Friday, September 24, 2010

Brain on? Brain on.

A recent mishap has spawned a lot of thought and debate around the house.   Yet another drop occurred Tuesday here in the Chattanooga area at Leeda.  The climber was more of a rope gun on this particular day as he had taken several, less experienced, people to show them the sport.  His belayer claimed to be well versed in knowledge and technique, which he is with an ATC.  That may be true, ahghumm, but this accident was 100% belayer error.  DROP!  The story goes like this....

Before climbing it was understood that a lead fall was going to be demonstrated.  The two did their gear check.  The knot was good, the grigri was loaded properly, and climbing began.  Right around the 25 foot mark the climber "fell" off the wall, but never to be caught.  From my understanding, he landed on his back with only the friction of the belayers hand and his own leg slowing the fall.  Both have severe burns that tell the story.

It turns out that the belayer was hesitant in using the grigri, but hubristicly carried on to belay with one.  When the "fall" happened,  it is believed that the belayer SPACED and held the cam down on the grigri, leaving his left hand above the belay device to catch all of the weight.  Amazingly, no injuries were sustained and the climber walked away with nothing more than a humbled piece of mind.

So, what can we learn from this?  A LOT.

First off, know your climbing partners.  Your life is literally in their hands.

Secondly, COMMUNICATION is THE KEY to a safe climbing experience.  Never assume anything.  I think the mentality of a group can sometimes get in the way of the serious nature of what is actually taking place, which results in leaving things open ended and perhaps unknown.  Gear checks and commands may seem cheezy, but they're not.  Do it!

Finally, know your gear.  The grigri is an assisted braking belay device.  To catch a fall the climber is to hold the free end of the rope, like they would an ATC, while the cam pivots to pinch the rope in the grigri.  This is not a hands free or dummy proof device.  USER ERROR MAY RESLUT IN SEVERE INJURY OR DEATH.

So, how do you hold the grigri?  Or better yet what is your instinct when your climber falls?  Instinct should be to lower your hands on the free end of the rope to your side or "brake position", like when belaying with an ATC.  This is why I think everyone should belay with an ATC for a while when they start climbing.  I believe it is more engaging. To be responsible for the braking without any assurance that the belay device will catch them for you is the only way to develop such instincts and avoid lazy habits.   As always, practice is crucial in developing your skill and comfort level with any belay device.  Therefore,  find a correct method that works best for you and stick to what you know.

Check the Video link below.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x50vsu_grigri-belaying-the-leader_sport


This was a Public Service Announcement.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Dayton

Yesterday was my first outing this season with a crashpad.  Kit, Alli, Amanda, and I headed to the roof for an assessment of our horizontal climbing skills.  Personally, I was really excited to expose these two up and coming sisters from Urban Rocks to this area.  The angle, holds, and technique were all foreign to them.  But that was no problem.  They were psyched!  Not being intimidated, they tried Reconciliation V5 and Torpedo V7, which are probably the hardest things they have ever tried. Unfortunately, the mid-grade problems on the roof are quite burly, not exactly their style.    However, progress was made every time their feet left the ground and both tried as hard as they could until their skin became the limiting factor.

Crushers Alli and Amanda

Kitdog was psyched to concentrate his efforts on a powerful problem called Honeycomb V9/10.  The crux of this one revolves around 3 moves.  The first is a super high right foot to set a bicycle allowing you to release your right hand to gain a shallow three finger dish/pinch (on a roof), which then leads you to a committing punch to a jug that starts the V5 finish.   After a couple of tries Kit had the thing figured out and was linking into the crux but falling just before the jug.  He WILL send.  

Kit on Honeycomb
As for myself, I got warmed up in the usual fashion by doing the exit to most of the problems.  Feeling somewhat good I was curious how Honeycomb felt.  So, I pulled on, set the bicycle, and did the move!!!  I've never been able to really feel the bicycle hook until this try.  I think I did it twice.  As there were several people trying it and still F'n 85 degrees I figured I would stick to the endurance problems.  I forgot how much I like this style.  The roof climbing here forces you to do 180 degree spins, foot jams, and bicycles all on the same problem.  SICK!  So much fun.  I ended up doing Sandblasting Skin V8 and Torpedo V7 after messing around on Dune for a while.  All in all, I am excited to return for more pulling on the nice holds of the Dayton Roof.  
 
C ya.


Cheddar

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Beer Chugging Lock Off

Labor day weekend has come and gone.  And it was F'n sweet!  Nate Drolet and I took off to the Red River Gorge friday afternoon for an extended weekend of climbing on the best sandstone cliffs in the US.

Odub on Swingline .13d
As always, arriving at Miguel's comes with a warm welcome from familiar faces.  The smell of the pizzeria and lack of hygiene from the occupants of the campground let you know that this is one kick ass place.



Saturday morning started out at the Solar collector, which is a great wall that is filled with moderates, which makes it a great place to warm up for The Dark Side.



The Dark Side wall is truly BAD ASS!!!  The focus of the day was to take care business, send.   My focus was on The Force .13a and Drolet's was Elephant Man .13b.  The Force, what an amazing endurance route.  It starts with a burly opening jump move to a sloper that is good.  Quickly moving off this you move on to clip #2 and start pulling on the perfect bowling ball like pockets for a few moves that lead you to a jug at #3.  This is where the route really starts.  Hard moves off the rest lead you through a 3 bolt section to your next rest, which is alright.  For me this was the crux, moving past the last bolt into the redpoint crux.  The wall suddently kicks back a little more and the holds are a lot worse than those that lead up to this point.  The moves become precise and sequential through 10 ft of shallow capped pockets.  Heinous!  I think I fell twice this day on my way to the chains.  F!

Matt Hughes on Elephant Man

  So that was kind of a bummer that Nate and I couldn't take down our target in one day.  When we got back to Miguel's we heard talk of some beer chugging lock off comp that was going down.  Sean Stewart, Max Marlowe, and Spencer Victory (all outrageous homies)  had schemed up one hell of a show.  Spencer was a maniac of an MC as he gave all the participants a rediculous intro before it was time for them to crank.  Five or so guys lined up to take one another on in who could drink the most beer while in a lock off at 90 or above.  Absolutely hilarious shit man.  Check it.
Sean Stewart running things.


Sunday was rough to say the least.  Beer lock off chugging, I think I got third or fourth with two beers, and skin that got shredded at the dark side (aka sharp side) had done me in.  The plan was to have an active rest day at The Motherload.  Whoa.  I was more wrecked than I thought.  I think I climbed three or so pitches.  The whole day was basically spent chilling and checking out some lines for future visits.  My skin was toast!  


All in all the weekend was dope.  I didn't send a damn thing.  Nate ended up doing Elephant Man his second try on Monday.  Very solid send indeed.  My efforts were not wasted though.  Endurance and understanding of this style was gained.  Sport around Chatty is not even similar to the type of pump this place gives.  I really want to spend 2 or 3 weeks here at some point to get it dialed and send something beautiful and hard.  Till then, I'm going to continue my indoor training and climbing routes outside when it is nice out.  Temps are starting to feel better here in Chatty, but still not even close to ideal. 




Till next time,

Chaz