[shark]

10.13-11.2 Average 155.1 (down 1.9lbs )

M. Afternoon. Boiling hot. Foundry for a power top up. Hassled Karl and Haydn to reestablish an Oak move on the board. Got to work on campus board. Between goes I wandered upstairs to see if I could comfortably hang the big slots on the BM2000 which I was pleased to do when light and going well last year. Was piss. Went down and did some more on the campus board then occurred to me to see if I could hang the bottom middle 22mm edge and did it!  Got a stranger to film me and repeated it for camera. Over the moon - lifetime goal of doing a one arm hang off a first joint edge achieved.
On campus board came close on 1-4-6 on medium rungs and 1-3-5-7-9 on small rungs a few times

T.

W.

T. Malham with Anna, Buster and Steve. Blue skies - scorching. Too hot for the Oak. Sunbathed for a bit then TRed Yosemite Wall with rests to warm up lowering down Mescalito trying to make sense of my beta notes from last year. Concentrated on bottom but hard to get purchase on feet. Eventually linked to third bolt at end of day then bolt to bolted to top and stripped it. Dark at 7.30pm.

F. Afternoon. Foundry. Went in for a quick power top up on the campus board but it was cordoned off as Furnace routes were being reset. Went on Wave but tips sore and felt tired. Did a bunch of easy problems and worked a tough pink left of centre. Did the moves but didn’t link it

S. Sub 11stone for first time this year.
PM Systems board. Did the mirror crimps benchmarks back to back. On AnPower routine did 3 repeats on circuit on first 2 sets but failed second go of third set so stopped there.
Eve. Ergo edge A few longer hangs but bit below par so stopped

S.


Getting to Redpoint weight was the final tick in the box of my Oak prep. It’s been a long incremental slog since lockdown when at my heaviest I was 11.12 and yesterday I weighed in at 10.13. Reckon I can maintain this level for 5/6 weeks before starting to feel odd.

With the groundwork out of the way now time to focus on applying myself to the route as effectively as possible over the next few weeks. Heading up again tomorrow and thursday. Tomorrow looks too warm for the Oak so will probably just go on Mescalito again for endurance (and because it’s a great route). Thursday looks like it will be mint so curious to see how that goes.

Blown away to one arm deadhang a first joint edge. An unexpected bonus from the training and welcome confidence boost.

[Will Hunt]

Spent Monday in the hospital with Sprog but got out at about half 3 and back to the holiday.

A week of walks and nice family days out. Had a day on Pavey climbing in t-shirts and swimming in the tarn afterwards. Climbing as a three with two partners who don't climb much any more - we managed one three pitch route!

Took the nipper to a nearby slab a couple of times and she did grandly.

[spidermonkey09]

M- rest

T- good max hangs session. Pretty solid at 5kg assist but reckon I will stick at that weight until it feels trivial before going down. Need to find something that weighs 0.5 kg to ease the transition.easily managed 3FD hang on bottom middle with left hand. Not as strong as Shark though.

W- some one arm pull ups, weight assisted.

T- good board session. Did a 6c+ and eventually did the mirrored version right at the end of the session. Started to remember that good feeling of jumping around on crimps.

F - rest

S - Malham. Roasting despite deliberately arriving later. Planned to look at Overnite but couldn't be arsed to wait for the sun so went on Minimum Fuss instead. Went fine first RP after a sort out. Well worth doing and great to do the top section of Mescalito again. Scott fell off Connect with hands in finishing undercuts but unable to let go to clip the chain! Heartbreaker.

S - Yew Cogar. Hadn't been before so was psyched. Managed to flash Cruisin after Scott geared it up, just about outrunning the encroaching numb hands. Did the newly retroed 7b+ Staying Power first RP after a good on sight go. This is amazing, maybe even better than Cruisin. Had another good onsight go at Devils Grip and just about fell up it before the sun hit. What a great crag. Keen to go back for Vorsprung and the harder stuff.

[yetix]

14-20SEP2020
M: rest
T: rest
W: Crafnant, Special K managed to get in halves from the start to the low RH shoulder and from the low RH shoulder through the powerful move and to the top of the stand. Left it after a couple of hours to preserve skin. Tried Wonderwall briefly. Flashed the first move and move 3 to the top, but move 2 felt like it would split my tips in half.
T: Honister Pass, Occums Razor. Cool moves on this one. Managed to somehow suss it out and get it done in a session. First 7C in a session which I'm stoked about.

F: Wavelength, mostly spotting, did Boysen's groove and Wedgie Lefthand traverse to show my housemate beta but other than that just alot of walking around really.
S: spotted at Parisellas for an hour and scoped out a few things on the orme I'd like to try in the future.
S: Crafnant, managed to get Special K done pretty swiftly which made leaving it on Wednesday to preserve skin seem a wise decision. Did Crafnant Arete on the walk out. Went to Jerry Roof a few hours later. Did bus stop right hand in halves. Did the first/second move of huffys (I used the intermediate) but somehow exploded off going for the match and did the first move of worzel and could move my right foot comfortably. Didn't realise matching was an option so was trying to rh straight up on worzel. Will revise beta next time.

[tomtom]

Blimey Yetix - thats a week to rival last weeks!! Ride that wave of form!!!

Shark - sounding positive (good).

Mon: 1 arm day. Probably needed  a rest so reps at high assist weight...

Tues: Rest

Weds: Rubicon. Felt strong and snappy (as in bouncy). No one there (excellent). Should have ticked Kudos (at last) but seemed to fail on the last throw 3 or 4 times. Video showed I was taking my feet off half way through the throw across left. Why? Why? Anyway, think I have my RF in the wrong place lower (- on a little hook/spike) rather than higher (like Murphs video) - higher feels worse/bunched being taller - but ran out of juice before I could try. Good progress on the Press - much more control - held the crimp for about a second before somehow deciding to drop off.

Thurs: Assisted 1 arm pull up day. Good. Reps on -10kg.

Fri: Met Nai and Dolly at the P. My first visit. Now - if I lived 20-30 min away from the P I'd be all over it. Dry, interesting mix of holds, soft grades ( :D ) - but its 1:20-1:30 from S. Manchester so I'll not be there often I suspect. Anyway - had a decent session, did a 7A that felt (a) easy but also (b) very nice. Spent alot of time trying a 7B just to the right (Pokemon something) that was basic but fun - and then ages trying a 7A towards the left that sapped all the remaining whatevers from my arms. Felt beasted afterwards. Ironically - its the crag where its the hardest to have a P.

Sat: Board day. Thought I'd be trashed - but actually had a decent session. New best efforts on the Press-lica.

Sun: Helsby evening. Too warm really - but wanted to get back on Tears in the Rain (Mike Adams 7C - thats now 7B+???) up on the top. Had this all worked but not linked pre Xmas - took a while to -re-remember the moves and it was a bit hot and sweaty/slippy. Good session though - nice to work some moves that are not crimps and pulls. 

[James Malloch]

Went down and did some more on the campus board then occurred to me to see if I could hang the bottom middle 22mm edge and did it!  Got a stranger to film me and repeated it for camera. Over the moon - lifetime goal of doing a one arm hang off a first joint edge achieved.

Nice one! Don't do what I did though - get excited, keep doing it anytime you see an edge, injure yourself.

[gollum]

W/C 14/9/2020

Another new week and back on it.

M- Rehab, chest, abs
T - Repeaters, triceps, abs, physio
W - Depot blues- Rehab- Back-Abs
T - Repearers- Sheffield blues and blacks - Rehab- Shoulders - Abs
F - Biceps - Rehab -Core- Almscliffe - Physio
S - Rest
S - Rest

[mr chaz]

M.
T. Indoor bouldering, arms still feel weak as piss but improving.
W.
T. Indoor bouldering, had a fairly decent session getting back on the woody and campus board.
F.
S.
S. Morning session at Nesscliffe terrace. Repeated the usual warmups then did Pete's Route 7A. Squeezed in but a nice problem I thought and took a couple of goes to get the LH sloper just right. Repeated Northumberland Wonderland and then got a savage split and had to call it a day.

Still feeling like I have no power, but its improving slowly. On the plus side, a couple of weeks of healthy eating and no drinking has left me feeling quite light and shifted and sorted out the bloat I've been struggling with.

[yetix]

Cheers Tom! Hopefully the weather plays ball and it can continue into this week too!

[JohnM]

Another great week Yetix! Nice one on the one arm hangs Shark. I am also trying to do these on either the Lattice rung or the Beastmaker middle slot without wedging my index or pinky. However, it seems I really struggle with one arm hangs even though I never feel like finger strength is a major weakness. It must be more of a shoulder thing I guess.

Weight 146lbs

M - Rest

T- Rest

W - Neil Gresham endurance session on Lattice rung (12kg assist). Still feeling pretty exhausted after the ultra so only managed 2 sets. Then went on my local trail run circuit. Felt good for 6km and then my knee started playing up. I still need more rest I guess. 11km 500m height gain.

T - Rest

F - Drove to Arco. The idea was to project an 8b with the hope of doing it or getting close to build up for the 8c again. However, it became quickly apparent that this wasn't going to happen as I felt exhausted and it was boiling hot. Did a load of routes up to 7a+ and made my fingertips red raw.

S - Woke up feeling exhausted and terrible and assumed the day would be a write-off. This could have been due to being genuinely exhausted but I suspect the fact that the local wine is only 6 Euros a litre and I have no self-control also had something to do with it. Went to a really nice north facing crag up high in a forest. I was hoping that the distance from Arco and the long drive would mean it was quiet but unfortunately it was mobbed with loud #vanlifers. Climbing-wise it was completely different to the day before and the rock felt cool and the air was fresh. Warmed up on the fingerboard and then put the clips in a nice 7c+/8a with a bouldery start and did that first rp. Then looked at another 8a on small grozzly crimps. Felt solid on the moves but my tips were weeping. Got close but fired off in the crux sequence. Did a really nice 7b+ to finish.

S -  Went to another high north-west facing crag. Again with the long drive, that included some gravel road, I was hoping it would be quiet. But again the car park was packed full of vans. It seems there is no escape these days in most sport climbing areas. The older I get the greater the number of climbers that piss me off. The fact that these #vanlifers take up 2-3 parking spaces with their vans, table and chairs area and hacky sack zones and then the crag stinks of skunk, people are playing loud music on tinny bluetooth speakers and also drawing attention to themselves by screaming on every move and shouting loads of stuff at the lower-off annoys me. Anyway, after finding a sector to ourselves I put the clips up a really nice 8a with crimpy wall climbing leading to some powerful moves on grey flowstone. I was happy to do that first redpoint before feeling too tired and calling it a day.   

[SA Chris]

M - 11 km run with mate. Bastard did the Ramsay round in 23 hours recently, so I was breathing out my arse to keep up, still did it in just over an hour.
T - Hard to remember, some weight or core, core I think.
W bouldering at Pheppie Burn. Sunshine and wind never materialised, so a wee bit greasy, but still good to catch up with a couple of mates and do some stuff. Board session at home, felt OK Managed long term project.
T- run in evening while Kyle at drama. 9 km with a mate, good catch up.
F - Roasting. Short run up to Cranhill to clear brambles and bracken from boulders for the kids.
S - Roasting. Early paddleboard down the coast, pretty calm but a southerly swell running. 4.4 km. After lunch went jumping off rocks with mates and their kids, then went and did a bit of fishing with son, caught a couple of hand sized coalies.
S - Roasting. Big hike up Clachnabenn with kids, blowing a hoolie at the top, so belayed them on first section of a V Diff, and some variants before it got overcast and too windy and we headed back. Great weekend.

[duncan]

these #vanlifers take up 2-3 parking spaces with their vans, table and chairs area and hacky sack zones and then the crag stinks of skunk, people are playing loud music on tinny bluetooth speakers and also drawing attention to themselves by screaming on every move and shouting loads of stuff at the lower-off annoys me.

Are you sure you were in Italy 



M - Shoulders: IsYsTs, attempted handstands, side-planks.
T - Very early start and drove the 4 hours to The Gower where I met up with Sean.  Checked out Foxhole, warmed up on a couple of short, steep and punchy 6s then tried the short, steep and punchy Marmalade Skies. Didn’t get the onsight but the redpoint went smoothly after a bit of local advice on the footwork - thank you Mr Sharp and well done on your first 8a if you’re reading this. I'd thought I was on a 7a+ as per the wiki and local select book but Rockfax has it at 7a which, sadly, is probably correct. Pioneers of the Hypnotic Groove looked amazing but I didn’t think I quite had a one day anti-style 7b in me, I don’t need any more SW projects, and wanted to climb the following day.
W - Watch House Crag: close to Foxhole but a complete contrast in style. Warmed up on Sport Wars then got on the aptly named Tread Gently. Managed this after a couple of step-downs from the starting footholds and some general advice. No gear was weighted so I’m taking the onsight. Finished with the very enjoyable Jaded Locals; despite being neither this went smoothly. Drove over to see my Mum on the opposite side of the Bristol channel and caught up with her for a very pleasant three hours before heading home. A long day.
T - Knackered. Managed the shoulder routine as above.
F - Fingerboard: Aerobic Power session (7s/3s repeaters at ~50% MVC, on a 15mm sharp edge) 2 mins. x 6 sets. This feels really specific to my kind of routes, hope there is some carry-over.  5km run. Shoulders as above.
S - Camping on the Chilterns with The Lad and a couple of pals from his school bubble. All very excited and had a very late night of course despite attempting to knacker them with a hearty hill-walk. Shoulders as above.
S - Knackered. Nearly a day off but managed a 5km walk so still maintaining more than 30mins of exercise every day so far in 2020.

Another new-to-me crag, making four for the year. The Gower is growing on me. Foxhole and Shipwreck Cove compare decently with most UK sport.  In the past I’ve tended to see it as a poor Pembroke, it is just as long a drive from London and doesn’t have a hut, so I’ve rarely visited. However the hut is closed at the moment, I’ve spent a lot of time at Pembroke and Portland in the last 10 years and I’ve needed a bit of variety.

Time to start trying hard on routes again.

[SA Chris]

hacky sack

Is that still even a thing? I thought they were replaced by slack lines

[Duma]

W - Watch House Crag: close to Foxhole but a complete contrast in style. Warmed up on Sport Wars then got on the aptly named Tread Gently. Managed this after a couple of step-downs from the starting footholds and some general advice. No gear was weighted so I’m taking the onsight. Finished with the very enjoyable Jaded Locals; despite being neither this went smoothly.

Hi Duncan! (I was one of the group that turned up)

[Coops_13]

M: Density pickups. Legs. Squats and knee durability exercises

T: Spot Denver. Warmed up on fingerboard. Perfect intensity fingerboard session. Strength Repeaters 18mm 5s on 3s off X5 *5sets (BW, +5lb, +10lb, +15lb, +10lb). Climbed after that, feeling strong - even had to try hard at times. Did 3 or 4 boulders of V5/6 difficulty. Did some movements that stressed the wrist - it felt fine! 55 pull-ups to finish. Lower body stretching

W: Density pickups, increased LH to 44lbish. Crimpd Core - Static Holds. Push. Bench press, Incline press, Rotator cuff exercises, Shoulder press, Bicep curl, Lateral raise, front raise.

T: Lower body stretching. Spot Denver. Warmed up on fingerboard. Strength Repeaters 18mm 5s on 3s off X5 *5sets (BW, +5lb, +10lb, +15lb, +10lb). 1 hour 20mins on Kilter board. 20 boulders, mostly flashed. 1 V1, 3 V2, 3 V3, 4 V4, 5 V5, 4 V6. Finished off with 55 pull-ups.

S: Trip to Independence Pass. Blew flash of ICBJ (Ice Cream Blow Job) V6 following whack beta, did second go - soft. Went to Husky, sandbag V5 and v psyched to send that. V5 is truly an amazing grade in Colorado. Did Husky Traverse V6 while my mate was trying Husky, a bit crap. Finished by sending Felix V6 second go, trashing skin in the process...

S: Independence Pass. Skin thin, feeling sore and hungover. Went to the Egg boulder to try Egg V5, amazing highball rounded overhang - too hard and sharp. Finished at James Brown boulder with a flash of Hot Pants V4. 2.5 hour drive home turned into a six-hour drive - Colorado traffic is not the one

Knackered after that weekend trip - psyched on my first back to back bouldering in months, feeling good. Deload week this week

[nai]

M - back still giving me jipp but did at least manage to put my socks on unaided first thing.  Eased throughout the day and got stuck in with a massage ball later and did a good stretch which helped

T - did an hour at Burbage North, bit tentative, seeked out the classic Triangle Traverse then got drawn in by the King line that is TT low, a must for fans of waist/hip height traverses.

W - evening at Bbg Sth with Plattsy.  Close to doing Knick Knack paddywack and The Grazer. Decent, haven't nearly done a 7A for six months.
 
Th 8 hours of sanding woodwork and cleaning up afterwards. Knackering.

F - The P with Dolly and tt. My first time too. Good start falling offf a 4+ warm up but fortunately improved. Thought I'd done The Pretender but Dolly worked out I'd done the eliminate version, Princess and the P, so did it again with a couple of extra holds but it was barely any easier. First 7A, or two, since March.
I managed to fit into the holds of Pokemon City Limits nicely and was surprised to manage that, can't have 7B for it but frst 7A+ since March.
Went to try Parklife but got very frustrated with it and had to admit defeat but did Bloc Party as a consolation.

SS nowt (well decorating)

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - fingers garage session. Shit. Heavy, bad skin, one good hang and a big split in my right pinky. Two arms was much better. Weights, press 5x5, then a power clean finisher 5x10 30".
Tue - rest.
Wed - fingers, new session: on pull up bar, mid two one armed with some help with other hand's ring finger then front3 drag one armed on 2 cm incut edge. 5+5 alternated. Snatch pulls in between. Clean and press 30" finisher 38 kg 3x10 brutal, I was cooked by the third set, but grinded it out because I'm just the baddest motherfucker out there. TB DL finisher, ut supra.
Thu - boxing bag.
Fri - rest.
Sat - DL 5x5 80 kg. TB DL 80 kg x10, pull ups x5 every two minutes, x5. Agony.
Sun - rest.