Comments for Stephen Koch

Comment on Burpees Challenge Day 2 by Stephen Koch

Stephen Koch — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:10:51 +0000

Claire,

That is great you got reacquainted with Burpees. Today I did 10 minutes of Burpees (30 on 30 rest…10/10/10/10/10/9/9/9/9/8), a pyramid of pull-ups to 5 (1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1) followed by one arm hangs, several core specific exercises, a hamstring specific exercise, 1 minute wall sit, 30 jumping lunges, finishing with 50 lunges. A great 35 minute workout utilizing the Burpees as the warm-up.

Try the above. I imagine you know several basic core workouts that don’t take anything other than your desire? Planks for 30 seconds, 30 crunches, 30 leg raises with your hands under your butt, planks walkups for 1 minute (or 30 seconds to start…you be the judge) video here: http://stephenkoch.com/2009/06/mountain-athlete-workout-for-june-19-2009/

For the pull-ups, use a chair to assist you up with one leg if needed, then switch…5 each leg. Another is to jump up into pull-up (palms away vs. chin-up…palms towards you) position and lower yourself down slowly. Do this 5 times.

Another great leg/core/cardio exercise is to jump up from the squatting position as high as you can reaching with your hands, upon landing drop down into squat position and immediately spring up as high as you can, repeat 10 times…you will be breathing hard after these! Good to do while pumping gas!

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

Stephen

Comment on Burpees Challenge Day 2 by Claire Johnson

Claire Johnson — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:49:43 +0000

Today was my first day! Burpee is an old time frenemy of mine, and it was good to hang with him again! Here’s how my first day went: 1 minute burpees/30 sec break 4 x
What’s my goal for Wednesday?….feel free to give me some more exercises to add to it…A 25 min intense workout would be great!!!

Comment on Burpees Challenge Day 2 by S.

S. — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:03:12 +0000

Day 1 (saturday): 10/10/10/10/10/10/9/9/9/9
Latissimus dorsi very sore yesterday, still a bit sore today. Also forearm slightly sore.
Doing them in a dark room makes it easier to focus on my breath, able to do more that way. Thanks for the challenge!

Comment on Ice Climbing Tips with Stephen Koch by Stephen Koch

Stephen Koch — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:48:02 +0000

Petzl Tiblics are a great tool. I have used them to simul-climb (climb together, or move at the same time, as leader and follower). The way I have done this is by clipping the Tibloc to a solid piece of gear (or two if using two ropes). This protects the lead climber from getting pulled off if the second falls. The way this works is the teeth of the Tibloc bite into the rope and cease the rope from sliding further. I like to file the fires few little teeth down to help limit the chance of the Tibloc teeth tearing the sheath off of the rope. It is important to always have solid gear and to do this every ropelength, so that the leader is always protected from getting pulled off by the second. Bringing 4 Tiblocs will allow you to climb 4 ropelengths (with a single rope) together. Make sure you clip into the rope and the Tibloc with the carabiner. And make sure the carabinger is a locker/locking and that the diameter of the carabiner is fairly large. The Petzl Attache and Attache 2 have worked well for me as carabiners to utilize with the Tiblocs to simsul-climb. Note: If the rope does not pull up once you have clipped the Tibloc into the Locker, turn it around so the teeth are facing up. You most likely have the teeth facing down, which prevents the leader from going up.

Comment on Ice Climbing Tips with Stephen Koch by A.K.

A.K. — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:56:33 +0000

wondering if you could elaborate on your ti-block usage and when you would want to carry “a lot more”.

Comment on Contact by Jonny C

Jonny C — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 03:38:58 +0000

Kochie what’s up? Jon Ciccone here reaching out to you. Looks like you’ve done really well! Not that I’m surprised. Had always thought you’d find a way to follow your dream. I’ve been blessed w a son who seems to have your desires. He’s been riding for 4 yrs and has spent a fair amount of time in the er (stress fx of left tibia, right shoulder fx, left femur fx) but wants to ride pro. His mother and I are supporting his passion, but I’d love to get an opinion of a pro. Would appreciate the chance to talk (and to catch up) if you have the time. Best wishes, Jonny C

Comment on Chuck Pratt Tribute Video by Suzanne Duarte

Suzanne Duarte — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:57:48 +0000

I want to thank Amy and Forrest for putting together the Ode to Chuck Pratt. Jeff Foott sent me the YouTube link for it last summer, from which I learned a lot about Chuck that I didn’t know. Since Chuck was a heart friend of mine in the 1960′s in Yosemite and Berkeley, the video brought back a lot of memories of my own profound moments with him. I wasn’t a Camp 4 groupie. I worked in the Tuolumne Meadows coffee shop as a waitress during the summers, and studied English and German Romantic poets at college.

I don’t know how I met Chuck – maybe through Jeff Foott, who I knew at San Jose State and later in Yosemite. In any case, I loved Chuck for his mystical side and his humor. We clicked on the philosophical level. One of my memorable experiences of him was laying on top of Puppy Dome in Tuolumne watching shooting stars and hearing Chuck talk about the cosmos and physics, which he was studying. He introduced me to cosmology! We spent the night watching stars.

He was so ordinary and humble, I had no idea that he was such a star in the climbing world, or that he was so loved and admired by so many people. It was heartwarming to see that he was so loved and admired on the video. But the important point that the video brought home to me was Chuck’s integrity. Besides his humor, which I shared, it was his integrity that influenced me most deeply. That’s why I loved him, and I didn’t even realize it until I saw the Ode video.

Comment on Ask me a question, please. by Stephen Koch

Stephen Koch — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:27:55 +0000

Hi George,

Thank you for your note. That follow through, back into the eight, is called the “Yosemite 8″ finish. Make sure you snug the knot by pushing and pulling on the knot. I heard there is one limitation with this finish…that in a rescue scenario the knot could “roll” over itself. I don’t think this is at all likely, especially when snugging knot down as mentioned before.

May safe, fun and successful climbing be yours!

Comment on Ask me a question, please. by George

George — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:07:01 +0000

Hey Stephen! I just watched your video “How to tie the figure eight knot follow through”. Very good one, easy and understandable. Thanks! My question is what do you call the way you are finishing off the knot? I cannot understand that word… Cheers, George.

Comment on Shattered – Story of a Mountain Rescue by Daniel Dunn

Daniel Dunn — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:57:21 +0000

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I do volunteer Search and Rescue in Summit County, CO and this video brought a tear to my eye. Absolutely ridiculous calmness displayed by everyone, which is a huge key to everything going well. I’m blown away, really, by this story and the on the spot, live, reporting. Incredible.
Michelle, you are a tough SOB and I’m so happy you are still around. Great piece of mind Stephen to run the camera. And Michelle, thank you for letting him do it, I can only imagine how tough that was to get through that situation.
We just got our big snowfall of the season, and I want to go out and help someone! Not that I want anyone to get hurt or lost, but it feels good to help!