2006-02-07

This is the road I walk when I go to the Klätterverket.

Lotta, Anna, & Lisa — it was snowing outside when we left Klättercenter yesterday evening, but not too cold. Today, there is once again a layer of the wite stuff on the ground everywhere..

2006-02-03

Tonight, after putting a bit of air in my tires, I started out, riding my bike through the newfallen snow. I still don't have proper snow tires for my bike, but the ordinary off-road tires work well in snow, provided it's not too hard and icy.

It took about 15 mintues to ride the 3 or 4 kilometers to Klättercentret. I nearly lost my balence skidding to an abrupt stop to let a car go by when crossing Hagavägen. I had a good time climbing, and managed to conquer one bouldering route all in one go that I had only been able to handle picemeal before. I taped my fingers thoroughly this time; I have learned that it's better to tape my fingers BEFORE I lose a big flap of skin, rather than AFTER. Lisa and I climbed with Pontus and Johannes, two guys we've seen there many times before.





After climbing, I walked with Lisa as far as Solna Station, where our paths home diverge. I rode the rest of the way home and enjoyed the still-falling snow.

2006-01-30 Monday

Monday night I went climbing as usual with Lisa and Anna.

It was one of my best climbing nights in a long time. Even when my hands got tired, I felt like I could still climb some more. I even did the tricky yellow route that had vexed me for so many weeks.

I have good days and bad days. Last Wednesday was a bad day. Monday was a very good day.

Anna poses in preparation for her relentless attack on the wall.

Lisa almost bests the orange route.

The view from above.

Taking a break.

2006-01-28 Friday

I went climbing last night with Anna and Lotta (not my ex Lotta — another one). Here Anna shows off her upside-down move. Fancy!

“Victory is mine!”

2006-01-17

I went climbing at Klättercentret again last night. Here Lisa comes close to conquering the green/gray route in the upstairs bouldering section.

Anna tries a slightly different route.

And finally, Lotta conquers the overhang on the brown route.

2006-01-12

Klättercenter was not too crowded tonight. I had not climbed there in almost a month, so I was a bit out of practice. I took the next few shots from the top of a 6A climb that had one particularly tricky part.

Lisa patiently holds the rope while I snap a few photos. The route I took is the purple grips. It starts in the left corner down below, and then moves to the right corner and then back to the center. Using the walls is important.

Here I am posing with my climbing friends Lotta and Anna in the new section upstairs.

The new section is mostly for bouldering — that is, climbing short boulder-height walls without a rope. There are thick foam pads on the floor, so falls aren't a problem.

More of the new bouldering section upstairs.

I was moving in this photo and ther was no flash, so it's very blurry. No, I'm not the Flash.

And now two snapshots of the main climbing area, taken from the new upstairs section.

2005-12-08 Wednesday

As I have done for the past 8 Wednesdays, I went climbing tonight at Klättercenter in Solna. My hands were a bit beat up from climbing on Sunday so I had a bit of trouble. At first I taped the fingers where I had cuts or abrasions; but the trouble is that the tape is more slipepry than skin, so it makes it hardeer to keep a grip on the wall. This photo shows me doing one of my favorite routes on one of the bouldering walls. I can completer this route about half of the time. It's tricky, but fun!

Klättercenter has a good selection of climbing surfaces to suit a wide range of skill levels. In the foreground of this picture are David and Anna, two climbers I'd consider experts. They can support their weight on little grips I can barely see, much less hold on to. :-)

Here Anna (a different one!) tries the fun yellow route. The trick to this one is to use the walls and push as much as pull.

2005-12-04

Here are a few pictures from Sunday's climbing session. Lisa and Anna show off their toned and taut muscles. :)

Yours truly tries the famous terracotta route. I can do everything except the last move. I always seem to swing around and slide off the grip — not particularly fun because it's rough and a bit sharp.

Anna plans her attack.

Lisa tries the green route. This smoothest way to do this route is to do a cross-over move from where she is in this photo. You gotta move your left hand across to the next green grip up to the right. If you take the seemingly easier route and grab the grip with your right hand, you'll be in the wrong position to take the next grip. Some thought goes into climbing.

2005-10-30

Friday night I went climbing with Lisa at Klättercentret in Solna.

klättercentret is very nice and has a good selection of climbing surfaces. There's also a little bar area 1 level up from the bottom level so if you're tired tou can take a coffee break and watch the others climb. I haven't climbed in several months, so I'm really out of practice.

Lisa shows me how it's done!

Here I was trying to do what Lisa did: climb from the left side of this wall to the right using only the wall surface — i.e., without using any of the grips attached to the wall. It took a dozen tries before I managed it. Fun stuff.

Climbing @ Klätterverket

Climing at Klätterverket last night. Here, I'm just hanging from the rope to give my arms a rest and to pose for the photo. I was going up the green route at this point; a bit later, I tackeled the purple route to the right. The purple route is on the edge where the wall splits into two sections; the right section has more of an overhang. The grips and their placement require a lot of hanging out to the side. It's tricky but fun. I cheated a bit and used my knee for balance at one point.

A wide shot of the same wall. The girl in this photo is climbing the aforementioned purple route. Fun!