For the Love of Mountains

by Eugene Lewins

Rachel Jones climbs at Ozone Crag. Photo: Eugene Lewins

I want to get strong! To pull that V5 roof at the gym in the next comp. To carry a 45lb pack into Camp Sherman to summit Rainier this July.

Personal goals are great motivators to train our prime movers – the muscle groups that are going to do the obvious work. And typically that’s what our training looks like – strengthening the big guys, often the ones ‘out front’ or most visible. Pumping up the biceps (Biceps Brachii) with weight curls, bulking up the pecs (Pectoralis Major) through push ups, toning the lats (Latissimus Dorsi) in pull ups.

But problems can come if we haven’t put time into building a good “belay”. Who is going to back up those prime mover muscles?

Typically a muscle group has an “antagonist” that stretches when it contracts, like the Tricep stretches when the Bicep pulls the forearm into flexion. The antagonist also moves the arm, in this case, in the opposite direction. And is a key for stabilizing and thus protecting the prime movers when they are doing maximal work. They are the belay.

We’ve all heard of Rotator Cuff problems – pain and resulting weakness in the shoulder. One of the most frequent causes is a relative over development of the muscles at the front of the body that do the obvious and exciting work of reaching into the world to achieve our goals. Many of these big muscles internally rotate the shoulder joint – our push up muscles of the pecs, our pick axe lifting muscles of the biceps—surprisingly even our pull up bar muscles of the lats, since these sneakily have an attachment on the inner front of the arm bone. As a result the scapula bone is literally pulled forward and out of alignment until the front portion, the Acromion, pinches and abrades the bicep tendon.

Ouch!

Where’s the belayer for this? It should include the External Rotators of the shoulder, but they are a smaller set of muscles tucked on and around the shoulder blade, and frankly, we give them scant respect. We don’t see them in the mirror, they don’t bulk up and look sexy. If there is one exercise to add to your workout routine for the upper body, a strong contender would be external rotation strengtheners for the shoulders.
Best way is to check in with a personal trainer and get hands-on guidance – it’s surprisingly hard to isolate these muscles when the ‘big guys’ are used to doing all the work. A frequent recommendation will be using a resistance band. Tied to a door knob to your left side it is held tight across the body in the right hand. Keep the elbow pinned to your ribs (maybe padding with a towel to keep aligned) as you rotate your hand away from the navel and out to the side, stretching the band, and engaging these oft neglected external rotators muscles as part of your cross-training program.

After many (many) years the Mazama website has gotten an overhaul. What will you find?

• New pictures, and lots of them
• Streamlined navigation
• Links that make sense – mazamas.org/climbing will take you too … our climb schedule.
• Testimonials
• And more

by Alissa Lesperance, ACE Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor

With the new year on the horizon, the general trend is to start making resolutions. It seems, though, that this word has negative associations for a lot of people. So instead, for 2014, let’s get SMART! SMART is an acronym for a method of goal setting that is: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based.

Let’s break it down

Specific: You are much more likely to reach a goal that is specific rather than general. For example; saying, “I want to climb Leuthold Couloir on Mt. Hood in March of 2014, “ is specific as opposed to “I want to climb a mountain.” To be specific, you need to know the who, what, when, where and why.

Measurable: This helps you establish clear results or progress toward your goal. If the goal is to be able to climb 5.10, you will be able to see concrete progress when you can send 5.8, 5.9 and finally 5.10.

Attainable: Almost any goal is attainable when you allow yourself the proper amount of time to reach it and implement the proper training regimen for the skills involved. If you have a big goal that seems daunting or overwhelming, a lot of people fail to launch. Don’t let that happen to you. Break the larger goal into smaller “bite-sized” goals and each smaller success will add up until you have achieved the larger goal.
Realistic: To say that you want to climb WI5 next weekend, if you have never picked up an ice tool in your life, would be an unrealistic goal. To be realistic, you must be willing and able to do the work involved. This is not to imply that tough goals are unrealistic. Sometimes the tougher goals are the ones that pan out because there is a more significant amount of motivation behind them.


Time-based: A goal needs a time frame to give it a sense of urgency. Without the time frame, it is easy to continue to push it to the back burner. If you are unsure about whether your goal time frame is reasonable, talk to other people who have done it and see what their
experience was. If you have an outdoor based goal, take the season for the sport into consideration when setting up a training plan. You need to allow yourself ample time to train for your goal.

So there you have it, the framework to get SMART in 2014. Try writing out a SMART worksheet for yourself and see how much you can accomplish in the coming year.

Alissa Lesperance has been a member of the Mazamas since 2011. She is a personal trainer and yoga instructor with a love for the great outdoors. She has co-led the annual Mazama Yoga Retreat for the past two years. 

This video is from Andrew Holman, and is comprised of video taken while climbing, shooting, and teaching in the mountains. Locations include: the Bugaboos (Canada), Ouray, Colo., Mazama Lodge, Mt. Shasta, Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and more.

Descending Luna Peak. Photo: Eugene Lewins

by Eugene Lewins

Planning a great season of climbs next year? Why cross-train? After all, cross-training is not intuitively better for maximizing sport performance. The best way to get ready to win the Tour de France, for example, may not be running or lifting weights but … to ride your bike more!

But climbs are not really one activity, like rowing or bike-riding, with a very specific set of muscles and movement skills. To be an all around alpine climber, you have to be something of an all around athlete. Take this northwest classic for example—Luna Peak. On the edge of the Northern Picketts, the 8,000-foot summit gives views into arguably the most remote country in the lower 48. But accessing that takes more than humping a pack along the ten miles of Big Beaver Trail. From the end of the trail, crossing the fast-flowing river on a partially-submerged log requires balance skills. Heading up the bushwhack Access Creek, climbing over downed old-growth trunks and pushing through bands of slide alder, takes upper body strength. And if, like us, you end up running from a stinging bee swarm, your sprint power will be put to the test.

All of which is before the actual alpine climb itself—with it’s own challenges of cardio pumping gullies, steep heather slopes demanding ankle-flexing traverses, and mind-body steadiness on the rock scramble finish.
Okay, so widening my movement skills and power resources would be good. So where to start?
One place is to take an honest evaluation of what you like and do well at now. Do you go down to the gym and push weights? Do you put on a day pack and hike up the fire lanes in Forest Park? Do you swim to take a break from wearing rain gear?

A simplistic approach might divide training into cardio, core-work, arm/leg strength, flexibility or balance. Note what you are focusing on now, and choose an activity that is complementary, not just different. For example, if you are really into bouldering now, a strength intensive activity, perhaps pumping iron isn’t going to be that much of a cross-train. Instead choose something that is more about cardio, such as hill walking. Or, if you are into hill walking now, maybe this winter is the time to dare trying a Pilates mat class to boost core strength. And if you feel balanced between cardio and strength, have you been too busy up to now to accept your friend’s invitation to their favorite mind-body balancing flow Tai Chi class at the Rec Center?
A word of caution. Don’t assume that you can simply add another activity to your existing schedule, especially if it is filling what was previously a rest day. As you start something new, listen to messages from your body if you are sore or fatigued. Overloading, particularly while you are learning new
alignment, could cause injury. This is why the off-season—yes, that is NOW, when you won’t have to ramp down your conditioning right before a climb—is a great time to start cross-training.

This is the first in a series of posts. Upcoming post: Goal Setting, Reducing Injuries, Specific cross-training exercises for climbers.

Steve Heikkila, Mazama Climb Leader, 2012-2013 ICS coordinator, and occasional comedian, talks about his popular website, jive-assanchors.com. See why this website has gained quite a following here:

Conrad Anker presenting at the Portland Alpine Fest. (Photo: Andrew Holman)

 The Portland Alpine Festival provided the Mazamas and the community with a one week celebration of mountains and mountain culture. What does that mean exactly? 


Over a six day period there were multiple events to showcase the mountains, climbers, climbing culture, as well as to teach climbing techniques. There were movies, clinics, slideshows, and more … something for every mountain enthusiast in our midst.

The week kicked off with the Veterans Day event on Monday night with a showing of the movie High Ground, a 2012 documentary film. Attendee Derek Schroeder had this to say about the movie: “What’s moving about the film though is not just the journey to climb an imposing and beautiful peak in the Himalayas, it’s about the transformation the soldiers go through together and their bravery involved in healing each other’s scars. Like the military lifestyle, mountaineering creates a bond of trust stronger than most. They both have a unique capability to test a soldier’s true worth. While war tends to break men, mountains heal. Veterans to tell their stories in their own words, and face their emotional and mental scars of war.”

Tuesday night had a bit of a lighter atmosphere with the new Mazama Families group coming together­ for a fun evening at the MMC. There was climbing, games, food, to be had and enjoyed by the group.
Wednesday night offered up a stunning presentation of first ascents in Alaska by Mazama member John Frieh and Daniel Harro. Talk about celebrating mountains­—one couldn’t help but get excited about climbing after watching their slideshow and hearing about their experiences.

Margo Talbot instructing a clinic at the Mazama Mountaineering Center.

Once we headed in to Thursday it was non-stop excitement. On Thursday morning there were climbing  clinics running at the MMC while concurrently an outfitter guide workshop was held at the Left Bank Annex. Margo Talbot and Will Gadd were teaching folks how to swing tools while Adam Baylor and Lee Davis, along with the US Forest Service, were heading up the workshop to help those in the outdoor industry streamline the permitting process.

The Khumbu Climbing Center Dinner on Thursday night proved to be a successful fundraising dinner with more than $6,000 raised for the Center that provides world class climbing instruction for Nepali climbers and high altitude porters. The evening provided an exquisite meal to attendees, along with a program that included Conrad Anker, Jenny Anker-Lowe, Isabel Suppé, and  Will Gadd.

Friday morning got underway with more clinics while preparation began in earnest for Friday evening. Friday night was the penultimate event of the festival. Held at the Left Bank Annex, Mazamas and community members alike were treated to a high quality program by Margo Talbot and Conrad Anker, a silent auction filled with an incredible amount of gear, books, magazines, and gift certificates from local business, along with a vendor fair, and the presentation of the Mazama service awards. It was a full house and a good time was had by all.

Todd Eddie (Photo: Andrew Holman)

The Portland Alpine Fest came to a close on Saturday when the Portland Rock Gym hosted the 5th annual Portland Ice Fest. Many Mazama members were in attendance, and four of our members took podium positions in the competition!

Results
Men:
1st Place—Phil King
2nd Place—Todd Eddie

Amory Cervarich (Photo: Andrew Holman)

3rd Place—Tim Stabio

Women:
1st Place—Amory Cervarich
2nd Place—Katie Mills
3rd Place—Heather Campbell

Mark your calendars for next year – Nov. 3 – 9, 2014. It’ll be bigger and better than ever.