[tomtom]

Easy post for me this week...

Away with work Mon > Thurs. managed to maintain Tennis elbow wrist curls holding the handle of my small suitcase.

Sat. Blackstone. Glorious day for it - windy - sporadic sun - ground still frozen in places. Managed to wangle a morning pass before childcare rota kicked in...

Mainly at the back edge blocks.... lovely playing on problems around pocket Arête. Shut down totally on Niks Groove and was left wondering how many stacked mats are game for PeeWees 7B undercling SS problem a few to the right of that. Powerful start for the taller climber. Messed about on some other stuff then yomped back to the car arms aching and with little skin left. A good day.

[nai]

Easter holidays still...

M - Out for a quick hit on Little Gem around 09:00.  Had tried it last problem of a short day previously, so fully warmed up but still fresh, and hadn't figured just how crimpy and shouldery it is. Freezing in the wind and shade so bailed after about 15 minutes with freezing fingers and no chance.

Was granted a short pass for afternoon so headed to Curbar, managed to warm up on Early Doors then tried Jihad but no chance of making the big move off the sloper today.

Across to Bad Landing for another play on La Musee Imaginaire.  Managed the move at the end of the traverse up the arete and the move to get the sidepull but it was a bit squirmy to pull up on, fairly happy that I could finish it from there though.  Sat and waited for promising clouds down south to provide shade but they stayed put. Absolutely boiling in full sun so bailed as a sweaty mess with no chance.


T -
couldn't put off starting some PE any longer, 6x2 of my 7a circuit. Harder than it's ever felt, neglecting AeroCap for a few weeks months taking it's toll.
Fulll bar and floor core session afterwards

W Garage at 7am for 2x10 mins LI AeroCap before a visit to rellies.

Th - youngest daughter's birthday so had the day marked as a rest day. Was up early so headed to the garage and managaed 2 x 10 mins LI AeroCap before she woke up.
We had half a plan to go out with friends but she didn't fancy what they were doing. Instead she decided to go out with eldest for the morning to meet up with one of her mates and walk her dog so I took the opportunity to do a decent floor core session then full hip mobility and a fair amount shoulder moblity.  Managed to link fingers behind back with right arm up and left behind head for first time in a few years.

Wife came home just after lunch and they pestered her to take them to see Captain Marvel which she'd apparently mentioned.  I'm not a fan of the genre so was excused but had to be back to go out for dinner, had about three hours spare. Started a thorough shoulder warm up reasoning the sensible option was to go back to Little Gem but all the while knowing that the van would turn off at Stoney Ridge and head towards the lime while I agonised about what was the right thing to do and consider stopping at every crag I passed.

Set off for Burbage, arrived at Griffs with an hour and 15 minutes available. Dissappointed to find somone else there and on Ovine but it turned out to be GuyVG and beta and psyche was shared around.  Made steady progress, few attempts to get one crimp, few more to match, few more to set for the final slap.  Time was slipping away, with 15 minutes to go feet were cold so had to take five.  Next two attempts were rubbish, even got the first move wrong.  Into injury time, pumped one last long ball up the field, wasn't pretty but somehow found myself at the top in some disbelief, even asked if it was valid before dropping off.  Made it to the agreed rendezvous 10s ahead of the girls.

F - couple of hours at Curbar quarry and boulders in the afternoon playing porter and spotter for the nipper.  Did a bunch of 3-5s and managed to repeat Dan's Wall last thing.

S - early evening quicky to Bad Landing for a crack at LMI. Arrived to find two parties already there. Should have just left, ended up a bit ridiculous, three parties at the entire area and all trying to go in different directions on the same section of one block.  Managed to do the final move and had a few attempts from the start, this was seventh day on and connies weren't the best but didn't feel close.

S - bit of shoulder mobility and a five minute blast around some obstacles at Airhaus at daughther's birthday party but otherwise Rest

Like Bovine, pretty pleased to do Ovine. Bovine was the one that finished the job on my hamstring but I was trying this in the days previous and I could feel a dull ache at the time which is why I went on Bovine the next visit instead.  Now on to the low starts, maybe I have 7C in me after all.  Psyche is like 

[yetix]

Well done Nai!

2 weeks posting as I forgot to post last week

M: depot and a little conditioning. Should have rested as felt tired
T: rest
W: recruitment hangs followed by a quick cave session. Little bits of progress but nothing of note.
T: rest
F: rest
S: sheep's pen, dropped the last move of toe dragon into kingdom of rain (7B) a few times, could do kingdom of rain in isolation everytime though. Failed to send The Pinch. Flashed Gollum (7A) and sent Gnasher (7A) with little work.
S: wavelength boulders, did a few highballs in the 4s/5s/6s. Dropped the end of King of the Drunks a few times.

M: conditioning
T: rest
W: Clogwyn Bustach. Flashed Fagin sds (7A) and sent Sick Happy stand (7A+) quickly. Managed to do Bustach Prow (7B/+) 4th go from the bottom and then went and did Billy Goats Gruff (7A) second go.
T: rest
F: cave, managed to get LWH in 2 halves and dropped the end of CB multiple times!
S: rest
S: sent the Tempest (7A) and Geoff's Roof (7A+), then did the end of Jerry's Roof in the pass on the way home. keen to head back to the pass now!

[jwi]

Mon April 8
Climbing outdoors, Fosado Ainsa
os climbing within my limit. Still fell on everything.
Wed April 10
Climbing outdoors, La Ola Campo
os climbing at my limit. Fell on last move of two routes/.
Good but bad day.
Fri April 12
Climbing outdoors, La Ola Campo
os climbing within my limit
Very close to onsighting three 7cs in a day (which would have been PR I think). Fell on the last move of the last one with the jug in my hand…
Sun April 14
Boulder gym
Felt awful. Nothing like onsighting to make you weak.
Hard bouldering, and some recruitment exercises for fingers.
General strength exercises + some stretching.

[Duma]

Well done nai and yetix!

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

M - TCA, back on the 35° Black. No progress but OK session, didn't do crux from start this time but felt really solid on first part and repeated crux to top a few times. Interesting how much stronger the guys trying it with me were on the undercut. 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU 10 palms in narrow CU.

T - 30PU, 15VSit, 15SU, 10PINCU.

W - TCA, one arm hangs lattice edge - 6x7s, manged to improve lh to -10kg and RH to -10.5kg. Then bouldering on new oranges (6B to 6C+) managed to flash them all which was really pleased with, not sure I've ever managed to flash this circuit before. 30PU, 15VSit, 15SU, 10PINCU.

T - TCA, campus, 1-4-6.5,fine both times leading rh, close once leading lh and once miles away. Failed a couple of times on the 35° black. 30PU, 15VSit, 15SU, 10PINCU.

F - 2 x 15 min flat run, 30PU, 15VSit, 15SU, 10PINCU.

S - Churnet. Glorious day but cold in the wind. First to Sharks Head 7A+, struggled on the easy roof moves and failed dismally to make any real impression on the mantle horror. Then over to Spellbound 7A+, managed this second go and then second go from the sit (Spellbind 7B). Stunning line, good moves, fun height, guide cover tick - can't ask for more than that! (maybe slightly less sharp holds...?) then down to gentleman's as despite red doing her project last weekend, she now has acquired another at the same crag... Then a swift half at the Peakstones Inn to say thank you for parking.

S - Churnet, Farley Woods. Warmed up and then on to The Mentalist 7C. I'd had a play on this a couple of years ago and not made much impression, but it was in the back of my mind for this weekend as its something that doesn't suit me (roof, dragging middle 2 pockets) so really pleased to get it done in an hour or so. Felt like the first properly hard for me thing I'd done in aaaaaages. Then over to Amazing Tree, what a lovely block! Lots of fun doing pretty much everything but the dyno (wet) and the silly link ups (silly). Particularly enjoyed Prana Brothers 6C. Bit frustrating not to flash Tree-mendous 7A, fumbled the jug, then went easily when I switch to front 2 in the pocket rather than middle.

Av 70.7kg.

Excellent weekend, psyched to do something hard in a roof.

[Will Hunt]

Tues: Evening climbing begins. Caley. Played around on stuff then did Syrett's Saunter Right-Hand.

it was just an amazing climb and it really puts you through the wringer. If you tense up or don't believe in the footholds then it spits you off. So you have to approach it in a calm and almost contemplative state of mind. But then you reach for that top pebble and start to bone it and you go tense, so it then becomes a race against time to get established on better footholds and get the good hold just above the pebble. In Dan's video he pops for the break but you either have to be Dan-strong to do this, or maybe it was just slightly sub-optimal conditions talking. Anyway, it just kept throwing stuff at me and you have to try and take it all in your stride and not start to panic or rush or you'll be off in a moment. Proper YYFY stuff getting to the top.

Really enjoyed that.

Fri: Had Thursday and Friday off work to go back to the north-west for family stuff. Had a cup of tea at my gran's, looking up through her conservatory roof at Helsby. She's Right. Under. It. Went to Harmer's Wood with the family and climbed while they went for a walk. Did a couple of easy arete's, Tom's Wall, and then got spanked on High Heaven. Later messaged Richie Crouch who'd done it the week before and he'd used a big pocket for his foot which I thought was out. Damn.

Sun: Guidebook stuff at Dib Scar. Really nice crag. Would be great to go back on a cool but not baltic day and do Last Temptation. Looks epic.

[shark]

10.13-11.0

M.

T. Evening. Full of cold. Ergo Edge. Took a real effort to start the session but got a couple of good scores in

W. Noon. Beautiful day - blue skies and sunny. Still full of cold. Low expectations and distracted by having completed on a house in the morning and all that entailed. Ben keen for Plantation. We all did Pebble Arete right and left side. Ben mocked me when I said I'd always bottled Smear Test. Tom had one look and bailed but Ben persisted even taking the fall but didn't tick. Moved to Glass Hour 7A. Tom quickly despatched it with lanky aplomb. After half a dozen goes I did it too much to my surprise as smears didn't feel at all good in the sun. Tommy did Left side too. I had a nap in the sun waking up in time to see Tommy do the Green Traverse. 

T. Flew to Boston with Sonia (she's doing the marathon on monday

W-S Touristy stuff

Enjoying having time out with Sonia to recharge and get over my cold. Love Boston. Back next thursday. 

[gollum]

 M - Push day. Working for reps up to 10. Bench up to 75, decline 70 and incline 26k dumbbell press. A bit of heavier shoulder press work with dumbbells up to 28k and then some more rounded shoulder work with lighter weights for lateral raises, front raises and reverse flys followed by some core work. Finish off with some pulls for serattus with overhead dumbbell pulls.
Evening at the Depot. Start with edge pulls 3 reps at 10-15k on BM2K 14mm edge. Then campus pulls for 8 sets. Solid throughout and a good way to get blood flowing. Strength intervals which go pretty well with the exception of the last couple of problems where I am tiring, but happy enough with how this is working at the money at the moment as I definitely stepped up the intensity.
Nice chatty run with Mrs B when I get home which is good.

T - Mega Pull day. Start with rack pulls with two reps and 5 seconds pause between each rep. Work up to 160k and feeling strong although a long hold working on grip at the end makes me light headed. Then on to a superset of heavy kettlebell Pendlay rows and explosive pull-ups. Then on to some prone rows and straight arm pull downs and finish with Australian rows with high feet. A great session to kick off the day.
Quick nip into the Depot on the way home from work. Do some Max Hangs at 95% on BM2K centre hold and some TRX and scapular work. Then into some Power Triples which start off really solid but am flagging by the end, although do think I’ve upped the intensity with these at the moment. Keep on battling.
Steady trot when I get home to chill a bit.

W - Push day again. 5x5s on bench up to 80k which feels really good followed by the same on decline and incline. Do a bit of tricep work with supersets.
Visit to the physio about my shoulder and we have progress. Definite improvement and don’t have to automatically go back next month, just keep on with the exercises.
Stretching at lunch and a steady hill session trot in the evening.

T - Steady treadmill run at lunch as I get back into the mill ready for being on call next week. Depot session in the evening. Edge pulls during warm up on BM2K 14mm edge with 15k added which feels like a good way to get going. Session is mostly volume doing all the new blacks but throw in a couple of the Woods and Yellows as well. A solid session with few falls.

F - Steady day with a bit of stretching and rehab followed by a run this eve, was trying hard and got a massive buzz from it.

S - Depot Project session. Working on Yellows that I find hard to mix top the angles a bit. Get good progress and some solid links but don’t get any of them done and still several moves that I can’t quite do. Finish session with one on two off, effectively just wandering about going up things reversing them and then reaching over into something else, Purples, Reds, Blacks and Blues.....feel pumped by the end.
Long run on my Tod up to Scammonden and back, 20k in total, much stronger up the hill than down the hill. Need to refuel with plenty of carbs in the Magic Rock Tap Room, which definitely hit the spot.

S - Pull day. Quick deadlift warm up followed by shrugs and roman chair. Moved on to some weighted pull ups with lighter weight but really slow movement. Get some scapular work done and some core and then finish off with various curls and some isometric quads work to help with running downhill. A steady recovery trot with Mrs B to finish off the week.

A week of ups and downs both figuratively and literally.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - rest.
Tue - one armers, after ages, static/dynamic x5. Power snatch, clean and press in between. Overhead walk 30/30 x5. Brilliant.
Wed - boxing bag.
Thu - static/dynamic pull ups, regular pull ups, tricep planks, dumbbell complex.
Fri - rest.
Sat - static snatch pulls x5, clean and press x5, x10. Nice but a bit boring after 5/6 sets.
Sun - board climbing, did one problem then tried a few singles and short link on old projects. Not too bad. One foot bouldering +8 kg fantastic! Managed to repeat my test problem n. 2 after a couple of years of not trying this excercise. With right foot it was a bit sketchy due to knee, with left foot I absolutely pathed it. Wanted to do weights but called it quits instead and went to the garage to polish my motorcycle's tank and frame.

[Murph]

Nai - well impressed with anyone who gets ovine. It’s turning into something of a nemesis I was supposed to quickly do it after getting AT ticked months ago. Proper 7B, that. Don’t suppose you recorded it? Well done all the same pleased for you.

I’ve had another one of those weeks where I wonder what the plan is.

M-
T-full day pass. Went to warm up and quickly tick Marks Roof Original 7A on my way to meet matthew at griffs. An hour later I had to call time on it. One does not simply warm up on something in a wind tunnel on a cold day.

Griffs was incredible. Matthew quickly sent KoL 8A. He doesn’t crow about it much on here but the man is going well

I had multiple fails on ovine. Some were better than others but none were actually any good. That’s maybe six sessions I’ve put in on that one. But I’m not going well and I know it. But not sure why.

W-arms were sore, sort of numbness down the arm. Being as thick as I am I thought a cheeky pinkle and fingerboard session at the works would sort me out. Got me ass handed to me on 2 of the 5 blacks (5-6A) I tried and then got under the fingerboard. Surprisingly it was a terrible session and I abandoned it.

T- arms blatantly not up to the challenge, cancelled usual works session. Went for a jog instead.

F- took the kids to windgather. No climbing for me but we had a great time. Truly I wonder why it’s not more popular. Crag was deserted when we got there and there must have been 100,000 kids on half term within an hour.

S-7:30 session at a freezing Marks Roof. Warm up was a joke but this time I did the last move first so that I would know where it went. It felt hard fingers freezing right inside, you know the feeling where the bone feels cold. Ten minutes to recover afterwards but it’s time well spent.

First attempt lost balance just before flake.
Second attempt remembered to try really hard at the end and forgot to fall off so found myself on the top hold. Bit of encouragement from my partner helped and somehow topped out. Three bursts of “YES” and that nice feeling followed. Grades hardly matter, it’s overcoming the struggle that keeps us in this game.

S-9k jog. Back hurt a bit. Stretches in the evening. Following this stretch routine to give a bit of structure I found that not only is my hamstring/lower back flexibility horrible (no surprises) but my shoulder mobility is truly horrible. Look:

The left shoulder is not very mobile - this is about where it starts hurting. A long way from touching fingers.


But the right is a total shocker. I had to be helped into this position and it looks like all sorts of weirdness in the scapular area...


I know I need to pony up some money to see someone professional - there are now so many things about to break that I could soon end up unable to climb or run.

66.5kgs at least that’s not too bad. Only 3kgs overweight that isn’t what’s holding me back.

[monkoffunk]

STG - Job interview - done. 
Plan Spring Font trip - started.
Climb Fighting Torque.
Get boulder strong.
Weight stay around 74, less for next FT attempts. 
MTG - go to Ansteys, go to Font.
Do something unfinished on Portland at 7A+/7B (?after summer)
LTG - 7C

M - Rest. Little yoga before bed, want to get back into habit.

T - Job interview. Back up to Oxford so I thought I’d revisit the old Brookes wall in the afternoon. Couple of hours there doing a bunch of V4/5s. Actually was surprisingly fun to try an indoor style that was different to what I was used to! Felt reasonably strong as well which is positive.

W - Long day. No yoga, fell asleep watching new David Attenborough thing on Netflix.

T - Campus
RL 13579
R 145 L 14(6 touch)
RL 136
RL 146
R 14 nothing L 14(6touch) aiming for higher both arms not there yet

Few goes at long standing board project. Felt much stronger than before.

Couple rounds lock off-y canpusing up the round ball things to finish. Alternating leads.

F - University reunion dinner. First unhealthy food drink since pancake day.

S - Drove to Bristol in morning to visit parents. Have a beastmaker 1000 in my old bedroom there which was under utilised. Brief session doing some one arm locks on the big flat hold and some campusing. Core.

S - Longer session in morning ~50 mins. Few locks, bit of core. Some more fun campus mini problems.


Main thing I’ve noticed from this experiment with campusing is that my left arm is stronger than right. Hadn’t realised that before although sure some unbalance to be expected. Confirmed that with the one arm stuff. Left stronger, but over all I’m seem really weak on one arm stuff both sides.

[duncan]

... the demands of onsight trad over sport and bouldering aren’t just limited to the mental side and standard climbing training doesn’t really prepare you for them.

Thinking of the days when men were men and it was standard among dedicated climbers to operate at what we now consider really high levels of trad onsighting (you’ll know better than me as you were actually there!) it seems the biggest factor was that they just did trad every time they went out (so enforced specificity) and training was meat ‘n’ potatoes high-volume strength work. 

We did this and we got injured!

F- Awesome Walls. First session with the Trad Rack Simulator 4000^TM aka a pre-loved diver’s weightbelt that I got from Ebay for £20 and looks like it was salvaged from the Mariana Trench.

Read this and thought 1983 all over again!


In my 30s it used to take about 50 leads to get in the groove for harder trad. climbing. This was on top of a little sport fitness (I might onsight 6c/7a as a base to build up to E5). I was wondering if the 50 could be reduced by some more appropriate training. I'd consider adding weights to my harness but this might be pushing my luck on the autobelay. Having one land on you from 10m would sting a bit. Perhaps it might work in the circuit room. I can feel my elbows as I'm typing this...



Murph, that is quite limited. However, I would ask yourself what you seek to achieve by increasing mobility. It is unlikely to make you less injury-prone, will it enhance your performance?



STG: Manage aches and pains. One session of long endurance, climb outside.
MTG: Colorado bucket list in May, a classic sea cliff E5 this summer.
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.

M - Drove back from Pembroke via Brecon Beacons. Brisk 17km walk up Pen y Fan and a moist Fan y Big.
T - Westway bouldering. Still a bit tired. Warmed-up well but tweaked left shoulder on the first V4 tried. Felt a bit similar to when I dislocated it: stretch to a jug and ‘unstable’ feeling.
W - Hip stretches
T - Westway routes: 4 routes up to 5+ on the autobelay, shoulder not right.
T - Shoulder strength. IsYsTs on the rings etc.
F - Shoulder strength. Hip stretches. 10km walk.
S - Shoulder strength: Hip stretches. Fingerboard pick-ups. Been neglecting this for a few weeks and felt weak: couldn’t manage more than 30kg on the 18mm edges.
S - Shoulder strength. Hip stretches. 12km walk.


Slight set-back. Cancelled climbing on the weekend: shoulder tweak was a bit scary and felt the need to be cautious with a big trip coming up in less than three weeks. On the positive side, the hip stretching is progressing well and weight is approaching the high end of acceptable although still some way off fighting level.

Plan: bin the strength stuff for now and focus on route mileage and a bit of hiking uphill. Another Pembroke trip the coming weekend with keen partner and good forecast. Must not go mad....

[nai]

Nai - well impressed with anyone who gets ovine.  Proper 7B, that. Don’t suppose you recorded it?

Cheers, certainly tough, around a grade harder than Bovine. Didn't flim it I'm araid, had my camera but as always too self concious to get it out in front of someone else

The left shoulder is not very mobile - this is about where it starts hurting. A long way from touching fingers.

But the right is a total shocker. I had to be helped into this position and it looks like all sorts of weirdness in the scapular area...

This is the stretch I was trying when I realised my right shoulder was less mobile. After much faffing, and expense, I might be getting somewhere. 
Have a poke around your Sub Scap, which lies beneath the Pec. Helps to put your am out the side bent at 90 desgrees at the elbow. Might find it quite tight and fibrous. I find one of those 4 prong things that looks like a sex toy works well. 
You might also find the Lat attachment point under your armpit is quite tender, give that a massage.
Simple things like arm windmills and the classic pec strecth with fingers linked behind your back but pull your shoulder back and down, bend your elbows slightly and pull them together.
Other stuff you can just do at any time - Eagle Arms, Scarf stretch, lat stretch kneelin down using a chair.

[xelaxela]

Power Club

Goals: Remain Uninjured , 62kg, back to bouldering 7C regularly in UK
Currently: Still OK, 77kg, 6C regularly (7A indoors)

M - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
T - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
W - Took a mate outdoor bouldering for his first time to Craig-Y-Longridge. we got about 2 hours before it went dark. conditions weren't bad, but only managed about 7 problems around 5A and 6B. I felt quite strong, but spent the time focusing on him some problems done.
T - 20mm Edge Max Hangs 10 seconds with 2 mins rest between sets body weight plus 37.5kg for 6 sets and
      weighted pull ups 5 pull ups body weight plus 37.5kg with 3 mins rest between sets for 5 sets
F - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
S - Rest
S - Rest

[spidermonkey09]

Nice one Nai!

M - fingerboard. Much better on repeaters than the previous week. When I can do three sets of them I'll start adding a bit of weight.

T - Depot. Suspiciously empty in the board room. Did the easy version of one of my replicas repeatedly and started trying a slightly harder version; the original vision has a extremely difficult move on it but might go in time! Finished with a bit of power endurance work doing laps on the warm up problem. Needless to say this felt hard, but felt stronger than the previous week.

W - rest. Had intended to do some core but settled for some stretching.

T - Malham. Boulder session. Amazing conditions once the sun got off the rock, the undercuts felt twice the size. Tweaked foot position in latter half of sequence in favour of a slightly lower foot which felt miles easier. Did some great overlapping links from the SA belay to the drop knee and pinch to falling off the jug. Annoyingly missed this move a few times over the course of the session but have done it consistently before so was just getting a bit casual on it. Felt strong on it; amazing the difference conditions make.

F - rest.

S - Malham. Headwall session. Excited to get back up there having not had a proper look since before I went to France. Busy day on it with strong Sam and Nic Sellars on Bat Route and Luke Dawson cruising Bats and Dogs later in the day. Easily did the boulder from pinch to kneebars having only intended to get my fingers going on it; very pleased with that. Tweaked clipping beta on section to bird hole; decided to clip old bolt instead of higher new one, which removes 3 moves from the sequence on steep ground which helps a lot. Later fell on this rusty bolt so happy its good enough! Did the link from kneebars to bird hole which was the session aim; nearly got to shit undercut rest but got boxed clipping when on the link I'd just skip it. Overall did 2 out of the 3 smaller links on the headwall that are the primary aim before starting trying big links and reacquainted myself with crimpy top headwall. Really positive. Psyched!

S - Hungover after a night out in Leicester. Optimal recovery!

Back to Malham on Thursday before away in Scotland over Easter. Training definitely having an effect, optimistic that I can make good progress over the next month or so and hopefully start to try in earnest from the ground around June.

[Will Hunt]

decided to clip old bolt instead of higher new one, which removes 3 moves from the sequence on steep ground which helps a lot. Later fell on this rusty bolt so happy its good enough!

Could you replace it? I climbed at Dib Scar on Sunday and there were some quite crucial bolts with nastily rusted hangers on some of the easy routes. In fact, there's a load of work that needs doing at that crag. Crap chain lower off installed at top of the two popular 6cs (little chain with cross loaded thin mallion to lower off), rusted hangers, Calendar Girls needs bolts adding to it. Then there's the thorny issue of what to do with Sassenach/Central Wall, each of which is being spoilt by the other. Do you add bolts to the end of Sassenach (thus making it a proper sport route but effectively making Central Wall a clip-up on the crux)? You might as well bolt the start of Central Wall then 

Going there with Paul with his stiff brush and secateurs made me realise what poor crag caretakers we generally are.

[cheque]

Nice work Nai, Murph & Yetix!

I'd consider adding weights to my harness but this might be pushing my luck on the autobelay. Having one land on you from 10m would sting a bit.

Yeah I thought of this. My bombproof solution is to loop the excess belt through the first weight- this acts like another, very sturdy, backup buckle and the main buckle can be opened fully without this shifting at all. No way it’d come off by accident.

Rehab Diaries Week Thirty-four

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Grit Trad list (20/20 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M-T- Rest. Was Ill on preceding Sunday and feeling very run down from training, climbing and general life stuff detailed in last weeks post so time for a break. Did nothing except go to work and stretch (getting my hip stretching going now, also is this the right place to brag about being able to link my hands behind my back?  )all week and still felt tired until Thursday so I must have needed it.

F- Foundry autos. Second session of 1983-style training with my weight belt. In the week I’d moved the weights around so they can’t dig into my wonky rib cage and so they line up with the gear loops on my harness. Felt much better. Like last week I only took my basic indoor shoes and planned to only do easy (without added weight) routes with the belt on the entire time. Unlike last week I stuck to the plan and actually did that. 9 routes from 4-6a+ twice each plus unsuccessful attempts at the two other 6a+s (the shorter, verter routes are easier without added weight but harder with it which must be due to weak legs) so plenty of mileage.

Highlight of the session was hearing a woman on Haydn’s introduction to leading course apologising to him for yelling when she fell off. 

S- Didn’t feel too battered after weight belt sesh. Walk around Bamford Moor. Took camera planning to get climbing shots but discovered that I hadn’t taken a memory card so went a bit off-piste and explored the general area.

This day was the anniversary of being lifted out of bed and sat in a chair for the first time. Felt so good to wander aimlessly around the moor enjoying the views. 

S- Windgather (could this be the first time it’s been mentioned twice in the same Power Club?!) My partner’s idea as, like most people reading this, I consider myself above climbing at Windgather and I’ve done almost everything there. It was actually a brilliant shout though as we needed the mileage as part of our ongoing trad renaissance. Start of the day was absolutely Baltic (bouldering weather really) and it didn’t really warm up that much but we got 10 pitches done and I led my first VS since you-know-when. I’d seconded it almost 9 years ago so it wasn’t onsight but I’m pleased with that. We were really quite efficient by the end of the day which bodes well.

Hopefully get up on the high moors this Easter weekend.

[SA Chris]

STG - London Marathon - less than 2 weeks to go
MTG - get life back and on some rock

M - Nowt
T - lunch run, usual trails in good shape 6.6 km. Out with a young whippersnapper from work, so needed to push pace a bit, felt good
W - wall session. Felt ok after 3 weeks off. nothing ambitious, gave new solutions a shot, but felt a bit sore after a while, esp on missing toenail.
T - lunch yoga.
F - first cycle to work of the year, 21 km. First puncture too. Ran home, 20 km, felt the cycle in the legs, but managed to maintain 6 min / km pace.
S - DIY, took kids out on bikes
S - short cold walk with kids, DIY.

Legs feeling OK, slight tweak in knee from fall when skiing last week, and knee pain comes and goes, but not serious enough to worry about.

[spidermonkey09]

Could you replace it?

Going there with Paul with his stiff brush and secateurs made me realise what poor crag caretakers we generally are.

To be fair for most people I think the new one is fine, so it doesn't need replacing or there would be two within a metre of each other. Someone rebolted Bat Route in the last few years I think so most of the bolts are in good order, and Al put a new belay on it last summer.

I agree with your general sentiment though I can't comment on Dib Scar specifically. Probably more of an issue at the less frequented crags I'd imagine?

[Yossarian]

M - Wall. With daughter, soo we both warmed up and worked our way through the comp wall problems. Lots of stuff felt quite hard / full body - don’t think I was climbing terribly well. Managed to campus a longish thing to the top which I’d failed to do on previous two occasions, which was something at least.
T - Started fingerboard session but arms felt sore from previous day’s efforts, so tried some weights for the first time in a while - shoulder press, lateral raise, biceps / hammer curls, etc. Problematic shoulder seemed to take it quite well, so will try some more of this.
W
T - Portland. Plan was to try shunting something harder, but decided to do some bouldering first. Headed to the Southwell Landslips. The Terrace boulder first. Did Terrace Traverse - all very sharp. Floaters 6B+ felt much harder than it looked and was also v sharp. Got a hole in one tip before getting to the top. The Terrace 7A felt extremely hard. Moved on to the Hidden Quarry. Did Fathers for Justice 6B, freaked out trying to mantle the top of DNA Test 6B+. Tried Who’s the Daddy 7A which appeared to be a perfect tall person’s problem, but was not very confident sans spotter.

Decided to get rope out.

Had selected Road Rage 7b+ at Cheyne Cliff, after figuring out abseil access (because of neighbouring bird restriction) meant that it would definitely work for a shunting session. Completely freaked myself out on the way down / setting up anchor on route lower off below some big blocks piled up above (which were probably fine in retrospect). The route looked nails as I descended further.

Spent a couple of hours on the route, which turned out to be totally amazing. Totally unlike anything else I’ve seen or tried at Portland. Beautiful orange rock, very Spanish in character, and quite steep. Alas, my shunting setup was not working very well (using a microtraxion with a grigri, with the latter meaning I had to keep pulling the rope through) so I struggled to manage much continuous climbing. It was the first 7b+ I’ve been on since the early 2000s. The hard bits felt pretty hard, but it was difficult to tell whether this was partly as a result of my heightened anxiety levels. It also seemed pretty sustained from about 1/3rd distance to the top. Will return with a modified setup and hopefully a calmer state of mind.
F / S / S - Worn out and developed cold which wiped out the rest of the week.

Biggest problem seems to be spending too much time thinking I can climb 7SOMETHINGS and mid 7somethings based on getting stronger indoors, which then translates into negative experiences when I do get out. So going to try to focus on avoiding overambitious plans and stick to a more positive experience on easier things. Also going to try shunting with a second microtraxion, the aim being to keep the rope running through with minimal tugging whilst also avoiding thoughts of plunging to death on sea cliff boulders.

[Smith42]

M - Valley lots of shoulder stretching then easy problems but ended up feeling strong so did a bit more than I expected.

T - Shaftoe good conditions, repeated/warmed up on some 6A/6Bs then worked Power Is Nothing Without Control 7C/+, (GREAT NAME!) which is a techy traverse along the lip of a roof on bad slopers and worse heel hooks for about twenty moves to then finish with an awkward mantle.  Found decent sequence and made some very promising links.

W – Bike run bike 5/5/10km in an hour.

Th – Shaftoe again quite late, felt warmer than Tuesday and tips were feeling thin.   Dogged PINWC to warm up then had two good goes but slipping off slopers after the crux.  Planned on climbing at weekend and was happy with progress so decided to save what was left of my tips and sack it off.  However my son decided to try it and was walking him through the sequence and noticed the holds felt much cooler.  So boots back on and after fight got to stopper sloper then past it and then really pumped and then somehow topped out YESYESYES! Massive fight, bleeding ankles and forearms from the wrestling with grit and my abbs went in to cramp when I sat in the car to drive home. #worthit.

F- 3 hrs sleep due to cramps and sensitivity everywhere in aching body! However, after work went down Valley to stretch out and ended up doing 4xten min blocks of aerobic climbing. Left feeling better than when I arrived.

Sat – Met mate in lakes and had easy day on Trad at Falcon Crag, four routes VS – E1. Putting wires in and everything!

Sun – Aching everywhere but weather too good to miss so headed down to Brimham with son and went round usual classics, managed Crimpy Roof 7B+ after quick reminder of beta and then worked couple harder things.

Great week outdoors, psyched with PINWC which I only looked at briefly a few weeks ago, and felt great on Sunday for 4th day on.
Next week will be back indoors training to keep strength topped up and hope weather holds for next weekend. 

[andy_e]

I guess that was you and your son that I wandered past at Murky Rib?

[Stabbsy]

Then there's the thorny issue of what to do with Sassenach/Central Wall, each of which is being spoilt by the other. Do you add bolts to the end of Sassenach (thus making it a proper sport route but effectively making Central Wall a clip-up on the crux)? You might as well bolt the start of Central Wall then 

Personal view - definitely not. There’s too much retrobolting of old trad routes going on at these sort of venues. You lose what is/was a memorable E3 in return for a forgettable F6b (ish). It might make doing Sassenach a bit more of a faff, but Central Wall was there long before and if you can do Sassenach then the end of Central Wall shouldn’t be an issue.

[Smith42]

I guess that was you and your son that I wandered past at Murky Rib?

Hi, yeah quite probably. Did you have big old blue pad?

Great conditions, although it was actually too cold/windy over Crimpy Roof area.  .

You have a good day?

[Will Hunt]

Then there's the thorny issue of what to do with Sassenach/Central Wall, each of which is being spoilt by the other. Do you add bolts to the end of Sassenach (thus making it a proper sport route but effectively making Central Wall a clip-up on the crux)? You might as well bolt the start of Central Wall then 

Personal view - definitely not. There’s too much retrobolting of old trad routes going on at these sort of venues. You lose what is/was a memorable E3 in return for a forgettable F6b (ish). It might make doing Sassenach a bit more of a faff, but Central Wall was there long before and if you can do Sassenach then the end of Central Wall shouldn’t be an issue.

I can sympathise with this. My issue with what's there at the moment is that there is now a bolt (the last on Sassenach) on Central Wall right underneath the crux moves doing the layback around the bulge. The bit of climbing to get there is straightforward. I think it might feel runout from the bolt to get established in the groove. Certainly there are logbook comments on UKC from people doing Sassenach who weren't too impressed with this (there's no warning about this in the Rockfax). They're both good lines but the trad route has been totally neutered by the bolt on the crux and if 7a+ is a top onsight grade I think you could be forgiven a wobbly panic if there are difficulties or suspect rock in the runout section at the end.

You could leave it as is, which is fine but most suitors of each of the two routes will be put off by the sporty/traddy halfway house.

You could bolt Central Wall in it's entirety. I looks like it would make a three star easy sport route. It's still a good line. But it is one of "the 3 classic Central Walls of Yorkshire Limestone", so sweeping away that history is a big deal.

You could chop the last bolt on Sassenach but then you'd basically be getting rid of it as a sport route. It's a 3 star route and follows a good obvious line. Seems a shame.

In the wider picture of sport/trad on Yorks Lime, I think a lot of the retro-bolting has been done properly. Where the rock is good it's been left alone (Gigg South upper, Malham right wing, Twistleton) and the chossy chop routes of old have generally made nice low grade sport routes. It's worth noting that Dib Scar is something of an exception (I think) in that what's been done is a bit of a halfway house. Calendar Girls is basically a sport route now but you need a clip stick for the high 1st bolt. And you have to not fall off/snap a hold on the easier ground at the top. Cauliflower can be climbed clipping the first two bolts on CG and then putting in a bit of gear above, but it's basically bolt protected on the crux. The stuff on the right wall is probably compromised (but also probably shit too). There's an E2 on the right that looks like it desperately needs retroing but I think Dave M (the FA) has asked that it's left alone. Fiend's done it so it must be shite.