Fundamentals Level 2 @ EICA
Last weekend I ran a Fundamentals 2 course with Alan Halewood - for those of you who don’t know what this is, the Fundamentals are courses designed to give climbers, coaches, teachers and anyone really a better understanding of the fundamental techniques and skills climbers use on the wall. These courses can be used to better your own technique and understanding of climbing techniques as well as giving you the knowledge to better your ability as an instructor or coach.
We run these courses through the MCofS (Mountaineering Council of Scotland) and I recommend anyone with an interest in climbing or coaching to take part. It’s also a step towards the new Coaching Awards that have only just been introduced by MTA (Mountain Training Association).
Don't Ask :PSo Al Halewood was the lead on this course and I seconded him as his assistant (or trusty side-kick, whatever you want to call it :P ). It was a good day of learning for all those attending – I saw some new faces as well as a few old faces from the climbing community and some who have taken part in courses I have ran previously.
I am hoping to run more of these in the New Year as well as the up and coming Fundamentals 3 courses (Physical Training) which will be starting in Scotland early 2014!
Training + Climbing – It’s time to man up!
My personal training has not been going as well as I had hoped recently with all the work and travelling… However, I have been inspired by my good friend Andres’ approach that you can read in his blog here! He works a hell of a lot and still manages to train through this – he is a total machine! 6am sessions are what it’s all about :D
Andre works 56 hour weeks some weeks but still manages to maintain a good level in climbing onsighting up to 8a! He fits his training around his work and this for me is absolutely inspiring considering the volume of work and training he does. His work is also heavily involved as both a climbing performance coach for the White Spider Climbing Centre in London and as a teacher at a deaf school (LEGEND!).
I guess some could argue that this could be seen as too much and maybe a road to ruin... but I think if you balance it right and it works for you then there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to train hard and work hard! But i'd much prefer to train hard and play hard... and then forget about the work bit completely :P
I have been training a bit at Alien Rock 2 recently – “The” place in Edinburgh if you want to get strong at pulling hard on your arms and forgetting your feet :P Only Joking. Alien Rock 2 for me has always been a place that I go to get spanked! Usually what happens is I climb there for about 4-5 days and have an absolute nightmare, getting shut down on every problem and looking very out of my depth… then I get used to the style, recruit some fast twitch muscle fibres into action and suddenly I can do most of the problems there and I’m lapping the blocs that I could barely lift my butt of the ground during the first few days :P
Angus doing the campus egyptian :P
The last session I had was the best one so far in the last 2 weeks. I came in and managed to climb several grade 8 problems (that could be anywhere from F7B to F8A) and managed to repeat a few 8’s I had climbed in previous sessions pretty easily J This is good for me and it was nice to feel progression. Hopefully I will be able to go out to Margalef and feel like I can at least do the crux moves on the 8c’s and 8c+’s I want to try :D
I’m off to Margalef in 10 days time with some good friends sport climbing over the Xmas and New year period. It’s going to be cold, but I am psyched for some sweet limestone sport climbing with good friends in beautiful Catalunya! I am travelling out with my pal Sam Williams and we will be staying at Tom Bolger and Lynne Malcolms house. My first Christmas away from home… It’s gonna be even better when Ed, Sam, Ethan, Andre and Adam are all out there! There will be a good crowd at the crag and it will keep motivations for trying hard high :)
Anyone who knows me will know that I am not majorly into projecting routes. I usually get bored and de-motivated trying the same routes over and over again. However, I am at a stage right now where I feel in order to know what I need to do training wise to reach the next level in my climbing abilities I need to test myself on harder routes. That’s why this winter I am not going to put any pressure to actually climb anything :P I am going to go to Spain with the intention of trying 8c/8c+/9a routes… If I can get to the top of a few routes whilst I’m out there that would be amazing, but I am really keen just to learn what I need to do to attain the next level. 9a is the goal in the next 3-5 years, it’s definitely possible but I would like to get to the stage where I can get on one that suits me and at least feel comfortable trying to link sequences and not feel totally out of my depth. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, dedication and training… but it will be worth it :)
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A few days before I was due to come home from Kalymnos I noticed in my diary that I was due to be setting that very week! I had kind of forgotten about it but was suddenly super psyched for it and had loads of inspirsation having just come back from an amazing sport climbing trip!
Long story short I set a whole bunch of new problems that should hopefully be enjoyed by all. Tom Bolger even joined in and set a few with me so there is a real mix of styles. 
Cave Right F7C+?
I think the grade range is from F7A to F7C+ in my set but I am sure Rob and Alan will also add a few more of their own to the set.
I am particularly proud of my three hardest problems which I reckon to be around F7C/7C+. These are the "Cave Central", "Cave Right" (Slopers) and "The Cobra Roof". The Cobra Roof is the easiest of the three probably in the 7C mark and the other two are maybe 7C+, but I am awaiting confirmation on this from Adam Lincoln - TCA's official bloc grader :P
Get down to TCA guys and check them out for me :) If anyone can flash the dyno - Hi5
]]>When I first left school I had no idea what I was going to do. A Year of doing not much but climbing taught me my life would have to be involved in the sport somehow. Two years since then and my career path is laid out in front of me clearer than water...
The big issue now is making sure I still have enough time to do what I love, which of course is going climbing myself! I am spending most of my time training other climbers that I am struggling to find time to think about my own climbing goals. And believe me, they are most definitely still there and as vibrantly built in my mind as ever, I just need to make sure they don't stay there and actually become realities instead of just figments.
I am planning my year very carefully... It's more or less built around competitions, training camps and coaching trips, all of which I am attending so of course cannot be organising any climbing trips when they are happening.
My first climbing trip in 2013 is probably going to be Costa Blanca in March. I am heading there around the 17th of March (the day after the last round of Scotlands series of the YCS). The main aim of the trip is to run a coaching trip for kids of all ages and abilities, but of course I am going to sneak off a bit earlier to make sure I get some climbing of my own in :P
Some friends of mine, Stuart Stronnach and Amanda Lyons know the area really well so I picked their brains a bit as to where the best routes for my grade are. Further investigation on 8a.nu showed there are around 6 x routes in the 8b+ to 8c mark that look good and are climbed often. I'd like to take a bash at doing some of those if possible with an aim to getting at least one of the 8c's done. If I have a couple of weeks before the coaching, potentially doing them all would be possible if I'm going well, but we will have to see :)
The next trip would be to Imst, Austria in May. Again I am travelling out with a bunch of kids who are competing in a competition at Kletterhalle Imst called the Youth Color Climbing Festival. The event itself is only the start of our trip though as we will all be staying an extra 5 days to train with the Austrian Team at Kletterhalle Imst and go out climbing with them in the local area. Hopefully I will also get to do some climbing during this week :P I might even stay an extra week myself and get out climbing in the local crags. I'd love to hit Zillertal and try and do "Total Brutal" (8b+).
I am still contemplating my Summer trip. The easy option would be to hit Ceuse and go for glory on all the remaining hard routes I still have left there, basically everything that is any good is 8c or harder now :P There is also potential in going to another crag not too far away, quite close to Serre Chevalier that a friend David Falt has been going on and on about. I would like to check this place out!
After the Summer we are into Autumn and come October and the BLCC's I will be heading to Kalymnos! We are going to do another big trip there with the kids and once again I hope to get some personal climbing in at the same time. There is one climb I really want to do here, a mega roof climb called "Inshallah" (8c+)! I remember the day it was climbed by Nico Favresse - I remember talking to him as he said he was off to try his project, I didn't even know who he was at the time, just some guy at the crag :P
And finally, I can't forget about the UK. Well, I am of course going to try and get back down to Yorkshire at some point, but as soon as conditions are ripe, I am going to be heading north west to the steely crag of Steall Hut! I have started contemplating what is required of me to climb at the 9th grade and a simple truth that I don't have a lot of time to be galavanting across the globe trying the biggest and hardest routes for me has dawned. So, after a conversation with Dave Macleod, I decided to check out the old project of Cubby's that Dave climbed back in 2007 - that is of course "Ring of Steall" (8c+). The cool thing about this is that it has an extension at 9a now thanks to Dave, so if I am wanting to climb at this grade, it would be awesome to do it in Scotland. At least I could give the 8c+ a right good go at this year, then it would leave the 9a part open for the future...
That would shape 2013 up nicely I think...
]]>I know what a bad title... well its half one and my brain is mush so don't be too hard on me : )
If you read my last post from just after Christmas you will know that I, like most others, have had a bit of a rude awakening coming back after the holidays. To be frank, I felt like I was dragging a sac of tatties every-time I pulled of the ground. Its funny just how quickly this can all change though. Only a week later and I'm back to my previous best, hitting out 1-4-7 on the campus board (something I had been trying to achieve for a very long time). Not only that, but I seem to be quite consistent at it now which is thrilling seeing as I'm only 6 weeks of my trip to Spain. Comparing last years strength levels to right now, its evident that I'm a lot physically stronger in my fingers and in all-round power.
This is exactly what I have been training for and its delighting to see the efforts of training pay off with such good results. I have 1 week left of the focussed power block and then I'll be in power endurance mode!!! I apologise beforehand to the regular Ratho boulderers as I'm going to be spending more time on the 45 board doing circuits - SO YOU ALL BETTER STAY OUT OF MY WAY!!!
As well as training going well, work is also plentiful at the moment. I have taken on three new recruits to my 1:1 squad! First on the list is Amanda Lyons from Aberdeen. Amanda was previously being coached by Mark McGowan, however since he has moved to Espana, she's now having to put up with my moaning and groaning. Amanda has previously climbed 7c and she is now working her way to 7c+ on some gnarly local projects that sound more like 8b than 7c+!!!
Next up is Ian Phillips. He's relatively new to climbing but has seen probably the fastest progress out of any climber I've ever known. He's bouldering about V5/6 flash and working V6/7 within a session and he's been climbing for under 2 years!
Finally, my newest recruit is a member of the BRYCS club at Ratho. I've been coaching David for a while now as part of the team but not individually. He's incredibly talented and has some amazing potential. Over the last 6 months he's been getting into Ratho more and more with his mum and brother and i've been watching intently from the sidelines as i've seen him go from strength to strength. Now I get to take an active part in helping his development more than simply our weekly group sessions - I WILL MAKE HIM A BEAST!!!!!
Tomorrow I am going to Glasgow for some TCA action, unfortunately not my own : ( Instead, 13 of the top Scottish youth climbers will descend for the first MCofS GB Team Meet of 2012! This also marks my official entry into the position of Team Regional Coach and Scottish Team Coach (theres a really long-winded and cooler title but i forgot it - I'll settle for "Robbie the Awesome, King of the Beasts").
Saturday I am away coaching the super mutants in Aberdeen and Sunday I will be doing my CWA Assessment with my mate Euan Whittaker. I've heard he's really tough on the assessment though : ( I'm scared...
So psyched for Spain now, its getting closer and closer and I'm starting to get nervous. Its a similar feeling to the build up for a comp... PRESSURE!!!! It doesn't matter though, I know I'll climb well if I just go and give it my all like I always do. This time round its going to be even better because my mate Andy is coming. Me and Andy have been on loads of trips together and we always end up falling out and hating each other for half the trip... this probably won't be any different : ) PSYCHED!
KEEP IT REAL FOLKS
ROBZ OUT]]>
One of the hardest things for me over Christmas has been the break of climbing/training. I know it was only a week, but if you've trained solidly for a whole year (breaking only for climbing trips), you'd know how I feel. Its really hard practicing what you preach. I tell everyone I coach to rest up when it comes to Christmas and that a week off here and there can be a good thing, but right now it feels like the worst thing I could have done. My body seems to have gone into some sort of hibernation mode and I feel utterly exhausted. It seems that the year has really caught up on me and my body has chosen to simply shut down. Only 7 days ago I achieved something that I had never done before, a personal best in my training over the years, 1-4-7 on the small rungs of the campus board. To many that may seem weak and pitiful, but honestly, to me this is somewhat of a milestone. Now, I feel like doing 1-3-5 is hard enough work never mind even bothering attempting 1-4-7.
I know in my mind that this feeling will pass and that my stregnth and power will return (probably in the next few days). Its a natural response to get depressed and talk yourself down when your having an off day/week and it's something that everyone will experience at sometime or another. The key to this is not giving up and realising that it's only a short phase that will pass eventually. You have to maintain focus, stay your course and keep following your plan to wherever it will take you.
It's almost the New Year... 2012! It's quite scary really, 2011 was a huge year for me, a hard one to beat actually. I have accomplished so much more in 2011 than I ever could have wished for. It is indeed very scary approaching this new year, a lot lies ahead, ambition, anticipation and eagerness for it all to come quick... but I need to be patient (my biggest weakness to date).
ROBZ OUT
Patiently anticipating 2012
The weekend has been a busy one. I've been coaching both days and have managed to squeeze in a bit of climbing alongside. Since I've been back from France I've been trying my best to get back into a steady training routine, however it's always hard balancing work alongside training. It's easier for me since I'm working at the wall anyway, but still, it can be hard fitting all the training into the rest of the day.
On Saturday I got up early and headed to Ratho for 08:00. My first BRYCS club of the new season was on today and I was meeting up with Andrew and Stewart Robertson later in the day (two local climbers i coached down in Yorkshire). BRYCS club doesn't start until 10:00, so getting in early gives me plenty of time for a cheeky strength training session. I am so psyched to get back into my strength training routine, I've missed feeling strong and fed up feeling "just fit"!
The beastmaker on it's hanging pedestal in the Ratho arena appeared to welcome me like an old friend...
This was only my second strength session since I got back, it felt ok if I'm honest... Not as bad as I was coming back from Ceuse, but nowhere near as good as I was before Malham. I did 8 x sets of full crimp and 3 finger open hand max deadhangs, accompanied with sets of raised L-Hang reps and hanging L-Body twists. It doesn't sound like much but it felt a lot after my warm up and short bouldering session.
A rather annoying occurrence over the last week is that my skin has decided to contract it's own strain of Zombie mutation! All my skin is peeling off : ( I think it's caused by a mixture of unfortunately humid conditions and an excess use of antihydral two weeks previously. It feels horrible, when I crimp up on small holds, I can actually feel my skin rolling off the pads!
Disregarding my skin complaints, after my short training session, I took the first session of BRYCS with Pamela and Buz. It was great to be back and even better to see how the kids have improved in my absence. Everyone of them are looking strong on the walls including one boy in particular (Matthew) who smashed his personal bests on the day by on sighting 6b+, 6c and coming close to 7a at only 9 years old! BEAST!!!
After coaching BRYCS, I did a bit of training myself. I figured that I better get on and do some proper training for BLCC's in 2 weeks time, so a power endurance session was on the cards. It's funny how you can feel strong for climbing outdoors but weak at indoors, they are just so different! I think for outdoor sport (Redpointing), it helps to have strong fingers and a good base endurance level. For indoors and comps, I reckon power endurance, power and strength are the most important and you can't get away without them! For outdoor on sighting I guess good power endurance also is a necessity, probably the reason why I have been lacking in the onsight department of late, because of my abysmal power endurance (man if only I had Ed Hamers power endurance - his fingers would be nice too). I must admit, I was a little hesitant to enter the BLCC's this year... If I'm honest with myself, it's because I'm scared... Terrified even! This is worse than the fear from climbing "Tom et je ris", that was rational fear and I can deal with that, but comp fear, well, that is something entirely different, ego enters the equation now...
With under 2 weeks left I've not got enough time to get really fit for it, but I'm not bothered by that too much, it will be interesting to see how my outdoor fitness fares in a comp : P besides, I will be travelling to Kalymnos the day after so I can't complain.
On Saturday night I travelled through to Aberdeen with Euan And Rory Cargill who where very generous in giving me a place for the night (thanks guys). On Sunday I was coaching the GCRS (Granite City Rock Stars), four groups of kids split into ability levels. This session was the first of 6, the aim of which is to help the kids prepare for YCS comps and get a better grounding in climbing technique and training. On top of this, I am also doing 1:1 sessions with several of them. I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of these kids, very impressive. Having not had much to do with the club before, I wasnt sure of the standard. Now having spent the first day bouldering, learning each of the kids techniques, strengths and weaknesses, i feel I have a good understanding of all the individuals now and am motivated to help them push themselves to the next level!
The one thing that was evident with the GCRS is the high motivation and sheer psyche of all the kids involved... The quality I prize higher than any other and they all had heaps of it! Great to see in the next gen of Scottish climbers.
After a successful day of coaching and seeing some inspirational talent I headed back through to Edinburgh on the train for a days route setting the next day. Unfortunately I didn't get back until midnight and after driving home and having dinner, didn't get to sleep until 1:30am. Knocking aside the 8hour rule, I woke up at 6:30 for my morning training session before work. A keen campus board session in the early hours is a favourite activity of mine - no distractions, no other climbers, just me, my music, the stop watch and the 9 wooden rungs - what more could I ask for?!?! I'm beginning to feel strength returning even if it is just recruitment - I love the feeling of not finding 146 "the end of the world"!
After training, i got stuck into setting! I set a couple of sweet new routes at 6c and 6c+, perfect for endurance training. I also set up the 45 board with a few new problems ideal for circuits. Since the setting, I've tested them out and found them to be perfect, ideal for circuits and act as quality problems also. My current circuits up and down that board weigh in at around 8b+ I think and have been good for comp training these past few days. The circuits on the board basically link V7's together whilst down climbing V5's. There's no real rest on any of them and the cruxes are always the last few moves, I can tell you that it's frustrating falling at the last move of them over and over again, but in a way, it's great because it means I'm pushing it to the limit!
I'm psyched oot my mind for next years trips and I'm going tom push it harder than ever to make my goals! I want 8c to feel easy, to be something I can tick quickly and not have to project... 9a is the ultimate goal in the next few years but I want to get there solidly having banked lots of 8c's and 8c+'s beforehand. I know I can do this, it's all in the mind whether or not you push yourself enough to succeed and whether your clever enough in the way you train not to get injured. I know I can pull it off and I'm psyched more than ever to push myself to the brink to see my goals accomplished!
First Scottish sport trip of the year is on Monday also, heading to Orchestra cave to check oot "Dangleberries" (8a+) with my main man Phil Jack whose gonna try the 7c+ start.
Bring it on!
ROBZ OUT]]>
Hey guys!
Welcome to the new updated site! We now have a lot more fun features on the site including Natalie's own blog, the training blog, a holidays page, a training program page, a terminology page and the updated articles and links section. Natalie's blog is for her own use. It will function as her personal blog in which she will chat about her life in climbing, training, coaching and university work and how she balances it all (not an easy task). I have also brought in the training blog. I was inspired by Dave Macs blog for this one. I was really wanting to separate the blogs specific to my everyday life and the training blogs for the keen climbers and it was becoming difficult doing this solely by using the tagging. So now, if you want to read about training and new ways in which to improve your climbing, then all you have to do is go onto the training blog now instead of having to search through the maze of historic posts on my main blog.
The holidays page is built specifically to advertise any up and coming coaching trips we are running which will include all details of the trips from prices of the courses to details on the destination and who the course is aimed at.
The new training program page has been built to show you guys how I build training programs to suit every climber and will even include some examples of training programs i have built in the past for aspiring climbers who have since reached dizzying heights on the ladder to climbing success through following them.
The links and articles page is to give every user of the site easy access to associated websites, training sites and friends pages. As well as this, I am going to provide pdf's and links to all the articles I write for various websites and magazines so you can access the pool of training data easier in the future. Finally, the new terminology section was built because I know how difficult it can be for many climbers to understand some of the weird words used to describe things in climbing.
Hopefully this should help and i will update this area as much as i can and whenever I can think of new terminology that needs explaining : ) So this is the new site guys and I hope you enjoy using it. Since I started the site, the number of hits has gone up every month almost exponentially and it was obvious that it needed an update, so here it is. Nat and I are off to Ceuse, France on Saturday and will keep you all updated on our adventures through the blog as much as we can. Right now I am off to EICA: Ratho for some boulder setting as we have a collection of brand spanking new Lapis and Bleaustone volumes to stick on the wall : )
WOOHOO!!!
Stay Psyched Guys Robz
I have to apologise for I have not blogged in a wee while. The reason for this is a number of things:
1) Being Busy
2) Being Very Busy
3) I can't think of anythingelse...
Well, since Spain I have been slammed back into reality with endless work writing, coaching, route setting and of course, lots of climbing : ) I haven't managed to get out quite as much as I'd hoped when I got back from Spain, in fact, I haven't got out at all! As soon as I got back from Spain, I was straight down to Sheffield only a day later with little time to prepare for the full on 3 day route setting course I was doing. After that, I was back up to Edinburgh for probably one of the most intense working weeks of my life! For those of you who don't know, the European Youth Cup was held at EICA: Ratho earlier last month and I was one of the few guys chosen to route set for this world class climbing event. It was an honor and a privilege to set for such an event and it certainly was an experience of a lifetime, but I am hoping to get more chances for this again in the future. I was working with three of my close friends from Edinburgh, Neil Mcgeachy, Neill Busby and Gary Vincent as well as visiting fenchman and all-round international superstar WAD, Paul Dewilde. Paul was acting a chief routesetter for the competition, but he didn't do much other than sit and watch us do all the hard work whilst eating croissants : P Only Joking! We all had a crazy week, working 7 days on the trot with no shifts shorter than 12 hours and up to a maximum shift of 21 hours long with a 2 hour break between that and the following days 15 hour shift! It was very obvious that during the evening of the final nights setting, we were all losing our minds slightly... I was going bi-polar - one minute i'd be in hysterics wondering what the hell we where doing setting at 4 in the morning and the next I was powering up an 8b+ psyched out of my mind! Geek and Buz where giggling to themselves high up on the wall in the cherry picker as if high on hold dust and Gary was hallucinating, claiming to be seeing twin holds where there weren't any and footholds in the wrong places and at the wrong angle - "5 degrees anti-clockwise and move it two cm closer to the arete!" - things like this where heard about every 5 minutes or so : P But we all had a great time and the competition was a massive success! My final route for the boys was very successful, separating everyone perfectly and even acted brilliantly as a crowd pleaser as the final competitor (Max Rudiger of Austria) topped the route in awesome style to take home a 1st place in the Junior Boys Category.
Since the competition, I have been doing quite a bit of coaching with various climbers both adults and children. I have had one session with two young kids from the competition team at Ratho, Sam and Emma. Both of these little guys are awesome climbers and the sessions I had with them where very successful. For Emma, it was her first session with me, so the main things I wanted to go over her was simply to practice her warm up for competitions and to spot any little technical faults in her performance. When working with the kids in the club, sometimes it is difficult to focus on one kid in particular since you have to spread yourself about all the children giving them all equal attention, so 1:1's every now and again are really helpful for both the children and myself. Emma is one of the most talented girls I have seen coming up through the club, she is very good at climbing naturally, she has a very light build, strong fingers, has an amazing static lock and naturally understands how her body works on the wall. Sometimes she gets body position wrong and it would be good for her to focus a bit more on being dynamic, but these are all things we are looking at building on in the future.
This last week I have been route setting a lot at Ratho and have managed to set an unprecedented number of routes on both the main wall and comp walls between 5+ and 7c. My main focus during the weeks route setting was to create some truly sustained and interesting climbs without any stopper moves for the grade and in particular, without rests : ) I succeeded on the no rests part, however, there where a few noticeably cruxy parts of some routes and so I failed on that part. Its not a big deal though, the 7a+ I set became 7b with the crux bumping it up a notch, the 7b I set became 7b+ and the 7b+ became 7c. Sometimes it happens, perhaps if there was more rest the cruxes wouldn't feel as bad but I was eager to challenge the regulars with something that tested their climbing efficiency on the wall as well as route reading and problem solving. The 6b I set on the old comp wall has since become the most popular route at Ratho, racking up a healthy queue behind it almost every night and its really great to see that the comp walls are busy as opposed to empty.
Climbing recently has been going alright as well, I have been maintaining my level well with the help of the bestmaker and our fine routes from the european cup. I have done 5 out of 7 of the remaining routes from the comp and only having had two route sessions on them, so I am pretty chuffed with that. That includes:
- 1 x 7c
- 1 x 7c+
- 2 x 8a+
- 1 x 8b
I almost did the other 8b final route the other day as well after having a very good first go burn, getting really high on it until I got sapped trying to pull on a big sloper in the roof!
So we don't have long until Ceuse really, only 1 week left! I don't think I am the fittest I have ever been, but I sure am the strongest, so hopefully my strength levels and base level endurance will hold me in good stead whilst in Ceuse for some good ticks : ) Out there I am hoping to do more 8b's and 8b+'s and potentially try an 8c if I get the urge : P but there is no rush, its all good fun and I like to climb lots of routes and gain the experience and confidence before pushing on to the next level.
After Ceuse, Nat and I are doing our Yorkshire climbing trips for climbers of any ability to come and receive professional coaching whilst climbing at some of the very best British Sport Crags and as well as that, I will soon after be heading to Kalymnos in Greec for yet more coaching and a short holiday afterwards in an attempt to tick the famous 8c, "Jaws"!
Psyched!
ROBZ OUT
Hope everyone is well now... I certainly haven't been : ( I have come down with a bit of a bad cold, but I was totally expecting it to be frank as I haven't had much time off over the past 2 months. I was inspired to write a little blog post on my work life of late after reading Gaz Parry's blog post the other day. I don't know if I can complain quite as much as him, as he's done practically no climbing apart from the odd bit of testing routes after setting, but I've certainly not had it easy : P
First of all... after I got back from Kalymnos, I was only thinking about my next trip out i.e. Spain in Spring 2011! So what do I do? I take on lots of work to make some money before heading out to Spain : ) So I take on a load of shifts from then until March 9th. I am happy with this because, basically I need money to go on climbing trips and working is a good way of acquiring said money : P So since then, I have been working around 2 days a week routesetting/otherwork at Ratho, with 1-2 half-days at the weekend coaching the youth clubs at Ratho (possibly the best job in the world!?!?). Now you might say now, shut up Robbie, thats nothing! Well... theres more to come : )
After taking on all these hours... my personal coaching work suddenly goes into overdrive, which I am psyched out my mind about and I love the fact that I am now able to make a living doing my passion! However, the hours of personal coaching on top of my weekly hours at Ratho is taking work to a new level altogether! The concentration required when coaching is immense, therefore several Red Bull style beverages are an absolute necessity when working 10:00-22:00 shifts of routesetting/coaching at Ratho. Just ask any of the staff at Tiso's in Ratho and they will tell you about my "Go Fast" (sweet Red Bull) addiction.
On top of all my coaching work, I have also landed a load of new journalism work for several people including my work with "Scottish Mountaineer" and the beast building series, keeping my blog updated and everything else that I am working on right now which you will all see soon enough : )
Of course, with coaching, I am also responsible for several junior climbing athletes training program and structure such as William Bosi and Angus Davidson as well as the work I do outside of 1:1 sessions in building structured programs for climbers to follow! I have been doing a lot of these lately and have found that on top of all the other work I do, the best time to do all this paper work is between the hours of 12:00 (midnight) and 5:00 in the morning. Its just a peaceful time of day/night really when I am not disturbed by anyone but my dog (who likes to bite my computer screen).
And finally... after I have done all of this... I can then relax to some HARDCORE TRAINING SESSIONS!!! I've been enjoying my board quite a lot recently as well as the fantastic little bouldering venue of Alien Rock 2! A few hours spent pulling hard and beasting yourself is not exactly a rest, but I'll be damned if I'm missing any training sessions before Spain!
So yeah... 2 months of this roughly and I am pretty tired... thus the cold, black eyes and grumpiness of late (sorry to anyone who has had MR Grumpy lately, Its probably because I haven't slept in 3 weeks : P ).
Anyway, I am totally psyched out my mind right now, I have only a few weeks left until I fly off to Spain for 2 months sport climbing with my best mates and Ratho have finally got round to building a stand for the beastmakers! WOOOOH! THANK YOU BUZZ AND GAZ! Now I can have some proper good wee training sessions in between coaching sessions : ) Amazing that it only took 8 years of searching for the biggest climbing wall in the world to find a place to stick a fingerboard!
So training wise - I am feeling good for Spain! I haven't done a lot of routes, but been keeping up with circuits on my board. I set four new ones the other day around the 8a+ mark I think, did 2/4 of them and thought they where about 2 grades harder than the 8a's and 8a+'s currently at Ratho so thats a good sign! I had a good burn on the on-sight of Gary's new 8a+ on the comp wall! Managed to onsight until the main crux, fell off, then did it to the top. Think this would probably be 8b in Spain so thats also a good sign!
Good news on the coaching holiday front - Will Carroll has finished posters for the Yorkshire Climbing Trips in July (9th-12th + 13th - 16th) and we will be sending them out soon to walls around the country. The trips are going to be great, 3 days climbing with me and Nat focussing on on-sight and redpoint tactics at the crag with technical coaching from both of us, video analysis and Will Carroll there to take awesome photos of all the climbers in action! Should be a great team down there and the holidays have already had interest from several climbers at Ratho as well as others who have heard from the grapevine (even before posters have been distributed!). The cost of the holiday is £250 pp which does not include accommodation or food, only one professional coach and an international climbing superstar for 3 da
ys coaching on a 1:2 basis (4 places on each trip!).
Anyway, so far 2011 has been an awesome but very tiring year! Look out for new training articles from myself on-line and in the mags : D
ROBZ OUT!
Its that time of year again... All of the western world seems to stop, and for a few days all we do is eat, sleep, wrap, unwrap, drink, watch TV and in general become lazy couch potatoes. But we are happy to do it year after year on the clock, because everyone else does it and we get to spend time with our loving families who we 9/10 times only see during this one period of the year. Christmas and New year is a time to think anew about all of what we want in life, to make new decisions or implement old ones that never quite came to fruition in the previous year. These are called the New Years Resolutions, but the type I'm looking at are more climbing related ones than any other : P
Its incredibly important to always have goals or ambitions for anything you want to do well in. For me, climbing is my life and is the only thing I truly want to achieve great things in, climbing and coaching that is. My New Years Resolution is to bite the bullet and focus hard on my weaknesses in 2011, which are my finger strength and power. I have always had plenty of endurance to spare and my training over the years takes all the responsibility for this having been highly concentrated on doing lots of laps of long routes. Also having the worlds biggest climbing wall to train at didn't make it easy not to train endurance, you might understand that doing tiny boulders isn't really as satisfying as conquering the huge, monolithic towers that dominate nearly every corner of the climbing gym! So anyway, I am giving up doing laps for a wee bit and will be focussing heavily on the bouldering! For everyone else out there, you could use this opportunity to assess your own climbing and set yourself some new goals and actions in which to achieve them. Goals are so important as they point you in a direction which you will always be aiming for. If you have goals, you will be more likely to see them through and see them being achieved as you have more motivation towards working for them because you can already see the final result looming upon the horizon.
Next year (2011) I am also wanting to get out climbing a lot more! What I have found out over the years is that no matter how strong you are indoors, the skills needed to climb hard outdoors only come with experience. I have friends who climb well into the high 8's in both bouldering and routes, some of them are absolute beats, can do multiple one armers on edges, can lap 8b's, campus 1-5-9, etc... but among them there are also those that can't do any of this stuff but still climb hard if not harder outdoors! So my aim is to get outside more so I can develop my skills as an outdoor climber rather than just focussing purely on the physical aspect of the sport. To do this I have arranged several trips throughout the year as well as key periods where I will be able to climb more outdoors locally. Here is a list of my plan:
March/April - Spain (Catalunya)
I plan on visiting the north-east region of Spain, Catalunya in March. Catalunya is home to some of the most awe inspiring climbing I have ever seen, massive limestone cliffs piercing out of ever corner of the land, this place is truly blessed as a climbers paradise! Areas I will be visiting include Margalef, Siurana, Santa Linya, Oliana, Monsants and Teradettes! I hope to spend a total of 2 months here with my friends Neil Mcgeachy and Calum Forsyth. Out there we will also be meeting a large group of the kids we coach in April. They are coming out for a short climbing trip and we will be doing our best to make sure their first experiences of outdoor climbing in Europe is one they will never forget!
April (Fontainebleau)
In the beginning of April I will be heading away from Spain and instead to Northern France (Paris) to the beautiful forest of Fontainebleau! This place is considered to be the worlds most amazing bouldering destination, harbouring thousands upon thousands of established boulder problems! I am going here for a coaching course that I have the pleasure to be taking along side another of the masterclass coaches, Shaun Jansa! We will be there for 2 weeks and I will hopefully get some climbing done in this time, if only it is demonstrating the problems : P
Summer (May/June/July/August)
Obviously the whole summer is a perfect time to be going climbing outdoors, but a well as the odd small trip, Nat and I are wanting to go on a bigger trip focussing on the most popular climbing destinations in the UK. We will visit areas such as Malham, Kilsney, Gordale, Raven Tor, LPT and Ansteys Cove! I have written a small tick list for each area, choosing only the most classic routes at each crag! Even if I don't get them done, its the experience of trying them that counts and its this that will help develop my climbing. As well as climbing for ourselves, we will also be organising a couple of short coaching holidays for while we are down there. I would like to base them in Yorkshire and have chosen a number of quality crags (with the help of my friend Chris Speakman who lives down there) to visit that will cater for every ability of the group. In the coaching holiday we will include coaching areas such as:
On-sight Skills Red-point Skills
Footwork Body Position
Video Analysis Training to improve
Tactics Visualisation
And lots more! We will also be inviting my good friend Will Carroll, amateur photographer (but certainly the best I've ever seen!) who will be taking awesome action shots of everyone as they are climbing and doing the course, so if you want a nice memento of your time with us in Yorkshire, then just ask Will and he can sort you out : ) Check out his site for previews of his photography (Click on here for his photo stream on flickr).
October/November
In the end of October I will be taking my second coaching holiday for Masterclass. This will be held in the beautiful island of Kalymnos (Greece). I will be here with Szymon Dziukiewicz (I don't know how to pronounce this either) a seasoned climbing coach from Poland originally who now lives in London! I am hoping to spend a bit more time out here so I can get some of my own climbing done too. I am hoping to come back, get some climbs ticked that eluded me on my last trip and potentially go for the monster route, "Jaws" 8c! Whilst climbing with Gaz Parry out in Kalymnos, he also expressed a wish to return for this route, so maybe I won't be bribing my friends to follow me to the dank hole in the ground of which it resides : P
So as you see, a busy year but no doubt is going to be awesome fun, I am eagerly looking forward to it! Bring on 2011!
