A Week of Power

The title sums up my week so far!

Went to a new venue for me on sunday headed out to Anston Stones and Roach Abbey on Sunday.

Had a cracking session managed to get a new 7a and 7a+ done at Anston, not sure of the names of them think they are called Blind Bat and Last Stand.

When walking upto Anston i wasn't expecting much as the air was damp and the floor was soaking, but turned out to be pretty dry up at the crag itself. However that cant be said for when we were at Roach Abbey as the air was damp and i took a big ping and bail!! Hurt at the time but wasnt half funny looking back at it.

Monday morning woke up psyched for a Cave session... after working Beaver Cleaver for most of the session i thought i was going to leave and have a tickless session until i asked Rich about some problems on the right of the lip. He showed me the beta on Lipstick RH which i managed to do first go with the beta, after that i was psyched for the original Lipstick so jumped on it pretty knackered but it didnt feel impossible... as it was getting dark i could barely see the footholds i managed to pull it out of the bag! So left the cave with 2 new ticks 6c and 7a!

Tuesday i woke up and felt like i had been in a train wreck i was shattered!! good sessions tho!

So Thursday comes and im super psyched to go back an get back on Beaver Cleaver to try get it done, warming up would prove to be the main constraint today as there was a baltic wind blowing right into the cave and it was freezing.

Noticed on the guide that RWT into Lipstick RH gets 7a so mid warm up i jumped on it and did it first go! proper happy.

Warm up deffo went well for Rich as he jumped on Oppatrocity gave it a quick RP falls mid moves then a few more warm ups and crushes the fuck out of it!!! Another 8a in the back for the strong Ginger. Good work fella!!

Gets on Beaver Cleaver and tried again.... and tried is what i did! i put so much effort into but just cannot stick the move from the undercut into the pinch on the lip! Well i suppose a way to look at it is that i am making progress each session so hopefully will build up the strength to get it nailed before the end of the year!

Again right at the end of the session as everyone was sat there freezing their tits off i asked rich for some more beta this time on Clever Cleaver from the stand up start, pulls on an trys to get the heel up but bailed! Psyched i had a rest jumped back on an crushed it!!

I think its a new pb to get a 7a+ done in like 4 goes!

Gives me a goal now to do it from the crouch start an get the 7b+

So rest the weekend and back monday again!

Krispy Kreme's All Round!!

Yes as you can guess from the title of this post i have done it! finally climbed my first 7b!!

WOOO im so psyched.

Well getting down to it im sure you want to know what one it was, Lip Service in the cave.

After a weekend of drinking we headed out to the cave this morning and i didnt have high expectations as i was feeling overweight, dehydrated and with a sore elbow, the winter is definatley coming as it was freezing when we got there, found it really hard to warm up.

Pulls on the regular warm up problems and we all found it hard work to get motivated. anyways about an hour after we got there finally started to feel fully warm, pulled on and about third go managed to get the thumb catch. This was the progress i needed never actually managed to hold this before in my shock i forgot what to do for the next move and fell off. After a quick break a sandwich and some h2o pulled back on and warmed back into the moves then crushed it.

i was so psyched to get it done! Really motivated for the winter now time to keep gettin more ticks in different places so a trip to Rotherham at the weekend will be well earned after the next 5 days in work.

One thing i do find hard about working in a climbing wall is the different shifts, its so hard to find the time to train, work and actually have a life! So applied for a different full-time job and lets hope i get it, if not at least i will hopefully get some feedback!

anyways people

Peas out! x

Back to training

Well its certainly been a while since i had a proper indoor bouldering training session just because of the amount of injuries i keep getting.

So thought last night ill have a session as the fingers are starting to feel much better, turns out it was the right choice as the session went really well. Started a warm up on the stepped wall which didnt go to bad then thought ill test out some Cassidy's legendary problems in the crypt, at first i was gettin shut down on th v4-5's which didnt go to well as i was getting massively psyched out.

After getting frustrated i needed to go else were so headed upto the new woody.....only to get uo there to realised there was 10 people there!!!! first time ive had to queue to get on the woody haha did i few easy warm up problems and then got fed up waiting to climb.

Back down to the crypt i went and turns out all i need to do was have five minutes to let the muscles warm up properly as i tried the problems i was getting shut down on previously and crushed it first try! then went on to flash the other v5-6's.

only a short session but i felt cut it short before i push it and get injured again. i think taking advice from other people is a massive help ive noticed Rich drink plenty of water while training and i think i need to do the same so i drank like 1l of water in 2 hrs.

Now time to keep on top of conditioning, weights, core, genreal training, diet and hydration in order to start pushing the grade again and stay injury free!

Kalymnos Holiday Time

Wow just got back from a week long trip to Kalymnos and the only thing i can say is that i was gobsmacked by how beautiful the place was, how nice all the people were and best of all how good the climbing was there.

After failing to train properly for the trip by having one route session before we went i was prepared to be ultimately shut down by complete lack of fitness, turns out this wasn't actually the case. So before we left i aimed realistically for goals for the trip aiming for 2 7a's.

First 2 days can't say i was feeling the strongest but there is masses of hands-off rests which when as unfit as i am you have got to milk, so managed to have an amazing day at Arhi where i managed to flash Kastor (7a) my prefect style of route, just pulling big holds down past your waist to more big holds. Was so psyched to flash it as it matched my PB.

So as the week continued i was still pushing at flashing and on-sighting more 7a's, the fitness levels continued to let me down by falling off DNA at 2nd to last clip on the flash, also trying to on-sight another 7a at Spartacus on the last move, the route was 30m long so had absolutely ruined myself and didn't get another go, well at least i've got a reason to go back!

Me on Kastor 7a

Turns out that climbing with people who climb harder than you does make a HUGE difference, until this year i was happy with the climbing i was doing and the grade i was at 6b max until i realised i have got more potential and can push the grade a lot more, one thing i have noticed is that when you go out climbing especially with people who climb harder there is a natural instinct within that makes you want to be as good as them or at least just better than you are.

Most noteably this was from some hard ascents by Shauna (Orion 7c+ on-sight, Daniboy 8a RP 3rd go) Michael (Eros 7b+ on-sight, Gladiator 7b on-sight, both placing clips!!)

When you see these ascents in person then there is nothing you can do but pull harder!

Came back from the trip super psyched to get on more sport now... hmm good choice Mark its end of route season! Well all i can do is train over the winter, boulder loads and then next year push for that 7b!