Category Archives: Community
Year 1: Completed
2013 has come to a close. I would like to thank you all for sharing in this thing we call ‘Climbing Life’. It has been a fun year. A good year. This post serves as the Year-in-Review for the first year of Real World Climbing (well… year and 25 days). Below I will share the top posts of the year in the following categories: most views, most comments, most shares, and authors choice. Without further adieu.
Most Viewed Post
This was by far the most viewed post. It was also one of my favorites to put together. My friends are digging in with wedding plans and it looks like September 27th 2014 will be the big day! This post also received a notable link-back from TheKnot.com
Most Commented Post
This was a fun post because so many of you chimed in with your recommendations. It makes me want to pack up my gear and my family and check out your favorite climbing spots.
Most Shared Post
This was a short write up on the sad news of the accidental death of the 12 year old Italian phenom Tito Traversa. The post was meant to serve as a reminder that even though climbing can be extremely rewarding, we should never become complacent and numb to the inherent dangers. About 6 months have passed, and I hope that we remember to double & triple check our gear, our partners, and ourselves. Have fun and keep safe, all while pushing the limits.
The Author’s Pick
![20131101_162643[1]](https://realworldclimbing.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/20131101_1626431.jpg?w=150&h=112)
One of my earliest posts has actually been one of my favorites so far. I played around with the idea of a home climbing wall ever since I started climbing. I designed dozens of wall before I ever pulled the trigger and built my first. To me designing a functional and fun wall is a big part of the excitement; playing with all the options that a particular space allows and then seeing it all come together. Even in 2013 I have done several modifications on my own wall and have designed 2 more walls for friends.
Yes, 2013 was a great year. But, I look forward to what 2014 brings to the table. I look forward to further developing this blog and sharpening up the content. I have quite a few post ideas in queue and I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and requests.
Thanks again for sharing your climbing journey with me. And …
~ Climb 4 Real ~
Relationship on the Rocks
I’ve been excitedly looking forward to writing this post all summer. For the most part, the events of the day are told best in photos. But I will give a bit of back-story.
About 2-1/2 years ago, I ‘met’ a guy that would become a great friend and climbing partner on the infamous rockclimbing.com. We’ll call him Captain America (photos below). A common interest in climbing connected us, but a friendship was inevitable. Over those years, we chatted about life and families and all kinds of stuff that matters, oh and climbing/adventuring. Captain America is definitely the pure Adventurer I wrote about in my first post. We spoke of a few dates he’d been on and the ‘future prospects’, but it seemed no one could keep up with his Adventurous spirit.
Enter Ninja Hoodie (as we’ll call her). They started off as friends, and I think that Captain America fought his feelings for a while. But Ninja Hoodie proved she could not only keep up, but that she too was an Adventurer. So the courtship commenced.
I was incredibly honored when Captain America let me in on his plan and asked me to be a part of it. In the below story of photos, I will play the part of route selector and top-view hidden camera man. Please enjoy and remember to always value your Relationships on the Rocks.
Tied In and Ready to Climb
Embarking on a Memorable Climb
Here I am Getting into Position
Captain America is Pumped (wonder why)
Making Some Progress
Making Some More Progress
Captain America Locates Hidden Camera #1
Can’t Hide His Excitement
She’s Got to Finish It
No Help From Captain America
She Earned It
She Completes the Climb
Celebrating the Climb
She Still Has No Idea
“Can you grab that biner for me?”
Retrieve the Biner
Emotions Well Up When She Spots the Ring
“You were in on this?”
How about we don’t drop this…
How is His Gear Placement?
Showing Hidden Camera #1
Show the Camera Man
Showing Hidden Camera #2
Smooching (bottom view)
Smooching (top view)
Lowering Together
Show Off the Rock
Ta-Da!!!
The Happy Future Mr. & Mrs. Adventurer
This Locking Biner is Retired from Climbing Use
Happily Ever After ~ The End
Many Congratulations!!! Do you have an Adventuresome Proposal / Wedding story? Please share it with us in the comments below.
~ Climb 4 Real ~
Raining but ‘Climb On’
Sad, but kinda True
It was nice outside all during the work week… and then it rained on Saturday. I had made plans for Saturday with several climbing friends three whole weeks in advance. But worry not, our plans were not foiled by the rain.
Backstory: I met a group of climbers at the climbing wall of our local YMCA. It’s no climbing gym, but is is well kept, and the Wednesday Night Adult Climb attracts a loyal crew of great climbers and above all great people. I got to know them just a bit this winter as I would utilize the wall for some of my endurance workouts. Many times the the topic of my Homewall would come up. And many times we discussed that we should all get together and climb at my house. So we made it happen.
As often is the case for climbers in the ‘Real World’, lining up schedules is often a challenge. I often have a hard enough time lining up schedules with just my wife and two sons. So to arrange for several families, we had to start early. Three weeks in advance. When we approached the 1-week mark, I was pleasantly surprised how many RSVP’d to attend.
Grillin’ & Climin’
I did tell them that I would grill for them. They all brought snacks, I fired up the grill and charred some meat product and we all had a great time. Even though it was cloudy and rainy most of the day.
The morals of the story are:
(1) Plan Ahead… WAY Ahead!!!
(2) Good people = Good times!!!
(3) Climbing is a very social activity and we feed off of the energy of those we climb with.
~ Climb 4 Real ~
Real World Climbing 
Climbing Website Defibrillator
Jul 25
Posted by wicoxfreedom
Shameless Futurama Reference
There’s something you need to know about me…
I am a reformed Lurker… Climbing Website Lurker, that is. I’m all over the InterWebz, ‘sprunging’ for information pertaining to this amazing Sport/Activity/Recreation/Pastime we call Climbing. But I am a changed man. I’ve learned my lesson.
As a reader only, I jumped in, scanned quickly for something of interest, gleaned what I could, and I was out of there. I utilized climbing blogs like a book or magazine; a one-sided medium. But like the climbing community as a whole, most blogs are designed to share and interact. When an author feels no one is getting value from their work, they tend to be demotivated to continue. The interesting thing is, I really was enjoying the content. I just didn’t know the value of my interaction until I was in their climbing shoes.
Zap Some Life Back In
So lets give the online climbing community a JOLT and bring back to life some real gems. I propose that we ALL follow these 3 easy steps:
(1) Visit some of these blogs.
(2) Find a post or more that we TRULY appreciated and “Like” it. Share it with our climbing buddies. Post a comment. (all these things are likely to trigger an e-mail to the author, with the goal of re-igniting the flame)
(3) Share your favorite climbing related blogs in the comments section below so we all can enjoy what you found was valuable. Then we all can repeat steps 1 & 2 for your favorites.
(please note: I will moderate the links posted to keep them on topic)
My favorites that could use some LOVE:
http://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/
http://www.selfcoachedclimber.com/
http://routecrafting.blogspot.com/
http://www.rockclimbblog.com/
http://climb.dwrippe.com/
http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/
So remember Steps 1, 2, & 3 above. And don’t forget to do step 2 for realworldclimbing.com
~ Climb 4 Real ~
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Tags: blogs, climbing, comment, defibrillator, Futurama, like, rock, share