Saturday, December 01, 2012

Gone in the wilderness of Missouri. Granite! Weep!

It's beautiful and virgin! Internet now officially unavailable and thereby off and happy to share my excitement with you until this said moment! Pack on! pad not needed. I sold all of mine anyway. I can tough it out. Always sis. crash pads are for sissies. :)
Greg

Sunday, October 21, 2012

First day ! Great session!

Sunday, October 07, 2012

The Goal of climbing up rock!

Wikipedia says it succinctly and thereby here, best, rather bluntly.

"Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling."

And that is it!

(actually, though, it usually is best not pre-determined, at all. This is why you climb.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_climbing


What we need now more than ever in rock climbing culture, is true diversity, much like the rock offers. Climbing is explosively popular!

I see it everyday, a pull to a standard.
But, there is not one way, one hold, one sequence. Yet the scene is set.

It changes, though stays the same much too. There is room for new style, more growth, more solutions, easier movement, more creativity, less creativity, homage to pioneers, salutes to new heroes, but above all... There are many ways, many styles. And, you climb.

So don't get stuck, frustrated, or pissed off. Or you lose. You miss out.

Be it on plastic, rock, wood, brick, whatever! So much fun! The movement, style, interpretation, and the scene will always be secondary to this amazing pursuit you are on. And, you did it as a kid, before you could even read these lines!


Oh, one last line. Please remember, better conservation, yet still inspiration, in the outdoors.

Happy climbing!

I sure am.
-Greg

My facebook page.


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Old Mountains

Oh! And check out my new store!

Old Mountains!
www.oldmountainsx.com








Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The First Bouldering "crash pad" Ever Made

The first bouldering "crash pad" ever made, before it even knew what it was. It was thin as a "Kleenex," one has commented of this photo in recent years. It did fly off my van from Texas to Mexico unexpectedly, light and thin and maybe not enough, though innovative and completely a problem-solver for then. It was only 1995, just 17 whole years ago. 

Since, bouldering has EXPLODED! Yes! And, well… Before this, we used duct tape, carpet, and filled it with whatever we could--newspaper, junk, anything we thought would cushion our falls. Of course, we weren't achieving major highballs, limiting our vision by our gear I suppose, unless we were climbing beyond what we might now find reasonable for such gear use. So the question is, were we doing it right then, or right now?

I am happy where bouldering is, merely because I love bouldering, and, falling on anything that saves my ass, and isn't such a pain to make or keep from falling apart or requiring a lengthy (and costly) visit to the dump.