[csl]

Goals
Climb 2x a week 2/2
Fingerboard 2x a week 0/2
Get outside 2x a month 1/2

Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu - biscuit factory - annoyingly the comp wall was being reset. Bouldering up to V6 - felt like i was climbing well. Onsighted circuit board routes 6a, 6b+ and 6c in one long circuit. Tried 7a+ but slipped off. Then tried a few of the new v5-7 circuit. Flashed one and nearly did another, both either end of the spectrum.
Fri
Sat - Mile End - bouldering up to v5. Onsight 6c circuit in Monkey house. Tried to o/s 7b made it across the roof then pumped out, about 1/3 of the route. Some core/ pullups and pushups to finish
Sun

[Muenchener]

STG (2013): go climbing
MTG (Spring 2014) 7a redpoint
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl west face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

Mostly busy with family stuff.

M:
T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Endurance circuits. Have done a few weeks of these now and feeling like progress on them has peaked. Time for a "bouldering phase". (And/or getting out on some actual rock and using the endurance before it fades)
W: 
T: Alpine approach / snowboard season training: 40 minutes step-ups w/15kg rucksack
F:
S: Wall, Boulderwelt. Rather desultory but better-than-nothing late evening bouldering session trying stuff on new 6B-ish circuit. Not helped by the wall staff playing some of the worst music I've ever heard (Kings of Leon). The music as BW is often good, but not today.
S: Knee physio exercises & started trying some of the "beginner" shoulder & core floor exercises from Gimme Kraft. Are reverse balances actually possible?

[JackAus]

STG: V7 May have to be moved to MTG dependent on finger. Fuck.
LTG: V11

M: Run in the AM. Knackered from previous 3 days on granite.
T: Run in the AM.
W: Run in the AM.
T: Run in the AM. Went to local crag, Lot 33, to finally get this V7 project. Warming up (3rd climb of the session), pulled on a positive full pad crimp (didn't pull hard!) and heard a loud pop from my top knuckle on my ring finger. Lots of pain
F: 3 hour hike.
S: Out with a mate to belay him on some FAs. Last time I was on a rope was well over a year ago. Had to ab in to a couple of portaledges. He got both new routes. First one was a 24 (7a+) on his first attempt of the day (and warm up..) and then to another (smaller) ledge for a 26 (7b+) in only a couple of attempts. Sliced my fucking fingers open on razor grass after I abbed out. Deep cut!
S: Run in the AM. Can't climb, surprisingly tired from Sat (I blame ropes.), shitty weather, can't go clean stuff so just ended up on the lounge. Just felt a bit shite generally.

Stupid finger. Well, I've got an appointment with a climbing osteopath soon, so that should get things rolling... But. The more I think about where the pain is, the movement I have etc. I'm thinking it may be a partial tear of my A4. Still hoping it isn't but I'm trying to be realistic about it. And if I can't climb now, at least I can get into shape. Lets  see how the next week goes.

[T_B]

84 Kg

M - Home fingerboard. Open-handed repeaters. Did 6 reps on front 3 on lowest rung, failed on rep 5 of back 3. Better than last wk.
T - Works. Campus board, 1-4s. Some foot-on campussing. Core stuff on the bar.
W -
T - As per Monday. Did 2 sets of 6 reps on front 3, 1 set on back 3 and failed on 5 on back 3. Progress!
F - 6 weeks post-op - cast off 
S - Works. 1-4s and some foot-on campussing. Light session.
S -

Big news this week is I got my cast off on Friday and have started weight bearing already. When I'd thought this wouldn't be until 12 weeks, this is a massive YYFY. The foot is pretty sore, but overall I'm surprised how mobile the subtalar joint is. The achilles is super tight, so it's the dorsiflex movement that's going to be the big challenge. I reckon I'll be on crutches for a few more weeks, but massively positive to be at this point so quickly. Muscle wastage not too bad really.

[Ti_pin_man]

STG: 7a indoors
Motivation rating: 7 out of 10 this week, not stellar, average

M - Core 101 AM; Medium Climb evening - I was wasted after climbing Sat and Sun the previous weekend, so had little motivation, worked what I could.
T - Core 101 and Hip and leg stretches - stretches as I now know my flexibility from my hip down is shit from 20 years of cycling, so in the gaps betweeen core 101 reps I'm stretching. 
W - Short bike ride - 20 mile commute.  Fingerboard with beastmaker app - dont love these but know it helps and i have to keep trying them.  I always feel as if i can climb hard the next day, like i havent done much and then fail miserably to do much.  I have reset my expectations.
T - Short bike ride - 10 mile commute.  Medium Climb hitting v3's, not bad, not good, average.
F - Core101/Stretches
Sat and Sun - complete rest

Although Iv'e been social climbign once or twice a week for a few years I am now really trying to get better and training to get better.  I'm learning a lot about myself and my 44 year old body.  I need to MTFU on caves and steep stuff, years of biking keeps you fit/trim but not with lots of upper body strength.  Not sure I'll hit v4s consistenty next month but head down and continue program.

[the_dom]

Revised my climbing goals a bit after last week.

STG: Climb at least 3 times a week; repeat Swim Coach (7C+) at the Classroom in Cape Town.
MTG: Finish off a few projects in the 7C-8A range around Cape Town, get in shape for a climbing trip in April next year
LTG: Lots of climbing and surfing. Rehab'd legs and hamstrings and elbows.

Monday: Despite it being second day on for me at the climbing gym, had quite a good session.

Tuesday: Dawn patrol surf followed by a run in the evening.

Wednesday: 2 hours at the climbing gym. Again, not a bad session - trying to get in as much volume as possible.

Thursday: Early morning surf, followed by another surf in the evening and sushi. It's a trying life at times. Decent waves both session.

Friday: Snuck in an hour in freezing cold, tiny, crappy waves in the evening. Pretty dire. Burgers and beer.

Saturday: Hangover. No surf. No motivation to climb. Rest day.

Sunday: Morning surf dodging longboarders at a wedgy beachbreak - got a bunch of fun waves. Afternoon climb at a sweltering bouldering area called the Classroom in the forest in Cape Town. Aiming for volume so repeated 6C twice; 7A+ twice; 7B; 3 x 7B+ and surprised the hell out of myself by climbing through the crux on a 7C+ that I've only ever done twice (both when I was in really good shape, as it's an anti-problem for me) only to drop the 6C last move. I should be unhappy with that, but I'm not because it seems that I'm in better shape than I thought. New STG as a result.

Not a bad week. Surfed a bit and got some climbing in.  Mood is also pretty good.

[duncan]

Seems to be the season for finger injuries - heal well people.

STG: Don’t get injured. FAIL. Route fitness x 1/week, bouldering or deadhangs x 1/week.
MTG: RP 7b (this winter); OS E5 (May 2014 - probably missed the boat for 2013)
LTG: Long rock routes in USA summer 2014.

M - Root canal surgery. Not great for training psyche.
T - Pull-ups, shoulder stability stuff
W - Fingerboard micro-session
T - Westway easy routes - x16 to F6b
F -
S - Winspit with Sean. Grey and damp when we arrived. Good conditions by the time we left. Warmed-up on 5,6a,6a,6b. Finger tweakage on the 6b. Bugger. 
S - Weights etc. aka Building Site Fitness

Some decent training this week but ended on a somewhat sour note. It was a long drive for not much.

Hard to predict this tweak, felt like I was warming-up properly, but I’ve not done much fingery stuff (relative - we’re talking easy F7 level here) recently, and I tend to pull harder on real rock especially when it’s a bit greasy. Finger issues usually settle fairly quickly and don’t stop general fitness work. Not sure about this one yet, still feels sore this morning. 2-3 weeks before I can restart Easy Trad.?

When I was going well in Yosemite it was off the back off various builder's labourer jobs.  So, in a blatant copy of Andy Kirkpatrick’s Binman Fitness programme, I’m going to work on my Building Site Fitness whilst the finger recovers.

[iain]

STG: Think about winter/spring goals

Mon: Fun bouldering session working through a few whites, I love the setting at the works.

Tues: Rest

Wed: Brief bouldering session

Thurs: Rest

Fri: Drive south to Swanage

Sat: Walk in, strip Infinite Gravity, out by 11ish. Head back home via recently babied friend.

Sun: Wake up after 11 hour sleep thanks to the clock change. Bliss.

No training motivation this week as it was fairly clear that IG just wasn't going to happen. However, being back on the route, even in shit conditions to take out the draws, was great. It's such an amazing line and atmosphere that I'm definitely going to make it a focus again next year. September is the best month for getting conditions on the route so will endeavour to get partners for next year's season.

S - Winspit with Sean. Grey and damp when we arrived. Good conditions by the time we left. Warmed-up on 5,6a,6a,6b. Finger tweakage on the 6b. Bugger.

I was thinking, whilst getting rained on, that no-one else would be on the cliffs. Hope the finger heals quickly.

[krymson]

STG: get over finger niggle -- Achieved!!
new STG: full set of repeaters half crimp on smallest campus edge

No money to go to the gym meant a lot of low intensity climbing. Frustrating at the time but im glad i stuck it through because it ended up being great for my pullies. Finally able to half crimp hard again with no sign of niggles.

Monday
   Aerocap(ARC)
Tuesday
   light bouldering
Wednesday
   Aerocap(20/10s), weights
Thursday
   light bouldering
Friday
   AeroCap(20/10s)
Saturday
   bouldering gym - campusing, bouldering at OS level
      1-4 consistent on both arms with drag. need to work on moving off half crimp/converting drag to half crimp.
Sunday
   crimpy vertical climbing in the mountains north of the city. getting spanked has never been so fun.

[Muesli]

Goals
as per last week


STG, get at least one v3 problem done before the problems on the wall are reset in mid Nov.
MTG, loose more weight  (sub 80 kg by the end of nov) and get stronger especially fingers
LTG, get more technique, get outdoors


A good week
average wt over the week 81.1kg
3 wall sessions ca90 mins each. A full five days cycle commuting.  Five Evening sessions of crunches pushups and stretches. But my finger board plans were far too much. I managed four sessions but this caused tiered arms and sore fingers on the wall even by wednesday which was counter productive.


So aims for this week three wall sessions, cycle commute as before. four evening crunches/pushup stretch sessions but drop the finger board repeaters/pull up sessions to two a week.


Try to make the emphasis of Wednesday wall session trying harder problems. Monday and Friday more emphasis on volume.


Cheers
Pete

[shark]

11.6-8

M.
T. Day attempted 20:10 on systems board Eve. Foundry with Poppy. Did a 20:10 on left side of Wave then some bouldering
W.
T. Day Two attempts at 20:10s on systems board but not fit enough
F.
S. Travel to Kos with Tommy
S. ferry to Kalymnos. Got to Afternoon in the afternoon. Did some 6's. Went up to Spartacus. Had a flash attempt on Spartacus then a redpoint attempt as getting dark. Spat off end of crux both times

Put on weight this week. Not as endurofit as last time I went to Kalymnos so just want to have a good time and more importantly make sure Tommy does too.

[Sasquatch]

M - Outside on old abandoned route project, got shut down, but there is hope for the route. There's a sequence of 4 moves where I can do 3 of the four individually, but not link at all.   
T - run 8mi
W - FB, Wts
Th - Run 4mi
F - Short Boulder session warming up to get on project #1, but then partner bailed on me.
S - Warm up for Project #1 again, and again partner/dogs/time conspired against me.
S - Nothing

Crap week overall - The weather was mint both Friday and Saturday and couldn't make it happen. 

Grading question for the wads out there: I'm a boulderer, so have no freaking clue on route grades, but I have two old bolted routes I'm hoping to send.  The first is about 75-80 feet, and starts off with 20 feet of mellow 5.11 to a v10 crux, then a poor rest into a v6/7 boulder problem (25 feet between the two).  Then a strenuous no hands rest and a v8 before an easy slab run to the finish.  My best guess is in the 8b/13d range.  Does this seem reasonable?  The second project is about 25-30 feet long, and is basically three stacked boulder problems, v6-v12-v8.  If I had to give it just a boulder grade I'd guess v13ish. What the %^* does that translate to, 8c/14b? 
Curious as I'll have to grade them if I do them , but there's no one local to even hazard a guess.  I'd say we've got about 4-5 guys who can/have climbed 7c+/13a.  Maybe 2 who've done 8a.  And we've got 3-4 guys bouldering 7C, and 1 who's done 8A.  Not exactly many others around to try them....

[fried]

Monday - 45 BM session - Tough again. My BM app seems to be progammed to have seconds that get longer as the set wears on.
Tuesday -  Sets of 5 pull-ups.
Wednesday - nowt
Thursay - Indoor session, my back's been niggleing me a bit this week and it soon become apparent that the climbing isn't helping, so only a short session with back stretches to finish.
Friday - nowt
Saturday - Pull ups
Sunday - Indoor, back still not good but figure that an easy session will probably be better than sitting around doing nothing. Try not to fall. Back seems O.K.

Unfortunately after an evening on the sofa I woke up this morning with sciatic pain in my right buttock that's giving me grief when I walk. I'd hoped for a couple of outdoor sessions this week since I have a four day weekend. Anyway the weather looks pretty unreliable.

Weight 74.9kg

[cheque]

Two weeks for the price of one! Wrapping up my Red River Gorge trip report now I’m home.
 
M 14th- Curbside. Do an 11c I’d failed on last year no problem. Great day- feels like our whole group has got in gear at the same time.
T 15th- Left Flank. Get on the beautiful Too Many Puppies, a stunning 12a arête that’s one of the reasons I wanted to come in the first place. Turns out it’s guarded by an incredibly stiff bouldery start- feels font 6C/+ and I don’t fancy a project with what will be a very low-percentage move to try and do every redpoint. Dismay as majority of rest of day is spent as belay slave to partner who can lank it.   
W 16th- Rest. Exploring Kentucky by car and foot. Went to some family’s yard sale.
T 17th- Chocolate Factory. Pissing it down but you can climb in the rain here. Psyched for 11d which turns out to be a total sandbag (despite its two hardest routes having been famously downgraded, most of the crag is like this). The crux involves stiff pulls on positive three-finger pockets and after my second burn my right elbow is suddenly killing me. Bollocks. Rest for remainder of day scared that I’ll be out for the rest of the trip. None of the 9 climbers at the crag send the 11d…
F 18th- Solarium. Feel great on the warm-up, then get on an awesome 11d. Do it third go with minimum fuss and a blast of controlled aggression (previously completely unheard of for me) at the crux roof. First of the grade (7a) in the US, first of the grade in a session. YYFY . Another great day as one mate does his first 12a of the trip and another does her first 12a ever- she’s been climbing 18 months and her target for 2013 was 11c!
S 19th- Curbside. Do an 11c second go then try the class-looking 12a everyone else is on- it has 6 two-finger pockets on and my elbow hates it.
S 20th- Rest
 
M 21st- 6 crag bonanza day! Do Amarillo Sunset, the classic 11b I failed to onsight in the first week- feels fantastic and don’t feel like I ever climbed a route of the grade (6c) so calmly and confidently before . Get on Gold Rush, an 11d that I’m terrified of as I had a ludicrously bad inverted fall off it last year- take two uneventful falls from it but don’t redpoint, then tour crags neither I or my mate had been to before, doing 10s in the sunshine for the rest of the day. A great, unforgettable days climbing .
T 22nd- Motherlode . First visit this trip to this stunning crag. All three partners are on redpoint so play belay bunny expecting them to send, leaving a nice relaxed atmosphere for me to find a feasible first 12a. Doesn’t quite work out like that and I only get two burns on a route (Burlier’s Bane- gets three stars out of 5 in the guidebook but is considered by everyone I’ve spoken to to be better than the 12as that get 4 there) at the end of the day. Gutted as I’m sure I can send it.
W 23rd- Motherlode. It’s 8 degrees centigrade and no-one else wants to climb. Luckily I’m owed belay points so have the whole day at an unusually quiet (ie max. 3 wads powerscreaming at one time) ‘lode to come up with the goods in what are, in my opinion, great conditions. One-hang Burlier’s second go. I feel great. Totally wire the top section as that’s the climbing I’ll be doing pumped. Rest. Get on it again and totally fuck up the bottom two bolts- turns out I fluked it before. Get a bombproof sequence for this section- I have every single move wired now: it’s surely in the bag! Rest. Launch into route psyched and determined to give it everything. Turns out my new bottom section beta is preposterously powerful and not only takes too much energy but puts me into a momentum- based pattern of big throws that leads to strength-sapping mistakes and a barely–controlled, yelling lurchfest up the cliff. Have to grab fifth ‘draw in extremis to avoid a huge whip with the rope wrapped around my ankle and as I’m clipping it I realise I’ve blown my chances of the fairytale end to the trip.  Sure enough, I struggle to even go bolt-to-bolt to strip it next go.
T 24th/ F 25th- Travelling for 23 hours. Awake for 28 hours straight
S 26th Rest. Jetlag.
S 27th Girlfriend does half marathon and does a PB time. I get excited and ill-advisedly attenmpt to run alongside her for about a km wearing jeans, hoodie and down jacket.

I suppose the Power Club headline of my Red trip is that I didn't do a 12a, let alone the 12b I'd hoped for (with the subheading being I tweaked my elbow in a strange way that's only aggravated by pockets ) but that would make it sound like a bad trip, which would be ridiculously innacurate: I sent fucking tons of great routes, I'm climbing better and more calmly , not just than in the confidence-dip I experienced for most of this year but than than ever before, I feel like I've properly learnt to pull with my feet on steep rock, I met and climbed with loads of cool people and had an absolute blast. I also feel like having three weeks (with 15 full days climbing  ) has helped me understand myself so much in terms of my climbing; why I do it, what makes me perform well or not, what I want out of it etc. I've also taken loads of photos (947?!) and realised just how much I enjoy climbing photography.

In terms of how well my training worked, well, I certainly trained pure endurance effectively as I didn't really fail on a single route due to being pumped! However, in real terms this was because while I could climb anything 11a (6b+) and below onsight as I was so attuned to chugging away at this level of difficulty for longer than most routes in the Red last, above that I was powering out before I had a chance to get pumped! There are so many big moves on the harder routes out there and I completely underestimated this, as I'd just been shut down due to lack of fitness on the harder routes last year, didn't have the power-endurance to do that type of climbing continuously this year and only developed so much of it whilst on the trip. Similarly, I trained day-on/ day-off while preparing to go but did three-on/ one-off while over there. It took two weeks to perform well on my second and third days and with this in mind I was cautiously doing routes that weren't too bad when I should have been hacking away at 12s much sooner. You live and learn...

Anyway, after a week's rest normal service of going to Notts Depot and seiging crag warm-ups will be resumed...

[Dolly]

Good progress T_B
Strange/rubbish week spoiled by too much work. No climbing all week
M Nothing. Worked late
T Beastmaker. Wouldnt say I enjoyed it,  but I got something out of the back 3 hangs and have been thinking about doing it again (Is this how it starts ?)  Reminded me of that move on Powerband. Worked late.
W Aber and staying in the only hotel with a gym underneath (AFAIK) Proper blokes gym. I was the only one not wearing a vest ( I had on my rainbow running T Shirt and felt ever so slightly out of place) I did some rows and pull downs where I know I can hold my own but then all the other weights were too heavy for my "normal" workout so back to the hotel room to finish off with some I'd brought with me.
T Nothing. Worked late
F Run in the morning. Train back to Sheff then drove to Filey in the evening.
S Weights again and swimming with the kids
S Nothing. Felt completely fucked and wanted to sleep all day. Big walk on the beach if that counts.


Probably put on weight, just holding on until this bloody project relents and it gets grit cold

[tomtom]

Dolly - you know theres a climbing wall at the Uni Sports centre in Aber? Its shit (its a converted squash court) but has some overhangs (from memory). Also problems on the harbour/sea wall - theres a topo online somewhere...

Ah a google - its small, but at least its cheap :/

http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/sportscentre/boxrox/openingtimes/

[Dolly]

Cheers TT. I never thought to look for some reason

[tomtom]

Cheers TT. I never thought to look for some reason

Theres a pool & gym at the centre too (its an odd length the pool) and I think it was £25 year membership or something crazy like that.. might be good value if you're there regularly..?

[Sasquatch]

I suppose the Power Club headline of my Red trip is that I didn't do a 12a, let alone the 12b
....
In terms of how well my training worked, well, I certainly trained pure endurance effectively as I didn't really fail on a single route due to being pumped! However, in real terms this was because while I could climb anything 11a (6b+) and below onsight as I was so attuned to chugging away at this level of difficulty for longer than most routes in the Red last, above that I was powering out before I had a chance to get pumped! There are so many big moves on the harder routes out there and I completely underestimated this, as I'd just been shut down due to lack of fitness on the harder routes last year, didn't have the power-endurance to do that type of climbing continuously this year and only developed so much of it whilst on the trip. Similarly, I trained day-on/ day-off while preparing to go but did three-on/ one-off while over there. It took two weeks to perform well on my second and third days and with this in mind I was cautiously doing routes that weren't too bad when I should have been hacking away at 12s much sooner. You live and learn...

I'd say that is the real takeaway for the powerclub group. 

Thanks for the great report!

[webbo]

Mon. Dumbbell workout.
Tue. Board mirror session.
Wed. Nothing.
Thu. Turbo one hour.
Fri. Dumbbell workout.
Sat. Board repeated a few problems in better style than when I first did them, worked a few projects. Bike two hours forty mins pretty windy.
Sun. Board. Up one problem down jugs up another problem six efforts 5 mins rest between each effort. Each one about 16 to 18 moves. Spent rest of day sanding paint work.