Sunday, August 26, 2018

Lower Slabs & Upper Cliff Pawtuckaway - Rock Climbing




Besides having crack climbing goals, I also have goals for climbing steep slab above the 5.8 grade. Today I got a chance to climb my very first 5.11! On a whim, I climbed Thin Face, a 5.11, one pitch route on the Lower Slabs at Pawtuckaway State Park in New Hampshire. It sure was balance-y, finger-y and lock-offs came in handy in several sections, but the climb was so fun!. Slab climbing, what's not to love! *grin* Joined good climbing friends Noreen, Nuno and his son Daniel. We started at the Lower Slabs and then moved to the Upper Cliff. I tried The Horn and it was tough. Had Noreen lower me from the top to see if I could jam the right leaning crack. It's also a bit overhanging! Think I'll stick to leaning cracks on a slab! :-P








Monday, August 6, 2018

Salt Pump Climbing - Indoor Climbing





Noreen and I spent several hours climbing at Salt Pump Climbing gym in Scarborough, ME. Originally we were supposed to climb at the Lower Slabs at Pawtuckaway but with heavy rains for the past 2.5 days and the crag being under tree shade, we cancelled and did some indoor climbing. This gave me a chance to work on the wide crack and Noreen a chance to climb at a gym she's never climbed at. 

In addition to top roping some of the other climbs in the gym, I did 3 runs on the crack route. My second time I made it half way up the crack before having to stop to rest. Working on building more stamina to finish the route in one sweep. Also, I noticed that if I didn't place my feet well, it was painful. If I placed my feet well, there was just pressure. I have to look at where I'm placing my feet, and purposely place them so that the rubber on the side rand makes good contact with the rock surface. I'm learning that It's really important to calculate just how deep or shallow to place my feet in the crack so that I don't experience any pain, and do it as quickly as possible. Having a really great pair of crack climbing shoes (Butora Altura Green) also helps! 
A short clip of my climb on the wide crack


Same climb, another angle - before my iPhone fell over! LOL!


Noreen crushing the 5.9 Pipe Master

YouTube Channel - Hawaii Girl Adventures

Check out my YouTube channel at:  Hawaii Girl Adventures I will eventually be phasing out blog posts and be posting videos of my climbing, h...