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Living with wads (Read 86903 times)

andy_e

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#250 Re: Living with wads
August 22, 2017, 08:58:06 am
Well written indeed. I shall refer to it in the coming grit season battles for inspiration and a lesson in perseverance (and microbeta).

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#251 Re: Living with wads
August 25, 2017, 12:51:13 pm
That rainbow pic is tha bizzle.

csl

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#252 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 01:13:53 pm


Aisle 24

I’m drifting aimlessly through the aisles with the shopping list in my hand. Written on the back of a torn envelope, I’ve had to guess what a couple of the items are. Freekeh, for example, could be a yoghurt or it could be a cereal. Fuck knows. The bloke wearing a Sainsbury’s jumper had no idea either. Turns out it’s just posh bulgar wheat, which is basically posh couscous. Don’t ask. I’m just the errand boy.

Supermarkets are an odd place to bump into people you know. Half the time you’ll try and keep a tab on where they are in the shop, just so you can avoid them. There’s nothing quite like having a stilted conversation with someone you vaguely know in front of the broccoli, shuffling back and forth like you’re at beginners salsa whilst annoyed shoppers lean past you to one of their five a day. On this occasion I ran into Tom and Jeni, who, unfortunately for them, only saw me coming when it was too late. Oh yes, people are probably avoiding you too.

We stayed chatting a while by the tender stem, catching up on the old and the new. I always enjoy climbing with Tom, it usually being a lesson getting schooled at route climbing. He climbed Right Wall as his second E5 and dragged me up Supersonic as his third. Far from the safety of my grit climbing repertoire and the knowledge I probably won’t die if I hit the ground, these routes are in a different league to what I’m used to. I didn’t even mind so much when we got to High Tor once and he’d forgotten his harness so we ended up at Kilnsey via a quick house visit in Leeds. Climbing has taken a back seat in Tom’s life as of late. His board shunned for a different discipline, one of lifting iron and PB’s in a hall of mirrors. Looking back, it was a bit of a blow when he told me. But then I’d had not too dissimilar thoughts of my own late last year. It’s a nagging of the conscience, a guilt that you’re at the crag just because you’re a climber but what you’d rather be doing, is not climbing. One boulder was just blending into the next and the satisfaction I used to get that glowed for days would evaporate by the time I’d put my shoes back on. Climbing had become mundane and would it not be for the mates I climb with (great gossip) I might have gone looking elsewhere. I guess I was in a bit of a rut.

There’s an article by Andi Turner called ‘The Start of Something New’ in which his words struck a chord:

“we start climbing as an adventure, as something different, as something to get us out of the norm, but then it becomes the norm, it no longer scares; it’s the thing we do at the weekend, after work and in our spare time. I’m no longer the person who found climbing by doing something different, by getting out of my comfort zone; I’m just a climber comfortably seeing it out.”

I might be pessimistic in thinking people can’t have an eternal fire roaring in their belly for climbing. If Instagram is anything to go by the world is full of these zealots. But, then again, I’ve seen Robbie Philips sipping coffee indoors looking glum for 2 hours before asking his partner to take a shot of him hanging on the board then going home. The ensuing post gushed about psyche and a hardcore session. Yeah right. This is presumably why I’m not sponsored either.

The new year is a perfect time to take stock and, heeding Andi’s words, i’m going to try and not comfortably see it out. If Tom won’t drag me up the routes then I’ll just have to do it myself.

andy_e

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#253 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 01:29:54 pm
Another brilliant introspection.

dunnyg

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#254 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 02:30:44 pm
Disappointed with the lack of photos of broccoli. Come trad climbing with me and stop fannying about on boulders.

Muenchener

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#255 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 03:04:07 pm
Supermarkets are an odd place to bump into people you know. Half the time you’ll try and keep a tab on where they are in the shop, just so you can avoid them. There’s nothing quite like having a stilted conversation with someone you vaguely know in front of the broccoli,

Quite. Stopped off at Aldi on my way to the climbing wall the other day & bumped into the father of a girl my son knew in primary school. And what's the first thing I thought of in connection with him, and then had to carefully not say? "Oh by the way, did you know I thought your wife was, apart from my wife, the only other totally hot mum in 3B?"

Perhaps not.

(My son thought his daughter was totally hot too, inasmuch as one thinks these things at age ten)

cheque

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#256 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 03:35:22 pm
A guy who used to work in the same office as me also lived near me for a bit. There was a small (like, five short aisles) Co-Op opposite my flat that I'd shop in most days and he'd do the most blatant hiding/ avoiding every time we were both in there at the same time, which was quite often.

I never mentioned that I'd seen him outside work and I'm not sure if he thought that he was effectively avoiding me or just thought that the awkwardness of hiding was less awkward than saying hello would be.  :lol:

andy_e

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#257 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 03:46:47 pm
Someone in a supermarket recognised me once and said hello to me. I said hello back, recognising him, but not being able to think from where. Five minutes later it dawned on me that he was the owner of the local chippy, and that I probably should cut down on the amount of fish suppers I treat myself to.

Will Hunt

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#258 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 04:26:10 pm
This is an intriguing post from the Ben.

So do you think you'll restore your mojo by going and doing some non-bouldering activity?

I have found myself a little out of love with bouldering of late. I mean, it's good to do in the winter, but I'm quite keen to go and do some trad and even some sport soon.

It's dawned on me lately that the most memorable and re-liveable climbing experiences I've had recently have been the ones where I got a bit scared i.e. I felt I was doing something a bit adventurous.

SA Chris

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#259 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 04:36:36 pm
There are many ways to scare yourself if you get too competent at climbing that it becomes a bit safe.

Duncan campbell

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#260 Re: Living with wads
January 19, 2018, 11:23:44 pm
This is an intriguing post from the Ben.

So do you think you'll restore your mojo by going and doing some non-bouldering activity?

I have found myself a little out of love with bouldering of late. I mean, it's good to do in the winter, but I'm quite keen to go and do some trad and even some sport soon.

It's dawned on me lately that the most memorable and re-liveable climbing experiences I've had recently have been the ones where I got a bit scared i.e. I felt I was doing something a bit adventurous.

I find it amazing that people just do one discipline year round, again and again. Part of what I love about climbing is the variety, and how at the beginning of each season the new style feels unknown and scary.

Will Hunt

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#261 Re: Living with wads
January 20, 2018, 09:07:07 am
The best bits about the blog are the little insights into the stultifying banality of Ben's day to day life.

cheque

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#262 Re: Living with wads
January 20, 2018, 12:00:34 pm
I find it amazing that people just do one discipline year round, again and again. Part of what I love about climbing is the variety, and how at the beginning of each season the new style feels unknown and scary.

 :agree: Could have written this word for word myself.

Duncan campbell

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#263 Re: Living with wads
January 20, 2018, 06:14:04 pm
 :thumbsup:

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#264 Re: Living with wads
January 20, 2018, 06:17:29 pm
I love all the different disciplines too: grit bouldering in the winter, moorland grit bouldering in early spring and late autumn, Lakes and N Wales bouldering from late spring to early autum.

andy_e

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#265 Re: Living with wads
January 21, 2018, 10:32:25 am
Sometimes we even go to a pub that isn't the Hunters, or we get a scotch egg instead of a pork pie from the farm shop. Now that's variety.

Duncan campbell

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#266 Re: Living with wads
January 21, 2018, 10:58:27 am
 :punk: rock and roll life of the boulderer  :P

Obviously if just bouldering makes you happy - power to you - bouldering is brilliant fun. I just miss bothering nuggets and taking whoppers too much

teestub

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#267 Re: Living with wads
January 21, 2018, 12:24:23 pm
When boulderers don’t rope climb they get told they’re missing out, when they do people complain that Kilnsey and the Malham have become too busy :-)

I’d probably do more of the other disciplines if I had more time on my hands, but like to spent my limited climbing time climbing rather than fiddling widgets or belaying for 4 hours.

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#268 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 10:53:42 am
I find it amazing that people just do one discipline year round, again and again. Part of what I love about climbing is the variety, and how at the beginning of each season the new style feels unknown and scary.

Depends what you are aiming for. Being a average jack of all trades or a master of one.

Will Hunt

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#269 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 11:33:54 am
I don't think Ben (or anyone) is pontificating on any way of going out climbing, either varied or focussed, being better than another. I think he's just saying that going to the boulders has lost its thrill and become a routine which is fulfilled unquestioningly. Because that's just what climbers do; when they get a spare moment they go to the wall or to the crag. But what if that's becoming dull?

I don't like to pigeonhole myself but when I started to do more bouldering than any other discipline I can remember the thrill of the progression through the grades. Now I've been doing that for a few years, much of the thrill has gone; though I still enjoy climbing and climbing for the sake of climbing. My grade on the boulders has plateaued, and possibly dipped since fatherhood has begun, though it's hard to tell definitively as this season has been appallingly bad for opportunity and all the other factors coming together. I don't have the temperament to get really involved with training and sessioning long term projects to progress much further with bouldering.

When I switched back from moorland exploring in the summer to trad climbing it was like a reawakening. Having plugged away on Yorkshire grit as a jobbing HVS - E2 tradder for a few years in the past, coming back to the crag with the extra bouldering power was just incredible. Suddenly there were all these routes which had been unattainable before which I could now do in comfort. Taking that onto the mountain crags and doing long lusted for routes like Saxon was just amazing. Even though the grades are modest, it's fun. I wonder what thrills are to be had from sport climbing since I've never really put my mind to redpointing?

I think it's quite scary for a climber to admit to themselves that they're becoming bored with climbing - especially if 90% of your mates are climbers and it's where your social identity lies. Fortunately, if you find yourself so afflicted, climbing has given us lots of different disciplines to keep it interesting.

36chambers

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#270 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 12:54:09 pm
I find it amazing that people just do one discipline year round, again and again. Part of what I love about climbing is the variety, and how at the beginning of each season the new style feels unknown and scary.

Depends what you are aiming for. Being a average jack of all trades or a master of one.

Us year round boulderers are just boring people.

Bradders

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#271 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 01:00:23 pm
I love all the different disciplines too: grit bouldering in the winter, moorland grit bouldering in early spring and late autumn, Lakes and N Wales bouldering from late spring to early autum.

This! Plus a bit of slime in spring/summer.

I've never once gone to the crag or the wall just because I'm a climber and that's where I feel I should be. Can't imagine what that might feel like, or to have the spare time to do that sort of thing! I think it actually helps to have a totally non-climbing full time job and partner, giving you lots of other things to fill your time with and thereby making the time in which you can get out that bit more special.

Will Hunt

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#272 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 01:09:03 pm
I find it amazing that people just do one discipline year round, again and again. Part of what I love about climbing is the variety, and how at the beginning of each season the new style feels unknown and scary.

Depends what you are aiming for. Being a average jack of all trades or a master of one.

Us year round boulderers are just boring people.

No, it's just you.
 :-*

spidermonkey09

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#273 Re: Living with wads
January 22, 2018, 03:18:42 pm
I don't think Ben (or anyone) is pontificating on any way of going out climbing, either varied or focussed, being better than another. I think he's just saying that going to the boulders has lost its thrill and become a routine which is fulfilled unquestioningly. Because that's just what climbers do; when they get a spare moment they go to the wall or to the crag. But what if that's becoming dull?

I don't like to pigeonhole myself but when I started to do more bouldering than any other discipline I can remember the thrill of the progression through the grades. Now I've been doing that for a few years, much of the thrill has gone; though I still enjoy climbing and climbing for the sake of climbing. My grade on the boulders has plateaued, and possibly dipped since fatherhood has begun, though it's hard to tell definitively as this season has been appallingly bad for opportunity and all the other factors coming together. I don't have the temperament to get really involved with training and sessioning long term projects to progress much further with bouldering.

When I switched back from moorland exploring in the summer to trad climbing it was like a reawakening. Having plugged away on Yorkshire grit as a jobbing HVS - E2 tradder for a few years in the past, coming back to the crag with the extra bouldering power was just incredible. Suddenly there were all these routes which had been unattainable before which I could now do in comfort. Taking that onto the mountain crags and doing long lusted for routes like Saxon was just amazing. Even though the grades are modest, it's fun. I wonder what thrills are to be had from sport climbing since I've never really put my mind to redpointing?

I think it's quite scary for a climber to admit to themselves that they're becoming bored with climbing - especially if 90% of your mates are climbers and it's where your social identity lies. Fortunately, if you find yourself so afflicted, climbing has given us lots of different disciplines to keep it interesting.

Think thats spot on. I spent ages trad climbing and am really enjoying sport climbing and bouldering more as I get to feel that grade progression again. V8 used to be unattainable for a weak, bold trad climber and now its a stepping stone. Same for the sport. The rough plan is to take that fitness back to the trad for a time in the summer and knock off some dream routes (best laid plans...) before reverting to bouldering again over the winter. I think thats the best way to stay psyched!

 

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