[Duma]

Goals: Uninjured, 70kg, 8A in UK, Rocklands in June.

M - 40 PU, 20 SU.

T - 50 PU, 20 SU.

W - 40 PU, 30 SU.

T - 40 PU, 30 SU.

F - 45 PU, 30 SU.

S - TCA, first day back climbing since previous Thursday, took it pretty easy going round the reds (low 6's?) really enjoyed it, good to be climbing again. A few one arm hangs on BM2k outside better edges, improved on these enough to do a few BW hangs for 6s or so on each arm so happy, though reckon a smaller edge with assistance would be better. 50 PU, 40 SU

S - 50 PU, 30 SU, 10 V-Sit

Av 70 kg

Rest week for half term daughter time, kept up with press ups and doing sit ups daily too now after last weeks wake up call, going to progress this to dip tucks, v-sits and leg raises soon hopefully. Pleased with weight loss while I was away - been under 70kg for last three days now.

[Coops_13]

81.6kg -> 81.0kg

M: Knee flared up again after the weekend so no leg strengthening for a while:(

T: Arch. Good session and knee fared well. Most of time on the 50 working projects, closer on them but no cigar. Matched PB of ring muscle-up with +16kg. 30 press-ups. 3 sets of front lever pulls - PB of 8 in a row! Finished with some dips.

W:

T: Arch. Good session considering I perhaps wasn't fully recovered from Tues. Most of time on the 50. Closer on my own project and set another nice problem. Did some weighted pull-ups to +48kg then press-ups and front-lever pulls.

F:

S: Home home for the weekend so checked out BoulderShack in Southampton. Not a bad set-up with 3 boards! 15, 30 and 45 deg. Most of time on the 45, good fun. When tired moved to the 30 and did 4X4s on this. Finished with some muscle-ups and core.

S:

Off to Macedonia next weekend, weight not down as much as prev trips but I wasn't committed enough. Also knee not 100% so will be playing any highballs by ear. We'll see what happens...

[monkoffunk]

STG - Climb Fighting Torque.
Weight ~75kg.
MTG - Plan Spring Font trip
LTG - 7C

M - Long day. Rest.
T - Planned to do some snappy power stuff to be recruited for Thursday. Had to go home early for house viewing. Planned max hangs instead. Did pull-ups to warm up and right bicep felt really sore. Managed to warm up and stretch but no more than that.
W - Rest and stretching throughout day. Bicep much improved with that.
T - Back to the Cuttings. Slighting unfortunate maybe, fell from undercuts on Fighting Torque three times when feeling strong. Seemed like grease although conditions otherwise excellent. Got through to high point once. After that Shane suggested slightly new beta making crux move higher percentage I think. Did several times in a row tired off rope. Think big improvement. Couple of goes on techy 7a after but fully boxed.
F - Comp wall after long day for an hour. Felt properly fucked after, probably a stupid decision that has hindered recovery for little to no gain. Should have done max hangs Sat instead probably.
S - felt good in the morning, soreness by end of day. Feel a bit stupid for derailing recovery when I’m getting out Monday
S - Still some tenderness in forearms. Massage, rest and maybe a touch of active recovery. On a plus weight around 75.6kg.

Back to Portland tomorrow, hopefully try out the new beta.

[tomtom]

Thanks for kicking off the thread Duma.

Its been a fairly shit week. Not a NNFN - just a bit shit...

The PLAN was Church on Tuesday - get the Shield done, then the pocket wall thing. Then off to Burbage South on Friday to get the Rib and maybe Pebble mill done. Maybe out Sunday, But....

Tu: Church Crag. Climbing a bit ‘heavy’ - core not really engaging. Still managed to repeat the two 7s I’d done there before and made some progress on a nice static way of doing the shield then powered out. Back home with no cigars.

We: Developing cold...

Th: Drive to Kendal and back with the lad to see Grandparents... Lempsipped up the whole way. No problems all day but got back feeling terrible. Also - managed to pull/hurt my back reaching and twisting 15+kg of toddler into his car seat... then drove for 90 min. Back felt bad when I got home...

Fri: No climbing for me... felt shite all day, didn’t really do much - used up a full day pass just feeling crap. Managed to do some stuff to help MrsTT with the lad but not much. Back hurting - still. Lower back LH side - pulled something lateral.

Sa: As above - but cold got a bit better towards the evening and the back started to ease up. End of the tunnel.

Su: Set off at 9:15 for BBGS... you never know Back felt ‘not right’ when I got out of the car and twice on the walk in I turned around - but figured why not at least pull on and see what happens. Got to Pebble Mill (thought a traverse 6 inches off the deck was a good way to test the back!) and found it was otherwise occupied by people playing with 10m lightsabers.. Guess folk have been reading Franco’s thread... :/



Pottered on some of the easier problems between there and 7Ball and decided my back felt a bit twingy/dodgy when I stepped up on it so bailed.

The peak was rammed anyway....

Work has been rubbish (good people might be leaving and not replaced) and that’s added to a general malaise... anyway.

[Will Hunt]

T - Called into Calverley Woods on route to the depot. Climbed the Hangingstone Dyno which is just amazing. Shallow two finger pocket and a sidepull into a good break then a pop for the top. About 6C.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuFKcVPh8y5/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1x08qd1dvrex7

Got to the Depot later than intended due to stumbling around in the woods. Did a half arsed warm up and tried to climb on the board but just wasn't feeling it. Climbed purples for the rest of the sesh.

Sa - Took the bairn to the art gallery in Bradford in the am. She slept while I looked at paintings of topless Egyptian nubiles and bleak industrial scenes.
Nipped out in the afternoon to Eastby with Ben and did Dead Babies which was good. We had 6 pads between us, one of which was one of those enormous Moon things. When he came down from it, Ben was smiling.
"We've done a Dave Pegg route above 2 pads".
"What do you mean two pads?"
"Look, they're only two deep."

I love Ben 

[yetix]

M: Rest
T: Rest
W: Parisellas Cave, finally finished off Rock Atrocity! First of the grade, and went first go of the session. Psyched!
T: Rest
F: Rockover, did some mileage before max hangs, shoulder press, bench press and some other antagonists stuff
S: Rest
S: Couldn't decide where to go, ended up in the cave again... Managed to send Beaver Cleaver 7B though having not tried it before which was good!

[tomtom]

Effort Yetix!!!

[36chambers]

W: Parisellas Cave, finally finished off Rock Atrocity! First of the grade, and went first go of the session. Psyched!

allez, looked like you cruised it.

[nai]

Solid yetix, nice one

M - last chance to get out before the family return but only had a short window.  Have had a hankering to finish off the mini prow in Burbage quarry since working it out in October but deciding I'd like another pad and/or a spotter. Warmed up at home on wood to preserve skin when I got out. Landing still wasn't ideal with an extra small pad and a spot would have been nice but managed to remember what to do and complete it in about 15 minutes.  Headed to the boulders for a look at Dog Pound which has never made much sense (i.e. it's felt hard) but felt a suitable #kingline for my collection. Tamed it with heels and it felt pretty steady and actually thought it climbed ok.  Skin was suffering by now so headed home to do Core (bar and floor) before cleaning the house, neded to start refilling the Brownie Points jar after a week away.  Worked out I've done 15 problems of 7A/+ this year, time to try harder.

Very low quality, portrait   () video of these classics






T - hip and leg mobility

W - nowt

Th - Foundry with eldest, bit of a mish mash, some bouldering, some belaying, autobelays, attempts at muscle ups on rings, more autobelay, more bouldering.

F - Had planned to take youngest out but she claimed she ewas sore after five hours of skating and an hour of swimming the day before, so bodyweight stuff at home, bit disjointed but Scap pullups, pullups, experimented with some pressup variations, TRX low row, rev fly, rev Ys.  Bar and Floor Core.

S - 30 mins LI AeroCap

S - woke up with back tweaking, L&H mobility.

Had a last orders pass, got out about 4pm. Still warm so eschewed a lovely evening of sunny classics and sought gloom at Gorilla block.  Wanted to add Humpin' to my #kingline list. Worked it out quite quickly but was struggling to do the first move, thought I'd be in if I did that move.  Gave up on it and messed on GW and ED for a while but by now it was fairly murky under the block and I couldn't make out any footholds.  Went back to Humpin' and did the first move straight away but discovered the crux is then moving RF from a tenuous heel to an edge on the arete while maintaining tension to stop yourself falling rightwards. Did the first move three times and hit the RF hold once but couldn't stop the swing. Reckon I'd be in if I could do that move....

More stretching in the evening

[Wood FT]

W: Parisellas Cave, finally finished off Rock Atrocity! First of the grade, and went first go of the session. Psyched!

Cruised it, great speed too.

[Murph]

Effort yetix. Nai - I knew that was you I saw this evening on your way home. One of these days we should coincide a pass. Would love to session the gorilla block with you.

Full time dad this week half term fending for myself outnumbered.

M - load of stretching.
T - took the kids up Winn Hill (not too shabs for a 3&5 year old). Fingerboard evening up to +32 on the small and medium bm1k for reps. Get in. Stretches.
W- castleton to mam tor and back down. Very not too shabs. The 3 year old impressed! Trx and board session in garage.
T- woke to the most tremendous upper back / neck pain. Totally stiff couldn’t move neck independently. Afternoon took kids to Robin Hoods and they had a good time. I did 3 laps of the spine block traverse but that was it. Could not look up or down or left or right.
F- physio in the morning. Shout out for Sally Fawcett she is genuinely amazing. Back to RHS with the kids. They had a great time. Managed laps of the traverse, the easy arete (too scared to do the scary arete) and some other stuff. Not worthy of power club but it’s what I did.
S- Robin Hoods with all the family this time, well cratcliffe boulders really. Still only about 50% ability but good to get out. I should go and tick Jerry’s and T when I’m back at it. Don’t know why I’ve not bothered really.
S- afternoon/evening trackside session with family. Maybe 70% back to normal and can lap strawberries and trackside but then can be poleaxed by swallowing the wrong way. Weird injuries are weird.

Total aside alert - Worked out this week when talking to a friend that I must have an unusual lack of craving for novelty. This was based on my having two, maybe three routes that I go for runs on from the house while he has at least eight and sometimes drives somewhere else just to go for a “different” run. I also have no desire to go on any trips or holidays. Never have. There was this Japanese bloke a friend of mine met climbing in Central Park (apologies if I’ve told this one before) anyway this Japanese bloke lived in NYC and seemed to spend all his time bouldering our the same rock(S). He was quite the talent. Asked whether he had gone climbing the other venues in the region he said “but why would I when there is so much more to do here!?”  Can totally identify. Anyone else in that camp or is newness a big part of the experience?

Weight - 70kgs just shy. Relatively about as heavy as a whale. Must do something but with the back as it is I’m sorry but it’s all or nothing.

File under not only singing when you’re winning.

[highrepute]

Nothing to report. Fun first half of the week then we all got D&V and life seemed like one endless stream of shit.

I'm almost the exact opposite Murph. Going new areas and ticking loads off is my ideal day out. Saying that I do enjoy going back to the same crags, kudos, tor, plantation for example, and enjoying the familiar terrain.

[205Chris]

Nothing to report. Fun first half of the week then we all got D&V and life seemed like one endless stream of shit.

On the plus side just think how light you'll be

[jwi]

STG: Osmose, 8b. Don't getting to psyched out the worst days for pollen.
MTG: No War, 8b or other suitable route if Super Manjoc stays wet and I cannot find parters etc...
LTG: Troutherapie or other route of that calibre in good style.

This was supposed to be a training week. But the weather is still amazing and I can push work forward to some very unpleasant coming weeks...

Tue 19 feb
7a rp
Osmose 8b/+ hd, spend a lot of time sussing out last crux
5 attempts, got a highpoint on attempt 3
8a bolt to bolt

Thu 21 feb
6c rp
No War 8b+ hd-session. Tried it before. (cruxy 8a/+ to a jug, then short strength endurance 8a to top)
8b+ 2 attempts, not so good. Fell before midway jug!
Changed crag for belay duties.
Osmose 8b 1 attempt, then dog to top
Some token pullups in the evening

Sun 24 feb
6c rp
No War 8b+ hd-session.
No War attempt. Fell 2 moves before top. Kind-of highpoint. Rested a minute and linked from 3 moves lower to the top.
No War worksession: linked last 4 draws.
Changed section to belay wife. Was totally destroyed. Plans of Osmose not materialised.
Pretty pleased with my attempt on No War.

Some pushups and shoulder exercises at home.

[Will Hunt]

Nothing to report. Fun first half of the week then we all got D&V and life seemed like one endless stream of shit.

I hear a trip to the Depot is perfect for that!

[shark]

Thanks duma - effort yetix

11.3 (ignoring Mondays outlier reading) Average 157.4lb up 0.3lb on last week 

M.

T.

W. Noon. Malham with Nige (of all people). 10 degrees cloudy but dry then became damp, drizzly and very cold. Warm up on Cons and F&EE. Warm up on bottom section of Oak. Go 1 Ground to touching horn!    Rest and walk Go 2 Ground to going for cramped sidepull by 3rd bolt. 15mins rest Go3 ground to nearly same point. Go 4 pulled up to throw but was in bits and bailed. Lower back sorer and stiffer than usual probably due to clobbering it in Albarracin. Nige's famous golden feet were skating all over the rink but he did insist on wearing grit slippers. That said, he was a beast. I predict 4 sessions for him to tick the Oak. Maybe two with appropriate footwear.

T.

F. Tor Met Andy C there. Pottered to warm up THFML x 3 then Sardine from ground to crux. Took 4 attempts on Bens to do kick move (as opposed to first go previous friday so not fully recovered from Malham) from kneebar shake and continued into THFML. Did that link twice more. Tips sore at end. Back sore and stiff throughout. Retreated to finger friendlier systems board for some AnCap. 2 sets of 20/10s=240moves

S. Gatecrashed CC AGM  Watched James Pearson's slide show about waterfall climbing

S. Put up second prototype ergonomic edges I’ve been developing with rginns (I'll post about this separately). Worked a treat. Experimented with Daniel Woods style fingertip pull-ups and one-arm hangs both with assistance/counterweight of course. Leisurely session on home board trying Oak moves fuelled by flapjack and Xmas cake. At end did Oak#3 (which includes the throw move) 10 times in succession. Used to be the living end. Front 3 were so solid in the undercut and the last two goes were the best being able to pinch the horn even higher. Buzzing 


Had lined up to go to Malham with Paul tomorrow but forecast is too sunny. Now intending going on friday.
 

[nai]

Nai - I knew that was you I saw this evening on your way home. One of these days we should coincide a pass. Would love to session the gorilla block with you.

Sorry, didn't clock it was you. Passes are rare things at weekends but if you're free midweek I'm always keen for getting out

[User deactivated]

Nice work Dan! We all know you don't get the full tick unless you go round to Doylo's and sort him out afterwards though. That's what I had to do anyway. Seems legit?

[gollum]

 M - Early start with Pull Ups 4x10 for volume and then 5x6 for weight with 32kgs and then some shoulder activations.
Evening session at the Depot. Start warming up with a few Campus moves up to 1-4-7. Pretty steady.
Next did some 5 move Strength Intervals on 50 Board which went pretty well, although started to wain a bit so lowered intensity for last problem so I could get a decent number of moves in. Back on Campus Board for 6 sets of three reps of 1-3-5-7, mixing it up between big and medium sized holds.
Finished off with some 5 on 3 off on Circuit Board which I’m getting quite into it. The trick seems to be slowing the pace down to make it reasonable.

T - Leg day in the gym. Squats for doubles u to 120 k, which felt solid enough. Deadlifts up to 140k doubles. Two sets at this weight which was solid enough and glad to say that there was no pain in my back for the first time in a while. Clearly having a lay off has been worthwhile.
Steady run at lunchtime 5k in 25 minutes.
Evening Max Hangs. Started with a couple of hangs at bodyweight, just to see if I could, about 5 seconds each arm, which was ggod. Then 6 sets for ten seconds at 98% of Max which went pretty well then went on to 104% at which I managed 8 and 6 seconds on last sets.

W - Extra night at the Depot. Just a bit of fun ticking some of the purples that I hadn’t done. Think I got four new ticks and very close on a couple more

T - Bench in the morning. Steady up to 90k for triples but then lost my nerve when under the bar at 95k so didn’t get a rep out. Bit of shoulder and tricep work finishing off with some TRX work. Went for a steady 5k run when I got home from work and then due to a misunderstanding again with Mrs B an hour later, oh well.
Max Hangs. Did first 6 sets at around 98.5% and was well locked in and then finished off with just over 100% for about 7-8 seconds per rep.

F - Last day before snowboarding so finishing off a few training sessions for the week.
Go to Depot and do a bit of footless work and start intervals and then get a phone call and have to go to Manchester as my mum is in A&E having fallen. Long day of waiting and eventually get home in time to pack.

S- Travelling. Try to get s run in but seriously nowhere to  run that isn’t a main toad with no path so end up doing laps of a car park.

S - First day on the board and it feels great. Off piste is tracked and hard but on the piste is just perfect. Think it will be s week working on technique rather than looking for adventure.

A good solid week. Happy enough.

[tomtom]

Nice work Dan! We all know you don't get the full tick unless you go round to Doylo's and sort him out afterwards though. That's what I had to do anyway. Seems legit?

He’s too tired now that he’s a family man...

[yetix]

Thanks all!

Guess I'll have have to just take partial tick then Jack!

[tommytwotone]

2019 Goal: 3 x new (to me) Font 7a outdoors


Quite a good week.


M - in Filey with family. Lots of walking around with 10+kg 2 year old on my back. Drove back on my tod in the evening.


T - a very rare night to myself at home...load of cleaning (see Nai's "brownie points" comment) but then actually sat down and watched a whole film, from start to finish without being interrupted by a) children or b) falling asleep. Tick.


W - Big Depot after work. Really growing to like the place as a bouldering venue - there's not so much you're overfaced by the choice, the slab is massive and perfect for getting properly warmed up on, and on this set at least there were a couple of nice holiday grades. Managed a (ha ha) V7+ yellow second go which I should have flashed, and a V5-V7 purple through the steep roofs (absolutely not my home turf).


T - family back. Had to run keys to Filey holiday let back to Sheffield so dropped by Foundry for first time in about 10 years(!). Was quickly reminded of how much of a harsh mistress The Wave is. I was pretty battered from the previous night's training but managed to scratch my way up a few moderate things.


F - nowt


S - nice day at the park with the kids


S - ditto

[cheque]

Good effort Yetix.

Rehab Diaries Week Twenty-seven

STG- Leading HVS/ low 6s & carrying normal loads to the crag by end of September.

Ticking the carrying part. I can carry realy pretty heavy loads (certainly as much as rope/ rack/ water/ sandwiches) for as far as I like as long as it's balanced (ie in a rucksack) without my back hurting significantly now, it just gets tired. 

M- Rest.

T- Fingerboard repeaters & pushups. 12th week running of this.

W- Rest.

T- Awesome Walls autobelays. Did the speed route first go as a warm-up then a 6b straight after. Pleased with that. Made progress on both the 6cs but didn't get further than 2/3 of the way on each. Mileage on easier routes too but the headline is that I made it across the slackline twice. This is huge progress on what my physio described as "the ultimate test for you". 

F- Walk to Burbage South and back. Not much else as I bumped into mates and mostly just chatted.

S- Burbage South trad climbing. Started off by leading a HVD chimney- the same style and grade as my previous hardest post-accident lead but with less gear. Felt fun and steady. Seconded an HS then led another HS, Drainpipe. For those not on first-name terms with low-grade Peak grit trad, this is a steep but short quarried-style corner crack. I soloed it the April before last but only remembered getting my knee stuck for 5 minutes! Took two tries this time (so the gear was in up to the crux when I actually did it) but I can't tell you how happy I felt at the belay- tried really hard on lead and trusted my gear, just focussed on the climbing and getting up it, just like leading a route should feel.  Seconded a weird green & soily offwidth after (this is Burbage South in February after all!) to complete an amazing day.

S- AM: Gym. Really tired but made myself go anyway. Lower back tired so skipped the deadlift but did squats using the "Smith machine" for the first time and other usual stuff. PM: found myself in Decathlon as my girlfrind shopped for running gear. Aside from the standard bouncing a mini basketball around and doing laps of the shop on a scooter I did 7 pullups on a fingerboard and made it across a slackline once.

Badass week. Superb to climb on Saturday and lead a grade that felt like the living end on a toprope in October. It's surreal just how normal climbing feels now, surely shouldn't feel like this less than 11 months out from my accident! In the last month the nerve-related strength loss in my left foot really appears to be receding. 

[spidermonkey09]

Good work Yetix and Cheque!

M - rest. Pint.

T - Depot. OK on the board. Did a reasonably tricky mirror image of The Cheese Problem which uses much worse holds and was therefore christened Hard Cheese. In the same spirit tried a mirror of Palmer Sutra which is completely desperate; all the holds seem to be worse. Not too disheartened as the 'easy' side is comfortably the hardest thing I've done on the board.

W - rest. Went for a drink in the evening with mate from Sheffield.

T - Depot. Very greasy on the board so after firing off the same crimp 4 times in a row gave it up as a bad job and went on the circuit board. Proceeded to masochistically ruin myself. Satisfying and definitely getting a bit fitter, should probably do some FOC next week but keep putting it off as its a bit unpleasant.

F - went and visited a friend in their new house which was very nice. Some drinking, could easily have degenerated but fortunately had to drive home so called it a night quite early!

S - Malham. Parking a nightmare and its only February. Absolutely roasting on the Catwalk, t shirts and shorts weather. Did Appetite which climbs pretty much the same since the loose rock came off and a new bolt has been added; kudos to Nez McCallum. Decided waiting for it to cool down was futile so went up Bat Route for a go on the boulder. Linked it from the low LH pinch to hand in the jug but couldn't hold it; very pleased with this. Made good progress on the section to the bird hole jug using different method that I spotted on the video of Ondra pissing it. Second go up boulder felt terrible in bad conditions so decided to explore the headwall. Bolt to bolted to the top with Al reciting beta; all felt reasonably steady bar obviously desperate section moving between two sets of undercuts which will need a bit of work. Unbelievably gripped on the run out 6b section near the top; felt like E5! Finished off with Taking The Space to get the clips out with one fall. Massive session; slept like a log.

S - Back to Malham having reasoned that a session there was still better for my skin than going out on the grit in the sun. Even hotter than the day befor. One go up Bat Route and unsurprisingly had no power on the boulder. Linked it from halfway through which was good and did the throw to the shit tooth a few times which feels much more reliable. Bolt to bolted to the top again and refined a few things but undercut sequence still hard; feels like I am missing something here but not sure what. Not a million miles away starting to try the link from the kneebars to the top though.

Good week and great weekend. Pleased to be making progress still and felt close to linking the boulder on Saturday. Slightly concerned that I'm losing momentum on the board but more likely that the initial rapid improvement phase is over I think. Should get back to Malham next weekend but then will have a few weekends off it. Pleased to have done a lot of hard work on it so early in the season.

[Stabbsy]

Had a last orders pass, got out about 4pm. Still warm so eschewed a lovely evening of sunny classics and sought gloom at Gorilla block.  Wanted to add Humpin' to my #kingline list. Worked it out quite quickly but was struggling to do the first move, thought I'd be in if I did that move.

I've tried this recently in an attempt to get some more mileage from the GW block (done all the variations going right) and struggled with this move. Did you manage to find a way of holding the LH pinch/undercut thing without having your forearm resting on the block on the left? It felt like a second pad might get me high enough, but I didn't want to resort to that!

[duncan]

Well done people.

A twofer:

STG: Manage aches and pains. One session of bouldering a week.
MTG: Colorado bucket list routes in May, a classic E5 this summer.
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.


M - Fingerboard pick-ups 18mm edge (left arm only). 11km brisk walking.
T - 9km brisk walking.
W - Westway 'bouldering'. Beginner or small person level.
T - 10km brisk walking. Shoulder strength (reverse flys - Is Ys and Ts - on the rings, side planks,, single arm push-ups).
F - Westway bouldering, getting the hang of it ('V2').
S - Flew to Reus with Wil, Cyan and Sean. Shoulder stuff.
S - Montsant. Raco de Missa
M - Siurana Sirunella
T - Siurana L’Herbolari
W - Rest day. Hiked around the base of Montsant. So much rock...
T - Siurana Saut de la Reine Mora
F - Siurana L’Olla
S - Siurana Can Gans Dionis. Flew home.
S - Shoulder stuff

... emphasis will be on enjoying climbing. It's probably what I need most of all. If it also counts as building a base in preparation for the trad. season then even better.

Great trip; company, climbing, weather and accomodation all excellent. I did 30 routes up to 6c, more climbing than the previous 6 months combined. Some training benefit and shoulders felt good but mostly really enjoyed being outside and moving on rock in the sun.

This was my 9th time in Siurana since 2004. It was much less busy than the last 5 years, as quiet as back in the 00s. Has the circus moved on? The place is still as gorgeous as 15 years ago and Dave Graham is still trying La Rambla.

Plan: don’t get injured. Bouldering (or fingerboard). Pile on the aerocap.

[jwi]

Nice! Good volume!

[spidermonkey09]

This was my 9th time in Siurana since 2004. It was much less busy than the last 5 years, as quiet as back in the 00s. Has the circus moved on? The place is still as gorgeous as 15 years ago and Dave Graham is still trying La Rambla.

It was absolutely rammed in November (my first visit) and I had pretty big concerns about the long term viability of the place with so many people vanning it and shitting in the woods. We counted 40 vans in the biy layby halfway up the hill one day. Glad to hear that might have been the exception rather than the norm.

[gme]

Mon - Max hangs on 10mm micros at school. BW +8kg= 90kg. Completed but only just. Then limit bouldering session on the old school board which pretty much handed my arse to me on a plate. Did a few 6cs but 7s felt really hard. a bit disapointed but with hindsight i think this board takes me a few sessions to get into as its a lot steeper than the others i climb on. Anyone who thinks the moonboard has tough grading should try this one out. Makes the 7As on the moonboard feel like a piece of piss.
Tues - lunch. Linked boulders on the new board at school. 3no. 12/13 move problems done 4 times each with 2 mins rest between. Hard
Tues - evening. Boulder triples on new board at school. Really good ancap session with 230+ moves in 40mins. Hard and fucking painfull on skin. Three flappers gained. Was going to do foot on campus but pain was just to much.
wed - rest. needed.
Thurs- afternoon bouldering at Hepburn playing on the projects i want to do this year. Great fun afternoon with a couple of friends, no stop watch, no pain, no misery. What its all about really. Projects felt hard but doable. Fingers feel good.
Fri - rest. Stretching
Sat - enforced rest due to being up all night dealing with family drama. I wont elaborate but it involved too much Gin, vomit, police and PS4 bans. I hope the culprit has learn a lesson but suspect not. Ended up not having any sleep between 2am and morning so the day was a right off.
Sun- Kids sport day but managed a 10mm micro hang session in the evening.

Mixed week that started really well but was then knocked off route by my kids antics and the delights of a day out pottering with mates. Pick it up again this week as only a few until spain.

[duncan]

It was absolutely rammed in November (my first visit) and I had pretty big concerns about the long term viability of the place with so many people vanning it and shitting in the woods. We counted 40 vans in the biy layby halfway up the hill one day. Glad to hear that might have been the exception rather than the norm.

The numbers have been gradually increasing over the last 10 years. I saw similar crowds in March 2018 and April 2017 - that layby completely packed - so we were surprised there were only 3-4 vans this time, albeit a little earlier in the year. The crags were relatively quiet too, with the exception of El Pati and L'Olla. I have no idea if this was an exception or the new rule.

[Smith42]

   
M Rest day.
T Warmed up and Max hangs +25kg.
W Ran 5km and biked 15km.
Th Warmed up and Max hangs again +27.5kg.  55 deg board, crushed everything I tried.  Why can’t every day feel like this!
F Ran 5km and biked 15km.

Sat Warmed up in my garage then went to Shafto to spot GF on her 7A project and scope out some potential projects for me as was saving myself for Born Lippy on Sunday.  Anyhow as usual when we got there I couldn’t not climb and surprised myself by climbing Broken Arrow 7C in to Lost Arrow Head 6C in about four goes, (two of which was working the top out).   On checking guide this link up hasn’t been done before, or least not claimed but climbs really well and seems more logical than finishing in corner at the bottom of the crag.

Sun. As forecast the day dawned misty so had lie in, several breakfasts and thought about going to Sunderland Lead Wall in the afternoon but a random post on FB promised better conditions in the County which saw us arriving at the crag mid-afternoon.
Slopers on Born Lippy felt warm in the sun and caked in chalk, couldn’t hang on them so gave it a good brush decided to leave it for couple hours.  Felt off Y Front first time then flashed the direct version.  That’s Northumberland Grades for you, fall off 6A then Flash neighbouring 7A.  Went back to Born Lippy, repeated top, repeated crux and then did it first go despite feet cutting loose unexpectedly on the crux.

Max Hangs and the 55 deg board seem to be paying off for me big time.   

[Duma]

Nice one!

[Bradders]

Max Hangs and the 55 deg board seem to be paying off for me big time.   

Not that surprising!

Good effort.

[36chambers]

Felt off Y Front first time then flashed the direct version.  That’s Northumberland Grades for you, fall off 6A then Flash neighbouring 7A.  Went back to Born Lippy, repeated top, repeated crux and then did it first go despite feet cutting loose unexpectedly on the crux.

I had the exact same day as this last year!

Y Front was an awful choice for a warm up.

[Bradders]

M - Caley in the afternoon. Good conditions with a nice breeze, albeit with a brief shower which threatened to ruin things. Managed Pedestal Arete Sit second go. This has been a total nemesis for me previously, partly I think because I've always thought it's a bit shit and therefore never wanted to waste good conditions on it! Anyway, it climbs really well and I am very pleased to have it done. Afterwards went down to the Roadside and did Andy's Problem after a couple of goes, and the sit first go after that - with the caveat that the very top was damp, so with no spotter and only a couple of pads I decided to downclimb and drop rather than actually top out. Will go back at some point. First time (almost) I've done two proper independent 7Cs on grit in the same day!

On the way home went to the Depot for another hour long strength endurance session. Warm up level problems with short rests.

T - evening fingerboard repeaters, mainly 7x 6r 7/3 repeaters 4f half crimp on the large outside BM2k slots w/ 10kg added. Properly powering out on the last couple of hangs of the final sets. Have definitely progressed on these though as a few weeks ago they felt nails at just bodyweight.

W - rest

T - warm weather and a fixed right hamstring made me think of going to try Dark Art at Anston. I did all the moves on this in a session a year or so ago; couldn't touch it this time! Literally did none of the hard moves. Sacked it and sussed out Black Reservation. Did the first move easily the first couple of times. Had it wired from two moves in and did that to the top 3/4 times but then just couldn't quite make the first move again to get the link.

F - Depot Board session. Few warm ups then 3/4 goes on Palmer Sutra, two halves tick but kept dropping the move to the triangle. 3/4 goes on Steady Intro, couldn't do the second move and to be honest struggled with the rest as well. 2 goes on Zoo; first wasn't great but 2nd made it all the way to the move to the high triangle. Did Austrian Mock first go and then Palmer Ham 2nd go (first time I've done it).

S - gym recovery, bit of gentle TRX, foam rolling and stretching. Felt completely shattered all day, just had no energy whatsoever.

S - Dow Crag. Escaped the warmth to find perfect connies. Warmed up on the moves on Deep Green then did it first go from the start, then did The Hacienda 4th or 5th go having dropped it from the top on the go before. Well chuffed with this one, fantastic problem. Lastly went up to try Supergene. Couldn't even work out how to pull on at first, and it all just felt a bit hard, but gradually worked it out and did all the moves plus made a good link (albeit with a fairly large dab) from the start to the RH drop in.

Great week. Lots of volume at a pretty high intensity, trying to build a peak before a trip to Fontainbleau in just under 3 weeks. Will do another week trying to keep both volume and intensity high and then start tapering volume down whilst keeping intensity high.

[Yossarian]

M - Wall. Shoulder still slightly problematic so stuck to vert / slabby stuff for the most part.
T - Stretching / rehab. Found that (very strict) pull-ups felt fine, so did 150 of them. Light shoulder press / hammer curls, etc on the other hand didn’t.
W - Beastmaker - Mixture of repeaters with some 1-arm max hangs tacked on to evaluate shoulder. Seemed ok.
T - Wall. Great session. Felt good on the 45 board, shoulder seemed better on steeper problems in general. Bit of circuit board at the end. Did 7km run in the morning, and yoga / stretching in the evening as well.
F - Wall. Some shoulder pain from previous day, so avoided anything too strenuous and did some circuits, and then watched daughter school some CrossFit meatheads.
S - Wall. Tried various things on new steep / prow set. Tried to avoid overdoing it. Also, 7km run and yoga, etc in the evening.
S - Portland - Battleship. First routes since September. Fluffed first attempt at 6b warmup, mainly because of inability to find footholds. Then tried short 7a (Flickhead goes boing boing) which I failed to onsight (crux involved bouldery section followed by blind reach for a pocket) but then figured out fairly quickly. Didn’t hang around to RP as we were pressed for time and partner wanted to get on easier things but, though unsuccessful, this episode convinced me that, though Portland is basically my sport climbing antistyle, I finally seem to have fingers that can pull on some of the smaller holds. And also, despite having done zero endurance training between last summer and this week, I could actually hang around for a short while. So, with some structured endurance / foot-on campus over the coming weeks, I’m quite confident I can finally make some inroads on the longer 7s, and pretty syked for routes in general.

Weight dropped from 89 - 86kg, but I think some of that was dehydration.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - fingers, garage session after ages. Hot, fingers tired from Saturday action. Ten overall sets with barbell DL in between, 80% (100 kg) x3x10.
Tue - rest.
Wed - still tired, forearms especially. PE low on a 12 move problem, 1' rests, x4. Weights.
Thu - core. Ab wheel variations. Tired.
Fri - rest, walked all day.
Sat - as above.
Sun - Moon Board, a few problems up to 7a. Grades all over the place. :-/  disappointed and a bit annoyed.

[spidermonkey09]

S - Portland - Battleship. First routes since September. Fluffed first attempt at 6b warmup, mainly because of inability to find footholds. Then tried short 7a (Flickhead goes boing boing) which I failed to onsight (crux involved bouldery section followed by blind reach for a pocket) but then figured out fairly quickly. Didn’t hang around to RP as we were pressed for time and partner wanted to get on easier things but, though unsuccessful, this episode convinced me that, though Portland is basically my sport climbing antistyle, I finally seem to have fingers that can pull on some of the smaller holds. And also, despite having done zero endurance training between last summer and this week, I could actually hang around for a short while. So, with some structured endurance / foot-on campus over the coming weeks, I’m quite confident I can finally make some inroads on the longer 7s, and pretty syked for routes in general.

Although I am not Portland's biggest fan, the routes on Battleship back cliff are great. Pump Hitler is worth doing, as is Jurassic Shift and I am advised Zinc Oxide Mountain is superb.

[Yossarian]

Thanks - I will look those up!

[SA Chris]

M - hill reps 4 x 50m climb in 500m. Nasty
T - nowt
W - Intervals at lunchtime. 5 x 4.5 mins "max" effort. Boulder session in evening. OK session, right shoulder feeling tweaky.
T - Lunch yoga - hard on shoulder.
F - nothing
S - Long Slow Run. 30 km, mostly on trails with a fair bit of hills. Nice route, and made a detour to seek out the "Culter House Road" crag (as per UKC) might take shoes next time, looks like a bit of entertainment. The quarry behind actually looks like pretty good rock too, under all the moss. Unlikely to ever stay clean though.
S - nothing much.

[gme]

Felt off Y Front first time then flashed the direct version.  That’s Northumberland Grades for you, fall off 6A then Flash neighbouring 7A.  Went back to Born Lippy, repeated top, repeated crux and then did it first go despite feet cutting loose unexpectedly on the crux.

I had the exact same day as this last year!

Y Front was an awful choice for a warm up.

The direct version is an eliminate and not supposed to use the first rail. Probably 6A+/B if done using all the holds and actually easier than original, hence probably the most popular 7A in the county. UKC description kind of describes it correctly but guess a lot of people dont read it. Red line in guide makes it more obvious.
Quite a good problem if done as its supposed to be but a total eliminate.

[Wood FT]

S - Portland - Battleship. First routes since September. Fluffed first attempt at 6b warmup, mainly because of inability to find footholds. Then tried short 7a (Flickhead goes boing boing) which I failed to onsight (crux involved bouldery section followed by blind reach for a pocket) but then figured out fairly quickly. Didn’t hang around to RP as we were pressed for time and partner wanted to get on easier things but, though unsuccessful, this episode convinced me that, though Portland is basically my sport climbing antistyle, I finally seem to have fingers that can pull on some of the smaller holds. And also, despite having done zero endurance training between last summer and this week, I could actually hang around for a short while. So, with some structured endurance / foot-on campus over the coming weeks, I’m quite confident I can finally make some inroads on the longer 7s, and pretty syked for routes in general.

Although I am not Portland's biggest fan, the routes on Battleship back cliff are great. Pump Hitler is worth doing, as is Jurassic Shift and I am advised Zinc Oxide Mountain is superb.

It’s world class

[Smith42]

Didn't use the first rail on the 7A.   

Fell off Y Front as the start is just a bit techy on that roll over.  Rf wasn't on proper foot hold and pushed hips out of position on first attempt.

[monkoffunk]

S - Portland - Battleship. First routes since September. Fluffed first attempt at 6b warmup, mainly because of inability to find footholds. Then tried short 7a (Flickhead goes boing boing) which I failed to onsight (crux involved bouldery section followed by blind reach for a pocket) but then figured out fairly quickly. Didn’t hang around to RP as we were pressed for time and partner wanted to get on easier things but, though unsuccessful, this episode convinced me that, though Portland is basically my sport climbing antistyle, I finally seem to have fingers that can pull on some of the smaller holds. And also, despite having done zero endurance training between last summer and this week, I could actually hang around for a short while. So, with some structured endurance / foot-on campus over the coming weeks, I’m quite confident I can finally make some inroads on the longer 7s, and pretty syked for routes in general.

Although I am not Portland's biggest fan, the routes on Battleship back cliff are great. Pump Hitler is worth doing, as is Jurassic Shift and I am advised Zinc Oxide Mountain is superb.

As soon as I do Fighting Torque I’ll be thinking about finishing off Zinc. It’s really brilliant, I never quite had the fitness for it.

[gme]

Didn't use the first rail on the 7A.   

Fell off Y Front as the start is just a bit techy on that roll over.  Rf wasn't on proper foot hold and pushed hips out of position on first attempt.

I wouldn’t expect anything else of you. Got to keep them young wippersnapper overgraders in there place though. No room for easy ticks in the county.

[36chambers]

Didn't use the first rail on the 7A.   

Fell off Y Front as the start is just a bit techy on that roll over.  Rf wasn't on proper foot hold and pushed hips out of position on first attempt.

I wouldn’t expect anything else of you. Got to keep them young wippersnapper overgraders in there place though. No room for easy ticks in the county.

Likewise, the cliff is my local, I know how to climb an eliminate

[Smith42]

GME, Do I know you from back in the Berghaus days?

[AMorris]

very low psyche period at the moment, but trying to push through it

generally quite a non-climbing related busy week, but I got a few bits and pieces done at the wall and on the BM

M - Repeating some tricky problems at the wall, nothing new and nothing too hard but not a bad session.

T - Had a hard time getting through my BM session. The low rail felt hard and could barely make the end of the hangs. Back two low pockets felt like they would kill my fingers to death so I gave that one a miss.

W - Rest.

T - Traveling to Prague on a conference. Did some narrow low hand push ups and a bunch of core exercises in the hotel. Actually felt more enthusiastic for this than I have about climbing all month. I found that going super low on the push ups, with elbows down by my side and tucked in, then exploding up was a totally new exercise which I quite enjoyed.

Fri to Sun - Basically doing the above. No time to visit the local walls unfortunately.

Might be the fact that I am closing in on the end of my PhD, but for the first time ever I have no interest in climbing anymore 

[andy popp]

Might be the fact that I am closing in on the end of my PhD, but for the first time ever I have no interest in climbing anymore 

Its a stressful and demanding - not to mention important - time. If you're not feeling the climbing right now I wouldn't worry about. It just gives you more space to complete the thesis.

[tomtom]

Might be the fact that I am closing in on the end of my PhD, but for the first time ever I have no interest in climbing anymore 

Its a stressful and demanding - not to mention important - time. If you're not feeling the climbing right now I wouldn't worry about. It just gives you more space to complete the thesis.

Final throes of writing up is a horrible and strange time... 1000 yard stare... losing interest in most things apart from whatever you're focussed on writing... I stopped climbing then too, and reading, and buying records... Its like all the other creative/interest parts of your brain progressively shut down to focus on writing that damned thesis...

They do eventually and at different rates switch back on again though...

[AMorris]

cheers both, I appreciate the responses. It's good to hear that this has been only a temporary thing for others. It's a bit worrying since climbing has been the thing keeping me sane since I started 

[jamesturnbull97]

Been a hectic couple of weeks at work with it being various Yorkshire half terms, so just coming to the end of big stint without a day off so not really been any outside climbing for a change. Thankfully been really psyched on board climbing which is good for me as well seen as its what I need to do really coming of the injury. Think I missed last weeks as well so I'll stick both in.

S. Home board session - Good to start getting circuit together on the new set
T. Depot board - Starting to feel in better shape on the board, did both the problems I tried the previous week and did them both quite easily having thought they would prove tricky. Did Austrian Mock for the first time this winter which was nice!
T. Depot board - Did most of my circuit problems and started to try some harder projects, PalmerSutra I think?
S. Home board - Managed to tick off a couple of the projects I made last week then made up a few more, enjoying the home board again now I've got more psyche back.
T. Depot Board - Felt really good again, did all my circuit problems again including doing both my previous projects first go to finish the circuit. Managed to do Jim's original version of PS which felt like a step up in my board form. Did Mock again a couple of times and dropped going to the top of the board on the Austrian Joke finish.
T. Felt more tired tonight, again did some some of my circuit. Surprised myself by doing Bradder's harder finish to PalmerSutra which felt good! Just about finished me off for the session, then did a few more easier things.

Will be plenty more board problems this week, Thankfully will have more regular days off in the coming weeks so will hopefully get back out on rock now in feeling more confident on my ankle.

[gme]

GME, Do I know you from back in the Berghaus days?

You do Paul. Its Gav if you have not already worked it out. Good to see you at the wall a few weeks back, will be keen to get out in the county once my route climbing trips are over.