[Falling Down]

https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/board,43.0.html 

[Fultonius]

 Apologies if I missed someone else saying this, I did read the whole thread but may have missed it.

Have you tried woodwork? It's a very skill based, learnable and fun/mindful way to wile away many hours, turning wood into beautiful....... Piles of chippings and sawdust!

[Oldmanmatt]

Apologies if I missed someone else saying this, I did read the whole thread but may have missed it.

Have you tried woodwork? It's a very skill based, learnable and fun/mindful way to wile away many hours, turning wood into beautiful....... Piles of chippings and sawdust!

And then screwing it to a couple of 8’x4’ sheets of ply, inclined at about 45⁰?

[SA Chris]

Apologies if I missed someone else saying this, I did read the whole thread but may have missed it.

Have you tried woodwork? It's a very skill based, learnable and fun/mindful way to wile away many hours, turning wood into beautiful....... Piles of chippings and sawdust!

OK Chippy Minton

[kingholmesy]

What about triathlon?

It will eat up your time if you want it to and there is boundless scope for punishing yourself with training.

It’s not weather dependent, you can train on your own or join a club if you want more of a social aspect, and the running and bike will take you to nice bits of countryside.

By mixing it up there’s less chance of getting injured than if you were doing just one of the sub-disciplines. 

It lacks the movement and problem solving of climbing though.

Edited to say: this is pure speculation. Personally I fucking hate swimming, so just go running when injured for climbing.

[kingholmesy]

P.s. for me at least I’ve never found the drop your grade, go trad bumbling option while injured to be a good one.

I can’t stop myself trying hard and re-tweaking stuff. Plus it means I’m still thinking about climbing loads, but performing below my best, which I find frustrating.

I always prefer to focus on something else for a while.

[saltbeef]

this thread is brilliant.
I particularly enjoyed Adam's comment.
Have you tried mobility/stretching - ie can you do the middle splits/front splits/pancake/bridge - training for these with weighted mobility/dynamic stretching both makes my body feel really good (he says typing with a gammy shoulder) and I am certain has helped my climbing. Furthermore middle splits exercises have helped with drinking games. If you want some pointers hit me up.
(I'm still not flexible, but am much better than I was)
ps if you want suggestions for this then send me a message.
(honestly its good too see the progression - eg in pancake I could literally sit on the floor bolt upright, now I'm nearly chest to floor)

[saltbeef]

Alternatively do a medical degree (bit of a push in a year) and get into something really niche - I particularly enjoy cto angioplasty - its about as anorak as you can get

[SA Chris]

What about triathlon?

Triathlons are just a way to spend loads of money on 3 different sports at the same time (I live in a house cluttered by a a former triathlete) and be shit at 3 different things simultaneously. And have a washing machine going non-stop.

[Oldmanmatt]

Screw Triathlon.

OCR is the light and the way.

Though slightly dimmer and not quite the true course of load-bearing test marches (Paras 10, Fandance etc).

[Yossarian]

If you fancy combining cycling with low grade climbing, and would like to avoid getting sucked into purchasing an enormously expensive MAMIL chariot, you might find these books inspiring.

https://www.isolapress.com/shop/further-adventures-in-rough-stuff

[tomtom]

Caving.

Cave diving if that gets a bit tame.

[SamT]

Cave diving if that gets a bit tame.

Yep - plenty to go at in the peak...


[sound on for top graunching sounds]

[SA Chris]

Fuck that for a game of soldiers.

[kingholmesy]

Cave diving looks like the most horrendously claustrophobic experience imaginable.

On JB’s recommendation of field recording, while driving to climb on the Cornish north coast I once picked up a guy hitching who was on his way to the same crag to spend the day recording the sounds of the sea etc. I don’t think either of our pastimes were inherently more worthwhile than the other’s. However, he was very strange and it was only because I was feeling particularly generous that I pulled over again when I spotted him hitching back at the end of the day.  Fortunately he declined the lift. He said this is because he was going a different way, but maybe it was really because the feeling was mutual?

[Johnny Brown]

However, he was very strange and it was only because I was feeling particularly generous that I pulled over again when I spotted him hitching back at the end of the day.  Fortunately he declined the lift.

  Definitely a psychogeographer. It's very hard to maintain the necessary intellectual response to the landscape around other people unless they're trying equally hard. Climbers are far too down to earth. Basically unless you're mates with Will Self you're going alone. It's got Barrows' name all over it.

[andy popp]

while driving to climb on the Cornish north coast I once picked up a guy hitching who was on his way to the same crag to spend the day recording the sounds of the sea etc. I don’t think either of our pastimes were inherently more worthwhile than the other’s. However, he was very strange and it was only because I was feeling particularly generous that I pulled over again when I spotted him hitching back at the end of the day.  Fortunately he declined the lift.

I got a lift hitching in Wales one morning. First words out of the driver's lips after I'd got in the car were: "Do you realize the Lord Jesus was put in this world to save your soul." It carried on the same for the whole (mercifully short) trip. Hitching back to Beris in the evening the same car pulls over. I tentatively got in. And we had a very pleasant chat about what we'd both been up to for day. He'd obviously given up on me. Maybe Barrows can take up hitching?

[Oldmanmatt]

Cave diving if that gets a bit tame.

Yep - plenty to go at in the peak...


[sound on for top graunching sounds]

It is incredibly rewarding though and doesn’t have to be all squeezes.
It’s sister activity, wreck penetration, is my favourite though. Hunting for, finally diving on and then making your way way into an eerie wreck that’s been undisturbed since it’s loss, is truly soulful. I prefer the life that moves in and haunts it.

[mrjonathanr]

Cave diving if that gets a bit tame.

Yep - plenty to go at in the peak...


[sound on for top graunching sounds]

Late one quiet summer evening, when there was just me and a mate climbing on the catwalk, I heard voices beneath me. Looking down from the route I saw a big guy in a wetsuit standing in the beck, with another emerging, dragging air tanks. They were talking about all the line they had laid down. Mental.

You like Malham don’t you Barrows? 

[petejh]

My girlfriend's into exploration and mapping of new caves, mentioned a couple of cave-diver acquaintances who had died doing it during the last couple of years.. Either getting stuck in a squeeze and running out of air, or damaging the gear.. and running out of air.   

She also recommended we watch 'The Last Descent' on netflix. Yuck.


Barrow's you could take up winter climbing, no fingers required. And you get to scum your knees on every route.

[slab_happy]

Right, I'm going to be bold and suggest sewing.

From personal experience, some basic hand-sewing skills are really useful for climbers or anyone doing outdoor activities: I've patched and modified a huge number of pairs of jeans, moved and added straps on rucksacks, made chalkbags, etc. etc..

Also, soothing if you're stressed, and gives you a sense of achievement from lots of small projects.

I know some people rate knitting very highly for mental health, but some of my best friends are knitters and thus I know that it's also a dangerous path that leads to yarn-hoarding and, ultimately, to crochet. I have fended off all attempts to lure me into knitting because I know there's no coming back once the knitting life has you.

[mrjonathanr]

I know some people rate knitting very highly for mental health, but some of my best friends are knitters and thus I know that it's also a dangerous path that leads to yarn-hoarding and, ultimately, to crochet. I have fended off all attempts to lure me into knitting because I know there's no coming back once the knitting life has you.

I supervised a girl whose Higher Project Qualification (basically a thesis for mid teens) was on knitting and its potential mental health benefits. Many HPQ subjects are more overtly academic but this was outstanding. She had corresponded with two current uni professors and produced a fascinating presentation. It was excellent.

[Paul B]

Right, I'm going to be bold and suggest sewing.

From personal experience, some basic hand-sewing skills are really useful for climbers or anyone doing outdoor activities: I've patched and modified a huge number of pairs of jeans, moved and added straps on rucksacks, made chalkbags, etc. etc..

Kranko's Kuality Kneepads^TM

My mother-in-law is brilliant at sewing (she made a foam cover for our Caddy in the VW fabric and it looked OEM quality) but every time either one of us asks to be shown how to do something, things just get fixed or stitched and we don't learn a lot.

[slab_happy]

Yeah, there seems to be some decent evidence (and much anecdata) for the mental health benefits of all sorts of craft activities. Not a substitute for meds or therapy if you need those, but definitely useful tools in the toolkit.

[slab_happy]

Kranko's Kuality Kneepads^TM

Haven't tried making a kneepad yet, but I do have a hoodie which I upgraded with denim reinforcements over the parts of the sleeves which I was shredding in offwidths.