Only just back from Terradets and I was already straight back into work route-setting and coaching for an MCofS event on Saturday!
Routesetting whilst listening to some good tunes in freezing temps - LOVELY JUBBLY!The event in question has been on the calendar for a while now - it was set up to be a National Academy for young climbers who made finals in the YCS (or who were up to standard).
Iain Sneddon (Master Bloc Setter Extrodinaire)The two days prior to the event, I routeset with Neill Busby and Jackie Sequeira. The original plan was to run the day using a fun style of setting called a Mangrove Tree (the idea being that you can create link ups of various routes to make easier or harder climbs depending on what you are after). Unfortunately, the wall best suited for this (the Hangar Wall) has been out of action due to roof repairs and as well as this, the conditions of the wall right now due to the high humidity levels and freezing cold temperature have made it very difficult to climb at the end of the centre (for some reason that end is a lot colder!).
So instead of having a Mangrove tree, we instead set a selection of routes to practice onsight skills on. All in all we set a panel of routes ranging in grade from 6b to 7c.
We also had one of EICA's main route setters and a fellow MCofS Coach/Setter Iain Sneddon on the boulders. He built some fantastic and intricate problems to challenge the kids.
It's a long way down... See if I can get Buz in the head with a hold :P
On the day of the event, I was taking the morning route session whilst Alan Cassidy took the morning boulder session. Alan Cassidy is the new GB Bouldering Team Coach and Representative in Scotland. As well as this he is the TCA Youth Team Coach in Glasgow and is a wicked strong climber having climbed as hard as 8c+ on routes and V12 on boulders! It was great to have Alan coaching with me for the day :)
Alan Cassidy @ Glen Nevis: Photo by Dan WalkerThe routes in the morning went well despite it being very cold, the kids managed to stay warm and there was some hard sending going down alongside some big falls :D It was briliant to see all the kids climbing so well after having been away so much recently. The funniest part of the morning was seeing all the kids get the no-hands rest on the massive black volume on the 7a up the steepest part of the wall :D
Connor Moore making good use of the no hands rest on the Black route :P
After the morning session - we went for lunch and regathered in the lecture theatre for a slideshow with Alan. It was really interesting what Alan had put together for us - a slideshow all about how to be the best climber you can be specifically aimed at kids. The whole slideshow was geared at explaining to kids why training the way adults train is not the right thing to do and he also went into detail about how kids can get more from their sessions in terms of quality of learning movement skills. One of his main points (which I agree with wholeheartedly) is that too many people (and kids) focus on getting stronger (not better). They focus all their efforts on doing one arm pull ups, getting stronger fingers, stronger core, etc... when in actual fact they should spend more time looking to get better at climbing. With children this is even more relevant because during this stage of their life is when they are going to be learning how to move efficiently. It's so obvious when you see kids climbing down the wall that burn of all the adults - it's because they can learn how to move much more efficiently much quicker!
National Academy Plan + Routes set in background
After the slideshow we resumed with routes and had a great end to the session. The centre was getting colder and colder and I could see energy levels were getting less and less. After everyone had tried all the routes and the session was coming to a close, I got them all to do one final exercise - the famous "Austrian Laps" training that has become so popular these days :P
Then finally we had a brief discussion period on how the day went and we were finished. Another great event run at EICA by MCofS coaches. Thanks to Alan Cassidy and Jackie Sequeira for their help coaching and setting - it was much appreciated and I look forward to more events with these guys soon :D
Next up I am busy this week with a lot of coaching and this coming weekend I am running a Fundamentals 2 course with Alan Halewood at EICA :D Looking forward to it!
]]>
Climb Newcastle Boot Demo
Last night I was in Newcastle working an Evolv Boot Demo at the Bouldering wall, "Climb Newcastle". It was a really good experience hitting a new scene during the boot demos as I have only ever done them at Ratho. It was refreshing to see such a vibrant climbing scene bringing together both the young and old climbers and allowing them to socialise and share experiences climbing together.
It was a pleasure to meet some of the pioneers of Northumbrian Sandstone Climbing at the wall on the day as well, all of whom where incredibly friendly. As I have grown up climbing, I have seen their faces in the guide books and heard of their expoloits climbing on the sandstone when it was a very different era for climbing e.g. no mats! To meet them in person finally was really cool and frankly inspiring to say the least, I hope I am enjoying climbing as much as they are now when I am their age. John Earl told me that between the lot of them there was 8 metal hips! Not ideal when going through customs at the airport, but that is what happens when you fall off the wall onto hard ground for years and years!
I also got to do a bit of climbing at the wall as well which in my opionion was some of the best quality problems I've done at a climbing wall in a while. It was mainly the consistency of top quality problems that I liked about the venue. There was a few jug ladders dotted about for beginners, but generally, everything, even the easier stuff had thought put into it and required some skill and not just brute strength. What was also very good was the fact that they set a new circuit every week, something I wish we could do at Ratho. Every week a new circuit is set with problems ranging up to 7A in nearly every circuit, meaning that there is probably something new and hard to try for everybody nearly every week!
After the demo, I drove back home along the winding A68 which in the day is a stunning drive and at night I saw about 3 cars between coming off the A696 near Newcastle and hitting the Edinburgh bypass!
MCofS Boulder Training (Elite+ Academy Event)
Last weekend I was working at TCA (The Climbing Academy) in Glasgow for the MCofS both organising, setting for and running 2013's first Elite+ Academy Event. This one was geared at testing members of the Scottish Team and British Team's abilities on the bouldering wall with problems set specifically to certain grades across a range of different styles so that kids could better identify their weaknesses.
I also split the kids up into Teams, the aim of which was to encourage the kids to throw aside any singular competitive drive and instead help their friends and team mates to ultimately win the Team Event.
After the first round, we broke up for lunch and I ran a short lecture on Technique, Mental Drive and Determination and what it takes to become a better more all round climber.
We started climbing again, this time though we where on the main competition wall. I had spent the best part of Friday (day before) setting this wall with an array of confusing, challenging and very difficult problems for the kids to throw themselves at. They picked up on important skills learned from the first round but where at another level entirely than what they had tried previously.
What is quickly becoming a trademark problem of mine on the TCA competition wall is setting with the Tufa's! The last two times it has been the first holds I have set with and I don't really want to break the tradition. Last time however, the Tufa's where only set to around V4, wheras this time I had set two problems, both a V4 and a V7!
If you have been at TCA this last week no doubt you will have got to try the problems, so if you like them then please comment below and tell me what you thought :) This is what i set:
- Red V4 (Left Side)
- Yellow V5 (Ellis Brigham)
- Blue V5 (Ellis Birgham)
- Black V6 (Ellis Brigham)
- Yellow V7 (Scarpa)
- Purple Tufa V4 (Scarpa)
- Blue V7 (Scarpa)
- Black V6 (TCA Left)
- Purple Tufa V7 (TCA Central)
- Blue V4 (TCA Right)
- Black V8 (TCA Right)
All of the problems got climbed with only William Bosi climbing everything - though the black V8 did take him a bit of effort :P
Notes for next time though, set some more V8's and maybe a V9 - Kids are too strong!
Now to see some of the kids in action on the day, here is a little video I made of day:
]]>
Saturday was the MCofS Prep Event for the Youth Bouldering Open being held in Liverpool in December. I am going down myself acting as Team Coach and will be involved in the selection of the new GB Team on the Saturday for the Lead event and am going to offer my support to those going for the Bouldering as well.
The MCofS Prep Events that I organise like this are invaluable sources of competetive exerience for all competitors as well as being a fun day climbing with friends and no doubt a hard days training! For this event, I had planned a Qualifier and final style format following the Official IFSC Rules so that the kids would benefit from learning the most up to date tactics for when they compete on the day.
The day before the event, Iain Sneddon (Route Setter and Coach at EICA) and myself made the journey to Glasgow TCA to set all the problems for the Saturday. Iain and myself have been looking forward to this day for sometime as we've been eager to set at TCA since the place first opened late last year. We even had to go through TCA's "Complex and Stifingly Hard" Route Setter Examination/Induction before being allowed to set.
Our plan for the setting day was to set all the Qualifiers as taped problems using holds already on the wall and set our own purpose built problems on the TCA Competition Wall. We set the finals problems first owing to the fact that we knew thatit would take all our energy and undivided attention to set the best quality finals using as much volume madness as possible. Check out below pictures of our finals problems.
The Red Bloc above was a problem I designed to challenge the younger kids confidence in making dynamic or explosive moves. The first move is literally a dyno from two edges to two jugs on the volume. Because it is low to the ground it's a fairly safe dyno but in the competetion environment kids don't tend to want to risk jumping for holds unless they have to (on this you have to unless your long!). The last move is also a risky move requiring a short pop for the final jug.
This Yellow V7 above was a fantastic problem set by Iain. It's always a bit of a chance when you set something harder than you canusually climb. Iain is a V6 climber, so setting a V7 is going to be more of a challenge for him, especially for a competition. These events are not only good prep for the kids, but also for us as route setters because it gives us an opportunity to hone our skills and test our ideas on kids outside of the real competition. The yellow did it's job well acting as a final separator for the large part of the older boys group. It's almost basic look is actually a subtle trick, the sequence is a lot more complex and hidden than meets the eye.
This Orange above was also set by Iain. We decided to use this problem as an example of a selected starting handholds position to show the kids what this is all about. Notice the Grip tape along the side of the blue volume... a very nice touch that provides an added bit of support when moving around it for both hands and feet!
I set this Green in about 5 minutes flat. Who says art can't be rushed. It might not be one of my masterpieces but the sequence puzzled most of the kids, especially the final pocket which unbeknown to all but the savvy has a nice little undercut inside :P
This blue I was particularly proud of. It had a good few tops in the finals by kids across the age brackets, however, what was the main theme behind success on this bloc was "body position". The strongest guys struggled like mad on this whist the younger more supple and wiry kiddie's cruised it like a warm up... Can you spot the two no handers?
Kalymnos comes to TCA! The first Bloc I set. Although it isn't that hard for adults, kids with tiny hands struggle like mad on this. It's all about laybacking up the tufa pipes and using the right bobbles and bumps. You can't pull your way up this one!
This one caught out everybody, not one flash in the whole competition! It's only V6 and actually quite an easy one at that - probably not harder than F6C realistically but could get F6C+ if push comes to shove. The volume technique is a tough cookie to break but once your in, you never look back! The older boys had to do this without the bonus screw on hold on the upper volume which probably bumped it to V6.
This white bloc was probably the most basic out of all the problems set. It's good to have a variety in styles and although I am not a fan of basic left right left right climbing, sometimes it's good to see who is simply the strongest. Interestingly enough, Rebecca Kinghorn displayed amazing feats of strength on this, but when it came to the final moves she showed her ability to think quick by catching the 4th last hold wrong handed with her left and pressing to reach the one out left with her right. This set her up perfectly for a clean Flash!
The hardest bloc in the comp! I did this after setting it in my Evolv Bolts. This is not really a problem about footwork, it's all about compression, burl and timing. The crux which nobody made in the comp is a throw for the Red triangle volume with the right, the only catch being if you don't immediately come in with your left to catch the hold underneath you spin uncontrollably backwards doing a 180 (or 360 depening on the force of the jump and the length of time you latch the hold for). Only Angus and Scott managed to make it to this point but neither of them spotted the left hand release and catch... A tricky technque to spot indeed!
After a hard 14 hour shift setting, Iain and I headed back to his and met up with his girlfriend, Miss Rachel Catherine Cooper of Ireland, with whom we shared a delightful McDonalds meal with (I am very ashamed to admit - not the having dinner with Rachel bit, the McDonalds bit :P ). Rachel is actually very nice, although I don't ever understand what she says when she speaks, it's just garbled Irish twangs (my description of a Dublin accent).
The next day, we all headed to TCA once again for the coaching day. I have just passed my driving test so it was fun getting to drive all the way to Glasgow two days on the trot, although slightly terrifying if I'm honest :P
The day ran pretty smoothly. Our tape set qualifiers went down well with all the kids and despite early concerns that the older boys group might have an easy set, those worries where put to rest when they all got shut down on my V7 Cobra Roof Bloc and all but Angus failed on my Prow Route Bloc.
After qualifiers, a little bit of lunch was all that was needed before a heafty beating on the finals. We made it so that there was 4 kids out at once on every bloc and every kid in each group tried the problems in the same order to keep things in check with IFSC Rules.
There was a few trips with regards to rules being broken or misunderstanding, but these are to be expected and exactly what the event was designed to teach anyway which was good. Surprising that the two biggest mistakes in the comp where made by the two most experienced competition climbers there, not naming any names (Angus and Scott :P )
I think prize for the best dismount goes to Angus for a 360 spin coming off the Green V8. Definitely prize for the best tantrums goes to Ewan Davidson who is almost as bad as me (but not quite, more practice needed). And finally I'd say best slip of the toungue to Katie Moore who accidentally asked me out on a date :P
Another good day climbing with Scotland finest Youth Climbers. I hope your all prepped up and ready for the British Youth Open Bouldering Competition in December!
CHECK OOT MA GUNZ!!!
ROBZ OUT
]]>
Today was another fun day at the big EICA. After all the excitement from yesterday I was unsure of how many of the kids would be there for a second day... turns out a lot! Nat and I were coaching a big group of Irish kids who had come through for their first taste of Ratho and the YCS Finals. None of these kids had competed before and most had only been climbing for a year but they were all mega psyched and keen to rip up the walls of Ratho.
The format for the day was to cover good warm up tactics for competition, get a bit of practice on-sighting on the long Ratho walls, have another go on some of the routes and boulders from the comp, and finally listen to me lecturing on the mental zone (a presentation I ran for the Elite Team earlier on in the year).
The kids in the group today included 5 young beasts from Cork, David, Luke, Cormac, Hannah and Yasmine. It was good seeing the level these kids have achieved with relatively little experience climbing and with such small facilities in the south of Ireland. I think this speaks volumes for the support they get from their parents and coaches who work with them regularly i.e. Damien O'Sulliven and Neal McQuaid.
David was older than the rest of the Cork crew and was climbing at a really high standard. In Youth A David placed 11th overall, pretty awesome considering he hasn't been climbing that long. I watched that day as he continued to impress looking very close at on-sighting several 7c's and 7b+'s as well as giving the super final (8a) that was never used a good blast at the end of the day!
Cormak, Hannah, Luke and Yasmine all had a fantastic day too. We started of with some on-sight practice on a cheeky 6b that they all got very high up on before falling with the exception of Yas who attempted a fun 5+ and did really well.
Later in the afternoon, I ran a presentation/lecture on the mental zone, a topic quite close to my heart. Sport psychology is something i have great interest in and its been fun implementing all that I have learned to the coaching of young climbers. The Irish kids grasped the concepts I was discussing well and I think it will make a big difference to the way they view competitions, climbing and performance on a day to day basis.
Altogether this has been a good weekend and meeting the Cork crew was excellent. I am hoping that we can build a good relationship between the Cork Team and our Scottish crew for future training events and competitions :D
ROBZ OUT
Hey Guys
If you read my last blog post, you will know that today was a big day for me. It was the first MCofS British Team Event I have run and was the official beginning as such of my becoming the new Team Coach in Scotland. I am basically filling the exceedingly large boots (metaphorically speaking of course) of Mr McGeek. Today felt like kind of a test really, in theory this is something I should be able to handle, but despite this I was still nervous.
I was working alongside one of my best friends, Neill Busby (Senior Instructor at EICA) which certainly made things easier. We had 13 kids altogether, all of whom are at a standard not far off National Team Status. To get a picture of the level we are talking about, the lower end younger girls and boys are operating in the 6c/7a onsight region whilst in the upper end we have potential 8a onsighters and V10 boulderers.
In the end, the day ran as smoothly as I could have hoped for. All the kids (as well as me and Buz) had a great time and learned loads. TCA was an excellent venue for the event and I am very happy that they allowed us the use of the centre, definitely going to be back for future events.
The next event is February 11th with myself and Buz taking the kids down to Northumberland bouldering. If we don't get outdoors we were thinking of crashing in on Climb Newcastle.
I am currently lying in bed running over plans for tomorrows 1:1 sessions in Aberdeen and slowly sinking deeper into regret about booking my CWA assessment for Sunday... AGHHHHHH!!! I really should have prepared more : P
ROBZ OUT
Hey Guys!
Only the day after our local bouldering competition, we have the British Team Regional Meet! Unfortunately, not all the team attended, in fact, there where only three actual team members present, Jonathan Field, Eleanor Hopkins and Angus Davidson. However, we had a full 10 youth climbers present to make up the numbers that are all 2011+ hopefuls for the British Climbing Team! Among these where EICA: Ratho crew:
Jamie Drummond
William Bosi
Megan Saunders
Gabby Stewart
Eilidh Vas Payne
and also we can't forget those from outside the Edinburgh scene:
Rebekah Drummond (Dundee)
Rory Cargill (Inverness)
The day was a huge success! We had myself, Natalie Berry, Ross Kirkland, Neil Mcgeachy, Calum Forsyth and a new coach on the block, John Brown all giving a helping hand on the day!
The first part of the day was spent setting problems in pairs on the newly stripped bouldering room walls. Thanks to the competition, the walls had very few holds on them, giving all the kids a massive amount of freedom to let their creative climbing minds thrive amongst different coloured holds, different angles and shapes of the wall as well as all the new funky volumes we have! The reason for getting them to set was to allow them to better undrstand the movements they do on the wall, the mind of a route-setter and to really experience first hand the depths of thought required to set funky boulder problems. This will aid them massively for when they approach route reading on both boulders and routes at competitions and even just at the wall in future! I can say from my own personal experience, that setting has certainly opened my mind to the possibility of different sequences and movements the body can make on a climbing wall and I can say 100% for sure that I wouldn't be as good a climber today if it wasn't for my setting experience.
I split the kids into pairs and got them setting on what I thought was their anti-style, so as to force them to think about how to climb on a wall that they aren't good at. Also, I added an extra challenge... they had to set the problems hard enough that they spit off everyonelse, but easy enough that they can climb them! This means that they have to think about their own strengths and weaknesses, how they can force other climbers into difficult moves and mask the sequence as much as possible. I stuck Angus and William on the back vertical wall to set some filth, Jamie and Rory on the mantle volume, Gabby and Eilidh on the steep prow, Megan and Rebekah on the 45 board and Eleanor and Jonny on the vert board at the back with the cunning arete feature : P
The problems set where all absolutely amazing! Everyone adapted well to the wall they where given and used their time and the support from the coaches wisely. Angus and William succeed in setting a V6 horror show on the vert board, a problem I only "just" flashed by the skin of my finger tips. The funny thing is, the moves they set where actually big for them, but bunched up and tiny for me! Jamie and Rory set the mantle from hell which only got one other ascent apart from themselves. Megan and Rebekah set an awesome power fest on the 45 which everyone flashed but was perfect for a good warm up into the comp. Eilidh and Gabs set another steep power fest on the prow board, again everyone flashed but a tiny slip from Rebekah almost saw her off! And finally Jonny and Eleanor (both unfortunately still injured) set a balancy freak show on the back vert board.
After all the problems where set, we headed for lunch, but where soon back to get stuck into the mock bouldering competition. The format of the comp was that of a BBC Final! Everyone was in isolation and had a total of 3 minutes viewing time together on each problem as well as 3 minutes attempting the problem (we had to cut the times a bit so that we weren't doing this all night : P ). After viewing everyone went back into isolation and then we would proceed with the individual climbers coming out and giving each problem their best attempt. I'd say highlight of the day was watching Rebekah Drummond top the crazy mantle that Jamie and Rory had set on her final go!
In the end, we had one problem left that we used as a super-final to split the tied boys, Angus and William and tied girls, Gabby and Megan. Fortunately both William and Angus topped the super-final problem which lead to an even more exciting super-super-final!!! Angus lead the way with an impressive flash of the V6 pillar problem (not without a bit of huffing and puffing). Then William came out to a screaming crowd of parents, climbers who started to watch and his fellow competitors. Unfortunately William blew a foot sequence low down on and slipped off, but turned to the crowd, gave the crowd a cheeky William grin and said "I think I need stretchier trousers?". I love how these kids are such awesome competitors, yet really, they just want to have fun, which in the end of the day is what its all about : ) How can you argue with that? Two of the best climbers in Britain for their age group and top 20 in Europe can compete against each other, but even during the competition, they are still good friends and are just as happy if the other was to win than themselves (well maybe not "as" happy, but still pretty happy : P ).
The day was a success and we finished with a little talk on how we prepare for comps and what we had learned from the day. I would like to give a massive thanks to the MCofS for giving us the support to run these sessions, and for what I think are possibly one of the most valuable assets these young competitors have, as well as to those that helped during the day!
Cheers Neil, Nat, Ross, Calum and John!
ROBZ OUT
P.s. pics of the day to come soon when Neil gets round to sending me some : P
]]>