Telemark

Ever since moving to Colorado, I've been quite intrigued by telemark skiing.  What is this crazy free heel business that a rare subset of adventurers is doing??

When my alpine skis were stolen a year ago, I eventually sucked it up and bought a crappy telemark setup from Craigslist ($100 for skis and bindings that were a little too old, $40 for boots that were a little too small (resold!)) and joined the Colorado Mountain Club ($107) to get telemark lessons ($50) and avalanche training ($240).  Then came some newer skis ($200) and some skins ($100) and leashes ($20).  Then, eventually, new tele boots with thermomoldable liner ($120) and thermomolding ($10).  All-in-all, about $1000 for the gear and knowledge to TELEEEEEEEEE!!!

And, I'm just having the best of times doing it.  I've been up 4 times this season so far (not too shabby for earlier season), and while the first few days were just sort of getting my feet wet, yesterday Charter and I skiied a solid 16,000' at Breck!  Lunges are coming in, and tele is sort of starting to make at least some sense!  :D  I'm planning to go at least once a week for the rest of the season once I'm back, and at that point, I should be a pretty solid telemark skier.  Can't wait, can't wait!

Climber Training

Well, I was definitely a bit ambitious with my "climb M+ before going to Kalymnos" plan!!!
I found the ratings conversion chart at the Denver Bouldering Club, and it turns out that would be pretttty insane!

E- = V0 = 5.9
E = V1 = 5.10
E+ = V2 = 5.11
M- = V3 = 5.12a/b

That's as far as I got.  I can flash most V2s in the gym, unless they are overhung.  For overhung, I can do a subset of the V1s, but more than 45 degrees overhung, and I can make it maybe halfway.

Importantly: for the first time EVAR, I did some V3's yesterday!  Two, in fact.  Stemmy/balancy ones, sure, but V3's nevertheless.

I'd definitely like to get to the V5 rating, but that was never going to happen in the 2 month time frame during which I was pseudo-training.  Still, I got significantly better, and I've learned way more climbing technique in these two months than I learned over my previous 5 years of casual/recreational climbing.  Huzzah!

Climbing Training

I'm training for a trip to Kalymnos, Greece in a little over a month.  In preparation, I got a membership to the Denver Bouldering Club, and have been several times.

My current method of operating is the following:
- Climb (or attempt) every E-, E, and E+ bouldering problem and downclimb.
- Do some random core stuff

The DBC doesn't use the V rating, so I really have no idea how hard these climbs are.  I think that as long as I can do M+ by the end of December, I should be in a good position for Kalymnos.

However, I need to start doing some top-roping and lead climbing to keep my endurance up.  I also need to get outdoors, moreso than just the JTree trip with Minwah in December.

WOOT!!!

New Things

I haven't posted in this blog in a long, long time.  But, I want to start again!
I moved to Denver, Colorado in fall of 2011.  I stopped posting on here because it's "Cambridge" Exercise, and I'm no longer there.  But I suppose I'm an Ex-Cambridger, so it still works?

In any case, it's been a long, long time since I posted.
Some things that happened:

Running
Half Marathons
- Bay State Half Marathon - 10.17.2010, 1:59:00 (pace, 9:06)
- Pikes Peak Ascent - 08.18.2012, 4:29:43
- Boston Half Marathon - 10.12.2014, 1:55:00

Fun Runs
- McAdenville Christmas Town USA 5k - 12.01.2013
- Bolder Boulder 10k - May 2014

Biking
- MS Cape Code Ride - 2010, 175 miles in 2 days
- Courage Classic - 2013, 2014; big mountain passes

Climbing
- Red Rocks, NV - Dec 2011, 7 days
- Colorado: Shelf Road, Boulder Canyon, Clear Creek, North Table, Eldorado Canyon
- I lead 5.9 sport and 5.7 trad now!

Hiking
- 260 miles on the AT - April 2011
- Sarek National Park - June 2012
- 32 Colorado 14ers

Skiing
- Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Loveland, Brekenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek
- Alpine -> Telemark; 1 day of snowboarding, ew.


In summary, I got a *lot* better at climbing, running, biking, skiing, and hiking in the past 3 years.