Chuck Millsaps, who had climbed once in the past year, sends a V1 bouldering problem on The Wave wall.
Need incentive to visit a spanking new climbing gym? Try this: If you’re, say, a 5.7, 5.8 climber, there’s a good chance you could send a 5.9 on a freshly minuted climbing wall.
“I came in and did two 5.9s,” Raleigh climber Phil Gruber said of his first visit to the Triangle Rock Club’s just-opened gym in North Raleigh. “In a row,” he was quick to add. “I’ve never done that. And I talked to a guy who did three 5.11s.”
“The grades are a little soft,” TRC Managing Partner Joel Graybeal said during a climbing session this morning.
Today was my first attempt at the wall, and I wouldn’t say the routes are easier — they’re set by chief TRC routsetter Scott Gilliam and his crew, the same group responsible for routes in TRC’s flagship Morrisville gym. The difference: the holds are all new and exceptionally grippy. Thousands of hands have yet to act as the indoor equivalent of wind and rain to smooth the holds’ surfaces.
I developed an appreciation for this phenomenon climbing a 5.8 rife with grippers (small holds that require greater hand strength to hang on to. After getting a feel for the route by watching Phil and Chuck Millsaps before me, I took my turn. I third of the way up, in a 15-foot stretch of nothing but the small holds, I managed to keep moving and punch through. The grippers were like flypaper.
Alas, there are new holds in this gym that may be grippy but require techniques that eluded me this morning. Always good to have a new challenge.
If you’re an existing climber looking for a confidence boost or a newcomer who likes to excel the first time out, check out the new North Raleigh Triangle Rock Club soon. The grip won’t last forever.read more
“You’re a cyclist?” I ventured.
Some people guess weights, some professions. I look at someone’s physique and try to guess how they have fun.
“Yeah!” David answered.
“Road?”
“Yeah, mostly. I do triathlons.”
We were gearing up to climb early this morning at the Triangle Rock Club and the short exchange picked up my spirits. A month-plus of assorted deadlines had started taking its toll on my immune system. Physically, mentally I had wound down. I needed something.
David and I had just met, mutual friends of our third climbing partner, Joel. The awkwardness of the first-time meeting was absent, which I attribute in part to climbing mojo. Different sports communities have different vibes, not all of which are entirely supportive. Climbing, though, is a sport apart. I’ve had 5.12 climbers give me a “Nice!” at the gym after I’ve topped out on a 5.8. This after they stopped to watch me grapple with a problem and suggest a key move I didn’t see. And it travels to the top of sport. Not to name drop, but I’ve met Conrad Anker and Cory Richards, and I’m pretty sure if I’d said, “Hey, my microbus is out back; let’s grab our gear and head to Linville Gorge,” both would have been in the back asking “Are we there yet?” before I’d started the engine.
We started climbing and it came up that David had a mess of titanium in his elbow, courtesy of a mountain bike accident.
“You mountain bike, too?” I asked. We talked for a minute about where we like to ride. “So,” I asked, “you ever ride Morrisville?”
David smiled. He works for a retail developer that developed a parcel of land that previously played host to a popular, albeit illegal, mountain bike trail referred to simply as Morrisville. Rebel trail, trail developed on private property not in use, is common. Mountain bikers know such trail is ephemeral, that it can disappear overnight. Still, when it does … .
“I told my buddies, ‘If you want to ride one last time let’s do it today because we’re getting to work in their tomorrow.”
We climbed some, talked more. Soon it was time to head to work, to another day of deadlines. Work’s been a challenge. Before hitting the gym I felt like I’d hit the wall. After climbing the wall, I was ready to give my deadlines another try.read more
