Ah, yet another really fun week has come to pass. This one has been a bit on the physical side without having time for rest days. I arrived home from a lovely week in Boven on Monday night and enjoyed an evening of rest. The next morning however I was back in business at the boulder cave. You know what they say, "no rest for the wicked." Admittedly I didn't push myself that hard, but I certainly broke a sweat in the process.
I warmed up working a few of the pre-set routes on the wall; this took about an hour. The main objective for this time was to find some very crimpy routes that would push me to my maximum reach between holds. Naturally, this is for the crux on Jabberwocky and I had a lot of fun.
The campus session was also interesting as I was incorporating a new technique that arose from my attempts to perform 1-4-7. 1-4-7 isn't a particularly massive thing for the pros but for me, it is quite a marker, particularly on my campus board which forces me to reach an extra 3cm per rung. This means that I'm moving almost and entire rung further on a normal campus board, ie 1-4.5-8, and that is actually pretty cool. To do this I have to use my triceps on my lower arm to push the upper arm into a full lock-off so I can reach the target rung. Until recently I had not been strong enough to accomplish this feat so I decided to train it specifically.
Starting with my arms staggered on the board on rungs 5&6 I would move my lower hand to 9. I did this a few times and then dropped my lower hand to 4 which simulates skipping 5 rungs to reach the target. After two sessions using this technique I felt that I was learning how the lock-off and pushing down were able to work together.
Now I am able to start with hands staggered on 1&4 and move to 7 on the left side. My right side is a bit weaker and is still in the learning process, but is close. I can latch the rung but not quite hold it. I have been finding campus training very beneficial to the rest of my climbing. I have noticed a great improvement in my contact strength, lock-off ability and precision. Obviously this is not just from campusing but I certainly have been making large improvements in my bouldering and climbing due to being able to pull some much harder between holds. I also have noticed improvements in my shoulder strength. I have weak shoulders due to having dislocated them multiple times from my past life...
Cycling used to be a very big part of my life. I was sponsored by 2one4 Marketing. They organized me events and additional sponsors. Initially, I raced downhill bikes for Scott, No Fear, Arnette Sunglass, Troy Lee Designs and a few other companies. Then I specialized in jump performances and competitions. After a few years I ended up riding for GT with the same other sponsors. It was a lot of fun but three surgeries and a few dislocated shoulders later, not to mention the occasional stitching, I looked for greener pastures in the form of rock climbing.
So where was I? Oh yeah! Wigwam and all the little indians! Oh them indians are evil I tells you! Some of the best hard sport climbing in the country, rolled into these really powerful and technical lines which are simply relentless, having no significant rests until you're about to clip the chains! I managed to spend three days there this week: Wednesday and Thursday with James Barnes and fellow Vertigo Gear Athlete Illona Pelser. James and Illona worked Tomahawk, a solid 29 power endurance line revolving around a difficult crux moving to the chains. Both were looking very strong but only James came out victorious with a redpoint on his second go of the day on Thursday.
I was on Two Dollar Navaho, a solid 30 which has some very small sidepulls and a desperate lunge to a left hand hold that is simply not as good as you want it to be after the preceding climbing... I fell off twice on that move. I will certainly send if I catch it, the rest of the route is sorted out perfectly after I gave up on a stupidly powerful sequence I made up. How our imaginations can run wild with stupidity! I think that my biggest limiting factor on this occasion was my lack of rest days. With five days on I can't really expect myself to be at my peak. I guess it is a good thing that I took Saturday off eventually...
Friday was another day at the boulder cave. I really wanted to take two rest days, but my boredom and desire to hit the campus board ending up pulling me to the cave in the evening for a good two hours. I ended up working some really technical problems with PW, honing some heel hooking skills along the line. Two of the problems we were working were great! Both involved massive amounts of core tension and pulling on the heel. Neither were particularly my style and that is why I loved them so much when I sent them, huffing the whole way. We extended one and that is still awaiting an opening ascent...
The campus board saw some more work after this with particular emphasis on the 1-4-7 training. I managed to touch the 7th rung a few times but not latch it. PSYCHED!! Very close to hitting this milestone.
Saturday was a rest day with a twist. I sliced my finger open pretty decently making breakfast for the lovely Yvette and myself. Damn bread knife should not be used to cut veggies!!! I really need to buy a new knife for the kitchen.
Sunday found me wishing to be back at wigwam. The rain started on Saturday evening around 4 and continued till Sunday afternoon. That is really not cool. So I sent Illona a text and asked her if she wanted to burn it up on the plastic. We did the NBL problems from Wednesday. They were pretty simple till problem 10. I flashed the first 9, almost flashed 10 and 12 but 11 completely eluded everyone. Was still fun to work.
After done with the problems Illona and I hit the hangboard for some stamina training. The great kind that lasts for 4 minutes at a time leaving you feeling completely drained while you rest for the next five minutes. It was the first time that I had ever tried the program anywhere but in my own room and it was the first time Illona had ever tried the routine. She did really well on the first round but had a hard time on the pockets for the second round during full-lock.
We only did two sets but I felt really strong, definitely could have kept on going. After a solid 3 hours at the barn I headed home. Yvette and I hit the Tuks cave for an hour later in the evening. Was fun. Concentrated on some big power moves that finished in large campus moves to the top of the cave.
I warmed up working a few of the pre-set routes on the wall; this took about an hour. The main objective for this time was to find some very crimpy routes that would push me to my maximum reach between holds. Naturally, this is for the crux on Jabberwocky and I had a lot of fun.
The campus session was also interesting as I was incorporating a new technique that arose from my attempts to perform 1-4-7. 1-4-7 isn't a particularly massive thing for the pros but for me, it is quite a marker, particularly on my campus board which forces me to reach an extra 3cm per rung. This means that I'm moving almost and entire rung further on a normal campus board, ie 1-4.5-8, and that is actually pretty cool. To do this I have to use my triceps on my lower arm to push the upper arm into a full lock-off so I can reach the target rung. Until recently I had not been strong enough to accomplish this feat so I decided to train it specifically.
Starting with my arms staggered on the board on rungs 5&6 I would move my lower hand to 9. I did this a few times and then dropped my lower hand to 4 which simulates skipping 5 rungs to reach the target. After two sessions using this technique I felt that I was learning how the lock-off and pushing down were able to work together.
Now I am able to start with hands staggered on 1&4 and move to 7 on the left side. My right side is a bit weaker and is still in the learning process, but is close. I can latch the rung but not quite hold it. I have been finding campus training very beneficial to the rest of my climbing. I have noticed a great improvement in my contact strength, lock-off ability and precision. Obviously this is not just from campusing but I certainly have been making large improvements in my bouldering and climbing due to being able to pull some much harder between holds. I also have noticed improvements in my shoulder strength. I have weak shoulders due to having dislocated them multiple times from my past life...
Cycling used to be a very big part of my life. I was sponsored by 2one4 Marketing. They organized me events and additional sponsors. Initially, I raced downhill bikes for Scott, No Fear, Arnette Sunglass, Troy Lee Designs and a few other companies. Then I specialized in jump performances and competitions. After a few years I ended up riding for GT with the same other sponsors. It was a lot of fun but three surgeries and a few dislocated shoulders later, not to mention the occasional stitching, I looked for greener pastures in the form of rock climbing.
So where was I? Oh yeah! Wigwam and all the little indians! Oh them indians are evil I tells you! Some of the best hard sport climbing in the country, rolled into these really powerful and technical lines which are simply relentless, having no significant rests until you're about to clip the chains! I managed to spend three days there this week: Wednesday and Thursday with James Barnes and fellow Vertigo Gear Athlete Illona Pelser. James and Illona worked Tomahawk, a solid 29 power endurance line revolving around a difficult crux moving to the chains. Both were looking very strong but only James came out victorious with a redpoint on his second go of the day on Thursday.
I was on Two Dollar Navaho, a solid 30 which has some very small sidepulls and a desperate lunge to a left hand hold that is simply not as good as you want it to be after the preceding climbing... I fell off twice on that move. I will certainly send if I catch it, the rest of the route is sorted out perfectly after I gave up on a stupidly powerful sequence I made up. How our imaginations can run wild with stupidity! I think that my biggest limiting factor on this occasion was my lack of rest days. With five days on I can't really expect myself to be at my peak. I guess it is a good thing that I took Saturday off eventually...
Friday was another day at the boulder cave. I really wanted to take two rest days, but my boredom and desire to hit the campus board ending up pulling me to the cave in the evening for a good two hours. I ended up working some really technical problems with PW, honing some heel hooking skills along the line. Two of the problems we were working were great! Both involved massive amounts of core tension and pulling on the heel. Neither were particularly my style and that is why I loved them so much when I sent them, huffing the whole way. We extended one and that is still awaiting an opening ascent...
The campus board saw some more work after this with particular emphasis on the 1-4-7 training. I managed to touch the 7th rung a few times but not latch it. PSYCHED!! Very close to hitting this milestone.
Saturday was a rest day with a twist. I sliced my finger open pretty decently making breakfast for the lovely Yvette and myself. Damn bread knife should not be used to cut veggies!!! I really need to buy a new knife for the kitchen.
Sunday found me wishing to be back at wigwam. The rain started on Saturday evening around 4 and continued till Sunday afternoon. That is really not cool. So I sent Illona a text and asked her if she wanted to burn it up on the plastic. We did the NBL problems from Wednesday. They were pretty simple till problem 10. I flashed the first 9, almost flashed 10 and 12 but 11 completely eluded everyone. Was still fun to work.
After done with the problems Illona and I hit the hangboard for some stamina training. The great kind that lasts for 4 minutes at a time leaving you feeling completely drained while you rest for the next five minutes. It was the first time that I had ever tried the program anywhere but in my own room and it was the first time Illona had ever tried the routine. She did really well on the first round but had a hard time on the pockets for the second round during full-lock.
| Grip | Goal | Goal | 10-Mar | 27-Mar |
| just off straight | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 90 degree | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| full lock | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Rest, 10 small pulls | 30 secs, 10 small pull ups | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Rest | 10 min | |||
| just off straight | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 90 degree | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| full lock | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Rest, 10 small pulls | 30 secs, 10 small pull ups | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Rest | 5min | |||
| just off straight | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| 90 degree | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| full lock | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| Rest, 10 small pulls | 30 secs, 10 small pull ups | 10 | 10 | |
| Rest | 5min | |||
| just off straight | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| 90 degree | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| full lock | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| Rest, 10 small pulls | 30 secs, 10 small pull ups | 10 | 10 | |
| Rest | 5min | |||
| just off straight | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| 90 degree | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 6 | |
| full lock | jug, rail, 2pock, crimp, 2pock, med | 6 | 5.5 | |
| Rest, 10 small pulls | 30 secs, 10 small pull ups | 10 | 9 | |
| 140 | 138.5 | 55 | ||
| 98.93% | 39.71% |
We only did two sets but I felt really strong, definitely could have kept on going. After a solid 3 hours at the barn I headed home. Yvette and I hit the Tuks cave for an hour later in the evening. Was fun. Concentrated on some big power moves that finished in large campus moves to the top of the cave.
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