To begin again

This has been a year of major changes. Over the summer I started a PhD at Cambridge. I pretty much said goodbye to climbing (and most of the rest of my life as well) out of a lack of spare time and facilities. Just before Christmas my former excuse partly vanished when the Kelsey Kerridge opened a newly refurbished wall.

I've been slowly getting back into climbing and life in general. It has taken some time to adjust to what feels like a new life. It is nice to have something familiar back. However, the old demon of my shoulder is starting to cause me some discomfort. It's back to the physio exercises at some point.

Here is a video of a couple of fun problems at the Kelsey Kerridge. Apologies for the video quality and even poorer background music.

Fossil Wall

Yesterday saw a mad dash to the Peak for a day out of London, which I have been in need of for quite some time.

Grit probably would have probably been a  better option given the abundance of easy problems but both my partner and I never get on with the stuff. We did however want to try something different and after a quick search I came across Fossil Wall.

It was a speculative choice, but having been I can highly recommend it provided you like limestone. It is situated above the A6 just outside of Bakewell.



It was great to get out for a bit and dust off the cobwebs, however I am now paying the price with an acky shoulder.

Alea iacta est

The good news is that I came close to a Font 7a+. The bad news is that came close to a Font 7a+.

Continuing my new found affair with Peak limestone, I headed up last Sunday for a quick fix. Maybe it was the heat making our decisions fuzzy, but we missed our turn and ended up at Raven Tor. I decided to re-do Too Hard for Mark Leach. I worked this problem a few weeks ago and retro-flashed it this time round. As we were bored we decided to do a video and I was a bit too nonchalant, which resulted in me slipping from the penultimate hold, falling on my back, rolling down the slope and hitting my knee. Needless to say, I wasn't coming off the second time 'round.



I tried a few other problems at Raven Tor, but was feeling way too weak not to mention hot. We then headed to our intended crag, Rubicon.

So I’ve been struggling with a rather simple concept. Right now being weak, injured, out of shape, etc. I’m not that far off my best grade wise. Either the training and sacrifice made little difference, or I wasn’t climbing anywhere near where I should have been. Maybe as always, it’s a bit of both.

I came pretty close to Kudos (the ultra-easy way, with a heel hook). I got both sidepulls and even managed to get my right foot out of the heel hook and left foot on the starting jug a few times, but I was too knackered to complete it.

I’m more likely than not kidding myself, but it does pose a few questions.

We spent the evening chilling at Rheinstor where I flashed the start of an E4 (V4 to the break). I still love this crag and wish that I could bring it back to London.

Wizard of Aus Start

I now have a project, reason enough for the obsession to begin anew. Maybe this time I should dream harder, but therein lies dangerous thoughts.

Snowy Font

I have never gotten on with Font at the best of times, but lack of funds and dictated holiday periods made Bleau in January sound like not too bad an idea.

We arrived late on Saturday and woke up to cold, but decent conditions on Sunday. Still tired from our trip we wandered around nearby Buthiers scoping out potential projects. Sadly, this was to be our best day out. It snowed on Tuesday and the temperature never got above -5C.


The rest of the week was spent attempting to clean problems and giving up in despair as you can never seem to get all of the ice off the slopers and given that this is Font, nearly every problem contains at least one requisite sloper. Also, our fingers and toes would pretty much go instantly numb. One day our car thermometer registered 12F (-11C) in the afternoon!

I did however manage to find this gem with big sharp holds way off circuit at Isatis. Yes, I found the only pocketed overhang in all of Font, but sadly, it’s just a 6a+.

Angle Incidence, Isatis

Here’s a video if you’re interested. I don’t top out in it as the last sloper was gathering a lot of ice by the time that I got around to recording it and I didn’t fancy slipping off it and landing on my back.

It was nice to get away, but equally, I don’t feel in a rush to go back. Is it just me or is Font not all that it’s made out to be? I will admit, the general style of climbing (technical, tedious, err… tenuous) was never my thing, but all those boulders… and I don’t want to climb any of them… except maybe Carnage, but I’m not standing in a queue to boulder.

Break

A lot of this blog is taken up with posts about not climbing on account of injury, bad weather or most recently due to a hectic schedule. Generally this has quite a negative impact on my climbing.

Oddly enough, after my most recent break, I don’t seem to be a million miles away from where I left off. I’ve been away from regular training for well over two months now, but I might even go so far as to say that the break was slightly beneficial.

Here is a (somewhat boring) video of me at The Arch this weekend.



The V5 took one session to do and the V6 two; not too bad. I also ticked another V5 that took two sessions, but popped a pad on my finger, so no video for that one.

I like the initial heel hook move on the V6 and it seems to suit me. The wild dyno at the top and subsequent awkward hand matching isn’t the regular flowing sequence. It just works for me.


I haven’t been outside in ages though and that it really depressing.

I did however manage to get some mountain biking in at Swinley forest on Sunday. Cool crisp air and frosted earth. It’s not bouldering, but it’s not a million miles away either.

Slow Week

This was rather a bad week for training as I have mostly been occupied with the start of my course. I did however manage to make it down to The Arch a couple of times.

Here's a (rather poor) video if you’re that bored.



I like this V5. It suits my style (whatever that is – indoor slightly crimpy overhanging stuff?). I now try to do it a few times a session for power endurance training as its rather pumpy.

Hopefully once the schedule settles down I can begin anew. Actually, I need to start working on a proper training plan again as despite my best effort to abuse it, the shoulder remains relatively intact.

It’s actually quite daunting to consider that things might be going OK for a change.

I’m starting my course, my shoulder is mostly OK, finger is completely fine, they actually brought real boulders to London – surely I’m about to be hit by a bus?

3,000 Hits and a Video

At some point today my counter went over 3,000 hits - cool beans.

I just came across this video of the boulders' creation and other info... it's worth a watch.
I still can't completely believe it's real.

Argh...

I’ve noticed that it is much easier for me to write about depressing things rather than successes. As luck would have it, I’m never too short of the former.

Since I’ve gotten back to London, I’ve been in horrible mood, even for me. I feel as though I’ve been allocated my own personal hole that I have to carry around at all times. It sits neatly enough under the bottom of my stomach, but presents a problem since I can’t seem to fill it with anything.

I should be happy, but of course I’m not. I’m weak, tired and achy. I attempted to go for a cycle, but had to stop. I fell off endless V2 and 3’s at the wall. Injuries that I never knew I had are beginning to appear and of course the shoulder is acting up a bit. I haven’t been able to sleep (though that’s not exactly new). Argh. I just feel so unhappy.

Why. I don’t know. I thrive on negativity and a success has distorted my world view? Flintoff is out of the Test squad? One more British ‘summer’ to put up with? Who knows.

When I got injured I was on an upward curve and since I've been injured, I've been able to maintain 'well I would be climbing harder but I'm injured'. I don't quite have that excuse anymore and I think part of the reason for being down is acknowledging the fact that I was deluding myself. I never had any grand plans; I just thought that I could do better. Maybe I can’t. Or maybe I can.

Sometimes I don’t know which one weighs heavier.

I just got an invite to go to Dartmoor, which I am excited about – Rippled Wall will be mine! Although it will probably rain, be plagued by midges, holidaying school children, or be declared a SSSI and therefore off limits. If it isn’t, I’ll certainly be too weak to climb it (see – negative thinking just works better).

Oh well, if all of my whinging has got you down, you can laugh at my attempt to make pathetically easy problems in North Wales look difficult. It was all that I could manage to film on account of the rain, midges, earthquakes, school children, etc.

Argh…

Arch Bimbling

I had a bimble at The Arch today. It was good fun, but I was feeling rather tired / weak due to having flu / a cold / some sort of illness (?) all week.

First up is one of my current favourite problems. It’s not overhanging, powerful or indeed even festooned with positive holds, so it isn’t exactly my type of problem. I just think it was well set, even if it is easier for people with small hands ;-)



Next up is my (proper) V5 project. It’s a tad bit um, err… more interesting for the short, but I’m not letting that get in my way.



Lots to work on...

Cwm Dyli

As the April showers, which inevitably extended into May, temporarily subsided, we decided to head for North Wales and have a crack at a few of the projects we had amassed in the back of our minds over winter. Well that was the idea anyway…

We arrived late on the Friday night and subsequently had rather a restless night. On Saturday morning I felt the exact opposite of wanting to work at my limit. I wanted an easy, oh I mean ‘fun’, day. We decided upon Cwm Dyli as it was recommended by a couple of friends a while back and looked like it contained lots of easy problems in a secluded spot.

I had my eye on a particular V5, Moose’s Problem, but clearly it wasn’t in the cards for me that day. I did however manage to flash a lovely V3/4 called Gwion’s Flake. Video here:



All and all it turned out well. It was good to get some mileage in and I actually missed the crisp rhyolite flakes. Is it possible to be sentimental over a rock type? It wasn’t exactly a ‘setting the climbing world alight’ day but fun nevertheless.

Sunday was a proper project day. For this I had at the top of my list a V5/6 (why does the North Wales bouldering guidebook use so many of these split grades?) in a cave below Clogwyn y Bustach called Fagin, as it’s a line of pockets up a steep prow.

Conditions were against me, it started to thunder and pour just as we got there, but thankfully the overhang was steep enough to allow time to play on the lower section. It was greasy from the humidity, but I still managed to hit the crux pocket – holding it was another story. I reckon that with about a month of training (and slightly less humidity) it will go.

Monday morning was spent doing a reachy (and rather highball) V3 at the RAC boulders then followed by a trip to Cae Du, my favourite beach-side bouldering venue. Given the scorching heat we spent more time paddling rather than bouldering, which seemed like way to much work.


All and all I was genuinely happy to be out climbing again after my shoulder injury. It’s still bothering me and I remain worried that I might have a SLAP or rotator cuff tear. I have a seemingly enormous list of things that are quite bad at the moment. Each one doesn’t exactly spell doom. It is just the increasing size of the list that seems to weigh down rather heavily.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am happy…

To quote an Economist advert I saw on the Tube:

Cratcliffe

After nearly two months of inactivity, I decided that I had enough of being injured. Last Saturday I went for a bimble at the Castle to no ill effects. I was mostly trying to rely on footwork (a very foreign concept for me) and use my injured arm as little as possible. I was successful in climbing problems up to UK 4c with one arm tied behind my back, literally. I then climbed a few UK 5b’s with minimal use of the injured arm.

The game plan for today was to head to Cratcliffe, in the Southern Peak District with the aim of seeking out a few easy grit slabs. I soon ended up on Razor Roof. Best-laid plans of mice and men…

I did this Font 6b problem last summer and decided to give it another go as the day was getting on and yes, all of those easy slabs beat me (not that I’m bitter). It’s a rather poor video and done in a rather poor style. The full on dyno hurt to even contemplate and I learnt my lesson about doing mantle top-outs minus a functioning rotator cuff earlier in the day.

If you’re bored, click.



It was nice to climb on rock again.

Llanberis Pass 7 + 8 List

In keeping with current fashions, Simon Panton had published a 7+8 guide to the Llanberis Pass in North Wales. As with the seminal 7 + 8 guidebook to Font, this PDF documents all of the boulder problems that rate between Font 7a to 8b (i.e. V6 – V13).

Since this is one of my favourite bouldering venues in the UK, it's sure to provide lots inspiration to train harder. Cheers Simon!

Also of interest on the North Wales Bouldering website is a Topo of the Breck Road area. This newly re-developed crag on the Ormes of Llandudno looks great for problems in the V5 to V8 category.

Now if only someone would do a topo for the new stuff in Ogwen...

Two Trick Pony

I’ve been thinking about engrams lately and I’ve come to the conclusion that I rely on two basic engrams when the going gets tough. Sadly, they are both born from a climbing life spent mainly indoors due to living a. far away from real rock and b. in the rainiest place this side of Patagonia.

At climbing walls, the holds tend to be positive and far apart (for me at least!). These two details have somewhat dictated my style.

First up is the lock off on a first finger joint edge (for variation the example hold is slopey and at an angle), smear and work your feet up as seen in the first move I do here (NB, the videos aren’t art, rather they’re for illustrating a point).

All videos taken at the Castle, London.



Next is power. This isn’t one specific move but rather an approach. I often gratuitously power through moves where a bit of technique would stop me from getting tired mid way through a problem, however sometimes there really is no substitute for power (especially if you are 5’3’’).



Last trick is levitation :-). When all else fails, make the impossible reality. Significantly easier said than done, especially when you need it most! The throw I do here is a bit of a one off for me at the moment, meaning I can only do it a few times a session before getting completely knackered. The problem is made harder for me because I can't reach the logical next hold. Instead I have to dyno a sidepull on a 30 degree overhang.



Well I guess that’s three tricks, but the last one is incredibly unreliable so I’m not counting it. What I need to do is expand my repertoire, preferably with moves that are more relevant to real rock.

Soulslinger

I first saw the boulder problem Soulslinger years ago on Dosage Volume I. It stuck in my mind since it was overhanging, but with positive holds, my favourite type of problem. However, this line wasn’t in some grotty cave like most of the things that I end up climbing. It was on a soaring arête deep in Buttermilk Country and just called out to be climbed.

The first time I stood beneath it in March 2007, I thought ‘wow that looks hard… but maybe just possible’. I didn’t try it on that trip. I’ve generally found that they give problems a grade of V9 for a reason, however something made me think that I could climb it.

I went back to Bishop in October 2007. At the end of a long day, Soulslinger was free so I decided to give it a rather feeble go. This was it. This was my chance at the problem whose line I would trace in my mind over and over again. I gave it about four goes before I declared defeat and retired back to the hotel room for the day.

I just didn’t have it in me mentally. Standing below the arête, I glanced at the top jug tantalising me, but so far out of reach. I had this horrible feeling that I could do it, but at the same time, I wasn’t ready.

Later on during the trip my boyfriend would suggest going to try Soulslinger again, but I would reply, ‘um, there is a lovely looking V1 that’s free, let’s just try that’. Yes, it was a rather poor diversionary tactic, but how could I explain that I wasn’t mentally capable of taking on such a challenge.

The reason that I enjoy bouldering is that it allows me to really push myself and work at my very physical limit. However, in order to be able to do such things, I have to really, really want to do it. Two days before I left for Bishop, I found out that a close relative had cancer. Although the situation turned out as best as it could in the end, this weighed heavily on my mind. Life hasn’t exactly been going the greatest for me lately and I guess I just let it win.

I climbed rather poorly during most of the trip, but I wasn’t exactly surprised by this. When you leave a lot of projects you assume that if you come back stronger, they will all fall. The thought of never giving them a proper go isn’t really an option. However, that’s how I felt.

Oddly enough I think part of me was also afraid of success. Last July, just before my 30th birthday, I climbed my first V5. I don’t really know why, but I passed some great barrier in my mind. It was for me the day that climbing stopped being solely about having a good time and turned into ‘achieving things’. It was the first time that I did something at my very limit and a part of my brain that I though long dead just clicked on and said ‘right, this is what we are going to do now’.

I also started to become accustomed to the process of trying hard stuff, putting everything you have into it and often failing. I simply didn’t have the capacity during my last trip to Bishop to be able to go through all of those emotions. I wasn’t able to put myself out there and risk failure or even success.

Now, safely back in the UK, I find myself going over every hold in my mind. I shift each of my weighted fingers in turn so that everyone makes best use of the tiny holds. I pull back and feel my shoulder muscle stretch as I pop for the good rail at the beginning sequence. There is nothing else, but the soreness in my fingers, a gasp of breath and the will to stay on the rock, the one thing that I couldn’t manage to summon up, and then I fall.

I think that motivation plays a huge role in climbing. It is also one of the most difficult things to train. One of the reasons for this blog is to enable me to examine and hopefully better train this mental aspect of climbing.

It wasn’t all a lost cause though, on my last day in Bishop, I managed to push myself up my first Bishop V5, which anyone who has ever climbed there will agree it was no pushover!