[shark]

11.1-3 Average 156.4 down 0.1lb

M

T Noon. Paul persuaded me to go to Malham. Not been for 6 weeks. Cold temps but still and a bit midgey on Catwalk. 6 other teams there. Some seepage and undercut by third bolt wet on Oak. Top roped Appetite clean but felt clunky on moves like I was overusing strength. Probably not surprising with hindsight that ive only been bouldering and fingerboarding. Top rope on Taking the Space went worse. After initial fall on bottom move then did it clean to the top. Had some wet holds but felt desperate. Warm up Go 1 on Oak fell off initial pop move a few times (continuing theme thru day)then when did it got all the way to the wet undercut which I tried to dry. Went to top in three more sections. Still felt clunky but fairly strong. Go 2 Climbed more fluidly to undercut again but was wet again. Dried it came down. Practiced the throw move Longer rest Go 3 Got to undercut and it was dry enough to pull on and climbed to set up for throw but rushed last little bit and didn’t sag down but still nearly got the horn. Ties and tips sore now. Long break and rewarm up including walk to top of Cove. Go 4 Tired but applied myself well and got to setting for throw but foot shot off when I was adjusting on a handhold. Called it a day. Nice meal on Listers after

W

T

F Afternoon. Malham again with Paul. Warmer. Oak was dry. TRed Appetite. Warm up go on Oak not as good as Monday. Not sure whether conditions or me. Had a nap. Second go took several attempts to do first pop then when I did the next big crank felt like the living end and fell off shortly after. Wasn’t feeling it at all. Felt wiped so called it and spent rest of day belaying Paul on Main Overhang. Had a bite to eat and a pint in Listers again which was nice. Felt washed out on drive home despite having done fuck all. Hard to know what happened or how to respond but going to take 6 days off

S

S

Not sure what led to being so rubbish on Friday. Have had 7/8 weeks of being reasonably hard at it. Conditions weren’t mint but not bad either. Watched my food in previous 2 days but certainly didn’t starve myself. Some stressy stuff going on in the week as well as build on an extension is behind schedule, made some big investment calls and the BMC talk on weds eve was demoralising.

Going to take 6 days off in the hope of repairing body and psyche and take opportunity pay a visit to folks in Devon and move Bens stuff in Bristol

[tomtom]

Break sounds like a good idea Shark. Its been hard with the weather getting out this week...

Mon: Mad Volume in Hull. Good couple of hours session - though straight after a long fraught but ultimatly good day at work. Was hungry so power not great - but enjoyable. Some neat problems there...

We: Depot Manchester. OK session - felt flat. Good to catch up with a couple of folk and did all the new blacks. Then managed three of the purples - inlcuding one that I felt very strong on - despite it not looking like my kind of thing..

Fri: Busy day with family - looking after the boy in the morning - then had to go to Rochdale to buy 12 childrens fireman helmets (I can elaborate more if anyone really wants to know..) and from there took a chance on Blackstone being dry... Had a decent session - didnt manage anything new - but enjoyed myself... some details and RMan directed questions below..
A. Game of Groans. OK - given 6C+ in the guide, but 7A+ on one of Rmans vids... felt hard but could have been summer conditions and thin skin didnt help..
B. Boozy Brawler. Classic lowball... just couldnt get my weight over a foot/knee/hip to rock over the top..
C: The Underdog. 7A+!! eek... one hell of an initial pull...

Sa: Depot with the lad for RockTots (f*ck yeah!) which meant I did no climbing.. however the Boy finally did some moves (on his own) including a foot swap (!!!) and some sort of palm off up a corner move... and was trying some sort of Rose move as well.. All at a low height of course - so showing his genetic propensity to lowball shuffles... Other highlight was getting a couple of coffees and meandering back to the kids bit chatting to a couple of people forgetting a stuffed dinosaurs neck and head was poking out of my hoody pocket :D

Su: Nothing. Fathers day began at 6:30 when the boy woke up and it became apparent it was "my turn" as MrsTT was groaning next to me as she'd gone out on the lash the night before. However, going to some Brazilian eat as much meat as you like place this afternoon evening...

My tape worm is chuffed.

Thinking seriously about a change of career.

[Duma]

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

M - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. TCA, foul mood and no energy when I arrived, prob to do with just finishing nights, but improved by coffee and chatting. Eventually got up to speed and managed one really good go on the wood on the front, just about linked first half which I'm pretty psyched on as I think it both doesn't suit me, and is decent Rocklands training.

T - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. TCA, did 7c+ pe circuit first go, then repeated a couple of the harder yellows, then bit more time playing on the wood. No new links but shown better sequence for the second half which may mean it's a possibility in a oner.

W - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU.

T - 30PU, 15PINCU.

F - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU. TCA, 30 min going round the low 6's which had been reset. Didn't flash 2. 7c+ circuit once. Out drinking in eve.

S - TCA with daughter, hour very easy bouldering.

S - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 8PINCU.

Av 70.5kg.

Shit end to week, struggled to recover from nights so Fridays session was a waste of time. Been a bit down too, weather not helping.

[Goat]

Summer training begins…
Goals -     remain uninjured,  feel strong on all grip types,  improve general finger strength


Mon-         2 hour board session #1.     Getting a feel for the board again, ended the session feeling relatively strong.

Tues-        1.5 hour board session #1.   Felt stronger than Monday, ended feeling really strong due to a niggle in my left middle finger.

Wed-         2 hour indoor bouldering, mainly slab climbing. I was horrifically weak on full crimps. Completely exhausted by the end, but great fun.

Thurs-        Rest day.

Fri-             2.5 hour indoor bouldering, mainly slab climbing (around 1.5 hours). Footwork felt better than Wednesday, but not a great session. Again exhausted.

Sat-            2 hour board session #2.     Mixed things up and set 5 project problems at my limit, with the aim of being able to do all 5 in one session by the end of summer (a big goal.)       (Also skipped my standard board session ending.)

Sun-            2 hour board session #2.     Started feeling weak, but by the end my finger strength had returned, however don’t think I could have lasted much longer. Blasted myself on the core session. Ended feeling tired.

I’ll be resting on Monday and Tuesday.



Board session #1
Beginning-   Swing on jugs, pull on small holds while on ground, easy problems.
Middle-        Make up new and practice old board problems.
End-             Core workout and one-armer practice.

Board session #2
Beginning altered to include hanging off a hangboard (3 second hang then a pullup on each)
Jug sloper hangs- 4 finger drag, then 3 finger drag.
25mm hangs-  3 finger drag, 4 finger drag, half crimp, then full crimp hang with no pullup.
(I think from now on I’ll make this part of the beginning of each board session.)

[monkoffunk]

STG - More volume: Climb 10 routes 7a-7c+ by end June (3/10). Getting volume in, but not the ticks.
Maintain weight ~74kg
MTG - Zinc Oxide Mountain.
Climb more at Cheddar.
Portland Font 7A+/B from unfinished list, autumn.
LTG - 7C

M - Yoga. Felt so stiff!
T - Yoga. Planned a finger board session, but by the evening was falling asleep. Did some token weighted pull ups and diamond push ups no more than 10kg added.
W - Yoga. Still feel really tired and stiff.

T - Day off but raining. Oakwood. Made up some problems on board as computer lights thing didn’t seem to be working. Set a couple of really cool moves, good session, tried hard. Bit of not too hard steep bouldering after that. Lap of the 6b+ circuit.

F - Pre nights, rest

S - Pre nights.
Warm up.
5x 0,6,10kg pull ups

Max hangs 10sec BM 2000 bottom rung
0, 10kg, 20kg, 30kg (6 sec), 30kg (7 sec),25kg (8 sec), 20kg (7 sec)

Low scores! Felt strong but somehow just not happening. Might be hot....

Switched to weighted pulls on rock rings as felt more amenable in conditions

3x 45kg, 1x 50kg, 0.5x 50kg, 1x50kg

3 at 45kg is PB for number reps, and 50kg PB for single rep, although never tried harder.

Very quiet night shift, watched West Coast Gimps for first time. What a classic, hasn’t aged a bit. Got me really psyched.

S - Pre nights.

Warm up pull ups. 5x0kg, 10x6kg, 5x10kg

Anderson style repeaters on bottom rung BM 2000. Hot and humid. Reckon I’ll be able to complete fully with no early feet down in winter hopefully.

Pretty reasonable week, meant to get to wall this weekend but didn’t quite work out with work and house moving related stuff in the day time. Probably back to Cheddar this week, hope the cloud sticks around...

[gollum]

M - Accessory day at the gym as have a spare session to do. Start with some shoulder presses with dumbbells up to 30k per arm. Then work on some single arm strict shoulder presses and finish shoulder routine with some laterals. Then do a couple of rounds of supersets for biceps and triceps. First set is Tate press and concentration curls, second is overhead tricep presses and some inclined curls. Finish off with a bit ion front lever work. A pleasant change.

T - Push day with PT. Start with bench for 3 and get to 90k comfortably, so go for 97.5 and absolutely nail it. Move on to benching dead off the safety bars and get 3 at 100, so pleased with that all told. Move on to barbell shoulder press for 4x50 which looks considerably more solid than last time I did it. Finish off with some press ups on the bands slowly reducing the tension with each set. Can feel my scapulars engaging and think this is better stability work than TRX for me as it is always unstable.
Steady 5k on the treadmill at lunch. Achilles feels a bit niggly.
Evening at the Depot. Start off with some campus board work to get the muscles firing. Benchmarks feel solid and even make some progress.
Project session which starts off well with some very good links on first two problems but last one feels a battle until I get in the groove and then it feels okay, although don’t think I’m ever in danger of actually doing the problem in this session. Finished off trying a few of the new purples and managed a couple but was actually way too tired to make much progress on them.

W - Pull at the gym. Deads to warm up. Go to 140k which feels slow off the deck but okay after that whereas 120 flew up. Need to work harder on this as 140 should fly. Then some shrugs and lower back work. Do a few solid locks and finish on pull down machine pulling all the way down as if doing a muscle up and then doing slow eccentrics.
Depot in the evening and start with Max hangs. Begin on centre hold on BM and use bodyweight plus 2k on each arm for a couple of sets. Then move onto Lattice rung. Do 3 sets with 5k off on each hand with each set getting progressively better as familiarity returns. Last set is on 14mm BM edge and manage e 8 seconds on each hand with 5k counterweight. This is definitely a little progress.
Board session and start with fingery problems which go pretty well with first one getting done and second I get solid links. On the more arm prioritised problems fair pretty well, working both core and arms. Still got something in the tank at the end.

T - Push session. Bench for 5 working up to 85k, followed by similar on declines and a bit lighter on inclines. Then a light weight shoulder session, with plenty of varied and complex movements combined with isometric holds and trying to maintain impeccable form.
Day off, so afternoon session at Manchester Depot. Have a crack at the comp problems and have a fun time pulling. Think I may be able to do a couple more so will aim to get back there later in the month.

F - Pull at the gym. Warm with Deads up to 145, as I slowly work it back up a bit. Then move on to shrugs, lower back work and rows. Finish off with some heavy pull downs.
Depot during the day and tick off a few more of the purples which aren’t as hard as I first thought, although I think there are a couple that will take a fair bit of effort.

S - Push day. Start off with some bench work. Going for triples up to 95k before moving on to the same for decline. On incline experiment a little bit with throwing the bar out of my hands in the smith machine. Stop at 5x50k as think this will help in getting power going but at the same time has potential to go wrong. Do some standard inclines. Work on single arm dumbbell presses to improve across the body stability. Finish off with a few machine flys and presses which I don’t do very often. Remember that flys with heavy weight just make my shoulder crunch, which is why I normally stay light and do isometric holds.
Steady 5k run with Mrs B in the afternoon dodging the shower.

S - Pull and and start with dead to warm up. Then some rows with light weight, again working on speed  and form as much as anything. Some low rack pulls up to triples for 160k and some shrugs and lower back work. A good day generally working on things that get neglected through climbing but will be important for stability.
5k exploring and find a nice route that takes in my two favourite pubs…..although fortunately they are both shut.

Solid week

[nai]

M - Beginners, slight spooge on the Swing Time/Man of Steel crimps but managed to work around it.  Was also trying to work around my dodgy left knee/hammy not liking the obvious heel beta, worked a method without it but it was way harder so had to grit my teeth and go for it in the end, managed ST but had to walk hobble away without MoS
LI Core back home

T - knee a bit sore - started a fingerboard session then gave myslef a blister right on the middle tip trapping it between weight plates. Carried on and realised that I weight the pad 1/2 - 2/3rds of the way back on most hangs. Decided I need some small edges.
LI core,

W nowt

th - More hangs,
IYT - did reverses using bands rather than TRX which felt much more effective, increasing resistance when the arms are in climbing position.
HI Core, not as strong as previous

F - Garage board with a taped tip.  Managed the super burly project from 3/4 sessions ago.
Made some 10mm edges in rest periods.
Legs - squats, lunge, one leg hip thrust, kb swings, hip Swiss ball hip thrust variation.
LI Core

S rest

S - Day of indecision, hoped to get a small window (which didn't open) and was reluctant to do too much ahead of potentially getting out on Monday (which also looks like it's not happening)
Quick fingerboard session, new edges ok although major fail only managing to hold bodyweight for 3s on F3.
LI core

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - dumbbell complex x4. Overhead/shoulder carry 2/2 x5 absolutely brutal. Abs in between.  Hill sprints.
Tue - rest.
Wed - still tired from the sprints. Ab wheel x20, snatch pulls x10, x5. Static/dynamic pull ups. Clean and press, lateral raises, biceps, triceps. Torrid.
Thu - knee operation.
Fri - rest.
Sat - knee rehab, then weights!!! Press, lateral raises, biceps, triceps, EMOM pull ups 5x10.
Sun - knee rehab, then weights. EMOM pull ups 5x20. Press, triceps, abs. Nearly got cramps at lower abs. So happy.

[Will Hunt]

Tuesday - bouldering at the Depot. Mainly mooching and did a little bit of sideways shambling on the circuit board at the end.

[tommytwotone]

Goal - have the opportunity and ability to do a new (to me) 7a


Thurs: HIIT class at work on lunch - tough going, instructor was a bit late and I think crammed 45 minutes of intensity into 25 mins. Goosed afterwards.


Sun: Father's Day trip to Depot with Una (5 years old) who is really coming on - way more confident downclimbing, and did a couple of problems in the kid's area with (mostly) one hold colour. Sporadic pottering for me, including getting a (supposedly) V6 second go.


Did a Boots body assessment machine check on way back - more positive than I'd assumed - BMI on the upper end of acceptable, and 14% body fat, which I thought was pretty terrible, but is apparently "excellent".


Followed this up with a huge fish and chip supper with the family, and some cake on return home. #athlete etc.

[Steve R]

M - wall, problem circuiting upstairs
T- wall, board.  skin not great but satisfying session revisiting some older probs I'd tried but not linked, filling in some blanks sort of session.
W -Light run. wall, board. ticked a couple of new 7's then got close to main current board proj. press-ups, leg raises.
T- Light run.  wall,  good session on board, also couldn't resist trying some of the new comp wall set.
F-rest, stretch
S- Church crag pm.  felt pretty good warming up and close first go on gulliver's travels, dropping it on the holds above the gaston.  skin or conditions or both deteriorated and didn't get anywhere close again on subsequent efforts.
S- Was aiming to get to Stoupe Brow to try project but sketchy forecast and opportunity to catch up with a friend came up so back to Church again.  better cons than last night though still a bit spoogey.  Did gulliver's in a few goes and then from sit.  plus few others, good long session.

Good week.  Lots of climbing but seem to be recovering well overnight.   Still seeing progress on board, don't sense any injury risk and current main objectives outside are boulder problems so reluctant to change much for now.  Hopefully get some dry and windy days this week to try Stoupe project.  Finger fine, still not shifted any weight ~76kg though body comp might have moved a little in the right direction.

[cheque]

Rehab Diaries Week Forty-three

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (16/26 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M- Multipitch VDiff in the Pass, covered last week

T-T Rest. Knackered from weekend. Literally did nothing- couldn't face BMC meet on Wednesday.


F- Awesome Walls autobelays. Got a new belt for the TRS5000 which not only makes it 100% secure, it's also more comfortable and easier to move the weight about on it while wearing it.  Did eight routes from 4 to 6a+ (the six below 6a+ with no rest inbetween apart from the lowering off  )  and had two attempts each at the three 6bs and a go at a 6c+ as well. Quite a session- attemted to warm down by doing a 6a+, 6a and a 4+ but fell off the first two and nearly came off the 4+ too! Got on the slackline after and was far better on it than last time which is great progress. 

S- Walk from Froggatt hairpin to Eagle Stone in "changeable" weather. Rained a lot but we had full waterproofs so it was cool.
 
S- Rest. Plan was to do weights at the gym but really tired again.

Second week without ticking a route from my list but the crap weather has at least allowed me to do the big session/ big recovery time thing that I normally steer clear of in the summer. I swear climbing with the weight belt is amazing training- I feel massively worked afterwards though!

[Coops_13]

M:
T: Hotel Gym. 20 mins on cycle machine then stretching and some cable machine + weights
W:
T:
F:

S: DBC. First loading of finger for a few weeks. Wore this weird thermoplastic pulley ring with H-tape. Hung on larger B2k hold two hands with weight off. 3 hangs of 10 secs each on -45lb, -35lb, -25lb. Then light climbing, finger felt worked with light 'good' pain. Then deadlifts up to 205lb, squats up to 155lb. Max reps of muscle-ups (5) then musle-up with +35lb. Front lever pulls to finish

S: Went up Mt Evans drive to top with quarter-mile hike to true summit at c.4200m. Gorgeous and snowy. Got sunburnt by the pool in the afternoon, Colorado is great

Gonna slowly increase load on fingers, probably 2-3X a week

[AMorris]

Dipping back into the club after a bit of a hiatus as I train and wonder what I am going to do with my now meaningless existence since the proj fell. We reset the wall, which means a new panel for me to optimise for maximum pulling efficiency and get training on, which is exciting.

Most of the week was spent doing exactly this, nothing exciting.

Saturday - Off to North Wales for a long day. I never ever get on slate and just belay on it, since I never liked it, however something was different this time and I had some psyche where the team did not and went on a bit of a rampage at Australia. Familiarising myself with movement on this fairly singular rock by onsighting a couple of 6b+'s, which gave me some confidence to try Mynd am Aur - 7a, which I also onsighted. This gave me even more confidence to try  Men at Work - E3 6a, and a bit of a leg breaky one by the sounds of it, I don't know cos I managed to onsight this as well. I was quickly falling in love with slate movement.

My mate suggested a route I could try and onsight, so took me to stand before Rock Yoga: a superb 7a+ with a notoriously high 'heel by your ear' style rock over (hence the name). I was excited so I got on and started mantling onto the platform off the deck (which I was told I had to do, rather than step on from right), when a bit of the hold crumbled and I lost balance and came off. With much amused ire, I got back on and onsighted the rest (the rest being the entire route...). The rock over was absolutely one of the most entertaining moves I have done anywhere. I want more of this, so any suggestions for classics to build a slate foundation would be much appreciated. So far I have Heading the Shot and Comes the Dervish in mind.

After a refuel at peters culinary extravaganza, we went off up to Lizard king. Warmed up on Emyr's arete by doing it in just about every way possible and via every eliminate. I then noticed that, as far as I know, the direct was unclimbed (neither in the guide nor UKC), so I set to work working it out. After 15 minutes of working out moves I got the (presumed) FA of 'Emyr's Arete Direct' - 7B. It starts as for the original, but instead of veering off to the big flattie out right it powers straight up the steepness using holds in the crack and a sharp quartz 4 finger slot, before slapping out to a flattie up high. Felt like an obvious line, and completely different to the original.

Next was the main event, Lizard King, which felt fine until one try where I realised it was now gone 8pm and I was completely shattered, at which point I lost all shoulder stability and core, two things which LK needs. Should go fine next time. I decided not to bother, and we went off to find NASA, which is completely baffling and superb. Midges stopped play at 9pm. Amazing day with a slightly bitter sweet ending.

And that is how I fell in love with slate... never thought I would say that.

[tomtom]

I thought ‘is it a crime’ and ‘never as good as the first time’ were superb (esp the latter) on the Conscience slab to the right of the dervish (around the corner). Though I read that there was some major rockfall there which may have smashed up that slab.

Delicate high feet technical moves both E3 5C and 6A I think....

[AMorris]

I thought ‘is it a crime’ and ‘never as good as the first time’ were superb (esp the latter) on the Conscience slab to the right of the dervish (around the corner). Though I read that there was some major rockfall there which may have smashed up that slab.

Delicate high feet technical moves both E3 5C and 6A I think....

Yeah I think those are out of action for the time being unfortunately, cheers though! I have been suggested Kubla Khan in the meantime

[duncan]

I've done very little on the slate but in the E2-E4 range I enjoyed Pull My Daisy (exciting at the top) and Jack O Shadows (interesting technical climbing, not grip and pull).

STG: tbc
MTG: tbc.
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.

M - Shoulder strength. Hip stretches.
T - Fingerboard. Max hangs. on the BM1000 18mm edge.
W - Pull-ups.
T - 
F - Pembroke, with the Silver Fox. Warmed-up on Vista at The Castle. This looks amazing and highly unlikely at E2. The positions are great but the rock is extremely prickly and the climbing awkward and unpleasant which is a shame as The Castle E4s and E5s could use a better warm-up than the barely-E1 Too Much Pressure. Tried Under the Influence, placed the gear below the crux, down climbed to rest (unnecessarily, on reflection) only for the rain to start and soak the place. Abbed for the gear. 
S - Pembroke. Caught by a shower on the way back to The Castle so took a low risk option and retreated to St Govan’s. Warmed-up on Ricochet.  Very unconfident but got some really thoughtful and good advice about not pushing yourself when feeling out of sorts. Which I ignored and got on Test Case. This was fine up to the groove but damp and greasy under the roof. Pressed on but it threw me off awkwardly and painfully for my wrist. Game over.
S - Drove home, carefully.

Got the wrist checked as it was/is still quite sore and has the clinical signs of a scaphoid fracture. X-Ray is clear but, given the history, I’m being seen again in ten days and have a splint to wear ‘til then. Hey ho...

Plan: wait and see.

[andy popp]

I enjoyed Pull My Daisy (exciting at the top)

I was going to say the same, really excellent route.

[Coops_13]

Another one that I don't think has been mentioned and is amazing is Goose Creature E3 6a

[IanP]

Its a long time for me but loads of great routes on the slate .  Rainbow area is great, Pull my Daisy as mentioned, routes on Colossus Wall (Colossus E3, Ride the Wild Surf E4, Great Balls of Fire E4, all pretty well protected more likely spicy sport routes), if you're up to it the Rainbow Slab is one of the best bits of rock anywhere and Poetry Pink is at the right end of E5 (though still worth the grade imo).  Higher levels of Rainbow area has German School Girl (E2), The Mau Mau (E4, well protected and softish).

[AMorris]

Cheers for the ideas guys! I have had intentions toward Goose Creature, so very good call Coops. My mate has done Poetry Pink and says its amazing, it pretty terrifying, so I would love to give that one a crack. Mau Mau looks superb too.

I feel like I have just discovered a whole new world of climbing to explore, happy times.

[cheque]

I never ever get on slate and just belay on it, since I never liked it,

What put you off it originally?

[nai]

Higher levels of Rainbow area has German School Girl (E2), The Mau Mau (E4, well protected and softish).

And Manatese, although it's not quite as good as The Mau Mau