They are the cornerstones of every plastic playground in America. Their names and faces are irrelevant. It is their infinitely virtuous and upstanding character that matters. You may have had the blessed privilege in seeing them a few days ago or maybe even last night. They are those pesky, little splinters that just won't go away; the paper cuts that never seem to heal.
They stand behind you burning holes in the back of your head while you climb. They offer you ridiculous beta when you have not so much as offered them a furtive glance. There are some that lie in volumes to the point of hilarity, while there are some that say close to nothing after speaking for ages. Some of them wear black spandex and others have harnesses made around the birthing of Jesus H. Christ.
Regardless of the scenario, they really just grind my gears. The following catalogues some my favorite jack-in-the-boxes. Oh, and if you're wondering, the writer here is of course brimming with perfection, so all subjectivity and judgment toward others is entirely valid. Thanks.
1) The Guy in the Background:
He stands behind you with his arms crossed while you climb. He thoroughly enjoys watching people get on his newly created bouldering problem masterpieces so that he can watch them fall. This guy or girl works or lives at the gym, so he or she has plenty of time to prepare boulder traps. He waits behind the front desk, peering through the windows into the gym on the look out for the most vulnerable climber like a tiger waiting on Bambi to hop on by.
This person does not like climbing. Instead, he prefers watching people fall and "critiquing" them whenever necessary (read: all the time. This full-time, slippery snickering gym Grinch only watches so that he can say things like:
"That last crimper is pretty small, huh? It's probably one of the hardest cruxes here. I did it first try though. You should probably work on locking down your crimp strength."
(WHAT YOU'D REALLY LIKE TO SAY BACK: You should probably work on getting a real job, no?)
"Looks like Christmas added a little cushioning around the waist, eh? I reckon your gonna' need to lose those chunky chunks before you start cranking again. Just kidding man."
(WHAT YOU'D REALLY LIKE TO SAY BACK: I reckon' you should stop talking to me before I let this cement wall cushion your face.)
"You've been working on that for a while. It's hard for sure. I remember it feeling solid when I flashed it two months ago."
(WHAT YOU'D REALLY LIKE TO SAY BACK: I remember your mother feeling solid when I flashed her two months ago.)
2) The Sand Bagger:
A sand bagger grades routes or boulder problems much easier than they actually are to make themselves feel like they climb harder than they actually do. Sand bagging does not make you hard, it makes people dislike you. There is nothing more frustrating than getting on a problem you know you can comfortably climb grade wise and subsequently flailing about like a beached whale.
A sand baggers explanation for sand bagging: "I guess it might be a lot harder than what I graded it, but I was shooting for 5.10, so I just wrote that in its place. I'm feeling really strong these days though, so I figured why not be a ignorant curmudgeon, ya know? Discouraging beginner climbers, while inflating my swollen head is extremely satisfying."
Attention all sand baggers: grading a V10 a V4 does not make you cool, it makes you suck. Sometimes this type of tomfoolery may be by mistake, in which case your grading privileges shall be revoked. Forever. Since grades are really the only thing that matter in the sport of wrassling rocks, these types of miscalculations are blasphemous. Remember, we golden grade chasers feel insecure about our egos when we cannot crush the grade that we perpetually boast about to our fellow climbing comrades.
3) The One-Upper:
The one-upper asks questions to seek answers he or she does not care in the least about.
One-Upper: "Wad up bro, how was your weekend? Do any climbing?" (Beware: This is a standard set-up, seek and destroy question.)
Sucker: "I didn't get out really. Too much work and had some family stuff to take..."
"Oh, really. That's too bad man. My weekend was totally nar nar. I actually free-soloed El Cap Friday night after I chugged a keg with some friends in the valley. I fell about mid-way up on the 15th pitch, but managed to catch myself on these killer monos. The next day, like totally hung over, I flashed this new V15 that Chris Sharma apparently got spanked on. Funny thing is, I actually won the lottery that afternoon, cured cancer after lunch, had a baby, rescued a stranded dinosaur from a tar pit, and somehow managed to persuade Al Qaeda to start working with Bush on revised foreign policy. How was your weekend though dude?"
Sucker: "You just asked me that."
One-Upper: "Good talk. We'll see you out there tiger!"
The one upper will attempt to one up you in impossible situations.
Girl: "I'll be back in a minute, I just have to go use the bathroom."
One-Upper: "I just went to the bathroom and actually peed for 27 minutes straight. Without stopping. No break. Have you ever done that though?"
Girl: "No."
Most importantly, the one-upper will make be sure to pop your little balloon of glory after a send.
Enthusiast: "I just sent my first V5! It's taken most of the this winter to break through finally."
One-Upper: "Oh, that one around the corner? Nice work. I did that one in my street shoes with an elephant chained to back."
Enthusiast: No verbal response. A disappointed head nod and a slow retreat.
4) The Unsolicited Beta Man:
Just when you think your alone, he pops out from behind a wall and tells you to use the heel-hook sinker jab while twisting your index finger just enough to the right so that your center of balance will perfectly coincide with your lateral vortex. What?
Sometimes he'll jump out from behind the shower curtain in the morning to tell you that your brushing your teeth all wrong. Drop the elbow Nancy! Sometimes he's in the backseat telling you to that your last right should have been a left. Looks like you missed that turn about, huh, Frank?!
Beta Man is almost as annoying as the Man in the Background, but not quite. He has a good heart and is mostly genuine in his information, but is unwanted nonetheless. The only thing worse than Beta Man is the guy who tells you how to do a problem just so you know he did it (even know you really know he didn't).
5) The Love Bugs:
They are always in some random corner of the gym giggly googling. They are disappointing.
"Nooo, I'll belay you first bbbbabe."
"Nooooo, I'll belay you first snookems."
"Better idea, thats just talk about how nice your harness looks on you toots."
"SSSSSSSSShawn. Ssssstop it. He he he."
Anyway, this is all just for fun folks. I don't mean a word...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Bouldering Comp Mind Games: Getting Inside the Head of those Little Genetically Mutated Ding Dongs
With the EMS-Mammut Bouldering Championship inching closer each day, the topic of competitive strategy seems relevant enough to comment on. Let's face it, competitive climbing is not about losing; its about winning and coming out on top (life and death priority here) is not always based on brawn.
It's about looking good and grunting at just the right moment when your fingers latch a sloper that looks impossible to hold. It's about slowly turning to the crowd with a stoic look on your face that says, "Watch how hard I'm gonna crush this thing because I'm a beast and everyone should know it." Most importantly, it's about indignantly shaking your head after falling off Qualifier Number 1 as if to suggest that the problem was set for a "tall person" and that if you had remembered to wear you're red-power-yogatastical-prana pants you would have finished it.
No. This "article" is really about the complex mental stratagem that the most savvy competitors (like myself of course) are sure to deploy throughout the night. Since physical assault is more or less illegal at most competitions, one must rely on the caustic and manipulative powers of mental chicanery. There are several phases of psycho-climbing-bamboozlement that are essential in creating a slight mental edge over the next competitor and therefore producing an unseen physical advantage.
ISOLATION INCANTATION:
First off, you must make your fellow competitor think that you are feeling weak and tired, the same way you would on any given night when you meet up with your friends to train: "I had a long day at work, so I might suck tonight girlie," or "I just ate Subway, so I feel super heavy bra." The following are some simple lines you can use at will.
I was up 'till four in the morning last night with a lil' tummy ache. I have never felt more tired in my life......(A LIE: You logged a good ten hours of sleep the night before the competition and feel like you could pull a freight train up El Cap in under 30 seconds.)
Oh man, I haven't trained or even climbed for about two months. I just thought it would be fun to hang out here and see some old friends while we did some climbing.......(A LIE: The only time you weren't training was when you were in the bathroom weighing yourself to see if you lost one or two more pounds after peeing. Plus, you don't even have friends anymore because you haven't left the gym for the past four weeks.)
My fingers have been kind of sore and my left elbow tweaked a little bit last week on the Purple Nurple V8......(A LIE: You have been resting, stretching, and icing, not to mention shooting cortisone like candy corn, for the past two weeks. Your body could not be any more fit if you were Lance Armstrong after the Tour de "I am a Freak of Nature" France.)
The art of sandbagging is a subtle one, but once mastered, the effects can be devastating. If a competitor thinks that you are off your climbing game, they will become relaxed and less apt to try hard because they will be thinking that you are climbing like a wimpy-pants, causing an overall decrease in climbing performance.
BETA DECEPTION:
After each five minute climbing period, each competitor is alloted five minutes of rest. This five minute rest period should not just be used for showing off veins and pumping the guns. Instead, use this time to "help out" competitors waiting on problems next to yours. The following is a list of some juicy bait.
You looked solid on that last problem brahem. Your totally gonna crush this one too. Just remember the heel-toe cam, max flex figure-12 curve around the arete at the last move. It's impossible without it.......(FALSE: The climber was shaking more than an aggravated coke head run dry and of course there is no heel-toe cam either, but this comment will get the competitor thinking about the problem in the wrong frame of mind. Confuse and dismiss. Perfect.)
Hey muffin cakes, I flashed the first three problems. I guess I am just feeling good tonight. Looks like you'll have to flash all of em' to tie me, eh? Good luck buddy........(FALSE: You did not flash any problems. In fact, you did not even finish any of the problems; however, your buddy in the next seat over does not know this. Consequently, the added amount of flashing pressure is sure to infiltrate and tamper with his psych, possibly creating enough jitters to shake him right off the starting jugs.)
This next problem is a doozy. Mr. Sharma himself would be lucky to climb it brosephina......"FALSE: Chris Sharma is a ManGod and could float across a 400 foot piece of greased, over-hanging glass. Plus, the problem is not nearly as hard as implied. Instilling fear and a sense of intimidation in a competitor is extremely important.)
Just remember, bouldering comps are only fun if you are winning, so remember to employ these weapons of deception. If you do not feel comfortable using these techniques, then I suppose you could rely on talent, hard work, comradery , and sportsmanship. Right.
FEEL GOOD ENDING:
When all is said and done, bouldering competitions are all about having a good time while pushing your limits in a way that would have been impossible if not for the added energy and intensification created by genuine climbing partners and devoted enthusiasts rooting for you on each problem. The upcoming championship is basically a party where anybody and everybody is invited. It does not matter if you just started climbing V0- last weekend or you have been hiking V14 with a backpack on for the past century. Come one, come all. There is going to be three kegs for Pete's sake!
I am thankful that our small community can share such an exciting few nights together, uniting as one under a common interest: crushing. And of course in the end, I don't want anyone to fail anymore than I would like to myself...unless that means I could win.
Hope to see you all out there turning plastic into dust. Stay healthy and come get some November 9th and 10th at MetroRock North and South.
With the EMS-Mammut Bouldering Championship inching closer each day, the topic of competitive strategy seems relevant enough to comment on. Let's face it, competitive climbing is not about losing; its about winning and coming out on top (life and death priority here) is not always based on brawn.
It's about looking good and grunting at just the right moment when your fingers latch a sloper that looks impossible to hold. It's about slowly turning to the crowd with a stoic look on your face that says, "Watch how hard I'm gonna crush this thing because I'm a beast and everyone should know it." Most importantly, it's about indignantly shaking your head after falling off Qualifier Number 1 as if to suggest that the problem was set for a "tall person" and that if you had remembered to wear you're red-power-yogatastical-prana pants you would have finished it.
No. This "article" is really about the complex mental stratagem that the most savvy competitors (like myself of course) are sure to deploy throughout the night. Since physical assault is more or less illegal at most competitions, one must rely on the caustic and manipulative powers of mental chicanery. There are several phases of psycho-climbing-bamboozlement that are essential in creating a slight mental edge over the next competitor and therefore producing an unseen physical advantage.
ISOLATION INCANTATION:
First off, you must make your fellow competitor think that you are feeling weak and tired, the same way you would on any given night when you meet up with your friends to train: "I had a long day at work, so I might suck tonight girlie," or "I just ate Subway, so I feel super heavy bra." The following are some simple lines you can use at will.
I was up 'till four in the morning last night with a lil' tummy ache. I have never felt more tired in my life......(A LIE: You logged a good ten hours of sleep the night before the competition and feel like you could pull a freight train up El Cap in under 30 seconds.)
Oh man, I haven't trained or even climbed for about two months. I just thought it would be fun to hang out here and see some old friends while we did some climbing.......(A LIE: The only time you weren't training was when you were in the bathroom weighing yourself to see if you lost one or two more pounds after peeing. Plus, you don't even have friends anymore because you haven't left the gym for the past four weeks.)
My fingers have been kind of sore and my left elbow tweaked a little bit last week on the Purple Nurple V8......(A LIE: You have been resting, stretching, and icing, not to mention shooting cortisone like candy corn, for the past two weeks. Your body could not be any more fit if you were Lance Armstrong after the Tour de "I am a Freak of Nature" France.)
The art of sandbagging is a subtle one, but once mastered, the effects can be devastating. If a competitor thinks that you are off your climbing game, they will become relaxed and less apt to try hard because they will be thinking that you are climbing like a wimpy-pants, causing an overall decrease in climbing performance.
BETA DECEPTION:
After each five minute climbing period, each competitor is alloted five minutes of rest. This five minute rest period should not just be used for showing off veins and pumping the guns. Instead, use this time to "help out" competitors waiting on problems next to yours. The following is a list of some juicy bait.
You looked solid on that last problem brahem. Your totally gonna crush this one too. Just remember the heel-toe cam, max flex figure-12 curve around the arete at the last move. It's impossible without it.......(FALSE: The climber was shaking more than an aggravated coke head run dry and of course there is no heel-toe cam either, but this comment will get the competitor thinking about the problem in the wrong frame of mind. Confuse and dismiss. Perfect.)
Hey muffin cakes, I flashed the first three problems. I guess I am just feeling good tonight. Looks like you'll have to flash all of em' to tie me, eh? Good luck buddy........(FALSE: You did not flash any problems. In fact, you did not even finish any of the problems; however, your buddy in the next seat over does not know this. Consequently, the added amount of flashing pressure is sure to infiltrate and tamper with his psych, possibly creating enough jitters to shake him right off the starting jugs.)
This next problem is a doozy. Mr. Sharma himself would be lucky to climb it brosephina......"FALSE: Chris Sharma is a ManGod and could float across a 400 foot piece of greased, over-hanging glass. Plus, the problem is not nearly as hard as implied. Instilling fear and a sense of intimidation in a competitor is extremely important.)
Just remember, bouldering comps are only fun if you are winning, so remember to employ these weapons of deception. If you do not feel comfortable using these techniques, then I suppose you could rely on talent, hard work, comradery , and sportsmanship. Right.
FEEL GOOD ENDING:
When all is said and done, bouldering competitions are all about having a good time while pushing your limits in a way that would have been impossible if not for the added energy and intensification created by genuine climbing partners and devoted enthusiasts rooting for you on each problem. The upcoming championship is basically a party where anybody and everybody is invited. It does not matter if you just started climbing V0- last weekend or you have been hiking V14 with a backpack on for the past century. Come one, come all. There is going to be three kegs for Pete's sake!
I am thankful that our small community can share such an exciting few nights together, uniting as one under a common interest: crushing. And of course in the end, I don't want anyone to fail anymore than I would like to myself...unless that means I could win.
Hope to see you all out there turning plastic into dust. Stay healthy and come get some November 9th and 10th at MetroRock North and South.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mammut- EMS Bouldering Championships: The Vision with Pete Ward
Rock climbing means many different things to many different people. Whether it be scrambling up a 500 foot death-choss pillar, crimping on dime-edges four feet off the deck (shiver), buildering up the side of a dorm, or cranking with friends in a gym all night long, it all boils down to the same exact point: We climb to have a good time, to have fun, and most of all, to build bad-ass looking muscles. The greatest part of climbing is its infinitely versatile canvas. Neither one is better than the other because fulfillment, of course, lies within the eye of the beholder (that's Jedi Knight style right there).
Anyway, my point is that there are many different facets of climbing that perpetually evolve with each coming year due to the unwavering dedication and commitment from climber's across the globe; however, one of the most influential cornerstones of this industry's media network is changing far more rapidly than others: Indoor Competitive Rock Climbing. As regimented and professionalized teams begun to flourish across the country, sponsors have become more active than ever. With a higher level of sponsored competition and climbing professionalism comes a increased degree of public awareness, which in turn will create a greater base of media interest, stretching deeper into virgin demographics outside of the typical 10th year climber.
The competition series that has seemed to attract an increased amount of attention over the years is the Mammut-EMS Bouldering Championships; a mix between a night-long rager and a gravity induced boxing ring for 140 pound freaks. It's more than a good time.
Pete Ward, one of the upper level shakers within this wild torrent of change, has so graciously given us an exclusive look into the very heart beat of the competitive scene that is spreading without limit.
How did you guys start the Mammut-EMS Bouldering Championship Series?
Is it just you and Jason behind the founding (aside from a crew that
helps)?
The roots of the Bouldering Championships actually go way back to 2001 and the first of the Cave Rave series... I loved putting on comps and realized that rather than actual winning and losing, the point of a good comp should be to party. The first Bouldering Championships competition was the 2003 New England Bouldering Championships, an invitational run by Tim Kemple and I and hosted at the Dover Indoor Climbing Gym. We made a list of the best climbers we thought we could get to come and completely re-built the gym in a week. And by "re-built" I mean we literally built about 1000sq ft of new climbing wall in addition to setting 120+ problems and finals. You can actually still see the results and pics from that comp here:
http://www.newenglandbouldering.com/news/news.html
The NEB.com Championships got me thinking and in 2004 Jason followed Matt Stark as the head setter at the New Jersey Rock Gym so we had two gyms that we could host a comp at on lockdown. We decided to see what we could do. Anne-Worley Bauknight at USAC scheduled us comps at Metrorock, Boulder Morty's and Go Vertical to go along with the Gravity Brawl at the NJRG and we had the first ever Northeastern Bouldering Championships Tour. Although we didn't plan it this way at the time, the 2005 NEBC tour ended up being a pilot for what we do now.
In 2006 we added a business partner of mine from another venture, Lu Yan (more on him later) and surrounded ourselves with our current core team including:
a.. Tim Kemple, Tour Photog and BADASS routesetter: Nobody knows this about Tim, but in my opinion he is the 2nd best routesetter in the country (Jason is #1). Tim is the only guy in the world with his collection of talents and we are SUPER fortunate to have him.
b.. Steve Leder, Design and Creative Director: Everything we do looks sexy and relevant because of Steve's work and we are lucky shits to work with him. Steve has a huge roster of mainstream corporate clients (who I will not embarass by mentioning them here) and his influence professionalizes the look of all our visual collateral.
c.. Lee Kolocycz, Web design & Topscore: One of the innovations I'm most proud of is that we have developed a scoring system that is easy to follow, and that people can follow online like any box score from any other sport. Lee wrote that software and always hits us with the last minute 3am updates we need to make things go.
With those guys in place we went on our first major sponsorship drive and created the 2006 Mammut Bouldering Championships. Last year's tour stopped at Earth Treks, Metrorock and the Gravity Brawl and was the first tour since the PCA to give away $20k in cash to climbers in a year.
This year was a natural progression from 2006. The difference is that people have noticed what we do, how hard we work and we have been tremendously lucky to partner with some amazingly talented people out West. The relationship that we have begun with the Outdoor Retailer show is right now one of the most important relationships in the whole climbing industry because it gives us the opportunity to showcase climbing on the stage where it matters most for years to come. I can't wait to see the 2008 tour!
Hopefully in years to come we'll look back at this past comp in SLC and say "HA! Remember when 2000 spectators seemed like a lot!".
But your original question was, "Is it just Jason and me?", and the answer is HEEEEELLL NO! If we are able to be succesfull and host a sustainable pro tour of events on the scale of what we all just saw in SLC it will be because of one guy that nobody knows: Lu Yan.
Lu Yan is one of the top corporate consultants there is. I have never met ANYONE with a fraction of his drive to succeed and vision for how to solve problems. He influences Jason and I every day and brings to the table what our industry needs the most: corporate credibility. We can go into a boardroom and jump up and down on the table, and yell and scream about how cool climbing is, but if at the end of the day we don't have a bombproof, actionable plan for how to make a profit for ourselves and our sponsors, the bean counters will shut us down cold. That's where climbing has failed in the past and that's why we won't fail now. Lu knows what industry needs better than they do because he's hired to fix corporations when they become disfunctional, and now rather than waiting till something is broken, we get to reinvent an industry that's primed for massive growth. If we're watching pro climbing on TV in 5 years it'll be because of Lu Yan. Jason and I couldn't tie our own damn shoes in the morning, let alone run a pro-tour unsupervised.
You guys seem to be doing all that you can in terms of money and venue
to raise public awareness to increase professional progression of the
sport. How do you think you differ from other competition
organizations? span style="font-weight:bold;">
Thanks for noticing, that's exactly what we are trying to do. And really, your statement itself is the main difference. We're trying to influence the professional progression of the sport. That's it. Nothing else.
The ABS and USAC are really the only other people running comps out there and they do a great job. But we're trying to do different things. The ABS has this awesome roster of grassroots comps that span the country, and USAC runs Junior comps and some roped comps as well which bring thousands of kids into climbing every year. But USAC, a non-profit company trying to attract the attention of the IOC, and we're here to build competitions for climbers and our sponsors and, oh yeah, we're here to f'ing rock. Totally different goals. I've coached kids in USAC for 6yrs and run (or helped run) probably 15 or 20 ABS & USAC comps myself so I totally support what they do, but what they don't do is articulate to a wide audience why climbing is amazing, beautiful and a sport of the future. We do that. In fact, thats all we do.
It is my opinion that any kid with the desire, drive and talent to make it as a pro climber should have that opportunity, the same as any punk kid with a skateboard or a basketball. We're trying to create an new off-shoot of climbing that will add to the overall picture in a really positive way and make that a possibility.
How can you reach out to a different demographic of people each comp?
The Trad show is the same people every year, no? The Showdown seemed to
do that a bit.
Good question, and while maybe a protracted lecture on targeted marketing initiatives and how we reach out to each different demographic isn't totally appropriate for this context I will say that, at the high level, you're right on. The ASCI Showdown was a pilot project to determine the feasibility of using climbing as the centerpiece of a multi-sport outdoor event rather than a sideshow attraction. It will grow in years to come, and hopefully turn into a sort of Teva Mountain Games East. The local community is behind it, and the facility can certainly support it, so we'll see where that ends up. Right now that event looks really good for 2008, but thats all I can say for sure.
But that said, I would disagree with the sentiment that the Outdoor Retailer show is somehow not a new demographic (not that you were totally saying that). The reality is that climbing industry takes up only 20% of the attendees for any given tradeshow, so for us to have access to the whole group was a huge coup for our sport. Every company there is a potential partner for our industry, and they all saw with thier own eyes how badass climbing can be when done right. We forget how small and irrelevant our sport currently is and how far we have to go before we can really be considered one of the big dogs.
We need to continue to use the OR show as one of the showcases for our entire industry for years to come. It will be the new standard for climbing competitions.
Where do you see the competition scene in the next 10 years in terms of
advertisement and commercial awareness? Are we going to have Nike
givin' up the dough next year Pete?
Haha! Maaaaybe. Without divulging too much about who's interested in the Bouldering Championships for 2008 and beyond, I will say that a whole new level of corporate interest has cropped up over the Summer of 2007 because of the success of the ASCI Showdown and the BC tour. Unfortunately beyond that I can't go into too much detail without giving up the goods. I will say that one of the things I am personally most excited about is a project we're about to undertake; a feasibility study on with some of the most talented people in our industry, Ok, THE most talented people in our industry. Should be fun.
I guess the honest answer to your question is that I don't know. I can tell you what I don't see us doing. I don't see us selling out the sport in pursuit of unattainable goals. The great thing about our tour is that we purposefully write short-term contracts that allow us creative control over the events rather than sponsors or some large governing body. Some other small-time sports have made really bad deals to get on TV or to land a World Cup and given up control of their product in the process, and we WILL NOT do that. Jason, Lu and I love climbing way too much and we all have other careers to fall back on if this doesn't work out. We're not going to let ESPN or someone else dictate to us what climbing should look like. Don't ever look to us to run a speed bouldering comp or some freestyle dyno bullshit. That's not climbing and I don't want to see it.
What is the most challenging part of putting on these massive competitions?
Dude, nobody knows man. Nobodys knows. And maybe it's better that way. If we're pros it's supposed to look easy and we try to make it that way. I try not to whine and I'm FOR SURE grateful for the opportunity to make my living doing what I do. Shit man, last Saturday I was the only guy who could watch Chris Sharma from any goddamn seat I wanted to. That's worth it right there!
SLC, was interesting because it was the first one on that scale. Nobody had ever run a comp like that before and therefore it was all new. Lucky for me I had amazing support from people like Dustin Buckthal (owner of The Front Climbing Club), Clark Shelk of Revolution and many others actually on the ground in SLC.
I think that generally, the most challenging part is vision for the big picture and being able to properly support the people who are on the ground running the actual event. For example: In SLC we had about 50 volunteers and employees, all of whom had crucial roles. If I don't do my job right it leaves all those people on an island which really sucks when you're working for a free T-Shirt and tickets to the after-party. Honestly, one of the things I look forward to the most about blowing the doors off this thing and getting a ton of investment for 2008 is the ability write a bonus check for a judge who gets shit about a call from a competitor but keeps his or her cool and acts pro. I had a great judge in SLC who made a real tough call and got protested by one of the top guys, but she kept her cool and it was all good. We went through the protest procedures and everybody left happy. Unfortunately all I could do was say thank you at the after party, but really she deserved a phatty bonus check for keeping her head (Next time Christine!).
Most enjoyable?
Dude, I love this stuff! I have to travel all over NE on Monday for meetings with sponsors and I'll love that. I have a full day of conference calls with some great people on Tuesday and that'll be fun too. My two best friends are my business partners and I work in the sport I love. Some people hate on what we do, some people wants us to make unreasonable deals, but I don't have to deal with a shitty boss or do anything that I feel invades our integrity. All in all I'd say I'm a lucky bastard and wouldn't trade for anything. Well... that doesn't mean that interested companies shouldn't make me offers, but I am having fun. I can't wait to see where we're at in a year or two!
Anyway, my point is that there are many different facets of climbing that perpetually evolve with each coming year due to the unwavering dedication and commitment from climber's across the globe; however, one of the most influential cornerstones of this industry's media network is changing far more rapidly than others: Indoor Competitive Rock Climbing. As regimented and professionalized teams begun to flourish across the country, sponsors have become more active than ever. With a higher level of sponsored competition and climbing professionalism comes a increased degree of public awareness, which in turn will create a greater base of media interest, stretching deeper into virgin demographics outside of the typical 10th year climber.
The competition series that has seemed to attract an increased amount of attention over the years is the Mammut-EMS Bouldering Championships; a mix between a night-long rager and a gravity induced boxing ring for 140 pound freaks. It's more than a good time.
Pete Ward, one of the upper level shakers within this wild torrent of change, has so graciously given us an exclusive look into the very heart beat of the competitive scene that is spreading without limit.
How did you guys start the Mammut-EMS Bouldering Championship Series?
Is it just you and Jason behind the founding (aside from a crew that
helps)?
The roots of the Bouldering Championships actually go way back to 2001 and the first of the Cave Rave series... I loved putting on comps and realized that rather than actual winning and losing, the point of a good comp should be to party. The first Bouldering Championships competition was the 2003 New England Bouldering Championships, an invitational run by Tim Kemple and I and hosted at the Dover Indoor Climbing Gym. We made a list of the best climbers we thought we could get to come and completely re-built the gym in a week. And by "re-built" I mean we literally built about 1000sq ft of new climbing wall in addition to setting 120+ problems and finals. You can actually still see the results and pics from that comp here:
http://www.newenglandbouldering.com/news/news.html
The NEB.com Championships got me thinking and in 2004 Jason followed Matt Stark as the head setter at the New Jersey Rock Gym so we had two gyms that we could host a comp at on lockdown. We decided to see what we could do. Anne-Worley Bauknight at USAC scheduled us comps at Metrorock, Boulder Morty's and Go Vertical to go along with the Gravity Brawl at the NJRG and we had the first ever Northeastern Bouldering Championships Tour. Although we didn't plan it this way at the time, the 2005 NEBC tour ended up being a pilot for what we do now.
In 2006 we added a business partner of mine from another venture, Lu Yan (more on him later) and surrounded ourselves with our current core team including:
a.. Tim Kemple, Tour Photog and BADASS routesetter: Nobody knows this about Tim, but in my opinion he is the 2nd best routesetter in the country (Jason is #1). Tim is the only guy in the world with his collection of talents and we are SUPER fortunate to have him.
b.. Steve Leder, Design and Creative Director: Everything we do looks sexy and relevant because of Steve's work and we are lucky shits to work with him. Steve has a huge roster of mainstream corporate clients (who I will not embarass by mentioning them here) and his influence professionalizes the look of all our visual collateral.
c.. Lee Kolocycz, Web design & Topscore: One of the innovations I'm most proud of is that we have developed a scoring system that is easy to follow, and that people can follow online like any box score from any other sport. Lee wrote that software and always hits us with the last minute 3am updates we need to make things go.
With those guys in place we went on our first major sponsorship drive and created the 2006 Mammut Bouldering Championships. Last year's tour stopped at Earth Treks, Metrorock and the Gravity Brawl and was the first tour since the PCA to give away $20k in cash to climbers in a year.
This year was a natural progression from 2006. The difference is that people have noticed what we do, how hard we work and we have been tremendously lucky to partner with some amazingly talented people out West. The relationship that we have begun with the Outdoor Retailer show is right now one of the most important relationships in the whole climbing industry because it gives us the opportunity to showcase climbing on the stage where it matters most for years to come. I can't wait to see the 2008 tour!
Hopefully in years to come we'll look back at this past comp in SLC and say "HA! Remember when 2000 spectators seemed like a lot!".
But your original question was, "Is it just Jason and me?", and the answer is HEEEEELLL NO! If we are able to be succesfull and host a sustainable pro tour of events on the scale of what we all just saw in SLC it will be because of one guy that nobody knows: Lu Yan.
Lu Yan is one of the top corporate consultants there is. I have never met ANYONE with a fraction of his drive to succeed and vision for how to solve problems. He influences Jason and I every day and brings to the table what our industry needs the most: corporate credibility. We can go into a boardroom and jump up and down on the table, and yell and scream about how cool climbing is, but if at the end of the day we don't have a bombproof, actionable plan for how to make a profit for ourselves and our sponsors, the bean counters will shut us down cold. That's where climbing has failed in the past and that's why we won't fail now. Lu knows what industry needs better than they do because he's hired to fix corporations when they become disfunctional, and now rather than waiting till something is broken, we get to reinvent an industry that's primed for massive growth. If we're watching pro climbing on TV in 5 years it'll be because of Lu Yan. Jason and I couldn't tie our own damn shoes in the morning, let alone run a pro-tour unsupervised.
You guys seem to be doing all that you can in terms of money and venue
to raise public awareness to increase professional progression of the
sport. How do you think you differ from other competition
organizations? span style="font-weight:bold;">
Thanks for noticing, that's exactly what we are trying to do. And really, your statement itself is the main difference. We're trying to influence the professional progression of the sport. That's it. Nothing else.
The ABS and USAC are really the only other people running comps out there and they do a great job. But we're trying to do different things. The ABS has this awesome roster of grassroots comps that span the country, and USAC runs Junior comps and some roped comps as well which bring thousands of kids into climbing every year. But USAC, a non-profit company trying to attract the attention of the IOC, and we're here to build competitions for climbers and our sponsors and, oh yeah, we're here to f'ing rock. Totally different goals. I've coached kids in USAC for 6yrs and run (or helped run) probably 15 or 20 ABS & USAC comps myself so I totally support what they do, but what they don't do is articulate to a wide audience why climbing is amazing, beautiful and a sport of the future. We do that. In fact, thats all we do.
It is my opinion that any kid with the desire, drive and talent to make it as a pro climber should have that opportunity, the same as any punk kid with a skateboard or a basketball. We're trying to create an new off-shoot of climbing that will add to the overall picture in a really positive way and make that a possibility.
How can you reach out to a different demographic of people each comp?
The Trad show is the same people every year, no? The Showdown seemed to
do that a bit.
Good question, and while maybe a protracted lecture on targeted marketing initiatives and how we reach out to each different demographic isn't totally appropriate for this context I will say that, at the high level, you're right on. The ASCI Showdown was a pilot project to determine the feasibility of using climbing as the centerpiece of a multi-sport outdoor event rather than a sideshow attraction. It will grow in years to come, and hopefully turn into a sort of Teva Mountain Games East. The local community is behind it, and the facility can certainly support it, so we'll see where that ends up. Right now that event looks really good for 2008, but thats all I can say for sure.
But that said, I would disagree with the sentiment that the Outdoor Retailer show is somehow not a new demographic (not that you were totally saying that). The reality is that climbing industry takes up only 20% of the attendees for any given tradeshow, so for us to have access to the whole group was a huge coup for our sport. Every company there is a potential partner for our industry, and they all saw with thier own eyes how badass climbing can be when done right. We forget how small and irrelevant our sport currently is and how far we have to go before we can really be considered one of the big dogs.
We need to continue to use the OR show as one of the showcases for our entire industry for years to come. It will be the new standard for climbing competitions.
Where do you see the competition scene in the next 10 years in terms of
advertisement and commercial awareness? Are we going to have Nike
givin' up the dough next year Pete?
Haha! Maaaaybe. Without divulging too much about who's interested in the Bouldering Championships for 2008 and beyond, I will say that a whole new level of corporate interest has cropped up over the Summer of 2007 because of the success of the ASCI Showdown and the BC tour. Unfortunately beyond that I can't go into too much detail without giving up the goods. I will say that one of the things I am personally most excited about is a project we're about to undertake; a feasibility study on with some of the most talented people in our industry, Ok, THE most talented people in our industry. Should be fun.
I guess the honest answer to your question is that I don't know. I can tell you what I don't see us doing. I don't see us selling out the sport in pursuit of unattainable goals. The great thing about our tour is that we purposefully write short-term contracts that allow us creative control over the events rather than sponsors or some large governing body. Some other small-time sports have made really bad deals to get on TV or to land a World Cup and given up control of their product in the process, and we WILL NOT do that. Jason, Lu and I love climbing way too much and we all have other careers to fall back on if this doesn't work out. We're not going to let ESPN or someone else dictate to us what climbing should look like. Don't ever look to us to run a speed bouldering comp or some freestyle dyno bullshit. That's not climbing and I don't want to see it.
What is the most challenging part of putting on these massive competitions?
Dude, nobody knows man. Nobodys knows. And maybe it's better that way. If we're pros it's supposed to look easy and we try to make it that way. I try not to whine and I'm FOR SURE grateful for the opportunity to make my living doing what I do. Shit man, last Saturday I was the only guy who could watch Chris Sharma from any goddamn seat I wanted to. That's worth it right there!
SLC, was interesting because it was the first one on that scale. Nobody had ever run a comp like that before and therefore it was all new. Lucky for me I had amazing support from people like Dustin Buckthal (owner of The Front Climbing Club), Clark Shelk of Revolution and many others actually on the ground in SLC.
I think that generally, the most challenging part is vision for the big picture and being able to properly support the people who are on the ground running the actual event. For example: In SLC we had about 50 volunteers and employees, all of whom had crucial roles. If I don't do my job right it leaves all those people on an island which really sucks when you're working for a free T-Shirt and tickets to the after-party. Honestly, one of the things I look forward to the most about blowing the doors off this thing and getting a ton of investment for 2008 is the ability write a bonus check for a judge who gets shit about a call from a competitor but keeps his or her cool and acts pro. I had a great judge in SLC who made a real tough call and got protested by one of the top guys, but she kept her cool and it was all good. We went through the protest procedures and everybody left happy. Unfortunately all I could do was say thank you at the after party, but really she deserved a phatty bonus check for keeping her head (Next time Christine!).
Most enjoyable?
Dude, I love this stuff! I have to travel all over NE on Monday for meetings with sponsors and I'll love that. I have a full day of conference calls with some great people on Tuesday and that'll be fun too. My two best friends are my business partners and I work in the sport I love. Some people hate on what we do, some people wants us to make unreasonable deals, but I don't have to deal with a shitty boss or do anything that I feel invades our integrity. All in all I'd say I'm a lucky bastard and wouldn't trade for anything. Well... that doesn't mean that interested companies shouldn't make me offers, but I am having fun. I can't wait to see where we're at in a year or two!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Impacts of Indoor Climbing: Mark Richey Interview
As the number of indoor rock climbing gyms increase exponentially across the nation, the potential for over-commercialization of rock climbing grows close.
Or does it? I contemplate whether or not all publicity for climber's is good publicity or perhaps the inherent purity in climbing is sliding dangerously close to deterioration as more teenage-mutant training farms explode across the country. But then again, an increased public awareness serves as the base for athletic recognition, which in turn could lead to the development of an intramural sport. Paid athletes? And not just Sharma and Tommy. Perhaps, whole teams on a High School level.
The circulation of money with increased sponsor reliance and media engagement could allow climber's to make their dreams realities without having to drop out of school or college, eat rice for breakfast and dinner to save money, and live out of their cars to "make it happen". Giving talented and equally motivated climber's an oppurtunity to sustain a comfortable living would only help to push the limits of our sport because the drive to blur the lines of possibility would be vastly intensified.
Then again, the predictable naysayer would most likely fall under the position of: "covet thy sport for eternity and buzz off newbs, these are my green trees." Yes, more climbers would certainly enter the sport, but lets be honest, they would most likely remain inside. Why climb on rock and deal with bugs in the "sun" when you can climb on plastic and listen to "kick-ass" tunes. So don't worry about your new "radically dope" secret bouldering spot being flooded with the likes of ignorant plastic pullers like myself because we'll still be inside tearing down the new "Red" problem.
Of course, I'm only joshing. Who knows what will happen. Only Pat and Eric hold the answers to these mythical questions related to the inevitable recourse of public climbing growth. And pigs can fly.
I say the more the merrier. Bigger comps, bigger access fund events, more money, more food, and more smiles.
Either way, there are issues out there far more important that this anyhow: Paris Hilton's Jail Sentence, our 13 year old President, Britney Spears' Shaved Head, Daniel Woods' next V18.5, and what I'm going to have for dinner tomorow. Ya. What.
My rambling ends here and starts with another dude who has far more experience than myself (understatement). Who is better to comment on the past, present, and future of our capricious climbing culture than a world-class rock climber and mountaineer of unparalled proportions; not to mention the past president of the American Alpine Club and current representative for the UIAA? That would be Mark Richey.
Richey Interview:
The MetroRock facilities seem to be taking the East Coast by storm. What inspired its development for you?
I did not begin the chain at all but I did have an interest in bringing a rock gym into our building as I thought it would be a good addition to the local and rock climbing communities (and for selfish reasons of course). So after visiting the existing the Everett gym and climbing there a few times, I was impressed and I decided to contact Pat Enright one of the owners and propose we build a similar gym in our Newburyport building. Eric Curtis, Pats current partner, contacted me independently about the same time. They both liked the idea, formed a partnership and we worked out a financial arrangement that made sense pretty quickly. Then we just all got to work and it happened quite smoothly. I think the fact that we all liked each other and trusted each other made things easy.
These gyms have literally destroyed existing competition in gyms that had been flourishing for years prior to the MetroRock monster. What can you attribute to this relatively recent success?
I'm not an expert on this, but I'd say three factors have contributed to Metro Rocks success.
1), State of the art gym construction in a facility that's modern, attractive and really exciting to climb in.
2), Awesome route setting,(thanks Bill) a suberb and friendly staff and top management. Very family conducive too.
3), A Sound business approach (climbers sometimes don't make the best business men but not in this case)
With the advent of indoor rock climbing gyms increasing at an exponential rate across the nation, do you feel the culture of rock climbing with suffer or actually feel the inverse and flourish?
The culture of rock climbing is always changing somewhat. Most people are learning to climb indoors now which has advantages. Climbers are getting stronger, training better, climbing year round during bad weather and starting at an earlier age (in a safe place) and it shows in the average level of difficulty that so many people are climbing at within a relatively short period of time. Also, climbing gyms have become very social environments and consequently a lot of gym climbers enjoy the sport crags like Rumney because it's similar. You can climb hard and hang out with your buds at the same time. On the other hand, multi-pitch traditional climbs on cliffs like Cathedral and Cannon offer a different, perhaps more adventurous experience that is certainly helpful in preparing climbers for long routes in the mountains or exploratory type climbing. It all depends on what you're into. Often I see a progression, with young climbers starting out in the Gym, then going to the sport crags, then the Trad cliffs and finally taking all those skills to big climbs and mountain routes. Tommy Caldwell is an example of that.
On the most basic level, climbing is about being outside. Do you think all of this indoor-mumbo-jumbo will instill the wrong idea into entry-level climbers? Or maybe all of these training facilities are simply breeding grounds for a new generation of teenage-mutants that will take climbing to the next level?
Gyms are great training facilities for strength and technique but of course Gyms cannot adequately prepare you for natural rock and placing protection, especially crack climbing like in Indian Creek or Yosemite etc. That you must learn with Mother Nature. At least you can start off strong from the gym with some rope handling skills and the basic movements down. When I started rock climbing in 1972, 5.10 was the top of the grade and only the best climbers were at that level. Today, in the gyms, that's practically entry level. Of course, there is a big difference between indoor and outdoor climbs but there is no question that climbers are training more intensely now. We never dreamed that 5.15 or freeing the Nose would actually happen but here we are. In another 10 to 15 years we'll probably be looking at 5.16s and on-site, one day free ascents of huge multi-pitch climbs on El-cap and elsewhere. We're not that far off and it's pretty exciting!
But on another note, I think we all stress the grades too much and miss out. I know a lot of gym climbers wont go and try climbs on Cathedral or other trad cliff because they'll have to climb at a lower grade, but who cares, they're missing out on some of the best climbs in the country. It's funny, some of my favorite climbs of the 70s and 80s get way less traffic today and are growing moss because everyone goes to Rumney!
Along those same lines, where do you see climbing headed? Straying away from the bad-ass traditional lines somewhere far off on the ends of the Earth and focusing in on who can pull the hardest SINGLE move on plastic or.....WHAT?
All climbing is developing. A lot more people are focusing on really hard, sustained technical climbing on rock, ice and mixed climbs and generally in relatively controlled environments so the technical progress in those arenas is happening fast. Alpine style and exploratory climbing in the greater mountain ranges like the Himalayas is still the realm of relatively few climbers so progress is slower and mile stone ascents fewer and far between. There are a lot fewer top athletes getting into alpine climbing for obvious reasons, it's expensive, time committing and dangerous. But it's happening there too, the recent alpine style ascent of a new route on Nanga Parbats Rupal face by House and Anderson is a good example.
These gyms seem to be setting the foundation for an increased commercialization over the sport (competitions, media coverage, funds, increased public awareness, etc.) This could lead to paid athletes, other than Sharma and Tommy! Do you see this potential as good or bad?
I think its fine. I applaud those climbers that are able to combine there passion with there vocation. However I do think that climbing in the mountains for monetary reasons (other that guiding) is a risky business for obvious reasons and sometimes has led to poor ethical decisions and a regression in climbing style. i.e.; getting to the top no matter what to satisfy sponsors. At any rate, being a professional climber has never been an easy way to make a living and I don't see that changing any time soon but nothing wrong in trying. Personally, I think I'd get bored with climbing if I had to make my living at it and I never want to get bored climbing!
Enough on that, as a world-class climber and mountaineer, what are your future goals?
I'd like to continue to climb and explore as long as I can on everything from bouldering to high mountains and especially remote areas like the region of Eastern Tibet we visited last autumn. And despite my age, I'm 49, I'm still always trying to improve my technical climbing ability, strength and just climb harder in general. That motivates me but I must admit it does get more difficult.
In June I'll return to the unclimbed North Ridge of Latok 1 in Pakistan with Steve Swenson and Doug Chabot. It will be my third expedition to that peak. I'd also like to spend more time climbing and exploring in Africa and I'd like to climb in Antarctica someday.
After literally 35 years of elite climbing, how do you stay motivated? More importantly, how do you manage to stay so strong and injury free? I mean, I'm 21 for Pete's sake and I get injured every other month!!!
I'm addicted to climbing, the mountains and wild places and I love to climb and explore as much today as I did when I first started in 1973. The people you meet along the way (I met my wife Teresa at an American Alpine Club meeting) and friends you make is of course a huge part of. Also, climbing and traveling has helped me and my family become more aware of how precious our wild places are and how we must all be good stewards and more compassionate for those who have so much less than us (that is Americans in general). My involvement with the AAC is very rewarding and also with other non-profit organizations we support like the CAI that builds schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I think if you don't give back to your community as a climber you miss out on perhaps the greatest reward of all, helping to make the world a better place. That's very motivating to me now. I'm also grateful that I've had other important things in my life like my family and our business which has helped me put climbing into perspective and enjoy it when and how I choose.
As far as staying strong and injury free, first of all, I'm hardly injury free, although not the typical finger and elbow tendon stuff that avid sport climbers suffer from. My weakness is my back which I guess I injured as a young man and I have to be careful with. But I do try to live healthy, eat well, get varied and regular exercise and avoid stress as much as possible. In the rock gym, I like to work out no more than 2 to 3 times per weak and I see the most benefit that way but of course a younger person could do more. I also like to vary the workouts from bouldering one day to overhanging jug hauling and then maybe an endurance session with maximum mileage on easier climbs say 5.9 and 5.10s only. Then mix in cardio, and some weight training to balance off. 3-5 months before a major expedition I pick up the training and tailor it depending on where I'm going to climb. Oh yea, I save the weekends for outdoors!
Mark Richey: Mountain Climber
Mark began rock climbing in 1973 at age 15 in the Quincy Quarries of Massachusetts. Adept at all forms of climbing, he has made over 30 expeditions to the greater ranges throughout the world with a focus towards technical alpine style ascents and exploratory climbing.
Some of his climbing highlights include the Nose on El Cap at age 17, North Face of the Eiger in 12 hours in 1981, 1st ascent of the E-face of Cayesh in Peru in 1984, Cerro Torre in Patagonia in 87, Mount Everest in 1991, the East ridge of Shivling in 1996, the 1st ascent of Yamandaka in the Indian Karakorum in 2001 and the 1st alpine style ascent of Latok II in Pakistan in 2006.
Mark lives in Essex Massachusetts with his wife Teresa and their 18 year old daughter Natalia who often accompany Mark on his adventures.
Mark has climbed extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, the Himalayas, and Karakorum.
He began climbing in 1973 at age 15 at Quincy Quarries, near Boston, Massachusetts. By age 17 Mark climbed the Nose on El Cap, the Diamond, and a new route on the S-face of Snow patch spire in the Bugaboos and many other long rock and ice climbs.
The following year, Mark was selected to represent the United States in an international climbing meet called the Rassemblement held in Chamonix, France where with fellow climber Rick Wilcox climbed the American direct on the Dru, the North east spur of Les Droites, and others. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Mark made many expeditions to Peru where he established numerous first ascents in the Cordillera Blanca on typically long technical routes. Of note are the first ascent of the east face of Cayesh and the south face of Oecshapalca and new routes on the South face of Chacraraju and Cashan oeste. In 1987 Mark climbed the Maestri route on Cerro Torre in Patagonia with Carlos Buhler.
In the Alps in the early 80',s Mark and long time partner, John Bouchard, made numerous fast repeats of the classics including the North face of the Grandes Jorrasses, North Face of the Matterhorn, Frenney Pillar on Mt. Blanc, and the North Face of the Eiger in 14 hours (2nd only to Mesners at the time, 1981) and others.
In the Himalayas Mark climbed Everest in 1991 by the S-col route, Gzumbpa Kang in ‘85(2nd ascent) and a rapid 5-day ascent of Shivling's East Ridge in the Indian Garhwal in ‘96 with Bouchard again. In the late 90’s in Pakistan Mark made 2 attempts on Latok 1's still unclimbed giant North ridge and 2 first ascents of very technical peaks in the region.
In the Summer of 2000, Mark and partner Mark Wilford joined a team of British climbers including Chris Bonington to explore and climb in a remote Fjord of southern Greenland. The team of 8 climbed 12 new peaks mostly by long rock routes.
In early September 2001, Mark and Mark Wilford made the first ascent of Yamandaka by its challenging north ridge. They were member of the International Arganglas expedition led by legendary British climber/explorer Sir Christian Bonington and Harish Kapadia of India. This unique expedition was the first ever to explore the region. The comments of one member summed up the sentiment. "It was like going to the Alps for the first time only none of the routes had been climbed and none of the mountains had names."
In August of 2003, Mark and his family returned from a year-long sabbatical traveling in Peru. During their adventures they explored the deserted northern Pacific coast all the way to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, back through the wild jungles where the Amazon River starts, and of course the high mountains of the Andes.
This past summer of 2006, Mark made back to back expeditions to Pakistan and Tibet. In pakistans Karakorum, Mark succeeded on the first alpine style ascent of the technical Latok 2, 23,320 ft. with Steve Swenson and Doug Chabot. Then, with Mark Wilford and Jim Lowther of the UK he had a near miss on the still unclimbed Nenang in the remote and virtually unexplored Nainqentanghla East of Tibet.
Locally, Mark continues to be very active in the rock and ice-climbing scene establishing many 5+ ice routes and traditional free climbs to 5-12d in New England and in Newfoundland in winter with Joe Terravechia.
Mark has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Alpine Club since 1998 and served as the clubs President from 2002 to 2005. Mark currently serves as the North American Council Representative to the UIAA
Mark resides in Essex, Massachusetts with his Peruvian born wife Teresa, and their 18-year old daughter Natalia. Mark and Teresa own and operate an Architectural Woodworking business in Newburyport, MA.
Climbing Resume:
Mountain Climber and Business Owner (Mark Richey Woodworking and Design, Inc.)
President of the American Alpine Club 2002-2005
Climbs and Expeditions:
North America
El Capitan, The Nose, 1975
Snowpatch Spire South face, 1975
Longs Peak, East face, 1975
El Capitan, The Majic Mushroom, 1977
Half Dome, Direct Northwest Face, 1977
Popcatapetl, 1984
Ixtactihuatl, 1985
Uruzaba, 1985
Extensive rock and ice climbing throughout the US and Canada.and Europe
Competed in Winter X-Games Ice Climbing Competition, 1997
Canadien Rockies ice climbs, Sea of Vapors, Weeping
Pilliar, White Man Falls, French Maiden,
Les Miserables, etc.
Newfoudland first ascents of various ice climbs
Europe
Petit Dru, American Direct, 1976
Les Droites, Northeast Pillar, 1976
Eiger, North Face, 1981, 14 hr. ascent
Matterhorn, North Face, 1981
Grands Jorrasses, Croz Spur, 1981
Mt. Blanc, Freney Pillar, 1981
Torre Trieste, Direct South Face, Carleso route, 1989
Greenland: First ascent of three mountains in southern Greenland by grade 5 and 6 rock routes with Mark Wilford. Expedition led by Sir Christian Bonington. The Spear, The Battle Axe and Warrior Peak.
South America
Peru:
Alpamayo, South West Face, 1978
Artesonraju, North Ridge, 1978 solo
Chacraraju Este, South Face, new route, 1978
Chopikalki, West Ridge, 1978
Pisco, normal route, 1979
Huascaran Norte, North East Face, Swiss Route 1979 3rd
Ranrapalka, North Face, 1979
Tocliraju, North Ridge, 1979
Oeqshapalka, South Face, first ascent, 1979
San Juan, North Ridge, 1980 solo
Maparaju, East Face, 1980 solo
Paron, West Ridge, first ascent, 1980
Huascaran sur, normal route, 1983
Cayesh, East Face, first ascent, 1983
Cashan, North East Face, first ascent, 1993
Rasac, West Ridge, 1995
Tsacra Grande, West Face, 1st ascent, 2002
Taulliraju, East Face attempt to within 100 meters of Summit.
Ecuador:
Chimborazo, normal route, 1983
Cotopaxi, normal route, 1983
Cayambe, normal route, 1983 solo
Sangay, to crater, 1983
Argentina: Aconcagua, normal route, 1980
Cerro Torre, Maestre route, 1987
Asia
Nepal:
Everest, South col route, 1991
Cho Oyu, East Ridge, attempt to 26,300’, 1985
Ngzumba Kang I, second ascent, 1985
India:
Shivling, East Ridge, second ascent, 5 days,
Alpine style, 1996
Ladakh:
Yamandaka, 20,400’ North Ridge, First ascent of mountain . Alpine style, over 7 days in September, 2001
Pakistan:
Latok I, North ridge attempt to 20,000’, 1997, 1998
Har Pinacle, first ascent, 1997
Harpoon Peak, first ascent, 20,109’, 1998
Latok 2, 23,320’ first alpine style ascent of mountain, 2006
Nenang, 22530’ Nainquentanghla East of Tibet, attempt to 22,000’
Africa
Kenya:
Mt. Kenya, via Makinders to Nelion and Batian solo in 3 ½ Hours. March, 2001.
Or does it? I contemplate whether or not all publicity for climber's is good publicity or perhaps the inherent purity in climbing is sliding dangerously close to deterioration as more teenage-mutant training farms explode across the country. But then again, an increased public awareness serves as the base for athletic recognition, which in turn could lead to the development of an intramural sport. Paid athletes? And not just Sharma and Tommy. Perhaps, whole teams on a High School level.
The circulation of money with increased sponsor reliance and media engagement could allow climber's to make their dreams realities without having to drop out of school or college, eat rice for breakfast and dinner to save money, and live out of their cars to "make it happen". Giving talented and equally motivated climber's an oppurtunity to sustain a comfortable living would only help to push the limits of our sport because the drive to blur the lines of possibility would be vastly intensified.
Then again, the predictable naysayer would most likely fall under the position of: "covet thy sport for eternity and buzz off newbs, these are my green trees." Yes, more climbers would certainly enter the sport, but lets be honest, they would most likely remain inside. Why climb on rock and deal with bugs in the "sun" when you can climb on plastic and listen to "kick-ass" tunes. So don't worry about your new "radically dope" secret bouldering spot being flooded with the likes of ignorant plastic pullers like myself because we'll still be inside tearing down the new "Red" problem.
Of course, I'm only joshing. Who knows what will happen. Only Pat and Eric hold the answers to these mythical questions related to the inevitable recourse of public climbing growth. And pigs can fly.
I say the more the merrier. Bigger comps, bigger access fund events, more money, more food, and more smiles.
Either way, there are issues out there far more important that this anyhow: Paris Hilton's Jail Sentence, our 13 year old President, Britney Spears' Shaved Head, Daniel Woods' next V18.5, and what I'm going to have for dinner tomorow. Ya. What.
My rambling ends here and starts with another dude who has far more experience than myself (understatement). Who is better to comment on the past, present, and future of our capricious climbing culture than a world-class rock climber and mountaineer of unparalled proportions; not to mention the past president of the American Alpine Club and current representative for the UIAA? That would be Mark Richey.
Richey Interview:
The MetroRock facilities seem to be taking the East Coast by storm. What inspired its development for you?
I did not begin the chain at all but I did have an interest in bringing a rock gym into our building as I thought it would be a good addition to the local and rock climbing communities (and for selfish reasons of course). So after visiting the existing the Everett gym and climbing there a few times, I was impressed and I decided to contact Pat Enright one of the owners and propose we build a similar gym in our Newburyport building. Eric Curtis, Pats current partner, contacted me independently about the same time. They both liked the idea, formed a partnership and we worked out a financial arrangement that made sense pretty quickly. Then we just all got to work and it happened quite smoothly. I think the fact that we all liked each other and trusted each other made things easy.
These gyms have literally destroyed existing competition in gyms that had been flourishing for years prior to the MetroRock monster. What can you attribute to this relatively recent success?
I'm not an expert on this, but I'd say three factors have contributed to Metro Rocks success.
1), State of the art gym construction in a facility that's modern, attractive and really exciting to climb in.
2), Awesome route setting,(thanks Bill) a suberb and friendly staff and top management. Very family conducive too.
3), A Sound business approach (climbers sometimes don't make the best business men but not in this case)
With the advent of indoor rock climbing gyms increasing at an exponential rate across the nation, do you feel the culture of rock climbing with suffer or actually feel the inverse and flourish?
The culture of rock climbing is always changing somewhat. Most people are learning to climb indoors now which has advantages. Climbers are getting stronger, training better, climbing year round during bad weather and starting at an earlier age (in a safe place) and it shows in the average level of difficulty that so many people are climbing at within a relatively short period of time. Also, climbing gyms have become very social environments and consequently a lot of gym climbers enjoy the sport crags like Rumney because it's similar. You can climb hard and hang out with your buds at the same time. On the other hand, multi-pitch traditional climbs on cliffs like Cathedral and Cannon offer a different, perhaps more adventurous experience that is certainly helpful in preparing climbers for long routes in the mountains or exploratory type climbing. It all depends on what you're into. Often I see a progression, with young climbers starting out in the Gym, then going to the sport crags, then the Trad cliffs and finally taking all those skills to big climbs and mountain routes. Tommy Caldwell is an example of that.
On the most basic level, climbing is about being outside. Do you think all of this indoor-mumbo-jumbo will instill the wrong idea into entry-level climbers? Or maybe all of these training facilities are simply breeding grounds for a new generation of teenage-mutants that will take climbing to the next level?
Gyms are great training facilities for strength and technique but of course Gyms cannot adequately prepare you for natural rock and placing protection, especially crack climbing like in Indian Creek or Yosemite etc. That you must learn with Mother Nature. At least you can start off strong from the gym with some rope handling skills and the basic movements down. When I started rock climbing in 1972, 5.10 was the top of the grade and only the best climbers were at that level. Today, in the gyms, that's practically entry level. Of course, there is a big difference between indoor and outdoor climbs but there is no question that climbers are training more intensely now. We never dreamed that 5.15 or freeing the Nose would actually happen but here we are. In another 10 to 15 years we'll probably be looking at 5.16s and on-site, one day free ascents of huge multi-pitch climbs on El-cap and elsewhere. We're not that far off and it's pretty exciting!
But on another note, I think we all stress the grades too much and miss out. I know a lot of gym climbers wont go and try climbs on Cathedral or other trad cliff because they'll have to climb at a lower grade, but who cares, they're missing out on some of the best climbs in the country. It's funny, some of my favorite climbs of the 70s and 80s get way less traffic today and are growing moss because everyone goes to Rumney!
Along those same lines, where do you see climbing headed? Straying away from the bad-ass traditional lines somewhere far off on the ends of the Earth and focusing in on who can pull the hardest SINGLE move on plastic or.....WHAT?
All climbing is developing. A lot more people are focusing on really hard, sustained technical climbing on rock, ice and mixed climbs and generally in relatively controlled environments so the technical progress in those arenas is happening fast. Alpine style and exploratory climbing in the greater mountain ranges like the Himalayas is still the realm of relatively few climbers so progress is slower and mile stone ascents fewer and far between. There are a lot fewer top athletes getting into alpine climbing for obvious reasons, it's expensive, time committing and dangerous. But it's happening there too, the recent alpine style ascent of a new route on Nanga Parbats Rupal face by House and Anderson is a good example.
These gyms seem to be setting the foundation for an increased commercialization over the sport (competitions, media coverage, funds, increased public awareness, etc.) This could lead to paid athletes, other than Sharma and Tommy! Do you see this potential as good or bad?
I think its fine. I applaud those climbers that are able to combine there passion with there vocation. However I do think that climbing in the mountains for monetary reasons (other that guiding) is a risky business for obvious reasons and sometimes has led to poor ethical decisions and a regression in climbing style. i.e.; getting to the top no matter what to satisfy sponsors. At any rate, being a professional climber has never been an easy way to make a living and I don't see that changing any time soon but nothing wrong in trying. Personally, I think I'd get bored with climbing if I had to make my living at it and I never want to get bored climbing!
Enough on that, as a world-class climber and mountaineer, what are your future goals?
I'd like to continue to climb and explore as long as I can on everything from bouldering to high mountains and especially remote areas like the region of Eastern Tibet we visited last autumn. And despite my age, I'm 49, I'm still always trying to improve my technical climbing ability, strength and just climb harder in general. That motivates me but I must admit it does get more difficult.
In June I'll return to the unclimbed North Ridge of Latok 1 in Pakistan with Steve Swenson and Doug Chabot. It will be my third expedition to that peak. I'd also like to spend more time climbing and exploring in Africa and I'd like to climb in Antarctica someday.
After literally 35 years of elite climbing, how do you stay motivated? More importantly, how do you manage to stay so strong and injury free? I mean, I'm 21 for Pete's sake and I get injured every other month!!!
I'm addicted to climbing, the mountains and wild places and I love to climb and explore as much today as I did when I first started in 1973. The people you meet along the way (I met my wife Teresa at an American Alpine Club meeting) and friends you make is of course a huge part of. Also, climbing and traveling has helped me and my family become more aware of how precious our wild places are and how we must all be good stewards and more compassionate for those who have so much less than us (that is Americans in general). My involvement with the AAC is very rewarding and also with other non-profit organizations we support like the CAI that builds schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I think if you don't give back to your community as a climber you miss out on perhaps the greatest reward of all, helping to make the world a better place. That's very motivating to me now. I'm also grateful that I've had other important things in my life like my family and our business which has helped me put climbing into perspective and enjoy it when and how I choose.
As far as staying strong and injury free, first of all, I'm hardly injury free, although not the typical finger and elbow tendon stuff that avid sport climbers suffer from. My weakness is my back which I guess I injured as a young man and I have to be careful with. But I do try to live healthy, eat well, get varied and regular exercise and avoid stress as much as possible. In the rock gym, I like to work out no more than 2 to 3 times per weak and I see the most benefit that way but of course a younger person could do more. I also like to vary the workouts from bouldering one day to overhanging jug hauling and then maybe an endurance session with maximum mileage on easier climbs say 5.9 and 5.10s only. Then mix in cardio, and some weight training to balance off. 3-5 months before a major expedition I pick up the training and tailor it depending on where I'm going to climb. Oh yea, I save the weekends for outdoors!
Mark Richey: Mountain Climber
Mark began rock climbing in 1973 at age 15 in the Quincy Quarries of Massachusetts. Adept at all forms of climbing, he has made over 30 expeditions to the greater ranges throughout the world with a focus towards technical alpine style ascents and exploratory climbing.
Some of his climbing highlights include the Nose on El Cap at age 17, North Face of the Eiger in 12 hours in 1981, 1st ascent of the E-face of Cayesh in Peru in 1984, Cerro Torre in Patagonia in 87, Mount Everest in 1991, the East ridge of Shivling in 1996, the 1st ascent of Yamandaka in the Indian Karakorum in 2001 and the 1st alpine style ascent of Latok II in Pakistan in 2006.
Mark lives in Essex Massachusetts with his wife Teresa and their 18 year old daughter Natalia who often accompany Mark on his adventures.
Mark has climbed extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, the Himalayas, and Karakorum.
He began climbing in 1973 at age 15 at Quincy Quarries, near Boston, Massachusetts. By age 17 Mark climbed the Nose on El Cap, the Diamond, and a new route on the S-face of Snow patch spire in the Bugaboos and many other long rock and ice climbs.
The following year, Mark was selected to represent the United States in an international climbing meet called the Rassemblement held in Chamonix, France where with fellow climber Rick Wilcox climbed the American direct on the Dru, the North east spur of Les Droites, and others. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Mark made many expeditions to Peru where he established numerous first ascents in the Cordillera Blanca on typically long technical routes. Of note are the first ascent of the east face of Cayesh and the south face of Oecshapalca and new routes on the South face of Chacraraju and Cashan oeste. In 1987 Mark climbed the Maestri route on Cerro Torre in Patagonia with Carlos Buhler.
In the Alps in the early 80',s Mark and long time partner, John Bouchard, made numerous fast repeats of the classics including the North face of the Grandes Jorrasses, North Face of the Matterhorn, Frenney Pillar on Mt. Blanc, and the North Face of the Eiger in 14 hours (2nd only to Mesners at the time, 1981) and others.
In the Himalayas Mark climbed Everest in 1991 by the S-col route, Gzumbpa Kang in ‘85(2nd ascent) and a rapid 5-day ascent of Shivling's East Ridge in the Indian Garhwal in ‘96 with Bouchard again. In the late 90’s in Pakistan Mark made 2 attempts on Latok 1's still unclimbed giant North ridge and 2 first ascents of very technical peaks in the region.
In the Summer of 2000, Mark and partner Mark Wilford joined a team of British climbers including Chris Bonington to explore and climb in a remote Fjord of southern Greenland. The team of 8 climbed 12 new peaks mostly by long rock routes.
In early September 2001, Mark and Mark Wilford made the first ascent of Yamandaka by its challenging north ridge. They were member of the International Arganglas expedition led by legendary British climber/explorer Sir Christian Bonington and Harish Kapadia of India. This unique expedition was the first ever to explore the region. The comments of one member summed up the sentiment. "It was like going to the Alps for the first time only none of the routes had been climbed and none of the mountains had names."
In August of 2003, Mark and his family returned from a year-long sabbatical traveling in Peru. During their adventures they explored the deserted northern Pacific coast all the way to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, back through the wild jungles where the Amazon River starts, and of course the high mountains of the Andes.
This past summer of 2006, Mark made back to back expeditions to Pakistan and Tibet. In pakistans Karakorum, Mark succeeded on the first alpine style ascent of the technical Latok 2, 23,320 ft. with Steve Swenson and Doug Chabot. Then, with Mark Wilford and Jim Lowther of the UK he had a near miss on the still unclimbed Nenang in the remote and virtually unexplored Nainqentanghla East of Tibet.
Locally, Mark continues to be very active in the rock and ice-climbing scene establishing many 5+ ice routes and traditional free climbs to 5-12d in New England and in Newfoundland in winter with Joe Terravechia.
Mark has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Alpine Club since 1998 and served as the clubs President from 2002 to 2005. Mark currently serves as the North American Council Representative to the UIAA
Mark resides in Essex, Massachusetts with his Peruvian born wife Teresa, and their 18-year old daughter Natalia. Mark and Teresa own and operate an Architectural Woodworking business in Newburyport, MA.
Climbing Resume:
Mountain Climber and Business Owner (Mark Richey Woodworking and Design, Inc.)
President of the American Alpine Club 2002-2005
Climbs and Expeditions:
North America
El Capitan, The Nose, 1975
Snowpatch Spire South face, 1975
Longs Peak, East face, 1975
El Capitan, The Majic Mushroom, 1977
Half Dome, Direct Northwest Face, 1977
Popcatapetl, 1984
Ixtactihuatl, 1985
Uruzaba, 1985
Extensive rock and ice climbing throughout the US and Canada.and Europe
Competed in Winter X-Games Ice Climbing Competition, 1997
Canadien Rockies ice climbs, Sea of Vapors, Weeping
Pilliar, White Man Falls, French Maiden,
Les Miserables, etc.
Newfoudland first ascents of various ice climbs
Europe
Petit Dru, American Direct, 1976
Les Droites, Northeast Pillar, 1976
Eiger, North Face, 1981, 14 hr. ascent
Matterhorn, North Face, 1981
Grands Jorrasses, Croz Spur, 1981
Mt. Blanc, Freney Pillar, 1981
Torre Trieste, Direct South Face, Carleso route, 1989
Greenland: First ascent of three mountains in southern Greenland by grade 5 and 6 rock routes with Mark Wilford. Expedition led by Sir Christian Bonington. The Spear, The Battle Axe and Warrior Peak.
South America
Peru:
Alpamayo, South West Face, 1978
Artesonraju, North Ridge, 1978 solo
Chacraraju Este, South Face, new route, 1978
Chopikalki, West Ridge, 1978
Pisco, normal route, 1979
Huascaran Norte, North East Face, Swiss Route 1979 3rd
Ranrapalka, North Face, 1979
Tocliraju, North Ridge, 1979
Oeqshapalka, South Face, first ascent, 1979
San Juan, North Ridge, 1980 solo
Maparaju, East Face, 1980 solo
Paron, West Ridge, first ascent, 1980
Huascaran sur, normal route, 1983
Cayesh, East Face, first ascent, 1983
Cashan, North East Face, first ascent, 1993
Rasac, West Ridge, 1995
Tsacra Grande, West Face, 1st ascent, 2002
Taulliraju, East Face attempt to within 100 meters of Summit.
Ecuador:
Chimborazo, normal route, 1983
Cotopaxi, normal route, 1983
Cayambe, normal route, 1983 solo
Sangay, to crater, 1983
Argentina: Aconcagua, normal route, 1980
Cerro Torre, Maestre route, 1987
Asia
Nepal:
Everest, South col route, 1991
Cho Oyu, East Ridge, attempt to 26,300’, 1985
Ngzumba Kang I, second ascent, 1985
India:
Shivling, East Ridge, second ascent, 5 days,
Alpine style, 1996
Ladakh:
Yamandaka, 20,400’ North Ridge, First ascent of mountain . Alpine style, over 7 days in September, 2001
Pakistan:
Latok I, North ridge attempt to 20,000’, 1997, 1998
Har Pinacle, first ascent, 1997
Harpoon Peak, first ascent, 20,109’, 1998
Latok 2, 23,320’ first alpine style ascent of mountain, 2006
Nenang, 22530’ Nainquentanghla East of Tibet, attempt to 22,000’
Africa
Kenya:
Mt. Kenya, via Makinders to Nelion and Batian solo in 3 ½ Hours. March, 2001.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Upcoming May Issue: Mark Richey Interview
Believe it or not, the next article will deal with a serious issue revolving around the future of our sport. Basically, as the number of indoor rock climbing gyms increase exponentially across the nation, the potential for over-commercialization of rock climbing grows close.
Or does it? I contemplate whether or not all publicity for climber's is good publicity or perhaps the inherent purity in climbing is sliding dangerously close to deterioration as more teenage-mutant training farms explode across the country. But then again, an increased public awareness serves as the base for athletic recognition, which in turn could lead to the development of an intramural sport. Paid athletes? And not just Sharma and Tommy. Perhaps, whole teams on a High School level.
And who is better to comment on the past, present, and future of our capricious climbing culture than Mark Richey, a world-class rock climber and mountaineer of unparalled proportions; not to mention the past president of the American Alpine Club and current representative for the UIAA.
Coming up next month...Mark Richey and the future of rock climbing: media covered sport or isolated individual endeavor?
And some more Dawson's Creek with Little Jimmy (below)...maybe...if I don't get in trouble first...
Or does it? I contemplate whether or not all publicity for climber's is good publicity or perhaps the inherent purity in climbing is sliding dangerously close to deterioration as more teenage-mutant training farms explode across the country. But then again, an increased public awareness serves as the base for athletic recognition, which in turn could lead to the development of an intramural sport. Paid athletes? And not just Sharma and Tommy. Perhaps, whole teams on a High School level.
And who is better to comment on the past, present, and future of our capricious climbing culture than Mark Richey, a world-class rock climber and mountaineer of unparalled proportions; not to mention the past president of the American Alpine Club and current representative for the UIAA.
Coming up next month...Mark Richey and the future of rock climbing: media covered sport or isolated individual endeavor?
And some more Dawson's Creek with Little Jimmy (below)...maybe...if I don't get in trouble first...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A Story of Unrequited Love: 1st Installment
Jimmy Jacob Jr. sat hunched over in the corner of the cave fervently admiring the bursting veins in his forearms.
“Jumping crocodiles -- these monsters could kill!” he thought to himself. “I hope some girls notice them. They are primed right now!”
He loved his forearms, especially when they were extra-pumped and exceptionally robust after a stellar performance in the plastic jungle. After losing interest, he moved onto his pecks, subtly flexing one after the other while shooting furtive glances around the gym to see if anyone was watching. Unfortunately, they were not.
“Damn it,” he thought. “I suppose I could do a few more quick laps and then walk around for a bit with my arms splayed out to the side -- sort of like a gorilla.”
Super plan Jim.
There was no doubt that little Jimmy Jr. had a dynamite idea, but suddenly his self-indulgent theatrics were fractured by the impromptu appearance of a beautiful, young stallion. A lady climber. He watched her flash a purple ID card at the front desk. Jimmy new right away that this could only mean one thing: she was a certified MetroRock lead climber.
“More like a certified MetroRock babe!” he thought to himself.
It was more than clear that Jimmy was overwhelmed by her seemingly omnipresent allure. As she floated through the entrance onto the inviting carpet of blue, ankle-sprainer padding, the suave and sophisticated Jimmy “Debonair” Jr. deflated with the recoil of his pompously puffed-out chest. Floundering with nerves like a school boy at his first school dance, he began to chalk up with such enthusiasm that it looked like he was trying to start a fire by rubbing the very skin off his palms. Sweat began to percolate around his brow.
Easy little Jim. One step at a time.
Luckily, she spun around before approaching any closer to throw her gear in the convenient, pre-school cubbies. MetroRock loves their little, green cubbies. Giggling among her friends, she returned to the vast blue sea of flooring to begin her pre-crush stretching routine.
This gave Mr. Jimbob just enough time to chalk his hands up about 36 more times; all the while meticulously composing his precogitated dialogue. Jim, somehow managing to break away from the chalk bag before injuring himself, clumsily stumbled in for the first move, snagging a foot on the carpet. Sometimes that velcro-tape holding the foam strips together can sneak up on you. Nonetheless, he continued unhindered.
She noticed him bumbling across the gym as if he had just learned to walk. Naturally, she could not help but smile. Its important to recognize the fact that this was not a “oh look he’s cute” smile, but rather a “oh look at the huge dork flailing” smile.
Regardless, Jimmy was pleased to see that he was noticed.
“Hi. How ya’ doin? I’m Jimmy. You can call me Jimbo. So did you come into climb today?” Jimmy asked with lightening quick speed as if she might sporadically evaporate before he could finish his sentence.
Well, of course she came into climb today you big dufus. Come on Jim, get it together.
“Hey Jimbo. I’m Cynthia,” she replied somewhat uneasily with a hollow laugh splintered with trepidation. “Yeah, I think I’m goin’ do some climbin’ today.”
“Oh good. Nice….nice. Nice,” echoed Jimmy, searching for words that would not come.
Awkward silence.
“Me too. Are those your shoes?” he said with matched vivacity and quickness, pointing at the La Sportiva Ferrari’s already laced up and cutting off the circulation in her feet.
“You mean the shoes on my feet?” she politely asked with a raised brow.
Jim vigorously nodded his head up and down like a jackhammer on concrete.
“Um…yeah. These are mine. I like em’ a lot.”
“I like -- I think we should date,” Jimmy belligerently fired off with eyes as wide as an owl.
“What did you say?”
Before Jimmy was given the opportunity to mollify the disastrous calamity he had just created, Cynthia’s attention was quickly displaced by two approaching stud-muffins: Chris and Rob, Gods among mere mortals of the MetroRock kingdom.
“We got some new -- totally burly problems for you to try Cyn,” boasted Chris, arms crossed as if he were the gatekeeper of some unknown plastic, pulling paradise.
“Dude, please. She is going to absolutely crush those problems,” retorted Rob. “You set piles anyway, brahem.”
The trio hurried off to warm up, leaving poor Jimmy behind with nothing but an empty chalk bag and an equally empty heart. He had to get her back, but impressing her while she cranked with the likes of the Ruggedly Ripped Rob and the Cool Handed Crushing Chris was about as likely as Jessica Simpson correctly reciting her ABC's.
Jimmy headed for the front desk to change the music to his special Matrix theme mix, with a splash of Justin Timberlake for added flavor. He had a new plan...
“Jumping crocodiles -- these monsters could kill!” he thought to himself. “I hope some girls notice them. They are primed right now!”
He loved his forearms, especially when they were extra-pumped and exceptionally robust after a stellar performance in the plastic jungle. After losing interest, he moved onto his pecks, subtly flexing one after the other while shooting furtive glances around the gym to see if anyone was watching. Unfortunately, they were not.
“Damn it,” he thought. “I suppose I could do a few more quick laps and then walk around for a bit with my arms splayed out to the side -- sort of like a gorilla.”
Super plan Jim.
There was no doubt that little Jimmy Jr. had a dynamite idea, but suddenly his self-indulgent theatrics were fractured by the impromptu appearance of a beautiful, young stallion. A lady climber. He watched her flash a purple ID card at the front desk. Jimmy new right away that this could only mean one thing: she was a certified MetroRock lead climber.
“More like a certified MetroRock babe!” he thought to himself.
It was more than clear that Jimmy was overwhelmed by her seemingly omnipresent allure. As she floated through the entrance onto the inviting carpet of blue, ankle-sprainer padding, the suave and sophisticated Jimmy “Debonair” Jr. deflated with the recoil of his pompously puffed-out chest. Floundering with nerves like a school boy at his first school dance, he began to chalk up with such enthusiasm that it looked like he was trying to start a fire by rubbing the very skin off his palms. Sweat began to percolate around his brow.
Easy little Jim. One step at a time.
Luckily, she spun around before approaching any closer to throw her gear in the convenient, pre-school cubbies. MetroRock loves their little, green cubbies. Giggling among her friends, she returned to the vast blue sea of flooring to begin her pre-crush stretching routine.
This gave Mr. Jimbob just enough time to chalk his hands up about 36 more times; all the while meticulously composing his precogitated dialogue. Jim, somehow managing to break away from the chalk bag before injuring himself, clumsily stumbled in for the first move, snagging a foot on the carpet. Sometimes that velcro-tape holding the foam strips together can sneak up on you. Nonetheless, he continued unhindered.
She noticed him bumbling across the gym as if he had just learned to walk. Naturally, she could not help but smile. Its important to recognize the fact that this was not a “oh look he’s cute” smile, but rather a “oh look at the huge dork flailing” smile.
Regardless, Jimmy was pleased to see that he was noticed.
“Hi. How ya’ doin? I’m Jimmy. You can call me Jimbo. So did you come into climb today?” Jimmy asked with lightening quick speed as if she might sporadically evaporate before he could finish his sentence.
Well, of course she came into climb today you big dufus. Come on Jim, get it together.
“Hey Jimbo. I’m Cynthia,” she replied somewhat uneasily with a hollow laugh splintered with trepidation. “Yeah, I think I’m goin’ do some climbin’ today.”
“Oh good. Nice….nice. Nice,” echoed Jimmy, searching for words that would not come.
Awkward silence.
“Me too. Are those your shoes?” he said with matched vivacity and quickness, pointing at the La Sportiva Ferrari’s already laced up and cutting off the circulation in her feet.
“You mean the shoes on my feet?” she politely asked with a raised brow.
Jim vigorously nodded his head up and down like a jackhammer on concrete.
“Um…yeah. These are mine. I like em’ a lot.”
“I like -- I think we should date,” Jimmy belligerently fired off with eyes as wide as an owl.
“What did you say?”
Before Jimmy was given the opportunity to mollify the disastrous calamity he had just created, Cynthia’s attention was quickly displaced by two approaching stud-muffins: Chris and Rob, Gods among mere mortals of the MetroRock kingdom.
“We got some new -- totally burly problems for you to try Cyn,” boasted Chris, arms crossed as if he were the gatekeeper of some unknown plastic, pulling paradise.
“Dude, please. She is going to absolutely crush those problems,” retorted Rob. “You set piles anyway, brahem.”
The trio hurried off to warm up, leaving poor Jimmy behind with nothing but an empty chalk bag and an equally empty heart. He had to get her back, but impressing her while she cranked with the likes of the Ruggedly Ripped Rob and the Cool Handed Crushing Chris was about as likely as Jessica Simpson correctly reciting her ABC's.
Jimmy headed for the front desk to change the music to his special Matrix theme mix, with a splash of Justin Timberlake for added flavor. He had a new plan...
Monday, March 19, 2007
Injury Prevention: Maintaining Healthy Pulley Tendons and Flexor Tendons
As the frigid winter winds finally succumb to the warm breath of spring, the air seems to be thick with love and hope. Fresh red tulips smile up from the damp earth as chirping birds proudly sing to their coy lovers.
Hold back your vomit. The only thing that is revived with the coming of warm weather is motivation, in other words the POWER TO CRUSH! It is true that the seasons are finally changing; snow melting from top-outs, icicles dripping off bolts, and rivers
finally breaking away from the ice-encrusted surface. In just a few weeks, it will be time to send your projects and boost your climbing skills to the next level! Damn, I sound like an uppity version Eric Horst.
In either case, as you vibrate with excitement to push the limit, you must remember to pay close attention to your body; specifically, your pulleys and flexor tendons since these areas are the most vulnerable. After accumulating many debilitating injuries over the years due to ignorance and selfishness, I have come to develop a simple system that has kept me healthy thus far (3 or 4 days). Hopefully, the following tips can help you maintain strength and stear clear of danger zones because there is nothing worse than being injured, except maybe a smooshed piece of chocolate cake or Valentine’s day.
For those of you hard-asses out there that already know this stuff, or perhaps never get injured, I have a golden medallion for you in my North Face backpack. More importantly, the following advice is not copy and pasted from some ridiculous medical book of bullmalarkey jargon; instead, the information is gathered from experience, a few subtle techniques I wish to pass on in hopes that they can help you in the same way they have helped me.
You'll be climbing harder than Fred Nicole and Josune Bereziartu in no time! Not really.
1) Make a bowl of ice water and a bowl of hot water. After every training session, no matter how intense, ice and heat for twenty minutes by alternating your hands between each bowl…
This will alleviate swelling and promote healing by decreasing the amount of excess fluid in the joints and tendon sheaths. I have found that recovery is much more effective and efficient after such a treatment. You may think that ibuprofen would have the same effect, but this is not true. Ibuprofen has been proven to block or largely inhibit key enzymes that are crucial to tendon and muscle recovery. Those little red pills may make your fingers feel better, but this sensation is only temporary due to a mere decrease in inflammation. On nights that I have not climbed, I do not ice. Instead, I sleep with a heating pad wrapped around a particularly tender hand or finger. This may seem overzealous, but the technique has helped me recover from what may have been devastating injuries by keeping sore tendons loose and lubricated.
2) Whenever idle, massage as much as possible…
During these icing/heating sessions, it is important to rigorously massage the joints and pulleys. Any area with acute pain will greatly benefit from regular massage. Rubbing with Vitamin E or some sort of Neosporin lubricates the surface, creating a more efficient and effective massage. Chicks will dig your smooth hands too. It is important to know that this type of therapy is only useful in the beginning stages of pain. There comes a point where your pulley or tendon will not benefit from massaging because of permanent tearing or prolonged overuse. But regularly working on your fingers and forearms will help to fend off such tears by maintaining the elasticity of continuously abused tendons.
3) Stretch and warm-up, and then stretch some more!
The only thing more important than warming up is stretching. Imagine soaking an elastic band, putting it in the freezer over-night, and wripping it out in the morning only to pull on it as hard as you can. The elastic will probably snap. Same goes for your tendons. Of course human anatomical elasticity is far greater than a silly rubber band, but you get the point. If you neglect to warm up and stretch, you mine as well take a hammer and pound away on your fingers. Stretching before, during, and after training sessions is imperative. Below are a few simple techniques that work very well.
(In the pictures below, the entire hand is stretched out. Be sure to stretch out each finger individually, up and down/side to side)
4) On rest days…REST!
This is an obvious component to recovery, but is regularly neglected by the over-ambitious. Getting eight hours of sleep is usually impossible, but nonetheless, vital to solid recovery. On your rest days, stay away from campus or finger boards. Just because it is not climbing does not mean that it will not hurt you. In fact, pushing finger’s on rest days will only put recovery time back even further, potentially creating micro-tears that will open the gates to disaster. It is difficult to do absolutely nothing on rest days, but any sort of finger training or small of amount of climbing is just flirting with injury. I prefer to run, lift, or play some other sport on these days to abate the hunger to climb. Most importantly, the first sign of pain in a pulley or tendon must not be ignored. Usually, one to two weeks can alleviate pain almost completely. Ignoring these warning signs for just a week could mean the end of entire season.
Most of this therapy may seem obvious or perhaps you already practice such techniques. However, maintaining this system of recovery with the same commitment to detail and devotion you apply to training and climbing is equally important, if not more so than climbing itself. These tips are extremely subtle, yet exceedingly effective over a long duration of time. Basically, a regular regimen of such therapies and paying attention to detail is what has kept me off the couch and allowed me to continue to punish myself indoors and outdoors.
Good luck and have fun! Stay healthy!
Hold back your vomit. The only thing that is revived with the coming of warm weather is motivation, in other words the POWER TO CRUSH! It is true that the seasons are finally changing; snow melting from top-outs, icicles dripping off bolts, and rivers
finally breaking away from the ice-encrusted surface. In just a few weeks, it will be time to send your projects and boost your climbing skills to the next level! Damn, I sound like an uppity version Eric Horst.
In either case, as you vibrate with excitement to push the limit, you must remember to pay close attention to your body; specifically, your pulleys and flexor tendons since these areas are the most vulnerable. After accumulating many debilitating injuries over the years due to ignorance and selfishness, I have come to develop a simple system that has kept me healthy thus far (3 or 4 days). Hopefully, the following tips can help you maintain strength and stear clear of danger zones because there is nothing worse than being injured, except maybe a smooshed piece of chocolate cake or Valentine’s day.
For those of you hard-asses out there that already know this stuff, or perhaps never get injured, I have a golden medallion for you in my North Face backpack. More importantly, the following advice is not copy and pasted from some ridiculous medical book of bullmalarkey jargon; instead, the information is gathered from experience, a few subtle techniques I wish to pass on in hopes that they can help you in the same way they have helped me.
You'll be climbing harder than Fred Nicole and Josune Bereziartu in no time! Not really.
1) Make a bowl of ice water and a bowl of hot water. After every training session, no matter how intense, ice and heat for twenty minutes by alternating your hands between each bowl…
This will alleviate swelling and promote healing by decreasing the amount of excess fluid in the joints and tendon sheaths. I have found that recovery is much more effective and efficient after such a treatment. You may think that ibuprofen would have the same effect, but this is not true. Ibuprofen has been proven to block or largely inhibit key enzymes that are crucial to tendon and muscle recovery. Those little red pills may make your fingers feel better, but this sensation is only temporary due to a mere decrease in inflammation. On nights that I have not climbed, I do not ice. Instead, I sleep with a heating pad wrapped around a particularly tender hand or finger. This may seem overzealous, but the technique has helped me recover from what may have been devastating injuries by keeping sore tendons loose and lubricated.
2) Whenever idle, massage as much as possible…
During these icing/heating sessions, it is important to rigorously massage the joints and pulleys. Any area with acute pain will greatly benefit from regular massage. Rubbing with Vitamin E or some sort of Neosporin lubricates the surface, creating a more efficient and effective massage. Chicks will dig your smooth hands too. It is important to know that this type of therapy is only useful in the beginning stages of pain. There comes a point where your pulley or tendon will not benefit from massaging because of permanent tearing or prolonged overuse. But regularly working on your fingers and forearms will help to fend off such tears by maintaining the elasticity of continuously abused tendons.
3) Stretch and warm-up, and then stretch some more!
The only thing more important than warming up is stretching. Imagine soaking an elastic band, putting it in the freezer over-night, and wripping it out in the morning only to pull on it as hard as you can. The elastic will probably snap. Same goes for your tendons. Of course human anatomical elasticity is far greater than a silly rubber band, but you get the point. If you neglect to warm up and stretch, you mine as well take a hammer and pound away on your fingers. Stretching before, during, and after training sessions is imperative. Below are a few simple techniques that work very well.
(In the pictures below, the entire hand is stretched out. Be sure to stretch out each finger individually, up and down/side to side)
4) On rest days…REST!
This is an obvious component to recovery, but is regularly neglected by the over-ambitious. Getting eight hours of sleep is usually impossible, but nonetheless, vital to solid recovery. On your rest days, stay away from campus or finger boards. Just because it is not climbing does not mean that it will not hurt you. In fact, pushing finger’s on rest days will only put recovery time back even further, potentially creating micro-tears that will open the gates to disaster. It is difficult to do absolutely nothing on rest days, but any sort of finger training or small of amount of climbing is just flirting with injury. I prefer to run, lift, or play some other sport on these days to abate the hunger to climb. Most importantly, the first sign of pain in a pulley or tendon must not be ignored. Usually, one to two weeks can alleviate pain almost completely. Ignoring these warning signs for just a week could mean the end of entire season.
Most of this therapy may seem obvious or perhaps you already practice such techniques. However, maintaining this system of recovery with the same commitment to detail and devotion you apply to training and climbing is equally important, if not more so than climbing itself. These tips are extremely subtle, yet exceedingly effective over a long duration of time. Basically, a regular regimen of such therapies and paying attention to detail is what has kept me off the couch and allowed me to continue to punish myself indoors and outdoors.
Good luck and have fun! Stay healthy!
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