[tomtom]

Mornin...

M: Depot, Manchester. Good session - quiet now school hols have finished... enjoyed the new Purples..

T:

W: Rubicon. Usual shizzle. Again, nice and quiet - no inquisitive holiday makers asking me whether I'm camping there etc.. (groan).. Piss about on a bigger splash, and make some progress on Kudos - managing to get my heel up to the spike (feels vulnerable though...)

Th:

Fr: Rubicon. Again. I've given up warming up on the traverses area - and my life is better for it Millers tale and some deadhanging/stretching on the holds is fine for me. Tried some different right hip in stuff on ABS - but felt weak. No bounce or snap... Better on Kudos, heel up fairly easily. Was going to give up  - then had a good rest - chat to sommeone else there and got a bit of a second wind. Also pulled on and held on on ABS direct (including getting RF on and locking myself in) - now just need to figure out how to let go and throw for the hold In the eve MrsTT went out to get bladdered for the first time since TTjnr had arrived - leaving me at home with the 8 week old. Mercifully he slept and I watched crap TV.. Result.

Sa: Really not sure what to do, so went up to Withens Buckstones... Quite a trek in - but a nice spot - be great on a calm winter day when the vegetation has died back a bit!



Su: Tatton Park (along with 1000000000000000000001 other people) for picnic and catch up with friends.

[fried]

M - Rest
T - Managed to get the afternoon off, drove to work. Humid, and damp, so went to Gorge aux chats to have a look at my projects for the end of the year; Travaux forcés https://bleau.info/chats/1546.html and Gigi https://bleau.info/chats/9029.html. I hadn't planned it that way.

Quick warm up, then started on Gigi which has been made easier due to a couple of vids of it turning up. Felt better on the start which surprised me, but goes on this are finite and few for me. I made good progress on Travaux forcés, remembered the sequence quicker, next time I should be able to start working on the crux (?) move up. Fell, kicked my bad foot on the wall and decided to call it a day.

W/Th - Nothing
F - Indoors, massive reset, did lots of volume for a couple  of hours. Hot.
Sa - Drank beer.
Su - Bois rond, another quick warm up, then onto Meilleur des mondes https://bleau.info/rond/1796.html. Tried some new beta which worked straight away and within a few goes I was moving up on the pedestal, got the foot jam in, but didn't really trust it, had a couple more goes but came to the conclusion that I needed a spot, hung around hoping someone would turn up, but no. I'd prefer shorter legs for this move. Stopped making progress, so stopped.

Tried the long traverse of Le long fleuve tranquille https://bleau.info/rond/3514.html, managed it in two sections, but beaten by the heat. Jo Montchaussé turned up and I asked him about a hold that I wasn't sure was in or out, he confirmed that it was out, then effortlesssly showed me how to due the correct version, he even stood on my doormat, I'll never brush it again!

Even with poor conditions, still better than I expected after the lay-off, just need to start finishing stuff.

[Nibile]

Mon - cleans, max 63x2! Muscle snatches. Rings, I's 30" x10, L sits 15" x5.
Tue - rest.
Wed - weights recruitment. FOA. Brilliant progress. Three seconds full stretch pause then a strong pull and lock. Full body power on. Then 5" lock off, 5" front lever, 5" lock off x4. Brutal. Front lever pulls 5x2. Overhead/shoulder walk, EMOM set, 30" x10. Heavy session. High intensity.
Thu - dumbbell complex 10 reps, x5.
Fri - foot on campusing, half crimp +10 kg, x10. Absolutely brilliant. Switched to downturned shoes for the last two sets, felt like cheating. Hill sprints x6. Strong.
Sat - rode my motorcycle, forearms tired afterwards!
Sun - Low intensity PE 30" on 30" off for ten times. Went fine. 10' rest. 1' on 1' off for five times. Completed the first two sets, then failed at 35" the next three. 10' rest. 2' on 2' off. Failed miserably at 1'10" of the first set, arms not bad but skin gave up. It was 26 degrees and 52% humidity... Happy anyway. Overhead and shoulder walk, 2' on 2' off x5. Brutal.

Index fingers terribly tweaked. Training around that. Front two full crimps are the devil and I'm paying the price for embracing it.

[shark]

Thanks Tom

11.0-2

M. PM. Bens 18th birthday. Got back from Malham. He was keen for more Gorilla Action. Warm and humid. Went straight to the pit. Greasy. I got to work on Early Doors 7A+ but too slippy to even deadhang the sloper and kept slipping off. Checked humidity gizmo - 95% humidity - no wonder we were struggling ! Got a sequence worked out. Left heel worked well for me followed by a cut loose to get right toe on. No cigar for Ben either. He declined going for a pint and we all went out for a curry

T. PM. Systems board. Warm up. Felt very strong on crusher crimps. Did undercut exercise. Much stronger than last week. 4 reps each side then  An Cap session. Did ok but faded dramatically after a couple of goes. Drop bigger in the second set so stopped

W.

T. Noon. Change in the weather so a little cooler and breezier. On a whim eschewed training and work. OK nick at crag. Felt strong on crux warming up. Go 1 To last move and feet slipped off Go 2 Touched Corpse crack slot (starting hold of ET) Go 3 In final holds but busted. One hour rest and nap Go 4 Fell off midway crux. Good training session with 3 good burns but still disappointing. Also worked moves going back from slopey ledge - seemed hard. Probably coukld have done with two days rest prior to be 100% fresh for it   

F. Eve Out to friends whilst Ben had his party. Mojitos and lots of Wine.

S.PM Cleaning house after party. Moving stones.

S.No takers for Malham  Dropped Poppy off at hockey and went on to eatswood. Was feeling pretty glum in the car about climbing, life and everything for no especially good reason.  Goodish conditions when got there. Warmup and reworking moves. Had forgot tape and ring finger still tender from camming it in the Corpse Crack slot on thursday. First go did the Reverse with a dab  Went for a walk. Second go did it  (no footage as phone randomly stopped filming midway). Worked initial moves from slopey ledge to usual start of ER. Had a third go but fell off mid crux. Went home and picked up TomCs speakers en route. Dropped rubbish off at tip with Sonia. Read papers. Ha d dinner.Took Ben out for a driving lesson and he drove 3 meters into a lamppost. Changed tyre. Came home. Had dinner. Drank fizz and gin. We all watched Superman vs Batman.


Was feeling down about my climbing but doing eatswood Reverse has been a pick up. Booked with Conners for High Tor tomorrow and will have a go at Mad Max E6/7b+ which I have failed on in the past. Also booked with Steve Mac for Malham on friday on the proviso that the forecast remains cloudy and cooler.

Gone some way to correcting previous weekends excesses and weight back on downward trend. Feeling a bit ho hum about the Oak and was contemplating giving it a miss this season but after a PM exchange with Paul Reeve decided that I will go but just pick my days and stay in shape for it.

Fingers had been achey and swollen the week prior but self massage has worked really well this week and they are much better now. Ordered one of those finger massager gizmos but lost it within two hours after it arrived in the post.     

[Nibile]

lost it within two hours after it arrived in the post.

Shark you are a genius.

[nai]

NIce one, Simon

goals:
Autumn - Powerplant looking unlikely & lost a bit of psyche for Raindogs.  Aberration, Body Machine, Obscene Toilet.
Winter - another training block

Mon - Only potential partners were for the Tor which I wasn't keen on so 2nd rest day ahead of crushage tomorrow

Tue - partner bailed so Max hangs, short session, bit experimental ahead of winter block

Wed
AM - warmed up at home.
Tor. Meh.  Gopping, really filthy.  3 goes up Obscene Toilet, first two ironing out the bottom wall and remembering the crux and top wall. Third I guess has to be called a redpoint, fingers ripped off the small crimp setting for the throw move.

PM
Foot on Campusing, only one set. Quite warm in the garage too.

Th rest

Fri - warm up at home then to Tor confident of completing OT. Ideal connies.  Unfortunately spent the day climbing like an utter twunt, struggled to do the big move and chewed my finger to bits trying (having been unable to get the lid of either of my glue tubes to stick some tape on). Stripped it intending to play on Chimes but then couldn't manage the 6B boulder problem start.  Laughing stock.

Sat - intended to do some PE but ended up just bouldering in garage trying short (2-3 moves) problems. Decent.  Pullups afterwards and Benchmarked finger strength,  RH as-was at 86%  but left has dropped to 77% (from 81). Shambles

S - intended to do some PE, then decided I'd rest and climb today (but haven't been motivated to get out).  In a proper slump, not really feeling on it and need some motivation from somewhere.

[Ti_pin_man]

managed to get some good indoor time this week.
STG (3 months) f7a's in Font
MTG more 7b's on plastic by Xmas.

after falling out with the mrs, went climbing lots more to keep out her way 

Sun / Mon / Wed and Fri.  - 2 or 3 hours of trying and climbing climbing climbing.  As I was doing so much I just did the usual bike to work around this and no gym work bar a bit of my usual yoga/stretching each morning.  Sadly on the Friday evening climb I twinged my left shoulder.  With a Font 11 weeks away I'll take it easy this week and next and do core in  the gym with the same theraband exercises I used for recovery when I did my shoulder much worse.  I guess it might be good to be over precautionary and get some massage and mabye physio on it this week.  Thoughts welcomed. 

[duncan]

Well done Simon. When are you going to do some upwards bouldering?

STG: Shoulder maintenance exercises at least twice weekly. Bouldering or fingerboard twice weekly.
MTG: Don’t embarrass myself on Caveman. Maintain around 70kg
LTG: Font 7A. Sport 7b+. Something properly long, hard and free (and ideally in condition in August).

M - Family back
T - Fingerboard: micro session but first time on 15mm slots for >6 months.
W - Shoulder maintenance exercises
T -
F - Westway bouldering to V2/3 (Fridge Purple)
S -
S - Westway bouldering to V3/4 (Fridge Black)

First strength sessions for a couple of months. Frightening how feeble I get after two months of ledge shuffling, performance on Supersonic seems a bit less woeful now. Absolutely battered, starving hungry and slept heavily after both sessions. Shoulder and finger sore but probably just another sign of too much too soon rather than anything specific. Need to limit myself to two strength sessions a week until I get more training mileage under my belt. Return of family, reversion to usual eating habits, and battering means weight has crept up.

Plan: more of the same. Not much chance of outdoor action for another couple of weeks.

[36chambers]

Effort Shark 

M:
T: Cliff on my tod avec lamps. Climbed Wall of Horrors Traverse 6C+ for the first time. Also had my first play on Keelhaul 8A. The holds aren't as grim as I remember and the climbing actually seems pretty good.
W: Indoors. unorchestrated.
T: physio stuff
F:
S: Bridestones via Hawk Stones via Scout Hut Crag, due to game shooting and midges, respectively. (I often find that when I end up at crags I wasn't planning on going to I have an excellent day and Saturday was no exception.) I finally climbed Horror Arete 6C which is so bloody good! and also had a play on Jerry's Arete 7B+. On my third go on Jerry's I somehow unlocked a sequence which had me eyeing up the finishing mantle, only to be ejected swiftly back down onto the pads. Psyched out of my mind that it was in the bag, I had a further 6 attempts at humping, dragging and willing my body over the top of the boulder, each time feeling like I had passed the tipping point of success, only to be ungracefully spat down onto the pads. Having only ever seen pictures of people on the lower section I assumed that was the crux, I had no idea the top out was a bastard child from Font with added scrittle. Keen to return! (Has anyone got any beta for the top out btw??)   
S: First time at Ash Head. Another beautiful day at a beautiful venue. Managed to climb Pumped up Plastic People which is a brilliant fridge hugging prow established earlier this year at around 7C. Armed with FA video beta I realised it was too warm for the original sequence but quickly discovered I could just slap past (note: not lank past, I'm only 170 cm) the crux slopers and climb the problem with fewer moves and much more ease. Making it feel more like 7B+/7B. Future classic nonetheless. An excellent day with an excellent group of people.
 

Two big days out and I feel like the grit is finally returning. Although, today I feel like I have been thrown down several flights of stairs, and I also went through 5 tips... 

[shark]

Well done Simon. When are you going to do some upwards bouldering?

Looking at my logbook I've done far more grade 7's this year than  any other and its not even winter yet.

Walrus  7A+ ***                          23/Aug   Rue Des Masques Blocs

Blind Bat f7A+                          10/Aug   Anston Stones Wood

Wright's Unconquerable f7A+ ***        08/May   Wright's Rocks (Lower Churnet)

Grizzly Arête f7A+ **                           04/Jun   Robin Hood's Stride
 
Conie Lamiche f7A **                 31/Jul   Conies Dale

Conie Lamprecht f7A **         31/Jul   Conies Dale

Conie Yeboah f7A *                 31/Jul   Conies Dale

King Of Drunks f7A ***              02/Jun   Wavelength Boulders

Kingdom Of Rain f7A ***              01/Jun   The Sheep Pen

Short Sean's Reachy Roof  f7A ***   03/Apr   Rowtor Rocks

[36chambers]

Looking at my logbook I've done far more grade 7's this year than  any other and its not even winter yet.

imagine how much more you'd do if you sacked off all that sport and trad climbing nonsense

[SA Chris]

STG - get thumb fixed
LTG - Get climbing

M - nowt - parents here
T - relaaaax
W - nothing work til 9:30pm
T -  nothing - work at home
F - deadline submitted, go see thumb specialist for MRI results - get sent to Xray as MRI shows nothing. Look at results - still no idea. Going to refer me to a colleague who is a hand specialist. AARGH.
S - 12.5 k on bike to park. 5 k park run, 40k bike ride home. Knackering. Out to park in afternoon, short run with Kyle, he loves it!
S - different park with kids, Kyle on bike so ran with him about 1 k.

[filz]

Effort Shark 

M - board climbing. Much better than on sunday. Repeated some test problems.
T - fb. Hard session
W - pull ups, planks. Tired
T - hiit, planks
F - started doing some yoga. Wrist was aching when pushing on it. decided for a few pull ups.
S - nowt
S - bouldering. Trying a 7b problem... I had forgot the starting sequence and took me a couple of hours of tries to get it right again. Meanwhile I tried the moves in some harder ways and managed to do some of the singles nonetheles. Good training session for the future.

[Muenchener]

STG: rest & recovery
MTG (2016): Redpoint 7b
LTG (<= 5 years): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60.

Generally feeling knackered and beaten down, having done more alpine stuff this summer than I have for quite a while. But I had the weekend free and some friends were going to Zillertal so I tagged along.

M:
T: Shoulders, mobility & core
W: Wall, Thalkirchen. Bouldering.
T: Shoulders, mobility & core
F: Bike on ehour
S: Zillertal, Ewige Jagdgründe. Why are easy routes so often damp, mossy and altogether not the stress free, confidence building warm up experience one was hoping for? Then got on a short, sharp, bouldery 6b+ that took more tries than I was expecting, then had a half-hearted look at a 7a.
S: Zillertal, Ewige Jagdgründe. Rain stopped play after a couple of warm-up pitches, and I was not entirely sorry.

Zillertal is a really beautiful place and the Ewige Jagdgründe is a top crag. I'll definitely have to go back at some point when I'm fit.

[Duma]

Effort Simon!

Quicky as on phone:
M: drive Metz - Magic
T, W, T, F: climb in magic
S: swim, shop
S: climb in magic

It's fucking great here, one afternoon/eve of rain and that was on sat. My skin hurts.

[measles23]

Newby to Power Club - hoping to use public exposure to shame me into a bit of consistency with new program..

Had about an 18 month stint of being addicted to iron; focussed entirely on deadlift, deliberately refusing to watch my weight and doing little more than potter at the wall while my 7yo boy does kids club, with the expected result of being pretty good at DL, the heaviest I've ever been, being OK indoors but with a worse finger strength to weight ratio than the boy..
The fight back starts here!

STG:  Climb some rock - 7 something in Churnet or Peak lime mebbe
         3xBW DL - super close now, hopefully next couple of weeks then I'll let DL become a secondary exercise for a
         bit..
MTG: Annual 7C+/8A - always seems unlikely but usually manage to pluck one out of my proverbial each year!
LTG:  Haven't given up believing I can squeeze 8B's worth of effort out of this body before it succumbs to middle age
        debauchery

Weight: 74.4kg

S: Stoke Awesome Walls - tried comp circuit; dire on the main probs but did flash one of the finals in the cave. 3 sets per side on the campus board when tired, not good (drop downs i.e. L1R3 to L1R1 back to L1R3)
M: Work
T: Fingerboard - BM2k small crimps; open crimp - 13 sets, 10 sets of 8sec with 10kg - I know this is low volume but whenever I try repeaters/encores my PIPs swell like angry grapes!
Stoke Strength Asylum - Deadlifts (Sumo, belt no straps/wraps) 12 sets; 220 twice off 1" blocks, 3 times off 2" blocks - so close its getting exciting
- Weighted pull-ups 12 sets mostly singles; pyramid up to 40kg, working sets at 30
W: Work
T: Fingerboard as above: 8 sets, 5 sets of 8sec with 20kg
DL (again! just to kill me prior to trying 3BW next week) - 8 sets; had a mad quick go at the Sharrat crossfit DL challenge - banged out 130 x 12 in 30 sec then body and mind combined together to scream FUCK OFF AND DIE!! working sets 170 x 3s
Wide stance low bar squat - 6 set pyramid up to 100x 3s - I suck at squats but enjoy them and there's great crossover to Sumo..
F: Work
S: Boy's birthday party at Stoke AW so squeezed in as much as I could without attracting wrath of M-in-law for dereliction of party duties - Did another of the comp final probs, 20 min of pathos on the moonboard and 3 sets per side of demoralising 1 arm action; first time in 23 yrs I haven't been able to do one when fresh, so did controlled lower downs instead - glum, but an obvious consequence of the weight..
Rowing machine 60min
S: AW kids club sesh - surprise V6 flash and another couple of V6-V8s
Campus board - drop downs as above still poor
Ring work  - 3 sets iron cross progressions, 6 sets floor work

Pretty full-on week, trying to get acclimatised to all my traditional exercises; obv DL going great and everything else weak - I think the fingers will come back OK but I don't see myself getting good at 1-armers again without dropping a lot of weight, and I'm fucking sick of dieting after just a couple of days!

Anyway as a great dog once said: "sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something"

Cheers all

[Will Hunt]

Do anything at Hawk Stones, 36C? Nice crag, that.

[Footwork]

Do anything at Hawk Stones, 36C? Nice crag, that.

We were walking that way and then started hearing shot being fired across the moor so doubled back quick time.

[36chambers]

Do anything at Hawk Stones, 36C? Nice crag, that.

We got half way along the approach before we came across lots of people shooting flapping things so we turned back.

Edit: what he said.

[webbo]

Mon. Board working projects. Out round Beverley with the missus who wanted try the deli where work had bought my retirement gift from, a hundred and twenty quid later we went home.
Tue. Right shoulder/bicep sore, which is strange as I don't remember tweaking anything yesterday. Bike 69.28 miles 4 hrs 4 mins.
Wed. Bike 72.84 miles 4 hrs 27 mins.
Thu. Nothing.
Fri. 30 warm up problems then repeaters 5 secs on 5 off times 5 5 sets with 36.5 lbs added. Bike 20.10 miles 1hr 21 mins did some hill repeats 4 times up the hill 6.45 first one 6.24 last one.
Sat. Visiting old neighbours" Do you remember that you said you would do that when you had retired, well you have get your coat"
Sun. Board same as Friday. Bike 34.81 miles 2 hrs intervals 15 secs on 15 off X 3 x5 x7 x9 X11 one minute between each set.

[Coops_13]

STG: Heal finger
MTG: Get solid at 7B/+
LTG: 8A

Magic Woooooood

M: Rest day, drove to Cresciano and had a look around. Frankie's Wild Years looks sickkkk
T: Went to look at the Gift 7C, pretty hard for us short arses, gave up. Tried Angry Samoa 7B dyno, kept getting over the top and not managing to hold on. Had to stop when I tore a section of my nail off  Did a really poor and soft 7A then went and did Exclusivs 7B. Really good problem with a hard first couple of moves to easier but more sketch finish
W: Tried a lot of things, ticked Freiwild 6C+/7A
T: Rest day - drove to Juf and Italy. Ate lots of sausage and fondue :D
F: Dried Blindfisch 7B, out of power to do final move. Got Zilliman 7A+, very nice two-move problem
S: Last climbing day in the Wood. Got Protektor 7A+, couldn't do the first move for ages, once done I flashed the rest. Did Bosna Genial 7A, happy with this considering my finger. Tried King Kong as the thunder was rolling in but too knackered to send.
S: Drive back to Zurich then flight home

Really pleased with the trip, especially due to the fact that I partially ruptured a pulley only a month ago. Sore A2 and A4 now but seems to be no lasting/worse damage. Psyched to heal and then get strong again!

[tommytwotone]

Goal - Font 7 anything pre-end of 2106


M - HIIT class on lunch, really hard going
T - Boot camp HIIT class on lunch, hard going again
W - Nowt.
T - Did a mini "Ted-talk" at work as part of an internal competition, won it!! Depot after work. Hot and sweaty again, but did a few more of the purples (V5-7). Experimented with a 4 x 4 on one of the easier ones, but managed 4 then 3 then 1 then home.
F - Nowt.
S - Nowt, toddler-minding, running round the play park after her.
S - Nowt apart from a swim with the little 'un in the morning.

[duncan]

Well done Simon. When are you going to do some upwards bouldering?

Looking at my logbook I've done far more grade 7's this year than  any other and its not even winter yet.

Walrus  7A+ ***                          23/Aug   Rue Des Masques Blocs

Blind Bat f7A+                          10/Aug   Anston Stones Wood

Wright's Unconquerable f7A+ ***        08/May   Wright's Rocks (Lower Churnet)

Grizzly Arête f7A+ **                           04/Jun   Robin Hood's Stride
 
Conie Lamiche f7A **                 31/Jul   Conies Dale

Conie Lamprecht f7A **         31/Jul   Conies Dale

Conie Yeboah f7A *                 31/Jul   Conies Dale

King Of Drunks f7A ***              02/Jun   Wavelength Boulders

Kingdom Of Rain f7A ***              01/Jun   The Sheep Pen

Short Sean's Reachy Roof  f7A ***   03/Apr   Rowtor Rocks

A well-made argument, however...

All are 2-3 grades easier than ER and close to the grade of the crux section of you-know-what (if I've remembered correctly from the, er, several discussions here). My blunt point was that to improve your chances on you-know-what, it might be worth projecting a 7B or 7B+ that went upwards rather than sideways...

[SA Chris]

Do anything at Hawk Stones, 36C? Nice crag, that.

We were walking that way and then started hearing shot being fired across the moor so doubled back quick time.

Punters - first sign of friendly fire and you turn tail.

[SA Chris]

Mon. Board working projects. Out round Beverley with the missus who wanted try the deli where work had bought my retirement gift from, a hundred and twenty quid later we went home.
Tue. Right shoulder/bicep sore, which is strange as I don't remember tweaking anything yesterday. Bike 69.28 miles 4 hrs 4 mins.
Wed. Bike 72.84 miles 4 hrs 27 mins.
Thu. Nothing.
Fri. 30 warm up problems then repeaters 5 secs on 5 off times 5 5 sets with 36.5 lbs added. Bike 20.10 miles 1hr 21 mins did some hill repeats 4 times up the hill 6.45 first one 6.24 last one.
Sat. Visiting old neighbours" Do you remember that you said you would do that when you had retired, well you have get your coat"
Sun. Board same as Friday. Bike 34.81 miles 2 hrs intervals 15 secs on 15 off X 3 x5 x7 x9 X11 one minute between each set.

Sounds like The Good Life to me.