I have been getting in shape at Rifle this summer!

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

 Justin getting it on!

 Rowan giving beta.

 Me, doing what I love to do!

 Rowan and I at the belay.

Steep is good!

Props from the Boulder Newspaper. Thanks, I am honored!

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

http://www.dailycamera.com/get-out/ci_22990194/chris-weidner-king-pain-rob-pizem-and-his?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com

Working it Out, The Project that is.

I began working on a crack that was not my style sometime ago.
I tried the moves.
I learned and rehearsed them.
Then, I built a specific training program to increase my weaknesses for the route.
During the training, a deep freeze came to my town and kept me off the line for 10 weeks.
Fortunately, I had all the sequences written down and memorized.
My first time back on it, I reached a high point (on top rope because I am still too afraid to lead it)
I realized that part of the challenge for me is the endurance of this route.
Break, explore, climb other stuff.
So now, I found a new unclimbed crack project.
It is shorter, more powerful and different.
IT too is a bit scary to lead.
After one day I figured it out and nearly sent.
What is the point?

Well sometimes it is important to get on something else when you are getting frustrated with your current project. Sometimes the feeling of success will trickle over to your other project without you actually knowing. Sometimes the change of movements and effort and mental state allow you to overcome what seems impossible. Sometimes, success breed success.

Both of these routes will be sent, I can and will finish what I started.

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

Training with Piz: Smear Pulls on Crimps

I know that many times you have needed to pull up with little or no feet. This movement works that specifically.

You can start with bigger holds and then move to tiny crimps. It cane be done on a near vertical wall and you can progress to a steeper angle.

Be sure to push hard with your feet and pull as high as you can.
Just 2-3 sets of 10 on this movement twice a week can improve your smearing and pulling!

Have fun and work hard!

piz : )

Why I Train.

So, for the past week I have been unable to upload pictures or video from my computer. Blogger is having technical difficulties and we are left to the blandness of my words. (I wonder if blandness is a word) I apologize, but will take this time to talk about training indoors versus outdoor climbing.

In a nutshell, I would always rather be climbing outside. That is where my passion lies with climbing.

Now that that is clear, I can address the question of "why do I train so intently indoors when I don't have a passion for it?"

What I do have is a passion for the results of what a regular and systemized training program will bring me. I love to go outside and feel and perform at my personal best each and every time and through training indoors, I can make that happen.

Having a family, a full time job, a part time job and other obligations makes my free time extremely valuable and short. (Try to climb with me outside and you will see its nearly impossible to schedule it) That means that going to the gym to just boulder or randomly climb many routes and add some core work on another day will never really do anything for maintaining or improving my climbing or fitness level.

I need to constantly identify my weaknesses based upon my goals outside (aka my project(s)), design and implement a program that will develop and strengthen them, and then follow through with it deliberately.

Gym time is useful for making gains and is otherwise wasted (unless you are just going for the fun of it to hang out with friends and have no deeper goals of improving) when you just go and do "whatever".

In conclusion, I am not here to waste my time and will not be in the gym training before its light out or way after its dark because I love to, but because only through that focused effort will I improve. Maintaining is not a goal (it's like just remaining good enough and I do not want to just remain good enough). I want to push my personal limits and see what I am capable of accomplishing. It's not about keeping up with anyone, it's about pushing myself to reach my potential. 

So get outside and have an adventure
and if not,
start focusing what you are doing, so that you can improve and have better, safer, bigger adventures!

piz : )

The other half of break

Andi from Austria on the left and THE ANDY Reather on the right. We are at Red Rocks just outside Vegas and going to put some gear in the cracks! Andi was my main climbing partner while I lived in Salzburg, Austria a few years back. He is on the road living the dream and it was great to have a day cragging with him. Andy Reather is a good buddy and I wanted to visit him this winter. By the way Andy R still crushes rocks. That is all that I have to say about that.

Me on something fun and pumpy at the end of the day.

Andy R onsighting a sketchy 5.12 gear route. I was proud. My little Andy is growing up and plugging the gear into the rock with great skill and confidence! Kim is on the belay his wonderful lady!

Andi, Kim and Andy. It was a little nippy, but we survived, made it to three crags in one day and then destroyed some amazing pizza in town in the evening!

Andi from Austria taking care of business on some fun arete. This was the last route of the day and we were so tired from all the pitches and battling the cold.

piz : )

Whew

Nelson and his boom. The Hilti box is a weight for the end that he steers, while the camera is on the other end floating in space.

Me, sitting at the base of the sandstone wall, with all my warm clothes on waiting to give the route another try. My feet are wrapped in a fleece and I have the warmest Arcteryx goodies on possible!

Nelson, taking care of business high above the valley floor in Cuchara, CO.

Dan and Nelson on the way back to the car. It was much nicer hiking out on a packed trail. I had them wear red, so I could find them if they got lost!

Well, suffer we did. Nelson forgot to tell Dan that he needed snow shoes and not snow boots, so at 6am saturday morning we left Nelson's and stopped at Dan's to pick up his pair. Three hours later we arrived at Cuchara, CO and saw lots of snow. Now it is at an elevation near 10,000 feet so we knew there would be some, but the approach was through three-four feet of the white stuff.

I broke trail and it wasn't one of the easier snowshoeing adventures that I have been on. At the cliff's base there was plenty of dry space to change out of my soaking wet clothes into the dry and warm stuff, I waited nearly forty minutes for the others to reach me.

Then it was time to climb the route for video and stills.

Take a peek at http://www.dangpix.com/peacock/index.html for Dan's photos and keep an eye on Deadpoint Magazine for a video of the day in the coming weeks.

The highlight of the day was taking the big whip from the last possible move on the route. I fell nearly the height of the wall only to be caught by Dan. I then booted him in the head as we came together in mid air just a few feet above the ground. Good times. The air temperature was around the upper 30's or even 40 so it was really perfect for climbing. I hung out in all my clothes while we changed angles for the cameras, but it really was quite pleasant out in the snow.

Thanks to Dan and Nelson for coming out to play.

Enjoy my photos and Dans and the 5 minute video short that Nelson and Chuck are putting together.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com