[shark]

11.3-5 average 158.7 down 1.1lbs

M. Quick FB warmup then Malham for first time this year. Climbed with Marsha. Crag looked bad with lots of runoff on walk in but fortunately Oak was dry as far as the horn. Windy and chilly - hard to stay warm. Started on F&EE and TRed it. Reassuringly piss. Led up Consenting but lost my sequence (think the positioning of new bolts disoriented me) and ended up getting a bit pumped then out of position at the top and fell off!!
On Oak should have dogged on it to get recruited but too keen. Fell off the first move/pop a couple of times then held it on the third and shot straight up to the set up for the throw unfortunately getting my fingers crossed in the small undercut. Second go just as good with a couple of minor foot errors but pinky flicked out of undercut by third bolt as crossing over for cramped sidehold. Third go ground to touching horn  . Skin sore after this go and almost worn through on one of the tips. Taped up for fourth go and got to undercut by 3rd bolt. Finished off with a few laps on Consenting. Good initial session.

T.

W.

T. AM Short home warm up. Malham. 6 degrees but no wind but 21 degrees at crag though generally good conditions especially late afternoon onwards. Broke out a new pair of Whites. Consenting x 2 . 7 tie ins on the Oak and joined by Spidermonkey. Two Dogging goes working on the throw. First go from ground touched horn again. Second go felt tired and didn’t get very far. Third go doing the throw move and working the top half which I found harder than I expected it would be. Pretty trashed by this stage but forced myself to do the same twice more and did better than expected especially on the throw with a tweak to how I hold the pinch and position my body. Skin much better this time. Session endurance starting to come together. Some micro beta improvements on the throw move. Good catwalk scene. Nathan did Predator.

F. PM set of recruitment and speed pulls. Taped tips. Tor. Chilled short session getting the new cross through method wired. Was tired but good to try it tired as that’s how I’ll be when I get there on redpoint. Identified a key piece of micro beta (dropping left knee as opposed to rocking in) which made the trip worthwhile.
Eve. Home power/strength maintenance potpourri . 3xpullups with +30kg. 5 power pull-ups with +12lbs chest to bar 3x. 5xsquat jumps. Practiced Oak move - managed it once. As I had my shoes on - campus laddering at 3 secs per move = 42secs/13moves. 6x O/H press @ 30kg. 1xDeadlift @130kg. 1xDeadlift @140kgs. Failed @ 142.5kg. Would have done more but got called to dinner.

S.

S.

Great to be back at Malham. Decent start on the Oak. Weight is about where I want it at this stage. Skin improving. Climbing quickly but still scope to be more efficient. Will keep going twice a week (subject to conditions) for next 3 weeks and slot in a training day once a week to maintain strength until getting close on redpoint. Conditions look good for next week. Going up Monday and Thursday.

[RobK]

M - Crimpd 80% repeaters at +14kg. All complete and felt good. Continue to up the weight next time. Was going to do some TRX afterwards but too nice an evening to spend any more time in the garage so did 5 x 1 minute plank, 10 press ups, 10 leg raises in the garden instead.

T - Tanygrisiau bouldering with a friend, new venue for me. Stunning day for it, 17 degrees and no clouds with a nice breeze. Started on the Tempest 7A. Bit more highball than anything I have done recently so bottled the flash. Did it next go. Stunning line, not really that hard, definitely a case of getting the grade for the height. Moved on the Flick of the Wrist 7C/+. Loved this, a really cool board style problem. Sussed the first move quickly but we were stopped in our tracks by the second ‘flick’ move. Tried various methods with varying degrees of success. Best being a slap of the hold but nowhere near enough control to hold it. Called it quits and moved on to some of the upper boulders. Jack proceeded to rip the crucial hold off Break on Through and I got whipped by the start of Cashmere. On the drive home I thought of another method of trying the flick move. Can’t work out how keen I am to go back. Realistically I will need to invest another session or two at least into it, but it’s a 90 minute drive and it’s almost rope season. We’ll see.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNDkWrdj4mm/

W - Power hour (and a bit) on the board. Trying an old project and also made up a Flick of the Wrist replica. Well, not a true replica but inspired by it. Decided that it’s not worth going back until I can do this board problem! Then maybe worth a try.

T - Half a max hangs session at +29kg as a warm up. All good. Then headed out for an evening session at Kitty’s Crag at Bickerton. A great little lesser known venue. Trying Ramp Up 7B+ which is just a mega line. Couldn’t commit to a move which required a heel above my head without a spot though. Keen to go back with company.

F - A quick afternoon hit at Earl Crag. Will Hunt  and Dave Warburton there when I arrived. Watched Will giving it full commitment on My Left Nut, good effort. Had a brief token warm up on Dyno Wall 5+, cool problem! Decided to try Handy Andy 7A+. Glad Will said this was a bit of a sandbag as I got a proper schooling. Welcome back to the grit! High point was pulling on from the block and hitting the next left hand crimp without much control. Surprised as I thought it would suit me. Was going through skin quickly so moved on to Andy Brown’s Wall 7B. Really enjoyed this and got it done pretty quickly once I had committed to the top slap. Not sure how this is a grade harder than Handy Andy, maybe a height thing. Went through a tip

S - Duck Boulders with an old school friend and a couple of others. First time climbing on the moors. Great little venue with a dense collection of mainly lower grade problems. Really nice hard sandstone too, not really like anything else I’ve climbed on. Did various things with the highlight probably being Duck-billed Platypus 7A, a very nice rising arete with a cool variety of slopers and crimps.

S - Rest. Much needed for the skin.

Good week with lots of time on rock. Maybe more of a training week upcoming looking at the weather. Can’t quite believe it’s meant to be 4 degrees tomorrow.

[Duma]

Good first week of this campaign Simon!
M - Nothing, 12hr shift.
T - Nothing, 12hr shift.
W - 12hr shift. Eve board 1hr, finally a decent session! Repeated a bunch of benchmarks first or second go, plus best yet attempt on current project. Especially surprising as after a long shift. Really pleased as have struggled for the last three sessions over the past 2 weeks.
T - Nothing, 12hr shift.
F - Rock, Cheddar. Out of Bristol! Just a few easier routes on Arch rock, really cold wind to begin with but warmed up once the sun came round. OS a couple of 7a's feeling casual so that was nice, but mostly just good to be somewhere different.
S - nothing
S - Rock, Brean. Amazingly quiet, and a perfect sunny day, with enough wind to keep connies manageable, but still pleasant chilling at the base. Couple of 6's on the left to warm up, then dogged up Guilt Edge (7c) getting clips in and sorting moves. Went OK next go, satisfying fight at the top. Rest of day spent repeating a couple of the 7a's, and reworking Tide Rising (7b+) after it broke a couple of years ago. Great day, feel broken now, much more milage than I've done since the autumn.

Really chuffed about Wed's board session,  especially after the last two weeks of feeling crap on it, and two good days out so far this weekend.

70.5 kg. Ate lots of crap at work this week, and have prob drank more than normal too.

[Fiend]

T - Tanygrisiau bouldering with a friend, new venue for me. Stunning day for it, 17 degrees and no clouds with a nice breeze. Started on the Tempest 7A. Bit more highball than anything I have done recently so bottled the flash. Did it next go. Stunning line, not really that hard, definitely a case of getting the grade for the height.

The Tempest is down to 6C+ in the new tome, although still without a ! highball symbol despite me pushing for it. Really lovely climbing, rock, line and location eh!

[dunnyg]

mon. 8.5km mtb. 230m ish ascent/descent.

tu. Trollers. Warmed up on a "6a" then had a go on barguest direct. Got very pumped and a bit scared, couldn't figure out the last move. Need to commit to moves above bolts. Disappointing in my head, but individual moves were all pleasantly steady (bar the last!). Lovely evening though, and proof that post work sport is doable!

Wed. 3 vs's at ilkley, and a 20 min stretch session on return. Wanted to have a look at the e4 but ended as a 3 so didn't work out.

Thurs. 5 FAs (awaiting retroclaims) on boulder above ilkley 6A-6Cish. No 3 star lines but I enjoyed a couple of the problems and it scratched an itch I've had since running past it a while ago.

Fri. Gig south. 11 routes up to 6b+. Good mileage day. Trying to get some session fitness back.

Sat. 38km (flatish) bike ride, Ilkley in the evening, warmed up on a couple of (new to me) diffs and some traversing (lovely), followed by almost pleasant, dropped the last move on classic calf on my first go, then dropped the tricky drop down on the traverse first go. Short session but feeling strong.

Sun. Guisecliff bouldering. 10 or so boulders. Got up Trust which was the main aim of the day, also tried the 7B in the cave behind it, which felt like it might go, but nothing for others to do there. Did a couple of great 6A aretes on the mop top boulder, and a great 5+ fridge hugging job. All 3*, would definitely recommend. Felt like I was climbing well on the slabs, which makes a nice change. Tweaked a finger at one point, but felt better towards the end of the day.


Lots of volume, haven't got on anything hard and new, but making the most of the weather. Short session on the calf hopefully means power levels aren't down too much. My head is a shitshow when on a rope, but not surprising. Took a few short falls/slumps on barguest, so hopefully it will get better with frequency. More punter club than power club this week. Keen to get back to Caley next week for some un finished business. Still havent got on a 7C!

[RobK]

The Tempest is down to 6C+ in the new tome, although still without a ! highball symbol despite me pushing for it. Really lovely climbing, rock, line and location eh!

That seems more reasonable. That's what I voted for on UKC, surprised to see every other vote at 7A tbh. Either way, yes it's superb!

[RobK]

My head is a shitshow when on a rope, but not surprising.

I found that last move on Barguest proper wiggy, even when I had my mid rope season head on. Wouldn't worry too much about it especially being early in the year.

[Will Hunt]

Tu - booked a day off for Malham. There was supposed to be wind; the sun was supposed to be weak and wintry. It wasn't terrible connies but they did gradually get worse. A couple of runs up Consenting to warm up, then upstairs to look at Free and Easy. The exposure was exciting and I'm not too sure how keen I am on the static that adorns every bolt (except the rusty one). How long has it been sat soaking up the UV? How long can it do that before it snaps? Struggled with the crux but eventually started to get it to feel OK. Ventured up and got a bit wigged. Would like to come back but am wondering about replacing the static for peace of mind (it needs a new bolt to replace a rusty thing and a new belay too but haven't done any bolting work before and not sure I could get there on a weekday). Dave dispatched it first go after dogging up. We were starting to cook so went downstairs for Seventh Aardvark which went scrappily after a failed flash go.

F - Ice Station Earl. Put a rope down Desert Island Arete. Quite a cheeky move after the boulder problem to get to below the top crux. Top crux is cheeky and a much longer move than it looked in the Ed Hamer video. Gear is perfection itself and easy to put in. Tried to link it all from the ground but numbed out at the top and dry fired off the top crux. Managed the original method boulder problem which I've not done before - I still find Andy's Problem a lot easier. Dave went to the car for more cams and I tried the sit to the boulder problem and was just powering out very quickly. Weird. Possibly the cold? Or lack of sleep? It warmed up a little and I did the route in a oner to get the gear out after Dave had led it. Psyched to come back and lead.
Moved onto boulders and did Power Drop (another brilliant Font 6 flying relatively under the radar at Earl) then went for a go on My Left Nut. Struggled to stick the first slap - feeling completely powered out. Managed it and a couple of goes later just scraped the moves out left. A proper scrap to stay on. Threw the foot up and rocked up. Desperately open handing and searching searching searching for something positive. Got there in the end by skin of the teeth. Not a hard problem but brilliant to have to dig deep to get up. Chatted to Rob before home 

S - saw my parents for the first time since summer. 5 mile walk with the nippers. At the end the children played while I indulged one of my favourite pastimes. The gravel bar at the side of the river was garlanded with perfect round gritstone pebbles, and I spent a happy half hour poring over them and casting them into the river. On a couple of very special occasions I stood on one bank of the Wharfe and skimmed a stone to land on the opposite bank. Heaven.

S - kid's playdate at the Glen. Did a nice eliminate slab.

[User deactivated.]

M - am: max hangs, pm: board. Did under a full moon easy version on bigger holds. Still very hard even on good 25mm edges! Will gradually reduce edge sizes 

T - rest + mobility

W - am: repeaters, pm: iron cross work, front and back lever, flag, Nordic curl negatives

T - rest + mobility

F - drove down to stanage north to have a look at low rider. Worked out the individual moves and surprisingly none felt particularly hard other than the crux to get the break at the end. It seemed the best method for me was high left heel and roll left hand all the way over. I did a few links from the beginning to trying the end crux move but ran out of skin. Tried chip shop buddy before I left with loads of tape on and got my left hand to the slopey edge far out left, about to reach up for the pockets, but couldn't get enough friction and bailed. Annoyed to have trashed my skin on day 1 of the bank holiday weekend

S - downhilling at wharncliffe. Venue purposely chosen so I could also scout out Kobe. Now this is an inspiring boulder! Naturally, I brought my tape measure along and made another sketch on my phone in order to build a replica. Kobe is 30 degrees so a board version will need to be adapted. Let me know if anyone's interested in the sketch/dimensions. Left with no broken bones, successful ride.

S -  max hangs - 30 min rest - repeaters - 30 min rest - then had a bit of a testing session for general strength and worked up to 1 rep max weighted OAC @ +4kg,  and a few attempts at straddle planche (still miles off).

[Duma]

On a couple of very special occasions I stood on one bank of the Wharfe and skimmed a stone to land on the opposite bank. Heaven.

Good tick that

[gollum]

W/C 29/3/21

M - Almscliffe, abs/core, pulls, yoga and stretching, max hangs
T - Raven Tor, density hangs, abs, yoga and stretching, compression
W - Small edges, abs, ancillary muscles, yoga and stretching, pinches
T - Almscliffe, abs/core, pulls and shoulders, yoga and stretching, max pulls
F - Density hangs, abs, compression, yoga and stretching
S - Abs, yoga and stretching
S - Easy abs, yoga and stretching

Back out and about, looks like the weather will be a bit warm but I really couldn’t care less.

M - Up to Almscliffe in the morning. Warm up and then fly up DWR first go being so much more solid than last time I did it. Go on to work on the direct and the link out of DBS, making good progress on both. Finish off with a couple of goes on Silver Trout with out the block or the tow hook and get the move in second attempt, then have no idea about the sequence from that point, so work that out, have another couple of goes which are less successful and stop before I mash my fingers, but am confident it will get done very soon. A good  first day back out. Generally pretty pleased with everything.
Home abs do some core work, 5 minute plank, 5 sets of front levers, hollow bodies with weight and 80 roll outs.
Move on to OAP with band support as required for 5 sets, follow this with 3x3 fast pulls and 3x10 second one arm locks at 90°. Finish upper body work with some scapular exercises.
Yoga for hamstrings and stretching for upper body.
Max hangs on the evening for 10 sets of 5 seconds each, all at bodyweight.

T - Drive down to Raven Tor, it’s mostly dry but I arrive a bit later than I wanted and there’s a few more people than I’m completely comfortable with, so try Out of My Tree half heartedly as don’t fancy the pain, do Boot Boys start in a couple of goes and then go home, but do plan to come back, just a bit earlier and perhaps with someone to point me at stuff.
Density hangs for 6x30 seconds when I get home, which is solid.
Move on to abs work with 3x3 minute planks, floor routine and 60 roll outs.
Do yoga for hips and stretching for splits, which definitely complement each other.
Do some TRX prone Is, Ts and Ys (setting frame up outside, which is pleasant), some isometric compression and finally press-ups.

W - Start with 6x10 seconds on 6mm edges, which is definitely much easier these days.
100 roll outs which are very rhythmic and chilled.
Curls, tricep presses and wrist rolls and curls for arms. Pistol squats and bridges for legs.
Yoga for shoulders and hangman has gone from being completely unbearable to okay. Stretching for upper body.
Pinches with the Tindeq, solid session on all grips, although do think I’ve now sussed the sneaky tricks they allow me to get the highest numbers for any given grip. 
Chuck in some pancake stretching while Mrs B is out running as it’s been a while since I last did it. Feels tough to start with, now I’ve started doing stuff outside, but by the end felt most beneficial.

T - Up to Almscliffe in the morning and have the place almost to myself. Manage to tick Silver Trout for the no block, no hook version, which has taken a while but I’m pleased to get it done, a simple case of just coming back when stronger. play on the variants on DWR and do a few of the eliminates under Crucifix, so all told a good session, stopping as skin starting to thin.
Get home and start abs session. Five minute plank, five sets of front levers, three sets of windscreen wipers and 50 easy roll outs.
5x5 weighted pull ups, 3x30 second weighted 90° locks, shoulder combo and scapular exercises.
Yoga for back bends and shoulders followed by stretching for middle splits.
Set of 10 max pulls with Tindeq, marginally poorer than last week but better than two weeks ago and have been pulling a bit this morning, so not disappointed.

F - Density hangs for 6x30 seconds.
3x3 minute planks, floor routine and 60 abs rollouts.
Prone TRX Ts,Ys and Is for 3x10, isometric compressions, press ups and wrist roller and curls.
Yoga is for hands feet and lower back twists and stretching is for upper body.

S - 25 hard roll outs. Stretching for splits and yoga for hands and fingers.

S - 50 easy roll outs. Yoga for abs and stretching for upper body

Interesting week. Great to get back outside again. Got ticks I’d wanted for a while, progress on other stuff. Not bad for first time on rock in three and a half months. Have felt battered at times, I think largely due to falling off and banging knees and stuff, which clearly hasn’t been a big part of my hallway training programme.

Definitely haven’t come back any more shit.

[Duma]

Sounds like the work over the winter has paid off gollum, glad the weather played ball for your first week!

[Duma]

On a couple of very special occasions I stood on one bank of the Wharfe and skimmed a stone to land on the opposite bank. Heaven.

Good tick that

[SA Chris]

On a couple of very special occasions I stood on one bank of the Wharfe and skimmed a stone to land on the opposite bank. Heaven.

Good tick that

You clearly think so, you said it twice! If you are ever up that way, the "beach" at Ardmair is basically all skimming stones. The bouldering is mediocre by comparison.

[Duma]

Haha, thought it got lost in the split.

[csl]

Had a few days off work to make the most of the weather. Too much driving, but great to be out and about. 

March goals

- Tick a 7 at either Shoreditch or Mabley Green. Doing a 7B would be a bonus. Done, managed to do a 7A at Shoreditch and a few more 7's inc a 7B.
- 20x stretching or mobility. 14/20
- Stick to the plan, don't miss any sessions. Missed one planned session all month.

Monday

Churnet with Yossarian, nice to meet another ukb'er! Did a few things at Wright's rock, including Fingers and SS indirect. Tried Simple Simon for an hour or so, could get up to small gaston crimp but didn't feel like I'd get it and wanted to make sure I did some volume for my first day out. Moved on to Gentleman's rock, flashed High Speed Imp Act which I've wanted to do for years, then finished off doing the Nose.

Wednesday

Anston - got to work on Alpha and managed to get up that, last tried in 2018 and remember it feeling impossible. Couldn't stand the pain on the method going up into the pockets with LH, so ended up with a less painful but less reliable method so took a few more goes than it should have. Moved onto Resonate but was feeling a bit ragged. Managed move into the big pocket but not really with enough consistency to continue to the top.
Met a mate at Wildcat for a catchup and seconded Sphynx and had a natter before the drive home.

Saturday
Forecast was cold again so went to try T Crack at Cratcliffe but didn't have any success. Played around on the top and realised I couldn't get my left heel up for the last move, found I could do it with a slap and rf in bottom of T instead. But when trying from the start I kept falling off the move to get LH to a sloper at the top of the T, my left heel just always slips off the starting block. Got fed up and moved on to some more failure on Jerry's Trav.

April Goals
Do another >= 7B
Outside x5 (including London boulders)
4x hilly walks (or box steps) per week, need to get some semblance of leg muscle ahead of a trip to Scotland.

[duncan]

M - Knees and hips: squats, single-leg squats, box-steps. Fingerboard pick-ups, R: pyramid up to 35kg x10 seconds.
T - Walked 16km to Paddington and back to meet up with my sister. First time in 6 months, it was really great to see her. Fingerboard pick-ups, as above.
W - Hips and knees. Walked 10km.
T - Fingerboard pickups, R: to 37.5kg x10 seconds. L shoulder test (25% bodyweight ‘hang’): not happy.
F - Fingerboard pickups, R: to 40kg x7 seconds. Cycled to Regent’s Park with the lad.
S - Very short run. Hips and knees as above.
S - Fingerboard pick-ups, R: to 42.5kg x7 seconds. A new PB! Fingerboard pick-ups, L: 20kg x10 seconds. Very gentle L shoulder stability work. Walked around Wippendell Wood with the family. Lovely.

Well done Simon, that sounds like a good start to the campaign.

Ditto gollumn, as Duma says, reaping the rewards of the hard work. I’m hoping it’s a demonstration that ‘skill fade’ is less of an issue for the more mature gentleman with decades of motor learning!

How is Tide Rising these days Duma?

Frustration this week as everyone out and about and I’ve been injured. Slightly diminished by achieving a finger strength PB. I’ve been using my regular board over lockdown a little and often and it seems to have carried over into pick-up strength. Hope it also carries over to climbing.

[Duma]

How is Tide Rising these days Duma?

Bear in mind that I only had one go at the end of the day yesterday, and my previous ascent was ~8 years ago, but I think it's probably still the same grade. Crux climbs differently, maybe a foot further left and revolving about pinches and a high r heel rather than the old stab up into the vertical slot with rh. Still good though, I'll def make the effort to reclimb it one of these days.

[Nibile]

Power Club
Mon - forearms tired. Circuit. From now on two halves of 15 moves. 3 goes with 3', 3', and 2' rests. Last go was brilliant. High pulls. Overhead carry 50 kg 1' x4. Heavy.
Tue - rest.
Wed - Lattice edge pick ups 10 reps at 60/65 kg, 5x5 at 50 kg. Bar work. High pulls. Clean and press.
Thu - forearms tired. PE low 30/10 x6 completed at the limit. PE low 1/45" x3 fell at 45" on the last go. Very happy about the reduced rests. Bar work. Snatch squat. Shoulders.
Fri - one arm snatch 10x5.
Sat - log splitting. Overhead carry. High pulls.
Sun - Litvinov. Majestic.

[SA Chris]

M - 10 k run in evening, a fair bit of up and down
T - First evening bouldering of the year. Experiment with new venue on the coast, to see how it is in the evenings. Was pretty damp, but not as bad as it could be, probably OK if a sunnier evening and northerly wind. Repeater most of the problems from the week before, except sloper ones, which were unhangable. Attempted links on low traverse, but just too mungy. Worked final section on crimps, definitely a pain endurance exercise for last few moves, need good skin.
W - weights, i think.
T - drop van at garage and cycle back, first time out on Road bike in ages, 16km
S - lovely morning back down the coast. Did a few of the established problems, then attempts on low traverse. Can do it in 2 weak overlapping halves, but no tick, pumpy as hell, but great moves. Might be a summer seige.
S - not a load, couple of sort walks. Shoulders worked from climbing.

[Coops_13]

M: Two mile walk with pups near Red Rocks

T: 10 press-up, 8 pull-up, 5 shoulder press, 5 bicep curl *5sets. PT. Spoke about progressing the hangs and getting back to climbing soon. Managed BW hang HC on 20mm edge for first time in two weeks! Psyched

W: 15 mins HIIT (Cardio, core, antag). Density pickups 20mm 40s LH 40lb *1, 45lb *3, RH 40lb *1 3 finger, 30lb *1 4 finger, 25lb *1 HC, 30lb *1 HC.

T: Density pickups 20mm 40s LH 40lb *1, 45lb *3, RH 30lb *2 4 finger, 25lb *1 HC, 30lb *1 HC. TA Max Hangs - 20 mm, 7s hangs -40lb X1, -35lb X1, -30lb X1, -25lb X1, -20lb X1, -15lb X1.

F: Breckenridge Spring Skiing. 16.5k ft descent. Lots of high alpine bowl skiing including Whaletail X2 which was sick - some steep drop-ins. Slushy snow later in day low down

S: 4-mile hike in Flatirons with pup. Density pickups 20mm 40s LH 40lb *1, 45lb *3, RH 30lb *1, 35lb *1 4 finger, 25lb *1 HC, 30lb *1 HC.

S: Run around park with pup. TA Max Hangs - 20 mm, 7s hangs -30lb X1, -25lb X1, -20lb X1, -15lb X1, -10lb X1, -5lb X1, BW X1.

[JohnM]

M - Rest

T - Trail running 14.37km 343m.

W - Decided to have an evening session on the 8a+ from the weekend. Sometimes all it takes to get something done is just to get back on it in quick succession well rested. Warmed up at home and felt really good but it was boiling hot at the crag so I didn't climb for 2 hours. It was still hot on my first go up the route but I still felt overly strong on the first half. I had a few goes on the crux and felt pretty good but then all of sudden something went in my wrist. The pinch for the left hand had always felt a bit tweaky, as the wrist is slightly cocked and there is a lot of force going through the ring finger, but I had never felt like it was going to injure me. There was no audible pop, but my grip suddenly gave way and then I couldn't grip anymore. It became apparent that the flexor from my ring finger in my wrist had been at the very least badly strained. Stupidly, I didn't want to go home empty handed so jumped on a nearby 8a as it felt ok as long as stayed crimped up and not open handed. I managed to do this second try and was in control grip-wise through the hard lower section. However, the upper section was pretty much onsight and I got a bit "open" on that part which probably didn't help my wrist/flexor.

T - Hill training session 13.57km 1085m. One lap of my potential "Everesting" hill.

F - Trail run 21.34km 852m.

S - Cycling 25.72km 101m.

S - Alpine skiing - probably the last day of the season so skied all day until the last lift. My legs were destroyed by the end and I was out of control and unable to turn conventionally on the last run down!

Pretty gutted to get injured this week and I was in a pretty dark mood for a couple of days after it happened on Wednesday. After some consistent training I was going into this season with a higher base-level of strength and finger strength for many a year and now the season could be over or at least severely compromised before it has really begun. Despite stupidly climbing after it first happened, for the first time in my climbing career, I have been sensible and not tried to test the finger or train. It is hard to tell how bad it is. Generally I can't feel it but every so often I will be doing something like pulling on a sock and get a sharp twinge in my wrist to remind me something has gone bad in there! The plan is to rest for another week before resuming bar work and TRX and then start doing some finger extensions with a rubber band or theraband. Hopefully, it will heal fast and I can get back to climbing again ASAP!

[User deactivated.]

If it hurts open handing and you feel it in the wrist it's probably not a pulley injury? From your description I did something similar and it felt really bad to start but then healed quickly in just a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

[Wellsy]

Looks like a good thread idea!

Monday: Sheaf Boulder Session for 1.5 hours-ish. Worked on my Compression problem and got one move higher, just need to stick the last hardest move to the final jug now basically. Otherwise largely pottered around to warm up and cool down but did some interesting moves.

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Burbage South Edge, did some warm ups on easier stuff like Matterhorn and then tried Hanging Prow for the first time. Got to the point of getting my heel up and moving my right hand up for the final rock-over but couldn't complete the problem. Definitely psyched to go and try again.

Thursday: Home board session. Just did repeats of previous problems that I have put together for about an hour or so. Focused on getting a good hard 1 hour session in.

Friday: Went on a massive mission with a mate around ladybower, otherwise rested.

Saturday: Grit again. Burbage west. Sent Banana Finger, a 6A+, a 6B and a few 5s. Got to the last move on Little Roof 6B+. Spent a good half hour on Breakfast 7A and am very psyched for it as a project, I really like the problem and it's in my style. Will be back, and managed to progress a few moves up, just need to get the beta for the feet right. Feels doable!

Sunday: Rest day. Felt battered!

Basically a week of getting back into things post lockdown. Plenty of climbing outdoors and board sessioning. This week we will be getting back on the ol fingerboard, doing plenty of board sessions and getting out on grit hopefully once or twice.

[Duncan Disorderly]

M: Horseshit - Routes up to 6c... Good session all felt easy.
T: Sheaf Bloc - Tried circuit, got spat off crux pinch... Was confused as felt the living end whereas last week it'd felt piss(ish)! Migraine on the way home... Blamed heat!
W: Feeling weak and tired... Tried to climb on Sheaf bloc - Shut down again! Felt like I was coming down with flu! Remembered I'd had covid jab on Saturday - maybe a delayed reaction???
T: Felt like shit! Shoulders and elbows.... (poor form!)
F: Still felt like shit - went and did 5's and 6's at horseshit with the GF
S: Bleurrrgggg!! Could just about muster a walk with daughter and hound round the local park...
S:Bit better - took kids to Horseshit - Got boy to belay me so I could lead up and set up a TR (wasn't as scary for me as the person on the adjacent route by all accounts!) - Had fun!

Shit the bed! Wasn't expecting the delayed reaction from the Covid jab... Was fine Saturday til Monday them BAMMM!! Hit me like a sledgehammer! All good today - textbook 10 days but freaked me out at first at I though I'd gotten away with it! Back on the horse this week!