[shark]

GP’s pharmacist recommended spinach and broccoli too

Be like Malc

Always

[cheque]

Effort Yoss! That’s more like it!

Rehab Diaries Week Forty-four

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (16/26 17/27 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

Didn’t do anything on Monday- surprisingly still tired and started feeling a bit off in the evening- Tuesday felt rank and by Wednesday night had serious ‘flu-like symptoms and awful fever dreams where I flashed back to being in hospital with all the tubes still in me- pretty distressing. Was OK enough to drive to North Wales for planned holiday with parents on Saturday but still not right with annoying persistent cough. Also found another *** Peak VS in the guide that I’d missed when I complied my list so it’s actually got bigger! 

Not a great week. I usually get ill once a year max and only ever in the winter. This year it’s been four times already and all but one have been some combination of ears/ nose/ throat/ chest. I don’t know if this is due to all the respiratory problems I had after my accident or if just still not being fit means I’m getting tired to the point that my immune system’s affected more often. Either way it sucks. Cough almost gone, well enough to walk up a mountain today and due back in North Wales climbing next week though so things are looking up. 

[Yossarian]

Effort Yoss! That’s more like it!

Thanks! The random hookup / disinterested belayer approach is a game changer...

Rehab Diaries Week Forty-four

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (16/26 17/27 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

Did you ever stick that Peak Trad list on here? Would be interested to know what routes you picked.

[monkoffunk]

STG - More volume: Climb 10 routes 7a-7c+ by end June (4/10). Might be lucky...
Maintain weight ~74kg
MTG - Zinc Oxide Mountain.
Climb more at Cheddar - got the Remnant bug
Portland Font 7A+/B from unfinished list, autumn.
LTG - 7C

M - Post nights. Gave blood.

T - Started moving house. Carried some heavy stuff. May have been of some value.

W - Briefly into Red Spider. Tried a few of the new red problems. Thought they were painful, grim and awkward. Definitely the sort of thing I should be doing to prepare for my Portland projects.

T - Rest

F - Cheddar. Warm up at narrows. Did the 7a+ there which is a little thin. Think I failed to do moves 8 years ago but not sure. Remnant. Finally figured out the moves for Wrist Business. Having found the start impossible I suddenly discovered a sequence I found easy when Sam suggested trying something else. Sorted the rest out reasonable quickly. Think should go alright next time! Really psyched to do it and look at some of the extensions.

S - Moving house. Again. Really felt like a work out this time!

S - Moving house. I’ll  need a rest day tomorrow.

Now I think I can do the Wrist Business opens up a bunch of possible 8a extensions so really keen to get back there!

[Nibile]

GP’s pharmacist recommended spinach and broccoli too

Be like Malc

Always

One can not be like Malc. One can only try to be like Malc.

[AMorris]

Good week this week, culminating in a superb weekend in finest Gog.

M - Wall training. Feeling strong on my trickier problems.

T - Rest.

W - BM session. Fingers are definitely responding well to all this fingerboarding at the moment. Still haven't got sick of Stick It after what must be close to 400 viewings over the years.

T - Rest. High stress paper writing.

F - Up to north wales for the weekend. Got a bouldering session in in the afternoon. Warmed up on the roadside on the moose eliminates and the edges (felt hard in the heat) in front of a bus full of baffled tourists. Had a flick through the guidebook and decided to try the absurdly lowball James' Problem - 7A+/B, to the left of Diesel Power, which yielded after a couple of tries. Did a few victory laps to finish the warm up. Bumped into a few friends and headed off up to Lizard King - soft 7C, which went easily after a few tries. Repeated Emyr's arete a couple of times, and did the direct version again to try and convince my mates to get on it. They did not. Off to the hut for food and sleep, didn't want to be too knackered for the day ahead.

S - Up early and off to Lliwedd for a big day. We have been wanting to to Terminator (aptly named, as it turns out...) for some time but never got round to it. Lliwedd has a reputation for being pretty serious, very large (largest in Eng/Wales afaik), without positive holds, and poorly protected. As it turns out, this was a bit of an understatement. We were prepared for a few spooky run out sections on the trickier pitches and a bit of grass whacking, but this fell very far from the reality. The first 2.5 pitches of this route did everything in its power, and pulled every trick it could to try and kill us.

P1 E1 5a (30m): Ian lead. Pretty spooky, tricky and bolt start up a slippery groove with absolutely no good holds. Eased off a little after 8m, but still though-provoking enough to keep you on your toes. 2 bits of kit, both mediocre.

P2 E1 5b (50m): I lead. Absolutely magnificent pitch. Harrowingly run out, on sustained, technical, slabby ground where every hold is poorer than you want it to be, or too sideways to be of much use. Placed one decent sling at 5m and a good nut at 12, before stepping out onto a huge, amazing slab. Teetering up this gives little opportunity to stop and think, which was almost merciful, but I spotted a sling placement at about 20m. This lead to probably the wildest run out of my (all be it trad inexperienced) life. The next 30m was entirely unprotected, sustained, slopey, and engrossing. At about 40m I gently rested a sling on a flat bit of rock, laughing as I did so, as a piece of psychological gear. Trying not to breathe as I moved past it for fear of it falling off, I topped out at 50m onto a slopey ledge populated with slippery death grass. This would be the scene of a 25 minute meltdown as I tried to cobble together a rubbish belay from non-gear, whilst trying not to slide off the edge on grass which turned immediately to mud if you touched it. There are no words in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men to explain how much I did not want to be there at that moment.

P3 E1 5a (35m): Ian took pity on me and lead. Bold, tricky start, before a lovely romp up easy ground.

P4 (35m): Scramble up to a big comfortable ledge at the foot of a superb looking small pitch.

P5 E1 5b (35m): I was in a much better mood by this point so lead. Really great climbing on a vertical, featured wall. Good gear all the way and a few thought-provoking sections. Finished scrambling up to the great terrace at the foot of Terminal Arete, which we moved together on for the 120m to the summit.

What an amazing day and an incredible route. Serious was the word. I loved all the climbing, but the grass on the first two pitches was the stuff of nightmares...

S - Pretty knackered, so went for a gentle boulder in the pass. Managed to get round to doing heel hook traverse, and then ran off to Jerry's Roof. I got up Johnny's Problem - 7B, which has a superb powerful 'thunk' move and a surprisingly entertaining section turning the lip. Decided to try Pool of Bethesda, more as a demonstration of how mad the first move is than any belief that I would be able to get near it. Turns out that first move doesn't feel a million miles off, so tentatively opened an account on it, if only a post-office holding account. By this point the psyche of the team had waned, so we headed off to that new coffee place down from petes with the entertaining Kiwi owner, before going home.

Lovely weekend with some excellent climbing. Glad to have got up Lizard King, as it is one of the best at the grade I have done, and Terminator was an experience I will not forget any time soon.

Sorry for the long, blog-esque post, let me know if this is an inappropriate place to post such things!

[Coops_13]

Sorry for the long, blog-esque post, let me know if this is an inappropriate place to post such things!

Not at all mate, it was good (if terrifying) reading!

[andy popp]

Sorry for the long, blog-esque post, let me know if this is an inappropriate place to post such things!

Not at all mate, it was good (if terrifying) reading!

Yeah, I enjoyed reading it. Looking on UKC several others say very similar things about p.2 but hardly anyone has suggested an upgrade. I have to say it doesn't sound very E1 5b? I only ever made it to Lliwedd once and wish I'd gone a little more often.

[Will Hunt]

I read the description of P2 through my fingers. Best power club post in ages. Wadded.

Take note, all of you folk posting dull fingerboard routines 

[tomtom]

Take note, all of you folk posting dull fingerboard routines 

Or guidebook writing :p

[nai]

Take note, all of you folk posting dull fingerboard routines 

Suggest that again I'll send Nibs your address and a plane ticket

[cheque]

Sorry for the long, blog-esque post, let me know if this is an inappropriate place to post such things!

If there’s no human interest in people’s posts on this thread I just skip them so cheers for your gripping post. I looked up P2 of Terminator in the (useless-seeming but having never used it I probably shouldn’t judge) CC guide and it gives it 5a with a description that’s basically “climb the slab”  .

Did you ever stick that Peak Trad list on here? Would be interested to know what routes you picked.

There was no picking involved, it’s just the routes below HVS from this list and this list that I hadn’t led or soloed at the start of my comeback.

There were 21 grit and 6 lime originally, 19 of them VS. Some of them I’d seconded before, some I’d just never got round to but most at crags I’d never or rarely visited because they’re far from where I’ve lived and/ or a long way from the car. Most of the grit ones are also steep cracks because I never liked soloing that hard in that style or leading that sort of route as a warm-up.

So it seemed like a good project to keep myself motivated while I can’t climb hard. I’m pretty obsessed with ticking it by the end of the year and I’m massively enjoying it- it feels like when I first started climbing and not just because I find VS difficult again. 

[AMorris]

Cheers for the wads and the comments, much appreciated!

I looked up P2 of Terminator in the (useless-seeming but having never used it I probably shouldn’t judge) CC guide and it gives it 5a with a description that’s basically “climb the slab”  .

  yeah that was all we had to go on too. Luckily the descriptions of the route in general were fairly clear on it being a spooky ordeal, we just didn't quite expect what we received!

Yeah, I enjoyed reading it. Looking on UKC several others say very similar things about p.2 but hardly anyone has suggested an upgrade. I have to say it doesn't sound very E1 5b? I only ever made it to Lliwedd once and wish I'd gone a little more often.

This confused me too. I am not hugely experienced to comment on trad grades, but I did top out on pitch 2 muttering about it being a bit necky for E1 on that ground. As had been suggested in the CC guide, I think 5a is probably fairer, just quite a few moves of it.

[Duma]

Well done TT, Yoss, and AMorris.

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

M - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. TCA, repeated all the yellows (hard set) in a session, 35° took me 6 attempts, but everything else was first go. Pleased with this, prob works out as 1x7B/+, 3x7B, 2x7A+, 4x7A,   3x6C+, 4x6C, 2x6B+. Have had it as a vague goal for a while, but getting the time, skin, and energy has eluded me. Then attempted to move on to working the wood on the front, but r hamstring was feeling bit tweaky and it's fairly intensive on that leg so sacked it off. Made up a problem that'll be fairly tricky, did all moves except the final dyno. Big session. Then nights.

T - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. Nights.

W - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. TCA, fairly easy session, mostly just keeping skin in shape for trip. Few goes on harder made up problems on the front too though. Nights.

T - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. Nights.

F - 30PU, 20VSit, 10SU, 15PINCU. Fly to SA overnight.

S - Arrive Cape Town, pick up car, drive to Clanwilliam, shop, check in at Travellers Rest, then nip out to Dihedral Boulders to touch some rock before dark. Nothing tricky, few 6's, tried and wrote off Gliding Through Waves Like Dolphins 8A, but worked out the moves on Jaws 7C before energy and light failed.

S - Middle Plateau and Arch Valley, did all the easier problems on the Dirty Hippie boulder to warm up then managed Push the Tempo 7B which had eluded me last trip. Then wasted loads of skin and energy on Arch Baby 7C before sacking it off for the day.

Av ?kg.

Good start to the trip, no step change from last time but I wasn't expecting that. Rocklands is awesome as ever. (the new guide is terrible though).

Oh, and Nalle says hi.

[Will Hunt]

36chambers was in the same accommodation as all the wads (I think most climbers stay in the same place?) and he kept sending little covertly filmed videos of Nalle or Daniel Woods or whoever, sitting and drinking a Bud Light or having a doze.
I was so so very close to sending a DM on Instagram with a photo of him saying "Hi, my friend is staying in the same accommodation as you in Rocklands and he's a huge fan. It would mean the world to him if he could hang out with you and your mates for an evening".

[Coops_13]

36chambers was in the same accommodation as all the wads (I think most climbers stay in the same place?) and he kept sending little covertly filmed videos of Nalle or Daniel Woods or whoever, sitting and drinking a Bud Light or having a doze.
I was so so very close to sending a DM on Instagram with a photo of him saying "Hi, my friend is staying in the same accommodation as you in Rocklands and he's a huge fan. It would mean the world to him if he could hang out with you and your mates for an evening".

You should have just forwarded his creepy videos 

[36chambers]

36chambers was in the same accommodation as all the wads (I think most climbers stay in the same place?) and he kept sending little covertly filmed videos of Nalle or Daniel Woods or whoever, sitting and drinking a Bud Light or having a doze.
I was so so very close to sending a DM on Instagram with a photo of him saying "Hi, my friend is staying in the same accommodation as you in Rocklands and he's a huge fan. It would mean the world to him if he could hang out with you and your mates for an evening".

I made eye contact with Nalle on two separate occasions, we're practically best friends.

[Coops_13]

36chambers was in the same accommodation as all the wads (I think most climbers stay in the same place?) and he kept sending little covertly filmed videos of Nalle or Daniel Woods or whoever, sitting and drinking a Bud Light or having a doze.
I was so so very close to sending a DM on Instagram with a photo of him saying "Hi, my friend is staying in the same accommodation as you in Rocklands and he's a huge fan. It would mean the world to him if he could hang out with you and your mates for an evening".

I made eye contact with Nalle on two separate occasions, we're practically best friends.

All good starting points for climbing's first restraining order...

[JCorbot]

I’ve been reading this for quite some time so thought it was time to join in!

Goals:

Short term French 7c, E3 and V7 bloc

Medium term French 8a E5 onsight and V9 bloc

Long term: All the 8’s (in my dreams)

Sunday- quick limestone hit. Tried a V5 bloc but got shut down.

Monday- repeaters 10 on 5 off 6 sets with increasing up to 5kg weight

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday- Core and Max Hangs. PB on the bottom edges of the BM 1000 10 secs with 30kg

Thursday - quick board sesh

Friday- rest

Saturday- Back to the V5 bloc. Got it first go then tried a V6 but was too tired

[lagerstarfish]

One can not be like Malc. One can only try to be like Malc.