[Dave Flanagan]

Want to do loads when I go to Font in late October. What can I do to improve my slab climbing.

Climb loads of slabs I know. Anything else?

[tommytwotone]

from what I remember, harder slabs have them really razor sharp crimps, so good skin / high pain threshold is good.

what's your view on pof usage? IMO not a great help in Font, you can get away without it...

[Dave Flanagan]

what's your view on pof usage? IMO not a great help in Font, you can get away without it...

Would never use it.

[tommytwotone]

no offence fella, just know that some people take the "when in Rome" approach.

Got to say I've never seen the attraction / benefit meself.

From past experience of Font, to climb hard there it helps to be 60+, in some ancient ankle hugging 1950s climbing boots with only a door mat to land on  :wink:

[Dave Flanagan]

no offence fella, just know that some people take the "when in Rome" approach.

Got to say I've never seen the attraction / benefit meself.

From past experience of Font, to climb hard there it helps to be 60+, in some ancient ankle hugging 1950s climbing boots with only a door mat to land on  :wink:

I might just tuck my jumper into my trousers for starters...

[dave]

for any slabs i recon strong legs help, specially for rockovers and good calves. also stiff boots, or strong feet - it amazes me that ledenmat does them 8b slabs in ninjas. for font its mainly going to be standing on little nasty edges and crimping the shit out of stuff, so get your skin up to scratch and prepare to suffer and get frustrated!

some close fitting cottom lycra in a pastel shade aught to help, and don't forget to take all your close family to the crag too.

[andy_e]

and balls of steel - for those digitation style highballs. erk!

[squeek]

and balls of steel - for those digitation style highballs. erk!

Were you trying to insult Font?  

Nic (at home) posted about a footboard that he has/had with holds on it and said that he practises standing on progressively worse holds, and moving around holds and jumping on.  Or something similar, try searching for it, maybe for 'Footboard', it wasn't very long ago maybe a month or two ago.

I'm thinking of making one for my shocking footwork, (but then again I reckon there's enough roofs and overhangs to do me for my lifetime.)  

[andy_e]

and balls of steel - for those digitation style highballs. erk!

Were you trying to insult Font?  

no, but i'll refine it:

and balls of steel - for those winsome style highballs. Erk!

[Dave Flanagan]

Nic (at home) posted about a footboard that he has/had with holds on it and said that he practises standing on progressively worse holds, and moving around holds and jumping on.  Or something similar, try searching for it, maybe for 'Footboard', it wasn't very long ago maybe a month or two ago.

Thanks, forgot about that, I found two mentions

http://ukbouldering.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=389&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=footwork&start=15

http://ukbouldering.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=4239&highlight=footboard

[erm, sam]

I was inspired by the slab board thread to make one. I almost never get out actually climbing, so I couldn't tell you if it has improved anything, but I think it must be a pretty good way of improving at slabs. You can work on super toe tension, standing on shit holds, weight transfer between holds traversing and moving up, pure no hands balance, smooth moving between holds to judge momentum etc etc.
It costs little to set up and takes up no space.. Only thing is buying foot jibs that are small enough. I bought a set of Moon foot jibs. Some are small enough, but most are designed to be used on a steeper board, so are a bit big..I have managed to dig out some of the old foot jibs from his S7 days and they are much more crap (eg good).

[erm, sam]

Check me out. I have just become an "addict". 110 posts and I'm an addict. I was thrilled to be a 'player" a while back, but ADDICT! Now I know I have arrived.Summut to tell kids etc etc blah ad nauseum

[nik at work]

I was inspired by the slab board thread to make one.

One can only assume that the royalty cheque has fallen foul of Royal Mail carelessness  :D

[tobym]

I was inspired by the slab board thread to make one.

One can only assume that the royalty cheque has fallen foul of Royal Mail carelessness  :D

Especially as I thought I'd started that thread :wink:

[andy_e]

oli's just made one. i've yet to see it but i suppose it'll help if its up against a wall?

[Dave Flanagan]

Lads how did you make your, what angle, how is it secured against the wall, how tall is it, what kind of moves dod you do on it?

[r-man]

My brother's is at 70 deg., made from a piece of plywood about 2 feet high and 3 feet long, with two triangular supports (made from a couple of ordinary beams of pine).

He tried making wooden holds, but they were slippy as hell and impossible to stand on (and they kept snapping), so he bought some  of these:



Rockworks screw on holds, pack of 20, 13 quid. Got them from plantefear. They seem to be pretty good, lots of slopey edges just the right size for balancing on and small enough to be tricky.

So far we've been doing jump-ons, traverses, and good old-fashioned from-bottom-to-top eliminates. It seems to be a good idea to have some of the slightly better slopers at the top, for big rockovers and finishing stand-ups. It's quite scary balancing on the top for some reason - the lack of a wall in front is pretty disconcerting.

At first it seemed almost impossible to balance without using knees against the wall, but after a little while you soon get into it. Been doing it for a few days, and it's still very taxing... Will let you know if we become ninja masters like Nik...

Might post a photo at some point and show y'all the slab of love.

[Dave Flanagan]

Might post a photo at some point and show y'all the slab of love.

That would be great.

[erm, sam]

Check out my steez.
It is normal in Germany to have a personal cage space in the communal attic. My board is rested against one side side of our cage, with a 2x1 propped from the base to the other side. I wouldn't want to jump on it, but it is secure enough for a more relaxed approach.
I like the real lifeness of the vertical "wall" above the board. This makes it harder to stay in balance as you get higher. As a result the higher footholds get less use, but I am beginning to do more problems based on holding the balance at a higher position. Its more realistic like. And quite hard.
I have several across problems, where I try to get across with out touching  the wall. Also I start with one foot on a hold and step into position with the other foot on a different hold. Its good with starting foot high, as well as low. And I do straight forward- stand an a shit hold for as long as possible-
Basically, its a bit boring, but with sufficient application and inventivness it can be a fun way to spend 20 minutes. No honestly, I quite enjoy it.

[erm, sam]

oh, and I should say, depending on which bit of the other side you prop it against you can have it at one of two steepnesses. The pic is at the steeper of the two. The other one is, erm, a bit less steep.

[ferret]

font slabs are hard if u use poff or not the answer seems to be over 50 with a big arse and strange trousers witch exentuate the fact that u hav a big arse.

climbed as hard in font as anywhere else in the world without using poff.
if u use it on return to the motherland clean your boots properly ie with a cloth and water as poff stays there for a long time once it reacts with the rubber.

[erm, sam]

r-man especially, and anybody else who built a slab board:
Are you still using it 3 months later?
I cannot be arsed with mine. Not surprising really given the limited nature of the training potential.... Mind you I can't be arsed with any training except my Christmas present hand gripper.
Any classic probs you would care to share? Eg: right foot sloper left foot hop to sloper, balance, left foot bounce to erm, small sloper, match.

[Fiend]

Any classic probs you would care to share? Eg: right foot sloper left foot hop to sloper, balance, left foot bounce to erm, small sloper, match.

I hear the sitter to that is particularly amazing  :shock:

[r-man]

Are you still using it 3 months later?

No.

Excuses:

1. My brother went back to uni, and it wasn't that fun on my own.
2. I suspect I never got good enough to get into the zone.
3. And of course it wasn't appreciated as pride of place in the living room, so disappeared into the garden shed.
4. Also, I moved to sheffield.

So as a result, I am no nearer ninja mastery than I was before.

However, here's a problem to try if you're feeling good about your speed coordination. Generally in these instances I fancy my chances, but I have been known to be overconfident. So... Stand facing the board, both feet together. Now leap at the board whilst spinning 360 deg. Now land on the board on two footholds of your choice. Now smile. Try not to injure yourself...

What I have been thinking about recetly is a device for training dynos on. Though of course that would need a little more room....

[andy_e]

You and your dynos eh?

How about a flatty that can be adjusted, i.e moved up, down, left and right, and a choice of holds at the top, probably poor ones!