Lithe Lightning starts with a victorious finish. Potwardowski mentions she is only a freshman (of college) who is up against seniors in a race. She uses thick details to bring you to the exact moment. In the second paragraph, she goes back to the beginning and starts to explain the situation. She gives the general information then sends us further into detail through a list, “it is a challenge physically, mentally, and emotionally”. Potwardowski has us focus on the rhythm of running and using emotions to have the reader fueled to run. The mentions of the difficult runs portrays the drag and effort and sometimes anxiety of putting more into running another day. The rain is to put the spirits of the runners down but to also symbolize that the runners can’t always control what happens to anything but themselves. They run to run. The most touching part of the essay is the description of encouraging the opposite team. The dignity to be supportive verses spiteful is an uncommon quality in opposite sport teams.
At first, Seven Things to Kill Yourself With was extremely confusing. That was the point. The story is arranged in a way so that you slowly get details and piece the puzzle together. When the realization finally comes around, its so stark that it pulls on raw emotions. Willer has the opening in the view of Sarah and switches back and forth between her and her sister. The sister misleads the reader by describing the hardship of her activity which turns out good after all. At her best moment, she finds that Sarah’s situation as turned for the worst. The reader than starts to realize what is going on. It may seem such an unbelievable situation, but it probably happens more often than we care to think about. Willer’s “I threw Holy Water on her… literally” decreases the tension for the reader only to plunge the reader right back into the sad situation. It’s such a moving statement, “Knowing the hard choice is the right choice still can’t fill the hole in your heart”. As humans, we can’t help but make mistakes.
Objects:If you have anything at all whatsoever, have climbing shoes. (they do rent in gyms). There are beginner and performance shoes. Beginner is more toned to a normal shoe for comfort while performance has a curve downward which puts weight on the toes. (pointed toe too) Try on different kinds for different feet types. Sis started me off right away with performance. Performance will bite into the tendon behind the ankle so find a good one to prevent raw blisters. Performance also crams toes tightly together. Walking and climbing are different.
carabiners — have locks on them. There are screwing locks and auto lock. These are mainly for the belayers or if you are doing a lead-climb.
rope — secures you to wall, if you fall, the belayer will make sure the rope catches so the fall is arrested. The main safety knot is the double figure eight. My sister’s friend taught me the easy way to remember how to make one. “take the rope and make a man, then strangle him and poke him in the eye!”
belay device — There are manual and auto-locking devices. I have never personally seen the autos in use before, though I know the manual. The rope at one end is attached to the climber, it goes to the top of the climb where a safety device is bolted into the wall, and comes back down to the belayer. The belay device is attached to the harness. When/if the climber falls, the rope will have frictions of both the hook at the top of the climb and the belay device to stop the fall and the climbers weight is canceled out by the belayers weight at the harness, which should be at the center of the belayers balance.
Harness – For both climbers and belayers. Not for boulderers. It attaches to the waist and thighs. Guys who try to wear baggy clothing see how painfully stupid it is to not have it secured right to their limbs because it will slide all over and hurt the you know what area. Harnesses should be tight to your skin/clothing.
climbing tape – It is just normal-ish paper tape that covers blisters and scrapes on fingers. It is similar to paper tape. I’ve seen guys rock pink tape all over their hands. There are other colors too.
climb on — Lotion bar, intensive skin repair, bees wax with other therapeutic essential oils. “For climbers, cyclists, runners, rogues, and rock stars!” For cuts, scrapes, split tips, callouses, blisters, cracked cuticles/heels, burns, dog pads, diaper rash, eczema, etc. “Feels good”
chalk – basic white powdered chalk. It keeps hands dry and makes sure you don’t slip off the holds.
Apparel: – People wear normal clothes that don’t get in the way of safety or feet. Guys sometimes roll their pants up and completely take off their shirts. Women sometimes strip down to just their SPORT bras and slim yoga pants. Winter climbing is less picky as long as it doesn’t impair the climbing.
More stuff:sd
HP40 is so far my favorite outside bouldering place. Bouldering can be indoors and outdoors. Climbing areas will almost always be natural. Most areas are in/near mountains, but HP40 is an odd amount of rubble on top of a mountain.
It is unspoken that there is no messing around with other people and climbing. If someone is being stupid, then they are endangering the lives of multiple people and are severely punished for that.
Those who have climbed for some years often are ripped and like yoga. There are some guys who develop muscles that I didn’t even know existed.
Climbing can hurt. That can be for both beginners and experts. There will always be blisters, scrapes and bruises. It is rare that there worse injuries. The thrill of climbing almost always outweighs the pain. I personally am afraid of heights but I climb anyways because its fun. My muscles will ache and I will barely be able to move without fire in my arms and legs the next day, but I’ll still climb. The benefit of continuing another day is you acquire strength, poise and determination.
Use the buddy system when climbing. That person(s) will be the one to save your most fatal fall. They are the thread that keeps you from falling into the bottomless pit. Buddies will also keep you from hurting yourself by making silly choices. Fresh people can’t think well when up on the rock. I could never remember that there are more foot-holds below my knees and for a while I couldn’t figure how to reach the holds just out of reach when I could have just pushed myself up with a crimp at my knee.
Techniques:
Remember that there is always something you can use even if it doesn’t look like it. Just take your time.
Jugs- holds that you can put your entire hand to hold onto. (aka- the obvious ones) (the ones climbers love)
Pinches – holds that are literally pinched. (small and big) Uses mainly the tips of fingers and thumb. These will greatly increase fore-arm strength.
Sloper – Hold that is rounded. The climber uses only friction and surface tension. Its like trying to hold onto a basket ball with one vertical hand. They’ll mostly look like slick bumps on the wall or rock.
Crimp – Small hold that uses only the tips of fingers. Thumb would only be for balance. The way the body is angled plays a huge part for these.
Have straight arms. You shouldn’t by trying to climb like up a ladder or pulling up by your arms. Body movement and the center of gravity should be kept in mind while up on the wall. When unbalanced, your muscles will be worked uselessly and you’ll become tired before the end of the climb.
Other again:
When moving to another area of climbing (when outside), take off shoes and put on normal shoes to walk to the other area. When in a new area, study the climb before going up. See was looks like a good hold and which way seems like a dead end. Chalk marks often show the common path. Be sure to keep up with the crash pad so there can be safe landings.
halokat 