[kelvin]

Mon - Big Rock, MK. 5hrs, mostly bouldering and climbed appallingly, somewhat due to the knee. Lots of time working V4s with tiny crimps. Fun session but too long.
Tue - Ice/heat knee most of the day.
Wed - Ice/heat knee all day. First session on the crusher rail at home - find the holds tough to use, seem very different to the BM. Only managing 3 finger open on the deepest slots. Not there yet on two fingers and monos ain't happening for a long time. Lots of room for improvement.
Thu - Yoga class AM. Ice/heat. Yoga class PM.
Fri - Pinnacle. Traverse. Warmed up, then tried to flash a 6b, should have but couldn't lift the foot high enough due to knee. Finished it, went to the counter and got ice. Sulked for a while. Did some pullups, then managed to campus one rail for the first time. Both sides and repeated this three times. A bit of a mini YYFY moment as my lock off strength is pretty abysmal, so the training is paying off.
Sat - Wideboys crack school. Sold my spot, knee was bad. Did some traversing in the main room, much better than Friday. Repeated some of the sketchier V2/3s - breezed through all of the them first go and did all the new comp problems on the non overhanging panels first go. Climbed well actually.
Sun - Rest. Ice/heat.

Felt strong yesterday - not sure if this was down to the knee being so bad, that I didn't expect much from myself and did okay. Was climbing well on Friday morning but could only lift the left foot about 8in lower than the right... the knee is so tight, it just won't work properly. Off to the docs to see about getting some strong meds to get the swelling down as icing isn't working and the physio has advised that might be the best course of action at the minute.
Off to Cumbria for a couple of sessions with John Kettle this week - just hope the knee holds out.

[tomtom]

Cheers for starting the thread Kelvin...

Crap week for me - no time to climb all week - work, knackered & other things to do. Managed to sneak out to Hobby moor early on Sun Am, but only for 40 min or so...

Worrying niggly strain on left forearm that came on after last sundays exertions... felt tweaky all week, but better after some exercise today..

[nai]

M - ached a lot after Sunday
T - Wimberry. Still ached.  Did Fat Slapper SS ok but had a very frustrating time on Fish Arete.  Destroyed skin, quit when I'd lost four tips.
w,t,f - meh - ill
S- managed a full repeaters workout, recording PBs on all grips.
s - nowt

[Muenchener]

STG: (March) indoor 7a ROUTE
MTG (2015): 7b redpoint
            Beastmaker 5A routine
            Muscle-Up
            Sautanz
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl West Face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

In which sitting in a rented apartment in a ski resort with a sick child is a frustrating waste of money - quite apart from being completely miserable for the child, obviously.

M: Ötztal. M jnr has fever. Went for a walk in the woods in Tumpen, but quickly concluded that scary alpine boulder landings, with no mat and a sick child as spotter, were not an appealing prospect.
   Back to apartment: 40 minutes mobility & core.
T: Abortive attempt to snowboard in the morning, quickly bailed back to apartment when fever returned. Mobility, core, went for a walk in the afternoon to recce the sport crag at Ötz. Has some good looking routes in my 6b-to-7a range. Shame about the ambience directly above the main road though.
W: Took kid to doc in the morning; couple of hours snowboarding in Sölden in the afternoon while Frau M babysat
T: Wall, Imst. Quick evening session after a day of nursing/babysitting. Forty minutes bouldering warm up then campusing. Feeling the campusing quite strongly in the triceps, which I take as a sign I am pushing down properly with the lower arm, so good. In between sets watched 12 year old girls being shouted at by their coach for falling off 7c's.
F: Snowboarding, Kühtai. Hooked up with a mate and did a bit of off piste. Unfortunately it hasn't snowed here for ages, and tracked out cement is hard work and not the greatest of fun, but a necessary skill to have. Shame about the incident with the bridge parapet, as a result of which I now have a broken avi beacon embedded in my ribcage.
S: Snowboarding, Kühtai. More relaxed - and safer - piste cruising
S: Wall, Boulderwelt. The plan was to make progress on 7b circuit project, but my snowboard-battered ribs were so painful I could hardly move.

  snowboarding 

[jfdm]

Last week busy with work, doing backdrop for school play.
Would attach some photos but don't know how?
Plus last Friday(13th) till Tuesday this week art trip to Madrid.
Madrid okay but nothing to write home about - schools kids were good though.
In between all this managed BM 5a repeaters - one round -3.75 and one round body weight - didn't manage all sets but managed to hang vast majority.
End of finger board cycle.

This week
Wed - knackered, nothing.
Thurs- old Arch -messed around on yellow circuit v2-4 and Orange and blue v2-3. Couldn't manage a few of yellows.
Fri - new Arch - repeated problems from previous week.
Felt tired - throughout session.
Sat - nothing -picked up some Speedsters on sale £ 57.50!
Sun - old Arch - managed to do all problems I couldnt/didn't do from Thurs.
Just a couple of difficult yellow ones still to do.
Worked green 6b+ circuit - still struggling with "drop move"

Felt quiet heavy after the cerveza late nights earlier in the week.
So pretty tired.
Hoping this week will be better.

Going to start power cycle this week.

[shark]

Thanks Kelvin

11.7-8

M.
T. Malham Went up with Stacked Sam. Foundry crew there and Gresh turned up. TRed F&EE twice. Forecast was sunny spells but was fucking freezing. Did dreadfully, Managed to tickle undercut from ground - kind of and also at end linked left traverse from big undercut to top. Was a waste of petrol, time and psyche except at the very end I sorted out a better way to do the gaston move on the traverse that also cut out two foot moves
W.
T. AM Weighted deadhangs - small improvement on previous session but disappointing nonetheless
F. AM Systems board. AnCap 2 sets of 4 with 2 mins rest (8 x 40secs of climbing) c.90moves - normally just do one set. Also on crimp benchmark problem did both mirror versions possibly for first time. PM Back on Systems Board AeroCap 2 sets = 240 moves Eve Weight session after failing to persuade eldest son to play table tennis. Dumbell wrist complex and bolton complex military press with bar. Clean and jerk - This reminded me why I dont do this (strained my neck). Couple of power cleans and deadlifts
S. Annoyed not to go to Malham whilst Sonia selfishly competed in National X Cross Country Championships in London (anyone can enter) Loafed around. Ate too much. Dont judge me
S. More loafing broken by a weighted deadhangs sesion - marginal improvement

Was hoping to go to Malham on Tuesday but forecast looking crap now. Some gains this week. Aim to do a bit more this week if not going to Malham

[cheque]

could only lift the left foot about 8in lower than the right... the knee is so tight, it just won't work properly.

Sorry to hear about this Kelvin. Surely three days in a row at the climbing wall is not the best response though?!

STG- Decent performance in Font next month. Finish film without becoming crap at climbing.

MTG- New grades in 2015. Wall of Horrors.

LTG

M- Rest.

T- Walk on the moors near Haworth.

W- Ilkley. First visit. Very busy as it was school holidays. Felt strangely gripped soloing at first- I put this down to a new pair of shoes and unfamiliarity with the crag and the concept of rock climbing in general! Really enjoyed it but didn't climb a lot of the stuff I'd planned to- a lot seemed a bit too green/ hard to solo even after I'd got my head in gear.

T- Notts Depot. Quite a good session- felt psyched. Tried some simple exercises on the new rings at the end. Judging by how hard I find them and how much it took out of my shoulders I could see benefits from doing some more.

F- Rest.

S- Almscliff. Really psyched. Plan was to get Wall of Horrors start wired. Did it three times- would have done more but didn't want to keep mates (who flashed it and have no intention of leading the route) waiting. Did quite a few easier problems and tried quite a few harder ones with progress but not success.

S- Rest. Feeling a bit sore.

Got my psyche for climbing and training back this week. A break from obsessing over my film and visits to some fresh crags really worked. Saturday was the first time this year I've gone out "all guns blazing" and although I didn't impress myself with any good ticks I felt like I was in the right gear. Starting to feel a bit keen for font next month.

I've decided that I'm going to climb Wall of Horrors this year.  I climb and train best when I have something specific to aim at, I'm most psyched for grit trad and this is the route that inspires me most that's in the "hard enough to be ambitious/ easy enough to be realistic" category. Stage one (get the start wired without a rack) is complete.  Any beta or general info about the route UKB members could provide me with would be gratefully received!

[kelvin]

could only lift the left foot about 8in lower than the right... the knee is so tight, it just won't work properly.

Sorry to hear about this Kelvin. Surely three days in a row at the climbing wall is not the best response though?!

Pretty much doing exactly as both physios have instructed. Not working at the moment, so about the only stress it's put under is gentle climbing, with lots of stretching, rest, ice and heat after. No squats, running, nowt. The medial has had a couple of tears and is 10-12% stretched, so the adductor has been taking up the slack since - it's just got grumpy and complained. If I was working, I'd not be doing anything at all - all the bending at work causes it far more aggro but I'll be staying away from the steep panels in future. Was told to stay off them, didn't listen... this is the result.

[shark]

Stage one (get the start wired without a rack) is complete.  Any beta or general info about the route UKB members could provide me with would be gratefully received!

You can have the rack thrown up to you or haul it up when you get to the break and you can get more reach if you undercut rather than jam the break. I don't think there is anything hard after that but it was 28 years ago

[the_dom]

Mon: 40 min trail run

Tues: AM hangboard - one arms and repeaters. Added two sets of half crimp repeaters on the small BM rung to the session because I can't crimp for toffee these days.

Wed: Weights in the AM - deadlifts and kettlebell swings. Deadlift pyramid up to 170kgs (double bodyweight YYFY) with 25 kettlebell swings between sets with a 24kg bell (total of 33 deadlifts and 225 kb swings). Felt pretty worked after the session.

Thurs: AM one-arm session on the hangboard. PM repeater session on the hangboard.

Fri: Nothing. Felt tired so took a rest day.

Sat: Nothing. Spent the day ferrying our houseguests around Cape Town and feeling tired.

Sun: One arm session followed by bouldering. Decent day bouldering, re-ticked a 7C (second go!) that I did years ago when I was strong, although it does share the crux with the other 7C that I did a while ago; and ticked a couple of other things up to 7Bish. More importantly, burned off a strong mate of mine.

Overall not the best week - took two days off and ate and drank terribly, but on the positive side, the last ~2 months have given me an amazing base to work off.

[JackAus]

STG: Another V7.
MTG: V8
LTG: V11

M: Rest!
T: St Leonards. Usual stuff up to about V5. Dynos, abit of campussing and then gym after.
W: Gym. Working on antagonists, so going fairly light weights to build everything up. Really funny seeing my lifting light weights on the machines then jumped on the lat pull down and easily knocked out 3x10 sets on the heaviest weight....
T: St Leonards. Usual stuff up to about V5. Alot of campussing after. Horrible campus link ups across fingerboards and campus board. Fun.
F: Sissy. Stuff up to V3. Worked V7, felt pretty rubbish! Low lock... Not helpful. Got back on scary V9 dyno that I nearly did (and nearly died on!) last week. Grrr. Felt really off today. Just didn't feel good. A mate ticked it though!
S: St Peters. Horrible shouldery as fuck dyno session. Nearly dislocated my right shoulder on one. Fun session. Ruined afterwards.
S: Lindfield. Late afternoon short session but very humid and hot. Ticked a bunch of stuff up to V4 including a flash and some new things I hadn't done there before.

[Sasquatch]

M-campus session
t-work
w-work
t-boulder and campus session
f-drink and eat
s-drink and eat
s-boulder and campus session managed 1-4-6 once.  felt very good about that.

happy to have just got the sessions in this week.  been very busy with work, and now have a friend living with us. 

Trying to get motivated.  Will be heading out to scope a couple of lines next week, with the hope of cleaning and bolting them in March, and getting on them in April/May.  If they're good, hopefully the motivation will spike

[T_B]

85.6Kg (1Kg lost in 3 weeks)...

M - School lunch. Deadhangs, then worked out harder, more fingery 15-move AnCap circuit.
T - School lunch. Trying AnCap circuit but realised later I wasn't resting enough. Still got boxed.
W - A.m. Rachel's birthday. Burbage west. Looked after the kids while she bouldered, then had 30 minutes. Did West side story 2nd go which I was pleased with as a) conditions were a bit crap and b) not done it since the pebble has gone. Massive lunch meat fest at Smoke barb-b-q. P.m. Fingerboard. 6 x 7 x 2 front 3, back 3 and 12mm edge half-crimped. One of my best repeater sessions despite belly full of meat.
T - P.M. School. Mainly 50 degree and some 30 degree. Improving, but lower back sore.
F - Foundry lunch. 10 mins on, 4 mins off x 4. 1 x bleaustone, 1 x corridor, 1 x campus (managed 8 mins on big rungs with feet on before elbow got a bit achey), 1 x wave.
S - REST! Relatives visiting. Pulled lower back getting child out of car.
S - Did some brilliant stretches in the morning which seemed to release lower back. P.m. School. F/board (bit crap), then mainly 50 degree. Still improving.

A hard week for me - 6 days out of 7 I did something and 3 F/board sessions in there, 2 x AnCap (1 working out a suitably intensive circuit), 1 x AeroCap and 2 x bouldering (plus one quick boulder outside).

I've been off the cakes for 3 weeks and the weight is now dropping off. Aim to get under 85Kg for the CWIF. Fingers seem to be holding up, but I probably need to be a bit more imaginative on the f/board as just doing the same repeaters. Back is a bit of a worry, but will keep stretching it out. More of the same next week...

[webbo]

Mon. Easy turbo session due to recovering from cold.
Tue. Board. Felt weary so after flailing a round for a while tied a technique/ system style workout. Doing my last but one warm up problem using different combos of footholds 6 times with bolt ons and 6 times with screw ons..
Wed. Turbo 1 hour
Thu. Board hardly got in to my warm up before sacking it off. My cold has returned or I've got another.
Fri. Nothing.
Sat. Decide to man up and go on the board. Workout a couple of new things that take 3 or 4 goes after dogging. Finish with similar to Tuesday using the right hand mirror image problem. Feel shit for the rest of the day.
Sun. Rough in bed till tea time. Sneezing and coughing all day.

[gme]

Mon- Eat drink and be merry with the Mrs. No kids so night away on our own.
Tues - ditto.
Wed- 2 hrs Alnwick moonboard. Progress again all the moves done on a couple of 7A+s.
Thurs- 4 hours of spring garden clearance with hand shears, possibly the hardest workout of the year. PM FB session, not great due to earlier exercise.
Fri - rest due to yesterday.
Sat- Big day. AM Kyloe in for 2 1/2 hrs first thing. 20 problems to 7B plus all moves on 7B+. PM 1hr moonboard- 1hr rest- 1hr moonboard really close to 7A+s
Sun- 2 1/2 hours moonboard. Did one 7A+ and close to the other.

Been off work all week and was hoping to get out more but as usual family commitments got in the way. Managed a few hours at Kyloe and felt pretty strong; everything up to and including 7A+ 1st try then did Hitchikers off the ground in a few goes, Cubbys in three sections after a few goes and the yorkshireman actually felt doable again rather than something I struggled to believe I used to do laps on.

I love going to Kyloe, its my benchmark crag and a great place for me to see how I am climbing. There are problems here that i have realistically done 3-400 times, so easy to gauge how I am progressing.

Getting improvements on the moonboard every session as well half grade improvement this week and the 6C+s and 7As i struggled on now starting to feel pretty easy.

Still trying to FB when i can but only if i cant go on the board. Totally dropped the conditioning as it just tires me out for bouldering. With limited hours and limited strength it just seems a waste to dangle around on some rings.

Need to get back into the yoga sessions though, as usual if my back isn't bothering me i don't do it.

Oh i am now 100% sure i fucking hate gardening. If retirement involves pottering in the garden i am going to work until the day I die.

[Fiend]

I've decided that I'm going to climb Wall of Horrors this year.  I climb and train best when I have something specific to aim at, I'm most psyched for grit trad and this is the route that inspires me most that's in the "hard enough to be ambitious/ easy enough to be realistic" category. Stage one (get the start wired without a rack) is complete.  Any beta or general info about the route UKB members could provide me with would be gratefully received!

Great ambition.

I would say a big key is making sure you're really good at jamming in horizontal breaks: http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.html?id=80003
This will enable you to recover after the bouldery start and avoid getting pumped getting the gear in before the crux - both crucial.

Looking at that photo I wouldn't bother getting the gear thrown up, just take a set of camalots and a couple of extenders (I don't know what the gear is like in the breaks after the crux but I'm guessing more cams - if in doubt take a spare yellow Camalot so you know you can slam one in the main break and have one spare).

Also make sure the skin on your right hand is good, I bet the crux holds are pretty minging so being able really bear down on that right hand will help.

Finally heed the conditions carefully. That wall can be green and/or freezing, so pick your day.

[galpinos]

STG
•   Don’t let life get in the way too much
•   Stick to the plan
•   Back up to previous highpoint, 7A in short order - Not quite there but feels like it happening, 7B with effort

M – Attempted BM: 35 Deg Repeaters - Really tired from Sunday, sacked it off after first set. Second time this has happened…….
T – Wall session - mix of problems, fun but not focused enough, again!
W – Nothing
T – Nothing
F – Nothing
S – Nothing
S – Gardoms with erm,sam. Short session due to weather/family. Slept poorly and felt very rushed. Poor warm-up then over to Suavito where I got grumpy as I couldn’t even get the start. Realised I was using poor (aka Sam’s) beat andclimbed up to the crimp a few times but couldn’t get my weight off my left foot to set up for the throw. Did G Thang a couple of times (didn’t flash it, tried a few other methods, went back to the original method and did it easily. Did it again to make up for the lack of flash) then stuffed my face in a pub.

Goals for Next week:
STICK TO THE PLAN! - Need to increase number of sessions on the BM.

[Luke Owens]

M: Ill

T: Work Gym, trying to strengthen lower back, glutes and hams to asses steepness weakness.

3 x 10 Atomic Push Ups
Reverse Plank
Single Leg Bridge on Gym Ball 2 x 20 sec both sides
3 x 10 Hanging Leg Raises
3 x 10 Ab Wheel (Kneeling)

W: Work Gym
Deadlifts 3 x 10 (50kg)
Single Leg Bridge on Gym Ball 2 x 20 sec both sides
Hip Flexor/Extensor Machine. Few sets on both Flex and Exten.

T: Boardroom bouldering - Random stuff up to V4. Flashed 3 V5/V6's. Trying to stick to the steep stuff.

F: Rest

S: Stanage - First time on the grit. Coldest day out climbing I've ever had. Inbetween 6 blizzards did Cresent Arete, Hour Glass and Pebble Arete in the damp. After spending ages trying to static the first move on Not to be Taken Away I managed to do it mid blizzard and fell off the top with wet hands and feet. Later on someone told me it's a jump start since a good pebble broke off 5 years ago and everyone jump starts it now...?! 

I didn't think the grit was as good as all the hype made it out to be but that could be because of the weather and the fact I didn't get on much...? Keen to go back though.

S: Wasted/Rest

[cheque]

Cheers guys.  Seems like the crux section is fairly short, getting from having your hands in the break to standing up in it, with more than one way to do it. Hopefully the big archy break above that takes a cam.

I'd say recovering on horizontal jams is one of my strengths and I'd rather just take the gear than faff around bringing them up- I'm planning to lap the start with some biggish Camalots 4CUs attached next time I'm up there (should be soon as my mate is desperate to get Demon Wall Roof ticked) to get used to it.

In theory I could climb the route now but in practice I'd almost definitely lose composure getting between the dish and the break, climb it badly and not have the confidence to commit to the crux. Part of the aim is to get myself to climb grit E2s regularly rather than being lazy/ timid when I'm at the crag as that's obviously what will give me the confidence I'll need for success on WoH.

[Will Hunt]

M -
T -
W - Headtorch sesh at Caley. Pulled onto Terry for the first time. Need to take a shovel along and sort out the soil at the bottom. Did Ben's Groove which was fun. Had a tickle of Crystal Method which felt hugely powerful, not sure if I'm soing something wrong.
T -
F -
S -
S -

Shit! Only one session this week? I'm sure I went to the gym on day? 

[webbo]

Cheers guys.  Seems like the crux section is fairly short, getting from having your hands in the break to standing up in it, with more than one way to do it. Hopefully the big archy break above that takes a cam.

I'd say recovering on horizontal jams is one of my strengths and I'd rather just take the gear than faff around bringing them up- I'm planning to lap the start with some biggish Camalots 4CUs attached next time I'm up there (should be soon as my mate is desperate to get Demon Wall Roof ticked) to get used to it.

In theory I could climb the route now but in practice I'd almost definitely lose composure getting between the dish and the break, climb it badly and not have the confidence to commit to the crux. Part of the aim is to get myself to climb grit E2s regularly rather than being lazy/ timid when I'm at the crag as that's obviously what will give me the confidence I'll need for success on WoH.

The big archy break doesn't take a cam. Up left there's a slot for a 4 or 5 rock and it's quite steep up there. Between the dish and the break is pretty steady, you can climb back down as it all positive holds.

[JohnM]

STG: Stay injury free, Humildes Pa Casa (Oliana), La Ruta del Sol (Santa Linya), pad out precarious pyramid!
MTG: Indian Summer, Kilnsey or Bat Route, Malham.
LTG: Big wall/hard multipitch, 8A/+ boulder problem (bloc style < 10 moves), UK 8b+/c, live in Spain.

Monday: Watch Preston give Man United a good run for their money.  Don't get back to London until 3am probably like a lot of the Man United supporters ; )
Tuesday: WW Power Board up to V8, finger board 3 x full 3 finger crimp and 3 x 3 finger half crimp, therabanding and stretching.
Wednesday: Rest.
Thursday: Therabanding and stretching.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Oliana.  Warm up on 7a+ and 7c.  1st redpoint attempt on Fisheye climb straight past my previous high point, keep it together and fall from the last tricky move probably one foot movement away from victory.  Unbelievable 1st go of the trip!  2nd redpoint I am more fatigued but still get into the last boulder problem but fall one move below my previous attempt after opening up on the crimps.
Sunday: Oliana.  Warm up on 7a and 7c.  I felt tired today and redpoint nerves were starting to kick in as now actually doing Fisheye had become a real possibility for me and I didn't want to blow my chance.  I wait impatiently for the sun to come off the upper part of the route with Ally who had previously been up warning me that you couldn't even see the foot holds on the top crux wall.  At 4pm I set off.  The sun is still on the top wall but I figure it will take me half an hour to get up there and by that time it should be off.  I scrape through the first crux without much to spare with low power levels after yesterday's efforts and continue up to the shake below the mid height crux.  Despite feeling fatigued I am recovering better than the previous day but I know I will have to execute the next section perfectly.  I get into the mid height crux and set up for the throw to the rail.  Just as I am about to go my right heel and left foot rip off and I swing out into the air.  I brace myself ready for the big fall into space.  However, I swing back in and somehow I am still holding on!  Quick recalculations are made and I paste my feet on and throw for the rail just about holding it by dragging the hold passively on my finger skin.  Obviously this was a very inefficient sequence so I spend 5 minutes at the rail fighting to recover for the final 20 metres of 8a climbing.  By now I realize I have to give this go everything as there is no way I will get here again today and tomorrow will be a rest day.  Luckily I climb all the sequences efficiently and manage to recover at the shakes on the way.  I arrive at final shake in a square cut pocket not too pumped which is important as this rest is not good enough to get everything back.  The sun is still on the crux top wall above me and I realize I will have to sight the small footholds and smears by memory.  It is hard to leave this shake out as you have to close up small crimps for 6-7 moves in the top crux and it is hard to know if you are ready but the peak recovery comes and goes quickly so you can't leave it too long.  I pull into the final crux feeling good in the crimps and making the initial two foot movements.  I need to move my feet up again on tiny dinks but I can't see anything in the sun.  By now the clock is ticking fast and my right hand is starting to open up.  I paste my feet quickly and pop for the left hand 3 finger crimp and thumb catch.  This move is normally a static reach on the dog but luckily I hold it and quickly shake my right hand before moving it into the small letter box hold. Now I am at the final tricky move which involves stepping high on both feet and locking the letter box to an in-cut left hand diagonal edge.  On the dog this feels like an English 5b move but now the edge looks miles away!  I build my feet high and make a semi-controlled lunge for the edge holding it with relief.  I have to really concentrate on keeping it together now and be precise with the feet and shake out on every in-cut edge up to the chain.  I finally clip the chain with much joy and relief and lower off into the tree at the bottom with Ally having to climb the first 3 m of the route to get down on an 80m rope!  YYFY!

I am really happy to have finished this route and glad all the training has paid off.  I looked back at my Power Club entries from last year and it made me realize the amount of mistakes I made in my preparation so it has definitely been a good learning experience.  It may be a very soft 8c (if it's grade stands the test of time anyway) and you definitely don't have to pull as hard as for 8c's in the UK but you definitely have to be really fit to climb it and it is a style I could train for more easily indoors being based in London.  I definitely need to try and fill out my pyramid now and climb more 8bs and 8b+s.  The good thing is I still have 2 weeks left of this trip as I didn't expect to do Fisheye in the first 2 days.  Better than the last day showdowns I normally endure!  P.s. sorry for the long gratuitous write up!
     

[ummagumma]

STG Climb 4 times per Week
MTG Clean & Climb New project

Mon Rest
Tues Indoor Bouldering. Tried flashing as much problems in the 6b - 6C+ Range. Good Session
Wed Rest
Thurs Indoor Bouldering. Tried flashing as much problems in the 6b - 6C+ Range. Shoulder Subluxation NNFN. 
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Rest

This last week and this week was meant to be rest weeks. There is no option now as the shoulder is inflamed! Old climbing injury related. Hopefully it will mend fast. Anyone know of good shoulder stabilty exercises?

[Luke Owens]

Strong effort John! Bet you're psyched, must be a good feeling to have it in the bag right at the start of the trip!

[the_dom]

STG: Stay injury free, Humildes Pa Casa (Oliana), La Ruta del Sol (Santa Linya), pad out precarious pyramid!
MTG: Indian Summer, Kilnsey or Bat Route, Malham.
LTG: Big wall/hard multipitch, 8A/+ boulder problem (bloc style < 10 moves), UK 8b+/c, live in Spain.

Monday: Watch Preston give Man United a good run for their money.  Don't get back to London until 3am probably like a lot of the Man United supporters ; )
Tuesday: WW Power Board up to V8, finger board 3 x full 3 finger crimp and 3 x 3 finger half crimp, therabanding and stretching.
Wednesday: Rest.
Thursday: Therabanding and stretching.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Oliana.  Warm up on 7a+ and 7c.  1st redpoint attempt on Fisheye climb straight past my previous high point, keep it together and fall from the last tricky move probably one foot movement away from victory.  Unbelievable 1st go of the trip!  2nd redpoint I am more fatigued but still get into the last boulder problem but fall one move below my previous attempt after opening up on the crimps.
Sunday: Oliana.  Warm up on 7a and 7c.  I felt tired today and redpoint nerves were starting to kick in as now actually doing Fisheye had become a real possibility for me and I didn't want to blow my chance.  I wait impatiently for the sun to come off the upper part of the route with Ally who had previously been up warning me that you couldn't even see the foot holds on the top crux wall.  At 4pm I set off.  The sun is still on the top wall but I figure it will take me half an hour to get up there and by that time it should be off.  I scrape through the first crux without much to spare with low power levels after yesterday's efforts and continue up to the shake below the mid height crux.  Despite feeling fatigued I am recovering better than the previous day but I know I will have to execute the next section perfectly.  I get into the mid height crux and set up for the throw to the rail.  Just as I am about to go my right heel and left foot rip off and I swing out into the air.  I brace myself ready for the big fall into space.  However, I swing back in and somehow I am still holding on!  Quick recalculations are made and I paste my feet on and throw for the rail just about holding it by dragging the hold passively on my finger skin.  Obviously this was a very inefficient sequence so I spend 5 minutes at the rail fighting to recover for the final 20 metres of 8a climbing.  By now I realize I have to give this go everything as there is no way I will get here again today and tomorrow will be a rest day.  Luckily I climb all the sequences efficiently and manage to recover at the shakes on the way.  I arrive at final shake in a square cut pocket not too pumped which is important as this rest is not good enough to get everything back.  The sun is still on the crux top wall above me and I realize I will have to sight the small footholds and smears by memory.  It is hard to leave this shake out as you have to close up small crimps for 6-7 moves in the top crux and it is hard to know if you are ready but the peak recovery comes and goes quickly so you can't leave it too long.  I pull into the final crux feeling good in the crimps and making the initial two foot movements.  I need to move my feet up again on tiny dinks but I can't see anything in the sun.  By now the clock is ticking fast and my right hand is starting to open up.  I paste my feet quickly and pop for the left hand 3 finger crimp and thumb catch.  This move is normally a static reach on the dog but luckily I hold it and quickly shake my right hand before moving it into the small letter box hold. Now I am at the final tricky move which involves stepping high on both feet and locking the letter box to an in-cut left hand diagonal edge.  On the dog this feels like an English 5b move but now the edge looks miles away!  I build my feet high and make a semi-controlled lunge for the edge holding it with relief.  I have to really concentrate on keeping it together now and be precise with the feet and shake out on every in-cut edge up to the chain.  I finally clip the chain with much joy and relief and lower off into the tree at the bottom with Ally having to climb the first 3 m of the route to get down on an 80m rope!  YYFY!

I am really happy to have finished this route and glad all the training has paid off.  I looked back at my Power Club entries from last year and it made me realize the amount of mistakes I made in my preparation so it has definitely been a good learning experience.  It may be a very soft 8c (if it's grade stands the test of time anyway) and you definitely don't have to pull as hard as for 8c's in the UK but you definitely have to be really fit to climb it and it is a style I could train for more easily indoors being based in London.  I definitely need to try and fill out my pyramid now and climb more 8bs and 8b+s.  The good thing is I still have 2 weeks left of this trip as I didn't expect to do Fisheye in the first 2 days.  Better than the last day showdowns I normally endure!  P.s. sorry for the long gratuitous write up!
   

Great work!