I was feeling anxious and annoyed last week studying for finals, so like any rational being I took a quick break to aim my negativity at people who probably don’t deserve it. There were thoughts of submitting this to the school paper, but it has run its last issue already; and someone else suggested printing handbills, but that’s too much effort. So alas my arrogance and snideness will be resigned to that forum where all such thoughts are relegated: the internet.
Healthy Tough Love: An Arrogant 3L Farewell
Hi there, some of you may know me as the asshole in the gym seen at various times dropping shit, grunting, and/or collapsed on the ground in my own vomit. I’ve been told from time to time that my behavior is “disruptive” to other people trying to exercise. Sorry if my intensity throws off your rhythm on the elliptical and makes it tough to focus on the latest gossip in People magazine, but to be honest I don’t really give a shit.
I’ll speak plainly because that’s what I do best. I’ve spent three years mostly keeping my thoughts to myself as I’ve watched so-called “trainers” teach worthless exercises and girls avoid the nut mixes in the cafeteria because they have “too much fat,” and then loading up on pretzels. Let me also be clear: I don’t blame you. I blame Read more…
Ice and mixed climbing guru, and all around badass, Will Gadd has been toying with Crossfit as a general training tool for the last year, mostly as a tool to prepare for his recent Endless Ascent at the Ouray Ice Festival (187 pitches of WI4+ in 24 hours, say whaaaaa). If you’re a nerd with too much free time like myself interested in analyzing training modalities etc. then you should check out his recent posts about Crossfit and his experience at a Crossfit Level I Cert.
Since I’ve been playing with the Crossfit game for a few years as a training tool I shot Will a reply email with some of my own thoughts, and we had a nice little back and forth about the whole deal. For posterity’s sake, I figured I would post the relevant portions here.
The view from my handlebars. Congress works there.
A lot has been going down the last month, I’ve got video to edit (something I’ve grown increasingly delinquent in) stories to tell, and exams to start prepping for. I wonder which will gain priority…
DC seems to have finally snapped out of its wintry personality for the year. Between Snowmageddon Parts One and Two, all the travel, and my own laziness, my bike hadn’t been off the rack for over 4 months! Terribly sad, I know, particularly since I spent most of my liquidity building it last summer. I’ve mainly been doing a lot of climbing, and tempering with a Crossfit-style metcon (metabolic conditioning – i.e. sucking-wind-misery). My first realization on my first ride: I AM SLOW. Having not spun my legs months, nor even done much running, my speed is way down. All good though, it’ll come back quick (optimism).
Slowness aside, the last few weeks have been a banner time for temps and aesthetics in the DC area. Some soccer on the National Mall, and I’ve been hitting the Mt. Vernon trail on the bike – from my door the full shabang offers a nice 40 mile roundtrip. Getting there you blow by the tidal basin and the Cherry Blossom festival, and the ride itself winds up the Potomac all the way to George Washington’s old place. I actually time trialed it the other day and pulled a PR (probably mostly because hardly any people dodging since everyone’s looking at the Cherry Blossoms on the other side of the river…).
Crossing the river back into DC. Also the site of my recent iPhone destruction. Lesson learned: cycling and texting don't mix.
One of my favorite short pieces of contemporary climbing writing (a specific category, I know) is a piece Topher Donahue wrote for Alpinist about the route Jules Verne, a solid 5.11 testpiece in Eldorado Canyon. Reflecting on the conditions the morning of his first time on the route years ago he writes:
The air was cool, the rock was crisp. Conditions were not ideal for excuses.
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Rapping in less-than-ideal conditions in Chamonix back in 2005.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on your perspective, conditions in the Front Range right now are fairly ideal for excuses. Yesterday evening saw a quick, wet snow dusting. The day before we managed a few pitches in Eldo during the afternoon, and departed under fleeting snowflakes. This afternoon is shaping up to be better; perhaps some quick sport pitches in Clear Creek Canyon or Boulder Canyon.
It’s all good though, I came out to Golden for a relaxing Spring Break. The first trip I’ve had in a long while with NO agenda. If I get to climb: great. If I spend a week reading in coffee shops: lovely. Whatever comes my way I will be pleased. Its good just to be ‘home’ where my soul feels at ease. I’ve been going pretty high speed for a while with training, climbing, and traveling, and was starting to feel burnt out. The joints are creaky, muscles tight, and head game pulled in a thousand different directions.
Time for some much needed rest. Rest doesn’t need to be sedentary, rather I’m just going to take what comes my way for a little bit. Free myself of hard-etched goals (physically, at least) and enjoy the beautiful movement and freedom of climbing and exercise. Hopefully I come back from this respite ready to get after it with a vengeance!
The ice is plastic, the snow is stable, and the temps warm. Any warmer and it would be downright dangerous. It doesn’t get a whole lot better for a week of ice climbing in Canada. We’ve been staying at the killer Fireweed Hostel in Field. This place is nicer than a lot of hotels I’ve stayed at, tough to beat. I’m a little down with the sickness today, I felt it coming on but tried to avoid a day off. For the sake of pushing it hard on something big tomorrow I’m taking the day to recuperate. I hate losing a day on a short trip, particularly with this beautiful weather, but hopefully it will pay off tomorrow.
Day one we intended to get up Gibraltar Falls but decided to bag it in light of the warm temps. The ice at the top is not always bonded to the rock super well, and we were afraid it might all come down on top of us. Instead we spent the afternoon messing around on some easy, short business in Hafner Creek. It was nice to swing the sharp stuff and get a feel for the ice again. I didn’t take any pictures, but here’s a photo of some sick toproping in Hafner a couple years ago to give you an idea.
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Monday a couple fellas and I took a run up Guinness Gully. I climbed Guinness last year in freezing misery, so it was nice to do it in more pleasant weather. Since we had plenty of Read more…
Our trek up to the Rincon Wall in Eldorado Canyon a few weeks ago might very well be the blackest mark on my climbing career. But why, you ask, did someone get seriously injured? Did you place bad gear and hit the ground? Did you break another persons hand? No. In fact the truth is far more benign. Quite simply, I failed, I failed myself mentally and in so doing really messed up my head game.
The day started off not unlike a Sunday climbing day in the Front Range: Bronco and I a teensy bit bleary eyed from an epic night at the Rock Rest. (Read: shady bar/club in Golden home to awesome redneck skankiness, guaranteed good time.) We lit out for Eldo, intending to possibly climb the Naked Edge (5.11, 6 pitches), a classic, hard multipitch route. As we drove into the canyon I glanced up and remarked, “Well, nobody is on the edge…” Neither of us said anything else, or even looked at each other; we were tired and as long as nobody said they WANTED to do it nobody had to be the softy that begged out. Classic.
Here’s another video of Sam at the Ice Fest. The last one was a raw cut, this guy has some editing, different camera angles, interview etc. Neat stuff.
Here’s a couple photos from our day at Big Whiskey Peak in Oklahoma over the holidays. I’m not sure where the name comes from, it is not “big,” although we did bring whiskey. Being the bold first ascentionist that I am I went ground up a sick looking corner.* Photos by Steven Charles.
*I have never done a first ascent, am a big baby (to be chronicled in my next post), and the corner probably hadn’t been done because it looked pretty lame. Whatever, I got my name in the new guidebook! Magazine cover shots coming soon I know…
Bronco on Comes a Horseman, 5.11c. Note the barely visible ice flow coming out of the bottom of the finger crack to his right.
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Sketching on the FA on a wet, icy corner: Verglastastic 5.8R. Clearly the gem of the Wichitas.
