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dirt_machine
May 3, 2006, 12:23 AM
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I was working on 5.9's and struggling, and then all of the sudden last week I did a 5.9+, 5.10-, 5.10a, and 5.10c in one day. Then this week I did a 5.11a. I have been able to navigate several 5.10c routes without falling or anything, and suddenly I am HOOKED!!! I started a month ago or so in order to work out my back muscles, now I am going for 2 hours every day. Is this normal?
Anyways, Now I want shoes, a chalk bag, and possibly a harness. Maybe a rope too and some carabiners so that we could go and climb outside. I am not ready to do any of the "leading" stuff, just toprope for now. I am pretty big for a climber I guess. Just over 200 pounds and maybe 5'11" on a good day, so I will need something good that can handle my size.
My wife will need gear too, because she gets dragged along with all of my other hobbies and this one too. She is currently on the 5.9+/5.10- area after a month or so (I make her go with me all the time, she is very enthusiastic about it too), so I imagine she will get good too, but she needs to get stronger.
She is 5'3" and about 115 pounds.
I like to use ebay and anything that is okay used, please advise me of it. I have heard not to buy used rope or harnesses. I don't really want to walk into the most expensive place and buy $900 worth of gear, just something that will last about 1-2 years until we are ready, if we continue to climb, to move up into the really expensive stuff.
Not that I'm broke, I just have a lot of other investments like mountain bikes and the Jeep (money pit).
Thanks and sorry for the long post.
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ucrclimber
May 3, 2006, 12:58 AM
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pagangear.com has a package deal: harness, chalk bag, ATC, locker, and mad rock flash shoes for $110. its a pretty good deal. there are other packages too if your looking for rope and stuff. welcome and good luck
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treez
May 3, 2006, 1:51 AM
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In reply to: I was working on 5.9's and struggling, and then all of the sudden last week I did a 5.9+, 5.10-, 5.10a, and 5.10c in one day. Then this week I did a 5.11a. I have been able to navigate several 5.10c routes without falling or anything, and suddenly I am HOOKED!!! I started a month ago or so in order to work out my back muscles, now I am going for 2 hours every day. Is this normal?
Yes. Spray is as old as the hills.
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shanz
May 3, 2006, 1:54 AM
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T-3
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styndall
May 3, 2006, 2:00 AM
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If you're cruising 10c in your tennies in your first month, you could probably just give some shoe and gear companies a call and get sponsored.
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boombewm
May 3, 2006, 2:02 AM
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I think this birthday pony has been beaten to death.
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dynosore
May 3, 2006, 2:03 AM
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In reply to: My wife will need gear too, because she gets dragged along with all of my other hobbies and this one too. She is currently on the 5.9+/5.10- area after a month or so (I make her go with me all the time, she is very enthusiastic about it too), so I imagine she will get good too, but she needs to get stronger.
The only real question is: are you a troll, control freak, or both?
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zozo
May 3, 2006, 2:05 AM
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There must be a full moon tonight or something
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kman
May 3, 2006, 2:05 AM
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Your going to have some humble pie shoved down your throat when you head outdoors. Gym grades don't mean shit.
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shanz
May 3, 2006, 3:11 AM
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Elevated to t-3a -- t-3d would be an endurance trial and this thread wont last that long
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boombewm
May 3, 2006, 3:12 AM
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I don't know Kman, yellow tape is pretty hard...
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drexler6
May 3, 2006, 3:14 AM
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I don't want to burst your bubble or discourage you but kman is right. Indoor grades mean nothing outdoors.
I really think that gym owners raise all of their grades to make their customers feel better about themselves to get them to keep going to the gym. Look at this guy, now that he is climbing "better" he is all into it and wants buy gear. Upping grades seems to be an effective way to keep people coming back for more.
I may not know what I am talking about though. I am lucky enough to live minutes from great rock so I haven't been to a gym in a decade or so. I have just come to this conclusion after hearing numerous posts about beginners spray about their amazing climbing feats and (surprise) it is almost always indoors.
Let me know if I am wrong. Because I am a little clueless when it comes to gyms.
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cervicornis
May 3, 2006, 3:20 AM
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Since when is a mountain bike or Jeep an investment?
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majid_sabet
May 3, 2006, 3:34 AM
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Be extremely careful if your planning to climb outdoors, the climbing grades mean nothing so if you are 5.10 at gym, you may end up in a 5.7 outdoor. There are many factors which may effect your outdoor climbing. Most common problem for freshly graduated gym climber is that in outdoor climbing, holds are not colored or been marked with tapes therefore every thing is in one color and you must navigate and use common sense to detect right holds/ cracks etc, also you will feel the fall factor therefore you must minimize all risks.
So my suggestions is this, before you start buying all these gears, get or rent the basic equipments first such as rope/sling, few biner / harness and helmet, work slowly and resolve problems and continue improving your skills and do not focus too much in too grades .
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gottarock
May 3, 2006, 4:04 AM
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the numbers are nothing but egotistical bells and whistles.
you and your wife might want to consider an outdoor course before you start tossing your coins into the climbing gear moneypit.
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asclepius
May 3, 2006, 4:17 AM
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Gym "grades" are only relative to that gym, nowhere else. They can help you measure your strength gains, but even then, that is pretty subjective.
Make some friends that have climbed "outside" and let them mentor you. You' ll have fun climbing, be safer, learn faster, and gain some understanding that it is all about the line not the given grade. And...just don't keep spraying them down with your indoor accomplishments. They will walk away into the wood seeking the quiet that they originally went climbing for.
JR
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rocketsocks
May 3, 2006, 7:33 AM
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In reply to: I don't know Kman, yellow tape is pretty hard...
I totally epiced on yellow tape last month. I almost fell off my portaledge during the 2nd night's bivy, and I was not tied in :shock:, I'll never make that mistake again. On the 3rd day I finally lost the pinky toe on my right foot to frost-bite that had started on the first pitch. On the 4th day a bear mauled my partner, Dave, and ate most of our gear, I killed the bear with a tri-cam and watched Dave slowly die as he bled out internally. :cry: I didn't have any food left so I was forced to eat Dave before free-soloing the last 8 pitches to a 3 day scramble / walk-off across crevasse-filled glaciers and loose scree.
Yellow Tape man.
Yellow f*cking Tape!
I'll never forget you Dave!
*burp*
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threefox
May 3, 2006, 9:11 AM
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In reply to: Since when is a mountain bike or Jeep an investment?
I don't know about the Jeep but you OBVIOUSLY don't ride Bicycles. I have thousands of dollars "Invested" into my cycles. Hell my rims were over a grand. Now if your referring more specifically to a cash return type investment you're absolutely right. I couldn't get a fraction of my investment back if I were to sell my bike.
Hmm kind of silly, but in a seriously cool way.
Now to the origin of this post...
My friend welcome to our world. This sport, when it takes you, can be as addictive as pre-marital tom foolery.
However, listen to what people are telling you about the ratings. I'm fairly novice to the Climbing Gym. I use that environment to keep my hands from getting soft, my climbing specific muscles warm, and to initiate new climbers before going outside.
The ratings remind me of a slot machine, it only pays when they want it to and it's only as lucky as they make it. Meaning the numbers (difficulty) can be altered with a 4 inch piece of duct tape and a sharpie marker.
Look into beginner packages, they are pretty reasonable and pretty much all you need to hit some easy Top Rope areas.
All you need to get started in my area is a rope, harness, belay device (since the old standing hip belay sucks), maybe 2 locking biners, and a water bottle. I say this is all you need because most of the TR routes in my area are double chained at the top and you can walk on and off very easily.
The next purchases that are not needed but will significantly strengthen your enjoyment and success would include. Pair of shoes, chalk bag, guide book, rope bag, pair of gloves (to keep that nasty top rope black shit off your hands), and a roll of athletic tape for finger, knuckles, etc.
If your area isn't as well set up as mine you might include some 1" webbing maybe in 10' to 15' loops, a couple more lockers, and a old piece of carpet to help protect your slings as they drape over the sharp edge.
Now you're set to try TR in the greater outdoors, or at least you have the gear to give it a try.
If there is a local place, head out and watch how people set their TR rigs. There are also a couple books on the market that focus on Top Roping.
Good luck and have fun. Oh, if your wife is going to be your belay you might want to pick up a Cinch or Grigri. I just bought the Cinch for my nephew to belay me with and I love it. Also practice taking a couple dives with your wife on the other end. She'll eventually find herself getting lifted off the ground when you fall (based on the weight and height you've described). The gym will be a good place to practice this. When she gets pulled up your trying to teach three things.
1- Don't panic
2- Get your feet, not your hands out in front as you swing toward the wall.
3- How to recover without panicing.
All of these are easier to deal with if you're using a grigri or cinch.
Once you get outside write back and let us know how it went. And keep the pre-marital thing to yourself, your wife will undoubtedly ask a lot of questions if you don't :lol:
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azrockclimber
May 3, 2006, 10:17 AM
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In reply to: I don't want to burst your bubble or discourage you but kman is right. Indoor grades mean nothing outdoors. I really think that gym owners raise all of their grades to make their customers feel better about themselves to get them to keep going to the gym. Look at this guy, now that he is climbing "better" he is all into it and wants buy gear. Upping grades seems to be an effective way to keep people coming back for more. I may not know what I am talking about though. I am lucky enough to live minutes from great rock so I haven't been to a gym in a decade or so. I have just come to this conclusion after hearing numerous posts about beginners spray about their amazing climbing feats and (surprise) it is almost always indoors. Let me know if I am wrong. Because I am a little clueless when it comes to gyms.
Many gyms are often way soft on their grades..However, I have run across a few that are such great gyms that they are right on the money or sometimes sandbagged a bit. I have no problem with that in the gym. I think it lends a little more reality to what it will be like outdoors...+It keeps people away from attempting their gym redpoint first time outdoors.. :)
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hardcore
May 3, 2006, 12:15 PM
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This thread is as bad as the one I saw yesterday where someone who suppossedly leads ask what a Z-clip was(WTF). CLIMBING IS DANGEROUS enough without having idiots thinking that because it looks cool that they can go outside and crank 5.11's, not knowing what z-clipping, backclipping, clipping, or the right and wrong way to set up anchors, TR's, or how to bail off a route, which is obviously going to happen to this guy when he gets on an 11 outside. Then like the z-clipping monkey from yesterday, they're gonna either get so spooked that the freeze or they're gonna fall and break something or gods forbid die and my day is ruined trying to evac them down the fucking mountain...You wanna work out your back do push-up in the safety of your home...
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dirt_machine
May 3, 2006, 4:45 PM
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1. What is t-3?
2. What is a troll?
3. Apparently this gym which is the ARC at UC Davis is pretty difficult because the guys setting the routes are climbing guides at outdoor adventures, which is another UCD organization. Apparently a 5.12 at the local gym is like a 5.11 at the ARC.
4. The "Investment" thing was a joke. I am going to school again this fall and I need to save money for that. The Jeep and MTB take the spare cash really quickly, so another expensive hobby is probably not a good idea...but as long as I put money in the bank first, it should be alright, right? I hope rock climbing isn't like the aforementioned where it just keeps sucking money and I just keep feeling like "my gear isn't good enough!"
5. I don't use "tennies;" they give out shoes at the ARC, it's just that the shoes don't edge well because they have big holes in the toes and on the sides and it is annoying. I can put them on a .5" ledge and they just fall off, so I need to use my arms to hold me up.
I will check out that package deal thing too. That sounds really sweet. And I do appreciate the info on outdoor climbing because the last thing I want is to get errogant. I see a lot of guys at the gym who think that they are gods because they can do certain things on the wall and it is annoying because it is just another sport. I need to be put in my place so I don't turn out like them. :D
Thank you everyone. This seems like a great forum!
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krusher4
May 3, 2006, 5:10 PM
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also outside there is the whole fear of death/injury thing....
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notch
May 3, 2006, 5:23 PM
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This may hit T3d yet...
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caughtinside
May 3, 2006, 5:25 PM
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In reply to: 3. Apparently this gym which is the ARC at UC Davis is pretty difficult because the guys setting the routes are climbing guides at outdoor adventures, which is another UCD organization. Apparently a 5.12 at the local gym is like a 5.11 at the ARC.
This is really great stuff.
Dude, if you climb 5.11 at the ARC, you TOTALLY climb 5.12 at the rocknasium. And after only a month? You're the next 200 lb climbing prodigy!
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