[shark]

10.13-11.0 Average 158.8lb down 0.1lb

M.

T.

W. Malham with Tommy. 16/17degrees but occasional wind blowing across crag made for decent conditions. Go 1 Jumar to top traverse and work moves then link it to top Go 2 Pull up to third. Warm into throw move then do it Go 3 Do bottom wall imperfectly and get cramped sidepull badly with confidence ebbing away carry on and got height on throw but failed to grab due to lack of belief Go4 Much better  flawless ascent of bottom wall set up well for throw then just as starting to launch right hand shot off intermediate Go5 Bit tired on initial wall and a foot slip but got to touch the horn Walk. Go 6 weather went still and warmer. Fell off going to cramped sidepull. Short rests and tried to do links above but too busted. Getting dark so no time to do laps on F&EE so did 3 strict half crimp hangs to failure. Tommy got on to top traverse 4x

T

F AM Goat was insistent on Curbar despite sunny weather so he could check out Super Size Me which he’d homed in on as a potentially suitable long term project. Still just in shade when we got there but I quickly lost power, then patience, then temper on Bad Lip 7A. Left boys to it and bushwhacked up to main edge to go soloing to cheer myself up. Did PMC1 (so steep for HS) backed off Kayak E1 (reachy) then did Curbar Corner 5, Little Stiffer 6A and  Neat 5+. Finished with the Avalanche Wall HVS and Maupassant HVS - both brilliant. Boys both ticked Bad Lip and the 7B traverse into it. Felt tired when got home so had a nap

Eve Lengthy session as took long rests of Gaston and undercut training then Weighted deadhangs on ergo edge. Good scores

S PM Systems Board Warm Up then 4 repeats of Oak PE circuit with 3 mins rest between long rest then Edges and screw  on footholds 20 moves 20sec Rest 10 moves 20secs Rest 10 moves. 5mins Rest Then 15 moves feet slipping 10 mins rest 20/10 managing  70 moves alternating slopey jugs and incut edges timing 2sec per move

S


Disappointing performance on the Oak on weds not quite getting through throw move. Tantalising close but been there before. Going to back off it until temps drop and in the meantime I’ll do some specific training and lose a little more weight. Started to cut out alcohol- not before time. Also conscious I need to improve endurance for Red River Gorge in Nov. I’ve always found systems board laps effective so will do a couple of sessions per week. Heading back to Malham on weds so Tommy can go on the Oak so I’ll go on Mescalito (three star soft 7c+) which I’ve occasionally dabbled on over the years.
 
RGinns, woodworker extraordinaire, is working on the final iteration of the Ergo Edge which is a work of art. I’ve made great gains from the Ergo Edge this year. Hopefully be able to make it widely available in a few weeks. It is a complex shape that is really difficult to make so unfortunately won’t be cheap.

2nd redpoint attempt (best go but hand slipped off intermediate as initiating launch)


3rd redpoint attempt (tired)



Tommy on the Oak

[96alex]

M - Rest

T - Pottering around new problems, jumping around and campusing. Pretty chill indoor climbing day.

W - Training day, managed to get a personal best on one arm hangs of -2kg for 7 seconds and a clean one arm pullup with -3kg. Getting close to 1-8 bumps on either arm, 7-8 feels big but I'm hitting it reasonably well so it might go soon. Bonus 6ish second front lever rounded the day off nicely.

T - Rest

F - Climbed a bunch of greens at the valley and reacquainted myself with the moonboard, fell off a bunch of things that used to feel easy so a pretty great session. Did my best iron cross attempt thus far too, only a few degrees off getting flat arms.

S - Training day, warmed up by flashing every yellow at the valley in 15-20ish minutes. +53kg hang on the 18mm 1k edges for 7 seconds, psyched to go 3kg over my previous best a few months ago. Shortly followed by an okay 2 rep max pullup of +45kg, which seems like a potential weakness when compared to everything else I'm doing. Will be adding weighted pullups a couple of times a week to my routine, or one arm pullup training. Might make +50kg a short - medium term goal. Finished with prone T's, front levers, leg raises and a bunch of floor core to really trash my core strength. Then another half hour of climbing intermediate valley problems to cool down because I felt like a degenerate gym bro, lots of techy stuff.

S - Rest but still very psyched, so posting on ukb instead of climbing. Rest days are both the best and worst days...

[abarro81]

I’ve made great gains from the Ergo Edge this year.

Do you mean great gains ON or FROM the edge? I'm struggling to square the latter with your recent posts about not feeling good on the Oak?

P.s. what is it again?

[abarro81]

P.p.s. that wasn't meant to sound mean, more a genuine question/thought around not measuring gains using the training protocol..

[shark]

I’ve made great gains from the Ergo Edge this year.

Do you mean great gains ON or FROM the edge? I'm struggling to square the latter with your recent posts about not feeling good on the Oak?

Yes mainly on. I can hang on it with more weight (about 10-12kg extra) and the gains have translated to a more conventional edge and pulling on small holds on my systems board. I generally feel stronger in my fingers outdoors. It’s gutting that the extra fingerboarding I’ve done this year hasn’t given me the extra something I hoped it would for the Oak so other factors are obviously at play.

P.s. what is it again?

It’s an ergonomically shaped hold that allows you to have all your fingers at the same joint angle when hanging.     

Here’s a CAD model of the first prototype. We’ve since added an angle at the back for a neutral hanging position

[tomtom]

Keep on truckin’ Sharkus.

Tu: Anston - to RP reservation... I was really shit. Sunday’s exploits at Blackstone had taken it out of me and I was really shit. Just couldn’t do what I could the week before, Pants.

Fri: Met up with Nai at Griffs. First 2019 session there... having mined out all I could do last year and getting stuck on Ovine. Felt creaky - but felt better on Ovine - and managed to pinch the RH crimp to bring LH across that I couldn’t do last year.. all that RH pinching on Nazgul LH has helped.. So got close/up to my high point from last year with a method I wasn’t strong enough to do. So alright I guess... Went to try R-Man and Davids problems left of PiB up the road. Had a mad 20 min trying loads of time on the 7A and ran out of beans. Felt suitably trashed afterwards!

Went and met Mrs and friends at Lyme Park on the way home and needed up going for an early dinner with them and our respective children. Lobster linguine... superb.

Sa - Sun. MrsTT away - so just me and the Boy all weekend. Good fun - but came down with something on sat PM - felt dreadful and only ate a bowl of rice and a magnum... slept badly - felt better/fine Sunday. But hard work being ill with a 3yo... (smallest violin etc...)

[Will Hunt]

But hard work being ill with a 3yo... (smallest violin etc...)

On the contrary that sounds like it requires a full string quartet. Grim. I hope Peppa Pig or equivalent came to the rescue.

Tue - Ilkley with the LMC. Did a couple of warm ups then played briefly on First Arete. Way too warm for it but could be a goer in the cold. Then went to look at Olicana Arete. Fuck me. Nice climbing through the roof then a right hand crimp with a stupid sharp pebble in it (why has noone knocked this off with a toffee hammer yet?!) and you have to wriggle both feet onto the lip. Bunched as fuck. Couldn't touch it. Had a strop. Ilkley makes me wonder why I go climbing. Played on some easy stuff at it got dark.

Sun - crap forecast further west so off to Troller's. Warmed up with some downgrading on Old Man's Crag then into the gill and dogged up Hoodoo Guru, which is the only non girdle thing below 7c that I haven't done in there yet. Belayed James on Angelic Upstart which he cruised first go of the session, so he was chuffed. Did Hoodoo Guru then did some of the easy slabs on the opposite wall.

[teestub]

Then went to look at Olicana Arete. Fuck me.

Congratulations on finding one of the rarest of problems ‘Easier for the Short’! Don’t remember a minging crimp though, but it’s been a while. First arête also v sandbag except in the best of conditions. Lovely wide pinches.

[petejh]

I’ve made great gains from the Ergo Edge this year.

Do you mean great gains ON or FROM the edge? I'm struggling to square the latter with your recent posts about not feeling good on the Oak?

Yes mainly on. I can hang on it with more weight (about 10-12kg extra) and the gains have translated to a more conventional edge and pulling on small holds on my systems board. I generally feel stronger in my fingers outdoors. It’s gutting that the extra fingerboarding I’ve done this year hasn’t given me the extra something I hoped it would for the Oak so other factors are obviously at play.

It's just power. Sorry to be giving unsolicited advice to go with the full series of encyclopedia britannica of unsolicited advice already given.  It's just glaringly obvious to me, having done that move/route, that you lack the simple power to suck-in, throw and hold the horn.
You can do from the ground to the throw move regularly and - I think - you, can do from the horn to the top regularly enough to be in with a reasonable chance. So you have the endurance, power endurance and finger strength. You have the moves dialled after 11 years of trying them. You simply lack that little bit of 'oomph' on steep ground.

It's like a moonboard move - a shitty little sidepull, poor feet, a bit bunched, suck in and throw up right for a decent hold. I'd bet my month's wages that you're really shit on moonboard 6C-7As. The good thing is, power can be tuned up in very short time. If you can do that throw move regularly you'll send the route I reckon.

[shark]

It's just glaringly obvious to me, having done that move/route, that you lack the simple power to suck-in, throw and hold the horn....I'd bet my month's wages that you're really shit on moonboard 6C-7As. The good thing is, power can be tuned up in very short time. If you can do that throw move regularly you'll send the route I reckon.

I’m not convinced that I can acquire power quickly. Repeated attempts at the actual throw move or replicas on my various boards over the years don’t seem to have made that much difference.

Yes I was pretty rubbish when I dabbled on the Moonboard and it’s been something I’ve been meaning to get stuck into but bouldering outside or on the Wave have been more attractive.

Something to commit to this winter.

[petejh]

In my experience you might be surprised how quickly power can be improved. As little as two weeks, once or twice per week can be enough to see a difference. (cue debate about neurological changes v muscle fibre changes). It's worth a go because you aren't going to be improving anything else (except maybe power endurance) in the time remaining till you stop trying the route this year.

Simple workout without a campus or moonboard (you could replace the rope climb with weighted throws on your board followed by rapid bodyweight pullups): https://nicros.com/training/training-articles/basic-power-training-without-a-campus-board/

[shark]

Is this stuff you’ve done? Gym rope is impractical. I can use the campus board and Moonboard at the Foundry.

[Rob F]

Offer Tommy an arm wrestle. You'll soon see if you've got enough power or not...

[rjtrials]

Is this stuff you’ve done? Gym rope is impractical. I can use the campus board and Moonboard at the Foundry.

Yes!!

As someone at similar grade impass,  the moonboard is the best indoor option to get the power and tension needed.

A couple sessions with high-ish volume of flash/2 go boulders focusing on engaging the body through every  move.

Then a couple sessions of 'on the minute boulders' for 10-20 minutes with 'hard flash' difficulty has had surprising mid season carryover

[gollum]

 M - Well earned rest day.

T - Pull day. Start with rack pulls and go up to 170 with relative ease. Then move on to some weighted pull-ups for 5x5 with weight added up to 25k. Finish with some prone rows with isometric locks at the top and some Aussie rows on the bands for stability.

W - Still got a sore finger and Achilles has started bugling again do decide that discretion is the better part of valour and all that do lay off for the day.

T - Testing the finger on the blue reset at the Depot. The plan was to just see how things go and to try to climb with good form throughout. Things went pretty much to you man. Finger pain in a very limited number of positions and only moderate in any case. As pain reduces in middle finger, it’s become more apparent that there is discomfort in all my front three fingers. Pretty sure will recover soon and is down to cracking my fingers in a pocket. Did lots of the blues and then went on to ticking a couple more purples so happy with that.

F - Mad busy at work so do pretty much nothing apart from a bit of shoulder and Da. Achilles rehab.

S - Still working on rehab and taking it easy. Nice walk around Scammonden reservoir with Mrs B. Great views........if you ignore the M62.

S - Trip to Manchester Depot. Get stuck into the reds and generally pretty successful. Good to get a load of volume done and just doing stuff. Think the problems are really good, quite techy and lots of slopes and Font-esque holds. Great to see Pusher holds again as always found these very training friendly. No problems with the fingers either which is an extra bonus.

A busy work week that has got in the way of things quite a lot, but has been really good for recovery so not a complete loss.

[duncan]

Well done cheque and TTT last week.

STG: rehab. shoulder
MTG/LTG: not sure

M - Shoulder strength. Westway bouldering to ‘V2’. Shoulder tweaky.
T - Brisk walk
W - Fingerboard pick-ups: warm-up then 7 reps of 35kg for 10 seconds. 
T - Shoulder strength.
F - Shoulder strength. Westway bouldering to ‘V1’. Still a bit tweaky.
S - Shoulder strength.
S - Westway routes: V x3, V+ x1.
M - Fingerboard pick-ups: 35kg on 18mm edge.
T - Shoulder strength
W - Fingerboard hangs; 5seconds on a 25mm edge. Shoulder tolerated this.
T - Shoulder strength
F - Alpine start and drove to Devon to meet AJM at Haytor. Dartmoor was sublime and the weather ideal. 'Warmed-up' on Canis. This was mossier than Saihō-ji temple and was a non-tranquil experience involving some rather un-Zen gardening. Had fun on Outward Bound, Levitation, and some even easier stuff. Shoulder wasn’t feeling ideal so drove back home arriving very late.
S - Exhausted, not much other than a brisk walk
S - Westway bouldering to ‘V2’. Shoulder strength.

Family off again til the new year. In theory this is a great opportunity to climb to my heart’s content but it has coincided with an irritating tweak and it feels like the door is rapidly closing on the trad. season. Shoulder progress is slow and frustratingly I have already had to bail on two great-sounding weekends so it was good to get out do some easy trad. somewhere new. My first climbing trip to Dartmoor in 2009 resulted in a ruptured PCL after 10 minutes so the second visit was a considerable improvement! Keen to go back for some of the harder routes on Low Man when I’m fit again.

Plan: continue rehab, more easy trad.

[nai]

Is this stuff you’ve done? Gym rope is impractical. I can use the campus board and Moonboard at the Foundry.

Isn't there a gym rope in the Furnace, opposite corner to the campus board?

edit: although up and down large rungs on the campus board would be pretty much the same?

[shark]

Isn't there a gym rope in the Furnace, opposite corner to the campus board?

edit: although up and down large rungs on the campus board would be pretty much the same?

Now you mention it I think there is. Never seen it being used

[abarro81]

RE Ergo Edge, what's the thinking behind it? It seems counter-intuitive to me given that it's less like most holds you'll encounter outdoors than a simple edge or pocket?

I can't comment on power requirements for the Oak having never been on it, but Pete is right that climbing on the Moon board (or school 55 board) is much more power orientated than most bouldering outside or on the wave, so it might be worth a punt. What's the worst that can happen...

[Doylo]

. What's the worst that can happen...

He doesn’t grab the horn.

[spidermonkey09]

M - rest.

T -  Depot. Standard session without too much to report. Finger hurt annoyingly. Felt fit and pretty strong.

W - rest.

T - Depot. Light session. Just did a bit to tick over and left before I got tired in an effort to be in good shape for the weekend.

F - rest.

S - Malham. Good conditions with the breeze but still sunny. Dogged up and warmed up without too much bother on 8a link. Through bulge from ground fairly easily and up the headwall. Tried Stus's suggestion of just cracking on from the top rest and fell off at the same place! Felt a bit frantic and rushed on it so think the rest is good to just calm me down as much as resetting my arms. Was worth a go though. Couldn't get through boulder next go so left it for the day.

S - Malham. Through bulge on warmup go feeling strong. Suffering with horrific dry mouth (nerves?) which was all I could think about in the rests. Hit the crimps in still conditions and came off; slightly shit effort but I just knew it wasn't happening. Had a play around and tweaked body position on the crucial move; dropping my right knee in seemed to make the move more static so decided to try that when next up there. Had long 2 hour rest before another go. Somehow made it through boulder with a massive fight and recovered well. Felt good in top rest and implemented new sequence on crux section. Absolutely pissed the move and set up for the big throw. Laid one on, hit the hold, held it for half a second before coming off. Gutted as if I hold it I think I go to the top. In mitigation, third time up that weekend and conditions were poor. Slightly more friciton on the hold and I would have done it.

3x through the bulge in the weekend and new beta is a gamechanger. Back for a redpoint or two next weekend and midweek the week after if required. Confidence has returned with the tweak in the sequence; if I get through the bulge I back myself to do it. Two sessions maximum before Spain; pressures on!

[Will Hunt]

 

Fingers crossed, Jim.

[shark]

RE Ergo Edge, what's the thinking behind it? It seems counter-intuitive to me given that it's less like most holds you'll encounter outdoors than a simple edge or pocket?

It was originally Mina saying that strict half crimp was a really good grip to train as the optimum second joint angle is 90 degrees. Dave insisted she do the half crimp (she called it a chisel) strictly. Like her I struggled to hang body weight on a medium sized edge with this grip to begin with but soon improved.

It then occurred to that if the edge was designed for the different finger lengths then it would be a more natural/comfortable way to train the fingers at the same angle whether half crimped, crimped or drag on the basis that the flexors getting the training stimulus don’t care what the shape of the hold is.

Dave talks about what I call ‘strict’ half crimp here starting at 58secs.

[cheque]

Sounds close Spidermonkey!

Rehab Diaries Week Fifty-six

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (7/27 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M- Rest.

T- Five sets of 6 pullups and 20 pushups during the day.

W- Rest.

T- Seven sets of 4 pullups on the doorframe throughout the work day.

F- Rest.

S- Bamford. Two HVSs here I wanted to try. After a warm-up I got on one () which, after watching Reeve climb it while taking photos and his gear still being in I had a decent chance at. Rushed the lower crux though and got pumped and over-committed (would have been much more cautious if I'd have placed my own kit...) so hung. The higher crux is a biggish reach with the gear around your knees and I'm pleased to have done this on lead despite not having the incentive of success on the route to spur me on.

Got cold belaying in the wind and that area of the crag was a bit of a clusterfuck so opted to move on and second a few routes before returning for the other HVS. I was absolutely determined to second Wrong Hand Route (E1 5c) clean but despite having detailed beta on how to avoid going wrong-handed on the crux I still managed it. However with some power-shouting I did succeed in doing it the burly way but was dizzy and nauseous at the top.

After seconding a VS I then elected to do Bilberry crack (an innocuous-looking VS 5a slabby corner crack) to finish as I felt too worked to try the HVS. It turned out to be both harder and steeper than I thought and quite demanding of foot strength and bridging ability... got up it but halfway up I got a headache and by the time we walked out I had full-on sunstroke-like symptoms (headache, nausea  , even breathlessness(!) in the car) that I can only atribute to exhaustion. Went straight to bed when I got home.

S- Rest. Tired and sore but relieved to not actually be ill. Ate loads.

Sunday was the first anniversary of climbing outdoors for the first time since my accident. I seconded three Severes that day, they all felt desperate and I was wasted afterwards, so I've made good progress depite not having (yet) hit my target of onsighting an HVS.

 I think my prep for that is going well- I've recently been on a little phase of doing basic strength stuff throught the work day which has made me feel like I have more "Oomph" when climbing and I am getting more confident and decisive on the lead. The hours I've been spending  cleaning on abseil recently have helped with this- on Saturday I hung on a green Alien  and a sideways wire when about 10m up without pooing myself which is massive progress! Getting completely wasted on Saturday is probably a good sign that I need a restful week before the week off work at the end of the month  during which I hope to tick my goal. The donkey work I clearly need to do on my pulmonary fitness is going to have to wait 'til after that...

[abarro81]

Yeah, I do a lot of "forced" half-crimp in my hangs (when not injured), because it's quite an "active" grip - i.e. you have to try hard in the forearm, and it's applicable to lots of holds (edges + pinches)... but I'm still not sure I see the advantage vs an edge..? It seems like taking an edge and making it less specific to climbing holds? There's nothing magic about 90 degrees. I guess it means you can train your pinky in a half-crimp more easily without putting the first 3 fingers into a more aggressive crimp-with-no-thumb position, but since my pinky drags on most holds anyway I'm not sure how advantageous that would be?