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the shizzle => chuffing => Topic started by: krymson on January 13, 2015, 03:28:46 pm
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Just bought my tickets to hong kong for a 4 day climbing trip in mid feb. Was originally planning on 2 on, 1 rest day and then 1 on but my friend mentioned that he wanted to climb all 4 days.
I often see people posting about climbing trips to france etc. How do you guys manage multiple days on? For instance with regards to pacing, with 4 days would it be better to go 2 hard, 2 easy or 1 hard, 2 easy, 1 hard? etc.
And would there be any good physical conditioning i could do beforehand so my body is ready for this?
Want to try hard but also dont want to get injured.
cheers
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Never have a problem on climbing trips abroad, usually only have 1 rest day per 6-7 day trip and that's only due to weather, quite often just have a lighter day / morning / afternoon if the weather doesn't force a full rest day. This is for typical limestone sport, but with a mixture of sport or trad, or a mixture of slabs and steeper stuff, I'd do more, e.g. 9 days straight in Malta / Pfalz, 11 days with 1 rest day in Morocco.
I find doing continuous days on routes tends to keep me warmed up mentally and physically, that compensates for any tiredness. Being in a warmer climate and resting well at night definitely helps more than climbing in the UK. The only problem is getting skin trashed, mixing up styles and angles helps with that.
N.B. This is only punting around onsighting/flashing at 80-100% of my limit, with about 6 routes or so per day. Projecting n stuff I don't know about.
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Above all things, look after the skin. If you're trying a problem and it is eluding you on days one and two, and it is causing significant wear on a vital tip, walk away. Preserve the skin and come back to it on the last day.
If tips just get thin I find the skin recovers quite quickly, once you go through and see blood you've fucked it. Regardless of what's going on on Dawn Wall, I find it impossible to climb well with taped fingers.
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P.S. If was going somewhere as exotic and far away as Hong Kong, I'd be trying to climb 5 days out of 4!!
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Never have a problem on climbing trips abroad, usually only have 1 rest day per 6-7 day trip and that's only due to weather, quite often just have a lighter day / morning / afternoon if the weather doesn't force a full rest day.
Sounds like you're a beast! But good to hear it is not too out of the ordinary. Makes sense though, will probably just do less burns per day, and listen to the body, as the weather should be perfect all 4 days!
I do prefer to onsight on trips but my friend and i have a tradition of betting pizza on hard climbs so will probably end up doing 50/50.
Above all things, look after the skin. If you're trying a problem and it is eluding you on days one and two, and it is causing significant wear on a vital tip, walk away. Preserve the skin and come back to it on the last day.
yes the project crag has sharp granite. The plan is to antihydral the week of. Had good results with that last year, though it was only 2 days on instead of 4.
HK is not so far for me! but thanks for the psyche =)
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In terms of fitness: If there is a long approach make sure you are fit enough to do the hike as well as climb as many pitches as you intend. You could always try a couple back to back days in the gym or your local crag to see how your body responds (just don't get injured before the trip).
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Just drink one of these after each session and you'll be fine:
(http://groceries.morrisons.com/productImages/113/113577011_0_640x640.jpg?identifier=b11056d79ad95be92d1dcf69f95ccd8b)
It has to be the chocolate one though, seriously, it does. Too much sugar in the others.
Oh, and apply good quality hand cream each night.
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Yop non?
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Forget projecting and grades ' n'stuff. Just go climb every day, all day, as much as your body will take and enjoy it all. Projecting is for nearby home crags or if you have loads of time to burn.. It's too stressful otherwise. All IMHO of course.
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You'll be surprised what you can onsight on day three or four after climbing in the same area... I wouldn't bother with any rest time on a four day trip.
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I do prefer to onsight on trips but my friend and i have a tradition of betting pizza on hard climbs so will probably end up doing 50/50.
Bet the pizza on the hardest onsight!
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genius!
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On bouldering trips, my advice would be:
(1) Look after your skin - there's nothing worse that going through a tip on day 2 and not being able to try hard for the next few days
(2) Don't try to climb all day, especially if you're trying hard - rather pick the time of day you climb best/when conditions are best. This is afternoons and evening for me, so I sleep in (not a luxury I have during the working week), read my book, drink coffee, stretch etc until I feel ready to climb, rather than push myself to get out too early because this invariably means that I'm tired before the conditions are best
(3) Warm down and stretch after climbing, foam roll/massage if possible.
(4) Look after your skin
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I thought Krymson was climbing routes...
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You can climb as many days in a row as you want. Take care of your fingers: bring rubbing alcohol, neosporin, wet wipes etc. Don't climb hard every day. Before you go, get used to do a little every day.
I never climb 4 days in a row on sport climbing trips. But then again I'm old.
On alpine climbing/multipitch climbing trips I climb every day with good weather, and sometimes that's quite a few days in a row. On these trips infections under the nails etc... is the limiting factor for me.
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jwi's advice 'Before you go, get used to do a little every day.' is probably the key.
Obviously look after your skin, but if you get your body used to climbing everyday, it wont feel like such a slog by your 4th day on. You can always just have a chilled 3rd day if you are feeling particularly knackered.
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Jibe famously climbed 40 days when he came to the UK in 90's and repeated all the hardest routes. Last three trips to Kalymnos I climbed 7 days on though with a low performance last day. Obviously this is onsighting/quick redpoints. Never used to think it was possible for me to do that kind of multi-day trip. It is definitely trainable though your body might try to persuade you otherwise until it adapts.
Doing training everyday (and potentially with double sessions) ie Sharkathon tm is good for you if done with enough variety and stopping strongish and having an easy week say once a month. AeroCap work is I think particularly helpful for getting in shape for a multi-day trip.
One potential tactic for sneaking in a semi-rest if you feel you need it is to climb the morning of one day and then the evening of the next. In addition to jwi's advice I would experiment with hardening up your tips prior to a trip with products like Elizabeth Arden cream and antihydral so you know what works on the trip. I heard Dylan ruined his US trip through overuse of antihydral.
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(1) Skin is key. Don't trash yourself too early.
(2) There's a trade off between freshness and getting into the rock type. Personally I always find I'm a bit rubbish when getting used to a new rock-type/crag/area for the first couple of days. Part of that is not getting out on rock enough and that may or may not apply to you. But for me there's no point trying to operate at my top level in the first day or so of a trip - I'm better off getting into the rock type, doing some easy, non-stressful onsights, maybe redpoint something that I'll get in a couple of goes. On the third day I'm able to go a bit harder - I might be a bit tired and my skin might not be 100%, but my head's there and it makes a bigger difference.
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Everyone is different, and I think you'll find that the total volume is really the key. If you are used to doing 6 pitches worth of climbing in a day and then taking a rest day. Then if you go and do 6-7 hard pitches a day for the first 2-3 days, then you'll be well fucked... If you're used to doing 8-12 pitches worth a day, then having a rest day(training mode), and you do 6 pitches, you'll manage 4 days no problem. In my experience, If you go out of the blocks hard and overdo the first day though, there's no coming back.
In other words, your training days should really be harder/bigger than your planned climbing days, and if so, then you should be able to manage multiple in a row.
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As said above, recovery is trainable, go into it gently at first.
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... although growing finger skin isn't. Unless you are Kevin Jorgeson.
I was in Arco at New Year and did six days on, for the first time in a very long time. We spent days one, three and five on a couple of newly developed sectors that still had sections of tufa covered in sharp, crumbly "broccoli", and by day three several of my fingertips were nearly through. Went into town and bought a jar of Climb On, took it very easy indeed on day four, and ticked my proj on day five.
Generally felt a bit knackered but still capable of going on after the first three days, but it really was touch and go with the skin.
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Indeed skin is different, but without knowing the conditions/rock type it's about impossible to say how to prep for that.
For example, almost everyone I know talks about Bishop being really hard on the skin, but I've never had a big issue there. but the happy's shred me up.....
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... although growing finger skin isn't [trainable]. Unless you are Kevin Jorgeson.
Are you sure about that?
I climb a lot outdoors and my skin is generally not a limiting factor. I know others who climb indoors a lot and really struggle with skin soreness outdoors. I think it's possible skin does adapt.
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Definitely, when I was climbing very frequently on grit (4 or 5 days a week) my skin was soft, supple and strong and I never had an issue with it. Now I climb grit once a week if I'm lucky, my skin goes pretty quick.
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take a really comfy pair of shoes for doing easy warm ups and warm downs, and save your tight shoes for the hard stuff. I find my feet start hurting after a few days, and techy climbing becomes a bit grim. I have got weirdly shaped feet though.
Train before by doing lots of volume. a bit of repeaters in the morning, then do loads and loads of routes in the evening. Then loads more routes the next day.
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just came back from the trip - went fairly well, here's what worked and didnt':
skin
-like everyone was saying, skin was absolutely key . went hard on sharp granite the first day and blew through to the tips -- had to cut the day short. trip was saved by climbing on smooth granite the second day + tip juice + antihydral + superglue
-superglue is essential - a thin layer on blasted tips each attempt worked wonders without ruining sensitivity.
-antihydral works great but it seems to have a delayed effect for me. I applied it the night before the first day of climbing but it didnt really take effect till the 3rd of climbing so if you're climbing on wednesday, you should start applying it monday. It dries fast once worked into the skin so you can put it on and then carry on with your regular routine
fitness
-starting 2 weeks before the trip i increased my volume of climbing per week as suggested including climbing 2 or 3 days in a row. this seemed to work as I made more attempts than my partner yet was less tired at the end of each day.
Tactics
-Lower volume per day is key. Better to do it by increasing rests between attempts rather than shortening the climbing day.
-A chilled out 3rd day worked wonders and let me go hard on the 4th to send my "proj"
-Don't plan for big sends the first day on unfamiliar terrain - instead, take the first day to do a bit of volume at moderate grades to get used to the rock and style of climbing. If you go hard the first day you will probably just wear yourself or your skin out instead of sending anything hard.