Bouldering in Ayoro

Good morning! Like my last post, this post has nothing at all to do with this blog's stated topic, the building of my garage wall. No, as spring finally arrives for good (please God) and the flowers blossom and the cherry trees bloom, so too must this blog blossom and branch out. It's time to talk about some outdoor climbing.

When I came to Japan three and a half years ago, I wasn't a climber and had no interest in climbing. And yet here I am, investing countless hours of time and countable-but-uncounted amounts of money into building a bouldering wall in my garage. But despite how I've jumped headfirst into climbing, this spring marks the beginning of my experience with outdoor climbing on real rock.

A few weeks ago, we took a trek out to Noboribetsu, a town on the southern coast of the main bulk of Hokkaido. Noboribetsu has a lot of volcanic vents and smells a lot like sulfur all of the time, so the locals decided the obvious thing to do was to make their town hell- (and onsen-) themed.

Welcome tourists!

Not included in most guidebooks is the bouldering area at Ayoro Beach, a set of seaside cliffs ranging from about 3 to 5 meters in height. We brought out the crash pads and had a look.

The crux is getting down

This was only my second time out to a "real" bouldering area in the great outdoors. The first was too shameful to write up, and anyway I don't have any pictures. Find the area was easy enough, but my inexperience proved a burden when it came to finding the actual boulder problems as written up in my guide. I imagine that this will come with experience. It would have helped to have met somebody familiar with the area, but we were alone.

Nurikabe Stem 5c

Climbing on real rock is, obviously, much different from climbing on gym holds. Much has been written about this, but until you do it yourself it's hard to understand the difference. One aspect of outdoor climbing that I've found much more challenging than I imagined is identifying holds- since I'm used to colorful and obvious holds against a wooden wall, the art of finding good holds in stone is very new to me. You can see in the pictures that some of the holds were marked up with chalk from other climbers, but many of the easier problems we tackled were not.

Nurikabe Stem 5c

Another challenge was learning to trust my spotter and the crash pads. None of the problems we climbed were particularly tall, but there was still a mental challenge to it. By the end of the day I was pretty comfortable.

Dimple 6a

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

The problem I enjoyed the most was called Sukesou Traverse, shown above. Next time I go out, I need to remember to take pictures of the problems before we climb them! Rated at 6b+, the low problem involves traversing across pockets before going up the wall. Charles, shown above, was able to reach the goal horn from this position; I wasn't so lucky.

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

I tried pulling myself up enough on the sloping top to get my feet into the pockets, but no dice. I did manage to find another pocket up there that I could barely reach, though, and that gave me the leverage to get myself up. Success! This was the first outdoor boulder problem that I had ever "worked" successfully- previously, everything had been either an onsight or a failure

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

We did a few more problems before calling it a day. Next time I go, I hope that I can meet a climber at the site or bring somebody more experienced along; finding the problems and identifying them in the book was more of a challenge than the actual climbing was. Then again, it may be that I need to pay less attention to the guidebook and its ratings, and just focus on climbing.

Orange Crab, 6a+

And finally, boy do I need a tan.

Charles atop Standing Face 5c

Hoping to get out again this weekend, so more to come. English information on Hokkaido climbing seems non-existent, so I'm hoping to get some information and beta pics put up.

Thanks to Charles, Jordan, and Elise for use of pictures and likenesses!

Mutant Hangboard

Hey there, cowboys. This isn't a post about the progress of my wall (big update on that soon), but about what's happened with a marginally older friend. Remember this thing?

Credit to the Wayback Machine (not really)

I do! It's hard to forget, because it's still in my spare room and it takes up a lot of room. If you'll remember, Kuraimu had its humble beginnings as this thing, before I decided to build a proper monster in the garage and relegate this frame to hangboard status. So what's happening with it now?

Pay no attention to the dust

Well, for starters, it hasn't got any holds any more. I put up some campus rungs- low, but I'm not good enough to campus properly anyway, so they are mostly used for hanging and very static moves. It works out alright. The towel on top is for grabbing the edge to do pull ups- it's more stable than it looks.

But wait! What's that futon doing behind the frame? What's going on back there?

I love exposed screws

Oh, a hangboard. This frame serves double duty!

Fire detector for when my workouts get too hot

The board is a Metolius Contact board, a real beast of a hangboard that has been reviewed elsewhere. This thing has more than enough on it to keep me busy for a long while.

Now, originally, I had planned on using the existing board as a home made hangboard by filling it with T-nuts and placing holds. I eventually relented and purchased the Contact for a few reasons:

1. I keep using all of my holds on the actual climbing wall. To really get the training potential of a proper hangboard, I'd need several matched sets of different holds; this runs up to costing more than just buying the real thing.
2. I can make rails and pockets to hang on, but recreating the varying depths of the pockets and slots of the Contact would be a lot of work
3. I like spending money

So I bought the Contact. So far I'm happy with the decision- this thing allows for regimented and controlled training in a whole new way. This sort of training, by the way, is why I even wanted a hangboard in the first place. Many people view hangboards as a sort of stopgap solution to training without a wall, something that I have. And I while I do hope to use my garage wall to get stronger and increase my weekly climbing hours, the hangboard really allows for measured and controlled progress in strength in a way that simply climbing doesn't.

Anyway, moving on, you might have noticed the ropes in the previous pictures. I'm a weak climber, so I need help to hang by my fingers.

Enter the pulley system! Reducing weight allows me to get in 8-10 second hangs on holds I otherwise wouldn't be able to use. It's a simple but effective system.

Shout out to Fighting Road, The Only Choice (unfortunately)

Weight goes on one end of each rope, via a bolt and washer.

Crossloading! Yer gonna die!

I go on the other. 

Repping my gym

Hangs result! The idea will be to continually train using decreasing amounts of weight over time until I can hang unassisted from the target holds. My current big goal is to hang on the deepest two-finger pockets with my middle two fingers for ten seconds. Right now, doing it with 15 kg taken off is a challenge, so I either need to train hard or eat a lot less. The answer here is obvious.

Anyway, that's what's up with my indoor training apparatus. It doesn't have a name anymore. I'm sorry, Indoor Training Apparatus. Would it help if I capitalized?

Stay tuned for more on the progress of Kuraimu proper, as well as more hold reviews- I just got a big box of Metolius goodies. Stay chilly fresh proper my droogs. I wish it would stop raining.

My New Arete + Metolius Hold Mini-Review

Welcome back to the blog! I've been away for a while, but progress is continuing. The snow is finally gone, so I've been out trying out some real rock- but that's a story for another blog post. I've just got two quick mini-posts for you today.

First thing: The arete section is (mostly) complete! If you recall, I had a gap between the 40 and 30 degree sections of my wall:

Welcome to the spider kingdom

And while this did allow for some interesting movements...

Don't say stuck. I'm not stuck.

I knew that a proper arete segment would allow for a lot more. And now it's done!

Phase 1

Phase 2

A small hole is still open at the bottom, but I'll cover that as soon as I have a scrap of plywood the right size. As a side effect of this piece of wall, I now have no access to the back of the wall. Hope I don't need to get back there for anything!

Placing the arete allows for more interesting transitions between the two sections of the wall, and allows me a place to use holds that would otherwise be unusable. The yellow hold you can see near the edge and the orange sloper above it fall into that category- terrible holds that would have been nearly useless, even on a normal vertical section of wall. Here, you can wrap around and grab them- they aren't great, but they can be used to make challenging and interesting movements. Climb on!

To finish my post today, I'd like to offer a quick mini-review of some Metolius holds I picked up. There seems to be a real lack of information about individual Metolius holds on the internet, including on their site- it can be hard to tell what you're getting, exactly. Since I have a fair number I'm going to periodically go through and post my thoughts.

The set I got for this review is from the Incut Edges Macro line, I believe set A. The set consists of two no-frills ledges, a small one and a large one.

The smaller of the two is about a pad and a half deep, with plenty of room for four fingers and even a somewhat sketchy match. The texture and shape feel very comfortable to hold. I have this on the 30 degree section, where it feels like a pretty good jug; on the 40 it would be almost flat on top, and probably still usable. As a foothold, the gripping surface is wide enough to stand on, and getting a toe into the hold would be a tricky but doable move.

The larger of the two I have set as a goal on the 40. It's huge, with plenty of space for both hands- really more of a ledge than anything. This thing is ridiculously deep and positive, and would remain bomber on anything less than a roof.

The complaint I have with this one is that it spins. The thing is huge and invites hanging on one side or the other, but only has a single bolt hole- no set holes for screws. I've never seen a screw hole on a Metolius hold, but if anything needs it it's this one. I quickly had to place two below it. This wasn't an issue with the smaller of the two holds.

And that's that- stay tuned! I'll probably review more Metolius holds at a later date, especially the ones that came in my starter box.

The March of April Progress

We're getting to that part of the book where everything accelerates and begins to spiral inevitably towards the conclusion like a spider getting sucked into a drain. This is a metaphor, with "The Book" being the construction of Kuraimu V4 (I think) and the sucking pull of plot resolution being the dual forces of 1) my finally being able to clean my house, and 2) my inevitable overuse injury from climbing in my garage every day. Whew! What I'm trying to say here is that things are coming along.

Before. Before THE PARTY that is!!

Amidst a lovely light spring rain/sleet/snow we assembled the second of the two main sections, which astute readers will remember is a 30-degree segment. After a few late nights of hurried T-Nut installation, the big day arrived and my free labor friends arrived to help. First step: moving the damn thing out of my house.

"I'm not sure this is going to work"

"That hasn't stopped me yet."

I have a lot of regrets

That's not a door, that's a window- I think. A big sliding porch-style window-door thing, minus the porch. If you ever decide to assemble a climbing wall inside your house, don't. If you do, like me, make sure you actually figure out how you're going to get it outside before crunch time- I didn't measure anything, and it's only because heaven smiles on fools that I was able to get this thing outside.

This is how we party in Hokkaido

You can see here, as in the first picture, the unnatural blue glow of my garage. I picked up a string of Christmas lights on the cheap to provide lighting inside the garage at night, figuring the soft glow would serve to illuminate the wall without causing issues with shadows, glare, or excess heat generation. It works quite well, although I wouldn't mind a bit of heat right now. The blue glow pulsing out under the door also serves to keep curious children away, but the tradeoff is that it attracts curious ravers.

hup

hup hup

We hoisted the wall section into place (it fits!!) and then kind of stood around for a bit considering what to do next. Since the angle of the wall is shallower than that of the A-frame, there's a gap between the two. I filled it in with some supporting beams, but these had to be cut first since I didn't actually know how long they'd have to be.

Then I had to get behind the wall to secure everything.

Who likes spiders???

Luckily, as it turns out, I was able to get through the gap and into the dark and webby netherworld of Behind the Wall. I wasn't sure how this would work before we actually did it- if the gap wasn't big enough, the plan was to get the wall raised up with me behind it and then scramble out over the tiny gap at the top. Which would have made for a pretty funny picture, I'm sure.

Welcome to... the Netherworld.

Here I am behind the wall, taking a selfie while waiting for more screws. I had to climb up the back to screw the supports into the top beams of the A-frame. You can see the supporting beams of the garage itself in this picture, but the wall isn't attached to them at all- I didn't trust the structure of the garage enough. You can also see the gap I was planning on squeezing through to get out. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

After securing everything (for now) I got back out and we were done. The 30 degree section will need more beams supporting it, but since I can get behind the wall at will I can do that any time. And the result...

Tadaah!

Both sections of the wall, loud and proud. I put a few holds up on the left side, for testing purposes only. I promise I didn't climb on anything before the wall was properly supported.

Birth in Reverse

Here's the gap between the two sections. Once everything is squared away and I don't need to get behind the wall any more, I'll put a small section of plywood here as a transition. This will provide for cool arete moves and let me use some of the terrible slopers I have that would be unusable anywhere else.

Nothing sadder than Christmas lights in daylight

Here you can see the gap between the top of the 30 and the A-frame crossbeam. After adding a few more support 2x6s in here, I'll put a short roof section here. This roof section will actually be slightly MORE than horizontal, with a slight angle down from the top of the 30. This should provide some interesting potential for underclings and the like.

And there you have it. These two pieces form the main bulk of Kuraimu V4, and I'm excited as hell to have them up. The next step, after finishing the transition and mini-roof, will be to add in the proper roof section- more on that later.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next time for A Very Special Edition of Fantasy Gyms. Stay loose!

Getting Your Kicks

You already know this, and I already knew this, but the last few days of climbing on my semi-completed wall has confirmed a basic fact- without some seriously stupid foot holds, getting a start on a 40-degree overhang is tough work.

I don't want to put anything bigger than a foot chip down low, so that means a kicker- a small section of flat wall at the bottom of a steep bit, for starting your feet on. I put this in yesterday.

I guess I could just use this as a foothold. If I was LAZY.

First, I put up some wedges to support the kicker, one on each end. These triangular chunks are actually the discarded ends from the 2x6s I cut to make the side supports- waste not want not, and they are already at a perfect angle!

Look how clean it is!

Likewise, the plywood I used is a cast-off bit from one of the wall panels. The panel is really short, about fifteen centimeters. This is fine, as it just needs to provide a surface for foot chips/smearing, and the smaller it is the longer the main climbing surface is.

Ready 2 Climb

I threw on a few chips- these tiny-ass holds are basically useless on anything much steeper than vertical, and would be unusable (by me) on this steep of a wall, or even on the 30 that hasn't gone up yet. But they sure make it easier to start a problem!

And that's that- short update, but things are progressing. I'm nearly done putting the T-Nuts in the 30 degree section, at which point I'll put it up as soon as I can get the help. This will involve getting behind the wall for the last time and (hopefully) squeezing out over the top at the end- it should be a great time. Until then!

Little Garage of Horrors

Spring is here. How can I tell? Because spiders are alive. If you want to know how I can tell that, well, it's because I've been spending a lot of time in the garage, like all proper young men.

Here it is:

Who wants a snowboard??

Yes, it's awful. I'm working on it. The shed where a lot of this crap is destined to live is still covered in snow, however, so for now it all floats around like a herd of awkward, unwanted children. That you found left behind when you moved in. Everyone's been there, right?

Oh yeah, you can see the frame that will support the wall. We built that over the weekend. The whole thing is made of 2x6s, and in these pictures the bottom supports- what keeps the legs from coming apart like those of an overeager gymnast- haven't been put in yet.

Yeah, none of this would pass mustard in an inspection.

The little support tying the two legs together is a placeholder, but I do want to put another one like it further down. The bulk of the weight of the wall will be held up by these legs, and the force will want to push them apart; better safe than sorry.

Note to self

Well, I do

And then, last night, I finished putting in the base supports and added in the first wall piece:

It's aliiiive!

It fits! I was kind of holding my breath, imaging that we wouldn't be able to get it in there. It took some wrestling but we managed to get it in place, more or less.

Not approved for climbing... yet.

Right now, the wall is just sitting in the frame, not actually fastened in. When it does get attached, it will be pushed flush against the side, and I want to add some additional reinforcement before that happens. In this picture you can see the bottom support, which is just a really long 2x6 that both legs of the A-frame are attached to. This makes the side a big triangle, and I have it on good authority that triangles are totally legit.

There's still a lot to do, but it's really starting to look like A Thing. I have to restrain myself from jumping on it every time I walk by. I know this because I tried (see holds) and the thing shifted a little too much for comfort- remember, it's not actually attached to anything. There's also some outward bowing of the top bar from the weight of the wall/climber, so I might run another beam along it to reinforce.

We're getting there!

Just hanging around

Hey ya'll, just a miscellaneous update and assorted picture dump. In preparing to assemble my wall, I've had to consider which holds will be usable on the horizontal roof section, and make sure enough I have enough good jugs to make it climbable. What I realized was that I can test this out myself on my adjustable hangboard-thing, Kuraimu V2. It can go nearly horizontal, but I've somehow never tested it. Hold testing proceeded:

Hmm, yes. I see.

And, as things do, quickly escalated:

The first version of this picture had visible panties. Yowza!

End conclusion: A lot of the holds I ended up with are usable even at a totally horizontal angle, but require careful movement and thoughtful feet to avoid coming off. Very few of my holds, as it turn out, are the sort of bomber roof jugs that guys in toques like to do pull-ups on.

I do have a package coming in from Element containing a few good jugs that I hope should add options. Once those come I want to take a big shot of all my holds in a group- probably the last chance I'll have to do it!

Speaking of Element holds, I want to mention-

Element has some sweet customer service!

Element offers free shipping over a certain amount, like most hold companies. In putting together my latest order I sent an email asking if there was any amount I could spend that would result in free shipping- you never know. I got a very prompt response from a sales rep who told me that the free shipping was for U.S. addresses only, but that he could give me a discount code worth half of the hefty Japan shipping cost. Totally unexpected and cool! Along with the sale on large-size holds I got a sweet deal. And of course, the Element holds I have so far are high quality and I expect no less from the next set. Great experience!

Last, I want to show off this sweet mug I got from my lovely climbing friend:

The hold isn't any better than it looks

Hand-made and one-of-a-kind! Now everyone at my office will know that I'm a climber! I mean, they already knew since I talk about it incessantly, but now there's extra evidence.

Stay tuned for some pics of the framework currently making my garage unusable.