The easier routes to the right of the main compact wall on the Gaisberg crag are not found in any guide book. The area has been used for more than fifty years as a training area by alpinists, long before the first hard sport routes were bolted on the main compact wall.
Stefan, Sabine and I cleaned, re-bolted or put up six routes a couple of weeks ago. All the new or refurbished routes are equiped with standard expansion bolts and new anchors. The bolting is friendly and will protect the climber from a ground fall
This is the first step of a process that we hope to complete this fall. We are planning on establishing some two-pitch lines of about 40-45 meters, bolting some extensions, creating a rope technique practice area, and putting up some easy multi-pitch routes.
This project is a private undertaking from the Kletterhalle Salzburg / denkundstein. I will post more details about the crag as we continue working on the routes. Information will also be available at the website of the Salzburg climbing gym / denkundstein.
The climbing tower at the University Sport Center in Rif has also been equiped with new sport-climbing anchors. The anchors are standard two-point anchors with chains connecting one normal and one screw gate karabiner. This much needed improvement will all but eliminate the number one cause of climbing fatalities in the last years at the tower due to errors made while re-threading the anchors. The new anchors make the tower much more user friendly for private climbers and courses.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Kletterhalle Salzburg Terminplan
Neue Terminplan für Herbst 2009
Kinder
Kinder Einsteiger
Mi., 15-16:00, 7, Okt.-9. Dez., 2009
Do., 15:30-16:30, 22. Okt.-04. Feb (Semesterkurs)
Kinder Fortgeschrittene
Mo., 15-16:30, 28. Sept.-07. Dez., 2009
Di., 06. Okt.-8. Dez., 2009
Jungend
Jungendlich Einsteiger
Mi., 16:30-18:00, 7. Okt.-9. Dez., 2009
Do., 16:30-18:00, 15. Okt.-17. Dez., 2009
Erwachsener
Erwachsene Einsteiger
Mo., 17-19:00, 14. Sept.-23. Nov., 2009
Erwachsene Fortgeschrittene
Do., 17-19:00, 15. Okt.-5. Nov., 2009
Private Kletterkurs (ab 3 Personen)
Kinder-, Jungend-, oder Erwachsene Gruppen, Familien, Eltern mit Kinder, usw., auf Wunsch organisiert
Outdoor
Outdoor MultiPitch
Fr.-So., 18.-20. Sept. 2009 (Kletterturm Rif & Blaueis Hütte, Berchtesgaden)
Personal Training
Indoor oder Outdoor, Multi-Pitch (Mehrseillänge), usw., auf Wunsch organisiert
PT für Jugendlicher: Mo., 19:00-20:00
Probe Klettern, Schulklassen, usw.
auf Wunsch organisiert
Friday, September 11, 2009
"The Life of Joe"
The title description comes from one of my wife’s favorite tongue-in-cheek phrases to describe how lucky I am to be able to do what I do. I haven’t written anything here now for two months. What have I been up to? The following is some of what I have been fortunate to do in the last few weeks:
Sport climbing in Kalymnos for four weeks
Kids Climbing Week,
Multi-pitch routes: “Gosausee-Triathlon”, 560m/V+
“Mezzo Rosso” / “Deierweg”, 240m/V
“Strada del Sole”, 400m/VII
“Hochalm Express” / “Im Reich der Zwerge”, 230m/VII+
Bolting new routes on Gaisberg
Sport climbing around
Climbing courses, personal training, etc.
September is always a transition month for me. New courses start up, training shifts to getting prepared for the winter season, and I re-evaluate and adjust my training plans for climbing.
Hopefully, the fall season will be dry and settled so that autumn climbing will dovetail nicely into the first ski tour and ice climb.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Proselytizing
Dogmatic views and opinions on any thing in life signify mental laziness and insecurity. This is true about how you're "suppose" to do things in, or related to, the mountains, whether climbing, skiing, training, equipment, etc. When I come across a person who is insists that he or she knows the "right way" how to ski, climb, train, or is set in their ways with rope technique, mountain safety, etc., I just escape the situation as quickly as possible.
I am not trying to convert people into doing things the way I do them. I just explain that this is what I do, or would do, in this specific situation at this time.
I like this comment on Brad Warner's Blog relating to Zen and religion:
"There's no proselytizing in Zen because there's no sense in trying to get anyone to convert to it. There's also no sense in trying to change the minds of the ignorant. You can put the correct information out there and hope for the best. But there's no sense in getting up in anyone's face. It just makes them harden their own position against yours. Ignorant here is the significant word because folks like that minister deliberately ignore what doesn't fit their worldview.
There's a mountain of wrong information out there about Zen, a lot of it from supposedly "respected authorities." You can't really change that. Just enjoy."
The "respected authorities" in the realms of climbing take many forms: mountain guides, old timers, young hot-shot boulders and sport climbers, industry types, mountain club directors, etc., etc. I find that more and more I have absolutely no tolerance for someone who sees themselves as one of these "authorities" and starts spouting off about the "only", or "right", way to do something.
Proselytizing just shows insecurity, egotism and questionable motives. It is mental laziness. Openness, a questioning (including self questioning) mind, flexibility, and realizing that only change is constant is the proper mind set for the mountains as well as for life.
I am not trying to convert people into doing things the way I do them. I just explain that this is what I do, or would do, in this specific situation at this time.
I like this comment on Brad Warner's Blog relating to Zen and religion:
"There's no proselytizing in Zen because there's no sense in trying to get anyone to convert to it. There's also no sense in trying to change the minds of the ignorant. You can put the correct information out there and hope for the best. But there's no sense in getting up in anyone's face. It just makes them harden their own position against yours. Ignorant here is the significant word because folks like that minister deliberately ignore what doesn't fit their worldview.
There's a mountain of wrong information out there about Zen, a lot of it from supposedly "respected authorities." You can't really change that. Just enjoy."
The "respected authorities" in the realms of climbing take many forms: mountain guides, old timers, young hot-shot boulders and sport climbers, industry types, mountain club directors, etc., etc. I find that more and more I have absolutely no tolerance for someone who sees themselves as one of these "authorities" and starts spouting off about the "only", or "right", way to do something.
Proselytizing just shows insecurity, egotism and questionable motives. It is mental laziness. Openness, a questioning (including self questioning) mind, flexibility, and realizing that only change is constant is the proper mind set for the mountains as well as for life.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Problem with "Projecting"
I read this bit from Rob Shaul on his site the other day:
"I spent the weekend sport climbing in Lander with a few of my sponsored athletes. There is no strong tradition of mountain athletes such as climbers, free skiers, snow boarders, mountaineers, mountain bikers, kayakers, etc. training in the gym to prepare for their sport. I think we're on the way to changing that. Within the rock climbing world, there is quite a bit of literature available on sport specific training. I experimented with it at first, found it lacking, and now we are developing our own training programming and philosophy.
I'm not an accomplished climber by definition. I'm still learning, and progressing slowly. When I actually do get out, I find I spend most my time watching the other athletes, and looking for fitness attributes which need work. One of the reasons within the rock climbing world for the lack of a training tradition is the idea that a huge part of climbing is technique. And certainly this is true. But what I saw this weekend impressed up on me that being strong as hell - specifically core tension, pulling power and simple raw finger strength, can only help. Strength not only adds to performance, but it also makes the athlete more confident - which also increases performance.
What I saw this weekend was my athletes need more strength. It's coming. On the technique side, there is a tradition to "project" routes far above your climbing skill, and eventually work to climb them cleanly. I'm beginning to think this is a wrong approach. What happens is climbers jump ahead without the foundation, "project" a difficult route above their climbing skill, then at the end of it, can only complete this route - their broader climbing technique base has not been expanded.
In the weight room you can't do this. Even though I may want to snatch 250#, and perhaps have the athletic potential to do so, there no "short cut." I can't "project" this lift. I've got to build technique and strength the old fashion way - thousands of hours in the gym and bunches and bunches of reps. Along the way, I have to snatch 150#, 200#, etc. and work my way up. I can't "skip" ahead. And consequently, when I do eventually snatch 250#, I can also snatch all the heavy weight below it.
This isn't true of the "pyramid" climbing "project" approach. 5.10 climbers may "project" a 5.12 for weeks, and finally get it. But this doesn't mean now that they can climb a 5.12 route, they can also climb all the 5.11's below it. Often they can't. As a result, all those weeks worth of work "projecting" the route above their head has done noting to raise their overall climbing ability. They have a "circus" trick to show for it, but in the mean time have lost many opportunities to truly grow as climbers through reps and work needed to build a foundation. They can't then say they are 5.12 climbers.
Understand that my concern here isn't in "projecting" per se, but in projecting a route or problem far above your climbing ability. The issue isn't working on something hard, but making too great a leap. Again, I can't do this in the weight room. If my current 1RM snatch is @ 150#, I've got to lift 155# for my first step to 300#. I can't jump ahead.
So if a 5.10 climber is "projecting" a 5.11a route, great. This is progression."
The issue outlined in these comments are what bother me a lot about the sport climbing mentality. It also, in a round about way, reinforces why someone who is interested in all forms of alpine climbing and mountaining needs to really think about how they use their training time when sport climbing indoors and outdoors.
In my opinion, the physical climbing attributes that are most important in the mountains are 1) on-sight ability, 2) general and local muscle endurance, and 3) the ability to move fast and securely over moderate terrain.
On rock, the only way you're going to be able to build these skills is through the volume of climbing outdoors. That means climbing (up and down) on all types of routes and rock - at various levels of difficulty. It does not mean speading large amounts of training time hanging on the rope rehersing specific moves for a specific route
"I spent the weekend sport climbing in Lander with a few of my sponsored athletes. There is no strong tradition of mountain athletes such as climbers, free skiers, snow boarders, mountaineers, mountain bikers, kayakers, etc. training in the gym to prepare for their sport. I think we're on the way to changing that. Within the rock climbing world, there is quite a bit of literature available on sport specific training. I experimented with it at first, found it lacking, and now we are developing our own training programming and philosophy.
I'm not an accomplished climber by definition. I'm still learning, and progressing slowly. When I actually do get out, I find I spend most my time watching the other athletes, and looking for fitness attributes which need work. One of the reasons within the rock climbing world for the lack of a training tradition is the idea that a huge part of climbing is technique. And certainly this is true. But what I saw this weekend impressed up on me that being strong as hell - specifically core tension, pulling power and simple raw finger strength, can only help. Strength not only adds to performance, but it also makes the athlete more confident - which also increases performance.
What I saw this weekend was my athletes need more strength. It's coming. On the technique side, there is a tradition to "project" routes far above your climbing skill, and eventually work to climb them cleanly. I'm beginning to think this is a wrong approach. What happens is climbers jump ahead without the foundation, "project" a difficult route above their climbing skill, then at the end of it, can only complete this route - their broader climbing technique base has not been expanded.
In the weight room you can't do this. Even though I may want to snatch 250#, and perhaps have the athletic potential to do so, there no "short cut." I can't "project" this lift. I've got to build technique and strength the old fashion way - thousands of hours in the gym and bunches and bunches of reps. Along the way, I have to snatch 150#, 200#, etc. and work my way up. I can't "skip" ahead. And consequently, when I do eventually snatch 250#, I can also snatch all the heavy weight below it.
This isn't true of the "pyramid" climbing "project" approach. 5.10 climbers may "project" a 5.12 for weeks, and finally get it. But this doesn't mean now that they can climb a 5.12 route, they can also climb all the 5.11's below it. Often they can't. As a result, all those weeks worth of work "projecting" the route above their head has done noting to raise their overall climbing ability. They have a "circus" trick to show for it, but in the mean time have lost many opportunities to truly grow as climbers through reps and work needed to build a foundation. They can't then say they are 5.12 climbers.
Understand that my concern here isn't in "projecting" per se, but in projecting a route or problem far above your climbing ability. The issue isn't working on something hard, but making too great a leap. Again, I can't do this in the weight room. If my current 1RM snatch is @ 150#, I've got to lift 155# for my first step to 300#. I can't jump ahead.
So if a 5.10 climber is "projecting" a 5.11a route, great. This is progression."
The issue outlined in these comments are what bother me a lot about the sport climbing mentality. It also, in a round about way, reinforces why someone who is interested in all forms of alpine climbing and mountaining needs to really think about how they use their training time when sport climbing indoors and outdoors.
In my opinion, the physical climbing attributes that are most important in the mountains are 1) on-sight ability, 2) general and local muscle endurance, and 3) the ability to move fast and securely over moderate terrain.
On rock, the only way you're going to be able to build these skills is through the volume of climbing outdoors. That means climbing (up and down) on all types of routes and rock - at various levels of difficulty. It does not mean speading large amounts of training time hanging on the rope rehersing specific moves for a specific route
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Alpine Climbing in Pitztal
On the left is the upper part of the Tasachwand in Pitztal from about a week ago. The tracks that are visible on the upper right side of the flank are from me, Christos and Vaclav. Climbing the 600 meter north face was the highlight of our short four-day trip to the Tasachhaus.We were also able to climb on the Sexegartenerspitze. We climbed through mixed ground in a couloir placing rock protection as we ascended the 250 meter line.
Conditions and weather were good in south western Tyrol. There was still quite a bit of snow on all of the faces and on the glaciers. the other north face climbs, such as Brochkogel, Petersenspitze, north side of the Wildspitze, etc., all looked good. There is an abundance of alpine climbing possibilities in couloirs, faces and ridges in the area. Additionally, the Taschachfener offered some nice training ground for steep ice.
The slide show below is of a few photos from the trip. The photos can be accessed by clicking on the slideshow. (Additional photos from Christos Palaontas)
Human Folly
The folly of the human mind is never more in evidence then with a person who has superficial knowledge of sport climbing. Due to arrogance some people think they know all there is to know about climbing safety – and worse are “teaching” their friend, spouse, or child how to climb
.
I have been accused of being a crass surly individual at times. And when adults are doing stupid things at the crags or in the climbing gym my attitude is more or less live and let die. When I am climbing privately, many times I just move away to avoid the risk of being splattered by blood.
But what do you do when an adult is climbing with children? I mean you can kill yourself, but an 11 or 12 year old?
Scene: A rainy Saturday afternoon in the climbing gym. Dad is belaying his 10 year old son on top rope. He has a tuber but is using it as if he is belaying with a HMS knot. The son is climbing barefoot. The rope is through one screw-gate karabiner 17 meters up the wall. It is not screwed closed. The son is attached to the rope with a single HMS locking karabiner. Is it screwed closed? What do you think?
There are so many things wrong with this that I don’t know where to begin.
I have jokingly said that the most dangerous places in
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