Cracks & Dihedrals

Dihedral Route

Thursday afternoon I dropped off Marc at the Denver International Airport so he could go to New York. Driving Little Blue in the winter is incredibly nerve-wrecking. Especially when you are driving a few hours and only have a short-window of time before the sun sets and the roads start getting icy and really slippery. And well with Little Blue and her infamous past and known to not have decent traction, I decided to stay and crash on a couch in Boulder with my new friends, Meg and Matt.

That evening, they both took me to the Boulder Rock Club. This place was incredibly happening. Sooooo many climbers in the gym. Back at the Delaware Rock Gym (DRG), I do not think if there was ever a time that there were more than 10-people in that gym at once...except for a birthday party or something.

But I got to try out a whole bunch of routes that ranged from 5.6-5.9. I think I am getting better and more comfortable every time I climb. Also, I challenged myself to my first dihedral and crack climbs! This was sooo fun and exciting. I wish Marc was there to see me attempt and accomplish them (almost).

Slowly Getting Up!

Matt said that I would do well with the dihedral route. Right before we got into the midst of climbing, we took an hour-yoga class to warm up for climbing. I missed yoga and most of my flexibility and balance came back to my body pretty quick. Matt stated that since I was pretty flexible and had really good balance, dihedrals would be perfect for me. The dihedral at the gym was solely balance and full body pressures against both walls, and so my dancer background would help me with this route. I did really well: took it slow, there was one part of the route that was pretty challenging, but I was able to shimmy, push, and mantle my way up to the top! Such an awesome accomplishment! I'm not going to lie, I can't wait to try it out on real rocks!

Then my next challenge: cracks. Meg is an awesome teacher as far as explaining out techniques I need to work on, as well as how to go about climbing cracks. Let me tell you, it's hard and painful. I cannot believe you can use your hands as fists and your feet as your equipment to help you excel up a vertical crack route...unbelievable! But I made it maybe 1/3 of the way up the route before my hands and body were getting pretty tired. I've got some homework. 

But overall, I was pretty proud of myself and really excited to continue working on these two types of climbing. I wish it was not snowing everywhere...I want to go try these outside!

TheChristyBel

Snowy Flat Irons!