[Fiend]

I've been musing a bit on training recently, getting stronger and fitter and stuff. Bit of extra strength feels good and all that. My training boils down to bouldering/leading indoors and the occasional bouldering session outdoors - nothing particularly scientific, just choosing problems that are the most relevant to outdoor climbing whilst still strenuous, pushing hard, and trying to train my weaknesses a bit.

What I've found to be useful to train is the shittest holds I can use, whether they are small or slopey or preferably both. I tend towards slopers as I'm worse at them outdoors so want to train them more.

One issue I keep coming up against is friction, specifically sliding off holds due to sweaty hands, warm conditions, greasy holds etc etc. I minimise this by brushing, liquid chalk, minimum of clothing etc etc. Nevertheless there are quite a few times where I come off something because my skin slips before my fingers let go.

Now, it's sometimes a bit annoying to me. But it might not be a bad thing - after all it's forcing me to hang on harder rather than gently caress holds, and it's getting me used to the worst case scenario outside i.e. shit holds I can't hold. On the other hand, it would be nice to have the option of pulling a bit harder on such holds (which obviously entails useful body tension and positioning subtleties too). But then again maybe the problem isn't that I slide off due to friction, but due to being too weak to hold the holds.

And that's perhaps where my interest lies - to use shit holds, you have to be more subtle, you have to have good conditions, but you have to be stronger too....how to gain that strength in the circumstances described??

Thoughts on the general issue??

[Dr T]

I guess you can develop open hand strength, needed for shitty slopers, without necessarily using the shittiest of slopers.
But I guess in general pure friction climbing isn't very well replicated indoor so it's look at the skies and wait for good weather...

[account_inactive]

Did you say "Fiction"?

[GCW]

It's all about contact strength.  There is a technique to using slopers properly and you can train for it.  Get on a fingerboard and practice hangs and locks on a juicy sloper.  Also dynamic movement on the same holds will help.

Or just go to the Secret Garden.

[Fiend]

Dylan, I find fiction has a better role in actual climbing rather than training. ref: Simon Connor

Dr T, true say, maybe I should stop trying to crimp everything, good idea. So I can slide off open handing pockets and edges, instead of sliding off crimping slopers, lol. Seriously though, it's a fair point.

[GCW]

Ah, the end of February quiz:

1.  Who got the 3rd repeat of Anaesthesia, Woodwell?
2.  Who did the 2nd repeat of Aeons at Fairy steps?
3.  Who did the 2nd repeat of Isla de Encante, Trowbarrow?
4.  My Evil Twin's 3rd Repeat? (Sandyhills Bay)
5.  Millstone's Bohemian Groove's 3rd repeat?
 Bonus point:
Who grabbed the 3rd repeat of Pongo Sit Start at Dumby?

[andy_e]

Ah, the end of February quiz:

1.  Who got the 3rd repeat of Anaesthesia, Woodwell?
2.  Who did the 2nd repeat of Aeons at Fairy steps?
3.  Who did the 2nd repeat of Isla de Encante, Trowbarrow?
4.  My Evil Twin's 3rd Repeat? (Sandyhills Bay)
5.  Millstone's Bohemian Groove's 3rd repeat?
 Bonus point:
Who grabbed the 3rd repeat of Pongo Sit Start at Dumby?

Si O'Conor

[Fiend]

Had a prime example of this issue last night down The Edge (good problems down there, if generally easy - and cheap, and quieter, and cleaner holds).

Was very warm and muggy down there, I was sweating all the time. I hadn't brought liquid chalk, and after coating my hands with chalk, on each problem I sweated through the chalk after the first move. A very genuine and debilitating factor. It was so clear cut that I knew friction couldn't play any role so I avoided the more slopey problems, and worked with the greasy conditions as training for summer heat (including an interesting moment on one small crimp where my fingers were so sweaty I could feel them sliding around as if they'd just been dipped in a glass of water....but pulled on regardless).

Still, afterwards, I felt a slight annoyance - I was trying to train on steeper, more powerful terrain, and the limiting factor was still the friction rather than actually pulling - none of the problems with positive holds felt hard enough, and the few I couldn't do were simply a matter of the friction failing before strength.

Obviously useful training anyway, but it's still an issue.

[account_inactive]

Looks like you need this Fiend

http://www.sweaty-palms.com/

[Paz]

Friction's obviously required for training as you need to be able to pull, and if you're not bearing down, doing actual climbing movement, or at least hanging on then you're not able to train effectively.  A way I found I could get more friction out of indoor holds was by full on washing them with water and a tooth brush, then drying them.  If that doesn't work then you probably don't want to go to the Edge so much.  Especially if you're falling victim to Ron and Percy's current fetish for big screw on blobby features that only give you one problem per 10 metre square of wall.