What Will Tomorrow Bring?

I added a few links to this blog:  two guidebooks I've authored (well one is still in the works and for it I'm only one of a team of co-authors), as well as Proto Strength & Conditioning's page.  The latter doesn't have anything climbing specific posted yet, but there is a bunch of sports nutrition information already up. Check it out.

It was frigid this morning with a thick hard frost on the car that took over 15 minutes to clear off, but it's sunny and warming up.  There is a chance of flurries tonight, and tomorrow will be sunny and around the freezing point.  I've got much of the day off tomorrow.  Might the conditions be good enough to drive to and climb at Munson?

Chipping and Gluing

I read this article from Rock & Ice a week or so ago, and found it unsettling.

Making The Grade: Why You May Be Wrong About What's Right About Chipping

The author, Bill Ramsey (who is a climber and teaches philosophy at UNLV), presents a well thought out argument "that exposes hidden inconsistencies in our beliefs" about manufacturing holds on a climb.  Basically, that the majority opinion that chipping and gluing is wrong, is an arbitrary rule that is out of place taking into account what we consider acceptable or right.

Some of his philosophy is sound and he highlights some interesting evidence to support his thesis.  Yet, I (and I'm sure most of my 2 followers) see an obvious distinction between chipping holds, and cleaning/trundling/scrubbing.

Mr. Ramsey states:

(a) There are circumstances such that, in the preparation of a route, modifying the rock to make it climbable is acceptable.

(b) The set of circumstances in which rock modification is acceptable sometimes includes the manufacturing of holds.

(c) Therefore, the manufacturing of holds is sometimes acceptable.

"Modifying the rock to make it climbable" connotes intentionally making the route easier.  I have over 150 first ascents to my name, and not once did I clean with the intention to make it easier.  Once sand and soil are removed I often expected it to be easier, but those were not my motives.  Nor were they the motives of any of the 18 other people on those ascents.  Our objective is to at once remove (sand, soil, loose rock, vegetation, etc.) what is likely to come off from subsequent traffic up and down the climb, so that the route that remains for future generations is not changed from the route that was initially climbed and recorded as a first ascent.  In the wet woods of the Maritimes and along our freeze-thaw coasts, this scrubbing typically makes the route easier to see, faster to dry, and safer.  These are expectations, not primary objectives.  Cracks become better at accepting jams and protection.  In terms of difficulty, aside form the usually improved friction, features and holds that get pried or brushed off may expose more or less of a hold in their place.  Just as often as this makes it more climbable, or has no effect, or makes it less climbable.

Manufacture, by all definitions that I find, means to purposefully make something that can be used.  This is a more blatant flaw in Mr. Ramsey's argument.  Statement (a) only hints at intentionally changing a route, whereas statement (b) introduces a new term that expresses an intentional act.

So let's rewrite this in a way that doesn't endorse chipping:

(a) There are circumstances such that, in the preparation of a route, modifying the rock to make it climbable is acceptable.

(b) The set of circumstances in which rock modification is acceptable sometimes includes the manufacturing inadvertent modification of holds, surfaces and features.

(c) Therefore, the manufacturing of holds, which by definition is an intentional act to create, is sometimes acceptable not addressed in (a) or (b).

Loving this crazy weather

Until this year, I've never climbed 3 consecutive days in December.  And I've done this at home, not on a trip south.  Yesterday there were four of us out to Munson, and I did get the project on the arete of Colt 45 (Ya' need two hairdos V3).  On the Chopping block, I scrubbed a line just left of the descent tree.  It's an easy slab with an interesting topout all of us flashed with varying degrees of grace.  (You're gonna love my nuts V1).  Adam and I also changed the grades on a few others.

Today, I went in the afternoon and really hoped to get the sloper traverse project on 7-10.  The friction wasn't as good as yesterday, but I brought out a second pad and intended to work it.  So I did.  After a number of attempts where I popped off at the match or lost the heel, I decided to take a break and work those on Colt 45 instead.  It was wet.  So I grabbed the rope and scrubbed the Mace Slab, then Small Slab.

When walking back to the car to get my stuff to work the 7-10 project, the road was visibly wet and spongy.  Instead I got the saw and shears and cleaned up around the slabs a bit.  Small Slab now has two fun looking lines nearly ready to go.  I wonder if that will happen before next year.

Catching Up

For the longest time google maps wasn't allowing the addition of rich text, so I wasn't able to add photos for the online guide to bouldering at Munson Lake.  When I made some updates after my day out there today, I realized it is now possible once again.  So this first post will just be a bunch of pics.

Glute (Cornerstones)

 

These two are in the Hardwood area. On the left is CBCBD a fun little problem, and on the right is The Nest, who's right arete has been cleaned and climbed.

Conglomerate

Three in Marty's Hidden Gully. Only the leftmost has anything on it yet.

The only shot from today, this is the West face of The Clam (Roadside Area).  I spent a while working this hard slab that Dom and I cleaned a few weeks ago.  I figured out how to start it, and can do so consistently, but the next two moves to gain the pocket have stumped me.  Much of the beautiful day was spent trimming branches, but I managed to put up 2 new problems, and made some progress on 3 projects.  Hopefully I'll send at lest one of them tomorrow.