Mostly Bouldering

Festive Flapjack

2011-12-08T12:04:00.001Z

Mince Pie Flackjacks

Too good not to share. Bit of an experiment with the amounts, but they turned out first class. Good for the bait box over the festive season.

Shizzle:

100g butter/magarine
100g brown sugar
125g clear honey
300g mincemeat
400g oats
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp cinnamon
cap of brandy (optional, but not really)
icing sugar to dust

Bizzle:

Oven at 180C. Get your butter, brown sugar and honey in a big pan on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Don't let it boil or it'll be rubbish. When the sugar has dissolved (about 5 mins) add the mincemeat, spices and brandy for a couple of minutes, until it's all liquid like. Lash the oats in the pan and mix thoroughly. Tip into a lined baking tray, press down firmly and cook for 15-20 mins.

Let it cool in the baking tray before lifting out, but take the baking paper off before it goes cold. Put it in the fridge to go cold before cutting or it'll fall to bits.

Sift loads of icing sugar on top when they're done, it makes them look well good.

PrepH: Day 1

2011-12-04T19:49:00.001Z

Much has been happening, but not much interesting. I've had an injured pulley on at least one hand for about 9 months and realised that although I'm relatively strong open-handed my crimp strength is savagely pathetic. Cue high volume, very low intensity fingerboard training of aggressive crimping. Feet on the floor and everything. Beast! Actually, it's helping loads and something I've never considered before. Compare it to, say, dead lifts. When you can't do it, you do high reps of light weight to get good form and get used to the exercise. When you get the hang of it, you decrease volume and increase intensity. I can't crimp, so I've been doing a fingerboard routine a few times a week where I crimp like hell, but with my feet on the floor (or sofa), concentrating on placing my fingers perfectly on the holds. When I feel less shaky, I pull harder. I'll do this for 4-6 weeks, have a few weeks off and start again with higher intensity. Simple. Clearly fingers are a bit different to major muscles, but it seems like a sensible way of thinking and approaching the problem. I've also been doing a monster amount of general conditioning in the form of circuit training, but there will be more on that soon.

Last weekend I went up to Hepburn with Toby and did some rock bouldering. We met Adam there and watched him do PrepH, which was very inspiring. I've said it before, but it's got to be the best boulder in the UK. Anyway, I've been back and had a go at it and this is the thing. Once I've got the toe hook in I've managed to nearly get to the top bit, but getting the toe hook in works 1 in 100 goes and swinging around on the start holds cuts chunks out of your hand. I'm pretty sure that I can do it. No, I can definitely do it! YEAH! Check me out! I would love to do this boulder problem, it is incredible to look at and the moves are ace. I reckon I won't get many opportunities over winter as it stays wet (I've heard that climbing on damp rock causes more erosion than climbing on dry rock, but I think it's probably nonsense).

This is said problem, although I don't use this sequence. A Scottish lad who there with Mike got really close this way and fell off the top about five times, gutted! It's something to aim for over the coming months/years/decades, anyway.

Prep H, Hepburn.

Slab Slut

2011-11-02T10:39:00.000Z

On recent trips to Fontainebleau I've been interested in hunting out hidden gems rather than queuing up at Cuvier (for blocs, not whores). I suppose it's mostly down to my grumpy objection to social interaction with the general bouldering public.

I saw this slab called Les Nombrilistes on a video and it immediately went top of the tick list. It's a lone boulder 0.5km in a valley in between to villages, perfect. We popped in on the way back from Buthiers, but ran out of daylight quickly. It really is a beautiful boulder covered in a mental orange fungus, well worth finding.

The first rockover move is pure class, then you reach the scoop for feet. You tentatively walk along this steep scoop with no hands and then do a left foot step up on a hideously small edge, it is pretty scary the first time! Unfortunately it isn't over there, the hand rail isn't massive and there follows a typically unhelpful blank top out with your feet scrambling around on the fungus, which coincidently isn't the most grippy substance. My excuse for the sketchy top out is that I had a really sore wrist so failed to palm down effectively, although I know fine well that it would have still been a total battle.

I haven't done many 'hard' slabs in the forest, but this is undoubted top of the list so far. Perfect rock, brilliant moves and features. This video doesn't do it justice at all, but I suppose it's worth watching to see me try and impregnate the boulder at the top.

Blocs in Brief

2011-10-29T17:10:00.000+01:00

I've seen and read enough about trips to Font to know that it is a very boring subject to everyone else who wasn't there. In a nutshell: I didn't moan about my finger as much as I thought I would, I climbed lots of slabs, Bex knacked a finger (very rubbish), it rained a bit and it was a good laugh. Oh and I bumped into Fred Nicole, TICK! Things I was happy about doing and were especially good: Pensées Cachées, L'Impasse du Hasard, Les Nombrilistes, Blocage Mental and Big Jim. Some nice photos:

Les Nombrilistes

La Baleine

Big Jim

Black at Buthiers

Dyno at Gorge Aux Chats

Night Vision

2011-10-06T10:52:00.000+01:00

If you can't get out bouldering in daylight, but can't see in the dark, then you need some of these.

I bought two torches, four batteries (two spares), a charger and a mini tripod with a clamps for about £45. Granted, I did have to wait about 3-4 weeks for them to turn up from Hong Kong, but for a man on a budget they are ideal. The batteries last about 2hrs on full power and take about 8hrs to charge. Combined, they have the same quoted output as one of those massive Dewalt lamps (2400 lumen), but are a third of the price and fit in my pocket. Ideal.

I came across them when looking for some headtorches for winter MTB, the internets told me to buy some. It was an afterthought to buy the tripod clamps, but I did a good. Bring on winter, up yours GMT!

Woman's Hour

2011-09-11T23:46:00.000+01:00

In a run of crushing form, the woman has been putting me to shame recently. Firstly, she won the summer bouldering ladder at the climbing wall. She worked really hard for it and despite playing it down, it was a brilliant effort and I am really happy for her. In the same week, we went to Brimham and she flashed Whiskey Galore. It's her first 7a flash, which is very cool. It's also a really tricky problem to do without beta, and she did it straight away again for the camcorder. BOOM. And if that wasn't enough, today we went to Caley for her to do, not try, The Pinch. It took a while to figure out the best shorty sequence, but once it was sussed she was running laps on it. She's wanted to do it for years so it's another brilliant tick.

I'm trying to train a lot at the moment, but managed to nadge a middle finger pulley at the wall. I've been hammering the cold water treatment and it is helping heaps, hopefully it will be somewhere near healed before Bleau.

Shape of The Day: Bex on The Pinch

Impropa Botter

2011-08-21T16:50:00.000+01:00

I have found the training [GO] button. It's the time of year. The sun is starting to weaken a little, the breeze is feeling a bit cooler, which means only one thing. Grit season is approaching. Yippee. Having not got on any limestone this year (again) I am now totally keen for getting strong for autumn and trying some new projects with a fresh psyche for rock. BOOM. Last time I went to Bowderstone with Toby I was weak as a kitten and struggled. My finger is healing and I've been putting some garage sessions in, it's slowly coming back. The day after my trad adventure we went to the Bowderstone and I was feeling better. Note: not strong, just better. I think that it must be a zen-like moment when you go to the Bowderstone and feel like you are in control. It is such a crushing bit of rock which has a nasty habit of destroying me in every way.

I dragged myself up Impropa Opera. Not in brilliant style, but it's one that I have wanted to do for a while so I was really happy to do it. John was in paparazzi mode, and caught it on camera. I did it third go, so I made a little rubbish edit to try out my new laptop. I also did a one mover called Move Man, which was quite good.

Black Crag Bonanza

2011-08-21T16:32:00.000+01:00

Climbing steady multipitches is the opposite end of the spectrum to bouldering. It feels so far removed that I would consider it a different sport altogether. Last week I had a day out in Borrowdale with the old blokes from the climbing wall and we dawdled up the classic Troutdale Pinnacle at Black Crag. It is six pitches and polished to hell, you can tell why though. It's quite interesting climbing considering its low grade, and every time you think it is about to get a bit tricky there is a massive sinker to hang on. It was a really good laugh and I wonder why I have put off doing any for so long. I would be hard pressed to consider taking a rope over to the Lakes instead of hitting the Bowderstone, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to try more for sure. It's another tick off the 30 list too!

Best bit: exposure and views of Borrowdale.
Worst bit: having a pensioner’s tezzers thrust in my face whilst trying to negotiate climbing past me.

Charlie Don't Surf

2011-08-07T20:08:00.000+01:00

So, surfing is a good laugh. And tiring. And hard. It also highlighted to me one thing that I love most about bouldering- variety. I did wonder whether the repetition of doing the same thing over and over would ever get boring. Today, it did not. In theory, surfing will make a very appealing wet weather alternative to sulking because the rocks are wet.

I have a question for surfers. Do you ever find that perfect wave that you are waiting for?

C2C

2011-08-01T11:20:00.000+01:00

Today I only have eating and resting in my brain. Over the weekend we embarked on a coast-to-coast mission from Whitehaven to Tynemouth, which is about 138 miles and 120 miles further than I've ridden in a weekend previously. It is a horrible start to the ride (Whitehaven is a dump) and an anticlimactic end (no flags, balloons or Red Arrows), but everything in between is mostly brilliant. Especially if you do it with the right crowd of people, it's just a bloody good laugh.

Mr. Yes

2011-07-25T16:30:00.001+01:00

The year so far has been mostly about saying 'yes'. For a while it has felt like bouldering (and training for) is the only thing that occupies my free time. It sucks you in. You strive to be better, stronger, work higher grades and it is easy to get tunnel vision. As much as I love going out bouldering, I wouldn't like to turn 40, or 30 for that matter, and feel like I've missed out on other opportunities or tried other ways of filling my weekends. In an obscure way I think that I will probably achieve more in bouldering by trying less; catching myself off-guard rather than the obsessive war of attrition that I am used to.

I have forced some things to happen this summer:

1) I have a new car. It is a Skoda and it is diesel. This is good.

2) This weekend I am riding the C2C with some friends. There are 10 cafes/pubs between St. Bees and Keswick alone. It may take a while...

3) The weekend after I have booked a surf lesson in Saltburn with a bunch of mates. If all I have been told is true, this could potentially end my bouldering career. I am looking forward to this a lot. Even if the weather/surf is rubbish, it'll be a lovely Sunday Social.

4) I have been to the driving range a few times (!!!!). Golf is definitely for benders, but is also only sport I've ever tried which seems more technical than climbing. It is HARD. I am going to play a proper course with the boys sometime. Hopefully someone will lend me beige slacks and a sun visor. Psyched. I can now understand why it is so popular with the retired folk- the possibilities for improving your game by ridiculously minor adjustments are astronomical.

All of this nicely coincides with a highly frustrating pulley injury on my middle finger. It's hard to grip around a bad middle finger. That aside, I met up with Toby in the Lakes and had a really good day out. We hunted out Mark's Boulder at Gillercombe and I even dragged myself up a very good 7b+ bloc. Toby is living proof that the best training for climbing is climbing, especially if this includes more than one session at the Bowderstone per week! He has obviously made the most of his stint living in the Lakes and looks strrrrong, managing to tick all of Mark's Boulder while I sieged The Cloud Chamber. Not content with that, he did a new little link up which looked tres bons...

We then go on to the Bowderstone. Toby tries Grand Opera, looks good but doesn't do it. I try Impropa Opera, do alright considering the hold is wet, but don't do it. We both do the direct finish to Picnic Sarcastic, which is better than the original. Controversial! I had so much fun that between then and now I have done some training. Outrageous!

Double Scoop Guisecliff

2011-06-02T18:40:00.000+01:00

I've heard mixed reports about Guisecliff, but given that I've heard mixed reports about every crag in the universe I find it's always best to go and find out for yourself.

This isn't a venue for people who are used to the comfort of climbing walls and the ease of Almscliff. It's a bit dirty and awkward to navigate around the slopes and bracken, especially in a 25deg heat. But, if you can be bothered to take the Nidderdale Congo head on, there are some brilliant problems to try. I won't be rushing back there, but it's well worth at least one visit. The boulders are within a minute or two from the road, so if you do decide that it's not to your taste then there are other crags within 5 minutes and even better tea rooms within 2 minutes. Bex didn't really like it, which I can appreciate. The better problems start in the 7th grade and it's not the easiest place to have a cruise about in the hot weather. There are a few 6's that are good, but as is unfortunately typical with many places around here, the best problems are harder problems.

This is what we did:

Trust (7b)

Probably worth the trip alone. Class techy barndoor moves.

It is a slow motion fall if you don't have the skills....

Mop Top Left and Right (6a)

The best of the 'easier' problems we found. A bit techy, a bit fun, a bit hot.

Bex had wilted and was struggling in the sun so didn't try anything else after these two. She did find an abundance of tadpoles though, which made her smile like this...

A Little Sparkle (7a)

An easier Deliverance, a pure gem! Worth the walk along from Trust if you're up there. It's CLASS! I got a little phone video because the top move is a good thing.

Pok a Tok (7a)

Tech. A bit reachy. The top move is really good, you throw for the flat top and have to try and keep hold while your body unravels like a corkscrew! A couple of dicey falls before I got that one!

I put off trying a couple of aretes that looked really good because of the landing slopes. I'm sure they'd be ok with a few pads and a decent spot, but today wasn't that kind of party. Today's party ended with a double scoop ice cream and a bottle of dandelion and burdock in Pateley Bridge. Alright!!!

The Good

2011-05-07T21:57:00.000+01:00

I didn't want to hide the woman's awesomeness today amongst the misery of the last post. Bex did another 7a; really quickly too. Last trip up she managed the stand start 2nd go, and did the sit after a few goes today. Well done Bex! X

The Ugly

2011-05-07T20:45:00.000+01:00

A thought pops into my head, I am about to say it and then decide it's not vaguely interesting enough to share with anyone else. A few minutes pass and I can't remember if I actually said my sentence out loud or not. I'd look daft if I repeat myself.

Yes, the drive to Kyloe is boring - and I've been up there three or four times recently to try the sit start to The Yorkshireman. Sometimes it is fun, with nice people who make fantastic company, sometimes it is in absolute solitude, and other times it is with, erm, complete sausages.

I've arrived at the hardest part of working a problem that is at your limit: I can do it, but I can't do it. If this boulder was ten minutes, or even an hour from the comfort of my home then it wouldn't be such an issue. The long one hundred and thirty five minutes slog is a big added pressure. It's also a long time to allow all the negative thoughts enter my head and prepare today's excuse to myself.

Today was very testing. And I failed. I'm at the stage where I am not looking forward to the next attempt. My little finger has a permanent patch of skin missing from using the second hold, which bites so much that I sometimes have to step off from the pain. It's a problem which relies on good core and accurate body positions, which means I can fail on it all afternoon and go home with hands of good skin and juice in the tank. I want to walk away and go to the Bowderstone to pull hard on some nice edges and go home feeling trashed, but I just can't move on until it's done. I've fallen off with my hand on the crimp a few times- which is the last difficult move. Today I actually had my hand past the hold, but still failed to latch it. I knew that conditions were very poor, it was so humid. I knew that I felt shoddy, the beers and late night were a huge mistake. With all this in mind, I still let it make me angry. And I know that the 'angry' session is when things really start to go downhill. From this point on, it will only be a relief to get it done. I wont be happy and I wont enjoy it, which is a really big shame.

This is a different kind of battle now, and it is one that I am all too familiar with.

Font Team Techez

2011-04-17T20:24:00.002+01:00

I'm not feeling focussed enough to put last week's trip to Font into anything vaguely well written, so I will summarise as best I can.

It was good.

The gite was by far the nicest I've stayed in, despite the owner's being completely crackers. It had it's own 'wildlife lookout tower', enough said!

It was hot, and we fully embraced it. As far as I'm concerned, there is no point in moping around because your project is in the baking sun and super greasy- go cruise about! Go eat pan au chocolate! Drink beer! We did all of the above.

I have met Adam and Andy before, but never bouldered with them. It's a shame that Andy had to fly back to England after two days, what a top sausage he is. Adam is out there for a month, and he really is crushing. His ticklist so far is ridiculous and if he gets his projects (which I'm certain he will), he will be Mr. Hotshot. Most admirably though, despite climbing in the 8th grade, he genuinely gets really psyched for other people trying their hardest to get their 7a, 6a, 5+ projects and didn't seem to mind having to pull hard to get 'easy' circuit problems despite flashing numerous very hard problems. Another top Geordie sausage.

Tom brought his mate (I thought he'd been lying all this time), Tomo. He was funny and liked beer, which is probably why him and Tom get on so well. Good egg.

Despite losing all my skin on the first day (when will I ever learn), I was really happy with how I was climbing. I had a list of three problems I wanted to try: Gargantoit, Miséricorde and L'Arrache Cœur. Gargantoit looked amazing in the photos, and despite being swarmed with highly annoying youths I managed to climb it in a couple of goes. It is a first class boulder. The other two problems on the list are highballs. I don't normally do high, but they both caught my eye in the guidebooks. However, at Cuisinere, in the heat and after a morning doing some easy classics, I bottled even pulling on Miséricorde. It looks incredible, and I will do it one day, but this trip was not the time.That leaves L'Arrache Cœur.

I don't think I could express in words how brilliant it felt to top this boulder out on my first attempt. Everything was perfect: the conditions, the number of pads, the positive vibe around the boulder, everything just clicked into place. When I jumped for the top, two things happened. Time slowed down and I did a big man shout. I don't do big man shouts- EVER. I did two of them. I have no idea where they came from, or if they'll ever come out again, but maybe if I flash problems when I do them, they should come out more often.

Bex did Lapin au Canard, her second font 7a. What a machine! After all the battling, she cruised it and then repeated it straight away for photos. She definitely found the key to that boulder problem! So happy for her, she came so close last trip.

Abi did her 6a aim, even with a cold that would have had me sulking in bed for a month. Good effort!!!

I had a 'techez' day. That is, a 'technique' day. I only climbed 'walls' and 'slabs'. It was very fun. I even managed a 7a+ wall and fell off the last hold of a 7a slab then bled everywhere. Some of the best days climbing you can have in the forest is when you decide to do silly things.

Everyone climbed good. Everyone had fun (well, Tom had as much fun as a miserable killjoy can). It was like a night out that you don't expect anything of and it ends up being The Best Night Out Ever. Well, almost. I am looking forward to going somewhere new on our next trip, but I think it'll be a long time before Font gets boring, if ever! I can't wait to hear Adam's final ticklist when he gets back, like it says on the heels of his trainers. Watson. Beast.

L'Arrache Cœur, 7c @ Isatis

Lapin au Canard, 7a @ Haute Plaines

Garage Days Revisited

2011-04-02T21:52:00.003+01:00

With some renewed interest and some milder weather, me and woman enjoyed some nice training in the garage today. I brushed the cobwebs off the footholds on the board and Bex played tappy tappy in preparation to crush her roof project in Font. It was really good.

Later on we had a drive over to Seal Sands for a ramble. Despite a tip off from a reliable source, the seals were not playing ball. You'd have thought they would have found a better spot than the banks of the nuclear power station. Then again, you'd have thought that we'd have picked a better place to live too. I do find this view strangely comforting though.

Dexter's Lab

2011-03-30T22:45:00.002+01:00

Today I went to into see my mate who lectures at the university. He is a sports sciencist who helps out with the bouldering team. Every now and again I go in to get tested as a guinea pig, presumably to compare the results of the team against a punter. He makes a good cup of coffee and we talk about mountain biking, Fontainebleau, training and Peak boulders. He tests things to do with finger strength, lock off strength, jump ability and one armism. I find out that I weigh 66kg, am 5.5% body fat, 177cm tall (5ft 8in) and can do a one arm pull up with 2kg strapped on. I am both surprised and happy about this. I also discover that I have particularly punterish power endurance in my fingers, which is less of a surprise. There is a fatal flaw in my training that was highlighted today, hopefully some changes may rectify it.

I have no idea what half of the results actually mean, and I don't particularly care. What has got me excited is that I now know what I have been doing wrong for ages. If I get my training sorted over summer, there might be chance (and that's good enough for me) that I will be strong enough to climb the problems I want to do next autumn/winter. It's funny how a reassuring chat with a mate and a little glimmer of hope is enough to relight a spark for training psyche.

Font is nearly a week away and I feel desperately under prepared. I am not bothered really, if I do anything 'hard' then it'll be a bonus. If I'm not feeling the love then I'll just cheer on Watson and Porter all week and eat pastries.

Caley Comeback Special

2011-03-19T19:27:00.000Z

Shortly after my birthday outing at Burbage I sank into a seriously melodramatic sulk about bouldering and decided I was fed up with it all. For eight days I did no climbing or training, which is the longest time off I've had in at least six months. I did, however, go on a night ride at Hamsterley with the boys, which was as brilliant and terrifying as ever. During my time sulking, I tried to figure out what brought it on:

> Almost all of my mates have either stopped climbing or have moved away.
> Climbing on my own (when Bex is working) is both boring and lonely, especially coupled with...
> Living at least an hour drive from rock.
> Diesel is a fortune.
> I am not as good as I want to be and...
> I will probably never be as good as I want to be.
> The weather is ridiculously unreliable.
> The depressing attitude of many boulderers, particularly those who predominantly climb indoors, upsets me. It normally washes over me, but lately it crushed my enthusiasm.

I have since snapped out of it. I concluded that I was probably doing a bit too much and therefore put too much pressure on myself. Silly really. I'm not a 'proper' climber and never will be, and I don't go bouldering because I think that one day I will climb 8b+. I go out bouldering because it's a laugh, I like drinking coffee and eating cakes alfresco, and I like climbing problems that I find impossible at first. Which leads me on to my comeback at Caley yesterday. There were three objectives: 1) do a bunch of problems with the woman that I enjoy and haven't done in ages. 2) Progress on Terry and 3) Finally pull on and try Zoo York.

We warmed up at the crag, doing Mr. Smooth, The Horn problems and and some aretes behind The Pinch- all class. There's me thinking, 'Caley is fucking class, bouldering isn't that bad really'. A bit later on we head up to Terry, where I manage the first move quite easily, having previously struggled with it. Mono crimping on pebbles is a bit of a niece, but I will go back and clean it up on a rope next month and invest some time into it because the top moves look like (to quote Tim Emmett) 'spicy times'.

So, Zoo York. Having put off trying it for literally years, I finally put some pads underneath it. I've always been intimidated by the holds, or lack of, and the fact that I hear a lot of 'it is hard for 8a'. Hard for 8a? Soft 8a is more than hard enough for me. I need a plan, so I decide to try it from standing first, then depending on how that goes I'll try the bottom moves. It takes me a handful of goes to commit to the slap up, but the first time I catch it right I top it out. Well, that was hard enough. Over the next half an hour I piece together the bottom section, breaking it down into sections. Eventually I've done all of the moves and I'm in love with bouldering again. There's nothing like feeling strong to give you half a dafty. I imagine the problem as three bits: from the floor to the tape box, a REALLY hard cut loose, and another problem stacked on top. Wow, this is going to be a long term project. In the videos, the moves look awkward and unappealing, but they are some of the best I've ever done. And it's realistic. I can do the moves, all I need now is to do one after the other all the way to the top. Piece of cake, eh?

Half Parmo

2011-03-04T23:56:00.000Z

Today is my birthday. Last year Bex and I spent the weekend in the Lakes and I did Inaudible Vaudible, which was a nice present. This year we headed to Burbage and I was hoping for similar birthday success. After warming up on a nice short slab beyond Remergence, we both did a really fun arete under Voyager called Cleo's Edge. Looking up at Voyager, it's an amazing bit of rock- oh to be strong enough to even think about trying it! I pretended to myself that I was warmed up and moved onto The Terrace. I messed about on a few of the moves to warm up properly and had a couple of half decent efforts. Three fig rolls, two cups of coffee and two cheese sandwiches later, I was on top. All I can remember is sticking the move to the slot and just praying that my foot didn't whip off as I went for the top. Phew.

We were then going to hook up with an old mate at Stanage, but it turned out that he was still in his house on the south coast. Maybe not then. I was buzzing from doing Terrace and Bex decided she didn't want to do any more climbing, so the only logical conclusion was for me to try WSS. It had been quite foggy all morning, so I wasn't too confident about finishing it off. Two fig rolls and a cup of coffee later, I found myself at the break panicking about topping out. I fannied on for a bit and then dropped off. So bitter-sweet! I was so happy that I'd sussed it all out, but knew I wouldn't be happy until I'd topped it out. It took me another half an hour or so to get back up there, but this time I wasn't letting go. It's probably the worst bit of climbing I've ever done in embarrassingly terrible style. That top out sums up the thing I like least about climbing- being in the position where the fear of falling completely dictates how I climb. I'm not vaguely interested in that aspect of climbing, not at all. I think Bex was equally as scared of me falling off too, which isn't cool.

Anyway, it's done. Ticked. Alright!

Today I've also been to the pub, ate my first (half) parmo and received a bunch of lovely presents. It's been one of those rare days when everything works out class. Perfect birthday with the woman, thanks.

Big Wow.

2011-02-27T19:27:00.001Z

Today was a coin toss between Burbage or Kyloe. I was really keen to get on The Terrace, but the radar and Tim (thanks) were telling me that bad things were happening in The Peaks. Kyloe then.

I take real pleasure in seeing people succeed in their climbing. Whether it's someone finally getting to the top of a sandbagged Font blue they've been working on for hours or a friend finally ticking a project that has been driving them to breaking point, I proper love it! Today I was lucky enough to witness a lad called Nigel climb a problem called Monk Life. Graded 8b+, it's the hardest problem in Northumberland. The first ascent was made by my climbing hero Malcolm Smith, and someone I know was lucky enough to be there and capture it on film. I've had heaps of conversations about amazing it must have been to be at the crag that day. Watching Nigel climb up and stick the crux move knocked me for six. Actually, it knocked everyone at the crag for six, who needed a shout of 'SPOT PLEASE' to bolt into action with pads. I've never seen anyone climb a problem of that difficulty and I've never heard anyone shout so loud after completing one either. I met Nigel last week at Climb Newcastle, he was leading a very interesting session about the new training board there. He came across as a really nice bloke, so I was all the more happy for him today. In fact, on congratulating him, all he could do was apologise about the noise and swearing. I think that if there's one day when you're allowed to be like that, it's the day that you climb your project. It obviously meant a lot to him, and that in itself was truly inspiring stuff.

Unfortunately I couldn't jump on board the tick train and get the Yorkshireman ss, which was the main meal of the day. I remembered my sequence after a while and did it from a few moves in, but I need to have another session to get in dialled in. It felt close today and I'm confident, enough said. I did, however, put a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon to bed in a handful of attempts. My fingers felt strong, the new fingerboard routine is working.

Font is booked for April, bring it on.

Brimingham

2011-02-12T18:48:00.003Z

Today I had a nice afternoon at Brimham with Bex. I ran out of skin doing a problem on Crimpy Roof so didn't get chance to try To Me To You, it looks really good though. Here's a couple of nice shots of said problem and another good one called Elwood P Dowd (terrible name for a problem!).

edit: For the sake of my poor memory, Elwood was good moves on appallingly brittle rock and holds which will probably not be there next time I visit that boulder. Ergh.

A Good Day, In Brief

2011-02-08T22:29:00.000Z

Today was a good day.

Over the weekend I read a few of my favourite chapters from Jerry Moffatt's book whilst at work. It's like a guarantee to go out and crush. I now have a psyche amp that goes up to 11. When you're on 10, all the way up, where can you go from there? Where? Nowhere. Exactly. What I do is, if I need that extra push over the cliff, you know what I do? Put it up to 11.

It was cheating conditions today: cloudy intervals, warmth from the sun but cold rock and a cooling breeze. Mmm. I was sensible. I rested (even took my kitchen timer!). I drank coffee. I remained positive and focussed.

I did it! Crazy Legs Crome, that is. I climbed it terribly, scrappy as fuck. Doesn't matter, what matters is that when I normally would have given up and dropped off, I battled on and on. It feels like I really learned something about trying projects at my limit.

Thanks Jerry.

Then I ate my ham sandwiches (thanks Woman) and drank coffee in the glorious sunshine.

Next day out, I think I'll hunt down Crimpy Roof at Brimham. The videos of the problems look good. I like good.

30

2011-02-01T08:27:00.000Z

Over Christmas I discovered that I am 26 years old, despite telling people for ages that I'm 27. In the following weeks I was buzzing that I had been gifted an extra year of life. Get in!

Last week, one of the kids at the wall mentioned that his Dad is going to be on a TV show called Pointless. When we got chatting, it turned out that he's forty next year and has made a list of '40 things to do before I'm 40'. I thought it sounded a bit daft, but throughout the session I started drifting off (belaying safely...of course) and thinking about whether I'd enjoy doing a 'pre-30 life ticklist'. I do love a good list after all.

I couldn't get anywhere near thirty, but I'll keep thinking. I've only put on ticks which are realistic and things that I've been meaning to get around to doing for ages, you'll find no 'swimming with dolphins' on here (Rich!!!). As I've been trying to sort out doing things like the Coast2Coast for about five years, putting a deadline on things might mean that I don't end up seventy years old and wondering if I'm too old to get on a bike and ride 160 miles. Item #14 is without doubt the least likely to happen. Any suggestions are welcome, I've put the list on the side ---> and will update it as I go along. Deadline is March 2014.

Visit Switzerland
Bake a loaf of bread
Go to a dance class with the Woman
Climb a big, easy multipitch with someone nice
Try out surfing
Ride the Coast2Coast
Do a first ascent of a quality boulder problem
Do the Lyke Wake Walk
Get drunk on a Sunday (at a pub after a big walk/climb)
Make a cheesecake
See a symphonic orchestra play
Get something free through the powers of complaint
Go pony trekking
Complete a broadsheet crossword without cheating
Go to a Six Nations match
Climb a famous classic 8a boulder

Two Squirrels out of Three

2011-01-30T23:26:00.002Z

Well. I had planned on climbing three days on the trot, hopefully ticking three things off my list. A bit wishful I know, but that's all part of the new Positive Simon. Yesterday was a good day, me and Woman went to Caley. We were the first people there in the morning and found a nice unchipped(!) slab to warm up on, a pleasant Yorkshire rarity. Then I moved on to the main course, Two Squirrels. It went down quickly and in decent style, happy days. By now the laybys were full, we weren't the only people who know that three non-rain days in Yorkshire makes Caley the place to be. We stopped off for a sausage buttie on the way home and Bex found a Shetland pony to play with, so everyone got what they wanted.

Today we hooked up with some friends at Stanage. It was a really nice day and awesome to be out with a good team of mates again. Having decided that dragging people to try the Terrace at the end of the day would be totally selfish, I decided to get stuck in at the Plantation. We did the usual warmups and then redid Green Traverse, some straight-up on the Green Traverse bloc and Captain Hook. I'll never tire of doing those problems, class moves! I replaced The Terrace with Help the Young, the photos made it look really good so we had a hike up the hill. I'm always sceptical about problems which have four versions: jump start, stand start, sit start and sit start (strict), but on this occasion I wasn't disappointed. I did the jump start version second go, but really should have flashed it. That's life. After working out how to the stand start, it was on. Well, it was on until I slapped up the arete and a pebble ripped my worn fingertip in half, sending a river of blood down the hill to the Deliverance bloc. It stopped bleeding about an hour ago (seven hours later).

Needless to say, I wont be going to Whitehouses tomorrow to have a go at Crazy Legs Crome, that will have to wait for another week. I can't complain, though. I've had a few quality days out on the rock with my good friends and we ended up in the pub. I got one problem ticked off the list, I did a new problem and now have something new to try at Stanage (with more skin next time). Happy times.

Bex got some nice shots of Two Squirrels, which is a boulder well worth getting involved with. Here are a couple:

"think shit, be shit"

2011-01-28T22:08:00.000Z

In the last year my bouldering has improved. I have trained harder, ticked off harder problems and repeated problems that I've already done in better style. As I know too well, it's easy to focus on strengthening strengths and push weaknesses aside, avoiding the horrible task of doing something about what you're really rubbish at. There's a few things that I'm definitely no good at, but one specific thing has been playing on my mind for a while- I have a rubbish head. Example a)

I went to look at a problem at Caley called Two Squirrels 7b+/7c, which is pretty close to my maximum grade. I quickly worked out a sequence and did all of the moves, but took a while figuring out how and where to top out. On my first 'redpoint' attempt I got through the first initial hard moves, but my heel popped out without warning. Having held the cut loose, I thought rather than battle on I dropped off to try again. You guessed it, I had around five more attempts, getting worse every time. I didn't rest long enough between goes. I didn't let the holds cool down. I didn't get my feet and hands warm enough. Ultimately, I'd fully accepted that I wasn't going to do it, probably before I'd even pulled on for the first attempt.

I'm not sure what steps to take to become better. There's a video short of Jerry talking about this kind of thing and he mentions it in his book too. It's going top of my priority list to get better at not being rubbish. Well, maybe after tomorrow when I'll back at to Caley doing Two Squirrels.

----------------------------------

On the same day Abi ticked her first 6a, Mr. Smooth, which is no give away. Good work! We met a lad called Ben who was doing really well on Zoo York, I've never seen anyone trying it before and it was inspiring stuff....One day I'll pull on! I was trying the sitter to Ben's Groove and did all but one of the moves (which I assume is the crux), getting my right hand up to the standing start hold. I tried it last year and was unable to get my bum off the floor, so I was pretty happy at the progress. Now I know that's the move I need to work on, I'll put the effort in and walk up to try it more often.

Caley tomorrow (Two Squirrels) / Peak Sunday (big team, dead excited...Terrace?) / Whitehouses Monday or Tuesday (Crazy Legs Crome). On paper, the next few days are going to be unbelievable.

Think awesome, be awesome.

The Day The Café Wasn't Open

2011-01-23T18:31:00.001Z

After binning off the Peak today due to lack of skin, me and the Woman headed to the roof to hang out with Tom and Knightrider. On the way we popped into Brimham to look at a new problem that the internet said was good. The internet was right, it was really good. After a couple of twitchy spills near the top (Thanks for trying to catch me, Bex) because of damp and crummy rock, I managed to get it. I reckon it's easily as good as the so-called 'good problems' at Brimham and well worth going back to do in the Spring when there's less damp around.

After being dumped by Bex because the café wasn't open, we had a picnic under the roof and watched the boys do things. Things of note: Tom should have done Rageh Omaar but it started raining and Dan Knightrider is a very strong man. I haven't seen him since we met at Crookrise, so it was nice to catch up. Before the painkillers wore off I managed to do the sit start to Peshmerga, which I was really happy about. It starts with a big move from two undercuts under the roof and slaps to the lip, which I like a lot. Crazy Legs Crome should get done soon, then I will leave the roof alone for a while before I get sick of it.

Tom Peckitt's new problem at Brimham:

Rabbit Training

2011-01-17T11:56:00.000Z

There is no end to Pierre's talent and strength:

Four Things Yes

2011-01-11T22:36:00.002Z

These people who make little climbing videos regularly must be really patient; I took mine out this afternoon and it was a right pain in the arse! Nevertheless I had a beauty couple of hours bouldering in the weakening sunlight before I had to go to work and promised Rich that I'd get some footage to help increase psyche levels. I've got my eye on a couple of problems at the roof, mainly Whitefinger, which looks desperate but really good, so no doubt I'll be back there quite a bit over the next few months. Anyway, as promised:

The Roof

2011-01-06T23:37:00.002Z

Today's plan was for myself, The Woman and Abi to go to the hush hush roof and then to Brimham. That was before the weather forecasts decided to lie and subsequently ruin our lives. We sat under the roof for about an hour, drying holds in between showers and then gave up to go for a look around Pateley Bridge. We learned that chocolate liquorice is beautiful and the nice tea room by the car park is where old people go to die.

Full of hot chocolate coffee (a futuristic step up from the mocha) and psyche (not), we headed home via the roof. It hadn't rained in about 20 minutes so I was determined that I wasn't wasting the diesel and leaving without a tick off the list. The Support Team were supplied with tissue and dried a hold each. After a bit of pretend warming up I did Under Rumsfeld 7b+, a brilliant bit of climbing. I'll get the video camera out next time and get some footage, it's one of the best problems I've done in ages.

Eternal thanks to my lovely support staff for their drying expertise, I would be nothing without you. X

2011

2011-01-02T20:06:00.003Z

Last things first:

I've written a new training plan. Short cycles (2.5wks) of strength / power / rest. I haven't done anything other than climb at the wall since Font so it'll be nice to get a sweat on again. I want realistic aims for 2011, so I've included problems at crags that I really want to go to and haven't for ages. Here goes:

Likely / Possible with big effort / Possible with bionic body upgrade

The Terrace, Burbage, 7c.
Andy Brown's Wall, Earl, 7b.
Fight on Black, Widdop, 7b.
Campus 1 - 4 - 7 little rungs.
Go to St. Bees.
Ben's Groove, Caley, 7c+.
Yorkshireman ss, Kyloe, 7c+.
WSS, Burbage, 7b+.
One armer x2. (not sure why, maybe I can claim 8b in internet points for it?)
Go to Wales.
Do an easy multi-pitch in the Lakes.
PrepH, Hepburn, 8a.
Red Dragon, Queens, 8a.

First things last:

Rain spoilt our New Years Day tradition, so today we met up with Rich at Burbage, full of psyche and nasty cheap pasties. I left empty handed, but Tom did The Nose for the first time so that was pretty good. I did terribly on WSS, despite feeling sure that today was the day. I went on to try The Terrace, a problem that I last tried a very long time ago. I dropped the end bit. If I'd have rested properly and [insert good excuses] I think it would have been ticked, but today the odds were stacked against me. I don't let these things bother me too much, but it is hard not to pile on the pressure to climb my best every time I go out, especially when it's on problems that I don't get chance to try that often.

It was really good to hook up with the boys, although it'll be even better when Rich gets back into climbing (HINT!) and Tom starts turning it up past 65%. I don't have much work on this month, so hopefully I'll get chance to hit the crags more and get a feel for rock climbing again.

Peak Quickie

2010-11-14T20:49:00.003Z

Today we were keen enough to drive to the Peak just for the afternoon. Stanage was swarming with people who looked like they'd taken a wrong turn on the way to the Student Union 80's Indie Disco. Even as a foolish youth, I'd never have thought that white plimsolles and skinny jeans were a good choice of footwear for extreme outdoor adventure activities. Silly Sausages.

Silk Start. I saw a video of this and thought it looked good. I don't often go to a problem with expectations, but today I decided that I'd like to try and flash it. I didn't. 2nd go though...loser. It crossed my mind to try the top out, but I'm a wimp. Bex was getting quiet close to latching the high hold and I think she'd cruise if she got there. Next time for sure.

Brad Pit. Even though I watch videos of this and convince myself I can do it, I can't. I really, really can't. A problem Rich can keep for himself. Not a problem for Simon.

Burbage

Tom and Rich walked on to try Velvet Crab while me and the Woman went up to the Remergence bloc. It took me a long time to remember my sequence for Blind date. In fact, the boys had returned from trying the crab problem before I got close. Eventually I got it in the bag. I'd fallen from the last move during my first session on it so I was happy to get it done. We also got on a good, but awkward problem to the left of it. Bex came really close to this one too, her little stumpy legs and woman technique making it look a lot better than we boys were.

The Nose. Tom's tries this at the end of every day we have in the Peak when he's out of skin and big guns. One time we'll come straight to Burbage and he'll do it, then I'll go on to do...

...West Side Story. I had a couple of decent goes, despite being really low on skin and tired from trying whack sequences on Blind Date. The day the I do WSS will end with beer and merriment. Even though I first tried this a few years ago, because I only get on it once or twice a year it feels like the first time every time. However, I'm going to do it this winter, for sure.

happy bunny

2010-11-10T15:51:00.002Z

From Pierre

There is a new bunny in our lives. His name is Pierre, he is 8 weeks old and a right laugh. He has been spending a lot of time running laps around the living room, flipping out and rolling around on his back. What a lovely little bunny.

From Pierre

Stockton Blues

2010-10-30T23:47:00.004+01:00

We are back in Stockton, but my head is still on holiday. Rich sent over a couple of videos that he took with his iPhone (better quality than my camcorder!) so I've been watching them, looking at holiday snaps and pretending to unpack. Here is one that Tom "go on mate" Coates got of me doing L'ange Naif at 95.2. It was one of those problems that I hadn't tried because I didn't believe I'd be able to do it. I was wrong. And very surprised.

Merci et bon soir

2010-10-29T20:45:00.003+01:00

I thought that Sale Gosse had totally butchered my finger, but it turns out that it's healing far too quickly to be a pulley problem. Maybe the joint is just badly bruised or something. Either way, I managed to pile in a bunch of painkillers and do some climbing today. Panic over.

First off, project time. I did it. It wasn't pretty and there was an inexcusable amount of swearing and frustration, but I did it from the bottom, sidewards and all the way to the top. It was my first 8a in the forest, and yet strangely as I sat on top of the boulder there was no euphoria, jumping for joy or anything like that. I can think of loads of problems that I'll remember more fondly: Science Friction (top of ticklist), Retrofriction (for the Norways) and De Fil En Aiguilles at Cuisinere (for the amazement of stumbling across a bloc which would be worth driving hours for in the UK and yet is forgotten in the vastness of the forest)- to name a few.

Bex didn't manage her other 7a project, despite slapping the top a couple of times. Absolutely painful to watch, so must have been horrible for her. No doubt it'll play on her mind heaps, but that's how it goes sometimes. I think I'd have preferred her to get that today than me get Coccinelle, she deserved it more.

We went onto Rocher Canon to end the trip. I did a 7a mantle (Les Calins de Kim) and couldn't do what I really wanted to try, La Theorie du Chaos. Nevermind. Did a bunch of really good blues and got shut down on the top of a 7a+ slab. Quite fitting that I will leave Font having been beaten by a techincal slab. It's top of the tick list for next trip.

Back to reality tomorrow. Caley on Sunday, although it'll probably rain.

Oh, and we saw adopted crag dog again. She's a right floozie.

The Font Report

2010-10-26T18:25:00.008+01:00

It is four days before we set sail back to the UK and I have completely destroyed a finger trying Sale Gosse at Rocher Sabots. As this kind of represents the end of my climbing trip (or at least pulling hard) I will begin to file my report on our four (almost) weeks in the forest.

Simply put, this month was the best holiday I've ever had and everything that I could have hoped for. We lived French: didn't do any work and ate fresh baguettes and treats from the patisserie every day. The weather was practically perfect, we climbed in 27degs for the first week and -2degs by the end of the month. I could get used to this. Not even the thought of the fine grippy Slipstones rock makes me vaguely homesick.

Climbing good bits:

Completing problems which I couldn't touch last time I was here, but went with ease this time. Mister Proper 7a+ and Le Joker 7a are the ones that stick out the most.

Doing Coccinelle (7c+ finish). I've waiting a long time to come back and finish this off after falling off after the crux in the dark in 2008. Last night I had one go on the 8a version and fell off the finish. I'd planned on going back tonight to try and smash it, but my demolished finger means I'll have to wait until next holiday. That hurts!

Doing problems that I never dreamed of being good enough to. L'ange Naif 7b+ went quite quickly, Carnage 7b+ and L'Areodynamite were also a massive deal to me.

Having the 'dialled in' feeling of good footwork and not having to pull hard on reds and blues. That is an amazing feeling.

Not folding under the pressure of the highball Appartenace 7c at Buthiers. I'd watched Shaun try it a couple of years ago and it looked desperate. It went first go on my second session and I don't have a head for highballing so I was happy to not wimp out.

Other good bits:

Hanging out with Bex for a month has been totally class. And we haven't even driven each other mental. Not worrying about work, the noisy neighbours or pretty much anything other than which rocks we were going to try climb up tomorrow and which wine to buy.

One thing I love about being in the forest is the way of life (except on the roads). The quality food shops and cafes make the UK a total embarrassment- we have Greggs and supermarket veg to go back to.

Meeting the Norways, our gite neighbour for a couple of weeks (I couldn't pronounce their names). They were fun as and really nice people, I hope we run into them in the forest again sometime, although it is highly unlikely.

So here is the list of problems that were most memorable. I'm sure that I've missed some due to forgetfulness and I'm certain that there are heaps of problems that I enjoyed more than ones on the list, but it is a sad fact that in my head sometimes bigger numbers overshadow quality lower grade problems...that, and a list of blue13 etc. wouldn't mean very much to me when I look back at this.

Wildlife ticklist: 38 deer, 2 snakes, 4 lizards, 6 red squirrels (2 dead), family of wild boar, 1 woodpecker and loads of frogs.

I think I could live in the forest, and not just for the climbing. I really do love it here. For now, I think that next year I would like to come for six weeks.

HOTSHOTS SLIDESHOW

Ramblings

2010-09-24T09:48:00.004+01:00

Going on holiday is just an excuse for me to make lists. I love lists me. Maybe deep down I believe that the more organised I am, the more likely I am to flash 8b+. Hmm. I've also persuaded myself that the list of blocs I've made to 'go and have a look at' isn't a ticklist. I'm a terrible liar.

I have been resting a lot lately, I've hardly done any training except for short campus sessions and stretching/core work when Hollyoaks or Grand Designs are on tele. I think this is doing me the world of good (unlike watching Hollyoaks), it's all starting to click into place. Not that I am expecting to impress myself, but it would be nice to go there feeling reasonably strong and climb well.

One week today we will be loading the car up and crossing things off lists.

Excited. As. Badgers.

Mushroom Party

2010-09-14T11:09:00.005+01:00

Went up to Northumberland on Sunday with Toby and Coates. Not content with one crag, Toby's astronomical level of psyche meant that we had to go to Kyloe and then Bowden (via Back Bowden of course). I worked out the sit start moves on The Yorkshireman, which aren't too bad at all. It'll just be really hard to have enough in the tank to link it together (and not laughing when my armpit does fart noises during the crux). Toby went off with his mushroom book and harvested the woods, much to our amusement. Bowden was crawling with mini Slovenian beasts, presumably down from the junior comp at Ratho and crushing everything in sight. Impressive stuff. All in all it was a nice, but long, day. Was good to see the boys and do some rock bouldering. A few photos:

Mixed Bag

2010-09-05T20:14:00.003+01:00

Bowderstone Sunday came and went, starting full of hope and ending with mostly disappointment! The Bowderstone is like that, you can go there feeling strong and get totally shot down or crush like a monster when you're feeling at your worst. It didn't help that it was really humid and I sweat like a [insert crude line here]. There was a silver lining to the day though...

The Bexinator did her first 6c+ today, The Crack Direct. She'd tried it before and not got on too well, but lately she is unstoppable and today she totally smashed it in the box. Well done Woman. She also had a play around on The Crack Superdirect (7a), which she looked good on and I'm sure she'll get it at some point soon. She's going to totally burn me off in Font.

3 WEEKS AND 6 DAYS TO GO.

The Clevelandman

2010-08-30T18:36:00.004+01:00

On Saturday a few of us headed up to Round Hill Crags near Slipstones, it's small cluster of boulders with an easy walk in, flat landings and beauty surroundings. Score. The boulders are mostly really short (1 or 2 moves) but there are a few bigger blocks with some decent harder problems too. The only thing that let's the place down is how sharp the rock is- it really is rough as a badgers. We did take the camera but the battery was flat. Oops. The highlights were a problem called Tiny Corner, about 7a+ (nice pressy, long move), and the woman overcoming her fear of the heights and ticking a problem called Gladiator, about 6a+, which was a class effort.
I'm glad we went somewhere new and it was a nice day out, but I wont be in a tearing hurry to go back. There is a topo for another set of boulders just down the road which look good so if we go back maybe I'll manage a more detailed report with shiny pictures next time.

Today we went to Kyloe in the Woods. Man alive that place chews up your skin and tendons, it is viscous as hell. In a nutshell, Harty was having a bit of an rare off-day, which basically meant that it took him more than two goes to do a problem. Still, he wasn't in the most positive of moods. I got totally shot down on Crouching Tiger, a problem which seems so doable and yet I can't figure out why I am having so much trouble with it...one of the mysteries of bouldering I guess. However, I did surprise myself by getting to the top of The Yorkshireman. I was tired, it was the last effort of the day (etc.) and I totally battled to the top, but it is done and I am happy.

It was starting to get me down a bit that all the training isn't magically making me climb 8b+, but I think I am starting to understand. I certainly feel like I am reaching my limit of how strong and technically good I could get at climbing, which means that any gains I make will be smaller and take longer to reach. I will get back to enjoying climbing and not worrying about being rubbish.

Anyway, another problem ticked off the list and another sit start project added!

PS. 4 weeks and 6 days until Font. Wooah.

Bumble Bee

2010-07-13T16:27:00.002+01:00

This is easily the busiest working period of my life. In between working at least one job a day for at least six days a week I have been trying to squeeze in some training, or if I'm lucky a rock climb. Firstly, it's hard to get motivated to train when you only have a few hours to yourself in a day. Secondly, it's really hard to improve at climbing when you're not doing any. There is hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel, although it's possible that I will physically and mentally crash at the end of summer and sleep through our trip to Font. As long as I wake up for some pan au chocolate and coffee then it won't be all bad.

Short term aims:

- Get out running more to hopefully lose the couple of kilos that have magically been added to the scales.
- MAKE TIME to train more.
- Flash my circuit at Slipstones (Lay By Atere may be a stopper on this one!).

Annual Brimham Adventure.

2010-05-15T16:20:00.007+01:00

Now I've got The Bulb done, pressure has dissolved and it seems a bit more enjoyable to go out bouldering without worrying about being a failure. I've not been to Brimham in about a year, and I've certainly not had fun day out there for much longer than that. Me and Harty put an end to that today, even the whining tourists at the cafe couldn't dampen our spirits. Top of the list were:

- Benchmark, 7b.
I couldn't do this but Tom managed it in a few goes.

- Fantasy League, 7a+.
Team accent. I'd failed on this a few years ago but managed first time today. Chuffed.

- Whiskey Galore, 7a.
Tom just missed out on the flash but did it second go very easily.

- Titfield Thunderbolt, 7b.
Team accent. Awesome dynamic top move, brilliant!

- Fluide, 7c.
Team accent. This has to be one of the best boulders in Yorkshire, could be mistaken for Font! (excuse the amazing gurns).

Stop, Look and Listen.

2010-05-14T17:08:00.010+01:00

The last few weeks in nice pictures and a rubbish video. Caroline came out a couple of times, which was a good. Got on some sandstone too, which beats grit in the warm that's for sure. Oh and the woman has done an almighty two 6c boulders, what a superhero. X

STANAGE

me on Twister, 7b.
Bex on Steep Traverse, 6c.
Caroline rock bouldering.

SHIPLEY GLEN

Me being a doyle.
Tom on Millstone Grit, 7b.

Caroline doing more rock bouldering.Abi loves bouldering. Or was drunk.
QUEENS CRAG

Me on Worldline, 7b.
Me on Red Dragon, 8a.
Bex on Cracked Skull, 6b.
Me on The Slot, 7c+.

CALLERHUES

Bex on Pocket Picking, 6c.

Abi on H8, 6a.

Bex on H8, 6a.
Me on Eyes of Silence, 7c+.
Tom on Eyes of Silence, 7c+.
THE BULB
The months of heartbreak are over at last.

Afternoon Delight

2010-05-13T22:57:00.005+01:00

It's been a while. Lately we have been trying to get to some new crags. Queen's Crag and Callerhues have been ticked and they will definitely be revisited soon to complete some unfinished business. Pictures to follow.

Last week I dragged the woman out to Almscliff because I'd convinced myself that I was going to do The Bulb. It didn't happen. I had about 7 really good goes in decent conditions. When I left empty handed, I accepted that a) I was a complete failure b) it was never going to be good enough conditions to do it and c) I should give up climbing. In the morning, after the beer had worn off, I decided to give The Bulb a session per week in order to either fluke it in the warm or just treat it as a training session.

Tonight was the first Bulb 'training session'. It was worse conditions than last week, I hadn't spent all day psyching myself up and I was feeling rather sleepy. I got pretty close on my first go, the same 'pretty close' I've been getting for months. Feeling quietly confident, I put the video camera on record and began the ritual of whipping holds, boot squeaking, down jacket off, liquid chalk, loose chalk, scratching nose and taking three deep breaths. It's mad how OCD I can be. Everything fell into place and I did it. I proper did it. Typically it felt easy and like I could do it every go now. Unbelievable...I'd told myself that it'd need to be a perfect breezy 4 degrees in a snowy January to keep hold of the pinch and there I was on a warm, pleasant mid-May evening, smashing it in the box.

Rubbish video to follow, right now I am busy finishing a garlic chicken pizza, chips and beer...the diet is over and tonight I am the happiest boulderer in Stockton, for sure.

Listomania

2010-04-13T08:21:00.007+01:00

Today I noticed that there isn't 10 problems on my ticklist (as states in the rulebook). I am reluctant to comment on the success/failure of my winter ticklist just yet because that would mean having to admit that it's getting too warm to complete any more problems on it. In particular The Bulb, which I have whipped off when getting my foot up to top out. Ayazz.

I have had a hunt around for problems to top up the list and this is what I've come up with. Some shouldn't take very long to do (he says) and others may take lots of years (if ever). I've tried to pick problems that I can still attempt over summer, although I am expecting to have to add some limestone boulder problems. Ergh. Problems in bold highlight focus of tickage.

The List:

Horror Arete - Bridestones 6c
Fight on Black - Widdop 7b
Jerry's Arete - Bridestones 7b
Jerry's Traverse - Cratcliffe 7b
West Side Story - Burbage West 7b+
No Pebble Arete - Caley 7b+
Hot Air - Bowderstone 7b+
Rockatrocity - The Cave 7b+
Power is Nothing... - Shaftoe 7c
Jerry's Roof - The Pass 7c
Improper Opera - Bowderstone 7c
Fluide - Brimham 7c
The Bulb - Almscliff 7c+
The Yorkshireman ss - Kyloe In 7c+
Zoo York - Caley 8a
Cypher - Sliprocks 8b

Team Caley

2010-04-12T08:00:00.005+01:00

The rarity of having an entire day off combined with belting hot weather occurred on Saturday. We can't be quite ready to admit that summer conditions are upon us; we (Timmy, Rich, Harty and Tommo) headed for the relative shade of Caley. A full day of bouldering is something I haven't done in a very long time, I'd forgotten just how much you can wear yourself out and the grim feeling of having to stop climbing from sore, bleeding skin. All in all, it was a beauty day out.

After some nice warm-ups we headed up to the top of the Roadside and Timmy had a few very decent goes on Juju Club. Harty and I both did Ben's Groove. I struggled more than him, took me a while to figure out that it's all about front two in the pocket. The top out is terrifying, especially if you're a big girl's blouse like me. Anyway, super classic ***. It also gets me a bit closer to my life long aim of ticking all of the problems in that sector. The leftover list is:

Zoo York 8a
Guacamole 7c+
Ripper Arete 7b (looks scary as)
Freak Technique 7c
Wainwright's Wobble 7b+
Ben's Groove ss 7c+ (I did say I was going to omit sit starts, but this line is too good to miss out)

We went to have a look at To Be is Not To Bolt, which was about the only thing still soaking wet - looks really good though. We did a few more problems on the way back to the main area, the most noteworthy being The Groove, which had some really nice moves. Harty went on to bag No Pebble Arete, which was a really good effort. He went back on it to try the no-arete version but had, like me, started to run out of skin and juice. I'm sure it'll go no worries, and I am super keen to get back on the arete with fresh skin anyway.

Rich doesn't get on with Caley. Still, it was tres good to see him. We'll have to get dragged up to Stanage next time as payback. I used to hate Slipstones because I always left feeling as though I'd trashed all of my skin and not gotten to the top of anything. If it's anything similar then I can emphasise. Actually I used to feel a bit like that about Caley, but Neil W convinced me that being rubbish at a certain crag was a good reason to go there a lot and get it dialled, not to write it off and avoid going. Wise.

We bimbled around a bit more, I put some chalk on a problem that some nice lads had cleaned up a while ago to keep the green off it (pic above). I tried it but was totally battered by then and couldn't touch it. Lovely day out, good climbing in bad conditions, nice to have a decent team out. Bonza.

Harty on No Pebble Arete.

A rare smile caught on film (Something bad must have happened to someone else).

Tom on The Groove.

Me on Ben's Groove.

Tom on Juju Club.

Pumping Iron

2010-03-31T11:46:00.003+01:00

Not much happening on the rock lately, sometimes you just have to deal with working a lot and getting terrible weather when you're off. There's been a lot of action in the garage lately though, I'm trying out the super classic plan of:

conditioning / strength / power / rest

I'm going to try 3 week cycles just to get to grips with it all, see what improvements are made and then adapt it for longer 4 or 5 week cycles over summer. We'll see what happens anyway.

I've been doing a lot of weights. Weights make you feel STRONG MAN. How I have gone this far in my life without ever bench pressing or doing shoulder matrixes is beyond me, I am loving it.

In other news, last week I planted some carrots, lettuce, mange toutes and basil. We also put up a couple of bird feeders and have spent our mornings watching nice little birds dance around the garden (and fat scutty pigeons ruining their lives and trying to destroy the feeders). It's all getting a bit too Spring Watch round here for my liking. Frog in the garden was loving a good little stroke....

Magic Wand

2010-03-08T16:29:00.005Z

Me and Bex have been in the Lakes for a few days as a treat for my birthday. Thanks Bex. We had a climb in Kentmere and at the Langdale Boulders but mostly we just ate loads, drank loads and slept even more loads. The weather was hot enough for Bex to do some bouldering and she smashed this problem called Blow Yer Balast at Little Font in style, good work woman. Didn't really want to come home at all; the routine of laziness, food, bouldering, food, laziness, combined with some outrageously lush views was just too nice.

Back in the real world I caught up with Tom at Caley this morning. I really wanted to go out bouldering yesterday but rested instead. I made a pro-stick-on-a-brush (see pic) because it was such a nightmare trying to clean Secret Seventh last time I was there. After a fun warm up on some slabs we headed up the hill and I managed to sketch up the Secret Seventh pretty quickly. After Tom lost a lot of skin on New Jeruselum we went over to the crag and I totally surprised myself by getting up Scary Canary. It was the first time that I'd done the move off the mono and there was no way in hell that I was going to fall off from that height. Amazing problem though, and two of my winter projects ticked in a day with barely any work....happy days!

Rest tomorrow then over to Shaftoe on Wednesday. If the weather stays good then the traverse will be dry by then and hopefully I can extend my run of good fortune with my magic staff.

New Positive

2010-02-19T23:09:00.010Z

When you're injured it's really hard to know what is the best thing to do- total rest, easy climbing, ice, cold water...it goes on. There are so many different opinions and it's frustrating that everyone becomes an expert, even if they are just trying to help. I went up to the wall with the usual lot on Thursday to provide moral support and me and Dom chatted about my rubbish fingers. He suggested that there was no reason why I couldn't do some easy bouldering if it didn't hurt. Jurassic park. When someone makes a decision like that for you it is a real weight off the shoulders. Permission to climb! The physio eventually got back to me about an appointment today too, so hopefully he'll be able to shed more light on the situation.

To maintain focus I've been absolutely hammering the pullup bar. I devised a little 25 min routine with a little help from The Boss and I've seen massive strength gains over the last couple of weeks. I'm starting to plateau with progress on it, so after a couple more sessions I'll think about doing something else or adding some weight. I'm going to start doing some lifts very soon with light weights in order to get skilled up for some grinding general conditioning. I'm excited about this, and injuring my fingers has kind of opened the door to make me improve on other weaknesses (Positive Simon).

Oh, and I might have popped along to Almscliff yesterday to hook up with Tom. Long story short: He did his project Si's Arete and came really close to Patta's Arete. I strangely felt really strong despite not daring to get anywhere near crimping and did Top Cat Traverse second shot. I'd tried this very briefly a couple of years ago with Shaun but it felt desperate so just wrote it off. I saw a video of it on the Internet and remembered that it was mostly pockets and no crimping. Result, I'm happy with that.

This is the said pullup bar routine if yours fingers explode or you fancy a change:

min exercise
1 POWER PULLS (fast up slow down) X2
2 POWER PULLS X2
3 POWER PULLS X2
4 POWER PULLS X2
5 POWER PULLS X2
6
7 PULL UPS X6
8 PULL UPS X6
9 PULL UPS X6
10
11 ONE ARMER L (medium pulley assistance) / 5KG
12 ONE ARMER R (medium pulley assistance) / 5KG
13
14 ONE ARMER L (light pulley assistance) / unassisted
15 ONE ARMER R (light pulley assistance) / unassisted
16
17 ONE ARMER L (heavy pulley assistance) /10KG slowly as possible
18 ONE ARMER R(heavy pulley assistance) /10KG slowly as possible
19
20 FRENCH PULLS (pullup - 90 lock 5s -pullup - full lock 5s - pullup -120 lock 5s etc.) / X3
21
22
23 FRENCH PULL UPS X2
24
25 FRONT LEVER (or equivelant)
26 FRONT LEVER

Peaks and Troughs

2010-02-11T10:05:00.003Z

My psyche has plummeted into the negatives. My two PIP joints are still swollen and now more sore, despite ice and avoiding crimping. I am weak, my training has no structure anymore and its making me feel more broken than strong anyway. I haven't been out on rock in 11 days and now I'm torn between plasticking tonight or risking getting rained on at the crag tomorrow. WOE IS ME.

Started trampolining classes to take for a change from thinking about training and climbing. It's really fun, and even better because Bex and Ed go too. Fun times.

Went to see our mate who is a sports science lecturer/climber and he's going to help me with a long term training plan, so I'm quite excited about that. I accidentally won a set of weights on ebay so it won't be long before I'm doing deadlifts in front of the window with my top off. Two tickets?

Sad times. Bouncy bouncy bouncy.

Peak Party

2010-02-01T07:28:00.005Z

Last weekend Tom, Harty and myself packed up our psyche and headed to the Peak in search of dry rock, good conditions and party times. Amazingly we found all three, and I can't think of a more successful trip to Sheffield.

Cratcliffe Saturday

Conditions were perfect- cold, dry air, slight breeze and a warm sun. Since Rich hadn't been out on rock in months and the rest of us were sick to the teeth of trying the same damp problems in Yorkshire, volume was the name of the game. I think we managed to do about 15 problems which was amazing. Jerry's Traverse was wet (boooo) so we got on T Crack, a problem that I'd convinced myself I couldn't do. Evidently not, although it was a shame that Tom came so close and couldn't finish it off. Rich cruised it as normal and went on to try all the methods. There was also an almost team accent of Jerry's Arete (and flash by Harty), a problem that I'd always wanted to try in good conditions. Just before home time I managed to get myself up Short Slab; I'd tried it in summer last and it was desperate, this time not so much! All in all it was probably the most successful day out in the Peak that I've had, and nicely finished off with a curry and beers down the pub with Will and Sarah.

Plantation Sunday

Tom hates this place and always has a sulk when we go. Today was no exception. Still, after he picked his lip up off the floor and did Green Traverse he cheered up a bit. Result. Harty managed the flash, what a machine! After warming up I decided to have a magic three goes on Deliverance, which turned into a magic 10 goes despite being told that I wasn't allowed to go into debt with the magic attempts. It didn't matter, after some helpful beta I managed to slap the top hold a couple of times. For a change I didn't fold under the pressure and got to the top. Deliverance is a problem that I'd have never been bothered about failing on, but always thought I'd be chuffed to bits if I ever did it...and I was! The icing on the cake was going on to do Zippy's Traverse- a total bum scraper but good problem nevertheless!

Rich did well on the rock after his dark days of plasticism in the rock gym and didn't bleed that much. Tom managed to only have a little bit of a sulk and Harty was a flashing machine. I was super happy to have climbed a couple of projects, a handful of total classics and actually get two full days of climbing in the Peak. Because I've been going to the same crags for months, the problems I'm trying are at my limit, or I've got them wired. Therefore it's quite hard to judge if you're getting stronger and better. Going away and having a load of new problems to try is really good for seeing how you're getting on, and it's even more encouraging when you can see progress! I think the real test is almost due....A trip to the Bowderstone!

Harty making good progress on The Storm. Next time for sure.

Rich on Zippy's Traverse.

Tom 'not feeling like he's climbed any hard problems' on Green Traverse.

Me putting good beta to use on Deliverance.

more hot shots are here

PIP RIP

2010-01-25T15:18:00.009Z

I always get suspicious when I'm feeling strong and getting psyched for projects; rightly so it seems too. Struggling to warm up at a mostly wet crag followed by a long session at the wall the day after has left me with two swollen 1st knuckles (PIP joints). It is most likely to be caused from overloaded cartilage, and is hopefully not a stress fracture. It hurts to touch the palm of my hand with the fingertip, and the joints hurt when applied with pressue. It's my own stupid fault so take this as a warning!

After reading up on my symptoms for an evening on the interweb, here are my findings.

Possible causes:
Not warming up properly TICK
Climbing crimpy / steep / dynamic problems TICK / TICK / TICK
Poor footwork (shock loading joints) .....maybe not this - ok - TICK

Treatment:
Dave Macleod's 30 mins in cold water treatment is not effective with this type of injury
Change of venue, grip types is about the best thing to do
Tape when climbing
Ice afterwards
Anti-inflammatory drugs/gel

Avoiding injury:
Don't be a dick. Warm up properly. If you can't, go get some beer or cake instead.

Before I discovered that the cold water treatment wouldn't work I did it for a couple of days and it did make the swelling worse. This makes sense really if the treatment promotes bloodflow to the affected area. I'm now sticking with icing (cake icing of course) as often as possible, gentle climbing and squeezing exercises. Climbing and crimping don't actually make the joints hurt, in fact, I barely notice them, but there is definite swellage afterwards. I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that doing anything that makes your finger swell up like a sausage can't be a good thing. Hopefully I will remain sensible and psyched enough to use this opportunity to do more running, weights and yogaling with Bex. Right now, I am completely, totally and utterly PISSED OFF.

Swollen little finger PIP.

The other swollen joint is on the other hand, which ISN'T ANNOYING AT ALL.

LESS COLD

2010-01-10T19:31:00.004Z

"As we go into the new week, the less cold theme continues, with a slow thaw taking place for many." - Metcheck

WOO! That statement concludes a fully depressing week. Since the snow came I haven't been able to get out running much, which means I feel like a lead weight. Me and Tom went to Almscliff on Friday and there was no excuse why I didn't do The Bulb, I just felt rubbish on it. Conditions were primo and I could do the last move no problem, but something just wasn't working at all. It's so very frustrating, especially when I've been so vigilant with training and not to mention the daily yogaling sessions with the Bex. As the Sex Dwarf would say, somedays you have to know when to just walk away.

We also brushed the snow off the top of a bunch of boulders at Almscliff and Caley, for it to only snow all evening and morning, gutted! Bex always fancied a look at the Depot, and I couldn't be bothered to brave the cold again so we headed for the warmth of the wall...or so we thought. That place is easily the coldest place on Earth and I didn't have very much fun at all. Great problems, really friendly people, decent coffee, a hilarious Yorkshireman called Kip, but a bit spoilt by frostbite and hypothermia.

Assuming the weather forecast is right (hah!) and it's going to thaw this week, I've decided to have a much needed break from the rock. I will be mostly training like a motherflipper until the weekend at least. I'm wasting far too much time and money on driving to wet crags, and I'm putting far too much pressure on myself to do THAT problem. Even though it's not actually that good, a) it's my only project at Almscliff and Almcliff is the only place vaguely dry lately and b) I KNOW that I can do it, and could have done it sessions ago so it is getting under my skin. I need of a big can of Toughen The Fuck Up. Again.

2010, have some of this.

2010-01-01T10:22:00.012Z

2010, a year of lists. Let's start with what's going down this year. I surprised myself at how much training and running I kept up with last year, so I am hoping that I won't loose psyche amidst all of this frustrating snowsnowsnow. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to be as strong as possible by the time we go to Font in October, which I suppose isn't a bad thing. It's just that I'm worried that this will start to deture from the awesomeness of just have a chilled out month with the woman...I'll have to keep an eye on that one. Anyway, back to business. Short, mid and long-term objectives.

Short: The Bulb before Feb.
The rest of my Non-Peak tick list before it gets too warm.
Go to Back Bowden.
Get schooled on how to train more betterly.

Medium (6 months or more):
Stick with the training and get strong for Font in Oct for...
La Coccinelle, Mongolito and hopefully a whole lot more.
Go to Earl Crag, Kentmere and North Wales.
Try Zoo York.
~~Find Energy Follows Thought at Ilkley Rocky Valley.~~
...replaced with either:
Sleep, eat more cake or go to Widdop, do Fight on Black and don't get rained on.

Beyond 2010:
Cypher - before I'm 30 (which gives me 4 years and 3 months)

I'm sure there is more, but that will do for now. Now, back to trying to erase the amount of food and beer I comsumed over the festive season from my memory. And stomach.

Snowy Snow and The Snowmen

2009-12-20T20:04:00.002Z

Today it snowed. It snowed a lot. I ate two banana and chocolate muffins (thanks Gabby) and drank thirty seven cups of tea, or something like that. It was really nice to have some homo-bonding at the crag despite not getting any climbing done, and it was even better to meet Rich's new Incredible Leaning Dog, Daglass. Bring on Bouldering Boxing Day.

Booyah Achieved

2009-12-11T19:21:00.009Z

Here are some photos from today's action. It was sunny and the rock was warm. Tom bled all over everything to make up for Rich's recent absence from rock climbing activities. He also came really close to Hole Shot and did Sulky Little Boys second go, which to me is the equivalent climbing an 9b+...impressive stuff!

And after years of not expecting it would happen, today I climbed my first 8a, Exocet. It was totally Hollywood. Conditions were poor, I'd already had a few goes, written it off and carried on climbing other stuff. The sun went in for a while and I decided to have a few more goes. On the very, very, very last shot before we were going to leave (of course) I sketched up it. Now I am planning on drinking until blind drunk (3 or 4 pints) and eating mince pies all weekend. Get in.

Tom - Hole Shot, Slipstones

Tom - Sulky Little Boys, Slipstones

Me on Exocet, Slipstones

lastmoveitis

2009-12-08T22:13:00.002Z

This week I have found myself stupidly close to my two big projects. I left Slipstones today knowing that I couldn't have come any closer to doing Exocet without doing it. On one hand I am well chuffed that some new beta worked out nice and I'm totally sure it'll go really soon, on the other hand I feel like I've already done it- because I should have done. I guess it's a matter of not get too obsessive, it would horrible if I felt more relief than achievement when I top it out.

New Christmas list:
- Exocet
- The Bulb
- Chicken, ham, pigs in blankets, sherry, roast potatoes, homemade christmas pudding and a pint of Guiness please.

There's a bunch of videos of today's failures, this is the last one before I had to leave because I was already really late for work. I'll put them all together into a little 'check me out' video over Christmas. I'm so excited at the posibility of Team Rock Boulder with the gang during the festive season, weeeeeeeeee.

Toby Big Head.

2009-12-05T08:24:00.003Z

Toby the Giant Headed Dog

Conditions weren't as primo as expected, but it was still dry enough for Timmy to blast up Demon Wall Roof and for me to do the sit start to the Matterhorn arete. It's not the best climb I've ever done and topping it out in the dark was a little bit intimidating, but at least it's a cross off my Christmas list! Tom's effort on DWR was good, he pretty much warmed up on it and even though he had a handful of fairly pathetic attempts, he looked slick as fudge on the accent.

Since everything was a little damp and greasy, I took the opportunity to try a new sequence for the start of The Bulb that I'd been thinking about. Turns out this new sequence takes out two moves, and even though it's a little tougher on the core muscles it seemed to help a bucket load. Two goes in a row my hand was all over the finish hold...Next time for sure!

In past news, after all the moaning I did about the weather, me and Bex went up to Slipstones the other day and it must have easily been -1 degrees with the wind chill. Stickier than a massive stick. More of that please. And while you're at it, give Rich a dose of concentrated boulder psyche...the team needs his angry bald lovin back.

Connect Four

2009-11-30T14:23:00.004Z

I won't win a prize for pointing out that the weather in England is fairly rubbish for climbers, it's just so depressing when there is hardly any work on and I have to endure day after day of rain. If I lived in Leeds or Sheffield then I would have a 15 minute drive to rock and getting rained off wouldn't be so much of an issue. The 2 hour round trip to Almscliff (I'll punch myself in the face if I have to keep going there) is rubbish when you're on your own and it costs over a tenner in diesel. Back in the day a car full of us would be a couple of quid each, but now everyone has moved away, settled down or given up (you know who you are!) it's hard to motivate yourself for the drive when you know that you could stay in the guaranteed dry of the garage...I fixed the leak in the roof.

And relax. I think that a motivational beer and mince pie maybe in order tonight!

CHRISTMAS LIST:

- At least one ticklist project.
- Hang 3 fingers 'moonboard hold 5' one-armed for 6 secs.
- Complete the campus board routine in full.
- Connect four.

PS. Made some new holds for the board. LOOK.

Dry, But Mostly Wet.

2009-11-29T15:24:00.003Z

Me and The Bexinator decided to gamble with what little faith we have left in the Met Office and headed up to Shaftoe in search of some dry rock. It was mostly wet, but at least in didn't rain. It was sadly too cold for Bex to climb and too wet for me to have a go at doing Power is Nothing Without Control. The holds around the crux were only damp, so I got a sequence and linked through it. I am keen to get back up there after some prolonged dry weather (yeah right) to smash it in the box. A few photos from Bexcam:

Simon is Nothing Without Control

Hiphopopotacampus

2009-11-24T21:24:00.011Z

Went to the plastic boulder gym today and did some campus boarding with Harty. He is keen to up his power levels so it was nice to have someone to train with. I read a Malc interview a few days ago and it reminded me that training power should be done fresh- it's almost pointless doing it at the end of the session. Thanks Malc. A while before that, Rich gave me a few tips on refining my campus board routine- mostly reducing the rung size and concentrating on finger contact strength, which is the aim of this whole shebang. Thanks Rich. The superstar tips have helped lots.

The routine is 40mins with lots of rest time. It combines 'what Rich saw Sharik doing once', a copycat of some little clips that Rich sent over from some brick hard Italian and a smidge of my own input. It is good; it focuses on my weaknesses and it most importantly it is hard, but doable.

Messing around before Harty got warmed up, I did 1-5-8 on the big rungs. Because I can manage to lock off one armed and reach up static, I don't really class it as 'proper 1-5-8', but I think I'll take it anyway. More encouragingly, I did the 1-4-7 part of the routine on the medium rungs quite comfortably.

I'm curious to see what progressions I've made by Christmas. I'm more curious to see if any of this translates to rock climbing. If it doesn't then so what, at least I look cool as fudge hanging out by the campus board while everyone else has fun climbing.

Like this, but much blacker.

2009-11-19T22:42:00.004Z

As Bex would probably say, 'today it was blowing halloumi'. I'd decided that it would be a good idea to stay out of the gales in the safety of the garage with some weights, but some Yorkshire wannabe easily talked me into going out to Da 'Cliff with the headtorches.

Surprisingly it didn't rain and Timmy was right about the decent conditions. I did Slopey Traverse, Tom got a bit closer to the Keel and Harty did DWR first shot - an all round funtime session battling with pads and various bits and bobs being hurtled around the crag. I usually crack under the pressure when I'm close to doing a project, it's one of my biggest weaknesses. I knew that it would realistically be at least a month until the traverse would be dry again and I was made-up that I managed to keep my head (apart from a one-armed swing on the jug after I couldn't keep my feet on).

Things I learnt: blasting through a long climb with power is a good thing, climbing with finese and stopping to chalk up is a rubbish thing.

I'm hoping that The Bulb will get done soon. I had a decent couple of goes on it tonight and feel like I learn something every time I try it. I reckon that it's now worked out and I just need a big dose of toughen up. It unfortunately means that I have to go back to Almscliff though, and I've about had my fill of the place for a while.

In other news, we had a really fun time at the rock boulder gym on Tuesday. I tried out the campus routine and it is achievable and hard, so that's all good. I really enjoy climbing with Shabaz and them lot, I reckon I'll have some good times in the next few weeks of going to the wall to campus and climb - despite having big issues with parting with £7 (!!!) every visit.

Looks like it's going to rain for the next seven years solidly, so probably wont have anything very interesting to say for a while. Cheerio for now.

Ding Ding

2009-11-14T08:37:00.006Z

Round two begins. Although there was no proper structure behind 'training phase one', it has unquestionably been beneficial to my finger strength. I've gone from not being able to hang one armed on the moonboard pockets at all to cruising 6 sec. More importantly, I had a play on some of the hideously crimpy problems on the Demon Wall Roof and actually felt like I could use the holds. Because I feel like I haven't got the most out of the fingerboarding yet, I'm keeping a shortened fingerboard session in this cycle; it's fairly low volume and good for keeping the fingers in shape.

On top of that, I've decided to get involved with campus boarding (bye bye elbows). I've devised a 40min routine and I'm going to try and do it once a week until Christmas. If anything starts feeling wrong in my arms then I have no issue with either cutting this down to fortnightly sessions or sacking it off altogether for something else. I reckon I'm just about tough enough to get through it.

I'm not too sure what I'm expecting the outcome of this training phase to be, which is a little worrying. The last few weeks of appalling weather has exposed why I always get heavy and rubbish at climbing in the winter - because it is only dry enough to climb once every two weeks. I'm intrigued to see if campus boarding improves my contact strength, and It'd be good if I manage to hang the small moonboard pockets one-armed, but to be totally honest I'd just be happy to stay strong and fit enough to keep trying my projects...once every two weeks.

1
a fingerboard moon session
b campus board
c board (big move problems) + finger pull ups

2
a fingerboard moon session
b campus board
c board - weighted (big moves)

3
a fingerboard moon session + finger pull ups
b campus board
c weighted pulls

4
a fingerboard moon session
b campus board
c board - weighted (big moves)

5
a fingerboard moon session
b campus board
c board (big move problems) + finger pull ups

Dr. Feel Good.

2009-11-03T10:12:00.001Z

This has to be one of the most frustrating couple of weeks on record. It rains when I'm not at work, it is windy and bitter cold when I am at work. I'd forgotten how frustrating it is, especially when you feel strong and really psyched.The new board setup is working well, I've been coming up with some new problems and I've recently copied off Rich and ordered some bleaustone pockets (I tried to make my own and gave up very quickly). It's definitely a well needed change from laddering up systems moves.

Off to the wall today - the only positive in all of this appalling weather is that I've been able to focus on the training and notice strength improvements more explicitly. I can use the tiny half dowels on the board now and have been making big improvements on hanging 'back 2', although I'm still very very very cautious about it. No good without dry rock to climb on though!

Proper sulky boredom post this one, the next time you hear from me I'll have crushed a project for sure. FOR SURE.

Have you been working out?

2009-10-26T21:21:00.002Z

It would be lovely if the temperature started to drop as much as the leaves falling off the trees. I reset the board over the weekend, keeping it symetrical but removing the 'system tile' setup. It has made it possible to do wider moves on smaller holds. Ack. Had a session with Harty on it tonight and it is a success; very 'ard. Will hopefully have more interesting things to report soon about real life rock bouldering.

Kinky John

2009-10-18T19:00:00.007+01:00

Climbed five days on rock this week. AS IF. Yesterday's venture to Almscliff is probably left brief, I had forgotten the incredible number of tradders that venture up there on a weekend and was rudely bardged out of the DWR area. My fault really, I should have known better. What made me laugh was what the other boulderer there said within earshot of the belayer - "WELL THAT'S PISSED ON YER CHIPS, MATE". I giggled. I should have done Slopey Traverse, I shouldn't have swung off the jug. I should have done Matterhorn ss, I shouldn't have let my toe slip off the hold. It didn't get me down because at least I made progress, all the same, still probably best left at that!

Me and the good lady ventured out to Shipley Glen today. It was our first trip there and I really liked it, although I don't think I'll make a big effort to go there again. We did a lot of cruising around and Bex did good on some traverses. I did Red Baron second shot (should have flashed it, but let's just leave it there) which is a wicked climb and definately worth making a special trip for. I also did a really cool crescent-shaped traverse called Longy's Traverse, again second go. I'm feeling strong on rock after my week of being a professional climber, although my skin isn't happy now. All in all it was a really nice day out with the good lady. Weather was nice, rock was nice, happy chilled-out climbing and some earl grey tea. Shame we had to ruin it by popping in to see Timmy's new pad on the way home.

I've still tried to keep in line with the training plan despite climbing a lot, and although they haven't been the most productive sessions I think they're still helping. In the garage with ED! tomorrow, climbing with SHAUN! this week and a lantern session with Timmy and Rich....exciting times!

Hotshots from Shipley Glen

PS. In other news, we've just booked a gite at Maisonbleau for all of October next year. weeeeee.

Straight, No Chaser

2009-10-14T07:47:00.005+01:00

I have climbed three days in a row this week, which is a rarity this year. Last night me and Timmy had a lantern session at Almscliff, and I love lantern sessions me. Tim got stuck into The Keel and DWR (although some punk had put what looked like olive oil all over the important holds!!!) and made some good progress despite the sabotage. I almost rested while he messed about on DWR, but instead had a feel about on the last crimpy holds of Stu's Roof.

Years ago me and Shaun had watched some bigshots do Stu's Roof from standing before getting into the proper start. I thought it was amazing that anyone could hold onto those little crimpers, let alone pull up on them.

Last night they felt a lot better than I remember. Boots on, pulled up, did the rock over and fluffed the top through missing a big hold in the dark...Rubbish! It took me a handful more goes to do the move again but I got up to the top. It's not a proper problem and it's certainly not in the guide or anything like that, but I was totally made up to have done it. It's a milestone, and I proper love milestones even more than lantern sessions.

Despite us both loosing skin on the roof area, we both did well on the Keel block. Timmy will do it this winter for sure if he toughens the fuck up and I am hopeful for the Bulb, having made a decent effort to inches off the last hold. I blame my lack of skin and 3 days climbing on the trot, or maybe I just needed a can of Toughen The Fuck Up too.

Back to the garage today...I think I'll have an easy one and then talk myself out of adding Stu's Roof to my winter ticklist.

Maxibon.

2009-10-13T13:20:00.011+01:00

Mallorca hotshots

Well Mallorca is alright. Paella is pretty alright too. This is the plan, and if it doesn't work then the only bad thing that could come of it is not being any stronger and having wasted my time. But I'm hoping that even if my brilliant plan turns out to be a bit rubbish I will have gained some kind of new level of something, even if it is staying away from my usual winter ontake of bulk thanks to more beer and food.

There are 10 weeks until Christmas; I have split that up into a 5 week cycle, 1 week rest and a 4 week cycle. This is undoubtedly not very sciency but cycle 1 is all about the fingers and cycle 2 is all about the arms.

Cycle 1 looks a bit like this, where the numbers are weeks and the letters are sessions within a week. Climbing on rock takes priority over any session. Every 'b' session is an arm strength or power workout to give the fingers a bit of a rest.I haven't finalised cycle 2 yet, so that will come later.

It looks pretty intense on paper so I'll have to see how I cope, I'll be jogging to keep the fitness up, but if I have to increase the rest period between sessions then so be it.

1
a fingerboard moon session
b rock rings
c board systems + finger pullups

2
a fingerboard moon session
b weighted pulls
c board "little moves, little holds"

3
a fingerboard moon session
b bachar
c climbing wall big moves

4
a fingerboard moon session
b weighted pulls
c board "little moves, little holds"

5
a fingerboard moon session
b rock rings
c board systems + finger pullups

Bonus: The good lady sending her project into outer space here

Cool Runnings

2009-09-21T07:21:00.007+01:00

Did it! All the way from the start to the finish. It was as savage as expected and I was even sick in my mouth down the finishing straight, so I probably couldn't have really tried any harder. The Red Arrows went overhead as I crossed the Tyne Bridge; they are a bunch of clever little people. Damo was happy to beat his pb and finished at 1h31m40s, which is mint. I crossed at 1h33m49s, was the 54th female to cross the line (I was Alison for the day) and was 995th overall. Proper full on chuffed, especially since I could only start training about three weeks ago. In this time my weight has dropped from about 69kg to 66kg and I'm keen to see if it makes the difference on rock when conditions get better - provided I don't start eating full portions again and drinking more beer any time soon. Next year sub-1hr30min for sure.

Back to the Norton Bouldering Centre (our garage) this week. Going to do some bits and bobs of training until we go to MALLORCA next Saturday and start a more structured plan on returning to try and stay strong(er than Tom) over winter. Apparently ED! is making an appearance in the garage this week, which will be both very nice and very surprising if he actually turns up.

HOLA

2009-09-19T21:01:00.002+01:00

Welcomes. I have set up this blog to be better than Tom's (http://fuckmyangryface.blogspot.com/), which it already is. After I have done this Running Greatly through the North tomorrow I will rest and eat like hell for a few days and then get back to training in order to maintain my edge over Tom. Cheerio for now.