[mindfull]

STG:
- First Weekend Sept: Trip to Font (Highball Circuits)
- Some Buildering projects + Documenting/Filming
MTG:
- Recovery from surgery

Didn't succeed to fit in some gym sessions, only did some weight/bodyweight training, stretching, and Tai Chi. Also did some easy Parkour.Did do some prospecting of buildering projects and planned the trip to Font.

MO:
- Stretching
- Bodyweight & Weight (added in some maximum intensity squats)
- Tai Chi

TU:
Same as Monday

WED:
Rest
- Did some prospecting of buildering projects.
- Did some easy going but fun parkour.

TH:
Same as Monday.

FR:
Same as Monday.

SA:
Rest

SU:
Rest.
- Planned the trip to Font. Searched Topos. Added POI to GPS. Enjoyed the nice pics.

[kelvin]

Decided to head to Wales to meet up with a guy from the club who's kid was being coached by Caff all week. Hadn't climbed with Khalid before but we're roughly the same level, him a bit stronger and braver. We had no choice in the crags as we had to go where Caff took the kids, otherwise we'd have been in the slate quarries all week!.

Mon - Drive to North Wales. Flippin' wet at the club cottage in Capel Curig.
Tue - The Great Orme for the first time. Warm up on a twin roofed 6a near Parisella's Cave. Total flash pump in the left arm yet again. Normally I'd bail but I had to retrieve the draws... kept going when I shouldn't have. Pumped mad on a 5+ next. Spent rest of the day working a 6b - totally boxed.
Wed - Wake up to bruising on the palm from the flash pump. I've had it before but it's an indicator of how pumped I get. Anyway - went to Tremadog. Did Scratch (VS), lovely climb. Then onto Barbarian. I went up and made a belay lower than usual as the others were on Fingerlickin' and Khalid led the hard pitch. Bloody hell - it was a strong pitch. Really not the stuff I usually do and I struggled with the top roof. Eventually pulled off when shouting "slack". Wouldn't have managed it clean anyway.
Thu - Llandulas Cave. Got on a 6a to warm-up but it was obvious the left arm was stuffed. The bruising from the flash pump had calmed down but there's a definite tear in the upper arm/shoulder that i think must have happened on Barbarian, dunno. Rest day then. Khalid onsighted 6c outside for the first time. It was great watching the kids with Caff, good beta resulting in some decent climbing.
Fri - Holyhead Mountain. Desperately windy, Khalid led some HVS next to Brothers, watched the kids on King Bee and then bailed to the Indy climbing wall. Flashed some 5c problems that seemed soft for the grade after being in Font but the arm was still not in any shape to climb. Cameron almost flashed an 8a route, falling at the last hold due to leaving his feet behind.
Sat - Climbing Station, Loughborough. Arm tight and sore still. Flashed the VB-0 circuit and the V0-1 circuit. Did some blues and reds and oranges (up to V3 max), plus had a go at some tough slab things (V5/7). Stopped when I felt the arm complaining.
Sun - Popped into Pinnacle for a bit and did V0 about thirty times and some V1 and 2 problems. Arm got sore trying a V3, so I bailed. Better than nowt.

Not a bad week considering the injury. Need to make this sort of effort most weeks and not cry off when it hurts. Spain is thirteen months away and I need to be lighter, stronger and trusting my feet by then.

On Wednesday evening went to the Hall of the Mountain Kings and watched Caff working some 8B problem - came away feeling psyched to get back on steeper stuff again. If I wanna get stronger then I'm gonna have to but yeah, it was pretty cool in there. The crux holds felt nails when you looked at what you had for your feet. Full respect to them that can do this sort of stuff.

[Doylo]

I must have seen you at Llanddulas on Thursday.

[Muenchener]

STG (Summer): Any halfway decent alpine route
STG (Autumn): 7a redpoint: Edelbitter at Konstein.
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl West Face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

Abandoned hope of getting anything decent done in the Alps this "summer"; better luck next year. Started the autumn 7a redpoint campaign.

M:
T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Half an hour moderate bouldering to warm up, then 12 sets Beastmaker.
W:
T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Half an hour moderate bouldering to warm up, then 12 sets Beastmaker.
F: Bike to & from work 25km
S: Sport climbing. Started my autumn 7a campaign on Edelbitter at Konstein. Lovely route. Big moves on good pockets up a steep wall, until the jugs end two moves before the overhangingness does: crux. Did all the moves, got to the jug before the crux in one on my best burn; sketched my way through the crux with rests twice, but I don't have a consistent/repeatable sequence for it yet. Game On.
S: Rest Day. Knee physio exercises, yoga, core.

[kelvin]

I must have seen you at Llanddulas on Thursday.

Yeah, it was me that's scared stiff of pigeons. Birds in fact. Hideous things. So pleased I was belaying and not climbing into them! That thing you were on looked a bit tough. Strong effort.

[Doylo]

Aye it's a shame how they've taken residence there.

[csl]

August Goals

Stick to training plan - easy rest week this week.
Outside x4 3/4
Onsight more E5 - not been trad climbing
Sport - RP something reasonably hard - Tennessee still evades me.

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest
Wed - Rest
Thu - Portland - 6a+ and 7a to warm up. Then 1 b2b on Tennessee. Next go wanted to link the hard climbing to the rockover, didn't quite manage it. Did link some stuff i hadn't managed last time. Going to need to get a bit stronger as moves are too close to my limit.
Fri - Rest
Sat - Rest
Sun - Bouldering - tried some hard problems on the comp wall + some antagonist stuff, core and pullups

This week - Aeropow, Ancap, Campus and fingerboarding to fit in.

[the_dom]

Not a good week, revived slightly by the weekend.

Mon - Wed: Sinus infection / man flu - no training at all

Thurs and Fri: feeling better but not well enough to train so force myself to rest

Sat: Early surf in decent waves, followed by a new kettlebell workout that leaves me absolutely broken within about 15 minutes. Good stuff.

Sun: Morning 9km run around the neighbourhood followed by a surf in really small, inconsistent waves. Better than not surfing, but just barely.

Still not climbing - have taken almost 2 weeks off since last testing my finger. Might be worth testing out the finger again this week.

[fried]

Crap week

Mon- 4th session in 6 days, tired, can barely be bothered to get off the mat. Fingers are sore.

So I took the rest of the week off.

Sat - Took the missus and one of her friends out for a walk around Cuvier, Rempart etc, the idea for for me to have a sneaky peek around Monts et Merveille and Reconnaissance, but the girls were in walking mode, so I quickly gave up the idea.
Sun - Some light cleaning.

Not working today..Back to Cuvier to see if I can actually climb anything there. Probably not as usual!

[cheque]

Wake up to bruising on the palm from the flash pump. I've had it before but it's an indicator of how pumped I get.

Interesting post Kelvin. Never heard of visible after-effects of a getting pumped before!

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

M-S: In Seville. Lots of walking around in the incredible heat and a morning riding one of these badboys round a big park. Had a full on siesta every day and ate loads of ice lollys and other food. 

S- Black Rocks. Filmed three routes. Attempted to solo Curtain Call (unprotected soft but dangerous E2)- felt great until the last move when I got my mate to lower me a rope. Did it easily on toprope twice straight after, even though I screwed up the sequence on the second go- should have just gone for it.  With hindsight, getting on it after virtually no climbing in the preceding fortnight and with no warm-up was the mistake. Ah well. Split/ lifted a fingernail in a freak car-boot opening incident when I got home.

My mate has pulled out of a planned trip in September so I now have no future climbing plans whatsoever. 

[tomtom]

Crap week for me too...

M:

T:

W: Got back from 3 day meeting in NL late tuesday night... went to the Tor. Was shit. Couldnt do anything I could do before.. but bizarrely managed the first move on Saline Drip SS - once. It felt easy - then I couldnt do it again... went home

T:

F: Tor. Met up with Shark & met Dave Thomas for first time (hello). Fairly fruitless escapades on Bens.. moves I could just do a couple of weeks before were miles away... Shark returned my hoody (that had made its way into his sons cupboard..) and that was about it. Went out and have 3.5 beers in the evening

S: Hungover (its not fair!) and had beginnings of head cold

Su: Head cold grew - spent most of the day sat on the sofa being teased by the cat...

[Muenchener]

F: Went out and have 3.5 beers in the evening

S: Hungover (its not fair!)

Yeah, three is about where I start to feel it the next day too. Getting old is dreadful

[webbo]

Mon. Board 30 problems including a couple that took a session or two when I first did them. Foot felt ok.
Tue. Bike 72.53 miles 4 hrs 17 mins 16.92 mph.
Wed. Bike 71.06 miles 3 hrs 56 mins 18 mph.
Thu. Foot feeling ok but after going for a walk became really painful, which seems to have led to my Achilles on other leg swelling up. Then my back went in to spasm. Great!!!
Fri. Nothing. Foot and back improved as day went on.
Sat. Board similar session to Monday but with a couple of stiffer problems at the end. Bike 1 hr intervals.
Sun. Bike 93.69miles 5hrs 14 mins 17.89 mph well stuffed at the end back and foot abit sore.

Saw Consultant today mon. Scan shows inflammation but he can't see why, needs to check it out with colleagues and the Radiologist.

[shark]

11.5-8

M.
T. Eve. Tor with Tom. Keith Clarke, Dave Thomas and Seb Crump showed up. Worked all sections of Bens and getting close to doing it in 3 sections. Then dogged up Tin Of an top rope with rests
W.
T.
F.AM Out with Dave Thomas met tomtom there. Cool conds. Worked all sections of Bens. Reverted to low toe hook for move to pocket and close to linking to kneebar twice which is kind of progress. Then failed to get thru crux on Sardine on top rope.  Then had nightmare drive to Cannock for a client meeting and arrived an hour late 
S.AM Disappointing deadhang session. Did a bit of core work to help with moves on Bens. PM Laser Quest in Derby. Eve Guzzling
S.Drove back from Derby. Went to office and worked. Eve. Ordered an extra kneepad from the Depot.

Student house now finished but extension still has a few weeks to go before we get to inhabit it and the kitchen. Another intersting property has come up for sale. Have lots of work on and may not have time to go to the Tor this week    sorry tomtom

Think I am going to leave off from trying the Oak till next year. Although stronger I'm not training nearly hard enough  or psyched enough for the drive and dieting. In the meantime I'll carry on attempting to cheat my way across Bens Roof until I have some kind of epiphany.

Sorry for low morale post

[kelvin]

[Three Nine]

As one depressed and unpsyched man(/shrew) to another, I am sure that the reason your more sensible Oak-training plans have failed (ie. the ones focused on hard bouldering) have failed to get you up the Oak, is because you love to seige stuff (weedkiller/eatswood/WSS etc. etc.).

Trying Ben's is primarily good training for trying Ben's, with some limited crossover. For general strength gains that will cross over to the Oak you need to be trying other stuff too. I'm not saying stop trying, but mix it up. Before you get the rage and rush to defend the current strategy- make sure you know what the goal is. The Oak, or Ben's, and keep the goal the goal.

[Three Nine]

To clarify - climbing in roofs is my favourite sort of climbing, but you rarely have to pull very hard in a way which is relevant to when you have to pull on a steep wall. You're mostly always hanging and pendulum-ing (and also often lots of scope for endless faggottry which is why I like it). I have learnt to my cost before now the importance of the specificity of angle etc.

A bit of undercut-crimp-jug, rattle and hump, kudos wall, cragx etc. in the mix is vital if you ask me (i know you've tried these previously, just you seemed to be getting sucked into full on proj mode)

[shark]

As one depressed and unpsyched man(/shrew) to another, I am sure that the reason your more sensible Oak-training plans have failed (ie. the ones focused on hard bouldering) have failed to get you up the Oak, is because you love to seige stuff (weedkiller/eatswood/WSS etc. etc.).

Trying Ben's is primarily good training for trying Ben's, with some limited crossover. For general strength gains that will cross over to the Oak you need to be trying other stuff too. I'm not saying stop trying, but mix it up. Before you get the rage and rush to defend the current strategy- make sure you know what the goal is. The Oak, or Ben's, and keep the goal the goal.

Its not a strategy. Going on Bens is an enjoyable and convenient routine till I get out of this low patch and will help get me stronger. I am reasonably psyched for Ben's. Maybe going to a load of log venues to fail on 3rd rate 7A's will be more efficient and effective but is going to destroy what motivation I have currently.

[Three Nine]

Righto, if Ben's is the goal then try Ben's lot!

[Three Nine]

And while i'm pontificating. I reckon not spending the autumn at Malham and being into bouldering in the way you seem to be at the moment, is probably the best thing you could possibly do to ensure eventual success on the oak!

[duncan]

STG: Rest week, then resume the fingerboarding and bouldering for strength. Lose 2kg.
MTG: 7b RP this winter. E5 OS, something vertical, classic and not dangerous, next April.
LTG: Long hard (for me) rock routes in the Alps, Dolomites, Picos and Scotland.


M - Shoulder stability stuff
T - Westway routes. Aerobic capacity: 10 x 3 routes back-to-back. F6a-6b, constant mild pump.
W -
T - Portland with Conor. Flashed Superfly Guy after watching Conor on it. Attempted 1789, got a bit freaked out by loose rock on the first section and didn’t really recover my composure after this. Several good falls. Tried the start of Tennesseeeeeee, too hard for me.
F -
S - Anstey’s with Jon. Good scene (hello Ross, Laurence and Patrick). Flashed Might and Main as a warm-up. Opened my account with Empire of the Sun. Got to the move to the pocket first go, then had three goes working it. The moves are OK but putting it all together is something else. Chips and beer by the seaside (the difficulty I had carrying both should have been a warning for how I felt the following day).
S - Barely able to hold anything. Attempted Cocytus as warm-up and failed comprehensively. Belayed Jon on Cider Soak. Only just managed the first four moves on Empire and gave up. Epic drive home.

Pretty happy with this week. Worked a couple of routes, learning a lot about the process, which is pretty new to me. Also got an unexpected 7a flash of a power-endurance route when I’ve not been training for it at all. It was interesting to compare efforts on Superfly and 1789. The latter has no positive footholds on the crux and, though not as steep, the moves felt a lot harder. Finger strength was the clear limitation. Didn’t get very inspired by 1789 and need to find something better (and a bit harder) in the same area I think.

Enjoyed opening my account on Empire. I was amazed at how tired I got, counts as a good training day if nothing else. It’s not an ideal project since it is just too far for a day trip (six and a bit hours to drive home...). On the other hand it’s an inspiring route with great moves and might go fairly quickly with a little more practice, a lot more PE work, and it's easy to train for as it's just like the back wall at the Westway. Worth changing focus and hoping for a chance to get on it again in October? Shouldn't get diverted from finger strength but it's tempting...

Still feeling pretty battered, mostly in a good way, but have collected a few minor finger tweaks. Will have a relatively restful week then get at it again for four more weeks through to October when I should have some free weekends again.

[JackAus]

Pretty shit week. Work and rain pissing every day... Managed to get over to Canberra on the weekend (2 hour ride in rain including 1km through mud...) for a mates birthday. Had a solid session on his moon board. Set a bunch of new problems on it. Only managed a couple up to about V5 that no one else could do. Then Sunday just abit of easy buildering and slacklining in the city, then rode home in glorious sunshine...

[T_B]

84.3Kg

M -
T - Works P.M. Trying some comp wall problems, then circuits. Totally cr*p on the comp wall. Managed the Green '8b' on the circuit board.
W -
T -
F - Anstey's Cove en famille + Dave and family. 2hrs 45mins to do Cider Soak! Warmed up with flash of Empire, then set to work. CS was wet so we took up a 5-yr olds shorts and some nappies to dry the pocket and top. Dave did some drying and then I had a flash burn. Got to the jugs by 4th bolt but was feeling pumped, reached up to right hand crimp and rocked into next hold but it was soaked. Dave had a go, did some more nappy work, then I had a RP, stupidly falling off the last hard move missing the jug. More sacrificial lamb action from Dave to give me one last attempt before time was called and this time swopped feet before going for the jug. Time for beach action and ice cream 
S - DWS comp qualifiers. First one was about 6b, next one 7a, then 3rd one got to the lip and move to obvious grim-match-brain hold, managed to get another move left but couldn't get centre of balance right and fell off. Qualified 3rd overall. A well organised comp but the crucial element of fear intrinsic in DWS was missing as the wall was so short. More like Deep Water Bouldering. Still, props to the organisers who clearly put a hell of a lot of effort into it. Just need to dredge the canal for next year and build a higher wall!
S - Weymouth beach

[shark]

Sounds like the best family weekend ever

[lagerstarfish]

As one depressed and unpsyched man(/shrew) to another, I am sure that the reason your more sensible Oak-training plans have failed (ie. the ones focused on hard bouldering) have failed to get you up the Oak, is because you love to seige stuff (weedkiller/eatswood/WSS etc. etc.).

Trying Ben's is primarily good training for trying Ben's, with some limited crossover. For general strength gains that will cross over to the Oak you need to be trying other stuff too. I'm not saying stop trying, but mix it up. Before you get the rage and rush to defend the current strategy- make sure you know what the goal is. The Oak, or Ben's, and keep the goal the goal.

Its not a strategy. Going on Bens is an enjoyable and convenient routine till I get out of this low patch and will help get me stronger. I am reasonably psyched for Ben's. Maybe going to a load of log venues to fail on 3rd rate 7A's will be more efficient and effective but is going to destroy what motivation I have currently.

all that gushing positivity on the August Lardathon thread must be helping your motivation as well

[shark]

As one depressed and unpsyched man(/shrew) to another, I am sure that the reason your more sensible Oak-training plans have failed (ie. the ones focused on hard bouldering) have failed to get you up the Oak, is because you love to seige stuff (weedkiller/eatswood/WSS etc. etc.).

Trying Ben's is primarily good training for trying Ben's, with some limited crossover. For general strength gains that will cross over to the Oak you need to be trying other stuff too. I'm not saying stop trying, but mix it up. Before you get the rage and rush to defend the current strategy- make sure you know what the goal is. The Oak, or Ben's, and keep the goal the goal.

Its not a strategy. Going on Bens is an enjoyable and convenient routine till I get out of this low patch and will help get me stronger. I am reasonably psyched for Ben's. Maybe going to a load of log venues to fail on 3rd rate 7A's will be more efficient and effective but is going to destroy what motivation I have currently.

all that gushing positivity on the August Lardathon thread must be helping your motivation as well

 

You going to start a September Largerthon thread ?

[tomtom]

A Lagerthon sounds good...

[lagerstarfish]

gonna call it "Lager's Extension"

[Schnell]

STG: 7b(+) os in italy. leaving on thursday so pretty excited.
MTG: 7B, long overdue, just haven't tried any more than once but have been close

M.
T. reasonable training session. decided to switch to bigger rungs for campusing as I'm plateauing on small 1-3-5. going for 1-4-6 on medium rungs which I can sometimes get. Ok FB session, still no way of adding weight at the wall which is annoying.
W.
T. Finish thesis! and give it to binders. Training session in a bit of a daze. Actually flashed a load of reasonably hard problems while simultaneously feeling knackered. Had to make myself stop and go home because it felt like injury time.
F. working, tired
S. v.tired. meant to train but just did some hard trad top-roping which was fun
S. More training, feeling tired again but had a reasonable session as a result of drinking a lot of coffee. Decent campusing and did an aerocap (i think) session. i.e. 35 sec foot on campussing, 25 sec rest x as many sets as possible. usually about 10 on the med rungs. I'm not sure I'm training the right thing, but I've got better at it anyway. I'll see the results next week anyway.

[Sasquatch]

STG - 5 local FA's 7C+ and harder (3 done, next two are MTG's? )
MTG - Local 8B boulders (2 days on it, feeling progress), and 8A+(2 day this year, need perfect conditions)
LTG - Mandala in November

weight - 167lbs

M-Rest - still exhausted from Saturday outside session
T- FB MAW - right hand was noticibly tired still from saturday, so not a great session.  Gave me a better feel for how hard I was trying on the project.  Levers -best yet.  Held 1 leg lever for 3x15sec. Abs 3 x 30 sec one arm ring plank each arm.
W- ARC 30min
Th- FB MAW - better than tuesday, but very low motivation day. 
F- Rest
S- Outside up in Hatchers.  warmed up, then worked project. Similar to previous day, but feeling closer and closer.  Managed to eliminate one of the start moves, and linked from just after the crux move to the top several times.  Some friends showed up, so we headed further up the valley to check out some new lines. Cleaned and climbed 5 new lines, v2,v6,v6,v8, and an incredible new highball v8. Best line I've done in a long time with very cool techy climbing to a crux at the lip at about 18 feet. Also cleaned another line that needs to dry more before we can get on it, looks like a fantastic v8-v10 range problem.  Found and partially clenaed a new line that will likely be in the v10-12 range and really good. Camped overnight - fun hanging out with friends. 
S- Back outside again.  Added a new v5, cleaned two new highball lines, did some landing building under another problem, so was not motivated to work on landong for the two new lines.  Another day.  Went to a line I had partially cleaned last year and managed a send of a new v9/10 crimpfest.  then went back and met group at an old v10 I had done 3 years ago.  Managed to repeat it quickly.  Then headed up to another project a friend was working.  I added a new line there in the v8-9 range as well, with one of the craziest moves I've ever done on it. 

All in all a great week.  The weight is still coming down. The FBing plateaued hard, but I think much of that was a result of the hard session the Saturday before.  Abs and Levers felt good and strong.  Good progress on project, and Some awesome new problems done.

[Sasquatch]

A lever with one leg extended, one leg tucked. 

[EdGowSmith]

7A:    34/50
7A+:  21/40
7B:    9/30
7B+:  6/20
7C or harder:    6/10

Stretches: 0/4

Mon: At the Barn. Doing lots of problems. Wrist is painful but can still climb.
Tues: Session at the Bunker, CWP fingerboarding.
Wed: Session at the Bunker, CWP fingerboarding, pull-ups, press-ups, 45.
Thurs: First day in Yorkshire.
Fri: Yorkshire.
Sat: Yorkshire.
Sun: Yorkshire.

Cool trip to Yorkshire, managed to get quite a bit of climbing in, nothing hard due to warmth but lots of stuff I want to return for.
Probably going to Font in October so going to train hard in prep for doing 8A there.

[Sasquatch]

I rest about 2 minutes.  I found I can do longer, around 20 seconds on the first one, but then the second and third are about 12 and 8 seconds.  So by cutting the first one short, the others are better. 

I also found that warming up doesn't really help, but i do them at the end of a workout either way.   

[tomtom]

gonna call it "Lager's Extension"

"Lagers Lock in"?

[french erick]

Nowt climbing my finger is sore.
Plenty exercise but nothing climbing specific.
Baby brains are keeping me from being depressed from lack of climbing.
I cannot wait until I can train and climb again...I do miss it.

[cha1n]

Right then, never posted before but hoping that publicly humiliating myself will force me to try harder, so please give me lots of abuse if I'm being lazy.

STG - Climb limestone until its cold enough for grit, tick as many classics as possible and get fingers stronger at the same time.
MTG - 8A on grit would be nice this winter, only climbed 7Bs up to now but that was on day trips. Now living in the motherland (Sheffield).
LTG - Plod along ticking all the classics but steadily improve too. No injuries, improve diet and do more antagonistic stuff on rest days (where I mainly just feel like watching tv all night)

Mon - 3h session at the works. Did a bunch of the white circuit, then some guy roped me into trying a shit load of slabby/vert techny nonsense. Didn't do too well which reminds me that it's been a long time since climbing in this style and that I should probably mix up steep stuff with this style for when grit season arrives.

Tues - Rest

Weds - Tor for the second time. Sold some trousers to Seb and got some heel-toe beta off of him for Basher's Left. Did it first go with the beta (and handy spot). Had a play on cave problem moves but feeling tired.

Thurs - 1.5 session at the works. Spent most of it falling off of the biggest holds on the woody whilst some youth levitated between the smallest holds. Did some muscle-ups (not many) and wall handstands at the end.

Fri - Rest

Sat - Shopping and other grown-up boring stuff that you have to do on the weekend

Sun - First session at Rubicon. Did all the warm-up stuff in the corner in the low 6's, then went around to try some stuff on Kudos wall. The sun was on it by then (my excuse anyway) but I failed pretty miserably. Tried the press a few times but wasn't really sure how you're 'supposed' to start it, can get going if I start matched on the sidepull but think you have to start differently. Sacked it off to try what I hoped would be an easy 7A (A bigger tail) but failed on that too. Got home, watched some videos of people climbing the problem and realised I had terrible beta.

This makes me think that I should either get better at route reading, but more likely that I should watch videos before I go, maybe even download them to the tablet so I can watch them whilst I'm there.

So not an overly successful start on the Peak District limestone. I'm not particularly good at stuff that relies a lot on pure finger strength and have mainly been climbing on really steep stuff where you can cheat or climbed on slopers. This has highlighted my pathetic, weak fingers so I've now vowed to keep climbing on the shiney rocks until they get stronger. Although limestone is shit, it's much more fun than dangling by my fingers on a fingerboard. Let's hope next week goes better (it already is next week and it's started off better thankfully)!

[Sasquatch]

This makes me think that I should either get better at route reading, but more likely that I should watch videos before I go, maybe even download them to the tablet so I can watch them whilst I'm there.

Whilst I believe in learning alot of the possibilities of movement from watching vids, I think watching vids specifically to learn problems beta should be relegated to non-local stuff where you know you will have a limited window of time, or stuff where you've unsuccessfully worked for several sessions and it's well within your grade range.  Working out beta is both one of the most rewarding and educational aspects of climbing.  There are subtleties of holds you'll never see in a video, and often times small changes make huge differences.  If you want to get into the 7C-8A range you have to learn these, and I think it's better to learn them as you go.  Plus everyone moves a little bit different so you may not always get the "right" beta and you'll never know unless you figure it out for yourself. 

All that said, to each their own.  If you're having fun, who am I to judge

[cha1n]

All that said, to each their own.  If you're having fun, who am I to judge

Yeh, that's a fair comment. I've only got limited time on the evening to try these problems, so I'm happy to watch videos. With all this eliminate limestone crap it's good to see the official starts for stuff and make sure you're using holds that are in and accepted beta, etc.

I've done around 10 7C's on other rocktypes, so I'd like to think I'm pretty consistent and the grade and usually my beta that I've worked out myself matches the beta I've seen on videos. Definitely agree though, everyone has their own beta. I did the weedkiller traverse last night and had to use a toe for the crux middle section where everyone else uses a heel, so it was good to figure out my own beta for this problem (have watched quite a few videos and everyone uses a heel or just campuses it if you're really strong).

[Sasquatch]

  Glad I wasn't describing you then and was just preaching to the clouds.
And I forgot/don't know how particular the starts/sequences are on some of the peak lime problems, no personal experience, just seen/read/heard a bunch.   

I've got a bit of an edge about figuring out beta.  We've got a couple of strong local kids who keep asking how to get better, then after I tell they need to climb more problems and learn how to read the rock, they proceed to get shutdown and give up instantly on problems they should be able to do because they can't figure out the beta(in the v3-v6 range). But then go watch some video we've put out and manage to send v8-v10 range problems.  Then try to claim the "easier" problems are sandbagged, while the "harder" ones are soft.  Strong and dumb.

Cheers and good luck. 

[tomtom]

Don't be too disheartened - getting spanked by peak lime seems pretty typical... I've done a few 7B's & 7B+s on grit (one 7C) and on peak like my tally is two 7A's and one 7B (until a month ago it was but one 7A!)....

[cha1n]

No Problem, I was hoping I'd get some critical feedback over the coming weeks anyway. Would love to know where I'm going wrong but I think I know anyway as I've never done any formal finger strength training and I've been climbing for around 5 years.

Yeh the Peak Lime seem tough Tom. The 7A I was trying at Rubicon seemed really hard, even with the wrong beta I would have expected to get further. Oh well, it's all training!

[Luke Owens]

Heading out to Font for a week on Saturday, haven't bouldered in ages so i'm just going to enjoy it with the family.
 
M: 10 hour weather and traffic nightmare drive back from Portland
 
T: Rest/Unwell
 
W: Rest/Unwell
 
T: Rest
 
F: Bad weather meant a "climb what ever is dry" session on Pen Trwyn. Resulted in 2 brilliant routes. Onsighted the classic "Testament" (6c+) in less than ideal conditions, got flash pump but sucked it up and got it done.
 
Then came close to onsighting "Norman's Wisdom" (6c+), went the wrong way and couldn't reverse. Did it 2nd go.
 
S: Rest
 
S: First visit to The Diamond, holy hell what a crag! Did "It Came From Beneath the Sea" (7a+/b) 2nd go. Hardest route I've done of this length ~30m. Felt good all the way and was able to use the rests really well. I thought I was on Rub a Dub-Dub (7a) but some guys told me otherwise, nice to get another self-sandbag tick!
 
Tryed on-sighting Rub a Dub-Dub but fell on the crux high up, pumped out trying to figure out the moves. Then climbed to the top pretty easily.
 
Sun came onto the wall and conditions turned dire.
 
The Diamond is seriously inspiring, the type of routes there are what I want to get good at. Psyched to get back!

[cheque]

I'm not particularly good at stuff that relies a lot on pure finger strength and have mainly been climbing on really steep stuff where you can cheat or climbed on slopers. This has highlighted my pathetic, weak fingers

Same here. Watch out that you don't do what I did and fuck yourself up on crimpy peak lime bouldering filth that requires finger strength you don't have. As boring as hanging is, it's a much safer way to build strength than using nasty little holds in anger and alternating the two is, I now realise, the way to go for the weak-fingered.

[Doylo]

Heading out to Font for a week on Saturday, haven't bouldered in ages so i'm just going to enjoy it with the family.
 
M: 10 hour weather and traffic nightmare drive back from Portland
 
T: Rest/Unwell
 
W: Rest/Unwell
 
T: Rest
 
F: Bad weather meant a "climb what ever is dry" session on Pen Trwyn. Resulted in 2 brilliant routes. Onsighted the classic "Testament" (6c+) in less than ideal conditions, got flash pump but sucked it up and got it done.
 
Then came close to onsighting "Norman's Wisdom" (6c+), went the wrong way and couldn't reverse. Did it 2nd go.
 
S: Rest
 
S: First visit to The Diamond, holy hell what a crag! Did "It Came From Beneath the Sea" (7a+/b) 2nd go. Hardest route I've done of this length ~30m. Felt good all the way and was able to use the rests really well. I thought I was on Rub a Dub-Dub (7a) but some guys told me otherwise, nice to get another self-sandbag tick!
 
Tryed on-sighting Rub a Dub-Dub but fell on the crux high up, pumped out trying to figure out the moves. Then climbed to the top pretty easily.
 
Sun came onto the wall and conditions turned dire.
 
The Diamond is seriously inspiring, the type of routes there are what I want to get good at. Psyched to get back!

You'll never look at Dinbren in the same way again 😉

[tomtom]

I'm not particularly good at stuff that relies a lot on pure finger strength and have mainly been climbing on really steep stuff where you can cheat or climbed on slopers. This has highlighted my pathetic, weak fingers

Same here. Watch out that you don't do what I did and fuck yourself up on crimpy peak lime bouldering filth that requires finger strength you don't have. As boring as hanging is, it's a much safer way to build strength than using nasty little holds in anger and alternating the two is, I now realise, the way to go for the weak-fingered.

Not sure about the fingerboarding myself - but yes - watch it on the Peak lime... Pubicon gave me tweaky elbows the summer before last - and I've avoided it since... had a decent summer at the Tor though (by my own low Peak lime standards)..