Lynn Hill Blogs : A Rock Climber Blogs

I talk about what is going on for me this week.

I don’t mean to bump the pictures from The Diamond down. Make sure to check them out.

Craig Luebben.

The Diamond Wall.

Other Climbers on the Diamond.

Looking down at tangled ropes. The pitches were so long and zig-zag on the way up, the ropes got very kinky.

Craig near the top of the Diamond.

Walking out off the Diamond.

I will post some audio in the morning.

Ciao for now!

This is an e-mail I just got and my response. I thought this would be interesting to share with everyone:

Dear Lynn,

Many many years ago you showed me how to tie-on with a double-bowline knot when leading. This was in 1988 or so, in Buoux, and you were redpointing Choucas with Tony Yaniro and Scott Franklin. It seems a long time ago (I was just a youthful 17 year old then), but ever since I have been using the knot, and, happily, have never had any problems despite many falls.

I’m aware that you had your awful fall down the Styx Wall a decade or so ago, and I was wondering if you still use the knot, or perhaps ditched it as a result?

Robin
London

Hi Robin!
That was a long time ago when I was in Buoux with Tony Yaniro. He lives
in Boseman, MT now: new job, new wife, but still climbing. I also have a
two-year old son named Owen. He looks like he could be from Welsh.

I do still use the double-bowline knot even though it was the knot I
forgot to finish. I tell the story in detail in my book, Climbing Free.
The problem was more about being distracted in the middle of tying my
knot and I also had a jacket on to hide this mistake.

In any case, perhaps it is harder to forget the second half of the knot
if tying a figure eight because you can see that it is only half-tied.

I hope all continues to go well with you!
Cheers!
Lynn

This week I thought I would just record my thoughts.

Click here to listen to my audio-blog.

I am finally back in Boulder after the trade show in SLC and a brief visit with my brother and sister in Park City/Salt Lake City. In addition to seeing my own family, the best part about the trade show is seeing old friends. After thirty years of climbing, I’ve gotten to know a lot of people! As usual, the trade show went by fast since there was so much going on and I had the additional challenge of managing Owen. While I was busy talking to people, Owen was running around all over the place, climbing the displays, and darting across the aisle, but his favorite hang out was the climbing wall! Luckily we found a toddler friendly route to climb on the backside of the wall that led through a small cave to the top of the wall. Owen enjoys getting to the top of any climbing wall, but this one had the added bonus of seeing all the action from above and we could wave to the people standing below. Of course the beach balls, super balls with LCD colored lights, dogs to pet (or maul), and the chocolate treats added to his level of excitement. Fortunately, there were many on the spot volunteer baby-sitters around to keep him out too much trouble. Many people made comments about how it was not surprising to see such behavior from Owen based on who his mother is! I had to agree…

Now that I am back, I have a lot of work to catch up on, including making a possible last minute trip to Arco, Italy for the 20th annual Rock Master competition party (Sept. 2nd-7th). I also have to be in Phoenix, AZ on Sept. 1st for a presentation at the APRA convention (Parks and Recreation), then back in San Fransisco on the 9th and 10th for presentations at the Patagonia store and at the Sierra Summit event.

I am at the OR show in Salt Lake City!

Come by the Patagonia booth to say hello.

Craig Luebben invited me to go on the diamond on Longs Peak. That should be exciting. It is a fairly substantial hike in so you have to get up really early in the morning and hike up. It is about 6 or 7 pitches to the top and you have to get down before the afternoon thundershowers.

Katie Brown is in town climbing with me, so she might join!

One of the projects I am working on besides getting ready for the New River Gorge and Smith Rocks Camp is next years schedule. We will be adding new places to the climbing camp schedule: Hueco Tanks, Italy and France! Should be great locations!

Hueco Tanks has been a place with a lot of controversy over the last few years (restrictions due to vandalism). It was wide open before, which was nice for climbers, but now they close it down at night and have a curfew. That is a bad thing for climbers who want to be out at dusk trying a boulder problem or enjoying the cooler air. It is just a beautiful time of day, I feel a lot closer to the Indians that used to inhabit the place when I am out there at dusk. My intent is to get our guide certification (for the area, like a tour guide certification). We will be trained in how to take care of the area and take care of the petroglyphs among other things. Once we
establish a relationship with the Park Service, we hope to have a little bit more influence on the restrictions.

I think Italy and France this fall will be one of the most successful locations. I can speak Italian and French and also have a lot of climbing guide friends out there. I think it would be a great opportunity to experience many places in Europe. We will be based in one area and then travel from there. In Italy, there are many different cliffs in the area within half an hours drive. It is an ideal place for limestone climbing. Great place to climb with amazing gelato and coffee. It is going to be a really great trip! We will go to the south of France as well where there are great climbing areas as well as wines, cheeses, and food. It is the best of climbing and eating and being in a new place and opening your mind to new things.

I went bouldering in Estes Park near Glacier Lake yesterday with Katie
Brown. It was the first time I had been there and it was beautiful! The rock is a strange mixture of granite and some other kind of black intrusion that looks like diorite. I forgot my shoes so I went barefoot until I ran into a friend who happened to have shoes that fit me perfectly- and they were even La Sportiva shoes previously owned by Beth Rodden. I never really liked the Katana shoes until I climbed in them yesterday. They were perfect for bouldering since they are easy to put on and take off (velcro closure system), they are more supportive on small edges and have a more procise heel cup design than the Mantras. I think maybe they were a better size (34) than the ones I had tried before. We had fun for a few hours before the rain, thunder and lightening “dampened” our day.

Owen is great. He just got his first bike yesterday. He likes to be like the big people and not on a tricycle.

I am going to help out with a little bit of fundraising, which means I will take someone out climbing for the day. It is for Action Committee for Eldorado, and they do great things such as trail building and any kind of decision making with equipment on the rock. Eldo is a traditional place that has a very traditional past.

When you walk into Eldorado Canyon you see a board with the accidents on specific routes, and most happen on the easiest ones (due, in part, to the number of people on them) It is not like the Crags in Europe where there are bolts there. You have to put your own gear in and a lot of times there isn’t the opportunity to put gear in. So you either have to risk a big fall or not do it. For a lot of beginners, risking a big fall is a rough way to go. So the Eldorado Action Committee looks at this and decides to put in a bolt to help out the safety of beginners.

In this community where there are so many climbers and climbing is so accessible, it is nice that we have an area that is enjoyable where you don’t have to risk your life when you go climbing. To me, that is not the point of climbing. I want to be able to take risks when I am feel up to it, but I don’t want to have to take risks every time I go climbing. It is nice to be able to place protection and know that it is going to hold, it just gives you a nice place of mind. It is a great organization that I would love to help out!

Thanks for the kind comments on my last post! Keep them coming!