Training By Climbing 103

Posted on Mar 19th, 2009 | 10 comments

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Groove Armada “Superstylin’”

I think there are lots of effective ways to train, and it’s good to use some/all of them at various times. Basically, anything extra you do to train is going to help you, no matter what. I think climbing on plastic helps a lot, and fingerboarding, and also weight lifting and yoga. But it’s also important to be climbing on rock, and to be enjoying yourself even while you are in training mode. Because that’s kind of the whole point.

When I don’t have a specific project, or when I’m feeling too busy to get out for crag days, I like to put a rope on a hard route and run laps on it to keep in tune with real climbing, and to enjoy being outside on rock. With only an hour or so to spare, I can have a time-efficient workout and also get my climbing fix this way.

I used to struggle when I found myself in a place where I didn’t have the time or inspiration to get focused on a hard project. I used to feel like I should always be motivated to do some death-defying or super-hard thing, all the time! So I used to try to force it a lot, or else feel kind of angst-ridden, during those times. Now I know that’s not the flow. In fact, that’s the worst thing you can do! After years and years of loving climbing, I have learned to welcome the different cycles of climbing and fully enjoy them as they arrive. Everything in nature moves in cycles, and we are no different. So to do different things and embrace different energies at different times is part of the natural flow. The best thing is to learn to listen, and use the energy rather than fight against it.

Training is a luxury that can be relished during the non-projecting phases. Then when the inspiration strikes, you will be ready. Or the phase might be simply to enjoy pure fun climbing, whether cragging, sport climbing or easy free soloing. I have learned to follow the groove with these cycles, whether it comes from the outside or the inside. Sometimes it’s good to think about what I really want, and take the reins to make it happen, using internal power. Other times, it’s good to feel what the flow is, listen to the external force, and let it guide me. I try to pay attention and be open.

For me, the important thing in life, not just climbing, is to be flexible and ready to go with the energy that’s moving, and to welcome what is happening in the now. This way, everything you do will come together, and you will always be flowing in the positive direction. As soon as the direction is clear, you can go into it all the way and enjoy the heck out of it, until it’s time for the next wave….

This winter, I was traveling a lot, and couldn’t get down to Indian Creek for real climbing days. Since I was never home for an extended chunk of time, I wasn’t in the space for a hard project. So I needed a way to be on rock whenever I had some time at home. As it turned out, this winter was one of those slow years, where Moab wasn’t on the climbing radar so much, and I noticed there was virtually no one climbing on the Tombstone at all, even as an aid route. I’ve noticed that climbing areas and even climbing styles tend to go through cycles of popularity….of course, I always try to land in the bottom of those cycles and do the unpopular things until they are the popular things again . There was a little flurry of action on the Tombstone for a couple of years in the last few winters, which made it unreasonable to keep a rope fixed on it for training, as it would get in people’s way. This year, no one.

Since it was staying pretty deserted this winter, and since it’s an awesome climb only three miles from my house, the Tombstone was a perfect addition to climbing on my wall and weight lifting.

I really love climbing by myself, whether it’s free soloing or roped mini-traxion on a hard route. It’s so relaxing and easy to listen to music and lose myself in the rock. I have also found that it’s a real boost to turn climbs that you once considered testpieces into your trainers. Both mentally and physically, this definitely makes you a better climber over time. It changes your perspective on difficulty and what’s possible, and it makes you feel solid on difficult terrain. It’s amazing how a climb can go from the edge of your limit to a standard part of your routine. This builds a really high level of confidence, and that is part of the key to climbing harder and safer.

And, not to mention, fun! What could be sweeter than a winter afternoon hour in the desert sun, cruising up three pitches of warm sandstone on one of your favorite routes? Training is the best!

Well, I guess it can be even sweeter if some BASE jumper friend wants to meet you at the top with your rig and jump off with you.

Since I started jumping two years ago, I am as excited about jumping as I am about climbing. It can get hard, having more than one thing that you want to do as well as you can, as much as possible. There are only so many hours in the day, you know? With jumping, it’s important to stay as current as possible. The best thing you can do as a BASE jumper is to jump every day, and that’s the way you “train,” by doing.

I’ve found that base and skydiving have made me cherish climbing with more depth and more perspective than before. When I jump a lot, I miss climbing. When I climb a lot, I miss jumping. Could be a dilemma, but it doesn’t have to be….

So now my favorite days are the ones where I can either go big, and climb or jump like crazy all day long, or the days where I get to do both together, which is really the ultimate. This is yet another reason why Moab is perfect. According to me.

As with so many other things in life, many paths lead to the same place.
So this is really what I think training is about.

http://colocalders.com Kate C

Nice one Steph! Are you just using a grigri to self belay? Any backup?

That’s completely wild that the Tombstone has become a training route! Wow.
Steph Davis

I use two mini-traxions, one as a backup. My systems involve extreme redundancy and backups. I use a daisy chain as a backup for the gear loop, and a full strength cord (just a piece of 5mm static that I tie with an overhand knot) as a chalkbag belt to back up the harness, which also goes through the gear loop and the daisy loop backup.

One mini-traxion is the one I’m using, and the other is trailing as a backup, through the gear loop and daisy loop, with the harness being backed up by my chalkbag belt. I have always used this simple system of backups on multi-pitch climbs as well. I will never trust my life (and my partner’s life, because not backing up the belay loop or harness directly dictates their safety from your belay) to one single thing– from the mini-traxion to the belay loop to the harness swami itself.

It’s a great system, though has its limitations in terms of being a bit of work to organize and learn to use. But I’ve been doing it for years and am really comfortable with it, and it gives me a lot of freedom.
Steve Orrell

Hi Steph,

Great post, great photos, many thanks!

Do you need a house-sitter when you’re not around? I’d, of course, feel obliged to make sure your local climbing area did not feel neglected. Not sure I could match your grades but its something to aim for

Do you have a photo of your harnessing / belaying set-up in use? I follow your written description but a photo would make it much clearer.

Thanks muchly!
Steph Davis

Thanks Steve If you look at the top photo on this post, you can see the chest slings (red and purple) I use to hold up the top mini traxion. The black piece is a small piece of tie-off, which I put through the hole of the mini traxion, and through the X at the front of the chest slings. I tie that really tight, with an overhand, and then make a little square knot to tie up the long ends (otherwise they can get caught in the teeth which is inconvenient). The second mini traxion is just clipped to the belay loop and daisy back up, and trails below. Of course, that one will never be weighted. Through accidental testing, we have seen that even if you forget to engage the teeth on the top mini traxion, it will actually engage under a dynamic load It’s a really good and safe system, when running the two mini traxions. If you look really close, you can also see the pink 5mm cord above my harness, which is my chalk bag belt/back up. You can also see the white daisy, clipped off on my left side, on the back gear loop. That keeps it up and out of the way, and available for use at belays. The loop which sticks out from being girthed at my harness serves as the belay loop backup clip point.

That picture where I’m topping out isn’t a good reference for the system, because I had to get up over the knots of one of my anchor systems to climb out the lip (I do all sorts of backing up on the anchors too, especially when dealing with sandstone), and at that point I have only one mini traxion with no chest attachment as I cross the slab at the summit (which isn’t usually what’s going on) and that’s why I’m pulling the rope down with my hand instead. Just wanted to make sure it’s not confusing
http://www.moonflykids.com moon_fly

Thanks for writing about the cycles of training. I wish I could have identified them earlier and learned to go with the flow instead of forcing myself and beating myself up mentally. I just had a crash course in revised training cycles after the birth of my son. I actually thought not much would change! LOL.
zirkel

How about posting some pics of your dual mini-traxion setup for training?
Steph Davis

Great idea! I will try to do that soon.
http://www.rock-climbing-techniques.net/climbing-walls-training.php Climbing Walls Training | Rock Climbing Gear Guide

[...] Training By Climbing 103 | High Places Since it was staying pretty deserted this winter, and since it’s an awesome climb only three miles from my house, the Tombstone was a perfect addition to climbing on my wall and weight lifting. 6. I really love climbing by myself. [...]
Fabio

wow… this page rocks (no pun intended). Plenty of useful informations. Congratulations for your blog and your activities. I stumbled upon it searching for infos about solo top-roping. I own a single mini-traxion, and I’ve thought it could be more than enough; but this post is making me thinking twice about it.
I’m unsure if getting a second one or buying a Silent Partner to use as a backup device – that would also be useful (read: crucial) if I’ll ever move to solo lead (roped) climbing.
I’d love too to see a detailed post about your setup. I’m not a native english speaker so it’s pretty hard for me to understand everything you explained in the details (mostly because I’m not used to the tech climbing words, I mean the english ones ).

Two questions. About backups, using a whole backup rope could be too cumbersome to manage? I feel like that the rope is the only so called “single point of failure” of your setup, since if I got it right, everything else is backed up.
Second, isn’t it dangerous to leave a rope hanging night and day (again, if I got your post right). Rain, rocks falling – if any there – sunlight, dust, couldn’t weaken that rope over time? I’m by no mean EXPERT as you, by the way, so sorry if I posed dumb questions.

Thanks and congratulations again!

Fabio
Steph Davis

Hi Fabio! Your English and your questions are great I used to use only one mini traxion, and I think it is a really bad idea. It’s so simple to add a second to the system, there’s really no reason not to.

And yes, it would be wonderful to have an entirely second rope as a backup. But there is a certain point where you have to trust your systems enough, or just stop climbing. I totally trust a rope, because ropes are very strong, and the amount of weight a rope gets from a non-dynamic loading situation is just a fraction of what even one strand of the core can hold. For this reason, I am also very confident about the strength of static lines even when left out in weather for long periods.

I am highly skeptical of unknown fixed lines I find (for example, on the East Ledges of El Cap, or up to Heart Ledges, or on the Death Slabs at Half Dome. You just never know if they are cut or frayed, and they get a ton of traffic and very often are damaged. But when I have my own rope fixed and know it’s not receiving much traffic or weather, I trust it. One good idea is to take a pair of binoculars if you are worried about a fixed line you find. If you can see the whole thing, and there are no visible core shots, the rope is most likely fine. But over caution is always better than under caution, so your thoughts are very wise!
Best to you!
Ciao xx Steph
dave

the way you talked about your training, was an eye opener for me! loved your writing!
thanks,
dave

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Training By Climbing 103

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