I drove from SF to Bishop yesterday. Seven and a half hours on the road, Taco Bell for dinner, good coffee for breakfast today at the Looney Bean. It was a bit cold in the morning, but I knew it would be perfect later. I went to the Happy Boulders, where the first thing I did was try a problem that seemed hard the last time I was here (Every Color You Are, V6). It wasn’t quite a warm-up, but it felt easy. Check out the video:

Encouraged by that I went on to try harder things, no success so far. I’m in my forties and I still haven’t learned to pace myself. We’ll see if I have anything left for tomorrow 🙂

A few weeks ago I decided to start a periodized training cycle. The first phase would be hypertrophy, for which a hangboard is a key component. I have the Blank Slate Slim training board with a couple of hangboards that I swap. The one in the picture is the Kraken:

Observe the Metolius Rock Rings hanging from two 3/8″ by 4″ eye bolts, each one rated to hold 350 lbs.

One of the problems with hangboard training is that some grips are too easy and others are too hard. When using four fingers I can hang for too long, and with two usually not long enough. The solution to this problem is to make yourself heavier or lighter so that you can hang from a given grip for the right amount of time before having to let go. The heavier part is easy: just hang some weights from a harness, or use a weighted vest if you have one. Making yourself lighter is nontrivial, so I concocted this rig:

This is a system of two pulleys attached to some 8mm accessory cord and carabiners. I had everything but the pulleys, and I could have connected the cord directly to two or three biners. The weight probably would never be enough to wear the biners significantly by cord friction (30 lbs on each side at most). Still, why not spend a few bucks on a pair of nice pulleys to reduce friction. I also had a set of adjustable dumbbells with removable plates adding up to 50 lbs. I attached them to biners with prusik loops, so I can remove them easily.

This is what the right looks like with 20 lbs (10 on each side) attached to my harness:

Notice the tablet with the timer ready to go. This is crucial for hangboard workouts.

So how much lighter does this make me? Before:

After: 

Not bad, barely one pound is lost between friction and and the components of the forces that offset each other pulling me slightly toward the sides. The important thing is that I can remove a consistent amount of weight. After experimenting a bit, I know that if I somehow weighed 100 lbs and my arm strength remained the same, I could easily do many one-armed pull-ups 🙂

The best thing about this setup is that you can put it up in an apartment, and move it easily without leaving any marks. The extra hardware wasn’t that expensive: less than $20 for the bolts and pulleys. I had the weights already, but you could use bags filled with rocks, sand, whatever.

Hope this is useful. Enjoy and get strong!

I first started rock climbing twenty years ago. Back then it was an adventure sport. The objective was getting to the top of a multi-pitch route without falling. Sport climbing was mocked. I didn’t even know bouldering existed. There was no training. I gave up after a year because it seemed too dangerous.

I started climbing again in 2005, and this time I was hooked. Gear and safety standards had improved, and it didn’t seem so risky. Climbing at the gym was fun and social, a great way to decompress after work. I did easy trad for a while, then got into harder sport, and for the past three years I’ve been mostly bouldering. I live in San Francisco, which is an excellent city in that respect: at least a dozen different bouldering spots less than an hour away. Some places such as Mortar Rock in Berkeley have no approach: you can park next to the boulders for a quick session, then go get a cup of coffee at the Starbucks down the street. Others, like Castle Rock, can feel remote and secluded on a random weekday.

I’m 43 years old now, and I’ve reached a plateau of sorts. I’ve been bouldering more or less at the same grade for about two years. I don’t have a fulltime job these days, so I have a lot of time on my hands. This year I decided to start training more methodically to see how far I can get. I have some very specific objectives, and I will share them in due time. I’ll also share my progress, trip reports, videos of climbs, training tips, and whatever else I feel like.

Climbing is one of those activities that has no goal other than personal enjoyment. It’s not much of a spectator sport. You can play your guitar to entertain your friends, but bouldering isn’t so easy to share. Perhaps that’s why I’m writing this: to share it with an imaginary audience (I don’t really expect many eyes to see these posts).

Ok, I’m warmed up. My next post will be about something very tangible. Until then!