The Climbing Thread

That's a great vid, looks like an awesome location! South Africa?

I'm aiming for a couple long mountaineering style days over the bank holiday, need to get my hill fitness back up for the alps as I've spent too much time cragging recently after the winter season.
 
Yes - lovely video - possible career as a vlogger ?
.. sandstone ... last time I did that was Bowles rocks / tunbridge wells
 
Yeah, South Africa, around 300km north of Cape Town in the Cederberg mountains. Lots of good wine and nightly braai (bbq) after climbing!

It's sandstone but very different in style and texture to Fontainebleau or Southern Sandstone in Kent.
 
Breaking a little plateau at last. Bouldering here in Germany tends to just be marked green->yellow->blue->red->white->black. I've been been on reds, with the occasional white for a while, but finally broke through and can regularly beat white problems. Figured out that basically most white problems require you to maintain body tension all the way up, rather than just the crux. Amazing what a little heel hook can let you pull off!

Cracking on with some core workouts on my off days...my fingers and upper body are pretty strong (certainly not my limiting factor at the mo). Can manage a decent pistol squat on my right leg, but left needs some work.

After the summer holiday and football viewing season is over I'm going to hit the training and nutrition hard and really try and crack on for the autumn season.

Off to Sweden for hols next week, climbing friend told me about a good spot near where we're staying. Going to have to try and sneak my shoes into the luggage and organise a 'walk' in the forest here :)

https://27crags.com/crags/kjugekull
 
(updating myself on TDF) but had not realised this is on eurosport stream

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There's quite a lot of competitive climbing available on stream, which is pretty cool.

Plotting the first post-summer outings, probably head to Glees again as soon as it cools. Then in October I might head to Abarracin in Spain with a mate to do a few days bouldering and have a bit of late summer sun recovery afterward in Valencia.
 
I'd like to go to Albarracin some day. It's meant to be a blend of Font and Rocklands in terms of style. So indoor style climbing finishing on horrible slopey top-outs haha.

I went to Font a couple of weeks ago and finally sent my first V6/7A there. I'd done some in Rocklands but really wanted to get a "proper" Font 7A. The problem was Le Surplomb Feuilleté in Franchard Isatis. Picked up a few projects for next time including this beauty, Retour aux Sources 7A...

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Nice. Plans changed here so I'll be heading to font rather than Albaraccin as soon as we get a dry weekend in September. Organising people is a right pain...fortunately a guy joined my team at work this summer who's up for any and all outdoor bouldering.

My gym got a Moonboard installed last month which has been great, I can already feel feel some good strength gains coming on after plateauing a little over the summer.
 
Alright all.

After a few years of meaning to try it, I've just got into climbing. I live about 1 mile away from Reading climbing center which is handy. At the moment im just trying to gain strength in my fingers and some endurance; first time I went I tired out in about 30mins! Going every Sunday evening at the moment so I have time to recover but will build up and go more often. Still poo my pants when I get 1/2 way up the wall though, just feels so unnatural being high.

On a slight tangent, I watched Valley uprising on Netflix last night. Very inspiring.
 
Back from first trip to Fontainebleau, great climbing. Weather was perfect.

First proper trip outdoors, took a day to adjust to the rock tbh....so many problems with nothing but smears for feet and slopey slapfests on top. Got the hang of it after a while though. Managed to flash a 6A which was the highlight grade-wise. Here's me making a struggle-athon out of La Fenetre 5A+ :)

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Going to try and go back next month if I can squeeze it in. We just kinda wandered around some circuits and did whatever we came across rather than chasing a grade. Now we've sussed the place out and know the rock I want to start finding some projects to aim for.

Now back to plastic, get working on those sloper problems and stop avoiding the mantles :P
 
Slow and steady progress my end. Made it up my first 5+ route on the wall last night and had some good attempts at some 6's too. Finally got up a v3 on the bouldering wall thats been doing my nut in as well.
 
I miss climbing - the last outdoor climb I did was around Keswick, I think 4-6 years ago now that was a traditional climb with someone setting the top rope (I wouldn't do that yet, don't trust myself).

Since then I have done very little indoor or outdoor climbing. When I have any sort of extended break, I end up going back to 3-4 difficulty routes and finishing on 5+ or 6 routes. I have never attempted 7s and what I have lost in practice will probably need a few months of commitment to get to where I was, that's the only trouble :( I find bouldering courses a lot more challenging personally and I panic a bit with them, so tend to stay away because I'm too chicken to fall off even though it doesn't hurt too much if you land properly! But it's a confidence thing and as they say, confidence is like a muscle, if you don't use it, you lose it...so I should try to give bouldering more love!
 
Gamefreak501 said:
I find bouldering courses a lot more challenging personally and I panic a bit with them, so tend to stay away because I'm too chicken to fall off even though it doesn't hurt too much if you land properly! But it's a confidence thing and as they say, confidence is like a muscle, if you don't use it, you lose it...so I should try to give bouldering more love!
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I've got more mates that have injured themselves bouldering than anything else. Mostly smashed ankles and feet. I've snapped a pulley and done my flexor unit bouldering too!
 
kiteloopy said:
Slow and steady progress my end. Made it up my first 5+ route on the wall last night and had some good attempts at some 6's too. Finally got up a v3 on the bouldering wall thats been doing my nut in as well.
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I love climbing at Reading especially as it's my local wall, but I don't have anyone to climb with regularly :( I take my son every couple of weeks, but he's only 6 and struggles to hold the rope :D:D
 
jpaul said:
had not heard this mountaineering quote before - thanks radio4
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That pretty much sums up alpine climbing for me.. I've definitely had some Type 2 and 3 fun in the alps! Walking back to the valley after narrowly avoiding getting wiped out by rockfall, then having an epic bailing back to the glacier we were discussing a nice warm sport climbing holiday next year instead of mountaineering. A few weeks later we'd forgotten the horrors and have booked up to go back to the alps again.
 
Been on a good run recently, spent a couple of hours this morning concentrating on my footwork, then immediately sent my first two 6B moonboard benchmarks.

Went to the bigger climbing just out of town during the week for a change, really good boulder setting. It was bugging me why I recognised this guy that was climbing next to us, crushing all the problems..then realized it was Jan Hojer. Got a bit self consious as he was watching us struggle up the 6B/C routes :P
 
Shauna Coxsey trains at the place I go to sometimes and it's funny seeing her playing around on the routes I struggle with, missing holds out or campusing them and still making them look easy!
 
ci_newman said:
I love climbing at Reading especially as it's my local wall, but I don't have anyone to climb with regularly :( I take my son every couple of weeks, but he's only 6 and struggles to hold the rope :D:D
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Checkout the Reading Climbing Center facebook page, RCC Social is what its called. Loads of people there asking for partners.
(I cant help you, I've never done belaying - Sorry!).
 
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