TRAINING

Climbing isn't easy. Climbing isn't always fun. Climbing is one of those things that if I stop doing it, my body will fall apart. I feel like it keeps my body glued together. When I stop, I get injuries and I feel like crap. When I get injuries and I feel like crap, getting started again is all the harder.

Recently I made official plans to climb for a week in a remote range in British Columbia, Canada with a Friend of mine, Mike Bauman, from Vermont (check out his website here). The range is called the Bugaboos, and it features tall granite spires and ancient glaciers that carve out marvelous valleys. It could quite possibly be the most beautiful, and most challenging place I've climbed to date. Here's two photos from the web:
















To prepare for such a trip is no easy matter. Most people could probably just go about daily life and be prepared for the heinous weather and punishing 15+ pitch ( 1,500 ft) granite cracks... but it takes me more... Much more.

So with a little more than a month to prepare, I'm trying to fatten myself up with a high fat/carb diet, keep my cardio in shape, and climb as much as possible.

For my diet, I'm trying to eat as much as I can at least three times a day and graze in between. The purpose of this is to give myself a little extra weight and a little bit more reserve so if I have to go a few days with little amounts of food, I'll be able to rely on some fat stores. I don't know if it in my genes or if its my body type, but I'm having trouble becoming portly. I find that drinking lots of beer seems to help my appetite, but then I get dehydrated and find that I can't work out the next day. I guess it'll work out either way.

I just weighed myself, and I've gained about a half a pound. What the hell.

For cardio, I've been running, backpacking and biking as much as I can without running myself into a hole or pulling a muscle. This is probably the one area where I'm least in shape. Running and cardio for me are hard to maintain, but the hiking and backpacking with heavy packs has really kicked my butt in shape. On a random weekend I'll try and walk 20 miles with a 50 lb pack on; damn that works my skinny little legs!

Climbing as much as possible is the best part of this training schedule. Just getting into shape for this trip has enabled me to do some INCREDIBLE climbing that I may not have pushed myself to do otherwise. Most recently, I've been crack climbing in the Lower Gorge region of Smith Rock State Park, which lies about 45 minutes from my couch. The tall Basalt columns are located along the Crooked River just outside of Terrebonne, OR, and it boasts shade; a commodity these days in the desert heat. I've only seen a few climbers in the Gorge EVER; probably because its damn hard, and because there are not as many bolts to clip in to as the rest of Smith Rock is known for. But I've found that it's the perfect training ground for the hard granite climbing awaiting me in Canada. I've been climbing cracks 2-3 times/week to get ready for the Bugaboos.

Another wonderful weekend trip that I took the second weekend in August was up to Leavenworth, Washington. The alpine granite is very similar to the Bugaboo Granite, and myself and Dan Shorb (a local hard-man to Bend, OR) climbed a famous route called Outer Space 5.9 III. The route is located in the North Cascades among mountain goats and alpine air. I'll add to this post and include photos at a later date once I get them from Dan.

Another shout out... this time to the crazies that have been supporting me in getting in shape. They probably don't realize that they've been helping me in my quest, but they've been letting me lead the good pitches, letting me take them away from their partners and/or spouses, and letting me finish the extra food on their plate at the end of the meal. Mike & Dan... Thanks! Thanks also to Katy for dealing with my ridiculous schedule and drive to get in shape.