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The Cave of Justice, Rollito Espana... (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/03/cave-of-justice-rollito-espana-spanish.html)
28 March 2012, 10:18 am
There are a few similarities between the Spanish Cave of Justice (Santa Linya) and the British one (Parisella's): they both give you big shoulders, they both have lots of hard stuff, they're both a bit dusty and they both have plenty of kneebars and a nice selection of big holds. The Spanish one does have one major characteristic in its favour however: it's huge...
[tr][td](http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/182493_10150407773150341_612270340_17536937_5887932_n.jpg) (http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/182493_10150407773150341_612270340_17536937_5887932_n.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Photo: Gav Symonds)[/td][/tr]
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Almost as deep as it is tall, standing in the back of the cave and looking out to the lip you can't help but be impressed. That the easiest way to climb from the back to the top is 8c+ should give some idea of the angle and the scale. Fortunately for those of us not blessed with Sharma's guns, there are plenty of intermediate finishes and more amenable route up the wings of the cave (though we're still talking 8b to get to the top!).
I spent a fair bit of time here last year, and was keen for a return visit as I had unfinished business with one of the classic 8cs of the cave, Fabelita. I wont bore you with the details (there's a UKC news report here (http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=66980) for those interested) but sufice to say, we went to Santa Linya and I was the best. That might not quite be true, since Tom Bolger, Gaz Parry and Magnus Mitboe (the only man more stacked than Arnie?) were all around, and the girls were all as strong as me, but I managed Fabelita and another 8c called Ingravid Serps within the first week so I was rather chuffed. I spent the next few days falling off the top of the 8c+ extension to Ingravids - a bit gutting but hey, I definitely learnt more about pacing/resting on routes at my limit, I just wish I could've learnt a bit faster! Talking to Tom Bolger (http://tombolgerclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/) (9a machine) he's previously found something very similar to my experience so I thought I'd put it down here...
Resting makes you tired. That's it. The key to climbing hard routes. Be like Ondra - climb fast and skip the shake outs. Unfortunately, resting also makes you less pumped, and this is where it gets confusing, and why it's so easy to mess up the pacing/resting aspect of a redpoint. If the route's not at your limit you can get away with it, but when it's really hard for you it starts to matter a lot. On Ingravids Extension I found (all too late) that the best way to feel fresh at the top crux was to skip as many of the shake-outs as possible on the bottom part. This meant that when I got to the rest at the first chains I was pumped - maybe even more pumped than if I'd taken the shakes - but less fatigued as I'd been on the wall much less time. I've found a similar thing before - on Gemenis - a 40m 8b+ in Rodellar with a crux at the top - the key to success was again to skip all the marginal rests and just use the better ones, sprinting between them as fast as possible (which for me is quite slowly - despite my best efforts I aint no Ondra). It seems obvious - and maybe it is to everybody else? - but I still manage to forget it and get it wrong. The other side of the coin is that sometimes when you get to that final top crux, finding a way to quickly shake each arm before you launch into it - even if the rest is marginal - can sometimes make all the difference. Judging when to rest and when not to (and how long for) is tough, and sometimes I think you can't know until you've tried redpointing the route with a few different resting/pacing strategies, but my general experience so far has been that skipping rests low down (unless they're really good) but making the most of the ones high up seems to pay off.
Some pics...
Fabelita:[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K9hFEC3sb_w/T3LKcsXSekI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/WLFqYqd-50o/s400/Alex+.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K9hFEC3sb_w/T3LKcsXSekI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/WLFqYqd-50o/s1600/Alex+.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]The rest before the crux(Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3iVGAPnAPU/T3LKg25AjZI/AAAAAAAAAAY/3mbcjaAD0pg/s400/Alex+_1.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3iVGAPnAPU/T3LKg25AjZI/AAAAAAAAAAY/3mbcjaAD0pg/s1600/Alex+_1.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Shaking out after the crux(Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiAZ935PDJ0/T3LKnvIpo5I/AAAAAAAAAAg/cIbr2THrFjk/s400/Alex+_2.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiAZ935PDJ0/T3LKnvIpo5I/AAAAAAAAAAg/cIbr2THrFjk/s1600/Alex+_2.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]The last hard slap (Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
[/table] Ingravid Serps:
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kznwNosDf18/T3LKr3rBJJI/AAAAAAAAAAo/KzkJEh7-xnE/s400/Alex+_3.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kznwNosDf18/T3LKr3rBJJI/AAAAAAAAAAo/KzkJEh7-xnE/s1600/Alex+_3.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td] (Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_KSPK1CM_E/T3LKt6pikVI/AAAAAAAAAAw/HpJJ8AYnKIg/s400/Alex+_4.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_KSPK1CM_E/T3LKt6pikVI/AAAAAAAAAAw/HpJJ8AYnKIg/s1600/Alex+_4.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Resting at the first chains Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xt-GmAx0pAc/T3LKwQo_BPI/AAAAAAAAAA4/FuprPoVI4YM/s400/Alex+_5.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xt-GmAx0pAc/T3LKwQo_BPI/AAAAAAAAAA4/FuprPoVI4YM/s1600/Alex+_5.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Photo: Robbie Meade)[/td][/tr]
[/table][tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ydUTA43I8nM/T3LPDcZKUhI/AAAAAAAAABI/Qjv2W7QFwDg/s400/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c+2.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ydUTA43I8nM/T3LPDcZKUhI/AAAAAAAAABI/Qjv2W7QFwDg/s1600/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c+2.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Photo: Henning Wang)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7zA-hl-nSE/T3LPHFuS43I/AAAAAAAAABQ/x83-OzjuJ8A/s400/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c+3.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7zA-hl-nSE/T3LPHFuS43I/AAAAAAAAABQ/x83-OzjuJ8A/s1600/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c+3.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Photo: Henning Wang)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1OUAlC4edsQ/T3LPIU5tBKI/AAAAAAAAABY/hypHQAydTMw/s400/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1OUAlC4edsQ/T3LPIU5tBKI/AAAAAAAAABY/hypHQAydTMw/s1600/Alex+Barrows+-+Ingravids+Eskerpes+8c.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td](Photo: Henning Wang)[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJaqnQH2u4o/T3LN5PQU9eI/AAAAAAAAABA/YcXd7Nzvmp0/s640/Alex+Ingravids+Eskerpes-rollito+ext+1.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJaqnQH2u4o/T3LN5PQU9eI/AAAAAAAAABA/YcXd7Nzvmp0/s1600/Alex+Ingravids+Eskerpes-rollito+ext+1.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]The one that got away... Ingravids Extension (Photo: Henning Wang)[/td][/tr]
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(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-2646541381905839183?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Onwards Pilgrim (or 'Why Marigolds make you more of a man') (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/04/onwards-pilgrim-or-why-marigolds-make.html)
8 April 2012, 6:24 pm
I've been suffering a bit from a bout of lastmoveitis recently - first Ingravids Extension, then Halfway House in Parisella's, and last Sunday I managed to blow the top of Mecca Extension at Raven tor. I guess for every time you sketch up a route when you deserve to fall off you have to have a time when you blow a route feeling like you should have done it. I sometimes wonder whether the likes of Ondra have this too, or whether part of their skill is always having that killer instinct to seal the deal? Certainly it's something some are better at than others, and I'm hoping my recent last move failures are just down to not being so sharp early in the routes season.
5 days seems like a long time when you're waiting to get back to a route you feel you're close to doing, so when I arrived back at the tor on Friday I was really excited to get back on it. I'd had a good evening at Anston the day before, knocking off a soft 7C+ quickly (though I still can't do Ebola - 7C my ass) so I was feeling good. Going up putting the clips in the conditions felt pretty poor and I wasn't that hopeful about the chances of a successful redpoint, however setting off things seemed to have improved. Mecca went smoothly, as did most of the harder section of the extension, and before long I found myself at the point where I'd blown it the weekend before - an easy move in isolation but a bit harder when you've climbed 8c to get there! This time I knew what I had to do - don't panic and pull hard. It's amazing how just knowing that you need to try hard on an 'easy' move can be the difference between success and failure. Dealing with these unknown and surprising feelings on a redpoint is definitely something I feel I can improve at, though I'm not sure exactly how to train it other than simply redpointing more. Mawson and Pete Whittaker both dispatched Mecca later that day too - the send train was well and truly in the station!
Never content and always looking for the next route to try it was time to move my clips onto Kaabah, McClure's 8c+ direct version of the extension. This version means a worse rest and a new hard section to deal with compared to Mecca Extension, but heading back there today I made good progress and some encouraging links. The only problem is that my sequence, which climbs slightly left of the sequence used on the 3 ascents to date, is notably easier. Steve says he didn't envision it as being an eliminate, but it'll probably end up either having to have rules or needing a downgrade... we'll see. It's just a pity there are so few inspiring 8c+s in the peak, if only we had a Santa Linya or a Ceuse close by!
On a vaguely related note, these Raven Tor routes often have sharp crimps requiring good skin, and high quality skin care can be vital for sending your project. It's thus with great pleasure that I can announce that I am the newest member of 'Team Marigold's Xtreme Athletes and Manliest Men'. Look out for my signature range coming soon:
(http://www.petitesouris.co.uk/acatalog/marigolds_flowers.jpg) (http://www.petitesouris.co.uk/acatalog/marigolds_flowers.jpg)
For those who didn't understand my 8a.nu comment for Mecca Extension:
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-4450378062889746584?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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The 're-warm-up' (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/04/re-warm-up.html)
11 April 2012, 9:27 pm
One thing I've noticed recently is just how many climbers don't do any form of getting warmed up again after resting between harder routes. Maybe I'm weird, but for me it's vital to do a short 're-warm-up' before trying any hard redpoint or onsight, and I know many climbers who feel the same. The rest between attempts might be anything from belaying your friend for 30 minutes to taking half a day off before another big burn on a long route, and the optimum length of any re-warm-up will usually be proportional to the rest. This re-warm-up serves to get the fingers and arms ready for hard moves again, to help avoid injuring yourself by trying hard moves from cold and to get some blood flowing to avoid getting flash-pumped - all the same things your inital warm-up is there to achieve.
If it's been an hour or more, I'll usually start with a short walk or jog to wake my body up, especially if it's a cold day. Ideally the crag will have an area where you can do a bit of traversing and a few boulder problems, if possible on the style of hold that your route involves. Unfortunately most crags wont be as perfect as this (unless you spend a lot of time at raven tor or rubicon!), but you can usually find some holds to hang and do chin-ups on, as if you were warming-up on a fingerboard. If this doesn't work, branches in trees can provide a good alternative, and you can always drop a finger or two off on small branches to replicate pockets. Alternatively, climbing the first couple of bolts worth of your chosen route can work well too, presuming they aren't the crux of the route or on tweaky holds.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-6547009594861522906?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Climbing in Caves (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/05/climbing-in-caves.html)
3 May 2012, 4:35 pm
I've been doing a lot of two things recently - fingerboarding and climbing in grotty caves. I've had sore pulleys on both my middle fingers for a long while now - looking back through my training diary it turns out that the first time I tweaked the one in my left hand was back in November. It got better for a while, then got worse again early in the year, seemed to have largely sorted itself out whilst I was in Spain, and then rapidly went downhill when I launched back into training again too quickly. The strange thing was that once I'd warmed up it seemed mainly ok - I did Mecca Extension a week after the pulleys felt at their worst, despite it involving an awful lot of crimping. After talking to other climbers about it I determined it was probably scar tissue related, with a pulley injury on top of that. My initial method of trying to ignore it meant I could get away with climbing (so long as I warmed up carefully), but that the problem wasn't going to get fixed, so it was time to take a bit of a step back. After a fair amount of finger stretching, ice and being a bit stricter with my climbing, my right hand was pretty much back to full strength, but the left was still causing issues. The silver lining to this cloud has been that the shocking weather has meant all the sport crags in the peak and Yorkshire getting soaked again, so although I've only been able to climb on big holds or a fingerboard I've not really been missing out! Fingerboarding does lose its novelty rather quickly though, so I made a little list of things I should be able to try whilst I nurse them back to health.
First on my list of pulley-friendly problems was The Dark Room, an 8A boulder in Odin's Cave near Castleton. On first acquaintance this problem seems pretty poor quality - it climbs from one fairly arbitrary point in the back of a dark, damp cave to another fairly arbitrary point, still in the back of the dark, damp cave. The cave itself is pretty minging and everything in there except for the groove feature you're climbing is wet.... Oh, and tourists wander in to look at cave and come up with the inevitable questions about what the hell you're doing in there and what the hell your bouldering mats are. Luckily, however, the moves just about make up for all this - spinning round on kneebars and going feet-first on big toe hooks, this is 3D roof climbing of a style that we don't have nearly enough of in the UK, and I bloody love it. It has some pretty nice holds on it too, certainly a welcome change from the usual peak lime crimping! It took a couple of sessions to work out good beta, as I was unable to do the crux move in the middle how previous ascentionists have, using an awkward undercut (see Robin's video below of the first ascent). Instead I chose to gaston it (crimping the hell out of it - not so good for rehab, but luckily it was my right hand) and roll over to the next hold, and thus into the awesome final toe hook sequence. I also found a better method at the start, using a knee bar to make the moves into the crux a bit easier. Anyway, despite the slightly depressing venue, the problem comes recommended for those who like this sort of fun roofy stuff, and luckily it seems to stay dry when everything else is soaked (though it does condense very easily).
Next up was a trip over to Llandulas in North Wales to try Chris Doyle's Temple of Gloom, an 8b route though the main cave at the crag, with most of the holds being big enough not cause my finger too many issues. The route is basically a Parisella's style ~20 move power endurance problem in a roof, with a hard section near the start and a redpoint crux turning the lip to easy ground. I had a couple of goes up it and got a good sequence sorted, but was too tired to make much headway with redpointing - working routes in a roof is tiring! One to go back for anyway - although the line isn't the best (mainly due to the proximity of the floor) there's some really cool climbing on it and it deserves more attention. Bob fared somewhat better, getting close but being thwarted by some damp holds. At least that was his excuse, the rest of us put it down to his gargantuan layers of flab and the fact that he clearly doesn't train hard enough.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xSpFC0GOxJc/T6KzGbaDKDI/AAAAAAAAACw/RmEaEADyRI0/s320/IMAG0057.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xSpFC0GOxJc/T6KzGbaDKDI/AAAAAAAAACw/RmEaEADyRI0/s1600/IMAG0057.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Low quality phone pic of some fat guy trying Temple[/td][/tr]
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Unfortunately, by the end of the day my finger was feeling pretty aggravated again. Although it hadn't been painful whilst doing moves, it had clearly been taking more abuse than it was ready for. I think it's now finally time to bite the bullet and accept that it's not something I can just fumble my way though and it'll get better; I'm actually going to have to have a few weeks without aggravating it at all. Time to get myself on jugs, easy mileage, running, and enough core to make Tom Randall (http://tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com/) feel like a wimp. If it means I can climb and train properly again any time soon it'll be well worth it.
Whilst you're here, check out this video of Tom Bolger trying Catxasa in Santa Linya. Rob filmed this last Spring when I was out there but just uploaded it recently. Watching it makes me realise how much I miss that place and even more how much I miss being a full timer!
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-4776479839508768074?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Brilliant stuff. Pleased The Dark Room is getting some repeats. Gastoning the undercut? Doesn't sound easier! Dawid struggled with the undercut as well, though I found the finish the hardest - difficult to make that toehook dyno after all the upside down. Good blog!
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Lights, Camera, Action (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/05/lights-camera-action.html)
13 May 2012, 5:36 pm
Pulley rehab continues, meaning a rare dose of grit for this lime lover. I've been surprised by how much I've enjoyed it, and it's been nice to climb again at the likes of Stanage and Curbar - places I used to go to a lot when I was at uni but have ignored for the last couple of years in favour of limestone crimping. Getting back to that part of the peak has reminded me how much I like it too, stirring up memories of when I first arrived in Sheffield. Those first few months of impatient excitement, blown away that I could bike to Rivelin for a solo circuit and be back in time for afternoon labs; that I could take a 15 minute bus journey from my halls of residence and find myself at burbage south; that on my way to lectures I would spot the likes of Ben Bransby or Steve McClure walking down the street; that I was finally in England's preeminent climbing city after a year stuck in Oxford. It was all so exciting, a world of climbing opportunity, the promised land. God I love climbing. Nowadays I take it for granted too much, and it's good to be reminded sometimes of just how lucky we Sheffield residents are to have all this on our doorstep.
I've got a camera again for the first time in a while too - just a cheap one, hopefully I wont break it as quickly as I did my previous ones! It means my first entry into the wonderful world of climbing videos, though my framing of shots from a tripod needs some work:
I managed to land right on my tail bone on that fall, a day and a half later and I still can't lie on my back in bed without it hurting!(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-3708598628597897752?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Nearly There... (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/06/nearly-there.html)
13 June 2012, 12:51 pm
It's been a while since I last posted anything, largely since due to the injured finger's slow (but steady) progress back to health. A quick multimedia round-up of the last month or so, in rough chronological order:
Grit with Guy and Chris:
curbar heat (http://vimeo.com/42387428) from Guy Van Greuning (http://vimeo.com/guyvg) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
More gritstone pulley rehab on The Buckstone Dyno:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9BSpDUiQIeM/T8OZL_0VTTI/AAAAAAAAAC8/7_YIPiqD34Y/s640/IMG_4496a.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9BSpDUiQIeM/T8OZL_0VTTI/AAAAAAAAAC8/7_YIPiqD34Y/s1600/IMG_4496a.jpg)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pOIWnIcO2UE/T8OZPbqXiWI/AAAAAAAAADE/aAuzVqE_dzA/s640/IMG_4471a.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pOIWnIcO2UE/T8OZPbqXiWI/AAAAAAAAADE/aAuzVqE_dzA/s1600/IMG_4471a.jpg)
A few weeks ago Mark 'Danger' Tomlinson and I hit Dorset for 5 days of sun (and toproping 6cs in my case). Through judicious use of sending Mark up things first, I managed to flash a couple of 7cs which avoided left hand crimps and did a 7c+ 2nd go. Despite the lack of hard climbing it was nice to hang out by the sea and potter on easy things for a few days.
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1iGrAxIa9i4/T9iLoFeZexI/AAAAAAAAADQ/7vx7hDvkZQ4/s640/P1010076.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1iGrAxIa9i4/T9iLoFeZexI/AAAAAAAAADQ/7vx7hDvkZQ4/s1600/P1010076.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Mark abbing into Promenade[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UOv11Zcx5I/T9iLq4ovygI/AAAAAAAAADY/30QyQ5jgrX0/s640/P1010083.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UOv11Zcx5I/T9iLq4ovygI/AAAAAAAAADY/30QyQ5jgrX0/s1600/P1010083.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]DWS active rest[/td][/tr]
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My finger now seems to be improving a lot, and through sticking to pockets and fat pinches indoors I'm back to training properly. I think I've learnt a lot from this injury, and hopefully this will mean I don't make the same mistakes next time:
- The motherboard at the climbing works should be the venue of choice if you have pulley injury due to the amount of pockets and wide pinches on offer
- Despite being easier climbing, circuits are more dangerous than bouldering as far as aggravating a tweaky finger goes: you use the same holds repeatedly, you use more holds (so it's harder to come up with a whole circuit which doesn't tweak at all), and most of all you get pumped and try hard thus torquing into holds and putting a lot of strange forces through your fingers
- There are actually quite a lot of good problems out there than don't involves crimps for one of your hands. Put the work into thinking of these and try to channel your psyche appropriately, rather than endlessly wondering when you'll be able to get back to your previous objectives. This mindset is much easier mentally and less risky for the injury as you wont be tempted back to what hurt it in the first place so soon.
- Ice, ice baby. Plus stretching the fingers.
This last weekend saw my return to (pockety) limestone bouldering, with an unsuccessful hungover day with Toby at Anston on Saturday and a more successful day with Guy at Nuda's on the Sunday:
Nudas Barrows (http://vimeo.com/43848617) from Guy Van Greuning (http://vimeo.com/guyvg) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
This is actually a really good problem, especially if - like me - you're a fan of funky toe hook sequences. Nicely different from the usual peak lime too. Yesterday a few of us headed over to Churnet to check out somewhere different, with the highlight of the session being burning Bob 'tactics' Hickish off on a campus move on a rather tough 7B. Lordy that '8c' of his in Dorset must be easy.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-5534544517784932869?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Back in the Game (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/06/back-in-game.html)
20 June 2012, 8:02 pm
With an abysmal forecast for the weekend and temperatures on the up there was only one option for outdoor climbing this week: an early morning session. My alarm went off at 6.45, but unlike when it goes off an hour or two later for me to head into uni, this time there was no snooze button. I had unfinished business with Ebola, and short and basic 7C at Anston Stones. In theory this problem should suit me - big moves between good holds on slightly overhanging ground, just my sort of thing. For some reason, however, it doesn't. I find it nails. If you gave it hard 7C+ I wouldn't feel guilty taking the tick. The problem revolves around a hard move off a 2 or 3 finger pockets to a sharp edge and holding a tricky swing, and it's a move that never feels easy for me, even in isolation.
After a slightly slower than expected journey (since I'd forgotten about morning traffic), I arrived at the crag to thankfully find reasonably cool rock and quickly got warmed up before it got too hot. Trying out the moves again I felt good, and with a slight tweak in grip position on the pocket giving me a much needed boost on the crux move I managed to dispatch the problem unexpectedly quickly.
Next up was Quarantine, a crimpy traverse of the buttress given 8A. Given that my finger has only just recovered from its pulley injury I was just intending to try a few of the moves to work back into crimping again (I'd worked out a sequence during a session on it in winter and tried briefly again on the weekend). The sequences went easier than expected and - as ever - psyche soon forced prudence out of my mind leaving me chalking up for a go at the link. Fortunately I got away with it and the finger held firm, allowing me to scuttle my way across to the finishing holds.
All that was left to do was to down a celebratory protein shake before rushing back to uni to get some work done, followed by the obligatory evening training session on the new Foundry campus board.
I've made a little video of these problems, hope you like it:
A Good Morning at Anston Stones (http://vimeo.com/44387995) from Alex Barrows (http://vimeo.com/user11693449) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-3086750650825609147?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Nice one Alex. Glad to see it is not just me who found Ebola desperate... Felt a lot harder than all the other 7C's there which is why I logged it as low end 7c+! ;)
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If you guys know 7c+s that are only as hard as ebola then fuck I must be going to the wrong crags.
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Ebola felt as hard for me as the hulk (and sean's sit and pinch sit) at crag x, though at least 2 people have laughed at me for suggesting that. Also as hard for me as stuff like huffy's or ferrino, and about 2 grades harder than soul crusher at woody's. Harder for me than Quarantine for sure, though hard to compare since that involves lots of moves and thus is my style. I get the impression Ebola doesn't 'fit' me for some reason.
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Anston suits the lank......not sure how anyone can think this is harder than 7c at 6ft
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Anston suits the lank......not sure how anyone can think this is harder than 7c at 6ft
Must say I have to agree with that, surely the only really hard move is actually getting the pocket = normal person's perspective. That said Ebola is harder than Black Crow. I would say hard 7c vs normal 7c. Brilliant problem.
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The move off the pocket felt like a 7c on its own to me! :shrug:
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I think we're all missing the point here; how crushingly dull Barrows' blog is.
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Anston suits the lank......not sure how anyone can think this is harder than 7c at 6ft
Must say I have to agree with that, surely the only really hard move is actually getting the pocket = normal person's perspective. That said Ebola is harder than Black Crow. I would say hard 7c vs normal 7c. Brilliant problem.
agreed. as hard as the hulk! WHAT?!
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I thought ebola was middle of the grade for the uk. Nowhere near as hard as the hulk, but a much better problem.
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Sport climbers don't know how to grade boulder problems as I've found out recently
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The move off the pocket felt like a 7c on its own to me! :shrug:
I didn't do the move off the pocket as you do in that video. More shouldery, but you can put your right foot inside edge up high and out to the right, pushing off it, rather than left toe on that smear and campussing. Seemed easier to me.
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I think we're all missing the point here; how crushingly dull Barrows' blog is.
This hasn't gone un-noted.....however after just scanning the blog title I felt into a deep slumber
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Ebola is pretty soft compared to other Limestone 7c's, it's especially soft if you posess the lank.
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Must stop climbing things in the wet I guess! Hard to tell how hard it is! It definitely felt harder than black crow, Lou ferrino, cave life from wobbly block, backhand roof, ben's roof..to to name a few off the top of my head :worms:
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I wish I was tall
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I wish I was tall
at least you've got a big dick...
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Must stop climbing things in the wet I guess!
I think the pocket is always wet, I climbed it with a dead chalkball stuffed in the back of the pocket (withone arm tied behind my back etc.).
Hard to tell how hard it is! It definitely felt harder than black crow, Lou ferrino, cave life from wobbly block, backhand roof, ben's roof (this is 7c is it not?)..to to name a few off the top of my head :worms:
these problems are just link problems you learn, it isn't really a valid comparison, compared to 7c+ problems of a similar style in the area (I can't comment on black crow) like press crouching, the hulk, the thing (?grade) etc., it is pretty straight forward.
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the thing (8A)?
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the thing (8A)?
ah that explains it then
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Contraband (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/07/contraband.html)
25 July 2012, 3:25 pm
Since the last blog I've been getting out bouldering a fair bit and going well with ascents including
Black Crow and Black Hoe (7C+ and 8A)
Fine Reservation 7C+
Strict Blueband Reverse 8A
and my glorious addition to Raven Tor link ups : Contraband. This is basically Staminaband in reverse, with the same rules as for the normal version. Surprisingly enough, nobody knows of it having been done before. I guess most people must have better things to do with their time. Anyway, irrespective of the absurdity of this sort of stuff, I was pleased to nearly do it on my first session on it this year, having tried the various parts last autumn. The next week it went down, and it's nice to feel the progress from the last 9 months. James Noble was trying it a bit last year and thought it might be 8A+, but I'm a bit unsure so I've given it 8A for now - we both thought it was probably a bit harder than staminaband. I think the moves are better too, so get to it and let me know what you think!
Here's a video featuring me blowing the last few moves like a idiot. Repeatedly..
Tor it up (http://vimeo.com/44621360) from Guy Van Greuning (http://vimeo.com/guyvg) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Last weekend it was time to get back in the van and back on a rope with a couple of days in Wales at Dyserth Waterfall, a new crag developed by Mr Orme, Chris Doyle. The main section of the crag is a cool roof above a shallow river, making for a picturesque little spot. Unfortunately, we chose one of the worse warm ups, and after a quick play on the rather condensed bottom of the 8b I was ready to sack it and go home. Luckily that wasn't really an option, so instead I got on a steep 7a+ crack. Some damp holds at the bottom produced and an inordinate amount of whining (something I'm really good at), but a brilliant sequence of undercutting and kneebars later and I was reversing for the gear (the alternative is lowering into the river) in a significantly better mood. The main objective for the day was The Madness Reigns, an 8a traversing an obvious line of holds under the roof before a crux sequence turning the lip. My flash attempt was pretty pathetic, and I couldn't do the crux moves how Mark was doing them, with a bunched up toehook, however I quickly spotted that I could throw my foot out left and hey presto, a kneebar emerged. I struggled to get it to work without a pad, and dangling above the river there wasn't much of an option for getting one thrown up so I wasn't sure how it'd work. 2nd go up and armed with a rubber pad, I worked through the first section of the crux, walked my feet out, slotted the knee in hopefully.... boom. Perfect. For anyone in the market, 5.10 pads are definitely a notch up from the CaVa ones when it comes to friction. Unfortunately I didn't really know what I was then going to do, and although I eventually sorted myself out, a rather ugly cut lose resulted from releasing the knee and I ended up pumping out 1 move from the end of the crux sequence. Next time, knowing what to do, it went down without too much of an issue. After finding a spot with a view to park up the van, and recharging with an omlette containing about 1000kals of goats cheese, we returned the next day and I got stuck into Pete Robbins' direct start to the route, Meaty Madness. Unfortunately this section of rock lost a block shortly before Pete did the link and the scar is pretty wet and muddy, but by stuffing a t-shirt into the worst affected hold, and taping it out of the way of my footholds, the worst of it could almost be avoided. This version of the route is less pumpy but a notch more bouldery, featuring a cut-loose jump move off a toe-hook before you scrabble into the safety of the kneebar I used on TMR. Robins said 8a/+ for this version which seems about right. I logged it as soft 8a+ of course. I'm keen to go back for the 8b, since a play at the end of the day revealed that the easiest sequence was likely to involve inverting to a foot lock round the lip of the roof, in a Randall/P-Widdy style.
Although it was actually a reasonably successful weekend, and I really enjoyed being away and climbing routes again, I was disappointed not to feel stronger after my recent bouldering form. Hopefully this is a question of needing to do a bit of route climbing to get the gains to come through with a rope on. I've certainly noticed before that new bouldering strength doesn't always convert onto routes straight away, and sometimes it takes a bit of time for it to trickle through. The alternative is that I've upped my expectations out of line with my ability, as I do all too often, and I'll have to batter my ego back into line with my finger strength.
Early next week I'm off to France, firstly for a quick onsight hit at the stunning looking crag of La Balme near Chambery, and then onto Gorges du Loup to get stuck into some steep tufa redpointing. I can't wait. Stamina routes, tufas and cakes.... it should be good!(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-688285957304337084?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Loup tha Loup (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/08/loup-tha-loup.html)
10 August 2012, 4:55 pm
So here I am in Gorges du Loup in Southern France, living the trip lifestyle and loving it. Climb, swim, chill, eat, sleep, repeat. Perfect. Though the river is freezing. No rain, OK temps (so long as you don't mind shorts and tops off), and a sea of tufas and chipped pockets to destroy ourselves on. Although I arrived with 5 knee pads, I still found it necessary to make the trip to Nice to pick up another 5.10 one to make a pair - they're a bit uncomfy, but when it comes to tough knees these are the bomb. Despite all the pads my knees are still in ruins, and my thumbs haven't had a full compliment of skin since we arrived around a week ago. Just how I like it. Lordy I love steep tufa climbing.
Climbing has been going well with two 8cs ticked off so far - Quenelle Trophy and Qoussai les maux de la fin. First up was Quenelle, my shortest 8c to date - 20 moves of power endurance on pinches, a good knee and a little end section where you shouldn't really fall but it's not over. With some cunning kneebaring and toe hooking I managed to trick my way through the crux, much to the relief of my biceps.This is a particularly attractive route as it's almost natural, which is a rare thing at Deverse, a sector which features more sika and drilled pockets that I ever thought was possible. Despite all the manufacturing it's still a pretty sweet crag. With that ticked off it was onto the next...
I'm told that ...les maux de la fin translates roughly as "the troubles with the finish", which I found out was rather appropriate. It's an 8a+ to the first chains and an upside down no-hands kneebar, and 8c if you extend it to the top of the crag. Just after the chains there's a resistance section on drilled pockets, another upside down no hander (surely sending this much lactic acid filled blood to your brain can't be good?), another resistance section on tufas, a worse kneebar, and then a final sting in the tail, with a bouldery section on pinches. After this it's 5 ok moves to the chains, but with no real rest possible I discovered to my horror that these moves don't feel so ok. Pumping out I grabbed the draw but couldn't even begin to clip when I was holding this... I think I might have been more pumped than ever before in my life! Next time up I remembered the lessons I've learnt from previous redpoints, and focused on climbing the lower section faster and spending less time hanging on my arms in the lower rests (cue a brutal abb pump in the kneebars). Despite nearly missing the final pocket (pump really screws up my coordination) I just about kept it together to desperately clip the chains.
As well as manufacturing, Deverse is famous for having lots of links, in a Santa Linya or Raven Tor style. Quenelle finishes at the same point as where the 8a+ first part of Qoussai ends, and doing it with the extension warrants the magic 8c+, which I'm psyched to have some tries on. I envisage the most hideous, mind blowing, full body pump imaginable.
Too many routes, too much psyche, too little time and too little strength! ~4 weeks left. Bring it on.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-5872850950392854975?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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too little time
~4 weeks left.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-5872850950392854975?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
You're a good guy and a strong climber Alex (congrats on the 8c's) but that last sentence makes me want to fly over and break your limbs.
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He's a prick and a shit climber and yes you should!
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Quenelle trophy les maux de la fin (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/08/quenelle-trophy-les-maux-de-la-fin.html)
13 August 2012, 5:25 pm
The day after my last blog my friend Andy and I decided to check out another of the sectors in Gorge du Loup – Jurassic Park. The approach to this crag involves walking through a number of fairly small tunnels cut for a water pipe. This is fine if you’re a midget, but it turns out that if you’re 6ft 2 then you don’t quite fit, and by the time we arrived at the climbing I was nursing my sore back like an old man. After all that, I then decided that I was more psyched on my project at Deverse, and I was going to rest anyway. Oh well, at least there were some nice views.
The next day we hit Deverse ready to crush. I managed to get through the hard part of the 8c lower pitch of the link I was trying (Quenelle trophy), but screwed up getting into the first knee bar rest, and ended up unable to extract my hand from under my knee and grabbing a draw. Bugger. That wasn’t part of the game plan. It was our Slovenian friends’ last day, and Isidor was making it count, cruising up Hot Chili X (8c) like it was a warm up. The send train had arrived. Robbie knocked off SataniX (8b), and I got back on QTLMDLF. The first part went well, and this time there were no mistakes with the rest. Reaching the 8c chains I was feeling good, and set about hanging upside down in the kneebars for as long as I possibly could without my head exploding. The upper section all went surprisingly well, and I managed to keep any dangerous thoughts of success at bay until the very last few moves. With a whoop I hopped on the send train and clipped the chains of my first 8c+. (Stu, I believe you owe me a flapjack.)
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6dEFw5CmDk/UCk2Mtrz5vI/AAAAAAAAADo/goOLWkE7eFI/s640/DSCN2399.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6dEFw5CmDk/UCk2Mtrz5vI/AAAAAAAAADo/goOLWkE7eFI/s1600/DSCN2399.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Where's (the) Wally (in the lime green shorts). Heading into the upper crux on Quenelle trophy les maux de la fin.[/td][/tr]
[/table]Gasper then rounded off team Slovenia's sending with Sika 2 (8b). Not a bad hour or so of climbing! Straight onto the next, I’ve now got stuck into Asai, a short 8c with a rep for being tough at the grade, though thankfully it's mainly burl on pinches which suits me well. The moves have all gone, but it’s an intense 20 move sequence to the first rest and it’ll be a fierce link. First it’s time for two rest days and a giant celebratory cake!
P.s. Thanks to Gasper and Izidor for the photos from my successful attempt!
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mWorO_wMCXg/UCk2aWaDFlI/AAAAAAAAADw/xTU_noEwy88/s640/DSCN2396.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mWorO_wMCXg/UCk2aWaDFlI/AAAAAAAAADw/xTU_noEwy88/s1600/DSCN2396.JPG)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NB4ijEYlZqg/UCk2pmxGifI/AAAAAAAAAD4/0R7N9tItkB0/s640/DSCN2400.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NB4ijEYlZqg/UCk2pmxGifI/AAAAAAAAAD4/0R7N9tItkB0/s1600/DSCN2400.JPG)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-1493583776768882545?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Last Soul Sacrifice (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/09/last-soul-sacrifice.html)
9 September 2012, 2:37 pm
My time in Loup has drawn to a close, and to be honest I’d begun to feel ready to head home and have a week or two off climbing to recharge the body and the mind. After a couple of (rather hot and humid) days onsighting in Verdon I returned to Loup with my sights set on Last Soul Sacrifice, a long, classic 8c famed for its super resistant style. It breaks down as a tough resistance 8b to the first chain, where you find a disappointingly poor rest (use the good undercuts for your hands or a crappy knee bar?), followed by another cruxy and resistant sequence to the top. Oh, and it’s all amazing climbing on tufas and pockets, barrelling from around 45 degrees overhanging at the bottom to maybe 10 degrees at the top – just how I like it.
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--jHj7-MURrI/UEyq10iaYnI/AAAAAAAAAEI/HXAjdqRrGRg/s400/P1010123.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--jHj7-MURrI/UEyq10iaYnI/AAAAAAAAAEI/HXAjdqRrGRg/s1600/P1010123.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Nat Berry on Sika (8a)[/td][/tr]
[/table]
After a few days of falling at the top crux it was starting to feel like a bit of a battle. My body was tired. My head was tired. Having a go and trying hard felt like an unwelcome necessity rather than an enjoyable opportunity. The weather was deteriorating, and in the gorge clouds and rain mean that the wind of power – the only thing which really allows you to climb here in summer – doesn’t blow and humidity leads to crappy conditions (the wind is caused by thermal effects due to the sun).
I awoke on my rest day, however, to sunny skies and nice temps. Shit. A quick trip to the local café told me that the forecast wasn’t too good so I quickly decided I’d better take the opportunity and ditch the rest day. Arriving at the crag something had clicked in my mind. The pressure was gone. The unjustified expectation of success was gone. The thoughts about what route to try next and what to write on my scorecard – all too present and distracting when my head’s not quite there – had evaporated. And the wind had arrived. Unlike the day before, I was excited to have a go and ready to put in a fight. Not for the tick. Not for the points. Not for the achievement. Just because I wanted to do those moves, flow through those sequences, milk those knee bars until my calves felt like they were going to explode, and fight until I couldn’t possibly fight any more. Just for fun.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QA5gAKi_CGQ/UEyrHw1f6rI/AAAAAAAAAEU/XgIpz1Vt7fY/s400/P1010138.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QA5gAKi_CGQ/UEyrHw1f6rI/AAAAAAAAAEU/XgIpz1Vt7fY/s1600/P1010138.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Sam Hamer on Quossai (8a+) with a busy crag. Deverse is a good place to climb if you need to find partners as there are always a good bunch of locals and visiting climbers to hang out with and get belays from.[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Who knows whether it was the improved conditions or the improved attitude, but this time everything worked. It was a fight, even on the easier last few bolts to the chains, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Clipping the chains wasn’t so much a feeling of relief, as it would have been the day before, but an added bonus on a try that I’d really enjoyed. Thank heavens I fell off that previous day, or my experience of the route would have been so much the worse for it. I got some photos taken from a rope as Muriel Sarkany was shooting pictures on Ultimate Sacrifice, which recently became her first 8c+, but haven't been emailed them yet. Stay tuned.
My last few days were spent doing a bit of onsighting and flashing, failing miserably on routes without tufas and sampling Abyss, one of the crag's classic 9as. Wow. What a cool route - relentlessly steep, loads of tufas and blobs, knees/heels/toe hooks galore. I'm planning my return for next year already, and it's top of the list. First there's the little matter of getting 9a strong!
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MtTAw06adh4/UEyrYMkdj5I/AAAAAAAAAEc/F16zmRWvrAA/s400/P1010147.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MtTAw06adh4/UEyrYMkdj5I/AAAAAAAAAEc/F16zmRWvrAA/s1600/P1010147.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]I love my van! [/td][/tr]
[/table]
Abyss:
670_Abyss 9A (http://vimeo.com/14552163) from TVMountain (http://vimeo.com/tvmountain) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
1453_Abyss Chabot 9a (http://vimeo.com/15968763) from TVMountain (http://vimeo.com/tvmountain) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-7807947693383101365?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Director's Cut (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/11/directors-cut.html)
11 November 2012, 10:24 pm
Since returning from France I've engaged bouldering mode. If I want to stand a chance on routes like Abyss next year then I need to get a whole lot stronger (and better at kneebaring, more on that later). Ropes were put away for the winter, power endurance training thrown out the window and - with a little help from an elbow injury which doesn't like high volume - my diet of aerobic capacity and capillarising has been stripped down to a minimum in favour of bouldering, bouldering, more bouldering and some hardcore anaerobic capacity work.
Over the last few weeks I've started to feel the effects of all this come through on rock. Problems which have previously kicked my ass were efficiently dispatched - Tsunami, Dancing Fish and Press Low Right (all at Rubicon, all around 7C+/8A) along with Andronicus (an 8A near Stoney) made a good start to bouldering season. (Andronicus, whilst in a pretty minging venue, has some really cool climbing on it, especially if you like knees - don't be put off by the location, it's well worth a visit.)
So, onto the knees...In Loup this summer I realised that (1) I want to try to climb 9a next year, (2) If I'm going to do that it's going to be on steep tufas since these suit me and (3) Steep tufas = knee central. Conclusion: I need to do some training on steepness and kneebar trickery this winter. With that in mind I made a list of suitable problems to try. You know what they say, work your strengths. I think that's what they say anyway. I wasn't listening, I was trying to cheat my way past another crux, probably by lanking, kneebaring or toehooking (or occasionally all 3 at the same time).
With that in mind the last two weekends I've headed over to Wales to climb in Parisella's cave. I had it in the back of my mind that at some point in the distant future I'd like to try Director's Cut, the classic 8B linking Lou Ferrino into Trigger cut. I knew that my use of knee bars on TC would bring the difficulty down but it would still be hard. Fortunately I managed to 'ruin' the problem by finding a double kneebar no hander on Ferrino, bringing the difficulty down to something I could do reasonably quickly, and on Saturday I managed not to punt the end and grabbed the finishing jug a happy man. It's pretty cool to have got up this bit of rock - something I thought would be way out of league for the moment. OK, so it's not 8B any more (soft 8A+ or hard 8A?) but it's still the same bit of rock and I'm psyched to have done it. I did a few other problems and links too - Daisy from Concrete (8A?), Greenheart (formerly supposed to be solid 8A+, now 8A with all my cheating?), Broken Heart and Broken Trigger (7C+ and 8A?), and a bunch of cool easier things.
Rumour has it some people are upset that I ruined the cave with all these knees. Oh well.
I didn't get any footage of the send due to rain and the cave being crowded. I also couldn't get footage to stich together as I ran out of battery. I've put together some footage of attempts the weekend before though for anyone who wants beta, to be horrified at my sacreligous behaviour towards this hallowed piece of rock, or simply to tell me that it must be 7B with all those "shenanigans":
Some attempts on Director's Cut (8a+?) in Parisella's, also footage of Broken Heart (7c+) (http://vimeo.com/53279856) from Alex Barrows (http://vimeo.com/user11693449) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-3464431567512727223?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Recent Round Up (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2012/12/recent-round-up.html)
12 December 2012, 8:02 pm
Since Director's Cut I've been over to Wales a couple more times with ticks including The Wire in Parisella's Cave and Chris Doyle's cool traverse of Pill Box Wall Drink Driving. These are both power endurance 8A+s, though on DD I could keep my feet low on better holds than the previous ascentionists so I don't think it's more than 8A for me.
Last winter my friends and I started to spend quite a bit of time climbing at Anston Stones, a nice set of small limestone buttresses lying to the east of Sheffield. Once again this year it's turning out to be a saviour for those of us who aren't so fond of 'luck based scrittle' as it stays largely dry through the winter months when the Peak lime is dripping. Whilst the kneebar potential here might be somewhat more limited than in Parisella's, my quest to trick my way through everything continues unabated...
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YydvFWdqgkI/UMhM-_S-niI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Uvd_w2WTMto/s640/Magnum.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YydvFWdqgkI/UMhM-_S-niI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Uvd_w2WTMto/s1600/Magnum.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Magnum, 7C+ (Photo: Chris Lockyer)[/td][/tr]
[/table][tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxchmSEPnB8/UMhMwKps6TI/AAAAAAAAAFA/_JRV_VYd67o/s640/Magnum+2.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxchmSEPnB8/UMhMwKps6TI/AAAAAAAAAFA/_JRV_VYd67o/s1600/Magnum+2.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Be like Jerry Dave Graham (Photo: Chris Lockyer)[/td][/tr]
[/table]After a Christmas week getting fat it's off to Font for 2 weeks. I've not been on a bouldering trip for 3 years now and I'm getting pretty excited!
Here's a pic I got sent by a chap I met at Parisella's when I was trying Director's. Beautiful rainbow, beautiful van...
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t84EM-3DLzc/UK_EIGGOmJI/AAAAAAAAAEw/eJAJYZYwTDA/s640/alex_b_parisellas.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t84EM-3DLzc/UK_EIGGOmJI/AAAAAAAAAEw/eJAJYZYwTDA/s1600/alex_b_parisellas.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Photo: James O'Neil[/td][/tr]
[/table]
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3656773008340838034-1209806494433639557?l=alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Pilgrimage to Parisella's (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/02/pilgrimage-to-parisellas.html)
3 February 2013, 10:00 pm
This winter I seem to be spending most of my time going to Wales to climb in Parisella's Cave, and this weekend was to be no exception... Read more (http://www.climblox.com/2013/02/pilgrimage-to-parisellas/)
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Golfers' Elbow - My Experience (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/02/golfers-elbow-my-experience.html)
19 February 2013, 6:46 pm
I've had issues with golfers' elbow since last August. Having talked to a fair few others in person and on facebook about my experiences getting on top of it I thought it was worth jotting a few thoughts down for others in the same position.You only have to take a glance at the online forums to see how common this issue is amongst climbers! One thing which I think is worth noting is that despite some people on internet forums claiming that the onset of golfers' necessarily means weeks/months of rest, I've managed to get on top of my injury whilst also getting stronger and fitter than ever - there is hope!
At this point I should make it clear that I am not a physio, doctor, expert blah blah...
The problem:
Last August whilst I was on a trip to Loup I started to have issues with the inside of my elbow. I've had issues on the outside before*, but never the inside. The sector we were climbing at has limited easy routes, so my warm-up routine involved a quite a few chin-ups and attempts at 1-armers. Despite the early grumble from my elbows I didn't change this. Clever huh?
When I came back to the UK I took a couple of weeks off, but after that they were worse than before and things continued to decline. I started to look online, did the usual cheapskate climber self-diagnosis and made slow progress for a few months...
Now read this:
http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf
That will give you the background knowledge.
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,9343.0.html this thread is a long read but has some useful info.
Things which helped me:
Recently I've been making much better progress and feel like I'm really on top of my elbow issues, getting back to fingerboarding and so forth.
1. See a physio. I hate paying money for things like this, same as everyone else, but in my experience it was worth it. They will be able to (a) eliminate 'other' stuff as a cause e.g. back/shoulder issues and (b) identify whether the problem is the 'normal' (FCU) golfers elbow or the pronator teres one (see the pdf linked above). Answering (b) will tell you which of the eccentrics is the one for you (normal curls or the sideways twisty ones). I hadn't realised until I saw the physio that apparently doing both of the types of eccentrics is much less effective than just doing the right one for you. I've had much better improvements since I started just using the normal eccentrics following the physio diagnosing that I had the FCU version rather than the pronator teres one (incidentally, the opposite of my self-diagnosis). I'm fairly convinced that this has been a key factor for me getting on top of my elbow troubles. One big question is what number of reps to use. There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinion on this - 20 reps/day, 60, ~200... My best results seem to have come from doing 3 sets of 15-20 reps. I do them after climbing on every climbing day but not on rest days. I've also experimented with splitting the sets between morning and evening on climbing days, however this didn't seem to work as well for me.
2. Really work out what hurts it. Campusing and deadhanging were out for starters. For me the high volume parts of my training were aggravating the elbows more than the high intensity parts, however it took me a stupid amount of time to realise that. It also took me a stupid amount of time to realise that downclimbing was the part of my high volume sessions which gave me the most pain - I could still do a reasonable amount of ARC/Aero cap work if I did it only going upwards (e.g. top roping routes).
3. Stretching - This seems to ease the pain if nothing else.
This one in particular:
(http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/assets/256/images/12980256(300x300).jpg) (http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/assets/256/images/12980256(300x300).jpg)
The stretches my friend Tom wrote about here also seem useful for some: http://tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/golfers-elbow-a-possible-solution/
4. Hard massage - The physio I saw really got to work on the elbow with some painful massage. I recreate this at home using one of these: http://www.decathlon.co.uk/hand-massage-iii-id_8211895.html
* The issues on the outside turned out to be to do with instabilities in my shoulders and were solved and are now kept at bay using theraband exercises for strengthening the rotator cuff muscles.
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Frozen February (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/02/frozen-february.html)
26 February 2013, 7:07 pm
"You can't always get what you want"
That's what the song claims, and it's right, especially if you're a climber and you live in Britain. Sometimes that's not such a big deal though, and you get to do something else fun instead...
Frozen February (http://vimeo.com/60542235) from Alex Barrows (http://vimeo.com/user11693449) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Once again I went to Wales, once again I didn't get to try Pilgrimage. This time because it was soaked with seepage. The consolation was a weekend in the mountains - catching up with some friends I've not seen in a while, climbing the classic power endurance 8A Mr Fantastic and even pottering on some slabs in the warm sunshine once the muscles were too tired for anything hard.
After a couple of days being ill and shivering in bed I got inspired by Chris Webb-Parsons (http://www.climblox.com/2013/02/quickie/)' antics and took an afternoon off midweek in an attempt to Super Size Me biceps and lats. I didn't get what I want(ed). Again the the gods of giving it a go stepped in with consolation prizes, like the kind soul who used to give you a present on your brother's birthday when you were a kid, just so you wouldn't feel left out. I got close, I iced Hurricane like a cake, and - the best bit - I really enjoyed climbing grit for a change!
OK, so I didn't quite enjoy it enough to stick with it for the weekend, instead opting for some limestone crimping including a return to Rubicon. Last time I was on Kudos wall was back in October and I was going pretty well then, this time I was just hoping I wouldn't have gone backwards. It seems I didn't need to worry and the winter's bouldering has paid off - I felt stronger on all the problems, managing a 7C+ and The Press Low Left, previously given 8A+ but downgraded in the new guide which I think is fair enough. Whatever the grade, it must be one of my hardest blocs and it was awesome to feel all the training paying off, damn I love sessions like that! It did bring home just how bad I am at genuinely hard moves though - 8 move 8A? No probs. 1 move 7B+? No chance. Something to work on..
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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1 move 7B+? No chance.
Got to be The Pinch? Undergraded, surely. Feels much harder than Johnny G 7C to me.
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Has there been substantial rockfall at Rubicon if there are bloc[k]s there now? :clown:
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Awesome Mr Fantastic footage!
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Got to be The Pinch? Undergraded, surely. Feels much harder than Johnny G 7C to me.
Yup. It's nails. Do you put you LF on a crappy edge out left? Only vid I've seen is of Ted putting his LF in the pocket (where tsunami starts) but I can't fit my toe in there. Maybe barefoot is the answer :-\ I also failed on Johnny G 7c and kudos original. Hard moves are hard.
Has there been substantial rockfall at Rubicon if there are bloc[k]s there now? :clown:
I'm Just too cool for you old fogies. I was just using 'bloc' to mean 'actually a boulder problem' rather than my usual 20+ move routes boulders.
Awesome Mr Fantastic footage!
Cheers. If there'd been less wind I would have put the sound from the end of that clip on where you can hear my mate with the camera encouraging me to blow the topout "fall off, fall off, fall off..."
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Got to be The Pinch? Undergraded, surely. Feels much harder than Johnny G 7C to me.
Yup. It's nails. Do you put you LF on a crappy edge out left? Only vid I've seen is of Ted putting his LF in the pocket (where tsunami starts) but I can't fit my toe in there. Maybe barefoot is the answer :-\ I also failed on Johnny G 7c and kudos original. Hard moves are hard.
Where's that vid? Can't find it.
Maybe someone else will have beta for the pinch. I haven't done it. Like you said, it's nails.
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Cheers. If there'd been less wind I would have put the sound from the end of that clip on where you can hear my mate with the camera encouraging me to blow the topout "fall off, fall off, fall off..."
Nothing like a bit of encouragement! Wasn't the guy who did Rockatrocity with you standing in the way of the camera was it? :lol:
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I'm the same but at least you're fit!
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Where's that vid? Can't find it.
The Pinch 7b+ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuMjX1tsKs#)
here it is, I have all sorts of Peak stuff on vid, quality is not great but u get the picture!
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Nice one Ted!
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Jesus Fucking Christ how much I love British limestone bouldering.
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Jesus Fucking Christ how much I love British limestone bouldering.
On that subject I thought you were supposed to match the sloper for press low left?
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Why would you do that when you're about to use those holds anyway 1 move later? If that's the rules I'm happy to change my logbook to read "non- :shit: version of press low left" but I don't think 8a.nu do that emoticon. Personally I also think the elim version of tsunami is dumb, though at least that one makes sense as a clear eliminate. You could make press low left like that and say no crimp and no pocket, but most people use one of them for the move up.
Look on the bright side, at least I had a whole video without any knee bars or toe hooks..
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at least I had a whole video without any knee bars or toe hooks..
true ha ha.
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I like 7C+ for BSD Low Right. :thumbsup:
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The 8a+ was for the sloper match. 8a without silly rule seems fair enough to me...
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Yeah and keep the fucking slash grades in Wales where they belong.
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Yeah and keep the fucking slash grades in Wales where they belong.
And the eliminates in the peak where they belong ...
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Knees/being tall enough to stand on a ledge etc aside, obviously.. Look I'd be really annoyed too if some prick (actually love what you're doing Barrows, hilarious) had lanked my hardest link.... er.... problem but it's just climbing innit. I hate slash grades nearly as much as v grades btw. And I'm too pissed to edit this further. :-*
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I'd only be pissed if everyone was as tall as Barrows, luckily they're not. He didn't/ couldnt do my hardest link as it happens. ;)
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Good. Some things should be sacred.
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The problems you're alluding to on the Orme aren't eliminate anyway Jasp. No one has said barrows hasn't done legitimate ascents (some said they didn't like the style). The question is do you grade things for a 6ft 5 monolith with serious knee skills or for everyone else.
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Pilgrimage 2nd Ascent (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/03/pilgrimage-2nd-ascent.html)
7 March 2013, 7:53 am
Pilgrimage. Wow. Ben Moon fell off the end when it was a project. Rumour has it that Malc Smith spent a grand in petrol money to make the first ascent back in 2004. Unrepeated since then. Now some punk came along and ruined it with kneebars and kneepads. Oops!
Pilgrimage, a.k.a The Big Link, is the full back-left to front-right line in Parisella's cave. It starts at the back left of the cave and does the start of Left Wall Traverse before looping over a small arch, doing the classic 7C Rock Atrocity and then heading off to the front right of the cave to finish up Beaver Cleaver, a really cool 7B, after around 45 moves of almost horizontal 3D shenanigans. About a month ago I did it in overlapping sections and was really psyched to try the whole thing. Then the weather crapped out. First condensation. Then rain. Then seepage. Then it was too cold for trying long stuff. Finally last weekend the stars came back into alignment and I headed back over to Wales to try it again. My petrol money tally was racking up quickly.[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8mYBiJYZNIU/UTfMp4XRFeI/AAAAAAAAAF4/uYHvYfZ6urw/s640/Pilgrimage+Exit.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8mYBiJYZNIU/UTfMp4XRFeI/AAAAAAAAAF4/uYHvYfZ6urw/s1600/Pilgrimage+Exit.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Warming up on the end section Photo: Chris Lockyer[/td][/tr]
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Saturday: Perfect weather. Perfect conditions. Cold enough for good friction but not so cold that your hands numbed out too easily. I failed. That's OK, I'd not been on it for a month, I knew I needed to relearn everything and get it dialled.
Sunday: Perfect weather. Perfect conditions. I still failed. This time I fell off the exit boulder problem, 2 moves from glory. SHIT! Still, when you're getting that close to something you know it'll go, it's just a question of when. So when? Not midweek, I needed to work. But the forecast for the next weekend was poor; the recent spell of glorious dry weather set to end. Was it going to be another month before I could get back to it? Another month for my memory of the moves to dull, my understanding of the body positions to dwindle, my belly to grow fat off flapjack?
Screw that.
Screw work.
Midweek it is.
Texts were sent out and willing accomplices found for a day raid before the weather was set to turn. Up goes the petrol tally. Who cares. Do it and it's all worth it.
Monday: Nerves. Worries. All those redpoint feelings you learn to keep at bay, but at the start of routes season I've not remembered to subdue them yet, not become accustomed to ignoring them. I shouldn't eat much, I need to be light. But I should eat lots, I need the energy. My knee hurts, cut and bruised from overuse in the kneebars at the weekend. My calf hurts too, what if it's too tired for the rests?
Tuesday: Who cares about nerves. It's a work day and I'm going climbing. Sheffield is enveloped in dense fog as we head out but I've checked the webcams, I know it's clear out there. Tash leaves her purse in a service station toilet. Nice work. (We got it back later) Cheesy trance on the ipod for my warm up jog, that stuff never fails to get my head in the mood for stamina. In the cave it feels a bit slippy. Secretly I quite like that, it helps me take the pressure off. Warming up is the usual pre-redpoint affair, over analysing every move as I re-familiarize myself with the sections. "Ooh, that bit felt good, I think I'm strong today." "Yeah, definitely, feeling good." "Shit, why does that bit feel hard? That bit felt easy last time, maybe I'm tired." Eventually I'm ready for a go. Try not to care too much. Try just to think about the climbing. Try to remember to try really hard. It works. Yes! Pilgrimage. Bloody hell. I can't stop grinning. I spend the rest of the afternoon doing some nice 7Cs, content but always wanting to do more, always wanting to climb more. Begrudgingly I make myself stop, saving my arms for the two days of training that lie in store before it's time to rest again.
Now I'm sat up writing this, despite the fact I should have gone to bed hours ago. I've got to get up and work in the morning. This time I actually have to go in. I don't want to. I want to go climbing. I'm content, but I want to climb again already. Always more...[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lf9adjjcjyE/UTfM4D-9S-I/AAAAAAAAAGA/vxN7hxwvMaI/s640/pilgrim_complete_layers_crop.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lf9adjjcjyE/UTfM4D-9S-I/AAAAAAAAAGA/vxN7hxwvMaI/s1600/pilgrim_complete_layers_crop.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]The ascent (all actually stitched from the send go too!) Photo: Chris Lockyer[/td][/tr]
[/table]Big thanks to Chris Lockyer for the photos, especially the really cool sequence one above. There are more shots of me on Pilgrimage at his blog: http://chrislockyer.wordpress.com/blog/
Numbers
When Malc Smith did the first ascent he gave it F9a or Font 8B+. As a ~45 move marathon without a rope Pilgrimage lies in that awkward region of not quite a route but not quite a boulder problem. Personally I feel more comfortable using a route grade for it. This is partly because I'm more of a route climber so I have more experience with these grades, but also because I feel it better characterises the difficulty and the process involved in climbing this bit of rock. That's what a grade's supposed to be for right? My method was significantly easier than Malc's, both due to finding alternative beta on a couple of hard moves and due to 2 kneebar rests. Some of the knees are a bit leg length specific so shorties may well struggle to get them all to work. Anyway, it must be WAY easier than the original method, but it's probably the hardest bit of climbing I've done - I think it's harder than the 8c+ I did in Loup last summer and it’s in another league to any of the 8cs I've done so I figure 8c+ or maybe 8c/+ is probably about right for what I did. Who knows? Anyway, whilst I bloody love grades, for once that's not so much why I'm happy. Like a friend said in a text I got after doing it, "not coz of the difficulty, coz it's cool".
Kneepads
My ascent will probably annoy a few people because I used kneebars and kneepads. I'm not planning on getting drawn into a big debate on this. It's been done already and it got pretty boring. Suffice to say, for me pads are a part of modern climbing. If you want to message me a rant on facebook feel free, just don't forget to copy in Dave Graham, Daniel Woods, James Pearson, Ethan Pringle, Gerome Pouvreau, Matty Hong, Dave Macleod, Dan Varian, Joe Kinder, Daila Ojeda, Jimmy Webb, Ian Dory, Alex Raczynski, Enzo Oddo, Jon Cardwell, Neil Mawson, Steph Davis... you get the point. Initially I didn't really understand why people wouldn't want to use knees and pads nowadays- the moves are really cool with them and it seemed dumb not to use them. Now I think I 'get it' more, I even feel a bit of guilt over what I've 'done' to such a classic testpiece. Still, now it can be done 'new school' or 'old skool', so everyone can be happy. Except maybe the guidebook writers, V14/F9a/V12/13/F8c/+ anyone?!
Actually, one more thing on the pads – ‘mad props’ to 'Little Dan' for the American style kneepad beta and Neely for posting over some of the Rock and Resole pads all the way from Colorado!
Mobile phone footage of the successful attempt coming soon...
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Nice one Alex, congratulations! Awesome blog post!
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Nice tick like you said the short may struggle with it, I remember a few years ago pete using heels hooks and a crazy method on In Life, like you said new skool climbing and im sure modern climbing will change a few more of these test pieces
I miss the cave :(
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"not coz of the difficulty, coz it's cool".
Give that friend a karma point :)
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Great effort Alex, what a problem to repeat! Bet you were grinning like the Cheshire Cat for the whole day with a deep feeling of satisfaction! :)
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Pilgrimage Footage (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/03/pilgrimage-footage.html)
8 March 2013, 9:58 pm
Here's some mobile phone footage of the send. Unfortunately it cuts out the first few moves. The rests are cut down due to technological issues and the guy filming getting a phone call whilst I was in the second one! You'd get bored if all the resting was in anyway.
Thanks to Iwan Willams and Jason Reeve for the footage.
Pilgrimage 2nd Ascent (http://vimeo.com/61373541) from Alex Barrows (http://vimeo.com/user11693449) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Spanish Trippin' (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/05/spanish-trippin.html)
2 May 2013, 4:26 pm
First off a big thanks to Scarpa (http://scarpa.co.uk/) and The Mountain Boot Company (http://www.mountainboot.co.uk/) for bringing me onto the UK Scarpa team. Since being introduced to the Instincts before my long trip a couple of years ago I’ve been a Scarpa man through and through, and every hard route I’ve done in the last few years has been in the Instinct Laces. It’s great to be onboard, and maybe I can even convince them to enter the kneepad market… 5.10 watch your back.
Now, onto the meat, 3 weeks in Spain with a few mates – including a token Scot to provide amusement/lines from Braveheart – and loads of rock… What could be better? Actually, climbing wise my trip has been mixed. Not because the climbing has been mixed, it hasn’t, it’s been awesome, but because my performance has been mixed. It’s dumb how climbing a little bit worse than you expect can have such a huge effect on how much you enjoy a holiday, but at the same time I’m not sure I’d want it any other way. It shows you care. It shows it matters to you.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kKlzQX2Kj5Y/UX62IXjv6xI/AAAAAAAAAGs/O7Nmnco73Ik/s640/P1010245.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kKlzQX2Kj5Y/UX62IXjv6xI/AAAAAAAAAGs/O7Nmnco73Ik/s1600/P1010245.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Flash Over (8b+)[/td][/tr]
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I wrote a few paragraphs with introspective moaning about the aspects of my performance I was disappointed with, but after reading through it I hated how much I sounded like the whinney little brat I can turn into immediately after falling off, the brat I hate turning into. So let’s focus on the good bits…
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Th6-3w47QEo/UX63OxL95EI/AAAAAAAAAHA/7wYlmp52T80/s640/P1010270.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Th6-3w47QEo/UX63OxL95EI/AAAAAAAAAHA/7wYlmp52T80/s1600/P1010270.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Our valiant team of heroes losers[/td][/tr]
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For the first part of the trip we were based in Ulldemolins, midway between Siurana and Margalef, and we divided our time between the two areas. I’d mainly intended to onsight and flash stuff on this trip, but ended up getting involved with a quite a few quick redpoints of some awesome routes. In particular, Flash Over (8b+) at Margalef features by far the best move I’ve ever done on one finger – a big slap from a poor, flat mono to a big, fat jug and the kind of move that makes you feel like a total hero despite actually not being too heinous. On the first go front I managed to flash La cara que no miente at Siurana which I was pretty chuffed with. This short and butch 8a+ features some lovely fat pinches (damn I love pinches!) and is a route I’ve had on my ‘to do’ list since I first saw it a few years ago. After a day of climbing and frying ourselves in the sun the drive home would generally be made with a perfect sunset, a spectacular view and whilst singing along to a fine selection of Phil Collins, Finish power metal and dubious childhood classics.
I’ve learnt a few lessons this trip too: Migranya Profunda (8b+) at Siurana reminded me just how much I need to work on my heel hooking skills. This brilliant resistance route does the crux of the classic 8b Migranya (nice foot-first beta Robbie!)before questing off through some butch climbing and decent rests to a tricky move on a heel which seemed to provide the meat of the difficulty for me. 2nd go I redpointed to this move and realised my beta was wack. Next go I fluked through it but punted the next couple of moves with a sequence that turned out to be too powerful on the link. I then proceeded to screw up the heel move a bunch of times, reminding myself that I’ve got some definite improvements to be made in that department! My vertical onsighting has been pretty shoddy too, something which I guess isn’t surprising having spent half my winter climbing in a cave, but which really needs some work.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LD9ndZa5hno/UX64j3hiLlI/AAAAAAAAAHY/DWiFE-YTOp0/s640/IMAG0081.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LD9ndZa5hno/UX64j3hiLlI/AAAAAAAAAHY/DWiFE-YTOp0/s1600/IMAG0081.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Mark on Dr Feelgood[/td][/tr]
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The final week was spent based from Tom Bolger’s new house out here, not too far from Margalef. It’s pretty remote and a really cool location..[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8odWskH5xSU/UX63Cq9kKcI/AAAAAAAAAG4/4AaiG7UIdFk/s640/IMAG0087.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8odWskH5xSU/UX63Cq9kKcI/AAAAAAAAAG4/4AaiG7UIdFk/s1600/IMAG0087.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Grit jeans vs dog. No contest[/td][/tr]
[/table]The plan had been to get on some onsights at Margalef for the end of the trip, but the rain came in and plans needed to change. We managed to steal a few hours between downpours at Laboratory and sneak in a couple of short routes, including the fun but not-quite-what-I-came-to-Spain-for 8b 8a+ La Bomba. The next day the weather proved better than forecast allowing an active rest day cruising cool Ceuse-esque 5+s at Tom’s clostest crag, Villanova de Prades. Our final day dawned to heavy rain, and driving towards the crag it was joined by dense fog for a combination more reminiscent of North Wales than Spain. After a few hours eating cake in the café the weather gods seemed to have been appeased by our sacrifice of lightness and granted us a last chance to climb. After a quick scout around for dry rock, and worried that my reputation as Mr Linkup might be in doubt, I decided to start off with the original version of Migranya, which proved almost as good as its harder counterpart. After that it was time for some more relaxed mileage and an education on vert climbing. Threading the chains on a particularly nice 7b as the sun dropped out of sight for the last time of the trip there was only one thought in my mind: Damn I love rock climbing! The wind had picked up, darkness was falling and we walked back to the car cold on the outside but glowing warm on the inside. God I love climbing.
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5lW-gAnvwY/UX63W1jMbRI/AAAAAAAAAHI/N3izwriGDJw/s640/IMAG0091.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5lW-gAnvwY/UX63W1jMbRI/AAAAAAAAAHI/N3izwriGDJw/s1600/IMAG0091.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Snow in Siurana on our last morning. A week earlier it had been 25 degrees![/td][/tr]
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Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Non-slip Kneepad Beta (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/05/non-slip-kneepad-beta.html)
15 May 2013, 9:26 pm
A couple of people have asked me for the full on, no holds barred kneepad beta for reducing slippage, so I figured I'd put it up here for anyone interested. None of this is my own invention, it's all shamelessly stolen from the Yanks. Just so you know not to blame me for bringing leg shaving into climbing.
You will need:
1. A razor. I'm assured that ladies ones are rather more luxurious for those who don't mind splashing out or can steal one from their girlfriend.
2. A big fat roll of gaffa tape.
3. Some sports adhesive spray like this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mueller-Pre-Tape-Adhesive-Spray-120ml/dp/B000F7QN22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359451288&sr=8-1)
4. A pair of shorts. I like lime green, they make me feel like Jerry. Although Jerry probably never shaved his leg to climb something. The punter. Some people have no dedication.
5. An open mind.
Preparation:
Shave your leg. You'll see why in a second. Don't forget to shave a bit higher than your pad goes, or the following could become rather painful.
At the crag:
Slip on your shorts. Or hotpants. Or mankini (Doyle). Anything other than trousers really. Now spray your freshly hairless thigh with the adhesive spray and position the pad appropriately. For this you ideally need to know how high/low you want it to sit for your chosen route. Then take the gaffa and go once round the top of the pad, once round half on the pad and half on your leg and once just on your leg. Careful if the kneebar comes far up the pad - you might need to do away with the first turn to avoid kneebaring direct onto the slippy tape. This works fine.
If anyone has improved beta then leave a comment.
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Kaabah: Tor, Tor, Glorious Tor (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/06/kaabah-tor-tor-glorious-tor.html)
1 June 2013, 5:25 pm
I Got a Feeling
That moment when you realise that a route really is doable for you. I think this might be my favourite part of projecting. Everyone into this aspect of climbing will know it. A shot of pure psyche straight into your bloodstream; uncontainable excitement bubbling up inside you. This is a rare event - the route has to be hard enough that not being able to do it is a real possibility, and has to be something you really want to do. Usually the rest of the day is spent overenthusiastically telling anyone who'll listen that "that's doable man!!". Actually, it doesn't really matter if they'll listen, I'll tell them anyway.
A few weeks ago that rare feeling emerged again. The route in question was Kaabah, Steve McClure's fiendishly crimpy 8c+ direct on Mecca Extension. Even Steve called it "thin". No wonder I've had no fingertips for the last 3 weeks!
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oky7HZKc1jM/UaoUYCj7zgI/AAAAAAAAAH0/eqLxIxKck88/s640/Kaabah+Screen+Grab.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oky7HZKc1jM/UaoUYCj7zgI/AAAAAAAAAH0/eqLxIxKck88/s1600/Kaabah+Screen+Grab.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Kaabah, 8c+: Screen grab from video footage (Photo: Guy Van Greuning)[/td][/tr]
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On My Mind
Just after doing Mecca Extension this time last year I tried Kaabah. After getting shut down by the original sequence I managed to find a sneaky method using a stuck on hold out left that was part of Mecca Extension but should never really have been there in the first place. This method would have taken the difficulty down a notch, but fortunately before I was able to do it the hold was pulled off ! I say fortunately because Kaabah was now restored to its original, harder, better state. I'm not sure everyone who was working Mecca Ext thought it was fortunate! Anyway, I couldn't work out a way through the crux so I gave up on it. 3 weeks ago I got back on it, and with some ideas for beta from Ryan Pasquil I managed to work out a sequence. After that it all came together quickly and soon my high point was inching its way up the headwall...
Instant Crush
Not a reference to the timeframe it took me to do the route in question, unfortunately, but the name of the song in my head whilst redpointing. I decided to forego my usual cheesy trance warm-up for once. I couldn't be arsed getting too psyched. Conditions were good but I felt tired. Too much training midweek, presuming that Mecca would be wet on the weekend as it had been midweek. I didn't want to be too excited, hugely psyched only to fail miserably. I could feel there was a risk of not enjoying this go, and I needed something in my head to remind me not to worry too much, to focus on enjoying the climbing and having fun trying hard. The Todd Edwards version of one of Daft Punk's latest tunes was perfect. Kneepad locked. Chalkbag loaded. Smile on. Instant Crush. The whole way I wasn't expecting much, sometimes that's what you need.
Kaabah is definitely the hardest thing I've done on a rope. It's easier than Pilgrimage though, which gives me confidence in saying my method for that must be 8c+ in route grades, something I was a little unsure about for a while.
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Today's Menue: Doughnuts, Fried Chicken and Pump (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/10/todays-menue-doughnuts-fried-chicken.html)
19 October 2013, 11:41 pm
Right now I'm in the Red River Gorge. This is somewhere I've been dreaming of going since seeing the video of the Petzl RocTrip there a few years ago, and the footage from the endless rampage of Ondra, Megos, Lachat et al last year didn't exactly diminish the psyche. With France having a wet year and worries of my intended trip to Loup being a wash out, plans were quickly changed and America was
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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The 20 most pressing questions in British climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-20-most-pressing-questions-in.html)
19 October 2013, 11:44 pm
Whilst on a rainy rest day we began discussing the topics on the lips of every climber in Britain – How much speed does it take to do Hubble? Have Jonny G and Jesus ever been seen in the same room together? Why are British male climbers so ugly and nerdy? Will Mark ever get a girlfriend? In no particular order here are the top 20 most pressing questions on the British climbing scene today…
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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16. Is wanking Ancap or Aerocap?
:lol:
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Brilliant! number 16 was great.. I liked 13 too 'why is my facebook feed full of fishing photos' ;)
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Brilliant! number 16 was great.. I liked 13 too 'why is my facebook feed full of fishing photos' ;)
It's a good job he's not on Twitter #anglerbantz
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17. What the fuck is wrong with Pete Robbins arm?
Do we need anymore reasons to think you're a cunt Alex?
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Ha ha
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:)
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1 Just who is the hottest British climbing girl?
Miss February - the saucy nurse
2 Is Steve Mac past it?
If he is, who in the UK is anywhere close to passing Ste Mac
3 Why doesn’t Ondra do more deadlifting?
Wizard shit
4 Will Simon ever climb the Oak?
Some won't
5 Would the lovechild of Stu and Ru grow to more than 3ft tall?
6 What’s wrong with Doyle?
Everything
7 What really happened at the houseparty with Mr Richard Simpson and senor Spanish Kev?
Not what Simpson says, whatever that is.
8 Is Bob really seven or better?
9 How did Ryan ever get with Katy?
10. Just what does Randall do to P Widdy in that basement?
Tight cracks
11. Did Cubby really nail “the Hill”?
Lovechild = Dave Mac
12. Why does JP wear those sunglasses?
Because he models sunglasses
13. How do I stop my facebook feed filling up with fishing photos?
14. Should I get anorexia?
15. Will the school boards ever be resurrected?
Rich Simpson has them in a special high altitude training camp in Chile in preparation for a speed solo of Annapurna 9a
16. Is wanking Ancap or Aerocap?
Wancap
17. What the fuck is wrong with Pete Robbins arm?
It's stronger than yours?
18. Who would win in a fight between Stevie H and Malc?
Rich Simpson
19. Are the new generation of climbers more stupid or just more annoying than the previous generations?
More widespread too
20. Has a girl ever poked her finger in your bum while you’re having sex?
'Dirt me'
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17. What the fuck is wrong with Pete Robbins arm?
I don't get this, sorry.
Any help?
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It doesn't matter, thanks.
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'The Red' (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-red.html)
10 November 2013, 10:35 pm
I cruise past Miguel's. I can almost hear the tires crunching through the carpet of leaves that covers the landscape from head to toe and the last signs of the cliffs disappear in the rear view mirror. Another angsty Country song comes on the radio, one I've learnt from my time here, and I can't help but smile. There's something different inside me when I'm on a trip. A contentment and happyness
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Training for Sport Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbing.html)
5 February 2014, 11:03 pm
Back in the summer of 2012 I went to Gorges du Loup for a 5 week trip, and in between pinching tufas until my thumbs were raw and desperately trying to trick my way up things using kneebars, I decided to write up an article/document with some training knowledge. Having served its purpose of stopping rest days getting boring it promptly languished on my computer doing nothing, until recently when
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Stamina Boys (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2014/04/stamina-boys.html)
20 April 2014, 9:42 am
Yesterday I climbed what's probably the hardest bit of route length climbing I've done. This classic testpiece takes an audacious and improbable line though intimidating terrain, with unrelentingly bold climbing, continually challenging technicalities and the very real prospect of severe injury should you accidentally sit on the tree part way through. The Boy Band/Staminaband link tags another
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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good effort!!
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Rodellar 2014 - Why you should always smash on (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2014/05/rodellar-2014-why-you-should-always.html)
19 May 2014, 3:35 pm
As I got to the second set of chains I just wanted to give in and say take. I was boxed. I felt broken. I'd climbed the lower section abysmally, nearly falling off an easy move by misreading it. Then nearly falling off a tricky move by being shit. I'd been lucky to scrape through to the first anchor, let alone the second, and I knew the top was supposed to be the hardest part. Still, might as
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Fucking good effort on that trip :strongbench:. I think UKB might even forgive you for being a bit vague with the calling.
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It's been a while... (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/01/its-been-while.html)
5 January 2015, 6:23 pm
... since I went highballing on the grit... Narcissus, Froggatt The Mint 400, Froggatt ...or made a little video... 36 Chambers Sit from Alex Barrows on Vimeo. ... or blogged. I was supposed to blog at the end of October, upon return from Spain as a newly crowned 9a climber. The post was to be adorned with photos of my bulging biceps as I crushed Era Vella into oblivion, and
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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The New Most Pressing Questions in British Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-new-most-pressing-questions-in.html)
24 April 2015, 8:28 pm
18 months ago, dear readers, a select group of climbing's finest minds brought to you the 20 most pressing questions in British climbing. Many of these have now been answered - Yes! The school boards were resurrected. Yes! You should get anorexia. And, resoundingly, you responded that yes! A girl has stuck her finger up your bum whilst having sex. And yet, a whole bunch of new questions have
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Margalef Take 2 - a tale of a trickyish route of an unspecified difficulty which may not may not be hard for other people depending on who you talk to (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/04/margalef-take-2-tale-of-trickyish-route.html)
24 April 2015, 8:37 pm
Era Vella - big and steep For those who didn't already know, a few weeks ago I went to Spain and did my project, Era Vella. I tried it for 3 weeks in October, got my ass kicked, came home and trained for it all winter, went back for a 5 day mini-trip in Feb, then headed out for 3 weeks in March/April to do the deed. Fair to say I was pretty chuffed to get up the thing this time around! Being
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Interesting blogs there.
Lot's of talking points in there, so I'm going to start with a random one that made me laugh regarding what second try means. Vaguely related, but it always bothers me when people note down how many redpoint attempts it took them. I mean, surely that's a pointless statistic? Obviously 1st (2nd, 3rd, etc) redpoint looks better than "spent 10 sessions working the moves and doing links before I RP'd it".
However, back on topic, I know some people who second try means they fell off the onsight/flash then they could work the route for as long as they like (even multiple sessions) and when they eventually try it from the ground again - that's second try. To me, second try in that situation is a bit misleading as it makes it sound like they did it in half an hour or something.
Though to be fair, it's not as bad as someone who only puts a comment on to write "soft".
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Enjoying the Ride (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/06/enjoying-ride.html)
22 June 2015, 1:54 pm
After coming back from Spain I was involved in making a few training related bits of media. Firstly I had a fun interview with Neely from TrainingBeta, which can be found here: If you've not listened to the others in the series and you're interested in how people train then they're worth a listen whilst you're pootling around doing aero cap or similar. Next up was a video on endurance
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Kilnsey Main Overhang (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/08/kilnsey-main-overhang.html)
23 August 2015, 9:44 pm
Earlier this year I noticed a new line of draws heading through the main overhang at Klinsey. From the top of Hardy Annual they blasted into the steepness, swung right along an obvious break line and then once again blasted out to the finish of the classic Mandela. It quickly transpired that this was a project of Neil Gresham's that he'd bolted the year before. I got on with getting Progress done
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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In Praise of Climbers (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2015/11/in-praise-of-climbers.html)
8 November 2015, 11:55 am
In mid-September I was pulling hard on the Keen Roof undercut when I felt something go in one of my fingers. I stepped off and my DIP joint on that finger stayed hyperextended. Over the next 2 weeks I did my normal rehab - gradually do more, try not to do too much. It felt ok after that to the point where I could crimp again, and I returned to manage my hardest ever boulder problem, and gain
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Liar! You've never pulled hard on anything!
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Done something a bit similar to my finger. Also, how did you swing it to get into the hospital so fast! Took me 4 months to get an appointment with the elbow guys.
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He told them he's climbed 9a.
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Yeah, I just walked in n said "don't you know who I am?"..
Was impressed actually - from first contact with a receptionist at minor injuries to having been seen by a surgeon in under 24 hrs! No idea if that's normal or not but I suspect that going through minor injuries is faster than gp - they just called them up asking for next available appointment and it was the nwxt morning.
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That is exceedingly useful beta on getting to see a physio.
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Cue queues of climbers with finger injuries lining up at Minor Injuries Units across the country. :clown:
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I turned up at my local MIU last year when I thought I'd fractured my DIP joint by hyper-extending it crimping hard on a boulder. A GP would likely only have referred me for an x-ray. This way I got the x-ray right away.
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Did the same when I thought I'd broken my scaphoid, in and out with x-ray in under an hour.
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Same here - I got seen really fast by going to MIU.
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Optimise Climbing 2016 (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2016/01/optimise-climbing-2016.html)
14 January 2016, 1:59 pm
Despite being a training nerd, I don't normally do any coaching. With my PhD thesis submitted, a nice 3-day per week schedule working for my research group's spin-out company and having recently started writing training plans for both The Queen of the Wave and Mina this seemed like a good time to change that. In a couple of weeks time I'll thus be running one of the four sessions at the Optimise
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Sandstone Season Part 1: The Grampians (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2016/05/sandstone-season-part-1-grampians.html)
19 May 2016, 8:20 am
<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
That's almost up there with Keith's blog post entirely in binary.
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Unusually not a problem at our end - there is some weird code buried at the start of Alex's blogpost.
FWIW here's a link to the post
http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.ca/2016/05/sandstone-season-part-1-grampians.html
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Barrows always has to fuck things up, doesn't he.
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Yeah. Fucking Barrows.
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Kneebarred the HTML into fuckery.
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Travelled to the other side of the world to climb in a cave with knee bars on every move :o
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anaging two hard link ups: Cave Rave (8A+/B) links Cave Man (7C) into Dead Can't Dance (8A, but maybe easier with my magical beta
Hope you haven't been upsetting the locals Barros
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The Wheel Of Life (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2016/06/are-you-going-to-try-wheel-na-its.html)
4 June 2016, 2:24 am
"Are you going to try The Wheel?" "Na, it's probably too hard and I don't want to spend my whole trip projecting in a cave." I had similar conversations to that with a number of people before coming to Australia. In many ways The Wheel Of Life was an obvious target, being both the world classic of its genre and one of Australia's hard 'must-dos' for any aspiring wannabe (the other obvious
Source: Alex Barrows Climbing (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/)
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Rocklands Smash Fest (http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com/2016/07/rockalnds-smash-fest.html)
31 July 2016, 2:48 pm