Rope knots instruction, comparisons, and ratings
January 31, 2005
Dave Root has a comprehensive listing of the most useful rope knots for the average person to know on his web site. Especially interesting is an included chart comparing knot strength ratings.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Old bolts being replaced in Joshua Tree National Park
January 30, 2005
The American Safe Climbing Association (ASCA) is providing hardware to climbers replacing bolts in Joshua Tree. The Hi-Desert Star reports that while rangers approve of the replacement of bolts for existing routes, new routes are not being bolted. The ASCA also provides a list of the routes rebolted.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Governor Stable Bouldering Competition
January 30, 2005
The Governor Stable Bouldering Competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Alliance of Climbers (PAC), will be held this year on March 19, 2005. This annual competition hosts over 200 climbers and registration for the comp includes a one year PAC membership.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Ode to a Pink Tricam
January 29, 2005
Charles Danforth has a witty poem entitled “Ode to a Pink Tricam” on his Pink Tri-Cam Fan Page:
Whether you love it or hate it, everyone seems to have some strong opinion of our little pink friends. That’s right, the size 0.5 Tri-cam from Camp! Personally, I love the little buggers. No climb is complete until you sink the pink.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Ice climbing festivals list
January 29, 2005
IceClimb.com has a list of the 2005 ice climbing festivals in North America.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Roboclimber, the rock climbing robot
January 29, 2005
Ok, you just have to read this to believe it. Developed using European Space Agency (ESA) technology, the Roboclimber is being used to prevent landslides in Italy.
Popularity: 1% [?]
World’s tallest indoor climbing gym
January 29, 2005
Here are some great pics of an indoor and outdoor climbing gym in Dallas called Stoneworks. Built in and on a converted silo, Stoneworks bills itself as the world’s tallest indoor climbing gym with routes up to 121 feet.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Climbing in the Red River Gorge
January 26, 2005
With so many climbing web sites rarely updated, its nice to see two great sites updated and maintained on a regular basis. When they detail climbing at the Red, it’s especially refreshing to see such interesting resources.
The first is the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition. Simply put, the organization is a local climber’s advocacy group founded in 1996 to protect climbing at the Red River Gorge. I visited the Red several years ago and was impressed by the climbing there. From what I hear, tons of new route development has occurred over the past few years.
Red River Climbing is the second site worth mentioning here. Built on the phpBB forum software, the Red River Climbing site has an online guidebook to the Red River Gorge as well as active message boards.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Red River Gorge video
January 26, 2005
There’s a nice trailer of Classic Red by Jeff Neal at the video’s web site. I have not seen it in its entirely, but the Classic Red claims to feature 28 classic Red River Gorge routes including both sport and trad climbing. There is also footage of two 5.12 off-width roof cracks, though I somehow don’t see how exciting that would be to watch on video…
Popularity: 7% [?]
Bouldering photo site
January 26, 2005
Just found a great web site called zero friction, specifically for bouldering images. Quoting the zero friction site:
0friction.com is a site by climbers for climbers for a world of digital cameras and climbing photography. It is a place where a climbing fotog can upload his/her favorite pictures through a very simple process so that other climbers on the web can see those pictures. We do not retain ownership of your images, but we do retain the right to remove images at our discretion. Pictures of gym climbing, sport climbing, trad, aid, or mountaineering will be removed immediately, as will any image that sucks.
Just type an area or phase in the search box and zero friction serves up tons of bouldering photos. I tested it out on a few smaller areas and was impressed by the results.
Popularity: 4% [?]
More on finger injuries in climbing
January 24, 2005
As a chronic sufferer of finger injuries, I’ve sought out the most effective ways of preventing injury while climbing. While I’ve read in numerous books about stretching the fingers and forearms, not much discussion has gone into the stretching of individual fingers. Most climbing training books advise to stretch the fingers as a group.
From my own personal, non-scientific studies over the past six months or so, I’ve found that stretching each finger individually has demonstrated noticeable gains. By gains I’m referring to faster recovery from aches and pains and lack of new injuries.
My actual routine (in addition to all other warm-up and training for climbing) involves stretching each individual finger on both hands three times a day. Every day. I take each finger, pull it back, and hold for approximately ten seconds. I then do three sets of these three times a day. Most climbers will probably not have to go to this much effort. But for those of us who have been hampered by finger injuries, this type of prevention may just be the ticket.
I’d be interested in hearing about anyone else’s struggles with finger injuries and its prevention. Please send me an email or preferably, comment below.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Hand Injuries in Rock Climbing
January 23, 2005
As a climber who has repeatedly suffered from finger and shoulder injuries, I’m always on the lookout for informative articles that allow me to understand the physiology of the body systems climbers are always pushing to the limits. It’s rare to find sport-specific information on hand and finger injuries. So, I was especially pleased when I stumbled across an article on Hand Injuries in Rock Climbing: Reaching the Right Treatment.
Published in The Physician and Sportsmedicine in May of 1997, doctors Jebson and Steyers take a detailed yet very understandable approach to hand injuries in climbing. Beginning with hand anatomy and the types of grip techniques climbers employ, the authors proceed to cover the full range of hand injuries. Of particular interest are the details on flexor tendon injuries and rupture of the A2 pulley. Judging from my experiences, these tend to be some of the more common climber injuries.
While this is a comprehensive article on the types and causes of hand and finger injuries, it’s disappointing to read only a single paragraph on prevention. Understandably, this was a paper on injuries; but with such a lack of medical information out there for climbing specific injuries, additional details on prevention would be greatly appreciated by the climbing community.
Popularity: 9% [?]
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