Bouldering/training with confidence but my mind on other matters.

Monday 03/11/14:

On Monday I headed to the Mile End Wall to train for routes and to work on my weaknesses. After warming up with stretches I decided to do a bit of traversing on the traverse wall in the reception/cafe area. Instead of doing graded traverses I did my own. What I did was use as many hand holds as possible and concentrate on footwork – I tried to stick to crimps and other not very positive hand holds so I get to use to holding them. What I gained from a short session on the traverse wall was a a very large increase in finger strength. I then headed to the main room to work on the problems on the arete – by the way I got the grade of one the problems wrong, it was V2-V4 and not V1-V2 – because I was not in the right mind frame for climbing and my mind was concerned with an other matter I could not do the committing moves on the problems from last week. My next stop was the slab in the main area which had been reset. There were a lot of interesting problems on that slab including a very crimpy V4-V6 circuit problem with a crimp on a volume and one inside the volume box that I was eager to have a go on – I gave a few goes on this problem as it appealed to me and t reminded me of Johnny Dawes but I could not get passed to crimp in the volume box. The hardest problem on that slab was a V6-V8+ circuit problem that involved me matching feet on a circular hold while holding with matched hands a weird slopery crimp. I was not sure what to do next as I did not read the sequence but I think it involved smearing of some sort.  I found a problem in the same circuit that was on a vertical wall and involved me doing a delicate foot swap on flat foot hold whilst palming on to the adjacent wall – I could not do this – what I need to do next was match both hands on a bar hold and then do nothing smearing footswaps till one foot was on a circular foot hold on a volume. On the same wall I spotted a V4-V6 circuit problem that involved me doing a balancey reach on small foot holdswhilst having one hand on an a sloper located on a volume. After trying problems I decided to practice rockovers on the slab – specially no hands high foot rockovers – that are involved in a Johnny Dawes grit route called The Angel’s Share (E8 7a) in Black Rocks, Derbyshire and Gerty Berwick (E9 7a) located at Ilkley, West Yorksire. At the end of my day I bumped into the guy who I usually talk to at The Mile End Wall and I asked how he wanted me to climb this routes on Tremadog, he told me ‘on-sight’ and on-sight is always best.

Friday 07/11/14:

Friday I headed to the Castle Climbing Centre where after stretching the first thing I did was traversing using poor hand holds like crimps and slopers and footholds – I like using very small footholds – just like at The Mile End Wall I did not do a graded traverse and I was not in the right frame of mind to climb well. I could feel my fingers becoming stronger and stronger. After the traversing I headed to The Slabs are called The Quarry to try the V4-V6 circuit problem from last Friday’s Castkle trip, but as Monday I I was not in the right mind set for climbing so I did not do well. I then headed to the Mez and a couple of V0-V1 circuit problems that involved a roof. The first one had a tricky move that I could do if the latter hand hold was not on an arete on the lip of the roof and if I had read the sequence right. The other one was easier and started with both hand on small crimps and crimpy monopockets then as far as I can remember moving smearing with one foot then reaching for an undercut underneath the roof then  with the other hand going for big jug on the lower part of the roof, after this comes an arete with big jugs and a huge sloper for holds – I did not get as far as the arete itself. Then I remembered what the great Johnny Dawes told me: ‘climb on this kind of holds’ referring to crimps and slopers and ‘push down on holds to get your feet higher’, so I found a circuit problem on the same roof with crimpy holds graded V4-V6 and gave it ago. Thanks to pushing down on a small hold I managed to get the tip of big toe on a miniscule foothold and I think I need to do next was to go for a largish hold on the roof. After I finished climbing and during  after-climbing stretches I talked my friend Rich ‘Tricky’ Husdon who was traversing. We chatted about the Parthion Shot which I mentioned in a previous thread, Mecca on Raven Tor and the Tremadog routes I talked about with the guy at The Mile End Wall. When I mentioned about pushing down on holds he told me ‘it is about the deadlifts’ because we both deadlift at the gym but I knew it is all about conditioning the shoulders.