The Climbing Thread

DrToffnar said:
Joined a gym some 5 months ago now specifically so I can get into bouldering. A friend showed me Adam Ondra's 'Silence' and that was it, I had my next life goal.

Still a long way off being fit enough yet I believe, despite never even having touched a wall. I just know I don't have the necessary strength in my arms and core to do a lot of the movements. I've managed to shift around a tone 12kgs (starting weight of 95 at 5"11) but still don't feel anywhere near strong enough.

Maybe I'm just making excuses though. There's a nice climbing gym literally on my route home... maybe I'll just head in there early in the new year...
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You don't need to go to the gym, just get climbing.

Bouldering is an excellent full body workout. I just had to chuck out some t-shirts as they've got too tight across my chest from just bouldering for 18 months :P You'll learn quickly just by doing it, and watching others on the wall. As well as your muscle strength, your tendons and ligaments will toughen up, which takes a lot longer than muscles.

Get on the wall :)
 
Bit of a disastrous start to the year with getting food poisoning over the holiday which totally kicked my ass. Finally able to get back to climbing something close to 100% today.

Mission Fontainbleau 7A is now in full swing! Away in Sweden on work next week but fortunately there's a really good bouldering gym there so I'll be able to fit in one session at least...always like to try some different setting.

Got a few bags of Huel that I'm using for my pre and post climb during the week, normally I'd just shovel a load of whatever was available down my face (usually cake/chocolate in the office) so never felt like I was climbing hard weekday evenings.
 
Training since the new year is starting to pay off, got a nice project route at my gym at the mo, starts with high heel into toe hook, hands up to feet on slopers, traverse onto nasty overhanging pinch, onto a big reach, big high step and crimpy lock-off to haul yourself up....then a fairly easy finish, just a big font style slopey mantle.

Knackering, but surprised myself by doing all the technical stuff really smooth, and then having the strength to haul myself up....was a little amazed I got up there and promptly fell off because I wasn't concentrating :P

Next time....
 
Twas good Free Solo, but I enjoyed The Dawn Wall more..great story!

Pretty happy, busted a plateau the last few weeks, been working hard this year. I've been concentrating on projecting routes beyond my limit and have just sent my 4th black route at my gym (black being the hardest)...no grades but I think it's a solid 7A.
 
Took me about 12-18 months to do a pistol squat off both legs...without specifically training it, just from climbing.

Tbh finger strength is likely to be your limiting factor way before pistol squats.

I've been climbing a little over two years now and only fairly recently can one arm hang a 3 finger open grip. I've avoided too much specific training and just climbed a lot....touch wood, no injuries yet!
 
MM-Seat said:
There is a climbing gym opening 10 minutes from my main office later this year, I'm seriously considering trying it for a month and see how I get on with Bouldering for fitness.
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It's great for fitness, I've been bouldering 2 1/2 years now.....I loathe gyms, but bouldering doesn't feel like 'working out', it's just doing a fun sport that you get strong through just doing it. I'm a programmer and work pretty hard but going bouldering after work is a great way to clear your head and relax.

Don't need to spend loads of money on it gear either, just shoes and a bit of chalk...although I do quite a lot of trips to outdoor bouldering spots now.

Another big bonus of being into climbing, you can follow the top level sport for free :) It's great being able to watch the IFSC world cup comps at work :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zE_InotBGo
 
MM-Seat said:
So... I went and bouldered at The Climbing Hanger this afternoon. was great but, lost some skin on my palm.
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When you first start your fingers will be weak and you'll be prone to slipping off holds because you don't have the strength to grip them (plus you won't be using your feet enough). It'll soon happen less and your skin will toughen up a bit as well.

Once your technique gets better you only have to worry about your finger tips wearing out (unless you're one of those lucky freaks with really hard dry skin).
 
Just this year the gyms in town have got mega busy. I think it's mainly down to the popularity of these gym membership schemes that have appeared (where you pay a monthly sub and get X number of visits to a range of different sports clubs/gyms).

That and climbing in general steadily gaining popularity, in the Olympics next year.
 
Janja Garnbret has been on another level this year, not content with winning every single bouldering world cup, in the lead here she loses her chalkbag right at the start and proceeds to get the only top of the semi-final. If she stays injury free and doesn't fluff the dumb speed section, I'd be amazed if she doesn't take gold at the Olympics next year.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckin...janja_garnbrett_is_the_only_person_out_of_26/
 
Injured my finger so had to take a couple of weeks off....amazed at the difference just that amount time makes. I felt pretty strong on my first session back, but for the first time in years I was aching like hell on Monday and Tuesday....went yesterday but was still feeling week from Sunday's session so had to finish after an hour before I tweaked something.

First injury in 2 1/2 years boulders though, so not bad going. It was just a flesh wound, was pulling a hard heel hook/hand match on a roof and my heel slipped and hit the tip of my finger, mashed the nail through the side of it, made a mess, but all healed up now. Last week was mental hot anyway so I probably wouldn't have got much climbing done anyway.
 
Had my last climbing session here in Germany yesterday, surprised myself by flashing a black route (hardest grade). Sure it was soft as hell, but I'll take it.

Moving back to the UK tomorrow morning. Annoyingly been put in temporary accommodation smack in the middle of Birmingham, meaning I have a 50 off minute commute *out* of brum traffic to work....sigh.

The upside is though, that the serviced apartment is a 5 minute walk from the Depot...as I'm going to be living on my own for the next two months I'm going to basically be living in there :P

Don't suppose there's anyone here that climbs there?
 
Paid up for a year at Climbing Station in Loughborough now. Getting back into a routine after the move.

In the new year I'm keen to do some outdoor bouldering, and get back into sport climbing. If anyone in the Midlands is interested hit me up, I'm Billy no mates having just moved back to the UK!

I'll be doing a Fontainebleau trip again in the spring too
 
MM-Seat said:
So... Tonight I'm going to Northwest face in Warrington for some roped climbing this time.

I realised bouldering last time that I'm much more comfortable with the height than I was when I first started. I'm hoping some exposure to the bigger heights whilst top roping will sort me out!
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Good stuff :)

I've joined a mountaineering club this month ready to get outdoors when the weather improves. Also had a bit of a breakthrough, went to meet the MC in Derby, so spent an evening climbing with some people who climb a grade or two above me.

I realised I haven't plateaued as much as I though, I just haven't been trying hard enough! I put in some burns on V6/7A routes, managed a couple. Confirmed this by going back to my regular gym in the week and completing half the ~V6 circuit that I couldn't make a dent in before...

Glad I finally cracked that 7A barrier :) Just have to pull like a madman and push through your toes like your life depends on it, and the routes go down....
 
Got up to Stanage yesterday and fitted a few boulders in around a hike. Beautiful weather, definitely heading back up in the new years.
 
joelk2 said:
any recommendations for some decent but maybe more budget friendly shoes?
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Just get whatever cheap shoes are comfortable for your first pair, make sure you try em on. Places like Go Outdoors have a reasonable enough selection to start with.

Different brands do have different fits. Evolvs are a good for wider feet, my all day/gym shoe is the Evolv nighthawk atm.
 
joelk2 said:
cheers chaps,

going to book into the course over the next month or so and sort out the relevant course so i can access whenever i like myself too.

thankfully they open til 10pm every night with last entry being 9pm so it will fit in with putting kids to bed etc.

am i right in thinking the difference between lead climbing and bouldering is the size of the wall? and lead climbing you clip yourself in on the way up.

as far as bouldering progression goes, do you just move onto the harder routes when you feel like it?
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Bouldering is no ropes, you just climb lower walls that are safe to fall off at any part.

Top-roping is when you start with the rope running up and down the anchor at the top. It's easier to start with as you don't need to worry about clipping and you can't really fall as long as your belayer is taking up slack.

Lead climbing is when you start at the bottom with the rope coiled up next to you, and you clip in as you climb. You can fall a fair way before the rope catches you on lead, depending on how far above the last clip you are.

Bouldering progression? Yeah just climb as hard routes as you can manage, no harm in trying things that are way above your level!
 
joelk2 said:
I found it all very confusing as to where I needed to finish. So many colours on the walls, I was expecting things like the YouTube videos I'd seen where there was only a couple of colours on the walls.
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Be thankful you're not at one of the weird north american gyms where the holds are all different colours but with different strips of paper attached to em, they're a nightmare. Just take a second before you start to read the route and try and remember where it goes.

joelk2 said:
What's the etiquette regarding shoes? Someone was just covering the front desk when I went so gave us shoes for free. My daughter found it better to just wear socks though. No one said anything but didn't know if that's frowned upon?
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Socks probably ok, although anything but the most easy routes will be tough. No barefoot though, that's gross and you'll get told off :P
 
My current local place swaps the grades of the colours occasionally to mix up the sets, so you're not stuck with the same holds at your grade.

If my house purchase goes through though I'll be switching to the Climbing Unit in Derby though as it's a lot closer. Pretty decent gym there though, and closer to the peaks! Desperate to get outdoors again but just don't have the time atm.
 
Street said:
I never get the obsession some people seem to have with having cripplingly tight shoes and downsizing so much they hurt. I climb with people that can't keep their shoes on for more than 10 minutes and we climb at the same grades.
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Amen. No need for aggressive tight shoes for 99% of routes. You'll climb better and harder if your feet don't hurt.

I have some tight aggressive shoes but I only put them on when I really really want to beat a route with some ridiculous tiny footchips...then the comfy shoes go back on straight after.
 
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