[fried]

Rubbish week.

A couple of good weather weeks has meant no real training which was fine 'cos I was outside.

M- Sore throat, fever, drug myself up and work through it.
T- Same
W- Sore throat stops, turns into head cold, stay in bed.
Th- A bit better
F- Okish
S - Nothing
Su - Uninspired indoor session, in very humid conditions, still not 100%. Took it easy.

Back to business this week.

[Muenchener]

STG: Try my mate's 7a+ proj in Ötztal Rain stopped play.
MTG (2015): 7b redpoint
            Beastmaker 5A routine: 93.0%
            Muscle-Up
            Sautanz
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl West Face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

In which I am not going to get up 7b this year by not trying any.

M:
T:
W: Wall, Thalkirchen. First time on a rope indoors for ages; a bit of mileage on moderate routes
T:
F:
S: Cancelled weekend outing to Ötztal due to iffy weather forecast. Day trip to Kochel. Warmed up on a couple of nice 6b's, then threw myself at a 7b. A proper old skool vertical crimping 7b put up by Sepp Gschwendtner in 1984. Oh my was it hard 
S: Day trip 2, Zellerwand. ... nor am I going to get up 7a+ this year by trying a ferocious fingery one the day after getting spanked by a ferocious fingery 7b. Restored morale by bolt-to-bolting a nice steep 7a with holds of a sensible size.

[shark]

11.2-4

M. Did some left handed training on home board
T - S Nothing. Listless and not up for training

Crap week. Burnt hand is redressed at Burns Unit every 2 days at the Northern General - a moderately painful experience. Rest of time it is uncomfortable - less so when elevated. It's not infected, I dont need a skin graft and it seems to be healing well.

In better news low appetite has helped with weight loss. Drove to Edinburgh on friday so Tom could compete in YCS Final. Long (10hour) day at Ratho. He did well and probably placed about 10th  (theyve not posted final scores yet). Sonia ran the London Marathon today and managed 4.33.           

[nai]

Goals:

Spring - HFC & Short Chimes (+ Why Me?, Let The Tripe Increase, Stone The Loach)
Summer - Body Machine & Ext, Cornices?
Autumn - Raindogs, Full Chimes.

M rest

T - Embankment by mistake, full sun, far too hot.  Worked out a post-crux sequence on Stone The Loach that was more likely on redpoint.  2 more-in-hope-than-expectation RP attempts, best got the slot on the crux move but RH greased off sidepull.  Got back on and did it to top, so done it in two sections, confident that it would have gone in better connies and that it should go next time.

w - rest

Th - Two Tier, back to Why Me? for first time in a year.  Couple of reworks to remember it and work out clips now it's been rebolted (A brilliant job, well done whoever it was).
1st RP attempt got to horrible slot below crux, panicked about what to do with right foot, worked it out too late, fell going for move.
2nd RP, very smooth on lower wall but no umph at move from slot, Might have been on it too soon trying to beat the sun.
3rd RP, sun now on it, complete mess, mistakes galore but somehow made it to the slot, nothing left though.

This one could go soon but less confident, would be hard to climb the lower section better than on the 2nd RP attempt and there wasn't enough in the tank then. Maybe some more AnCap (or just proper rest) before I go back to it.

F - Could have done with resting but knew I'd be struggling to do much tomorrow with daughter's birthday, Too tired for AnCap but had a pretty good Foot-On-Campusing session instead, only done this after other PE work previously this year and haven't done well so quite a useful benchmark vs last year's performances, fitter than I thought.

S - 7am start, 4x10 mins AeroCap.  First attempt at core since back issue, a few planks and dishes, should have been easy but felt nails.

S rest.  Nearly went for a run but just stopped myself

Got plans for Tue and Fri and the plan is to crush.

[mr chaz]

Currently looking for new ways in which to procrastinate (writing a dissertation) so I'll make my first power club entry.

STG: 1, 4, 7.

MTG: 8a redpoint


M: Campussing. First time I've touched the 7 on a 1 4 7, and it was the top edge of the rung! surprised myself.

T: Wall session, generally punting around not writing my diss.

W: Went to Cornice and got on Unleashing the Wild Physique, 8a. Looking for a peak 8a project and despite being quite technical and generally my antistyle I quite liked it. Might shop around a little more before I put any more time into it though.

T:
F:
S:
S:

[kelvin]

Good to hear it's not any more complicated than just needing healing time Shark - skin grafts are no fun.

Had a bit of a re-jig this week - cancelled my direct debit at the local wall (3 mile round trip), which means from next month I'll have to head to Milton Keynes (50 mile round trip) or drive up to the Peak (200 mile round trip) for an evening's climbing. It'll force me to get on the hangboard at home too and whilst I am often time short, I'm hoping it will help me progress..

STG - Salbit Sudgrat.
MTG -Climb some lime in Spain.
LTG - Salbit West Ridge.

Mon - Rest. Battered from the previous week if I'm honest.
Tue - See physio. painful session on the left ITB, medial area, calf attachment thingy. Told not to boulder that evening... could hardly walk when I got off the table.
Wed - Pinnacle. Knee not the best but tried hard. Usual story of total stopper moves for my wrist and left pretty demotivated.
Thu - Hangboard. Not been on a campus rail in ages or hanging and boy, so much weaker.
Fri - Big Rock, MK. Really good session, playing on the V4-6 circuit. Sometimes too weak, then a wrong sequence but did much better than I thought I would.
Sat - New members meet at Stanage. Big turnout. Led some stuff on made up lines - having a 'I hate guidebooks' day. Cleared off when it rained heavy for ten minutes,
Sun - Club meet at High Neb. No psyche after being there last week, so soloed some easy stuff and then took a rope up some Severes for those who are new to outside. Sociable.

Injury stuff - physio was surprised I'd been able to climb with my knee but it's feeling much better now. Having to roll the ITBs constantly (ouch ouch ouch) and really need to focus on stretching the hamstrings.

Another week of not getting pumped, which is brilliant. My big toes however are proper achey and I guess that's from weighting my feet properly. Probably my last time on grit for a long while as I'll be away next winter but it's been an enjoyable learning curve. Jamming is still a dark art at times but I nailed it today, laybacks feel less powerful and the whole experience on grit feels less strenuous. I'll miss it.

Seems a bit crazy cancelling my wall membership when it's so local but I really wanna get better at climbing and I feel that can be better served by driving up or down the M1. Need to work out where the nearest limestone bouldering is to me, that's not total nails and set to one evening a week.

[shurt]

Hello all, first post here. Am hoping it will help with some aims for the year.

STG: finish Still Waters at Cheddar (can do all moves as of 2 wks ago)
MTG: finish Bullworker at Brean Down after falling off top move 3 times in December
LTG: E6, 8a route, surpass previous best of V7

Trying to get back on it as of two weeks ago after a lay off due to first baby's molars coming through and suffering sleep deprivation and fatigue for the last couple of months.

M: Failed to get partner again for Cheddar (after failing all weekend) but with potential of climbing the following night didn't do anything so would be well rested. Did 10 pull ups and some 2 x 20 press ups for some reason.
T: Only got 2 routes in as didn't start till 6:30pm at Cheddar. Fell off 6c (last route) which had done before which was annoying as onsighted 7a last week???
W: in laws
T: in laws
F: work   
S: nothing
S: back on it tonight. did the normal three sets on fingerboard with 5 mins rest in between. Arms hurt, was pumped, drank beer.

[Pako]

Decent week.
M - Bouldered on the 50, good session
T - Got up early to do some fingerboarding, not too good, did some one arm hangs with 6.5kg assist on the deepish slots on the bm 2000. Do people here do their one arm hangs with bent arms or with straight arms but engaging their shoulders? Also did some back 2 and front 2 stuff.
W - Bouldered on the 50, short session
T - Bouldered on the 50, decent session
F - Bouldered on the 50, good session
S - Bouldered on the woody, lovely session. Did 17 pullups later which is a pb. Also did a one arm on right arm with 2kg of assist and 2 with 3kg of assist. Got halfway on the 3rd rep but couldn't do it. Did one and a bit with the left arm and 3kg of assist.
S - Rest day because skin on middle left is a bit fucked. Did a one arm with 3kg of assist on right arm, felt alright but not easy like yesterday.

Decent week, but some more fingerboarding would have been good. I also wanted to do some general body strength stuff like dips and iron cross negatives but that didn't turn out sadly. This week hopefully.

[the_dom]

A week in Font - unsurprisingly quite a good one.

Mon:Started at Apremont - put down Clin d'Oeil and Faux Contact in way too many goes, then failed on Fil a Tordre which is fast becoming my nemesis. Left at lunchtime-ish feeling hot, grumpy and tired and went home for a nap. In the evening went to Rocher St Germain to try Megalight which I managed to do in a few goes. YYFY! What an awesome problem. After that, managed La Labyrinth des Ombres on the way out and then went to check out Organsme Cosmique at Mare a Piat, and managed that in a few goes. YYFY! Absolutely brilliant day.

Tues: Rest day. Wandered Paris.

Wed: Started at Cuvier, failing on Duroxmanie Direct in the heat, then wandered over to Bleau's Art, where an in situ projector told me to find somewhere else to climb because she was trying it and was not willing to share. Called her some nasty things in Afrikaans and decided to walk to Apremont Envers because (a) I wanted to try Clandestino and (b) it might be cooler. Ticked off Clandestino, the unnamed 7A next to it and El Paso Droite with some beta from some Swedes who were more than willing to let me try their projects because that's what normal people do. Good day.

Thurs: Started early at Bleau's Art and got completely shut down. Moved over to Cusiniere and managed to do Beatlejuice in an hour or so, after figuring a sequence out and dropping the 'easy' top once.

Fri:Rest day, checked out Peter Pan. Looks excellent.

Sat: Isatis dodging showers. Repeated the 6C/7A standing start to le Surplomb Statique and then worked the crouch start (Divine Decadence) while a mate worked the standing start. All the moves went, bar the first, which I didn't try because the hold was wet. One to come back to.

Sun: Roche Aux Sabots for a slightly damp morning. Warmed up on blues and reds, then repeated L'Oblique to the lip (top was damp, but the rest of it felt easy - what a good problem), nearly flashed Bloc Os (also very fun) and worked Jeu du Toit with a terrible sequence, which made it feel 7B at least.

More writeups and photos at cipherland.blogspot.com

[webbo]

Good to hear it's not any more complicated than just needing healing time Shark - skin grafts are no fun.

Had a bit of a re-jig this week - cancelled my direct debit at the local wall (3 mile round trip), which means from next month I'll have to head to Milton Keynes (50 mile round trip) or drive up to the Peak (200 mile round trip) for an evening's climbing. It'll force me to get on the hangboard at home too and whilst I am often time short, I'm hoping it will help me progress..

STG - Salbit Sudgrat.
MTG -Climb some lime in Spain.
LTG - Salbit West Ridge.

Mon - Rest. Battered from the previous week if I'm honest.
Tue - See physio. painful session on the left ITB, medial area, calf attachment thingy. Told not to boulder that evening... could hardly walk when I got off the table.
Wed - Pinnacle. Knee not the best but tried hard. Usual story of total stopper moves for my wrist and left pretty demotivated.
Thu - Hangboard. Not been on a campus rail in ages or hanging and boy, so much weaker.
Fri - Big Rock, MK. Really good session, playing on the V4-6 circuit. Sometimes too weak, then a wrong sequence but did much better than I thought I would.
Sat - New members meet at Stanage. Big turnout. Led some stuff on made up lines - having a 'I hate guidebooks' day. Cleared off when it rained heavy for ten minutes,
Sun - Club meet at High Neb. No psyche after being there last week, so soloed some easy stuff and then took a rope up some Severes for those who are new to outside. Sociable.

Injury stuff - physio was surprised I'd been able to climb with my knee but it's feeling much better now. Having to roll the ITBs constantly (ouch ouch ouch) and really need to focus on stretching the hamstrings.

Another week of not getting pumped, which is brilliant. My big toes however are proper achey and I guess that's from weighting my feet properly. Probably my last time on grit for a long while as I'll be away next winter but it's been an enjoyable learning curve. Jamming is still a dark art at times but I nailed it today, laybacks feel less powerful and the whole experience on grit feels less strenuous. I'll miss it.

Seems a bit crazy cancelling my wall membership when it's so local but I really wanna get better at climbing and I feel that can be better served by driving up or down the M1. Need to work out where the nearest limestone bouldering is to me, that's not total nails and set to one evening a week.

As a beginner climbing VD/ severe some forty years ago I started to go on the original Leeds wall i.e. a corridor with bits of rock and holds chipped into the brick work. By climbing there several times a week then going out over the weekend I upped my grade to HVS/E1.
Indoor climbing will not make you a bad climber, continually looking for a magic solution will.

[kelvin]

I understand that Webbo - and don't get me wrong, I probably spend way more time indoors than out. It's a specific issue with the lack of wrist movement I have and the general style of setting at my local wall. Crimping or pulling hard on a bent wrist isn't doable, I just lose strength the more bent it is. Outside isn't so much of an issue as there are always foot options to get round it but indoors that's not the case and my local wall has a very small bouldering area. So I'll be trips to Big Rock instead - I need to climb indoors to progress, I know that.

[Muenchener]

I think you're being a bit harsh webbo. My alma mater is the Iffley Road wall in Oxford, about the same era and I suspect rather inferior to Leeds. It, too, got me from Severe to HVS/E1 in a couple of years.

But we're not living in the dark ages any more, we have choices and if K has an option that he thinks is better than his local wall and only twenty miles away, then I don't see how that counts as dodging the issue.

[petejh]

STG: Melanchollie (in May) or The Brute (in August)
MTG: Onsight attempts on The Hurting, Cathedral, Banana Wall, Anubis (next winter)
LTG: 8c (within three years)
Ultimate goal: undecided

Power-endurance phase, week 1

M. Core workout and back mobility
T. Campus sesh at Mill. Started off feeling a bit sluggish but came good. 1-5-6 on small metolius rungs and double dynos 1357 and 1-4 on small rungs. Finished of the power phase on a high.
W.
T.
F. Bouldering at Gop. Worked on Push the Button. Got the first move solid and worked out how to bounce lh up. End of the phase so limited scope to get back on this for now. Ended up putting a hole in my tip on lh index right at the end of the sesh - bad news for Melanchollie.
S.
S. First day on Melanchollie. Had to tape up holed tip, not ideal but only looking at moves for first time. Great conditions on the crag once the sun moved off the cliff. On first acquaintance the holds felt impossible in the sun. 2nd working burn in the shade, hung a few moves and did some small links, felt strong and could have strung more together with good skin/no tape. 3rd working burn tired.
Finished with a core workout at home - core wrecked!

Feels great to be at the end of 8 weeks focused training and can finally go outdoors on routes! Well happy to be at the stage of trying Melanchollie. Really like the very thin style, feels doable.

[tomtom]

>> Pako.

Bent arms.

[fatneck]

Long time no post.... Must try harder!

STG - climb 7a on a variety of rock types again / get out more
MTG - actually do some projecting / not get injured
LTG - Brain Spray / 7a+ again

Mon - walk to and from work - Pilates at lunch - mainly abs but some leg work too. Felt allright afterwards...
Tue - walk to and from work but nothing else - suprisingly very little doms from yesterday. Think my core is improving
Wed - walk to and from work - nothing else
Thu - bus - pilates at lunch - different teacher - felt wrecked afterwards
Fri - walk to work - sore core and shoulders from pilates
Sat - rain stopped outdoor boulder plans so had a lazy morning then hit the Hangar. Managed most new reds and a new white then fell of a steep red horizontally, landed directly on my left shoulder after a fall of 3 metres. Thought I'd hurt myself but managed to get it together, do the problem and climbed for another hour. Wet walk on the Wirral and chip butties.
Sun - sore shoulder, played lots of sports in the sunshine with kids - sorer shoulder

Not an awful week but distinct lack of climbing / fishing.

Crouchy's stag do on the Lleyn this weekend - YYFY - plenty of climbing and hopefully some fishing...

[kelvin]

I think you're being a bit harsh webbo. My alma mater is the Iffley Road wall in Oxford, about the same era and I suspect rather inferior to Leeds. It, too, got me from Severe to HVS/E1 in a couple of years.

But we're not living in the dark ages any more, we have choices and if K has an option that he thinks is better than his local wall and only twenty miles away, then I don't see how that counts as dodging the issue.

... Pinnacle got me to E1 in a couple of years too, pretty much any wall would I guess.

I wouldn't post on here if I wasn't open to critique and I was happy to ask myself if I was looking for a magic solution as suggested. No dramas.

[iain]

Glad it's healing Shark.


STG: Rehab shoulder
MTG: Infinite Gravity and Hasse Brandler in the Autumn

M: Shoulder rehab
T: Millstone. Friend led Embankment 3 and I fell off seconding at the top. I'd like to say this was because of the shoulder but it was just rubbish crack feet technique, (although much better than a previous attempt). Shoulder complained afterwards so spent the rest of the evening bimbling and belaying.
W: Rest
T: Shoulder rehab and some random hangs to test what I can/can't do safely. Extended front on hangs probably not a good idea yet.
F: First visit to Caley, what a place! I don't own a guide so can't name problems but got a lot of slab practice and did a couple of steeper things which made me pull without hurting the shoulder (mostly). Watching a friend style Syrett's Saunter/Pebble Wall was inspiring.
S: Short Works session. I was a lot happier on the steeper stuff compared to previous visits and did a few problems on the moderate circuits. Progress!
S: Burbage North for a potter, did a bunch of slabs and a harder arete below long tall sally, failed on tiny slab right despite a lot of tries and scared myself slipping off Nicotine Stain.

A good week for getting outside and shoulder still improving at a decent rate. My slab skills feel utterly rubbish sometimes though, and I don't know if that's because they are and only get highlighted occasionally or because I just have a hard time on some things and really hate crimping pebbles. Be nice to close the gap between slab and steep difficulty.

A brilliant job, well done whoever it was

Why thank you sir 

[JackAus]

STG: More V7s. Sub 75kg.
MTG: V8. Fear Factory List. 5/10 done.
LTG: V11.

Big storm here in Syd this week. No outdoor stuff at all.

M: St Leonards. Warm ups to V5ish then made harder problems. Finish with some campussing.
T: St Leonards. Warm ups to V5ish then made harder problems. Finish with some campussing and fingerboarding.
W: Rest.
T: St Leonards. Warm ups to V5ish then made harder problems. Finish with some campussing and fingerboarding. 1 arm lock on lower middle hold on beastmaker. Both arms. Never done that before. Did alot of them. 1 armers are coming along well too.
F: Rest.
S: Tried to get outdoors. Morning was sunny. Went to Trenches, still alot of water run off, so headed across the valley to Frontline as another storm was coming in. Left just as it started pissing down. Didn't get any climbing in. Went for sushi and beers instead.
S: St Leonards. Horrible humid day. Warm ups to V5ish then made much harder problems. Finish with some campussing. Felt horrible. More 1 armers and lock on edge.

Can't wait for something, anything, to dry out... Not being out on rock all week is depressing.

[JohnM]

Weight: 10st 9lb (Folks electric scales.  Therefore a 5lb weight gain in 6 weeks ).
STG: Rehab, Bat Route.
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: Therabanding, dumbbell complexes, stretching.
Tuesday: Conference = lots of food and booze.
Wednesday: See above.  PM - bouldering (poor), CWP fingerboard routine, mono assisted one armers, undercut lock offs.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Watching North End
Sunday: Malham - Good conditions today, not too warm in the sun if a little chilly in the shade.  Warm up on Bat Route.  Do the crux first time (it feels easy) and do it again.  The undercut lock off training has paid off!  Climb to the last bolt (the hanger is now missing?).  Feel stronger on a lot of the moves although my right shoulder feels unstable so I feel weak on the move locking the crimp to the pinch after the hole.  However, after a while the injury in my elbow becomes inflamed and my left arm is not firing and just feels pumped all the time.  I have another couple of goes and refine some beta (step on crimp hidden under roof with right foot instead of swamping feet and step right foot down next to left and left foot flags out to match undercut on headwall) but my ability is rapidly declining as my elbow becomes very sore.  Annoyed!

A pretty bad week.  I still have no self control at conferences with all the free food and booze available and due to this and generally eating worse over the past month I have put on a bit of weight.  However, most annoying is that I now have quite a few niggling injuries, the sum of which add up to shit climbing performance.  My shoulders are manageable but once my elbow becomes inflamed I just can't climb.  Its frustrating that I can't complete a basic strength and conditioning phase without my body falling apart.  Going to take 2 weeks out of the program and not do any training that stresses my elbow (i.e. no locking off and no pull ups) and reassess.  If all is good I then need to decide whether I am going to commit to trying to climb Bat Route as messing around on it every few weeks is not going to cut it.  After quite a bit of redpointing this year I don't know if I mentally strong enough to go back into siege mode and it has been much more fun of late travelling around ticking easier routes, eating lots of nice food and drinking beer!   

[nai]

A brilliant job, well done whoever it was

Why thank you sir 

Good see it had been done and with the clips in such logical positions.  Now there's no need to decide between trying to make a strenuous clip mid crux or risking a big lob if you fluff it.  Good Effort.

[Luke Owens]

M: Rest

T: Orme - Warmed up repeating "After the Gold Rush (6c)" then put clips in on "Mr. Chips" (7a) on the way down. It was in the full sun and greasy in the sun, impatiently waiting for the sun to go in but ended up going to early fired off a crimp on the last hard move.

Next go was in the shade, miles better conditions managed to tick it shaking out between all the moves. Satisfying!

Went down to the Hornby's and did "Wind and Worrying" (6b) a mega exposed stamina ~25m line. One of the best of the grade I've done for sure.

Was really hot in the sun so did some easy routes "Sundowner" (6a) and "Woo Woo" (6a+)

Good session but no skin left...

W: Rest

T: Aerocap - 25mins

F: Rest

S: Llanymynech - Went up to Nomad Wall tried a warm up onsight of "Nomad" (7a+) a mega classic 30m wall climb. Cruised all the way to the last bolt and went the wrong way on the crux. Wasn't too annoyed as for the first time in ages I fell off because I couldn't reverse the wrong sequence rather than falling off pumped.

Worked the crux then had a redpoint about half an hour later. In the full sun I found myself massively overgripping in the lower section and greasing on everything. Got to the crux and realised I was to pumped and hadn't worked the set up to the crux properly. Slack redpoint skills/should of waited for shade. Going to get back on it this week.

Nipped round the corner and did "Sack the Strugglers" (6c) short and sharp! Ended the day with a quick lap on the 35m 6b "Gaza Strippers"

S: Rest (Skin still sore)

Good week in all but couldn't face extra Aerocap sessions with such sore skin. I use coca butter cream but healing is slow. Maybe I should invest in something like "Climb on"?

Sticking to longer routes and aerocap training for awhile in prep for Ceuse in September/Diamond season.

Need to come up with some goals for the Ceuse trip too...

[cheque]

STG- Finish film without becoming irretrievably crap at climbing.

MTG New grade(s) this year

M- Rest.

T- Black Rocks. Filming. Climbed a little bit too.

W- Stanage Plantation. Need to interview climber who won't come back down to BR for it.  Do some easytrad afterwards.

T- Rest. Stupid knife accident (cutting cable ties off a fence) sees me cut a thick half-moon flapper in the knuckle side of my thumb. Lots of blood- initially thought I'd have to go to A&E but it's not actually that bad. Lucky not to cut a fillet out 

F- Day off work to film mate who can only do this day. Find out at lunchtime that his van isn't back from the garage so he can't do it.  End up editing on the computer all afternoon.

S- Black Rocks. Major stress as filming people I barely know climbing a vital route that's a massive logistical challenge to film with an extremely changeable weather forecast. Also have another climber turning up to be interviewed at an unspecified time. It's drizzling on and off when I arrive  but everything turns out brilliantly- the route climbers turn up with a friend with filmmaking experience who assists me (weird feeling!) and operates second camera, they climb the route brilliantly in ideal weather and finish 10 minutes before interview climber appears and another 10 minutes before an intense downpour arrives, ending the sublime dry spell that's seen me get so much important footage.  Everyone gets on really well and we end up eating in the cafe. 

S- Walking round stately home and gardens. Lots of eating in the evening.

Very little training value this week (as has been the case for ages). Just totally determined to finish my film as soon as possible. Not much left to film now and everything major has been done.

[andy_e]

Looking forward to this film. I hope it's 50 minutes of dashcam driving to the crag followed by nine minutes of time-lapse clouds blowing over the top of the crag, before a minute of interviews set over people falling off VSs.

[nai]

Sticking to longer routes and aerocap training for awhile in prep for Ceuse in September/Diamond season.

you don't say if you're in a block program so you may have it planned, but don't neglect strength training ahead of your trip.  I imagine you'll need a lot of open-hand pocket-pulling strength to maximise your chances out there.  Easy enough to work strength and Aero in the same session.

[sdm]

2015 Goals:
Bouldering Pyramid:
7B: 1/1
7A+: 0/3
7A: 4/9
6C/6C+: 4/27 - 0/13 slabs/aretes
Sport: Do more sport, get in to redpointing properly

Mon: New wooden set. Mostly V3-5ish plus a couple of tricky slabs. Flashed half of them and completed all of them except the top move of one of the slabs.

Tues: 5c, 6b+, 6c, working 7b+: fell off at 4th clip, then worked the moves and linkewd it from halfway to the top. Did clean on top rope, then fell off top move on redpoint, powered out. Dips on rings: 10, 10, 5. Don't think I rested enough before last set.

Wed: Working moves on V6+ set and last woody problem.

Thu:  Board session - mostly focusing on crimpy problems and crimpy individual moves, finished off with big moves on good holds. Fingers felt tweaky the next day, hopefully not a sign of future problems.

Fri:    Stag do - drinking

Sat:   Stag do - drinking and canoeing

Sun: Anchor Church Caves. The stag do continued with more canoeing, slightly less drinking and a brief stop off for some soloing at an unexpected esoteric sandstone conglomerate crag. Did a low traverse of the crag, an easy chimney and a slabby groove. Looking on UKC, I think the groove was Hermit's Finger (E2 5a). Don't think I would have soloed it without rock shoes had I known that. It felt a little scary but I thought it was no more than VS! Short fingerboard session in the evening - feeling weak on everything so I stopped after 5 grips. I think the weekend had taken its toll.

[Luke Owens]

Sticking to longer routes and aerocap training for awhile in prep for Ceuse in September/Diamond season.

you don't say if you're in a block program so you may have it planned, but don't neglect strength training ahead of your trip.  I imagine you'll need a lot of open-hand pocket-pulling strength to maximise your chances out there.  Easy enough to work strength and Aero in the same session.

Cheers, good advice. I haven't formulated a plan as such. I've just come out of a winter mainly bouldering so feeling strong but unfit at the moment.

That's always my problem, never enough fitness for the routes I want to do, never have a problem on the difficulty of moves themselves.

I'm going to mix in open handed pocket training on the beastmaker throughout the year but fitness is the main thing I need to massively improve. I've just never stuck at it long enough, but now I have a reason too. Psyched!

[cheque]

Looking forward to this film. I hope it's 50 minutes of dashcam driving to the crag followed by nine minutes of time-lapse clouds blowing over the top of the crag, before a minute of interviews set over people falling off VSs.

  Careful what you wish for.

[iain]

Good see it had been done and with the clips in such logical positions.  Now there's no need to decide between trying to make a strenuous clip mid crux or risking a big lob if you fluff it. 

I thought about that, nice to hear I got it right.

Looking forward to this film.

Me too

Careful what you wish for.

Have the cliche edit as an extra.

[T_B]

M -
T - Back to River of Life. Met Dave and Scouse D there avec lamps. Took a while to get the toe hooks to work then managed to link it  Played around on potential r-hand exit.
W - School lunch. Trying 7c+ circuit in sections.
T -
F - School lunch. Mostly 30 degree board, finished with some campussing.
S -
S -

[Pako]

>> Pako.

Bent arms.

Cheers.

[tomtom]

JohnM - the travel / conference lifestyle makes it hard to maintain any sort of routine for training... I find the same - I start to get good then will go off somewhere for ten days and not have time to do anything other than some token stretching..

Weight: 70.2kg

M: Work
Tu: Work

We: Work - then managed to get an early evening trip to Almscliff en route back to Manc... Man, I'd forgotten how that place turns into chuffers paradise when the sun comes out.. I was the only boulderization person there! Bloody ropes all over demon wall tsk tsk Felt quite strong... flashes of Belly, DWR - too hot for Dreamland but had to try... Then pottered down to Underhand. Had a couple of decent efforts but tired rapidly. I've not been to the cliff for a while and I forget how much (those problems) sap your core..

Thu: Up early to drop MrsTT at the Airport then off to the peak (en route back to Hull..) to crag X. Lovely spot... potttered on the LH side (god knows what!) then Haydn arrived and talked me through all the problems. Much appreciated Haydn - thanks. Mainly played on Jericho Road (made steady progress though a way to go) and had a furtle on Zippys later on - which also felt do-able. So looking forward to heading back. Nice to have a different spot from the RubiTor alternatives..

Fr: Waste of a day...

Sa: Up early to try and get to Brownstones, to get Hanks Wall before (a) it started raining or (b) the sun gets round onto it (about 10:30-11)... I arrived - got my shit out of the car and it promptly pissed it down. Arse.
Went home and did some assisted one armers for the first time in over a year.. with minimal warm up got two repeats at -14kg... at/better than my best back then. So I'm clearly either lighter, stronger or both!
Drove up to Kendal to see folks for mini daytime family get together.. nearlly nearly stopped at Trowbarrow on the way home, but just - only just decided not to...

Su: Up early to try and get to Brownstones, to get Hanks wall before (a) it started raining or (b) the sun gets round onto it. It was dry - and chilly. Good connies. I came close, close close, but no cigar. Gave up before I split my left tip... Felt stronger than before, but body was really wobbly.. so it will go, just a matter of time and attempts.. Went home.
Got bored, so went to Harmers in the early evening. Nice warm up in the main quarry then got stuck into Andy Popps projects.. Made progress, but a long way from completion.

Quite a week in terms of four different crags (and three rock types)....

[shark]

Back to River of Life. Met Dave and Scouse D there avec lamps. Took a while to get the toe hooks to work then managed to link it 

 

[kelvin]

Hello all, first post here. Am hoping it will help with some aims for the year.

 Welcome

[Sasquatch]

STG: Maintain Psych, and drop weight (Bad week back up from 175 to 177) Either local boulder or route projects depending on weather.
MTG: Bolt new route projects, have a couple of promising walls to recon.  1-4-7 & 1-arm pullup
LTG: To Bolt...

M-Run-3mi
T-Run-3.5mi
W-Short Boulder session outside at another new to me boulder - Easy stuff up to v5ish, then flashed a v7ish FA
T-FB Max Hangs, 3 x outside low BM2k at 247lbs total hanging weight.  run 2mi
F-Rest
S-Long walk on beach w wife and daughter , then managed to sneak out for a couple of hours to the Anchor Point Boulder (new to me).  Great session on a big granite erratic.  Ticked off the problems that had been done up to a crimpy v7, then went to work on three projects.  Managed to send all three in fairly short order - v9/10, v8, and v9/10ish. YYFY
S-Rest

Generally easier week for training.  Just getting started into a strength phase, aiming at Max Hangs for about 4 weeks, and max pull strength.   

Full trip description for those who want to read it

NSFW  :

Outside was great this week.  On Wednesday after dinner, I headed out with a friend to a boulder 15 minutes from the house that my friend had found/cleaned last fall. It's a beautiful ocean-side boulder in the tidal flats south of Anchorage with 11-12 problems from v0 to v7, and a stellar v1/2 17 foot tall slab.  It was so good I did it 4 times in a row.

On Friday I headed out of town for a weekend away with my wife and daughter.  Brought a pad and shoes as I knew the boulder was nearby, but didn't expect to make it out.  After the long walk in the morning my daughter decided to take a nap in the afternoon, and my wife decided to as well, so I was left with a couple of hours free.  I ran out, found the boulder and rampaged through everything in 2.5 hours including driving and approach which included a river crossing, snow, hail, thunder, and sun.  The boulder is really interesting, and is characterized by two horizontal crack bands at about 3-5 feet and at about 7-9 feet, which make for generally good sit and stand starts to problems, and often big reaches off good holds.  I started out on a slightly dirty, but good v2 which was the shortest line on the boulder at about 10 feet.  Then I headed over to a v3 which was stellar and followed a series of good incut edges up the steepest face and topped out with a perfect mantel.  Next up was a lankfest v4/5 that had a big committing 4 foot move at 12 feet up.  Last on the warmup list was the king line of the boulder -a brilliant 18-19 foot v3 arête.  Done warming up, it was time to get serious, so I moved onto a line given v9 by the FA called Moth to a Flame, which was duly dispatched 2nd go and more like v7 - It was basically one hard move from a  crappy right hand crimp to a jug.  This was all of the established straight ups done, so next up were the last three project lines.  An acquaintance (Kobi) who lives in the area and has climbed on the boulder showed up just and we got to work on the projects.

First up was an interesting power problem going through a roof and powering up off a good undercling and terrible feet.  A few minutes working out the individual moves had it sorted and I was able to send it first go from the ground by the skin of my teeth.  While I worked this, Kobi worked on Moth to a Flame, coming close to the jug on multiple attempts.  Next up was a tall, just off vertical line with good holds to start, and a blank upper section just right of the arête, and also 17-18ish feet tall.  We took turns working out a sequence, and I was able to link through using a lanky tension reach off high feet and underclings to a crap crimp, set the feet into another high undercling, and reach for good holds to top out.  Last up was another thin face just right of the previous one.  This was very similar to the previous one, but there was no undercling to use.  Instead it was a huge 5+ foot deadpoint off a good high right foot and one pad incut crimps to a small 3 finger 1/3 pad slimper.  Hit this just right, and get the left foot up and fire for a good edge just below the lip.  After about 4-5 goes of not quite getting the slimper, I was able to finally hit it perfect and pull though for another send.  Kobi went back to Moth to a Flame for a couple of last goes and got a big flapper coming off the jug ending his day.  I'm sure he'll get it next session.  It was an amazing and unexpected short afternoon session!

[webbo]

Mon. Nothing wedding anniversary.
Tue. Bike 30 miles  1 hr 41 mins.
Wed. Board just repeating stuff, reasonable session as I felt pretty weary.
Thu. Bike intervals 20 secs on 40 secs off x 5 3 sets then a bit of a ride 25 miles.
Fri. Board repeating stuff I've not done for ages.
Sat. Board repeating stuff again skin a bit sore. Bike 40 miles  2 hrs 26 mins. Got caught in a storm, punctured. Felt a bit hypothermic when I got home.
Sun. Bike 72.61 miles 4 hrs 25 mins longest ride of the year, several big hills. Battered when I finished.

[Dolly]

M
T Foundry Wave. Level 2 volume session. Hard. Gym for weights and core in the evening
W
T Lamping with Lagers at Hampers Hang. Obviously a) I was sandbagged and b) had a great time
F After nearly 2 years without doing my back it went in the morning as I was brushing my teeth. Lots of physio ball and exercises throughout the day
S Back hurt. Couldn't risk climbing outside. Easy beastmaker session in the morning.
S Back hurt more. Pilates in the morning when my back felt great afterwards. Some kettlebells in the evening

[saltbeef]

 I still have no self control at conferences with all the free food and booze available...
Its frustrating that I can't complete a basic strength and conditioning phase without my body falling apart. 

i feel your pain

[TobyD]

STG: Groove,Malham, get solid at E5 again
MTG: Stolen, Kilnsey Huecool, Gordale, E6
LTG: 8a+ abroad, anything >8b

M rest, 40 minute trial run
T awful job interview, great bouldering session 7-8 move problems on the wave + 15 minute aerocap
W soloing at Stanage, about 30 routes mostly up hvs-e1s, and down vd-vs
T sucessful job interview, road run 40 minutes
F trail run 35 minutes
S Malham 4 goes up the groove. best linked 3 overlapping sections
S battered. embankment, laps on 6b-7a+

[tomtom]

M
T Foundry Wave. Level 2 volume session. Hard. Gym for weights and core in the evening
W
T Lamping with Lagers at Hampers Hang. Obviously a) I was sandbagged and b) had a great time
F After nearly 2 years without doing my back it went in the morning as I was brushing my teeth. Lots of physio ball and exercises throughout the day
S Back hurt. Couldn't risk climbing outside. Easy beastmaker session in the morning.
S Back hurt more. Pilates in the morning when my back felt great afterwards. Some kettlebells in the evening

Fuck - thats what happened with me! Went to Hampers Hang with Lagers and then my back screwed up...

I think theres a class action coming up against Lagerstarfish bouldering services...

[tommytwotone]

LTG: Font 7b


M: Insanity class at the gym on lunch - tried as my other half has been going to classes at our local leisure centre. Turns out it's really hard!
T: HIIT class at the gym on lunch - good fun, lots of different exercises as it was a bit class. Off to London for work in the afternoon, then beers then food then more beers.
W: Meeting in London while feeling a bit hazy, then train back. Ticked Ben Moon's autobiography on the journey.
T: Deadlift session on lunch. Gradually worked up to a new 1RM PB of 115kg. Creeping towards the 2xBW.
F: Cellar Beastmaker session in eve. More diligent warmup, then managed 5 x 5 x 5 sec hangs.
S: Nowt much.
S: Woodhouse Scar session. Totally screwed up my tactics, arriving at the hottest part of the day despite a chilly morning and what turned out to be a decently cool evening. Did a few things including the world's easiest 6c which must be a misprint / I went off-route, then tore a flapper just above the palm of my hand. Went to The Sheriff but absolutely nothing doing. Left in a bit of a grump.

[tomtom]

M: Insanity class at the gym on lunch - tried as my other half has been going to classes at our local leisure centre. Turns out it's really hard!
T: HIIT class at the gym on lunch - good fun, lots of different exercises as it was a bit class. Off to London for work in the afternoon, then beers then food then more

Some aggressive sounding gym session names there!

I'm waiting for our local twerk out classes to start....

[lagerstarfish]

M
T Foundry Wave. Level 2 volume session. Hard. Gym for weights and core in the evening
W
T Lamping with Lagers at Hampers Hang. Obviously a) I was sandbagged and b) had a great time
F After nearly 2 years without doing my back it went in the morning as I was brushing my teeth. Lots of physio ball and exercises throughout the day
S Back hurt. Couldn't risk climbing outside. Easy beastmaker session in the morning.
S Back hurt more. Pilates in the morning when my back felt great afterwards. Some kettlebells in the evening

Fuck - thats what happened with me! Went to Hampers Hang with Lagers and then my back screwed up...

I think theres a class action coming up against Lagerstarfish bouldering services...

the LSF Sandbagging Service has a very similar phone number to the LSF Bouldering Service - make sure you don't book with the wrong one

they are, of course, two completely separate corporate entities

no refunds

[tommytwotone]

LTG: Font 7b


M: Insanity class at the gym on lunch - tried as my other half has been going to classes at our local leisure centre. Turns out it's really hard!
T: HIIT class at the gym on lunch - good fun, lots of different exercises as it was a bit class. Off to London for work in the afternoon, then beers then food then more beers.
W: Meeting in London while feeling a bit hazy, then train back. Ticked Ben Moon's autobiography on the journey.
T: Deadlift session on lunch. Gradually worked up to a new 1RM PB of 115kg. Creeping towards the 2xBW.
F: Cellar Beastmaker session in eve. More diligent warmup, then managed 5 x 5 x 5 sec hangs.
S: Nowt much.
S: Woodhouse Scar session. Totally screwed up my tactics, arriving at the hottest part of the day despite a chilly morning and what turned out to be a decently cool evening. Did a few things including the world's easiest 6c which must be a misprint / I went off-route, then tore a flapper just above the palm of my hand. Went to The Sheriff but absolutely nothing doing. Left in a bit of a grump.

[Schnell]

Sat: Isatis dodging showers. Repeated the 6C/7A standing start to le Surplomb Statique and then worked the crouch start (Divine Decadence) while a mate worked the standing start. All the moves went, bar the first, which I didn't try because the hold was wet. One to come back to.

Good knowledge on the name for the crouch start. I tried it a few weeks ago but couldn't find the name online. Also where does the 6C/7A grade for the stand come from? It felt about 6B to me with the crouch a lot harder. Both great problems either way.

Also  about the Bleau's Art fiasco, if someone told me I couldn't try a problem I'd be pretty shocked and pissed off.

[duncan]

T sucessful job interview, ...

 

Which one?

72.5kg

STG: Avoid recurrence of shoulder problem
Improve hip pain and flexibility
Lose 2kg.
E3 before return of family   Fail.
MTG: E5 by end of June
LTG: Long hard (for me) rock routes in the Alps, Dolomites, Picos and Scotland. 7c RP.

M - Shoulder stability stuff
T - Westway 10 routes to 6b. Shoulder felt fine!
W - Careless finger tweak in DIY accident. Not in the shark class but will need to take it gently for a bit.
T-S  - Shoulder stability stuff. Family back in UK.

Plan: Off to Singapore next week for conference, followed by a couple of days in KL, then points north in Malaysia for a week. Not sure how much climbing this will involve but I have rope and light rack.

[the_dom]

Sat: Isatis dodging showers. Repeated the 6C/7A standing start to le Surplomb Statique and then worked the crouch start (Divine Decadence) while a mate worked the standing start. All the moves went, bar the first, which I didn't try because the hold was wet. One to come back to.

Good knowledge on the name for the crouch start. I tried it a few weeks ago but couldn't find the name online. Also where does the 6C/7A grade for the stand come from? It felt about 6B to me with the crouch a lot harder. Both great problems either way.

Also  about the Bleau's Art fiasco, if someone told me I couldn't try a problem I'd be pretty shocked and pissed off.

I was told by a local that the traditional stand start i.e. on the sloper and pocket, moving to the ball and then up, was 6B (which felt right), and that starting standing 2 moves lower on an edge and sloper was somewhere between 6C and 7A (I think 6Cish but I'm tall). I think this is the same start for Surplomb Gauche.

Re: Bleau's Art - agreed. I was quite taken aback, and for some reason the woman trying the problem couldn't seem to understand why I was grumpy as a result.

[tommytwotone]

M: Insanity class at the gym on lunch - tried as my other half has been going to classes at our local leisure centre. Turns out it's really hard!
T: HIIT class at the gym on lunch - good fun, lots of different exercises as it was a bit class. Off to London for work in the afternoon, then beers then food then more

Some aggressive sounding gym session names there!

I'm waiting for our local twerk out classes to start....

Aye - Insanity is, well, pretty insane - serious high-intensity intervals, all bodyweight exercises but tons of large compound movements. The class was literally 30 mins but completely relentless, helped by the person leading the class going round and kicking your ass if you were taking it easy!


I was completely done in, looked up at the clock and 10 mins had gone by. Apparently people do it (at home I assume, the DVDs are a best-seller) and get completely ripped. I can imagine why.


The HIIT is a more normal circuits kinda dead, but with some "fun" exercises like whipping massive ropes, heavy bags of water that don't behave like a barbell, flipping tractor tyres etc.


For the days when I've only got lunchtime to train I hope / assume these are at least keeping me in shape.

[Schnell]

Sat: Isatis dodging showers. Repeated the 6C/7A standing start to le Surplomb Statique and then worked the crouch start (Divine Decadence) while a mate worked the standing start. All the moves went, bar the first, which I didn't try because the hold was wet. One to come back to.

Good knowledge on the name for the crouch start. I tried it a few weeks ago but couldn't find the name online. Also where does the 6C/7A grade for the stand come from? It felt about 6B to me with the crouch a lot harder. Both great problems either way.

Also  about the Bleau's Art fiasco, if someone told me I couldn't try a problem I'd be pretty shocked and pissed off.

I was told by a local that the traditional stand start i.e. on the sloper and pocket, moving to the ball and then up, was 6B (which felt right), and that starting standing 2 moves lower on an edge and sloper was somewhere between 6C and 7A (I think 6Cish but I'm tall). I think this is the same start for Surplomb Gauche.

Re: Bleau's Art - agreed. I was quite taken aback, and for some reason the woman trying the problem couldn't seem to understand why I was grumpy as a result.

Ok, the lower of the two starts was what I was referring to, it felt 6C at the hardest but I'm then again I'm tall as well.

[Schnell]

I considered not bothering this weekend due to injury gloominess but here goes..
STG: rehab fingers and do some fitness training for a possible sport climbing trip in June

M. decent indoor session, trying to do non-crimpy climbing and campussing on slopers but managed to increase the tenderness in the finger despite my best efforts so scored high on finger-tweakiness index.  shoulder stability training in eve.
T. enduro training session at the wall on the circuit board, feeling pretty good again, no finger tweaks. more shoulder rehab
W.
T. more indoors, scoring high on the tweakiness index again.
F.  visit to physio who confirmed by diagnosis of partial a2 rupture and recommended that I continue climbing as long as it's not causing pain/increased tenderness at the injury site. in good news my shoulder stability is no longer as dreadful as before so that shouldn't be causing my litany of finger injuries. rather she observed my particularly 'long fingers' are probably the root of the problem. I'll call mr. caldwell for advice on dealing with that.
S. yet more indoors amid floods of rain, I was keen to get out and do some easy routes so it was frustrating.

not a great week mainly due to my silliness in continuing to climb in ways that aren't helping the finger, even if they're not making it worse. I've decided to only fingerboard, campus and do fitness training for the next while because I can more tightly control grip types etc and, in my experience, I'm much less likely to tweak anything.

[nai]

Re: Bleau's Art - agreed. I was quite taken aback, and for some reason the woman trying the problem couldn't seem to understand why I was grumpy as a result.

Experienced similar at 95.2 recently, German girl working a problem her fella had just done. It was just about in the shade and I was keen to get on it before the sun got on it so asked if I could join in. Seemed his English was better so he agreed and explained I wanted to try it to at which point her face dropped and as soon as I put my shoes on she took hers off. Had a couple of goes but realising I wasn't welcome I wished her luck and left her to it to try something else. I returned just as she was leaving at which point she was very friendly despite having not been successful, her English had improved a lot too and she gave me some beta and wished me luck.  Change from a grumpy frau to a very pleasant girl, kind of odd, obviously feeling some sort of pressure or focus that was broken by the presence of somebody else.

[the_dom]

Re: Bleau's Art - agreed. I was quite taken aback, and for some reason the woman trying the problem couldn't seem to understand why I was grumpy as a result.

Experienced similar at 95.2 recently, German girl working a problem her fella had just done. It was just about in the shade and I was keen to get on it before the sun got on it so asked if I could join in. Seemed his English was better so he agreed and explained I wanted to try it to at which point her face dropped and as soon as I put my shoes on she took hers off. Had a couple of goes but realising I wasn't welcome I wished her luck and left her to it to try something else. I returned just as she was leaving at which point she was very friendly despite having not been successful, her English had improved a lot too and she gave me some beta and wished me luck.  Change from a grumpy frau to a very pleasant girl, kind of odd, obviously feeling some sort of pressure or focus that was broken by the presence of somebody else.

It's strange - Font is the only place I've ever experienced this. There's definitely no culture of it at, say, Rocklands or in the Peak.

[nik at work]

And I'm late again...

Before we start, what's with all this problem hogging in Font? I remember a few years back having to be quite forceful to get a go on Barre Fixe whilst it was unsuccessfully full day sieged by a unwelcoming group of Spanish cool guys. Luckily I only needed one go... 

Anyway...
STG - Gotham extension, and post more promptly on power club.
MTG - 8c (get on MIF start of June if it's dry?, Mini Sukarra, Margalef, Nov - see you there Kelvin )
LTG - 9a
BHAG - Bruderliebe

M - Bolting, almost fully bolted now. Then both me and Doug have a play on his left over project from last year. Dougs first go is shocking, then I flash it on top rope to the last move, then Doug top ropes it cleanly. He thought it was going to be 7c+ last year but given the time it's taken current thinking puts it at 8a. Which probably feels about right to me.
T - BM session
W - nothing
T - bike ride
F - Finish bolting, yay!! Grim weather though so no climbing.
S - Have a retro flash attempt at Gotham (8a), completely forget the sequence but feel stronger through the steepness, come off on the technical balancy moves at the top through ineptitude rather than pumpedness. Then have a quick look at the continuation through the roof, has a couple of wet holds but manage the moves. Doug has another redpoint at his project and falls grabbing the chains, this route is putting up a serious fight!
S - Nothing

Good week, finishing the bolting was relieving. It's really hard work, and a long walk in lugging the drill etc. Kind of makes you realise just how much effort has gone in to bolting whole crags/areas and how easy it is in the UK/Spain to just get on another route. Mind you it's all very life affirming and satisfying new routing, even if it is largely fuckign around on ropes rather than actually climbing.