[Duma]

M - Rain, rest.
T - Nanopark, went to sunny side of the gorge as thought would dry quicker than Oasis et al on the N facing side. Aim here was Segul lluitan, a 7b that a couple of mates who've spent much of the last winter here recommended as one of the best routes in Chulilla. Got to about 20m (just over halfway) before dropping out of a jug, pumped to fuck. Went a fair way, but nothing to write home about. Rested, pulled up and went to next bolt, then totally freaked out on easy ground to the bolt after. Ended up reversing and lowering off in tears. Really wobbly all rest of the day, belayed gf on a route, and walked back via oasis to check it out, but no chance of tying in again. Really shook up by the experience, never felt like that sport climbing, especially on easy ground. Failure on the route is fair enough, 1) I hadn't warmed up (there's not much suitable at the sector and what there was looked wet) and 2) it's long endurance which I'm shit at, but my reaction was pretty shocking. I've felt anxious and tired since we arrived, and it felt like it boiled over. 
W - Tesoro, lovely mini gorge across from the village, with shorter slabby to vert routes, perfect way to exorcise yesterdays angst. 6a, 6a+, 7a, 6c+, 6c+, 6c+, 6c+, 6c+, all OS. Lush day.
T - La Ceguera - delayed rest day as rain forecast tomorrow, pretty knackered though. 5c, 6b, 6a+, for gf to do fall practice on - all polished and harshly graded I thought. Then managed an OS of a steeper longer 7a (Por Ahi Van Los Tiros). Got pretty pumped and anxious, but an improvement on Tues at least.
F - Rest. Forecast rain, didn't appear til mid afternoon, so walked round the gorge. Slight shame as was actually good conditions and yesterday would have been nicer for a rest day.
S - Tesoro again for gf to try her mini project. 6a, 6a, 7a (rpt), 6b, 6b+, 6b. All OS except the repeat obviously. The last 6b (Pa Cojones) was exceptional, great climbing on jugs up the arete of a pillar, best route of the trip for me. Gf sent, so had time to stop at El muro de las lamentaciones on the way back for a 7a and 7a+ OS, nice vert crimping before celebratory Radler and Paella at the bar in the sun. Excellent day.
S - Travel home.

?kg

Had a really good week despite the obvious total failure climbing wise, so spooked by Tuesday I didn't even get on any of my list of OS targets. Week made by finding Tesoro, shorter, vert to slabby routes, generously graded, generously bolted, and still great quality.

[shark]

Thanks Duma. Shame about performance but glad you had a nice time overall. Echoes my experience a few months ago.

11.7-9 average 161.9 up 0.2lbs

M. PM LLandudno scrambled on the slope above LPT but decided it was too steep and slippery to get to top of Statement to shunt it and the boulders embedded higher on the slope didn’t have anchors. Found a bolt in base of Marine Drive wall the following day.

T. AM Nice weather. Windy. Only had 90mins there. First go up Statement dogged to redpoint crux near top. Took 3 goes to do it but felt ok when I did it. Second go tide well in - flailed on first traverse onwards scarcely managing a single move. Very disheartening.

W. AM Earlier start (8am) so we could get a bit longer. Concentrated on the traverse and the move up which I struggled on last year. Altered beta on both and came close on both and feel a bit stronger on the holds than last year but still shockingly bad on it. Last tie in went on the less steep top section and despite thin skin and being tired pretty pleased how I did on it. Better session. Bit more optimistic.

T

F

S. Set of recruitment and speed pulls. Messed around on board doing similar moves to the troublesome moves on  Statement. Then 7 goes at foot-on campusing. Good scores. Felt energy depleted and ravenous after.

S.

A decent week. Good to get away but first hurried session on Statement was unsettling and exposed my current shortcomings on the initial traverse which Paul didn’t hold back on criticising. Hey ho - you can’t prioritise everything in your training. Glad I took two rest days after but should have done some mobility and stretching. Foot on campusing - much improvement on last week and matching my best session from last September when I did a few sessions. Keen to see how far I can take it. Lacking the session burl that volume indoor bouldering might have given me and would have helped on the low traverse so hoping to make it up working the route.

Going back to LPT tomorrow and Tuesday and maybe Malham on Friday if reports are good for the Oak or Mescalito.

[Aussiegav]

Nice to read about peoples trips away.
I had the week off and was glad to get out and do some sport in the Peak.

Monday -
Project session on 2016 Moonboard
First day of my week off. It was freezing cold, my climbing partner, Steve, didn’t fancy going outside for a climb and neither did I. So I went to the school for max hang session and projecting on the 2016 Moonboard

Week 3 of 8 week programme
5x10s hangs. (Body weight plus 8kg)

Projecting
◦ Above the clouds. 6c. Spent 20mins on this. Struggled to pull past G15.
◦ Twix 6c – spent 30min on this couldn’t hold the swing.
✓ Walk on the Water. 6c. This feels like the 6b+ problems I’ve done. Did this 3rd try in 12mins.


Tuesday
Freezing cold and sunny- Went to Horseshoe Quarry, the first day outside climbing this year. Warmed up on a route we weren’t sure of. It looked around 6a. I went for the Onsight and rested in a bolt. Then worked then move and did it next go. Easy Redpoint. Really enjoyable route, probably the best warm up route on the main wall. I later found out the route is a 6b, Harvey Wallbanger. I thought it was around 6a-6a+. First outdoor route for the year & one to start ticking off my outdoor goals for the year.
Then Steve went up Lost Monolith, 6b+. I went for the flash but gave a very feeble attempt on the crux move. I then worked it briefly then went through to the top and lowered off. Decided to clean it and get another route done.
I top roped a 6c that Steve did and got spanked all the way up it. I was exhausted after this and steve did one more route. It then got cloudy and the temperature dropped very fast & became freezing cold.
Called it a day. Lovely day out



Wednesday - Rest day


Thursday -
Day 4 of my week off. Dry weather continued and Steve & I went to Deep Rake. Did the following routes;

- Great British Rake Off (6a) the leftmost route starts up the left leaning crack. This was a nice climb, albeit a bit dusty & dirty in places.
- In Deep (6a) from the first bolt of Rake Off go R and up the wall via the obvious dodgy looking very large flake. I was initially trying to avoid climbing on it as I thought it would fall off the wall. But it held all my weight and didn’t flex when I pulled up on it.
- Rake It In (6b+) I almost Onsighted this, but went slightly off route at the top and was on the line to the left. This was a fight and I was really pleased to dig in. I could of finished it but I felt I’d gone off route. So I worked a sequence and then lowered off and did it next go. This is a really good route.
I belayed Steve on Couch to 8a (7b). On his Redpoint, a foot hold broke at the top of the route after the crux and denied him of a certain ascent.
I then got on Raking Liberties (6c). I did all the moves to the crux at the final all first go. I worked out a good heel/toe hook out left to allow a long lock to a big side pull & jugs. With a awkward move to the final jugs. I was tired by now and decided to leave it for another day. Also conscious that Steve wanted to have a another Redpoint on his route.
It was a great day out and an interesting crag.

Friday - rest day

Saturday
Dawn session at the School. Mileage session. 9 problems on the 2016 Moonboard. Did some single arm preacher curls for my elbow.

Sunday - peloton ride.

[Fultonius]

I've been a bit hectic last few weeks, so not really had the time.

Week in Iceland, went once to the wall on the last day. Skin was so glassy I couldn't hold on to much... Fun session but nothing to write home about.

This week I went Tuesday and Thursday. Was aiming to go to Ratho this morning on the way to the ferry but that went out the window when we "snoozed" until 11....

Tues: routes session at GCC. 6a+/6a up/down/up/downn (udud), 6b/6a udud, 6b+ x3 pulling ropes and getting back on asap (did this twice). 14x 12m =148m of sub pumpy to pumpy climbing.

Weds: 45mins bouldering at TCA to keep strength up. Then 30mins continuous on autobelay 6b/6c.

Feels like the endurance work is starting to improve things - continuous at 6c(up) and 6a+ to 6b+ down is an improvement.

Off to Cham this week (long story, but it's likely we're back on for alpine instead of Verdon).

Oh yeah... Also, Thursday - LAST DAY AT WORK!

Went for a few beers to celebrate, then work leaving drinks on Friday and a mate's 40th on Saturday, so need to let the body recover a bit!

On the ferry to NL now. (just, travel agent got the booking wrong and had us coming from NL today, not going to!)

[Duma]

?kg

Same this morning as when I left, so 71kg

[James Malloch]

Feeling more alive after last weeks rest.

M. Acro yoga

T. Board session. No max hangs this week, just fun. Managed to do a problem using one of my 10mm flat edges for the first time. Felt good and strong.

W. Pub

T. Board sessions. New guy around who works at Troll - nice to meet someone new. Good session - can’t remember much about it.

F. Day walking in the howgills. So windy but really nice day.

S. Odd jobs, life admin and lots of TV.

S. Kilnsey bouldering. Tried pillar problem 7B+. Tried it in bad conditions 4 weeks ago and managed 1st move fine, 2nd move once and that was it. This time, first move was easy, second move was very consistent. 3rd move was hard but consistent. Managed 4th move once (not from ground) which was hard. Didn’t manage 5th move (think this is to a finishing jug). Think it could go next time. Good to be feeling stronger again and getting outside.

[tommytwotone]

Goal: new (to me) Font 7a outdoors

Tues: Up early for work call with Australia so knocked off early and headed over to LSD. One section stripped so nothing new to go at, but managed to knock off a couple of the (stiffer than usual) V5s that had thwarted me the week before, then repeated one of them with a sit start, then a sit start eliminating one of the designated start holds.

Sun: not really training, but finally got chance to do some "outdoors jobs" - de-bagged and stacked loads of firewood in the log store, and dug out two veg patches in the garden. Surprisingly knackering work!

Otherwise, still suffering with night sweats after COVID booster back in Dec. Despite multiple trips to doc and tests, nobody seems to be able to pinpoint a cause / remedy.

Annoying having bought a lovely new house and put the huge bed in the bedroom we'd always promised ourselves - only to sleep in it for about a month, then have to migrate to sleeping in the office on a crash pad for 3 months!

[mr chaz]

Power Club:

M.
T.
W. Evening board session after baby went to sleep for 8, hopefully this can become a regular fixture... 20 mins warming up and 1 hour on the board. Really settling into using it now and getting a bit more creative with moves. Inspired by the Malc video, tried some hard wide lock-off moves and set a couple of projects in this style.
T.
F.
S. AM board session, about 1.5 hours including warmup. I've currently got about 17-18 boulders recorded on Retroflash, tried to complete them all in a sesh, starting easy and finishing on some projects. Made for a really good session, repeated some of the warmups boulders to get myself going and managed two projects. Spent the rest of the day tiling kitchen.
S. Tiling Kitchen.

Whilst my left arm/bicep is still noticeably weaker, I feel pretty confident climbing on it and pulling quite hard, nevertheless I'm still avoiding hard undercut moves for now. Really hopeful that with some decent weather and an understanding partner (she is bloody great, to be fair!) I can get out on the rock again this spring. I can quite feasibly do an early morning's bouldering at Nessy/Churnet/Western Grit and be back for the afternoon shift. Likewise I can be at Dinbren in an just over an hour, also feasible but requires a belay partner.

[James Malloch]

Otherwise, still suffering with night sweats after COVID booster back in Dec. Despite multiple trips to doc and tests, nobody seems to be able to pinpoint a cause / remedy.

That sounds shit! I hope you can get something diagnosed soon!

[tommytwotone]

Yeah, it's listed as a "1 in 1000" side effect of the jab - and I never had it before getting the booster (apart from when having an actual fever / flu), which is too much of a coincidence for it not to be that IMO.

No other symptoms apart from the night sweats. Just annoying as I'm not in the bed, plus it's messing with quality of sleep having to get up in the night to dry myself off with a towel 2 or 3 times a night!

[cheque]

Your crash pad bed isn’t up against your Aga is it? 

[Doylo]

Thanks Duma. Shame about performance but glad you had a nice time overall. Echoes my experience a few months ago.

11.7-9 average 161.9 up 0.2lbs

M. PM LLandudno scrambled on the slope above LPT but decided it was too steep and slippery to get to top of Statement to shunt it and the boulders embedded higher on the slope didn’t have anchors. Found a bolt in base of Marine Drive wall the following day.

I went down there anchoring off my car once years ago. Wasn't the best idea as pedestrians had to walk round the rope on the road. Had visions of someone driving off in it and me being dragged along lpt. Very silly thing to do.  Have also used 3 slings equalised off top of the wall just to get down the grass.

[Will Hunt]

There was a midweek board session in which I felt heavy, as expected. dunny set a proj which neither of us did.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - board climbing, moved well but lasted short.
Tue - 20' garage session 1. Feeling a bit grindy on the DL after a few months of it. I'll sack it for Cleans with same routine.
Wed - farmer's static holds + half TBDL x10.
Thu - cleans x5, bentover row x5, x10. Short on time.
Fri - rest.
Sat - boxing bag.
Sun - loaded carries 20'.

The Sum of All Fears, medial epicondilitis, is here again, left elbow.
Note to self: one armers sessions on Lattice Edge are not good for it.

[Bradders]

Kilnsey bouldering

Is it all dry now?

[teestub]

Kilnsey bouldering

Is it all dry now?

Interesting choice for this weekend!

[James Malloch]

Kilnsey bouldering

Is it all dry now?

Interesting choice for this weekend!

Didn’t check everything but pillar problem was completely dry. Launch control pocket was a bit damp but climbable. So was finger of fury/sootys pinch.

Gleaming pinch RH slot was too damp to hold (the one you go out right for).

Best of all the dripping has stopped so the pads stayed dry! Was really nice conditions, and pretty warm wind too. Might end up back there this weekend I think. Perfect quick hit from Skipton.

[tommytwotone]

Your crash pad bed isn’t up against your Aga is it? 

I have many #middleclassproblems, the Aga included (especially given the energy price situation), but I'm sure that's not the source of my night sweats!

Weird as it's not every night, probably 4 or 5 nights a week. Literally tried everything - varying diet, not eating after x time, drinking more water, no alcohol, a few pints...nothing yet seems to reliably stop it!

[spidermonkey09]

Lots of pints?

[tommytwotone]

I did that on Thurs night last week, stayed over in Leeds actually in a very nice hotel. Surprise surprise, no night sweat issues. The next day however was problematic for other reasons.


Not sure if that's really the long-term strategy I'm looking for!

[Bradders]

Big win this week just getting most of my planned sessions done despite various obstacles!

M - rest

Tu - out in the afternoon to Source of Secrets. Very damp unfortunately, despite the low humidity. Did my best with chalk and towels and still had a positive session. Linked the 2nd half for the first time, and nearly did a 2nd lap straight after but slid off wet holds. One go from the start getting to the halfway point and then wet firing off, feeling good. It's all there just need it to be not condensed! Felt knackered from the weekend still, batteries drained very quickly.

W - lunchtime fingerboard pick ups, half crimp index and pinky mono and middle 2. Slight increase in weight on everything. Right pinky a bit tweaky still.

Th - on my own with my daughter, got her down for her afternoon nap and reasoned that just half an hour on the board would be a win. Two hours later I'd managed a full session, plus conditioning and a shower before she woke up! Good session on board projects, did a couple of moves I've not done before and a best ever link on one, dropping the last move. 5x easier problems +3kg to finish, then weighted pull ups and Arnold presses. Later in the evening squeezed in another 30 mins, doing rings wide press ups and Ts, external rotations and foot on campus 5x 1 min on 1 min off.

F - rest

Sa - family visiting so a walk in the morning. Managed to get in a quick session in the afternoon, one arm hangs experimenting trying on a larger 26mm edge. Tried -15kg and failed, so did the session -17kg, 4x 7s straight arm and 4x 7s locked off. My arms are definitely the weak link here, fingers didn't feel worked. Short board session after. Normal warm ups then tried two projects. Best ever link on one of them, and equalled best on the other. After everyone had gone to bed later on I went back out for half a board triples session, 3 problems plus warming back up etc., felt okay just ticking over with this. Finished with weighted pull ups superset with Copenhagen planks and bridges.

Su - rest, daughter's Christening plus family party

[joeisidle]

Bit of a boring week with no outdoor climbing, but good in terms of actually doing a decent amount of training I guess.

Monday - rest

Tuesday - Lunchtime core (plank, bicycle, leg raise), followed by an evening wall session to Boulders. Did some mid grade problems downstairs to warm up before heading to the training area. Did body weight hangs on 10mm beastmaker 2000 crimp (16-18 secs x 4) then got in the cue for the moonboard and managed to complete 2 x 6B and 1 x 6C benchmarks amongst some other flailing around. Finished with narrow (3 x 5) and wide (3 x 3) pull ups.

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - Lunchtime core (side planks, dish, bicycle, chest raise) then another evening wall trip. Did shoulder conditioning stuff (IYT, shrugs, push ups) as part of the warm up then got back on the moonboard benchmarks. Not sure I completed anything of note but had a good session with some chatty locals, nearly getting all the moves on a 7A and nearly getting a 6C. Finished with narrow (3 x 5) and wide (3 x 3) pull ups.

Friday - rest

Saturday - Narrow window to do some climbing in the afternoon due to partner needing the car until mid afternoon. Angst about which crag to go to or whether it's too windy, realise my heart's not probably in it and all the places I'm actually psyched for are probably too windy and run to the train station instead to go to Rocbloc. Bump into a friend and do a circuit of V4-6 problems with them and some body weight hangs on 10mm beastmaker 2000 crimp (16-18 secs x 4). Feel decent on the steeper stuff, tick off a power endurancy roof I'd failed on at a previous session, try to convince myself this means stuff is 'working'.

Sunday - Core (sideplanks, dish, bicycle, chest raise) 

[Duncan Disorderly]

Cold Club...

M: Full of cold
T: Full of cold
W: Full of cold
T: Full of cold
F: Routes @ AW - Did some up to F6b but felt exhausted!
S: Routes @ AW - Same as the day before! DJ'd out for the first time in a while - 4.5+hr marathon dancehall/soca/jungle set til 2am. Only had one guy join me who only had a 45-minute jungle set so couldn't put him on til late... Great night but felt exhausted!
S: Recovery - Can't see this cold going anywhere fast!

Crap... That is all....

[SA Chris]

Cold Club...

That's been me for over 2 1/2 weeks now. Finally felt OK, so went for a feeble run Monday before last, felt like crap the rest of the week. Did some easy bouldering on Saturday afternoon, felt awful all day Sunday and Monday. Might do a very easy run tomorrow.

All tests negative too.

[duncan]

Two weeks of elbow club:

Shoulder conditioning: 3 days.
Box steps: 5 days, 20-40 mins.
Elbow rehab. fingerboard: 9 days progressing from 20kg for 3 seconds to bodyweight for 5 seconds.
Walking: 14 days, average 9km.

Should be ready for some easy climbing this week.