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

Tag Archives: family

Lights, Camera…FRICTION!!!

Lights, Camera…FRICTION!!!

  My writing focus these days has been mostly on the Creating a Cragbaby series, so I’ve been a little slack on the trip reports…but a couple of  weekends ago we enjoyed yet another wonderful weather weekend bouldering (and I’m glad we were able to squeeze that in before all the cold and rain set in…)  It was the usual suspects – me, Steve, Canaan, Christie…but this time there was a twist.  Enter Jan Balster, a professional photographer / cinematographer.  We’d worked with Jan before a few years ago as guinea pigs for a promo-shoot at Pilot Mountain.  Well, about a month ago he contacted me…Read the rest of this entry →

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Creating a Cragbaby – Sleepytime Solutions

Creating a Cragbaby – Sleepytime Solutions

Taking your baby to the crag for any length of time means that there will be naps involved – for your baby most definitely, and for you…quite possibly after a long day of climbing and hanging out with your little one!  Everyone knows how cranky an overtired baby can be (and how annoying that can be to everyone within earshot…) so before you go off gallavanting around in the mountains, make sure you have a strategy for helping your baby to catch some Zzzz’s.  We found through trial (and error…) several tips for making on-the-go naps in strange places easier…Read the rest of this entry →

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Creating a Cragbaby – Training Days…

Creating a Cragbaby – Training Days…

A mountaineer doesn’t choose Everest for his first alpine climb.  A figure skater doesn’t begin with a triple-axel.  And you can’t expect your sweet bundle of joy to turn into a cragbaby overnight.  You’d better take a few runs on the bunny slope first before tackling the moguls. In the climbing world, the term “approach” is used to refer to the initial hike that one takes to get to the base of the route you are going to climb.  Depending on the climbing area, the approach could be anywhere from a few feet away from your car to a multi-day hike.  Before your…Read the rest of this entry →

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Creating a Cragbaby…

Creating a Cragbaby…

With a new year upon us, I’ve been inspired to do a little more with my blog.  I’ve decided to start a new series of posts, entitled “Creating a Cragbaby.”  What exactly is a Cragbaby, you might ask?  Well, in the rock climbing world, the “crag” is simply another word for a climbing area.  (Examples:  “Which crag are you guys hitting up this weekend?”  “You’ll never guess who I ran into at the crag last week…”).  And hopefully the term “baby” is pretty self-explanatory…  But to me, a cragbaby can also be a moniker for any little guy (or girl) who doesn’t remember his first…Read the rest of this entry →

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One Last Friction Fest of 2010

One Last Friction Fest of 2010

Until this past week, it’d been over 2 years since we’d gotten our friction on at the Asheboro Boulders – last winter I was pregnant and relegated to toproping, and the winter before that I had a bum shoulder.  But with a couple of breaks in the cold and wet weather streak we’ve been having, we managed to hit the ‘Burl twice – a few days before Christmas, and once more on New Year’s Eve. Our pre-Christmas trip was timed so that it was a pit stop on the way to my parents house in Winston-Salem for the holidays.  It…Read the rest of this entry →

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