Learning to climb all over again with Beastmaker!

The Beastmaker Board Comes to EICA

Is it possible that in 10 years of climbing and training; something can come along that totally blows your mind… that re-introduces you to training ideas and concepts… that inspires you and helps you see what is actually possible?Meditating under the Board

Well the answer to this is a resounding… YES!!!

Everyone knows that EICA: Ratho has the best route climbing facility in the UK by a long shot and is, without a doubt, one of the best climbing facilities on earth. The only downside to this amazing centre was that a few years after it opened, they destroyed one of the best bouldering walls in the country (at the time) to make room for offices… bloody offices!!! Who the hell made that awful decision? It has been the black mark on the centre since that day, and really is the only thing that has held the place back from being noticeably the best training facility for climbing. You can’t have a climbing gym without bouldering facilities, especially if it’s an international standard gym!

So climbers at EICA have been left with a mediocre bouldering room and a few really nice, but difficult to train on “feature boulders”.

I have been training with this now for about 10 years and although a good tradesman never blames his tools, I have to say, it does make it more challenging training! Nothing is steeper than about 30 degrees and the wall is covered in features with hardly any space for additional bolt on handholds. The big issue is that because of the lack of space for problems, we tend not to have anything harder than V7 set because most of the problems need to cater for the majority of climbers at the wall.

The first big improvement recently was the addition of an incredible fingerboard hanging station! This is a TRX frame that the guys at EICA doctored to become what I think is the best setup for pure finger strength training I have ever seen :D

But what I want to talk about is not the new hanging station… Nope… it’s our new Beastmaker Board; a 45 degree, 3m wide panel that has been set up with 250 hand carved wooden holds, all of which have been hand placed by Mr Dan Varian himself! We have also included with them a selection of Bleaustone pockets, pinches, crimps and jugs which bring the elitist aspect of the board right down to a healthy V2 level i.e. if you climb V2, you can use the board :) 

I have been trying to get EICA to invest in one of these boards for a long time! My wish finally came true when Buz told me there was some money in the budget to put towards improving the training facilities at EICA.

Hearing this news, I instantly emailed Dan and got him to price up the holds/setting. A few months later and he was at the wall, screwing his little heart away, setting up our very own Beastmaker board!

That day when I walked into the centre and saw the board fully set up through the large glass window, a tear came to my eye… The perfectly sculpted holds, the symmetrical patterns… it was like a beautiful butterfly that had transformed from a dirty brown cocoon (aka the board that was there before).

Dan was kind enough to stay for a bit longer and train us in the best way to utilise the board. Now I have been training for years and am rarely told things that surprise me, however there was one thing he discussed that totally changed my perception on one key aspect of my training…Dan giving the Team some tips...

The Beastmaker Board and Core

Dan explained that the key to good core wasn’t in the ability to actually hold a strenuous position like a front lever or L-hang, but actually to be able to transfer the weight/push through the feet in those positions! This is obvious right? I mean, I could have told anyone that; but what I suddenly realized upon getting on the board was that despite knowing the fact, I wasn’t able to implement it on the actual board myself - my feet just kept pinging off all the little foot holds.

The Beastmaker board spanked me… If my feet popped, I was off! If I made a mistake, I was off! There is no room for error on this board, especially with the feet! What you learn quickly is how important the feet are in order to climb these problems, and because of this, it forces your body to learn how to initiate the full strength of your core in a very climbing specific fashion!

I can do front levers fine… I can hold an L-Hang for ages… I can do upside down sit-ups all day… but my feet where popping off! There is obviously a weakness there in the core, but it was a specific weakness, something that would be difficult to target in any other way other than through actual climbing, which is just one reason why the Beastmaker board is such a brilliant piece of kit!

The Beastmaker Board and Technique

It was great having Dan talk us through how to use the board, his opinions on training and how he utilises it for different types of climbing. I have only had the pleasure of training on it these last few weeks, but have noticed a massive improvement since starting.Dan giving me some tips...

The angle of our board is 45 degrees - that is very steep! But what that means is that you can’t get away with not having a strong core, strong fingers and utilising good technique all at the same time. As I always say, it’s not how strong you are, it’s how much of it transfers to your actual climbing through technique… this is the trick, and it is this which the Beastmaker Board trains so effectively!

I have heard so many climbers over the years saying that they can’t climb steep rock because they aren’t strong enough… this is definitely not true! Climbing on steep walls is so technical, more so than slabs and vertical walls! There are so many dimensions to steep climbing, so much more so than slab or vertical because there is a time limit set… you can’t hang off your arms all day and because most slabs and vertical walls have less to do with your hands than your feet, that then reduces the problems you have to deal with on the wall already!

I was totally amazed at how good this board is for training technique. Much to the disapproval of other climbers at the wall, I have been utilising techniques such as drop knees, twisting etc… I know that front on training was something that training gurus like Malcolm Smith, Ben Moon and others all pushed, I really just don’t see the benefit for myself though. If I want to develop the strength for front on training, then I will make a problem that forces this, but I just can’t force myself to train front on when that’s not the technique I should be using for other problems…

I will not sacrifice technique on this board; I just don’t see the benefit. Campus boarding is supposed to be a basic pull movement… climbing is not! If I am climbing, I am moving well! I want to learn how to use the strength I have in a productive way and what better way than by building problems that force the technique out of you whilst training strength and power at the same time?

I have learned more about climbing technique using this board in the last 3 weeks than in years climbing indoors and out for that matter… interesting!?

The Beastmaker Board for Power and Strength Training

I am tough on myself, I know this… but I am also realistic about where I am. I know I am not strong; I am weak compared to my technique and endurance. I have always been good at figuring out the easiest way up the climb. I take pride in this, I don’t climb to be good at training, I train to be good at climbing!Getting ready for a sesh on the board!!!

I have never been able to do 1-4-7 on a campus board, deadhang an edge of one hand or do multiple one armers. I train these because I know I am weak at them, but still… can’t do 1-4-7!

I did 1-4-7 the other day on the campus board without even training it for the first time! 3 weeks on this beastmaker board and I am feeling strong!!! My fingers just aren’t struggling to hang holds like they usually do…

I did a one armer on each arm like it was nothing… I couldn’t believe how easy it was and I haven’t even been regularly training these?

And on top of all this, I have been climbing my project boulder problems on the board. Every session I have been seeing progress and doing new amazing movements that I thought impossible on first try…

As I said before, this strength and power is all transferable. My core is stronger than it ever has been with no dedicated core training routine… All I am doing is using small footholds and trying not to let my feet pop – it’s reaping incredible results!

Yesterday I did a rings session with Jess and I have never felt so strong on them either. I did muscle ups first of all!!! They were so easy - I never even knew I could do them. I tried ages ago and couldn’t, but I was busting them out like they were nothing at all yesterday. I also beat my personal record on dips and one armer assists with no specific training routine focusing on them, just the Beastmaker Board!

Conclusion

I am more convinced than ever that the right training is always going to be what’s most specific to what your doing… Climbing for Climbing. Obviously there needs to be some de-construction of the actual movement so we can focus on specific areas such as antagonists.

Also it is important no to over-train on these! I can see this being incredibly easy to do. I am going to admit this now, but I have gone and done myself a small finger injury by being overzealous on the board… It’s not the end of the world; I am just going to have to be a bit more careful with my training.

The last 3 weeks have been great! It’s given me an insight into training on boards like these. I have never had access to a facility like this for any length of time and now I am amazed at the progress you can make… at the same time I am really aware of the intensity and that intelligence and patience are required to use these to their full potential in the long run!

I am really excited about how this board is going to help develop the local Edinburgh based climbers… Onwards and Upwards!!!