[shark]

S. Tor. Mecca second sesh. Good connies, much crisper. Warmed up and clips in. 2nd go up, felt great - light as a feather and powerful. Did the moves from starting block to the pocket by undercut. Third go up, felt back muscles stiffen as soon as I tried moves from starting block to pocket. Clipsticked up in pain and stripped. Fuck. Hoping no worse than similar to last spring (facet join sprain) and a few days is enough. Well gutted as was feeling strong and pleased to be doing the moves, felt like I had in me a link from block to undercuts.

Chiro booked for tonight.

Amazed it was good conditions. Seemed minging in Sheffield. Good luck with sorting your back

[dave]

TBH is wasn't amazing nick lower down, although the occasional bit of breeze helped. I think routes were benefitting from being up in the air a bit. Bouldering right of Little Extra was all gopping, back of bens roof gopping, some breaks on other stuff damp etc.

[petejh]

Was that you bouldering on pinches wall next to me belaying/wincing every time I moved suddenly?

[Nibile]

Mon - PE: 2'15, 2'25", 2'. In between 30" goes. Best session so far. Dumbbell complex x2, various weighted carries. Strong.
Tue - rest. Managed to fuck up back again.
Wed - combo pull ups/lateral raises 10x6.
Thu - combo pull ups/press/bicep curls 10x10.
Fri - played basket. Sucked.
Sat - PE: 3'10" WOW! 2'30". Dumbbell complex, snatch pulls, dumbbell complex. Great progress on the system, promising! 23 degrees and 70% humidity, not promising.
Sun - cleans 5x10; muscle snatches 5x10; snatch pulls 10,10,5. Maybe my traps will hurt tomorrow.

Lower back seems to be doing good. Must take care of it. Good overall form, good progress on the PE. Must try the high and medium intensity session.

[filz]

STG: Loose Kgs added recently. More AnCap and AeroCap training
MTG: tick some routes (by end of summer)

Bad week for me. Lately I've been slightly bugged by a contracture at my left arm and this week it got much worse.

M: Assisted one-harm pullups (hence the worsening of the contracture). fb max hangs
T: Tried to warm up for a board session, but left arm was not ok, couldn't pull hard, so I did some hangs on small holds.
W: rest
T: 4x15 incline push ups and 1x1' hand stand to test the arm. Not feeling bad, but...
F: fb repeaters. Then some massage to my arm after which I could barely put it above my head 
S-S: NSAIDs and rest

Today I'm much better but I'll take a few more days of rest.

[Nibile]

PE personal best! Chuffed!

[tomtom]

Good weeks Dom and Sharkio... and hello new poster (sorry - forgotten your username it was on the last page...)

M: BM - felt good. I ENJOYED IT. WFT - fingerboard training - enjoyable. Beat myself with birch twigs until I bled. Staunched wounds and repeat.

T: Minor injuries in the morning to get my wound (not from the birch twigs) dressed. Work - blah..

W: More BM. Enjoyable again. MUST. NOT. GET. ADDICTED. TO. FINGERBOARDING.

Th: Went to the Depot. It was horrible. Sweaty, claggy. But the first time I'd been climbing in 2-3 weeks - since my stitches ripped.. Tentative movement on my back but it held up OK. Managed to spin my session out to an hour, but it was pretty gruesome.. still I can still climb - did a couple of V5's and felt OK on some of the purples (but couldnt be arsed..)

Fr: Rest.

Sa: Minor injuries in the morning. They told me I was nearly healed - no need to return just gave me some dressings for my back to self apply. That arvo MrsTT had 10 friends round.. I cleared off to go to the wall.. went to Depot - and I knew the youth bouldering thing was on, but figured the circuits area (that is open to the outside when they open some big doors) would be OK. Pulled up - it was rammed. Drove on (didnt even bother getting out). Went to a friends and drank beer, ate pizza, drank wine and watched football.

Su: No hangover. Sticky wet day, no chance of going outside and didnt fancy plastic. Faffed around at home. Got on the BM. NO motivation. I. HATE. FINGERBOARDING. Kind of did random sets whilst watching the football, and much to my surprise managed a full set of 3 x 6 on the small 10mm edges.. which I've never done before. Its probably a #punter level exercise but made me feel vaguely good about myself.

So, my back is nearly functional again.. fingers are still strong enough.. time to get back on it. The sad thing is I now have pathetic soft skin again - layers peeling off at the wall even... A short lived comeback starts here or maybe mid week...

Su:

[duncan]

STG - re-establish good shoulder rehab. habits. Try an E5.
MTG (September): various LH&F -Excalibur, Wendenstock; Rabada-Navarro, Naranjo de Bulnes; Scosea-cliff E5.
LTG: Font 7a. Sport 7b+. Something long, hard and free (and ideally in condition in August).

Missed 3 weeks due to shoulder tweak. Cancelled two trips to Font, the second more due to the weather.

S - First day at Ceuse with csl and Sean Brexit. Did two slabby 5s at FFME. Shoulder sore, lots of ice.
M - Easy stuff at Demilune. More ice.
T - Rest (birth)day. Took delivery of Parois de Legend from M. Petit himself. He'd like to do a new version, since the Saharan destinations are sadly unrecommendable for the foreseeable future. He's keen to see it in English, how about it Vertebrate?
W - Un pont sur l'infini and Demi lune. Routes to 6a+
T - Berlin. Routes including Super Mario (6b+), really enjoyed sticking to the shallow pockets in the cool evening temps. Shoulder much better.
F - Rest day
S - Warmed up at the Grand Face. Flashed Silmarils which is brilliant and felt steady for a Ceuse 6c.
S - Early start to belay csl on his project, dispatched in inspiring fashion. Warmed up at Thorgal, struggled on a new 5b but the 6b went a bit more easily.  Drank tea and waited til Berlin went into the shade and got on Zagreb. Arms felt heavy but tried hard and got the onsight. Great end to an excellent week.

Good to be back in harness after a slightly dispiriting four weeks off. Great trip. Not sure why I've not been to Ceuse for 10 years. Last trip coincided with start of a fallow spell, certainly won't leave it that long in future. It's so me.

Plan: continue rehab. finger and shoulder. Build capacity for long days this summer. Get on some Ceusesque trad. whilst I'm fit and feeling confident.

[Duma]

Nice work on privilege csl!

[shark]

Was that you bouldering on pinches wall next to me belaying/wincing every time I moved suddenly?

Did he ask to see your passport?

[webbo]

Mon. Nothing
Tue. Board lapping a couple of problems with different foot holds.
Wed. Bike interval.
Thu. Nothing birthday meal and wine.
Fri.  Board tired 2 sets of warm up problems the repeaters 6 secs on 4 off 4 sets with 25 lbs added. Turbo 1 hour. Pick grandson up from nursery and then push him round on his bike for an hour.
Sat. Nothing family stuff.
Sun. Bike 71.56 miles 3 hrs 59 mins.

[dave]

Was that you bouldering on pinches wall next to me belaying/wincing every time I moved suddenly?

Quite possibly. Can't say I noticed any wincing, but generally I tend to automatically just block out folk doing routes between sardine and pinches wall anyway, like when Neo walks through the Matrix.

[petejh]

Quite right, focus on the crucial numbers.


Minor torn muscle fibers in lower back, no sprain of the facet joint (minor yyfy). Maybe/hopefully back to mecca next weekend but miss out the steepest start moves until more fully healed. If anyone's' looking for a good chiro in the Chester area I recommend John at Chiropractic Clinic Chester, seemed very clued up on sporting/climbing specific demands.

[ashtond6]

ashtond6, bad luck with the finger.

Seriously though, gentle rehab working up to using small holds again sounds like its in order, 2 weeks and then gnarly peak lime at the top end of your grade range isn't taking it easy. If your finger is hurting when in controlled conditions (less than bodyweight on a fingerboard for example) you shouldn't be expecting to crimp on peak lime. More of what you did on Thursday and less of what you did Sunday is probably in order.

Thanks mate, and good week for you! Congrats
Think I've learnt my lesson, I don't think it's really bad but will be if I keep blowing it! (2nd time in 15 days)

[tk421a]

STG: Mountain routes in Scotland! :O
MTG: 7C/8a
LTG: 8A/8b + some long, hard, free routes

M: -
Tu: - (went to see the new Harry Potter play, part 1)
W: Vauxwall, tried the new compset, did the V7 in a few goes (soft!) failed at some V5s... (sandbag!)
Th: HP part 2
F: Flew to Scotland
S: Old Man of Stoer, great route, got a dunking up to my waist from the tyrolean not being tensioned enough... Hopped on an E4 6a crack - got shut down completely, I need to do more routes... Mixture of not committing to moves over gear and not finding cracks indoors.
Su: Up at 2.30am to start an attempt of the Cuillin Ridge. Some wet rock and my idiotic choice of Salomon trainers (terrible on wet rock, not great on dry rock) meant we bailed after the In Pinn. Still one of the best days out I've had in the mountains.

Up doing more mountain routes this week, Castle Ridge / Ledge route planned for tomorrow.

Conners: Welcome!
Ashton: Get Dave Mac's Injuries book, it's fantastic, helps to diagnose what's going on with fingers. It's not just pulleys that can go wrong, and different injuries have different treatments.

[TobyD]

M Foundry board, great fun session
T 45 minute or so run in the peak
W Kilnsey, did Exit to Eden first redpoint a great route and nice to get on something new. Flashed the new 7a+ left of Comedy, not a great route but some fun ape-ing about
T 2tier upper - tried vision of loveliness, slightly too warm on the lower wall but almost managed floor to the rest, the crux seems really hard though and the route seems to be worth 8a easily to me unless i'm really missing something
F 30 minute road run
S Kilnsey with GvG, three redpoints on 50 for 5 - ashes link; awful humid conditions but a really enjoyable day out at the crag
S Kilnsey again, slightly better conditions, two working goes on soft option, all but one of the moves done. Then 2 redpoints on 50for5 ashes but absolutely boxed by then.

[Stabbsy]

I have. I had a similar experience of putting a pad under it on a couple of occasions and making next to no progress, then did it a couple of years ago. I thought it was tough for the grade (got V5 in the old YGB Rockfax). No idea what grade it is, but I remember it coming together really quickly when I put some effort in. I'd have to be stood in front of it to provide any useful beta though - sorry!

Does this help?



Started from sit with RH where the LF is. I was failing trying to move from the above position to get my left hand on the seam directly above the RH. It was sweltering so it could have easily been that.

I think I started LH where LF is and RH further right on same break. Left heel on and roll into LH pinch, then pop with RH to get into similar position as photo. Can't remember if I went again with RH and got top with LH or did what you were trying. I can remember that the RH hold had minimal texture, so was really conditions dependant. I also remember a small RF hold that was useful on the lip of the roof, but don't know whether I used it to bump left heel along the break or for something else. I'll maybe go back and try it one evening, so if you see someone sat underneath getting pissed off by repeated failure, it's probably me.

There's a more direct version as well (grade harder maybe?), which I think goes up the poor flake, but never managed that one.

[36chambers]

I think I started LH where LF is and RH further right on same break. Left heel on and roll into LH pinch, then pop with RH to get into similar position as photo. Can't remember if I went again with RH and got top with LH or did what you were trying. I can remember that the RH hold had minimal texture, so was really conditions dependant. I also remember a small RF hold that was useful on the lip of the roof, but don't know whether I used it to bump left heel along the break or for something else. I'll maybe go back and try it one evening, so if you see someone sat underneath getting pissed off by repeated failure, it's probably me.

There's a more direct version as well (grade harder maybe?), which I think goes up the poor flake, but never managed that one.

cheers  . Good to know I was on the right track. I'm so use to lapping the other 7a's at the cliff that I was surprised that this one had a move I couldn't even do in isolation (even with bad conditions)

According to the Cameron Duff guide book, the direct version is easier at V5 (I don't know whether it uses the flake however). There's a V8 variant where you continue traversing the lip rightwards to finish as for Streaky's, which looks pretty good.

It's always nice to find new moves at the cliff.

[andy_e]

I always thought the 7A version finished at Streaky's, it's pretty much over once you get the lip of Matt's Roof anyway isn't it? I also struggled with this one, got a spanking and haven't been back on it since!

[36chambers]

I always thought the 7A version finished at Streaky's, it's pretty much over once you get the lip of Matt's Roof anyway isn't it? I also struggled with this one, got a spanking and haven't been back on it since!

I envisioned the 7B version to skip the seam I talked about (above RH in picture) and instead match LH to RH and then cross LH over to another bad sloper further right, before finally finding solace with the RH on the juggy lip. 

Although the bad sloper may not actually exist, I can't remember.

[SA Chris]

For a bad sloper, the line between existence and non-existence is always a fine one..

[mr chaz]

ltg 8A 8b

pretty rubbish week in which i climbed once and failed twice due to a) flooding and b) forgetting all of my shit. 

Tuesday. One arm hangs. Feeling a little heavy.

[csl]

Thanks mate, and good week for you! Congrats

Thanks! Although yesterday i managed to tweak a pulley as well so now literally feel your pain!

[nik at work]

Goals - get ticking some trad routes when the chasms re-opens at the end of the month, and tick some sport before that.

Struggling to remember exactly what I did this week as there was a lot going on but here goes...
M - Went to traverse wall, it was about 2,000,000 degrees, gave up quickly. Went to see an excellent local acoustic band in the evening.
T - Fit a slide that I'd built for the local childrens hospice, digging holes and mixing concrete.
W - I think I went to Bradda Sport with Doug, We each had a play on his project that he thinks is about 8b+, managed all the moves bar one. Cool route but epic effort to get onto it, big walk in, stint of coasteering, climb a 6b+ then make a tensioned descending traverse to a bolt, then lower down the (steep) line to a hanging start 50 feet above the sea... All good fun.
T - Possibly traverse wall? Not sure...
F - Senior race day, at the paddocks all day.
S - Nothing.
S - Bat cave, but was totally condensed out, didn't do any climbing. So went to traverse wall which was in reasonable condition. Doug showed me his 8a eliminate, managed to do it 4 times in the (short) session.

Good week, mostly dominated by the TT and associated bike silliness (which was brilliant obvs) but also some decent climbing racked up. Was pleased with the performance on Sunday, only a training traverse but still a decent work out.