[Duma]

M - lunch, Sand Point. Adam (two weeks ago), and Alex (two days ago) had both reminded me that I'd never gone back for a go at Arrakis, an Ian Cooper 7C here from a few years ago. Most remiss of me as it's in my grade range and local. Also turns out to be excellent, and soft. Lovely stuff, with some quality heel above the head action. Eve TCA, mostly for the social as mates back from abroad, but also did a couple of new blacks and whites.
T - eve, Cheddar, Lion Rock. Mainly support crew but started trying Roy Walker Connection 8a. This climbs Shadow Walker to the undercuts (as LST) but then steps left to finish up the crux of the  E6(7c+ really, it's nearly all fixed gear), Taming of the Lion, via a bolt, a nut (which I didn't have), and a thread. First go worked out most of the new climbing but didn't get through to the thread and easy finish. Second go pulled up to the lower off and worked it out from the top. Didn't quite link the section of new climbing though. 3rd tie in had a RP, fell on the middle crux feeling pretty jaded. 4 outside sessions, 1 indoor, and a run in the last 5 days - rest is in order.
W -
T - aft/eve, Cheddar, Lion Rock. Back on Roy Walker. Much better connies, I'd go so far as to say prime. Decided to sack off the kneebar, it's not that great and although this start is a touch harder, it's less pumpy so not worth it I think. First go getting draws in and sorted better feet, not before taking the big fall though. Next go to within 3 moves of the chains, and one move from a jug, but a foot sequence error a couple of moves before had fucked me and I was off, despite being on easy ground really. Next go did it, still had to grunt my way through the last move to the jug, but pleased this one went pretty quick. Pint, pickled egg, and cheese roll at the Crown to celebrate.
F - lunch, TCA, 120 min. Whites, blacks, and blues. 10 problems, flashed 1, 2 second go, 2 with a bit of work. 4 only tried briefly, 1 put a bit of work in but no tick.
S  - 12 hr shift.
S - 12 hr shift.

71.5 kg.

[Fiend]

Pissed off enough to return.

Next week STG: None stated
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes - n/a. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope, or above a pad - a couple of sport routes. Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners - trying but general clash of interests / motivations. Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out - n/a. Look after injuries - ugh, gym x 1 - barely, elbow rehab x 2 - x 1, shoulder rehab x 3 - x 2 overall, stretching x 3 - x3 overall.

M - Lancs photoshoot / checking. 40 mins walking, 1 x E1 5b. Productive day for the guide. Midges.

T -  Attempted bouldering. 1 x 6C in approx 500 attempts. Tired. Impinged left shoulder sore.

W - Rest. Tired. 15 mins stretching.

T - Stamina circuits at Depot. Vile. Actually made meeting Serpico there seem pleasant in comparison. Yellow (F6a, actually F6a+), yellow reverse, red (F6b, actually F6b+), red reverse, red reverse into red, red into red reverse, blue (F6c, actually hard F7a), blue reverse (both 2nd session after 2 attempts each previous session), attempted purple (F7a, actually hard F7b), attempted purple reverse. 3 sets of hand crack (VS 5a) into yellow, good burnout. Lots of rest and stretching between sets. Shoulder sore. Tiny bit of rehab.

F - 1:30 mins vague cleaning. Furious at climbing community in general and the death of any trad that isn't R***fax ""Top 50"" honeypot blandness. Midges.

S - Sport climbing at Ty Newydd with Andy F. F6b, F6c, F6c+, F6c+, attempted F7a but too hard. Not bad. No practise falls due to undulating terrain. A LOT of wild garlic. Shoulder sore Poor sleep with bad dreams, woke with anxiety.

S - Light gym rehab, various shoulder stuff. Weak and shoulder very weak. 50mins stretching which was good. Depressed mood before gym, and angry mood after. Poor sleep with bad dreams, woke with anxiety.


Have got into a general habit of trying to heed my body, avoid fatigue, rest more and pace myself, and have ended up feeling just tired as well as weak. It does seem when I'm out at the crag I'm capable of doing okay-ish at 80+% of usual capability.


Next week STG: Fuck knows.
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope, or above a pad. Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners. Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out. Look after injuries, gym x 1, elbow rehab x 2, shoulder rehab x 3, stretching x 3.

[Andy F]

Fiend,
You climbed really well on Saturday. That 6c/+ you onsighted was hard and difficult to read. Don't be so hard on yourself.

[monkoffunk]

M - Bristol to see family. 0500 Avon Gorge hit. Tried a sharp 6B to warm up. Failed to do it, but I’m sure there is some simple techy knack that makes it easy. Moved on to Most Choice. Failed to get beyond first move on this last year. Today made quick progress and soon found myself established in the scoop. Luckily jugs led the way to the top, as it’s high enough to be just outside my comfort zone. Really fun. First of the ‘Choice’ routes for me. Remember looking at these some point from 2006-8 and thinking they looked totally blank. Almost like a non climbers perspective. Nice to do something from old home crag with some degree of personal history. After that tried to repeat the Arête problem but the angels were pushing me down. Maybe one day I’ll be as technically proficient as I was in 2016.
Yoga. Weird pain in hand developing.

T - Nothing. Right index MCP joint swollen up a bit unfortunately. Can crimp pain free, can’t quite make fist. Ibuprofen.

W - Unexpected rain forced me to rest the swollen MCP. Perhaps the angels are on my side after all. 5k ish run and then run between various shops looking for anchovies to take total to 9.6k. Yoga.

T - Yoga. Again, was going to get out but finger not quite normal. So close but a bit more rest probably sensible to prevent a blip becoming an issue. Bristol esoterica will have to wait for another visit.

F - Nothing I think.

S - Morning elbow physio weights session and pull ups. Yoga.

S - Nothing.

Bit of a shame to miss the chance to try out some of the problems I have left at amenable grades around Bristol, but enjoyed the stuff I did do and pleased to get up the lowest of the Avon highballs. All will still be waiting and at some point I need to get back to Sand Point too!

Finger improving, hopefully just a transient issue. Missed a few of days yoga. Aim for better consistency next week.

[Aussiegav]

Fiend, 
I’m not surprised that you have recurring tweaks aches & pains when I see how much you do every week.
Rest  do something

[andy popp]

Fiend,
You climbed really well on Saturday. That 6c/+ you onsighted was hard and difficult to read. Don't be so hard on yourself.

When I watch Fiend's videos my reaction is often: "Fiend's climbing well."

[Aussiegav]

Monday -

Evening Finger board on 18mm edges
Finger Strength Assessment 18mm edges. Half Crimp

Very pleased with results with a return to training

100kg total weight for 7sec half crimp.

93kg total weight 11April

105kg total weight 12Feb the week before my surgery.

Tuesday
Depot after work.
20min projects
30degree Wood board
Birthday cake mix bench 2024.
Spanked on the Moonboard

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Fingerboard on 18mm edge. Half crimp
3x 10sec hangs. Total weight 85.6kg. Felt good. 8/10 effort level
Body weight repeaters

3x7:3sec hangs 1min rest. 5 sets.
Pleased as I couldn’t do this body weight repeaters session completely in January 24.


Friday
Rest

Saturday
Depot project Session on the 30 degree hardwood board.

3x3 pull up on the minute
Fingerboard warmup

4x4.1 6reps on the minute
King Louie V4 flash. Repeated again
Macc the life. V4. Spent 20mins on this.


Sunday
Virgin Gym in the morning for strength training.
Hoped to spend my birthday at Peter Dale. But weather did not comply.

Off to Ibiza with the family on Tuesday for some warm water and hot sun

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - board climbing, set and climbed a problem after hellish work day. Back work.
Tue - DL 531 week 7 (my two previous entries mistook week number). Pull ups, one leg RDL.
Wed - very tired. AM as usual; PM weights, abs, Lattice edge mixed grips.
Thu - TRX, weights.
Fri - bike trip, theraband, push ups.
Sat - as above.
Sun - bike trip, 4x AM session at home. So tired.

[SA Chris]

Shockingly dismal week, after wall session on sat and outdoors Sun last weekend, skin was shot.

M - 10 km run
T - nowt, short lunch walk
W - walk to and from garage to get car
T - 7.5km lunch run. Lifted a kettlebell a bit
F - nowt
S - DIY
S - DIY.

Pain in scapular area now, from DIY..

[i_a_coops]

M - lunch, Sand Point. Adam (two weeks ago), and Alex (two days ago) had both reminded me that I'd never gone back for a go at Arrakis, an Ian Cooper 7C here from a few years ago. Most remiss of me as it's in my grade range and local. Also turns out to be excellent, and soft. Lovely stuff, with some quality heel above the head action.

So psyched someone else has used the invert beta on that!  I was a bit sad when more people started repeating it the right way up.

The undercut has improved since the FA which I imagine makes it a better problem and a bit easier, maybe the more boring sequence is #biggradesforbadbeta now?

[duncan]

M - 10km walk. Swam 0.5km in the murk.

T - Fingerboard pickups, left only, all grips, to 36kg. Right elbow rehab. pick-ups to 22kg. Hip flexibility.

W - Last minute change of plan due to flood warning in N Wales. The Environmental Agent suggested Cornwall. Drove down through biblical rain. Hip flexibility.

T - Chair Ladder, with the Environmental Agent. Hiked up Terrier’s Tooth (not banned but a bit birdy so missed the full summit experience) and the excellent South Face Direct.

F - Bosigran, with the Environmental Agent. Swapped leads on Ding and the good but pokey Visions of Johanna on the main cliff. Apparently I've done this before but have precisely zero recollection.

S - Checked out the Gallipoli Wall (Bosigran Ridge area) but this was damp so went back to the main cliff at which point it started raining properly. Took a rest day and did some hip stretches.

S - A damp Carn Barra. Led Axis and Exodus between showers. The Environmental Agent tried the “much attempted” Dialectic but E1s on damp and polished granite was a bit too much for her and I wasn't tempted either.



Great to get out of London for a few days even if the weather in Cornwall hasn't turned out to be much better than other parts of the UK: glorious sun one moment, pissing with rain 45 minutes later. The hedgerows are looking glorious with May flowers. (Very) easy trad. has proved to be exactly what the elbow needed, it’s been good all week. Now time to ramp things back up gradually.

Family get-together on Exmoor for the rest of this week so unlikely to be doing much climbing.

[Fiend]

Fiend, 
I’m not surprised that you have recurring tweaks aches & pains when I see how much you do every week.
Rest  do something

Cheers Gav. However in this case there's only one tweak (rarely for me!) and it's a manageable one IF I ACTUALLY KEEP DOING MY REHAB. I feel like my body is mostly behaving at the moment and this weeks grump is about feeling sleepy-tired rather than physically fatigued. I've tried to get it back on track, overnight anxiety hasn't helped but I think I've had some okay rest.

When I watch Fiend's videos my reaction is often: "Fiend's climbing well."

When I edit Fiend's videos my reaction is often: "Fiend's climbing well on 6C/+s (down from 7As) in the right conditions". Which I am happy about, partly because 6C+ is the best grade in climbing... But I'm also trying to get my route climbing back on track which requires a few more things, including stamina and confidence but also better energy levels (for travelling and longer days out) and also some mental stability for organising things. Oh, and the rehab / stretching stuff to help my body work in a variety of ledge-shuffling situations. All of which I feel are below par, partly due to farting around bouldering.


P.S. Duncan, I'm pretty sure there's a good selection of Exmoor climbing in one of the South West Climbs volumes....

[Duncan Disorderly]

Qu'est ce que c'est...Club

Might have missed a week as was in Verdon - think I did a bit of moaning about my hip and shoulder and some F6c laps - that'll sort me right out for a week of multipitch with the Energizer Bunny.... Ha!

M: First day in the Verdon opted for a F6a+ Les Deux Doigts dans le Nez straight off Barre de l'Escalès - Great route, brilliant climbing, in an awesome position. Few logistical snafoos tho ("take" sounds a lot like "safe" from 30m below - could have ended badly if I'd not been over cautious!)... Ended up making a schoolboy error on the last pitch and ending up on a F6c+ (F7a at least!), neither of us expected that so some swearing and lobs ensued (think a bit of wee came out when I first dropped off and bounced 10-15ft on rope stretch over the void!)... Good intro!
T: Went up to Crete des Vernis to do Vernis, Vidi, Vici a F6b that had been recommended by a mate - set off too late, got lost , walked to 1.5hrs then realised we'd be finishing the 10-12pitches in the dark so opted to go single pitch climbing... Got lost finding the crag (Felines - parked in the wrong place!). Ended up at the base of L'arête de la Patte de Chèvre a 7 pitch F5+ - wasn't either of us's plan but it was getting late so opted to do it and work on our multipitch skills (calls, ropework etc.) Was actually a load of fun and we wizzed up it!
W: Headed to Falaise de l'Imbut to do Liberté Surveillée (a great looking F6b+) but on the walk down to the Ab ran into a number of other parties (at least one group of 3!) and although the weather was good there was a fierce wind which made for freezing temps... EB made the call to bail and we went back to Crete des Vernis for Vernis, Vidi, Vici as we knew the way now... Amazing day out! 12 ace pitches, well bolted, a bit of choss but on the whole all superb... Topped out in just under 5hrs, guess our "training" day helped! Psyched....
T: Rest/Work day - went for a walk... Day was marred by realising we'd actually been robbed the day before! A sizeable chunk of cash taken from a wallet in the glovebox of the car... Seems it's a thing! No cards taken and no windows smashed but they seem to have a keyless way into Citroen C3's and the like! Be careful!
F: Back to Barre de l'Escalès this time for the ace looking Ritmo Jazz F6c - Not what I was expecting, felt super spooked at the top so opted to just go and hope it go better as the route progressed - it didn't! Felt like  was moving badly, scared and overgripping! Managed to pierce my LH index finger on a F6b+ pitch and ended up pissing blood all over the route and sliding off a hold  ... Final F6c pitch had a tricky to read boulder problem that EB did with a huge dyno to the left hand (the dodgy shoulder!)... I stupidly opted for their beta and missed the hold. Ended up finding a much better way, note to self "don't take beta from the EB!".... Felt pretty down tbh. Topped out just before the rain tho which was nice!
Went to Felines in the afternoon after paying our visit to the Gendarmes (for insurance purposes and to practice my French), couldn't be arsed to climb tho...
S: Planned to go back to Falaise de l'Imbut but after much soul searching I had to tell EB that I couldn't face it! The thought of abbing into the void filled me with such dread I couldn't bring myself to even think about it! Literally thought I was losing it! Decided to go for a walk then go back to Felines... Wandered to Couloir Samson and started to feel worse and worse - finally realising that the knot in my stomach wasn't just fear but that I was actually feeling sick! Phew! Went to Felines, tied in, did a F6a+ and it confirmed my suspicions - couldn't pull for toffee! Shaky, off balance, bleeding finger - pretty glad I didn't ab into a committing F6b+ (or the F6c+ we'd been eyeing up!)... EB had a good day onsighting tho and I dutifully belayed as it was their birthday, between bouts of lying down!
S: Full blown summat - felt like shit! Wasn't much fun to be around! EB wanted to climb - I just wanted to sleep! Ended up at Saint Jeannet on the way back to the airport and belayed EB on a few routes as I felt guilty... Think they had fun!

Trip of two halves really - the run up wasn't great but the injuries I managed to pick up in the previous few weeks didn't bother me at all! Great! Wasn't as fit as hoped but felt like it was coming back, then floored by mystery virus (could be Covid I guess?!?!)... To be honest I'm kinda relieved to be actually feeling ill as really just thought I'd lost my bottle for a bit! Au revoir Verdon, je reviendrai!

[SA Chris]

P.S. Duncan, I'm pretty sure there's a good selection of Exmoor climbing in one of the South West Climbs volumes....

Plus some of the excellent looking beach bouldering Granticus et al have developed.

[csl]

"take" sounds a lot like "safe" from 30m below - could have ended badly if I'd not been over cautious!

A climbing partner of mine found this out the hard way, definitely worth getting a system which doesn't rely on similar sounding words with the same number of syllables being heard over long distances.

[SA Chris]

Remind me of a story (don't know how true) of a German climber visiting SA who was getting belayed by a local, he disappeared out of sight over a bulge, but shouted down "Slack!" so the belayer fed out some rope. Again he shouted "Slack!" so the guy fed out some more, he shouted "slack!" a third time, and then fell off, taking a massive whip with all the rope in the system. As he was lowered off he asked "So what is the word you use when you want someone to hold you on the rope?"

[Duncan Disorderly]

A climbing partner of mine found this out the hard way, definitely worth getting a system which doesn't rely on similar sounding words with the same number of syllables being heard over long distances.

Oooooff!! We figured this out on our training burn - "safe, off-belay" was sufficiently different to all our other calls and seemed to work pretty well... Lots of French folk we saw seem to have gone down the walkie talkie route so might invest for our next trip....