The most sustained commenting I see on posts here are those related to climbing injuries. There’s also been increased activity on my post from February where I described my A2 pulley injury and the steps I began to recover.
Many of the comments from other climbers related to their injury, how they’ve been treating it, and where to go for additional advice.
Since these posts live forever via search engines, I thought it may be useful to simply have a post where anyone can comment on what doctors or other medical professionals they’ve found to be helpful in dealing with climbing related injuries.
I’ll start things off by listing some I recommend:
Kim Raupp, certified hand therapist, Lafayette, CO – She worked on my partially torn A2, helped me with an excellent rehab path, and I’m getting close to being fully healed.
Dr. Jeremy Rodgers, sports medicine/chiropractic care, Boulder, CO – He helped me with my elbow tendinitis.
Dr. Stephen Gunther, orthopedic surgeon, Washington, DC, – Diagnosed recurring shoulder issue (”loose” shoulder) and provided resources for rehabbing a separated shoulder.
Please add yours in the comments and hopefully we can compile a nice resource for all our fellow injured climbers.
Will Gadd on general fitness and weight training versus climbing specific training:
I’m going to get real blunt here: If you want to be a better climber then damn well go climbing. Especially a better rock climber. I would bet any amount of money that if a person spent, say, 20 hours a week training and climbing hard in a structured climbing program (rock gym and outdoors) and an identical person spent 20 hours a week in a weight gym (even one promising some sort of climbing-specific program) that the actual climbing effort would destroy the gym program. Absolutely destroy it, as in 5.12 vs. 5.9, as in sending like a fiend and falling off before the first bolt on the same route. I guarantee this.
Alexander and Thomas Huber became the first to redpoint Eternal Flame (5.13a) on the south face of Trango Tower in Pakistan (Climbing Magazine, Alpinist, TheLowDown)
In order to progress, you need to continually push your limits, both mentally and physically. I have always worked up the grades one letter at a time, sticking with the grade pyramid. Yet what is the worst that could happen if you push the bar and you get in “over your head”? You fall? You might as well just go for it.
Donate to help with Layton Kor’s medical expenses for his kidney transplant and be entered to win a climb with pros including Steph Davis and Tommy Caldwell.
Each $25 donation gives you a chance a winning one of five historic Kor climbs:
Castleton Tower with Steph Davis, The Cruise with Jimmie Dunn, Kor’s Flake with Tommy Caldwell, Kor pitches at the Gunks with Eric Horst, or Washington Column with Conrad Anker…. Each time you donate, we’ll toss your name in a hat. As a thank you, we’ll give back to you what we’re able to give: these climbing days and some amazing gear bundles donated by prAna, Five Ten, Mammut, Marmot, North Face, MSR/Therm-a-Rest, Clif Bar and Backcountry.com, every month.
Whether learning how to jam cracks or cruising 5.13 testpieces, tape gloves will prevent the back of your hands from turning into hamburger. Not only will this help you avoid needless suffering, it will allow you to climb exponentially more than the haughty non-taper who is sidelined by shredded skin.
By now many of you have heard about the new climbing gym that opened in Boulder called Movement. What makes this interesting is Boulder, a city of about 100,000, now has four climbing gyms (Boulder Rock Club (BRC), The Spot, CATS, and Movement).
While the concentration of climbers in Boulder is obviously quite high, I’ve wondered on the sustainability of all the gyms.
I just read an interesting post from the BRC (which is located literally one block away from Movement) in which they describe their new pricing changes. The summary: they’ve reduced all their prices.
When Movement opened, the lowest monthly rate for the BRC was $60 while Movement was $62. Two dollars extra a month for a shiny new gym and all their extras (full fitness center, yoga classes) was an easy decision for me to check it out for a few months. Now, the BRC’s lowest monthly rate is $55, about 8% less. But comparing apples to apples, that rate is for a 12 month commitment. The comparable rate to Movement’s $62 is now $58. While officially lower, for most people that’s a wash. And while this was more expensive than The Spot, the added fitness center justifies the price in my opinion.
These moves were obviously made to counter the new gym’s presence. The question for the BRC is will it be enough? I’ve heard a few rumors (likely just pure speculation) that Movement’s goal is to put the BRC out of business and then raise their rates. Personally, I find this hard to believe as it wouldn’t necessarily be the best business idea.
My membership to The Spot is ending soon and I’ve decided to switch over to Movement for now mainly because I need to be climbing more routes with my finger injury. I felt quite limited at my rehab efforts in a bouldering-only gym (yes, I know, nice problem to have). But if Movement eventually raises their rates too high, I would quickly go back to The Spot no questions asked.
Competition in all industries in good – it promotes innovation, better service, and a competitive price structure. For Boulder climbers, let’s hope all the gyms can continue to coexist and thrive.
So far, I’ve enjoyed climbing at Movement, but I’ve been limited in my climbing due to the finger injury rehabbing. Peter Beal has a good review from the perspective of someone who can hit the hard stuff there.
If you’ve been to the new gym, what were your thoughts?
In just a couple weeks, the 2009 Reel Rock Film Tour will kick off in Boulder on September 10. There are two main attractions for this fourth installment of the tour. Big UP will present Progression featuring Chris Sharma, Kevin Jorgeson, and Tommy Caldwell.
Sender Films and Nat Geo Adventure Channel will preview First Ascent: The Series, a new TV series set to air in January 2010.
The Reel Rock Filmmaking contest is also back this year. Last years entries were quite good, so don’t forget to vote by August 31.
