[tomtom]

Salutations erstwhile powerclubbers.
Right enough of that...

M: Shipley Glen with 3T. 3T had a great day - (I'll leave the details for his post) and I had a good time but (a) got pretty much nowhere on Red Baron - and ran out of skin/juice on another 7A+.

W: Anston. BetaBlocker psyche was high. Achievement was low. I got cross.

Thu > Fri Memorial Service near Oxted - long days of travel etc.. with wife and toddler. They stayed on in London, I had TWO nights of no baby

Sa: Up early - sketchy forecast (at the outset) so headed to BBG south. Met up with Dolly by the Rib. Never tried it - always wanted to. Conditions were not great - but had a good time, tried a few methods (including Dollys direct one which was too powerful for me) and worked on the snatch to the face crimp, which felt do-able before I got tired of the moves (physically) and moved on. Went to little rascal (never tried it before) and it felt hard. Moved on after losing some skin and went back to the prow in the quarry. By now every man, dog and university climbing club group seemed to be honing in on BBG South... anyway, had a weird first couple of go's on the prow where I felt really strong and did a couple of moves I'd not done before on it - then had core failure (I think) and gave up and went home. Had a day and a half pottering around the house, listening to football and doing little jobs - that I never get to do when the family is at home etc...

[Aussiegav]

M:
rest & stretch
T:
indoor session @Awesome Walls.
warm up (40sec effort:20 sec rest) of
jumping jacks / burpees / brazilian kicks / in & outs / flutter kicks / Mountain climbers / push ups
hang board half crimp protocol
routes:
5+, 5+, 6a+, 6a+, 6b+, 6b, 6a+.
stretch

W.
rest & stretch

Th:
bouldering @awesome walls
warm up (40sec effort:20 sec rest) of
jumping jacks / burpees / brazilian kicks / in & outs / flutter kicks / Mountain climbers / push ups
hang board half crimp protocol
6 problems from V0 to V3.
then 8 problems V2 to V4 with 2 min rest between. concentrate on perfect form and completion.

stretch

F: rest & Stretch

Sa:
Indoor @Awesome Walls (fingerboard and 3x4 routes)
Good session, the PDSA on #fingerboard warm up is working well.
Good session at Awesome Walls today, the PDSA on #fingerboard warm up is working well.
stretch afterwards.

warm up (40sec effort:20 sec rest) of
jumping jacks / burpees / brazilian kicks / in & outs / flutter kicks / Mountain climbers / push ups
hang board half crimp protocol
max strength protocol

I managed to do three reps with 2 finger hangs off the shallow 2 finger pocket (#12) on the #Beastmaker. The first two reps were on the deep 2 finger pocket (#8). pleased with this.

finished with 2 sets of 3x4 routes on auto belay.
route grades 5, 4+, 5+.

Su.
core session.
5 rds of 1min plank, 10 V sit ups, 10 arches, 10 leg raises, 10 crunches, 20 knee to elbows.

off to El Chorro on the 14th.
route suggestions around 6a to 6b are welcomed via PM.

[Murph]

Cheers TT

M-7k run, kbs, core
T-great hour or so session at a damp G with measles. Bovine went in a oner (again) and then a few goes on a wet ovine. Not sure but if it had been dry maybe it would have gone. It’s all about the moment anyway.
Later on I did something bad to my left shoulder with a 32kg kb. Oops.
W-6k run, stretches, core
T-5k run, tentative works session on the 6A/B circuit. Shoulder felt ok until suddenly it didn’t feel ok.
F-5k run.
S-9k run.
S-might have been able to get out but didn’t want to risk it and instead sorted out the garage so I can use my board and trx. It’s a useable space once again.

And that was it. That’s what a half term looks like. Seven days off work and managed an hour of contact time with a bit of wet rock and a bit of a shoulder tweak. 

Also finally got hold of John Kettles Rock Climbing Technique. It’s concise and to the point. Full of actionable drills and self diagnosis. Really quite good. In contrast I always found self-coached climber a bit impenetrable. Doesn’t take long to get through it but really need to take it to a wall and actually do the self assessment tests and then work deliberately on the drills. Easier said than done.

Weight 64.9kg from 67.5k a few weeks ago.

[duncan]

Also finally got hold of John Kettles Rock Climbing Technique. It’s concise and to the point. Full of actionable drills and self diagnosis. Really quite good. In contrast I always found self-coached climber a bit impenetrable. Doesn’t take long to get through it but really need to take it to a wall and actually do the self assessment tests and then work deliberately on the drills. Easier said than done.

Yes to all that. I need to work through it properly before I can draw any conclusions so I’m planning to do one drill every time I go to the wall. Movement is probably not my biggest weakness but I’m a bit 2D front-on at times and it’s not something I’ve tried addressing much. It will be interesting to see if I can increase my repertoire at all and to what extent this carries over to real-world stressful climbing.

STG: strength work (bouldering / fingerboard) 2-3 times a week. Manage aches and pains. Do a Kettle movement drill each time I go to the wall.
MTG: a proper 7b+ this year.
LTG: a classic Pembroke E5; 5.13 at 60

M - Siurana
T - Siurana (see 452)
W -
T - Vauxwall east. Bouldering to c.V2
F -
S - Vauxwall west. Bouldering to c.V2 including some non-slabs. Hip and knee strength work.
S - Remounted fingerboard and had a tryout to test the carpentry. Still a couple of degrees overhanging but seems solid and I can now hold the 13mm edges. Shoulder strength work.

Elbow, shoulders, hip and knee all creaky but felt like I was training nearly as much as rehabilitating this week.

Plan: shoulder, knee and hip strength/conditioning twice weekly. Gradually build up the bouldering, 2-3 per week.

[Will Hunt]

M -

T - Evening Depot. Warmed up then 30 board for a bit. Repeated the thing I did last time which felt easy. Did another easier problem. Tried some stuff that Ben showed me. Don't think I did any of them but I was psyched to come back and try them again. Went back out into the main room and was messing about on a Wood near the end when I felt something in my trapezius go. Damn.

W - Agony. Couldn't drive to work so worked from home. This is an old injury that I think has nothing to do with climbing and everything to do with posture. Basically, I tweak something in my neck/shoulder and then I have lots of pain and tension in my trap for a few days after.

T - Improving. Some friends were going to the Glen for a lamp session so I went along to heckle/spot/dispense the locally accredited beta. Put my shoes on and spent a long time warming up by repeating most of the problems in the Manson's Wall area (which were new to the people I was with). I love this circuit because most of them are knacky and when you've done them a million times before you can path them and make yourself look much better than you are. Did one which I hadn't done before called Omo (the wall left of Daz without using the arete) which requires using the worst crimp you're ever likely to find on a 6B. Took a few goes. Also did an eliminate I've not thought to do before going up the dead centre of Manson's/Phil's Wall. Basically you use the right hand holds of Manson's and the left hand holds of Phil's. Climbs like a mirror image of Manson's and not much harder.
They then moved to try Red Baron and I had another look at the Roof, which I haven't looked at since early 2017. Disturbingly, I did do the moves through the roof, but never really well enough to satisfactorily get established on the lip. The crux of the climb for me is switching body direction to have the right heel on the lip of the roof. I can do this without cutting loose, but then I don't get my heel far enough back on the lip to the good bit where it really needs to be. I can do it with a cut loose but this is loads harder and you really need to have your left hand arranged on the crimp very precisely to hold on. It's obviously more draining as well which is not really what you want when you're aiming to finish up a 7A+ power problem. Doing it with the cut loose means you generally get your heel into the correct position.
Horribly, this was all a relative resounding success which means I will need to have another session on it. Probably not too frequently as it really rags the skin in a few weird non-tip places.

Neck/shoulder was actually fine once I'd warmed up and, if anything, I think being mobile helped it.

F -

S - Wife was playing hockey in the afternoon so I managed a very brief sub-2 hour session at Earl. Wind was howling over the top but just swirling around the base of the crag so conditions were surprisingly decent. Warmed up on the multitude of easy bangers which Earl offers. I've never really thought about this before but Earl must be the most undervalued bouldering crag in Yorkshire? I'm not saying it's esoteric - plenty of people go. But my peers probably go once, maybe twice a year, and it doesn't seem to be on the radar at all of a lot of newer climbers. When you compare the quality of the climbs and the traffic against Almscliff or Caley, Earl seems disproportionately undertrafficed.
Anyway, did that Hammer Drop thing that Sutty added recently. The climbing is really very good, but the climb is spoiled by the dab potential. Some nice flowy moves out from the roof (someone should do a proper sit start) lead to a very big slap to the top - the crux is not dabbing on the block behind you. Had to remove the pad from the block for the send go. Well worth doing if you're there and you want to do another 7A - not really worth making the journey for. Moved onto The Flakes and was just getting into it and really enjoying the movement and working out the body positions when I took a flap of skin off my tip.

This is so frustrating. I knew my skin was thin (still, from Slipstones two weeks ago where a sharp mono put a hole in my index finger) and I'd purposely chosen the Flakes over Sloping Beauty as it's not really sharp. I don't know if the starting hold did it or the hold out left that I'd just slapped to. I'm going to have to be very careful with this as I've a weekend in Northumberland coming up in three weeks so can't afford any more skin fuckery.
Might start a separate thread about skin but I know it'll just be demolished by Chris and 2T making skin puns.

S - day out with the nipper. Took her to see the Haworth Brass Band. She absolutely loved it.

[tomtom]

Might start a separate thread about skin but I know it'll just be demolished by Chris and 2T making skin puns.

Too easy... fish in a barrel, side of a barn etc...

[cheque]

Rehab Diaries Week Eleven

STG- Leading HVS/ low 6s & carrying normal loads to crags by end Sept 2019.

M- Did some basic strength in the day- 3 sets of 5 pullups and 3 sets of 15 pushups. Surprised how easy the latter felt given I hadn't done any since my accident- I guess all the crutching I did contributed to that.

I then went back to Horseshoe Quarry for some hanging-on-a-rope mental training, determined to go to the top of the wall. Did it four times The first was hard and I had to talk to myself the whole way up & down. A helicopter flew overhead when I was near the top and I had full-on flashbacks, feeling faint, gibbering etc. Each time I was coming down I was telling myself that I'd done well and that was enough for one day but when I was back on the floor I took a minute with my harness still on then went for it again. By the last go it felt normal. I can't tell you how happy I am with this session. 

T- Rest.

W- Gym. Standard 30 minutes on the bike, increased the levels by 1 as usual to keep it desperate.

T- 3 sets of 6 pullups, 3 sets of 20 pushups. Walk in the evening.

F- Walk in the evening.

S- Walk around Lawrencefield area in the afternoon.

S- Foundry Autobelays AM. Did a 6a+ in the furnace surprisingly easily so just decided to "boulder on a rope" by working 6b+s that I wasn't going to get up. Had a great session and was making surprising progress on them. The combination of the strength- and fitness-recovery stuff I've been doing with the recent height-acclimatisation just seems to have put me back in a position where I can push myself in a meaningful way climbing-wise. For the first time since my accident I was falling off trying.

Went out testing my gimbal in the afternoon. This is the only time my back's properly hurt this week!

Great week altogether. Can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a climbing wall.

[Will Hunt]

Rehab Diaries Week Eleven

STG- Leading HVS/ low 6s & carrying normal loads to crags by end Sept 2019.

M- Did some basic strength in the day- 3 sets of 5 pullups and 3 sets of 15 pushups. Surprised how easy the latter felt given I hadn't done any since my accident- I guess all the crutching I did contributed to that.

I then went back to Horseshoe Quarry for some hanging-on-a-rope mental training, determined to go to the top of the wall. Did it four times The first was hard and I had to talk to myself the whole way up & down. A helicopter flew overhead when I was near the top and I had full-on flashbacks, feeling faint, gibbering etc. Each time I was coming down I was telling myself that I'd done well and that was enough for one day but when I was back on the floor I took a minute with my harness still on then went for it again. By the last go it felt normal. I can't tell you how happy I am with this session. 

T- Rest.

W- Gym. Standard 30 minutes on the bike, increased the levels by 1 as usual to keep it desperate.

T- 3 sets of 6 pullups, 3 sets of 20 pushups. Walk in the evening.

F- Walk in the evening.

S- Walk around Lawrencefield area in the afternoon.

S- Foundry Autobelays AM. Did a 6a+ in the furnace surprisingly easily so just decided to "boulder on a rope" by working 6b+s that I wasn't going to get up. Had a great session and was making surprising progress on them. The combination of the strength- and fitness-recovery stuff I've been doing with the recent height-acclimatisation just seems to have put me back in a position where I can push myself in a meaningful way climbing-wise. For the first time since my accident I was falling off trying.

Went out testing my gimbal in the afternoon. This is the only time my back's properly hurt this week!

Great week altogether. Can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a climbing wall.

The mental training sounds like a good idea, Mike and it sounds like you're making it a positive experience rather than repeatedly forcing yourself to endure negative experiences which I don't think would help. I'm sure you're aware of this but the way you describe feeling on seeing and hearing the helicopter suggests PTSD (caveat: I am not a mental health professional). It sounds like you're managing it remarkably well but if it gets worse or perhaps if it doesn't improve then there is help out there. I'm sure Lagers or Webbo could point you in the right direction if you felt the need.

[AMorris]

Been lurking this thread for some time so I thought it's about time for a post!

Recent trip up north to visit friends yielded a few good sessions on sandstone

S- A day in Thirlstane. Lovely and very impressive place with excellent, burly sandstone. Managed to drag my way up the amusingly named Jihad (7A) and Infidel (7B) before having a crack at Hardcore Superstar (7C). Unfortunately the tide seemed to race me to the finish line while working the moves and made the start unfeasible. I did consider downclimbing into the start above the sea to try it but thought better of it. While the tide blocked ascents of the problems closer to the shore I managed to spy a new line, which I climbed and named Welsh Marauder (~7A+). By the time I had enjoyed the beach and tried the easier problems etc the tide had gone back out again, allowing me to finish off Hardcore Superstar first try.

M- Back to Newcastle, and went for a climb in the new Valley wall. Great place with excellent panels. First time on a Beastmaker board and it revealed some hitherto unrealised weaknesses!

T- Rest. And pub crawl.

W- Valley again for some slab action, and skin ruining moonboarding.

T- Testing my topping out skills at Shaftoe. Nabbed ascents of some lovely lines on the font block, though I did not find the solution to Surprising Solution. Managed to get up Purely Belter (~7C/+ imo), which surely tested my lack of top out problem solving, which made it all the more satisfying. Also rolled over the top of Nebs Roof on the flash. First look at Bloodsport, which with one pad I did not fancy...

F- Rest. Back to Aberystwyth.

S- Training. Some promising ascents of my harder problems and progression on some projects.

All in all a great weeks climbing which has left me feeling refreshed and focused for the home straight of my PhD.

[tommytwotone]

Goal: New Font 7anything, anywhere


Having complained about this thread becoming "Griff's Club" looks like this week it's "Glen Club".


M: Shipley Glen with TT, ostensibly to revisit Millstone Grip / Rudolph, which I'd bottled while on my own / with only one pad earlier in the month. Got to the crux 3rd go, had a rest and a swig of coffee and then did it the go after that. Quite exciting as my left hand crimp slipped / adjusted as I was mid-throw to the jug - not a place you want to be dropping off from out of control!


Went down to Red Baron area to show TT the stuff down there and ended up jumping on Phil's Wall, which I'd never got on with on account of its rep for being pretty reachy. After some quality beta tweaks from TT found myself on top of it. Made up. As I'm a shortarse I'm taking the full 7a+ for it.


T: Nowt.
W: Nowt.
T: Nowt.
F: Big Depot evening. Warmup on boulders, then tried a bit of easy campusing. Finished off the V5 that had been annoying me last time, only to find that the end moves (and crux) had been made easier. Hey ho.
S: Nowt.
S: Nowt.


Well happy to have ticked off my goal, first 7a I've done in a long, long time. Think it's a case of it just being something that suited my style but that doesn't stop me being psyched.

[36chambers]

Well happy to have ticked off my goal, first 7a I've done in a long, long time. Think it's a case of it just being something that suited my style but that doesn't stop me being psyched.

Nice one 3T

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - complex: deadlift x3 and farmer's walk x30" x10 70% (90 kg). Hard.
Tue - rest.
Wed - rest.
Thu - long board session with friends, big volume!
Fri - ab wheel static; overhead barbell lunges 4x3; overhead walk 30", high pulls x10, overhead walk 30" complex x 3, 36 kg. Brutal. Abs.
Sat - basket game a few months after injuring my right collateral ligament. Not bad at all.
Sun - weights, clean, press, high pull complex 10x10 20 kg, 10x1 30 kg. Farmer's 60% (80 kg) 1'x5. Tiring. Right knee very sore after playing with kids on Saturday night.

Glad about the climbing, managed a good volume and for me that's newsworthy. Also got to holds 19/20 on my infamous circuit at the end of the session. Not bad.
Concerned about the knee: was quite fine after playing basketball, but I think I strained it in the evening kneeling down while playing with kids. I hope it's not a meniscus again.

[cheque]

first 7a I've done in a long, long time.

Rock on Tommy.   

The mental training sounds like a good idea, Mike and it sounds like you're making it a positive experience rather than repeatedly forcing yourself to endure negative experiences which I don't think would help. I'm sure you're aware of this but the way you describe feeling on seeing and hearing the helicopter suggests PTSD (caveat: I am not a mental health professional). It sounds like you're managing it remarkably well but if it gets worse or perhaps if it doesn't improve then there is help out there. I'm sure Lagers or Webbo could point you in the right direction if you felt the need.

Oh yeah, I've still got mental stuff to go through, I just don't post about it on here. Since I've passed a critical point with the physical recovery it seems my brain's now got the space to deal with the unresolved mental issues. I'm waiting to get an appointment with an NHS counsellor at the moment and I've been allowed by my boss to work from home if I feel I need to- when I do I start early enough to give myself an early enough finish to get out while it's still light, hence the weekday walks etc. I post on here.

[yetix]

2 weeks as I forgot to post last week:

M: Depot, working through yellows followed by some max hangs on 18mm and 8mm
T: Rest
W: Cave, ticked another 7A+ warming up then worked at RA and LF a little more, felt weak and tired on RA compared to the previous week. LF made some microgains though.
T: Rest
F: Moonboard ticking more benchmarks
S: Moonboard ticking more benchmarks - should have taken a rest day!
S: Rest

M: Max hangs on 18mm and 12mm (didn't have access to micros)
T: Rest
W: Depot, working through yellows followed by some max hangs on 18mm and 8mm
T: Social session at BUK, did a few laps of the easy circuit board and ticked a few few problems.
F: Rest
S: Cave, ticked 2 7Bs and pulled onto RA - didn't feel right so pulled on LF and made decent progress before somehow creating a crater in my finger from catching a hold wrong. Had a big rest and did a little belaying then started working the middle section of Left Wall High.
S: Indoors volume session at the depot with the other half for 90 mins followed by 30 mins on the 30, like the new holds added the board, might started using this a little more.

A couple of busy weeks looking at it combined with some illness, should probably try and reduce the volume a little this week really.

[shark]

11.2-3 average 156.7lbs no change on last week

M.

T. Noon. Malham. Up with Paul, Guy and Ethan. Climbed with Guy. Cloudy, cool then cold and mint. Broke out new pair of Whites. 2 x F&EE then dogged up the Oak to warm up managing throw straight off. First go foot slipped at undercut by third bolt. Next go climbed well and got the horn but slipped off it. Walked to top of Cove and back. Felt nicely warmed up and focussed but redpoint attempt disrupted by James shouting beta just below me up to Paul on the Bat Route crux breaking my concentration and then Guy short-roped me as I was setting up for the throw. Lost my rag as evidenced in the unedifying video below where its pretty obvious who the real cunt is. Final go similar to first. Rest then attempt to do horn to top but not got the beans. Despite shenanigans and not having a breakthrough went away feeling more positive on how I felt climbing and looking forward to going back Friday

W Out to Stanage to go soloing. Felt unnerved on the VS’s to begin with then warmed into it. The Scoop may have been a first for me. Nice sunset, rock turned golden doing Easter Rib. All very Adam Long. 

T

F Cancelled going to Malham previous evening as forecast changed and looked like it would be too sunny like previous friday. Dragged my sorry arse back to Stanage Popular starting further along. Seemed to end up in situations Ive been in before. Failed on Second Wind (no mat, no spotter) but did Swings to its right which was a new one for me and very good. Got a small scare on Another Game of Bowls Sir Walter when my hand slipped in a rounded break when doing a move as it was a bit green but that wasn’t apparent from below. Did the first move Archeron but then bailed right doing a precarious toe traverse on the hand rail of the VS and Im sure that’s happened before as had repeatedly failing to do the small pop for the break on the first move of Morrisons Redoubt.Finished on Paucity which I’ve always enjoyed.
   
S

S Malham with Paul. Surprisingly mild. Conditions OK. 4 redpoints – 2 of them touching the horn. Disappointing. Going back for a final session for the year on Weds.   

Gutted about performance on the Oak this season especially as all other projects were subsumed to this as primary goal. Not really sure quite why I did so badly as came to it stronger and with a decent amount of climbing volume behind me. A major re-think required in how I’m going to prep for the Spring.

NSFW  :

[jamesturnbull97]

M. 

T. Malham x2 redpoints on Raining Bats and Dogs. First go off my usual stopper flick move at the end of the traverse. Second go feel the most solid I’ve been on it, managed to get all the way through to the bug move feeling really fresh and hit the hold perfectly but for some reason failed to hold on leaving me sat on the rope felling like that was the go I should have done it. 

W. YYFY!! Early morning session at Malham for one last ditch effort, rock felt cold warming up on Consenting but not too bad to cope with. First redpoint fought my way through the trav getting to the clip not feeling anywhere near of fresh as Tuesdays go but really fired up knowing that this was probably my last good go on it for the year. Stuck the big move for the first time then don’t think I’ve ever been so worried about dropping a route fighting though the last few tricky moves to the crimp rail where a quick extremely tense shakeout ensued before to final few move to the belay. Absolutely made up to have got it done just in the nick of time, by far the hardest route I’ve done and one of the best too. Just planted the seed even more for getting on Rainshadow in the couple of seasons.

T. Met Mina at Manchester airport to jet off for a month of crushing (hopefully) in the RRG

F. First day in The Red, took it relatively easy to just get moving and recover from a bit of jet lag. Met Tanya and Neil at the Motherlode and had a good mileage day on the warm up wall and undertow wall.  11c, 11a, 12a, 12a, 12b, 12d, 12b all onsight best of the bunch was probably Harvest, the rock is amazing and you get ridiculously pumped! Awesome to see Tanya smash out 40 ounces of justice while chatting with Neil most of the way up.

S. Purgatory. A couple of really nice 5.11 warm ups then Mina wanted to try Lucifer 14c to scope out as a proj for the trip so though I may as well try it as well, had a couple of goes ad did all the move so has potential but it’s deciding how long I want to spend on one route when there’s the whole of the RRG to go at. I’ll give it another session see how it feels from there.

S. Beer Trailer Crag. Wouldn’t normally do three days on but the forecast look a bit sketch for Monday and it was Tanya and Neil’s last day so was nice to climb with them again. Fun bouldery 12a to warm up, failed on another stern 12a warm up. Then with good start beta from Neil both flashed amazing 12d (Darkness Falls) through some steep roof systems. Managed to finish off by fluking are ways up Falls City a pretty sort punchy 13b 3rd go. Psyched for a rest day now.

 

Made up to get RBAD done and relieved have got done before The Red, just! First impressions of the RRG are very good, keep turning up a new crag and seems to be amazing routes everywhere, hard to know where to begin.

[spidermonkey09]

Good work Cheque, TTT and James. Must go and do Red Baron/try RRR this winter.

M - rest.

T - rest.

W - fingerboard and core. Dreadful on the fingerboard which was disappointing; kept sliding off the holds. Note to self; turn radiator in hall off on Wednesday mornings! Going to stick with the current routine of repeaters until I am properly done with routes until the spring. Can anyone recommend a max hang protocol to follow over the winter? I have a BM 2000 and a lattice rung to mess around on but no micros or similar ratty holds. Presume this would tend towards adding some weight to a given hold, perhaps bottom outside on the 2000? Ideas welcome.

T - Depot. Contributed to the Steve Dunning retirement fund by taking out a monthly pass, which should also ensure I go a few times a week consistently. Unfortunately I'd woken up with my back in spasm and could barely move. Significantly better by the time I went to the wall but mostly did circuits to minimise pain potential.

F - rest.

S - Malham. Predator. Same story; 3 goes up but shut down on the heel sequence around the ear. Better above and below it though. Soft old shoes didn't help matters; decided to try the stiffer ones the next day.

S - Back again. Really slick on the bottom half now but no joy. Best go was the last one where I hit the wafer sidepull but didnt hang it to get the heel up. Had a rest and lowered down to the rest before linking it from there through the heel sequence; the first time I have done that section of climbing not off the rope, if that makes sense. New shoes better!

Slightly irritating to get shut down on one sequence when the rest has come together so well, but c'est la vie. Will be back next weekend if the weather allows it to stay dry, but more likely than not its a job for the spring. I don't need to get stronger for it, just fitter, but getting both stronger and fitter would be nice and open doors elsewhere on the crag.

[nai]

Some Good arrows this week, nice on fellas

Half term innit

M nowt

T - System board. OK but couldn't move on small crimps at the end. Intended to do core as well but the fight to keep feet in place at full stretch seemed to have already done the trick.

W rest

Th - Anston, decent session including a flash* of 2t's new link, The Wookie, thought it was a bit easier than he did
* having done all the individual moves before but not in that order.

F - Leg day (Squats, lunges, hip thrust and sack swing).  Core

S - 10s hangs & TRX. This was session 9 of this block, seem to be levelling off so maybe time to switch protocols. Need to decide whther to go for Repeaters or Max hangs.

S rest

Missed AeroCap this week and everything else was squeezed in but not bad consdering.

[SA Chris]

Back from Florida holiday at 14 st. 14st! not really been close to that in about 5 years.

Anyway, back on the wagon. On Monday i realised Saturday was the first round of Winter Bouldering League,and I hadn't even done so much as a pullup 3 1/2 weeks.

M- fingerboard session - actually felt OK.
T - nowt
W - after taking kids guising I managed to get a short wall session. Actually felt I was moving reasonably well, but couldn't even do a single campus move on the biggest rugs. Disappointing
T - nothing, felt achey
F - nothing felt OK.
S - comp. Actually climbed OK, just one error using duff beta on an easy problem, all the hard stuff just shut me down like everyone else.  Crowded though, proper having to elbow in on probs. Finished 3rd i think.

[nai]

Going to stick with the current routine of repeaters until I am properly done with routes until the spring.
Can anyone recommend a max hang protocol to follow over the winter?

I'd have a thonk about whether you want to be doing repeaters while you're also trying to redpoint. I stick to 10s hangs @ c95% during performance phases so that I'm retaining strength wothout exhausting myself, then mix up repeaters, max & sub max during training phases.

[spidermonkey09]

[

I'd have a thonk about whether you want to be doing repeaters while you're also trying to redpoint.

Interesting. My logic was that I have the required finger strength to do the moves but not the endurance; the tank is a bit empty by the time I get to the hard section. I concluded that weighted repeaters on a reasonable edge might help this, and very soon after starting doing them I was on redpoint as previously hard moves weren't gassing me. Might just be coincidence though. Either way I've likely only got one more weekend left before it gets wet probably!

I forgot to say that im trying to use all my fingers on the holds whether doing repeaters or max hangs as the pockets on the BM2000 are tweaky I find.

When you say max, what does this entail in practice?

[nai]

Ok, I use it mid season as a method of not losing my gains rather than trying to gain endurance, I'd probably do some laddering or something if I wanted an endurance top up.

Max to me is doing hangs to failure and aiming to hang for 6-10s. I start at a point I can manage 6s then stick at that until I manage 10s then up the weight.  Cycle that with Repeaters and 95% 10s hangs.
 

[Will Hunt]

Felt nicely warmed up and focussed but redpoint attempt disrupted by James shouting beta just below me up to Paul on the Bat Route crux breaking my concentration and then Guy short-roped me as I was setting up for the throw. Lost my rag as evidenced in the unedifying video below where its pretty obvious who the real cunt is.

NSFW  :

Right, I'm just popping out to Malham with a full gut and some bog roll. Brb.

[teestub]

Felt nicely warmed up and focussed but redpoint attempt disrupted by James shouting beta just below me up to Paul on the Bat Route crux breaking my concentration and then Guy short-roped me as I was setting up for the throw. Lost my rag as evidenced in the unedifying video below where its pretty obvious who the real cunt is.

NSFW  :

I assume you know James from being a fellow midweek climber, perhaps a polite word before you set off would have lead to you being in a better frame of mind? No excuse for the hosing from Guy though!

[Will Hunt]

Disappointing. Going back for a final session for the year on Weds.   

Gutted about performance on the Oak this season especially as all other projects were subsumed to this as primary goal. Not really sure quite why I did so badly as came to it stronger and with a decent amount of climbing volume behind me. A major re-think required in how I’m going to prep for the Spring.

I want to weigh in here. If this is your attitude then don't bother making the trip, go and do something else. You're talking about it like its already a foregone conclusion that you won't get up it. You had a really good session earlier in the week. There's no reason you can't achieve that same level, or better, level of performance on your next session.

I have followed your Oak campaign over the years off and on and in the past I've thought you were on the verge of doing it. That's not from seeing you in it, it's just from reading your posts. This year I've been thinking you won't do it - again, that's just from reading your posts. I don't think you believe you can do it. I've not read Jerry's book, but it doesn't take a sports psychologist to know that this is not a winning attitude. I suggest that before your next trip north you record yourself screaming "I AM JERRY MOFFATT; I AM THE BEST" and listen to that on repeat on your drive.

Also, what Stubbs said. I found it distracting in the video. You definitely should have said something before setting off.