Nice !!! And nice when you do the training, and climb well and solidly after :-). That's what I'd like to do as well, but I've flashed a bunch of 6b's the last few days so maybe.....
And nice when you do the training, and climb well and solidly after :-). That’s what I’d like to do as well, but I’ve flashed a bunch of 6b’s the last few days so maybe…..
I've been using the crimpd app to structure training and it really seems to be working for me.
Last week Blackstone bouldering, got a couple of things done (details of World's softest 6B available on request) and a few things to go back to. So much good stuff up there - I'm on upwards of 130 boulder problems and still plenty to go at. Bumped into a psyched bunch cleaning and checking for the next Lancs definitive guide. Good stuff. Also had a look at a couple of more local projects and still felt miles off. Hard to train for tiny crimps indoors - they'd be too scared of injuries to set them! Another fruitless exercise on some N Wales limestone at Ruthin. Must Get Stronger.
Organised a sneaky flight to Marseilles with my son to revisit some of my favourite areas. Flight was late landing so we had a rushed 70 minute spree at Sisteron. Creat climbing, shit photo.
Then got fully shouted up by the Gite man for phoning him and saying we wouldn't arrive till 11
Ailefroide slabs in the sun today. Did a wee multi pitch in the sun
then fled to Fissure d' which was also in the bloody sun. Messed about in the easy stuff at the bottom.
Where some halfwits had their babies at the bottom of the cliff... 12 climbers scattered about , all wearing helmets, including the parents of the babies. The bloody cliff is getting on for a thousand feet high and covered in slime and stuff where stuffs been falling during the recent storms, and they've got a 7 month old playing at the foot of the crag WTAF.
Just signed up for a 5 day trad leading/multipitch course in two weeks. 4 days on Dartmoor in my backyard and a day on the sea cliffs down in Cornwall,
Ailefroide slabs in the sun today
How are things looking there? Sounds like the area got pretty hammered in those storms.
We're off rafting today, so I'll hopefully tell you later. A bit scared TBH as the bloke said it was too high for kayaks gonflable.
The main road up the valley is diverted due to the bank getting washed away. And the path to Fissure d' is diverted as part of it washed away. There's a lot of debris a long way above the river. Not noticed any difference on the climbs, apart from the fact that the Cascade is too high to climb that lovely easy multi pitch route.
Have a good one! Great part of the world..... but have also had dodgy crag practice going on there before. I remember working a route there and with no warning/shout loose rocks and an ab rope appears and the descending team seemed annoyed at me that I could possibly be on a route that coincided with their descent. Awesome place, somehow attracts entitled idiots. Campsite seemed full of naked blokes too for some reason.
Got any plans for Buoux? That was my favourite crag near Marseille bitd.
photo upload appears to be broken…
First time I've looked in this thread, some great photos that remind me of a previous life.
I stopped climbing 16 years ago in 2008, my last route was The Old Man of Hoy. A superb day out, the climbing is a bit poor but it's all about the position and adventure.
It got very blowy at the end, difficult to forget looking through the final crack to see the white horses on the sea, then sitting on the top in a weird calm before realising we had to get back down.
A great day to finish on but I've never missed it once
Just back from 10 days in Wales staying at Dolgam campsite. Climbed every day for 10 days and visited 15 new (to me) crags. Bloody brilliant!
Olympic Bouldering semis on Discovery+ right now. Can't help thinking they shouldn't have held this outdoors in Paris in August.
@martinhutch was/is the coverage decent? As the BBC showed half then just cut to pin pong or something else I'd rather not have watched given the choice. I don't mind paying for things if the channel actually shows what I want to see.
Olympic Bouldering semis on Discovery+ right now. Can’t help thinking they shouldn’t have held this outdoors in Paris in August.
Should be down at Fontainebleau.
Should be down at Fontainebleau.
Not in August!
toby1Full Member
@martinhutch was/is the coverage decent?
Sorry, didn't spot this, had to miss the final too as I was driving to Cornwall at short notice...
I gave up expecting the BBC to put any of it on, paid for the Disco+ sub and their coverage was great. Shauna Coxsey co-commentating, the only issue was the French TV feed cutting to anyone remotely French just as someone else was trying to top out.
Good comp in the end, setting was spot on - they even found some to give Janja a hard time.
Yes, good coverage on Disco+ with Matt Groom and Shauna Coxsey on commentary. Felt nice and familiar, like IFSC coverage. Setting was very good. I think the setting team should feel pretty happy with their work.
Stunning pics as ever @Spin.
Finishing my MSc dissertation, a month with a bad back followed by COVID have seen me climb twice in about 2 months ?
Really need to do something other than type, but not got the energy to go to the wall tonight. I did do aone of the classic rock routes on Tryfan a couple of weeks back.
just need to bite the bullet and buy a trad rack…
I have a bunch of maybe 6 or 8 quickdraws that I'm realistically never going to use again. They're old but they've been used like twice, indoors, before I decided that leading really isn't for me and stuck them in the bottom of my climbing bag. I'd part with them for a modest fee or postage + a charity donation, if they're of any interest?
just need to bite the bullet and buy a trad rack…
No need to buy the whole shebang at once. I'm starting to think that the noble art of nut placing is falling out of fashion so there's nothing wrong with climbing for a bit without cams or on a limited selection of cams.
I learned to lead on a rack of 1-10 rocks, a couple of small friends and a couple of hexes. You can climb a surprising amount on a small rack as long as you’re not chucking things in every few feet. Think I probably got up to about E1-E2 before I needed to get a more extensive rack.
I think I started with a couple of Moacs, a baby Moac on wire and a hex along with a couple of tapes. Mind you I also had 120ft of hawser laid rope and a waist tie. So I wouldn't recommend that particular setup nowadays.
Just to echo what Spin said. Nuts are the most useful protection but you need to learn how to place them. It is fairly common to see strong climbing wall jocks new to leading trad shoving in loads of micro cams into tiny shallow slots, providing, at best, marginal protection. Perfect bomber nut slots are overlooked in the process. But then they're maybe strong enough not fall off!
It is fairly common to see strong climbing wall jocks new to leading trad shoving in loads of micro cams into tiny shallow slots, providing, at best, marginal protection
I've done quite a few routes recently that I've found to be very well protected with nuts but when I look at the UKC logbook comments some people are saying they're bold or run out. I think a lot of folks have become over reliant on cams.
+1 for a set of nuts first. I started with one set of nuts and a few hexes and that was fine for quite a while. Eventually added friends, quadcams, aliens, RPs, brass offsets, more nuts.... but you don't need all that to get going with. I know it all looks shiny and exciting in the glass counter at your local climbing shop, but just go simple and learn to place nuts really well.
I think I started with a couple of Moacs
I've still got a moac somewhere. I no longer have the far too small EBs or the whillans harness. Jumpers for bleedin' goalposts
Pretty much every youtube mid-grade trad climbing video I see seems to involve placing nothing but cams.
I thought about trying to refresh my trad rack, but the cost of even just scrapping and replacing the slings/quickdraws/ropes/harnesses made me think twice.
And one from Wednesday. Alpine Monkey at Redhythe Point. A nice wee spot but shan't be rushing back.
DMM used to do something called the protection pack.....which is 4 hexes, a set of nuts and a set of offsets....great value, add in those quick draws off Cougar and you've got what I led my first years worth of climbs on, up to VS 4c. I now own 4 cams and still have a maximum lead of VS 4c! This year has been a write of for outdoors climbing for me. Hoping to right that next year. Might need to join a club though as my climbing partner is going to become a dad in the new year.
Let's talk local training/quick hit crags. The wee places you go for a quick burn that you have grown fond of but would never recommend to visitors. Mine's the Tom Riach boulder, 15 mins from the house, limited but some excellent stamina traverses. What have you got? Don't bother if Almscliff is your local... 🙂
Nothing within 1.5- 2hrs for me. So it's Red Spider (climbing wall) or the garden woody. A little boulder nearby would be great though. A few years ago I did try and get the local council to fund some Sheffield style boulders in parks, but failed. Money went on some sort of fitness trail thing instead.
... within 15 minutes - Shipley Glen (and no walk in so easiest for quick blast), Caley ( short walk in to roadside boulders), Ilkley, Baildon Bank.
Almscliff is actually within 30 minutes ( sorry)
within 15 minutes – Shipley Glen (and no walk in so easiest for quick blast), Caley ( short walk in to roadside boulders)
Been to Caley quite a few times over the years. Lots of brilliant problems. Mr Smooth sticks in my mind as a classic piece of nonsense
About 15-20 mins away. My daughter is in the Boulder Britain (Niall Grimes guide book) 
We also have the Bowder stone 45 mins away. Some good evenings spent there followed by a paddle board 5 mins down the road
Got to ask Spin, but is the friction on nougat actually better in the wet?
Been to Caley quite a few times over the years. Lots of brilliant problems. Mr Smooth sticks in my mind as a classic piece of nonsense
Classy line - next boulder along from one of my favourites The Horn
Given all the climbing on my doorstep I should spend more time on rock and less in the gym really. To be fair to myself the weather has been so wet for last 18 months I guess
Got to ask Spin, but is the friction on nougat actually better in the wet?
Don't you be slagging my local off. 🙂
It's actually brutal on the tips, never managed much more than 2 hrs there.
This weekend, Killer Instinct and Jack the Ripper on Stack Pollaidh. the Talisman Direct Start and Zircon in the Cairngorms.
