[csl]

STG - may

- 7B
- 5 days outside
- Do something good in Font

MTG - september

- 7C
- cassin on piz badile/comici on cima grande

LTG - this time next year

- not sure

Monday

Nothing

Tuesday

Arch B1

- lots of stuff up to V5. Left bicep insert/elbow hurting a lot

Wednesday

Arch B1

Good session, lots off the V5-7 circuit and close on a couple of greens v6-8+. Couple of ibruprofen before and elbow held up ok

Thursday

Nothing - meant to meet Coops_13 but elbow hurting a lot when warming up so went home.

Friday

Nothing

Saturday

Nothing

Sunday

Biscuit Factory, various from the comp wall, nothing hard.
B1 - good progress on a Green (V8?), did some moves I couldnt do before.
Elbow reasonably sore.

Ok week, elbow tendonitis flares up once every year which is annoying. Hopefully it'll sort itself out, but might have to go a bit easier the next couple of weeks as have a few trips planned.

[fried]

M/Th - Nothing, planned to do a bm session, but too much work...
Fr - Indoors, ok session but shoulder tweaky, did a lots of easy circuiting.

Sa - Roche aux oiseaux, pottered around doing mostly easy stuff, repeated petit toit for first 6A of the year, albeit a very soft one. Nice day out marred by usual euroshits climbing directly off the ground onto already polished probs.

Su - Rest

Found out that a new wall has opened 10 mins from mine, so I'm off to investigate tomorrow

[nai]

Back still  playing up

Mon -
AM tried to get warmed up for AnCap but was feeling my back twinging on the steep board so stopped after 1/2 hour of warm up and 1/2 hour of bouldering

Few low weight/high rep weights

Eve - 30 mins yoga/back stretches

Tue
had plans for Tor but opted to cancel
AM - Max hangs
Eve - 45 mins yoga/back stretches

Wed - AeroPow - campus laddering - slightly improved scores vs 2nd session last year

Thu - hour yoga/back & shoulder stretches AM.

Fri -
Had made plans for WCJ Cornice earlier in the week expecting the back to sort itself out by now.  Felt ok during a quick warm up at home so decided to go for it reasoning the movement of climbing sometimes frees it up.
Felt it tweak a couple of times slipping and stumbling while walking in but didn't heed the warnings. Dogged up a dirty 6c+ to warm up and that was that.  Went home, warmed up again and did some max hangs.

Eve - 30 mins stretches for back and shoulders

Sat - AeroCap, shoulder stretches

Sun - tried twice to get warm for laddering but it wasn't happening
30 mins yoga/back & shoulder stretches

Not the week I was hoping for but at least I can still tick over, looks like a diet of fingerboard, laddering and AeroCap for the foreseeable.

[nik at work]

M - Nothing
T - Training traverse with Doug. 1x7b, 1x8a, 3x8a+. Still felt sore from Font and everything felt hard work.
W - Nothing
T - Nothing
F - Nothing
S - Nothing
S - Nothing

Hmmmm, amazing week. Oh well bank holiday tomorrow so planning on getting out, weather permitting... Also booked flights to Munich for an Autumn jolly, whoop whoop

[T_B]

M - Lunch Autobelays. 2 x warm ups, 5 x 6a+, 5 x 6c, 5 x 7a.
T - PM. Warmed up on board. Looked like weather better than Thu, so decided to have a look at BSMA to see if it had withstood the hail. At 7pm it was 2 degrees, the topout was damp as was the starting jug, but the rest was dry! Kept the topout dry with a jacket as more hail swept through the valley and used a drybag over the starting jug to keep my hand dry. After a few false starts, got to second sloper. On 'the go' moved slowly and carefully past the 2nd sloper to avoid a dab or heel ping. V chuffed to link this after 6 sessions and in atmospheric conditions, as I'd thought it would have to wait until the autumn. My first grit Font 8a.
W - PM Homeboard. Tired.
T - Lunch run.
F - Autobelays 5 x 6a+. Lattice broken 1/4s. 4 x 28 x 4. Only just completed, felt like perfect intensity having been failing on sets with higher reps previously. Finished on 5 x 6a+s.
S -
S - AM Tor, arrived at 9am and no-one there. PUTPBand attempts. Sacked off any pausing on the jug at the end of PUTP. Slapped the gaston twice, got the split crimp twice. Felt like I was still bearing down pretty well, just need a bit more lock. A few goes at undercut-sloper, but fingers felt sweaty as. Felt wrecked by end of session. PM run.

Need an easy week, body feels like it's starting to fall apart.
Not sure I have the psyche for PUTPBand despite it being within reach. It's just so frickin nails and the resting is hard work.

[Muenchener]

Also booked flights to Munich for an Autumn jolly, whoop whoop

Only just occurred to me you're coming during Oktoberfest. Hopefully there'll be something to celebrate 

[Luke Owens]

My first grit Font 8a.

Strong effort Tom!



M: Lunch:
3 x 15 Eccentric curls - palms up - both arms (12kg)
3 x 15 Eccentric curls - palms down - both arms (4kg)
3 x 5 reps of IYT's (4kg)

Eve: 3 x 15 Eccentric curls - palms up - both arms (12kg)

T:
4 x 10 Press-ups
4 x 10 Shoulder Rotations (4kg)
4 x 10 Tricep Curls (10kg)
3 x 10 Eccentric curls - palms up - both arms (10kg)

Eve: Local esoteric crag Bwlch Y Moch, few goes needed to do "Crackline One" (6B), slightly overhanging jamming crack, haven't done anything like that before.

Tried a couple of the other harder things but they were very dusty, un-obvious and not that great.

Did a couple of very easy up lines and traverses.

W:
30 Crunches (+5kg)
20s Side planks (+6kg)
5 x 5sec L-hangs
3 x 10 Eccentric curls - palms up - both arms (8kg) (Dropped the weight and slowed down the movement to 5secs)
5 x 5sec L-hangs
3 x 10 Dorsal Raises (+5kg)

T: Lunch - 3 x 10 Shoulder Rotations
3 x 10 Press-ups
3 x (5 x 5s) L-Hangs

Eve: Hope Mnt. - Had a fair few goes on "Roof LH" supposedly 6Cish, no change. Feels at least 7A. Couldn't figure out the last move but the jump felt easier. Watched a video when I got home, makes sense now. Lost a lot of skin, annoying.

F: Max Hangs - Open Crimp on 20mm edge:
R1: 10s, R2: 10s (+5kg), R3: 10s (+10kg), R4: 9s (+15kg)

S: Rest

S: Another 6am quick hit to the pass.

Did "Arse Soul" (7A) and then "Northern Soul" (7A) third go. Nipped up to "King of Drunks" to try and finish it off with not much skin, freezing in the wind but managed to latch the last move from the sit put failed to pull through to the golf ball jug, proper punt but surprised to get there despite being knackered. Should go for sure next time. Video of the two I did:

[the_dom]

Not the highest intensity week..

Mon: Feeling exhausted and battered. Rest day.

Tues: Decent hangboard and core session at home.

Wed: Weights - DLs: 1 x 5 x 110kg, 1 x 3 x 130kg, 5 x 1 x 150kg; 5 x 25 kettlebell swings with 24kg bell. 20 min run on the treadmill afterwards.

Thurs: Bouldering outside. 1 x 7B repeat, 1 x 7C repeat and re-opened my account on a 7C+ that I did years ago and would like to repeat. Not a bad session.

Fri: Bouldering outside. Tired session at a new boulder on Table Mountain.

Sat: Rest day and day drinking.

Sun: 2 hour hike up Table Mountain in the morning, followed by good hangboard and core session in the afternoon.

[shark]

11.3-4

M. Malham. Stev, Paul and Luke D. Early start but mis-timed so spent two hours in sun before climbing. Cons x1 then x2 Then Taking the Space with a rest. Go 1 Putting draws in rock felt glassy. I felt crap Go 2 Got to set up for throw but slid off sidehold/pinch. Go 3-5 Reached undercut by 3rd bolt from ground. Towards the end it was snowing. Skin not biting till later on - humidity level too low? Thin skin a problem again. Each attempt took a big effort. Not in the zone in my head didn't help either. Long day

T.

W.

T.

F. Malham. Paul, Steve, Jerome and Rab. Met Neil Dickson at crag. Cloudy and cool enough but felt glassy again to me. Nobody else seemed to be struggling as much though - even Saltbeef who went on it. Maybe its my skin - tips still thin and hurt. New whites worked well though. Didn't even get close to doing throw from the ground. Sad times. Fuckity fuck

S.

S.

I had a dream last night that I did the Oak but it was a non-event that I didn't tell anyone about then buried the fact in the rubble of a bombed out city in the form of a Sony Walkman.

I have been dry for two weeks now but my psyche levels aren't sufficiently high to drive down my weight to sub 11stone. I feel that I only have a finite amount of motivation and emotional energy and most of that has been diverted into my new job. I'm going up again today but feel like I am just going through the motions. Sorry everyone who have been so encouraging but I suspect I will need to re-group and plan towards re-building towards an Autumn ascent.   

[36chambers]

M:
T:
W: Whitehouses -> Brimham. Climbed Whitefinger Low on the quick. Gets 7C+ but feels more like 7B+ . Ended up at crimpy roof, decided to try To You Too and quickly found myself puntering off the last move trying whack beta. Excellent problem but somewhat marred by the grade. 8A in the book which some people take, I've seen Dan Varian mention 7C, feels like low end 7C+ to me, but it is morpho and not in my favour...
T: Left should feeling particularly bad, especially when I extend my arm out sideways with palm facing up. Definitely over did it on Wednesday... 
F:
S: Shipley Glen. Taking it easy. Climbed Manson's Wall 6C which is bon and The Pinch 7B+/6C...
S: Brimham. Shoulder still bad but the moves on The Fonz 8A didn't aggregate it so half a dozen goes. New high point (sticking the arete) despite skin being in tatters and it being quite still and warm. Split tip finished play. Ended the day doing Pink Bulge 7C which is an excellent up problem on the rightside of the Pinky Trav bloc. 

Going to try and book a physio this week and to make a conscience effort to let my skin recover.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - cleans PB 65 kg 1 x 2. Snatch pulls PB 65 kg 2 x 1. Speed cleans 46 kg 12 x 1.
Tue - board climbing, tried another long standing project, single moves. Hard. Was tired but motored through. Boxing bag. Must take some rest, probably for the rest of the week, really tired and a bit mentally spent after climbing the project.
Wed - boxing bag.
Thu - climbing class.
Fri - boxing bag.
Sat - clean and press PB 1 x 2 51 kg. Then various cleans.
Sun - Max FB, front3 and back3 on San Hold. Hard. Front lever pulls. Slept until late, loved my girlfriend, rode my bike, trained one arm hangs and went out for dinner. The Perfect Day?

[SA Chris]

M- bit broken. Wall session actually did OK.
T - treadmill. No idea of pace, and kept resetting distance, but did sime running, got tired and stopped.
W - wall session. Feeling a bit beaten from Monday, but built slowly and actually had an OK session
T - nothing
F - stuffed face.
S - cycled to pool and back 30k, with 500m of swimming in between.
S - 6 k run, kites with kids.

[petejh]

STG: Send existing projs at Crag X (NI), Mega Crag X (NI),  First 8b+ (Mecca), spring
MTG: Continue bolting/sending new routes at Mega Crag X (spring-summer). Explore more of Ireland. Projs on G.Orme, Gideon and L.Ormes (late summer after birds have left)
LTG: 8c, by June 2018

M.
T. Core/mobility sesh
W. Tor with Jo. Mecca sesh 1 this year. First two tie-ins felt a bit brutal, as expected. Third tie-in good - linked from ground to undercuts, Undercuts to hand over the ear but not holding. Definitely feel stronger on the moves than last years sessions.
T. Boardroom, Moonboard. 6 probs 6C to 7A+ all flashed except one 2nd go.
F. Neck weights 20Kg.
S. Tor. Mecca sesh 2. Turned up late and without partner, thinking I'd end up having to play on Powerband or Bens Roof. Andy B kindly offered to belay. Bit of a poor sesh, everything felt hard. Slight progress on razor move.
S. Neck weights 20Kg. 20 min run. MAT.
M. Tor. Mecca sesh 3. Decent sesh - first go up working out way to save 2 foot moves on traverse by outside flagging. 2nd go up linked undercuts to holding ear but not holding the barn door. And worked kneebar moves but managed to strain groin by kneebarring - wtf, do I have to injure every part of me before moving forwards each time! Shows how unused I am to the black arts of knee-cheatery. 3rd go up nothing to write home about. Kettlebell workout back home.

Progress on traverse, solid on razor move to ear (but not holding barn-door), and working knee bar. Silly old-man injury. Not sure if I'll make it back to Tor this week due to sched and probs Ireland on weekend.

[shark]

I'm going up again today but feel like I am just going through the motions. Sorry everyone who have been so encouraging but I suspect I will need to re-group and plan towards re-building towards an Autumn ascent.   

Things went better today. Touched the horn from the ground three times with a decent upper link at the end so going again friday. Sorry for the whinging.

[TobyD]

M: dog walking and yoga early morning; long-ish bike ride in Devon 60 or so Km in nice sunshine; a tactical prep for...
T: operation in the morning. Managed to get out of bed once or twice to use a commode by the evening! That felt like hard training at the time... In retrospect this might have been related to the biking rather than my condition. And managing lots of lines at the same time.
W: sweet FA. Although lines (lots!) taken out so able to walk about all on my own. Amazing how good this feels, especially being able to get to a toilet without two people helping you
T: unexpected early discharge
F: walk early morning. Tried some hangs on rock rings, felt funny so sacked it
S: core early morning 5 mile brisk walk later.
S: run early morning. Pissed about with a turbo trainer for hours and failed to get it connected

[Sasquatch]

Back in training mode for a few weeks to top up the power.

M - Strength Circuit class
T - Routes 8 x 5.11 and 5.12
W - Outside - worked on 8A, no luck, and found new 7c+?
T - TRX, FB, and MB
F - Run - 1.5hr trail run
S - FB, MB, core
S - Rest - Work around house

Good week of destroying myself.  Looking forward to another week of total destruction.  Then reduce the total volume, and increase the intensity.

[Duma]

Glad to hear you're up Toby

[Duma]

Goals:
8A (Hunters Roof?)and 8b by June. These are looking increasingly unlikely, esp the 8b, might have to be pushed back till after Rocklands.
In shape for SA in summer.

Body Audit: nothing above background...
Sleep: Decent.
Hovering either side of 70kg

M: TCA, not great session but slightly improved - decent links on the black I only managed a dodgy match on a few weeks ago. Didn't manage to seal the deal though. Did get up the white up the middle of the mothership though. (~7.5hrs, 2dk)
T: nothing (~7hrs, 0dk)
W: Bloc, started ok, a few fun slabs but not feeling strong on steeper stuff. Bit of campussing to try and get going - pleased to manage 147 a couple of times leading left, tagged 7 once leading right. (~7hrs, 2dk)
T: nothing (~7hrs, 0dk)
F: TCA, 600 moves as didn't have much time or motivation and was curious. First 150 was ok and done pretty quick warming up on easy circuits and up and down problems, middle 300 or so I did on the green circuit which may have been a bit hard (up to 6A+), last 150 on circuits, regretted not having gloves by the end! Felt like a decent workout and not too tricky to knock out when didn't have the oomph for trying hard. (~7.5hrs, 4dk)
S: Hartland, nice play on all the stuff in the trench then finally managed Ache Ball - have been on this a couple of times before and never made any progress, so pleased - good nick and didn't feel too bad. (~6hrs, 4dk)
S: nothing, very wet in Cornwall so sacked it back to Bristol (~9hrs, 0dk)

Still too heavy and not feeling brilliant at the wall, but a better week overall, and pleased to get Ache Ball.

[Coops_13]

Thursday

Nothing - meant to meet Coops_13 but elbow hurting a lot when warming up so went home.

Didn't know you were gonna be three days on! Rest up!

[psborland]

M: Hiit workout (kb swings/pressup/starJumps/situp) .  An cap on home board 11moves on 3 minute repeat. X 8.  core routine b 2 rounds
 
T: none

W: BBC - volume v4-v5 ish - pull ups- 10 ; 10 ; 5@+20Kg; 5@+27.5Kg; 4 @+30Kg; 3.5 @32.5Kg

Th: Hip mob stretching - Light core work.. Press up and Pull up maxs: 45&16 - 4 mins rest ; 37 &14 - 4 mins rest 35& 13 . Totals 117 & 43

F: none

Sa: none

Su: first day on Peak Lime this year . Two Tier , got completely spanked by Countdown . 4 goes to work out the bottom section and still not really very good  . (any beta gratefully received).. 7a+ ?? Still hurting Today (tues).

[duncan]

M - Operation to fix lad’s elbow, seems to have gone well, back home, therapeutic beers (for dad).
T - 4x10 mins on 5-6a. Good session, gradually ramping up the volume. 
W -
T - Coaching with John Kettle. I had said beforehand I was OK with the physiological side of training at my level and requested a focus on movement unless other issues revealed themselves. The session involved a questionnaire in advance, conversation around my current state and goals, observing me climb both naturally and with constraints to highlight particular facets of climbing, then addressing the issues that were revealed. I’m clear about how I could be moving more efficiently. Forty years of cautious trad. climbing movement will take some relearning but I’ve got some homework to do. I can see the consequent reduction in stress on the elbows and shoulders could also be beneficial. I’m also currently a bit short on Anerobic power but this a known issue, and fairly easily rectified for the summer. 

It was an enjoyable and valuable session and I can strongly recommend seeing John, especially if you are interested in more than energy systems or how long you can hang off a 20mm wooden strip.

Executive summary: I need to bounce and twist.  So I’ll be listening to Stanton Warriors:



F - Flight to Barcelona, talking about pain.
S - Hike around Collbato (Montserrat). Watched punters climbing.
S - Drove to Zaragosa, more talking about pain.

Particularly busy week at work and with the lad in a plaster cast. Disappointing lack of climbing outside for a holiday weekend. Talking a gig in Barcelona seemed like a great idea but the logistics and arranging a partner at last minute proved too challenging. Very good session with thekettle. Plan: ramp up the volume some more before trying a bit harder again. 

[tomtom]

Keep the faith Shark. Hope the lad heals Duncan.....

Mon>Thu. Conference, Vienna. Crazy busy - really good though felt very work energised. Didn't have any booze - lost 3lbs despite wurst & schnitzel heavy diet...

Fri > Sunday (monday really) Up to N.Ullswater for long weekend. First time away with the family - where we were not visiting any other family/relatives. After some 'you're not taking a bouldering mat' negotiation, I managed to sneak in my 1 by 1m snap pad into the roof box and we managed to shoe horn everything else in.

Managed 60-90 min at Carrock on sunday - did nothing of note, but enjoyed getting spanked again... good news is planning a week up there in early June.

So, one climb in a week when I was up to then going strong... so a bit off the pace. But a great weekend away during which TTjnr marvelled at the first lambs/ducks/geese he had ever seen - and had his first paddle in a stream on a beautiful spring Lakes day. I also righted my first rigwelter (heavily pregnant yew that had been like that for a while given birds had been pecking at the poor things eyes and tummy) who was very grateful (in a sheep kind of way) as she scampered off...

[nai]

Su: first day on Peak Lime this year . Two Tier , got completely spanked by Countdown . 4 goes to work out the bottom section and still not really very good  . (any beta gratefully received).. 7a+ ?? Still hurting Today (tues).

A largish hold came off this below the crux a few years back, was hard at 7a+ anyway and it's now 7b in the BMC definitive.  Can't help with exactly what to do below the crux but it looks quite obvious. Crux is a slap off a disappointingly small crimp.

[Muenchener]

Coaching with John Kettle. ... I can strongly recommend seeing John, especially if you are interested in more than energy systems or how long you can hang off a 20mm wooden strip.

I was contemplating making the journey up to Kendal to see John when I'm in the UK in the summer. Now I shall contemplate it a bit harder.

[psborland]

A largish hold came off this below the crux a few years back, was hard at 7a+ anyway and it's now 7b in the BMC definitive.  Can't help with exactly what to do below the crux but it looks quite obvious. Crux is a slap off a disappointingly small crimp.

Thanks Ian, It's moving into the good bunch of holds below the pocket under the crux that's troubling me. could only figure a huge span rightwards which was fairly hit and miss and felt too hard . Maybe I'm missing something, guess I'll have another look !

[nai]

Span rightwards sounds about right but shouldn't feel that hard, the crux is still the crux.

[filz]

Mon: nothing
Tue: light weigths.
Wed: push ups, plank, weights (dumbbell deadlifts and farmer's walk)
Thu: rings push ups, ring planks and rows
Fri: board climbing. So and so
Sun: Bouldering. Second day on rock of the year. Not good.

It has been the first week where I managed to train regularly in a while. I'll try to continue. 

[Coops_13]

STG: Keep Training
MTG: 7C, crush Font and Rocklands
LTG: 8A

M: Core
T: Fingerboard
W: Core
T: Indoors on the board
F: Drive overnight to Font
S: Best day in Font ever. Went to Roche aux Oiseaux, did Ca Tend a Droite 7A. Tried Satan m'Habite but a crucial hold hurt my finger so stopped. Tried a couple of other things before going to Sabots. Did l'Oblique 7A fairly quickly and got Jeu du Toit 7A third go. Went to 95.2 to try Symbiose 7C, puntered about on it but now realise I was trying the first move wrong. Did Jafresse Connexion Airline 7B+ with some Slovenian beta: https://www.instagram.com/p/BThGQjhFdG1/?taken-by=rosscooper1992
Went and did Indestructible 7A+ fairly quickly before finishing the day off with Yoga 7A 
S: Started off at Petit Bois, failing hard on la Baleine. Ended up at Marion des Roches where I did Natacha 7A+. Tried Pierrot 7B but couldn't link. Then the rain came...

Good trip to Font, Monday's antics to follow in next week's post...

[webbo]

Mon. Spent day mooching about visited Lagurdia and Logrono.
Tue. Rain forecast for today. So short bike ride did some intervals. Went for a walk and got caught in a thunderstorm.
Wed. Raining more mooching visited Haro.
Thu. Visited wine museum and winery ended up wine tasting again. So afternoons bike ride didn't happen.
Fri. Woke to frost and one degree. Went out on the bike when it had warmed up 64.16 miles 4 hrs 7 mins lots of climbing.
Sat. Travel to ferry.
Sun. Traveling got home at one am on Monday.

[gme]

I dont post my training on here but did raise some questions a few weeks ago on deadhanging as i was having a bit of a loss of confidence in doing them.

So an update if anyone is interested or thinking about doing them. I managed to stick to what i had promised my self and did nothing but deadhang plus a bit of campusing for 41/2 weeks, a total of 12 sessions. I followed a bastardised Maisch/CWP format doing 9 max hangs, two armed with added weight all on the bottom two edges on a BM 1k. I started being able to do a 13 sec hang with 21kg added (BW of 81kg) and when i tested at the end i could do it with 34kg added (BW 83kg) so an increase of 15kg. I was very strict with myself and maintained half crimp pretty much all the time.

I was pretty pleased with the results from this phase but in line with my earlier concerns about transfer to climbing the proof would be in the pudding. I have been climbing outside for a few weeks now as much as possible and am happy to report back that i have a big increase in finger strength, especially on crimps. My fingers feel amazing. To confirm this further i had my 1st session on the moonboard on tuesday evening and did 6 7Bs in a pretty short session and stuff i had done before felt way easier. This was easily the best session i have had on the board.

So in summary i am a massive convert to deadhanging. Going to boulder exclusively for the next few months and drop some weight then do another phase of them July/aug during the hot sweaty summer but going to try one armed hangs.

[csl]

Wow, sounds like max-hangs were the shock to the system you needed. Nice work!

[Duma]

 

[tomtom]

Nice one. (Reminds TomTom to pull his finger out and get back training...)

[Stu Littlefair]

Glad they worked for you Gav.

I think most people find that a phase of more volume-heavy hangs (e.g repeaters or anderson-style hangs), followed by a phase of max hangs (e.g CWP) leads to very good gains. Worth trying next time round!

[galpinos]

Glad they worked for you Gav.

I think most people find that a phase of more volume-heavy hangs (e.g repeaters or anderson-style hangs), followed by a phase of max hangs (e.g CWP) leads to very good gains. Worth trying next time round!

Stu, assuming this is a classic strength building then recruiting style protocol, what are the durations, 6 weeks of repeaters  then 4 weeks of max hangs?

[dave]

Assuming you have access to a wall, what's the benefit of doing repeaters as opposed to doing a session of hard problems?

[Sasquatch]

So in summary i am a massive convert to deadhanging.

  

I think for a select group they are basically the perfect training tool.  You sounded like you were in exactly the same place I was when i started din them   glad they worked. 

[psborland]

Nice one, it'sencouraging to hear some specific results.

[user deactivated]

Hi all, thought I'd post and see if it keeps the psyche up. Last few weeks....

Sat- Heptonstall: cold and rain showers, tried to warm up on a tough fingery e2, sacked it off as freezing and flash pumped. Abbed and tied the pegs off on Step in the Light Green, sun came round so had a go. Got to just heading out from the second peg to the top ramp. Fell off in a full on rain shower with frozen fingers. No push over this route and quite bold for me! Glad it carried on raining as felt man flu coming on. Led thin red line - Roaches HVS.

Sun - nothing

Mid week- boulder problem reps and power endurance, the 50deg board at the depot is desperate, can't get to the top! Getting on it is a sign the torn bicep elbow problem must be eventually on the mend.

Sat / Sun - man flu

Mid week- boulder problem reps and power endurance reps.

Sat - cheedale redpointed Orange Sunshine. Fingery rat crimp undercut nastiness. Tough for 7c+ I thought, happy to climb a Jerry classic though.

Sun- Hen Cloud with Ryan - trad pottering on the Brown and Whillans routes that weren't bird banned. Also had a reccy of The Young Pretender, a Mark Katz e8 from the late 90's. looks at least font 7C with a grim landing. I wonder if it's been repeated? Ha!

Warning video of trad plodding with excess wind noise:

Watch this video on Vimeo: . Don’t have the Vimeo app? Get it from the App Store: http://bit.ly/vimeo_ios