[willackers]

[petejh]

1      Just who is the hottest British climbing girl?
Miss February - the saucy nurse
2     Is Steve Mac past it?
If he is, who in the UK is anywhere close to passing Ste Mac
3     Why doesn’t Ondra do more deadlifting?
Wizard shit
4     Will Simon ever climb the Oak?
Some won't
5     Would the lovechild of Stu and Ru grow to more than 3ft tall?
6     What’s wrong with Doyle?
Everything
7     What really happened at the houseparty with Mr Richard Simpson and senor Spanish Kev?
Not what Simpson says, whatever that is.
8     Is Bob really seven or better?
9     How did Ryan ever get with Katy?
10.   Just what does Randall do to P Widdy in that basement?
Tight cracks
11.   Did Cubby really nail “the Hill”?
Lovechild = Dave Mac
12.   Why does JP wear those sunglasses?
Because he models sunglasses
13.   How do I stop my facebook feed filling up with fishing photos?
14.   Should I get anorexia?
15.   Will the school boards ever be resurrected?
Rich Simpson has them in a special high altitude training camp in Chile in preparation for a speed solo of Annapurna 9a
16.   Is wanking Ancap or Aerocap?
Wancap
17.   What the fuck is wrong with Pete Robbins arm?
It's stronger than yours?
18.   Who would win in a fight between Stevie H and Malc?
Rich Simpson
19.   Are the new generation of climbers more stupid or just more annoying than the previous generations?
More widespread too
20.   Has a girl ever poked her finger in your bum while you’re having sex?
'Dirt me'

[Nibile]

17.   What the fuck is wrong with Pete Robbins arm?

I don't get this, sorry.
Any help?

[Nibile]

It doesn't matter, thanks.

[comPiler]

'The Red'
10 November 2013, 10:35 pm

I cruise past Miguel's. I can almost hear the tires crunching through the carpet of leaves that covers the landscape from head to toe and the last signs of the cliffs disappear in the rear view mirror. Another angsty Country song comes on the radio, one I've learnt from my time here, and I can't help but smile. There's something different inside me when I'm on a trip. A contentment and happyness

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

Training for Sport Climbing
5 February 2014, 11:03 pm

Back in the summer of 2012 I went to Gorges du Loup for a 5 week trip, and in between pinching tufas until my thumbs were raw and desperately trying to trick my way up things using kneebars, I decided to write up an article/document with some training knowledge. Having served its purpose of stopping rest days getting boring it promptly languished on my computer doing nothing, until recently when

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

Stamina Boys
20 April 2014, 9:42 am

Yesterday I climbed what's probably the hardest bit of route length climbing I've done. This classic testpiece takes an audacious and improbable line though intimidating terrain, with unrelentingly bold climbing, continually challenging technicalities and the very real prospect of severe injury should you accidentally sit on the tree part way through. The Boy Band/Staminaband link tags another

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[gcarmichael]

good effort!!

[comPiler]

Rodellar 2014 - Why you should always smash on
19 May 2014, 3:35 pm

As I got to the second set of chains I just wanted to give in and say take. I was boxed. I felt broken. I'd climbed the lower section abysmally, nearly falling off an easy move by misreading it. Then nearly falling off a tricky move by being shit. I'd been lucky to scrape through to the first anchor, let alone the second, and I knew the top was supposed to be the hardest part. Still, might as

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[Fiend]

Fucking good effort on that trip  . I think UKB might even forgive you for being a bit vague with the calling.

[comPiler]

It's been a while...
5 January 2015, 6:23 pm

... since I went highballing on the grit... Narcissus, Froggatt The Mint 400, Froggatt ...or made a little video... 36 Chambers Sit from Alex Barrows on Vimeo. ... or blogged. I was supposed to blog at the end of October, upon return from Spain as a newly crowned 9a climber. The post was to be adorned with photos of my bulging biceps as I crushed Era Vella into oblivion, and

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

The New Most Pressing Questions in British Climbing
24 April 2015, 8:28 pm

18 months ago, dear readers, a select group of climbing's finest minds brought to you the 20 most pressing questions in British climbing. Many of these have now been answered - Yes! The school boards were resurrected. Yes! You should get anorexia. And, resoundingly, you responded that yes! A girl has stuck her finger up your bum whilst having sex. And yet, a whole bunch of new questions have

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

Margalef Take 2 - a tale of a trickyish route of an unspecified difficulty which may not may not be hard for other people depending on who you talk to
24 April 2015, 8:37 pm

Era Vella - big and steep For those who didn't already know, a few weeks ago I went to Spain and did my project, Era Vella. I tried it for 3 weeks in October, got my ass kicked, came home and trained for it all winter, went back for a 5 day mini-trip in Feb, then headed out for 3 weeks in March/April to do the deed. Fair to say I was pretty chuffed to get up the thing this time around! Being

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[cha1n]

Interesting blogs there.

Lot's of talking points in there, so I'm going to start with a random one that made me laugh regarding what second try means. Vaguely related, but it always bothers me when people note down how many redpoint attempts it took them. I mean, surely that's a pointless statistic? Obviously 1st (2nd, 3rd, etc) redpoint looks better than "spent 10 sessions working the moves and doing links before I RP'd it".

However, back on topic, I know some people who second try means they fell off the onsight/flash then they could work the route for as long as they like (even multiple sessions) and when they eventually try it from the ground again - that's second try. To me, second try in that situation is a bit misleading as it makes it sound like they did it in half an hour or something.

Though to be fair, it's not as bad as someone who only puts a comment on to write "soft".

[comPiler]

Enjoying the Ride
22 June 2015, 1:54 pm

After coming back from Spain I was involved in making a few training related bits of media. Firstly I had a fun interview with Neely from TrainingBeta, which can be found here: If you've not listened to the others in the series and you're interested in how people train then they're worth a listen whilst you're pootling around doing aero cap or similar. Next up was a video on endurance

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

Kilnsey Main Overhang
23 August 2015, 9:44 pm

Earlier this year I noticed a new line of draws heading through the main overhang at Klinsey. From the top of Hardy Annual they blasted into the steepness, swung right along an obvious break line and then once again blasted out to the finish of the classic Mandela. It quickly transpired that this was a project of Neil Gresham's that he'd bolted the year before. I got on with getting Progress done

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[comPiler]

In Praise of Climbers
8 November 2015, 11:55 am

In mid-September I was pulling hard on the Keen Roof undercut when I felt something go in one of my fingers. I stepped off and my DIP joint on that finger stayed hyperextended. Over the next 2 weeks I did my normal rehab - gradually do more, try not to do too much. It felt ok after that to the point where I could crimp again, and I returned to manage my hardest ever boulder problem, and gain

Source: Alex Barrows Climbing

[bendavison]

Liar! You've never pulled hard on anything!

[Dave Mayes]

Done something a bit similar to my finger. Also, how did you swing it to get into the hospital so fast! Took me 4 months to get an appointment with the elbow guys.

[Doylo]

He told them he's climbed 9a.

[abarro81]

Yeah, I just walked in n said "don't you know who I am?"..
Was impressed actually - from first contact with a receptionist at minor injuries to having been seen by a surgeon in under 24 hrs! No idea if that's normal or not but I suspect that going through minor injuries is faster than gp - they just called them up asking for next available appointment and it was the nwxt morning.

[highrepute]

That is exceedingly useful beta on getting to see a physio.

[slackline]

Cue queues of climbers with finger injuries lining up at Minor Injuries Units across the country.

[petejh]

I turned up at my local MIU last year when I thought I'd fractured my DIP joint by hyper-extending it crimping hard on a boulder. A GP would likely only have referred me for an x-ray. This way I got the x-ray right away.

[Johnny Brown]

Did the same when I thought I'd broken my scaphoid, in and out with x-ray in under an hour.