[shark]

11.7-8

M.
T. AM. Tor. OK conditions. Worked Bens. Got a better toehook (and hip thrust) sequence. Didn't quite manage the lik to the kneebar though. Eve. Extended home training session. Was a bit disappointed with poorer-than-last time deadhang times till I realised I had 15kg of weight on rather than 10kg 
W.
T. AM. Tor. Bit greasy but got the link to the kneebar :-) Worked the next moves a bit. Eve. Home training - didn't manage whole session as supper intervened.
F.
S. AM. Tor. Met Barrows and Threenine there. Got some quality beta but after some discussion agreed that I should have my right hand lower for the start move. Worked the middle and last section of Bens. Long session. Got a good sequence. Felt busted after.
S. PM.  Good day but knackered from yesterday. Went to Blackwell Dale for first time with Tom. Good rock but lots of traffic. Flashed the 6B left of Abattoir and also did Freerange Abattoir from stand (6C?) but sit looked horrendous - though looking at a video looks more amenable as a lunge rather than the heelhook mantel which I assumed it would be. We both worked Jerry's Traverse which was superb and fingery.

Good week. Ben's is feeling achievable. Couple of visits planned with tomtom this week. Recruitment work starting to mount up and builder is back tomorrow to resume work on extension. Juggling the kids being at home on school hols and Sonia going to London twice a week. And there is other property renovation ongoing so spinning a lot of plates at the moment.

[T_B]

85.1Kg (...back on the wagon)

M -
T - P.M. Fingerboard. Way better than last week. Managed 6 x 7 secs on front 3 and back 3. Failed on 5 on 15mm edge. Pull ups/lock offs. Top session.
W - Lunch Foundry. Circuits on board.
T - P.M. School. First experimentation of AnPow on 50 degree board (4 sets of 4 x 10 sec problems, with 2 mins rest between each set).
F -
S - Works. Circuit board re-familiarisation. Did Yellow spotty 7b/+, 2/3rds of Brown 8a, fell off last move of Green 8b. Finished with set of 7 Green spotty 6c+/7a, with 2 mins rest failing on last move on circuit 5 and 6.
S - Stanage Plantation en famille. Nice windy conditions. Bit of a circuit inc Green and Zippy's Travs.

More of the same next week with emphasis on AeroPow/AnPow.

[shark]

It’s hard to describe what has been going wrong for me this summer. I guess the simplest version is that I am struggling to line up appropriate sport climbing projects with pliant partners/ belayers.......Consequently I have lapsed into climbing “for fun”.....I can’t pretend that I am engaged in any kind of structured training or progress toward a goal.

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

[tomtom]

Sorry if this post is a little terse.. f*cking web just ate my OP...

M
T: Tor
W:
Th:
Fr:



Sa:
Su: Blackstones.

[tomtom]

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

Good concept. I could work some problems and fence some hooky gear...

[shark]

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

Good concept. I could work some problems and fence some hooky gear...

I decided not write "cool" bouldering venues to head off any smartarse comments..

[tomtom]

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

Good concept. I could work some problems and fence some hooky gear...

I decided not write "cool" bouldering venues to head off any smartarse comments..

#fail

[Schnell]

STG: finish thesis while retaining sanity. continue injury recovery and keep training for MTG. a couple of trad days this month would be a bonus.
MTG: 7b(+) onsight in italy in sept
LTG: get a climbing friendly job

I've been trying to reduce fatigue through shortening sessions and eating more/cycling less, and increasing intensity doing short fb, campus and bit of bouldering sessions three times a week and v. low intensity endurance session once per week. Climbing better now, probably I'm having a bit of a peak due to reducing volume, although I do feel hammered after intense power/stregth sessions.

This is all based on something I vaguely remember reading about injuries being caused by fatigue, not intensity, which resonated. Hopefully it's not totally misguided.

M.
T. strength/power session as above
w
t. same as tuesday plus added ancap at the end. leave for long weekend holliers.
F,S. lots of swimming and eating
S. back from trip in morning. did another training session in eve

[JackAus]

Only climbed once last week. Every time I wanted to go out, something would come up.... Puncture on the bike, instructor not showing up for licence test, having to then do it the next day... I did pass though so there is that......

W: Cheesedale. Worked Pearl Necklace V7 and Monkey Grip V9. I still just can't commit to the crux on Pearl. High heel that I just feel I'm going to end up on my back from... Monkey Grip, its hard. Had one session a while ago starting to work the moves. Got some more progress on it. Top section is still the hardest. The V10 version to the right seems easier than this...

[a dense loner]

Tomtom I watched your vid above and when you get a hold you move slightly on it, or pull up slightly, at least 3 times on every hold you get. Essentially your forearms are tiring themselves out for no reason. Obviously it's the way you climb but I'd think about moving as soon as you get the hold. We're not el mocho there's no need to be on the wall all day 

[tomtom]

Tomtom I watched your vid above and when you get a hold you move slightly on it, or pull up slightly, at least 3 times on every hold you get. Essentially your forearms are tiring themselves out for no reason. Obviously it's the way you climb but I'd think about moving as soon as you get the hold. We're not el mocho there's no need to be on the wall all day 

Thanks Dense - thats an interesting observation (its always good to have other people comment on my 'style' etc..)... I'd not really thought about that. One or two of those on weedkiller are slots of varying greasyness - so (certainly on the first one) I'm trying to get my hand into the right spot. But it probably reflects a lack of confidence on my part that a. my hand is in the right place and b. that its going to stay there! Good spot and something to work on.

[T_B]

It looked to me as though you'd basically done it, but didn't throw into the jug with enough conviction. You made the crux look easy.

[tomtom]

It looked to me as though you'd basically done it, but didn't throw into the jug with enough conviction. You made the crux look easy.

Arms had had it by then.. less faff more action required...

[Wood FT]

Just to add a touch more faff - I fell going for jug loadzatimes until someone pointed out that those of a lower calibre can pinch the overlap underneath it as a intermediate, it doesn't actually look like a hold but I could settle on it and go again. Have a try.

[cheque]

STG- Normal middle fingers.
2014 goals- 20 15 E-points, back to 7th grade in sport and bouldering.
LTG- 8a sport.

M- Rest.

T- Pleasley. Did my extended Monk's Buttress Traverse 3 times- easy until the last couple of moves the third time, which I really had to fight for. Could barely move on it on next go so went home.

W- Black Rocks to meet a mate for filming. Turned out he changed the day to Thursday without letting me know. Did some filming on my own then my usual soloing circuit.

T- Black Rocks. Mate urned up this time but for unidentified reasons elected not to climb but instead sandbagged his belayer onto Birch Tree Wall. Cue dynamite footage of a man climbing his second VS. 

F- Pullups.

S- Rest.

S- High Tor. This was meant to be a big day that set me and my partner up for a confident trip to Pembroke. Sadly I woke up with "tummy trouble" and although some warm-up pitches went fine, a very long stint belaying my mate on the first pitch of Debauchery (his first limestone E1 lead) was a stressful experience that ended in running to the woods below the crag.  Felt completely out of sorts seconding (the moves across Darius felt nails!) then, with an hour or so of daylight left and all indicators pointing to an epic, we both attempted, then chickened out of the second pitch and abbed.

Not feeling great about yesterday- Debauchery is a route I've wanted to do for ages and one I didn't expect to have such trouble on. Just have to face that I can't expect to take up where I left off on trad lime after not doing any hard climbing all year. Still psyched for Pembroke though.

[tomtom]

Just to add a touch more faff - I fell going for jug loadzatimes until someone pointed out that those of a lower calibre can pinch the overlap underneath it as a intermediate, it doesn't actually look like a hold but I could settle on it and go again. Have a try.

Thanks Guy - going for the jug isn't a problem most times - being of normal height I can reach it and still keep the heel in (before an ungraceful cut loose to get the RH up..). I've then looked to work my RF onto another edge to then allow me to bring the RH over gracefully - but I don't think that gets me any where really - easier just to thug it.

The time in the video I had kitten power...

[Muenchener]

STG (Summer): Totenkirchl west face (Dülfer)
MTG (Autumn): 7a redpoint.
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

M:   Bike to & from work 30km
T:
W: Bike to & from work 30km
T: Alpine approach training: 4 x 40 stories stairs w/10kg rucksack
F: Knee physio/mobility exercises
S: Travel to .uk for family visit
S: Climbing Station, Loughborough. Light bouldering session with M jnr & a couple of laps on steep circuit wall

The "beast myself" phase of my alpine training seems to have worked. Nearly died on Thursday producing a stair climbing time more than two minutes outside my best. I hope the "rest & supercompensation" phase works too.

[Wood FT]

Just to add a touch more faff - I fell going for jug loadzatimes until someone pointed out that those of a lower calibre can pinch the overlap underneath it as a intermediate, it doesn't actually look like a hold but I could settle on it and go again. Have a try.

Thanks Guy - going for the jug isn't a problem most times - being of normal height I can reach it and still keep the heel in (before an ungraceful cut loose to get the RH up..). I've then looked to work my RF onto another edge to then allow me to bring the RH over gracefully - but I don't think that gets me any where really - easier just to thug it.

The time in the video I had kitten power...

ah crap ignore me I hadn't watched the video (work) I meant the finishing jug

[shark]

Tomtom I watched your vid above and when you get a hold you move slightly on it, or pull up slightly, at least 3 times on every hold you get. Essentially your forearms are tiring themselves out for no reason. Obviously it's the way you climb but I'd think about moving as soon as you get the hold. We're not el mocho there's no need to be on the wall all day 

Thanks Dense - thats an interesting observation (its always good to have other people comment on my 'style' etc..)... I'd not really thought about that. One or two of those on weedkiller are slots of varying greasyness - so (certainly on the first one) I'm trying to get my hand into the right spot. But it probably reflects a lack of confidence on my part that a. my hand is in the right place and b. that its going to stay there! Good spot and something to work on.

Checked footage of me on it and you are only a few seconds slower.

I nearly always adjust on holds and it feels like it gives your forearms a bit of relief if anything. I suspect that if you are a fast twitcher in terms of muscle composition going quick is more efficient but for a slow twitching stamina plodder like me adjusting and shaking out and generally milking holds is more efficient.

As a pure boulderer going quick is likely to be the better option for you.

So, in short, what Dense said

[Wood FT]

Not feeling great about yesterday- Debauchery is a route I've wanted to do for ages and one I didn't expect to have such trouble on. Just have to face that I can't expect to take up where I left off on trad lime after not doing any hard climbing all year. Still psyched for Pembroke though.

Don't stress too much, if you were literally on the verge of shitting yourself on route it can't have made the climbing any easier, also High Tor is an intimidating place that can make you feel very wooden (I should know, I dropped Darius after obsessing about it for years, c'est la vie, I got to experience 97% of the climbing and ran sideaways across the crag on my way down)

[tomtom]

Tomtom I watched your vid above and when you get a hold you move slightly on it, or pull up slightly, at least 3 times on every hold you get. Essentially your forearms are tiring themselves out for no reason. Obviously it's the way you climb but I'd think about moving as soon as you get the hold. We're not el mocho there's no need to be on the wall all day 

Thanks Dense - thats an interesting observation (its always good to have other people comment on my 'style' etc..)... I'd not really thought about that. One or two of those on weedkiller are slots of varying greasyness - so (certainly on the first one) I'm trying to get my hand into the right spot. But it probably reflects a lack of confidence on my part that a. my hand is in the right place and b. that its going to stay there! Good spot and something to work on.

Checked footage of me on it and you are only a few seconds slower.

I nearly always adjust on holds and it feels like it gives your forearms a bit of relief if anything. I suspect that if you are a fast twitcher in terms of muscle composition going quick is more efficient but for a slow twitching stamina plodder like me adjusting and shaking out and generally milking holds is more efficient.

As a pure boulderer going quick is likely to be the better option for you.

So, in short, what Dense said

I suspect I have hyper twitch muscles

A chunk of this is confidence - I'm normally a grit blodderer and my climbing mind is fairly well calibrated for knowing when a hold is held on grit. On lime it all feels a bit more slithery and uncertain (aside from razor sharp crimps etc..) and I feel I need to get my hands in exactly the right position. Some of this is the different rock type - most of it is probably getting more tuned to the white stuff...

Theres alot to be said for hold accuracy being an important skill (by that I mean getting the right spot for hands or feet first time)...

But lets put this in context - Basically I can hang on and do a few moves for 45 seconds and no longer - so I have no stamina :D

Which means either go faster (what Dense said) or get more stamina (and I don't feel the love for stamina training...) or a bit of both

[AndyR]

It’s hard to describe what has been going wrong for me this summer. I guess the simplest version is that I am struggling to line up appropriate sport climbing projects with pliant partners/ belayers.......Consequently I have lapsed into climbing “for fun”.....I can’t pretend that I am engaged in any kind of structured training or progress toward a goal.

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

Yes, lots. Humidity is high though ... it's not really bouldering season. And for a long list of reasons I am not very enthused by bouldering here. It is not the glorious pocketty crimpy steep limestone you chaps are blessed with, just massive piles of giant granite scree. Although there are a gazillion problems, they all seem to involve the same three moves: sit-start off crappy stupidly-low edge with absurdly-high heel-hook/ rock-up; slopey rail shuffle with heels matched with hands; undignified bellyflop mantle ... none of which resemble moves on the routes that interest me. And 99% of the problems are above bottomless holes from which no-one would hear you scream if you fell in. A great place for young DFBs with a panting horde of male spotters/ pad-carriers following them from problem to problem, much less suitable for the jonnie-no-mates elderly male.

Resurrection...

[Sasquatch]

STG - 5 local FA's 7C+ and harder (2 done)
MTG - Local 8B boulder?
LTG - Mandala in November

Realized I missed 2 weeks, so here it goes.

M- Campus and MED FB session.  So weak on campusing.  no contact strength at all
T- Yoga, and soccer game
W- Rest
Th- Campus and MED FB session. Much better on campusing but still weak sauce. 
F- Active recovery 3 x 10min on wall easy traversing.
S- Rest - friend's 50th and summer luau.  Ate and drank way too much.
S- Early morning meet up to get outside - not feeling great.  OK day. tried a few projects, and cleaned a couple new lines in the 7A+/7b range. Also got rained on quite a bit.

M- Invited to be filmed as part of TV commercial for local wall.  Ended up climbing a v3 about 15-20 times
T- Campus and MED FB session. Much better on campusing, matched personal bests 
W- Active recovery 3 x 10min on wall easy traversing.
Th- Campus and MED FB session. Not as good as Tuesday, could tell I was not fully recovered.
F- Active recovery 3 x 10min on wall easy traversing. Dinner and Date night w/ Wife Good night!
S- Awesome LONG day outside with a great crew - Warmed up well, then we cleaned and climbed new v10,v9,v10,v4,v5,v1,v1,v7,v6,v3,v2. 
S- Rest - My body was wrecked.

I leave for squamish Tuesday - Excited to meet up with Habrich!

[Sasquatch]

It’s hard to describe what has been going wrong for me this summer. I guess the simplest version is that I am struggling to line up appropriate sport climbing projects with pliant partners/ belayers.......Consequently I have lapsed into climbing “for fun”.....I can’t pretend that I am engaged in any kind of structured training or progress toward a goal.

Are there any shady bouldering venues ?

Yes, lots. Humidity is high though ... it's not really bouldering season. And for a long list of reasons I am not very enthused by bouldering here. It is not the glorious pocketty crimpy steep limestone you chaps are blessed with, just massive piles of giant granite scree. Although there are a gazillion problems, they all seem to involve the same three moves: sit-start off crappy stupidly-low edge with absurdly-high heel-hook/ rock-up; slopey rail shuffle with heels matched with hands; undignified bellyflop mantle ... none of which resemble moves on the routes that interest me. And 99% of the problems are above bottomless holes from which no-one would hear you scream if you fell in. A great place for young DFBs with a panting horde of male spotters/ pad-carriers following them from problem to problem, much less suitable for the jonnie-no-mates elderly male.

Resurrection...

Fair point. When it's cooler let's have a session and I'll demonstrate that I can't do the first move.

I'm in for Resurrection Definitely on my to-try list !!!! 

and how about This Monkey's Gone to Heaven?

[Muenchener]

99% of the problems are above bottomless holes from which no-one would hear you scream if you fell in. A great place for young DFBs with a panting horde of male spotters/ pad-carriers following them from problem to problem, much less suitable for the jonnie-no-mates elderly male.

+1

As a jonnie-no-mates elderly male and owner of one small pad, I generally find the landings in alpine granite bouldering areas utterly terrifying.

[Sasquatch]

I'm in for Resurrection Definitely on my to-try list !!!! 

I will definitely come and watch/ haul some pads ... I must admit that problem is inspiring and even has an OK landing.

Do prepare yourself for some heat ... http://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-50_metric_e.html

Yeah, I'm a bit concerned about that, but it'll be what it is...  much more worried about trying the egg in the heat. That's gonna suck.

At least the humidity is low

[mindfull]

Went from:

To:


Got surgery to the main nerves from elbow to fingers. No fun climbing for a while 

[duncan]

STG - Bouldering or fingerboarding twice a week.  Stay uninjured. Loose 2kg.
MTG - E5 OS; 7b RP
LTG - Alpine multipitch sport / trad.

73.5kg 


M
T - Westway bouldering
W
T - Westway bouldering
F
S - Bristol climbing festival. Too hot to climb for much of the day but sauntered up old school Puke and sweated up something new skool in The New Quarry. A great event, thanks to Martin Crocker for providing the energy behind it, it was a bit like going to a large wedding, bumping into people you last met in the mid 1980s every 10 yards.
S - Vicarage cliff - easy tidal trad. Nearly too tidal. Cream Tea at Rectory Tea Rooms.  YYFY!

M - Baggy Point. More very easy trad.
T - Westway routes
W -
T -
F - Micro fingerboard session
S - Westway routes
S - fly to Munich

Physically, still in a post-Yosemite dip but starting to get keen again and a plan is slowly emerging. Family back in UK, so limited time on rock for a bit. Medium term goal is to climb E5 which is going to require 7a+ onsight fitness in my cautious old age. This needs a certain amount of finger strength which I've been neglecting over the last two years with the focus on big route fitness. The plan is to very cautiously ease into finger boarding and bouldering over the next 2-3 months whilst maintaining a little route fitness. Also need to return to pre Yosemite weight, lardathon here I come...

[csl]

August Goals

Stick to training plan
Outside x4
Onsight more E5
Sport - RP something reasonably hard - another session on Tennessee

Mon - Fairhead
Tue - Fairhead - half day - did a couple of routes at the prow, battered from Monday
Wed - rest
Thu - Bouldering Pyramid circa 60 problems from V3-V6. Got halfway and ran out of time.
Fri - AnCap - 3 x 4 of 12 move problem
Sat - rest
Sun - Portland
Coastguard North and Chossguard South. Flashed a 7a, Superfly Guy for the warm up - best 6b+ on the isle. Then dogged a 6c+ chossy arete.
Had two goes working the moves on Tennessee - so good! Some incredible moves, all but final rockover done, no big links tho. Felt 7c+ to me.
Then 1 hr sleep caught up on me, so i slept a bit and did a few 6a's.
 

[cheque]

High Tor is an intimidating place that can make you feel very wooden

Cheers Guy. I hadn't felt it on other routes there but it hit me on Debauchery- feels so easy to epic on it, the way you're having to pick your way across other routes that are all grades harder. It totally lived up to my expectations and we're both keen to go back and finish it off.

(I should know, I dropped Darius after obsessing about it for years, c'est la vie, I got to experience 97% of the climbing and ran sideaways across the crag on my way down)

I would definitely have shit myself if that had happened!

  What did you do Mindfull?

[mindfull]

Nerves in the forearm were smashed by the Police. I fainted but they tought I was resisting, so they gave me a "special treatment". Couldn't move my pinkie anymore an the rest of fingers were not much better. Luckily after the surgery, I regained full control again over the fingers, only the sleepy feeling is still there and will be there for at least some years I know from experience.
Now every day physio and hoping to do some easy circuits in Font at the beginning of September.

[cheque]

  I guess this was at some sort of protest?

[mindfull]

No, just fainted along the street, and was to suddenly to weak to stand on my feet. They must have thought I was drunk, but I wasn't. There was a fire in my appartment building and the smoke must have intoxicated me somewhat.

[EdGowSmith]

Missed last week. Can't really remember what I did but didn't do any new problems in the 7s and did 3/4 stretches.

7A:    34/50
7A+:  21/40
7B:    7/30
7B+:  6/20
7C or harder:    3/10

Stretches: 2/4

Mon: Some sport at Anstey's and then DWS at LQP.
Tues: Fingerboarding.
Wed: Session at the Bunker. Some power endurance, pull-ups and other stuff.
Thurs: Hopes Nose with Ellis. Tide was coming in quickly so too little time to do what I wanted to. Will be back soon!
Fri: Good session at the Bunker. Did some problems, systems boarding, fingerboarding, and also shoulder exercises.
Sat: Rest day in prep. for Hartland.
Sun: Hartland with Ellis, James and Hamish. Did Corridors of Power, 7C, really quickly and had a quick play on the End is Nigh, 8A, which should go. Also did a 7A.

[the_dom]

Taking some time off climbing / training / kettlebells to rehab my finger, and didn't have the best week, mainly due to a combination of work commitments and lack of surf.

Mon: 10km hilly trail run. Didn't actually feel too bad.

Tues: Bikram yoga. This broke me. Good lord.

Wed: Surf after work. Not great conditions, but so good to surf.

Thurs: Core session at home and treadmill intervals. Definitely felt the core session while running, which is a good thing.

Fri: Rest. Wanted to surf, but as I was leaving to head through to the surf spot I got the news of a non-fatal shark attack there. Luckily the victim is fine. Spent the evening drinking.

Sat: Rest. Out of town for a wedding. Wanted to surf, but well..

Sun: Core session at home and 40 min trail run.

Finger is feeling slightly better, thank all that is good and holy.

[french erick]

7A:    34/50
7A+:  21/40
7B:    7/30
7B+:  6/20
7C or harder:    3/10
Stretches: 2/4

I am always miffed by those figures... have you set a numbers of routes to do at each grade for the year, the month, the week? so far 34 7as... so what about stretches?

STG:Implementing Barrow's systems and it seems to work
MTG: tick 2 particular routes on upper cave crag at Dunkeld, 1 at Ardmair and start project boulder in Torridon.
LTG: that's E4/ VIII,8? Cool I'll onsight it then.
VLTG: Romantic Warrior, needles, CA

back to a normal routine of 3 sessions on homeboard. Need to be a bit careful since Frogatt cave route left my right elbow feeling a bit tweaky.
Thursday I finally completed one of my hybrid circuits (half nasty crimps/slopers, half hand to fiststack jamming) which is roughly 40 moves (how do you count reverse pony moves though )

[Luke Owens]

The mileage/on-sight mission has begun, enjoying it! Had to have a word with myself on Tuesday after failing to do mileage. Started going out picking pumpy/long routes now.
 
Monday: 25 mins Aerocap
 
Tuesday: LPT - Had a good onsight go on Mean Mother (7b), fell mid crux, fell on my 2nd go when I hadn't figured out the clipping position properly on the crux.

Wednesday: Rest
 
Thursday: Rest
 
Friday: Penmaen Head - 5a, 5c, 6a+, 6a+, 6b+, 6b+
 
Saturday: Llanddulas - 6a+, 6a+, 6b, 6b, 6b+
 
Sunday: Castle Inn/Penmaen Head - 4a, 4a, 5c, 5c, 6b+/6c (O/S), 6c (O/S), 6c

The easy routes were to put up a top rope for my girlfriend, the last 3 days I ended up doing most routes twice.

[webbo]

Mon. Bike 1 hour intervals.
Tue. Nothing.
Wed. weights and deadhanging, did a couple of repeaters.
Thu. Bike 1 hour intervals.
Fri. Nothing.
Sat. Weights and deahanging including 2 repeaters. Bike 1 hour 51 mins 36 miles.
Sun. Bike 56 miles windy as shit.
Foot not getting any better physio seems to be making it worse, got a review booked in for next week. Tried some K tape not sure how much it helped, but it felt slightly less painful.

[EdGowSmith]

I am always miffed by those figures... have you set a numbers of routes to do at each grade for the year, the month, the week? so far 34 7as... so what about stretches?

Sorry, only just saw this!
Yeah, they're my boulder grade aims for the year. Basically noticed that last year although I had done up to 7C I hadn't really got much mileage on lower 7s, so I'm trying to rectify that this year.