BJ Sbarra

There’s already a lot of places to climb on the Western Slope, but there are even more cool places out there waiting to be opened up, and there’s something magical about seeing a crag come together. Last year, I strove for a balance of trying to get out to a new area one day per week, and splitting the rest of my time between training in the gym and climbing outdoors. As most folks know, bolting is not climbing, and while it’s very physical, it does not make you a better climber (unless you are John VanNostrand Last October, I got to spend a day climbing on five new lines at a new, and for now, secret, area.

What I Learned From My Fall Project On a day in late November, I took the draws down from my fall project. I’d had three great one-hang goes, but the route doesn’t get much sun and was pretty much out of season until the spring

The term rubber sock has been thrown around to describe this shoe, and I’d probably add “high performance” to that, it feels like you hardly have anything on your feet, but what little is there is highly functional. Also, like the Sportiva Genius, you don’t edge so much as “smedge” on small holds, which means you can be less accurate with your foot placements, an added bonus when busting out crux moves on steep terrain when your heart is redlining. As with any soft shoe, you don’t want to downsize too much, or the rand will push out over the front edge and can actually push your toes off of holds. This will not be the shoe you wear every day, or warm up in, and I wouldn’t want to waste its rubber in the gym (if gym climbing is your main thing, then you may feel differently and these will probably excel at volume hopping).

I’ve searched a long time for a good sun shirt, you’d think this wouldn’t be hard with all the different offerings out there, but it’s surprising how many companies make them in heavy materials, dark colors, etc. I don’t love classic rope bags, as i like to carry everything inside my pack, especially on long approaches. Of course you can always go the hardware store glove route, but for me I find that buying actual belay gloves, if they are well designed, is worth the extra $$. $45 I’ve used a lot of cragging packs, and this one has quickly risen to the top of my list of favorites. I’ve also carried a rope on the outside, which I don’t think it was designed for necessarily, but with a smaller diameter, shorter rope, it worked pretty well.