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petsfed
Jun 30, 2009, 6:47 PM
Post #26 of 92
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reno wrote: It's quite possible that I'm the only person to ever bivy on that approach. Brutal, it is. Brutal. Especially so if you have to park in the lower parking lot. I foolishly left the bivy gear behind, so I had to climb through the night. Worst storm I've ever seen too.
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cracklover
Jun 30, 2009, 7:11 PM
Post #27 of 92
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Yes, it's cragging. Zero approach, low commitment. What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Angry, I'm glad you're "getting in shape". Here's your cookie. Happy now? To everyone who shared their stories about their own bad days, thanks. My take-away from the day is that I'll just dial it down a notch, grow a pair, and get back on the horse. GO
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k.l.k
Jun 30, 2009, 7:16 PM
Post #28 of 92
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cracklover wrote: What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Don't take it so hard-- it was just teasing. Does this mean you're not really selling yr rack?
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petsfed
Jun 30, 2009, 7:22 PM
Post #29 of 92
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cracklover wrote: Yes, it's cragging. Zero approach, low commitment. What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Angry, I'm glad you're "getting in shape". Here's your cookie. Happy now? To everyone who shared their stories about their own bad days, thanks. My take-away from the day is that I'll just dial it down a notch, grow a pair, and get back on the horse. GO Dude, we weren't making fun of you. We were giving a more ridiculous excuse for a fairly common occurrence. I'm not kidding when I say that I've hung on a 3-bolt 5.5 sport route. Angry has seen me throw a total wobbler on a route that's well within my abilities, then looked up and said (with a straight face I could never pull off) "Dude, I have never been there". He threw an identical wobbler about 5 minutes later, which concluded with him stating that he failed not because its a sandbagged 11b offwidth, but rather that the route sucks. Funny stuff.
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cracklover
Jun 30, 2009, 7:53 PM
Post #30 of 92
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k.l.k wrote: cracklover wrote: What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Don't take it so hard-- it was just teasing. Teasing is fine, I just didn't get it. Like I said, I guess I'm a bit thick.
In reply to: Does this mean you're not really selling yr rack? Ask me that after next weekend, we'll see how it goes. GO
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seatbeltpants
Jun 30, 2009, 8:38 PM
Post #31 of 92
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i lolled. yeah, god, who doesn't have one of those days? i blame it on everything from lack or coffee to excessive coffee, lack of sleep to excessive sleep, lack of breakfast to excessive breakfast... but the truth is that it comes and goes pretty randomly and i just need to roll with it. actaully for me it often comes down to the weather - i'm generally happy to climb hard and take falls if it's sunny, but if the sky is brimming with big evil clouds i just want to bail and go snuggle my cat on the couch. no point trying to climb outside of the zone i'm in - it the gods are calling for an easy day then trying to climb hard won't work, and vice versa. steve
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boymeetsrock
Jun 30, 2009, 8:38 PM
Post #32 of 92
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Didn't you just do a trip to Moab recently? I assume you sent hard that trip? Chin up dude !! There is a constant ebb and flow in life. ....and you know this, MANNNN !
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cracklover
Jun 30, 2009, 9:03 PM
Post #33 of 92
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boymeetsrock wrote: Didn't you just do a trip to Moab recently? I assume you sent hard that trip? Chin up dude !! There is a constant ebb and flow in life. ....and you know this, MANNNN ! Yeah, you guessed right, it went well. I guess it just goes to show that I'm best at crack, and suck shit at unprotectable face climbing (even when it's "easy"). Something to work on, I guess. GO
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wanderlustmd
Jul 1, 2009, 1:30 AM
Post #34 of 92
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Registered: Oct 24, 2006
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Yep it happens. For me, consistency is important. If I don't climb regularly, I can feel it pretty quickly. Sounds like you haven't been out much due to rain... Don't sweat it.
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bill413
Jul 1, 2009, 2:08 AM
Post #35 of 92
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cracklover wrote: Yeah, you guessed right, it went well. I guess it just goes to show that I'm best at crack, and suck shit at unprotectable face climbing (even when it's "easy"). Something to work on, I guess. Hey, we each have styles we're better at. And, as we've all said - we all have up & down days, doesn't matter what you're on. Yeah - climbing with no protection whigs me out...face, crack that won't accept pro...R/X routses - ugh! Some days, when I'm really up, I can do that...most of the time...I rot.
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ClimbClimb
Aug 16, 2009, 9:44 PM
Post #36 of 92
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I'm glad to hear it happens to others, I thought it was just me. This summer has been bad b.c. the weather has really limited my ability to get outside, and .. well.. outisde is different than the gym. ;-)
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curt
Aug 16, 2009, 10:17 PM
Post #37 of 92
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cracklover wrote: Finally after weeks of monsoon, the forecast is perfect. You've researched the climb you want to do, and it's well within your ability, but should provide quite enough of that special something to keep your attention focused. And yet... you have a hard time dragging your sorry ass out of bed. Perhaps you've slept poorly? Or something is just off somehow? You drag your feet getting going, and once at the crag, you feel slightly uneasy. You make some excuse like "why is it so quiet here? Yesterday there were tons of people. Is there something bad going to happen? Did I misread the weather forecast?" Arriving at your objective (in this case, the West Buttress of the Bastille) you set down your stuff, size up the line, look at the guidebook, and... whoa - that looks harder than I thought! Nevertheless, you rack up, set an anchor for your belayer lest you rip both of off you off for a very unpleasant ride, and up you go. Only to come back down. I climbed up only 10 feet, set gear for the traverse, and chickened out. Three times. Each time fiddling with the gear before the traverse, feeling the moves, thinking about the sequence. Then back down to the ground, walk around, scope out the traverse from the ground. Go back up. And finally I admitted it. I don't have it in me today. Tail between my legs, I slink away to look for something more my speed. Well, how about 5.8 instead of 5.9? Just 100 yards away is a "starred" 5.8 in the guidebook. After 1/2 hour of considering it, I decide I don't like the looks of it either. And further cementing the undeniable truth that I have no balls at all, there's a climber on the 5.11 next to the 5.8 I'm looking at, who has 40 feet of runout between pieces. Fortunately, my gf saved the day - "Hey, she said, there's a climb on Wind Tower I've been wanting to do. I could do the first pitch at 5.6, and you could do the 5.7 second pitch." So off we went. It was fairly easy, but that didn't keep me from going the wrong way at the end, missing the bolted rap station. So next we did several hundred feet of sideways sketchy 5.5 simulclimbing - because I was convinced we were on the walkoff ledge that was, in fact, 30 feet below us. I kept thinking that at any minute we'd find ourselves on that broad ledge. Sigh... Am I actually a solid 5.10 or 11 trad climber? No way. In fact, I can't climb 5.7 without screwing the pooch! Maybe it was a "one off", just "one of those days." Maybe next time I go out I'll remember how to climb. Otherwise, anyone want to buy a used rack? GO Hey Gabe, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it--we've all had days like that before and probably will again. Curt
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curt
Aug 16, 2009, 10:19 PM
Post #38 of 92
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k.l.k wrote: cracklover wrote: What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Don't take it so hard-- it was just teasing. Does this mean you're not really selling yr rack? WTF would you do with a rack? When was the last time you even bothered with a rope? Curt
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scotty1974
Aug 16, 2009, 11:01 PM
Post #39 of 92
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Yep, had plent of those "up and down" days...climb up to the high point, bail etc. What makes it worse is I'm downclimbing and cleaning gear which is harder and less safe than going up! But sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. The key is remember to have fun and not bash yourself too much...stay positive and don't let the self loathing get into your psyche!! I lecently let my head take all the fun out of climbing for a bit, and continuing to pressure and berate myself made it worse. So I just started climbing some easier grades for fun, had some success and bang! Now I'm pumped again and looking forward to climbing as much as possible... So don't beat yourself up over a bad day...like Arno says focus on what you learned not what you accomplished. AND HAVE FUN!!
(This post was edited by scotty1974 on Aug 16, 2009, 11:17 PM)
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k.l.k
Aug 17, 2009, 3:57 PM
Post #40 of 92
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curt wrote: k.l.k wrote: cracklover wrote: What, four, five posts to belabor the same point? I must be particularly thick, as I'm not getting exactly why this needs to be hammered home so hard. I already know I had a lousy day. The fact that it was an easy approach tells me... what exactly? Don't take it so hard-- it was just teasing. Does this mean you're not really selling yr rack? WTF would you do with a rack? When was the last time you even bothered with a rope? Curt tomorrow. last chance at salvaging the summer
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fresh
Aug 26, 2009, 3:48 PM
Post #41 of 92
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nice post.. actually I'm thinking these days might be useful for skill practice. as soon as you realize you won't be able to accomplish anything, the pressure to perform is off. so maybe it's a day to goof off and try new stuff. of course it sucks to realize this after a long approach..
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patmay81
Aug 26, 2009, 4:16 PM
Post #42 of 92
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chilli wrote: now every trad lead, regardless of how easy, starts with some mental prep to get my head right and deep breathing. yeah, everyone has to get their head into it. my trad prep may seem more like a sport climbers prep session: white stripes at full volume and an extra large red bull. then I focus on the the first 5 or 6 moves of the climb for a few minutes and head out.
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blueeyedclimber
Aug 26, 2009, 5:38 PM
Post #43 of 92
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cracklover wrote: boymeetsrock wrote: Didn't you just do a trip to Moab recently? I assume you sent hard that trip? Chin up dude !! There is a constant ebb and flow in life. ....and you know this, MANNNN ! Yeah, you guessed right, it went well. I guess it just goes to show that I'm best at crack, and suck shit at unprotectable face climbing (even when it's "easy"). Something to work on, I guess. GO We need to partner up more frequently then. You take the cracks/chimneys and I take the unprotected face ;)
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shimanilami
Aug 26, 2009, 6:24 PM
Post #44 of 92
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I've had a lot of those days lately. Rough times at work. An eight-month pregnant wife. A rebelious 3 year old who doesn't want a little sister. And my car just blew up. I'm getting it from all directions. I so look forward to the rare days I get to go climbing, but when I get there I don't perform like I'm accustomed to. I can't pretend the stress and lack of sleep aren't taking their toll. I'm in a funk. But even so, I'm fortunate to be able to do what I do, even if I suck at it right now.
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cracklover
Aug 26, 2009, 10:39 PM
Post #45 of 92
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shimanilami wrote: I've had a lot of those days lately. Rough times at work. An eight-month pregnant wife. A rebelious 3 year old who doesn't want a little sister. And my car just blew up. I'm getting it from all directions. I so look forward to the rare days I get to go climbing, but when I get there I don't perform like I'm accustomed to. I can't pretend the stress and lack of sleep aren't taking their toll. I'm in a funk. But even so, I'm fortunate to be able to do what I do, even if I suck at it right now. Sorry, that's a drag. Good for you, though, at least you're still motivated to get out and climb. Josh - definitely! GO
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milesenoell
Aug 26, 2009, 11:34 PM
Post #46 of 92
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Fluctuations in performance just underscore the validity of our achievements.Climbing 12's or climbing 7's our achievements can be real. Consider the time when each of us will recognize that our bodies or our minds are unlikely to ever perform at levels that we have enjoyed in the past. Do we quit, or do we embrace the fact that we can still surpass ourselves? Expecting to perform at a consistent, rising level is giving short shrift to how complex and impressive the tasks we have performed really are. Letting go entirely is the greatest disgrace. To turn our back on on the gifts of our body is still ready to bestow, is to forget how truly fortunate we are. Be kind, but firm with yourself.
(This post was edited by milesenoell on Aug 26, 2009, 11:39 PM)
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lazyanne
Sep 10, 2009, 3:43 AM
Post #47 of 92
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Registered: Dec 28, 2008
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god you always down yourself...you are a crazy good climber, especially on paint ;) keep climbing and welcomi9ng goodness in your life, karma baby...tits to you!!
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climbdork
Sep 10, 2009, 9:30 PM
Post #49 of 92
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Posts: 38
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Two years ago, I sailed right up my first lead in over 7 months. Well, I got to the first bolt w/out any problem that I can remember, and continued to the belay without hanging. Two years later, my new "partner-in-climb"(tm) wanted to climb the same route, but wasn't ready to lead it. No problem, I thought. Not today. I couldn't make it to that same first bolt. Two weeks later, we decided I'd try it again. I got the second of the party ahead of us to be our stick-clip, and TR'd through the opening moves, looking out for the tough spot that shut me down before. Next thing I knew, I was looking at the first bolt. I had sailed right through the "unprotectable crux!" The previous attempt had merely been "one of those days." They come and, most importantly, they go.
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potreroed
Sep 10, 2009, 9:56 PM
Post #50 of 92
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No, I've never had a day like that. Every time I go climbing I totally crush.
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