Sending Spree

Well, well, well... It has been a while since I've written here. I guess it's been because I've driven somewhere around 4000km in the last two weeks and climbed 11 of the past 15 days. It all started with a massive training session to sort out my head for the trip to Montagu. My finger tips were still completely shot after climbing at Fernkloof on the 9th so I had a great wad of tape wrapped around my left middle finger and my right index finger. Didn't stop me from hitting my hang board, hard!

I warmed up with the 15 minute 8a.nu program which I often use scoring full on the routine:

Afterward, I did programs A, B and D from Paul's training program. A is for finger strength, B is for stamina and D is for burl or body tension. Doing all three of these in a day is a tall order but I was feeling psyched and ready to go flat out!

Wednesday morning at 4 am: Alex, Ebert, Illona and I piled into my car and made our way down the N1 to Montagu.

I want to thank TRISTAN FIRMAN @ VERTIGO GEAR for making the trip to Montagu possible. Without you as a friend and a sponsore I would never be able to climb as hard as I do...

It wasn't too long of a drive lasting 14 hours with 3 stops included. When we arrived, Matt Bush was already there and so was Paul Brouard. After chatting to Matt around the fire and to Paul for a little while, and meeting his beautiful girlfriend, I knew it was off to bed for me. The next day would need to be a good one.

Thursday saw me being very unproductive from a sending point of view but what I did manage to do was reclimb a few routes that I had done previously in order to refresh the beta for the rock rally on Saturday. What was really fun was walking around Montagu and seeing what the venue really was like. The rock and road trip funneled me into climbing specific routes that would be beneficial for the competition but this was not very helpful for actually gaining a feel to what Montagu is all about.

At lunch time we went back to the campsite and late afternoon we headed out to the penultimate route in Montagu: Mazawattee (35). I watched Paul on it and then he shouted beta up to me as I dogged my way up it. There were only 3 moves that were beyond me. It is quite an interesting route. The interesting thing about Maz is that you rest the whole way up. There are deep kneebars along the entire length of the line making it possible to get your heart rate back to normal and chill out. They are very core intensive though. The way I see it is this: it is a 32 route into an 8A+ boulder problem at the top. Brilliant line. I could see myself making it to the rest before the boulder problem in a week but it would take a very long time to have the endurance and strength to be able to stick the crux moves when fresh, let alone after having done the 30 meters of climbing to that point...

Friday was a really relaxed day, well half day. In the morning I practised the moves on the Activist (30) and figured out Strange Days (31) and redpointed Cyberpunk (24). The palace must be my favourite destination at Montagu currently, well maybe Fireworld, or is it Waterstarter, damn it, it's WATERWORLD. I had a terrible slip of the tongue the whole week in Montagu and don't have any reason for it. One way or the other it was really funny.

Ah the big day has arrived! The rock rally. I must say, this was a very different vibe to the Boven rock rally, quite a bit more chilled which promoted some very hard sending. Personally, I warmed up with a redpoint of the Activist (30), then an onsight of Keep on Going (26 soft). I tried Strange Days three times and then moved on to Waterworld. Here I crushed Firestarter (29) and Simply Irresistible (27). Supertubes was next: I onsighted Leap Tide (27). Illona and I then made our way down to the Scoop. I tried to onsight Monkey Pump (29) which turned out to be quite comical in the state of exhaustion I was in. The Optimist (27) was next in line but I was a bit optimistic about the line and was crushed repeatedly, 6 times I think, trying to move off the crux hold. So while I was resting Illona jump on Archeopteryx (26) to put up the draws and figure out the moves: she totally saved my ass on this one! I managed to flash it as a result. THANKS A LOT! I was then psyched again, though exhausted, until the 23 next door booted me solidly on my onsight and second go, it felt more like a 25 at this point. Either some holds had come off (which is possible, the route is a bit chossy) or I was really tired (which is highly likely). I did manage to crush the 22, onsight.

These routes combined with the fact I had Illona along for a day a great moral support and wicked belaying (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!) landed me in 3rd place for the competition, narrowly behind Jimbo in second. If you were to take all the routes Jimbo and I did and combine them, we would have fallen about 1000 points short of Matt's score. Matt is an amazing athlete and a very philosophical person. I really enjoyed the conversations we had over the course of the trip to Montagu. Looking forward to more time around him in the future, that is for certain.

Paul managed to CRUSH Mazawattee while we were all running around at the rock rally. CONGRATULATIONS!

The party was anything but tame: the tequila body shot competition and the makeshift pole dancing from the loser of the bet (Ant) was, ummm, well, memorable and fun. Illona, I still can't believe you were still on your feet at the end of your 13 body shots plus 5/6 other drinks. Good for you. Good way to cut loose ;)

Sunday was a necessary rest day. There was no chance I could climb anything. Matt on the other hand had to retrieve all his draws from all the lines he climbed during the rally. Strong. Alan Hills arrived Sunday night. Was great to see him again.

Monday: Strange Days in the morning and the Scoop in the afternoon, with a snack at Waterworld in between, did two attempts on My Route By The River (31) -- very fun, will certainly go back for it. Cool Like That (29) was the objective. I wanted to flash it but came off bouncing for the upper sloper in the bottom crux. I went from the rail above the sloper to the chains without resting. But alas, I was spent and did not manage to point the line.

Tuesday: Strange Days was feeling much better. I managed to stick the dynamic move in it twice quite easily but came off afterward. I think that the rally really took it all out of me. I need more time off. Didn't climb during the afternoon.

Wednesday was a write off basically, cleaned Strange Days and we packed up. Climbed into the car at 3pm, short one person as Illona was on her way to Cape Town so she could catch a ride to the NBL finals which she would win!!!! GO TEAM!!!! :-D We finally arrived back in PTA at 4:30am on Thursday, I crawled into bed with the love of my life, and cuddled -- gotta love them cuddles!!! Slept till 10 then was up. Sat around for a while waiting for Yvette to come back from her test, then Yvette and I enjoyed ourselves by laying in bed till almost the evening. In the evening we went out and had Flaming Lamborghini's, ouch. Stayed in bed, all of the next day -- had food delivered and all!

Saturday afternoon we arrived in Boven, placed draws on a wet project and damp Jabberwocky. Was a bit irritated but still pretty relaxed. Yvette crushed Lucy (17) first go (would have been onsight but she had already climbed the first half for another route).

Sunday was great, we went to Hallucinogen and Yvette crushed Sand Glod and Aussie Rules (17). I debated with myself if I wanted to climb Panty Slapped (28). The final tipping point was that I had been trying to wear in my Edelrid Hurricanes for a little while now and I thought that a little slab might do the trick. It did. All the moves were effortless and managed to crush it second go. This line and I had a long history of me thinking it would be a good idea and then after 3 bolts there would normally be a lot of cursing and a promise that I would never try it again. Ha ha. Yvette then climbed Captain Hook (18) but she was too tired from her hard work previously, so I soloed it to clean it. Such a great line. If you can jam, it feels effortless to climb! If you can't, well, you're missing out!

AH, the main event. This is what I came to Boven to climb: my project. I stand beneath it look at the holds thinking to myself: hmmm. Honestly, I didn't think I had a chance. I wasn't feeling at the top of my game. But I have my lucky belayer (yes, Yvette is amazing). This is what the inner monologue sounded like: I pull off the ground...place foot...right hand to the gaston, left foot up effortlessly, keep on moving don't lose concentration...snatch the crimp...clip...shake...move move move...oh no wrong foot...fixed it...oh shit, I just needed my lucky belayer...it's not over yet....concentrate....WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO it's finally DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was psyched. There was nothing more I could want at that moment. I named the route Raptophilia and graded it 32. We went back to the lodge and went to the braai at Alex and Gustav's. Gus told me he could hear from from the far end of Tranquilitas crag. :D what a brilliant way to end the day. Such amazing friends we have in Waterval Boven.... Thanks to Gustav for these brilliant pictures of me.

`

Jabberwocky was next on the list. I had been on it 5 times till now. 6th go found me falling off with my right hand on the crux hold, my feet high in the crux and my left hand being rejected by a small slot. 7th go was just mileage to the chains.

After my rest day I tried again. Yvette crushed Captain Hook and was working the 21 on Disciple Wall. I feel off half way through the undercling section of Jabbs! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! So frustrating. 9th attempt I was rejected by the slot again but went on to the chains skipping half the draws to figure out how to make the route really easy.

Such a brilliant week in Boven, such an amazing two week.

Storming the Bergs

This last week has been quite exceptional. Admittedly, it started on a seriously low point with me slicing my finger wide open with a bread knife and buckets of rain the next day but after that things definitely just kept getting better and better. The cut didn't stop me from climbing or training, it just meant that I had to mummify my finger tip with lots of tape, several times a day.


On Sunday evening last week I received a message from Ansie that Adam was in Pretoria and was keen on going somewhere to climb or boulder. After the epic training session I had just finished I was feeling very skeptical about climbing but after an hour or two of the idea marinading in my mind I couldn't help but suggest we go bouldering at Bobbejaan's Berg. Turn out that this was a really good idea. Adam and I arrived there with Ansie and Mathys to find some interesting formations lower down but nothing really exceptional. However, the further we went the more boulders there were. We warmed up on some interesting traverses and a really cool dyno...




But the real catch of the day would only be found a little further up the mountain. I spotted these two really interesting holds that would make an interesting traverse. We decided to try starting from them and moving inwards. I couldn't quite lift off the ground. So we moved to the left and tried to figure out where the problem would end. We then discovered a small undercling that the left hand could start on if the right started on the original hold. It was still incredibly hard to get off the ground!

Blindside Arete
The original start

The official start

Slapping for the sloper

Catching the sloper

Matching

Trying to control the swing

Catching the finish dyno

Adam was strong enough to open the problem on that Monday. He was looking so strong, what an awesome day. We decided to call it Blindside Arete and graded it 7C+. It might be a little on the soft side but both of us agreed that it was harder than anything else we have ever done by far. I came back on Thursday with PW and was able to send it, PW too, and open another line that is arguably harder than Blindside Arete. It is a highball with a crux about 4m up which is a desperate lunge to a sloping crimper! I thought it deserved the name Acrophobia (fear of heights) and I graded it 7C+. It left me screaming like a girl, twice when I couldn't figure out the move the first two times I reached the move and had to take the fall on to a small platform bordering a 5m drop behind us.

Acrophobia 7C+

The future project!!




Not sure of the grade, but definitely in the 8A/B range

So that was my Monday and Thursday. My Tuesday and Saturday were spent at Fernkloof. Tuesday I was there with Adam, Ansie, Illona and James. We had a fun day, particularly Adam who nabbed Faberge second go. I on the other hand was very frustrated about the dripping water coming from the holds on Stormwatch. No matter how hard I tried to dry them and stuff toilet paper in the cracks, I could not hold back the seeping water and I would slip off every time.

Saturday was more of the same, falling off at the second pinch, the finger lock not wanting to work. After 5 attempts (or more) I was tired and frustrated. I was intending to take off the draws from the route but figured I would give it a good effort. Got to the finger lock and clipped effortlessly, then it was the right hand pinch slow and static, I repositioned my left hand in the slot and reached for the second pinch with the left hand. I had it! I moved my feet and then the right hand so I could clip the 4th draw. This was very much a high point! But now I was feeling desperate as could be! I moved my feet and set up for the move into the roof, I hit the hold with my left hand and almost came off but DIDN'T! I moved my feet and placed my knee into the kneebar. I HAD IT! I knew I would not come off higher up like everyone else. My fitness is too good and the kneebar was solid for me. I shook out for about a minute and breezed through to the chains which I clipped and then topped out cheering the whole time!

The sneaky kneebar

This route was such a fight for me, definitely 8b in my books. I've done a lot of 8a+ routes and this is not 8a+. It was opened at 31/8b/5.13d by Roger Nattrass but as the grading changed from Aussie to SA 31 became 32 but this route did not change in grade. It is the first 32 in the country opened in 1990.

Wigwam Pow Pow...

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.

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.

A week in Boven

Ah! What a breath of fresh air. Paul Brouard and I managed to get in 10 days in Boven. The first day was certainly interesting. Before I warmed up I decided to place draws on my project. It's pretty crazy when I break my previous high point by a mile and fall off the finish hold while placing draws! It definitely had me on a high point for the week to begin.

Later that Saturday Kyle and I headed out to do some trad climbing. It was a breath of fresh air. We started off jumping on a brilliant 19 called Through the Looking Glass which was an easy on sight with the purpose of sighting in my eyes for the placements. Heart Of China was next on the list, a solid 23 that I would have walked all over if I had soloed it or climbed as a sport climb, but all that gear jingling around on my shoulders caught me be surprise so instead of walking up the climb like I normally do on anything under 26, I over gripped and fiddled with gear. I led it out quite significantly though, probably 3m between placements, a total of 5 on a 25m route. All of them expect for 1 were solid and the 1 that I thought wouldn't hold didn't. I took a 6m whipper on a number 5 BD nut, ripping the micro nut I had placed a few inches above it. Got everyone's blood pumping.

Second attempt was also pretty interesting when I accidentally climbed 2m past my first important piece of gear which resulted in me soloing the first half of the climb till I placed the next piece of pro, which I then backed up with the nut I was carrying from the missed placement. After this I was quite happy and so was Kyle who was considering how he might have to jump off the ledge on which he was belaying to try to take up the slack. Fortunately the route was not difficult up to this point so even whilst I was fiddling with my precarious placement I felt solid in my mind. The rest of the route was still a bit of a challenge for a 23 but I had a brilliant time! It is worth every drop of its 5 stars ***** !

I worked my project a bunch during the rest of the week with little success. I did reach new high points every day I tried it right up until the last day of the trip but alas no red point, no first ascent. I did decide on a name of it at least: Psychotic Features. It drives me a little made, that's for sure.

I got a new pair of shoes this week. The new Edelrid Typhoons. I have to tell you the shoes are awesome. I put them on my feet for the first time and they didn't feel like they needed to be broken in at all. Within 3 climbs they felt perfect, so much in fact that I was able to edge on some of the smallest holds on Vorpal Sword efficiently and quickly on the first try. It was really quite something. I would recommend them highly. They are built on the same last as the Ravens but don't have the sliding rails which means that they are slightly better for toe hooks. The shoes are priced the same as the Hurricanes but are more down turned for more precise foot placement on steeper routes. Add them to your quiver!


I did manage to crush Vorpal Sword (31) in a 8 attempts total. I'd been on it once or twice at the beginning of the year but there was one stopper move for me which I could crush statically instead of having to dead point my way up the crux. The route revolves around a 25 lead-in to the bar counter rest, where the climber is able to turn around and put his arms on the ledge to stare out across the valley and wish there was a beer there. Liquid chalk will have to suffice, which is a great idea to work through the crux. The next two bolts from here are the crux and a tough boulder problem and revolve a small crimp into a gaston and then a massive move to a small crimp. Powerful stuff. But it's not over yet, the big move to a sloping, half-digit crimp for two fingers is from a poor undercling on the right hand and requires very high feet which aren't particularly good. After you catch this the rest of the climbing is simply amazing and makes you feel really good about yourself.

Jabberwocky was the next route on my tick list. I got the draws up and worked the moves out by the end of my second go. Third go saw me work out the crux moves. I did my first red point attempt and made it half way through the crux! Next go I made it one move further, then managed to link the route from mid-crux to the chains before I cleaned it. This is a really interesting route. The lower crux is 28ish and then moves into a 7C boulder problem and immediately into a 27 route to the chains. There are some decent shakes in between, but no good feet on the upper section of the route. It's very pumpy and extremely fingery. I have never had to hold on to crimps as small as the ones in the crux. Not only does one have to hold on to the crimps, but feet have to move from one tiny smear to the next. I love it. It's strangely not my style but my endurance is so good that I arrive at the crux fresh, boulder the crux and then shake on the small holds after the crux to get enough back to reach the chains! Lovely! I am very close to the red point. Just need some skin to grow back; the blood blisters on my right index and middle fingers will attest!

Well, that was yesterday. Today was a new day.



Went to the boulder cave and worked in a strong campus session. Warmed up for 30 minutes and then hit the board. But only after I set a quick problem that simulates the Jabberwocky crux!



Campus session was pretty gentle:

1-3-5-7-9
1-3-5-7-9

1-4-6-8-9
1-4-6-8-9
1-4-6-8-9
1-4-6-8-9
1-4-6-8-9
1-4-6-8-9

Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9
Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9
Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9
Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9
Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9
Start on 4 & 6 move lower hand to 9

Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3
Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3
Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3
Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3
Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3 use 3 fingers only
Start both hands on 6 left to 9 drop from 9 to 3 use 3 fingers only

A Bit of a Low

Well, not all weeks can be good ones... This past week is definitely a good example of that. Sometimes, things just don't want to go your way. After my weekend high at Boven on my project, I came back to Pretoria and started to train on Monday.

I work in an hour of training on my hangboard, with a 15 minute warmup:

Min	Type of hold	Exercise	Sec/Rep
1	Jug	Drops	5 rep
2	Medium Edge	Drops	2 rep
3	Small Edge	Negs	5 rep
4	Pocket	Pull-upp	5 rep
5	Medium Edge	Hanging	20 sec
6	Jug	Pull-up	10 rep
7	Medium Edge	Hanging	20 sec
8	Small Edge	Hanging	20 sec
9	Medium Edge	Pull-up	5 rep
10	Jug	Hanging	40 sec
11	Medium Edge	Hanging	25 sec
12	Medium Edge	Hanging	25 sec
13	Small Edge	Pull-up	5 rep
14	Small Edge	Hanging	20 sec
15	Jug	Hanging	1 min

Followed by a 30 min program with a 6 kilo weight vest

Min	Type of hold	Exercise	Sec/Rep
1	Jug	Drops	5 rep
2	Medium	Drops	3 rep
3	Small	Pulls	5 rep
4	Medium	Negs	5 rep
5	Pocket	Pulls	5 rep
6	Medium	Drops	2 rep
7	Jug	Hang	30 sec
8	Jug	Pulls	10 rep
9	Medium	Pulls	5 rep
10	Small	Hang	15 sec
11	Medium	Hang	20 sec
12	Jug	Drops	5 rep
13	Small	Hang	15 sec
14	Jug	Hang	40 sec
15	Medium	Hang	20 sec
16	Medium	Pulls	5 rep
17	Small	Hang	15 sec
18	Medium	Hang	20 sec
19	Small	Hang	15 sec
20	Small	Hang	15 sec
21	Medium	Hang	20 sec
22	Jug	Pulls	10 rep
23	Medium	Hang	20 sec
24	Small	Hang	15 sec
25	Medium	Pulls	5 rep
26	Jug	Hang	40 sec
27	Medium	Hang	20 sec
28	Medium	Hang	20 sec
29	Small	Hang	15 sec
30	Jug	Hang	1 min

In the evening I bouldered a little, concentrating on dynos and pinches. Also with 6 kilo weight vest. I felt pretty strong throughout the evening and when I took off my vest at the end of the night I flew up all the problems I was working with the vest on, although I was quite tired.

On Tuesday I went back to the cave and spent the afternoon working the boulder problems that Wesley set for the comp on that Saturday. I did them all with my weight vest on so they felt really hard and reachy, but got easier at the end of the day when I took off my vest.

Wednesday I rested and did some work on my thesis for the most of the day. Wasn't particularly productive but at least I did some more than I had done on the previous two days.

Thursday I did some stamina training... No weight vest. This is tough work and involves a 4 minute set of work encores! The first minute utilizes 6 sets of holds, 7 seconds on with 3 rest on each hold with arms straight. The second minute uses the same 6 holds with arms at half lock. The third minute is then at full lock. The forth minute is just pure torture! Try to do 10 pull ups in 30 seconds on a small hold! I dare you! Take 5 minutes off and repeat! Do this for 5 sets in total and you have a workout.

This is what it looks like for the training log!

Grip	Goal	Goal	10-Mar
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	10 min
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	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
			98.93%

Fun stuff.

So now for the bad part of the week: Boven this weekend. It all started off with an easy on sight of Grannie's Cottage (25) and a quick repeat of Condor (27) as warm up to put the draws up for Frankie, but it all went downhill from there. I felt great putting the draws on my route, linking it from the 3rd bolt to the anchors placing draws but after that I never had any success. My two attempts were both to the same place: falling off at the infamous right hand crimp at the top. Grrr.

The next day was no better. Tried to on sight Bamboozled (27). Gave it a very valiant effort, down-climbing the moves probably 10 times before giving up. Worse yet, I couldn't even make it to the top of the route so I had to down-climb it to clean. Frustrating. Tried Dropkicked again too and didn't quite make it to the top before I decided it was a bad idea and cleaned it. My project was a disaster too. Fell off in the shake at the top on the first attempt: see video. And my second attempt was just stupid, so I pulled my gear off it and went home.



Low points can be good for learning and for teaching you lessons, but they are still very frustrating nonetheless. I shall simply have to work harder and clear my head before I head back there with Paul Brouard next weekend, for 8 days. I am convinced that it will go then. Might also jump on either Lab Rat or Jabberwocky. I may very well just need a change of pace with my project...