When I got home last Thursday from school, I was worried that I would get out of climbing shape. I found a solution in 2xDoom which my friend Jonathon and I built on Saturday and Monday.
It’s a ceiling/campus climbing workout zone under my deck. It’s called 2xDoom because it’s made out of 2×4’s.
Here’s a video to illustrate.
2006 Mad Rock Flash
About a week ago, when I was at the UREC climbing wall, I tried on a pair of size 14 Mad Rock Phoenix. These are the shoes that you can borrow at the wall if you don’t own a pair.
I tried them on because I have noticed that my size 15 Scarpa Thunder’s felt a bit too big. I didn’t have the confidence I needed in them on tiny holds.
I laced up the Phoenix pair and noticed a difference almost immediately. I sent a tough 5.9 that I have been working on for quite some time.
I sold my Scarpa’s to a friend and ordered a pair of the 2006 size 14 Mad Rock Flash for $50. I recieved them in the mail yesterday and gave them a test run at a retaining wall next to a Target off route 28 in Manassas.
The fit is perfect and I can smear and plant my feet on tiny holds with a new confidence. I’ve learned the valuable lesson that I need to try on shoes before I buy them.
Here’s an easy way to tell if the shoes are the right fit according to Mad Rock Climbing…
General Rule of Thumb for Beginners
- Comfortable is too large
- Painful is too tight
- Uncomfortable is perfect
For those who are thinking of ordering, WAIT! Even if you’re like me and have a huge foot, find a shop that sells your size and try before you buy.
Also check out my post about Finding the Right Fit.
Dead Point Magazine has uploaded two High Definition climbing videos on their site. Check out this amazing footage. It feels like you are climbing along.
When I first came to James Madison University, finding access to the outdoors was difficult. I have since met locals and made it outside more often.
However, as Mike Smith from Wilderness Voyages noted, JMU students don’t really know where the climbing areas are. Climbing ROCKingham County Virginia by Lester R. Zook provides detailed information on great climbs close to JMU.
Excerpted here are four of the locations. Buying the book at Wilderness Voyagers will give you more detailed directions and information. Also, you can get in the touch with the author who guides expeditions with Wild Guyde Adventures.
1. Hidden Rocks
A climbing area with a variety of choices, Hidden Rocks is broken up into seven sections.
“While some climbs in this area stress jamming and pinkie holds, and others require arm strength and overhang technique, many are classics on nice clean rock.”
Access to the spot is on a gravel parking lot four tenths of a mile off Route 257. Following the yellow-blazed trail will get you right to the climbing.
Hidden is a favorite of fellow climber Logan Hill because “it is a gorgeous area and it is a good place to go climb with your friends and hang out.”
2. Hone Quarry
Access to Hone Quarry starts at the same parking lot as Hidden Rocks. Access is up the fire road instead of the yellow-blazed trail.
Hone Quarry offers both bouldering and top roping with a few overhang problems.
3. Rawley Springs
Just off 33 West and only 20 minutes from JMU, Rawley Springs provides beginning climbers with a great opportunity to enhance their skill. An older post details the exploits.
4. Second Mountain
With easy access to the climbing, Second Mountain is growing in popularity. Just past Rawley Springs on 33 West, the bouldering here gets tough with V10’s and Highball routes.
Access requires an off-road vehicle or some amount of hiking if your vehicle cannot make the assent.
An Oregon Live article about certified climbing instructor Laura Dyal-Silva and her brother in law Tony “T.C.” Silva dying from a fall off Columbia Gorge gives me the chills. I’m reminded of how dangerous this sport is and how safety precautions should always be taken seriously.
More than 80 climbers were in the area at the time, and many saw 30-year-old Tony “T.C.” Silva and his sister-in-law, 26-year-old Laura Dyal-Silva, tumble 35 feet from the pitch where they had been setting anchors.
“No one knows what happened. People saw them falling, but no one saw what caused the fall,” said Peggie Schwarz, who was on a nearby climbing wall when the accident occurred.
Climbing safety is a lot about judgment—deciding to turn around in bad weather or lightning; backing up bogus anchors; creating redundancy in anchors and climbing systems; climbing with someone who is experienced; and not letting ego dictate the right decisions.
Your safety depends on your experience and having a realistic assessment and appraisal of your climbing ability and skills.
Indoor climbing and real rock climbing differ because one is man made and the other is not. They both have pros and cons, but is either one better?
Gym Climbing
- Convenient
- No hiking
- No gear setup
- Safer
Climbing in a gym is convenient. All you do is show up, adjust your harness, tighten your shoes and start climbing.
You don’t have to worry about a long and tiring hike to the top of the crag.
Ropes are usually already set up so you can climb for longer with the time you save. It’s also safer because there’s no edge to fall off.
According to ABC of Rock Climbing (a site dedicated to rock climbing information)…
Since Indoor Climbing is done in an environmentally-controlled venue, scaling walls is much safer than climbing real mountain walls. Indoor Climbing is ideal for enthusiasts who are in need of constant practice before they try out the real thing, or for climbers who want to train all year round.
Real Rock
- Exhilarating
- Beautiful Views
- Better grip
Climbing in the wilderness, while is has danger, is more exhilarating. The hike may tire you out, but the view is worth it.
Real rock feels different than gym holds. When I grip a jug outdoors, I know I can securely hold onto it.
But when I go to the gym, it’s harder to trust the plastic.
UREC (the James Madison University recreation center) rock wall employee Ben Frederick says…
I like climbing plastic [in the gym] because you can get into a controlled atmosphere. But nothing beats real rock.
When it comes down to it, maybe neither is superior. They are only different ways to climb. What do you think?
Tom Markiewicz –author of All Climbing– posted two videos of Steph Davis free soloing (climbing with no safety protection). Personally, I think free soloing is stupid; there is so much to lose if you fall.
If you are maimed, your climbing career might be over. You could even end up like Derek Hershey, who plummeted to his death off Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park.
After watching those two videos of Davis, it seems that free soloing is more about conquering with your mind than with your body; it almost has a spiritual tone.
Bob Culp, a free soloer in Colorado, sums up why he risks it all.
For me, right now, it’s that you have the most freedom of any way of climbing. You’re not burdened by any equipment. It’s just your shoes, you and the rock. And the fact that you can move quickly on the rock is very exhilarating.
It’s still insane.
I climbed at The Barn again last Friday and shot more photographs. Three pictures and a couple hundred words are not enough to fully describe this place.
The Barn Where all the Climbing Happens
Ben Frederick and Kyle Waldrop
Logan Hill
Jacob, Ben, Logan, and Kyle
Blacks Run
Yesterday morning, I drove about 20 minutes down 33 West with my friends Logan Hill and Isabelle Treciak to boulder at Rawley Springs. As I turned left onto Rawley Springs Road, Blacks Run’s (a 11-mile long stream) clear blue waters bubbled by and the rustic cottages nestled among the forest made my heart jump with excitement for the coming climb.
I parked the car and after an admiring glance at the swift waters of Black Runs, we scrambled up the hill to the left. Two minutes later, we were surrounded by boulders.
Logan Hill Reaching for Jug
Like MacAfee’s Knob, Rawley Springs has infinite options and we only climbed about half of the boulders. The difficulty level ranges from beginner to intermediate and I was able to keep up with my climbing partners.
After about an hour of climbing, we forded the stream’s chilly waters and took a break for lunch.
The boulders on the other side of the stream get more difficult; there are some 5.11’s and 12’s. With the exception a few overhangs, the boulders here are almost all vertical with crimps and jugs.
Fellow climber Logan Hill describes Rawley Springs as “probably the best place to go for beginning climbers.”
Some of the boulders we climbed were 15 feet high. The book, Rock Climbing Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland notes appropriately that…
A toprope might help increase confidence when attempting the 20-foot highball routes of Juliet’s Tower.
Rawley Springs is an excellent spot to boulder if you are just getting into the sport and for those who are in the Harrisonburg area, it’s a great practice area that’s close to the city.
Five Ten Anasazi
As I have progressed in my climbing, I’ve been looking at more aggressive shoes that allow me to climb more difficult rock, specifically the Five Ten Anasazi.
So, to get some expert advice, I headed down to Wilderness Voyagers (an outfitter for all things outdoorish) in Harrisonburg, VA off 33 east. I talked to six year employee Matt Smith about how to swim through the ocean of advertising each shoe company spews.
Smith explained that climbing shoes are necessary because they give you friction and sensitivity. They harness your bone structure and provide support.
Some top climbing shoe brands:
Climbing shoes abound, but for simplicity, Smith broke them down into two categories, board lasted and slip lasted.
Board lasted shoes have three parts, an upper, a lower, and a board sandwiched between. According to Climbing Magazine, “board-lasted shoes typically are more supportive and all-day comfortable, suited for easier climbing, multi-pitch outings, hard edging, and certain kinds of crack climbing.”
Slip lasted however do not have a board between them and are the way most modern shoes are created, Smith said. Again from Climbing Magazine, “slip lasting delivers greater sensitivity and flexibility than board lasting — great for technical and difficult climbing, bouldering, and climbing on plastic.”
The Five Ten Moccasym is a great example of a sensitive bouldering shoe.
Know what type of climbing you will be doing before you buy, Smith said. Begginers need to visit a shop instead of buying online. He said that one of the biggest problems beginners face is that…
People buy shoes that are too big for them. The shoe doesn’t have to hurt, but it can’t be comfortable.
Finally, lined shoes and synthetic uppers do not stretch whereas unlined shoes and leather uppers do, he said. Keep that in mind when choosing a size.
Other Sites with Information on Climbing Shoes:
