Disqus - Latest Comments for lizzy_t

Re: A little more climbing...

lizzy — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:46:43 -0000

womens 7 is my shoe size :)

Re: A little more climbing...

lizzy — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:31:03 -0000

Well, I'm planning on flying out on the 17th or 18th, so maybe we could meet up before the Squamish trip if you aren't too busy then :)

Re: A little more climbing...

lizzy — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:18:17 -0000

yay, congrats on your project! I'm having a hard time getting psyched on anything in Yosemite this spring... I'm still pretty intimidated by the Cookie Cliff, but I am REALLy excited about going to Squamish in June and finally doing the Grand Wall with Luke, as well as trying to onsight Sentry Box, which is a beautiful single pitch crack at Murrin. Any chance you could come play with us in Squamish June 23-27?

Re: Two years.

lizzy — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:23:22 -0000

I loved this blog :)
I'm so glad I finally got to meet you and I hope we can climb together sometime soon! I think my awesome climber girl partner, Sarah Kate, would love to meet you too.
Best wishes,
lizzy

Re: Index Acquisition Fundraiser Slideshow, August 27!

lizzy — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:35:55 -0000

aw, sounds like fun! wish i could come! but I'm donating money anyways because Index is one of the best granite crags ever. period. :)

Re: FAQ: Getting started in rock climbing

lizzy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:42:04 -0000

I learned a lot of what I know from my good friends John Race and Olivia Cussen, who run Northwest Mountain School out of Leavenworth, WA. They used to do more youth trips, but now do all sorts of guiding. If you're interested in getting your alpine on, whether attempting a route that's a stretch for you or just getting a taste, I highly recommend them! Plus Olivia has been doing a super fun womens' climbing week in Joshua Tree every October. John and Olivia are both IFMGA certified and many of their NMS guides are, too. You can check them out here: http://www.mountainschool.com/

Re: Climbing with Strangers, on Climbing Magazine's Reader Blog

lizzy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:37:34 -0000

Aw, I'm sad I didn't get my chance to go climbing with you in person while I've been up here... Let Luke and I know if you have any Yose/Tuolumne plans in your future, since that's going to be our new backyard (kind of... more like our 3-4hr away backyard, but still, not bad) or if you ever end up in the Bay Area - it would be fun to hang out :)

Re: The inevitable ebb and flow of climbing

lizzy — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:35:00 -0000

I definitely have a lot of variability when it comes to having my "zone" and thus being able to push harder on lead. It probably doesn't help that the whole college thing meant that my fitness was also highly variable and its hard to be confident on lead when you haven't climbed much and know that you aren't your strongest ever. But my recent two climbing trips, even though I didn't really get to train for them as much as I would have liked, i was really able to push my limits by focusing on a couple mental things.

I find that it helps my mental space to just lead as much as possible - instead of toproping a route, either try to lead it, or, if that's too hard, don't do it and instead hop on something you can lead. This is especially important for trad leading, because the more you've placed gear recently, the more comfortable you'll be with it when the climbing gets harder. Grabbing the right piece the first time saves a lot of time and energy.

On many of my hard recent climbs (Sunshine Dihedral, Pure Palm, Yorkshire Gripper), I had a point where I was at a stance below a crux, which I wasn't sure I could do, with the gear (or bolt) below waist level, contemplating jumping off or other strategies to not commit to the hard move. But every time I was finally able to talk myself into keeping going. Realistically contemplate the fall - yes, it will be scary, but usually no, it will not be dangerous. I also think about how disappointed I'll feel if I back down, which works especially well when I'm onsighting - you only have one chance to onsight something and jumping off/taking/whatever is not exactly a good reason to fail. I tell myself how well prepared I am for this experience and how fantastic I will feel when I commit to the move, even if I fall, take some deep calming breaths, and then focus on the moves (rather than the fall or the gear, or the distance between you and the last gear).

And the final thing is to make sure to relax. Handjams or good fingerlocks are like jugs - when I get one, I take the opportunity to relax my other hand and breath, because you have to be way pumped to fall out of a good jam. Good footjams are the same. Just remembering to relax and telling myself that I'm psyched to be in a good, non strenuous position, and taking some breaths.

Sending a trad route always feels so rewarding! Hope you get the chance to practice on some less intimidating routes so you can do the index classics (they're awesome!).