Rough Canyon Hike with My Students

Contact Piz at pizem@hotmail.com for Motivational/Instructional/Entertaining Speaking Engagements, Climbing Instruction, Training and Weekly/Monthly Training Programs

Until then... Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: www.arcteryx.com   www.camp-usa.com   www.scarpa.com   www.sterlingrope.com   www.americanalpineclub.org   www.brewersledge.com

 It started off cold and in the shade.

 Good times on the ice and finding frozen waterfalls!

 Don't slip!

 Finding hidden hangouts.

 At the bottom of a waterfall the ice was frozen and left behind huge chunks!

  On the way back in the warm Grand Junction spring sun.

Training with Piz: Weighted Shoulder Circles

Contact Piz at pizem@hotmail.com for Motivational/Instructional/Entertaining Speaking Engagements, Climbing Instruction, Training and Periodization Programs

Until then... Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors:
www.arcteryx.com
www.camp-usa.com
www.scarpa.com  
www.sterlingrope.com  
www.americanalpineclub.org  
www.brewersledge.com
www.windx-treme.com

Weighted Shoulder Circles
You can perform this exercise with or without weights.
It works on strengthening your rotator cuff region in your shoulder.

It is best to grab a comfortable weight (less weight is better) that you can hold out fully extended and make small forward and backward circular motions. It is not a race and each circle should be completed at the same pace.
Be sure to compliment the forward numbers with the reverse to get a balanced workout.

If you are looking for more of these types of movements because you have had or are currently working through shoulder issues, look at the bottom of the page for some more ideas. There are tons of ways to strengthen your rotator cuff and it is good to do a variety of exercises to evenly develop the weakness and or for preventative means. Regular maintenence will keep you climbing injury free for a long time so don't wait until you are injured. Start doing these at least once a week!

 

 

              

The Nose and Mayan Smith Gobat

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

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

 Some photos from Mike Anderson and my first free ascent of Arcturus on Half Dome 2006 Andrew Burr Photos. Mike and I looking back at El Cap from the top of Half Dome.

 Checking out the line Half Dome

 A little wear and tear

 Mike owning that chimney.

Me on the crux.

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/new-female-speed-record-on-the-nose-el-capitan

Here is a brief summary of how Mayan is showing us how much she loves climbing on El Cap.

I have been able to watch her train and focus on this goal for months and it's great to see her hard work paying off. I will say that we have not seen her go her fastest yet and I look forward to seeing how things turn out.

Mayan has taken a liking to training and is one of the hardest workers that I have ever seen. She takes every session serious and puts forth 100% during every exercise. With that effort and focus she will certainly reach her personal potential when it comes to climbing and especially life.

She has worked hard over the the last year and her dreams are slowly becoming reality.

Go Mayan!!!

Treadwall Training with Piz: Mayan Smith Gobat

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

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

Just a little clip of Mayan working out some moves on the treadwall.

Who else is using treadwalls?
I know a few pro's like: Josh Wharton, Andy Reather, Bill Ramsey, Ben Rueck and many others.

This thing is no joke people. Using one systematically to build and develop ones weaknesses is a sure fire way to enhance your climbing skills from technique to strength. By no means does it work with your lead head. That is the mental part of climbing training and that has to become a way of life your attitude, your perspective, but it will take you to a higher level when used appropriately.

Treadwall Training with Piz: Warming Up

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.youtube.com/watch?v=BtrFalGV9Uo

Check out the next video about how to properly warm up before a session on the wall!

Silverton, Colorado; Rowan, and Trains

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

 Right now Rowan is on a Thomas the Train kick. Since we were in the area for a wedding we figured that we should let him check out all the trains right next to where we stayed in town. It turned out to be the best gift that we ever could have given him at this stage of his life! Here, he and mom are checking out what he calls Thomas. (a side note is that ever engine was Thomas)

 One of the old rigs that would haul the coal and other commodities to and from the area over the past hundred years or so.

 Mama and the boys.

 Elmo was not going to miss out on this adventure with Rowan.

He wasn't so happy since this was his last time sitting on the engine. Oh well. Until our next adventure.

 

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

It's Treadwall Time!

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

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

 The guts of a treadwall. (the breaking system)

 Laying it out with Garnet.

 Axel that connects the two chains that run the wall.

 Almost done.

 Installing the panels to the steel that connects the tread.

 The last panel.

 

After you build it, you give Garnet dinner, a place to crash and his first desert tower summit at sunset!

 

Stay tuned as I share what I learn about using and training with the treadwall. Thanks Brewers Ledge for bringing out the Kore Model to me and my family here in Grand Junction, Colorado!!!

Quickie: The New Baby is Coming and I haven't had Time to Write

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

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

 Last hike of the year with my outdoor club.

 Jane and Rowan on a hike with dad.

 Throwing rocks in the base of a waterfall.

 Uncle Clay came to visit and play with Rowan.

 I put the boy to work in the fields.

 Found a snake in a crack the other day.

Top of the world with my brother in law Clay!

More on the Exponential Week!

Get outside and have an adventure!
piz : )

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

 The morning it began.

Seconds after we completed all those pitches!

Getting Exponential

I am about to embark on another self-imposed potentially ridiculous climbing challenges. In the past, I have traveled the West in search of climbing all the Astro-themed routes, other times I have sought out long multi-pitch link ups in Yosemite Valley and Zion National Park, while other times I quested into the unknown in and out of the country for new routing and adventure. There is still so much to do and many more places to visit, but this year due to the proximity of my second son’s birth, I will be staying close to home during my spring break.

In late 2012, I concocted an exponential growth problem of sorts. Seeing that I teach population genetics in my high school Biology class and dabble in mathematics at times, I figured that I could identify another theme that could host a worthy opponent to my mental and physical stamina on the rocks. As usual, I enlisted my senior and best friend, Mike Brumbaugh to join me on this seemingly impossible task.  When I described what I wanted to do, he immediately was interested and said, “I’m in.”

Many of you know that Mike runs a ski shop or two in Colorado and since winter is his busy time, he normally puts in 80+ hour weeks in order to make sure that every costumer that walks through his doors wants to come back to Venture Sports to rent skis the next time that they are in the state.  All that work means that Mike can get badly out of shape. I am talking a French pastry and doughnut filled belly. One hundred plus days in a row will destroy most folks. However in years past, Mike has been able to maintain his stoicism and keep on plugging along while on whatever magical rock surface that we get our callused (in his case, baby soft) hands and feet upon.

Me on the other hand, can train like a fiend and be in nearly close to top performing condition at nearly anytime during the year. I teach high school which allows me to have a regular schedule. That means that at five am a couple mornings a week, I circuit train and in the evening after my son goes to sleep, I can get some mileage in on the ropes at my local gym, the Grand Junction Climbing Center.

Training for this challenge (which I will share the details shortly) was hampered in a variety of ways. The winter on the western slope of Colorado this year was particularly cold. I mean a three month long inversion holding onto life sucking abnormally cold air temperatures that hovered near zero and below. Those temperatures, along with the fact that I caught every miserable cold that came through my school, combined with the fact that it really wanted to snow on the weekends made it extremely difficult to gain the proper endurance to complete my challenge. Mike wasn’t training at all and since it never really hurt him in the past I wasn’t too worried.

Late February and March was when Mike was going to get after it and begin logging in the miles on the rock. As it happened, he had to work more than he wanted and ended up getting some kind of virus that attacked his joints and laid him about for about ten days straight. He told me on the phone while resting an ice pack on his head, that it hurt to make a fist. I laughed and (yet was concerned) joked with his wife about the illness and got back to my indoor training sessions (which were beginning to tax me.) After his two week bed vacation, Mike bowed out of the challenge. My bubble burst (not like that crappy Incubus song) and I was in limbo. I had a challenge but no partner. My wife Jane tried to remind me that the challenge didn’t need to be done, no one was depending on me to attempt it or achieve it and that it was just my crazy idea that I can do anytime. Even though there was reason in her sage words, I don’t lie down that easily. I quickly enlisted my photographer for this journey. After all, he was off the same time to record the effort on film and totally badass in his own right. So I called up John Dickey and told him about how Mike was out and asked him to join me. After a moment of hesitation, he was like, “oh yeah I am in!”

A few days passed, I trained some more and John worked his butt off shooting and editing photos and video. One evening while sharing a delicious beverage with his close friends, he shared his plans about the last week of March, (which were of course the detailed description of my now top secret challenge). They immediately said “Are you nuts, you’re totally out of shape, you can’t do that? What are you thinking?” After an evening of reflection, he realized that he might not be the best partner for me for this challenge and backed out. I was bummed but desperate to continue my made up quest and quickly realized that the answer was right under my nose here in Grand Junction.

I had been training and climbing with Ben Rueck for almost as long as I had been living in Grand Junction. He was strong and had a positive attitude and was willing to join me on new routing (even though he showed up hung over and reeking of alcohol the first time that we climbed together)and my (now called “brutal”) workouts. Ben was close to completing a winter project and I didn’t want to impose my silly plans on him while he was so close to sending, but I did anyway. I knew that the crux holds of his route were beginning to seep and that unfortunately with every warm spring day that came, they would only seep more and make the climb impossible. Anyway, Ben wanted some more “Piz time” since we hadn’t been able to climb together much do to different climbing goals this spring and decided that the challenge would be perfect.

So now that I have a partner and one more day to wait before my Getting Exponential Challenge begins, you may hear the details. You have wanted long enough and listened to me ramble about something that I now think is stupid and cool all at once.

The Getting Exponential Challenge

Day 1: free 1 aid line on a desert tower (It was initially going to be a Black Canyon route but there is too much snow and limited access right now)
Day 2: free 2 500-600ft climbs in Unaweep Canyon
Day 3: free 4 towers in Colorado National Monument
Day 4: free 8 Escalante routes
Day 5: free 16 Rifle routes
Day 6: free 32 routes in Clear Creek Canyon
Day 7: free 64 routes at Shelf Road (in 24 hours)

 

First of all, what I like about this challenge is that it allows me to get a lot of climbing in on many different rock types. It also challenges my ability to climb well on all rock types quickly. Lastly, it’s cool cause after climbing that many pitches; we will be approaching 20,000 feet of climbing in a really short amount of time without doing the same type of movements.

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

What makes a great climbing day?

mike b and piz in sweden 2007
The boys standing under Monster Tower/Washer Woman in Canyonlands National Park (mike b logan, adam, jonas, brian, piz 2010)
piz 2011! Jesse Zacher photo

Time is tight for this puppy and having to fit everything in is pretty tough. So I ask myself, what makes a great climbing day? I don't think that it is an easy answer to nail down. It is often hard to make sure that you have enough time for family, friends and fun. And a great climbing day will provide memories of a lifetime. After some thought, I realized that a great day climbing can manifest itself in a variety of ways.

1. For some folks and even me, a day where you send the project is the best day on the planet. All the work and time and effort come together for you to rise from the head games, weather and fitness issues to complete a route. Chances are that you are with one of your climbing partners that you trust and always have a good time with and you are where you want to be. Those are great days.
2. Finding a new route can also meet the criteria for making a great climbing day. When you are alone scoping cliff lines, rappelling walls or rubbernecking from the car and finally see the line that you have been seeking, that is a great day. If your lucky, you hike out to it, look at the line, the holds, the potential cruxes and even the rock quality and begin to imagine what it will be like to link moves, clip bolts, or plug in gear, that is a great day. If you have time, you may then rap or aid or try to climb the line depending on the circumstances and you really figure out what it will take to ascend it, that is a really great day climbing.
3. Another version of a great day climbing is the first time that you actually get to try the route. The new movement, the new sequences, the new pump the freshness of holds all makes the experience wonderful. That is a great day.
4. For me there is one more kind of great day of climbing. It is when you get out and climb! Whether you fall, hang, or succeed or fail on the route, a great day includes just being outside with your partner(s) climbing single or multi pitch routes, boulders or even on chipped outdoor playgrounds it's all good.

My last great day of climbing was a number 4. I did not send, I did not find a new route, and it wasn't the first time on the route either, but I was with a good friend, on a cloudy, cold and windy day. We were hanging on the wall trying hard not to freeze. I slipped and cut my hand in a sharp jam, there was a lot of moisture in the air and I fell on a slopey mantel move and I missed the deadpoint at the end of the route, but dang it was fun!

Cheers to having more great days climbing!

piz : )

Snow Day... (not)

We have had a bunch of forecasts lately about how it's going to snow and it never had. So last night we actually got snow and everyone is wanting a snow day out of it. We didn't get enough to bother anyone, but in GJ there have been many people willing to wreck their cars all in the name of wanting a snow day. Regardless, here are some more pictures of rock! The top one is of me on a great route in Red Rocks, Las Vegas. An amazing crimpy face climb that went on forever!

Here is my favorite rope from Sterling. The 9.5mm Fusion. It is light and durable and easy to handle. I am not afraid on multipitch routes or while redpointing the short pitches at the local crag. Thanks Sterling Ropes!

piz : )

Groundhog Day

Winter should be over soon according to the little fur ball in Pa.
That is good for us rock climbers because we are all itching to "feed the rat" and get back out on the rock. I am looking forward to cleaning up a bunch of local projects of mine this spring and good weather and a high level of fitness will help make that happen.
I am training 4 days a week after work and work meetings.
That normally consists of a 3 mile run and strength conditioning work outs on Mon. and Wed. followed by endurance training at the climbing gym.
On Tues. and Thurs. I am working power by bouldering hard moves with good rests in between.
Then I rest or do yoga on Fri. and hope to climb outside on the weekend. If all goes well and I don't miss any days then my fitness and strength will not only return, but improve in just a few short weeks. Then it is just a matter of having my head in the game when I am leading dicey pitches on the rock. If I am not in the right head space, then it doesn't matter how fit that I am because I won't have what it takes upstairs to focus on what needs to be done while climbing. Everything does have to come together in order to perform at our best!
So get out there, have fun and climb some rock.

piz : )

Pictures

Natural anchors on a desert splitter.

Jesse is moving rocks cause, he grew bored from the mega long belay session that he had graciously just given me! Thanks man.

Hey George! Mt. Rushmore rocks.

The needles of South Dakota. Ah yeah.

The rock in the Mt. Rushmore is so varied. Tiny crystals to ones as large as a fist. Flaky, junky rock to perfect granite. Smooth as a babies bottom and rough as sandpaper. What a place to loose skin at!

The weather is getting better here in Grand Junction. We had a few weeks of wicked cold and crappy outdoor rock climbing conditions. I have been training indoors (strength and conditioning), running and trying to be ready for when things look better. I climbed a little tower yesterday after work and hope to play on another this weekend. First free ascent maybe? Who knows, if we are lucky. It is great living here on the western slope because there is so much rock that hasn't been climbed and because the adventure level is so high. There is always a little spice involved in any route. Not so much as to get hurt on but just enough to get you thinking and make you slow down.

piz : )

Past Climbing Trips to South Dakota

What collection of photos of South Dakota don't have at least one of Mt. Rushmore?

My surprise when I finally saw the monument!

The eye of the needle. You can climb up the eye from the backside and then out to the top or lead an exciting pitch up the face that you are looking at. What is cool about this place is that you start from the paved parking lot and can rap right to your car. There are hundreds of pinnacles like this to climb in the area on the giant knobby granite crystals. There is even a new and usable guidebook for the area, but I forget the name. I know that Andrew Burr has taken many a photo for this one, so it is not to be missed!

More crazy granite towers. Bring on the simulrapping.

I know that I did some climbing on this trip!

Get out and have fun!

piz : )