Down Under

The weather was exceptionally nice today, soaring into the fifties. It was too good to spend inside. I decided to take a hike around Redrock, near Gloucester. I've only ever climbed the Main Wall, and I knew there were at least a couple other areas known for climbing in the vicinity.

It turns out there's a lot more to be found, although the other walls tend to be a little shorter. I had time to visit Down Under and Oz. The photo above shows Doug's Nose and Doug's Roof, both routes I'll attempt when I've got my bouldering mat with me.

Most of the areas I visited were not warmed by the sun. Therefore, the rock was cold, and it wasn't great for climbing. Still got to do some bouldering, though.

practicing

This is Boardwalk (5.5) on Practice Face of Crow Hill.

All the routes on Practice Face are reasonable (in the sense that I could do them without much difficulty), except for Ladybug, which is rated a 5.8 in Boston Rocks. I couldn't complete Ladybug despite trying several times. So. Have to get back there sooner or later and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

lower wall at hammond

Isn't it beautiful?

lower wall

It's a fine day for climbing!

OJ

I tried out my new crashpad at the Alcove today. It's a Metolius Boss Hogg. So far so good.

The first route I tried was OJ. It's the crack running straight up from the mat in the photo (at least I think that's OJ). It's a 5.5, but it took me several tries to get to the top. I felt a lot more hesitant without being tied in to a belayer, even though this route is not very difficult, and the mat was underneath me.

It was my first time bouldering at Hammond, and it's a lot of fun there.

q wall

q wall, a photo by wereldmuis on Flickr.

It's another rainy weekend. No climbing for you!

outside corner j wall

outside corner j wall
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today I went back to Quincy Quarries. I went up Balance again (J wall). I think I'm doing the route right, but there's always some fuzziness.

Then I attempted Layback, but failed again. Disappointing! I finally tried Outer Corner without much hope. I didn't make much progress there, at all.

Still, it was a great day to be out climbing! Next time I hope I'll get to stay longer.

J wall - Balance

J wall - balance
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I finally broke in my new rope at Quincy Quarries!

I successfully completed Balance (5.4), and made respectable attempts of Layback (5.6) and Lurch (5.7). To put things in perspective, I can climb a 5.6 in the gym almost like climbing a ladder. These routes are way tougher than their ratings. It would help to get in more experience climbing outdoors, too.

new rope!

climbing rope

EMS is having a (up-to) 30% sale this weekend, and I'm leaning towards buying a climbing rope. I wasn't going to get one so soon, but I don't think I'll find this kind of discount for months to come, so I should probably just do it now and catch a bargain.

I'm thinking of getting the 10.1 mm x 60 m Petzl Xion for $160, down from $200. The middle is marked, which is handy. The thickness seems about right since I assume I'll be doing a lot of top-roping to start. They say it's fine for trad climbing also. The last consideration is length. I'm sure it's plenty long for any climbing I'll be doing for quite some time.

Every time I see a rocky cliff, I start thinking about climbing it. I'm totally hooked.

tubular webbing

Today, I went out and bought some rock climbing gear that can be used to build an anchor: a few carabiners and some tubular webbing. I don't yet have a rope, so I don't know if these things will be very useful. But meantime I can use them to practice building anchors at home.

I also bought a copy of Boston Rocks a couple of other climbing books. Probably it's overkill, but I'm feeling very enthusiastic at the moment!

boston view

boston view
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.
Did some fun climbing today.

knight's wall

I finished my rock climbing course this weekend. I got to take a stab at Knight's Wall for the second time. I finished Black Knight, although it kind of felt like a cheat because I think I was leaning on the rope at times. I attacked Double Retable but wasn't able to get very far.

The trick will be finding people to climb with, now that the course is done.

5.7+

This evening I went to the gym for some climbing. I started easy enough, with 5.5, went to 5.6, and then did several 5.7’s. I even did a 5.7+. One 5.7 that I completed had a slight overhang. This was the first time I’ve ever completed an overhang climb!

See more progress on: Learn Rock Climbing

lessons

I took my first lesson in outdoor rock climbing this weekend. There was a ton of information to absorb! But I’m on my way.

See more progress on: Learn Rock Climbing

rattlesnake rocks the overlook

rattlesnake rocks the overlook
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Went climbing at Rattlesnake Rocks in Blue Hills Reservation today. Climbed The Overlook a couple of times. You can see the ropes going up, near the bottom of the photo. It's a 5.3. I made it harder by going up to the left the first time, instead of the right which has a nice big crack to stand on.

joined the gym

Today I went climbing indoors for 1.5 hours, a mix of bouldering and regular climbing.

I got a gym membership for 3 months. It probably won’t be worth it to keep the membership long-term, but there was a deal going so I took advantage of it.

See more progress on: Learn Rock Climbing

been a while

I've been learning to ice skate since November, so rock climbing has taken a back seat. I've only been rock climbing about 4 times over the past 4 months.

Today I got started again. It was a bad day to go. For some reason (is it spring break already?) the place was crowded, even though it was the middle of the day. So I left in under an hour.

I climbed a 5.4, 5.5, and a vertical that was labeled 5.10 (I think it must be mislabeled). Also, I got 3/4 of the way up the overhang, which is better than I've done before. That's a surprising improvement. It may have helped that I've begun using a chin up bar at home during my weight workouts.

See more progress on: Learn Rock Climbing

more climbing

I made it back to the gym yesterday. I was feeling a little tired, and only stayed for about 1 h 20 min.

I started with the most difficult, outward slanting wall, where I still can barely get halfway up a route. Then I moved around back and forth between the vertical wall and the easier one that's less than vertical. I didn't do as well as last time. I completed several 5.5s and the same yellow 5.8 as last time, up the vertical wall. I'm suspicious of that 5.8, because it seems almost as easy as a 5.5. I couldn't complete any 5.7s this time.

at the gym

at the gym
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went for another climb today!

I started out on the wall which slants out a little more than vertical. This is still pretty tough for me, I can't even make it halfway up yet.

That soon got me tired out, and I switched to a wall that was completely vertical. Here I was able to do a 5.8! It was a bit weird, since I could do one of the 5.8s but not the other one. And I couldn't complete a 5.7 either.

When I started to get too tired for that, I switched to a wall that was a little less than vertical, which makes things easier. There I did a 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7.

As usual, it was incredibly fun! I'm glad I finally started up doing this again.