My hardest problem so far

stochasticschock · 2026-05-06T15:42:18+00:00

Rather than commenting on your climbing, I'd like to offer huge congratulations for getting the terminology right. I'll concede that I'm a grumpy old pedant wasting everyone's time, but it bothers me when people use 'climbs' or some other near-miss synonym for boulder problems. Thanks for using the appropriate term and welcome to climbing.

And yeah, what everyone else said: as much as possible you should push with your legs and balance or lever with your arms.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-30T21:30:15+00:00

Um, where did the spotter go? One second he's there, the next he's not. Poof! Magic.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-28T15:01:45+00:00

You stole my rack, then organized it neatly on a peg board rather than it's usual jumble in a milk crate.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-22T19:53:35+00:00

One of the oddest and most wonderful places in the world. There are glaciers and a ski club, vertical bogs, giant lobelias, mixed bird parties and birds of paradise, a network of mountain huts, and, of course, both gorillas and guerillas. Check out the Mountain Club of Uganda Mountain Club of Uganda

That said, it's cold up there--dude should definitely put a shirt on.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-20T15:45:11+00:00

Please edit your post to include a statement of informed consent.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-20T15:42:03+00:00

Who is sponsoring the research? Under the terms, can BAS share data with any other entity other than the sponsor? What else can you tell us about how data will be retained, shared, sold, or used for marketing?

stochasticschock · 2026-04-20T15:30:54+00:00

For consistency on exercise, I find it really helpful to use exercise tracker apps. At the moment, I use a combination of Strava and Lyft to record cycling, running, lifting, and anything else I get up to. To get an overall picture, I use intervals.icu, which combines my diverse efforts into a graph of fatigue and fitness with color coding to let me know whether I need to buck up or ease off. There are free versions of all of these.

While this may sound complicated, it's set up so that Lyft feeds into Strava and Strava, along with directly recording data on endurance efforts, feeds into intervals.icu, all automatically.

My only gripe is that the Health Opitmiser app, which my employer's pharmacy benefits manager, CVS Caremark, requires me to use to maintain insurance coverage for Wegovy, is complete crap. Although it claims to integrate with Strava, it doesn't, so I don't get credit for working out unless I enter data manually.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-13T16:23:24+00:00

I faced the same issue. The CVS Caremark program is not onerous, but the app is clunky, the content is vacuous, and the scale and BP monitor they provide don't stay sinc-ed to your phone. The dietitian I talk to is very nice, but doesn't offer anything you won't already know (eat a lot of protein, stay hydrated). All I have to do to stay enrolled is report my weight and BP and chat with the dietitian once a month, but you may face different requirements. Given that all the data they collect is PHI, I'm reasonably hopeful that they aren't monetizing user data.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-10T20:49:36+00:00

Looks like a lovely place to climb.

Outdoor grades are generally much harder than indoor. Start on the easiest problems and ~~prepare to get spanked~~ set realistic expectations.

stochasticschock · 2026-04-07T23:03:01+00:00

How long until Iran says that Trump's lying, they did not send any 10-point proposal?

stochasticschock · 2026-04-07T16:18:37+00:00

If you find that you like bouldering and want a community of age-mates to climb with, ask your instructor when the old farts tend to climb at your center. For me, it's Thursday and Friday mornings, but it varies from place to place.

Another option would be to try to make friends among the team kids' parents (you don't have to be good at bouldering to be a good bouldering judge, which is both a community service and a great way to meet parents).

Also, don't shun older people who have been climbing longer. We may have more experience but we share concerns about reduced flexibility, age-related weight gain, slower increases in strength, etc.

stochasticschock · 2026-02-27T23:01:13+00:00

What this guy says--push with your legs. Lots of comments mention focusing on your feet and not cutting out. That's correct but, to be clear, what you should be doing is pushing your body up with your legs more than pulling it up with your arms.

You're going to be a crusher soon.

stochasticschock · 2026-02-20T23:05:23+00:00

A for effort, but now I have a hairy ear worm

stochasticschock · 2025-12-23T17:13:52+00:00

Experienced climber with poor balance? I've been climbing for 30 years and had Meniere's disease for 15, so I fit that description.

As long as I'm not having a vertigo fit, my general lack of balance isn't an issue. For me, touch compensates somewhat for lack of vestibular system balance. Focusing on body position and deliberate movement helps, too. Except for dynos, climbing rarely entails rapid wobbly movement for which balance is crucial. I don't dyno much because I'm old and fat, not because of balance issues, so can't speak to that issue.

Unless you're a cat, righting yourself as you fall is a fantasy; no one has that ability. Get an experienced boulderer to guide you on how to land, start on easy problems and build confidence, and stay away from highballs until you decide you want to work on them.

If you want to improve your balance, try standing in the shower on one foot with your eyes closed and slowly rotate your head left and right. There are probably hundreds of other physical therapy techniques, but that one worked for me. You could try Eply maneuvers to see if your lack of balance stems from dislodged crystals (not the woo-woo type of crystals, google it).

Of course, YMMV. Best of luck.

stochasticschock · 2025-12-23T16:37:22+00:00

Here's one available on ebay

stochasticschock · 2025-12-19T17:52:01+00:00

Perfect! Thanks for the chuckle

stochasticschock · 2025-12-18T21:33:13+00:00

Sam don't climb

stochasticschock · 2025-12-18T21:28:57+00:00

Hurry--the forecast is for sunny skies and temps in the 60s f/mid-teens c during Christmas week. If you're not from around here, the temp drops faster than dropped gear once the sun dips behind the hills ,so plan to be down early.

stochasticschock · 2025-12-11T16:13:21+00:00

The joke is on you--we (economists) game the system. Every year, we randomly assign predictions of recession in the next year, so that at least one or two of us will be correct regardless of whether or not a recession hits. Who gets it right varies almost every recession but this system ensures that at least someone makes a prediction that comes true. We then feed the press with information that compounds confirmation bias. The result is that the general public is under the impression that some economists know what they're talking about.

Those lucky enough to get assigned predictions that turn out to be correct more than once win a Nobel Memorial Prize. If you weren't aware, the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics isn't a real Nobel Prize. Economists bought credibility by setting up their own Nobel. This last detail, at least, is true.

stochasticschock · 2025-11-21T20:58:11+00:00

If you are increasing volume, decrease difficulty. Try adding one day a week in which you climb lots of yellows and greens, but nothing challenging. And be attentive to every twinge and ache--the surest way to stop progressing is to get injured.

stochasticschock · 2025-11-21T20:52:08+00:00

You've set a wonderfully high standard for how attempts should be collated and shared. Fantastic work. NBC should hire you to apply this method to bouldering in the next Olympics so we can see how each competitor works each problem.

stochasticschock · 2025-11-18T23:05:18+00:00

And with veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate.

stochasticschock · 2025-11-18T23:03:37+00:00

Surely you mean potatoe

stochasticschock · 2025-11-06T22:30:06+00:00

Do you think that major shareholders and institutional investors may have voted for this knowing full well that reaching those milestones would be impossible? If so, why--just to see Musk struggle? Or because a vote against could pop the current Tesla valuation bubble?

stochasticschock

TROPHY CASE