Wednesday, January 23, 2008

What I learned from the trainer this week

Since I am right handed, when I climb I tend to reach up with my right hand/arm and pull with that, while my left follows. It was kind of a slap in the head, duh, kind of moment when he said that. So last night I consciously tried leading with my left arm, and it was difficult! So, that's my training for climbing now. I need to get balanced. I can belay both left and right handed. Now I have to climb both left and right handed. It will balance out my back.
I included two women climbing photos to have photos on the post, but it's kind of a lesson for the day also. Photo 1 is trad/crack climbing. Photo 2 is sport climbing. Both photos have a major thing wrong with them - NO HELMET! Stupid women. Photo 2 shows why so many men want to photograph women climbers - you get a good view of the rack. And I don't mean the climbing gear.

8 comments:

Tera said...

I'm scared...I'll leave the rock climing to you!

fringes said...

The helmet part must be new. I don't remember wearing one 100 years ago during my rock climbing summers.

Susan said...

Do they make like...full body helmets because that's what I'd need to not hurt myself.

NoRegrets said...

Tera, I'll be happy to scale a climb in the name of Tera...

Fringes, well, just like any sport, safety develops over time. People never wore helmets skiing, and now they are wearing them more and more.

Hmm... full body helmet. That'd kinda be like the transformers climbing. Would be interesting!

Churlita said...

I never wore a helmet when I climbed in the nineties. Of course, now that you said that, I can see how stupid that was.

NoRegrets said...

I've known of enough people for which it made a difference that I always wear one. Sometimes not following, but always leading.

Vlad Steven said...

Muy interesante opinión. La seguridad es muy importante para este deporte. Pero, en mi experiencia mexicana, si bien los cascos son necesarios no te protegen ni te cubren de la negligencia ni de la ignorancia de muchos escaladores novatos. Éstas personas son los que provocan más accidentes. El estudio y la actualización en escalada en roca va primero que el equipo de seguridad. Nosotros no usamos casco, afortunadamente no hemos tenido accidentes y tengo 10 años escalando. ¿Suerte?
Saludos y feliz año. =)

NoRegrets said...

Esteban, I answered you on your blog, but yes, I think you've had good luck, but luck can run out. Yes, other people are stupid, and if you play safe then you are less likely to get hurt. But accidents happen!