The Great Outdoors

It’s been a hectic period with an amazing stretch of glorious weather in the UK, followed by 5 weekends in 4 destinations in Europe.  I have neglected my blog, opting instead to venture out in to the great unknown (for me) – outdoors.

A normal venture out consists of pottering around in the big outdoor playground climbing everything in sight that looks nice.  No aims to do anything in particular, no working anything, just enjoying the rock.  I’ve previously found that it takes a little time getting used to the rock and you need to take time looking at the view!

I feel that I have had more time recently.  I decided it would be very good for me to start trying some ‘stuff’.  Now I have a little more focus.   Time to pull hard, get out of my comfort zone and work things.  I decided to start actively trying ‘7 and upwards’.  Obviously I’ve mostly started with ‘A’ – I’m nothing if not logical!  But I’ve mainly just tried to do a 7 each day that I’ve been out, picking one near to where we’ve ended up climbing, rather than cherry picking.

It’s fun.  It’s improving my finger strength and technique.  It’s making me stronger.  Here’s the outcome so far this year for the ones that didn’t get away:

Peak District

• Gardoms – Mark’s Roof Left Hand 7a
• Curbar – Trackside 7a
• Raven Tor – Saline Drip 7a flash, Saline Drip sit start 7a+, Weedkiller 7a+ (repeat)

Fontainebleau

• Bois Rond – Bombe Humaine 7a+, Petite Insoutenable 7b (but it might be 6c! don’t quote me on these grades as ‘ the grades they keep a’changing’)
• Canche aux Merciers – La Grande Marche 7a+
• Haute Plaines – Lapin ou Canard 7a
• Franchard Cuisiniere – Bizarre Bizarre 7a, La Voie du Pin assis 6c+/7a (the top out felt hard until I played on some razor crimps then came back to it to crimp the top sloper, and they say the standing start is easier!), Pas Cool 7a
• 95.2 – Indestructible 7a+ (this was a great big rock hug which got my inner thighs!), Le Petite Toit traverse with mantle finish 7a (but guide book is old so may be easier now?)

Why do a lot of the 6’s feel harder in Font?  Here’s a clip of my favourite from the Font trip, Indestructible.

Indestructible 7a+ from Peter Jeffery on Vimeo.

CWIF 2011–return of the dappiness

The Climbing Works International Festival was a big, fun event once again. I found having the 30 qualifier problems on a different day to the semi and final much nicer as I have never been one for stamina/endurance, although I am improving.

The quails were hard once again. The problems were quite ‘droppable’ and there were several that I did drop. I worked through the problems with Katy P in the morning session. We all but raced around as there was not much time per bloc. I topped less than half and was a little concerned that I was having a really bad day. I knew my lock was lacking as I have had some persistent back knots. I remained optimistic that I had done enough to qualify – it’s best to wait and see how everyone else has done, so I waited for hours! The am and pm session finished at 12.30 and 18.30 respectively. I passed the time by having my back knots attacked (and getting a blue avatar face to boot from the massage table – amazing dressing up btw), icing the attacked areas, refuelling, and snoozing. I qualified in 5^th place. I was really pleased with this.

The semis were good. I was somewhat surprised to latch the last hold on the first bloc - popping for a jug from an unlikely position on a slab. Luckily I didn’t let go in surprise and got a flash. I tired myself out on the second bloc bouncing around to gain the top on my 3^rd attempt. I then found that I didn’t have enough static lock on the 3^rd bloc which is a bit of a reverse of fortune for me. Although I was tantalisingly close to what I think was the key move. I did enough; I just scraped into the final. The vocal crowd helped spur me on.

I refuelled on chicken and rice whilst my shoulder curled up in shock (that’s what it felt like anyway). It still functioned but was very tender. I don’t think it was much of a hindrance in the final. My main problem was being tired and dappy once again. I missed the, with hindsight, obvious ways to progress problems 1 and 4 and feel I should have done better on these. Problem 2 was really scary and I’m very pleased with myself for topping it, nay, starting it. Comps are great for pushing the comfort zone and achieving unexpected things. I came 6^th, by far my best CWIF to date

Missing judgement

I was really stupid in my last competition - the British Championships. I made the final, viewed the problems and read them ok, then forgot what I had planned to do whilst climbing them. I made lots of errors of judgement and dropped problems. There were some moves I dropped due to hand slips/strength, but it was mainly bad choices.

This year I have mostly been struggling to get any sleep. It is an excuse for being a bit dappy, but I do not feel that it can in any way justify forgetting about the last hold of a problem!! How silly do I feel? Very. Despite what I was hearing from the spectators and commentary, I should have realised that the hold I was on was not the top hold, as it wasn't marked as such. I jumped off from the penultimate hold, thinking it was the last one. Hopefully I won't do that again any time ever.

I can take lots of positives from the comp though. Lots of the problems had pops to the top and I got all of them, only slipping on the last one when going for the match. I even have the photos to prove it. Not bad for the queen of static.

Jump to it

We had an excellent start to the power phase of our training at Climb Newcastle. The setting was just what we needed and I found myself doing flicks and pops that I didn't realise that I was capable of. Things such as 'not holding' a hold and flicking to the next is possible! I've just got to go for it.

All the best to Andy and his family for a speedy recovery.

Winter Leagues

Training started in earnest in October with 3 team training sessions and the Rock Over comp. After having a month of rest I did some general conditioning to let my body know it was time to work again, before working on strength.

The Rock Over comp was good, but came as a bit of a shock to my body as I hadn't done that quantity of climbing for quite a while. My back tied itself in more knots than usual. I suffered a frustrating final, throwing away last moves by being static. I was really enjoying the problems - mainly my sort of thing with little crimps. I ripped 2 holes in my fingers on the last, dyno, problem. Helpful spectators provided some tape and I continued, but missed a knee bar and tiredly missed the moves (maybe a little distracted by the blood oozing from my fingers, sorry about that!). No excuse, time to man up and get fitter, stronger and bouncier.

It's now winter league season again. Fun weekly battles, typically at the end of the working week. I find that I leave my brain behind somewhere in the office. I may be able to pull, but coordinating my limbs and reading the problems is a big ask. It leads to a little frustration at times, but makes me pull harder as my technique goes out the window. This has it's benefits as I'm in a strength training phase at the moment. Pulling hard, locking, staying square helps your strength even if you drop the problem.

In Inssbruck and out

The European Championships took us to the beautiful Tirol area fo Austria - Innsbruck and Imst. I climbed ok at the comp, almost topping 3 blocs, but lacking enough oomph to latch the 3 last holds rather than just tickling them. I came 29th. Not good enough. I've well and truly hit my season peak and dropped out of the other side. I mainly felt like I'd lost my power endurance with regard to completing a bloc, but recovered reasonably well between blocs. My power quickly departs leaving me with a big lock, but not pop.

It was amazing to watch the lead and boulder finals. Truly awesome spectacles at a very well organised comp. Throughout much of the season I've watched Adam Ondre blitz the competition. It was very exciting to see Ramon and Cedric raise their games and come out on top.

We planned to go and sample the local boulders, but the weather got the better of us and we went and had a session on the 'Bacher's training boards' instead. They're quite good (understatement). A big cave, a couple of comp boards, some interesting training aids and more holds than I could shake a hand at. Lots of big awkward slopers for me to grapple with, good training. We also popped into Boulderwelt in Munich for a few hours. Lots of big dynamic moves - very different to the typical UK style.

I'm now back in the UK, rested, and chomping at the bit to regain and improve on my previous form. I'm also climbing outside more to practice more styles.

GC Photography

The locals that I climb with are a talented lot, and that's not just their climbing. They come from all walks of life and climbing brings us together. Thanks to Glen Chappell of Friday Night Climbing and also GC Photography for his photos of the recent Sheffield World Cup at Cliffhanger.