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 :PAngus 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 :)

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!

I have just spent the last 2 weeks climbing in the mecca of Limestone that is Catlunya, Spain :D Of course that doesn’t really narrow it down much does it? I have been climbing at some mega impressive crags such as Terradets, Oliana and Santa Linya!Lee Cujes on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) belayed by Sam Cujes

On arrival I didn’t really have a plan – I thought I would try and get some public transport to Terradets and work it out from there… I had heard there was a refugio and hopefully that would be open. Totally by chance however, a good friend (Henward Nind) was climbing at Siurana and I messaged him to say I would be climbing at Terradets if he fancied meeting up… Long story short, Henward let me stay in his van and we have been climbing together for the last 2 weeks!

Me onsighting "Latido del Miedo" (8a)

One of the main reasons for coming out now was also to meet up with two really good friends from Australia, Sam and Lee Cujes. They were also in Kalymnos when I was there, but this is the end of their 2 month trip to Europe and it might be a while before they are back L Unfortunately, Lee suffered a tweak in his right shoulder on one of his final days climbing in Kalymnos and this seems to have stuck with him throughout his trip to France and Spain. Thankfully though things seem to have eased out a bit and he is back in crushing mode :D Sam and Lee have both been climbing at Terradets with me the last week and a half and it’s been awesome hanging out with them and occasionally invading their apartment at Villanova de la Sal (Tell everyone!!! It’s lush!!!).Getting my trusty Shamans on for the next send :D

So we have been mainly at Terradets this trip however we’ve had half a day at Oliana and half a day at Santa Linya. Oliana was absolutely amazing, I can’t wait to go back there ASAP! I tried the mega classic 8b+ “Humildes Pa Casa” and was blown away by its awesomeness! It is without a doubt in my top 2 routes I have ever climbed… up there with “Tom et Je Ris” in Verdon. Unfortunately I didn’t get to actually send the route L we arrived at Oliana quite late and the next day it rained so I only got one attempt at the climb – I am planning on coming back one day with Lee and we will do this beast together!!! YEAH BOI!!!!Lee high on the redpoint send of "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - Fun Fact: He actually jumped on me after clipping the chains :P Two guys hanging of a static didn't feel so secure :P

Santa Linya again was only half a day and the crag was pretty damp. There had been a massive rain and pretty much everywhere was wet, so we headed to Santa Linya, the one place steep enough to stay dry. Unfortunately it was still very humid inside the cave L I tried an 8c called “Ingravids Serps” which I managed all of the moves bar one on my first try and it felt very do-able in a short time if conditions had been better. I then turned my attention onto an 8a+ in the cave called “Irak Attack”. I had planned an onsight attempt of the route but was weighing up whether or not I should given the bad conditions – but hey, if you wait around for good conditions you’ll never climb anything. I gave it a good burn and got high on the onsight but mis-read the sequence and fell off the crux… I lowered, untied and in a fit of annoyance/arrogance I tied straight back in and re-climbed it to the crux, this time not going wrong and sent it :P Felt like a return to my endurance training back home :P Probably not the best tactics ever and I apologise for my lack of discipline (especially to those I coach – please don’t do as I did here – it’s called being an idiot).Sam looking way too strong on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - LOOK AT THOSE GUNS!!!

When it wasn’t wet we’ve been climbing in Terradets. I have been here only once before but never actually climbed, just sat and watched :P This time round I was climbing almost everyday and have had such an amazing time :D I was blown away by the quality of every route here, nothing is bad, nothing is below par, it’s all awesome!

I heard so much about Terradets being the ultimate crag for onsighting in the 7c-8a range but I really had no idea until trying it out for myself. There is literally dozens of routes in that grade range all over the wall… there is one section where I’m sure there are at least 4 classic sustained 7c+’s in a row!

On my first day I onsighted the two classic 7c’s “Avant Match” and “Occident” followed by another 7c+/8a “Primea Linea” and then finished off by redpointing the extension of “Avant Match”, a bouldery 8a/+ which I fell on the final move on the onsight. After such a great first day, I didn’t really know what to expect for the rest of the trip. I feel really in my element when I am going about the wall ticking off routes I know I can do onsight or 2^nd go, it’s one of my favourite styles of climbing because you can get so much climbing done J Even at the ends of the day when my fingers were tired and bleeding, I was still going for more on easier routes.Me onsighting "Millenium" (8a) - I found the start quite tricky as you can see :P

I continued to tick off more routes in the 7c-8a range with some more classics such as:

One of my favourite routes of all of these has to be “Redbull” (7c+). This was a tough little number and had me a little scared at one point when I climbed too high on the tufa and had to make an awkward cross-through to a pocket from way too high up :P When I went for this I was only warming up at the time and I thought it was only 7c. Of course it’s actually probably the toughest 7c+ at the crag and in my opinion probably as hard as some of the 8a’s!

Higher on the onsight of "Millennium" (8a)“Millenium” (8a) was an interesting one too. I did this at the end of the day and was already a little tired. I had to put the quickdraws in on this, which was a bit of a pain (why can’t all crags be equipped with in-situ draws damn it!). There was a scary moment at the third bolt where I had found it really awkward to clip the rope through the gate of the quickdraw… I thought I had clipped when in fact the rope had got stuck on the gate and I was in risk of decking! I heard Sam whisper my name calmly as she had seen the rope not go in… I knew that the rope hadn’t clipped in correctly… but then I heard the faint ‘click’ of the quickdraw as the rope slid into place (PHEW!). I continued on the climb and managed to get a good rest at half-height. The next section was really technical on tiny crimpers and bad feet (reminded me of Malham). I took my time on this section, making sure that each hand was freshly chalked and as dry as possible to get a good grip on every slopey little edge. Thankfully I managed to get myself through this section unscathed as well. Next thing I was heading into a large booming bulge that terrified me to bits! There was no chalk at all on this thing and I hadn’t the faintest idea of what to do… but then suddenly I saw some undercuts… they were flat and I needed to get my feet as high as possible to get some power behind them. Climbing "Xarop de Basto" (8a)When I did this, I managed to make a long stretch over the bulge and reach a positive flatty (the thank god hold!). I could relax now and cut my feet to mantle over the bulge and into the final head wall… little did I know that the hardest move was just ahead! I rested for a bit on some good holds and scoped out what was remaining of the climb. I knew that the chains were after the next bolt, but the holds in between were small pocket things and I couldn’t fit my chubby meat hooks into them. I saw a small left hand pocket that the very edges of my fingertip pads just stuck to and the right hand one was slightly better but much lower down… I could see a hold high up for my right meaning I was going to have to pull hard on my left and lay one on for this thing… I built up the courage and went for it… I remember the moment so vividly as I pulled on the small slopey left hand hold, expecting it to rip any second, but nothing happened, I kept moving upwards and with a scream I caught the right hand hold which turned out to be a good edge! YASSSSSS! I was in :D I pulled over and mantled out the top to clip the chains – SUCCESS!!! This was probably one of my favourite moments onsighting a route – I really feel like I climbed it well the whole way up and took every challenge as it came, responding to the situation effectively!

Starting out on "Non-Stop" (8b)Henward was also doing well and getting used to climbing on steeper ground, something he is very adamant that he is bad at. I tell him that he needs to give it time and learn the technique and flow for climbing on steeper ground… he just moans some more and asks if we can go to vertical crags… I stare at him blankly… “no…” :P Despite his incessant moaning, he was doing bloody well and going from strength to strength throughout the whole trip. He ticked another 7b in his first few days, then did another 7b, then a 7b+ (his first of his year long trip!) – quit complaining Sully (he looks like Sully from “Monsters Inc.” with his mad turquoise fleece which is obviously for girls :P )Pulling through the steepness on "Non-Stop" - Photo by Lee Cujes

Definitely one of my biggest challenges this trip was a tricky 8b called “Non Stop”. 8b usually doesn’t take more than a few attempts but this took me a couple of days to close. I think this might be for a number of reasons though:

1. When I first tried the route I noticed a massive scar where a hold had been in the midst of the crux – most likely something has broken off and made it a bit harder
2. On my closest attempt at the route on my second day trying, I snapped off the crux hold making the route (without a doubt)… much harder!

The second break was slightly annoying but also ridiculously funny :P I couldn’t really be angry with it – I was actually amused more than anything as the whole route was a massive a pile of choss. I was surprised that the hold hadn’t fallen of earlier despite the sika (I am obviously too fat). The amazing thing though was that after the break, I found a new sequence, totally wild and whacky with a mental sideways dyno maneuver. I can only relate to this by watching some crazy Daniel Woods or Chris Sharma video… The sequence worked of course but was very hard for me…                        Campussing through the roof of "Non-Stop" (8b)

Astonishingly, I sent the route on my next attempt that day! It wasn’t without a heck of a lot of trying. I threw for the hold with everything I had, the swing almost ripped my arms out of their sockets and truthfully, I thought that if I actually took the fall I might have ripped a hole in the space time continuum… there was a lot riding on me sticking this move as you can see :P I screamed like I have never screamed before and when I realized I was still on the wall – I screamed some more in sheer surprise, happiness and slight fear as well as I didn’t want to screw up the end! Luckily I didn’t mess up the finale and I ticked the route :D YAY!!! It was a great feeling to come back after getting spanked a bit on this one.

Liam on "Red Bull" (7c+)There was one other 8b I tried at the start of the trip called “Golpe de Gas” – I am still unsure whether or not I was trying this route the right way. I had to try it in the sun which didn’t make things any easier but for all the life of me I couldn’t do the final bulge crux… Not being able to do the moves on an 8b has not happened to me in a long time – I am not going to say it wasn’t frustrating but I accept that maybe I need to get a bit better at tiny slopey crimps and bunched up feet for this one. I was mega impressed to see that Karin Magog crushed this back in 2008 (according to 8a.nu stalking) – all I can say is “oh my god, what a beast!”

In the last few days I have managed a few more onsights in the 8a range and even managed a cheeky 8a+ onsight today with a route called “Formula Weekend”.  I didn’t expect to onsight this all the way as the top of the route was completely wet. Over the last few days it has been raining pretty heavily, luckily most of Terradets has remained dry however the top outs are pretty much all wet. “Formula Weekend” is 8a to the first chain, then there is a 4m long roof and a bulge which turns into slopers. The 8a felt pretty steady for me, I never felt like I was going to fall but there was one moment just before the chains where I had to pull pretty hard on a small damp crimp… I was a little unsure on whether or not my fingers would stay put on the wet crimp but thankfully they did :P The remaining roof section for the 8a+ was damp and the bulging sloper was not sodden wet with drips coming off it! I just went for it to see what would happen… before I knew it I was grabbing wet slopers and mantling to finish on top :P WHAT!?!?!?! A pleasant surprise :P It actually didn’t feel that hard, but I think I was quite lucky with reading the sequence correct and that my hands didn’t slip on any of the wet holds.The previous crux - out of interest, the right hand crimp I have here is what broke off... which changed the sequence for me so I had to dyno through with my right hand off the undercut to catch the hold I have with my left hand in this picture :P

Lee and Sam were having a good trip too, of course Lee was held back slightly by his shoulder. Despite this he was still trying 8a and getting 7c+’s sent. Sam was trying a 7a+ called “Pasta Sin Agua”, I did this one my last day – OH MY GOD – it’s fierce for 7a+, definitely as hard if not harder than “Jam Session” (7b).

This is actually much smaller than it looks like in real life :P The broken hold!!!On my last day I really wasn’t too bothered about doing anything in particular. I had had an amazing trip and had ticked the best routes at the crag, I was just happy to spend my last day climbing with friends… but that’s not to say I didn’t do anything :P I had one last route that I had attempted the day previously which I had not completed, an 8b called “Democracia”. “Democracia” is situated just right of the very steep cave where the other 8b “Non-Stop” is and it’s also the right hand variant finish of the 8a+/b “Anarkista”. “Democracia” includes the same first half as “Anarkista” and then a new upper section that veers out right where “Anarkista” breaks left. I was pleasantly surprised to repeat the first section of the route without any issues and onsighted the 8b section until the main crux (which was very hard!). It was here that I got stuck into redpoint mode for the last time this trip. It took me a few goes to figure out exactly how to do the crux in the most efficient way possible, it had a pretty intense technical sequence involving a long reach to grab a three finger single pad crimp which you had to do a cross-through match with your right hand into a positive two finger pocket situated just above (quite awkward actually as your left hand gets in the way of your right crossing through). After this you did another big cross-through off the two finger pocket to grab a really bad tufa pinch! Finishing off "Non-Stop" (8b)This thing was proper filth and required me to figure out exactly which finger had to be placed where on the tufa – pinky, ring, middle, index and thumb were all placed individually during the cross-through so I could get the right amount of friction and strength to complete the next move. Once I had the pinch there was a tricky twist and I grabbed a very bad polished edge that would only be quarter pad at most – from that I step my feet up (making the tufa feel a bit better) and cross again into a good slanting slot on the upper section of the tufa. From here to the top it’s probably still about 7c in it’s own right so still very droppable I guess! The horrible thing though was that the last crux below the chains was wet as well so I had to climb this pulling on slippery wet crimps and pockets… LOVELY!!!A site I will never get tired off - This was the first view I got off Terradets area almost 5 years ago that I saw... So B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!

I had one attempt after my first working go/onsight and failed at the first crux again – I thought this crux could be potentially very problematic for me now, not only because of the difficulty but also my skin was beginning to get pretty torn up from resting on some bad pockets and jamming my fingers into slots lower down on the route :P On my third attempt I felt pretty good and managed to get all the way to the rest before the crux without too much bother… here I rested for a while, eyeing up the crux and waiting to feel that moment when your forearms are recovered just enough to make a beeline for it… I felt it was about ready… I shook out one more time with a chalk up on each hand and then went for it! I moved fast, the cross-through to the pocket was solid and I didn’t hesitate in the next move to the pinch but I made sure I positioned every finger in exactly the right place… SQUEEZE!!!! I crushed the pinch into oblivion and made the next move to the small crimper which I took without any thought of failure… I position my feet and made the next move to the good slot and suddenly felt very fresh and not at all like I had felt on my previous dogging attempts (I love this feeling!). I kept going and got a cheeky kneebar rest before the final crux which was still slightly damp… I sat scrunched up in my kneebar relaxing my grip off the two sloper hand holds I was shaking out on… at the corner of my eyes I saw Lee and Sam watching me and I gave them a little wave :PMe pretending to be a photographer for a day :P I was not completely confident that I had this in the bag and I needed to relax for the final section - I always climb best when the situation isn’t serious – sometimes it’s a good thing for me to talk to myself or give a little wave from a rest to friends just to alleviate some of the pressure. On the last section I moved quickly and got all the holds pretty perfect… they were all a little wet still and didn’t feel completely secure but I wasn’t about to give up… I just moved confidently and put trust in myself to do this... I moved out right and grabbed a weird awkward pinch which splayed my fingers a bit, I crossed again into a wet crimp and then made a big move to a wet jug – DONE! It was sealed, I had done the route, I pulled a few more jugs and clipped the chains – YAASSSSSS!! It was a really good feeling to tick something challenging like this on my last day in Terradets :D

My last day wasn’t just my success though – Henward ticked his first 7b+/c with a very boulder route on the left side of the crag “Tarambana” and Lee ticked “Mallorca es Funky”, a very powerful 7c+ up one of the steepest sections of Bruixes wall. I even finished the day off doing another 8a+ called “Flix Flax”. I tried to onsight this one but made a silly mistake low down which cost me the onsight – I then did it 2^nd go.The Lone Ranger!

That pretty much concludes my climbing trip then :P The last night I had dinner with Lee and Sam ad we said our goodbyes... I hope to see them again soon! Henward gave me a lift to the airport and I had some problems with my tickets but got home eventually :P Now I am comfortable in my own home and looking forward to setting and coaching over the next few weeks... Got a busy build up to christmas now... I am always psyched to be on climbing trips but it is nice to come home and get back into a routine again - I have missed all the kids I regularly coach and I am looking forward to seeing them all in action now that I am back! Hopefully they have all been training hard and not slacking :P

See you at the wall!

After getting back from Kalymnos I only had a week before I was due to be setting off again, this time to somewhere a little less mountainous than my usual destinations. I was in fact heading off to Denmark! Whilst out in Kalymnos, a Danish friend invited me to set for a competition in a small town called Skælør. Seeing this as a great opportunity to do some fun competition route setting and visit a new place I happily accepted. In the meantime however I was desperate to get some training in as I had only 2 weeks before I was due to be in Terradets (Spain) sport climbing.Flying in class...

The night I got back from Kalymnos, I organised a set of endurance sessions that would hopefully give me a little bit of a boost before Spain – obviously not the best preparationbut something is better than nothing. Amazingly I felt really fit despite not having climbed much in the way of harder routes in Kalymnos, I did however feel like I was climbing quite well, moving far more efficient and much more self aware of body position and balance. This goes to show just how much of a difference climbing on rock does for your technique! I need to live somewhere where there is amazing sport climbing surrounding me... I think it's the gap that's missing right now... Hmmm... One can dream :PSunset on the way to Copenhagen

I had a few good sessions with Mike Halcrow and one with Adam Lincoln. By the end of the week I was feeling really fit and even managed to lap 8a+ three times in a row at Ratho before leaving for Denmark. I don't think I'm pulling as hard as I ever have by any means, but I'm definitely not unfit which means hopefully I should be feeling relatively good for osnighting and trying lots of easier routes in the 7c-8a+ range. I’m in Terradets now as I write this blog (the first moment I have had any spare time to do this) and I can tell you that having the extra endurance definitely has helped for onsighting.

Before leaving I also managed to squeeze in some great sessions with some of the kids. It was great to see Lisa climbing so well (make sure you get in your fall practice!), Connor looking really fit on the comp wall, David who is always looking strong and a last session with William which turned out to be a queuing session as we waited to get on routes because half of ratho had been shut due to the roof! Hope your all training hard!!! I was happy to hear that everyone did really well at the weekends Scottish Youth Championships :D Good Effort Guys!!!License to drill... Thanks Yann

The next day, off to Copenhagen I flew. I had an early flight to London then a connection to Copenhagen from Gatwick. What a pain in the butt easyjet is though; they won't connect your haul baggage through to your final destination for some bizarre reason! So I have to check in my baggage twice... Annoying!!!Let's get stuck in...

I was greeted at Copenhagen Airport by Jacob Hasselbach, one of the board members for Crux Climbing Club (the wall I was setting at). Interesting fact: in Denmark there are only one or two commercial/privately run climbing walls, the rest are all owned and operated by climbing/mountaineering clubs on a completely voluntary basis. It was really inspiring to see how the community of climbers at the wall all band together to make the centre as good as possible. When I arrived at the centre that night, there was about 15 guys and girls all stripping the walls, cleaning the place up and sorting out the holds and cherry pickers for me for the week I was setting. None of them were getting paid, it's just because they have a great community spirit and ethic to help others out.When you've set for days on end... the holds begin to talk to you...

The first day setting was on the Wednesday. There was a bit of an issue with the cherry pickers - because of the heavy winds that hit both Denmark and the UK, people from all over were in desperate need of them for repairs to buildings so securing our own cherry picker suddenly became a lot more difficult. For half a day I simply set off the ladder the bottom section of most of the routes and then at 4pm finally we had use of one cherry picker.

For the remaining two days of setting we had two cherry pickers. This made the setting a lot more fun, less physically taxing and the creativeness on routes was limited only by our imagination. I was happy to be joined by two Danish climbers (not competing), Thomas Blaabjerg and Andreas Fink Simonsen as assistant setters. Thomas is one of the strongest Danish climbers and competitors having climbed 8b and made finals in the European Youth Cup this year in Edinburgh, however he had a nasty fall and broke his ankle so is currently still recovering from that. He could set from a cherry picker though :P

The Routesetting Team - Top Left (Me), Top Right (Thomas), Bottom Left (Andreas), Bottom Right (Dany the Danish Viking)We spent Thursday and Friday night setting well into the early hours of the morning to make sure the routes were the best they could be and that they would do the job of splitting the field. By the end of the week we had a selection of 21 routes for qualifiers and finals - all of them great fun to climb on but also would hopefully split the field of competitors as well.

Come Saturday morning (an hour after I had gone to bed), Jacob shows up and says that the event is to start at 10:30 and the competitors will be arriving shortly. As you can imagine I was pretty exhausted, but this didn't restrain my enthusiasm to see our creations being attempted by the competitors.

The qualifiers were exciting to watch with such a massive range of ages and abilities competing together. The routes I had set would fit any size and shouldn’t favour one person over another, but there was a lot of different styles so the best all-rounder would do well in the qualifiers.

My baby blue - never broke down once... Scottish Cherry Picker Companies take note of this!

After the qualifiers finished, the finalists were called out and isolation began. I was excited to watch my finals routes in action and see how they split the field. It’s always a tough one to set for a finals and even tougher when you are setting for a competition where you don’t really know the standard. I am told that the top Danish Men onsight 7c+ and the the top Danish woman onsight 7b+, but grades are so subjective and I don’t really know exactly how hard to set the comp for. If I was setting for a British National it would be much easier as I know the competition well as I am used to competing in them and most of the climbers who are in the top 10 I would have seen climb many times before.

The second crux of the Woman's final - down climb a little, a powerful move then into the final quarter of the overhanging pillar!I really wanted to set some nice routes for the final that would test the very best but also allow everyone a fighting chance to get high on the route. I know from personal experience that it sucks when you fall off at the second clip on your final, so I like to set some nicer, friendlier starts which gave everyone a friendlier competition experience.

My woman’s final route was probably 7b+ overall and the men’s was 7c+ (8a now as I changed it after the competition).

Woman's Final - Good rest on stalactite before half-way mark

Mikkel making good use of the knee bar rest half-way into the men's final - the last real recovery before the intimidating and pumpy finale!

The men’s finals were no less exciting. I was happy to see that two friends from previous climbing trips, Casper Helmark Anderson and Mikkel Hojgaard Larsen were both competing in the finals that day. The men’s competition was a bit of a mix with two young lads who were both international youth competitors and a selection of guys who maybe were not as experienced in competition, but were all experienced rock climbers. Mikkel and Casper both climb at least 8a on rock and have the experience of climbing on many different types of rock and styles of climb from all over the world – this helps a lot even indoors – but they are not experienced competition climbers which definitely does make a big difference in finals.

I had deliberately set the men’s final with a multitude of different styles - everything from a techy vertical corner to start with, to some powerful moves on good holds in the 20 degree overhang, into a roof with 360 degree spins and a knee bar into a stalactite and some powerful moves coming round the lip of a roof, then a tricky sustained finale that gradually got harder and pumpier the higher you got!

Mikkel making his way to the high point in what would secure him his victory!In the final it was interesting to see the different styles of approach – Mikkel was fast and confident through the harder sections but definitely took his time and rested in the right places making good use of the knee bars. Frederick Thulstrup who was the favourite to win seemed to rush through the rests a little faster than others and I think this tired him more than necessary and ultimately drained him for the final section leaving him in 2^nd place to Mikkel.

The competition was a massive success and the setting seemed to do the job – so I am happy J It’s also good to hear that since then the routes have been acting as fun training routes for all the locals at the climbing wall and hopefully I will be invited back again to set one day J

Thanks to everyone in Denmark who made my stay so fun and for making me feel so welcome :D

Me and the Champ!

I am now in Spain climbing in the world famous crag of Teradets – it’s awesome out here and I am having a fab time – blog and pictures to come soon!

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

Coaching Week

The coaching week was aimed at kids who are already experienced climbers, keen to develop their climbing skills further and also to transfer their indoor training to outdoors. All of those attending compete at regional, national or international level, and I feel that it's important for them to have other focusses outside the competition and climbing gym scene. Climbing trips outdoors offer a different challenge free from the same types of pressures that are often put on the kids at competitions.

During the week my aim was to get all the kids to climb as much as possible, to tick a few harder routes and to have lots and lots of fun. Needless to say everyone gained a lot from the trip!

On the first day, despite everyone being tired from travelling, some of which had spent numerous nights sleeping in other cities and countries before arriving on Kalymnos, they all got stuck into climbing. I was eager to get everyone moving on rock ASAP so there was no wasted time. As any experienced climber knows, it takes time to assimilate to climbing on rock, especially if you climb mostly indoors, so you've got to make the most of your time when you get the chance to get out on rock.David sending "Spartacus" (7b+) on his 2nd try

As the trip commenced everyone looked like they were slowly getting to grips with the features, trusting their feet on rock (especially smeary feet) and even trusting their hands on rock, something which is often overlooked (you need to relax on the holds and not over grip). The one thing most people struggled with was the tufas, a feature only found on Limestone that requires a very unique technical style. The technique required to climb on tufas is difficult to acquire quickly and it requires complete confidence and trust in your body movement. Initially this is really difficult to do, especially if you are relatively inexperienced in rock climbing as you need to trust the small slopey features of the tufa for both your feet and your hands. The one person I felt really developed a good style on tufas during this trip was Rhiannon - initially she was very wary of these features but as the trip went on she looked more and more comfortable until eventually she was onsighting routes up to 7a+ using tufas! She made a very impressive onsight ascent of "Les Amazones" (6c), 2nd go on another classic tufa 7a and flashed the tricky 7a+ "Nickel"! All of these routes required good tufa technique to climb - well done Rhiannon!

Kirsten Gray climbing IVI (7a+)There was a few issues with confidence pushing on rock, especially on the sharp end. To some extent everyone had an issue with this, but it's only natural and I challenge anyone to say they have never been scared whilst climbing - I still get a little nervous... Especially when taking 20m lobs off the top of the Grande Grotte! What was really good to see was everyone breaking through the mental barriers throughout the trip - of course it wasn't easy and sometimes required more pushing from me (and Sam - you don't want to be saying "take" when he's belaying, he doesn't even know what it means!). I guess what everyone has to remember is that the transfer from indoors to rock isn't just technical, it's also mental. The environment is completely different and everyone will have a transitional period, sometimes it's longer for one than the other... I definitely noticed the change in environment when I went from outdoor sport to outdoor multipitch. Climbing 8b+ from a hanging belay is terrifying... 7a Verdon slabs on multipitch are no less scary!

As the trip commenced everyone was getting a bit more into the style. Kirsten Gray was climbing very well after a shaky start getting her first 7a flash on rock followed closely by her first 7b+ then her first 7a+ (in that order). The 7b+ was no slouch at the grade either as it was the uber classic "Spartacus". The 7a+ "IVI" she should have flashed but got a little nervous during a runout after the crux. After what seemed like an hour of shouting encouragement to press on she down climbed and sat on the rope... When I lowered her she looked at me and said,

"Why did you let me down! You should have pushed me harder!"

Of course... It's my fault :P Good to see though that some kids like being pushed...

Rosie on the super classic 6b "Pterodactyl"Errin and Rosie were mostly top roping during the trip, however, towards the end of the trip Errin took to leading a few routes and even managed a 6b+ on lead which was a massive step from last years trip to Siurana where the hardest top rope she did was 6a+. Adding to that, at the beginning of the week she was struggling with some 6a's, by the end of the week she had climbed several 6c's (one of them Onsight) and even managed a 7a Onsight! If you can Onsight 7a as your hardest grade then there is loads more potential there! Rosie climbed a tonne of routes from f4 through to f6b and certainly got in the mileage - I think the best part of Rosie's trip was taking the big swing at Jurassic on our final day :P

I was massively impressed with David Miedzybrodski in Kalymnos in terms of his approach to ticking routes. He is very calculated most of the time, taking the time to work sequences after he's given the Onsight the best possible attempt. He came close to 4 or 5 x 7b+ Onsight/Flashes and did all of them on his 2nd attempt. He even redpointed the massive enduro-fest "Priapos" (7c) on his second attempt. He made every 7b he climbed easily Onsight including "Gladiator" and "Lulu in the Sky" with the exception of "Aurora" at Kalydna.

This was interesting as I found "Aurora" pretty steady, however, when I climbed it I knew David would struggle... It has a very technical tufa section and is very exposed with a bouldery crux right at the end. Needless to say David got to the top, but after a lot of falls throughout the tufa and in the final crux sequence - but this was all for the good of him and I reckon he gained more knowledge on his weaknesses and areas he can improve upon on this route than any other! Kids if your reading this - it's important to be all round when your young especially, try and get in as many different styles as possible and work routes that you genuinely find hard and challenging as opposed to routes that suit you. If you don't work weaknesses like this it will limit what you are able to climb when you are older.Spartacus sector - home to classics such as "Daniboy" (8a) and "Spartacus" (7b+) - I climbed Daniboy three times this trip just because...

So altogether it was a great week of coaching for the kids, everyone achieved something grade orientated, developed new skills and challenged themselves beyond their comfort zones - I think these courses are invaluable for the development of aspiring climbers and I'm looking forward to running more in the future.

It has to be noted as well that there were four other young scots also out in Kalymnos at the same time who weren't part of the coaching trip. Rory Cargill, Rebecca Kinghorn, Scott Donaldson and Max Milne were also enjoying the wonders of Kalymnos. Rory managed his first 8a "Fun de Chuchunne" a few days ago and Rebecca redpointed the very tough "Daniboy" (8a) making her the 2nd Scottish female to redpoint the grade (and the youngest). Max I have been told by my Aussie friends has been ripping up Odyssey sector and acting as bolt gun for them on occasion :P Good work Max!

In the evenings we would meet up as a larger group and eat out together - any restaurant that suffered us that night would literally come to a standstill as there was around 30+ scots in total half of which were kids between 2 and 16 years old! MADNESS!!!

Climbing Time

 Day 1

After the coaching week ended, I spent a few days climbing with some good Australian friends of mine, Lee and Sam Cujes. I first met Lee and Sam 2 years ago on a trip to Kalymnos where we spent a good few weeks climbing lots and laughing at our ridiculous Scottish and Australian accents... They find my habit of saying "down a wee bit" when stipulating to be "lowered down a little lower" absolutely hilarious... much to both our amusement :P

I also had the pleasure of making some new friends from Australia, Lucy Ellis, Tracie Hua, Erik Smits, Cathy De Vaus and Adam Demmert. 

On my first days climbing I went to Galatiani Cave with Sam and Rhiannon for their last day on the island. I had always wanted to go to Galatiani as I had heard there was a number of good 8a's and 8a+ there to try and onsight. Gaz Parry had satisfied my curiosity of the place and told me that the routes were actually all excellent if a little soft in the grade. 

When we arrived, I warmed up on the first part of the 8a+ "Seur D'hommes" which was given 7a and when I got to the chains, I just continued going for the 8a+. Immediately after the chains was a tricky couple of moves followed by a good knee bar rest. After this it was steady all the way and before I knew it I had succesfully onsighted the 8a+. Not a bad warm up :P 

Rhiannon and Sam both did the 7a to the left, an awesome looking route that I unfortunately missed out and then I managed to onsight both the other 8a's at the crag, "Debout Le Morts" and "Zero Chichon". Sam finished off with a 7b and trying a 7c which he got high on the onsight whilst placing clips, then I finished off with the same 7c onsight "Gegoune" which I think might be the best 7c I have ever done! 

Day 2

On Day 2, I met up with another very good friend of mine Andre Hedger. It was good to catch up with Andre again on a trip. We met up in Ceuse briefly this year and saw each other at the BLCC's but apart from that I haven't seen much of him. 

I dragged Andre to Telendos as I wanted to do an 8b there called "Glaros". "Glaros" 
is situated at an amazing crag called Glaros and takes the steepest line through the central part of the crag. The holds are pretty much all positive and includes only one hard move that I found a little tricky. 

The climbing on it involves a lower sustaine dsection of climbing that probably equates to around 8a level in difficulty up until a singularly hard move around 3/4 of the way up the climb. The move in itself isn't hard on it's own, just low percentage as it requires good accuracy at catching a gaston sloper in a crack which you can't see from a sloping pinch in a bunched up position... I fell from this move twice before catching it and doing the route to the top!

Andre had a good day managing to tick 7c+ on his first day on Kalymnos. The 7c+ was a particularly tricky one called "Breakfast on Pluto". Interesting to note that the way Andre did it was really hard and could be 8a, whereas I have since spoken to others who actually missed out the crux of the route by traversing out right. Makes sense to do this as it follows the line of weakness, we just didn't know the holds went out there so we did a stupid bouldery move instead :P

On the way back we opted for a spot of training on the boat...

Day 3

On my third day I went to Arhi sector in the morning and Secret Garden in the afternoon with Lee, Sam, Andre and Eric. I was super keen to try and onsight the 8a+ classoc "Ne pas toucher a ma bite" but failed just shy of the chains... On my 2nd go I fell of the 7b+ start because I'm an idiot and didn't look at the sequence... So I lowered and then did it straight away :P Without a doubt the best 8a+ I have done on Kalymnos... so nobody do it before it becomes as polished as "Angelica", the other 8a at the crag which is basically a marble wall now...

Greeces greatest invention...Lee and Andre both had goes on "Angelica" but unfortunately didn't get it, although Andre's onsight was inspirational, he fought basically the entire way and fell off at the final crux... Close! Later on in the trip I heard he onsighted another 8a :D Good effort dude!

Later on in the afternoon we went to a sector I had not yet visited. It's name is Secret Garden and many of you who have been to kalymnos will probably have visited this place. In all honesty, I didn't expect much as I was unsure how many more great crags can be found on the island... but I was blown away by the sheer quality of pretty much all the climbing here. Maybe a bit of an overstatement as the low 6's on the left looked rubbish... but everything right of them was gold! I climbed an epic 7c+ onsight on the left side called "Savina" followed by an 8a+ that I almost onsigted then did 2nd go called "Flood Gates". This was a great route but the crux had to be the 6c first pitch which I thought was absolutely nails!

Day 4

On my final days climbing in Kalymnos, we went back to Secret Garden. Sam had a project 6c there on the left which she was eager to finish off and I was really keen to see her complete it. I put the clips in for her and even found a cheeky knee bar rest before the crux. She had been trying the route the past day with Eric but had fallen off the crux move, a hard lock to a bad sidepull hold. The difficulty in the move is the requirement to be accurate when your tired especially when the hold is quite blind and round a corner. Tracie being a hero on "Kalydiva" (7c)

On her redpoint attempt she made it to the knee bar rest without a hitch and managed to get slotted into the resting positition. The shake out seemed to do the job as she managed to completely static the crux and before long was mantling out on top, but suddenly she was stuck and sturggling a little on the top out... everyone on the bottom was watching with bated breath unsure if she would make it... luckily she pulled it out and continued upwards to the chain :D Effort!

I warmed up that day on a 7c on the right called "Kaly Diva" which had super nice moves if a little crimpy and grim for the skin. I met a Polish couple who climb at Ratho trying the same route which was a funny coincidence as well.

After the 7c I tried to onsight an 8a to the left called "Narcissus" which I only missed out on the onsight by one move!!! The top crux proved to be really hard actually and it took me a bit of time to figure it out. Thankfully I did it 2nd go despite forgetting the sequence and doing it completely different anyway :P

After that I went over to try a 7c+ called "Syrtaki Lessons". The day before I met a Finnish girl called Roosa Huhtikorpi and watched her go for an amazing onsight attempt on it. She powered throgh what was definitely the crux but unfortunately messed up a little higher - onsighting is a tough game! She quickly despatched it afterwards. I hadn't really taken anything from watching her attempt as I was preparing myself for the 8a+ at the time so I still had an onsight attempt at "Syrtaki Lessons". In the end, I was very tired after having had a really hard 4 days climbing, I did the lower crux fine which was supposed to be the crux but I made the same mistake as Roosa and climbed onto some slopers out right. I had to hang them for quite a while until I decided that hanging about was not helping me and I opted for mantling the slopers with the help of the tufa on the left... I later found out this was a stupid idea but thankfully I managed to pull it off and I made it to the chains for another 7c+ onsight :D

The Future

And that pretty much concludes my Kalymnos 2013 trip... I am eager to get back next year, I really want to get stuck into projecting some of the harder routes here and I think I need longer than 4 days dedicated to this, so I am going to have to put some time aside for this :P

What now? Well, I have a very busy week ahead of me... I am setting in Denmark for a competition all next week and after that I am heading to Terradets in Catalunya! I am really psyched about this trip as I have not been to les bruixes sector before and it looks absolutely mega there :D A lot of routes in the 7c-8b region, perfect for onsighting!!! I am going on a mission for onsighting, lets see what happens...

Buz, Jessica and I headed down on the Friday night, stopping off in the Lakes before driving the rest of the way to Sheffield at 6:30am on Saturday morning because Buz was too lazy to go the full way the night before… typical! We did have a good time staying at the “Climber’s Club Hut” in Borrowdale which involved a bit of Monopoly action and an epic to get the fire started. Thankfully I am an expert in the lore of fire-craft and speedily sorted out the mess that Jess had created – Answer: a lot of firelighters!!!Chilling out at Borrowdale Climbers Club Hut

On Saturday morning we were a bit late (nobody’s fault Neil “we need to stop for an hour for coffee” Busby…) but we didn’t miss much thankfully. William Bosi and David Miedzybrodski had already climbed but they had both done well. William’s hand slipped off an awkward move on the first route (a techy blue 7c), which I was told by one of the setters for the event, Mike Langley, that it could have happened to anybody, as that particular hold was really greasy. In fact it did happen to other climbers and proved to be a bit of a stopper move with only two others making it through that sequence both of whom got to the top. William was competing in Youth B with another Scot Angus Davidson. Angus managed to get to the same spot as William but fell off in a similar fashion. On their second qualifier, a much easier looking pink route, both boys topped pretty quickly but with a thankful “Phew!!!” from Angus as he clipped the chain from a slightly bent elbow!!! I was super impressed as always watching Jim Pope run up both routes – he really does have a talent for climbing walls :P

Not forgetting Ian Bownes who this was his first National Lead competition. Ian was rather nervous for this but gave it his all and made us all very proud with an 11th place – his forte is Speed but unfortunately I never got to watch them on the Sunday. I heard it went well for the whole Speed Team and a big congratulations to Alexander Bosi who is the 2013 British Junior Speed Champion!

Good Effort Lads!

In Youth C boys, David Miedzybrodski did really well to make it high on his first qualifier and this pushed him far up the chain in the strong Youth C category for his first climb. The youth C category is probably one of the most competitive categories with seven boys who are almost all as good as each other or not far of it. Also from Scotland, Rory Cargill managed an impressive top of the same route and then another top on his second qualifier. David unfortunately got a little stuck in the final few moves off his second route, struggling to clip and then deciding after three attempts at it, just to move on to the next hold. A good thing that he went for it, as it was this that got him in joint 6^th place for the final! David was placed 7^th but we appealed to the judges and managed to get him bumped up when it was made apparent that he had scored the same as the climber in 6^th place on both routes – good thing we appealed!

In Youth C girls we only had Rhiannon Freirich representing Scotland. Rhiannon climbed well achieving a top on her first route and making 8th place overall! I will be climbing with Rhiannon in Kalymnos for the next 2 weeks so stay tuned to hear of what she gets up to out there :)

In Youth B Girls we had Keira Farmer, Kirsten Gray, Rebecca Kinghorn and Eilidh Vas Payne from Scotland. All of them are very experienced competition climbers with Rebecca Kinghorn currently the newest member of the GB Team and who made finals in her last European Cup. I know how hard all these girls have been training so it was exciting to see them all put it to the test in the competitive arena. The first route looked OK with most of the girls not find it too bad with quite a few tops and the rest all getting quite high. The second qualifier however was shared with the Youth C boys (the blue that was their first qualifier) and this wasn’t so straightforward. Everyone found this second route a huge challenge with nobody making it look easy whatsoever. The route was vertical with one small overhang lip to pull at the start that spat off a lot of climbers in all categories climbing it. All the way to the top there was hideously sustained sequences on small crimpy holds and bad feet – to get high on this route you needed rock solid determination and unwavering focus. I was immensely proud of Kirsten Gray’s performance on this – she never looked like she lost her focus on any part of the route and she found good body positions on practically every move, in short I think it was one of her finest moments out of her whole competitive career. She has been training hard for this competition… I’d say all the hard work has paid of… Both Kirsten and Rebecca made it through to finals. Although Eilidh and Keira never quite made finals, I think they both climbed well and have hopefully learned a lot from their experience – competitions are tough, not everyone can stand on the podium or make the finals each time, but everyone can give it their all… I think they all did that. Keira and Eilidh came home with 13th and 7th place respectively and there is definite room to improve for the next big competition!Viewing time after isolation...

Alone in Youth A Girls we had Rebekka Drummond who has come back with vengeance after dealing with injury for the last year. I have been coaching Rebekka recently to build up her overall endurance and to mentally be able to fight harder on on-sights of routes in competition that she might deem too hard for her to on-sight. This has obviously worked as she cruised her first qualifier and placed 3^rd on her second qualifier matching a number of the GB Team Members in the category above her! The fight she put in on her second qualifier was amazing and I feel that she has come a long way since being injured – I’d even say she has come back stronger than before! It was obvious that this route was going to be hard and in fact too hard for everyone in the category, but it didn’t matter, what was important was being able to go for it and give 110% despite how hard it might feel.

So that was that for the Qualifiers, most of the Scottish contingent made it through to finals and those that didn’t climbed their socks off and are psyched for the next big competition.

On to the finals then…

The Youth C boys and Youth A Girls had the same route, an Orange 8a on the right hand-side of the comp wall. David was the first up and climbed the start really well until getting to one move where he probably should have forced a clip before moving on, but instead got a bit flustered and made an admirable attempt at making the following move, but unfortunately fell. Rory Cargill managed to make it to the same move but he grabbed the hold and took a wild swing off when his feet cut. Those two boys are not far off each other and it will be exciting stuff to watch them head to head in the Scottish Youth Climbing Championships (SYCC) in November. When David was off the wall he sat with me, Jess and Buz as we watched the final competitors. David and I were routing for young Alex Norton (the smallest Youth C competitor) as he is an amazing climber and fantastic to watch.

The route chosen as the Youth C boys final was quite thuggy and between slopey big holds, but despite this Alex climbed really well and made it to the same point as David before falling. Severin Domela was also on the cards as one of the top climbers but fell at the same point as David and Alex. I was lucky enough to get to spend some time coaching Severin at the recent National Academy in Sheffield - watch out for this guy, lots of potential!

Then Aiden Dunn and Kieran Forest made it a couple of moves further than the others and tied for first place with Aiden getting 1^st on count back. Good effort to Kieran though as I know how hard he has been training, 2^nd place is a fantastic achievement – I should know as I was 2^nd in the same event last year! :P 

Youth B girls was another show stopper with the first competitor blitzing her way from 6^th place to 1^st place in an awesome performance that made the whole Centre erupt in applause for her. Rebecca Kinghorn made a route reading error and got stuck mid-way through the crux. She wasn’t the only girl to do this but it just goes to show that route reading still affects the very best competitors. It was a true display of just how strong and fit Rebecca is though when she hung around the crux for longer than anyonelse, attempted to use the same foothold multiple times and even pulled on it before losing her grip and falling off - this still kept her at a solid 4th place. Kirsten Gray made it to 5th place in yet another gripping performance and unfortunately lost potentially a higher placed position due to misreading the sequence. I think though that for sure the best climber of the day won the Youth B girls with a flawless climb by Emily Allen. 

In Youth B boys William came out as one of the first climbers having dropped his 2^nd qualifier lower than expected, however, he totally dominated the route making it look easier than everyone including the Canadian who won the Junior Boys Category and finished with the highest position in the Youth B category – another 1^st place for Bosi. Angus Davidson who is climbing really strong at the moment did very well making it just shy of Bosi’s high point but got confused in the roof and pumped out for taking too long to make a decision… more roof sequence reading for you mister! Angus finished in a well-deserved 4^th place.

And finally, in Youth A girls, Rebekah Drummond gave a strong performance on her final maintaining her 3rd place position behind Tara Hayes and Molly Thompson-Smith.

Stanage – Grit for a day…

On the Sunday we decided to make the best of the good weather and we headed to Stanage to climb on the grit. I was keen to have a good day out with friends so I spoke to Chris Forest (father of Kieran in Youth C) and his family and we arranged to meet up with them at Stanage for a days trad climbing and bouldering. Stanage is such an awe inspiring crag and I have never spent more than an hour there before, I felt it was really worth it to go and experience the crag that has dominated the lives of so many Peak District climbers. Kieran, David, Chris and I all climbed the mega classic “Overhanging Buttress Direct” HVS, a classic roof climb on mega slopey jugs as well as another easier crack climb. David, Kieran and I also spent much of the day finding little boulders to climb about on and come the end of the day we made it along to Stanage Plantation to have play on the Deliverance boulder. We all tried the 5+ and 6b arête, I did both of them, Kieran did the 6b but felt the 5+ was a bit too reachy and David got to the final move of both of them but wasn’t quite confident enough to go for that last committing move… I felt pretty much the same but had an extra couple of feet at my disposal so making the final move was a little less scary :P

At the end of the day we were all satisfied with a good weekends worth of climbing. I am now sitting on the train writing this blog and looking forward to tomorrow when I will be boarding a plane flying off to Kalymnos – excited doesn’t do it justice!

Climbing Coaching is finally being recognised as a real pathway for Climbing Instructors/Coaches and those involved in the industry to take if they wish to improve their coaching skills. Although I can't say I have been around long enough to witness the days when professional coaching in climbing didn't even exist, I have been working as a coach for long enough that I can see a massive requirement to provide those working at walls with the necessary skills to coach more effectively all aspects of a climbers performance. 

MANCHESTAAA!!!!This week I travelled down to Manchester to take part in the first Providers Induction Meet for the new MTA Coaching Awards. A few weeks previously I had applied to become a provider for the new course and luckily they had picked me amongst 18 others to become the first providers of the course. I was honoured to be  selected amongst such a high number of very qualfied and experienced coaches but at the same time terrified to be the youngest at the table with the least number of years exerience working in the industry. It's nice to read through Al Halewoods blog and see that he was feeling the same nerves as me. I know that together, the 19 of us will make a fantastic start to this new coaching award.

For two days we were presented with the new scheme by Martin Chester who has been working hard at getting this program off the ground and into the hands of us new providers. He organised the 2 days of presentations, practical workshops and lectures at the end of which I felt buzzing with anticipation to make these courses a success.Presentations

To give a little bit of understanding behind what this new award is, there is basically three tears (two of which are going to be available soon and one of which is geared for next Spring).

1. Foundation Coach
2. Development Coach
3. Performance Coach (Next Spring)

The idea behind the three levels is that coaches can gain experience relative to the type of people they will be working with. All Climbing coaches and instructors start working with beginner level climbers, so at this stage it is ideal to attend the Foundation Coach Award. You will learn all about the techniques and skills required to coach climbers just starting or who are stil learning the fundamental techniques and skills.

Rob giving a bit of schpiel

The development coach looks at developing climbers over the course of a longer period of time and delves more into advanced skill acquisition and coaching processes - how do we improve the standards of any climber wantint to improve over time and how do the needs and requirements of beginners and advance level climbers change? The performance coach will be geared at high performance orientated coaching and will incorporate more advanced skills yet again.

Manchester from Charlie's flat

All I can say is that I am psyched to get these awards going ahead and I am going to be putting my head down to getting the first dates for the courses advertised. Stay tuned to hear more from me on the new Coaching Awards and when they are going to be available to book onto.

Robbie

I have just returned from yet another eventful and character building climbing trip to Céüse, France. I was out there for around 4 weeks in total with two others travelling with me from Scotland, Andy Latta and William Bosi.

For those of you who don’t know Andy and William, Andy is one of my oldest and best friends, we have shared many adventures together since we were young and he is still my favourite climbing buddy on outdoor sport climbing trips. William is one of my young apprentices who is quickly becoming a master. For William, this was his first big trip abroad with the guys, he’s only 14 but he was ready for it and he has no doubt learned a lot from the weeks he spent at Céüse.

The Journey Out

We had planned to head out from Edinburgh early on the morning after we packed the car, however a last minute decision changed our plans and we ended up leaving at midnight of that evening. It was quite a big step for me as I had never driven so far in my life, the idea of driving 20+ hours in a car laden with all our kit including ourselves was scary, however after the first couple of hours I adjusted well to the endless streaming of lights passing by on the motorway and the doubling in weight of the car.

William tucking into his staple brekkie of Cookie Crisp without milk - all you need to crush at Ceuse

There is no doubt about it; Andy is the best driving companion I could ever have had. He is the most organized person I know, he had the maps and directions down and all the necessary paperwork for the ferry as well as all our passports kept nice and safe (if it was up to me, I would probably have ended up in some remote part of Asia no doubt). Andy was like my human sat-nav/alarm clock, when I looked tired he was the first to step in, slap me about a bit and stick on some good beats to get me psyched up again.

All in all we didn’t go too far wrong on the journey out – we got a bit confused around London that cost us a short amount of time, then we had to spend a lot of time waiting for the Ferry in Dover. And when we finally hit the French roads we managed perfectly until the final step of the journey i.e. reaching Céüse from Gap. I had never actually done this before and our directions only took us as far as Gap, so of course when we arrived at 5am in Gap, finding the crag took a bit longer than anticipated.

It was all good in the end though, we found the crag, set up camp and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow :P And that was the start of Céüse 2013!

Getting Started

So I wasn’t sure what to expect with Céüse 2013 – I had hoped to go back this time and get on some of the harder 8^th grade routes as it is mostly these that I have left to climb. As I had climbed a number of 8b+ and 8c routes this year in Spain, I figured it might be a possibility to do an 8c in Céüse as well, this would certainly make my year since the Céüse 8c’s are amongst the most stunning lines I have yet to encounter on my travels.

Darren climbing a big 7b in Berlin Sector - I did the 7b to the left of this which might have been 7c anywhere else!

The last time I had actually been to Céüse was 2 years previously and I had felt reasonably strong on one of the 8c’s then, so this year I was hoping to see some improvements. Of course, it takes time to get used to a style and seeing as I had just driven a ridiculous number of hours already, gone 2 days without sleep, drunk 4 Red Bulls and sung a lot of Oasis… I was probably not in the best state of body or mind for climbing hard routes. Needless to say I flung myself at them anyway and got a bit shut down.

The first week became more of a “getting used to Céüse again” experience after that… What was really good to see was just how well William adapted his strong indoor fitness and strength to the Céüse rock. On his first day he came close on an 8a onsight (“Carte Blanche”) and then quickly dispatched it 2^nd go without any trouble whatsoever. He then started trying an 8c in between attempts on other easier routes. The 8c he tried was called “Chronique de la Haine Ordinaire”, a tough short boulder section presumed to be of around F7C+ boulder difficulty followed by a longer section estimated at around f8a+ route grade. The boulder section was split in two, both around F7B+ I’d say. We could both do each section on its own, but I struggled a lot with one move going to a pinch on the lower boulder whilst William seriously disliked a small mono hold on the upper boulder. The 8a+ section was still possible to fall on, but both of us felt very confident that if we made it through the lower section then we would get to the top. I gave “Chronique de la Haine” a few goes but wasn’t psyched after it tore a big flapper in my finger. William persisted longer with it but did the same after a few more attempts.

I then decided to try easier routes that I could do in less attempts, as I wanted to get more into the style. There was still quite a few 8a’s and 8a+’s I had yet to try so I was keen to go around them and clip a few chains. This turned out to be harder than expected :P

Whilst William was trying 8c’s and I was ticking some of the easier routes in Céüse, some that were repeats and others new to me. Andy was getting back into sport climbing after a long time off. He had suffered a very bad rope burn on his hand earlier this year that laid him off climbing for a long time! He was mostly interested to see how much the scar tissue on his hand would be affected by the sharp rock in Céüse. Thankfully, Andy didn’t seem to be affected too badly by his hands and managed a quick repeat of a super classic 7b “Lapinerie”.

William Bosi trying "La Part du Diabl" (8c) - in the foggy fog!!! CRAZY BOY!!!

Starting to Function

After a week of climbing in Céüse, all of us were starting to get the hang of things. I still didn’t feel 100% in tune with the rock but it was coming slowly. It was this week that a few friends were arriving from various places as well which meant instead of lots of walking, I got to do some more driving!!! FUN!!! Our first guest was Alexander Bosi (William’s older brother) who was arriving in Grenoble. Secondly we had a very good friend of both Andy and myself, a Danish girl called Michelle Kim-Theisen who was supposed to meet us in Gap but ended up messing up (because she’s Danish) and we had to drive to some random little town in the middle of nowhere :P It was actually quite an adventure and Andy will do a good job of describing some of the “roads” we had to avoid falling off the side of… Worth it to pick up Michelle and grab us some pizza :D  On the way back Andy and I serenaded Michelle with some amazing Oasis sing along action – by the way, if anyone is interested Andy and I are now doing a karaoke style duet which covers mostly Oasis but also do Owl City stuff and Magic Man by B.O.B.

Also joining us at the campsite was a friendly (and slightly terrifying) face from home, Mike Halcrow. Mike is a friend of Andy and myself who joined in on the trip as well. I told him lies about how Céüse is really soft and that climbing 8a here is like climbing 7b+ at the wall… Now I am scared to ever see him again otherwise he might kill me :P

As well as Michelle, Alexander and Mike, we met up with some more friends at the campsite. The always-friendly German beast, Felix Neumarker was one of the first to arrive. I last saw Felix in France end of last year but only very briefly, and we had been climbing together a lot the previous Spring. Since then he had climbed numerous 9a’s and one 9a+, La Rambla, which he told me is only 8c and isn’t so hard… Yes… Just don’t tell Dani Andrada that… Also climbing with us for a week was young Alex Waterhouse and Billy Ridal, both friends of Williams’ and mine from the national competitions.

We also made plenty of new friends of course as we always do on these trips, in particular we met a group of British climbers, two of which (Sam and Darren) study at Aberdeen university, not forgetting of course Jay and Mark. It was good to hang out with these guys for the majority of our trip as they certainly livened up our days.

Sam and Darren at their camping spot - Note: Hammock is a good idea!!!

Anyway, the second week of climbing felt a lot better than the first. I started the week by ticking of a few routes I have always wanted to try but never got round to before. First on the hit list was “Femme Blanche” (8a+). I fell after the crux at the top on my first attempt in the dark, then did the dirty tech slab onsight during my successful redpoint the day after… I also managed a very solid flash of a classic 8a/+ called “L’ami Couette”.

On the same day I did “L’ami Couette”, I also did an 8a+ called “Les Poinçonneur de lilas”. This was a route I had wanted to try for a number of years, as it looked amazing – and it didn’t disappoint either. It wasn’t too hard compared to other Céûse 8a+’s but perhaps the boulder mid-section could be hard for those breaking into the grade.

Onsighting a big blue 8a! I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out this bit :P

William and I both tried a good looking 8a+ in Berlin that I had never noticed before. The route was called “Ratman” and took a slightly overhung section of the wall on what seemed small but positive holds all the way up. Both of us had onsight goes on it on which we both fell on the same move at the crux around 4/5^th’s of the way up. When we discovered actually how hard the individual moves where, we were blown away! This is probably the hardest 8a+ I have ever done, possibly in line with another 8a+ I climbed to the left of this called “Queue de Rat” which I did on my last day. “Ratman” climbs a long section of steady 7c/+ climbing on small but positive holds before you hit a gnarly V6 boulder with a not so good rest just before entering this. After you do the boulder problem there is still a little bit of techyness and some very droppable moves… Luckily neither of us dropped them and we both sent :P In all honesty, I have done 8b+ that have felt as hard as this and it would be 8b anywhere else for sure! Same goes for “Queue de Rat” and funnily enough my statement is backed up on 8a.nu by Ethan Pringle who says exactly the same :P

Big Ticks and Big Falls

Eventually, I managed to find something harder that I fancied projecting a little. The route was called “Slow Food” and was situated in probably the steepest sector of Céüse. Unfortunately in this sector there are only two climbs, “Slow Food” (8b+) and another absolute classic 8a called “Bourinator”. I was very lucky as Michelle had decided to start work on “Bourinator” which suited the two of us very well for belaying each other.

William had tried “Slow Food” briefly a few days previously and had told me it was really hard but that he was keen to get back on it. When I approached this route there was already a young American boy called Mirko (Caballero) trying it. It was impressive watching him make some good links on the lower section (crux) despite only being 12 years old! Also with him and his parents was young Ashima Shiraishi, the 12 year old girl who was climbing V13. I couldn’t wait to see her climb as I had heard so much about her :P I watched her walk up “Slow Food” (8b+) 2^nd go with so much ease – it was nothing short of incredible. What was nice to see was her wonderful attitude towards climbing, she didn’t seem to have any ego despite being the best climber at the crag (by far) and was very happy to just go and climb anything that took her fancy, not jaded by grades or pressure in any way.

My initial attempts on “Slow Food” started out as bolt to bolts as the bottom section for me felt pretty nails, but quickly I discovered beta that improved the situation massively and on my 3^rd attempt I stuck the first crux to my surprise and fell on the last hard move of the 2^nd crux. This was huge for me because previously the route had felt totally nails and now I knew that if I had got through that 2^nd crux I would have completed the route.

"Slow Food" (8b+) - the gnarly drop knee crux moves :D I loved this bit!!!

A couple of days later, William in amazing style at the end of the day did “Slow Food” for his first 8b+! At 14 years old, he matches the youngest Brit to climb 8b+ and is now the youngest Scot. A day later, I got back on the route and made it through both of the lower cruxes (only just) and was at the top of the final crux… I felt really steady and was moving to a huge jug when the right hand crimp shattered in my hands sending me hurtling off the wall! I didn’t really know what to do… I was hanging off the rope a little confused, I didn’t know if I should be angry or happy. I had made it through every crux and had essentially done the route, but the hold had broken stopping me from clipping the chains :P In my heart I know I did the route, but I hadn’t got the tick truthfully, so I decided I would try it again after a rest day. Unfortunately the rain came and I never got a chance to get back on it… Oh well L I will be back soon to clip those chains :D

I got into a habit of taking the jump from the top of “Slow Food” whenever I got to the chains. The fall is huge but very safe and so was good fun even if you didn’t do the route – it was always my excuse to go to the top just so I could take the jump. I then convinced Michelle, William and Alex (Waterhouse) to take the fall when they got to the end of either “Slow Food” or “Bourinator”. 

As well as jumps from the top of routes, a popular rest day activity was jumping into the lake from a 10m high concrete tower. The hard part for me wasn’t the height, more the cold water… I improved at this rapidly however, going from not wanting to jump in at all, to jumping in multiple times in the sun, then one day suffered a terrible dare where I risked losing an eyebrow unless I jumped in at night on a particularly foggy evening… trust me, it felt a little like the start of a horror movie :P Luckily I had a partner in crime, Jay, who was the darer but agreed to do it with me… Thanks man!

More friends arrive...

We were coming to our final week in Céüse and more friends were arriving from all over making it much harder as the days towards our departure loomed ever closer. Alex Barrows (now made famous by his cheating knees) joined us as well as Tom Richmond (current Ednburgh local) and Andre Hedger (my biggest fan - but apparently he's more impressed by Alex's knees nowadays). 

Impressively on one of the first few days of arrival, Andre ticked "Seurs Froides" (8a+), and I have heard via text that he has also made quick ascents of "Encore" (8a+) and "Femme Blanche" (8a+). Good Effort!

Also, Alex I have heard has made an impressive flash ascent of "Encore" (8a+) since I left - but he still fell on a 7c+ onsight attempt at the start of the trip so it kind of evens things out considerably... ;)

And Michelle made a very impressive redpoint of the super classic 8a "Bourinator", probably the burliest 8a I have ever tried and one of the few 8a routes I think I am scared of trying again. I did it again this year and it felt just as hard as it did when I first climbed it years ago! BEAST!

Coming to an End

As the trip was closing to a finish, I started to realize just how much I love Céüse… I can’t quite place why exactly I love this place so much… its not just one thing, it’s a mixture. I have been here five times now:

$1.     Céüse 2007 – with Rich Simpson when I was 17 (5 Weeks)

$2.     Céüse 2008 – with Andy when I was 18 (5 Weeks)

$3.     Céüse 2010 – with Natalie when I was 20 (10 Days)

$4.     Céüse 2011 – with Natalie when I was 21 (4 Weeks)

$5.     Céüse 2013 – with Andy and William now I am 23 (4 Weeks)

That equates to around 20 weeks living in Céüse altogether… I guess I have been there so much that it has literally become a home away from home of sorts. Whenever I return, I feel like I am coming back to a place I am comfortable in, not like going on holiday, like going to my other home :P One of the best things about this home however is that it has the best crag on earth 1 hours walk from my tent… That and the scene at base camp is unlike anything I have ever experienced at any climbing destination… The Céüse experience truly is one of a kind…

The crew...

Nathan on classic 6a @ Tumpen (Ötztal)

After a mornings climbing at Tumpen, a fantastic low grades crag in the Ötztal Valley, we headed straight to Kletterhalle Imst where we met up with the Imst Team and their trainer Andy Knabl for our second days training with them. We trained for 3 hours, most of which involved a heavy session doing various styles of endurance based training on lead and top rope, after which we headed outside to the huge competition wall for some hard leads. Connor made an impressive onsight of a Yellow 7a and 7a+, the second of which he was into the roof for the second pitch graded 7b+! David climbed out of his skin despite a very hard days training and even managed to knock out his first 7c onsight, a purple crimp fest that built into a severe overhang on powerful moves and a huge tufa! He then went onto onsight another 7b...

Connor after stripping the 6b+ (That's a lot of quick draws!!!)

Lisa and Nathan have also been making some impressive leaps in performance. Nathan who is mainly a boulderer back home in London has been pushing his endurance threshold and was managing laps on one of his comp routes for the YCCF! Lisa has also made some incredible gains in performance, after having only just been introduced to lead back in March and never having taken any lead falls - on this trip she has been pushing her lead grade to an insane level and has now lead both 6c and taken many lead falls on route graded up to 7b+!!! Not bad for a 9 year old girl :P She has become good friends with a little Austrian girl called Yana, both have been pushing each other and its very nice to see some international friendships being created on this trip.

At Tumpen this morning, Lisa climbed her first ever sport route outside, a classic 6a. David, Connor and Nathan also climbed an amazing 6b+ called "Indian Reservation" and David tried a 6c at the end of the outdoor session. Despite these low grades, the climbs themselves felt very hard - more to do with the style than anything else. I think the rock type is Schist, for the grades I would probably have said the 6b+ felt more like a 7a on Limestone if I'd compared them. I looked at the 7c and couldn't see any holds... scared me silly :P

Yesterday we had a rest day as we had been climbing three days on (two days of competing and a days training with the Imst Team). For a rest day we headed to the mega fun water park called Area 47. This place is just insane, there is so much fun to be had here and I honestly can't wait to go back next year :P We managed to sneak Connor onto some of the bigger rides that required him to be a year older, one of which was a huge water slide with a sled that you lay on your stomach whilst going down. It was mad!!! I also got winded badly doing a huge slide/jump which threw me at least 10m into the air before I landed back first into the water... Pictures to come :P

There was also a pretty cool climbin wall, bouldering wall and a pillar of the bridge that Hansjorg Auer had bolted and climbed. We where all interested to try these fun looking routes but we hadn't brought our climbing kit with us... The receptionist told us that only Hansjorg has climbed these :P

Tomorrow we are climbing again outside in the morning, then heading to the wall for another training session with the Imst Team, after which we will probably hit the Outdoor wall again :D PSYCHED! Oh yeah, Nat and I have also been enjoying the Imst wall climbing - I have onsighted the two hardest routes from the competition both which were 7c+, onsighted three 8a's on the big competition wall outside and managed an onsight of an 8a+ on the competition wall outside as well. The crazy thing with Imst wall is the volume at which they set routes... every 2 weeks every climb in the main hall on the main sections of wall are changed... so basically every 2 weeks there will be a new set of around 20 x routes from 7b to 8c... The last set included around 8 routes 8b and harder! Thats one reason why all the climbers here are so good :P

Connor psyched after achieving 7a+ onsight at Kletterhalle Imst!

David Psyched after achieving his first 7c insight!