climbing - Xander Dumaine

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climbing

A collection of 12 posts

Rocky Face

Yesterday I had the opportunity to climb at Rocky Face Mountain Recreation Area [http://rockyfacepark.com/rock-climbing/]. Rocky Face is a man-made crag. It's the remnants of an old quarry that has been cleaned up, bolted, and permitted for climbing. I enjoyed Rocky Face a lot. The climbing

Clarification on some climbing terms

Clarification on some climbing terms

A few weeks ago, Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell completed a grueling 19 day free climb of the Dawn Wall, a face of Yosemite National Park's gargantuan mountain El Capitan. I wanted to write a brief clarification of what constitutes different types of climbs: Free Climb: Climbing a

Off The Wall

I (not so) recently self-diagnosed myself with an A2-Pulley injury. It's the most common injury for rock climbers, and most commonly occurs in rock climbers. An A2-Pulley is the fibrous soft tissue that wraps all the way around your finger, binding your tendon close to the bone. It

A Day on the Mountain

A Day on the Mountain

I woke up in the cool morning, my face open to the morning air, with the smell of pine and new spring growth on Pilot Mountain. The new growth covers the mountain floor, renewing life after the annual burn. I rolled out of my hammock and got ready for the

Going Over the Edge

This fall, I'll be taking a big rappel - 300+ feet from the top of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Raleigh. This is a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. I love rock climbing and rappelling, so this is an exciting chance to raise some money for a

First Outdoor Lead Climb

This past weekend I completed my first outdoor lead climb. I only got to lead once, because it started getting crowded, and we only had part of the day, but it was great. We went up to Pilot Mountain [http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/pimo/main.php], which is

Climbing Training with a Hangboard

I've had a Blank Slate and hangboard [http://xdumaine.com/the-blank-slate-hangboard/] for a little over a year now, going through various periods of more-or-less actual rock climbing, so I'm going to take a look at how much I use the hangboard, on what schedule, and how.

Slab Climbing

The last few times I've been to my climbing gym, I've worked problems on the slab wall. Slab climbing is (usually) a climbing on a pretty flat wall with a positive slope (leaning back, not forward - so it's not overhung or vertical), and

Hangboard Sessions

For a while, I've just been doing general training [http://xdumaine.com/grip-training-crimps/] on my hangboard [http://xdumaine.com/the-blank-slate-hangboard/]. I recently listened to a HanselMinutes podcast [http://hanselminutes.com/345/world-class-climbing-with-audrey-sniezek]with Audrey Sniezek [http://audreysniezek.wordpress.com/]. Audrey is a program manager at Microsoft on the

Grip Training: Crimps

I've been attempting to work on my grips, in addition to strength. Primarily, I've been working on closed-hand (or full-crimp) and pinches. Unfortunately, my hangboard [http://xdumaine.com/the-blank-slate-hangboard/] doesn't provide a great place for either one. It does have some pretty small lips,

The Blank Slate + Hangboard

Today I got my Blank Slate from Blank Slate Climbing [http://blankslateclimbing.com]. The Blank Slate is a pretty unique piece of equipment that fills a relatively niche problem – mounting a hangboard easily and cleanly (without damaging, marking, or altering walls). The Blank Slate mounts in a doorway similar to

Climbing Gear

There are three main pieces of gear that climbers (indoor climbers, at least) tend to get: 1. Climbing Chalk and Bag 2. Harness 3. Climbing Shoes For my birthday, my wife got me a chalk bag and chalk, as well as a gift certificate that I put toward a pair