june 06
In praise of local crags
Good weather has arrived and school is out, traditionally this would be the time for me to set off on road trips or at least make final preparations for them. But this summer, for personal reasons, I need to stick close to home. Staying close to the city does not mean I am writing off climbing for the summer. I have been making regular forays to my current local crag of choice, Rockwood, which is within an hour’s drive from my home.
We all dream of the big road trip, visiting far off exotic destinations, but for most of us, most of the time, the “local’s” crag is where we end up (and likely where you started out). Everyone has their own version of the “local’s” crag, it may be chossy or bullet, run out or well bolted, secret or public, but they all lack something to make it a destination that would attract visiting climbers. Note that if you are one of the fortunate few who live near a world class destination crag, that does not make it your “local’s” crag. Chances are there is a smaller, lower quality, far less well known crag that you frequent; if for no other reasons than to avoid the crowds or the polished classics.
So we head to them because of the convenience, and keep going back because of charms that reveal itself slowly, on repeat visits. And much like the proverbial “older woman”, your days spent at the “local’s crag” will prepare you for the day when you finally hit that exotic foreign crag. So next time you are at your local crag, savour it instead of just wishing you were at Ceuse. Lastly, thanks to Zach and the rest of the Guelph crew for developing Rockwood.Feb 06
Just had reading week, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I have always liked reading week, although this year I tried something new, actually reading during reading week. Even though I couldn’t afford (in more ways then one) a trip to climb somewhere, I did manage to squeeze in some fun, in the form of another comp. This time it was at the Coyote gym in Ottawa.
On the drive up I got to talking with my friend Aaron about how long we have both been competing for (since the days when roped comps were popular. Yeah, I am old), and how we keep seeing the same faces, at least in the east. And I got to wondering where all the young guns are that should be climbing circles around us, after all, new up and comer is a sign of vitality in any sport, and it didn’t seem too good that we are still near the front after all this time. Well, can you say hubris? How about comeuppance? Needless to say, I got schooled the next day.
I now know where the young guns are. They are in Ottawa. A part of me is humbled. A bigger part of me is glad that the scene seems pretty robust with potential to grow. But the biggest part of me is wondering what the hell I was thinking complaining about not doing more poorly. It was probably all that reading, so much for trying new things. I am going to stick to the tried and true from now on. Next year, I am definitely not going to read during reading week.Jan 06
Barely managed to survive re-entry in to the academic world, it sure is different from the slacker climbing lifestyle. After this first term, I think its safe to say entering law school is less than conducive to a hardcore training plan, just in case anyone out there was wondering. Those first couple of months, the loss of form was quite astonishing, not to mention distressing. I am not ready to be over the hill yet!
Recently did the Tour de Bloc Stop at the Gibraltar climbing gym in Windsor, didn’t plan on going, but my friends convinced me, not that they had to try very hard. Besides, after all these years urging others to attend comps for the fun of it, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to suck out just cause I didn’t think I would be a contender.
I was a bit apprehensive about the comp, having spent so many years competing and training seriously (sort of) for them, I really didn’t know what to expect. But it turns out I had a really good time. It helped that the guys at Gibraltar ran a great comp, but it was nice to catch up with old friends, and it’s a great excuse to climb a whole bunch of great problems and just trash yourself, not to mention motivation to get myself into the gym more often.
I end up doing all right surprisingly, about the same as I would have when I was training heavily last year. Which I was really psyched about for about ten minutes, then of course doubt crept in, if I can get the same result on a quarter of the work as before, does that mean I have been going about it all wrong the whole time? Have I been training inefficiently or worse, overtraining? Oh well, what’s done is done, there is only so much navel gazing one can do.
So all this is a really long winded way of saying that if you haven’t entered a comp yet, go sign up for the next one in your area. You don’t have to be a contender to enjoy them, plus who couldn’t use a little extra incentive getting down to the gym through the mid winter blans?