I came across this book
at some point about a year ago and thought I'd grab it on a whim - never did get around to writing up a post about it until now.....
In essence, this book
is about the techniques for climbing sport routes, going from top roping to on-sighting or red-pointing. It's not a training book for improving your physical performance, but more designed to get you thinking about the other parts of climbing routes. Mental preparation and visualization, strategies for resting and clipping, breaking down the route into sections, etc.
To be honest, this wasn't what I expected when I bought the this book
- especially as it came with a foreword from Chris Sharmaaaaaa but as a tool for how to improve your standard of climbing, especially as a beginner or intermediate climber, I can definitely see it's uses.
In short, worth a read if you're looking for some ideas on how to improve on a sports trip at preparing for routes.
Many will have come across various methods for recovery of skin. The most public and well known is, of course, the Climb On Intensive Skin Care Bar. Personally, I find it great if you know you've a couple of days off, but in frequent usage (i.e. daily/hourly!), it's oily and it only creates a fake layer on top which disintegrates pretty quick if you start climbing on it too soon.
Two summers ago, I spent a bunch of time climbing with Nathan Hoette and Heather. Nathan would be described as a 'wad' in the UK - i.e stupidly strong and good, like 8c/8c+ good. So when they both mentioned the name 'blastoestimulina' I took note. I only managed to get my hands on a tube of this stuff in Spain a few weeks ago (you have to ask for it, it's not on display). And I got the perfect opportunity to try it on Friday. I tore a complete pad off on Thursday evening while fighting through the 4x4's - this is normally an oh-well-no-climbing-for-neal-for-three-or-four-days job. Except I threw it on before bed last night twice, and woke up to find the pad almost healed about 50/60%. It still needs another day of growth, but I can say that this cream seems to work on my skin perfectly. Thanks Nathan and Heather!
Does anyone know anything else better for skin repair? Don't climb? ;)
Update 2nd December: Nige highly recommends Antihydral and I've just had an email from a very well known American climber to say that it works as well as the people say. Most importantly though:
"You still have to take good care of your skin. Filing/sanding/lotion/taping."
Update 2: You'll also see the post below mentioning 'cycatril' that is sold in France....
I'm trying to work out if I should start including info/events from my job right now. For example, last weekend's Irish Lead Climbing Championship 2011 (ILCC '11).... They're climbing related, I was there, so why not, I guess - thoughts welcome....
Suffice to say, it was a great time in Dingle as always. The level of motivation and ability continues to progress year-by-year as an average (i.e I don't think there's any one person who's wayyy stronger or better than anyone else), and I know I personally leave pretty motivated for my own climbing afterwards. What was cool to see was the determination and focus everyone gave in trying to do their absolute best, but while sitting around they were cheering on all the other competitors. Exactly how competition should be!
In the past couple of weeks, I've just been busy with work. I mean really busy. So my own climbing had to take a back seat for a while. That's o.k - I kind of needed a break as it turned out, and in doing so, mentally I'm more refreshed to get stuck into it again.
I'm a big believer in learning from what's gone before - i.e learn from what's been written about and talked about in climbing, and in climbing training. Then adapt that information for my own needs.
So out came Self-Coached Climber: The Guide to Movement, Training, Performance, and Training for Climbing, and Performance Rockclimbing (retro!!!!!!), and 9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes: Navigation Through the Maze of Advice for the Self-coached Climber and a couple of others. And out came the pile of blogs from climbers worldwide - great write-ups from Joe Kinder of big trips for motivation, Sean McColl winning his first lead World Cup (a must read for anyone looking at competitions), Ryan Palo's Sport Climbing is Neither blog, and a couple of others.
El Chorro for New Years is only 4+ weeks away so for now, it's not going to be a proper developed plan up to it. So this week was a crusher week - just do everything I could to shock the body into what's required. My back, shoulders, forearms are in agony today - it's so good to have that feeling again :) [Note: when starting a 'proper' plan, they normally start off with 2-4 weeks of easy mileage just to get the muscles prepared for the high-stress training work that lies ahead - I'm climbing long enough that I can get away with that most of the time now, but will do a block of this in January before I start properly.]
I had my first interval session last night, 4x4's. Got to love them, they keep you honest about how fit you actually are. Next two weeks are a double dose of those, with extra hard problems to keep the strength and power topped up. That's also about as much climbing as I can get done so I'll be making the most of the time - easy to think you need dozens of hours for training but if you for the the quality-not-quantity approach, you can get a lot more out of it at times...... Interesting to see how this block goes, I'll find out in 5-ish weeks :)
BASE Jump Chute Failure, Miracle Save! from Rock & Ice on Vimeo.
Over the years I've come across a lot of 'interesting' people to say the least in my travels and climbing:
- lots of ordinary, quiet, unassuming people doing extraordinary things: we may hear what all the celebrity climbers are doing, but there's just as many people underground that are doing as much. Here's a task that would be worth completing: name all the other sports where people spend 20, 30+ hours per week doing, and training, for their sport.
- The Aussie guy who introduced the Australian grading system to South Africa (and amusingly, got it one grade out :). He's an ex-prolific trad climbing new-router, now a prolific sport climbing new-router in Canada, in his 60's and still climbing mid to high grade 7 (that's E7-ish in trad money) sport routes.
- the couple of guys developing Hampi's bouldering area. Living out in the boulders for weeks on end, on their own, just doing new problems. Hi Squib*
- Various people who have had big high-paying careers in various disciplines (engineering, IT, accountancy, etc) and given it all up to either go pursue adventures of all sorts around the the world, and working as guides. Not to escape the 'real world' but because they just had an absolute passion for the outdoors and the world around then they hadn't realized they had.
- Various people who were on the wrong side of the law who found a love for traveling/biking/climbing and put them on a track to a more happy life for them and friends around them.
- Various people who were just gifted at something, showing 'normal' people like myself just what was possible......
One those people was Lucky Chance. I knew him as Toby of course back then (he changed his name). Myself and Dave spent a summer hanging out with him in 2003-ish, he shared a seat in my car as we wandered across Europe. To say he put himself out there would be an understatement - skipping bolts wildly at Ceuse (where the run-outs are already respectable enough!), performing outrageous gymnastic maneuvers (including being the first, and only, person I've ever seen to try and land a back-flip on a slackline - he was close, remember this was 2003, well before many others were trying it). My abiding memory is of him walking along the guard pole at the top of the Verdon Gorge in his trainers with a 300 meter drop on one side and no safety line. It's funny to think that by then, I didn't even think that was unusual and barely blinked when he did it.
Of course, after that, he went off, and ahead of the time in many ways, cruised up much of the gritstone in the UK (usually without pads or spotters) using only a natural talent and awareness of balance that I've rarely seen. You'll find him on the DVD HXS, showing off that awesome talent he had.
And then he I heard nothing more - just another one of the 'interesting' people I'd met in my life.
I heard little stories over the years about him. He'd joined the circus, learned how to be a fully trained gymnast from it. Took up base jumping.....
Until a couple of weeks ago when Dave dropped a link on Facebook. And then it showed up on UKclimbing yesterday that a BASE jump finally went wrong (it's ridiculously high risk). You can read the full story there, and also here for more info.
The unbelievable video above is of his previous near miss in the Blue Mountains while BASE jumping. The funny part is, there was definitely luck involved in him getting away with the incident, but I also know that he had the skills and resources to land in a manner that would have reduced the risk of an injury. That was, and is, Lucky's way - he was one of those people who had the ability to land like a cat.
It seems he's recovering now after his incident, and in his own way. He's very smashed up but has already managed to escape from hospital once in a wheelchair :) I'm not going to go in to the rights and wrongs of putting yourself into such extreme situations time and time again but I will comment that I remember that when I knew him, he was always aware of what he was doing (in the couple of months we hung out with him, there was only one incident where he probably overstepped the mark in Ceuse). I'm sure lots of people will disagree with the of doing things so dangerous but his sister nicely sums it up from the Sydney Morning Herald article above:
''It was always his choice,'' she said. ''No matter what happens from here, at least he was living life exactly the way he wanted, doing the one thing that gave him most pleasure.''
I've no idea if anyone else came across the guy who reads this blog, but if you want to donate to support his recuperation, head over to MyCause here. Keep it real Lucky!!!
* Squib, who many in Ireland, will have come across inspiring people at Ceuse during the summer:
Advance warning: video above is over an hour long - not for work!
Treat this post as an interlude until Naomi writes another post after last weekend's Dublin marathon in relation to climbing.
I know lots of people don't compete (I rarely do myself) and don't have an interest in the comps, but what would you like to see to make them more of an interest? The comps can also be a great outlet for improving your own ability for 'real' rock - so long as you balance plastic-pulling with real-rock climbing (to keep the techniques required for pulling on rock topped up). There's nothing like some competition as a motivator at times :) Remember that our sport is potentially an olympic candidate for 2020/2024 so it's in our interests for it to get a good showing. Thoughts?
I ended up thinking about this after seeing that La Sportiva held a competition in Norway a couple of weeks ago. Essentially it was a sponsored-by-La-Sportiva-only competitors demonstration event but it brought together some of the big name climbers from across the world - you'll recognise names if you read any of the mags/blogs/etc.
Not only this but they also tried a new format of competition......
In the usual system at all events, you have a set amount of time to try a problem. So, try and onsight it, and if not try again until time runs out. Then move onto the next problem and repeat. I've always felt that one of the issues is that without prior practice, the problems just won't be as difficult, and also limits the possible maximum level. Think of it like gymnastics - they prepare for years for their routine so can completely maximise the difficulty of it. It would be like changing that format (in gymnastics) so that they were given a list of activities as they walked out in front of the crowd and told to do them perfectly. If they don't, they start again and try from beginning. They also only had 5 minutes to do it perfectly. It just wouldn't be possible for them to set the difficulty as high.
So La Sportiva ran this differently. The day before, they were given two hours to try all the problems and work them to death. Then the goal was to send as many of them as possible at the final event on the following day. It meant that the level of the problems was higher, something like Font 8a+-8b+ I believe instead of mid-to-high 7's at a normal World Cup event (correct me if I'm wrong on those grades)? Personally I thought it was great idea, especially as they removed the other rule that competitors couldn't know their position (at a World Cup event, the announcer isn't allowed discuss this at all leading to a slightly awkward presenter - considering all the competitors can be seen to be discussing how they did when in isolation, what's the point?).
Personally, I'd like to see more problems with less of a blob-squeezing focus. It's hard to appreciate how hard (especially when you see that the competitors are getting visibly frustrated also as it's too hot to pull on the slopers) they actually are whereas the video below from an old USA-based comp, it's easy to appreciate that footless maneuvers are hard!
...it's only a week (give or take) until the new bouldering wall opens
...you hear stories of a person traveling up from Athlone to the Archway Co-Op to climb twice a week (hint: someone open a wall in Athlone!).
...there's a new coaching company in town (with some very experienced names behind it). So maybe myself and Nige were a bit early with our idea :)
...one of the Co-operatives is making up a slick little promo video like this:
at some point about a year ago and thought I'd grab it on a whim - never did get around to writing up a post about it until now.....
. Personally, I find it great if you know you've a couple of days off, but in frequent usage (i.e. daily/hourly!), it's oily and it only creates a fake layer on top which disintegrates pretty quick if you start climbing on it too soon.
- go figure, people rave about this stuff!
, and 
, and 
(retro!!!!!!), and 
and a couple of others. And out came the pile of blogs from climbers worldwide - great write-ups from