Ask vertiCALI: 4 Tips for Beginners

I have been climbing for a year now, and although this amounts to a short career I have learned something new every time I head out to the crags. I thought I would share some tips that have helped me as well as try and rectify some of the bad advice I was given.

1. Go Climb! This one is obvious but the quickest way to advance through the grades is to climb as much as possible. No matter how many pull-ups you can do, if you lack technique you ain't gettin off the ground.
2. Climb Outside! Gym climbing is a great way to build strength and develop technique but 9 times out of ten what you are doing in the gym just does not translate to outdoor climbing; don't believe me? ask a super strong gym climber to go climb a crack or crank a hard mantel and watch the results.
3. Make Friends! That is, make friends that climb. Finding a crew of friends climbing at a similar level helped me stay motivated, push grades, and have more fun.
4. Get Good Shoes! One of the things that frustrates me most when I read about shoes and sizing is that beginners are constantly advised to just get some comfy, cheap shoes as they learn to climb. The people in this camp would argue that since good climbing shoes are expensive and beginners have sloppy footwork and may not fall in love with climbing they should start with something cheap. BULLSHIT! I followed this advice and after a month and a half of regular climbing I had a pair of sloppy, cheap, blown out shoes. If you get serious about climbing you will start to out climb those comfy shoes in a couple months, then you'll just end up buying the shoes you've really wanted all along. So if you are getting started climbing and you feel like this is something you want to pursue, do yourself a favor and buy some decent, tight-fitting shoes (My recommendation, the Five Ten Moccasym. See my earlier post regarding these killer slippers).

Happy thirsty Thursday and keep the mind state Golden!

Can't learn that in the gym. Nick mantels on Carousel Rock.

Bishop Pictures

 There has been a rash of inactivity on this here blog and I aims to rectify that ish. The good thing is I have been out climbing in glorious locations a lot, and I have lots of new material with which to inundate thee. Here are a few pictures from day 1 of a trip to the fabulous boulders of Bishop, California (of course); as usual credit for many of the pictures goes to Chris Ramirez, see more of his fine work at flickr.com/ventures23. A more complete trip report is soon to follow but I figured I ought to whet the appetite of my avid fanbase (thanks mom and dad!).





This is Chris O. warming up on the Green Wall, a rad looking boulder with deceptively small holds.

Chris R. works on Flyboy, a burly V6 from which there is no escape. . .

Here I am on the Prow.

Sunset on the Sierra, sigh. . .

This is our campsite and one epic shot by Chris, enlarge it for full glory.














Rise and shine boys, the mountains are calling. . . Ah yes, but we're bouldering, the sport which makes mountains out of pebbles.














And here is the campsite in it's full morning glory. cozy, eh?

Five Ten Moc Review: The One Shoe Quiver

Ahhh, the venerable Moccasym. This simple shoe has been helping climbers scalp the Custer’s of crags across the land for far longer than I’ve been climbing, and many a review can be found, yet I think another is in order.

The Moc is an ultra-simple, sensitive slipper-style climbing shoe by Five Ten, which features their famously sticky Stealth C4 rubber and is about as versatile as a climbing shoe can be, and it serves as the only arrow in many young braves’ shoe quivers. The Moc is a favorite at Stoney Point, where the blazing red can be seen adorning the feet of old guys eliminating holds and young guys looking for new ones.

I wore my Mocs on everything until both toes were worn through to the leather, and even in an impressively dilapidated state, the shoe performed. The Moc is at its best in thin cracks and on overhanging boulders, where the sensitivity and the low-profile toe allow for extremely precise footwork.

On sizing: In my opinion the Moc performs at its best when sized down A LOT. I wore mine two full sizes down from street, the first week or so was torture, but after breaking in the Mocs become the bane of any rock wishing to chuck you off. With the right fit even micro edges, normally the forte of a stiffer shoe, are no problem for this shoe. So my advice is to size ‘em tight! For bouldering and single pitch sport, I’d say get the smallest size you can get your foot into, for longer climbs maybe go a half to full size up from there.

Moc’s, buy ‘em!

Pros: Versatile, comfy, easy on/off, durable, and they look fuckin’ rad

Cons: They will pop off on hard heel hooks and can get sloppy if sized improperly    

Three Days On

With the awesome weather we've had here and a less than demanding work schedule this week has been a busy one for me on the climbing front, gettin' to live that Verticali dream. The arm is recovering nicely and I have been trying to get back into shape after the downtime. Anyways, got some more radness from Chris, his shots are more impressive every time I see them. (see more of his handiwork here: www.flickr.com/ventures23):

 This is a fun v2/3 up top at Stoney, check it out if you're in the summit area.That's all for now, and as always, keep the mind state Golden, peace!

Grope, Grasp, Slip!

With the recent spate of hot weather here in LA things have gotten pretty grim at Stoney. Problems out here are often condition-dependent, and the session today involved lots of racing the slip-clock while desperately trying to stay on long enough to move to the next hold. The upside of this is that after a summer of working out on rock that sweats as much as you do, when the cold and wind come your project will feel like a gym 5.5, straight juggin' yo! I'll leave you with another picture to look at:

This is Brandon working it out on Blockhead (v8), a real eye-catcher and a beast of an arete problem. Brandon is rolling out to Thailand tomorrow to live the dream; let's all let out a collective "lucky fucker" and send him off on a good note!

Get Stoney

We are having absurdly nice weather again in LA and a Stoney sesh was in order.
















Here is Nick starting Rodeo Style (v3)

Chris shows you how to use your heel topping out the same problem

Now for the business. This is a sequence of Chris on Frequent Flyer (v6?) up in the summit area. These problems are near Umma Gumma (v6/7), a Bachar first ascent and another Stoney classic. The summit area is probably the least developed at Stoney, with a decent amount of new lines. If you feel like exploring or just doing something other than the Boulder 1 to Turlock shuffle check it out up top, you'll probably be alone and the views on a clear day are delightful.

This slopey crimp is pretty terrible looking. Chris is strong.

Putting it all out there while throwing for the sweet sigh o' relief hold











Heading up to the Bay Area this weekend for a bit of a different look. Hopefully we'll make it out to Castle Rock and sample some of that Northern sandstone. Thanks for stopping by and remember, keep the mind state Golden. Peace!

And We're Back

I had my first day back on the rock yesterday, March 4th. It was pretty awesome, the photo is some crimptastic action on Master of Reality (V6). It felt awesome to be climbing again, and I felt surprisingly strong but my left arm definitely has a ways to go.

Chris took this photo and I think it is pretty badass myself. Chris is getting to be a pretty damn solid photographer, checkout his shots on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ventures23/


The weather has been spectacular here in LA county the past few days, and as a climber this is amazing. I can't help but gloat as I read forum posts about hangboarding from forlorn east coast climbers. Just another reason why we love it. Keep the mind-state Golden, Peace!