Fitness Centres and the Corona Virus

Byrichard

I have been thinking of climbing gyms, in other words of fitness centres and the Corona Virus. A few years ago I went to a gym where we wiped down every machine after use. We would get a paper towel, spray it with liquid and clean all the surfaces we touched. This includes exercise bikes, weight lifting equipment, elliptical machines and rowing machines. We also placed a towel so that our body was never in contact with surfaces directly.


When we go to climbing gyms we always end up with hands smelling of the objects we have touched. After a session at a climbing gym, I enjoy washing my hands because the water turns dark with the dirt that my hands collected.


Climbing.com wrote an article about whether climbing gyms pose a threat. There is not enough data to provide a reliable answer yet. From a logical standpoint, the answer is clear. If we should avoid shaking hands, or having any physical contact if we should stay at least one meter from other people, then climbing is an activity to avoid. We touch the same handholds, we share ropes and we share belay devices.


During the health crisis, I believe that climbing outdoors would make more sense because UV light kills bacteria and viruses. At outdoor climbing locations, there are fewer people so exposure to virus carriers is smaller.


Health Magazine and The New York Times both explore the topic of fitness centres and the risk of transmission. “In addition to avoiding frequently handled machines and equipment, it’s recommended, as always, that you wash your hands often and don’t touch your face.” This is from the New York times article. Health wrote “Any place where large numbers of people congregate at any one time over a period of time, allows them to shed their microorganisms or germs on various places,”


I currently have neither a normal gym, nor climbing gym membership. I would favour normal gyms over climbing gyms. I can clean the machines before and after I use them minimising the risk of exposure. This is already a normal part of my gym routine so there would be no change. According to the Irish Times swimming pools are also safe due to Chlorine in the water.


Disclaimer: For further information refer to the articles I have linked to. I am not a health professional.

Bouldering in Geneva – Park Chuit

Bouldering in Geneva – Park Chuit

Byrichard

Bouldering in Geneva now has a new bouldering wall in a park. There are two structures with bouldering problems to experiment with. Some of these are easy and go straight up while others are overhanging and require more experience.


Rather than place crash mats on the floor that would be exposed to the weather you have loose stones and the walls are not as high as in other places. This affords the chance to fall onto your feet if you are so inclined.


Parking at this bouldering zone is not ideal. There are a limited number of parkings so going by bike, scooter or public transport is advisable.


Park Chuit is the name of the park and it is accessible from the Quidort tram and bus stop in petit Lancy.



Future plans include building an indoor climbing wall to cater for climbers as well as boulders. In so doing it should provide people with an opportunity to climb regularly and without the need for a car. Without a commute climbing can be on weekdays as well as the weekends. For people working nearby this is a place where they could climb during their lunch break or once their shift ends.

Reverso Four Wear and Tear

Reverso Four Wear and Tear

Byrichard

Reverso Four wear and tear is normal. I have been using mine for years and it was used most heavily during an IFSC World Cup climbing event two or three years ago. Over the years I have grown in proficiency with the device and I trust it.


The beauty of the Reverso 4 and similar climbing devices lies in the simplicity of use. Pass the rope through, clip the carabiner through and attach it to the harness.


Years ago when choosing a belay device I was tempted and curious about the Grigri device but at four times the price of the Reverso 4 I thought I would wait until I gained belaying experience. Three years later and this is the state of my Reverso Four



In the image above you can see that the left side is still intact, having almost never been used. This is because as a right handed person I always use the right side. You can see that ropes have worn away at the two front teeth. In the featured image you can see that two of the teeth are worn smooth. I have not noticed a difference in braking ability.



Although I have used this device for lead and top-rope climbing I have also seen it used for rappel by some people when at a climbing gym in Lausanne. If you pass both sides of the rope through the device you are able to control your descent using a single rope. It can also be used for climbing with two ropes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju1fIIf41Nc



I have two Reverso 4. The bottom one has been used every time I have been climbing and the top one is almost new, having only been used for climbing a few times. You can see the shape that the teeth should have and the shape these same teeth have after hundreds of metres have rubbed along them.


The reason for which I got a Grigri 2 is not that either of these Reverso 4 need replacing. I was not even considering replacing them until a conversation Wednesday night. Someone with more climbing experience was speaking about the safety advantages of the grigri so I decided it was finally worth the investment.


In scuba diving when you upgrade your equipment you can easily spend thousands of francs. In this case it was around 70 CHF for something that lasts for years. Contrast this to diving equipment where you spend hundreds of francs for every new toy. In theory this is a device that I will use at least once a week for several years.


When I gain experience I will write another post.

A gentle increase in climbing ability

A gentle increase in climbing ability

Byrichard

I went to Vitam to climb on Thursday and I went to Rocspot to climb on Thursday. I climbed twice this week because the Wednesday session went so well. The reason for which it went so well is that I am climbing regularly again. I climb at least once to twice per week, which is nothing by some standards but better than in the last two years.


We started on Wednesday by climbing top roped routes to warm up. In the process I decided to take harder routes. I climbed up routes that were graded from 6a to 6c. The beauty of climbing top roped is that you can familiarise yourself with more challenging routes and experiment without a fall being as bad.


If I was lead climbing the route then I often feel the need to be certain that I can make the holds up to the point where I can make the next clip. With top rope I can try and fail without consequences. During this climbing session, I tried and failed several times on the 6c.


Trying and failing is a sign of progress. It shows that my fear of falling is diminishing and that my desire to summit, and my desire to succeed is increasing.


There is the added pressure that whereas in the Lausanne climbing group I was in the middle of the group in terms of ability in this group I am the more experienced climber so if I can lead climb routes I can leave behind the rope for them to top rope and practice. All of us are learning and by pushing the envelope of our abilities we progress.


Making such progress in February is great because Spring and summer lie ahead. Spring, Summer, and even Autumn climbing seasons are fun. Summer is all about the rock climbing, the via ferrata, hiking and cycling. By getting a good level indoors as winter comes to an end we are primed to have fun outdoors.


A Training Band and a Rubber Egg

Byrichard

Recently I bought a Training band and a rubber egg (otherwise known as a Pilates Stretching Hand Rehabilitation Ball) instead of a Fingerboard. I want to strengthen my fingers to progress as a climber. I often know what to do but finger strength is the limiting factor.


Ever since I saw fingerboards in web videos and in person I have wanted to get one but at first didn’t know where to get one and then didn’t find one at an acceptable price. When I saw it at one of the climbing gyms where I go the price was unreasonable so I lost interest. The one at Décathlon is at a better price so I was tempted. For the fingerboard I need to buy a drill, some screws, and place it. This is easy to do but the costs mount up.


I want to strengthen my finger strength with the rubber band. They have several levels of resistance and I chose the one with 35kg of resistance. They have higher resistance ones but I didn’t like the higher prices. The next step is to find videos showing how versatile these are for strength training.


The Rubber Egg as I call it is great because you can strengthen fingers individually or all at once. You can easily carry it with you and strengthen your fingers at any time of the day. I have played with it for two or three days now and I can feel the different muscle groups that are being recruited.


The alternative to the fingerboard, the training band and the egg is to go bouldering two to three times a week for an hour or two at a time. The drawback is that these gyms cost from 21 CHF per training session to 600+ francs per year. With the Rubber Egg and training band I will train on a daily basis, and see gains when climbing with the group on a weekly basis. Ideally both of these toys will allow me to climb beyond 6a and enjoy the overhanging routes.

Finger Strength and Climbing.
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Finger Strength and Climbing.

Byrichard

The more often you boulder and climb, the stronger the muscles that pull the tendons to your fingers become, and the stronger those muscles become, the higher the grade of your climbs. Hand holds are not the rungs of a ladder or via ferrata. Sometimes you can use your entire hand but at other moments you will use just the fingertips of one hand.



On a climb such as this one I managed to get up two thirds to three fifths of the way up before my fear of falling took over. In this context it wasn’t that I was afraid of falling, after all I had “fallen on an easier route half an hour earlier. It’s that I could see what move I wanted to do, but my finger muscles would not allow it.


When this happens you look down at your feet, to see if there are other footholds and you lean back and try to see if there are other holds that you can use. Eventually you decide “I know what to do and I can try but there is a very good chance that I will fall. It’s a shame that my drive to succeed is overtaken by my instinct not to fall.


Professional climbers train for weeks, months and even years to strengthen their fingers. They have finger boards, they have balls that they hang from. They use elastics and plenty of other tools. They train with the whole hand, with four fingers, down to two fingers, or even one. That training means that they are able to hold their entire body weight while hanging on an overhang and last for long enough to clip in.


I have lost my former finger strength and I am trying the same grade of climbs as before, set by different route setters. At Rocspot in Lausanne I could consistently top 6a lead climbs. At Vitam I am still struggling. I haven’t learned the route setter’s techniques yet. With time I will


There is something to be noted. When outdoor climbing with the groups I am part of one individual often climbs as high their skills allow, they struggle for a bit and then they give up and come back down and the next person goes up and tries to make some progress. In so doing the lead climbers set up the top rope for less experienced climbers. In so doing everyone can enjoy specific routes. As we get better indoors we will not need to do that.


On the overhanging part I saw an agile climbing up 7 or 8a routes over and over. She would climb until she fell and within seconds she was back on the ground, ready to try again. She was climbing according to the IFSC rules. The rope is there for protection in case of a fall, not as a means of resting. I love watching such climbing. I spent three days watching it for hours at a time two or three years ago and I still enjoy it now.


Watching great climbers is fun because it gives you an appreciation of what you could do if only you developed the finger strength, sense of balance and agility. Climbing is an art form but it also requires the strength that goes with that art form. I would love to climb those overhangs but my finger strengths is currently blocking me. It has blocked me for two years. Persistance is an important part of climbing. I will get there.

Iredpoint by Frogg GMBH
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Iredpoint by Frogg GMBH

Byrichard

The Apple watch and other devices have integrated barometers that allow them to track changes in altitude. Iredpoint by Frogg GMBH is one app that takes advantage of this. It allows you to tell the app what type of climbing you are doing as well as the difficulty.


Types of Climbing


This app allows you to choose the type of climbing that you are doing. You can choose between bouldering, top rope climbing, sport climbing, trad climbing, multirope climbing, free solo, aid climbing and last, and most awesome of all, Via Ferrata. I’m pleasantly surprised by that last one. In summer this is one of my favourite pass times.


You can let the app know what type of climbing you are doing.


Climbing Grade


Right before you start ascending a route you can tell the app of the gradient that you are about to climb and this includes American, European and other gradients. For Via ferrata for example you can choose between the French PD, AD, ED and other ratings of the German number system


I am still learning how to use this app


When I tried this app at Vitam Park I made sure to state the gradient and then started to climb. You see that the height information is correct. For the second climb I did the same. For consequent climbs I did not select a difficulty gradient or took breaks on the route and you can see that the graph does not include the full climb. For future versions of this app I would like it to take the starting altitude as a base and combine climbs until the correct height is reached.


I started by climbing one top rope but subsequent climbs were bottom roped and I would like the ability, while tracking to switch between the two, as well as when I have finished climbing for the day.


Heart rate was not tracked.


This is an app with great potential and I see myself using it from now on. What I love about this app is that it tracks data while you are climbing rather than just the climb and the grade. I like that it offers such a diversity of climbing options. I will use it when I do via ferrata. I look forward to Spring and Summer when I can use it outdoors.

A two Jersey cycling event and then too tired to climb.
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A two Jersey cycling event and then too tired to climb.

Byrichard

Yesterday I had a morning ride because I wanted to participate in the Tour de Zwift event. Yesterday the track was London and I was riding slowly for the first half, conserving energy. Eventually, when I got warmed up I started to ride harder and harder until I was overtaking quite a few other cyclists. I took advantage to play on the sprint and got the Green jersey. I took some time to recover and then I pushed myself. I was overtaking group after group. I gained at least 50 places in the standing.

When I got to Keith Hill I was pedalling hard. I was overtaking people constantly and I was pushing from one group to the next, catching up with them just to encourage myself to make that much more effort. Eventually, I got to the top of the hill and I saw that I had both the green jersey and the polka dotted one. “Meilleur Grimpeur” as you hear on French television during the Tour De France. It feels good to push that much, to exceed your previous rides and for it to be quantifiable. This ride resulted in quite a few personal records on Zwift. I also improved my FTP score.

 

Making such an effort on an ordinary day would be great. I’d have had a good workout and reached my daily exercise goal. In this case, it was a mistake. I went climbing without having a proper dinner in the evening and all the energy I had burned to cycle was now missing for climbing. This was my worst day of climbing in a while. I completed one or two routes rather than the usual five or six. Usually, before I go climbing in the evening I rest. When I get to the wall I’m impatient to climb and I do well.

The Klettersteig Rider 3.0
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The Klettersteig Rider 3.0

Byrichard

The Klettersteig Rider 3.0 is a dual system via ferrata kit. It has a carabiner like standard via ferrata kits have and a “rider” system. The “rider” system fixes to the via ferrata cable and progresses with you. As you get to a part where you need to switch you move the rider system up first and then you move the carabiner. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmmXodEZQxo


What I like about this system is that if you slip or lose grip of the rungs for any reason you will only fall the length of the connector rather than the length from where you are to the most recent pig tail. This reduces the fall distance by a considerable amount. 


The Via Ferrata where I would most like such a system is Leukerbad. On the Leukerbad Via Ferrata when you get to the last third there are few handholds so you rely on finger and arm strength to progress and you get tired. With this system you would relieve that strain to some extent. It would make me feel more at ease. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXR1a-sFeS0


At 229 CHF from at least one online shop this kit is expensive. You can get Via Ferrata sets for between 60-115 CHF as a beginner. This kit is interesting for people who, like me, have practised Via Ferrata for years and use their kits every weekend in summer. Via Ferrata sets can last for years so if you estimate that you will use it from 3-5 years the price is acceptable. 


An alternative is the Austrialpin Hydra via ferrata set. It’s 60 CHF cheaper but you only block on the cable when you need a rest rather than continuously. The third option, and the most used option is a sling with a carabiner. This is also the cheapest option.  

Documenting climbing feats
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Documenting climbing feats

Byrichard

Documenting climbing feats is an interesting challenge because you deal with issues of accessibility, projects that can last for months or even years and in some cases you’re dealing with the prospect of the climber understanding the problem, and then achieving his goal. For two or three years I really explored ideas for a climbing documentary before losing steam. My interest in the topic was still there but I couldn’t think of whom to put in front of the camera. 


In my free time I have watched a lot of documentary films about climbing. Some are short, filmed over just a few hours and others are about longer duration projects that can last for a week or two. When I heard that Alex Honnold was free soloing El Cap I didn’t realise all of the preparation that he had been through. It’s only after watching his TED talk that I understood and my respect for his process grew. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iM6M_7wBMc


I like his TED talk because he really goes into detail about his preparation. You see that it is a process that takes years. Moves are practiced over and over until they are perfect. This is repeated for every pitch. Nothing is left to chance. 


Aside from the mental preparation of the climber there is also the process that the cinéma verité crew must go through. In the documentary that I have included below you learn about the questions of ethics that are posed. Questions such as “how do we film this without distractions, how do we film this without endangering his life, how do we make this as safe as possible. The answer is using professional climbers and friends as camera crew. People that know the sport know when to be quiet and what move to expect next. 


It’s interesting that in this feature they discuss the use of remote cameras for one or two sections, so that Alex feels alone and focused on the task at hand. Remote cameras on a cliff hundreds of metres off of the ground. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-wjmIFlnNo


If a documentary is well made, like The Dawn Wall was, then you watch a documentary on a niche topic without growing bored or distracted. If it well filmed then it is as complete as a book. A well made documentary is as complete as a book.


The beauty over documentary films, as opposed to news coverage is that documentaries can be relevant to a small niche of people rather than cater to the lowest common denominator. This is especially true in an age where documentaries can be seen at film festivals, specialist events, offered as videos on demand and more. Keep in mind that in 2020 climbing will be an Olympic sport and that in this context documentaries that are made about climbers are going to attract an ever-growing audience. What is niche today will appeal to a wider audience tomorrow. 


Two years ago I volunteered at the Festival Du Film Alpin and I was really happy to watch a genre, that until then I had seen mainly on youtube appear on a big screen with a large audience. Recently I was at the Magnetic Film premiere and this was an interesting experience and last night I was at Pathé Balexert, a mainstream cinema watching a documentary about climbing. The next step would be for one of these documentaries to be screened on an IMAX screen.