[smuidim]

We're looking to head over for an extended font trip in November for around 10 days. Considering I generally end up with fried tips and a dose of local elbow after only 2 days can anyway give any tips on how to get the most out of a trip this long? Cheers...

[Fiend]

Pace yourself.

Do a variety of problems.

Take rest periods.

Watch your skin carefully.

Cut / file off anything before it gets too gnarly.

Moisturise each night.

[SA Chris]

Do a variety of problems.

Good call. Excess skin damage (for me) usually results from pulling on the same holds again and again. Don't push grades on day one, and try to use feet as much as possible to preserve skin and arms ( worth getting inot the habit of doing anyway).

Take timeouts to take photos, video, etc, rather than climb continuosly the whole day. If you can wear slippers of velcros and take them off whenever possible to give your toes a break, as they will start to really hurt.

Take a full rest day or two; go to Paris or Eurodisney (if it's still open).

[(woz)]

Take timeouts to take photos, video, etc, rather than climb continuosly the whole day. If you can wear slippers of velcros and take them off whenever possible to give your toes a break, as they will start to really hurt.

Amen to that - I seem to end up with as much tape on my toes as on my hands. Try dipping/washing your feet in a stream in the evening.

Also climbing on grit a lot just before going (obviosly with a few days rest before!) seems to up-regulate skin growth which is great for font. With bruised tips (more of a problem for me in font than sore tips) just take ages warming up on easy circuits and you will be able to pull hard on them again without excrutiating 'burning' pain.
hope this helps

[Dave Flanagan]

Amen to that - I seem to end up with as much tape on my toes as on my hands. Try dipping/washing your feet in a stream in the evening.

Does it have to be a stream? Would a lake or a river work just as well?

[(woz)]

of course it has to be a stream. Lakes and rivers just arn't wet enough.

[SA Chris]

Also climbing on grit a lot just before going (obviosly with a few days rest before!) seems to up-regulate skin growth which is great for font.

Another good idea. I seem to have tips like bullets for about a week 5 days after a font trip. A spot of anti-hydral cream may help beforehand too.

[a dense loner]

do circuits, don't go to cuvier

[erm, sam]

The key thing for me is to do circuits, as well as doing hard probs. If I have a target " do the cul de chien yellow" or Petit Bois Blue, then I can stop myself trying all the wicked looking harder probs I come across. Thus you get loads of great climbing, get fitter and don't knacker yourself.

[Duma]

Don't do owt hard on the first day.

Warm up - for the best part of an hour.

Take at least two rest days - if you struggle to totally lay off, do an easy circuit, and don't slap at stuff and avoid sharpness to allow skin regrowth.

Be flexible about rest days - it'll rain at some point, rest then.

Wash the chalk off as soon as you're done climbing, and moisturise - you can regrow significant skin over a rest day.

Invest in some Climb on or similar.

Don't try to do too much in a day - quality not quantity, except on the last day.

If you can save skin, you'll get loads better once you've been there a while - font's so techniquey I always take a couple of days to get into it.







Don't go to disneyland. It's utter shit. No I haven't been. The concept is so utterly evil and soul destroyingly ugly I don't need to go for it to make me want to vomit.

[tommytwotone]

all the above plus:

two days on, one day off

write a ticklist, then chuck it away the minute you get there and see loads of other stuff you wanna do

if you're trying a project and get beasted, leave it and come back another day (preferably when there's a local ninja there to show you beta to save your no of attempts / skin)

kind of following on from the above - talk to the locals, they're all sound and psyched and will help even if your french is patchy

oh, and don't bust your arm on day 1 (that's just one of mine...)

[dave]

if you wanna avoid font elbow then theres 2 things to do:

1. do a shit load of pressups and tricip work for the months running up to the trip, get all your opposing and supporting (underused) muscle groups up to scratch.

2. avoid problems with big lockoffs. easier said than done, since virtually all the main red circuit problems (i.e often your warmups) consist of long locks off chipped slots to more chipped slots.