A series of recent articles posted over on BackcountryBeacon.com discussing when to retire gear hit home with some questions and concerns I’ve had lately about my own gear. Retiring gear that is unquestionably damaged or unsafe is easy to do, but what about that piece of gear you’ve had for a few seasons now that…
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Gear Review: The Scarpa Force Climbing Shoe
I have always, and I mean ALWAYS, wanted a pair of velcro climbing shoes. I’d seen climbers at the gym with them and it seemed so convenient and efficient. But the selection of shoes at the local outdoor store was limited, and I refuse to buy shoes without trying them on first. On my prior…
Fighting Fear: Overcoming The Little Voice In Your Head That Says “No”
I made my first climbing trip to the New River Gorge in October of 2009, and it was a great trip. I had been lead climbing in the gym for about 5 months prior, and this was my first opportunity to do some lead climbing outside. On that trip I led a 5.10a clean, and…
Make Your Own Vanilla Crunch Granola
Turns out there are a lot of ways to make granola. This stuff turned out pretty tasty. Derek said it was too “seedy” but I like the seeds. I think we added too many apricot pieces – a half a cup would’ve been perfect. We tried this over yogurt, on oatmeal and eaten like cereal… I can imagine it’d be tasty on ice cream as well. Hmm… we have leftover vanilla ice cream from the ice cream sandwich cookies…
A 9-Week Climbing/Training Program
Michelle recently finished reading Eric J. Hörst’s Training For Climbing, and was interested in developing a custom workout based on Hörst’s 9-week program focusing on three areas: 1. Skill/Endurance 2. Strength/Power 3. Anaerobic Endurance Monday night was the first workout in our new 9-week program, and it focused on Skill and Endurance. After 10 minutes…
First Visit: Peak Experiences in Midlothian, VA
I spent the weekend in Richmond, VA with family for July 4th festivities, and had the opportunity to check out Peak Experiences in Midlothian, VA (crappy picture stolen from their website). My youngest brother had climbed at Peak once or twice before, so he made arrangements with the gym in advance for my brother Jonathan…