When

March 1, 2020

Where

Reimers Ranch

Routes

Cursed Ascent – 5.7

PLD – 5.9

Champaign and Strawberries - 5.10

What a Load - 5.10

I went climbing on some acutal rock for the first time this year. My friend Ben read about a “pyramid” training approach to climbing; you should have a few hard climbs, a healthy amount of moderate climbs, and a lot of easy climbs that you can finish on the first go. He recently sent a 5.12, so he wanted some more 5.11 and 5.10 climbs to fill out his pyramid. I still don’t have a ton of experience outdoors, so that seemed like a good level for me to jump in.

The hardest part about climbing outdoors is the amount of time it takes. It’s amazing to have a place like Reimers only 30 minutes away from my house. But with getting gear ready, and a 15 minute hike to the wall, it starts to add up. I was gone for three hours and climbed four routes. That’s fine from my perspective, less so for my wife who’s watching two toddlers while I get to play outside. I have to be pretty selective with when I climb outside. At least the greenbelt isn’t quite so far.

Climbing outdoors is quite different than the gym; there are no colored holds to know exactly where your hand goes! My outdoor grades are surely less than what I can climb in the gym. I remember climbing this strech of wall roughly a year ago, one of my first attempts ever outside. I can’t remember exactly which routes I climbed, but I remember struggling a bit. I did much better this time. I finished all four of the routes I climbed on the first try. It’s nice to see progress on some outdoor routes, especially when so much of my climbing is done at the gym.