Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Campusing: the purest form of climbing (so says Phil Requist)

It's been a wee while since I last posted. A bought of sickness and slough of work interfered with recreational blogging. However, no news isn't necessarily bad news, and I've had a fun—if not ostensibly productive—couple of climbing weeks. In several trips to the Tor this month, I've gotten on The Natural (5.12c), No Skill (5.12c), and Chips Ahoy (5.12d)—all of which are well within redpoint range. It feels well nigh productive to get on "hard" routes like these and to not flail my way to the top. I at least two-hung all three routes, and could realistically redpoint The Natural and No Skill this weekend. I'm not optimistic about Chips, however, because that route defies all human hope. And it clubs baby seals in its spare time.

In other news, I'm campusing quite a bit, along with Phil and Elijah. I love it; it's so simple, dynamic, and focused. I'm training per suggestions from Mr. British himself, Ben Moon. His website is a treasure trove of training tips and there are ample testimonies from the pasty, freckled English lads who have benefited from those tips. I am drinking black tea and eating a steady diet of scones with the hopes that I can do 1-4-7 on the campus rungs next week.

9 comments:

Brian said...

Good luck on the red pointing.

bob banks said...

unless the shed board grew a rung since friday, you therefore must be talking about 1-4-6, no?

Andy Patterson said...

My mistake. The Shed board is sorely lacking. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We (Elijah and I) are wondering if we should put up the Metolius incut rungs, because there's a whole bunch of them. Any input/opinions regarding Metolius campus rungs? I know some folks don't like em'.

bob banks said...

bob's 2 cents on shed campusing:

once you get 1-4-6, 1-5-6, 1-2-6 on the bigs (which are too small) then that board is useless. put up whatever rungs you have, the metolius aren't great but they're better than a friggin board that has 6 rungs.
train big moves, don't even touch the small rungs, which are great if you like doing small moves (it's called 'hangboarding'). as evidence, show me a video that has ben moon working campus moves going from one rung to the next, or even skipping only one rung because it's so fricking hard to hang on to shitty rungs. that's not the point of campusing, that's the point of hangboards.

it's a big board. do whatever you have to to do big moves.

Micah said...

Speaking of hang boards... someone put up the damn Yaniro so I can train on it.

My basic workmanship skills are the polar opposite of my cooking skills and injury creation skills, ie I'll probably fuck it up.

And I hate plastic campus rungs. And we should put up the old 2 inch rungs. And I climbed at Patterson Bridge today.

Andy Patterson said...

Thanks for the input, Bob. Metolius rungs aren't great, I agree, but they do allow for big moves. Oh, and Micah, I am not intimating we install the blue plastic rungs. They do, as you mentioned suck. I'm thinking of the wooden Metolius rungs in the black mesh bags.

If I had a table saw, I'd happily rip some big rungs, like 1 3/4" rungs. Hell, I'd even do 2".

I'll bring my drill this Tuesday and maybe we can put up the Yaniro contraption. Micah, your dream cometh true...

Brian said...

training>redpointing? (interesting)

Here is my 1 cent:
I miss the shed with its properly spaced rungs.

I'm currently getting dominated by the Metolious rungs and like it.

I think big moves and handboarding are both good ideas.

Brian said...

Yeah for campusing :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICuqGPlY4r0
http://www.vimeo.com/2856698

Micah said...

Holy Shit. Ninja Cat has perfect form. Front step and pull. I love it.