[Wellsy]

Sunday 8th - Font circuits

Monday - Font circuits

Tuesday - Font Circuits, Plastikman 7A. Chuffed

Wednesday - Font Circuits

Thursday - Font Circuits, projected Crazy Horse 7B. Made progress, but 24 degrees plus knackered. Drank loads in the evening.

Friday - Hungover. Font Circuits

Saturday - Long drive home.

Sunday - RIP Wellsys aching body

[Duncan Disorderly]

Kalymnos Club...

M: Rest
T: Multipitch with the GF @ School - 5 Pitches aroud F5+, great fun and Katie really smashed it! Did a hard F6a+ at Odyssey on the walk down before the sun hit.
W: Afternoon - Some ace F5+ - F6b routes and a F7a+ Onsight - First 7 of the trip, felt good to finally nail summat tricky.
T: Little Eden - Kayaked there, did some F6's, swam and Kayaked back - Lovely day.
F: Rest  - GF's last day, chilled and went to the beach.
S: Poets Meltemi - Pretty new crag. Warmed up on a F6b then jumped on a great looking F7c (Zephyr - 7c+ if you believe UKC - I don't)... First go up worked out the technical wall and thin slopey crux but struggled on the very steep top. One more go on TR and felt pretty confident... Andy RP'd it so it was all down to me to get on board the send train... Duly despatched without too much fuss (did still have to fight at the top though!)... YYFY!
S: Nourafo - Sore skin. Warmed up on a F6a then jumped on a F6c+/F7a, wrong handed and lobbed, came down and did it ground up after Andy. Had a brief play on a F7b but deemed it too sharp so got on a great looking F7a/F7a+, spent too long searching for a rest in a cave and managed to lob just at the end of the hard climbing - Took a kneepad up for the GU and it went without too much fuss - skin is ruined now tho!

Great week - Plan is working out well... Upping the ante now and have already achieved the trip goal with another F7c waiting in the wings for next week... Gonna have a couple days rest now as need to work and regrow some skin. Energizer Bunny is coming out on Thursday with our daughters so am intrigued to see how that goes - should be ace!

[Duma]

Nice work DD, and sounds like a good week Wellsy! Font looks a bit warm atm judging by my IG feed...



M - Rest, feeling pretty broken now...
T - Leonidio, Elona. What an impressive crag! Warm up on Techno Berlin 6c, felt tough by local standards, more pumped than I would like. Then Diet Dope 7b, classic among classics, reckon you'd struggle to improve this except by adding 10 more meters on top. Psyched with the OS as felt tough, probably ok to RP though as there must be more knees among the tufas than I used. Finished on the aptly named Kneebaropoulos 7a+, the only polished route I've done here so far, and annoying footslip on said polish scuppered the OS low. Rushed second go to beat the sun meant I wasn't properly recovered but managed to scrape through. Michelle did her project too so a great day all round.
W - Leonidio, Sabaton. Back for GF to try something she had her eye on. Bit of a shame as it's a shady crag and was the only day of the trip with a bit of cloud (woe is me!) But she made good progress so fair enough. Warmed up getting clips in for her repeating Born 2 be Precious 6c+, then messed up OS of the neighbouring Mandarinia 7a+, ok next go. Pleased with a smooth OS of Cinderella 7a+, then tried Torelli's Toys 7b+. Guessed wrong on the low crux, lowered straight off and got through next go, but gassed out a few clips higher. Scraped through by the skin of my teeth third go, and optimistically tried to run up the next route, Roro 7a+, without any rest. Barely stuck the crux but couldn't move and came off. Another scraped ascent 2nd go.
T - Rest.
F - Leonidio, Nifada. Another absolutely majestic bit of rock. Warmed up on the unsuitable (slabby)  Honich Kouchen Feat 7a, thin lower section was a bit of a shock to the fingers but managed to get through for the OS. Then flash go on K3 Climbing 7c, but misread the boulder crux and was off. Steady second go, probably soft tbh. Then OS the well positioned but painful Laï Laï 7a. Last up Sonic 7a, felt nails in full sun and at the end of the day but just managed the OS of this too.
S - Leonidio, Muppet Show. Last day. Pretty newly developed crag (2021) so a bit spiky still, but shady and good grade spread. Warm up on the excellent Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, both 6a, then Waldorf 7a, amazing slabby upper half, and felt pretty cruisy. Next Cookie Monster 7c. Felt good up balancy slab lower half and read boulder crux pretty well, but missed stabbing to a two finger pocket. Took a few goes to get this move in isolation, then next go foot slipped off while setting up. Caught it third go and scraped through the next couple of tricky moves to the upper romp to glory. Think this is a bit mean at 7c for the normal sized, it's a hard move and a bit of a stretch to the pocket for me. Was 8a in the 2021 guide which is definitely too generous though. Last up was Fozzy Bear 7a+, had to do some desperate crimping on thin skin to secure the OS. And that was that.
S - Travel.

71 kg

Brilliant trip to a new place, loads of new crags, dry everyday, loads of great routes done, lovely people, food, and scenery, swam most evenings, almost no polish, and only two crags felt busy. The drive from Athens is a bit of a pain, and the glorious sunshine every day meant we were chasing shade which influenced our crag options, but tbh was never a problem and I'd much rather that than rain.

[Wellsy]

Sounds like a fantastic trip Duma!

Yes we thought October might be cooler... it was 27 degrees most days lol

[duncan]

These sound like great trips, mind you it's been pretty nice in the UK too!

M - Knackered.
T - Fingerboard pick-ups, light weight: front three crimp, half crimp and drag.
W - Fingerboard pick-ups: front three crimps. 10km walk. ENO to see Peter Grimes, Britten’s great opera about the relationship between an awkward outsider and a society that doesn’t tolerate awkward outsiders.
T - Fingerboard pick-ups: front three crimps. Hip and knee conditioning and flexibility: frog squats, single leg squats, calf-raises.
F - Westway autobelay: four easy routes, wearing wrist support, strictly front three. Not too bad.
S - Ill.
S - Still ill.

Wrist is a typical TFCC injury: strap it up and you can still crimp quite hard with the front three. It's not happy with anything less basic: slopers, pinches, undercuts, and jamming.  I did the same to the right wrist last summer, this is now much better but not 100%. I now recall I first did my left wrist about 12 years ago. It took around 4 months to recover then. I’ll be slower to heal now but I’ve a much better idea on how to work around it. Unfortunately it might rule out hard stuff for the rest of the year. Meanwhile I can keep working on my front three crimp strength, which is exactly what I need for several 7b+ projects.

[Aussiegav]

White walkers are coming.
Was that the last weekend of sunshine?


Power Club

Monday -
5 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests.
6 sets of 7 sec hangs on 12mm edges.  All with 15kg assist. Fingers felt tired.

Tuesday

Depot after work.
Linked boulders in the wooden hold circuit board. Focusing on smaller holds prep for pit viper.
5 sets of 3 power pull ups


Wednesday
Rest


Thursday

Fingerboard session at home

5 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. Half Crimp
6 sets of 7 sec hangs on 12mm edges. All with 15kg assist.
4 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. 3 finger open.



Friday
Rest day

Saturday
Rest day walked with family around Longshaw Estate and Pashley Gorge. Gorgeous day out, till the rain hit.


Sunday

Was going to go for a solo session at Deep Rake on Pit Viper. But in the end, I couldn’t be bothered going on my own, so I went to the Depot. Save my allotted crag time when I can go out with others.

Went to the Depot instead. Repeated Tuesdays session of Linked boulders on the wooden hold circuit board. Focusing on smaller holds prep for pit viper.

Strength training after.
5x3 jumping pull up
4x3 pull ups +16kg
1x10 7kg dumbbell chest flyes
3x8. 10kg dumbbell chest flyes

45min Peloton ride.

[Steve R]

M. light walk
T.  light walk
W. Tried to climb a bit indoors pm.  Felt pretty rubbish, post viral sweats, hammering heart rate, ragged breathing, etc. etc. Probably trying too hard too soon.
T.  Knackered am, rallied pm
F. -
S. -
S. -

Another week's climbing and training lost to covid.  Well clear of any (at rest) symtoms this week and fortunately fine to work but just no energy or inclination for training/harder exercise.  Will have another go, starting easy from today.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - one armers! Lattice Edge, quite on par.
Tue - too hot for board climbing. Cleans after a long time, up to 95%, did a few doubles and a quadruple. Chuffed. Bentover rows.
Wed - AM as usual; PM bentover rows 5x10, static holds, shrugs.
Thu - AM as usual; PM 4x AM session; farmer's static holds 110 kg 6'; TBDL finisher after ages 70 kg x5x12 30" EMOM. Yes!
Fri - tired. AM as usual; PM board climbing, bad skin. Short links on current project. 2x AM session, back work.
Sat - regular weights.
Sun - boxing bag.

[shark]

12.1

M. PM Tor 20deg Tired from weekend just Pat and Andy C there. Lacklustre session concentrating and getting toe release move right. Wasn’t properly into it and should have concentrated and applied myself better

T. Tor. Bit more experimenting on toe release

W

T Tor with Steve and Graham. 5deg bit no breeze. Lowered in. Warm on Crucfixion pillar and then on AM did moves 5-12, 3 to 11 fumbling gaston and 1-3. W/o more tie ins on Push Up which was still partially wet. Skin better on the sharp holds than last time I tried it. Hung on the holds on Bens after but no finger strength.

F Drive to Devon. Awful conditions

S. Attempted front levers, pull-ups and weighted deadhang hangs on a finger edge in a barn. Had forgotten chalk and tried using crushed blackboard chalk which scarcely helped. Think I need to top up on fingerboarding. You’d think that twice weekly visits to the Tor would maintain it.

S.

Put on weight again. Some family crap at the weekend. Fed up. Motivation at a low ebb. Project success out of reach this year. Was looking forward to decent connies this week but forecast changed for the worst. Meh. I’m off with the dogs to do some soloing

[jwi]

You know that blackboard chalk is likely mostly gypsum nowadays?

[shark]

You know that blackboard chalk is likely mostly gypsum nowadays?

I didn’t

[Fultonius]

Another week of trying to juggle outdoor climbing, house renovations and work. Lower volume than I'd like - no chance of overuse injuries just now! After an abnormally warm and dry autumn, it's finally turned cold. Massive downpours over the weekend and instead of 22c peaks, it's 11c.

Tuesday: 30 mins morning Yoga.

Thursday: Lutne Skale - nice to check another local crag - lovely setting "Gnome's Rock"!  Not a lot of time again, nipped up a 6a, 6b+ (quite a big move at crux - had to dig deep), then tried "Corovnik" - 7a but got a bit lost at the crux (3 routes in close vicinity, one variation with extra 3 bolts). Got it clean 2nd go but still a good fight on the crux - some hard moves!

Sunday: Indoor session at the bouldering wall in Ljubljana after a curry (wrong order, but we were too hungry). Amusingly the indoor boulder grades (Font) seem easier than the outdoor sport grades   

[Yossarian]

M
T - Wall. Still felt a bit ill from previous week's bug. About an hour on the board, and then some other stuff.
W - Fingerboard pulls. Fingers have fine at the wall, but doing these my RH fingers have been feeling a bit tweaky and slightly weaker. Until today. Managed to do a few sets of 4x 70kg on both arms. Previous max pull is 80kg, so might have to retest that sometime. Then went to the wall. Board for around 90 mins, trying to work out some mirror versions of problems I've been setting recently. Then some other stuff downstairs.
T
F - Some fingerboard pulls (not as good as W) then a mini pull strength session (just wide weighted pull-ups and assisted 1 armers)
S - Wall. Felt far better than I've done for a while. Did 90 mins of hard stuff on the board, and then managed to tick off a few things which had proved a bit elusive recently. Was going to do more strength stuff when I got home but too tired.
S

Still unsure about a quick trip to Font the week after next. However, did decide to book Switzerland for a trip with the kids mid December, staying somewhere between Brione and Chironico. Extremely syked and lots of time to prepare.

[Fiend]

The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes - n/a. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope - n/a, or above a pad, keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners - a bit, falling practise if I do routes indoors or out - yes, deadhangs (if suitable) - n/a, elbow rehab x 2 - yes, shoulder rehab x 2 - just once, stretching x 3 - yes.
Next week STG: Be careful with sprained toe - yes. Be careful with strained leg - yes. Keep up some form of training / conditioning - yes. Try to look after my mindstate - I think so?.
MTG - keep incrementally regaining capability, do regular increasingly large falling practise, try to stretch bi-weekly, keep rehabbing (and moderating training if needed) to avoid injury, try to rally support and inclusion amongst climbing partners.
LTG - regain physical capability for F7a o/s, F7b+-ish r/p, to be able to take into trad, try to regain some confidence in going further afield.


M - Active rest / arm fatigue - 2-3 hours cleaning at Pinfold. Useful but exhausting. Toe okay.

T -  Active rest - a bit of local Easy Trad. Punting. Toe okay. Arms tired after day before. Right elbow now getting niggly.

W -  Indoor routes @ Awesome Walls. 2 x F6b, 2 x F6c, 2 x F6c+, 2 x F7a, good practise falls on most. Tried hard, pushed hard, and felt a lot better getting body re-recruited. Toe fine, whacked and bruised heel taking a practise fall and making sure I didn't whack my toe, back of leg sore and achey after standing up belaying, both elbows a bit grumbly. Elbow rehab, shoulder rehab, stretching.

T -  Active rest - a bit of local Easy Trad. Punting. Toe mostly okay but occasionally a bit achey walking around.

F - Rest. Toe okay. Elbow rehab, stretching.

S - Active rest. Travel to Pfalz. Lots of airport walking. Blood pressure spiking due to car hire cock-up costing extra £160. One easy route.

S - Easy climbing @ Pfalz. 4 easy-ish mixed standard routes. Toe fine. Lovely spot as usual. Stretching.



Mixed week. Should have been really exciting / happy / inspiring to finally get a return trip to Pfalz organised, but instead being thrust back into "damage control" for my body - and then mind - was initially horrible. I think I've done the right things to keep going but keep careful at least.


The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope, or above a pad, keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners, falling practise if I do routes indoors or out, deadhangs (if suitable), elbow rehab x 2, shoulder rehab x 2, stretching x 3.
Next week STG: Explore lots of cool places that are bird-banned in spring. Regain motivation to try a bit harder. Look after toe. Take advantage of any fresh conditions to climb to my limit here if toe allows. Pack in as much climbing as possible whilst here. Don't strain the back of my leg on a heel-hook, have a panic attack about the trip / winter / life being ruined by another knee injury, and have to climb cautiously with it taped for a few days. Enjoy the splendour of the Pfalz even if all the rest doesn't work out.

[Johnny Brown]

However, did decide to book Switzerland for a trip with the kids mid December, staying somewhere between Brione and Chironico. Extremely syked and lots of time to prepare.

Did this last Feb. It's a very nice area, but be aware Brione in particular has been developed top down - i.e. the easy problems haven't even been cleaned let alone climbed. Unless you're operating in the 8s it can be difficult to even find a problem to warm up on. The river bed is particularly bad for this, though still fun to explore. Up at the meadow area is a bit better. Chironico is more varied but quite spread out, Cresciano is amazingly small given it's fame. Lovely area, but font it ain't. If I went back I'd aim to do a fair bit of hillwalking around Brione.

[Wellsy]

I was thinking about Switzerland next year but was concerned it might be like that. Any areas there which are recommended for the 6s and low 7s?

[teestub]

Tonnes to go at in 6's and low 7's in Chironico, it's spread up a hillside with a few different parking options but easy to walk in between a lot of the central areas.

I'm not sure there are many bouldering areas in the world that compare favourably to Font if you're looking for nice problems to warm up on!

[Yossarian]

Ta for the heads up. I think Chironico is going to be our best bet. Tbh we were talking about alternatives to Font and only made our minds up when we found a brilliant looking (and fairly bargain) airbnb.