Monday 13 October 2008

Cheap Bouldering

I am sure by now most of us have heard about that recession bug. I am not quite sure how you catch it, but they told me that if I get it, I will have to save more and spend less. Apparently it affects everything from time schedule to regular income.... And there is no vaccin, but it looks like you can prevent it or at least reduce its effects by being poor. So here's a serie of tips that might help:

1) Get yourself a finger board


It might sound expensive but think about it. Your local wall probably has one of the cheapest membership scheme, say €100 per year plus €3.00 per visit. Yet if you go twice a week for 1 year (40 weeks +), that's about 340 plus petrol. Now say you have bought a 60 fingerboard (or even a pull up bar) and you replace one of your weekly wall sessions by a pull up session at home, you will now spend 220 at the wall and divide your petrol cost by 2.

2) Reduce travelling costs


Stop flying abroad to these world famous bouldering spots and enjoy more of the unpredictible Irish bouldering (weather wise). Don't drive on your own, share car space and petrol costs. Stop driving to the wall, take up cycling. It will get you fitter - I know, I know, do as I say, not as I do...



3) Recycle


You don't need that 20 brush kit from Metolius. Recycle your old tooth brushes. You don't need the latest Patagonia pants. Recycle your old casual Friday trousers.



4) This is Ireland, not bleedin' Nepal


So what you need is neither a pair of Louis Vuitton flip-flops, not a pair of high mountain boots. Instead, get yourself a pair of these:


A pair of wellies will cost you 15 quid and will do the job just as well as gaiters - actually even better because they are easy to put on and off, which is a solid pro argument when it comes to bouldering.

You think I'm joking? Check out the following pictures and see if you can identify those smiling wellington boots aficionados:




5) To the sissies


I know, you have a nice soft baby skin which suffers a lot from these repeated attempts on Wicklow granite problems. 

Like many boulderers, you use the Climb On! bar because that stuff is "a completely pure (synthetic & petrochemical free), powerful skin nourisher and first aid product to be applied to burns, cuts, scrapes, rashes, cracked cuticles and heels, tissue nose, road rash, diaper rash, abrasions, poison ivy...all skin problems [...] the MOST powerful skin repair recipe on the market." 


So they say. 

But a 1 oz Bar (roughly 30 grams) costs about 10 and there is plenty of other stuff around.

I personally have tried a wide range of products from the famous Neutrogena Norwegian Formula to the expensive Lancome intense restoring lipid enriched cream, and so far I found the best you get for money value is the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula.

It is "enriched in vitamin E with a soothing emollient base. Heals and softens rough, dry skin. Helps smooth and blend unattractive marks and scars. Tones skin. Ideal for deep moisturization, including overnight treatments. Widely recommended for stretch marks during and after pregnancy".

Also highly recommended for climber's dry hands. Available in many shops, it 's 5 times cheaper than  the Climb On! stuff.  Sense.





3 comments:

Pilou said...

Hello Pierre,

Thanks for your comment (even if visibly you took my post in a bad way...).

I gave you an answer. To sum it up, it was more about what reasonable restaurants and professionals of food propose than about what Irish culture gave to the culinary world.

I don't know a lot about bouldering (except than for the moment - as I have one shoulder less because of martial arts - I would lose one arm trying to do what you do ;) ). Nevertheless, I found your two latest posts about making more with less very interesting.

To go further, the french public-like association "Adami" made very good and user-friendly applications to calculate your carbon footprint.

Here it is. And here is antoher one a little bit more exhaustive.

And what is very positive, they also do propose solutions - as you did today - for everyday life.

Personnaly I do think we will manage to change our world if we don't fall into paranoid and excessive attitudes (nb : your post is NOT paranoid nor excessive).

But being voluntary blind and do nothing will effectively lead to a nightmare for next generations - and even for us.

As usual salvation will be in temperance (anyway that's only my opinion of course).

With my best and friendly regards,

Pilou said...

Sorry, one of the links did not work. Here is the right one :
www.bilancarbonepersonnel.org

Pierre said...

Thanks for that Pilou.