[tomtom]

M: Griffs - arrived as dark clouds beckoned... started raining after about 30 min but managed an hour before the general drips on/around mats got annoying and I headed off into work. Nothing. Nothing of significance was achieved... Developing sniffle..

We: Sniffle was a cold. Anston. Apprentice wall. Out with Nai and Dolly for Dolly’s first rock outing since freezing his shoulder a few months back. Good crack - nice climbing. It is a great bit of rock apprentice wall - crimps, flakes, pockets. Made a nice change from the crimp factory of Griffs... Last time I’d been there I had been shut down by the first move on Apprentice prow... I felt much stronger this time (a summer on lime perhaps?) and it felt on. Managed it 5th or 6th attempt - with a quite funny rodeo style move as I latched the first pocket (think how a rodeo riders spare hand flies back wards to counter balance - well in my head that’s what it looked like anyway). Then off to the wall to the right - tried Whizz kid(?) which felt painful and we had some progress on Tagashi (?) which was great but high - and the top moves were easily the Crux and high. Went back to apprentice wall and Nai got the cookie or the rookie (the one starting from apprentice wall) and we all flailed around trying others...

Th: > Fri Full on cold/childcare situations

Sa: Depot. Persuaded MrsTT to come along and have a look along with the toddler. Good 90 min session despite feeling like shit with the cold - met a couple of folk there I’d not seen for a while (hello!) and probably looked like I’d been working really hard when it was actually cold sweats :/ Did a load of blacks and dispatched a purple in fairly good time...

Su: Sat in B&Q car park writing this whilst the baby sleeps in the back - having just holed one of the cars tyres on a kerb :D

[shark]

11.1-2 average 155.7lbs up 0.5lbs

M.AM Tor. Arrived to find climbers dossing in Bens Roof and having a breakfast barbeque. Words were exchanged. Jerome arrived then Mimi. Still and a bit humid then rained and temp dropped but got greasy. Disappointing connies. Usual drill. Warm up. Worked on improving karate kick move then three goes from start only getting thru to kneebar once.
Eve. Home board. 3 goes doing oak replica moves back to back - not clean but not far off either

T.

W. PM Had planned to have two rest days but it was Ben's birthday and the tradition is to go grit bouldering. Warm. Went to Curbar. Ben did Gorilla Warfare which had thwarted him in the past. I got close on Early Doors but trashed my skin. So much for saving myself for Bens Roof tomorrow

T. AM Tor Met Andy Cave there Felt fat and a bit hungover from big meal the evening before. Also a bit sniffly and worn tips from Curbar. Taped up the worst one. Cooler weather but it was still, so not mint. Surprised myself with three good burns on Bens. Go 1 from start to falling off karate kick. Go 2 failed to get to first kneebar as only got back3 in pocket. Go 3 did karate kick and connected with niche but skidded off Then led Tin Of with scarcely any pump which was a good indicator of fitness.

F. AM Chilly and drizzly. Mmmmm. Quick traverse at Rubicon then met pr0no Mark and walked in to Cornice. Warmed on Spiders from Mars. Put draws in RW. First redpoint held the undercut pocket but just with tips and so couldn’t pinch it and came off. Second redpoint fell off going for pocket. Reworked the move and found that using a higher edge for my left foot makes it a slightly more static rock up. Wish I’d found that out before. Third go fell off first move on roof. Short rest then led to top with a further short rest at the rail.

S. AM Noon. What was meant to be a warmup on the fingerboard before going on the board turned into an epic fingerboard session. Not done any regular finger boarding since jan and struggled to begin with to even complete the warmup hangs  . Put my game face on and persisted in waking my dormant fingers up and over the next few hours! eked our some half decent scores. At end tried 145kg deadlift and got it off floor but my back went out of shape so dropped it. Then some DB finger rolls to finish

S.

Yet another week of lots of climbing without getting anything done. Going on varied hard projects might be a good training strategy but it would be nice to actually get some ticks at some point. More of the same this week. Malham still looking warmish so staying Peakside. Booked in for the Tor tomorrow morning and will jump back on Anger Management to see how that feels after a few months off and then another go at Roof Warrior on Weds when hopefully the foot beta tweak will see me through.

[nai]

M Repeaters, strong first few sets then faded

T - tried to warm up for AnCap but couldn't
2x10 mins LI AeroCap

W Anston with tomtom & Dolly.  Relief to be out again after school holidays, decent bit of rock to climb on and good bantz.
Did the Cookie, couldn't suss the Rookie.

Th felt terrible, cheers Tom   

We: Sniffle was a cold. Out with Nai and Dolly

F still not great but Anston with Dolly. Sussed the method for the Rookie but too jittery to do it. 

S Bit better, managed some campus board AnCap

S rest

[Sasquatch]

Keeping on - Not much of a "training" week, but a hell of a week otherwise.

M- Massive day, and one of my best ever. Short version WU - v0,v2,2,v4,v6,then v12, v10FA, v10, v10, v10FA. 

Long Version

NSFW  :

Headed out in the morning with two friends up to a project that we had been working on.  Warmed up a bit quickly and then got on it.  Early goes for me felt promising due to conditions, but my big muscle recruitment just wasn't there for the opening moves.  My friend Hunter managed to snag the FA -"Steadfast v12"(https://www.instagram.com/p/BnT58uentZk/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheetafter about 5-7 goes.  I followed up with a send shortly after, although truly by the skin of my teeth. 

Then we headed over to another tall wall with a couple of v5's, a v9, and a project.  We all did a run through on the v5, and then we got to work on the project.  This one is all thin crimping, so very different from the first one.  On an early go, I broke a hold and took a nice fall.  thankfully the pads were placed perfectly...  After a bit of work, i found a very techy sequence using a couple of barely there holds as intermediates and was able to put down another new hard FA - The Almighty Smackdown-v10ish. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnaDSQVlsuQ/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet.

Next on the list was to check out an arete project that another friend had been working for 4-5 days.  We found lank beta that brought it within reach, and Hunter snagged his second FA of the day with P.F.D v10ish, which I was also able to send a couple of goes later. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnYsCF_nU5N/?taken-by=sasquatch.ak

At this point I was debating doing some cleaning on new lines, or calling it a day, or ???  The guys I had come out with were ll heading out, but another crew of guys had just shown up so I joined them.  We headed up to another project.  One of them snagged the FA(Will Sucks - v10) , and I was able to follow up just after. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZ7IgrnE7C/?taken-by=sasquatch.ak

Lastly a couple of us headed back to another line my friend David had cleaned and prepped and he had told me to get on.  After a bit of time, we cleaned a couple more holds, and figured out the moves, and I was able to put down the last one of the day with an FA of Sexual Hypertension -v10...

T - 90 min Mtn bike -easy pace
W - Red eye in AM to Montana for work, maybe 2hrs of sleep?  Work all day, then maybe a 45min easy run.
T - All day spent sitting - 3hr drive, 3 hr presentation, 2 hr drive, then 5hours flying back to Anchorage
F - Short night seep - maybe 5hrs.  Really tired, but did a mooonboard session anyway. Targeting old 7C and 7C+projects that had shut me down hard.  Took a long time to warm up, but eventually get into it.  Did 4x7C, and 2 x 8A.  Realized that almost all of the Benchmarks I ave left require alot of 1-arm strength, which I don't have... I know what my winter training focus will be  
S - 90min mtn bike in evening, spent most of the day building a new bed-upgrading from a queen to a king
S - Short MB session, just aiming to keep the fingers recruited. 

Looking like the weather here is going to hold for the week, and I have a partner for wed to get back on the route project.  Hopefully, I can suss out the upper sequence and finish bolting.  If the upper is solid and high percentage, then I think the whole thing could go with a bit of work - the lower is basically 30 feet of steep overhanging v5, clip, v10, clip, v6, clip and rest. The upper section is 30 feet of hard slab climbing. 

[tomtom]

That’s quite a week Sasq!

Sorry Nai (sniff)

[cheque]

Waddage Sasquatch.

Th felt terrible, cheers Tom   

We: Sniffle was a cold. Out with Nai and Dolly

I imagine there are a few Saturday Depot attendees with words of thanks for “Patient zero” TomTom too.

Anyway, rehab diaries week 3.

Current daily home excercises are 3x10 “sit-stands” (sit on something, stand up statically, lower the seat or move bad leg back a bit if the last three of the third set aren’t desperate) and sitting on a swiss ball with one heel for balance watching TV and juggling a ball about to distract my mind from it (to aid proprioception, not ‘cos it’s boring)- 10 minutes on bad leg, 5 on good.

STG- leading routes and carrying normal loads to the crag by end of next September.

M- Rest. Tired from weekend still!

T- Rest.

W- Rest. Would have gone to the gym but BMC meet intervened. Cool to go after not being in shape for the last two.

T- Gym, which has reopened after refurb. The only change that effects me is that the TVs that showed music videos are gone  . 30 minutes on bike, plus balancing on “bosu ball”- way better at this than before.

F- Signed off by the hand consultant in the day won’t be having an operation to remove the broken bone from my hand as it’s adapted really well to working without it with virtually zero pain. As I climb more I’ll learn how much this restricts my climbing but it’s fine so far.

Eve Foundry. Busy for a Friday. Easiest autobelay routes occupied so warmed up on the pink 5 that I had to redpoint on the first visit of my comeback 2 weeks ago. Did it twice in a row (although you obviously get a rest on the way down!) then again after a brief rest. Buoyed by that tried the 5+ that was beyond me last week- did this first go then twice again with reasonable rests in between.  Tried the two autobelay 6a+s in the main hall then, after chatting to a group of older toproping bumblies (this is my peer group at the moment) got a belay on a 6a and another 6a+. Did the 6a but probably cheated by using volumes and features that aren’t in then absolutely flailed on the harder one before cooling off on 4s. Great fun and really felt like I was climbing again. All this stuff looks elementary to me from the floor but takes a big effort once I’m up there. I found this a bit demoralising on my last few visits but really enjoyed it this week.

Sa- visiting my sister in Oxfordshire. Had a bit of hand soreness post-climbing. She has three kids 4-9 and a six month old dog, so quite an active day! Could not do the monkey bars in the park- made my nephew’s day that he is now stronger than me. Rode a little scooter thing and did a kind of hobbly jog trying to keep up with the dog- first time I’ve done anything this energetic since my fall.

Su- “Race support” for my GF’s half marathon in Northampton. A couple of miles walking plus a good bit of standing around. Realised that I can do this kind of elementary stuff for a lot longer before my back starts hurting than I could before.

I thought I wouldn’t have made much progress this week as the gym’s been closed but I’ve in fact made quite a lot it turns out! Leg strength seems to have reached a point where climbing is fun again- very keen to try this out with a bit of that “outdoor climbing” this coming weekend.

[tomtom]

:D the child was patient Zero - so made sure he dribbled on and many holds as possible

[duncan]

cheque: that sounds like as good progress as you could ever expect. First day back on real rock coming soon! 

M - Shoulder exercises: side planks, horizontal rows, reverse flys, high angle rotator cuff work, stretches.
T - Shoulder exercises. 
W - Fingerboard session: sort-of max. hangs.
T - Shoulder stretches. Knee exercises: mini-squats, step-ups.
F - Shoulder exercises, knee exercises.
S - Brief fingerboard session. Short cycle - felt good.
S - Local street party: middle-aged, middle class, affluent north London pretending to be bohemian. These Guardian editor and ex-Labour leader types can pull strings and organise a good do. Inadvertently shuffled 10k steps, nearly sucked into kids football kickabout, knee mostly tolerated all this [a bit sore this morning] so must be improving.

Knee is settling: a little cycling is good for it, football is lethal. Fortunately offspring regards ball-sports with disdain verging on contempt. Shoulder is pretty good: still a little limited in flexibility but this is improving, pain has returned to usual background levels. Refreshed the shoulder maintenance programme, enjoying this, and aim to be more consistent with it over the winter. Fingerboarding is being tolerated well, fingers could manage a little more load but just increasing reps. for now for the sake of the shoulder.

Plan: continue with above, try some gentle indoor climbing next weekend, avoid drop-knees for some weeks and football forever.

[spidermonkey09]

Nice one Cheque. Sounds like you're building up nicely. Enjoy getting outside next weekend!

M - rest.

T - Depot. Good session on the 30 doing 4x4's on undercut problems and round of FOC; 1 minute on, 30 secs off x8. Idea was to try and build power endurance for Supercool crux sequence.

W - rest.

T - Almscliff after work for an hour or so; soloed the big three HVS' which I've wanted to do for a while. Great Western was the missing piece and felt amazing. Beautiful afternoon. Went to the Depot after and basically repeated Tuesday's session.

F - rest. Nervous, compulsive checking of the weather forecast.

S - dragged Tom out to belay in horrendous weather. Supercool was remarkably dry when we arrived despite the pissing rain but attempting to pull on revealed the rock to be incredibly greasy; the entire crag was condensed. After falling off on the 6b climbing at the start decided to sack it and went to the cafe to check the forecast and buy Tom some lunch!

Went back in a few hours when it cleared up to find mint conditions. First redpoint was a new high point, second ended prematurely and resulted in a good old fashioned shout, thrown shoes, the works. After cooling off I went back up and did 4x4's on the crux sequence to work off the frustration. Got it significantly slicker and realised I could do the moves when knackered as long as I moved quickly and efficiently.

S - met Fran at Gordale. Frustration ensued as it rained sideways onto the crag and everything got wet. After hanging around a bit we bailed to the pub and had a cup of tea while the weather cleared. Returned to find bluebird skies and a howling gale which made chalking up impossible. Felt significantly more relaxed on the first redpoint and moved quickly through the crux feeling strong on it, to my total disbelief. Rested for an age before tackling the techy headwall where I caught the most droppable move with two fingers. Incredibly nervous on the finishing section but held it together and finished the job. Amazing feeling sitting in the cave after spending all summer on it on and off. YYFY. Day finished with rescuing a family of four and two dogs from the waterfall downclimb!

Overriding feeling is one of relief and immense satisfaction. It was getting to be quite mentally taxing! Psyched for some more chilled climbing leading into bouldering season!

[Murph]

What a Monday Sasquatch- is that a normal sort of day out?

Good to hear you’re mending Cheque. And Duncan.

M-
T-rubicon with my mrs just pottering. Also griffs for a further potter where I saw measles looking very strong on Ovine low left. Nearly got ovine myself with measles encouragement but it wasn’t to be.
W-5k jog in evening
T-evening hour at griffs to quickly tick ovine and then get working on Low Left, Lovine & Griffs Traverse for a clutch of 7Cs. Alas, that was the plan. The reality was getting dumped on my arse from high up on Ovine three times and coming away with whiplash.
F-
S-
S-family bouldering session at Rubicon. My mrs almost got what we came for but not quite. Oh well it’s a nice place to hang out.

Unimpressive week, probably need to do some actual training. Not done any kettlebells, core, fingerboard, pull ups, pinkles or running for a while and it’s showing in the lack of ticks. An idea for this week maybe...

[Teaboy]

Good effort Spidermonkey, especially second day on the route

[measles23]

The reality was getting dumped on my arse from high up on Ovine three times and coming away with whiplash.

You might want to reconsider listening to shit beta from someone who hadn’t realised the undercut had largely crumbled since 2010!

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - boxing bag. Combinations, then 1'/1' x6.
Tue - rest.
Wed - system, dynamic (2-6, downclimb, x4) x6, and lock offs. Dumbbell complex.
Thu - weights, tired.
Fri - rest.
Sat - power cleans 80%, 5x5. Heavy! Press, pull ups.
Sun - light boxing bag.

[Wood FT]

Nice one Spidermonkey, been waiting for that post 

[moose]

Nice one Spidermonkey, been waiting for that post 

+1....

I've had a few goes on Supercool and never found a comfortable sequence for any part of it... even the supposedly easy(er) lower sections (always felt like I was making life hard for myself on every move). Anyone who manages to refine a workable way up, and is hard enough to skip that hideous crux clip (the one time I missed it, I took an inverted whipper and got horrible rope burn), has earned an autumn of cakes and gin!

[spidermonkey09]

Nice one Spidermonkey, been waiting for that post 

Cheers! Keep idly thinking at work 'I hope Gordale is still dry' and then remembering that I don't particularly care anymore!

Moose - I think its just familiarity with the lower section that does the job in the end, although I could never climb it on autopilot. Yet to see anyone use the same sequence on any part of the route as there are so many holds! There was only one move around the clip where I could get my leg caught I found, but it did happen a few times.A soft catch helped to mitigate the rope burn. Get back on it, it wouldn't take you long I don't think.

Had a case of French beer under my bed for few months to come out when I did it. Its nearly gone now!

[cheque]

Effort Spidermonkey.

Cheers for the encouragement everyone- doing Power Club is proving to be really cool. I think I haven't done much then I look at it all written down and realise it's actually been a good week. The sort of stuff I'm doing now was literally a fantasy for me a few months ago.

[Sasquatch]

What a Monday Sasquatch- is that a normal sort of day out?

Good to hear you’re mending Cheque. And Duncan.

Indeed - Glad to hear climbing again feels like climbing.  Its a terrible thing to lose that feeling, and wonderful when it comes back. 

Spidermonkey - Nice work! - sending projects always feels good.  I think one of my favorite things is deciding on the next one

Murph - It was not a normal day for me at all.  I generally have productive days when I get out, but that level of sending and that level of time is rare.  As is getting on that many projects that are cleaned and ready to go.  Currently, there are only two double digit problems in the area that I haven't done, and both are variations of ones that I put up, so they're not super motivating right now.  Everything I did that day was new on the day - all FA's by either myself or a friend I was with at the time.  Hence, I spend most days exploring, cleaning, working on landings, etc.  A such, I'm lucky to knock out a single hard line in a day, as often I'm knackered from building a landing and cleaning before I even get to play on the problem.  My current list of "projects" is over a hundred though, so there's no shortage of stuff to work on. 

[Murph]

Sasquatch- thanks for replying. Doubly psyched for you. Cool videos too. Good to hear you’ve not run out of things to do. It’s not like that time Alexander the Great ran out of worlds to conquer.

Spidermonkey- belated congrats on supercool. Hadn’t read before I posted mine.

Matt - nothing wrong with the beta just the execution. I nearly did it when you were there. It goes.