Rockclimbing and THE BAND
I went rock climbing at Ragged mountain yesterday in Southington with Irene and Pete. It was really great. The weather was perfect and the rock was beautiful.
I love climbing with Pete. He’s an older guy whose patience and willingness to teach is awe inspiring. You’ll be half way up a climb, fingers limp from exhaustion and mind numb from 30 minutes of trying the same move again and again… and Pete will speak calmly from the base and coach you and encourage you. He’s great.
The highlight was a climb called “sublime.” It’s about a 100 ft ascent along a crack in the rock. The rock is perfect with really tight crimps and the occasional bucket. This has been one of the few times where I’ve needed to use hand jams. A hand jam is where you stuff your hand, wrist, fingers, etc, into a crack and then twist it until you have enough resistance to pull yourself upwards. It’s mildly painful but very effective.
The other great highlight of the weekend? I finally had some time to sit down and write out sax parts for THE BAND. I spoke to great lengths on Saturday night about the band with Erich (alto player) and we have planned a jam session for next Sunday. I am extremely excited. We’re hoping for a Big Gig sometime in early 2007.
It’d probably be smart to just pencil us in for every weekend in January, February, and March. You won’t want to miss this.
Authored by: mike d.
