[duncan]

1. Look after myself mentally and physically, including doing some kind of resistance training or >30 mins brisk walk every day.

2. Make a decent fist of being a Dad.

3. Get out of London for >50 days

4. Climb at 3 places new to me.

4. Classic sea-cliff E5 (or Supersonic).

5. Go sport climbing properly - work routes - and complete unfinished business: Empire, Paradise Lost with AJM, a 7b+ tbc.

6. Get the band back together for a long route somewhere in Europe next summer.

7. Celebrate a big birthday in a fun and dignified fashion.

Andy:
Lots to think about there. Copenhagen sounds a pretty fine place to be albeit not ideal for climbing. Walking is good for me. I suspect this isn’t really your kind of thing but I find the active 10 app motivating,
aiming for 30 mins of brisk activity which is evidence-based, rather than 10k steps which was a marketing idea for pedometers in 1960s Japan.

Guy:
Noted your best of 2019, sounds like a great trip and has given me some ideas. Do add it to the LH&F thread. Süpervitamin sounds amazing.

Wil:
I owe you a belay and have done some of your E5 goals BITD. I’d be very happy to follow you up them.

Good luck everyone!

[TobyD]

Trad Actually get out trad climbing this year. Some classic,  memorable routes up to E3; but trickier if I feel okay mentally.  Not really done any meaningful trad for nearly 4 years now, and given that I was feeling pretty confident on sighting E5/6 10 years ago, I feel that I need to pull my finger out.

Sport Get finger injury healed, good volume of mid to high 7s in Leonido in March. Do Cave routes at Gordale, the Groove at Malham,  seek out new venues at home or abroad. 

Life Find a more bearable job, I used to believe in what I do and any semblance of that has totally vanished.  Start writing again even if its recreational. 

[Ged]

Don't think I did this last year, going to be an odd 2020 as other half has an injury that's going to stop her climbing at all until spring, leading until early summer, and bouldering until autumn. Plus the distraction of a big non climbing trip in Sept, so will see how we go...

General
Continue elbow rehab - has been a long process but feel like I can see the end now, climbing is fairly unrestricted, just need to get to a point where strength and power training is OK.
Keep weight Av 70kg from 71ish last few years - should be doable if I succeed in next aim...
Drink less often - I rarely drink to excess, but probably have a beer ~70% of days. I doubt this has a major effect on climbing, but it seems more habit than anything else, and the calories must add up.
Don't die on a motorbike in the Himalaya.

Climbing
Do something hard for me on dartmoor again, not really felt the psyche since Devon Sent a couple years ago, but Squire's new stuff has stirred something. Will probably require learning to love saddle tor, but might have a look at James's new arete (Interstellar) at Bovey, or attempt jungle VIP again.
Boulder in N Wales. Shamefully didn't manage it this year. Would really like to do Ultimate Warrior if poss.
Go to Ansteys, finish CS, and try something trickier.
Pembroke, have fun, an E4 O/S would be nice.

Hey duma, if you're looking for something to get stuck into down this way, try hopes nose instead of dartmoor. Alexis has put up some pretty good stuff recently. The main crag, not the beach.

[Ged]

Climbing:
Actually try and do some hard problems instead of being happy with anything with a 7 in it. Cast off and Devon sent for the first few months.
Do project at potato head (after moving bolts)
Cyber dog
Have a proper look at Christine, even if it doesn't get done.

Running
Decent performance at the Saunders
Beat last year's time on the dartmoor volcano
Something big and hilly in Europe in the summer

[Fiend]

Hey Duma, Ultimate Warrior SDS does look great, only a few board-ish moves into the stand. Seems to involve boning a RH crimp pretty hard. Might be useful to have a spotter to move pads as it starts in a wee pit but you might want the pads shoved back over for the finish. Outside of the main snowdonia massif so hopefully more of a tremadog climate.

[mark s]

main one is to stay injury free

loose 1.5 stone but try and keep as much of the strength as I can and see if it helps as the weight drops.

get back to bouldering 7s with out too much trouble.

a route I never finished was national acrobat. it was a proper grit battle but a safe route. it maybe beyond me now after a long break but no harm in still wanting to do it.

[shark]

Bit of a change of mindset this coming year as Ive pretty much now resigned myself to being retired so need to come to terms with that and make the most of the opportunities it presents balanced against commitments. Still got a major property refurb to see through and the others to manage. Poppy is doing GCSE’s this year. Sonia promoted to a higher pressure management job so need to be mindful and supportive. Will pick up on more of the household responsibilities to help redress balance and tighten up further on monitoring personal finances and investments.

Climbing goals:

Use the van (until Tommy gets his hands on it) to get away more frequently

Prep well for the Oak (particular focus on developing power and session endurance)

Make progress on other long term projects (Bens original, Moffatrocity, Soul Crusher, Blind Date)

Ideally go back to RRG again late Autumn - fitter this time

Very keen for a trad comeback this year. Never onsighted an E6 (although got close BITD) so would love to build towards this if I can handle the fear

Must go to Pembroke again.

[moose]

All a bit ^C ^V from last year... but it's not like I "won" climbing or life in the interim.

Climbing

- Keep bouldering outside through the winter.  Less taking the easy option and going to the Depot if it's cold and windy. Try to get some value out of all the "technical" clothing I buy whenever I see a special offer and am in need of cheering up!

- Hit Malham with fierce joy in Spring; get on Main Overhang, hopefully do it and move onto another project.

- Identify a suitable Summer project at Kilnsey (or Gordale) and give it a good go and / or finish off Mandela Training Traverse.

- Climb at non-Yorkshire-Big-3 crags - Chapel, Hollywood Bowl, and Peak - even if it's just a few days of on-sighting / in-a-day-RPs.

- Keep TRXing and fingerboarding.

- Get back on the woodie - hopefully the new Beastmaker crimps my brother got me for Christmas and winter bouldering will inspire new board problems.

Life

- Drink less (I find periods of total abstinance more achievable than taking the odd day off - so lock away the whisk(e)y collection in a filing cabinet at work asap!).

- Work / life balance, not that I have much control over the matter.  If I do end up working too much, at least treat myself ocassionally to maintain some sense of cosmic justice! (between Brexit, eco-catastrophe, and a job that occassionally involves collapsing buildings full of asbestos I see limited point in saving all of my money!).

- Eat better, try more new recipes.

- Read more, less aimless browsing on the internet.

- Have more non-climbing days out (I only had one voluntarily last year - an NFL game at the new Tottenham stadium - I really enjoyed it and I suspect the memory will endure more than the Depot session I would have had otherwise).

[Fiend]

Climbing goals:

Use the van (until Tommy gets his hands on it) to camp out at Malham.

Prep well for the Oak (particular focus on developing power and session endurance)

Make progress on other long term projects (Bens original, Moffatrocity, Soul Crusher, Blind Date) as long as they are training for The Oak

Ideally go back to Malham all season - stronger this time

Very keen for The Oak

Must go to Malham again.

 

[Duncan campbell]

Hey Duma, Ultimate Warrior SDS does look great, only a few board-ish moves into the stand. Seems to involve boning a RH crimp pretty hard. Might be useful to have a spotter to move pads as it starts in a wee pit but you might want the pads shoved back over for the finish. Outside of the main snowdonia massif so hopefully more of a tremadog climate.

It is really good and like you say is only a few extra moves with only one of them being hard. Certainly not 7B+!

[galpinos]

Not done one of these for a while.

7C and get back to ticking sevens in short order
E5 and get out on the trad a lot more to get in a position that setting out on an E5 is a possibility.
Cordier Pillar

[Duncan campbell]

As last year didn’t quite go to plan many of my aims have been carried over. Last year presented me with a few challenges, but I think this year should negate one or two of them and I hopefully have a bit of a better understanding of how to deal with others.

Sport

Hopefully back out to Spain for a second go at last year’s trip.

So again keen to consolidate at 8a which probably equals doing one in a session. But doing a load more would also equal this.

Onsight 7c - was close last time which was 3 years ago now. Be ace to try and flash 7c+ too if I’m feeling good

Be good to get my teeth into something fairly tricky. Mon Dieu at oliana seems like it might fit the bill and it seems like a lot of my mates are keen to go there.

U.K. sport-wise I would really like to do Supercool. Had a bolt to bolt up it after work last year and couldn’t do the crux but would be keen to invest some time in it. Also tick some more off the list.

Trad

Onsight/g-up E6 again, both at a more solid for the grade level and more often. Remember that the prize is going for it on the onsight not the end product of the onsight itself.

Get to the lakes more and tick off more from the lists

Maybe look into a headpoint project. Would likely be in the more spicy sport area than really necky short route. This is an area I have never really given much thought but I can imagine it can be really fun if the right level found. Plus a good way to further improve trad skills

Bouldering
Consolidate at 7B do more 7B+ and if I find one that suits 7C

Keep up a bit of power through summer

Misc/life

Do some more big multi pitch things - Verdon/dolomites/general euro.

Make sure I spend enough time with GF but also make time for going out and doing the things I really want to do - a tricky one this. Don’t let uncertain work contracts stop is from going away on a decent holiday/trip

Figure out work direction - do I stay with current company or go more freelance? Build more experience for when I upgrade to L3

Begin gearing up to buy house guess after working loads last year this year will be more fun oriented but towards the end of the year will have to start thinking about buying a house.

Read more. Stop mindlessly scrolling!!

Keep up with general training over summer.

Hope this is a good start to the decade for everyone!

[Yossarian]

The past few months have been pretty stressful, with my wife and I deciding to separate. A decision which I spent a lengthy period trying to persuade her out of. Anyway, having gone through a kaleidoscope of emotions, the prevailing one is now slightly nervous optimism, and my aim is to deal with it all in an as amicable, dignified and gentlemanly fashion as possible.

I’ve spent the past few years somewhat recklessly trying to pursue writing and drawing pictures without a proper plan. Kids books are too unpredictable / financially speculative in terms of effort before idea of reward. I ought to be doing more commercial illustration, but there are various barriers to entry which have proved tricky to surmount. Coupled with this work stuff, I’ve neglected our work-in-progress house which now feels like a disaster zone.

I was convinced I was fairly unemployable thanks to my deeply unconventional CV. However, I recently managed to start a freelance contract (with the possibility of going full-time) at a London-based design agency. It’s a pretty decent place, apart from the fact that it’s populated by millennials who don’t seem to ever go home. If I’m going to get anything done midweek (training / writing and drawing stuff) then I need to get away at 6pm or earlier. I need to decide fairly quickly whether it’s the is the right plan and / or find some alternatives. Ideal scenario would be to find somewhere I can work from home a couple of days a week. The major issue is that I have a contract for a non-kids book which involves 40k+ words and a few hundred illustrations, which is going to have to get done at weekends and evenings. And potentially a couple of more lucrative kids books too. Fitting that in is going to require quite a lot of organisation.

Also need to figure out a strategy for getting the most constructive stuff down on a very long (3hrs+) commute. If I can write the text for the longer book on the way up and read all the way home then that would be quite productive.

Obviously sorting all of that stuff out is the priority, but I refuse to let it mess up climbing too much, especially as I’m actually getting somewhere again, so...

Seeing as I’m going to have kids in tow for much of this year, I think I’ll probably aim for a 60:40 bouldering:routes split. This would mean they actually have fun, rather than getting dragged along to watch me climb sport routes with random strangers. Hopefully this will mean I get stronger, tick some harder things, and translate to progress towards Project 8a when I do get the rope out.

20 7SOMETHING boulders, including a 7B.
Deal with unfinished business on the grit and in Font.
Multiple trips to the Tor and Peak limestone, and do everything possible to get daughter some decent ticks (for an 8-year-old)
More SW bouldering, plus Churnet / North Wales / Yorkshire /Dinas rock, etc

Organise / book 3x bouldering trips for me and the kids. Font at Easter. Swiss / transEurope tour summer / autumn TBC.

Plan sport / trad strategically with the aim of best routes / least dicking around / avoiding head-in-hands days. Do more at Anstey’s - The Lynch / Empire Direct / Avenged / Just Revenge / LWM. Plus Brean / Cheddar / Torbryan / Swanage sport. Also aiming for Peak and Yorkshire lime - something (from this list - https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,30215.msg589652.html#msg589652)at the Tor, Comedy at Kilnsey?

Possible micro trip to Siurana / Margalef

7b+ in a day / 7c / make progress on an 8a

Some fun grit E2-3 and maybe an E4. Have another go at Perfect Day and Goosey Goosey Gander. Do something good by the sea, maybe Cornwall or Pembroke, if there’s time.

Climb with more UKBers, including Fiend and Shark.

147 / 1 arm pull-up / decent progress on fingerboard / lots of yoga and stretching

Figure out longer term plan for FLMHMF / alpine / American rock in a year or two.

[shark]

Climb with more UKBers, including Fiend and Shark.

 

Plenty of space at mine if you want to stop over

[Monolith]

Keeping it simple this year being a Dad now.

Be a good Dad and partner.
Finish top third in 3 fell races.
Run a sub 6 min mile again.
Recce all separate sections of the Bob Graham Round.
Climb a boulder problem of any grade whatsoever.

Good luck to all of you. Where there's a will there is always a way.

[cheque]

Good luck everyone!

*** Sub-extreme Peak trad list. 46 on this bad boy, 41 HVSs plus the 5 VSs I failed to tick last year so it's a bit of a tall order and has some proper sandbags on it. Maybe I'll just fuck it off and climb other stuff if I'm not enjoying it as much as last year but it's what I'm psyched for currently.

Equal or better all my pre-injury strength PBs I have all these written down so it's easy to gauge.

Fingerboard consistently Normally I only do this in the winter and what has that attitude got me? Weak fingers.

Climb the Devil's Tower Going to the States (Colorado and Wyoming to be exact) in the summer. Setting specific trip goals hasn't worked for me in the past and my aim is more to see my friends and climb in different cool places than any particular performance level but I've wanted to climb this thing since I first started climbing. Looks like the routes that go to the top are the sort of stuff that grit HVS cracks will be decent training for too.

[nik at work]

Wow Yoss your life is like a trendy London hipster mirror of mine...

I’ve also split from my wife and now living in Hathersage. Will have a mad keen 8 year old son visiting me regularly and space for you to visit if that helps in your peak ticks aims...

[JohnM]

Climbing

Climb at least French 8b bolt clipping again. I got close last year but then an injury to a tendon/ligament in my elbow ended any hope in the last couple of months of 2019. I need to get this better again to be able to do the training required and get fit enough for the Spring and some serious attempts. Do a challenging alpine route at either Rote Wand, Wilder Kaiser or the Dolomites. Finding a psyched partner will probably be the initial crux on this one. If I go to Australia next autumn I would like to do some classics in the Blue Mountains and in the Gramps such as Serpentine. I won't bother with any specific bouldering goals as my outdoor sessions are rare and sporadic, but it would be nice to climb a classic 7C outdoors if I get into one.

Running

Finish both of the 100 km+ races I have entered into (Innsbruck Trail Festival and Eiger Ultra) and do the Bob Graham round in June if there is a good weather window. After getting into trail races in 2019 I have set myself some (over)ambitious trail running plans between April and July, with trail races/runs of 85 km or greater planned every month. This is definitely going to affect my climbing plans but it depends on the speed of my recovery and whether I can have quality climbing sessions during the running recovery periods between races. I don't enjoy running as much as climbing (i.e. it is more type II fun), but I like the fact that at the moment it is something that I can try really hard and push myself in, whereas this has not been the case with climbing over the last few years due to various shoulder and elbow woes!

Misc/life

Get less anxious about work related stuff.
Read more for pleasure + as others have said - less mindless internet scrolling.
Improve my conversational German. My vocab improved a lot during 2019 but I still actively avoid conversing in German!
Improve my living situation and get a quieter, more spacious flat with a home office space.
After cancelling out any benefit of giving up booze last November by drinking like a fish throughout December, I will now attempt to give up alcohol until I climb 8b, Preston North End get promoted or I finish the Eiger Ultra. Whichever happens first!

[Andy F]

Climbing

After cancelling out any benefit of giving up booze last November by drinking like a fish throughout December, I will now attempt to give up alcohol until I climb 8b, Preston North End get promoted or I finish the Eiger Ultra. Whichever happens first!

I'd say the 8b or the Eiger Ultra are much more likely. If you just had PNE getting promoted you'd never drink again 

[Yossarian]

Wow Yoss your life is like a trendy London hipster mirror of mine...

I’ve also split from my wife and now living in Hathersage. Will have a mad keen 8 year old son visiting me regularly and space for you to visit if that helps in your peak ticks aims...

Oh no, really sorry to hear that  / oh wow, that’s amazing and yes we will come and see you as soon as possible! 

[nai]

Have lists of stuff up to E5, 7C and 8a to go at depending what I get psyched for.

Initial focus on bouldering, see how that goes into summer. If I can do Cave Problem Sit, Peverse Reverse and Bashers RH then maybe I'll see if I can link them all in a bit of unashamed grade chasing.

Would be nice to get a Kilnsey tick, a Crag X tick, a multi pitch tick on a big trad crag and do Jerry's Roof.

[Fiend]

....on the same day 

[TobyD]

....I've wanted to climb this thing since I first started climbing. Looks like the routes that go to the top are the sort of stuff that grit HVS cracks will be decent training for too.

I have done a couple of the routes on Devils Tower, I'd strongly recommend doing El Matador, it's amazing. Leave the grit cracks alone and just concentrate on getting very strong calves!

[dunnyg]

Psyched to hear how you get on in Wyoming. Its on the list...

[cheque]

How do I get strong calves Toby? It’s the hip flexibility that would pose the biggest challenge on El Matador for me to be honest!

Dunny- rest assured that there will be a detailed write-up on here in some form! 

Got three more aims- I came up with all of them before New Year but my mind was a blank the other day for some reason.

Central Buttress (The Scafell one) When my Lakes- based mate told me he’d never done this we made a pact to go and do it together this summer. Not a high-pressure aim as he can happily and easily lead the hard pitches if need be so the crux will probably be logistical in terms of getting a window of good weather when we’re both free.

Climb in Scotland Seems ridiculous given how widely I’ve climbed in England and Wales but before I got the SMC Scottish Climbs book last week I knew almost nothing about climbing north of the border. Now I have the book I’m psyched. I have no plan of how I’ll achieve this but I’d like to do at least something up there this year.

Get on The Rasp As I said in the 2019 summary thread, the events of 2018 taught me the importance of getting stuff done while you still can. It feels nice and positive to do easy stuff like the Chee Tor Girdle but it’s painful to go to Burbage, see the Leaning Block and think “When I could have led The Rasp I was too complacent/ timid/ scared of failure to go and do it”. I might not succeed on this but unlike other routes in this category it’s safe enough to still be an option for me so I am going to at least have a go this year.