I’ve still been somewhat in crunch mode for software release over the last week. This is not all bad, because most of the work been interesting, but it also meant I was at the office Saturday and was pretty busy all of last week. So it’ll be just two observations today, both related to climbing. And for those of you sick of my enthusiasm about climbing, note that the other thing I’ve been enthustiastic about recently has been multivariate calculus, so I could be writing about that instead. (I mean, I finally get it! It only took me seven bloody years! I was going through the drudgery from that damned blue Adams book this weekend - Thompson and UBC classmates will undoubtably know exactly which cursed series of tomes I’m talking about - and it finally gelled! So I had no excuse for flunking out of honours math! Okay, I’ll shut up now.)

So, first observation: in some ways, I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was. I rigged up a temporary chin up bar yesterday and was astonished to find myself being able to do over twenty consecutive pull ups. The last time I remember attempting a pull up, I was seventeen, I was in a gym at the Rideau Centre in Ottawa, and I couldn’t do a single one. It’s kind of heartening to find out I must be doing something right.

Second observation: when it comes to climbing, strength alone isn’t enough. I went climbing last Monday and Wednesday and was pretty abysmal. Basically I was trying to power my way up the wall with my arms, and this is really not a good thing if you want to last more than two climbs. Yesterday, after getting a haircut in Berkeley, I picked up a book at Borders (The Complete Rock Climber, Malcolm Creasey), and learned a few techniques which I applied at the wall today which made an enormous difference - scaled three 5.7’s in a row without breaking a sweat, had no problems getting through the night. That was pretty cool.