boot, Mommy, boot Mommy,” as he moved in to give it a kiss.  A Cragbaby kiss may not make it all better, but it certainly takes away some of the sting.

Day 8:  It’s the first day since I can’t remember when that a Saturday morning has dawned sunny and I have no plans to be on the rock.  For reasons beyond me (but I won’t question it), Cragbaby somehow got the memo about not needing to be up early, so we got to sleep in til the unheard of hour of 8:00.  I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened in the past 23 months, and it was certainly well-timed today.  Being severely limited in what I can do for exercise, I squeezed in another upper body workout in the gym this morning.   No hangboard today though, as the last thing I want to do is overtrain my finger tendons.

Some sympathy "boot-ing"

Day 9:  A cold and rainy day – I found solace in the fact that I wasn’t the only one stuck inside unable to climb.  At least it was good guidebook writing weather…Not sure if it was the dreariness or what, but my ankle was pretty achy when I woke up.  I had to pop some Vitamin I for the first time since earlier in the week.

Well, one week down with not sure how many to go, but its one week less than it was last week.  I’ve managed to hang onto my sanity for all except for a few minor glitches, so I guess that means so far so good.  Stay tuned for another report next week…

 

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No Send Saturday (aka How I Scored a Sexy Black Boot)

Climbing. North Carolina.
16 Comments.

"My mommy got hurt today :(."

At the risk of spoiling the suspense, I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you that this story doesn’t have a happy ending.  What started off as a jovial weekend with good friends ended pretty abruptly for me with a hard smack against the wall and searing pain in my left foot.  The bad news kept rolling in over the next few days as my foot expanded to almost elephantitis status, and several X-rays showed a small fracture on my talar dome (or in layman’s terms, the pointy top part of my ankle bone that meets up with my lower leg bones to form the ankle joint).  Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what happened.

It all started on Friday night, when our Chapel Hillian friends (aka Manbert) showed up at our house for a delectable feast.  After gorging ourselves on cheesy potatoes and pampering ourselves with a sophisticated dessert, we settled in for the evening to watch some climbing videos and talk about our plan of attack for the next day.  My plan was to work on Slabster’s Lament (5.12a/b), a thuggish line that is far removed from my typical motif of delicate, technical edges and credit card crimpers.  I’d gotten on it once this past summer and couldn’t even do all the moves – then got on it again a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised that it felt much more manageable.

Steve warming-up on Path to Extinction (5.10a), a link-up of least resistance on the right side of Hidden Wall.

The first part of the route is a rightward traverse on some interesting pockets and huecos with polished feet.  The business begins where the rock gets steep and bulging at a burly, sloping undercling/sidepull type feature.  It’s weird because in some ways I feel like all my technique is checked at the door on this one – I just have to slap my hands up the feature with my face awkwardly smashed in against the rock.  On the other hand though I have to be really precise about when, where and how I move my feet so as to maintain proper body positioning to keep me on the rock (and to find the kneebar from which to clip the last bolt).  After scrapping my way up, the redpoint crux for me is being able to link the last few long moves together when I’m desperately gassed from all of the scrappy shenanigans below.

Since the first half of the climb was fairly moderate, I decide to warm-up with a toprope lap on the project, to get my beta for the top really dialed in.  I flailed around a lot at the top, and then found a way to bump my right hand up a bit to make the long move to the final hold a little less reachy.  My next attempt, this time on lead, was painfully close – I powered up and out of the sloping sidepull, got my hands just right, lunged for the last hold, and slipped right off.  The fall felt really good – my belayer left a decent amount of slack in the rope to ensure that I would clear the bulge below, so my fall was longer than I was anticipating but was completely clean.

Bennett sending The Snag (5.12b/c)

I decided I had one more go left in me, so I grabbed some food and water and tied in again about an hour later.  This time the lower section went a lot faster, although I wasted a lot of extra energy working through the sloping sidepull since I botched my footwork a little bit.  When I reached out for the holds above the bulge, both of my feet popped, although I surprised everyone (myself included) by hanging on and casually placing my feet back on the rock..  I was pretty tired at this point, but felt like I still had a shot – I bumped my right hand up to the higher spot, set my left foot and cranked up, and fell again.  However, this time instead of a nice, clean fall, my right foot hit the belayer side of the rope on the way down.  This caused my trajectory to change substantially, and my left foot slammed into the wall.

One of the first things a newbie lead climber learns is to never fall with the rope behind your leg – when the rope pulls taut you’ll get flipped upside down and probably impact the wall with the back of your head (a great reason to wear a helmet).  The prideful side of me wants to be sure to clarify that this is not what happened in my situation.  Because of the angles of the rock and the direction of the climbing in that one section, the rope that had been clipped to protect lower moves on the route was not flush against the rock, and when I fell, my right foot clipped that section of rope.  I didn’t flip, but rather got turned just enough to throw me into the rock at a strange angle.  The impact was really hard and the pain was immediate.

The knee-bar clip on Slabster's Lament (5.12a/b)

I lowered right away and we pulled my shoe off to assess the damage.  I could stand on it (which seemed like a good sign), but it was really painful to walk, and it was starting to swell all over.  I sat down and tried to find a comfortable position to keep my foot elevated while everyone else finished up on their routes and brainstormed how to get me, my gear (and my Cragbaby) out safely.  Thankfully the crag is only about 5 minutes from a road, so me, C, the gear, and my chauffeur could be deposited at the road while Steve continued hiking to the parking lot.

By the time I woke up Sunday morning my left ankle was 3 times the size of my right and was already turning an array of purple and green bruise colors, although the pain had lessened to some extent, and was non-existent as long as I wasn’t trying to walk.  Something about all of the swelling and bruising didn’t quite sit right with me, however, so I decided to take advantage of having good insurance and let a professional look at it.  After a visit with a wacko podiatrist on Monday (who was a stretch to call a professional, and I’ll never ever see again) and a second opinion from a much more knowledgeable orthopedic doctor on Tuesday, the verdict was in.

A couple of seconds before my ankle went snap, crackle, pop.

 

 

The bad news?  Its so clearly broken that even my untrained eye could see it on the X-ray.  That means 4-6 weeks of healing time, and a lot of that time will probably be spent in a boot.  The good news?  The fracture is not displaced at all, which means the recovery should be pretty simple without any complications (apparently sometimes the bone can actually chip off, dislodging in the ankle joint and causing a whole slew of new problems).  No ligaments were torn, although I will may need some PT to strengthen things up a bit in there.

So for now I’m confined to this boot.  Which totally sucks, no matter how many glass half full ways I try to spin it.  This is definitely not how I’d anticipated spending the next few weeks.  I guess trip reports will be a rare commodity on here for a while, although maybe in their place I’ll substitute some killer hangboard workout protocols.  After all, I don’t need feet to go nuts on a hangboard.

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A Valentine’s Day Rant

Climbing. Reflections.
11 Comments.

My littlest Valentine!

Well, it’s Valentine’s Day everyone – the time of year where society tells men that they should shower their significant others with chocolates, flowers, and other superficial gestures in the hopes that they can build up enough good will to carry them through a year’s worth of doghouse-worthy escapades.  Florists put in 12 hour days, restaurants are booked solid, and Hallmark employees are on the verge of going postal from seeing only red and pink for the past month.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not one of those bitter romance-haters that has given up on love.  In fact, I’m quite the contrary – I’m about to celebrate 10 wonderful years of marriage, I regular get misty-eyed in sappy movies, and I can be highly motivated by dark chocolate.  I just think all of the commercialism surrounding Valentine’s Day is silly at best, and misleading at worst.

A post-ankle sprain hug at the crag is way better than obligatory, over-priced roses.

The overall message is not inherently bad – “Love one another.”  I could do far worse than to raise my son according to that biblical principle.  The problem comes with how that message is delivered.  Rather than promoting a lifestyle of kindness and caring to our family and friends, Valentine’s Day is advertised as a one-time, go for broke, special occasion that can serve as a “get out of jail free” card down the road.

Instead of investing an unrealistic amount of time, money, and effort in such a short-lived endeavor, why don’t we as a culture devote ourselves to showering affection on those we love all year long?  To me it seems like smaller, daily doses of sweetness are far more authentic and romantic than over the top extravagance once a year (not to mention logistically easier and cheaper…).

So while I certainly won’t reject any Valentine’s Day opportunities that may get thrown my way, I don’t have any prerequisite standards that must be met “or else.”  I plan to spend the day hanging out with my sweet littlest Valentine all day, and then rendezvous-ing with my grown-up Valentine at the climbing gym in the afternoon to enjoy one of our favorite family pasttimes.

What about everyone else?  How is Valentine’s Day celebrated (or not celebrated) in your family?  

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