Blogging about my journey in rock & ice climbing. And inspiring other women to climb, no matter what age!!
Showing posts with label #browngirlsclimb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #browngirlsclimb. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Middlesex Fells - Rock Climbing
The left side of Crag 1
Nuno at the top of Crag 3
At Crag 3, Nuno and I climbed two routes. It was our first time climbing at Crag 3, it was hot and muggy, but it sure was fun to get back to climbing slabs. And since the slab wasn't under a blanket of trees like Crag 1 Pinnacle, it wasn't as muggy and the rock here wasn't too slick. There were no other climbers there but we did see 3 hikers.
Nuno brought along this Thermacell Patio Sheild Mosquito Repellent and it worked beautifully!
Friday, May 29, 2020
Black & White Rocks - Rock Climbing
Climbing Beginner's Class with Iskuhi on my belay
Nuno, Iskuhi, and I met up for some climbing at Middlesex Fells. We all live in Massachusetts and when we meet up to climb, we usually head north to places like Rumney, New Hampshire to climb. But with the pandemic, Rumney and many of our favorite climbing crags in New Hampshire are closed. So we met up to do some climbing at Pinnacle Rock, in the Black & White Rocks crag. In the parking lot, we didn't do any hugs, high-5's, or handshakes, but we never did anyways. We hiked to Crag 1 (Pinnacle Rock) maintaining social distancing and there was no one else on the trail. We purposely chose to climb on a weekday because it would be less crowded as the weekends here are mobbed by hikers and climbers.
I'm sure Nuno and Iskuhi came prepared, but in case they didn't, I had extra facemasks, hand wipes, and hand sanitizer - which I also carry in my truck, golf bag, and hiking backpack.
At the crag, we were the only climbers, and the only other people we saw that day was a group of 6 hikers on the main trail. I bought my trad rack with the intention of doing some trad leading but decided not to because the rock felt really slick and I personally don't like the idea of leading in muggy weather - I have a fear of slipping off the rock in muggy weather. After two hours of climbing, we called it quits because it just got way too muggy. Enjoy some photos of our day of climbing.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Monday, December 23, 2019
Leprechaun's Lement - Ice Climbing
Thank you, Jeni and Ken for your help and support for my "Turning 60 and Climbing About It" project! With today’s climbing, I’m at 87 pitches!
Jeni leading Leprechaun's Lement
Ken on Leprechaun's Lement
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Ice Cream Parlor, Utah - Rock Climbing
Spent the weekend in Moab for the Moab Craggin’ Classic!! Wow, what a fun day of climbing. We climbed 5.6 Corner (5.6), Brush Your Teeth (5.9) and Critical Mass (5.8.) at the Ice Cream Parlor crag in the Kane Springs Canyon. Honestly, that was the hardest 5.6 I ever climbed! That particular route is very technique dependent. There was only a small section of it that has good hand and feet jams. Brush Your Teeth was mostly face climbing. But Critical Mass was super fun finger cracks - wished it went all the way to the anchors! And it was so much easier to climb than the 5.6 Corner, because my hand and toe jams fit perfectly in the cracks. I love the desert! Our pros for the day were Rob Pizem and Amity Warme, and our local guide was Heidi Stanke of Moab Cliffs & Canyons.
I signed up for the Intro To Crack Climbing clinic. We covered gear, placements, anchors, communication techniques, jamming techniques, and essentials. Even though this was an intro to crack climbing clinic, everyone in the group had already done some crack climbing. There were top ropes set up on 3 routes and there was lots of jamming going on. And I learned two awesome crack climbing techniques from Heidi Stanke. The newly learned techniques helped me to get through the off-width section of 5.6 Corner and to rest while in the corner of Brush Your Teeth. Wished I had known I could bring my trad rack, I would have loved to place my gear in sandstone cracks. Overall, it was an amazing experience climbing cracks in Moab and I'm definitely planning to return next year!
Read about my hiking in the Arches National Park as well as Moab Utah Food and Shopping.
Monday, September 30, 2019
September Weekend Climbing
Farley Ledge
Met up with Iskuhi, Danica, and Jen at Farley Ledge. A bit crowded (a group of 13 at one area!) and managed to get in a lead and some climbs. Also met a bunch of really nice climbers (and dogs) as well. Super fun day!
Thin Air, Cathedral Ledge
Jackie and I met up in the Cathedral Ledge parking lot. At the base of Thin Air. Jackie lead the first pitch and brought me up. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to lead the second pitch. Everything was going great until I reached a really sketchy section and realized I didn't have the cam I needed. I knew right off the bat..." that crack was a #2 because that's my hand jam size." The feet at this particular section was sketchy, but I had to make sure. So I tried a #0.75 and #1, but both were too small. And the #3 and it was too big. I came back down to the little ledge and looked back at Jackie at the belay. I had both number 2's already placed. And why the hell did I place that #1 so closely to the second #2.......WTF Lovena? With no #2 to place, I had two choices. Climb through the section that sketched me out or bail. I bailed and back climbed to Jackie at the belay and she finished up leading the traverse. We rapped after the second pitch. Back down on the ground, I had a really good cry to get it out of my system. I don't know why, but I was really off today and crying was out of frustration and to vent. It felt good - time to move on!
Friday, June 7, 2019
Women Outdoors Marketplace
Calling all women! Jackie and I started the Women Outdoors Marketplace, an online community for women, run by women. Women can post For Sale, ISO, Outdoor-related businesses, Vacation Rentals, Fundraisers and more! Hoping to also get the word out to other women who hike, ski, SUP etc. Please join us and help spread the word to other women!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
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...
-
Shaka from the top of Wiessner's Slab Ragged Mountain, Connecticut Spent the Memorial Day weekend with Nicole and climbing in ...
-
South Moat Mountain (2,760ft) Trail: Moat Mountain Trail Elevation Gain: 2,200ft Miles: 5.4 miles roundtrip Duration: 3.5 hrs...
-
Just a few photos of some short hikes on a weekday. Spent the day at some mellow waterfalls and at the top of Cathedral Ledge. The trai...