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Short Mecca Film from Patrick Taylor
10 June 2013, 11:42 am

 A video short of me climbing the Raven Tor classic ‘Mecca’ filmed and edited by Patrick Taylor.



Source: George Carmichael

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Hot Hot Hot!
16 July 2013, 11:48 am

Since finishing my second year of Uni I’ve been getting out quite a lot. I started off by trying Evolution f8c+ at Raven Tor, progress was quicker than expected at first. I managed to do all the moves and then started to try making some links on it. This didn’t go too well as it’s the sharpest climb I’ve ever tried and I quickly split a tip on the crux move. This then took close to two weeks to heal and by then the hot weather had arrived!



For me the route boils down to two really hard moves and the other moves are fine in comparison. When it cools down I aim to try Devolution first which does the crux move to the break then goes right up an easier finish at 8b+ which seems more manageable in the near future as I find the second crux move too hard at the moment to think about sticking it from the ground.

Now my split tip has healed I’ve been able to get back on routes with smaller holds. Last week I did an amazing f8a+ route called ‘Agent Provocateur’ at Crunch Buttress in Water-Cum Jolly dale. A technical start leads into a more powerful finishing sequence with a heart breaker last move. A really good route that’s definitely worth checking out! Video of it below.



At the end of this week I’m going on a family holiday so will be having a week off climbing. When I get back I’m looking forward to doing some bouldering again with my sights set on Seans’ Roof and Mutton Busting, two font 8A+’s at Blackwell Dale which look really good. Hoping I might be able to get some form back by then and for the temps to drop a bit!



Source: George Carmichael

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Time Off
18 October 2013, 5:55 pm

It’s been a long time since my last blog post due firstly to a lack of psyche over the summer which is rare for me and then a finger injury which has been taking a while to heal. It was stupidly caused by warming up on the easier moves of Keen Roof. Although not tendon related and just inflammation of soft tissue it has taken a while for me to get back to the point where I feel I can push myself again.



I am now back at University in my final year and am mainly focussing on training now as I have a few unfinished projects to do which I want to be a little stronger for. I also plan to have a gap year visiting Switzerland and America when I finish my degree so want to be as strong as I can for that.



This week I have been training on the boards at the Depot Nottingham and was happy to find I felt stronger than I have done on them before. Now I am going to train hard with Evolution (8c+) and Keen Roof (V13) in mind, as I have done all the moves and made decent links. Just need the hard moves to feel a little easier!



Source: George Carmichael

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Coming Back from a Year of Injury
9 November 2014, 4:00 pm

I have not posted on this blog for over a year, the reason why? Injury. Again…

Last Autumn I was the strongest I had ever been. I trained 4 times a week and all I focussed on was training and getting stronger. I watched my diet, rested well and did very intense short sessions on the board followed by campussing steep boulder problems on good holds. By the end of November I was warming up on climbs that just a month a go had been long term projects.

Then in December I tore my A2 pulley by warming up on a crimpy 7B after a week off (idiot!) and since then it has been a real struggle to get back to being able to crimp at all without pain.

Finger Rehab This Summer I had planned a trip with my friend Chris Clarke to Magic Wood but my finger was still injured. In the end we decided to go for it anyway. At the start font 7A with crimps felt hard and I began to question whether a month long bouldering trip was a good idea. Luckily Magic Wood turned out to be one of the best places to recover from an injury. With an ice cold river running alongside the boulders there was always an opportunity to easily ice my fingers after a climb and this really helped.

Last Day in Magic Wood After a couple of weeks I had improved and had done a good amount of climbs up to font 7C all of which were amazing boulders which I was happy with.

Intermezzo 7C I then had a look at ‘Foxy Lady’ a shouldery, short font 8A on crimps. Surprisingly this felt ok and wasn’t too tweaky, after a few sessions I managed to get it done and this was my first 8A in over a year!

Since returning home in September I have started a part time job at the Climbing Works which I am enjoying and next year I plan to do a masters at Manchester University. Although I had managed to climb much better in Switzerland than I had expected I still felt like my finger wasn’t fixed and I had no power at all.

In the last few weeks I have finally found my strength returning and feel I can finally start to look at climbs I want to do again. Recent days at Raven Tor and on the board have been really good and although i’m probably at 80% strength it feels great to finally be able to try hard again!

I now hope to train well over the Autumn/Winter as well as getting out on the limestone while it is still dry and most of all avoid injury at all cost!



Source: George Carmichael