I avoided the siren’s call to create a blog for many years, but now that blogging is passe, it seems like the appropriate moment for me to jump on the bandwagon. Hopefully the climbing community will find this page useful.
About My Blog
My intention is to cover three main topics: 1) Strategies and methods for training to maximize climbing performance, 2) My random thoughts about any and all things climbing related, be it “style”, “ethics”, what’s hot, what’s not, cool new crags, products etc., and 3) Obligatory spray (bragging about my personal climbing accomplishments). If I’m lucky, I will accomplish these three goals and provide the reader with the occasional laugh at the same time.
The Lazy H Barn
Why “Lazy H Climbing Club”? I’m fortunate to live in an amazing little spot in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, just west of Denver, Colorado. We have a 2.5 acre lot that came with a small, delapidated barn. The barn had the name “Lazy H” scrawled across the top in wooden cut-out letters. My first order of business when we moved in was to convert the Lazy H into a miniature climbing gym. Hence the name.
Inside the renovated Lazy H
About Me
For those that don’t know me, I’ve been a climber for about 20 years or so. I enjoy all forms of climbing, and I’ve been pretty successful at every type of climbing I’ve pursued. As an alpinist I’ve climbed Denali’s Cassin Ridge, Devil’s Thumb, and the Greenwood-Locke on Mt. Temple’s North Face. In the realm of Trad climbing I’ve freed Yosemite’s El Capitan, and climbed numerous 5.13s. As a sport climber I’ve redpointed 5.14c and on-sighted 5.13b.
My 15 minutes of fame, after completing the First Free Ascent of Zion’s Spaceshot (IV, 5.13a) with my brother Mike.
Despite these statistics, I’m pretty much a “regular Joe”. I have a beautiful wife (Kate), a 14-month-old son (Logan), a mortgage and a 40-hour-a-week desk job. I love climbing, but I also love having the things that most “normal” folks enjoy. I love the NFL (Go Bears!), I watch network sitcoms, and I destroyed the competition in the College Football pick ’em contest at work. I’m an avid cyclist, having ridden the entire Oregon Coast and, my proudest cycling feat, pedaled from my house to the summit of Mt Evans (14K+’ of climbing, 90 miles, round trip). How have I managed to balance my personal life with my climbing career? Hopefully this blog will help shed some light on that subject. If you have any specific questions regarding training or tactics, please don’t hesitate to ask. It always helps to get some feedback on what your audience is looking for.
Happy reading!
Mark Anderson
At Shelf Road with Logan.
Lazy H Climbing Club 