[Bradders]

Noticed the chat re naming holds in the IMPACT video a few pages back.  Have many bothered naming holds and recording problems etc on their home board?  Is it worth doing?

Definitely can't be arsed naming holds, but problems are fun to name. I just mark them up in the Sketch app and store the image on my phone. I'd forget them all otherwise and makes it easier to track.

[GazM]

I've numbered my holds and have written down lots of problems over the years. None of this app nonsense, just a notebook I found in the Tesco back to school sale that was called 'Campus Notebook' (I couldn't resist it). I normally name them based on random things that happen the day I do them (e.g . i did Chaser the day the dog ran off after a deer), as a reminder of when I did it and obviously to differentiate from the others. It means I now have a big selection of problems to try without having to spend ages coming up with something new each session and obviously mates can try  each others problems (in non-lockdown times, obvs).

The downside of this is that it probably makes me less inclined to strip and reset because I've got quite attached to some of my classics.

However, I tend to have an ongoing shuffling of holds as over time I've realised there are some I unconsciously avoid so once I realise this I change them for something different. Then it's been fun repeating old classics with the odd new hold, invariably making them harder.

Surely any board needs some method of being able to record the problems?

[sxrxg]

Another vote for the openclimb app from me. Also spoke to the developers via email and they are happy for you to put your gym location pin in the sea/middle of a local park if you would rather not let everyone know where your home board is.

[UnkArl]

I’ve dabbled with the OpenClimb app but it’s a bit clunky, I’m currently trying the “Eat Spray Love” app (terrible name...)

[sdm]

I also use Open-climb and have talked a bit with the developer. It is only basic because he does it in his free time but if there are features that you want that aren't too much work for him to add, he is happy to add them.

[JJP]

Cheers all.  Will give the open climb app a go first off with other suggestions noted.  I will be sure to grade them badly as is the trend.  Can see the advantage of a book Gaz - I have several notebooks bought to use as a "training diary" that have only seen 2 entries and could be re-purposed .  I also tend to tinker with holds fairly regularly if there are ones I notice I`m not using.  Like the idea of having classics 

[sdm]

I’ve dabbled with the OpenClimb app but it’s a bit clunky, I’m currently trying the “Eat Spray Love” app (terrible name...)

Have just downloaded Eat Spray Love to try.

First impressions: Looks like it's probably a bit better than Open-climb overall.

Advantages over Open-climb:
1) you can save a photo in the app so you don't have to keep navigating to an old photo when adding problems
2) Different coloured tags for holds. I ignored their suggestions and use blue for left hand, pink for right hand. You can also number holds, but only in blue.
3) Better filter options than open-climb, should be better for queueing problems of the right grade range for power endurance sessions
4) Room to add more notes on a problem and option for others to comment on problems (more useful for commercial walls)
5) Highlights the holds used without you having to select the problem

Disadvantages:
1) The circles are in such thick pen that it completely obliterates my footholds. Makes it hard to see which foothold is in if I specify feet. If they fix this, it would be the clear winner of the 2 apps for me.
2) How long is it going to be before I stop trying to use 2 fingers to zoom in/out?
3) V grades 
4) The name

I'll try them both for a bit but I think I might switch to Spray.

[Duma]

3) V grades 

"did not meet our criteria for testing"

[remus]

Noticed the chat re naming holds in the IMPACT video a few pages back.  Have many bothered naming holds and recording problems etc on their home board?  Is it worth doing?

Personally I quite like naming holds, it seems to bring out the child in me though as I can't resist giving them slightly lewd names which make me laugh when Im putting problems together. I tend to just do it as Im making up problems so it's not too boring i.e. if I make up a problem that has an unnamed hold I'll name the hold then so I can write it down. Can't be bothered making up names for footholds so I just use a system for them e.g. d1, d2, d3 for little dome footholds.

On the app front, I've used this before on another board https://www.getstokt.com/ It's pretty decent but does cost (about £50 for a normal home board) as they mark all the holds up for you. It lets you log what problems you've done as well as recording them which is cool.

[GazM]

3) V grades 

"did not meet our criteria for testing"

On that subject, is it the norm for people to grade problems on their boards? I can understand doing it at a commercial wall where there are loads of users looking for problems to try, but cant see why you'd do it on personal home boards. It's never occurred to me how hard my problems would be.

[tomtom]

I’ve not... happy to remember what’s hard or not.

Though I can imagine with a larger board and over longer time it would make sense. Even if it were just relative.

happy with the open climb app tbh - my boards not that large so the size of the pics/holds etc.. all works for me fine.

[Will Hunt]

Naming holds and problems. I've done this both ways. My board has had two phases: the honeymoon period and the restoration. During the honeymoon period a couple of friends who live locally would come over and we'd play about on it. A coordinate system was used and problems were written out in an old notebook without names or grades, just a tick when they'd been done. Fast forward two children and a load of prams, balance bikes, and other detritus had accumulated under the board and psyche was a bit thin on the ground.
Then lockdown and the Restoration of the Psyche. I got that OpenClimb app, which has some issues but it's OK. I started naming the holds which was something I'd always meant to do but never got round to, and started naming the problems. I don't know if it's because this is the only climbing on offer, or if it's because the names add a new dimension to things, but I'm now pretty psyched for the board. I also put grades on things once they've been done. The top grade thus far is 7A but it's all meaningless really - it's more so that if anybody comes to play in future they'll have an idea of which problems are harder/easier than others.

Logging things visually in an app is much better than coordinates - it's just easier to use. Naming holds leads to obvious combinations which can add fun to the setting. It's so much easier to get psyched for something with a name. You don't have to name all the holds and all at once. Just keep a marker pen near the board and when inspiration hits you, mark it on.

Let me think. The worst hold on the board is called Jug. There's another pretty bad one called Howl. I've not even contemplated the rancidity that would be Jug Howl. What else is there? There's a horn shaped hold (the worst excess of the Moonboard's tweaky holds) called Shark. Maybe I should link Shark into Strike to make Shark Strike? The juggiest hold on the board is named Ben in honour of our very own Footwork.

etc etc etc

[M1V0]

On that subject, is it the norm for people to grade problems on their boards?

Yes, but it's all contextual within the board itself. I don't think that a board 7B would relate to any 7B outside! It helps to separate out the problems on the board so we have a better idea of what's easier and what isn't.

Although to be fair, all the problems used to be written in a damp notebook with no grades which I got irritated with. I didn't think it worked particularly well when more than one person was using the board eithger. So I put together a website (akin to OpenClimb but with the features it didn't include and a persistent picture of the board) and it just felt natural to add an option for a grade on it along with comments for rules etc. Been using the site for about a year now, and things gradually get given grades, either as new problems or retrospectively.

[Bradders]

Problem names are a big part of the fun of climbing on a board for me, and why I would never want a systems board. I just name things with whatever first springs to mind when setting the problem, or where things have inspired them. For example, hardest project atm is called Mockery, as it's a) reminiscent of Austrian Mock, the classic problem on the Depot Pudsey 50, and b) been shutting me down for weeks.

I had a go at grading everything the other day but it bears no relevance to reality, only helpful to give a rough guide to where things are relative to one another for future reference. I also keep track of the intensity of sessions and the grade is important for that, but only in terms of monitoring consistently over time (I.e. it's irrelevant how hard things actually are, as long as the scale is consistent). I doubt many others are this anal about things though...

[remus]

3) V grades 

"did not meet our criteria for testing"

On that subject, is it the norm for people to grade problems on their boards? I can understand doing it at a commercial wall where there are loads of users looking for problems to try, but cant see why you'd do it on personal home boards. It's never occurred to me how hard my problems would be.

I'm way to slack to try and properly grade everything. I just go with easy aka warm ups, medium aka 1-2 sessions and hard.

[Nutty]

I don't name holds, though I can see why you might. My board is symmetrical and the holds are generally fairly basic shapes and non-unique so every hold has at least one twin. I my board was non-symmetrical and I either had made the holds or they were more varied then I can see how naming the holds would be a good aid to remembering problems and to creativity with problems.

I didn't used to name problems either, or grade them, but then I organised a BBQ and board session (one of the advantages of a garden board) where there were lots of people who'd not climbed on the board before and decided I needed to document the problems and name & grade them so that everyone could easily find some problems to try without me having to point them at something (as I was doing the BBQ). Ending up drawing the board and holds in Visio and making a .pdf of problems that I sent to everyone beforehand. It worked quite well and apparently the grading was about right, or at least made sense. Since then I tend to name and grade things, though not religiously.

[Will Hunt]

3) V grades 

"did not meet our criteria for testing"

But what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

On that subject, is it the norm for people to grade problems on their boards? I can understand doing it at a commercial wall where there are loads of users looking for problems to try, but cant see why you'd do it on personal home boards. It's never occurred to me how hard my problems would be.

I'm way to slack to try and properly grade everything. I just go with easy aka warm ups, medium aka 1-2 sessions and hard.

[remus]

But what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

Nothing. Keeps the system simple and dispels any illusion that board grades make sense

[SA Chris]

I've got whiteboard in the garage with descriptions and grades of problems. Slowly building up the list, and i tick them when i do them / repeat them to make sure there aren't any i forget / avoid to do fairly regularly.

[Will Hunt]

3) V grades 

"did not meet our criteria for testing"

But what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

On that subject, is it the norm for people to grade problems on their boards? I can understand doing it at a commercial wall where there are loads of users looking for problems to try, but cant see why you'd do it on personal home boards. It's never occurred to me how hard my problems would be.

I'm way to slack to try and properly grade everything. I just go with easy aka warm ups, medium aka 1-2 sessions and hard.

This could be one of the more pathetic attempts at using the quote function.

Obviously I meant to just say but what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

[Bradders]

But what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

Nothing. Keeps the system simple and dispels any illusion that board grades make sense

So your dispensing with one illusion but embracing another if you're warming up on "mediums" which aren't medium for you anymore 

[duncan]

I'm way to slack to try and properly grade everything. I just go with easy aka warm ups, medium aka 1-2 sessions and hard.

Back to the Gill system!


In a moment of even greater than usual pretentiousness, I once named holds on a board after classical composers. It was always reassuring to hit Bach whereas Boulez was particularly hard to grasp...

[remus]

But what about when your mediums become warm ups? Should you not be aiming to make 6b be feeling like a rest?

Nothing. Keeps the system simple and dispels any illusion that board grades make sense

So your dispensing with one illusion but embracing another if you're warming up on "mediums" which aren't medium for you anymore 

But if the illusion is that board grades make sense, and that is being dispensed with, then the only take away is that the grades don't really tell you anything, your warm ups are a lie and life is meaningless #logic

[tomtom]

If I have no grades - no one can downgrade them! 😃

[JamieG]

I reckon they're soft touch.