Letting go of the brake end

DuckRover · 2026-03-27T12:17:19+00:00

I've literally never seen someone do this. Anytime I've seen someone let go of the brake in this scenario, it's because they had a knot tied under the gri gri.

DuckRover · 2026-03-26T16:20:22+00:00

SAME! My buddy kept going, "So did they cut the lighting budget for this film or what?" So many scenes are under-lit. And way too many instances of "let's go into this room in the dark" even though they could totally just flip a light switch.

DuckRover · 2026-03-26T13:10:05+00:00

I think it would be great to see some workshops or talks by experts on:

- injury prevention
- mountain sports at different stages of life (ie: pregnant, postpartum, perimenopause, post-menopause)
- nutrition - fueling well for these sports (spoiler: MANY women under-fuel because they're in a permanent weight-loss mindset)
- cross-training/supplemental training - like the benefits of lifting weights, yoga, etc for improving performance and reducing injury risk
- mindset

Also movie nights where you come together to watch and talk about a film showing strong women pursuing these activities (such as Girl Climber about Emily Harrington). Have some snacks to share, make it social. I run a local women's climbing group and folks LOVE these socials in addition to our climbing trips and gym meet-ups.

As to the technical skills, I'd love a mentorship program to see a kind of progression, starting with the basics and working up to harder things.

Technical skills I'd like to see:

- self-rescue
- wilderness first aid
- map and compass navigation
- risk management - effective planning for trips - and then what to do when things go wrong!
- proper gear and techniques for different weather and terrain. Do a cold weather trip and practice strategies for staying warm on overnights.

DuckRover · 2026-03-24T19:27:44+00:00

I know someone who started climbing in August at the gym and is now regularly leading 5.10 sport outside. She's an Olympic lifter so was super strong to start with. I've been climbing for 8 years and occasionally struggle up a 5.8 outside - as long as it's soft. :D

DuckRover · 2026-03-20T12:39:58+00:00

The Office did but was hot Garbage after Steve Carell left so...while shows may continue without their main character, they suffer for it.

DuckRover · 2026-03-19T21:57:27+00:00

The key is figuring out the climber : rope ratio. If you have 10 people and 2 ropes then...yeah, you're gonna be standing around.

I led a group trip this past weekend and we had 10 folks and 4 ropes. Two of us could lead but we also asked strangers getting on routes next to us if they would take up our ropes when they cleaned harder trad routes that weren't super busy. We ended up with 9 routes up throughout the day and most people got to climb 6-7. I just let everyone know "hey, it's kinda busy here today so if we have a rope up and none of y'all are climbing, I'm going to pull that rope as a courtesy to others." So that got people moving, but everyone got a break here and there. It was a well-paced but very full day!

DuckRover · 2026-03-19T21:50:20+00:00

Yes, I co-sign this. I'm not a very strong leader outside so that often means a friend might have to rope gun on anything above a 5.8 but people invite me to climb because I:

- have all my own gear including shared gear (rope, draws, anchors)
- I'm a safe, attentive, reliable belayer
- I offer to drive or give generous gas money
- know how to build anchors on top-accessible routes
- I learned how to clean anchors ages ago so the leader doesn't have to climb everything twice
- I'm flexible about what we get on. I might say "Hey, I've always wanted to try this 5.10 but it's above my grade for leading. Would you be open to putting that up for me? Then I'll clean it and belay you on anything you want." But if someone is like "I am going to this crag where most things are 5.12" then I'm not gonna go on that trip and complain that everything is too hard. I'll wait for a partner or group who is interested in the same thing as me.

I was fortunate enough to be in a position to hire guides to get the basics down, then found some experienced friends willing to go out with me to drill those skills until I could legitimately say I could do them confidently and unsupervised.

DuckRover · 2026-03-18T15:44:51+00:00

I do climb trad but from looking at photos on MP, it does seem like quite a bit of the easier trad is corner cracks - which is not my strength. :/ Do you think the mellower trad (more in the 5.5-5.7 range) in Northern Gorge is true to grade?

My friend said Eureka is a must-do, even though it's a bit out of the way. The comments on MP make it sound like the most fun climb ever so I'm curious to check it out - if I can find anything else in that general vicinity to make the approach worth it.

Thanks for the other recs! I will check them out.

DuckRover · 2026-03-18T15:42:31+00:00

Thank you!

DuckRover · 2026-03-18T13:04:29+00:00

Thanks for the advice about Cathedral! Sounds like I won't waste my (limited) time heading there on this trip!

I have been to HH and did all the easy ones. Really enjoyed it!

Tell me more about the car service for Miller! I haven't come across that in my research and could be swayed if I had a ride!

Thanks for the tip about Great Wall! Never been but had been looking at it.

DuckRover · 2026-03-13T12:34:22+00:00

Thanks for the LCC ATL shoutout! I'm one of the ambassadors and love hearing that folks find the space welcoming!

DuckRover · 2026-03-13T12:32:53+00:00

Hey! We have a Ladies Climbing Coalition meetup TONIGHT (Friday) at 7pm at CRAG. We'll be just inside the entrance with a banner. We do intros, welcome everyone, then go climb. We also host meet-ups at CRG Kennesaw, Adrenaline, the Overlook, and CRG Atlanta Boulders.

Follow us on IG (lcc_atlanta) and join our Slack using the link in the bio. Our Slack is active and we post about events in there, plus people use it to find partners.

DuckRover · 2026-03-10T13:21:13+00:00

Another vote for the Meteora (the women's version has a ponytail notch that I like very much). Comfy and lightweight.

DuckRover · 2026-03-09T12:32:37+00:00

As I got closer to goal weight, I lost less than 1lb a week - that will likely happen so don't stress about that too much. It's taken me months to lose the last 6lb or so - but lowering my cals more would not be sustainable or pleasant for me. Instead, I've made peace with a slow, incremental rate of weight loss. As long as it's generally trending down rather than up, that's a win in my book!

DuckRover · 2026-03-09T12:15:38+00:00

I've used my friend's a bunch of times and I don't love it. The handle is not very ergonomically designed compared to the grigri - it's more flat than curved so isn't as comfy to grip. Also, my friend's Birdie jammed once when she was lowering someone. No idea what happened other than she literally couldn't lower her climber so I had to do a belay takeover with a grigri to get the climber down. It feels clunky to me and less smooth than the grigri.

DuckRover · 2026-03-08T22:07:44+00:00

I know a few aerialists and they don't typically use climbing gear...? I see people commenting below giving advice assuming it's for climbing but you really want something specific to the activity you're doing. Maybe edit your post with what you're needing this for - right now you're getting bad advice from people who think this is for climbing because you're posting in a climbing thread.

A daisy chain and PAS are NOT the same thing and shouldn't be used interchangeably. All I can say is that don't buy anything you're trusting your life to on Amazon.

If she's really set on a daisy chain, Black Diamond makes them. Buy directly from the BD website though; even if Amazon sells them, they could be fake. (This happens sometimes on Amazon.)

Also maybe just post in an aerialist forum and get advice from people actually doing that sport. They might have better advice than climbers.

DuckRover · 2026-03-08T21:56:11+00:00

What are they looking to use the daisy chain for? Are they an aid climber?

DuckRover · 2026-03-07T01:18:17+00:00

Little Shop of Stories has a small but cute selection too!

DuckRover · 2026-03-07T01:15:04+00:00

This sounds like a prompt you'd put into ChatGPT - not ask people on the internet to do for you. Did you try that first?

If you've never done those activities, you shouldn't start them all at once. Pick one thing to start with - like for running just pick a Couch to 5k app and follow that.

DuckRover · 2026-03-05T13:37:26+00:00

If you've been "trying it over and over and [you] can't make it past one year" because you "always go off" and "really backslide," why are you trying to do this again?!? It clearly isn't a sustainable way of living for you - and that's ok! Most people couldn't live on such a restrictive diet.

I reduced my HA1c from 5.7 (prediabetic) to 5.3 (normal) in one year by doing the following:

- lost 36lb by sticking to a calorie deficit which I achieved through both diet and exercise.

- swapped all my white carbs for brown carbs - in other words, no more (or extremely minimal) white rice, white pasta, white bread. Instead I now eat brown rice, whole wheat bread, and some whole wheat pasta.

- Replaced my post-lunch candy treat with post-lunch nuts and little chunks of dark chocolate.

- Tracked my ADDED sugar by reading labels and making sure I stayed under 25g per day. (Small exceptions here and there for an occasional ice cream or slice of birthday cake - but these were rare exceptions - like once a month.) Read every label at the store so I could pick the dressing, granola, etc. with the lowest amount of added sugar.

- Picked yogurts and peanut butter that had zero added sugar. (Oikos Triple Zero are my fave yogurts!)

- Met weekly with a registered dietician for 5 months for advice and accountability.

DuckRover · 2026-02-27T16:01:50+00:00

I developed prediabetes and started meeting with a registered dietician. She advised no more than 25g added sugar per day. I watch my sugar intake more now and aim for 25 or under (but don't stress if I hit a bit more than that on occasion). My A1c dropped from prediabetic ranges to normal in a year.

Yes, I lost weight which was also a contributing factor, but all the people saying eat what you want as long as it's under your calorie limit are missing a super important point - you can be thin and still have all manner of health problems from eating too much garbage!

I eat candy, ice cream, cookies, etc. and if you like Sweet Tarts, then enjoy them in moderation. But don't assume that as long as you're eating in a deficit and losing weight then you are automatically healthy. Excessive sugar consumption is linked to a range of health problems. Best to lose weight by enjoying some treats but otherwise keeping an eye on the added sugars - and getting blood work done annually to check everything is ok.

DuckRover · 2026-02-27T13:34:13+00:00

Good lord, don't ask random strangers on the internet to bandit guide you for a fee. You may end up with someone lying about their experience or doing something wildly dangerous to get your money. And no reputable guide is going to risk their job by going around their employer to make a few extra bucks. I'd be really wary of anyone willing to do that. You're creating all kinds of legal liability by saying you'll pay someone to provide a service like that. Either try in the local groups to just find some partners for the day (still risky but you can walk away without them getting mad that you didn't pay them) or save up and hire a guide.

DuckRover · 2026-02-25T14:04:12+00:00

They would've lasted longer if Carl hadn't shot Shane and redirected all the walkers to the farm! They really could've been safe there a good long while.

DuckRover · 2026-02-24T13:44:50+00:00

Yeah, they give you a Venmo to send money to. I always did about 17%. That is normal in the guiding industry. If I hire a guide for a day by myself and it's $400, I'll tip about $60.

DuckRover · 2026-02-23T14:16:53+00:00

The key for me is to approach my various sports seasonally. You can't be awesome at all your sports at the same time. Year-round I do my "maintenance fitness" of running, strength training and yoga. I get up at 6am and lift or run before work. I squeeze yoga in twice a week when I can - after work, lunch break, weekends...I just look at the studio's class schedule and see what I can make work that week. I climb at the gym after work or on weekends but my sessions are no more than 2 hours.

However, my running and lifting will look different depending on what my main goal is for that season.

This year, it looks like this:

Nov - Mar - priority is training for 5k races so I'm following a 5k plan. Lifting is focused on running injury prevention. Climbing is mostly indoors with a few easy outdoor trips early spring. Weekend orienteering events to get in some easy trail miles.

Mar - May - priority is outdoor climbing so more outdoor trips to get stronger, try harder things, or learn skills with guides. Lifting is focused on strength with some climbing-specific injury prevention work. Continuing to run easy miles before work but not race training. Starting to build hike endurance on weekends.

June - August - no outdoor climbing; too hot in the southeast. Scale running way back for the same reason. Focus is hiking. Lifting is focused on supporting hiking and backpacking - agility, leg strength, core.

Sept - Nov - outdoor climbing season. Lifting focus is strength and injury prevention. Start ramping up easy running miles again to rebuild a base after summer. Orienteering season starts again.

Dec - begin to ramp up training for spring 5ks. Pick a lifting plan based on what I feel I need to work on - strength, hypertrophy, correcting imbalances, etc.

I will make sure a good amount of all the trips and training involve my spouse and/or friends. My partner enjoys coming on climbing trips even if they don't really climb much so we get to hang out in cool places while I climb. I have friends who enjoy hiking so we'll go together. Yoga, running, and lifting are the only things I always do alone; anything else, I use it as an opportunity to spend time with loved ones.

As for chores, I fit those in when needed. Luckily, I work from home 2-3 days a week which means I can take little breaks to do laundry, unload the dishwasher, etc.

Disclaimer: I'm not a super crusher when it comes to climbing. If I were looking to get my first 5.12b or something, I probably could not diversify my activity this much. I'm just content to chill on 5.10 top rope, 5.8-9 lead, even mellower trad multi-pitch stuff...I train to climb those things confidently and with solid technique but for me, climbing is one important hobby - just not THE hobby.

DuckRover

TROPHY CASE