Mt Whitney Zone Forums Gear Heads Kahtoola Microspikes

Bee and wbtravis -
I'm right there with ya! I've been day (photo) hiking in the Sierras for years and just started backpacking last year at 44. I've been asked about hiking Whitney many times via the trail and MR. No thank you right now! It is on my list of things that I want to do, but only when I'm good and ready.
I have learned about the proper equipment from people this board and friends like Laura. I know I have the right gear...probably more than I need ;), but lack the skills to use it properly.
A good education, training, and lots of practice are the things that will get me up to the summit safely. In fact, I just sent an email to SMI last night to sign up for their snow travel course...you gotta start somewhere, it might as well be here and now!
Stacy

Bee, you're so right it's almost painful. Instant gratification is the name of the game nowdays, and it's unlikely to get better. Your timeline summary above is just so perfectly succinct.

Anything beyond some simple Class 4 stuff is beyond me, as is anything involving ice - and they'll pretty much stay that way. Hope you get to take your shot at Whitney this summer - and if you choose not to, that's good too. "Hike your own hike" is about the best advice out there. The point of what we do outdoors - as Mr. + @ti2d is always reminding us - is to "have fun!"

Also, how's the frostbite treating you? Weren't you looking for some hand-warming solutions earlier this winter? Find anything that worked?

Biletchick,

It will be the best money you have ever spent. Be prepared to work your rear end off that day. I was totally exhaust after our day with the folks from SMC...and I thought I was in excellent shape.

The problem locally is finding places to practice, since the easy ones are all used for sledding.

I did not want to sound too crass, but the point needed to be made. I was once told that a few skills are worse than no skills at all, because with a little skill one gets a false sense of confidence without the experience to prop it up.

Bulldog: While nothing will help the swelling, etc., when my hands get cold, the key is to be found in keeping the core warm (like so many had mentioned)I re-entered the gym and began a serious training program to gain about 20lbs of muscle (and a small amount of fat), because by all accounts, I was a bit underweight. The extra weight had a profound impact on 1) my endurance 2) my ability to tolerate the cold

I'm finally off of IR and back out playing in the snow in Icehouse Canyon. It's good to out and about after 13 weeks.

My favorite gear faux pas of the day. Snowboarding helmet, Yaktrax and an ice axe.

Man, I'd love to have the all the money spent on Yaktrax in that canyon today. I could retire and buy a small third world country.

Bee, glad to hear that you found a solution that doesn't involve relying on aids. Ever since I read your story of the skiing ordeal that started it all, I've hoped you could land on something that would allow you to keep doing what you loved without endangering yourself further. As so many people mentioned in previous posts, the core is key in circulation - and so much else.

No pork to be found in that photo - lean and mean!

[quote=Bee]I did not want to sound too crass, but the point needed to be made. I was once told that a few skills are worse than no skills at all, because with a little skill one gets a false sense of confidence without the experience to prop it up.

Bulldog: While nothing will help the swelling, etc., when my hands get cold, the key is to be found in keeping the core warm (like so many had mentioned)I re-entered the gym and began a serious training program to gain about 20lbs of muscle (and a small amount of fat), because by all accounts, I was a bit underweight. The extra weight had a profound impact on 1) my endurance 2) my ability to withstand the cold.

You rook MAH-velous, dahlink! And I've never been able to a chinup. Jealous...

Thank you , Miss Laura. I now do three sets of 4 chin-ups, alternating with three sets of 10 face-almost-touching-the-ground push-ups & three sets of 10 bar dips on the even paralell bars (guys look at me really weird when I do those)& about 10 sets of different crunches. The rest is seated rows, pull-downs, & tossing around a few free weights (my most unfavorite of the exercises).....and I try to eat meat (Not for any philosophical reasons, I have eaten very little meat most of my life -- except for burgers, of course!)

B

That is a killer workout Bee. I am impressed.
Bulldog34 can confer about Hershel Walker one of the best and strongest football players in history. He has never lifted a weight in his life. Everything he does, besides his martial arts, is push-ups,sit-ups,pull-ups etc.He is absolutely ripped.

Amen Rod. And add world-class speed to that freakish repertoire. I had the dubious pleasure of watching him blow my doors off in a 100 yard sprint during the summer of 1977. We were both junior classmen at the time - the difference being that I was 20 and a college junior while he was 15 and a high school junior. He left me standing in the starting blocks like I had never experienced before, and I had been running the sprints for 7 years, competing regularly against guys that eventually won gold in the Olympics (Edwin Moses and Carl Lewis come to mind). I had never seen anyone explode out of the blocks like Herschel could. Without a doubt, Herschel could easily have been a top-notch Olympic sprinter if he had wanted to go that route. And oh yeah, I gave up track shortly thereafter . . .

Aside from winning a national championship for the Georgia Bulldogs in 1980 (as a true freshman) as well as a Heisman trophy, Herschel scored several hundred touchdowns in his collegiate, USFL and NFL careers. After every single one he calmly and politely handed the ball to the official and jogged to the sidelines. Not once did he ever perform a "look at me" sideshow or antic. He never even spiked the ball. Amazing character and humility to go with his one-of-a-kind skill set. Also an Olympic bobsledder; and now a professional martial artist - at age 47. Very impressive guy all the way around.

And yes, he wore # 34 for the Bulldogs. Hmmmm, sounds familiar . . .

I am going to try and post some pictures of him when we filmed him.(I have to find them) I will at least get the pic of me and my wife posed with him.Amazingly humble and complete polite gentleman.

Hmmm....wasn't he outplayed in a certain Curt Warner in a game in New Orleans on New Years Day 1983. If I'm not mistaken, the game was for the National Championship.

I have to remind my two UGA bosses of this every now and again.

'83 Sugar Bowl - I was there, as it happens. I prefer to think of that team as Todd Blackledge's Nittany Lions - that way I get to scream at him on TV during fall weekends when he's broadcasting games. UGA was undefeated and ranked # 1, PSU was # 2 - one of the few #1 vs #2 national championship games in bowl history before the BCS came along. I hated that game - even getting blitzed on Bourbon Street afterwards was no fun.

What most people don't remember about that game - and Herschel's relatively poor performance (barely 100 yds, if I recall correctly) - was that it was his last game for the Bulldogs, but no one knew it at the time except Donald Trump and Herschel, who was a junior and ineligible for the NFL till the following year when his class had graduated (oh, for the old days - times, they have a'changed!).

A few days later, Trump announced his USFL NJ Generals and Herschel as the first signee, causing quite an uproar here in the Peach State. Later on Herschel attributed his lackluster performance in that national championship game to the guilt and dread of announcing he was leaving early. The only time in 30 years I was ever mad at the guy, but he did what was right for him at the time I suppose. That 3-year move cost him $$$ in the long run, though, as well as a few potential records in the NFL.

Scariest sight for pro linebackers and safeties in the late '80s was seeing Herschel swinging out of the backfield as a receiver, then catching the ball with a full head of steam already generated. He was fast, but he also loved to run people over. Guess that's why he's in martial arts now.

And I like your UGA bosses already - old joke: What does a Ga Tech grad call a UGA grad? Boss. OK, I'll admit it - my current boss is a Penn State grad . . .

I hate Penn State for diiferent reasons.My son played for Pitt and even though they no longer play each other they are natural rivals. They hate each other like any other great in state rivalry.They don't play each other because of JoPa. Poor loser

Gee Rod, how do you really feel? Don't be shy - tell us!

Sorta the way I feel about Florida . . .

Or could it be because Penn State is in the Big 10 and Pitt is in the Big East?

CaT

No CaT they used to be in the same league and when Penn St left for the Big 10 they still played each other.They played each other for 100 years or so. Huge Pennsylvania state rivalry.When Pitt became a part of the Big East they were still playing each other.
We are a long way off the Microspikes topic.Oh well.Funny how a thread can twist and snake.

BTW I am still very impressed with Bee putting on 20lbs of muscle, strengthening her core on a great workout.

Conference alignments have killed some very historic natural rivalries (Oklahoma/Nebraska being foremost), but with a 12-game schedule now there's absolutely no reason for natural rivals in separate conferences not to play annually. Pitt has 7 conference games and Penn State 8, so plenty of room to schedule it every year. Each year 3 teams from the SEC play in-state rivals from the ACC - Georgia, South Carolina and Florida play Georgia Tech, Clemson and Florida State respectively. Kentucky (SEC) plays Louisville (Big East) annually, as do Iowa (Big 10) and Iowa State (Big 12). Notre Dame and USC find the time to play each other every year, and there's no legitimate reason for that other than tradition.

So I'm guessing Joe Pa is too attached to the Akrons, Coastal Carolinas and Florida Internationals that litter Penn State's open schedule slots to waste time on old, boring Pitt/PSU . . .

And yeah, Bee is rockin' on!

Thanks, Rod. The reactions to the visible changes have been amusing; some people are almost uncomfortable FOR me to mention that I have gained weight (under almost all circumstances, it would be a bad thing). To me, my own strength is a marvel, as I pike and maneuver on the paralell bars, enjoying the graceful benefits of muscle control.

Mostly, I am happy to realize that useable strength can bee gained without lifting an ounce of iron (Occasonally, I toss a few free weights around, but the gains are not nearly the same)Also, I am delighted to know that one of my father's admired football heroes adheres to the same type of program!

And, by the way, should I ever find myself hanging off a bridge, I can now rescue myself!

B