Aaron's Status

6:27 am

You know you live in New England when 53 degrees seems warm. It’s a rainy Tuesday here in Greater Boston and I’m honestly just happy that it isn’t 18 degrees like it was the other day.

Climbing

Yesterday I ducked out of work early to head to the climbing gym so I could get warmed up for class. There was a purple 5.11- that I had tried a couple of times but couldn’t get past what I think is the crux move and that’s all I wanted to work on.

I sent that one (on the first try of the session), and then also flashed the new pink 5.10 on the same wall, which felt a bit stiffer to me than the 11- (but such is the way of things).

I also did a little bouldering, sending a white V4 that eluded me at the end of my last session, and then I spent some time projecting a black comp problem (that they graded V5 in the Pebble app), and also an orange V6.

I met a new staffer who is also a setter and he and I projected the V6 together for a while, which was really fun. Neither of us sent it but I felt like we were both pretty close, and this one might be in reach for me, which would be my first V6. There’s some interesting technique in the middle part, which is definitely the crux.

Finally, after all of that, class began. We spent the entire class time practicing lead climbing with a backup belay. Our instructor, Brooke, would have one of us on top rope belay while the other practiced lead belaying. We got to a point where she was keeping the TR line very slack, but nobody had any unexpected falls this time.

We also practiced on a cool corner climb that had bolts but no draws, so we were able to use my draws to practice clipping the draw and the rope, which went very well. First time out for the Black Diamond Hotforge draws and they were great.

We’ll do our next class on Christmas Eve day, which we all have off from work. In that class we’re going to practice falling, and probably lead climb without a backup belay. I hope I don’t die.

Coaching

The end of the year is approaching and people are thinking about their futures. At least, I tend to think about my future at the end of the year. I have a prospect call on Friday, which is very exciting, and I am thinking about once again releasing a version of my year-in-review template soon.

I don’t need to add a client before the new year, but I have capacity, and I’d like to add at least one new client in the next couple of months.