Urban Climbing

Hey guys it has been a great semester and I am bummed I did not get to meet with anyone personally as that would have been cool. None the less my post will be about urban climbing. This can range from a variety of different obstacles and challenges that a climber can put on themselves. This is not typical of rock climbers to partake in but it can be fun if you are stuck in a city with nowhere to climb or train. Some people may refer to this as parkour and I can see why but the style in parkour is much different from actual rock climbing. Some examples I can give you of climbing in cities are: climbing up drains/pipes, trees, and walls with holds can pose a nice challenge as well. Here in Hawai'i during my adventures I have found many awesome trees to climb with overhanging roots and sometimes small cliff faces that are not to dangerous. The Banyan trees are my favorite to climb here when I get the chance. It is a much different feeling to climb a tree and involves, if you remember from an earlier post I talked about pinches. Tree branches and roots resemble these a lot and often make for good grips. Have a great Winter Break guys!

Climbing in the Weather

Hey all just had a bit of information about when to climb and when not to climb. Being warmed up is always good before climbing but being to warm can be a problem. When a persons hands start to sweat is causes the rock to feel slippery. This is why we use chalk, to absorb the moisture in our hands. Generally climbing in the summer is terrible because it is always very hot and sweaty for everyone. The most desired times to climb are during the winter when no rain is present. Rain is possibly one of climbers worst natural enemies. It makes the rock extremely slippery making it hard for both shoes and hands to get a clean grip on certain holds. Many professional climbers climb in Yosemite National Park during the winter or in say the Swiss Alps as they are generally cold year round. If it is ever raining I strongly urge you not to climb! It is very dangerous, putting both yourself and others who may be spotting you in case you fall in a large amount of danger. It is alright to climb when it is hot, just make sure to have plenty of chalk and crash pads handy. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Break!

Know What Your Grabbing

Hey guys! This week I would like to share some types of rock/holds you could possible encounter while climbing both indoors and outdoors. Every person who has been climbing for some time or even beginners will learn to love and struggle with some types of holds. When in a climbing gym there are most likely going to be every type of hold but when outdoors you are never sure what you may run into unless you have previously climbed that spot. Starting with biggest to smallest;

1. Jugs- The easiest hold to grab, generally with a large pocket or something to wrap a hand around
2. Slopers- These often large but that does not make the easy by any means, these are very hard when learning to climb, generally they have a positive edge or small lip to place the hand on but no always. They are as the name implies sloping, it is very hard to grab or get a hand around these, the most effective way to handle slopers is with pressure and friction from your hand.
3. Pinches- These are my favorite type of hold and can range in size from small to large, one essentially pinches with thumb on one side and remaining four fingers on the other side of the hold. They provide a unique sensation of comfort grabbing it but also give a good challenge to my grip strength.
4. Crimps- These little buggers are a tough challenge for many climbers as they have a very small area to hold onto. Sometimes you can only fit 2 or 3 fingers on it making it greatly difficult to climb. When climbing routes with many crimps body control and balance are crucial. For some reason these tend to be very sharp as well and can hurt ones fingers quite a bit. Building up callus on the fingers helps to prevent this pain.
5. Pockets- These can also range in size from big to small, the majority of the time they are small and sometimes one can only fit one finger in the hole at a time. Often the fingers can be split by two pockets also creating a strange sensation when climbing attempting to distribute pressure evenly to the different fingers.
Hope you guys get a chance to get out a climb and see which hold you find to be your favorite!

Training Time!

Whats up guys! This week I am going to share with you some of my training tips for keeping in shape for rock climbing. Starting off with stretches is key, without stretching and going straight to climbing your risk of injury is much higher because your body is not warmed up. Stretching both legs and arms is a must, when beginners start climbing they rely on their arms for strength but climbing should actually be about 70% legs and 30% upper body. Starting the stretches holding each roughly about 20 seconds:
Butterfly,
Cross legs,
Touch your toes out to the side one leg at a time and then at the same time after,
Arm across your chest and switch,
Finger stretches and wrist rotations-circles both clockwise and counter clockwise,
Wrist stretches side to side and up and down,
These are just a few to start off but their are so many more and even personalized stretching if you find something that works well for you. Once you start climbing it is also important to do warm-up climbs to loosen up your body so you don't pull a muscle. Similarly after you are finishing climbing do some easier climbs as a cool down from the difficult problems you have been working on. All of this is based on your skill level it is fun to try much harder climbs than your skill level but don't hurt yourself on something to crazy. Progression does come from climbing routes always a little harder than what you can manage. Get out there and climb at Volcano Rock Gym in Kailua!

Dream Climbing Spots

Hey guys this week I will be telling you about some of the spots I would love to visit for climbing. Hopefully one day in the future I will be able to visit some of these magical spots. The first spot on my list would be El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. There are some great climbing spots here and it is the closest to my house, so ease of access is nice. I have been to Yosemite before but long before I had started climbing. Yosemite is so scenic and relaxing with wild life all around you including: bears, Mt. lions or puma, foxes, coyote, deer, birds, scorpions, and many more! The second spot I would like to climb is actually here in Hawai'i. It is called The Arch, maybe you guys have heard of it? Once I get my hands on some crash pads for safety and crew to go with I would like to do this climb. Also it is important for it to be dry when climbing because the rocks can become very slippery when wet. Considering Arches is right on the water is often times wet. Unfortunately the Arch is in Keana Point State Park and is now closed to climbers. Many people still sneak in and I am not sure if any signs have been posted since the closure. I am not sure if this is just a dream or if it will ever happen as many never climb it in their life, but Mount Everest would be one hell of an adventure. My skill level and experience are much to low right now but possible later in like maybe in my late 30's it could be a possibility.

El Capitan, The Nose. Red line indicates climb.

The Arch. Mt Everest climbs. 

My Favorite Climbing Spots

This week I would like to share with you guys some of my favorite spots to climb and train both near and far from my home. There is a small climbing community on Oahu but not nearly as big as I had hoped when transferring here. Also if your ever in the UHM gym try out the "Skywall" it is similar to a vertical treadmill, unfortunately both are under repairs right now though. There are some decent climbing spots on the north and west side of the island but they are more meant for lead climbing as I discussed two weeks ago. I am more into bouldering with no ropes and more powerful moves. In my hometown my favorite spot to boulder is called Lizards Mouth. This is a ridge in the mountains in the back valley of my town. There are over 40 different problems to climb! Pretty awesome, they vary in difficulty from beginner climbing to expert, so everyone is able to participate no matter what your skill level. My second favorite spot is Joshua Tree, some of you may have heard of this before but possibly not. This is a very popular climbing destination in California and is a national park. There are very large scale routes to climb here and hundreds of different ways to go about. It is a very unique spot that attracts climbers from all over the world. Lastly my rock climbing gym I attend back home was awesome. Knowing almost everyone there and working on different routes with my friends and fellow climbers is a lot of fun. They have also hosted competitions at the gym in which I placed 1st the intermediate division I was competing in at the time!

Myself climbing an overhang

Joshua Tree 

My local Rock Gym

Up and Coming Climbers

This week I would like to share with you guys some of my favorite climbers. More of the recent guys on the scene from my time period. I will be talking about three different climbers, Chris Sharma the oldest and most experienced of the three. Secondly, Daniel Woods who I aspire to be in my climbing but he is on a world class level. Last but not least Paul Robinson, who is on the nationals climbing team with Daniel. Paul is still a world class climber but just a little less experienced than his competitors.

So, Chris Sharma is a World class rock climber, arguably one of if not the best climber in the world when it comes to bouldering. Chris is now around 33 years of age and has been climbing for most of his life. He has set many problems or routes for others to follow. He has also won many competitions in his career. Climbers do not make much money, even at the world class level which is unfortunate. If this changed it could really help the sport of climbing improve. Chris has recently been struggling a bit because he and many others have already climbed the most difficult problems in the world. Anything past V15 which is basically the hardest difficultly is just to painful on the body or impossible to climb.

Next up is Daniel Woods, he was an amazing climber from the start and was crushing crazy difficult climbs at the age of 8. He has won the American Bouldering Series 7 times in his career so far! As I said earlier I would like to be at his level but right now that would be impossible for me. I climb at about a V7 level, so about half Daniel's skill level. I have friends who have been climbing for over a year and are still at the V3-V5 level so it does take a lot of time and practice to become a great climber.

Lastly Paul Robinson, he climbs at the same level as Daniel and competes as his teammate on the American Nationals team. Daniel usually manages to snag the spotlight but Paul has many 3rd and 2nd place competitions. If I could increase my skill level to anywhere near Paul I would be very satisfied with my progress as a climber. There is still a lot of work for many young climbers just like to myself that want to achieve greatness in the sport.

Daniel Woods

Paul Robsinon

Chris Sharma