[Fiend]

Next week STG: Ease back into activity gently - almost but new strain on Sat.... Use golfer's elbow gently - almost but pushed too far on Thu.....
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes - n/a. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope (fuck above a pad) - no, obviously not. Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners - I keep trying........... Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out - n/a. Look after injuries - very mixed bag, and gained a new strain, (gym x 1) - x 2, elbow rehab x 2 - x 2, shoulder rehab x 2 - x 2 but need to do more mobility, stretching x 3 - x 4!.

M - Indoor bouldering @ RockOver Bolton. 6 x V1-3, 6 x V2-4, 10 x V3-5 (flash, all easy), 6 x V4-6 (4 flash, 2 x 2nd go, attempted 3 more that were too hard in various ways, quite variable). Was fairly methodical with elbow and avoided a couple of problems, but pushed things slightly too far - elbow a bit more sore than after Onyx a week before, but a bit less sore than after Depot / ROS a week before that. Lots of cuddles with Rufus the staffie. Elbow rehab (lighter weight / slower). Stretching session.

T - Gym. Comprehensive session of misc WeakWeights(tm). Objectively terrible but subjectively easing myself back into some sort of conditioning (absolutely nowhere near "training" for the foreseeable future), so had no expectation and managed to achieve exactly that. Shoulder rehab. Sauna. Stretching session.

W - Active rest. 2 miles walk. 5 mins / 1 min full immersion cold water torture. Stretching session (unplanned, but ended up in an industrial estate outside Burnley waiting for RAC for the missus's car).  Mild DOMS.

T -  Indoor bouldering @ Blochaus. 10 V2-3 warm-ups, 8 x V4 (7 flash, 1 x 2nd go), 4 x V5 (2 x 2nd go, 2 x briefly worked, plus attempted / backed off 4 that were too hard / too elbowy / too plain fucking incomprehensible). Elbow sore after and had pushed too hard on some problems. Brief cuddles with Herbie the shar pei cross. More DOMS. Blood test in morning to check T-levels.

F - Nothing. Not a rest day as doing nothing is not restful. Should have done stretching / shoulder mobility / light run or something. Evening spent getting angry about lack of communication from many climbing chat groups / potential partners - always grim and demoralising.

S - Gym. Misc WeakWeights(tm). Slightly less volume and slightly more weight than before. Up to: Bench: 5 x 65kg, OH Press: 5 x 16kg/arm, Bicep Curl: 5 x 12kg/arm (nursing right elbow, but also weird weakness in left), Deadlift: 2 x 130kg - strained lower back and glutes (only 2nd time ever - this time I think I was fooled by how easy 100kg warm-ups felt). Elbow rehab (lighter weight / slower). Shoulder rehab. Full stretching session.

S - Active rest. Photoshoot / checking at the "esoteric even by Lancs minor crags standards" Dean Royd. Actually quite fun, well worth travelling to from Todmorden or Littleborough. 2 x VS (1 new), 3 x HVS (1 new). Aggravated elbow on a burly start when cold. Cuddles with Otto the vizsla in Summit Inn. Morning: Lower back and glutes sore and stiff, elbow feeling better. Evening: Lower back and glutes eased off, elbow feeling sorer again.


A bit bleak on the inside, but putting a bit more effort in to try to slow the decline.


Next week STG: Keep up with general conditioning. Keep up with gentle elbow usage.
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope (fuck above a pad). Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners. Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out. Look after injuries, (gym x 1), elbow rehab x 2, shoulder rehab x 2, stretching x 3.

[nik at work]

Matt that reads like a decent week of activity to me? I think you’re a bit younger than me, but maybe not much… my body is a collection of niggles held together by hair and grime… not sure what I’m trying to say here. I guess when I read your posts I feel like your being a bit hard on yourself maybe, and wondering if a bit of reframing is possible? We don’t really know each other very well, and I’m not trying to do a “what you need to do is…” thing. Also aware that “reframing” could come across as a bit woo… Like I say, I read your week and it sounds pretty good to me, like I’d be pleased to have got out and done as much stuff as you do on an average week. I am aware that I am just about to write about a week where I was on a trip to Kalymnos so the previous sentence may seem a bit ridiculous….
I think that maybe we all have lives with complexity which can limit our time to climb, and the type of climbing we can access. There can be frustration with injury, weather, misalignment of goals/desires with climbing partners etc… but we just keep on truckin’, which may not be ideal, but it’s better than the alternative.
From the outside looking in you seem to get a lot done, and it’s inspiring. Maybe that’s a useful thing to hear, I dunno.

Anyway I’ve rambled on enough. FWIW you’re very welcome to join me climbing… but not sure the venues would light your fire…

M - Kalymnos. Spartacus area, Spartan Wall, Afternoon. Didn’t climb, just belayed.

T - The boys wanted to try DNA so we headed up to Granda Grotte, unfortunately not early enough as a team was on it when we arrived. And another team were waiting to get on it. Went and did Elephantenhimmel, great 3D steep silliness spoiled by having belay clipping as probably the hardest move (is this a Kalymnos thing…?). When we got back to DNA the second team were just finishing off working it and they very kindly left the clips in and said we could strip it and drop the clips at their hotel once we were done!!  Legends.
By the time we got on it it was in full sun, not ideal. Dylan (17) went first and got about 3 clips up before getting tired, rested on the rope and pressed on another couple of clips then lowered down. Then Sam (12) tied in. The night before he’d said he wanted to flash it, and he was looking in the zone… given the sun/heat I was concerned he would struggle and things would end up with him frustrated and upset after falling. He set off and climbed and clipped smoothly and confidently. As he got higher up the route it become apparent that almost everyone in the cave had stopped climbing and we’re just watching him climb and urging him on. A few moves below the last clip he started to grunt a bit, but stuck with it and pushed on to the belay! Lowered down to congratulations from around the cave and when he reached the ground several people who we didn’t know came over to fist bump/high five/say well done. Obviously he was made up, his first 7a flash (tbh pretty much onsight) as a one of the classic Kalymnos routes. Proud dad moment (sorry for indulgent description). Finn (16) had a good flash attempt but fell a couple of bolts from the end. We might have done something else that day, no idea…

W - went to Summertime. Did some 5’s and 6’s at the bottom end then went up to Norwegian Friends. Sam went first, onsight putting clips in with no knee pad (there’s a massive kneebar rest in the middle) dropped the last move. Then him and Finn (16) proceeded to have 3-4 attempts, all ending with last move drops. I got a cheeky flash to strip it after they sorted all the beta. Another clipping the belay crux which is a bit daft.

T - Telendos. I flashed Helvetx (7a) and  Kyprios Angel (7a+) and got Cuobo(7c) second go, should have flashed but listened to beta suggestions instead of doing my own thing. Finn flashed Magma (6c) and got Helvetx second go. Sam flashed Magma and Helvetx. They both tried Cuobo but struggled with the sharpness of the finish.

F - Odyssey, did Fouska second go, yet another belay clipping crux!

S - Sam woke up at 5am with some vomiting bug which scuppered his climbing (and meant he had a horrible journey home in the evening). Finn keen for a DNA rematch and Dylan keen to try Aphrodite. So dashed up to granda Grotte. Got there before anyone else was on it, and bonus someone had left the clips in, yay! Finn had another go in the shade and managed to just make it to the belay before pumping out, very pleased. Dylan tried Aphrodite (7a+) but struggled with them crux move. Finn and I flashed it. Then back down the hill to catch our transfer to the boat.

S - nothing obviously.

First visit to Kalymnos, it’s amazing, the climbing, the people, the vibe. Loved it!! Frustrating that we kept picking routes with crux belay clips, but will 100% be back there, just such a good setup for a sport climbing trip. Although it’s pretty clear that this is the last year that I’ll be the fall-back route getter-upper hero. All the kids will comfortably out-climb me next time we’re there. Proud, a little bitter-sweet maybe…
There were so many awesome kid climbers there with brilliant attitudes and approaches… really looking forward to what’s coming with the future of climbing, I think as a group we’re leaving it in good hands, we taught em’ well.

Sorry for the long indulgent post.

STG - STAY AHEAD OF THE KIDS 

[Fultonius]

Belay clips being the crux can go and do one - who in their right mind ruins a route in that way? It's pretty much the only real way an equipped can fuck up the natural features and it's just so unnecessary!

Some rock types make it unavoidable, ce'st la vie, but arbitrarily adding difficult past a good clipping hold to make an awkward belay clip is unforgivable. Yes, Mr Willis Morris, I'm thinking of you here. 

Sounds like a great trip though! 

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - AM as usual; PM weights.
Tue - GM 8x7 100 kg. RDL. Tired. Landmine squat and press.
Wed - shoulder static holds, amazing. Lattice mixed grips.
Thu - AM as usual; PM weights. Tired.
Fri - boxing bag.
Sat - weights.
Sun - board climbing, back work.

[duncan]

Thanks Fiend.

Nik, that sounds amazing, great to hear about it.

M - Walked 7km. Drove up to Sheffield.

T - High Tor with shark. Belayed him for a couple of goes on a new line*. Wasn't feeling very confident so warmed-up on Memories again. Tried X Factor but impending darkness, flat light, monochrome grey rock and macular degeneration in my left eye meant I couldn't make out footholds on the leftwards traverse at the start. Perhaps there weren't any and I just needed to get on with it. Finished up Zed Legs instead.

W - Woke with a sore shoulder, not sure how that happened given I hardly did anything the previous day. Went to Slaley Brook Quarry. It’s huge! Led Crystal Maths and That Shard. These are inconsequential but the better ones on Marble Wall look worth returning for, geologically like a mini Avon Ramp. Unfortunately a combination of whatever i did the previous day and a FOOSH on the ice-rink-like quarry floor meant my shoulder was not up for any more climbing.

Spent the afternoon on a tour-de-south peak quarries: Arm Lees (huge!); Hopton, currently a film set for a - not-to-be-disclosed said the genial security man - fantastic forthcoming movie; Lime Kilns, for the pub which turned out to be closed; and Dale, a 150’ deep hole hidden in plain sight on the edge of Wirksworth. Handy Wallhole and adjacent routes were damp but look great if you like a thin wall. Followed by a pint at The Moon for old times sake.

T - Mizzly weather in the peak so drove back to London. Walked 10km. Accompanied son to audition. Don’t know if this was a 7a onsight or if he dropped it at the chains.

F - Fingerboard pick-ups: 18mm edge, three different grips, up to 36kg ie about 80% of max. Hip flexibility: squats and prone frogs.

Barbican for Busoni’s completely bonkers Piano Concerto: 75 minutes of late romantic excess complete with male chorus in the finale. Astonishing playing from Kirill Gerstein in an unforgiving role: half the time he’s bashing away furiously but the orchestra are even louder. It’s a piece for connoisseurs rather than Classic FM but was certainly highly memorable 

S - Fingerboard pick-ups as above. Very gentle shoulder conditioning: side planks and ‘Ts’. Hip flexibility.

S - Fingerboard pick-ups, hip flexibility, and very gentle shoulder conditioning as above.

A bit frustrating to have a sore shoulder, I’ve had a relatively good year for tweaks up to this week. Can continue with the fingers and will ease back into shoulder rehab./conditioning. Feels like this might be the end of the trad. season for 2025.

On the positive side, have booked flights to Spain from Christmas to mid-January and looking for accommodation in Jaen. Recommendations welcome!


*Supersonic right hand finish: as of this afternoon Superannuated E6 6b.

[Duma]

2024 surely Duncan? Unless your tweaks are worse than I realise.

Lovely report Nik, Kaly is great if you approach it with the right mindset isn't it?

Re belay clip cruxes,bi think this often just people trying to clip too soon?

[Jerry Morefat]

*Supersonic right hand finish: as of this afternoon Superannuated E6 6b.

Looking forward to that bad boy getting upgraded from 1 to 3 stars by crag moderator in an act of absolute contrarianism 

[duncan]

2024 surely Duncan? Unless your tweaks are worse than I realise.

  2025 would be pessimistic even by my standards!

[Duma]

M - finger still sore, maybe slight improvement.
T - definitely a bit better, not sore day to day now
W - some gentle rehab
T - nothing
F - more gentle rehab
S - travel. Drive through Valencia was sobering (not trying to disaster tourist, sat nav took us that way)
S - Albarracín, Cabrerizo and Mezquita. Walked round and waited for things to be properly dry, then warmed up at Cabrerizo, some lovely problems but sadly Elyse sprained her ankle over balancing off one off them. Then over to Mezquita, flashed the excellent (and very finger injury friendly) La Fisura Oscura 6C+, then was very pleased to manage the very crimpy Hombro Meng 7A+ in a few goes, thankfully the crucial LH is front 2. Impressive flash from Ollie, was grateful he cleared all the scrittle from the top! We all had fun on the 6's around La Pelotilla 6A, and then Elyse pulled her day back with an impressive ascent of the brilliant Hojaldre 7A. Knackered but really stoked that I could have a good day around my finger.

72 kg.

[nik at work]

Lovely report Nik, Kaly is great if you approach it with the right mindset isn't it?

Re belay clip cruxes,bi think this often just people trying to clip too soon?

Having never been before I absolutely loved it to be honest.

Agre about early clipping, but definitely not in the three main culprits I encountered in Kaly, all of them had a perfect clipping jug then a tricky move to a powerful and awkward clip with nowhere further to go.

[nik at work]

Anyway pleased to hear you’re managing to keep climbing Duma

[SA Chris]

On the positive side, have booked flights to Spain from Christmas to mid-January and looking for accommodation in Jaen. Recommendations welcome!

I recommend telling us where in Spain for a start....

[Fultonius]

On the positive side, have booked flights to Spain from Christmas to mid-January and looking for accommodation in Jaen. Recommendations welcome!

I recommend telling us where in Spain for a start....

I'm in the same area in 2 weeks, so I can give you some personal recommendations. (if we get much climbing done)

[Fultonius]

Forgot to actually log my week.
79.5kg
Tues:Propstore. FB warm up to max hangs. Some pinks 1st or 2nd go (6C/+), finished off with 15 problems on the minute ish. 6Bish
Weds: climbed two wind turbines - 180m
Thurs: climbed one WT - 90m, back was quite tired after crawling around awkward spaces all week so skipped climbing.
Fri, nothing.
Sat: 1 hr bouldering then 2 hrs surfing at Bamburgh.
Sunday 3hrs surfing. Totally broken after that! Got one clean green wave, the rest was just popping up on white water mush.

[SA Chris]

On the positive side, have booked flights to Spain from Christmas to mid-January and looking for accommodation in Jaen. Recommendations welcome!

I recommend telling us where in Spain for a start....

I'm in the same area in 2 weeks, so I can give you some personal recommendations. (if we get much climbing done)

D'oh. I read that as  a typo for Jan(uary). Didn't know it was a place.

[Fiend]

Matt that reads like a decent week of activity to me? I think you’re a bit younger than me, but maybe not much… my body is a collection of niggles held together by hair and grime… not sure what I’m trying to say here.

.... From the outside looking in you seem to get a lot done, and it’s inspiring. Maybe that’s a useful thing to hear, I dunno.

Cheers Nik. I agree about being held together by hair (not much!) and grime (plenty!) and in my case +10kg of inhibitive, injury-exacerbating, unable-to-shift excess weight.

I do keep pretty active but also I do report on Power Club in the context of Power Club i.e. anything that is factoring in to climbing capability / performance / progression / training - as I take it that that's what PC is all about. I tend to try to report accurately on what I've done and how it relates to those aspects of climbing, and how I feel about it, and I don't tend to filter it (much...).

I can't recall when I restarted PC but in the last few years my "capability / performance / progression / training" have either been worse than before and/or declining - a likely combination of injury, age, weight, mental health, etc. So that's what I report, not always palatable reading but it is what it is.

However...

... but we just keep on truckin’, which may not be ideal, but it’s better than the alternative.

I agree with this. For some reason, probably pig-headed stubborness combined with irrational faith, I'm still not giving up, I'm still clinging on to the hope I can get something back, and I'm still keeping on truckin' in exactly that context - i.e. "putting a bit more effort in to try to slow the decline"

On a lighter note:

Spent the afternoon on a tour-de-south peak quarries: Arm Lees (huge!); Hopton, currently a film set for a - not-to-be-disclosed said the genial security man - fantastic forthcoming movie; Lime Kilns, for the pub which turned out to be closed; and Dale, a 150’ deep hole hidden in plain sight on the edge of Wirksworth. Handy Wallhole and adjacent routes were damp but look great if you like a thin wall. Followed by a pint at The Moon for old times sake.

This brings joy to my heart  What inspiration.... I don't even know which one Hopton is.... I wonder how impressed Shark was??

[Dolly]

M
T mini paralletes. Came back from Siena
W Curbar. Failed on Old Cheeses new problem Lucy. It was too warm really as by the time I left and it was getting colder I could pull on without my fingers sliding everywhere
T
F Cocking Tor. Possibly wrong crag choice. Didn’t do anything and it’s very green and overgrown. A lot of the problems were unclimbable because of lack of traffic
S
S

[Johnny Brown]

Cocking tor prob better in late Feb-Apr when the veg is down and it gets more sun in the mornings.

[Dolly]

Yep good idea ta

[Duncan Disorderly]

Wtf is power anyway?.... Club

Chin up Matt - sure it's just a phase... As Jacky Godoffe once said "sometimes ze body does not want to do ard moves..." Keep on keeping on...

Ace trip report Nik, made me want to get on a plane, now!

Good to hear the finger is holding up Duma...

M: Routes @ AW - F6a+ - F6c tired!
T: Routes @ AW w/ Energizer Bunny - F6a+ to F6c+, EB fell off some stuff I didn't... Surprising! Both tried a F7b, both got spanked!
W: Rest.
T: MB @ AW - Did some new benchmarks up to 6B+ and fell off some harder stuff.
F: Routes @ AW w/ Katie- Tired, did some stuff up to F6c and then sacked it off and went to the pub.... Bad idea!
S: Hungover!
S: Still slightly hungover - wandered around Castleton in the clag.

Urggghhhh - still plugging away but it's not getting any easier... Stupid idea to get hammered on Friday as hoped to hit Scarbados Saturday/Sunday - next time!

[duncan]

Spent the afternoon on a tour-de-south peak quarries: Arm Lees (huge!); Hopton, currently a film set for a - not-to-be-disclosed said the genial security man - fantastic forthcoming movie; Lime Kilns, for the pub which turned out to be closed; and Dale, a 150’ deep hole hidden in plain sight on the edge of Wirksworth. Handy Wallhole and adjacent routes were damp but look great if you like a thin wall. Followed by a pint at The Moon for old times sake.

This brings joy to my heart  What inspiration.... I don't even know which one Hopton is.... I wonder how impressed Shark was??

It was an entertaining afternoon. I used to scope Mendip quarries in the early 80s but with only a push-bike and OS maps it was a time consuming business. Sport climbing hadn't been accepted and I wasn't Looking Though Gary Gibson's Eyes (HVS 5a) - or even Gary Gilmore's - so didn't bother following up on North Quarry. I really should have pulled my finger out at Uphill though.

There is a lot of unclimbed exposed rock (in the loosest sense of the word) in Wirksworth area. Much of it looks unstable on both a small and large scale. There could be further development, and perhaps there are hidden gems, but sensitive access means most is of it probably best left in a state where it only attract small numbers.

[Murph]

Anyone posting here is doing better than me Matthew, I've been struggling to "get back into it" for 4 years and have had a zillion false starts.

What you don't see so much on forums or in climbing walls or at the crag are the thousands or millions of ex climbers or people struggling with life or motivation, injury or childcare (which are all a form of injury). This probably doesn't help but be kind to yourself and enjoy your time.

With that positivity I'm hereby announcing my return to powerfulclub

Last week:
M - works, purples not bad, 5k jog
T - family
W - family
T - 5k jog, works purples again surprised everyone but me knew it was fancy dress night
F -
S - skipped parkrun for a 3k jog as feeling less than 100%. Awesome Walls led half a dozen 5+s. First time on a rope in months since my last surgery.
S - unwell

73.5kgs, 10kgs above ideal, 45 years old but not given up yet.

[mr chaz]

Power Club:

78.5 kg woops

Just one session this week - need to be better!

Thursday. Evening board session, the usual warmup and 1 hr doing volume on the board repeating problems as possible. Felt great afterwards (as opposed to Tuesday when I sacked it off out of sheer laziness  )

Next opportunity for outdoor climbing coming up Nov 17th, hope the persistent clag lifts by then