So a person who climbs 4 days a week and trains 3 days a week, will not become as strong as a person who maybe climbs 3 days a week, trains 2, and takes 2 days off. In the same way, it is important that climbers train antagonist muscles; muscles that aren’t used for climbing. This creates muscular balance and prevents injury. For example, climbing involves a lot of pull-muscle use. Doing shoulder presses as antagonist training is important to create that balance. So the principle stands that in climbing and training for climbing, it is imperative that one rests and takes recovery days, or else they will hit a plateau, lose interest, and/or be injured.

It’s amazing how this translates into real life. I’ve been reflecting on how I work non stop. I’m always on top of my emails since I get my emails on my phone, every free moment I have I get out my computer to start working on some project….the list just goes on and on. I realize that if I don’t take time to rest and if I don’t take time to train my mental antagonist muscles, I will hit a plateau and lose interest, just like I would by not resting from climbing training! So I’ve made a commitment that one day a week, Sundays, I’m not going to work. I’ll do things I enjoy, I’ll sleep a few extra hours, I’ll spend time with my family, etc. This will ultimately benefit me and I look forward to seeing the changes it brings about.

The Adrenaline Rush

One of the things I seek out in life is new, exciting experiences. Every time I climb, I get that feeling that I am doing something new and exciting and I love the adrenaline rush it gives me as I move up the cliff. I have learned to turn fear into excitement!

The Challenge

I’m always looking for new challenges, and with climbing, there is a limitless lifetime of challenges awaiting me.

The Lifelong Pursuit

There will never be a time where I can say “I’ll never do anything harder than this,”, or “Well, this is all climbing has to offer…I climbed the best route.”

Solitude

Life gets busier and busier by the day. Climbing gives me the opportunity to retreat to places where few people ever go; where I am by myself on a cliff-side, experiencing the world as it was originally created, away from all the hustle and bustle of life.

Training

It’s rare that training for a sport is always enjoyable. However, in the case of climbing, the best training is climbing, climbing, and more climbing! In addition to simply climbing, learning various additional strength techniques is great fun to me, and  love how so many other exercises lend themselves to climbing, such as Yoga.

Community

Climbers have a unique community. Coming from all different walks of life, climbers share the unique bond of being climbers and no matter what can instantly connect. The sense of community among climbers is strong and is something to never be taken for granted. Through the climbing community you can build skill, learn about new areas,  and build a great network of friends.

Revitalizing and Recharging

There is nothing that I find to be more recharging and refreshing than getting out climbing. I think this is the greatest reason I love climbing. By stepping out into the wilderness and climbing my mind, soul, and body is refreshed more than it is anywhere else.

1. Get a hangboard for your house and mount in above a doorway. The Metolius Simulator is the one that I use. You can search the internet for training routines, and/or use the one that comes with the hangboard. You can easily do a 10 minute very effective hangboard workout at home every morning.
2. Use your countertops or 2 chairs next to each other to do dip workouts, as opposed to pushups. Dips lend themselves better to climbing sport specific workouts. You can do 3-5 sets of dips in less than 5 minutes
3. Choose 3 different ab exercises and alternate between dip sets. My favorite ab exercises are side-crunches, hanging leg lifts, and raised leg crunches.
4. 20 Minute Interval runs are effective. Intervals mean that you run hard for 30 seconds, jog for 1.5 minutes, and repeat.

That obviously is a very short workout, but something is better than nothing. So adding all that time up, let’s say you wake up, get dressed for a run, run for 20 minutes, come home, do a hangboard workout, dips, and abs. You can get that complete workout in in less than an hour, maybe in less than 45 minutes. Can you find 45 minutes to workout in the morning? If your answer is NO, then consider waking up earlier! It will be worth it. I remember when I started training for climbing years ago, I started out doing short workouts like this, and soon became addicted to it, and began waking up earlier and earlier so I could get in more training!

Mocanaqua

Located in between Bloomsburg PA and Wilkes-Barre PA, along US-11, the small town of Mocanaqua is surrounded by excellent climbing areas. I went to college at Bloomsburg PA, and scheduled all my classes on Tuesday and Thursdays so I could climb ALOT at these spots, since they were only 30 minutes away or less. Most of the cliffs in this area were rebolted as part of the ARI (Anchor Replacement Initiative). If you look at the ARI ads in Climbing Magazine, you will see Mocanaqua listed. You could spend a long weekend in Bloomsburg PA, and climb here all day all weekend long and not even come close to running out of climbs. A great trip would be to drive to PA, climb 2 days in Mocanaqua, and then drive to the Gunks, which is only 2.5 hours away. Some of the areas in Mocanaqua are listed below, with pictures following the posts.

Main Wall

The highest point on Main Wall is just shy of 100 feet. The rock is fairly simliar to the Gunks (course conglomerate). The easiest route up the wall is 5.5 trad, with the hardest being 12a sport. The cliff is 100% vertical, offering a unique challenge to climbers. Easy access to a cliff-top trail makes top roping here easy as well. The approach is only about 5 minutes from the road!

Library

The Library was my favorite spot. It is formed by a 50 foot block that is detached from the cliff, creating a large hallway of rock. This cliff, while only about 100 yards long, is actually 300 yards long because of the detached block creating 3 cliffs in one. There are excellent sport routes and trad routes here. This is one of the longest approaches in PA, having to hike through a coal field. But the hike is well worth it. It is a great summer spot, as it is shaded all day long.

Paradise

The Paradise cliffs can be seen while driving into Mocanaqua, and are on your left while hiking to The Library cliffs. Paradise is known for hard sport routes, often very run out. Definitely a quality place if you are up for a bold lead!

Squirrel Rock

Squirrel Rock is the PA boulderers paradise. There are boulder problems galore, as well as a few short top roping options. Squirrel rocks is very near Main Wall.

Tilbury

Tilbury is about 10 minutes north of Mocanaqua. It is marked by a HUGE 30 foot roof with a flake, crack out the middle, providing a hard 5.11a trad lead, and a “Big-Swing” top rope. There are many excellent climbs on this cliff, most notably the large 5.7 hand/finger crack on the left side of the cliff.

Raleigh based rock climbing and ice climbing guide service and climbing school has expanded it’s climbing class offerings to climbers in Western NC by offering their Climb Outside Rock Climbing Class on September 26-27, 2009 at Looking Glass Rock NC. These classes give people the knowledge, skills, and understanding they need to begin rock climbing outside. Asheville is an ideal location for these classes because of the volume of climbing areas, and the volume of people who desire to learn how to climb outdoors but aren’t sure where to get started. Students learn anchor building, rope management, knot tying, belaying, rappelling, rescue, and more. The class consists of 2 full day sessions, where the first day will be spent teaching the skills, and the second day will be spent putting the newly acquired skills into practice. The classes are open to all experience levels, and all equipment is provided. Details on the Asheville Climb Outside Rock Climbing Class can be found on the Climb Outside Website (http://www.ascentadventure.com/2009/04/asheville-climb-outside-class/).
“Taking this class taught me a lot and confirmed things I had already been in the process of learning. Even though I have much more to learn it allowed me to feel confident, to go with my partner, and climb outside at my current level,” expresses Chris Troisi, a Climb Outside Class participant.
For an interview, or to find out more information about the classes and unique services Ascent Adventure Consultants provides, please contact Brandon Hensinger at bhensinger@ascenadventure.com or 877-254-4617. Also, visit the Ascent Adventure Consultants website to learn more.
Ascent Adventure Consultants is a Raleigh, NC based professional rock and ice climbing guiding and instruction provider, as well as a corporate team building and leadership development program provider. Climbing courses and team building programs are conducted locally, nationally and internationally.

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-Grant, Climbing Course Participant

When I remembered that I done other scary traverses on harder routes, I realized that I would be able to do this one. I remembered, “I was afraid before, but it turned out to be ok. It will be ok this time.”

This experience can apply to all of life! When we face challenging and even scary situations in life, we must take a moment to think logically, instead of acting out of fear. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Have I had similar experiences before?
2. How did I respond?
3. What can my past response teach me now?
4. What will be my next action

Some simple things…but it can go a long way.

Pat Goodman presented a slideshow on his climbing ventures from the past year. It was an incredible slideshow. We were able to see some of the alpine climbing in India that he did, as well as some of the local North Carolina projects that he has been working on.

Here’s what Carolina Climbers Coalition said on their website about the event:

Sunday evening at the Carolina Brewery in downtown Carrboro, almost 30 climbers got together for the first ever Brewfest, organized by Brandon Hensinger of Adventure ascents consultants with generous support from Andrew and Luis of the Triangle Rock Club. Folks were treated to ample food and more beer than most could drink (well almost). Pat Goodman entertained folks with a wonderful multimedia presentation of his adventures in North Carolina, his most recent expedition to India and some awesome footage from a sailing expedition to the Bahamas. One of the best parts of the event was that it served as a wonderful opportunity to get folks together to meet as a community. A very generous raffle was contributed to by the All about Beer, American Alpine Club, Asana climbing, Ascent Adventure Consultants, Carolina Brewery, Crank forearm fuel, Evolve, Frikshn T-shirts, Metolius, Misty Mountain Threadworks, Mountain Hardware, Supertopo’s super guidebooks, and the Triangle Rock Club. Just about everyone who attended won something in the raffle which helped to raise over $300.00 for the CCC. Big thanks go out to Brandon, Thomas, Andrew, Luis, Pat and the wonderful staff of the Carolina Brewery for supporting such a great event! We look very forward to the next Climbers Brew.

We look forward to next year, where we assume it will all be even bigger and better!