TT Rock Climbing Club

“popped my a2 pulley on the ring finger of my right hand last night. matching on a crimp and when i transferred the weight onto one hand to make the next moved... POP. very loud, which was freaky. i hung out on the wall a few seconds then came off and quit climbing for the evening... actually now it looks like i am done for several weeks. i don't see any "bowstringing" so it is probably a partial tear but there is a lot of pain when i use it. what a bummer.

i was working on a 5.10c that has given me trouble. it involves standing up using a weak undercling to make a move over a small roof, and it's a little steep. this is a difficult area for me and i had for sure made progress until this happened.

anyway, i know i can climb like a grade higher after the weeks off from climbing. i have said for the last year that the fastest way i could climb better was to lose weight. so this is a good time to double down on my running. being so heavy prolly was a major factor in my getting hurt. being so heavy i probably had no business matching on a crimp like that, esp on a steep route.”

“well it's been 1 week since i tweaked my a2 pully on the right finger of my right hand. i only been climbing a few times, and then only laps on large jugs. the finger remains swollen and stiff. it has a greatly reduced range of motion. after a few weeks i guess i will need to work on some stretching exercises or something to work on that. it's a little painful, but nothing like it was before where it didn't hurt at all UNTIL i put weight on it and then WOW did it ever hurt.”

“Been to a doctor for this yet?”

“Yoag -
Would you like some cheese with that whine? - lol!

Suck it up, man! FEEL THE BURN! No pain, no gain. Can't never could do nothin'. Winners never quit - quitters never win. Ask not what your country can do for you...”

“I started getting finger injuries in my mid-forties, usually jammed while playing basketball. Took forever to get well, i.e., for the swelling to go down and some r.o.m. and stability to return. The disappointing thing is I could no longer guide the b ball when shooting the 'j', so I had to lean on my dunking skills.”

“:)

have not seen a doctor. it seems to be recovering quickly enough.”

“Good. Sounds like you're younger than I was at the same age.”

“i am going on a "big trip" climbing in september... big deal for me but not for most other climbers. i don't want anything to screw it up. so i am going easy. i was training pretty hard at the rock gym before i injured it. i can't wait to get back and work on my pyramid.”

“A pulley injury can be serious and you may think its healing and getting better until you stress it again. I'd recommend seeing a doc but if not don't do ANY climbing until well after you think its healed. This type of injury i hear can be really frustrating and persistent.”

“awwww heck. ok, i'll go see a doctor. my copay isn't that bad for a specialist visit.”

“let me know what the doc sez..... otherwise, hand jams in a crack don't required much holding on at least. :)

good luck.”

“If you have your hand in any crack and have to hold on, you're in the wrong crack.”

“Lol! The climbing world is full of jamming jokes!

This year has been a mixed bag for climbing. I have been climbing strong when out, but have only gotten out a few times. Did my first 5.11 redpoint about a month ago in the Red on a sport climb.

Looking forward to September!”

“same here - mixed bag - rain in the evenings and on weekends in April and May slowed down things for me a lot. But when I've been able to get out, I've had a real good time. Got my first 5.7 trad onsight a few weeks ago. Looking forward to the rest of summer and fall!”

“Two weeks+ and my finger is only a little better. I did see a doctor but I am going to get a second opinion now. I feel it should be making more progress. Scary.”

“good luck - i hear those are really persistent and frustrating injuries.”

“first day back at the gym after almost 8 weeks (i think) of no climbing... healing my a2 pulley. i kept it easy sticking to 5.8/5.9 routes. for the most part the climbs were easy but they felt strange. muscle memory is way off because of the break. also, i was shocked to find that my jamming was all screwed up. it's hard to make a solid fist because it involves a full bend of the ring finger of my right hand... it don't bend that far... so jams are hard to get set and solid. this sucks because i thought this would be the answer to not having as strong an open grip or pinch. anyway, there was no pain climbing and only a little swelling when i got home. taped it up and will put it on ice shortly. i'll stick to the easy stuff for the next few days, perhaps some REALLY easy lap climbing... not technical climbing, just laps. practice flagging... perhaps some traverses to work on foot/hand placement. basic stuff. i have two weeks until i get punished in colorado and i don't want to be the cry baby with the broken finger a2 pulley.”

“...ok it was like 5-6 weeks. i just looked at my old posts. i guess it feels like 8 weeks. but i have been doing NO climbing and keeping it in a splint. a royal pita.”

“THIS WEEKEND...

i am volunteering in a climbing program for the boy scouts. i guess the program has been around for a while, which is a surprise to me because it is apparently fairly popular and i have never heard of it. i met the guy that runs the program at the climbing gym. anyway, we are going down to southern illinois to climb friday-sunday. sounds like a lot of fun. the climbing there looks TOUGH... a lot of 10a-12 rated climbs. stuff in the 7-9 range is sparse. still, after reading the guide book tonight there is plenty of climbing for a group of casual climbers for several weekends!

i am still doing the cub scout 'cubmaster' thing even though my son is moving on to boy scounts. i enjoy the cub scout thing as much as anything, but being able to share my love of climbing with the scouts will be super cool.”

“this guy i went climbing with the other day nearly killed me... started out on all this technically easy climbing on STEEP routes. it's damn good for me but i felt like a wimp. did some boulder problems (i did ok much to my surprise) but took a pass at the pull-up to end the day. i was shot. anyway, good training and a lot more of that plus finally losing a bit more weight ought to put me in good fighting form. i have been off my game since i was laid up by my surgery this last winter.”

“spent the weekend climbing in the shawnee national forest at jackson falls (southern illinois) with climber friends from chicagoland. the climbing was excellent, although the routes were short. i must have climbed a dozen routes in a weekend ranging from sport 5.7-5.10a and trad 5.6-5.8. the trad climbing was the highest grade i have climbed clean to date. then spent a few hours messing with a V1 boulder problem... tons of great bouldering in the area... and finally got shut down my muscle fatigue and tendinitis in my left elbow. i am terribly sore all over from exertion but also from all the crash landings while bouldering. it was a great weekend. highly recommended area.

some other notes. the camp sites are open and the climbing is perhaps 10 minutes from where you camp next to your car. you can take the long way into the canyon (10 minutes) or you can climb down a knotted rope about 30-40 feet in which case it's 5 minutes. i climbed out on this rope (with a full pack!) and it was a lot of fun but it was pitch black and a little skeery. the camp sites are pretty trashed... many chopped down trees for firewood, beer cans, garbage, dumped food, etc. it was really a sad story. overall the climbing area is nice but heavily beaten down from overuse by climbers, people on horseback and i am sure hikers to a lesser extent. the area is perhaps the most heavily bolted climbing area i have ever visited and with such easy access and all this sport climbing the volume of climbers entering the area is huge. also, it's the closest climbing of the highest quality for a large population in the midwest. actually it's a part of a fairly large system of climbing areas in that part of illinois but the climber load is very high. the grades on the climbs felt about in like with the climbs at red river gorge. the rock quality is basically a tight sandstone, a little more dense than red river gorge but not slick like the quartzite at devil's lake in wisconsin. the holds tended to be small with lots of friction, but there were occasional pockets that were very positive and of course the odd jug here and there. the trad climbing was ok, but mostly limited to crack climbing in chimneys. "pete's lead" is an exceptional trad line following a crack on a face to a flake with a lieback with marginal holds... easy to protect with small to mid-size gear but the move over the bulge requires a willingness to commit to a whipper on gear if you can't pull the move. highly recommended. lots of water, although i didn't drink it being so close to camp. it has a milky color but i am told it tastes good. it's probably just minerals from the rock it passes through. overall as a climber it's worth the visit. as a hiker... "meh" it's ok if you are in the area but i would not make a dedicated trip just to see the bluffs unless it was part of a longer trip in the shawnee. i for sure wouldn't backpack and plan to camp in the area as it's pretty trashed out. finally, the bbq at the ozark store at the corner of the highway and ozark rd (which you use to drive to the climbing area) is exceptional. plan to stop and eat. i had a pulled pork sandwich and it was outstanding. you would not guess this looking at the gas station but it's the kind of local chow you have to know to look for when on the road in an unfamiliar area. great stuff!

most of the people i had the pleasure to hang out with aren't from tt. most are associated in a venture crew or are friends. they run a climbing program for the scouts which i'll be helping the next two weekends in wisconsin. i am very excited about working with the scouts as part of the climbing program.

we are probably going back in november. the 5 hour drive (2 hours less than going to red river gorge) is very compelling. the climbing in the red is better but round-trip 4 hours less driving is huge.”

“Good Trip!”

“i spent all day saturday (i had to get up at 4am and didn't get home until midnight!) working with a venture crew running a day of climbing for boy scouts. it was a GREAT TIME. i mostly set up top-rope anchors, coached on rappelling and did a little show and tell on trad gear. very rewarding day.

after the scouts split i took of with one of the instructors who was a trad climber and we did a few routes.

i led cleopatra's needle (5.6 but it felt like a 5.4)



then my partner led queens throne (5.4)



i had to follow on queen's throne with my headlamp as it got dark on us FAST. we hustled out by headlamp to the parking lot after a FULL DAY!

we had dinner at hooters on our way back to chicagoland... nice!
last edited: 10/18/09 4:25:13 PM”

“man, did he place any gear on that route? From the pic it looks like he just trailed a rope up for fun.”

“heh heh”

“Yeah. He placed gear. That crack is a near perfect sized hand crack that took mid sized gear well. The inside corner of the route had lots of tiny ledges with very positive feet for placement stances. He only placed four or five pieces, most of it passive pro. He had a rack of old school stuff including Chounard hexes and a full set of original Wild Country friends... 5 I think. Very cool. Following the route was a breeze... Almost too easy but lots of fun.”