[tomtom]

Evening all...

Tue: Quick power hour at the Depot in Manchester - managed 4 purples I’d not done before. Felt good.

We: Begin journey to Cornwall - leg 1 to Gloucester. Nice dinner - toddler slept fairly well in the travel lodge.

Thu: Leisurely departure - got to friends (west of Penzance) about 3pm. Nice evening...

Fri: Pottered during the day then went and checked out the V7/7A arête at Carn Galver. It is a superb line - but STUPIDLY decided to beat across country to get there which involved some fairly significant type two fun wading through chest high gorse for about 200m. Fool. There was as it transpired a perfectly good path up a bit further on. At this point locals - you may have your first hearty chuckle at a holidaymakers stupidity...

Anyway - the arête is superb - and well worth the (normal) ten min walk in for pretty much one problem. It is quite high (5m?) and a couple of spices moves at the top which are a little worrying with one pad... Skin was getting sore - and after working the moves to the sit as well, I left.

My legs looked like a war zone :D

NSFW  :

Sa: Felt a bit itchy - and it transpired I had 9 ticks attached to me from the day before - presumably from the bushwhacking to get there. I knew its tick country - so had tucked in my trousers at waist and ankles etc.. they were tiny tiny things - sub pin head size... and I’d assumed itchy legs were just from gorse prickles etc.. (Even had two on my shoulders..)

Eve - moved to cottage for the week.

Su: Fuck you ticks. The day started by the boy waking at 4:30 and not going back to sleep... I had the 6am -9am playing with him slot - and was a bit frazzled by then. After the obligitary marital row started by a ‘I’m more tired than you - no you’re not’ etc... type argument, I was locked out of the house and told to go climbing... OK - so Carn Galver was only 3 min from the new pad - and I zoomed up there. Deeted up my ankles etc.. and walked up the perfectly fine path to the blocs. Warmed up etc.. for ten min - then glanced down at my decathlon soft shell that I was sitting on the ground on (nice short grassy landing) and noticed it had about half a dozen fecking ticks on it!! Said coat had been in my bag all the way up - so it wasn’t from the bushwhacking 0 the little fuckers had got onto me whilst I was lolling about in lovely 20 degrees hazy sunshine in between efforts.

They seemed (strangely?) to be attracted to grey synthetic fabrics - my soft shell and a moon satellite pad. Anyway, whacked them off the garments and pad - packed stuff away and had a couple of good go’s at the stand (V4 - and quite stiff in the grade at that it would transpire). Got it second attempt with a feet cut loose with a slap for the top. (Andy - I used a LH crimp on the very top of the diagonal seam, then rocked over around the arête as much as I could on my RF, then RH up to a sloppy dish about 30cm back from the arête corner - left heel in the bigger part of the diagonal seam/break then a fairly controlled slap for  the top).



Anyway. Superb problem - chuffed to get it and without shedding any blood from my fingers too.. great mix of tech and thug. I would be back for the sit - but in winter. WHen the biting fuckers are not there. No way I was going to grovel about at the bottom with the way I was attracting the little bastards!

[shark]

Wish I could boast about getting some ticks..

11.3-5 Average 158.3lbs down 0.4lbs

M. Evening. Max hangs for first time in a while on Ergo Edge. Worked up to 30kg (previous highest load 32.5kg) doing better on drags than half crimps relative to before

T.

W.

T. Morning. Tor with Nick. 8am start. Bit humid and greasy. Push Up still wet. Two goes reacquainting with Anger Management. Second go did the top bit in 4 sections. Still felt as fingery as ever despite all the FB training. Hopefully that was just conditions. Despite only two goes skin was battered. Stopped strong so could have another sess tomorrow and generally aiming to build back up slowly rather than batter myself Paul Reeve style

F. Morning. Tor Back again early doors. Still humid and a bit greasy. 2 goes up AM again. Second go did from Prow rest to top with two rests despite sore tips. Did the last boulder problem move 3 or 4 times. Nick went. Stayed on and did kick move on Bens twice despite thin tips. Then THFML x 5. 

S. Freak heatwave. Experimented with locks and offset pull ups. Hopeless at locking but slightly worried that training it will lead to injury Undercut moves on systems board - felt pretty strong. Aerocap to finish 2 sets of 20/10’s = 240 moves. Sweaty work. Followed that with moving furniture between properties with Ben. Not the best day for it

S. Afternoon. Max hangs on ergo edge with added weight up to 32.5kg. Getting back towards PB territory in just 2 sessions. Tried to go on board afterwards. Waste of time. 5 or 6 deadlifts at 130kg

Decent week.

Had a body comp check on weds which demonstrated that my home scales are out of kilter with body fat and muscle % which made sense. Worrying increase in visceral fat area. Not sure how that can be tackled. Decent energy levels so maybe folic acid tablets working.

Booked to meet Nick at Tor on tues and thurs. Also said I’d go to Anston with Ben on weds to climb with his uni mates who are staying a few days.

Wobbly molar now hurting. Ill try to sort to have it extracted this week. Will be the third this year :-(

[tomtom]

Wish I could boast about getting some ticks..

I’ll bring you some back in a box if you like....

[cheque]

Effort driving down to Cornwall with your kid Tom. I find it gruelling enough with just adults in the car!

Reading that bit about you thrashing through the gorse I was thinking “watch out for ticks” then I read the next paragraph! I’d never seen a tick before I went to Cornwall and they were crawling all over my legs with 10 minutes of parking the car... it was three days later before I discovered the three that had attached to me, one of which was dead. 

[duncan]

STG: Rehab. thumb and wrist.
MTG: a classic sea cliff E5 this summer (now extended to include September!).
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.

M - Fingerboard pick-ups R hand (18mm edge x10 seconds) to 30kg.
T - Short jog
W - Fingerboard pick-ups R hand to 30kg.
T - Short jog; hip stretches.
F - Fingerboard pick-ups R hand to 31.5kg.
S - Short jog.
S - Short jog. Hip stretch.
M - Fingerboard pick-ups R hand to 32.5kg.
T - Short jog.
W - Visit to fracture clinic, X-Rays clear, told to continue wearing splint and “avoid heavy lifting” for two weeks. This means I can climb, right? Fingerboard pick-ups R hand to 32.5kg, L hand to 20kg.
T - Fingerboard pick-ups L hand, to 25kg.
F - N Wales for some hillwalking and Easy Trad.^TM. Soloed Sub-Cneifion Rib and Cneifion Arete. Both fab. Cwm Cneifon deserted and silent in the late evening, a magical day.
S - Slept badly - first night in a tent is always like this - but waking at 4am did mean I got to the Idwall Slabs well before anyone else. Soloed Hope, Lazarus, and The Arete (on Continuation Wall) followed by Central Arete to the summit of Glyder Fawr. Trundled over to Glyder Fach and down to Llyn Ogwen. Another great day. Tired, didn’t fancy another night in a tent, and thought I ought to ration the soloing a bit, so drove home.
S - 5 second hangs from pull-up bar and deep slots on the BM. Hip stretches.

Soloing long routes was something I used to do fairly regularly at one time. I never consciously gave up but was happy to let it fade away. This weekend was such good fun I better stop before I get hooked again! Good news regarding the wrist and thumb, not pain free but tolerated the climbing and feels better for being out of the splint and stressed a little.

Plan: gradual increase load on wrist. Easy-ish roped climbing next weekend.

[JCorbot]

Hi Chaps, I decided to carry on getting stuck in this week. The hot weather really put me off going outdoors so I mostly trained. I’m motivated to get the goals moving forwards and feel that maybe campussing is the next step.

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)

Monday- Active rest, light weights high rep low load curls and tricep press and core including V sits, crunches and leg raises

Tuesday- repeaters 10 on 5 off on medium outside edge BM1000. Built up to 6 kg over the 5 reps

Weds- Active rest -  core as Monday and 20 minute dog walk at fast pace

Thursday - board session at 70- 80% max blocs on the 5 minute

Friday rest

Saturday DIY and fingerboard max hangs up to 30kg for 6 seconds again

Sunday- invited out to the lime but opted to stay at home and do core and board session. Need to get stronger if I’m going to get a V7 bloc this year!

[monkoffunk]

STG - More volume: Climb 10 routes 7a-7c+ by end June (4/10). Nah, but climbed a fair amount for me!
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 - Pre nights. Needed to rest after moving house at weekend anyway. Mostly sleep

T - Red spider before night shift. Hot as hell. Somehow did one of the new comp V6s. Slopey and long, hugely draining to work and climb, in the temps. Few others at V4 to V5. Nothing with small holds. Next time need to mix it up, back to the grim reds or the board. Still felt like a decent session with the heat weight vest.

W - Nothing, cleaning old flat.

T - Nothing, cleaning flat again.

F - Out with wife and sister in law.

S - More cleaning in the heat. I should stay on top of this...

S - Sorting out new house.

Lazy week really, I gotta do more this week coming. Not a good effort. Moving house and crashing car has got in the way a bit but definitely could have found time.

[Steve R]

Aims: uninjured, 70kg, all the 8's

M - Wall, did a project on board and a problem on comp wall I'd failed on before.  Felt good.
T- Rest
W - Stoupe.  Back to project.  Overcast and relatively cold but conditions not the best - squirmy on holds probably due to humidity and wind direction.  Failed to reach previous pb on project but battled up Dark Angel from a low start (~7C) which was a nice consolation tick.  Went to wall evening but felt quite tired, did  a bit on the board + some leg lifts, press ups.
T- Rest
F- late sesh at wall.  Did a longstanding project on board which I thought I'd have to get lighter to manage  (bad for weight loss motivation)
S- Boiling hot - resting/sweating.
S- Stoupe afternoon.  Good conditions thanks to it blowing an awesome hooley.  Felt good warming up but was then struggling a bit on the end moves of dark angel in isolation.  Gave it a spin from the start anyway and made it through ok.  Enjoyed putting it together over 4 sessions I think.  Unfortunately didn't film the go and then couldn't repeat it in a oner but, for anyone interested, here're the moves stitched together from 2 clips:   

I think it's 7C+, not thought of a name for it.

Really good week regards getting up stuff inside and out, hopefully can keep momentum going this week with forecast looking good.  Re. aims....I'm more or less uninjured now so can call that a tick - new aim, remain uninjured then.  Still haven't lost any weight (~76 kg), keen to address this over July.  Think level roughly there or thereabouts now for the right 8A, other two should be fine.

[JCorbot]

Matching elbow and leg wear! Actually I was thinking of getting some tight under skins to help with venous return during my recovery days and endurance work. Has anybody experimented with this?

[Coops_13]

In Denver for the week, finger rehab continues:

Tue: DBC. Finger rehab, 20mm edge. -40lb X3, -30lb X3, -25lb X3. Climbing up to M-. Squat up to 155lb. Bench up to 135lb. Front lever pulls. Muscle-up up to +45lb, tried +50lb - failed on dip at top

Thu: DBC. Finger rehab, 20mm edge. -40lb X3, -25lb X3, -20lb X3. Deadlift up to 225lb. Squat up to 155lb. Bench up to 185lb PB. Front lever pulls. Dips up to +70lb. Burnout 40lb bicep curls. Burnout chest cables

Sun: Manitou Incline in morning. 2744 steps climbing 2000 feet in 0.8 miles, not too bad. CO local bucket list item, lovely walk down the Barr Trail to get down

DBC late afternoon. Finger rehab, 20mm edge. -35lb X3, -20lb X3, -15lb X3. Climbing up to M. Bench, higher reps up to 155lb. Stretching

Rehab going well, losing 5lb off the counterweight each session but taking it super slow so I can have a successful alpine season. will start going out again when I'm down to bodyweight. Getting more confidence with bench (which is now a higher PB than I can squat...). Continuing to try and strengthen knees for this and am trying to work on form for deadlifts - just scared of doing my back... Any recommendations of a good DL instruction video to help with form (like progressions rather than remember to do 173 different things while you lift)? Thanks (and I know there's a DL thread but it's rather long...)

[gollum]

M - Back on the weights. Triples up to 90k on flat bench and same on decline. A bit lighter on incline. Then do some floor presses for 5s trying to get the top of the movement as quick and powerful as possible. By the time I get to 70k it’s no longer moving quickly so stop at that. Finish off with some light fly’s with isometric holds under tension for each rep. Muscles are twitching.
Steady lunch run.
Evening at the Depot. Start off with repeaters for a wide range of grip positions, which is satisfying. Then move on to some movement and technique drills. Need to keep at these. Board session which feels tough from the start as it is quite humid and warm. Battle through first problem. On second problem it becomes clear that wooden punches are going to cause a problem this eve. Rest of the session is just as scrappy and struggling on things I was doing laps on a few weeks ago. Will just keep on keeping on. Definitely powered out by home time.

T - Legs session. Squats for doubles up to 120 and deadlifts for doubles up to 130. This session seems to work, once every three weeks just to keep the muscles engaged without any building or losing. Finish the session with some leg raises.
Another steady treadmill run at lunch. Nice and easy does it.
Back at the Depot in the evening. Scapular raises and campus board to warm up. Hit  benchmarks on campus board and manage one set which I haven’t done in quite a while. Back onto a board session and conditions so much better than yesterday which leads to greater levels of success. First problem get top move on second go. Good progress on its mirror image too.  On next two get them sorted on good footholds and work them on woods as well, more success on RH than LH version. Good success on last two problems as well. I’ve worked on pretty much the same set of problems as last night and totally different outcomes. It feels like someone has eased the angle back this evening. Clearly conditions but also shows the effect of a repeater session before climbing as opposed to a campus session. Good for the internal feedback loop.

W - Pull session. Statutory deadlift warm up to 140 followed by rows, shrugs and Roman chairs. Then on to some OAP. Weight added on RH, weight off on LH. Happy with how it went. Continued with some 90 degree locks with up to 10k added for both arms and finished with some steady scapular work.
Nipped out of work at lunch for a quick session at the Big Depot. Did a repeater session and hit all my marks with holds I wanted. Coming along nicely although I can only just reach the slopers and therefore wasn’t able to fully release the tension between hangs as I balanced on my tiptoes.
Very steady run round the streets after a traffic delayed journey home. Could definitely feel the deadlifts in my legs.


T - Push. Felt really solid. Double reps up to 95 on flat and decline bench. Dumbbells with pauses for incline and then some work on my triceps to end.
Steady but very warm run at lunchtime.
Depot in the evening. Warm up on the campus board and scapular drills. Campus session is good with benchmarks and a little bit of progression. Move on to working projects. Manage to do my first ever orange and am pleased with that even if it is right up my street. Spend a bit of time trying to practice being more braced on cut loose and just improving on the sections. On second problem I try to work my remaining comp problem. Make some progress on stability on low move but no chance at holding the pinch and have had much better sessions on it. Think it may elude me as can’t imagine that it will fe any cooler between now and when it’s stripped. Had fun trying though. Sneaked in a quick zip up a yellow I’d done before before my next rest period. Third problem was back on 50 board. Work on an old project and have it nailed from a standing start but too gassed for the bottom two moves which are usually straight forward. Finish off with some movement drills on the 30 board, which finishes the session nicely.
It all feels like it’s coming together quite nicely for the autumn.

F - Pull day. Do some different things today. Start with OAP and a bit weaker than I would like. Move on to locks and am surprisingly solid given how I started. Some one arm pull downs on the cable machine followed by some lighter weights but moving all the way through to waist height with a slow eccentric movement. Then some straight arm pull downs before finishing with some scrap raises and some drop sets on bicep curls.
Quick nip to Big Depot after work. Set of repeaters on BM2000 followed by a quick blast on a couple of the purples and reds. Done and dusted in about 45 minutes.

S - Push. Bench up to 97.5 for two. Feel pretty comfortable at this without a spotter at the moment although would probably not risk it in an empty gym. Then work on some heavy shoulder work. Great to be back to this after struggling with injury in my shoulder for quite so long.
Depot for a campus session. Nice steady session with good long rests. Definite progress and consolidation on my benchmarks. After returning to bouldering a year ago the campus board has taken me a long time to get back on the groove on it but think am now there or thereabouts. Finish of with a core session on the bar; lever raises, windscreen wipers, half lay levers and German hangs. Not done that for a while.

S - Start gym with some rack pulls up to a steady 160. Then shrugs, pull-ups and really rows. 
Go to Depot for an hour as Mrs B is away racing. Solid session doing repeaters. I’m  just pushing it a little bit further every session on this at the moment which bodes well. Finished on Transgression board. 3 pull ups on each rung on the minute working down. Surprised to get to the bottom. Then did a 20 second hang on bottom edge. Finished with quick set of technique drills.

A big week in terms of effort. Hopefully come September I will be in as good shape as I can be.

[nai]

Sounds like a great couple of days in Wales, Duncan.And nice one SteveR, looks like a nice sequence

M - board, HI core

T LI core

W hangs, board, shoulder, LI core

Th - trad sport with Fiend.  A sunny, warm forecast meant shade and having dismissed all trad options for one reason or another we were lured to Runyons Corner / Moving Buttress. Never to Look Back was the main aim but the promise of a number of starred high6/low7s to go at was appealling. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to the promise, took some clipstick nettlewacking just to make it four (of 29) routes into Runyons and having tapped every hold and given every bolt an inspection and tug on the warm ups we quickly got on with the main only attraction. Matt put the clips in and I gave it a fairly decent OS attempt but burned too much energy procrastinating on a move low down before finding the better part of a sidepull that made it much easier.  Went ok on RP.

F- Millstone for 9am. Four routes to E1 so nowt hard (although Embankment 4 felt it for a while) and it's possible I copped out and took an easy option for the last route but crucially 20+ pieces of kit, mostly wires, placed, I was even starting to get them right first time towards the end. Scooted away around 1 just as the sun came on (as everyone else started to arrive, including a German who got straight on London Wall. Very funny monologue as he dogged it: GermanGermanGerman SoFuckingHard GermanGermanGerman  JesusFuckingChrist GermanGermanGerman)

Core & handstands PM

S nowt

S started a garage session but kept getting distracted, was just about fully warmed up when I made plans for Tuesday and aimed to be out Monday too so canned it and just did an extended core session.

[spidermonkey09]

Nice one SteveR, that looks ace.

JCorbot, where are you based? Plenty of shady limestone that should allow to try a V7/7c in the heat.

M - max hangs. Calibrating session on new campus edge. Got up to 24kg with a big effort, which is just under 40% bodyweight currently. Will do a proper session on this later today and maybe try and add a kilo if possible. Finished with some foot on campusing; humid conditions increased risk of blistering self but stopped just in time.

T - rest.

W -  rest.

T - Malham. Optimistic on a warm day and with an easterly wind. Started off ok conditions wise but deteriorated rapidly. Strong first go up where I felt really strong on the boulder and hit the tooth despite making several small errors. Was able to adjust several times on the undercuts though which I have never been able to do before. Things went rapidly downhill as the humidity rose and the midges came out. On an effort to do a link at the end of the session I made it from knee bars to bird hole only to slip out of it I was matching into the jug! A dispiriting dog to the top ensued before escaping the midges.

F - rest. Watched Last Breath on Netflix; highly recommended.

S - rest; had to force myself! Went for a swim at Burnsall and read/people watched.

S - Malham. Finally, good conditions. Sods law managed to time first go up with complete absence of strong breeze that had previously been present. Foot slipped and off I came. Second go much better; hit and held the tooth but didn't get it properly and was fully dragging it whereas ideally I'd be closer to half crimped. Contemplated adjusting on the hold for half a second, decided I couldn't and went for the jug. Hit it but not in the good bit and came off; bollocks. Third go not bad considering tiredness but still no dice. Finished off by linking through boulder, sitting in knee bars for 5 mins and continuing up to previous redpoint high point on the crimpy headwall before powering out. Pretty pleased with this at the end of the session as must be retaining some fitness. Did some laps on the top bit and came down.

Funny week; simultaneously dispiriting and positive. I feel stronger than ever on the boulder but can't seem to break the door down and get through it again. When I do its game on, especially if first go of the session, and when I get consistent on the boulder its a matter of time. Watching Robbie Philips rinse it repeatedly on Bats and Dogs an eye opener. Conditions are a major factor for me and probably need to pick my days a bit better. Looks good on Thursday currently. Mostly though I feel pretty luckless on it the last few sessions; if the stars align on a go I feel like I'll get through the boulder pretty steadily and then who knows. Still psyched but it would be nice to get through it again soon! Training tonight. Contemplating going back Tuesday too but more likely Thursday and possibly a weekend evening. Just got to let it happen!

[cheque]

Soloing long routes was something I used to do fairly regularly at one time. I never consciously gave up but was happy to let it fade away. This weekend was such good fun I better stop before I get hooked again!

I love soloing and I miss it more than I miss bouldering really.  When I was climbing the same Ogwen routes you did I was thinking “It would be even more fun to just solo this” all the time but I don’t think I could do it again for many reasons- I saw this morning that Austin Howell just died for example. Being an optimist I just look at it like I’ll be doing less of what the Andersons call “junk mileage” from now on.

Rehab Diaries Week Forty-five

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (17 15/27 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M- Wall from Ogwen Cottage to top (well, almost the top) of Glyder Fawr. Very humid but didn’t feel too bad considering I’d been ill for most of the week.

T- Driving back from Wales. Cough got worse due to getting a bit dehydrated.

W- Off work unexpectedly (should have still been in Wales but girlfriend had to come home early for work) but crap conditions so went on a solo mission to check out crags which always seems to mean climbing filthy chimneys and getting soaked/ scratched/ stung etc. Ruined a perfectly good T Shirt caving at eatswood.

T- Rest.

F- Willersley. July 2012 was the last time I climbed here and almost the only time- I had a run in June-July of that year where I only climbed at Willersley and ticked off most of the VSs & HVSs except The Garrotter for some reason. Did that which felt pretty challenging- I wore brand new shoes which were pretty painful and it was hot but the main factor was probably just unfamiliarity with the style as it turns out it was August 2016 the last time I climbed a lime trad route! Did it in two pitches (I led both) which was necessary given the amount of gear I placed and took absolutely ages but really enjoyed it.

S- Went up Kinder via Fairbrook in the middle of the day to do the amazing Misty Wall. Probably not a good choice of activity for the hottest day of the year (really suffered in the heat on the way up and down and the route is pretty slopey and had been out of the sun for less time than I’d expected) but had a great time regardless and did the route despite dithering in a niche below the inscrutable-but-easy-once-you-work-it-out crux for quite a long time.

S- Rest. Very sore hip. Ate loads.

Mega weekend- two routes off my list in less than 24 hours which is twice as many as I’d managed in the rest of the month. Halfway through the year and I’m a bit less than halfway through the list but I’m confident.

It’s weird relearning how to climb. I can’t really properly describe how strangely distant everything that happened before my accident feels but the effect on climbing is like an extreme version of being rusty- I find myself faced with problems I know I must be able to solve but the repertoire of skills isn’t immediately accessible. When I do figure it out it’s never difficult though and I do think that I’m better than I was before in some aspects but I am still pretty slow at leading pretty easy trad routes! So glad I have patient belayers.

[Nibile]

Mon - knee rehab, weights.
Tue - rest.
Wed - BM small rung 10/10 x6 + 2 kg. Weights.
Thu - knee rehab, quick weights.
Fri - rest.
Sat - knee rehab, rings and weights.
Sun - rest.

Lots of committments, no time for proper training.

[Fiend]

After the obligitary marital row started by a ‘I’m more tired than you - no you’re not’ etc... type argument, I was locked out of the house and told to go climbing...

 

Nai you forgot to mention it was about -10'c at Moving and needing double duvet jackets 

[shark]

Watching Robbie Philips rinse it repeatedly on Bats and Dogs an eye opener.

He’s a giant though. Imagine how much easier it would be with his reach

[spidermonkey09]

Watching Robbie Philips rinse it repeatedly on Bats and Dogs an eye opener.

He’s a giant though. Imagine how much easier it would be with his reach

He uses a different sequence on it which Nic Sellars, Mat Cooke and I think Charlie Woodburn all used, going to a sidepull. Think this may be how Paul Reeve does it too? Of these, certainly Nic and Matt are tall by my standards, as is Robbie. I tried it this way for a while but found it very difficult still as I ended up very spanned out and unable to move my feet. For the mega lanky the standard "4 undercuts" sequence is hard as they end up very bunched.

[Duma]

Looks good SteveR, nice one.

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

M - Failed early start, Khosian Kitchen, new area to me, and didn't bother pulling on in the end. Couple of good looking lines but would probably want more than two pads. Worth a visit if you're staying down that way but I won't be going back. Then over to Bonus boulders as plan b, flashed Buff the Banana 7A and then worked out the moves on Electric Copper 7C+/8A. Pleased to get them all done fairly quickly but skin was not up to proper attempts so moved on to Dihedral. Got Jaws 7C first go today, felt pretty steady which was nice, maybe soft but Squire said he found it hard and the new guide is much more realistically graded so I'm taking it. Flashed a great 6C+, D-day, to finish.

T - Earlyish start which is def the way forward here - the evenings are non existent so it goes pretty much straight from boiling to dark in about an hour. Arch Valley to start for gf to work her project, then Bonus boulders for Electric Copper, skin wasn't great and default plan was to rest today, but we were passing and body felt good so decided it would be worth a quick go. Psyched to claw my way up in half an hour or so, esp without dropping the second half. Chuffed with this, not the most pleasant holds but a sweet scoop and fun moves. Puts me on a par with last trip too. Rest of day eating too much and drinking coffee in the hen house.

W - Fields of Joy. Had been up here last trip but was resting so hadn't climbed, thus lots to go at. Warmed up around the lovely and well named Warm Up Crack 3, then Sneak 6C first go, and Maniac 7B about billionth go. Cool holds on this but didn't enjoy it as much as it's classic status suggested, it's caked in chalk, but the fact that it took me way too long, and made my wrist feel tweaky didn't help either. Then round to Keisel 7A which really is excellent, maybe should have flashed but happy enough with third go. Then did manage to flash Gegen den Wind 7A+ before a few uncommitted attempts at Monastery 7B. Was properly hot by this time and thin skin was making further climbing unfun so sacked it off for coffee and scrabble.

T - Powerlines. Excellent compact little area, not much for the wad but plenty of quality 6's and low 7's. Had a great day running round doing loads of quality 5's and low 6's, plus flashing l'Arete 7A+, l'Arete de Droite 7A, Power Up 7A, and Toy Story 6C+. A few attempts at Powerband 7C but as far as I can tell the sequence for the first bit is "levitate", so made do with the jump start at 7Aish. Didn't get on the classics Perfect and Sublime but will def be back for them.

F - Rain, rest. Checked out Dangerzone in the afternoon, some really quality looking stuff, hopefully will be able to go back to try Tail of the Caracal and Big Lil' Lies this trip.

S - Hidden boulders first thing, good group of locals on Human Energy boulder so lots of pads, really good morning, flashed Human Energy 7A and Creeper 7A, and got up Throw Yourself Away 7C in not too many goes. The latter has an amazingly unlikely first move, and a satisfying pop up the arete to finish. Then on to Campground, wanted to have a proper look at Tea with Elmarie 8A - had good few goes at crux but concluded I needed a better lock on my right arm than I currently possess. Consoled myself with a flash of Teapot 7A and a quick and scrappy ascent of Teatime 7C. Had to do Up The Spout 6A too, as apparently it's the first problem in Rocklands. Ace day.

S - Quick hit at Powerlines, pleased to flash the two classics Perfect 6C+ and Sublime 6C+, then 8 Day Rain where things went downhill, lost a bunch of skin not doing Black Mango Chutney 7C+, then failed to even successfully pull on to Barracuda 8A, before wasting some more skin on Shark 7C+. Bailed back to the hut with tail between legs.

Av ?kg

[tomtom]

Nice week there Duma - and steveR 👍👍

[Duma]

Yeah, sorry for rubbing your noses in it everyone!

[Murph]

Wow Duma what a week. Lots of great reports on here. Gollum I'm exhausted from reading yours. Duncan that sounds like an incredible couple of days. I've climbed one or two of them on a rope but can only imagine how it must feel to do 'em without all that faff. 

Been down on my climbing recently - injuries and one thing or another. But a half not too bad session at the Tor on Saturday inspired me to pull my finger out again. I'll probably never regain my best form but it's all about enjoying the moment, apparently. It's hard to know what you're doing wrong if you never really worked out what you were doing right! But the fact is I used to be a lot better than I am now and that was perhaps due to circumstances that are impossible to fully replicate, but I know what my fingerboarding looked like back then and I know how light I was. Can but try.

Goal - 4 weeks from now it'll be family holiday in Borrowdale time so I'll want to give the Bowderstone a bit of a once over. And then to carry that on and repeat all my lime ticks and add others.
Process - no running (no sense injuring hamstrings again), regular fingerboarding and try to not do anything too daft.

M- pretty poor hour at the works struggled up some of the yellows (5+) and blacks (6a)
T- 1. first kettlebell session in a long time. I am just going to have to suck up that this is no one's idea of a good exercise, but the swing does engage the hamstrings and apparently it's strengthening rather than lengthening that is necessary for injury prevention. God knows, I spent a lot of time stretching my hamstrings before inuring one of them a couple of months ago.
2. first fingerboard session in a while. Went back to what I know - open hangs - and felt pretty good with what I got done. +40 on the medium for just shy of 10s and +24 on the small edges with ease.
W- hamstring DOMS. Good DOMS, not injury MS. There must be a training stimulus there.
T-DOMS. took the 5 year old out for a sunny burbage evening punt rather than find lime somewhere.
F-still DOMS. took the 3 year old out for a sunny plantation play. First time in years that I couldn't manage Zippys but I couldn't straighten my leg either so I'll blame that.
S- AM session at the Tor. Met Erm Sam  and he gave me some useful philosophy. Did the f5 traverse warm up for the first time ever, then took ten goes to repeat Little Extra Direct which is at the same time poor form (against my back-in-the-day standards) and at the same time great to get it done. I let out a little yippee. Then had a few goes on Weed Killer traverse and surprised myself by getting at least half way along it. I really enjoyed it and it made me think that maybe I'll be able to get it the next time I go there which I hadn't expected. The week before at the Tor I pretty much hadn't managed to climb anything.
Kettlebells, 5 minute dish routine, 30 press ups, 15 pull ups
S- kids day out at windgather. Kettlebells, 5 minute dish, 30 press, 15 pull.

66.1kgs this morning. Goal of 62kgs and maintaining.

[Coops_13]

Then had a few goes on Weed Killer traverse and surprised myself by getting at least half way along it. I really enjoyed it and it made me think that maybe I'll be able to get it the next time I go there which I hadn't expected. The week before at the Tor I pretty much hadn't managed to climb anything.

If you enjoyed WT, there are tons of linkups for you to do which are all good fun. Good to see you back 

[Murph]

Thanks Coops. Good to be seen. First things first but yeah it looks like weed killer opens the door on lots of options thanks for the heads up.

Wish I could offer you some DL advice but I’m not an expert. I quite like the idea of going down the powerlifting route and think you’re spot on to do that while nursing a finger injury.



That video looks like it covers what you need to know from 3:00 in. But I know nothing...

[cheque]

I thought you’d given up climbing after further consideration of doing the Chee Tor Girdle Murph!  Are you still up for that?