I can't seem to find ANY discussion about climbing or bouldering on the site, so I figured I'd start a thread!

After a near-decade hiatus, I'm getting back into it. Due to weather (and to re-learn everything) I've been exclusively climbing in gyms, and have gotten re-hooked on it. So far, I've been bouldering and top-rope, but I'd like to start sport climbing soon, with the eventual goal being trad on real rock.
I started a thread in the NC hometown forum, I'm in the triangle area and have a decent group of friends from work who climb.

I see plenty of .mil folks climbing in my area and I figure the gun/outdoor community should have some decent crossover. What are you favorite shoes? Harness? Currently running a Black Diamond momentum harness (no complaints there, although the plastic leg strap sliders cant be wrenched down super hard, which would be my preference) and Butora Endeavor shoes (fine for my skill level, but they're kinda ugly IMO).

Your best bet is going to be climbing with the folks you know from work.  If your workplace is big enough, somebody there will be climbing at a decent level.  Granted, their schedule could be such that they can't get to the gym that often, if ever, but they probably make a good go of it when they do get outside for a weekend.

Harnesses?  Shoes?  Meh.  Whatever is comfortable and accommodates maximum fatness.  Cubicle life, yo.  

For the past couple of years, I've been climbing with fellow Arfcommer RTUtah.  Been having a pretty good time.  

I don't know about that sport climbing stuff.  Sounds hard.  Fuck that.  But, RTUtah and I have been hitting a bunch of moderate trad routes.   If you wanted to join up with us the next time we are out in western NC, it'd be easy enough to climb with three people using double ropes.  One leads on two ropes, and the seconds each climb on one.  All you'd need are shoes, a harness and chalkbag.  Shoot, we had a total stranger join us for a three pitch ice climb up in New Hampshire; met him on the hike in; everyone is a stranger at one point or another.

[placeholder for the video of this past October's trip to Wyoming and Colorado]













Here's a blurb from an outing where I haven't finished the video work.  If the ropework looks funny, it's because it is.  I'm soloing, so the rope is doing weird things from the way it normally works.

Thanks for the reply!
My brother has also been climbing quite a bit over the past few years, so hopefully he can show me the ropes (lol) this spring.

Cool videos! The long vertical crack route that you free climbed looked beautiful, nice fall weather

Long?  Oh, no.  Not long enough.  I wish that route went like that for hundreds, if not thousands more feet.

Here's a view from the side.



Climbing outside is so, so much better than the gym

You can say that again. Good to see a climbing thread here. I started climbing back east, in northern Virginia, and West Virginia.  I'm in Golden, CO now so outdoor climbing is literally in my back yard, but the climbing gym is more fun than a real gym and a lot less time consuming, and you don't necessarily need a partner.

The weather was perfect here for a few weeks, and now it's trash again. I took a lead climbing class in the gym and have start accumulating equipment so I'll be making plans on getting outside as soon as the weather clears up.

I'm probably going up to northern AL or Chattanooga this weekend.  Probably too far for you to venture out, though.

This was this past weekend up at Looking Glass, in NC.

That route at looking glass rock looks pretty sweet, what's it graded?

Don't let the crack being sewn up with gear fool you.  It's only 5.7.  

There's a lot of rope between me and the ground, so doubling up those last two cams, while not stylish, is cheap insurance against crashing into the slab below.

It's just nice, clean, mindless, cruiser corner climbing.  About a dozen routes in the 5.7 to 5.9 range all right next to each other.

Corners are fun, the ability to stem pretty much everywhere on a route does a nice job of keeping things from getting desperate. Also a solid crack running the whole way makes pro a lot more straight forward.

From earlier in the day.  Clouds have since moved in and sapped my motivation to get moving.  We'll see how the day goes.

All my friends are out of town on work so I'm relegated to bouldering indoors today, but it's perfect outside right now. I'll probably grab a crash pad and start researching local spots.

Spent last week in Boise- weather wasn't great but I climbed at three of the local gyms- Vertical View was really nice

That looks beautiful, side note I really enjoy Chattanooga and it's on the short list of places I'd like to live some day. Time to do some reading on looking glass...

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No cool photos from the trip but I really did enjoy the route setting out there

That's definitely a high dollar facility.

I kind of miss the days when gyms were build in abandoned churches, empty warehouses, silos, barns and people's basements.

From last weekend...

I'm headed to Red River Gorge this weekend. Excited would be an understatement. I plan on playing it pretty safe and climbing well under my gym grade

What's going on in this photo from a protection, anchor perspective?  Looks to be a setup I'm not familiar with, with one end fixed to a master point below the climber, and the other end coming down to the to the belayer? And looks to have a butterfly knot tied in it.

Nothing in that photo should make sense to any sane individual.

I'm climbing by myself.  

So, in lieu of a belayer on the ground, I've rigged a 3-point anchor (2 nuts and a cam) to withstand an upward load, and one additional piece (1 nut) to keep the anchor rigging pointed upwards when not under load.  On my harness, the rope runs through a solo belay device that has a cam arm in it that will lock the rope when the anchored end whips above the device.  Unlike a traditional belay that feeds rope from the anchor to the climber, the rope between me and my belay doesn't pay out; instead, it's the free, unanchored end of the rope that pays out.  The knot in the free side of the rope is a backup knot to try to stave off a ground impact, if I fall inverted and the belay doesn't cam correctly.

So, the process is:  
- build an anchor
- lead the pitch
- build the anchor at the top of the pitch
- rappel and clean the pitch
- second the pitch to the higher anchor
-- bringing the backpack if needed
- repeat until the top of the cliff or mountain
- walk off or rappel the route as necessary

As a hypothetical, if it's say, a 10 pitch route, I would have led all 10 pitches and seconded all 10 pitches, and rappelled the length of the route at least once; rappelled the full length twice if there is no walk off.  20 pitches of roped climbing.  10 to 20 rappels.  All while having the exhausting mental uncertainty of a mechanical device that doesn't really know which way is up.

It's a lot of work.  It's a lot of uncertainty.

This is what makes Peter Whittaker's one-day rope solo of El Capitan, and Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll's solo of the Fitzroy traverse so mind blowing.

And the photo was taken by a dog.  Makes it even more confusing.

Very cool, I've heard of people rope soloing but never actually watched it done or seen the process from a technical standpoint. I was staring at that photo trying to figure out what was going on for a few minutes.

Fucking cold this morning, almost felt sorry about myself and then saw this hard-dick: Attached File

There's a whole cast of characters here. Which is why I like climbing.

Damn man don’t take a grounder for a damn climbing pic.  Especially one where ain’t no one gonna know what you’re doing!  Hope you had a decent time delay buddy!

Thanks as always for the pics and stories.  

Signed,

Ex-user of the Silent Partner and Soloist

LOL.  I thought that was a photo of you, and thought to myself, "wow, this guy is assimilating quickly."

Naw, I've got two pieces of gear just above my right foot.  The lower part of the route, while more physical, isn't much of a problem.  The upper part of the route, however, yikes.  This was the first time I've climbed the direct finish while trying to place pro.  A #0 Metolius TCU popped out of a shallow pocket on its own, and slid down the rope.   Deep breath.  And a solid reminder not to fall.

It was a good outing, even if I did wear my self out on just a few climbs.  Got some good photos of some others out there... https://elevenby50.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210321-Sand-Rock/

Glad to see OP up at the Red, especially on a Friday.  You are well positioned for a great time!

Awesome dude.  Didn’t see the gear at your feet.  Bears the shit out of using a clove hitch!  

I’ve never climbed Sandrock - I assume more like a fountain sandstone like Eldorado canyon than a sandy sandstone like SE Utah?  

Yeah, this stuff is a Paleozoic sandstone, and bullet hard; some sections will have conglomerated pebble bands, and those are brutal for hand jams, but still rock solid.  Nothing like the softer Navajo sandstones of Utah.  The rock is more than solid enough to sling potato chip flakes for protection.

My cam popped out just because it was a very shallow and flared pocket.  I placed it just as a psychological piece, but the psychological aspects kind of backfired when it when wheeeeeee down the rope.

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My brother on Johnny Be Good, 5.11a
I went bolt to bolt on this one towards the top.
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Lucky in Kentucky 5.10b
Super pumpy
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I fell a few times on this short but deceptively pumpy 10c, I must've attempted that mantle 3 times in a row

Some good grades, there.  Not sure I'd like that great big ledge in the fist photo, though.

How were the daytime temperatures up there?

Daytime Temps ranged from a bit cold on the first day (high 40s?) to really pleasant (low 60s) for the rest of the trip. Early morning the rock was frigid, I've never had my fingers go numb like that

Early 90's. Adak Alaska. We set up in a Parachute loft...

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It's been a long time and many pounds ago since I climbed.

ETA: I am on the right.

That's old school as fuck! Love it!