We have started by looking at things like their diet, body fat levels, current training structure, current climbing grade, strengths and weaknesses, reoccurring injuries and access to training facilities. Using this information we have design a program that will help them achieve their target.

We will come back and review everyone once every two months, looking at their training and if its helping them achieve their chosen targets. At the end of the year, we hope we can all celebrate as we hit our 2012 goals!

Gareth Hanson – Current Grade VS

Gareth on Pork Chop Slab, Almscliffe

Gareth is 40 this September and wants to be in the best shape of his life for his birthday. He indulges in cross country mountain biking, snowboarding, climbing and more recently kite surfing. His focus tends to shift from activity to activity depending largely on the weather conditions. If it’s windy he will kitesurf, if it’s dry he will climb and for everything else MTB seems to fit the bill.

He currently leads VS trad and 6a sport outdoors and particularly enjoys climbing slabs and walls. He has had relatively little leading practice lately so can find it harder to commit to moves above protection.

Gareth’s training is currently a mixture of indoor climbing sessions, weights, cycling and kite surfing, along with occasional trip out climbing. Up to this point his climbing training has had very little structure. He has a history of rotator cuff problems as a result of weight  training and other sport related training in the past.

Gareth is 5 foot 7 and weighs 72kg. His diet is generally healthy and varied.

Climbing Target – E1 Trad and 6c Sport

Gareth’s training at the moment isn’t specific enough to improve his climbing performance. Although weights do have benefits, they don’t target fingers, technique or stamina, which are key for improving his grade.

His diet and weight is healthy and will have little impact on his overall performance at his grade level.

Gareth’s new program has been designed to make him a more confident leader, improve his climbing fitness and overall finger/body strength. The program is as follows:

Monday – rest or bike.

Tuesday – Boulder at the climbing wall. Warm up really well on nice easy stuff. Then look at doing different types of boulder problems on roofs, overhanging/vertical, slabs. This will target the different muscle groups required for climbing and help build his technique on the varying surfaces. Finish with core and specific rotator cuff work.

Wednesday – Rest or bike.

Thursday – Leading at wall. To help him improve his confidence and stamina he will do leading pyramids as follows with a 10 min rest in between each route.

5b, 5c, 6a, 6b, 6b+, 6b, 6a, 5c, 5b

Finish with core and rotator cuff work.

Friday – Rest.

Saturday – Climb outside or climbing specific weights.

Sunday – Climb outside or Power endurance circuits, composing of 5 sets of a 25 move circuit with 6 minute rest inbetween.

Menna Pritchard – Current Grade VS

Menna climbing at the Gower

Menna is a single mum to a toddler.  As the same time she is also studying full-time for a degree in Outdoor Education, as well as working as an Outdoor Instructor and doing
some volunteer PR work for a few companies. As a result getting spare time for climbing training can be difficult.

Menna currently leads VS outdoors and although she does lots of swimming and weight training, she doesn’t do much climbing specific training.

Menna is 26 years old, 5 foot 4 and weights 61kg.

Climbing Target – E1 Trad and improve her overall bouldering ability

Menna is in a similar position to Gareth in that her training should be more specific to climbing. Time pressures will sometimes make it difficult for her to train regularly, so her priority will always be climbing outdoors, where she can gain the best overall improvement in her climbing ability.

Her diet and weight is healthy and will have little impact on his overall performance at his grade level.

Menna’s new program has been designed to improve her climbing fitness and overall finger/body strength. The program is as follows:

Monday – rest, swim, ride or surf.

Tuesday – Boulder at the climbing wall. Warm up really well on nice easy stuff. Then look at doing different types of boulder problems on roofs, overhanging/vertical, slabs. This will target the different muscle groups required for climbing and help build her technique on the varying surfaces. Finish with core.

Wednesday – rest, swim, ride or surf.

Thursday – Leading at wall. To help her improve his confidence and stamina she will do leading pyramids as follows with a 10 min rest in between each route.

5a, 5b, 5b+, 5c, 6a, 5c, 5b+, 5b, 5a

Finish with core.

Friday – rest, swim, ride or surf.

Saturday – Climb outside or climbing specific weights.

Sunday – Climb outside or Power endurance circuits, composing of 5 sets of a 25 move circuit with 6 minute rest inbetween.

Tony Rees – Current Grade E3

Tony on Lucky Strike, Pembroke

Tony is a full time climbing instructor on Gower, which gives him excellent access to both rock and partners. He has a young family, but has a lot of flexibility at home. His other hobbies include the regular trappings of outdoor folk such as paddling, surfing etc.

He has lead up to E3 trad in the past, but has recently been plagued by golfers elbow. This has had a knock effect on his overall climbing strength and fitness, as his training has been limited.

His main climbing strengths are his technique and overall stamina, but feels as though his ability to climb through hard crux sections of routes his main limiting factor.

Tony’s training sessions are generally weights based in an effort to improve his climbing strength. These sessions have directly led to his current elbow problems.

Tony is 32, 5 foot 8 and weights around 11.5 stone. Although his diet is healthy he does confess to eating any chocolate or sweets he can get his hands on.

Climbing Target – E5 Trad

Tony’s first priority is to resolve his elbows issue. Since he got the problem he has stopped any climbing specific training for fear of making them worse. This is a common mistake climbers make when they get injured. He really needs to climb at a lower level that doesn’t affect the elbows to help strengthen the connective tissue and aide healing.

The first part of Tony’s program is based around gentle bouldering, gradually increasing the standard as his elbows get stronger. This is combined with eccentric work specific to the injured tendon, regular icing after training and massage of the finger/elbow flexors.

As Tony moves into the E5 category power to weight become much more important. Any reduction in his weight by cutting out sweets and chocolate would help his progression.

Once his elbows are stronger, Tony will start doing more specific climbing orientated training, targeted towards his weakest area, bouldering strength.

Monday - Rest, cycle etc

Tuesday - Bouldering on a Moon Board and then finish with a power endurance session on a finger board.

Wednesday - Rest, cycle etc.

Thursday - Bouldering on a Moon Board

Friday - Rest, cycle etc.

Saturday - Routes outside or power endurance circuits. 4 sets of 25 move circuit with a 7 min rest.

Sunday - Routes outside or power endurance circuits. 4 sets of 25 move circuit with a 7 min rest.

Rob Lonsdale – Current Grade Font 7c+

Rob climbing Brad Pitt, Stanage

Rob works full time, as an IT Support Technician at an Independent School. He started off trad climbing 10 years ago, and then progressed onto sport routes for a couple of years. He finally decided that bouldering was the way forward, finding this to be by far the most fun and social side of the sport. When he’s not bouldering he mountain bikes in the summer and snowboards or ice climbs in the winter.

Rob has recently bouldered up to 7c+, with his focus predominately on gritstone. His training is purely bouldering based with extensive sessions on the competition problems at his local wall.

He has ruptured a pulley in the left ring finger, requiring surgery to fix. As a result the left hand is significantly weaker as a result. This particularly shows up on a campus board where he can do 1-4-6 static with the right and only do 1-3-5 with the left. He also has had shoulder problems in the past.

Rob is 29, 5 foot 5 and weighs 10 stone. His diet is generally good, although he confesses to having a weakness for crumbles and cooked school lunches!

Climbing Target – Font 8a

Currently Rob’s training is based around competition circuits at the local walls. His climbing style is generally very static and controlled with good locking ability. This suites him very well on his favourite rock type, gritstone.

Robs two main weaknesses are the lack of strength in his left hand/side and a lack of ability to move quickly for holds. As a result left hand specific work and campusing/plyometrics will be introduced into his program.

His body fat percentage has been measured at 14%, which is at the top end for an athlete. Any drops in this area will certainly give him an edge on the hardest boulder problems.

To aide recovery and muscle growth Rob will take a protein shake within 30 minutes of the session end.

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – Boulder and campus board session. This will be a mixture of laddering, touches and double handed work. To strengthen the core Rob will also introduce front lever training into his program. Finish with core and rotator cuff exercises.

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – Bouldering. Including specific work for the left side, such as long moves off small finger holds, dynamic moves to marginal holds leading with left hand and systems training.

Friday – Rest

Saturday – Bouldering indoors or out

Sunday – Bouldering indoors or out.

Paul Fearn – Current Grade 8a+

Paul on the start to Caviar, Rubicon Wall

Paul works at home for a Chinese mobile phone startup. Although he has a 9 month old, working from home provides him with plenty of flexibility for his climbing. From his roots in trad climbing nearly 25 years ago, he now mainly focuses on sport climbing and bouldering.

His hardest sport route is 8a+, climbed last year. His climbing has been blighted by back and shoulder injuries until recently. Following lots of conditioning work he now feels that this winter will be his first uninterrupted period of training for 15 years.

Traditionally Paul has focused on training his strengths and little time on his weaknesses. As a result he has strong fingers, but poor upper body strength and power endurance.

Paul is 40 years old, 6 foot 2 and weights 73kg

Climbing Target 8b+ sport route

Pauls focus over the winter will be on improving his weak elements. Before Christmas he went through a block of strength training, including bouldering, plyometrics, campus board, bachar ladder, weighted pullups and front levers.

For the next eight weeks he is going to focus on power endurance, with a one week break inbetween for a bouldering trip to Spain. To maintain his current strength he will continue to do one strength session a week.

To try and stay away from injuries he will spend a lot of time working on his core, rotator cuff and lower traps and back flexibility.

At the moment he is the heaviest he has ever been. During the climbing season he will lose 4kg to improve his power to weight. At this level of climbing losing 4kg can help give you the edge needed to reach the next grade.

Pauls training for the two blocks of power endurance is as follows:

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 25 move 8b+route circuit on his board. Initially he can’t do the circuit and has to do it in three overlapping sections. He will take a 15 second rest between each section and then have a longer 15 min break inbetween. As he gains more power endurance he will be able to eventually complete the circuit and use it for intervals. Finish with four sets of power endurance on a finger board, front levers, core and rotator cuff/lower trap work

Wednesday:  Rest. He finds repeated days of power endurance hard on his forearms, so needs to adopt a one day on one day off approach.

Thursday - Repeat Tuesday, but finish with PE on the campus board.

Friday -Rest

Saturday -  Bouldering on a Moon Board. Campus and plyometrics. Finish with intervals on route length boulder problems (20 moves) around 7c-7c+

Sunday – Rest and then repeat

We are all going to meet up at a climbing wall in 2 months time and check on our progress. We will let you know how it goes!

Follow 5 Climbers: Try and Achieve Their 2012 Targets is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. Turbo Charged New Year’s Training Resolutions
2. Steve McClure on Training Power Endurance
3. 12 week progression to insane grip strength – guest post by Paul Wilson

Steve McClure on a power endurance route at Raven Tor. Photo copyright Steve McClure

As part of our training series this week we are going to focus on power endurance. Often overlooked by many climbers, training power endurance, is critical to getting you up most UK sport routes where the hard sections are usually no more than 10 to 30 moves.

Steve McClure needs little introduction to most climbers. Having climbed the UK hardest sport route, Overshadow at Malham Cove 9a+, and onsighted upto 8b+ he can certainly be considered to have excellent power endurance! Steve recently kindly spared me some of his time to do an interview on the training techniques he and others use to enable them to get up some of the hardest power endurance routes in the world.

What techniques do you recommend for training Power Endurance?

As a first stage I would suggest the ‘getting really pumped’ method. The key is monitoring the time period. It needs to be about 90 seconds to 120 seconds, from start to failure. The movement needs to be either the same, or on a circuit with absolutely no change in difficulty. This is the problem with circuits, as often it ends up being too easy and then too hard with a fast build-up of fatigue and failure due to being ‘powered out’ rather than pumped. The campus method has worked very well for me and many others. This must be done with feet on, or it will be too hard and you’ll be bouldering! Feet can be on specific footholds or a chair or whatever. Aim for 3 – 4 reps of this, each taking around 90 – 120 seconds. Rest 5 – 7 minutes in between. The movement should be similar to normal campusing, but with feet on, like rung 1 – rung 4, rung 6 match, then back down again (worth putting in rung 2 on way down to cut out the crux move (dropping 4-1) and so you lead with a different hand each movement)

What happens if you don’t have access to a campus board?

It is possible on the fingerboard, you can do actual hangs with feet off, 7 seconds hang, 5 seconds off. However, it may be better to have assistance from feet on a chair or similar allowing you to use smaller hand holds and stay on the board with both hands on for about 5 seconds, then one off for 3, both back on again for 5, the other hand off for 3 etc. This is more applicable to climbing where you stay ‘on the rock’ rather than stepping down, and the hold size will be more appropriate.

What do you do during the rest part of the interval?

You can throw in some body tension exercises.

How do you help improve your recovery on the rock? Do you do try resting on large holds during the rest period, of the interval, and then going again?

On the board it’s useful to switch to a better hold (if available) and shake out to aid recovery just like on a real route. Typically stop the movement before failure at around 4/5 tired, and shake for 30 seconds (15 each arm) before going back in. Alternatively come off completely at 4/5 tired and rest on the ground for 15 seconds before getting back on.
Rest properly between each set though, where a set may include a few rest periods of 15 seconds on the ground or on a hold. Each ‘Set’ must be quality, starting the work feeling reasonably fresh. Just as if you were trying a route.

Do you vary the grip you are using on the campus or is it done open handed?

On the board I always use open handed, (though this tends to be a half crimp for the middle finger when all 4 pads are on a rung). Crimping repeatedly is prone to injury, especially when going for it really pumped.

How many times a week should you do this training during a power endurance cycle?

This must be done twice a week as a minimum, but 3 times maximum. It can be done after climbing, and in fact is a very good top up, as its relatively low impact and not too power orientated. It can also be done in its own right, though it’s an easy session really, and just doing this 3 times per week will give you more PE but less of everything else.

How should you fit it into your training week?

You can either fit it in after a climbing session or you can do a PE session the day after, to make your climbing volume go up slightly.

How long should you train using this approach?

Aim for a 4-5 week block, backing off if you start to feel too tired. If you make 5 weeks at this intensity you should feel the gains. Take a week off PE completely, then resume for another 4 or so weeks. Then you should be firing! PE will be great! Drop off this exercise to once a week at maximum, to maintain this PE level.

Do you use any other techniques for developing the PE required for the test pieces you are well known for?

Circuits are probably the best overall, but hard to make, and use in busy walls. Bouldering continually below your limit is great, drop off a problem and then within a few seconds (maybe 10) get back on. This can be done for around 5 problems. Make sure the level is correct to avoid failure too early.

Our thanks go to Steve McClure for taking the time to complete this interview. We wish him all the best for his climbing during 2012.

Steve is sponsored by:

Steve McClure on Training Power Endurance is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. 12 week progression to insane grip strength – guest post by Paul Wilson
2. Climbing techniques – a plan to raise your game: Week 5 – strength conditioning and grip (workout 2)
3. Turbo Charged New Year’s Training Resolutions

These objectives can be anything from doing your first E1, increasing your climbing grade from 7a to 7c or doing a specific route.

Using a Scoring System

Climber with a high ranked score for stamina on Ergometria – Sector Wildside Sella. Picture courtesy of Orange House Photos

To help you design a training program a good place to start is to look at your current ability. Try honestly (if you can’t be honest get a friend to do it for you!) giving yourself a score between 1 to 10 (1 being given to your worst attribute and 10 to your best) for each typical climbing characteristics such as finger strength, explosive power, lock off strength, power endurance, stamina, technique, body fat percentage etc. So for example if you find that you are getting pumped fiddling in wires on a E1 or making those clips on a 6a, but can crimp your way up Font 6c boulder problems, then score yourself a 3 for stamina and a 10 for finger strength.

Then consider your objectives/target routes for this year. Let’s look at two approaches. One where you have specific routes in mind and another where you want to improve your grade to a certain level.

Targeting Specific Routes

For the specific routes, what type of climb are they? Are they long Gordale stamina test pieces or crimpy Peak power endurance routes? How do these routes compare with your key strengths and weaknesses? It may be helpful to score the routes with a similar system that we did for ourselves, with a 10 for the dominant route climbing characteristic and a 1 for the least dominant. Let’s try this with a typical Peak District sport climber wanting to peak for a holiday in Spain. The objective for the holiday is to a do 7b+ steep tufa stamina test piece. The scores may be something like the following:

Typical Tufa Pulling in Spain

Clearly we have a mismatch in the key strength attributes. To achieve success on the route, the climber is going to have to include much more stamina training on overhanging rock and include more bouldering/route work using pinches/slopers with long locks. Building these elements into your training program now will maximise the possibility of success on your chosen route.
Remember that the scoring system is specific to the climber or route concerned. So if a fingery 7a is your maximum grade, then you won’t get up a stamina 8a, by focusing on just your weak elements. You will also need to make gains in your strong areas, however these can be done at a lower level than your weak points.

If you have specific information about the route then you are at even more of an advantage. At this time of the year you need to be looking at replicating the types of moves found on the route within your training program. For example if the hard sections of the route are primarily small layaways, then create a systems type model using layaways or boulder problems with layaway holds.
If you have access to your own training board then you can be even more creative and build a replica of the types of moves found on your project.

Targeting a Specific Grade

There are two approaches to improving your climbing grade. The first is to use a balanced training program to improve all your climbing attributes. The second way is to focus your training effort improving specific attributes which will allow you to skip a number of grades.

Creating a Balanced Training Approach

This is the slowest way to improve your climbing grade but does result in a more balanced climber and one who is capable of operating across all the different route types within their grade.
To achieve this it’s important to develop a training program that has a mixture of all the different climbing attributes. The program must be specifically tailored to place strong emphasis on the weak areas. Remember to still train your strong areas, otherwise you will find yourself in a position where you just become good at your previous weak elements!

Focusing on Specific Attributes

Focusing on your strengths – a fingery, power endurance route in France

When looking at your score you may have one or two attributes that are particularly strong. For example you may be one of those lucky people who have naturally strong fingers, but have to put in a lot of work to make gains in stamina.
So why not focus on these strong attributes and select your routes carefully so you play to these strengths. Using this approach it’s certainly possible to jump your grade from 7a to 8a, with a good winters training. However the resulting climber will be fairly specialised in a certain style of climbing and the number of routes they can do at the new grade will be limited. You may well find yourself in a position where on some types of routes, that focus heavily on your weak points, that you still climb at your old grade.
To correct this at some point you will need to spend time focusing on the lower scoring attributes, before you will be comfortable at this new grade.

Over the next few months we will look at different training techniques to help you achieve your climbing goals and show how these can be incorporated into your training programs.

We will also provide our readers with advice on how they can best achieve their climbing objectives. Please post your comments at the bottom of this article and our contributors (including myself) will offer guidance on how you can improve your climbing.

Turbo Charged New Year’s Training Resolutions is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. Junior Performance Coaching with Mark ‘Zippy’ Pretty at Alter Rock, Bristol
2. Climbing techniques – a plan to raise your game: Week 3 – strength conditioning and grip
3. Climbing book review – Training for Climbing by Eric J Horst

Rob Gray

I’ve done plenty of seasons ice climbing over the last 13 years,  I’ve done gully’s and ridges in Scotland and the Lakes, climbed Water Ice in Norway and in the Alps, but so far I’ve never done any of serious mixed climbing, sure I’ve torqued an icy crack on a buttress when the ice has run out in the lakes, or back and fronted a rocky chimney to get to the next section, but that’s about as far as I’ve ventured into this strange new world.

Luckily, there’s now a small selection of indoor walls where you can learn this art of climbing rock with ice axes, I was keen to have a go so booked myself and good pal Rob Gray into a session at The Foundry Climbing Centre. A Bargain at £10 including axe and helmet hire and a climbing session too.

On arrival we were given a pair of Grivel monsters and a Grivel helmet with face cage (you wouldn’t want an axe in the mush would you) and escorted to a sectioned off part of the wall purely for dry tooling.
You can climb in your winter boots if you prefer but I chose to use my Anasazi Blanco’s. Lets not make it harder than it has to be..

Subject of the latest 'Slasher Movie'? No, it's Rob Lonsdale

The routes were graded between M3 and M4 in the ‘beginners section’. The holds are regular indoor holds that may have notches or dimples drilled / cut into them for you to hook and pull up on and some wooden blocks with sections missing to hook and torque on. Being a bit gung ho, we decided we’d start off on the M4, the hardest and longest route of the 3. We made good progress but both ripped off just before the top on a move where we had match in a shallow dimple.  It took a little getting used to finding the notches and where to hook, but confidence quickly came one we realized what you could hook and pull on next to nothing. By the end of the 2 hour session we’d managed to do all 4 routes cleanly, but the forearms were absolutely screaming and it was a struggle to untie the rope. An excellent workout and a great laugh too.

We’ll certainly be going back to try the routes on the main wall, M5-M8.  I’m sure a few sessions here over the coming months will improve my tooling technique, which in turn will improve my ice climbing – and improvement is never a bad thing. Go give it a go.

Dry Tooling At The Foundry, Sheffield is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. FigFour – Training aid for mixed climbing and dry tooling
2. Dry Tooling – Evil crag wrecking practice or legitimate training technique?
3. Winter Climbing – Little Stanger Gill, A Lakeland Classic

The video below, which is actually filmed as an advert for a popular snack company, highlights this very serious issue and shows one of those ‘not so lucky’ moments.

I think it demonstrates a very clear moral.

-

Clearly this wasn’t a video made by climbers.

I said earlier about the very clear moral:

Don’t take Doritos to the crag. All the MSG’s in there are bad for you.

NOW FOR THE GEEKY BIT:

- I spotted THREE mistakes/slip-ups in the editing. If you spot them then add a comment below …

- There are also a couple of ‘why would you be doing that?’ or ‘why has he got that?’ faux pas moments in there too. We’d love to hear your comments on those too.

Why you should always pay attention when belaying … is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. Carrie Cooper Climbing at 39 Weeks Pregnant
2. James McHaffie Sends The Big Bang 9a, Lower Pen Trwyn, North Wales
3. IFSC Lead World Cup – Boulder, Colorado

There, I said it.

On a number of occasions in the last year I have failed to achieve something through fear, most notably last year, while in Snowdonia I failed to reach the summit of Tryfan. It wasn’t through lack of fitness, or desire to reach the top and leap gazelle like from Adam to Eve (or is it Eve to Adam, I forget) no, it was a simple case of getting about three quarters of the way up the north ridge, looking up at the wall of rock that remained and my bottle going.

I have always been afraid of heights. Always.

8 years old, school trip to Durham Cathedral. Climb to the top of the tower. Going up the spiral staircase I can feel the tower swaying – it’s not swaying and unless a major earthquake hits Durham it never will – but I can feel it swaying all the same. Get to the top. Refuse to go anywhere near the parapet. Miss out on view of Durham.

Two years later, 10 Years old. Family trip to Richmond in North Yorkshire. My Dad drags me to the top of the Castle Keep to cure my fear. It doesn’t. The Keep is only 100ft high. I still hear the screaming when I close my eyes.

In three visits to Paris I have never managed higher than the Second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

Ski lifts – usually these delightful contraptions skim along a mere 20-30ft above the heads of the merry crowds below, however there is (or was, its been 10 years) one lift in Teton Village that suddenly takes off and soars up a vertical cliff face, I have travelled on it once, and I tried to get off halfway. Had it not been for Mrs W halting my progress I would now be a greasy red smear on that cliff face.

The London Eye fills me with dread, and a sense that it would be an enormous waste of money; as I would inevitably spend the entire revolution gibbering, face down in the centre of the pod.

Me clipping bolts on an overhang

I know it’s a cliché but I started climbing thinking it would maybe finish what my dad had tried to start and that by exposing myself (not that like you perverts!) to my aversion would rid me of the fear.

It hasn’t.

What it has done is teach me, to an extent, to control it. It still surfaces now and again, I climbed last Wednesday and tried to lead on an overhang, I got three clips off the ground and started to struggle. All I needed to do was bring a foot up onto a feature and step up bringing the next hold and clip into reach. But I couldn’t do it, then I realised, I wasn’t afraid of the height or the fall particularly. I was afraid of not doing it, of failing.

I look back at my failure on Tryfan last year and thinking about it, I realise I wasn’t afraid of the height; in fact I was sitting on a nice flat bit at the time, it was looking up and thinking what if I go further and then find I can’t do it and get stuck. Failure.

So now I’m afraid of failing, here we go again…

Fear of Failing or Failing from Fear? is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. Climbing techniques – a plan to raise your game: Week 10 – Improving your mental strength
2. Review of the intro to Craig Watson’s climbing Psychology workshops
3. Mind Coaching for climbing performance at the Harrogate Climbing Wall

Lucy Creamer

Lucy Creamer, Britain’s most accomplished female climber, needs little introduction.  Since being introduced to climbing back in the late 1980s, Lucy has dedicated her life to climbing and has excelled across multiple disciplines, with competition wins and notable ascents in trad, sport, bouldering and ice climbing.  Now sponsored by Marmot, DMM, Scarpa/Grivel, Lucy also shares her love of climbing with others, answering questions regularly in her online ‘climbing clinic’.

Lucy is accompanied to the crag by her RSPCA rescue dogs; Kodo and Buis, and as a vegetarian of around 23 years, is passionate about animal welfare.  Lucy also gets balance in her life by enjoying yoga and mountain biking.  She took some time out after her most recent climbing trip to speak to Rock Climbing UK.

Nicola. Lucy, you’re back from a recent trip to the Verdon Gorge, can you tell us a bit about that?

Lucy. Well, it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for years but never quite made it until now. It really lived up to all my expectations, it’s very beautiful and the climbing style is right up my street. Being a (quality) limestone lover, it was fantastic to be doing long multi-pitch routes on this medium. I was also really impressed with the variety of climbing, I had prepared myself for minging, crimpy, reachy wall climbing but to my surprise found a lot more on offer.

Nicola. How did you get into climbing in the first place?

Lucy. It was part of my college course in my late teens. We were taken to the Avon Gorge top roping (climbing walls didn’t really exist then) and I just took to it. I immediately enjoyed the thought provoking side of climbing, working out how to do moves and make them easy etc.

Nicola. What would you be doing now if you weren’t a climber?

Lucy. No idea! I doubt I’d be stuck in an office though. Probably helping animals in some way.

Nicola. What are you most proud of achieving in your career to date?

Lucy. I think onsighting my first f8a was a big milestone for me. It’s one of those things that almost seemed unattainable until it happened. And hopefully being a positive role model to up and coming young female climbers.

Nicola. How do you train and prepare for climbing trips?  Does it differ according to what you’re aiming to do?

Lucy. To be honest I’m not a particularly goal orientated climber on trips and my training tends towards gaining endurance. On trips and in my climbing generally, onsight climbing is my favourite style, so being as fit as possible is key to success. I rarely go away on bouldering trips, so don’t train for that but I do need to work on my power as this is my major weakness.

Nicola. You’ve done amazing things across all types of climbing – competitions, trad, ice climbing and so on.  What do you enjoy the most?

Lucy. I would probably say trad is my first love. If I was only allowed to do one style of climbing, it would be that. You get so much variety from it and for me this is important to keep the interest there.

Nicola. You’ve recently been seen by a wider audience (who might not normally be interested in climbing) through the BBC programme ‘Climbing Great Buildings’.  Can you tell us a bit about how that came about, and what it was like to climb in such a radically different situation?

Lucy. Filming the series was a real one-off experience and something I absolutely loved. Although I wasn’t a total stranger to old buildings, as I have done roped access for years and worked on these sorts of buildings before. But to be allowed the sort of access we had to clamber about on some of the UK’s most historic and grand buildings was a real privilege. I think ITN (who made the series for BBC2) contacted me through my website and it went from there. After meetings down in London in the Spring, filming started in the Summer and finished in September.

Nicola. Climbing is sometimes seen as a male-dominated activity – do you feel there’s any difference between climbing with other women, compared to climbing with men?  If so, do you have a preference for climbing with women or men (or in a mixed group)?

Lucy. When I started I would say 99% of my climbing partners were male and to be honest I didn’t really notice, it seemed fine. Being a bit of a tom boy meant blokes weren’t like another species to me, I could relate to them well. I also liked the way guys approached things in a really positive way and weren’t afraid to try things that were obviously way too hard for them. But these days there are so many women climbing and I definitely seem to climb with them a lot more. If you find a like minded woman to climb with it’s great, as we’ve all got our little idiosyncrasies and it helps to have an understanding of how you both tick.

Nicola. How has your relationship with climbing changed over time?

Lucy. That’s an interesting question…I think the intensity and energy that I put into my climbing when I was younger would have been impossible for me to sustain for 20 years. I think I have a more rounded approach to climbing and life in general. I don’t think how much I love climbing has changed, just the emphasis I put on it. As you develop as a person and possibly change, your interests evolve. Although I have been very single minded and focused on my climbing over the years, I don’t think I’m overly geeky about it. There is so much more to discover in life and I’m always open to new challenges. Which I think is healthy and if I do have breaks from climbing, it means I come back to it refreshed and keen. We’re all different and I know some people who seem as obsessed with climbing as they were when they started but it’s important to recognize we’re all different and to learn what makes you tick and how you can keep your psyche up.

Nicola. What goals are you hoping to achieve in the next few years?

Lucy. To be honest for the last year and a half or so, I have had only short term goals, as I’ve had a debilitating shoulder injury. It’s been a difficult time for me and very frustrating. I haven’t been able to plan anything or train, just maintain a pottering level if you like. But it looks like it’s finally getting slowly better (thanks to my Chinese Doctor in Sheffield) and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to start training again this winter. It will certainly be a long slog to get anywhere near where I was before the injury but you have to try. But the good news I’m going back to The Verdon in October and have a trip to Germany and Luxemburg in September, so some great stuff to look forward to.

Nicola. What do you hope to be doing in ten years time?

Lucy. Hmm, no idea but it will probably involve a brood of animals around me. I would love to doing more things on TV but we’ll have to see. I just hope I’m happy and not too poor!

For more information about Lucy and her exploits, visit: lucycreamer.com

An interview with Lucy Creamer is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

1. Improve your climbing grade
2. An Interview with Neil Gresham
3. Duncan Skelton – Contributor

Over the last few years my middle age crisis of choice has been trying to get better at bouldering. I thought as I entered my forties that I had maybe ten (at most) years where I could reasonably expect to improve as a climber. I have done my share of scary trad routes in the past, but having  young children has meant long weekends away and long run outs above marginal gear are no longer really an option. Additionally I was finding it hard to find anyone (I’m not married to) who could cope with being in my company for more than a few hours in any given day.

Obsessive bouldering, (what with me living near to the esoteric and abrasive empire of Yorkshiregrit.com), seemed to offer the promise small but hard won victories. These wins would suit the gruff mutterings of my middle years. So I bought a pad and a pair of new boots and got stuck in . My wife had a good laugh when I bought the pad as I had spent ten to fifteen years saying how ridiculous they where and how I would never own one. My previous opinion being a beer towel was all that you needed…. etc.

The first year was good, I managed a repeat of Morrell’s Wall following a twenty year gap. Although unlike the first time it took me three months not three minutes. This time I had a mat, spotters, high performance rubber and mild tendonitis. In 1992 I had the aforementioned beer towel and youth.
As I progressed a little I managed to tick a couple of routes I would never previously considered, albeit with some coaxing from the loose collective of enthusiasts, feckless youths and apparently deranged people that gather at bouldering venues. A good start but I wanted to be better, I felt that after a year of training I had reached a plateau.

So far this year, I have managed a few font 6b’s (which is harder than I ever climbed in my youth) and while that’s no great shakes in terms of performance, I’m happy because I’m getting better. Incidentally I probably weigh a stone and a half more than I did 20 years ago, when I last climbed seriously for any length of time.  It’s certainly not all muscle.

None of the following tips focus on the “buy a finger board and lift weights till everything is really sore. Then walk around at ‘The Depot’ in Leeds, stripped to the waist,” approach. One which has many fans but is not for me. Unlike Ben Moon ‘I do climb to be in nice places’, gyms are not for me. I can tolerate a climbing wall if it’s dark or raining outside, but I’m not really into it. I want to massage my ego, but I want a nice view whilst I’m doing it. That way I can argue that I’m at one with nature and growing as a person.

Oh and finally  before I begin, if these ideas are yours; I’ll be honest I stole most of them, reworked one or two of them, and the others? Well  I might have thought of the odd one myself but they were probably memorised from the mainstream climbing press at one time or another. Honestly I can’t remember doing it. Anyway I’m not sorry if other people benefit from them, it’s supposed to be fun isn’t it?

1. It isn’t that you’re not strong enough to do the move, it’s more likely to be your technique

For years as a climber, if I failed on a move or a route I assumed that I just wasn’t strong enough. I was a mediocre but keen fell runner as a teenager. This left me with little upper body strength and slightly heavy legs in my early climbing career. I used this as an excuse for not being able to climb harder.

I have recently been out a couple of with a mate of mine, who boulders a good deal harder than most people, and he’s been talking me through various problems. I was amazed at how many holds he could “find” to use. Sometimes they only gained him an inch or two, or he just used them to transition to a better hold, or as a rest but he used them. So now when I’m struggling on a problem I to avoid tunnel vision or blaming lack of strength. Instead, I focus on looking for a different way. I might look for a better hold (and better doesn’t mean bigger if it’s in the right place, nearer your body’s centre line is better). If a different technique gets me a little further up the route, I’ll pursue it. The number of times the answer was a different approach rather than more strength still amazes me and hopefully it will amaze you too.

2. Set short term, medium term and long term goals

This year I made a list of problems. I graded the list: likely, possible and pigs might fly.
I graded from V1 to V6 as I operate around the V3 mark. The easier problems where mainly highballs or frighteners as I have a pretty short neck but they were classics like Matterhorn Arete and I wanted to do them. The harder problems are ones that I thought suited my style (I am better crimping on thin holds than I am at pulling over roofs for example).

I started trying them in March this year when the weather improved. Just over halfway though this year I have the majority of the ‘likely’ ones done and I’m a move away from two of the ‘possibles’. I have got off the ground on one of the ‘pigs might fly’ routes, but after that I probably do lack the strength to get much further (you never know). Most importantly the list has forced me to attempt to climb routes I would not have attempted, through lack of belief.

3. Rest between attempts.

It is really tempting to get straight back on after you fail on that rock-over and think; ‘this time, this time, this time’. Don’t. Have five to ten minutes; think about the problem, have a brew, talk to your friends, look at the view. Then consider what you might try differently. Sometimes you need to do the move better, sometimes you need to try a different approach. When you’re completely ready, have another go (but first, check out point #4).

4. Concentrate but don’t try to hard

I know it sounds counter-intuitive but the mindset that seems to produce the results is one where you know exactly what you need to do on a problem but you’re not really thinking about it too much. I guess this is the “flow” state that psychologists refer to, and I think you can do some things to induce that state. I close my eyes visualise the moves, then empty my head, take a few really deep, slow breaths, then get on with it. The people I boulder with find this hilarious. I’m OK with that if it gets me the results.

5. Persevere

I started working Crucifix Arete at Almscliff last summer, I finally got it this May. I probably had twelve sessions on it in that time. It has a really painfully hand jam at the bottom which wrecks the back of your hand after a few goes on it. I needed a week or two for my hand to heal between visits. I made little progress for most of the winter and was beginning to think I just would never get it. Then in April a couple of talented and skinny people showed me an undercut that got me established on the problem properly and two session later it went easily. Each time I learned a little bit. In between tries, I did other routes and problems and the cumulative effect was the outcome I wanted.

6. Accuracy, Grace, Style and Poise

Back to my mate the hard boulderer again. Not only does he find more holds when he climbs. When he is using the same ones I am, he is incredibly precise about his hand and foot placements. He climbs really slowly, no not slowly, thoughtfully. He is measured, this measured approach seems to be half the battle. Last year someone said to me “you made that look really graceful”, I was silently delighted and thought “I bloody hope so I’m trying to”. If you try and climb smoothly and carefully, you have a better chance of hitting the holds just right. This even extends to to lunges and dynos. I have yet to see a great climber who didn’t make it look easy. Just don’t confuse looking easy, with it being easy. It’s all like swan swimming, underneath they are paddling hard like the rest of us.

7. Spotters, Dogs and Gurus

If you can find other people to climb with you will improve faster. I like climbing on my own, I like the solitude and the “this is all mine” aspect. Just as good is the social aspect of climbing with a group of like minded people. If some of these people are better than you they might let the odd crumb of beta drop when they’re off guard, for you to pick up put in your chalk bag and save for later. Some of these Gurus may even be free with their tips and information. If you can find one of these hang on them they are worth there weight in gold

In a big group the pile of mats is bigger so the psychological and real benefit offered is better too. If you can get your friends to stand beneath you and threaten to catch you, offer encouragement (and abuse in equal measure) you’re all set for success! I call this scenario the “baying pack of dogs”. If like me you’re a show-off, you might benefit from the ‘playing to the crowd’ aspect too. Oh and you get a longer rest if there are other folk about trying the same problem. That means the quality of your attempts will be higher. Just accept your place in the pack of dogs when it’s your turn, and try not to drop anyone if they fall. You can also see how the others  are doing the problem. Win Win I think.

8. Clean your shoes and clean the holds

I went to Fontainbleau years back and bimbled around with some locals. They burned me off big time as they knew all the problems and didn’t train on beer and chips. The thing that stood out though was how careful they were to clean their shoes thoroughly. It was like a religious rite, they spent a good minute or so doing it. I figured them for soft brie heads but in hindsight it rubbed off. If I don’t have a black slick of sticky rubber on my palm after a few problems I’m not happy. Cleaning the holds can make a difference too. A waft with a towel can get a lot of grease soaked chalk off a hold and I have been known to take a toothbrush to a particularly filthy hold.  Be careful though, there is a real risk of damaging the rock and problems that seem like they will last forever are often more fragile than you think. Any sort of wire brush, don’t even think about it.

9. Learn to top out a in few different ways

I think to start with I failed quite a lot of problems because I could get the top hold with my hands but I couldn’t get my feet on top of the problem. First trick is to walk around and look at the top of the route. Some ‘trad, on-sight’ part of my mind thinks this is cheating, it isn’t. Next, learn to do a basic mantle, get your feet as high as you can and then press down, palms down arms locked out, thumbs facing you. If you point your thumbs tips toward your body more your weight gets thrown forward yet more. You can top out on a sloping top this way. Also learn “the this top is rubbish and western roll over it” technique. Which comes down to flinging a foot and leg out and over the top and rolling onto the top on your face. Looks inelegant but can be very effective. You should also perfect the foot above your head rock over top out. This works with an overhanging top and a goodish top hold, sometimes rolling onto your toe from a heel hook as part of the process. Oh and finally if all else fails there’s always the 19 points of contact, thrutchy swim of terror.

10. Train and train your weaknesses

I said I don’t really like roofs, and I don’t. But I have been doing a few. I’m not much better at roofs yet, but I pull better between overhanging breaks now. I couldn’t crimp open hand so I wasn’t good at aretes but I have been doing that and I barn door less now, so I’m starting to get the hang of those too.
Be honest with your self. Work out what you’re trying to avoid, and stop avoiding it. You’ll not just improve in your weaker areas, your overall climbing will improve too. Extend this to doing some climbing routes, to build up some stamina rather than the just specific power that bouldering provides. Yoga (which sounds a bit wet) can really help with flexibility, affording you more options in terms of where you can place your feet. Resting is an important part of training too. Rest days mean just that, sit around do what you need to but let your body recover. You won’t improve if you get injured, and you are more likely to get injured if you climb when tired.

And Finally

Perhaps biggest thing you can do to bring about improvement is to decide that you want to improve. It’s really easy to convince yourself that you are happy with your current level of performance and that you don’t want to be any better as you are completely fulfilled. If that is genuinely true for you, great keep doing what you are doing.

Personally I don’t know how accomplished it is possible for me to be, with the limited time I can devote to climbing, and a body that is beginning to take longer to recover, but I intend to find out!

10 Tips to Improve Your Bouldering is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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Neil Gresham

Regular readers of RCUK will no doubt be familiar with my gushing praise of this man’s work. I reviewed Neil Gresham’s Masterclass DVDs back in May.

Neil Gresham is famed for his climbing ability across a range of disciplines from rock and ice to deep water soloing. He is one one of the few climbers in the world to have climbed the coveted grade of E10. Those of you who have watched the second Masterclass DVD will have seen Neil’s heart-stopping repeat ascent of Equilibrium E10.

Neil’s love of climbing has taken him all over the world, and recent exploits have included trips to: Sweden, Brazil, Mongolia, Cuba, Vietnam, China and Colombia.

Neil is also the UK’s most experienced climbing coach. He is the training columnist for Climber magazine and Rock & Ice magazine, and has been involved in regular coaching and personalised training since 1993.

So inspired was I after watching the Masterclass DVDs, that I sent Neil an email to thank him and congratulate him on his excellent work. Not only did he send me a personal reply to thank me for getting in touch, he agreed to this interview. Thanks Neil.

Gareth. Neil, could you tell us a little about what you’re up to these days. Do you still coach or is your focus more on personal projects?

Neil. I guess I split my time equally between coaching and my own climbing. I train 5 days a week and usually do a coaching session every time I visit the wall – it works well to combine the two. Weekends I hope to get on one of my projects in the UK. I’m currently focused on a DWS line in Pembroke, but I don’t want to give too much away! For me, the biggest project at present is a new coaching qualification scheme that I will be launching in September – The Masterclass Coaching Academy.

Gareth. Having climbed all over the world, where would you say is your favourite place to climb?

Neil. This is impossible to answer, but I would shortlist China or Kalymnos for sport, Vietnam or Majorca for DWS, Iceland for ice and of course, Britain for trad!

Gareth. If you could only climb one discipline for the rest of your days, what would it be: bouldering, trad, Ice, Deep Water Soloing or sport?

Neil. Deep Water Soloing

Gareth. Do you ever have issues with motivation? If so, how do you deal with them?

Neil. No, never. I’m involved in climbing from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep, and then I presume I dream about it at night. I get more and more psyched as the years go by! I’m not sure why this is, but I presume it has a lot to do with the fact that I do disciplines and I’m always going to different areas. I learn something new about climbing every day.

Gareth. You’ve made some pretty risky ascents and you have suffered at least one bad ground fall we know of? Would you mind telling us about the fall, your recovery and how you dealt with the fear of falling when you returned to climbing.

Neil. I decked from the crux of Meshuga (E9 6c, Black Rocks) and knocked myself out. I didn’t quite stick the hold properly on the dyno (it’s a blind move) and I pinged-off whilst trying to readjust. I hit the slab below and went into a series of backward somersaults down through the boulders. I came round gazing at a hazy, blurred vision of Tim Emmett’s face… it was a nightmare! Tim rushed me to hospital, and I was discharged with mild concussion. The bad part was that I suffered from dizziness for the following 2 years. Returning to make the second ascent was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made. I froze when I got to the dyno, but realised I had to throw myself at it a little harder this time! I caught the hold and everything was fine.

Gareth. If you could add an extra section to your excellent climbing Masterclass DVD now, after 6 years, what would it be? Or does it remain perfect?

Neil. They are still surprisingly up to date, and the only thing I would really like to add is a special section for juniors. There is so much wild speculation in the UK about how to train kids, and I find this very strange seeing as all the information is out there. The other European countries all understand exactly what to do.

Gareth. If you could offer one piece of advice to climbers stuck in the lower grades (VS / f6a), what would it be?

Neil. Start bouldering.

Gareth. One piece of gear that you never leave home without?

Neil. The only genuine answer to this is my iPhone, but if I had to pick climbing gear then it would be a pair of La Sportiva Solutions.

Gareth. Apart from climbing, what do you like to do for fun?

Neil. I’ve been known to go clubbing, but at a fairly amateur level.

Gareth. You’re a serious athlete, but after a full day, epic climbing session is it pie and a pint at the local pub or protein shake and a bowl of pasta?

Neil. After an epic day it’s always a pie and a pint, but when I’m back home training then it’s a bowl of pasta. All work, no play etc!

Gareth. Thanks very much for your time Neil. Good luck with the new coaching academy and your personal climbing projects.

Check out Neil’s web site at: neilgresham.com

An Interview with Neil Gresham is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

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2. Improve your climbing – Masterclass with Neil Gresham (part 2)
3. Junior Performance Coaching with Mark ‘Zippy’ Pretty at Alter Rock, Bristol

Me with a client in Scotland (that's me on the right)

A door to another world; an epiphany; a light turned on – I’ve used all the cliches over the years. But however it’s described my light-bulb moment was being taken climbing with the scouts when I was 12. For someone who’d never had anything in particular to focus on climbing was the full package – adventure, glamour, inclusivity and the physical and mental challenge I’d failed to find with traditional team sports.

Soon my world was widened by tales of adventures in remote places even if, as a teenager from Cheshire, my initial explorations were rather closer to home. My circle of climbing friends gradually grew and, as birthday presents widened our gear selection, we persuaded parents to take us further afield.  We’d get dropped off on Saturday and Sunday mornings at crags like Windgather or Froggatt and be picked up in the evenings.  What happened in between was in the lap of the gods. On sunny days we’d fill every moment but we also had a lot of time in the rain huddled under plastic sheets waiting hours for the parent cavalry.  We had our epics and we had our mellow days but we loved it all. In those formative years I developed a long term relationship with both wild places and my friends. We missed a lot of what other teenagers did but we were driven, we challenged each other and we were our own self-contained support network. It’s only when I look back years later that I realise how special those times were.

As my group of climbing mates grew we also, ironically, became more exclusive. We’d meet at lunchtimes in school or at each other’s houses to share epic tales from climbing magazines and sometimes our own epic tales. We’d also pour over guidebooks to make over ambitious plans for the coming weekend.  Things got easier as our age increased and we were able to travel under our own steam.  Soon we were hitching to outlying Peak District crags, Snowdonia or the Lake District. The Peak still gave the best opportunities for the least amount of effort and we regularly dossed in the Stanage caves or at Stoney Middleton. Our food was what we could blag from our home kitchens and we carried climbing gear in our school bags so we could get on the road as soon as the end of day bell rang. The challenge was to be the first to Stoney with the fire lit.

All this leisure time didn’t leave much time for school work and it came as no surprise, despite being a great disappointment to my parents, when I left school with minimal qualifications. I couldn’t care less as climbing was my only agenda.  Now I had freedom and soon I was leading a life similar to what Yvon Chouinard termed the ‘dirtbag climbers’. Hitching the motorway network was my pathway to Snowdonia summers, Scottish winters and the Peak for the in betweens.  The seasons dictated the rhythm.  Occasionally the need for money raised its head but a short stint in climbing shops or outdoor centres sorted it.

It was an idyllic life but in the back of my mind I knew it wasn’t sustainable long term.  Many of the original gritstone dirtbags had pulled it together and were sitting pretty on apprenticeships or having the times of their lives at university. A few times I leafed through university prospectuses’ but there was always new blood to swell the dirtbag ranks.

At some point we realised we were allowed off this island. The BMC Chamonix coach service (sadly no longer running) was our Trojan horse and the woods near Montenvers our new home away from home. The Cheshire plains boys should have eased in gradually but day 2 of alpine season 1 saw us up at the Gouter Hut ready to summit Mont Blanc. We got up and back somehow but after that calmed down and started a proper alpine apprenticeship.  One foreign trip then led to another and we clocked up the visa stamps. No continent was off the radar but every trip had the key features of cheap camping, a great scene and quality climbing. Arapiles was a great example – free camping, really welcoming local climbers and the chance to earn your potatoes and swedes at the local organic farm.  There’s even a bit of rock to climb there too!

After one disastrous expedition left me owing more than I’d earned in the last few years I reluctantly decided I better back up my climbing activities with some sustainable employment. Several friends had become teachers and, with 12 weeks of holiday, they seemed to have a good blend of work and play.  Thankfully it worked for me too and soon a new pattern emerged. My bigger trips were dictated by the next school holiday and I still raced out of school every day with my school bag – only now it got thrown in the back of the van to blast up to the weekend’s climbing venue.

My headteacher was a wise person who could see untapped potential in me that I failed to see in myself.  She planted the seed of a climbing club and, with only one climber on the staff, asked for volunteers. Soon my little team of ten year olds were visiting local climbing walls and crags and no one was more surprised than me at the impact it had. Teachers started pointing out the children’s attitude change in class and I saw the biggest attitude change in myself. Maybe if I just tweaked the focus of this teaching thing I’d find a job I had a true passion for.   Maybe giving people climbing as a means of self-exploration and discovery would allow me to learn more about myself.
Becoming a mountaineering instructor is a reassuringly rigorous process. Soon my wall was dotted with planning schedules and logbook pages full of climbs. My weekend escapes were spent stacking up client teaching days and learning new skills. Through the eyes of others I was seeing the mountain environment in a completely different way and it felt great. I never went to my degree graduation because it interfered with a climbing trip to Pembroke but it didn’t matter – my ‘real’ graduation happened the day the pass stamp was put in my mountaineering instructor logbook.

People say climbing with beginners every day must erode my own passion but don’t you believe it.  Every time I can inspire or educate others about this sport that has given me so much it just reaffirms how much I love every single thing about it.

A Life Less Ordinary – One Man’s Journey to a Career on Rock is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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