Sasha DiGiulian riding the send train at the 2011 SCS Nationals. Jeremy Papasso/ Camera
Today’s Field Notes is about the Sport Climbing Series national championships, which took place in Boulder, at Movement, this past weekend.
The prevailing spirit I felt at the comp? Community.
I know I’m supposed to be totally impartial, but I grant myself some favorite stories throughout the year. The fact that the CU Sailing Team didn’t have any boats when they started four years ago ranks them high on my favorite stories list for 2011.
Read about it here. And go to their first Buff Alpine Racing Regatta this Saturday, if you like. (PS they have boats now and race them.)
Just in case you haven’t heard: Rangers discovered an old, previously dismantled — and illegal — trail on Flagstaff Mountain earlier this month. And they found someone riding it and ticketed him.
If you’re following the West TSA debate, you know that this news broke at a rather critical time — city council is scheduled to vote on the matter tonight.
Tonight at 6:30, local pro mountain biker Sonya Looney and her teammate Jeff Kerkove are giving a presentation on multi-day mountain bike racing at REI Boulder.
I talked to Sonya the other day about how one would go about totally blowing it in a stage race. Her tips included partying, not eating or drinking and eating way too much.
I guess moderation is called for. Even though doing an event like that in the first place isn’t exactly moderation.
If you’re into mountain biking, tonight’s presentation is worth checking out. Plus, Marty and I discussed Sonya and concluded that one of the coolest things about her is that she isn’t afraid to show you the beastly side of mountain biking. Sonya shows photos of herself suffering. And she’ll tell you about it — when I interviewed her the other day, she told me she’d puked in her mouth during a race.
Honesty, vulnerability, puke. I think I have a girl crush.
Me attempting Bloody Flapper, a V4 at Hueco Tanks that for me, required a lot of grrr.
Since today’s Field Notes is about getting the grrr back, it seemed appropriate to get the blog back today, too.
Whoops. Yeah, took some time off here. Hi!
But back to the grrr:
Grrr, n.: motivation to go after it (“it” being any sport/endeavor) ravenously enough that grunts, yelps and/or growls (grrr!) fly out of your mouth.
After three viruses in the past month, I’m feeling weak and lacking grrr. But after I interviewed climber Emily Harrington last week (for this story about the Sport Climbing Series National Championships, which are in Boulder this Friday and Saturday), I realized it was a little foolish to let my motivation to climb be so closely tied to whether I’m feeling strong. There’s more to climbing than strength.
Emily: “You can be as strong as a bodybuilder and you still won’t be able to climb 5.12 if you don’t know how.”
Comforting words for a thrice-plagued gal.
The College X Pass — which provides two days of skiing at any of Aspen’s four mountains for $78 during the 2011 Winter X Games (students only) — makes it possible to ski bum-slash-dirtbag it in Aspen this weekend. But today’s the last day to buy!
Buy today, bum tomorrow. Er, Friday.
You may be skeptical about eeking out a dirtbag-esque existence in Aspen for a weekend. But it can be done.
First, acquire a van with a space heater (you should have this already, but whatevs).
Second, load it with friends to share the cost of filling up your gas hog.
Third, “borrow” animal crackers from your roommate before leaving Boulder. Once in Aspen, feed yourself ramen via City Market. If you’re an indulgent dirtbagger, stop in Johnny’s McGuire’s for a sandwich.
Fourth, ski/ride hard all weekend, plus watch some X Games action.
Fifth, cruise back to Boulder on fumes — it’s downhill.
I’ve been following climber Kelly Cordes’ series “Fighting Forty” on the Cleanest Line, and he posted his final segment yesterday. I’ve enjoyed it so much I had to pimp it here.
I have a few more years before I have to worry about the big four-oh. And unlike Kelly, I haven’t had a series of accidents and injuries this year (knocking on wood right now). But I have a deep appreciation for what he’s going through.
My husband turned 40 in 2010, and thanks to a series of injuries, he is thus far not psyched on 40. The hub is a life-long athlete who ground to a depressing halt in early December. Now, he’s on a much more uplifting and crutches-free road to recovery, but he’s not back to climbing yet. He’s still having a hard time doing what Kelly calls the “soft stuff,” even though he knows it’s the core of his recovery effort. But he’s on it.
Though I don’t have as much wear and tear (yet) on my body as Kelly, I’ve had to adhere to the “train smarter, not harder” wisdom over the past year. Last February, I headed into the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine for help with my arm — when climbing at the gym, my left arm would pump out quickly and get tingly while my right arm would be just fine. I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which is chronic but manageable…assuming I’m smart about taking care of myself.
I’m not always smart.
Climbing in the gym aggravates the TOS, and with the snow and cold, I’ve been in the gym more. I’ve done some other foolish things lately, like not warming up properly, to further aggravate it. So this week, I’m suffering sore muscles and nerve pain at various points on my left arm.
Just because I’m a knucklehead.
If you’re a knucklehead like me, good luck to you. But even if you’re not, you’re sure to find something of interest in Kelly’s stories. Check them out.
Boulder-based climber Emily Harrington competed in the Ouray Ice Festival comp over the weekend for the first time. Emily hasn’t been climbing ice very long at all. But (you probably already know) she totally crushes rock, so I’m not surprised she’s an animal on ice, too — she came in third of four women in Ouray. Here’s her post for Petzl on her first ice comp.
John Schwenker, 52, rides his bike to work in the snow. He rides to an event on Sunday with snow and 5 degree-temperature. Cliff Grassmick/ December 14, 2008
Registration is now open for Boulder’s Winter Bike to Work Day, which is January 19.
Today isn’t the best day to be thinking about riding your bike to work in the winter. The roads aren’t very clear. It’s freaking cold. Your dog licked your bike’s frame and his poor little tongue stuck (Rover’s OK, you brought him and the bike inside to thaw out and gave him his favorite treat.)
But on the average winter day in Boulder, a bike commute isn’t a bad idea. The bike lanes sometimes seem to be cleared faster than the roads. And a little morning sunshine goes a long way to warming you up…so does coffee or along the way, which sponsors (like Moe’s Bagels and the Dushanbe Tea House) give out to cyclists on Bike to Work Day.
Think about it, and register. You know you wanna do it.
Get a beacon for Christmas? Let’s pause for a moment to revisit a story from last winter.
A backcountry skier befuddled rescuers for two months after flipping on his personal locator beacon every time he headed out for a few turns. He thought it was an avalanche beacon. Avy beacons transmit a signal that lets your friends find you if you’re buried. They don’t emit a distress signal to alert rescue crews that you’re in danger and need assistance; PLBs do.
Here’s the Denver Post’s story on it.
The PLB was a birthday present, and he never read the instructions.
Post-Christmas, with presents on the brain, I got thinking about this guy and called avy beacon-maker Backcountry Access (which is located right here in Boulder — no beacon needed to find them) to see if they’d ever heard of this sort of thing happening elsewhere. Bruce Edgerly was nice and indulged my silly question, saying it was the only case he’d heard of and wasn’t expecting to hear a similar story after the holidays now.
What they do hear about, Bruce said, was people who get a beacon for Christmas and end up using and needing it immediately. Then he added that it’s good to make products that are easy to use right out of the box.
So here’s my holiday-slash-backcountry skiing PSA: Please read the instructions before you head out if you’re not already familiar with a beacon! Also, do the test with your friends before you start skinning uphill to make sure everyone’s beacons are working properly — that test would’ve stopped PLB guy in his tracks.
The CAIC is showing a lot of orange on the map right now. Let’s be safe out there…and know your equipment!
