Season Recap

[Dom]

Now that the rock season is pretty much over, it's time to reflect on what an awesome season it was!
So what was everyone's favourite/most memorable climb(s) of 2012 in New Brunswick?

I'll start off and say:
-Inhuman Erazer direct
-Ziggy Piggy

[Caldsy]

Mine would have to be

1. Tin Tin au Tibet at Kamou during the Club Trip!
2. Adam Smasher at Sunnyside now that it's bolted

[Stacey]

for me it would have to be the trip into Cirque of Towers in Wyoming...getting my butt handed to me on Pingora was a highlight of almost all of my climbing career...

locally - being able to put my trad rack to good use and see some scratches on it

[Zach Taylor]

for me it would have to be the trip into Cirque of Towers in Wyoming...getting my butt handed to me on Pingora

That was such an amazing place! wont be forgetting Pingora anytime soon!

[*Chris*]

I will answer this post happily when the time comes: Jan 1st of 2013. Until then, I'm holding out. It ain't over till it's over.

[Dom]

I will answer this post happily when the time comes: Jan 1st of 2013. Until then, I'm holding out. It ain't over till it's over.

Hahaha. I agree that you can climb on odd days in the Winter. Heck, I've climbed shirtless every month of the year in NB. That being said, the season seems to be done. I have a feeling I know why you're holding out though.

If you ever need a partner to go out, let me know. It's tough to find partners in the Winter.

(Only 2 climbers in all of Welsford last Saturday despite the blue skies and the T-shirt Weather until 4pm) WTF is up with that??

[sam]

It feels good to think back on my first climbing season... This will probably be long, sorry!

I started indoor climbing in January of this year, and started outdoor climbing in early summer, here's how my first ever season went;

Started climbing with Austin Conrad who graciously took me out for the first time to Mt Douglas, where I climbed Breakneck Mountain. It was a lot of fun being outside for the first time but definitely nerve-wracking; especially when I got near the top and realized about 15ft of slack was wrapped around an arete near the top... fixed that and kept on climbing! At the time I didn't fully understand how dangerous that was, so I was lucky that nothing happened, and haven't made any mistakes like that since.

That day we also went to the slabs, which were challenging but fun... PJ and a friend of his were there and both parties had a good time. And I learned why people complain about toe-pain on slab climbs. I also learned about the history of the Breakneck Mountain route after having climbed it, which is good, because if I had known ahead of time I might have been hesitant. Crazy.

I went on the club trip to Kamou and got to know most of the club members and Magda and Brian were gracious enough to drag me around the cliffside to top-rope stuff and teach me. I got on my first sport lead with Magda belaying me and had a blast... ever since then I've been primarily leading, apart from when I jumped on Dihelio and knew I would be falling no matter what.

I got in contact with Chris Hennigar after the Kamou trip and asked for a list of his recommended gear for a beginner; I got my own rope, 2 harnesses, 12 quickdraws, ~8 locking biners and a bunch of slings and other junk. Since then I've amassed more biners, more draws, a trad set, a metolius PAS, a GriGri, etc. Hurt the wallet buying all that stuff in one year, but worth every penny and I had money left over from my business to blow.

Throughout the season most of my time was spent in Sunnyside & Joe's Garage doing sport leads. My goal was to get on a multi-pitch by the end of the season, but I never managed to pull that off due to not being able to get outside all that often, and the only people I climbed with hadn't done multipitch yet either.

(Next spring I'll be looking for someone for that with, hint hint)

Trad training day with Chris H.:
I also amassed my "intro" rack this year (1-11 BD Nuts, 0.5->3 BD Camalot) and began low-grade trad climbing, after an excellent day of training with Chris Hennigar and Austin. He taught me the basics of gear placement while doing some false-leading.

At the end of the day he put us on a route that was purposely a bit sandbagged to show us to be better safe than sorry when it comes to grades and trad climbing... the route name escapes me but all I know is that it's something I would have flashed on sport lead and/or top-rope, that absolutely kicked my butt when you factored in having to hang in one spot for up to 5 minutes at a time putting a piece of gear in.

The joys of trad.... I definitely have a new appreciation for the difficulty. Then again when I get to the point that placing a piece doesn't take forever, it'll probably get a bit easier.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

All in all I had a great first year of climbing... heres a list of things I learned;
[list=]
[*]Dihelio is $%^@ing hard
[*]Ice climbing is $%^@ing hard
[*]Trad is way harder than it looks, because you have to factor in hanging off a hold for up to several minutes to get a perfect placement, rather than a simply clip-and-go.
[*]I'm definitely a bigger fan of Sport climbing... I am climbing trad only out of necessity because I want to get on most of the routes @ CL
[*]It's A LOT darker in the woods than it is by the cliff at Welsford, so "staying until the last minute to get one more climb in before its dark", when it's already kinda dark means you'll be walking out in pitch darkness using your cell phone as a flash light, tripping over roots and skunks along the way
[*]If you're belaying Austin, you can be sure that he IS going to break a hold (a vital undercling, at that) and it WILL fly straight at your face.
[*]Cochrane Lanes' goats smell bad, and your hand will smell that way the whole drive home if you pet them
[*]Rope swings are fun
[*]I love climbing
[*]By the end of the season I was able to climb 5.10c->5.11a/b outdoor with some top-rope sessions to practice first, and indoor I can climb V3-V4 (which seems to be an impossible grade to get past )
[/list]

Pete, Magda, Camilla, Brian, Dom, Chris H., Chris N. and many others... you guys are awesome, thanks for helping me get into climbing!

PS: I want to go climbing before the season is out, even if it's really, really, really cold. Let me know. Also, I want to go out at least once a week next year. So... if you ever need a partner willing to provide the gear / pay for gas / share food etc, let me know! Phone #: 1-506-961-9110

[sam]

I should probably start a blog or something

[Dom]

I like it Sam. Great recap.

PS: I want to go climbing before the season is out, even if it's really, really, really cold.

Hmm you probably don't want to go when it's really x3 cold outside. It will be miserable!
I'd say down to zero is comfortable. down to -5 is doable and anything below that is usuallt too cold.

Surprisingly, you can be raking leaves or shoveling the driveway and think to yourself, there is no way someone could climb today, it's brutally cold. Wrong, sometimes you can!
BUT, you need the right conditions. from -5 to +3 you definitely want to be climbing in the direct sun, without any wind whatsoever, no snowmelt and a couple of hand warmers in your chalk bag. So you can't be picky in the off-season.
Trad is a bad idea because cracks are COLD and the metal from your gear is also cold. Sport, TRing and bouldering are what you want to do.
You also need to wear many layers of clothing (have some merino wool in there) and a huge down jacket when you're not climbing.

Sun and no wind are the most important elements. Believe it or not, you can be warmer on a -5 sunny day than on a +10 cloudy, windy day. The rock soaks up the sun and warms it up considerably.

I'm always up for rock climbing in the Winter so I'll contact you.

Here is a picture of me on RA a couple of Winters ago when it was -8 out.

[wjones]

Had a great first year of climbing! What are the best places for climbing in the winter?

[sam]

Had a great first year of climbing! What are the best places for climbing in the winter?

Uhh... ice

[sam]

Had a great first year of climbing! What are the best places for climbing in the winter?

Although to answer your question seriously, if you mean ROCK climbing in areas where its climbable in the winter, i guess Dom would be the one to answer that

[cory]

Samuel Stiles: It's nice to see you've caught the bug, and are keen to learn. You seem to be following the right approach and learning from as many people as possible. That is excellent. Patience is also excellent.

One critical piece of gear is missing from your list: A HELMET
These things are at least as important as any other piece of gear (even hikers/spectators should have these on when at the base of the cliff) as your own list indicates

[*]If you're belaying Austin, you can be sure that he IS going to break a hold (a vital undercling, at that) and it WILL fly straight at your face.

A glancing blow to the temple from a marble falling from 10m is enough to incapacitate a belayer.

[sam]

Samuel Stiles: It's nice to see you've caught the bug, and are keen to learn. You seem to be following the right approach and learning from as many people as possible. That is excellent. Patience is also excellent.

One critical piece of gear is missing from your list: A HELMET
These things are at least as important as any other piece of gear (even hikers/spectators should have these on when at the base of the cliff) as your own list indicates

[*]If you're belaying Austin, you can be sure that he IS going to break a hold (a vital undercling, at that) and it WILL fly straight at your face.

A glancing blow to the temple from a marble falling from 10m is enough to incapacitate a belayer.

Haha thanks Cory - I have a helmet! Two actually! Don't know why I failed to list it. Actually that day I wasn't wearing a helmet, so it was a valuable enough lesson, despite not getting hit by the rock itself. I leaned forward when the rock fell and it scratched my back up but didn't do anything serious, and the important thing is my belay wasn't compromised.

I went out the next day and got a BD Half Dome.

I also have a spare that my girlfriend uses when we climb together

[F Côté]

I would say my most memorable moment was climbing A never ending story (5.11c) at L-shape in approx. 35 degrees Celsius in direct sunlight. Probably one of my favorite climbs ever. The sunburn and sweatfest was definitely worth it.
Also Astroboy direct is really nice.

[Andrew]

Glad you all had a great season. Hoping next season will be better for me.

I got out twice this year

Cold weather climbing isn't that bad sometimes, though. Back in 2010, I finally top roped Montezumas without falling. It was -2°C with light flurries. Very good friction at that temperature.

[Stacey]

It was -2°C with light flurries. Very good friction at that temperature.

SUPERB 'friction' on ICE at that temp -- beautiful !

just sayin'

[Dom]

This is a real good season recap from Cory Goodman. http://mygoodacorn.blogspot.ca/2012/12/recap-of-2012-new-brunswick-bouldering.html

Cory I doubt you'll mind I posted this without your consent.

[cory]

Cory I doubt you'll mind I posted this without your consent.

See my comment on the blog.

[*Chris*]

Now that the rock season is pretty much over, it's time to reflect on what an awesome season it was!
So what was everyone's favourite/most memorable climb(s) of 2012 in New Brunswick?

I'll start off and say:
-Inhuman Erazer direct
-Ziggy Piggy

My succinct answer:
-Pink Panther
-Sticky Fingers
-Jai Voile Ta Blonde
-Dihelio
My wordy answer: here