[shark]

~11.9

M.

T. Warm weather. Frustrating session on Black Hole trying and failing to get through the low crux.

W. Warmer still. One go trying to get through the crux then sacked it off and joined Karl on Nefs 7c.

T. Tired but got two decent goes redpointing up to the last bolt on Nefs - probably 7b to here

F. Travel back to Sheffield

S. Travel down to Devon

S.

Disappointing to come back from Datca empty handed this time and irritating that it boiled down to a single pull on a minging sidepull and a sharp tiny glued on pebble. Maybe it would go in cooler temps. Anyway I set out to try hard and did just that and it was a welcome break from recent events.

Booked in to climb Mon, Weds and Fri at Ansteys and looking forward to getting stuck into Cider Soak.

[Duma]

Always difficult to leave empty handed, but trying hard is always worthwhile!

M - Space Mountain (Welsh sandstone). Newly developed so still pretty chossy, but lovely spot and some untypically steep stuff. Got in a couple of days before the peregrine ban kicks in, got to see one hanging about. Absolutely Vabulous 6a+, Asthmanaut 6b+ whoever commented "the best of the grade they'd done" must be on crack, but it has some good positions high up, like a chossy little brother to heady daze at ban-y-gor,  Nemesis the Warlock 7a - fun steep couple of moves, Cybernetic Sex Samurai 7a, Church of the Cosmic Skul 5c - lovely little slab, best route of the day. Got in just before the bird ban kicks in too.
T -
W -  TCA 1hr, blacks. Did three, failed on the others. Couple of the easiest blues to make me feel better. Another lacklustre bouldering session, not felt good since January now.
T - TCA 1.5hr, blacks. Much better session, finally. Did 6, 5 that I'd failed on previously, and flashed one that I'd been putting off as it looked hard. Bit of progress on another. Did a blue too. 10 blacks left, more than I'd hope on this circuit, but less pitiful than yesterday.
F -
S - snuck in a few circuits at UCR while on dad duty: 5c6c, 7a+, then 3 failures at move 27 on the 7c I flashed a couple of weeks ago. Every time pulled straight back on and finished.
S -
71 kg

[spidermonkey09]

Good luck on Cider Soak. Not an easy 8a I thought. Think you should be in a good position to try it though, as it needs both some boulder power and the ability to recover on a jug on steep ground for the last bit. I fell off the last move last year, no idea when I'll get to Devon again!

[Duma]

Just be careful of your left knee, mine's never been the same again. Have fun, would love that Ansteys schedule next week!

[duncan]

Cider Soak looks great.

M: Stackpole Head with Iain. Stackpole Grooves (E1) and Dolphin Pod (E2). Climbing on Stackpole before the bird bans was a novel experience, it was all dry and possibly should have gone for one of the bigger routes on the central part of the cliff but the tides were wrong and I've done very little outdoor climbing since last August. 
T: Carreg Y Barcud with Iain. The Great Valerio (HVS), a good route for a deserted crag. Had a sniff at Beeline (E1) but didn't fancy the unprotected start in February. Did the excellent Be Brave (E1) instead, the least exciting of the E1s/E2s in the vicinity.
W: Rest day. Shoulder conditioning: press-ups, side planks, handstands, pull-ups.
T: Explored Penally. The Scoop Wall looks good but, contrary to the guide, needs a low tide so moved to Mother Carey’s. Iain led the amazing Deep Space (E2), which hasn’t got easier since I last climbed it in 1981! Also pleased to get the photo I had had in my mind since then. Followed it with the remains of Necropolis (E1) up the corner right of Wraith. Not the best route at Mother Carey’s but a good experience nonetheless. A glorious, still, bluebird sky evening.
F: Cloudy and much colder. Had a brief walk along the top of Trevallen and St Govan’s; the sea was lively and both were wet in places so we sacked it off. Shoulder conditioning: press-ups, side planks, handstands, pull-ups. Brief fingerboard session (The Climber’s Club don’t believe in fingerboards but May Cottage’s front door lintel is ~24mm and appears robust).
S: Still cold and grey but had a look at Stennis Head as a low commitment option. Iain led Cool For Cats (E1), too cold for us cats so we called it a day. Short fingerboard session. Drove to Weston.
S: Shoulders conditioning.

Great week in Pembroke with Iain, crags deserted. A gamble with the weather but my last few summer trips there have been too hot at times. It was warm enough in the lee of the NEerly winds and bone dry, the climbing season is changing.

Reasonably happy with how I was climbing. In my mind I should be getting straight on E3s but in reality this happens when I’ve had more than five days on rock in the past six months, after the winter sport trip, and when I was 30 years younger! Back to some proper training this week.

[Wood FT]

Just be careful of your left knee, mine's never been the same again. Have fun, would love that Ansteys schedule next week!

Mine too!

[Wood FT]

Just be careful of your left knee, mine's never been the same again. Have fun, would love that Ansteys schedule next week!

Mine too!

and I would put two clips on the last bolt(s), putting the left up would sometimes scarily mess with the quickdraws. I got to the belay once and the clip below had come off the tape....

[andy popp]

Great shot Duncan - and what sounds like a great week.

[mr chaz]

Power Club:

M.
T.
W.
T. Shed session. 30 mins warmup and max hangs, then hard bouldering on the board.
F.
S.
S. Checked out the new(ish) wall in Shrewsbury, which is now the quickest for me to get to (30 mins). Pretty modest bouldering sections, but some nice problem setting and they have a training corner with a moonboard, campus board and beastmakers which is great. Nice to climb something more than 7ft high, even if it was still plywood.

[Wellsy]

Started a new training plan this week. The focuses are, physical weaknesses (core, some shoulder, hamstring flexibility, power endurance), mental weaknesses (trying hard on uncomfortable moves). I'm very psyched, there's a lot of training volume and a lot of potential for me, which is good.

Monday, pull session (3 x 8 hollow body wide pullups with band, 3 x 8 low rows, 3 x 3 weighted pullups with 28kgs, one armed and two armed shrugs). Footwork and pause drills. Light circuits. Fingerboard repeaters (hard!)

Tuesday - push session (3 x 8 hammer curls, 3 x 8 dumbbell bench press, 3 x 8 OHP, 3 x 12 prone ys, 3 x 8 perfect presses). Hip mobility. Drills. Circuit session.

Wed - rest

Thursday - edge pickups. Started at 50kgs for half crimp, 45 for drag, 40 for back three half crimp. I did do 55 fot half crimp too but easing into this new movement. Board climbing, did something around 7Aish, got on a long running project.

Friday - rest

Saturday - power endurance (4x4s), edge lifts, drills, core (3 x 20 seconds banded lockoffs in hollow body. 3 x 8 lockoff crunches on bar. Copenhagen planks).

Sunday - tried The Harder Side at Secret Garden. There were a million screaming kids, did all the moves, I'll finish it sometime. Is the big foot around the arete that makes for handholds on the easier side in? Walnut Whip 6C. Did two moves on a 3 move 7C as trying to get into my head that I can try harder stuff. Power Endurance (crossfit WOD), Snatched up to 30kgs, working on basic technique. First pull good, contact good, bar path good, overhead and jumping needs work. Squatted up to 85kgs for 5, the slow increase. RDLs.

Busy week, really stepping up training. Lot of psyche!

[Duncan Disorderly]

Nice to see folk getting out on the string in the UK - the days of warm limestone and long evenings will soon be upon us!

Missed a week:

Rest and shoulder stability in preparation for Leonidio...

M: Skiadianiko - nice easy introduction crag, did some lovely routes up to F6b... Big issue with GF forgetting her approach shoes, not a happy bunny! Feeling ill...
T: Approach shoe shopping nightmare - Finally made it to Twin Caves about 4pm - feeling frazzled and ill... Fell off a F7a (6c+) and then opted to TR it rather than lead to save time (no rest), silly really as was a good route and deserved better....
W: Illness in full swing - Geraki - Great little crag but felt so feverish and dizzy I could hardly climb (the 40KM drive was interesting, to say the least!)... 4 wobbly routes up to F6b...
T: Rest... Rain and feeling like utter shite! Bath, good food and early night...
F: Feeling much better but still not 100% - Yellow eyes - Warmed up on a F5 then decided to have a look at a F6a with a F7b extension (38m)... Felt really good on the first part and had enough draws to do the extension so decided to go for it... Completely my style: not too steep, crimpy, technical, long and sustained - managed to scrape through and get the onsight - YYFY! Did manage to pull off a sizeable rock after the top crux tho which landed far too close for comfort to the GF who had a complete freak out (she was already having major panic attacks TR'ing and this was the final straw!) bailed after this...
S: GF still not happy - opted for super easy so set up TR's for her on F5's at Hospital, did a F6a...
S: Arcadia - stopped off on the way home, GF didn't want to climb so just nipped up a few routes up to F6c... Absolutely brilliant crag... Would have stayed longer but she wasn't happy, belay anxiety overload, so called it a day and went to Nafplio for a walk...

What a week - a true mixed bag! Always frustrating being ill while away, glad it seemed pretty short lived... GF was not in a good headspace - wasn't up for anywhere near as much climbing as me, didn't want to catch any falls (which ruled out redpointing anything) and only wanted to TR super easy stuff meaning that we missed out on probably the best Leonidio had to offer...Was nice to onsight F7b again, it's been a while (and looking at the UKC logs it's definitely a soft one - possibly F7a+) and did actually do some fantastic routes in a truly stunning location... Do feel somewhat like I've hardly scratched the surface and a bit like I missed out though - will just have to go back with a psyched team! (any takers?? ;-) )

S'all good tho - feeling fit, a good bit stronger and the elbow is doing fine... Font next month then Verdon again in June... Le psyche!!

[Coops_13]

Two weeks...

M: G1. 20mm hangs 7s +70lb *4sets. Kilter 45deg. 3 V4, 2 V5, 2 V6, 1 V7, 3 V8. Big session.

T: 30 mins skipping

T: G1. 20mm hangs 7s +70lb *4sets. Kilter 55deg. 2 V4, 2 V5, 3 V6, 2 V7, 1 V8.

F: Flew to Nashville, drove to Chattanooga

S: Walking round a wet Rocktown. Went to Dayton. Flashed Reconciliation V5 and did Red-headed Stepchild Left V7 pretty quickly. Fell off the end of the V8 variation a few times and did most of the moves on Honeycomb V10

S: Cumberland Boulders. 7-11 roof wet but other things dry. Warmed up and flailed on Riverfront V5, took some awkward falls and twisted ankle a bit so moved on. Took some time to figure ut and do Power Prow V7 before completing Fallen Limb V6 as well.

T: Stone Fort. Warmed up flashing Gengis Khan V5 and doing Manute Bol V6 third go. Went to do the Wave V6 but too hot already… Thrashed myself on Tennessee Thong V7 to no avail. Tried some other 7s but way too hot.

W: Stone Fort. Easy volume day due to the heat. 13 boulders V0 - V4 totalling 26 V-points

T: Wet rest day, Ruby Falls and breweries

F: Wet rest day, explored Zahnd, dodged tornadoes and more breweries

S: Rocktown. Spent the first part of the day working The Orb V8. So amazing and so hard. PE not there for this after sampling all of Chattanooga's breweries on the wet days. Moved onto the Sherman Roof where I flashed Nose Candy V6. Couldn't quite do Sherman Photo Roof V7 due to a tweaky R-knee. Went to Comet boulder and did Standard's Variation V5 then did Helicopter V6 second go. Flashed Swing Set V6 then finished the day on one of the best boulders in the South, Golden Shower V5. Fell off the top on the flash but ended up sending third go. Perfect end to a stonker of a day.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - AM as usual. PM TBDL from blocks, short on time.
Tue - board climbing, climbed the problem I had set in previous session. Tried current project, not bad but tired. Goblet squat, pull ups finisher, back work.
Wed - Lattice edge back3 one arm. Good mornings, bentover rows. Cold as hell.
Thu - loaded carries, various weights, back work.
Fri - AM as usual. PM full body, tired.
Sat - thruster, stairs, loaded carries, tired.
Sun - boxing bag.

[Fiend]

Great shot Duncan - and what sounds like a great week.

Deep Space was one of my favourite routes at the time, some of the best VDiff chimneying around!

[tommytwotone]

Shit - I have an update worth writing about!

Tues - after a rocky c.week - family illness, feeling a bit overwhelmed etc - got to the wall in the evening. Usual knee-safety-first pottering but managed to wobble up a V5

Weds - after getting discharged by the knee specialist the week before, same verdict from the physio. Minor tick.

Thurs - works "wellness day" I'd had booked for ages. Hacked down to Stanage to meet a few of the UKBers - Lagers, Dolly, Nai, Plattsy and tomtom

Had great ideas of getting on Bunny Wailer and The Prince, but on closer inspection the videos I'd checked on YouTube making them look earlier had clearly been of an NBA player. Couldn't touch either of them.

Fancied a bash at Badger, but couldn't even pull off the deck on that one.

Bit gutting to not even get started on any projects, but I got some fresh air, had a laugh with some mates and think I was the proverbial climber having the most fun. Can't hurt.


Sat - surprise pass with the missus taking kids out so shot over for a very chilled late morning session at LSD. Ticked a cool funky V5 on the slab.

[Aussiegav]

Life in the way club


Monday -
4x 90% hangs. BW plus 12.5kg. Half crimp
4x 90% hangs. BW plus 17.5kg. Open hand

Tuesday
Had to check out Sheffield college with one of the kids after work

Wednesday
Rest. Couldn’t go out in the evening as the road out the front was getting resurfaced

Thursday
Went to the Depot in Sheff.
20 min project Session on a purple. Did in around 13mins

Boulder triples
Red, pink pockets, black, purple to red, pink roof, red core.
Ripped a flapper on the pink roof. 😖


Friday
Rest

Saturday
6x 4min boulder sets at the Depot. On the purple’s

1.arête nearest desk, ❌
2 Gaston & pinch❌
3. hard high step steep❌
4. contortions groove❌
5. flash, heels & crimps
6. returned to Gaston sent 1st go. A slight micro beta change, used a half crimp on the gaston

Sunday

Felt tired. Spent day out side cleaning bike & car.

Had an X-ray of my elbow a few weeks ago. Got this text this morning;


Your elbow X ray shows moderate arthritis with an effusion (fluid in the joint). The results will be forwarded to the NHS physio service who will be in touch with you to arrange an appointment.

Explains why I can’t flex past 90degrees and can’t fully straighten my arm.

Will see what the physio says.

[Yossarian]

M - Board. Feeling slightly tired from previous week, but still quite productive.
T
W - Board. Brilliant session, only slightly marred by taped (split) fingers firing off here and there. Started work on some new projects that I would probably have dismissed as impossible a few months back.
T - Board. Some longer / easier things plus bigger / compression things on bigger holds.
F
S - Mixture of board stuff and a few other problems downstairs.  Then did some wide weighted pull-ups and locks when I got home.

Second week of not really managing to fit in weights / strength stuff in around stuff at the wall, but not too bothered because I feel pretty good overall. I do need to dedicate some time to some hip mobility stuff though, as I've slacked off a bit on this front. Pretty syked in general, and going fairly all out preparing for Font. I don't think I've ever really trained in earnest for a bouldering trip before, and the last two times I've turned up there specifically knowing / thinking that I failed to do so, so hoping this time that the result might be different. We're already looking at a short trip at the end of the summer term plus a longer one before they go back in September, so quite happy to find something longer term to project. Daughter is syked too - she's a lot taller and stronger than when we were there last, and has been doing a couple of board sessions a week recently. Have been poring through bleau.info looking for not-too-reach-dependent quality low 7s. If anyone has any suggestions...?

[Will Hunt]

Have been poring through bleau.info looking for not-too-reach-dependent quality low 7s. If anyone has any suggestions...?

Lucky for you, there is a whole website built entirely around this purpose.
https://bettybeta.com/bouldering/fontainebleau

[shark]

Good luck on Cider Soak. Not an easy 8a I thought. Think you should be in a good position to try it though, as it needs both some boulder power and the ability to recover on a jug on steep ground for the last bit. I fell off the last move last year, no idea when I'll get to Devon again!

Your not kidding! I got utterly spanked. Only managed a few of the moves. Seems like it’s a full grade harder than Raindogs which is an obvious route to compare it to. Steeper and harder moves. Elbows felt it driving back.

Snowing down here and pretty crap weather forecast so rest of week might be out for another look but currently think it’s well out of my league as the moves are the sort where I don’t think any amount of refinements is going to bring it down to my level.

[James Malloch]

A few quiet weeks for me. Had a few good gym sessions where I’m making good progress with Bench, Weighted Pull Ups and Overhead Press. Had a couple of decent board sessions and a day out at Shipley too.

But much time has been taken thinking about jobs in the last few weeks. Currently I’ve a super cushy, easy and well paid 4 day a week 9-5. But it’s so hard to be motivated for it. I’ve been looking at other roles which I’m quite psyched about, but whilst still 9-5 they would be way more demanding and a significant pay cut - unfortunately more than I was expecting making it unviable really. I think that I need to try and put some more focus into something outside of work which this job can allow (easy in summer as I just go out climbing at 4pm two or three days a week). Hopefully in the next PC I’ll have some kind of new “intention” which might stop me always thinking the grass will be greener…

[spidermonkey09]

Your not kidding! I got utterly spanked. Only managed a few of the moves. Seems like it’s a full grade harder than Raindogs which is an obvious route to compare it to. Steeper and harder moves. Elbows felt it driving back.

Snowing down here and pretty crap weather forecast so rest of week might be out for another look but currently think it’s well out of my league as the moves are the sort where I don’t think any amount of refinements is going to bring it down to my level.

Yes definitely harder than Raindogs I think, much more powerful. If Raindogs is bang in the middle of the 8a grade Cider Soak is probably the same grade as Zoolook; absolute top end 8a!

Helped a lot to watch some videos of the sequences; from memory its basically 3 distinct sections? Starting boulder, hard middle section to the jug which included a hard clip for me, and the top boulder to the loweroff. I never really got a good sequence on the middle bit and fluked it the one time I got through it.

[Yossarian]

Snowing down here and pretty crap weather forecast so rest of week might be out for another look but currently think it’s well out of my league as the moves are the sort where I don’t think any amount of refinements is going to bring it down to my level.

What about the Empire wall stuff if you’re going to be down there a fair amount? It’s not as steep, and there’s an obvious progression to Leather Whip Mick and Avenged Direct. I want to try CS too but it does look pretty meaty…

[Duma]

What Yoss said. Avenged and Just Revenge are ace and there's harder variations.
Obvs don't have quite the cachet of The Soak though, and the crux move is still fairly fierce.

[James Malloch]

For my board sessions im struggling for some psyche as its quite limited in what can be done (well, with my imagination…) due to the size of the wall.

Does anyone have a view on whether increasing weight (weight vest) is any better than making the wall steeper?

Both options would mean i could work through older problems again but still get a good challenge level…

[Nutty]

For my board sessions im struggling for some psyche as its quite limited in what can be done (well, with my imagination…) due to the size of the wall.

Does anyone have a view on whether increasing weight (weight vest) is any better than making the wall steeper?

Both options would mean i could work through older problems again but still get a good challenge level…

If I was going to go down either of those routes I'd add weight (weight vest/belt/ankle weights) rather than change angle, purely because that would be a lot easier (and easier to revert).

New holds and/or a reset/partial reset is what I'd recommend if psyche is lacking. I find adding just a few new holds can open up a range of possibilities. Making replicas of moves on things you're psyched for outdoors should help with board psyche. Other option is to get some mates round for a session and get them to set some problems if your imagination is the blocker.

[shark]

Had a couple of sessions on Just Revenge in the past and that whole wall is dry at the moment and it would make more sense to go on it but more psyched for Cider Soak. Great effort by Nick putting it up at the time. I went down there a couple of times with him in the late 80’s when he was trying what became La Crème.

[sdm]

As well as the above, have you tried the boulder bot app? It's a good way to get you climbing things beyond your usual style/imagination.

[James Malloch]

As well as the above, have you tried the boulder bot app? It's a good way to get you climbing things beyond your usual style/imagination.

Just had a session using this after spending some time listing all the holds today. What a great app! Thanks for the recommendation.

Problems often Need a tweak to make them work but I’ve done some great problems this evening. I like the way it specifies feet too as i find i can often choose better feet to bring problems down to my level…