Music

Its been said that music can move mountains, you want to know who said that? I just did, that right, I mean I don’t actually know if anyone’s said that, but it sounded good. But I don’t need to move mountains , I just want to climb them. Honestly music is amazing, it can be so motivating, and in a sport that can be so discouraging, music is just the thing you need. When I listen to music I listen to all parts of it, the melody and the lyrics. I really enjoy listing to the lyrics of a song, because most songs tell a story. Now I will clarify I generally listen to country music, and pop music. I also listen to other various kinds to like alternative and rock. Each genera of music has its ups and downs, some of it is really hard core, and some of it is mellow. One of the groups I would climb with would listen to piano music before a climb. I personally didn’t enjoy it, but it was calming and kind of got you in the zone. On the other hand there’s the kind of music that gets you pumped up for a climb. This would be the pop/ rock kind of music. With a fast beat and lyrics that get you to work hard. It’s the equivalent to what go workout music would be. A fast beat and melody that is upbeat and makes you feel good. I mean you don’t want to listen to depressing music before a climb, be you will be all down and won’t be motivated. I preferred a mix of country music and pop music. The country music has a very calming tone, plus most of the songs have a story. Every time you listen to it sounds familiar and is almost like a memory. Its hard to explain since I grew up listing to country, that is just what I love. From the old country to the new country, which brings me to another aspect, which is rock country. The most up beat, feel good kind of country there is.  I would never recommend climbing and listening to music, especially not with headphone in. It is critical to communicate with all of your team members and be able to hear them, in case of danger. So like I said I would only recommend music as a pre climb activity. Just to get you pumped up for climbing.

Exploring the UP

For anyone who isn’t from Michigan when you look at the title “Exploring the UP” you are probably wondering to yourself what does that mean? Isn’t up a direction? Yes in fact it is a direction, but to Michiganders it is more than a direction, it’s a place. A place also known as the Upper Peninsula, “yooper land”, or “The 906” (which is the area code for the whole up). People who live in the up are called “yoopers”, where as people from the lower peninsula are “trolls”, this is because they live below the bridge.  From lower Michigan, the gateway to this beautiful place is known as the Mackinac bridge, or “Big Mack” for short. From there another 5 hours of driving northwest will bring you to the Keweenaw. Which is the small peninsula on the top of the Upper Peninsula. This is the beautiful place where my friends and I do all of our climbing.

Climbers are an interesting breed, they like to boast about their experience and climbing story’s, but when asked where these story’s take place, they will try to dodge the question. They will tell you all about the well-known spots, and how you should check them out. However since everyone knows about those spots, they are frequently visited, and you will run into other climbers. However our solution was to this problem, was to consult topographical maps. We looked for ridges, and places on the map where the lines where extremely close, normally denoting a steep cliff or hill. Then we would go to these places, and explore. We looked for rock quality, and took a great deal of time studying the rock to determine if it was safe to climb. The major problem we would run into, were loose rocks and or crumbly rocks. This is very unsafe, and doesn’t allow you to get good anchor points or handholds when climbing. After we determined if the rock face was climbable, we would mark it on our map in green for good or red to denote that this face was a no go.

We also spent a good amount of time searching for good Ice climbing. We also looked at maps, but this time we would look for rivers, and google earth to find water falls. Then like before we would explore these places in person. Sometimes we found that these places we two small or not worth climbing, however sometimes we found gold. Our favorite spot happened to be a small waterfall that came out underneath a snowmobile bridge. As far as we know this is not a spot that anyone else knows about, and we visited this spot many times. Never did we run into any other climbers, and that made that spot perfect. Since we were under a snow mobile bridge we could anchor directly to the bridge, which is called top roping. Giving us maximum safety, if for some reason the wall were to break then we would still be hanging from the bridge. This spot is just a great example of what you can come across when you are exploring the Upper Peninsula.  

Why I Climb

As you already know I enjoy the sport of rock climbing/ice climbing. When thinking about why I actually enjoy these two sports, I came across a few surprising things. For one I enjoy working, and rock climbing is like mother nature’s natural work out. The gym is subject to change with the weather outside, fresh air is readable, and you can still enjoy it with several buddies. Its much like challenging your self with a heavy set of weights, or maxing out your reps. Altough everything feels better, because you can physically see what you have accomplished. Plus I just like being outside, and nothing beats spending your day climbing a new rock face, while getting a full body work out. When I say that I mean it, literally every body part, and muscle gets worked out. You do a lot of work with your fingers, so strengthening your fingers is important. Many climbers clench tennis balls, or use other means to strengthen there grip. However the best remedy is to just get out and climb. Your legs, and abs receive a great work out , this is due to the fact that these are your main muscle groups that you use to advance up the rock. If you are climbing right, you won’t even need your arms to pull you up. Your arms are used mainly for balance and keeping your body close to the rock face. If you try to use your arms too much, you will tire early.

Secondly, the sense of accomplishment you get when you crest the top of a face, Is like none other. You feel like all your hard work has paid off, while in reality you are always improving.  Which is awesome, so next time you will be able to climb an even harder face. I find that rock climbers, are hard workers. They are respectful to there body yet continually push the limits, and get rewarded for this. Rock climbers will and can go anywhere; many enjoy the journey to the face as much as the climb itself. Its really cool to see how other sports go hand and hand with climbing. For instance backpacking, snowshoeing, hiking, and camping are all very closely related. When you combine two or them or many of them you will have lasting memories that’s for sure.

Importance of Clothing

As with many sports clothing is super important. Climbers are always talking about the new technical gear on the market. Climbing is a strenuous sport and the newer synthetic materials suit it perfectly. Synthetic cloths are light and study, which are two of the most important clothing characteristics for a climber. The rock climber is looking for protection and little extra weight. Most rock climbing is done during the summer so it’s very common to see short sleeve shirts, and shorts. However its not recommended, light pants and a long sleeve shirt help to protect you from the abrasive rock face. Unexpected falls can really scrape you up and its really nice to have even a small layer of protection. Also when you are climbing the rope is usually touching you at some point and I’m not going to lie rope burn sucks. So that’s just another reason you will want to wear clothing that protects your arms and your legs. A lot of people don’t think it’s possible to climb in the rain and I here to tell you it’s a myth. I’ve done it, I’m not saying its easy I’m just saying it’s doable. Of course you are going to want something to repel water, and you’re in luck because you can wear a normal rain coat. On the flip side is Ice climbing and yup u guessed it the goal is to wear something warm yet light. It also has to allow you to move and have a great range of motion. A very popular choice of outer wear is soft shell jackets and pants. They function the same as a normal snowboarding or skiing jacket. They wick moisture and block the wind, but with the added benefit of being able to stretch. Yes I know these two pieces of clothing are expensive, you could also get by with normal snow gear. Although like I said your range of motion may be limited. You will also need a pair of good gloves, gloves that aren’t bulky and allow you to grip the ice axes really well. Buying the special gloves will be expensive but u could use comparable snowboarding gloves. Always remember to dress in layers when you go out. Like I said earlier climbing is strenuous and even is severe winter weather u will start to sweat, and that is the worst thing you could do. If you do start to sweet make sure you open up your jacket and get some air flow going. Sweating could lead to hypothermia and you defiantly don’t want to end a trip in the hospital.

The Patience of a Hunter

As I write to you today, I am sitting quietly in my hunting blind. It’s about 4 O’clock in the afternoon, and two large does have found my bait pile. I feel as though I am in a tree house, the blind that my dad and I built sits about 18 feet of the ground. Surrounded on all sides by large pine trees, the perfect camouflage. In the corner of the blind sits a small wood stove, which is now producing enough heat to keep the blind at a comfortable 80 degrees. The burning wood cracks and pops, but oddley enough the two deer arnt at all scared. The release on my right hand bangs against my lab top. You have no idea how hard it is to type with a release on my right hand. Every time I try to type something the release bangs off my keyboard, making a metallic sound. Amazingly the two deer just keep eating, they must have been pretty hungry. The sun now beaming into the blind makes it impossible to see. Every spec of dirt and old water marks are now lit up on the window. I guess I will just have to wait until the sun goes down.

Now I know your probably wondering, what does this have to do with climbing? Why is he telling me this? First off hunting and climbing are two of my favorite sports. Secondly I just realized they have one major thing in common, that thing being patience’s. The sports might be on different ends of the spectrum, but for someone like me who enjoys doing both of them. I have learned that hunting has actually helped me a lot in climbing. When I was little my dad used to take me hunting, we would get up early in the morning, and sit together in a blind or a tree stand. He taught me how to track deer and how to coax them in. More importantly he taught me patience. Now patience is an interesting thing, its not something you can just teach on its own. It needs a device like hunting to promote it. You might sit in a blind for hours not seeing a thing, but still determined. We will come out the next day and sit in the same place and patiently wait for results.

Similarly in rock-climbing you never want to rush into anything. You always want to survey the situation and make sure everything is safe. Safety is super important, and when you have been hanging on a rock face for half an hour, its temping to rush to the top. Sure your tired, but you have to be smart and make sure you don’t do anything stupid. In climbing experience can only get you so far. Like I said patience is huge, you can climb anything if you just take your time and think it through. For example some very difficult faces can take an hour for a lead climber, to climb just 30 feet. The lead climber has the most important job of setting anchor points in the rock, so you better hope they don’t rush. You want to give them the time they need to insure everyone will safely ascend the rock. In the grand scheme of things its not a race and patience’s pays equals safety.