What Have I Learned?
As I have said countless times before, every-time I go on a trip, I learn something new about myself that I didn’t know before, something that will help me excel in this crazy sport we call rock climbing! Early on in my career it was noticeable that I was certainly a more developed endurance athlete than strength or power, but I neglected training these areas and suffered because of this. It wasn’t until going out on trips that I learned what was needed to push me that extra bit further.
Kalymnos 2010 taught me a harsh lesson, you can be as fit as you want, but when it comes to the hard moves, sometimes you just need to be able to pull hard! This lesson goes both ways though, as I remember on my second trip to Ceuse, it wasn’t just me getting schooled on the harsh technical faces but also my climbing partner Andy (sorry for bringing you into this mate). Andy having coming from a bouldering background had to deal with the reality of not having endurance on the 30+m long pitches common at this popular French sport climbing crag. This taught him that it wasn’t only about being able to pull off the hardest moves, but also being able to recover on the easier or more sustained ground.
Ceuse 2007, 2008 and 2010 taught me even more about climbing than ever before. They taught me that simply coming to the crag from pulling on plastic for a whole season wasn’t going to provide the results that I so desperately was after! It took me 3 years of trips to one crag to realize this, that was a tough lesson.
I have been out in Spain for 8 weeks now, I am returning today and only in the past 2 weeks have I felt my climbing really start to take off. There is definitely something more to getting out on rock as much as you can, something it teaches you that the gym simply can’t. I have watched countless numbers of strong gym climbers thrash there way at the rock for endless weeks getting no where and simply giving up in the end. This is not the way forward! You have to really want to learn from the experiences the rock is giving you. If you are failing, you are failing for a reason, not always because you are too weak:
“Need to do more beastmaker!”
Not always because you are unfit:
“Need to do more laps!”
I think generally its because you haven’t spent enough time learning what the rock is teaching you i.e. how to move your body, how to place your feet, how to pace yourself, how to use resting to your advantage… In truth, you will never stop learning and this is the amazing thing with climbing, because there are always new challenges that await us! The day when you stop challenging yourself with new and interesting climbs, and settle for what looks like you will tick the quickest, get the hardest grade or feel most like what you are used to is the day you stop improving! There is a reason why the best climbers in the world are also the ones who have done the most mileage on rock… it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand. It’s because they have learned the most from what the rock has to offer! Watch the videos of Adam Ondra climbing, its an amazing display of sheer athleticism, mental determination and tactical genius! He doesn’t just climb the route… he destroys it!
On this last trip to Spain, I have certainly ticked the most hard routes than ever before. On this trip, more than any before, I was on a mission to set a standard for myself. As I have said in previous posts, climbing is largely about confidence and building it up over time. When I went on my first Spanish climbing trip, I ticked my first 8a, that gave me the confidence to go back home and tick “Raindogs” (one of the hardest 8a’s in the country!). On this trip I have ticked 7 x 8b’s and 3 x 8b+’s as well as numerous 8a’s (onsight and flash). This has set my confidence at a good level for the next year which will allow me to build upon it and realize the next peak at which I am aiming to reach… which is of course 8c!
I have not really been slowed down by anything on this trip, I’ve just been moving from one project to the next and they all seemed to drop like flies one after another. But I don’t want to simply stop and say, “well that was a great trip and now I can have a rest”… Far from it! Now more than ever I need to be on my guard for what weaknesses still lie in my climbing and what skills I need to hone! And as long as I keep on doing this, I will continue to progress and see my dreams of climbing harder routes realized.
I think for me, my biggest weakness still lies in my strength. I am still a weak punter : P But I suppose I had only been focusing on the strength training for 3 months after Kalymnos and look at the gains I have made since then! More or less, this Spain trip has been of similar length as Kalymnos 2010 and the routes I have climbed have been far harder and more significant than then, which shows something substantial must have changed in my climbing! I reckon for this year I am going to continue to focus heavily on my strength and power issues with a keen focus on training my crimp strength and pocket strength (mono’s and front two). The reason for this is that I fancy a long trip back to Siurana in December/January and want to mix this with Margalef. If I can hone my pocket pulling skills, perhaps I can tick of some harder routes there such as “Darwin Dixit” (8b+) and possibly “Aitzol” (8c) if I am lucky?
I am also going to focus on the 15-25 move power endurance bracket that I so often neglect in my training. After climbing the popular 8a “Anabolica” in Siurana on our last day, I realized just how important sustained climbing on hard moves is if I want to continue pushing my level higher. “Migranya” (8b) in Siurana climbed quite easily for me and this was a similar style of climb, but If I want to continue to push the envelope with this style, I think much higher levels will be demanded!
I want to continue to maintain my climbing level outdoors and not let my technical development slip, so I a going to focus more on getting outside climbing in the UK between trips. Yorkshire, Wales and the South West offer lots of challenges for the sport climber working in the 8’s and some of the crags around Scotland have definitely peaked my interest. I plan on spending most of my time in Yorkshire climbing at Malham and Kilnsey, I have made a wee tick list for myself with routes such as these included:
- Predator (8b)
- The Groove (8a+)
- Totally Free (8b)
- Austrian Oak (8b)
- Magnetic Fields (8b)
- Full Tilt (8b)
There is a lot there, but that means plenty of challenge and lots of learning to be had from it : ) I can’t wait! Bring on the UK Limestone!!!
ROBZ OUT