[Duma]

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

M - Rain, rest. Walked round Eland to check it out in the afternoon, some cool looking hard stuff, not sure I'll be back this trip though.

T - Kleinfontaine. Had been here last trip for The Hatchling but nothing else in the old guide so felt like a new area. Wanted to try and flash the two classic 7A's, The Fin and The Girlfriend Problem. Happy to manage both, and they didn't disappoint, The Fin in particular was ace. Then found a good looking little 7B+, Rooibos Arete, to try and flash. Spent a while working out a sequence and had a good attempt, but no joy. Took quite a few goes to even get back to my high point, and then quite a while to work out the crux, so in the end was happy just to get the tick, at least as hard as most of the 7C's I've done this trip.

W - Roadside. Initial plan was Dogtown to try The Rancor Monster 7C+, but after bushwacking around for half an hour it turned out to be pretty meh, so changed venue. Lacking a bit of psyche when I arrived, but ended up a excellent day. After warming up was lucky enough to get Caroline 7C+ to myself - hadn't even pulled on to this last trip due to the crowds - spent a while working moves before I was joined by a nice guy who provided both psyche and beta, and we both managed it pretty soon after. Sat around in the sun for a while and then joined the crew on Sunset Arete 7C. Big left hand move felt pretty tough even after getting the heel on but managed to stick it eventually and scrape to the top by the skin of my teeth just before skin  stopped play. Two mega classics and life ticks, days like this is what I do it for.

T - Rest, hauled pads for gf in am and walked round Oupoort to check it out for tomorrow in pm.

F - Oupoort. Another new area to me, some amazing easier lines, everything on the tactile traverse face was lovely, esp The Complu 5+ up the arete and Tactile Traverse 5 itself. Chuffed to flash Orange Gutan 7B, a lip traverse on the same boulder, and then happy to make pretty short work of some 3D steepness on Kung Fu Hustle 7C. Nipped in to Bonus boulders before lunch to tick off Slave Battle 6C, fun little problem and harder than some of the 7A's I've done.

S - Roadkill Cafe, wanted to get up here for Free Hugs 7A+ which I managed to flash, then  did the sit - Fire of Love 7B+, which adds a great move, in a few goes. Night Sesh 7B+, the left hand line, put up more of a fight but succumbed to last day psyche. Then decided I couldn't leave without having a proper go at the link, Hellfire, which climbs the start of Fire of Love into Night Sesh at 8A. Took a while to figure out a good way through the couple of seemingly trivial moves between the point where FoL goes up and the start of NS, and then a couple of goes to stick the crux of FoL, but then carried on to the top! Brilliant last session of the trip, and went through a tip on the successful attempt so perfect timing... Spent afternoon swimming in the waterfall.

S - Rained overnight and still damp in the morning, so had a relaxed start to the day and drove to Cape Town in the afternoon.

Av ?kg

Such a good trip, Rocklands is just stunning. Bit different this visit as just me and the gf, but psyched to do at least as well as last time and find plenty of new to me good stuff. And didn't even get to climb at Eland, Dangerzone, the Realm, the Section, or the Gallery.

[tommytwotone]

Goal: 1 more new (to me) 7a to make 3 for the year.


W: took clean gym t shirt, socks, pants into work - only to realise the bag with my trainers and shorts in it was still at home. D'oh.
T: lunchtime HIIT session. Absolute killer in a pretty warm room.
F: post work session at Church, feeling out Shield RH. Got from barely being able to move to hitting the pop/deadpoint hold, which is progress.


Otherwise, made a positive effort to do more meditation (finally subscribed to Headspace this week). My normally mild level of jittery nervous energy has gone off the scale last month or so, so trying to use this as self-care. My only problem at present is frequently falling asleep which I guess means the relaxation element is working!

[Will Hunt]

T - Attermire. Bouldering at the Alcove Buttress cave which Rob has been developing. I told him I was going to downgrade all of his problems. Got straight on the 7A thinking it an easy target for the first downgrade, being big moves on big holds. Ended up taking most of the session and leaving me completely spent. It's very good though. Viddy here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzbsdknDIsw/

Sat - Attermire again. This time on guidebook duty. Had a lovely day doing EasyTrad^TM. But easy trad on Yorkshire limestone is never really easy. Hardest thing of the day was Red Light at HVS.

[shark]

What a way to finish what sounds like an amazing trip Duma 

11.3-5 Average 158.5 up 0.2lb

M Eve Peak bolt fund meeting. Under influence of alcohol committed to re bolt Obscene Toilet

T Morning. Tor early am. Breezy and fresher than last two visits. Good but not mint. 2 goes up AM. 2nd go linked from Prow rest to falling off tickling 2 finger picket at top of headwall. Found 2 bits of micro beta for feet which helps with two of the hardest moves. Went on Bens after. Bit greasy. Linked kneebar rest into THFML and only fell off cos heel toe slipped out. THFML x 5 then 2 sets of 3 offset pull ups on rock rings. Good progress from last session and skin tougher

W Afternoon. AM Swollen gland in neck. Unrelated dental visit. Another molar extracted :-( Dentist said not to engage in physical activity. 19 degrees Midday headed out with Goat and Ruben to Rubicon. I pottered around and felt dreadful and retreated to car. Rueben keen for X. Got suckered into climbing. Got close on JR twice. Tried Moff and got as far as getting heel on starting hold of JR
Evening. Max hangs on ergo edge. Slight improvement on Sunday. 5x135kg deadlift

T

F Morning. Tor Early start warm but breezy. Gums and neck still sore and swollen. Two goes up AM. 2nd go did Headwall from Prow rest which was the link I was after. Fell off moving left to the final boulder problem finish. Also found another micro beta improvement. Nick left. Did Bens from first kneebar to top twice and almost a third time. Good times.
PM Set about reequipping Obscene Toilet. Decided to drop a rope from top of crag. Mistake. Ended up too far right. Classic. Can confirm it’s pretty loose over there. Surprised there’s not been more rock fall. Knocked some blocks off. Reset abseil rope. Had a moment when leaning over the top of the crag to see where I was and the branch I was leaning against snapped. Abbed down again still too far right but tracked across. Hauled up kit and found I’d got the wrong chuck on the drill. Bugger

S Eve Ergo Edge Max hangs short session.   Getting back into PB territory. Down to town to join BMC crew for curry and too many beers

S

A good week apart from a swollen gland in my neck, having a tooth removed and nearly falling off the top of Raven tor

In danger of doing Bens at this rate and going to have a go tomorrow through will be weighing heavy. Pleased with progress on Anger Management and will aim to link Prow hole to final move on Thursday.

[tomtom]

Good week Shark. Amazing week/trip Duma!

Shark - clearly your rebolting was hampered as you were not under the influence of alcohol. As promised 😃

[spidermonkey09]

Hell of a trip that Duma; nice one.

Good stuff Shark, keeping at it. Need to channel a bit of that myself...

M - max hangs. Did well considering the room felt about 100% humidity. 24kg again, which felt like the living end.

T - rest.

W - rest.

T - Malham. Forecast strong westerly appeared to not be hitting the crag at all which was a proper kick in the teeth. It was blowing a hooly walking in but must have swung roung more to the north and as a result came straight over the top of the crag. Two goes up. First go got to last move again but was tired due to small mistake on third undercut. Second go dreadful. Tried to do links from below boulder but the grease was starting to make itself felt and I fell off after the kneebar. In a filthy mood by this point and did 3 laps on top crimpy section until I couldn't hold on anymore. Bit better after working this off. Decided I need a break from it and to go only when conditions look good rather than thrashing myself in warm greasy conditions. Have also been training less in an effort to have two rest days before a session there which has been counterproductive in hindsight.

F - rest.

S - Stoney Bank. Did the 3 star routes; the 6b+ was the best. 7b Jocasta was great rock but too short really.

S - Giggleswick. Tried Sunset Boulevard. Like Will a few weeks ago, I thought I would bosh it out first RP go before dropping the top move. Second go was shite. Annoyed at the time but in hindsight, was greasy and overhanging bouldering is not and has never been my thing. Good to go somewhere different though.

Hard week mentally. Feel a bit demotivated on Bat Route which is a pain after getting so close. With weather looking warm I feel like continuing with warm weather/bad condition sessions may be counterproductive. I want to do it massively but continued failure on the bulge might not be the best idea. As a result might commit to training for a month and climb elsewhere unless conditions look good at Malham, maybe with the odd session chucked in to keep it fresh in my mind. Tactics advice welcome from those who have tried to have summer projects at Malham!

[Will Hunt]

S - Giggleswick. Tried Sunset Boulevard. Like Will a few weeks ago, I thought I would bosh it out first RP go before dropping the top move. Second go was shite. Annoyed at the time but in hindsight, was greasy and overhanging bouldering is not and has never been my thing. Good to go somewhere different though.

I can't tell you how relieved I am to read this.

Isn't that top sequence just brilliant though?

[spidermonkey09]

I can't tell you how relieved I am to read this.

Isn't that top sequence just brilliant though?

Yeah really good. If there was one more jug in the sequence to get to the rail it it would be even better, those crimps are grim, but likely I didn't work out the best way. I was definitely expecting the two massive ticks on the lip to denote jugs rather than the miserable crimp and three finger edge that they are in reality!

[Will Hunt]

I can't tell you how relieved I am to read this.

Isn't that top sequence just brilliant though?

Yeah really good. If there was one more jug in the sequence to get to the rail it it would be even better, those crimps are grim, but likely I didn't work out the best way. I was definitely expecting the two massive ticks on the lip to denote jugs rather than the miserable crimp and three finger edge that they are in reality!

Which of the pre-rail crimps are grim? I think from the rest next to the ledge (not on it!  ) the sequence is to get the crack with the right hand and reach up and over high into the narrow crack with the left, which is not as accomodating as it looks. Right hand takes a relatively low crimp to steady yourself then a big move to get the next good hold. Then steady away onto the rail? I think I skipped a clip there on the second redpoint go because it felt so steady.

You should be able to actually recover on the rail so have no excuse!

[duncan]

Duma, that sounds like an amazing trip. Hope UK is not too grey in comparison!.

STG: Rehab. wrist, enjoy climbing.
MTG: a classic sea cliff E5 this summer (which now includes September!).
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.


M - 5 second hangs from 24mm edge. Hip stretches.
T - Westway - 6 routes to 6a+
W - 10 second hangs from 24mm edge, 5 second hangs from 18mm edge.
T - Hip stretches. Drove up to N Wales with bridbeast.
F - Slow but sociable start to the day in Ynys   Hiked up to Cloggy, didn’t start climbing til 2pm. Did the very traditional Pedestal Crack then the very excellent Great-Bow combination. Fun climbing, fab views, fine weather, glorious place, good company. A magical day.
S - Rain and clag in the morning so more chatting and some shopping. The new DMM Dragonfly cams look sweet. Headed for the Ormes, still damp, so ended up at Castle Inn Quarry. Drank tea, more social scenes with Bristol wads of different generations, eventually the sun came out and did a bit of climbing including Cakewalk (6b+). Surprised how good the routes were. Wrist a little hurty so didn’t try anything harder. Drove home.
S - 10 second hangs from 18mm edges, felt like there was plenty in reserve. Hip/knee strength including pistols.

Good week and fine trip to the alpha and omega of Welsh climbing. First visit to Cloggy in 12 years, how on earth did that happen!?  Wrist is on the mend, fingers feel like they could take more load on them, but will ease back into this slowly. Enjoyed the low-pressure climbing, possibly not in the spirit of Power Club, and should take note of this.

Plan: what’s the North Wales weather forecast for the weekend?

[cheque]

A good week apart from a swollen gland in my neck, having a tooth removed and nearly falling off the top of Raven tor

 

Rehab Diaries Week Forty-six

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

M&T- Rest.

W- Drove to Tremadog AM. Straight out of the car and up to Pant Ifan- mate took ages to lead the first half of Poor Man's Peuterey then I emerged into the full sun to lead the top half which is absolutely wild. Rehydrated at the cafe then went to Craig y Castell for the first time in the evening.- never been here before. Partner's knee gives out on him partway up the first pitch of Creag Dhu Wall and I briefly think we'll be driving straight back home  but he soldiers on and I lead the top pitch. This route is fantastic (feels harder than it should after baking in the sun all day too!), the ab off was the longest I've done since my accident and driving over to Llanberis in a beautiful sunset caps off a great day.

T- Cyrn Las/ Diffws Ddu- big hike up which I thoroughly enjoyed but partner didn't so much. Led every pitch of Main Wall, a route I've wanted to do since I first started climbing. At the time I was a bit caught up in logictical frustrations (we arrived seconds before another party who directed me to waste 15 minutes of all our time attempting a steep wall of snappy choss with no gear that they reckoned was part of the first pitch, I got my own back by getting them to rescue a quickdraw I dropped onto a ledge near their belay further up and by by making a time-consuming fuckup of rope mangement at a stance even later on     ) but looking back this is a massive acheivement for me to do a huge steep hike with lots of weight and easily lead every pitch of a big comitting route second day on without any problems. Routes like this are starting to feel as easy as they used to and the time when any of this would have been impossible feels very distant. 

F- Quite tired. Did Crackstone Rib at the easy-access Carreg Wastad (felt totally casual, even my mate found it easy) before eating celebratory filth at Pete's and driving back.

S&S- Rest. Family/ girlfriend run support stuff. Very tired and ate lots.

Three dry and sunny weekdays in Snowdonia. Living the dream. On our previous trip last month I felt very fulfilled by doing big mountain routes again but not so much by the VDiff-level climbing itself. So pleased that we were able to up the difficulty a bit without problems. Also the first time I've climbed three days in a row since you-know-when. 

[gollum]

M - Due to yesterday’s effort, I get to lie in until 0630 this morning.
Steady treadmill run at lunch time with Achilles stiff in the afternoon rather than sore.
Depot in the evening. Scapular drills and campus board to warm up. Feel motivated by board at moment. Little and often seems to work. Solid on benchmarks again and feeling like it is clicking a bit more.
Board session. A bit muggy but starts pretty well. Get most of what I want to do done although blow at least one attempt getting a bit giddy at the top. Finish off on something with what feels like a deadpoint that is just too hard for me at the moment but also feels like it may not be too bad once it’s dialled. Practice required!!!!
A few circuits to finish. Based on performance it’s clear I’ve not done this for a while.

T - Solid Push day. Start with bench for triples. Get three solid reps out at 100k and never looked like failing. Strongest I’ve been on this in ages and certainly strongest at this bodyweight. Then power presses, shoulder presses, dips and press ups on the bands. A great session and a great start to the day.
Depot in the evening. Max hangs to start. Working on centre of BM with 4k off on each hand. Steady session as feeling a bit heavy.
Work on projects on 50 board. First one doesn’t go so well. Getting the moves but not much in the way of links. Have had better sessions on this problem. Second problem goes much easier. Work the finish, work the start, do the problem, do the problem with an alternative finish. A bit less fingery and bigger moves. Final problem; I do it from standing relatively easily and then do all the lower moves but know I don’t have the full thing in me this eve, so work on trying to improve my percentage success on first hard snatchy move. Session went better than I thought it would when I first pulled on.

W - Pull session. Warm up with deadlifts. 140 comes off the floor much quicker than it has done in quite a while. Another quick rep next time and will creep the weight up. Tri-set of shrugs, rows for power and Roman chair gets the heart rate going. Then on to finish with sets of three one arm machine pull downs working up to 80 kilos per arm. Safe to say I have no idea how these equate to any other exercise, although definitely can’t manage three one arm pull-ups on each arm with a 12k weight in my other hand, although can just do one on my right arm with all the planets aligned.
Visit physio in evening with Achilles and no running for me for time being. Hey ho!!!
Repeaters in the evening at home. Feel steady enough. Should start adding weight on easy sets at home.

T - Push day. 5x5s on bench for a change, work up to 90k, which feels solid and certainly where I want to be. Then do some work on triceps. Close grip presses, Tate presses, skull crushers and French press means I can feel the back of my arms. Biceps for balance tomorrow, I reckon.
Depot in the evening. Too hot to try the comp problems, so leave well alone. Campus board session works well with some progress and consolidation. Manage to go 1-2-6 which I’m pleased with until I realise I’ve been further in the past.
Project session. First one goes well with me managing it in so halves on both of first two attempts but know I won’t link it this eve as two warm on a pinch so play about with alternative finishes. On second problem I nail the start every time but then can’t hold the swing on a cut loose move and fall off this on every go. Frustrating but know I can do it and feels like training. Final problem is trying something totally new. Get some decent links going and feels like I have the start of something I will have fun working. Finish off with some core work of lever pulls, windscreen wipers and German hangs. All good fun.

F - Pull. Warmed up with deadlifts and pulled 150 with ease and speed, so can live with that. Followed it up with shrugs and rows as I was stripping the bar. Then moved on to some cable pull downs to waist level. Finished as planned with some bicep curls of various types including preacher curls, inclined curls, seated bar curls and the dreaded drag curls. Safe to say my arms felt tired by the end of the session.
Repeaters at lunchtime. Was solid enough and shortened the rests on everything apart from two finger sets. Managed to finish all eight sets in 20 minutes.

S - Push day and very chest focused today. Bench doubles up to 100k, w=very happy without a spotter at this now as can tell at 90k how hard I am going to find 100. Then declines for triples again to 100k. Floor presses up to 70 with a long pause at the bottom of the motion. Then some dumbbell incline presses and a big flys dropset all the way to zero. Finish off with 50 reps of bench press at 40k and shoulder press at 20k in sets of 20,15, 15. When I finish this last exercise I think I may have worked a bit harder than I wanted to given I am off to the wall for the comp problems next.
Depot session with a very clear plan. Do first 25 comp problems and then leave the rest for when I feel fresh and its a bit cooler. Goes so close to plan with first 25 getting flashed, but then have a go at a couple of others and think with both I blew the flash by not sticking to my plan and having a goi when I am a bit tired. Stupid boy!!!!!! At least I only have one go at each and fall off near the top rather than wasting more goes.

S - Pull day. Deadlifts to start as normal, concentrating on pulling as quickly as I possibly can. Shrugs and rows next with heaviest weight I can manage and maintain form. A few sets of OAP which go okay but not the strongest that Ive been on this. Heavy rack pulls with a shrug on each rep, which is always entertaining. Finish off with work on my rear delta with light cable pull throughs.

Another heavy duty week. Weight is a bit more than I would like, but only a couple of pounds. Will concentrating on rectifying that next week. Am definitely having fun at the moment. Life is good.

[Yossarian]

2 weeks:

M: Wall. Insanely hot. Managed to flash quite a few things on the wave reset, then did some fairly pathetic hangs on the BM2000 45 slopers.
T
W
T: Repeaters / max hangs, and some longer 20-25s hangs on half crimps
F
S: Wall. New slab set, tried to flash as much as poss, then some steeper stuff. Hung 45 slopers for 20sec - def sticky damp.
S

M: Wall. Finished off some slab things I’d failed on previous week. Stumped on one prob - standing up from rockover / deeply bent right leg with no hands. Totally incapable of one-leg-squat types movement. Obviously practicing these would help, but as I never seem to encounter these outside (there’s always something else to push on) I’m not sure if I can be fucked.
T: Harrisons. Decent session shunting / climbing with randoms. Rushed off forgetting gear at the top, requiring speedy run from car park to unclimbed wall and back. Got very hot and late to pick kids up.
W: Repeaters / max hangs, crimp hangs to 30s. 6x10 pull-ups
T: Harrisons shunting. Very hot - should’ve stayed in the shade.
F
S: Wall. Warmed up, tried 45 board for first time in ages. Shoulder mostly behaved itself. Campus board to 10x 145. Will try 146 next time. Have avoided both whilst my shoulder has been problematic. Random physio pointed out that it might actually recover if I got it properly diagnosed. New set on the boulder - quite pleased with progress. Then 2x 10mins AeroCap on wave, and 3x 3 steep prow problems to finish. Great session - need more like this.
S

STG: Weight down to sub85kg (currently 88), 10x south coast 7s by the end of the year, 7SOMETHING
MTG: Empire of the Sun, Zinc Oxide Mountain, Colours, more E3s
LTG: 8a

[spidermonkey09]

I can't tell you how relieved I am to read this.

Isn't that top sequence just brilliant though?

Yeah really good. If there was one more jug in the sequence to get to the rail it it would be even better, those crimps are grim, but likely I didn't work out the best way. I was definitely expecting the two massive ticks on the lip to denote jugs rather than the miserable crimp and three finger edge that they are in reality!

Which of the pre-rail crimps are grim? I think from the rest next to the ledge (not on it!  ) the sequence is to get the crack with the right hand and reach up and over high into the narrow crack with the left, which is not as accomodating as it looks. Right hand takes a relatively low crimp to steady yourself then a big move to get the next good hold. Then steady away onto the rail? I think I skipped a clip there on the second redpoint go because it felt so steady.

You should be able to actually recover on the rail so have no excuse!

Think I might have been getting the narrow crack in the wrong place as I couldn't get a lot out of it. As a result I was having to bone the next two crimps with the right hand before going to the good hold before the rail. I wasn't pumped when I got there to be honest, had a shake for 30 seconds and cracked on but had no power to move off the undercuts!

[Will Hunt]

Ah. I've got rat fingers and didn't think it was good anywhere. If you've got sausage fingers it'd be a nightmare.

[Fiend]

F - Slow but sociable start to the day in Ynys   Hiked up to Cloggy, didn’t start climbing til 2pm. Did the very traditional Pedestal Crack then the very excellent Great-Bow combination. Fun climbing, fab views, fine weather, glorious place, good company. A magical day.
S - Rain and clag in the morning so more chatting and some shopping. The new DMM Dragonfly cams look sweet. Headed for the Ormes, still damp, so ended up at Castle Inn Quarry. Drank tea, more social scenes with Bristol wads of different generations, eventually the sun came out and did a bit of climbing including Cakewalk (6b+). Surprised how good the routes were. Wrist a little hurty so didn’t try anything harder. Drove home

  blooming Cheque in the area and all! Glad Cloggy was as good as it promised to be. Rhoscolyn was the place to be on Sat.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - knee rehab, weights.
Tue - rest.
Wed - knee rehab, pull ups, weights.
Thu - knee rehab, fast bag, front lever pull ups, pull ups, weights.
Fri - knee rehab, lateral raises-triceps, press, high pulls, bentover raises, biceps, 1' bar lockoff.
Sat - knee rehab, L-sits 10" x6 + lock off 30" x6, x2.
Sun - knee rehab, then Tabata session: lat pull down, boxing, dumbbell thruster x2; rings; abs hollow planks. Beautiful.

[Steve R]

M - Wall pm, few problems upstairs, did a bit on board.  Felt stale - decided to take a break from climbing on the board.
T- Wall pm.  Junk miles.  Intended to try and work on movement and go a bit easier this week inside generally but felt lacking in direction.  Too hot, wasting skin and energy on awkward (to me) new problems.  Felt like I was moving worse by the end!  so not the best session.
W - Rosebury Topping bouldering.  boiling hot but exciting to check out a new spot.  Made a beeline for the Edge of Glory bit.  Did the shelf and EoG stand in a few goes. Then EoG sit in a couple more goes.  All high quality problems anywhere, great day out.   
T- Wall pm.  easy problems + core + stretching.
F- Danby crag.  Some more top rope practice on The Moose, felt good so went for lead.  Went well, enjoyable experience.
S- rest
S- Cheedale sport.  first time back on sport routes for ages. Warmed up on Quality Control on two tier. had the inevitable not used to polished feet, boulderer's flash pump, etc.  Then went upstairs. 1 dog on the sea is a brown paper bag as the line looked cooler (and easier) than the thing Guy was trying.  great route.  slipped low down 1st rp.  Tried again after a quick breather and made it, fried arms on top wall, tellingly painful (untrained) pump on jugs at top.  Headed to cool of the cornice.  arms no doubt shot for doing sequences but useful dog up powerplant, got beta more or less sorted - really like it, great set of moves.  Top day out.

Bad week indoor training-wise but 3 really good days out.  Need to develop some strength endurance to get up Powerplant but hopefully not too far off, looking forward to getting back on it.  Finally found the will to start shifting some weight this week too, down to 75kg from 76.  1 down 5 to go.   

   

[Murph]

Hey powerclub, some strong holiday posts going on here.

The fight continues...

M-kettlebells, pull ups, press ups
T-works yellow 5+ session hour. Did all but one of them. The one I didn’t do was a traverse that was so long it should have had a route grade. Easy no doubt but very long. Bad omen really.
W-kettlebells, press and pull.
T-raven Tor in the evening. Where was everyone? Place to ourselves. Amazing conditions. Quick repeat of little extra - this time with the corect feet. It really IS 6B if you (I) do it right. Play on undercuts. Attempts on Weedkiller but it’s such a long problem - 13 or 14 hand moves. None of the moves are hard but that’s a lot of stuff to remember and not get pumped for. I think the next longest problem I ever did was 10 moves. Anyway it didn’t go. But fun times.
F-
S-Chee Tor Girdle. Started it at maybe 10:00 and got back to ground just before 16:00. Wanted to be somewhere else for much of that time but was completely absorbed. Had a knee trembling near meltdown. Got lost. Swore at myself. Forgot to put my mate on belay. Spent a lot of time being utterly gripped. For an abject punter such as myself it was a climb to remember. I’m not equipped mentally for that sort of thing but had a great time. Basically all the ingredients for a good day out and to go for a pint. My mate had other ideas though and led meditation a 27m ***E1. Had another epic at the top of that one but I’ll spare the details. Best day out climbing in years. But really, seriously, not for me. White horses probably not going to happen.
S- in town went on one of those beat the bar things where you pay £2 to hang on a rotating bar for 2 minutes and they give you £20. Managed 1:40 with my shockingly low stamina so I’m surprised there wasn’t a queue of proper climbers getting a payday. There’s a reason to try to get fit enough to do the warm up traverse at rubicon....

[nai]

M - Beginners, good nick catching wind and the first time I've been there that the MoS / ST hold has been completely dry and MoS felt total piss, must be easier then ST.
Went over to Griffs but the wind was going straight over it so felt a bit meh, only stayed 10 minutes then headed to the Tor to get back on Kristian's Problem which I didn;t quite get but is coming together nicely

Core

T core

W - had been planning to go limewards but daughter ended up playing in a cricket tournamant 5 minutes from Rivelin so i dropped her off and headed to try Purple Haze. Nick was ok early but using slopers meant that the old blister on my tip pulled off.  Pulled it off and taped up but the connies didn't last long and midges became active so I went and watched cricket in the sun for the rest of the day, daughters school won the tournament which was better than warm grit.  Cleaned the tip up, had to scrape dried blood out from under flaps then cut them back which left quite a thin, large, seepy hole.

Th - Fingerboard on a large hold, HI core, shoulders

F - Gardoms trad scene. Thought the tip would be fine taped but of course the tape pulled off straight away. Made a monumental cock up of Eye of Faith involving a lunge and swing to ctahc the jug low down, nealry pumping out placing wires in the crack. Didn't take enough draws, ran out and ended up with horrendous rope drag and topped out above a runout with a full body swim, hardly able to move. Complete sport/boulderer tries trad comedy scenes, Shambles.  Did Moyers afterwards which went better but can't say I massively enjoyed either route, despite their 3 star uber status.

Tip was shredded
 
Core, handstands

SS nowt

 

[Coops_13]

M:

T: DBC. Finger rehab, 20mm edge. -30lb X3, -15lb X3, -10lb X3. Deadlift up to 225lb - feels better with improved form. Felt like back was curving on lower... Climbing up to M- Bench higher reps up to 155lb. Front lever pulls. Burnout 45lb bicep curls. Burnout chest cables. Stretching. Muscle-ups and dips to finish

W:

T: RMNP. Drive over the trail ridge road up to 12500ft. Lovely hike through alpine meadow at 11500ft with loads of marmots

DBC. Finger rehab, 20mm edge. -25lb X3, -10lb X3, -5lb X3. DL working on form. Lots of reps up to 225lb trying to focus on all areas - steady improvements.

F:

S: Great Sand Dunes National Park. 4 hour drive here through massive hailstorm, amazing views and mountains en-route. Quick stroll about and lovely sunset over Blanca Peak

S: Great Sand Dunes National Park. Up early to climb up High Dune. c. 1hr 15 to summit - approx. 700ft tall dune at almost 9000ft elevation. Hard work but amazing, well worth it. Slid down the top steep face a few times on a board someone brought. Running down the dunes on way back even better! Went to Zapata Falls on way back, 3 mile off-road then a half mile-hile and wade to base. Lovely but shit-ton of mosquitoes...

Back to Philadelphia this week and hopefully going to get outside this weekend for the first time in months, testing the finger...

[tomtom]

I had a really good week last week. Is it safe to post here now?

[nai]

Focus and ground yourself before you do.

[shark]

Hard week mentally. Feel a bit demotivated on Bat Route which is a pain after getting so close. With weather looking warm I feel like continuing with warm weather/bad condition sessions may be counterproductive. I want to do it massively but continued failure on the bulge might not be the best idea. As a result might commit to training for a month and climb elsewhere unless conditions look good at Malham, maybe with the odd session chucked in to keep it fresh in my mind. Tactics advice welcome from those who have tried to have summer projects at Malham!

I hear you. These conditions are poor for climbing at your limit and difficult to know what to do. A break from the route and other crags will be good for body and soul I think. Analyse what very specific aspects you can train that will help the most for when you go back to it. Mentally rehearse it in the meantime too.

[Goat]

Monday          1:50 hour board session.   I was completely exhausted at the start as I didn’t get much sleep. Got quite psyched towards the end on a new problem I made, but I couldn’t quite finish it off.
Tues              Rest

Wed              Bouldering on limestone
Went to Rubicon to touch the holds on a potential new project called Tsunami. The problem looked great, and I’m really excited to get on it. I warm up, but then the top section gets completely sun-blasted. So instead I vaguely try the bottom moves. It’s way too hot to even sit around, so we move onto crag X instead.
Brilliant conditions at Crag X. I feel strong on Jericho road, but then I notice a pulley tweak in my right middle finger which is getting worse. So, I back off half crimping on my right hand, and instead make up a ridiculous drag variate of Jericho road; I call it “Jericho path”. You skip the first sidepull on the right and you can only drag with the right hand the whole way up (I didn’t manage it). Also got on Zippy's traverse/moffatrocity section which was good fun. I tried to drag and campus my way through it with poor technique.
Despite not having sent anything, it was a good day out. I also felt strong even without half crimping which felt nice.

Thurs              Bouldering on limestone
Drove out to crag X armed with information on most of the routes. Again, my right middle finger felt a bit miffed, so I was only dragging on it. The session went similarly to Wed at the start, but then I had a quick go on The Thing which felt like it would be a fun side-project, but I didn’t try it much. After that I got on Jericho road eliminate sit start and I found a new hold out to the right (it was a dusty but not obviously eliminated from the problem) using this hold I made surprisingly quick work of the bottom section. But then I tried it without the hold, and surprise, surprise it was more challenging (but in my honest opinion it climbed worse). Spent the rest of the session pulling hard on the real version of the eliminate and eventually managed to get all the moves done.
Pretty chuffed, felt strong and my finger didn’t seem to get any worse (mainly because I was just pinching and dragging the shit out of everything.)

Fri                Tennis    (Played a bit longer than normal, great fun as always. A threat to my climbing career…)
Sat                Went down to the BBCs and had a watch.
Went home and did a 40-minute training session. On the 30-degree board I practiced 1-arm-hangs on each arm, followed by pullups then a 7-minute rest. Did 5 of these, and then had a pretty serious core session. Was pretty tired.
Afterwards I had a surprising inciting moment of psyche with my mate (who’s staying over) we decide it would be best to get up at 5am the go to Wimberry Crag, despite the fact I’ve been getting up at 12 on most days. We pack the car, psyche is high.


Sun                After a solid 3 hours of sleep I get out of bed at 5.05am, we leave at 5:20 and it takes us an hour to get to there. We walk up to the crag. The conditions aren’t great, but psyche is high. However, the wind is non-existent, and it soon becomes apparent midges will be a problem. It isn’t long before they’re swarming us. We go on up to a different boulder, but it just starts all over again. We head back to the carpark at 7:30am and see some other victims heading up, but they’re too far away for us to warn them. We sit in the car and realise conditions are poor everywhere. 1 hour and a game of eye-spy later we notice a slight breeze. We head back up to the crag at 8:50am. Conditions are still bad and the 7a Fish Arete seems untouchable. Reuben gets a 7b done, but I can’t get any power through my leg due to inflexibility (standard excuse) so I can’t get it done. I mess around on a sun-bathed pumpy 7a and realise my forearms have had it.
At 12 we head back down to the bottom to meet some mates. I realised I haven’t sent a single thing this week, despite having spent around 13 hours climbing outdoors. So, I throw myself at a 6b+, and forget about dragging everything because I feel like I actually need to climb something. Luckily it goes down in 4 quick goes, but I cut my knuckles up in the process. I leave Reuben behind and rush off home at 1.
I’m completely exhausted and almost pass out at an evening meal.