Craig Stirling with Wil.
Shame that the Grotte crag isn’t in the Peak as it would make great training for my upcoming trip to Red River Gorge in October.
Simon, have you been to L'atelier? Theres an amazing 7a there, one of the best I''ve ever done, and the walk in is stunning.
@Simon, what happend on Pabbay? Did you get whisked off early due to bad weather?
There’s no excuse for arriving in Kentucky without the requisite fitness if you live near a climbing wall with a steep lead wall or circuit board though Now is the time to start.
T. Maximillians Wand. Did a 6a+, 6b+ and a really hard Wolfgang 6c. Also tried Chasing the Train (7c). Felt like a massive sandbag. Hard climbing with lots of tweaky holds. Didn’t have a second go.F. Day chilling and swimming and then went to Ankatalwand in the evening. Flashed a 7a (Computerspiel) which felt very easy. Though apparently many think it’s harshly graded. Then dropped the last move of a 7b onsight (New Dimensions - another Wolfgang route). Just threw for the wrong hold. Would have been my first of the grade and it felt pretty relaxed until I fell off. Went for a redpoint by headtorch but fell at the same place. S. Went back and got got New Dimensions putting the draws in. Felt smooth climbing it. Finished with a 6b+ and then went for a swim. Went to the Petzl Kletter Festival festival. Had a good dance until 2am - first time at live music for ages!
Quote from: spidermonkey09 on June 20, 2022, 10:21:37 amSimon, have you been to L'atelier? Theres an amazing 7a there, one of the best I''ve ever done, and the walk in is stunning.No I haven’t. Just looked at guide and looks great and it’s North facing too. Don’t think Rob will be keen though with the A0 pitch to access it
Quote from: James Malloch on June 19, 2022, 10:15:06 pmT. Maximillians Wand. Did a 6a+, 6b+ and a really hard Wolfgang 6c. Also tried Chasing the Train (7c). Felt like a massive sandbag. Hard climbing with lots of tweaky holds. Didn’t have a second go.F. Day chilling and swimming and then went to Ankatalwand in the evening. Flashed a 7a (Computerspiel) which felt very easy. Though apparently many think it’s harshly graded. Then dropped the last move of a 7b onsight (New Dimensions - another Wolfgang route). Just threw for the wrong hold. Would have been my first of the grade and it felt pretty relaxed until I fell off. Went for a redpoint by headtorch but fell at the same place. S. Went back and got got New Dimensions putting the draws in. Felt smooth climbing it. Finished with a 6b+ and then went for a swim. Went to the Petzl Kletter Festival festival. Had a good dance until 2am - first time at live music for ages!I never tried Chasin, but I heard a few people mutter that Hitchhike (which I did try) was either no harder or easier. Mind you, Hitchhike is probably more accessible in style, which could be part of it.I found Computerspiele nails, and the guys we were with made New Dimensions look pretty hard too. Good effort.
I did think about trying Hitchhike, but opted for a nails Wolfgang 6c instead.Computerspiele and New Dimensions seemed like my perfect style. I think I used some whack beta on ND too (at the top). Way harder than it should have been and avoided all the better holds. Went wrong onsight but just stuck with the beta for RP.Went back yesterday and did Internet (7c) too. Got it second go without any issues - thought it would be a fight as it was only my second route of the grade. Would be keen to try some of the 8a there but it’s our last morning today before 2 weeks visiting family. I love that crag - style seems to be positive but small holds, and you really have to use your feet well. And every 3m you get a better hold to rest on.
We’ve climbed day-on-day off (on average) but never trying anything too hard, and some days are just 1-2 routes, so I’m not craving any rest at the moment. But maybe we could do with more rest?
Quote from: Fultonius on June 20, 2022, 10:29:49 am@Simon, what happend on Pabbay? Did you get whisked off early due to bad weather?Mingulay - yes the forecast bad weather meant the skipper wasn’t prepared to pick us up after the Tuesday evening so had to go back two days early but had already got 4 amazing days in so was relaxed about that.Nice one getting the Skull done. It’s on my to-do list
Swim and braai in eve
Tennessee (7c)… Amazing route though, really steep for Portland and great climbing, keen to come back fitter. Swim and braai in eve
Quote from: James Malloch on June 21, 2022, 09:32:30 amI did think about trying Hitchhike, but opted for a nails Wolfgang 6c instead.Computerspiele and New Dimensions seemed like my perfect style. I think I used some whack beta on ND too (at the top). Way harder than it should have been and avoided all the better holds. Went wrong onsight but just stuck with the beta for RP.Went back yesterday and did Internet (7c) too. Got it second go without any issues - thought it would be a fight as it was only my second route of the grade. Would be keen to try some of the 8a there but it’s our last morning today before 2 weeks visiting family. I love that crag - style seems to be positive but small holds, and you really have to use your feet well. And every 3m you get a better hold to rest on.I'm there in the summer, so perhaps I should go back and give New Dimensions or similar another go. I was quite detrained by that point - month 8 of a van trip with little to no bouldering or other strength maintenance - I could feel that affecting some things but perhaps it skewed my strengths and weaknesses more than I had assumed.If you're likely to be back there I do somewhere have my written down beta for Hitchhike which I could dig out if it would be any use. I've no idea how much sense it would make (even to me, 8 years after the fact!) but its a description of sorts for a set of beta that ought to work (I got through to near the end of the crux on my best redpoint, so it ought to be refined enough to do the job, if you see what I mean).Which 6c?
I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts on this - but when I know I'm going to have a longer period off I usually smash in a few hard days in a row. Obviously you need to be careful not to get injured, but it seems to me a good idea to have a massive last day working a hard route you might come back to. Just be careful though, as it can be all that's required to tip you over the edge to an injury
Quote from: James Malloch on June 21, 2022, 09:38:16 amWe’ve climbed day-on-day off (on average) but never trying anything too hard, and some days are just 1-2 routes, so I’m not craving any rest at the moment. But maybe we could do with more rest?If you've been day on day off but never anything hard, aren't you more likely to be detrained than fatigued? Maybe the best thing you could do would be to do a load of training during these two weeks rather than resting.
I think this depends on lots of things, as ever, e.g.: - what volume are you normally used to and how much have you been doing recently compared to that?- what "life" stress do you normally have and how has that changed (e.g. are rest days lounging in the sun and sleeping or are they working and doing a big hike)?- have you been getting pumped every climbing day for 10 weeks or dogging hard stuff?- what do you tend to lose fastest, strength or fitness? - how do you feel compared to when you left? what do you feel you're lacking for the routes you want to do in your remaining time?etc... It sounds like you've been doing lots of easyish stuff (i.e. quick ticks in a day or similar) so unless you're someone who happens to hold strength well and lose fitness easily I'd spend the 2 weeks doing pure strength/power... but then I lose strength/power fast so for me that would be my answer after 4 weeks away let alone 10!