first v4!
moominmolly and n and i got memberships at brooklyn boulders, a nearby indoor climbing gym, for the winter, as a way to get some exercise despite the world being cold and, ultimately, snow-bound. since memberships at climbing gyms are pretty expensive, we proceeded to climb a lot. i've been most days this year so far.
unfortunately i think i overdid it a bit, and strained some of the tendons in my fingers. i'd read this was a thing that could happen but i didn't think it was something that happened at the relatively low levels of difficulty i climb at. apparently so. i'd also read that small "crimp" holds were the main cause, so as soon as i noticed i swore to only climb things with big very convex handholds, which are apparently called "slopers", until the problem went away. that was a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't gone away, so maybe i need to hold off entirely for a while.
but before quitting for the season, i managed to climb my first-ever v4 bouldering route last week. it was one of a couple i'd chosen to work on specifically because all the handholds were big and not crimpy. maybe as a consequence the route is also very weird. and i think the path i wound up taking up it is not the intended one. the route starts off under the right hand side of a big hemispherical "feature," a wooden half-dome bolted to the wooden wall, and then winds across the middle of the feature, up next to it on the left, then back across the top to the right.
i wound up just climbing up the right-hand side, skipping some of the big holds on the left completely. oops? i've watched people climb up on the left, but i still can't make that method work. i've repeated my path a few times though.
but yesterday, i climbed a different v4 also! so i can tell myself it's not a total fluke. this one's even weirder, comprised of even bigger holds and mostly made up of balance and fear.
and then i came home and tried juggling clubs in the back yard for the first time since spring began. it hurts to catch them. not okay.
unfortunately i think i overdid it a bit, and strained some of the tendons in my fingers. i'd read this was a thing that could happen but i didn't think it was something that happened at the relatively low levels of difficulty i climb at. apparently so. i'd also read that small "crimp" holds were the main cause, so as soon as i noticed i swore to only climb things with big very convex handholds, which are apparently called "slopers", until the problem went away. that was a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't gone away, so maybe i need to hold off entirely for a while.
but before quitting for the season, i managed to climb my first-ever v4 bouldering route last week. it was one of a couple i'd chosen to work on specifically because all the handholds were big and not crimpy. maybe as a consequence the route is also very weird. and i think the path i wound up taking up it is not the intended one. the route starts off under the right hand side of a big hemispherical "feature," a wooden half-dome bolted to the wooden wall, and then winds across the middle of the feature, up next to it on the left, then back across the top to the right.
i wound up just climbing up the right-hand side, skipping some of the big holds on the left completely. oops? i've watched people climb up on the left, but i still can't make that method work. i've repeated my path a few times though.
but yesterday, i climbed a different v4 also! so i can tell myself it's not a total fluke. this one's even weirder, comprised of even bigger holds and mostly made up of balance and fear.
and then i came home and tried juggling clubs in the back yard for the first time since spring began. it hurts to catch them. not okay.