[tomtom]

A rainy Sunday afternoon = power club entry time...

A good week...

M:

T: Brownstones with Andy Popp. Still some shade when we arrived in the morning, but it soon got hot. Andy got stuck into Hanks - as did I, and we both nearly got it a couple of times - until the sun came onto it and the sharp tiny crimps just became too much for the conditions. We moved onto Groundhog - and.. after a couple of sighters got it Well, I got it one time and didnt really have the final move in control, and after frowning expressions from Andy indicated this would not count I went back and did it again. Trick for me was when I had the high sidepull, to pull over on my right heel then I could get and match the top. Simple really Sitter next time....

W:

Th: Helsby and Harmers.. went to Helsby in the woods for an hour or so, felt stronger on the reverse traverse - so hopefully that should go soon, and managed a footless jug traverse I've been pissing about with when there to get a bit of campus style action in... then met Andy at Harmers and had a play on the two projects he's been cleaning up. I was a little tired from earlier - so climbed until my tips screamed at me (about an hour) then gave up. Both problems look highball and good...

Fr:

Sa: Blackstones, with Andy P (again) and Mr & Mrs Fatneck... Windy. Very Windy. Very very windy. It failed my Almscliff based windometer test (bouldering mats get blown away) but we persisted. Fun at the Hueco blocs (lost alot of skin trying the harder slab to the right of the Hueco wall) - then off to try some things near the Trig point. Good fun on Pockington lane - Nearly flashed 'the Lushering' (7A) but was blown off barn door fashion after the hard bit! Then took shelter (ish) in the boulders behind the edge and did Home Improvements (LH and RH). Nice problems (though LH felt soft at 6C, 7A about right for the RH one..). Walked back to the cars c.5 hours later battered. Great!



Su: ached.

Off to Vienna with work this week, so probably little/no chance for bouldering, but good to get a fairly full in week under the belt.

[fried]

Cheers TT

Mon - Grande Montagne to have a rest day (3rd day climbing out of 4) and to get some peace. Started O.K. Did a really fun traverse. lots of pine needles, moss and litchen, all good fun. Sadly my left arm and elbow started aching and I knew it was all over. 30 mins climbing for 2h driving. Don't know if I'll be back here in a hurry.

Tue/ Wed - Nothing

Thu - Buthier Piscine, very quiet (bizarre) start ticking off blues and oranges, really nice conditions. Flash a black slab. I wanted to look at a black circuit problem called Jojo, but the sun is right in my eyes, so I leave it intending to come back later. More blues, then another black circuit problem which is certainly the quickest and most convincing I've done on this grade of problem (5+ ). Feeling really good. Fail to get off the ground on the slab of Ultrason while watching a group work Appartanance. Backed off a dodgy looking red circuit topout, looked at my watch and it was time to leave. Excellent day. Summer hits Font.

Fri - rest
Sat - Nothing
Sun - Was hoping for a session, but a family BBQ gets planned..bah. Never mind I'm not working on Tuesday.

[kelvin]

 Air strike cost me two days but happily sat in a bar in Barcelona today - with an unhappy leg from hitting the ground last Sunday. Nothing to report. Montserrat tomorrow for a climb, all being well.

[Muenchener]

STG: ?
MTG (2015): 7b redpoint
            Beastmaker 5A routine: 90.4%
            Muscle-Up
            Sautanz
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl West Face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

M: Rainy Easter Monday afternoon outing to swimming pool with M jnr. Not that I did much actual swimming
T: Bike to work 25km
   Beastmaker cut-down 5A routine. Six reps of 6 on, 4 off. So somewhere around 4C.
W: Bike to work 25km
T: Beastmaker. Attempted the full 5A routine. Good progress: tried all 18 sets, versus 15 on my last attempt a month ago. Had to skip a total of 12 reps (out of 18 x 7 = 126 in total) so am 90.4% confident of my ability to climb 5A now.

F: Learned that I have survived a round of redundancies at work  but landed in a shitty position in the new organisation    yyfn 

S: Beastmaker. A few sets of weighted max hangs on the medium edge, this being the crux hold of the 5A routine. Training for training.
S: Wall, Boulderwelt. Circuit projects. Having spent the weekend stewing in office politics rage  , wasn't expecting much in terms of ability to focus. But actually went surprisingly well. Did the 7b+ in two long overlapping links 1-22, 12-30. Matched my high point on the 7b twice, but the next move is hard: a cross through off a first joint sloper that I can do pretty consistently when fresh, but don't even get close when I'm powered out. Feel like I have better chances on the 7b+: it's more technical, but not as powerful towards the end.
   Bike to & from wall 25km

[jfdm]

Not been on Power club for a while - but had great week in Ambleside.
First time outdoors this year.
Cracking weather, great chippy in Ambleside, couldn't ask for anymore.

Sat - travel up from London. Sun - nothing but some prat put ding in car door
Mon: Brant Fell - absolutely amazing views. Pottered doing easy stuff v0's
Tues: Langdale boulders - did a few problems - got scared on The Crack. Didn't quite have the bottle! Tried The Pocket. Got lost in car looking for Grizdale Forest!
Weds: fantastic walk up Pavey's Arc in Langdale - found snow + got sun burnt.
Thurs: walked from Ambleside to Grassmere round Loughrigg Fell. Crap pizza's in G'mere.
Fri: Thorn Crag with Mrs jfdm - absolutely fantastic 1st visit.
Managed to do Burnt Heather Crap at grit - feels so alien.
Really pleased with this as it gets Eng 6a/fb6b/v3, and is at my limit outdoors. YYFY!
Saw 2 walkers in the 4/5 hours we were there - beautiful setting, great problems.
Eyed up Moment of Clarity - bloody hell.

Have few pics - how can I post them onto Ukb from iPad?

[duncan]

Weeks 268-269

STG - Get over this bloody shoulder tweak. Find out what is up with my hip and do something about it. Lose 2kg.
MTG: tbc
LTG: Long hard (for me) rock routes in the Alps, Dolomites, Picos and Scotland. 7c RP.

M - Shoulder stability exercises.
T - Westway 4 routes 4+-5+
W -
T - Drive to Pembroke
F - Saddle Head - Severe-VS
S - Porth Clais - Severe-VS
S - Bow-shaped slab and Crystal slab - Severe-VS
M - Rusty Point (Lydstep) - Severe-HVS, including a new route.
T - photography, St Govan's - HVSs
W - Carreg-y-Barcud - S-HVS
T - St Govan's - HVS-E1, drive home.
F - GP visit: both hips have "moderate degeneration" on X-Ray. R is a little worse.
S - Westway bouldering: V0-V1
S - Westway routes: 'active recovery' to 5+.

Pembroke was great: good company and almost perfect weather the whole week. Lots of action in Stennis Fiord, including the obligatory overseas visitors. Got to see several new-to-me areas, checked-out Neil Mawson's E10 from afar. It's steep...  Spied an even more impressive slice of rock in the general vicinity. The UK is by no means climbed-out.

Climbing was slightly frustrating given the great conditions, several of my long-term targets were well-chalked. Shoulder is about 50-60%, by no means pain free. I'm not sure the rest-and-rehab. month made much difference.

On balance, hip X-Ray result is good news or at least not worse than expected. I was pretty certain it was osteoarthritis, the question being how much.

Plan: stick with the programme and gradually ramp up the volume and intensity. Await physio. appointment for hip.

[tomtom]

 Jfdm - Thorns ace isn't it

[petejh]

Thanks TT.

STG: Melanchollie (in May) or The Brute (in August)
MTG: Onsight attempts on The Hurting, Cathedral, Banana Wall, Anubis (next winter)
LTG: 8c (within three years)
Ultimate goal: undecided

Power Phase, week 2

M.
T. Boardroom. Warm-up bouldering: V0 - V7 two of each all onsight (the V7s surely aren't?). Max 2 moves on board. The Boardroom's board is rubbish (a recurring theme this week): highly textured holds = flapper central, and too easy. A shame as the rest of the wall is very good.
W. TRX and kettlebell core workout.
T. Beacon: warm-up bouldering V0 - V5 two of each. Over to the Mill for campus sesh: great workout, did 1-5-7 on the small metolius rungs (22cm spacing), both arms. First time I've done that.
F.
S. Core workout and back mobility.
S. Supposed to be max power moves at the Gop. Hurricane and bucketing rain so drove to Mill. Motivation couldn't face shitty drafty leaking building so went to Beacon. Warm-up bouldering V0 - V5. Then 15 mins on a couple of harder ones. Then max 2 moves on board. The Beacon's board is rubbish as well - better than the Boardroom's but still useless for hard training becasue the holds are too big and you risk spannering into a punter on the rings if you go for the top move and don't hold it. In a mood so kicked out some tenants on way home.

Decent week despite my whinging. Had a right sad-on about the poor state of training facilities in north Wales. It's a poor joke that the best training board we've got occupies a leaking cold shit-hole of a barn with no proper lighting power or heating (there's currently a truck battery though). Not a problem most times when I'm psyched, but sometimes when motivation for training isn't optimal and the weather's turd the last thing you need is to feel dragged down by a shit facility. Do walls have crap boards as a policy?

[jfdm]

Jfdm - Thorns ace isn't it

Tomtom, it's brilliant - wish Thorn was on my door step!
Any ideas about getting photos from ipad/phone to ukb?
My formative years were spent at Brownstones.
Living in London has it's moments but really miss Bolton/Lancs.
Found out my cousin has moved to Longridge.
Hoping to come up in the summer B'stones, L'ridge and Thorn will be the hot spots!
Enjoyed Thorn more than my Peak(s) District trip last year!

[shark]

11.5 this morning

M. AM Went to Roche aux Oiseaux for first time with Tom. Early start as thought it would get hot. Needn't have worried it was -3 degrees on way there (but 12 degrees when we left). Good spot. Great warm up boulder and we both ticked Action Directe Assis a soft 7A and Tommy's first of the grade.
T. AM Back to Oiseaux bringing Ben so he could try ADA but unsuccessful    Me and Tommy both did the highball Le Chouette. I did the Assis which was gift at 7A (more like 6B+/6C) and then tried Brazil which was conversely desperate at 7A.
W. Paris en famille by train to see the spectacular Jeff Koons retrospective at the Pompidou Centre
T. AM Buthiers. Feeling a bit uninspired. After warming up had quite a few goes on Lady Big Claques (7a/+). Did OK but no cigar. Then Tommy's turn on the magnificent highball Attention Chef D'Ouevre 7A. A gang of talented French teenagers on it so well padded out. Tom didn't look too great on it but then suddenly pulled it out of the bag  We then went over to the good but obscure Fantasia 6C, his nemesis from last year which he duly despatched
F. AM Isatis with Ben and Tom for first time. El Poussah 7A looked nails so tried El Pousiff 7A+ but didn't make too much of an impression. Went over to Cuisiniere. Quite hot by now. Beatle Juice 7A+ nicely shaded. Managed to do all the moves but not close to linking it. 21 degrees when we left.
S. Drove home taking care not to eat much.
S.

Best week I think I've had in Font weather wise getting gradually hotter as week progressed. Consequently a bit disappointed not to have come back with more ticks but hey ho. Tommy doing Attention Chef D'Ouevres was a big milestone. Booked to go Malham on Tuesday and Friday. No idea how I will get on. Taking care with food intake to counteract all the wine, cheese etc from last week.
 

[nai]

Goals:

Spring - HFC & Short Chimes
Summer - Body Machine & Ext, Cornices?
Autumn - Raindogs, Full Chimes.

Week In Font:

Short version

Sun - JA Martin 2x6Cs
M - Canche - did 3x7As, failed on a 7A+ & 7B
T - Rocher St Germain - did 7A hghball slab
W - Rocher Des Potets - did 2x7A, sat under the 7B looked up and burst out laughing at how far away the next hold is.
T - 95.2 Big temp rise, 23 degrees now, failed on 4 7A/+s
F - Sabot warm again - failed on 2x7A, did a 6C+.

Long Version:

Sun recap. Day one in Font. Had made a list of areas suitable for all - circuits for kids, occasional ladies and teenage lad, not-as-young-as-they-once-were dads, and me. It comprised, JA Martin, Canche, Sabot & Rocher St Germain plus Nainville, Elephant and possible Dame Jouanne. First up was JA Martin where I hoped to do Coleur Feu Assis, Petit Toi & Arete Marbre. Coleur Feu Assis was wet but I did the stand - this is a really good obscure problem worth looking out if you're there. Also did Petit Toi but while fun enough couldn't really recommend it.  Arete Marbre was covered (and I mean covered) in ladybirds and I while not in a heightened state of mind I didn't want to be really upset a lot so left it alone.

Coleur Feu




M - Canche Aux Merciers reluctantly after reading about the horror of Sunday. Nearly left as soon as I saw the car park overflowing but family wouldn't let me change plans.  While busy it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.  First up was Gros Doigts and Parabellum, they're side by side so you can swap between the.  No sooner had I popped my mat down and I was swamped by a team of Germans and much discussion ensued about what was in or out on each problem and sequences came and went. Parabellum succumbed first although felt a bit easy to me but went where the line in the book did and with the holds small sharp skin wreckers I wasn't inclined to try an alternative. They seemed certain GD fell to a LH gaston bumping RH up to a shit sloper then again to a flatty where the blue it joins starts. The way I did it was kind of like 1-3-5.5 foot-on-campus off shit foot holds with 1 being incut, 3 a 60 degree sloper and 5.5 a flatty. They said it was surely 7B like that but then they thought Parabellum solid 7A, so.... Had a look at Extorsion du Fond and Grande Marche without success then spotted an interesting low roof which turned out to be Quel Talon - undercuts, couple of slopey crimps, nothing sloper, rounded top, insecure mantle. Subsequently saw it described on bleau.info as 7A+ without a crozzly sidepull out left, now I didn't use that as I thought it too far left to be in but not sure if 7A+ would be for going straight from slopey crimp to top-out rather than using anything as an intermediate, which I did.  So maybe I've done my first Forest 7A+ but I reckon I'll wait til I've done something without arbitrary rules and a bit more quality before claiming it.

T - Early start to Pete Bois, 2 degrees when I arrive just before 8, perfect connies but all I manage to do is confirm that La Baleine is too scary to try alone, Big Jim hurts my fingers too much and L'Ouef is too hard.
Head to Rocher Saint-Germain around noon. Was sure I'd not been here before but as soon as I left the car park I recognised it. Spent most of the day doing whites and yellows with the kids plus the occasional blue while I waited for the sun to go off Mise Au Poing, a highball 7A slab. Made quite rapid progress on that up to a point where it gets high and insecure but after several trips up before jumping off I worked it out then it was down to just going for it. First time I made one more move before falling then next time I managed to scrape through although not without a moment at the very top which could have ended very badly. highlight of the day though was when my nipper did this completely umprompted, skillz



W - Expected folk to want a rest today but they wanted to go climbing again so a quick choice had to be made. Settled on Rocher Des Potets thinking I'd have myself a nice easy active rest day on some yellow and orange problems. Struggled on oranges to start but got going eventually and when I came across Le Gueulard I quite fancied a go. Looked quite straightforward but it became apparent that the too-obvious kneebar wasn't working and a high heel-toe would be the answer. Without a spot and only one pad I plugged away for a long time at the kneebar before requesting help then got it in a few attempts but not without a nasty tumble that would have hurt without the extra pad and spot.  Now that I was warm I decided to try Snoopy which the sun had just gone off and that went down fairly quickly. Highlight of the day today was my nipper doing her first unaided yellow:



Le Gueulard



Th - Bit of a mess of day, was planning Sabot when mate texted saying how about the place on the way to Cul de Chien? Thinking he meant 95.2 we arranged to meet there  then he called from Sabot asking where we were. Two approaches innit.  Anyway, he came to us.  Not been here since it was crossed off the list of possible venues by the family five years ago so have been keen to get back, but on the right day.  Set up camp amidst a number of yellows so Tim-Tim and Indestructible became the targets.  Was just beaten to the latter by a German couple, he did it really quick but she was working it and was reluctant to let me join in. Had a quick go but obviously wasn't welcome so went to try Tim-Tim which I nearly did but wasn't as inspired by so returned as soon as Indestructible was free. Unfortunately it was now mostly in the full force of the sun in 23 degree heat. Slogged away for a while, did all the moves and got close but it wasn't going to happen. Had a break and went to look at Mur Aux Fosse and Danse Avec Les Loops which were in the shade but couldn't get off the ground on either.

Fri - Sabot. We always end up coming here so I had planned for at least one visit and the list of things to look at was long, I know it's often very busy but at least there's loads of decent stuff to go at.  First up got on Jus D'Orange but probably too late in the trip and too early in the day for a savage rockover on tiny, sharp grattons. Wandered round deciding against various things due to them being in the sun or looking hard or shit or morpho or whatever and bumped into a friendly crew of mostly Brits trying Jeu du Toit, which I'd done last year, so decided on L'Anglomaniaque, which I managed in 3 or 4 attempts after working the end a bit, but, oh man, the final mantle was touch and go. Jet Set or A L'Impossible were on the list but instead we all teamed up for a look at Le Flippeur, but none if us made much of an impression. Spent an hour doing yellows with the wife then it was decided to call it a day. I pleaded for another shot at Jus D'Orange but was vetoed and that was that, the holiday ended with a bit of a whimper.

So a good start to the trip but petered out at the end.  Mixed feelings about it, on paper a decent haul but while there were some "nice" problems real quality was a bit thin on the ground. Also, felt so good the week before that hopes were very high so hoped to do more and something a bit harder.  Guess it was a case of keeping everyone happy which was largely achieved and as long as the family are happy to keep going back then it's all good.

[r-man]

Jfdm - Thorns ace isn't it

Tomtom, it's brilliant - wish Thorn was on my door step!
Any ideas about getting photos from ipad/phone to ukb?
My formative years were spent at Brownstones.
Living in London has it's moments but really miss Bolton/Lancs.
Found out my cousin has moved to Longridge.
Hoping to come up in the summer B'stones, L'ridge and Thorn will be the hot spots!
Enjoyed Thorn more than my Peak(s) District trip last year!

If you are on Facebook, you might like the group Lancashire Rock Revival - lots of enthusiasm for Lancs rock - bouldering, trad and everything else.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1566324270279682/

Have you been to any of the other moorland crags? If you like Thorn and are climbing 5's/6's you'd have a great day at Bull Stones, Blackstone Edge or Stony Edge.

[Pako]

M - Warmed up on the board for an hour, did a one arm on both arms with 3 kilos of assist on my lovely pulley, wasn't feeling 1.5kg on the right arm today though.
Then I did some fingerboard and pinch training. 15.5kg max pinch holds that went quite well, 10 seconds or so each time for both hands, although yet again my left hand seemed to be able to hold the pinch for longer than my right for some reason. Will probably increase the weight next time. Then I did some one arm straight arm hanging on the 1 and a bit pad edges on the beastmaker, with 6.5kg of assist. Only really got to 3 to 4 seconds on each arm, with the right arm dominating in this area. Next time I think I will bend my arm so that I can hang for longer. I changed the weight to 8kg assist after a couple reps with 6.5 because I wasn't hanging for at least 3 seconds. Then I did some pocket and open work, doing some max hangs on my back 2 that felt very good. I have not really trained on pockets before, but I am liking it.

T - Rest day. I did get quite annoyed that I had still not done a one arm while my skinny friend had, so I decided in a fit of cataclysmic rage to do battle with my most despised enemy - core exercises. I did some situps off of my bed, but the next day I realized the error of my ways.

W - Went bouldering at Tooheys, in Brisbane. Was good fun, I had not been there since last year, when I went outdoors for the first time. I managed to pull off the ground on Dancer, a v7 one move wonder on my first go, which I was pretty happy about. The rest of the session I spent smacking the jug but not sticking it. The other person who had sent it said that when he could pull off the ground he could get the jug, it was just pulling off the ground that took him a while. Not sure what I was doing wrong. Dabbing was quite a menace on it though, and the closest I got, when I actually stuck the sloper beneath the jug and was about to bump up, I got down due to dabs. Next time...

T - Bloody sore after yesterday, I just set some replicates of dancer on the board and tried it a bit. Mainly a rest day.

F - Did a one arm in neutral on my right arm with 2 kilos of assistance twice today, not consecutively though, just at different points in the day. Had a fantastic session on the board, managed to finally send this 7 move tension boulder I set ages ago, good to have that done with, and to hopefully see that I have some modicum of power-endurance.

S - Good board session. Did the 7 move boulder again, and did the very low percentage undercling cut loose move on the 4 move power boulder. Couldn't do a one arm with 2kg assist today, must be tired.

S - Rest day. I wanted to do a fingerboard and pinch session but the split on my middle finger has been getting progressively worse throughout the week.

Overall good week, very happy to see board training has paid off outdoors, pissed off that one arm still hasn't happened.

[T_B]

85.5Kg

M -
T - P.M. Stanage End. After Sunday's session on Low Rider, thought I should get back up there and try and close the deal. Slopey finger rail was a little warm in the evening sun and first couple of goes struggled with the 'toe hook slap', but then got to the last move again. Went for a walk for 15 mins, came back and sent. Well psyched! Wandered back down the hill as the sun set.
W -
T - School lunch. Managed to link first 5 moves of Pink problem, then AnCap circuit. Crushed 10 out of 10 (40 secs on, 1min45 off). Almost as psyched as Tuesday after my abysmal performance on this a couple of weeks ago.
F - Foundry lunch. AeroPow. 30-move circuit on board (1min30) with same rest times. Pretty pumped, so only managed 2, then 9 min rest, failed 1-move shy of 3, 9 mins and failed on move 25 of 2. Lots of room for improvement.
S - Enter Experience London. 9 hours of dancing/shuffling 
S -

Lightish week climbing wise, but three high quality sessions. I'd tried Low Rider 5 or 6 times 5 years ago, so well chuffed to come back stronger (cos that's what it comes down to ultimately) and do it. Hope to get maybe one more grit thing done before lime time. Off to N Wales en famille first May Bankie and last week in May, so aiming to be in shape for that.

[the_dom]

Monday: too tired and skin too torched to climb - left Rocklands early and went for an  hour long trail run instead
Tuesday: skin was feeling a little better, so did a short one arm session and then a campus session, finished off with a set of intervals on the treadmill - pretty heavy day
Wednesday: one arm session, followed by a short, tired bouldering session. 5th day climbing / training out of last 6, so tiredness to be expected.
Thursday: 40 minute trail run
Friday: really fun morning surf, followed by a very solid hangboard session - solid set of one arms, followed by encores on the small BM edge and 35 degree sloper
Saturday: feeling tired and no surf, so short one arm session
Sunday: long day out bouldering - ticked a new 7A+ and 7B and followed up with a short one arm session.

Overall, a hard week of training but starting to feel strong in preparation for Font - I leave on wednesday, assuming of course that the work shy French air traffic control don't decide to ruin my trip.

[andy_e]

Off to Vienna with work this week

EGU?

[JohnM]

STG: Strength and conditioning phase, Bat Route.
MTG: Indian Summer, Kilnsey or Bat Route, Malham
LTG: Big wall/hard multipitch, 8A/+ boulder problem (bloc style < 10 moves), UK 8b+/c, live in Spain.

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Bouldering warm up (30 mins), finger board (3 x 10 secs of front 3, back 3, no front 2 because of seg split, back 2, middle 2, front 3 half crimp, front 3 crimp), pyramid pull ups (3, 5, 8, 5, 4) 25 w/o weight, 25 weighted.  4 pull ups on the minute for 20 minutes then 5 on the minute for 4 minutes (i.e. 100 pull ups in 24 minutes). 
Wednesday: Bouldering warm up (30 mins), CWP finger board routine, 4 sets of holding lock offs each move up the systems board (big jugs x 2, mini jugs x 1 and pockets x 1).  3 sets (~7 secs) one arm locking front 3 crimp undercuts on holds under campus board + 3 sets (~10 secs) full finger crimp one arm undercut lock offs (feet on highest foot rung) - specific training for Bat Route crux.
Thursday: Major DOMS!  Rest plus light resistance therabanding and stretching.
Friday: Rest + drive to Torquay.
Saturday: Anstey's Cove.  Warm up on a 6a+, 6c and a 7b x2  and then try Cider Soak.  Flash go is rubbish and I fall at first bolt.  Work the moves.  1st rp attempt I fall off the slopey shoulder at the top.  2nd rp I catch the pocket as a shallow ring finger mono but can't adjust and fall.  3rd rp attempt I manage to get my left hand on to the massive jug by the chains and still somehow manage to fall off!  Feel wrecked so call it a day.  Won 550 quid on the national so go out to celebrate with a fillet steak!
Sunday:  Torbryan.  Warm up a Mayday (6c).  Has a very hard crux for 6c but must be one of the best 6cs in the country.  Then do the other 6c on the right which is also really good before doing Thread Flintstone the super classic 7a+.  Have a flash go a Threadbare but fall at the first crux going left after messing around too long with too many foot moves.  Do a 6b to put the draws up for Anna and then do Threadbare next go before putting the rope back up Mayday for Anna at the end of the day feeling sore and tired. 

Overall a pretty decent week.  Felt good to get back to training after sport climbing in Spain, a month mainly resting and then 10 days in Kalymnos.  However, I think it was a shock to the system as the DOMS I got was terrible!  I had pain almost everywhere and I still didn't feel good going into the weekend.  I am really pleased to finally visit Anstey's Cove after about 7 years of thinking about it but annoyed to punter Cider Soak!  No aches or pain today which is good but still need to lose some Kalymnos chub before realistically being able to do Bat Route.

[tomtom]

Off to Vienna with work this week

EGU?

Yup. If anyone else here is there DM me. Planning to hit the 'Boulder Bar' (decent/v good wall) some time..

[JohnM]

I thought EGU always used to be in May?  I haven't been for a few years but it was always a good laugh with all the beer and eating!  I went to a horrible bouldering wall there that was really hot and had no windows or ventilation which also meant that chalk was banned.  Every hold like a bar of soap! 

[andy_e]

Alas I shan't be there as we have our own conference this week in Durham!

[the_dom]

I went to a horrible bouldering wall there that was really hot and had no windows or ventilation which also meant that chalk was banned.  Every hold like a bar of soap! 

Was that the wall in central Vienna, i.e. relatively near the Nasschmart (or however you spell it?)? I hate that place.

[cheque]

STG- Finish film without becoming even crapper at climbing.

MTG- New grades this year.

T- Rest. Forearm DOMS like crazy after fingery bouldering at Nesscliffe.

W- Rest. More DOMS.

T- Black Rocks evening- first of the year . Another litterpicking session, involving abseiling down the vegetated bit at the far left of the crag and climbing every gully but one carrying a binbag and litter grabber. Did some soloing after.  A year on from starting my campaign here it really feels like I've made an appreciable difference to this crag- when I left the entire area was free of litter except Sand Gully and it looks as though the routes I gardened are going to stay clean this season. 

F- Rest.

S- Stanage. Horrifically windy, blowing right at the crag- ~1 degree with wind chill! First time on a rope since November. My mate wanted to do 26 routes for his 26th birthday so I was in the mode of supporting/ heckling him rather than of climbing myself. Led some new (to me, obviously) VSs though- felt as easy as they should but the freezing cold rock and blustery wind put me off anything harder. Sacked it to the Plantation boulders after a while and I "opened my account" on Deliverance. Bouldering felt a bit unexciting after doing routes though.

S- Rest. Couldn't face another day in the wind so stayed in the city which was actually fun.

[gme]

Mon- great afternoon out with nic at back bowden. Red hot tops off weather but had a great time loads of problems ticked up to 7B and really close to a 7B+ so feeling strong.
Tuesday- rest
Wednesday- school. felt really good warming up until the dreaded ouch!. Pulley injury, bizarrely to my index finger which is a first for me. That`s the end of this phase of the training plan i guess. FFS. Unlike other finger injuries i have had as well there was no build up to this, it just went as i pulled hard on a hold.

I kind of knew this would potentially happen at some point due to being old, fat and generally climbing when tired due to lack of time, so am pretty chilled with it. Off to the Mentawais in Indonesia surfing with the lads for two weeks from Saturday anyway so couldn't really have come at a better time. Two weeks of no climbing but lots of exercise.

Managed to climb a bit yesterday at Eden wall in Carlisle whilst with 23 kids on rugby tour (match was cancelled with Carlisle due to the snow, yes it was snowing in the lakes yesterday) so i know i can still at least do easy stuff. Confident it will get better in a few weeks and i can get back on the plan.

[JackAus]

STG: The Trance. Done! Added: More V7s. And moved up from MTG: Sub 75kg.
MTG: V8. Fear Factory List. 5/10 done.
LTG: V11.

M: St Leonards. Usual stuff up to V5/6. Tough campus session and fingerboarding after.
T: St Leonards. Usual stuff up to V5/6. Tiny bit of campussing and fingerboarding.
W: Rest. Did a bunch of training for work. Stuff I don't get to do very often. Fuck me it can be hard physically and mentally.
T: Half day at work then The Fear Factory. Took pads and a decent spotter for The Trance. Smashed it out first go. Sketchy 6m slab with a horrible sloping landing. 2 session on a rope, 1st just to clean it and do some moves, 2nd worked it all out and got it clean once. Very pleased to get it done. Probably the first ascent in 7 or 8 years. Also flashed 3 more problems from the winter list (called the Trouser Fillers list in the guide, its a list of 10 really scary problems at this crag. Some horrible landings and most of these haven't been climbed in 10 years... Grades range from V1 through to V7.). Today took me from 1/10 through to 5/10. Good day. Shit myself on a V3 too, so glad I flashed it, did not want to get back up there. That was scary. Wasn't even that high, maybe 5m, just very insecure. Started working a V8 arete at the end of the session. Regretted trying this, it takes alot of skin.
F: Frontline. Warmed up doing a bunch of stuff up to V4, with a V4 flash, then got back on Paratroopin V7. 2nd session on it and no progress. Can do a bunch of moves different ways but just can't do the transition up around the lip and high onto the slab. Kind of annoyed I haven't done it yet. Lost skin (all slopey crimps), lost psyche so moved to Full Metal Jacket. Slightly awkward accurate dyno to a sloper/horn thing. Got very close but had already lost alot of skin and this went through a tip causing bleeding. Good timing as it started raining aswell.
S: Rest. Ruined skin from last 2 days. Was hoping to get on rock.
S: St Leonards. Short late arvo session. Made some problems around the V6 mark, did some harder moves, attempted even harder moves. Felt pretty good besides skin.

[Muenchener]

Managed to climb a bit yesterday at Eden wall in Carlisle whilst with 23 kids on rugby tour ... so i know i can still at least do easy stuff. Confident it will get better in a few weeks and i can get back on the plan.

My GP is a climber, and when I went to him with a pulley injury he said mileage on easy climbing, heavily taped, would be better for it than complete rest. Seemed to work too.