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Post by Chris W on Nov 9, 2015 3:41:58 GMT -7
Just capped off my 2015 fall season with some new personal bests, including my first 5.12!
Took a road trip to the New River Gorge two weeks ago and had a blast. Got to climb on some amazingly gorgeous rock with my family in tow and sent my best and hardest routes ever on the road. Highlights include Satisfaction Guaranteed 11a(?) and Under the Milky Way 11d, both at Summersville, and Tony the Tiger 11c at Kaymore.
Yesterday, after extending my performance phase a full week, I sent my "hardest" redpoint to date, Hinterland 12 b/c at my home crag of Birdsboro. This is my first 5.12, and I'm super psyched to break through the 5.12 ceiling. It helped that conditions were near perfect, with bluebird skies (the route is in [almost] perma-shade), temps in the high 40's, humidity around 50% and a slight breeze. I showed up without a climbing partner, found someone to belay me on a warm up, and then begged a very nice girl from NYC to belay me for my redpoint send while her climbing partner helped make sure my kids didn't jump off the cliff for fun. My very pregnant wife and kids got to see me send, which was very cool.
After a year and a half of Rock Prodigy training, I've gone from falling on 11a to redpointing 12 b/c. The main reason I started training in the first place was to open the number of climbs I could do, especially on the road. I love climbing, and the harder I can climb, the more I can do. I've achieved that and am easily sending stuff I thought was outside of my genetic limit or age range. Thanks so much for the help through the book and all the help on the forum!
You may all now tell Trango and Patagonia that I am officially accepting offers for sponsorship at this time.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Nov 9, 2015 9:16:43 GMT -7
Awesome Chris! Good thing you decided not to end your season  |
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Post by jessebruni on Nov 9, 2015 13:19:38 GMT -7
Just capped off my 2015 fall season with some new personal bests, including my first 5.12! Took a road trip to the New River Gorge two weeks ago and had a blast. Got to climb on some amazingly gorgeous rock with my family in tow and sent my best and hardest routes ever on the road. Highlights include Satisfaction Guaranteed 11a(?) and Under the Milky Way 11d, both at Summersville, and Tony the Tiger 11c at Kaymore. Yesterday, after extending my performance phase a full week, I sent my "hardest" redpoint to date, Hinterland 12 b/c at my home crag of Birdsboro. This is my first 5.12, and I'm super psyched to break through the 5.12 ceiling. It helped that conditions were near perfect, with bluebird skies (the route is in [almost] perma-shade), temps in the high 40's, humidity around 50% and a slight breeze. I showed up without a climbing partner, found someone to belay me on a warm up, and then begged a very nice girl from NYC to belay me for my redpoint send while her climbing partner helped make sure my kids didn't jump off the cliff for fun. My very pregnant wife and kids got to see me send, which was very cool. After a year and a half of Rock Prodigy training, I've gone from falling on 11a to redpointing 12 b/c. The main reason I started training in the first place was to open the number of climbs I could do, especially on the road. I love climbing, and the harder I can climb, the more I can do. I've achieved that and am easily sending stuff I thought was outside of my genetic limit or age range. Thanks so much for the help through the book and all the help on the forum! You may all now tell Trango and Patagonia that I am officially accepting offers for sponsorship at this time. Must be nice for your first of the grade to be half-way through the grade rather than at the very bottom like most of us! Awesome to hear that all your hard work has paid off! Congrats man! |
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Post by slimshaky on Nov 9, 2015 14:33:57 GMT -7
dude, nice work!
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Post by Chris W on Nov 9, 2015 18:35:48 GMT -7
Awesome Chris! Good thing you decided not to end your season Sure is! It's funny; I had already decided Sunday was going to be my last day of the season, send or no send. I'm working mornings all week and a double shift on Saturday, so I knew this week wouldn't work for making it outside.
Must be nice for your first of the grade to be half-way through the grade rather than at the very bottom like most of us!
I really didn't have any local 12a routes to try. There was one at my crag, but it's short and it's a slab. I'm typically pretty good at technical slab/vertical climbs, so I didn't think it would be very challenging. Hinterland's grade is a bit debatable. It's listed on Birdsboro's website as 12d, but all the folks who have climbed it think it's more like 12b or 12c. I don't have any 5.12 climbs to compare it to, but I do know its harder than the 11d's I've done.
I've been on cloud 9 all day. I always wanted to be part of the 5.12 club but after failing over and over for 5 years on 10's and 11s never thought I'd be strong enough to make it. This season has really opened my eyes to the possibilities and I'm super thankful for my precious autographed copy of the RCTM and all the work you Andersons have done. Thanks to all of you who helped answer my questions on the forum while I trained and worked for the route!
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Post by MarkAnderson on Nov 10, 2015 10:02:16 GMT -7
You're very welcome. It may be hard to believe, but THIS type of saga (really, this entire thread) is the payoff for me. Ya, I've made a modest amount of money on book royalties, but it's a joke compared to what I make in my day job (which, incidentally, is almost entirely unfulfilling). But, it's immensely rewarding to hear that I've helped some of you reach your goals. It's been a really cool experience in Chris' case, because I know how many challenges you face between your work, family and geographical circumstances. It's been really inspiring to watch how much effort you've invested in the process, waking up early, training in frigid conditions, struggling to find partners and so on. You've made a ton of sacrifices and it's really awesome that it paid off. As spectators, it's been all the more engaging to watch it play out before out eyes in real time.
So, thanks to everyone who has followed through with the program, and taken the time to report your triumphs here, on our Testimonials Page, or elsewhere. That's really what keeps me going |
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tango
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Post by tango on Nov 10, 2015 17:23:38 GMT -7
I'm still in too early to brag about any major successes, but I would like to add my thanks for the book. The information, systematization, and methodology are all great. I'm very grateful for the work and study that has gone into it, and for the opportunity to put it to use. Kudos, and thank you.
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Post by tedwelser on Nov 11, 2015 10:54:12 GMT -7
I wrote up a brief blog post about my progress in recent seasons and including a comparison of my route pyramids from when I first started back and from this fall. ( coming back to climbing as a 40+ climber) My season just ended and the punchline is that I continue to improve as measured by my onsight/flash level as well as my second go level. But I think that the biggest joy comes from the confidence and sense of well placed self belief at the crag. I am now able to shoe up at the base of routes that seemed totally out of my reach a couple years ago and know that I am able to climb them well on the first try. One of the biggest benefits of the Rock Prodigy method stems from systematic attention to all dimensions of climbing performance. For me this has meant that I have to change my self perception of my strengths and weaknesses. It used to be that I lacked finger strength and I would avoid crimps whenever possible, but now, I can often crimp through a crux with impunity. This was my flash of Centerfire (11c) this weekend. I knew that some other climbers found the crux crimp to be too difficult to use, and they had explored the pockets that you can see above my hand. When I got there, the crimp felt fine to me, so I just used it knowing that better holds would follow.  Something that you do not see in the pyramid is that I had some key near misses. First, a few weeks ago I came very close to onsighting "Psycho Wrangler" 12a at Cottontop. The route is steep and cool, and I had to dig deep three times in order to stick moves that I thought were not going to work. Eventually I pumped out on the last move to the chains. It was exhausting but it brought out the best in me. I fully committed and went for it, but it did not quite workout. A week later I was at the Red, and warmed up with an attempted flash of Brownian Motion (12b). That ascent was more of a roll of the dice at the crux and I missed. I sussed out the crux and sent it next try, and still had the energy to onsight "Crown of Thorns" 11c afterwards. Both of these events indicated to me that I was moving towards where I want to be, which is climbing 3-4 new routes in the 11c to 12c range per climbing day. |
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Post by Chris W on Nov 11, 2015 18:16:10 GMT -7
Not only are you sending Ted, but you also seem to have quite the photographer lined up. Congratulations!
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Post by tedwelser on Nov 12, 2015 14:07:37 GMT -7
Not only are you sending Ted, but you also seem to have quite the photographer lined up. Congratulations! Hey Chris- Thanks! Dustin is a great guy and was super kind to shoot photos when we were out. We met at the Red while he and Liz are in their massive roadtrip, and we managed to meet up again a couple more times during the season. He fixes a line, then jugs up and gets into a good position for the shot with a nice camera and a super wide angle lens. [he was about 3 feet above my head in this shot] Great job on all three of your NRG routes. They are all cool and stout challenges. I always thought that "Satisfaction" was harder than 11a, and now the slab section seems harder due to slipperyness. The traversing, high step, rock over move on Tony is intense, and a really cool section of climbing. Extra congrats on progressing while your kids are young. It will get easier and you will have some fun moments when they start to climb too. |
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Post by jonfrisby on Nov 16, 2015 7:12:06 GMT -7
Nothing crazy in terms of grade improvement this fall due to not getting on a lot of bigger grades (I have started the battle with Big Kahuna at Rumney but didn't get there as much as I'd like). However, I sent another 12a or b within 5 tries (which is way faster than before), sent a V6 2nd try, and flashed a V5, all in the same day while up in Western Mass this weekend. I also am on the last move of my first 12a on gear and hope to finish it off Saturday or Sunday. I definitely feel stronger in terms of being able to do the same stuff way faster now than in the past.
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Post by jonfrisby on Nov 22, 2015 16:54:48 GMT -7
Nothing crazy in terms of grade improvement this fall due to not getting on a lot of bigger grades (I have started the battle with Big Kahuna at Rumney but didn't get there as much as I'd like). However, I sent another 12a or b within 5 tries (which is way faster than before), sent a V6 2nd try, and flashed a V5, all in the same day while up in Western Mass this weekend. I also am on the last move of my first 12a on gear and hope to finish it off Saturday or Sunday. I definitely feel stronger in terms of being able to do the same stuff way faster now than in the past. Sent The Sting (11d/12a) at the Gunks today!!!! Hardest gear ascent by at least a number |
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Post by Chris W on Nov 22, 2015 17:58:15 GMT -7
Nice! Full number grade up? Haven't been there, but I've heard Gunks grades are pretty stiff. Out of curiosity, what is your hardest clipping bolts?
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Post by Elvis K on Nov 22, 2015 18:00:48 GMT -7
You're very welcome. It may be hard to believe, but THIS type of saga (really, this entire thread) is the payoff for me. Ya, I've made a modest amount of money on book royalties, but it's a joke compared to what I make in my day job (which, incidentally, is almost entirely unfulfilling). But, it's immensely rewarding to hear that I've helped some of you reach your goals. It's been a really cool experience in Chris' case, because I know how many challenges you face between your work, family and geographical circumstances. It's been really inspiring to watch how much effort you've invested in the process, waking up early, training in frigid conditions, struggling to find partners and so on. You've made a ton of sacrifices and it's really awesome that it paid off. As spectators, it's been all the more engaging to watch it play out before out eyes in real time.
So, thanks to everyone who has followed through with the program, and taken the time to report your triumphs here, on our Testimonials Page, or elsewhere. That's really what keeps me going Thank you for all of this. I have been climbing for 3.5 years now and set 2 goals for this year. I just hit my second one Friday. My first was 13b and the second was V10. I have never been more stoked to start another training cycle. Your book is that main reason I have achieved both of these goals. Thank you. |
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Post by robdebruyn on Nov 23, 2015 8:26:20 GMT -7
Okay, I've officially capped my fall climbing season here in New England, so I'll add my successes to the conversation.
Prior to this season, I had completed two 5.12d's, both of which took the better part of a season to complete. Aquarius (at Rumney) was an epic battle last fall, and was definitely a true limit climb for me a year ago. After a winter of training, Big Kahuna (also at Rumney) this spring took fewer attempts to complete, but still felt right about at my limit. With those experiences, I went into this fall season with what I thought was an audacious goal of completing one climb at the 5.13a grade. I had been working a couple of climbs early this summer while the conditions were abysmal, so when fall temperatures finally rolled in I could use those precious limited days in red point mode, instead of in beta-sussing mode.
After another full training cycle, I set my sights on Dynosoar, a 13a that I thought best suited my body type and climbing style, and went into red point mode. I was expecting another prolonged siege, but surprised myself by making substantial links my first day back on the route. I was even more surprised to find myself clipping the chains on it the next day out. Shit! Season goal accomplished in just the second week. I guess that's a good problem to have. I had been working on a few other climbs, and directed my focus toward High Grade at Marshfield Ledge. That one fell too, and Butt Bongo Fiesta the week after. In the same day as Butt Bongo, I sussed out the beta on Suburban, and sent that the next week! In one year of focused training, I had gone from epically sieging 12d to sending a new 13a every week for a month.
I decided that four 13a's was enough evidence to try something harder, and with a little prodding from a friend, I was convinced to get on the wildly intimidating and aptly named "Predator" (conveniently pictured as Elvis K's avatar in the post above). This was a dream climb for me, and something I had told myself wouldn't be on the chopping block for at least a couple of years. I started making big links on it much faster than I was hoping, and nearly sent it this past weekend. I actually pumped out and fell while pulling up the rope to clip the chains. This could have been devastating, but after some reflection, I was feeling elated about that effort. I was feeling strong, powerful, and fit, even at the point that I was probably experiencing a late-season decline in all of those aspects.
A few people have commented that it must be a hard decision to put off redpoint attempts until the spring in order to start my winter training. I actually found that decision to be quite an easy one to make, armed with my new knowledge of what 4 months of training can accomplish. I'm happily welcoming the return of spreadsheets and hangboard timers, content to wait patiently for the day that I can return stronger than ever to take this thing down. I'm comforted in knowing that if I see anywhere near the gains that I did this fall, it may not even be that much of a fight.
Perhaps the best part of all this is shift in perspective of what is achievable. Two years ago, I had thought these grades impossible for me to attain, and had the mindset of, “If I could ever send one 5.13 I would be totally satisfied.” Of course, after one goal is accomplished, we set our sights on a higher one. I'm confident that through well designed, focused training, I can look forward to many years of achieving new “impossibles”. Thanks Mark and Mike for creatingthe best climbing training resource available!
(Edited to add sorry for the obnoxiously long post!)
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