How to become a braver boulderer (aka get Wellsy up Crescent Arete)

[Fiend]

Firstly make sure you've got the right motivation and right desires fuelling the path to bravery:

Good reasons to become braver:

1. Because there's some bloody amazing boulder problems that could be attainable with a bit more bravery.
2. Because it will make you a more rounded climber and maybe feed back into your GOALZ.
3. Because higher boulder problems can be a great experiences.
4. Because working towards coping with higher stuff can be a fascinating exploration of the challenge.

Bad reasons to become braver:

1. Because you're ashamed of not being brave enough.
2. Because you think you "should".
3. Peer pressure.
4. Grades.
5. Because a born-again soul climber who is an 8A+ beast and an E6 highballer who has transcended mere grades encourages you to do so.
6. Because some cantankerous old ledge shuffler who can do 80m E3s on silt but can't actually climb anything hard encourages you to do so.
7. Anything to do with cross-training for over-chalked, over-eroded, chipped, eliminate, rule-driven send-train bellend "ticks".



Then stack some odds in your favour...

1. Work up SLOWLY and GENTLY. Push yourself bit by bit. Comfort zones need to be stretched gently otherwise they're get injured and harden up.

2. But keep trying with it. Aim to push a little bit each time. Try to habitualise doing "a little brave" stuff, even if it's not very brave, or feeling very progressive at the time, it will get you used to the whole situation of factoring bravery in.

3. If you push too far and it's too scary, ease off. Go back a step and take it gently.

4. Choose higher problems that have sensible, manageable landings, without any extra exposure, weird drops, distracting rocks, etc etc. You can work those factors in in time.

5. Stack the pads well, get used to really optimising the set-up, covering all bases, make the height feel more comfy.

6. DO make sure you're out with people who empathise, understand, and respect your limits (even if their limits are different) and encourage you - you guessed it - gently. Be wary of people who are aiming for peer-pressure pad parties on moderately big boulders, who might not understand your limits (unless you thing that might work and is worth a try). There's nothing wrong with being less brave, there is something wrong with being gung-ho with someone's lack of bravery. Equally, be wary of people who are too timid, too inhibited, and will hold you back with a lack of encouragement and positivity.

7. Don't do too much of the brave stuff overall until you feel more accustomed to it. Mix it in with your comfort zone of normal bouldering or lowball grot or whatever.

8. Choose things that are genuinely inspiring regardless of grade or status and that are going to be genuinely pleasurable experiences along with a frisson of challenge summoning the required bravery. Avoid doing brave stuff for the sake of it or when your heart's not in it (unless you feel determined and ready to "train" bravery that session).


A few gentle semi-local problem ideas to ease into these sort of things:

Mono Slab Left Arete 5+, Stanton In
Probably 4+, Bradley
Three And Four Pence, 6C, Bradley
Witch's Sabbath 6B+, Stanton
Razor Arete? 6A?, Robin Hood's Stride
That slabby thing left of Jerry's Arete, RHS
Brain Dead L/R 6B/C, Cratcliffe
Technical Master 6C, Millstone
Pebble Arete L/R 5+, Stanage
Love Handles 6A, Stanage
WADS 6A, Baslow
The Balls Test 6B, Baslow
The Eagle Stone stuff, Baslow (not fucking Hot Ziggerty)
All Quiet On The Eastern Front 6A+, Burbage
Safe Bet E1 6b, Burbage (only once ready, and the wall right of it)
That arete behind Trackside HVS 5b, Curbar
Curbar Corner 5, Curbar (and the L arete?)
The Big Slab 4, Higgar,

I thought of loads of these in the car today and have forgotten most of them sorry, will add more when I think of them.

 

[Liamhutch89]

5. Because a born-again soul climber who is an 8A+ beast and an E6 highballer who has transcended mere grades encourages you to do so.

Twat :lol: :lol:

Do you not think there's any merit in choosing something high ish with a flat landing where falling off is likely, and hopefully you edge a bit higher each attempt? Kinda like the DWS approach where you need to take a plunge before realising it's not that bad and can then climb more freely.

 

[sxrxg]

Dry wit in a wet country at 7a seems to be a perfect candidate. Perfect flat landing l, tricky move at a height I found a bit fluttery into an easier topout.

 

[stone]

I'm thinking back to a few weeks ago when I was too scared to do the (I guess font 1 or something) mantle/step-up last move on the Nose at Burbage West. I had my elbows on the top of the problem. Nick (I think the Nick who posts on here) clambered up to the top to offer kind moral support. I still chickened out and stepped off to the right ;D

 

[Fiend]

5. Because a born-again soul climber who is an 8A+ beast and an E6 highballer who has transcended mere grades encourages you to do so.

Twat :lol: :lol:

Do you not think there's any merit in choosing something high ish with a flat landing where falling off is likely, and hopefully you edge a bit higher each attempt? Kinda like the DWS approach where you need to take a plunge before realising it's not that bad and can then climb more freely.

Maybe, but that also depends in one's confidence in landing consistently well - which might not be there. I was looking at the "likely to get scared, unlikely to fall" scenario more which is hopefully the case for the grand example in question. But I did forget to address the physical side and getting used to landing from increasing heights (subject to knees coping etc) so that is something useful to consider.

Dry Wit has a weird-ish landing with the ground dropping a bit underneath, plus might be a bit spookier without a handjam to finish, plus I think it's a bit too close to Wellsy's outdoor max unless the Kilterboard / Lattice edge test gainz are in full effect - I was thinking more of gentler stuff hopefully within the physical comfort zone.

 

[Mostly_Inanimate_Beans]

Might be due to only having one pad but Conan the Librarian felt a smidge on the spicy side and has a nice flat landing.

 

[stone]

I'm always in awe when I see people who do cat-like dismounts. Try as I might, my dismount style always emulates these guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_N_xF7IUdA

 

[oldfella]

I like the principle of the topic. There’s a great list :2thumbsup:

But personally I think putting Wellsy’s name in the topic title & making reference to Liam in this manner is poor taste.

 

[Wellsy]

Ah I personally don't mind my name being in there. It is very helpful tbh. I am going to try and start getting on these problems this year and build up from there, all in the name of crosstraining for over-chalked, over-eroded, chipped, eliminate, rule-driven send-train bellend "ticks" of course

 

[scragrock]

Ah I personally don't mind my name being in there. It is very helpful tbh. I am going to try and start getting on these problems this year and build up from there, all in the name of crosstraining for over-chalked, over-eroded, chipped, eliminate, rule-driven send-train bellend "ticks" of course

Or....pop north to clean/climb and send an obscure and unreaptable horrorshow of a highball line in the arse end of nowhere
Motivations and Advice - Cause its there, fragile ego would'nt cope if somone else did it first.
Persuade/lie yourself into believing that all will be well and the pads are fine.
Send it on your own so Noone has to deal with your bent and broken body when it all goes wrong.

Best of luck old chap ;D

 

[Hoseyb]

It's ok to feel afraid, it's not ok to feel out of control.

Control your environment, your landing, your choices, even your company.

It's not ok to accept a poor landing at this stage, a small step towards improving it ( or changing choices) increases your sense of control.

Bouldering highball in the arse end of nowhere, Mr Rock, is a particularly quixotic endeavour and is for those, like ourselves, slightly tapped. :beer2:

 

[Duncan campbell]

One way to go about this is to use a mixture of “process” and “outcome” goals.

They kind of explain themselves as to what they are but you could go about it by finding a LTG problem that you would love to do but know that with your current mindset/head you couldn’t do.

Say for example this is West Side Story.

This is your outcome goal. You can then set a variety of process goals to arm you with the skills to try this.

You need to be able to climb a fingery but technical crux up to have your feet about head height and then keep it together for an easier but droppable top.

So you might make yourself a process goal of improving your ability to climb slightly tricky highball problems and you could set a few outcome goals as markers of progress (doing a number of 6A-6B highballs)

The other process goal would be to improve your technique on vert stuff, and again you could set some smaller outcome goals to use as markers for that also.

Obvs that was all just for example… it could be super valuable for your climbing to think about what it is that inspires you, what you would love to do for you. Intrinsic motivation is much more powerful than extrinsic motivation (though some extrinsic motivation can also be useful).

Doing what really inspires you and not others is the most powerful tool for having fulfilling climbing experience which is often what leads to improvement.

There are a thousand other ways to optimise your mindset and headgame.
I’d say that improving this can be the biggest key to unlocking fulfilling performances whilst climbing. Often these don’t necessarily result in a send but the experience was so good it didn’t really matter.
It’s a hard aspect to improve at but the best thing is, that unlike hanging a 20mm edge, it has incredible crossover to the rest of your life.

Sorry if all that isn’t helpful or relevant to you, but just thought I’d throw my 2ps worth in to the mix.

I think a lot of Fiend’s original post was bang on also. Building up steadily is the name of the game.

Good luck! And I hope you get some of those amazing flow state climbing experiences and you get to work towards a LTG of yours. :2thumbsup:

 

[stone]

I'm curious, do many people fall from the the top move of WestSideStory (or equivalent) and walk away fine?

I did see someone fall from there but it was a bone braker. As such, to me it seemed more like micro-route soloing.

I realise people can be fine with that though.

 

[Bradders]

I'm curious, do many people fall from the the top move of WestSideStory (or equivalent) and walk away fine?

I did see someone fall from there but it was a bone braker. As such, to me it seemed more like micro-route soloing.

I realise people can be fine with that though.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-gj-Qjof9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[spidermonkey09]

Falling from that height would be completely normal for most highball bouldering. I fell off there practicing the top section. With circa 4 pads it's not a problem, the landing is flat.

 

[Duncan campbell]

I also fell from there the first time I got through the start, was totally fine. Fortunately did it next go!

Have also fallen from higher I think and been fine, worst injury was a heamatoma on my elbow when I fell from the top of the great flake at caley. But mostly I have just had mild whiplash from highball sessions.

I personally would say that west side would be a mid height highball though haven’t done any big highballs for a long time.

With decent pad setup and a good knowledge of landing you can take some big lobs. I personally prefer a higher problem with a flat landing to a lower problem with a weird landing.

 

[Paul B]

Reminder that I met my tib+fib with the one time party trick of my right foot being able to touch my right knee, falling awkwardly at a fully padded indoor bouldering wall.

Subsequently, I think it's pretty natural to be cautious when up high!

 

[stone]

I guess the guy I saw break his heel was just unlucky. He fell from higher than Bradders though.

I think for myself, if I were to get involved in WSS, I'd merely aspire to do a drop-off partial non-proper-problem to the break. But I'm me ;D (that entails both extreme clumsiness and lack of moral fibre and can't be arsed with bravery in this context).

 

[Duncan campbell]

Reminder that I met my tib+fib with the one time party trick of my right foot being able to touch my right knee, falling awkwardly at a fully padded indoor bouldering wall.

Subsequently, I think it's pretty natural to be cautious when up high!

Obviously t&cs apply!! All bouldering is risky as you are going to be hitting the ground - highballing more so as with more force. That’s why it’s more fun as it’s more scary.

 

[Fiend]

I like the principle of the topic. There’s a great list :2thumbsup:

But personally I think putting Wellsy’s name in the topic title & making reference to Liam in this manner is poor taste.

As well as Wellsy being candid about his altitude limit in the latest Lattice round-peg-square-hole number crunching thread, we had also been chatting cheerfully on FB about this issue and I think I'd been pretty encouraging there. The ideas in this thread came specifically from that chat for his benefit, but I thought it might be a useful more general topic too. My banter with Liam in the other thread seemed to go down okay and I continued it gently here (again from Liam's reply it seems okay) - and made sure to tarnish my own name too!! The point being that you could have two climbers who quite like a bit of highballing, have got there from opposite ends of the climbing experience and grade spectrum, and you should ignore them both if they're being too encouraging about it.

Falling from that height would be completely normal for most highball bouldering. I fell off there practicing the top section. With circa 4 pads it's not a problem, the landing is flat.

There you go Wellsy, as nice as SM09 is, FFS don't go highballing with someone who practises jumping off the top of E4 7as until you're much more comfortable :


P.S. Stone I hope those Walruses are okay :'( I am exactly the same landing-wise (and, it feels, body morphology-wise, as the walruses).