You may or may not be familiar with the popular social networking site that is Twitter – if you are, great … if not, where the hell have you been for the last few years?! Anyhow, insults aside, I use Twitter. Regularly.

If you do use Twitter, then you may or may not be aware of the ‘Tweeter’ that is Mr. Andrew Bisharat. Andrew is one of the Senior Editors at Rock and Ice magazine. He goes by the moniker of @eveningsends which is also the name of his popular blog/website. A while back now I saw a tweet from Mr. Bisharat talking about a podcast that he was to appear in called The Enormocast.

Curious to know more, I downloaded it and listened. It was good. No, it was excellent and so I downloaded the three previous episodes. Now, the show is in double figures and I’m hooked.

I caught up with host, producer, publicist, composer, cleaner, driver and general dogsbody of the show, Chris Kalous, to find out more:

Chris Kalous

Who is Chris Kalous?

I grew up mostly in the suburbs of Chicago Illinois. I was into rock and roll and the outdoors, in that order, but never climbed growing up. I moved to Colorado to attend University and started climbing there. It turns out I was a better rock climber than rock guitarist, so I went with that (though I still play guitar because women like it more than the climbing). I am poor and not married. It seems that everything I spend time and energy doing doesn’t earn me money, but does earn me friends and great experiences so I got that going for me.

For all of the RCUK readers that live in caves … In three words, what is a podcast? 

Its funny, because this is like the biggest thing I’m up against with getting the word out with climbers “Uh, like on the internet?” “How do I get it again?” “Itunes?” … so three words?

• Free ear candy
• Free internet interviews
• Like Internet NPR (that’s American)
• Like Internet BBC
• BBC but better
• Free roadtrip entertainment
• Itunes free shit
  

Why ‘The Enormocast’ … what’s in the name?

The name comes from an obscure reference in the movie This is Spinal Tap (the quote at the beginning of The Enormocast is from Spinal Tap). I wanted to call it The Enormodome but enormodome.com was taken. Nothing like the internet to show you just how unoriginal every thought you have really is. All the different permutations of climbing names climbinglife.com, climbup.com, climbingthis.com, climbingthat.com, blah, blah, blah were all taken. My friend said it has to be more connected to climbing- he works at Black Diamond- I said “what do the words Black and Diamond have to do with climbing? Or Sportiva? Or Petzl? Or Wild Country?” Anyway, I figured “enormous” is the word you think of when you see El Cap, and its all encompassing, and I love the movie Spinal Tap, and its not the stupid “goes to eleven” reference everyone knows, and… leave me alone, I like the name!

Why should people listen to ‘The Enormocast’?

I have been consuming climbing media forever, and I’ve watched it become more and more whitewashed and commercial. The Enormocast is, and will remain, authentic and true to the rebellious spirit of climbing. Podcasting is the pirate radio of today, no corporate filters, and its the perfect medium for deep information about our sport. I love short videos, but they have no character, no depth. Podcasting can bring that depth. Also, personality comes through more than on the written page as you here someone’s tone, laughter, concern. Also, I really do know a lot of interesting and famous (not necessarily the same thing) climbers from a few generations and have been climbing all over the world for a long time.

Who’s been your favourite ‘guest’ so far, who would you love to feature in the future (why)?

So far is not very long, but the two Hayden Kennedy interviews seem to have really hit the mark of the potential of podcasting.

If you had to listen to one podcast for the rest of your life, other than The Enormocast, what would it be?

The rest of my life? Probably, like everyone else in the States, This American Life because its so well done and can make you cry and laugh in the same episode. I don’t know if its popular in the UK, but its number one here in the States. Its actually a radio show that is just podcasted afterword so that’s one reason its so good- money and a big talented well-payed staff. One of my favorite Do-It-Yourself podcasts is ‘Uhh Yeah Dude‘, two California guys just shooting the shit, but I could see myself getting annoyed with them if it was all I had and eventually wanting to kill them both then I’d have to listen to them on reruns in prison.

Thanks so much Chris, hope you’re getting good weather over the pond and getting out climbing…

Thanks Liam. Actually, sorry to say but the weather here has been awesome and I have been climbing a ton. Hope it gets better there – like a light warm drizzle? that’s climbable in the UK, isn’t it?

So, for regular climbing banter filled with hilarity, debate, nonsense and fun, or simply as Chris eloquently put it … for ‘itunes free shit’, check out the Enormocast Website or check out ‘The Enormocast’ on iTunes. A new episode is released every two weeks.

Also, although Chris didn’t ask me to mention this specifically (…honest, he didn’t) … you can support ‘the cause’ by clicking here.

ENJOY!

THE ENORMOCAST – A slice of climbing life for your listening pleasure 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. Plymouth Life Centre’s new climbing facilities unveiled
2. A Life Less Ordinary – One Man’s Journey to a Career on Rock

I have chosen a finger board for two main reasons. Firstly I am going to Margalef in October so will need white hot pocket strength. I’m hoping that the use of the finger board over the summer will give me the pocket strength I need. Secondly I used to be able to dead hang one armed, using a crimp, on a campus rung, for 30 seconds. I can’t even hang the rung, using a crimp, one armed anymore! I built this finger strength up by doing short repetitive moments on very small crimps (6-10 moves), on a relatively gently angled board, first thing in the morning and then a normal bouldering session in the evening. My board is too steep for this sort of training now, so a finger board provides an ideal way to replicate the training I did at this time.

Having never used a finger board, this will provide an excellent way to measure what potential improvements it may bring to my climbing. At the end of the four weeks I will try a series of problems with a variety of open hand and crimp hand positions, I tried at the start of the period and see what improvements  (if any) I have made.

Metolius Simulator 3D Finger Board

The equipment I have chosen is a Metolius Simulator 3D finger board. This finger board is designed with ergonomics in mind. The holds are positioned in a broad arc around the central section. This is a very natural position when doing double handed deadhangs or pullups, as the angle of holds match the angle of your arms. It certainly feels a more comfy position to hold, than traditionally designed boards I have tried recently. Although there is a horizontal central section for single armed work, I was concerned that the curve would make using the majority of the holds more difficult to use than a conventional board. In practice however because you tend to turn your body so that it’s at right angles to the board for one arm work, the curve works very well, so long as you use the right side of the board for right arm work and visa versa.

The board has four rows of holds, each arranged slightly further forward than the others, so your forearms don’t catch on the board. The top row of holds are a mixture of jugs and two different sized slopers. The second and third row of holds contains four and three finger holds in three different sizes. The bottom row contains two sizes of two finger pockets and another four finger hold. All these holds offered a natural progression as you get stronger, apart from the two finger pockets. I do feel there needs to be an inbetween size as I can hang the larger ones fairly easily but not the smaller ones at all. I can overcome this by using one of the three finger holds with two fingers (you lose the ability to torque your fingers in the pockets then) or adding extra weight. Overall the combination of holds allows the board to be used by all abilities. There are jugs for begineers to do things like pullups or for the more advanced people to do negatives and one arm pullups, right down to small crimps and tiny two finger pockets for getting the ultimate finger strength.

The holds themselves are very finger friendly. The smooth curves and fine textured surface hasn’t resulted in any sore skin or sore joints after my first sessions.

My first session on the board threw up some interesting anomalies with my finger strength. The first thing I noticed is that now I have switched to an open handed climbing style, is that my open handed strength is much better than my crimp strength. Although this has reduced the number of finger problems I have, most of the routes I climb are crimpy, so it will be holding me back. The second thing I found was that my ring and little fingers are stronger than my index and middle finger! This was a real shock as I assumed that it would be the other way round.

So the plan is to specifically target my ring and middle fingers using two finger pockets to get them more in line with the rest of my fingers. Given that these fingers should be my strongest I’m hoping that improvements in this area should bring good gains. I will also be doing some work in the crimped position to replicate the style of training I used to do.

Metolius supply an excellent user guide with the board which goes through many of the techniques you can use on the board. This goes through in detail how to warmup, warm down, recover between goes and add additional load. It also provides specific training sessions based on your overall ability. More details can be found at their website.

For my training I’m using some of their techniques such as maximum deadhangs as well as repeaters and encores. This will be done towards the end of my bouldering session when I am well warmed up and not fatigued.

I’ll write an updated review in four weeks when I have finished my block of training. Hopefully by then I will have seen improvements in the weak areas that the finger board highlighted and an overall increase in my climbing ability.

For more details on the Metolius Simulator 3D Finger Board, vist the Metolius Website.

Metolius Simulator 3D Finger Board for Climbing Improvement 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. Metolius Rock Rings 3D Review
2. Moon Original School Holds
3. Sling Training for Climbing – Update

Andi Turner on Boom Bip E7 6c Ramshaw second ascent. Picture Copyright David Simmonite

You are well known as a gritstone man at heart. What is it about grit that keeps dragging you back?

I’m not too sure really! My Dad always called limestone ‘The White Death’ so I think it might be something to do with that.

In reality though, it comes down to the type of climbing that Grit has to offer. I really, really enjoy it. I always feel that when climbing Grit I don’t need to necessarily be light or strong, but just to be ‘going well’. It’s the kind of rock with which familiarity is a more important factor than fitness…sometimes. Also, I like the places where the Grit crags are, not so much on the busy Eastern edges, but the high moorland crags and quiet backwaters are really special places to be. Gritstone climbing was always considered a bit of a dark art when I first got into climbing in the late 80’s, that myth has been debunked a bit now, but there are still aspects of it which give some folk the shivers. I kind of like that too, there’s something about Grit climbing that’s just cool.

You have a growing list of gritstone E7’s. What do you consider are the most important factors that allow you to climb gritstone E7’s?

I first climbed E7 at the end of the 90’s I think, it was either Deathwatch at Ilkley or Never Never Land at Ramshaw (which was E6 at the time, and maybe still is). At the time I’m sure it was as much about ticking the grade as the route if I’m brutally honest, so I kind of went for the short sharp shock type routes with limited pro where you just had to get into that bubble for a brief moment and hope it didn’t pop mid-mantelshelf. So for those routes, the most important factor was certainly self belief and a genuine desire to have that tick in your book. It’s strange how much so many of us climbers will put everything on the line for so little reward, but we still do! These days I think I’m more interested in the actual route itself, I’m definitely less bothered about falling off these days, so long as I don’t hit the ground. I’d still say that the most important factor is confidence in your own ability. When I have accepted that I can do something, it’s not long until you do it. It’s always the unsure climbers that fall off, it’s not like you can lie to yourself, you need that actual, genuine self belief, that’s the biggest thing you need to overcome, and it’s not always straightforward.

How have you developed the technique necessary for these ascents?

It all comes down to ‘pottering’ about. You go out climbing without any agenda and see where it takes you. You climb with different people, go bouldering, soloing or leading a few routes, top roping a few projects lines. Technique is something quite personal, it’s the skill which you develop as a climber, we’re all very different. You have to learn to climb in your own body – which sounds mighty pretentious – but I don’t think your style and technique needs to be pretty, so long as it works for you. For example, I’m pretty tall, and I will milk that for every penny it’s worth, because I won’t be getting any benefits from it when I’m half way through that bunched traverse or trying to mantel over that lip! The more different stuff you get on, the better you get. I think a broad canvas is essential, too many people pigeon hole themselves a ‘boulderer’, ‘slab climber’, ‘sport climber’ etc. Once you do that you narrow your potential, we’re all guilty of it

What sort of mental preparation do you go through before setting off on a hard headpoint and how do you keep your mind focused as you are climbing?

I’m certainly no expert on this. There‘s definitely a quiet moment I like to get into, just to gather my thoughts and I don’t really like any input from others during that time, just a bit of a relax and have a stare whilst I go through the moves and try to rationalise the possible scenarios. Other than that it’s a case of clearing the landing, double checking knots and belayers and making sure the dogs are safely out of the way. When you’re actually climbing, you either do it or you don’t, there’ll be a point of no return and I think when you launch into the sequence you’re away. It normally feels pretty good when you take that step.

Do you find that trying to climb hard Grit routes becomes a bit of an obsession, leading to a few sleepless nights, until you finally get it done?

For me, it’s not the hard routes which cause the obsession, it’s just climbing itself. I even find myself thinking at times how easy life would be without climbing in it. Ok, it takes you to some wonderful parts of the world, but it means that you miss out on a load of other places too! If anything, thinking about routes helps me to sleep, I find it quite relaxing going through the motions in my mind.

Andi Turner on Against the Grain E6 7a, Roaches. Picture Copyright David Simmonite

I’ve noticed you have done a few hard routes on gritstone with big dyno’s, such as Catharsis E7 7a, Thing on a Spring E6 7a and Boom Bip E7 7a.  Is that to avoid the pebbles or is it something you train specifically for?!

There’s nothing better than doing dynos. You can condense an entire crux sequence into one move, I love it. They look straightforward a lot of the time, but I find that they are often really subtle. Exact placements of hands and feet and perfect timing can make a huge difference in whether you succeed or not. I don’t train for them, but there was certainly a time in my climbing career, which me and Mark would just go out searching dynos. I reckon it’s probably when we were at our climbing strongest too (Mark bench presses mini buses and tears yellow pages instead these days). Plus, I’m tall anyway, so doing routes with dynos is definitely playing to my strengths, which goes back to what I was saying earlier about ensuring that you climb well in your own way.

Do you follow a training program or do you just get out climbing as much as you can?

As much as I would love to train, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I have a lot of respect and a certain amount of jealousy towards those who can dedicate themselves to training, dieting and conditioning. Looking at Tom and Pete’s recent American rampage really shows what can be achieved, I have nothing but the highest praise for those who demonstrate such commitment. I’m going to Italy on the international trad climbing meet at the end of the year, so I should probably do something for that. Although I’ll probably find that my training won’t go much beyond laying off the beer the week before I go away! However, I do climb absolutely every dry day I can, so I suppose that is training. I think the year before last I managed over 40 consecutive days climbing, I was praying for rain!

Andi Turner on Melvyn Bragg V8, Ramshaw. Picture Copyright David Simmonite

We all had one of those scary gritstone ‘moments’! Which is your most memorable incident?

I’m pretty good at banishing those memories, needless to say, I’ve been rescued on more than one occasion. Even now, racking my brain, I can definitely remember going through the whole “Fuck, fuck, fuck, please hurry up and drop me a rope” scenario but can’t for the life of me remember where!  I have countless times had to be helped over the top by a dangling leg or a chalk bag sling, normally when soloing and more often than not on things I’ve done before. I should know better by now! You’d be better asking my climbing mates than me I think for those incidents.

I do have a knack for a good post-crux trauma though. I’m great at blowing it on the easy bit or holding on until I’m so pumped after the crux I have no option but to top out or fall off. You always imagine that you’d go into a survival mode which would safely get you out of trouble, but I often find that my body and mind conspire to get me into these irreversible situation before leaving me hanging.

What are your future gritstone ambitions?

I have at least one important local project I want to complete, which indeed I’ve been wanting to complete for a number of years, it’s simply a matter of the right day and the right time now. Other than that, I’ve still got loads of routes to do as well as rattling of the Staffordshire Nose in record time, that’s for later this year.

Are you finding that people in Leek are recognising you in the street since staring in Boreal’s True Grip video?

People recognise me in Leek for another video altogether!

Our thanks go to Boreal and Andi for this interview. We wish him the best of luck with his gritstone project.

Andi is sponsored by:

Andi Turner on Gritstone Climbing is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

Ryan on Kabaah 8c+, Raven Tor. Photo Copyright Ben Bransby

You have climbing sport 8c+ and Trad E9. How do the difficulties of the two compare?

Well physically they are obviously different. I think mentally they are both pretty tough but in different ways I guess. When your redpointing at your limit it doesn’t really matter if you fall off but it’s still stressful somehow. I suppose the amount of effort you need to put in makes it so. You need to believe you can climb it, but most of the time you are just falling off. There’s loads of factors that need to fall in to place at the right time that make it mentally challenging. You need good conditions, good skin and when you’re on a trip you have a limited number of days so it adds up. With a scary route you know that physically you can climb it, but it’s deciding to commit that’s the hard part, because falling off isn’t usually an option. I’m definitely more nervous setting off on a scary route than on a hard redpoint but you can afford to be a little bit because the climbing isn’t at your limit. If you were too nervous on a redpoint you would probably just fall off because you were to rigid and not sufficiently relaxed to climb efficiently.

Recently you have done more hard sport climbs. Have you had to modify your training to meet the differing demands of these routes?

Not until the beginning of this year. In the past I’ve just trained to get stronger in general and to quell the boredom when working away. Last year I only trained at the beginning of the year when I was working in Kent then I just climbed as much as possible. This year I decided I was sick of being piss weak so I changed jobs and got work in Sheffield so that I can do some ‘proper’ training at home. I have even cut down massively on my beer intake which is kind of boring but it seems to be making me less injury prone and with the money I’m saving it will fund my next trip!

Ryan on Knocking on Heavens Door E8 6c, Curbar Edge. Photo Copyright Simon Wilson

Do you split your training into specific phases, such as power or power endurance? What sort of training do you do during these sessions?

Normally I just boulder which is strength and power I suppose. Then when I want to do a route I get my fitness working the route. Sometimes I will do some easier routes first to get used to doing more than a few moves again.

But now that I am doing some proper training I guess I am sort of doing it in phases. I have been training on a systems board I built in my house. It’s only 12ft by 4ft and your allowed to use heel hooks and toe hooks!  So I started the year with 6 problems on my board – pinches, slopers, pockets, undercuts etc….  I have been having two sessions a week with a couple finger board sessions thrown in and I try to have a rest week every few weeks to avoid injury. With the board the easiest problem I managed in a session and the hardest took me nearly a month. With all the problems in the bag I worked up to doing all of them a couple times in a sesh. Then I started to make mini circuits. So at first it was an easy down climb into one of the six problems just to add a few moves to each problem. Then I built up to doing each problem with the down climb start a couple times in a sesh. Then (this is getting boring now but I will finish) I started trying to link one of the harder problems into one of the easier problems with the aim of eventually linking the easier problem into the harder one. This would give some quite meaty circuits and give me the power endurance of a god or Ondra. But instead I injured a finger pulling on a nasty crimp a Rubicon. Crimping is now out and controlled open hand stuff is in.

You have attempted Action Direct 9a. Did you do any specific training before leaving for Germany? Was there anything you had neglected in your training that resulted in missing your objective?

Err yes I flailed around on it. I’ve actually been on Action on two separate trips. The first time I didn’t really plan on trying it, we were in the Jura and curiosity got the better of me. It was definitely well out of my league but I couldn’t resist. In the lead up to the trip I was working away in Aberystwyth so I was quite limited by what training I could do. I was a bit injured so my training was also pretty timid. It basically involved doing some easy pull ups on a Beastmaker, some weights to strengthen my shoulder as it was bad and some running. The second time I was hoping to get some solid training in and work my weaknesses before heading out. I knew I needed to be way way stronger! At the start of the year I was just simply climbing as often as possible and doing shoulder weights then I planned to start some proper training closer to the trip but I ended up having six weeks off climbing. I managed a few sessions on the motherboard at The Works before we went but I guess this was just enough to get me back on par rather than the way way stronger I needed to be. Needless to say I put on pretty poor show with Action but there’s always next time……

Ryan on Unfamiliar E7 6c, Stanage Edge. Photo Copyright Simon Wilson

How important is bouldering to give you the basis for the hard moves you have found on routes like Gerty Berwick E9 7a at Ilkley and Kabaah 8c+ at Raven Tor.

For Gerty  bouldering it is a massive help. Gerty is basically a very highball v11 and the hard climbing is only about four moves worth. Bouldering is good because it gets you used to doing hard moves and you can really get a feel for how hard you can pull. Even with Kabaah which is an endurance route it helps as the moves in isolation feel easier.

In an older interview you mention that muscle strength is your weakest area. Have you done anything to address that?

I had a spell of doing weights and it to be honest it didn’t really make me stronger at climbing but it helped me feel less injury prone especially in the shoulders. So for now I think I will only do weights to stop me getting any in balances and keep injuries at bay.

You have flashed and onsighted numerous Gritstone E7′s and E8’s. What sort of mental preparation do you do before setting off?

For a flash attempt because I know roughly what I am doing I just try to visualise exactly what I am going to do and imagine vividly what it might feel like when I am climbing. Sometimes I might even imagine what noise I might make on a particular move which would hopefully be a grunt and not a girly scream!

I have not actually onsighted E8 yet but when onsighting a scary route you basically have to have lots of confidence in your own ability. You’ve got to know the route is within your abilities and try to stay relaxed.

Also (if I remember) I look at the route in proportions because when you are climbing it always feels different to how it looks from your belayers perspective. So I look at gear spacing and fall potential from the ground.

Do you switch off completely on dangerous gritstone ascents or do you have specific things going through your mind as you are climbing?

It is pretty rare that I can fully switch off when climbing a dangerous route. I think with a headpoint it would be much easier to do so because you know exactly what you are doing and what is coming up.

I never kid myself of the situation I am in, I never block out the danger or try and tell myself I am on top-rope or that I could run down the slab and be ok. I focus on the climbing but am aware of my surroundings. I’ve been known to laugh before starting the crux of a route because I know the situation I’ve have put myself in and it seems stupid.

Are there specific things you have done to develop the excellent technique required to flash things like Knockin on Heavens Door?

Nothing in particular to be honest apart from just climbing. I do like to climb things that are technical and require good foot work it’s more satisfying than just pulling through. I guess I just enjoy moving on rock and to move well you need good technique to make the most of the features.

What climbing objectives do you have for 2012?

Err I have a trip to the Jura planned in May….

Our thanks go to Ryan and Bigstone (UK Distributors for Arc’teryx, Smartwool & Five Ten) for this interview. Ryan is sponsored by:

Ryan Pasquill on Training for Climbing 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. Mountain Leader training awards update
2. Sling Training for Climbing – Update
3. Free avalanche tranceiver training at Glencoe Mountain Resort

Cross Rotation Exercise

The bouldering was generally very steep with lots of compression type moves and extensive use of my core. This tends to be my weakest area as my good crimp strength is completely useless! The chaps at Jungle Sports helped me by designing a program to specifically hit my weak areas.

The training did go well, although I only did around ten sling sessions in the end after a week off with a sickness bug. I included the sling training into my bouldering days or on my rest days. The training was structured as below:

Day 1 Boulder:

• Half an hour yoga exercises in the morning.
• Finger board assisted one armers, lock offs and negatives,
• Followed by a bouldering session.
• Sling session later in the day or straight after the bouldering session depending on how much time I had available and how I felt.

Day 2 Power Endurance:

• Half an hour yoga exercises in the morning.
• 15 minutes warm up bouldering.
• Redpoint circuits 25 moves of around route grade 8b+ 3 times with 15 minute rest inbetween.
• 25 move circuit of around route grade 7b 3 times with 5 minute rest inbetween.
• Campus board power endurance (feet on) for 2 minutes, 3 times with 5 minute rest.

Day 3 Sling Training:

• Half an hour yoga exercises in the morning.
• One hours sling training

Days 4, 5 and 6 repeated the above. Then 1 rest day and repeat the 6 days again.

I have found that I was able to sustain this level of training right up to leaving for Spain. However I did start to get some shoulder impingement problem from doing the Fly exercise with the slings. This was because I adding to much load (by leaning to far forward) during the exercise, which was making me lose form and not hold my shoulders in the correct position. It soon cleared up when bouldering in Spain. What it does highlight is the importance of good form when doing sling training. If you don’t maintain good form then you are risking lower back and shoulder problems. However this is often the case when starting most new forms of training.

On my first trip out in Spain the conditions were a lot warmer than the month before. Once warmed up I threw myself onto a Font 8a problem (only thing crimpy there!). Given this problem played to my strengths I wasn’t expecting much of a gain. Apart from the first move, all the foot holds are smears and require a lot of body tension to keep your feet on and move the feet between the holds. As soon as I started doing the first moves, I found that the ability to move my feet between the holds was considerably better than before. I was no longer having to fight to keep my feet on as I moved between the crimps and was very close to completing the problem by the end of the trip (just brushed the final jug).

Working that core on a 7c boulder problem in Spain

The remaining problems were all on large holds on steeper ground, with lots of heel and toe hooks. Each foot movement required a lot of body tension to stop one of your feet popping off. Again I was able to keep my feet in contact with the rock much better. I also found that my overall body strength was much better than it had been four weeks before. I suspect this would have been a combination of the slings and extra climbing strength work.

So the big question is does sling training offer enough benefit to climbers to justify buying the equipment and the extra time needed to add it into your training. From my point of view the slings have definitely improved my core strength to a much greater extent than any other training I have done. If time is limited then you can split the different sling training sessions over a series of different training days.

They have also allowed me to add extra load into my training, when my forearms are too tired to sustain anymore work. This is an area that the Norwegian Climbing Coach, Stian Christophersen, felt was one of the biggest advantages of slings. This extra load, along with hard climbing training has definitely improved my upper body strength over the last month.

Finally as someone who gets a few finger injuries, if I spend too much time crimping, the slings offer a great way to get some good training in, as there is no load going through the injured finger. Touch wood I won’t be needing them for this though!

I will certainly continue to train with the slings over the climbing season and hope I can continue to improve at the rate I have seen over the last month.

For more details on sling training products visit Jungle Sports website. Enter discount code ‘climb10′ for 10% off all purchases.

Sling Training for Climbing – Update 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. Sling Training for Climbing Improvement
2. Mountain Leader training awards update
3. Steve McClure on Training Power Endurance

Nick Bullock on The Bell the Bells. Copyright Jude Spancken

From reading your blog, it sounds like you feel that British climbing is missing the spirit of adventure it once was. What do you feel is missing?

I possibly need to clear things up, the piece of writing on my blog you refer was a little tongue in cheek, a piece written, like much of my writing, to make readers think, to stir their imagination, wake them up, play the devil’s advocate. Climbing needs attitude and in some ways I do feel it has become main-stream and tame. Climbing appears to be missing much of the anarchy and free thinking it once had the reputation for. How many people want information of conditions and individual moves and gear placements before actually getting on routes and giving them a go? Many people appear to climb for just the physical and not the whole package. I may be wrong but climbing does appear to be missing a little of the soul it once had.

Is it that spirit of adventure that drives you to travel to climbs all over the world, as well as find yourself on the sharp end on routes on the likes of Gogarths’ North Stack?

Yes, for me it’s the whole package, it’s the adventure of the day or the whole expedition that trumps individual moves and grades. Climbing for me will always be about the people I climb with, travelling to the crag, the banter, the wildlife, the countryside, the psychological elements and preparation and finally the physical aspects of the climb and when the climb is over it’s about the bullshit and the banter with mates. Some climbers today appear fixed on grades and numbers, it’s purely about pulling extremely difficult moves and everything else appears lower on the scale of importance, maybe it’s the fault of sponsorship, maybe it’s the fault of the climbers themselves, maybe it’s just my problem and it isn’t a problem at all!

You have climbed most of the E7’s on Gogarth’s North stack, including an on-sight ascent of the ‘Clown’. What mental preparation do you do before setting off on these routes?

Ok, before I get called a fraud, I didn’t actually on-sight the Clown, I did on-sight what is classed as the crux of the Clown, but I fell from the initial overhang six times with each fall getting closer to hitting the boulders. I broke the peg and the final three falls were onto a single cam. I was about to leave for a big expensive expedition in India so I thought enough is enough and climbed the overhang twice on a top-rope climbing out on The Hollow Man clean. I returned a few days later and lead The Hollow Man after top roping it three times altogether. I climbed the Clown the following year on my only visit to North Stack without re-working the overhang or looking at the crux section. It’s a great route. I have climbed Stroke of the Fiend on-sight which was my second E7 on North Stack and attempted The Bells the bells! on-sight as my third.

I find the best mental preparation for attempting this type of climb is to be climbing confidently and well. I will have climbed many hard routes by the time I attempt a route like The Clown or Surgical Lust, or The Bells in good style and I will have used several types of style of ascent, top-rope, ground-up, dogged or I will repeat routes I have climbed before. Confidence in my own abilities is the most important weapon in my armoury; stamina and a friend belaying are the others.

Given the amount of time you spend on these routes, the dubious nature of some of the rock and lack of protection you have plenty of time for your mind to wander and have things to worry about! How do you maintain control during these ascents? Are there any specific techniques you use?

When climbing routes like the ones on North Stack your mind does not wander at all. I would suggest anyone who has climbed an E7 on North Stack is so focused and ready for what they are about to enter the last thing that will happen is their minds wander.

Following on from your early ascents was the onsight attempt on The Bells The Bells a natural progression?

James McHaffie on The Demons of Bosche. Copyright Nick Bullock

The plan since my first E7 on North Stack, which was Wreath of Deadly Nightshade, was always to attempt The Bells on-sight. The reasoning behind this was on-sighting is in my mind the ultimate form of expression and personal belief and personal challenge, both mental and physical. Rock climbing for me will always be about battling with the voices and knowing, as long as preparation has been correct, I have the ability. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t. On-sighting Stroke of the Fiend was a stepping stone to The Bells and the day after I attempted The Bells but fell when a foothold snapped. Fortunately the peg, eighteen years old at the time, held.

Is there a route on Gogarth that took something special from yourself to pull out of the bag?

The one route on North Stack that was always with me, in the rowdy times, the quiet times and dark times, was The Bells the Bells! Even before I climbed anywhere near the grade of the Bells, the climb, its history and its first ascentionist intrigued and engaged. What possesses a person to put themselves into a position that could end in death? What goes through their minds? Redheads writing enhanced the whole climb and from the moment I learnt about the route I knew one day I would attempt to climb it. From this moment my whole climbing life appeared to be on a road travelling toward this one climb and when I eventually was good enough to attempt it I wanted to do it as John Redhead said it should be done, without high runners in The Cad and on-sight, or at least ground-up as I had looked at the section around the peg when replacing the tat.

When I did eventually attempt the climb and a foothold broke just above the peg Tim Neill, belaying payed out massive amounts of rope to give a dynamic belay, its fair to say that Tim saved my life by doing this, the peg held and I’m still here.

I climbed The Bells clean in 2005 with inspection and practice and high runners in the Cad and the experience was tainted because of this. I have tried to climb other routes, important to me, in better style ever since, in penance!

The Hollow Man in particular has the reputation as the hardest and most serious climb on the North Stack. How did you prepare for this route and the deal with the guidebook write up that a ‘blatant disregard for life is useful’?!

As mentioned above I top-roped The Hollow Man three times before leading it. I had also climbed The Bells that summer which shares a large percentage of the same ground, so it was fresh in my mind and I felt certain I could physically complete the moves. It’s quite strange, The Hollow Man is very very serious but I must have filled my self-belief bottle that summer at just the right time, I think I climbed it without much fuss or ceremony. And as for a blatant disregard for life, no-one starts one of the E7′s on North Stack with doubt or a feeling of failure, to do this would be suicidal, but guide book remarks like this appear to draw me and pique my interest.

What would you consider the most memorable of the North Stack routes you have climbed?

Jon Redhead’s Birth Trauma was a wild outing. Birth Trauma follows the usual line of the abseil near Parliament House Cave but I was so intent to try and on-sight the climb we abseiled another line. The rock is about as unreliable as you can get. One minute the holds feel solid and the next they are flying with you closely following. Birth Trauma is a poorly protected E6 which is quite steep so you have to pull. Jules Cartwright was belaying me and on the third attempt, after falling twice when holds ripped, I was really high and a whole ledge I had just mantled onto collapsed. After shouting to see if Jules was still alive (he was), I managed to top out.

Nick Bullock on The Bell the Bells. Copyright Jude Spancken

Have you had moments, where you have lost it completely on a serious climb? How were you able to regain control of the situation?

No, never. In general my mind is the strongest part of my climbing and I find pushing through or at least attempting to get through a hard section of climbing is better than backing off. I very rarely back off once I begin and if I do it’s because I know the climb is too hard for me and I should not be there. On occasion I find myself on a climb which is harder than the grade suggests or there is another factor like wet or loose rock making it unexpectedly more difficult, then I normally fall off but fortunately something holds or I fall a long way and get away with it.

From a conversation you had with Steve McClure you felt that hard training wouldn’t feed your soul! Do you ever do any training for climbing or expeditions or do all your trips keep you at a high level of fitness?

I have actually trained for a large percentage of my life as I was a physical education instructor, running, circuit training, cycling, weights, aerobics. I climb indoors a lot as well, but I have never trained specifically like campus board stuff, ladders, boulder circuits, my elbows would explode and I would rather be outside climbing at a lower level than spending hours and hours in a gym, I’ve done too much of that in my life already. I do train for winter by dry tooling but I enjoy that as its outside and good fun and good banter with mates.

Nick Bullock on Hysterysis Wall. Copyright Tim Neill

What plans do you have for 2012?

2012 is going to be a busy year. I have just returned from a great trip with Rob Greenwood in Canada climbing a load of big mixed routes and ice. I’m about to give six lectures for the BMC alpine Lecture series around Britain with my mate Tim Neill and run through the final stage of my book with Ed Douglas and Vertebrate the publishers before leaving for Alaska in late May. In Alaska Andy Houseman and I are hoping to climb the first British ascent and the sixth overall ascent of what was known as the Czech Direct on Denali, a two mile high, fifty-eight pitch route of consistently difficult climbing. Again with Andy Houseman we are returning to Nepal in October and November to attempt the unclimbed North Face of Chamlang 7300m in the Hongu Valley for which we have received grants from the Chris Walker Memorial Grant, The MEF, The Welsh Sports Council and The BMC. Finally my book will be published in September by Vertebrate and I will no-doubt give some lectures in December on my return from Nepal. This is not going to be a good rock climbing year.

The pictures of Nick on ‘The Bells The Bells’ were taken by Judith Spancken. For more details on her photography visit her website.

Our thanks go to Nick and Boreal for this excellent interview. Nick has a series of BMC lectures in April, to find your nearest one go to the BMC website. If you enjoy Nicks writing keep an eye out on his blog for details of his forthcoming book release.

Nick is sponsored by:

Nick Bullock on Gogarth North Stack 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. Nick Livesey – contributor
2. Snowdonia climbing – Flying Buttress 87m VD, Dinas y Gromlech area, North Wales
3. Climbing book review: North Wales Rock (Ground Up)

Tom demonstrating the art of the double fist jam. Photo Randall collection. Please don't reproduce without author's permission

What drew you to training specifically for climbing cracks?

The main issue that I came across when trying to improve my crack climbing grade was that there just wasn’t enough do outside! I had a small circuit of routes or boulder problems that I could do in the Peak District, but in the end I got to know the routes really well, so eventually there wasn’t much training effect any more. I suppose also, there was a realisation that cracks are often climbed with “technique” and if I could train more than just this and work on “power” and “endurance” then that would be a good thing.

We aren’t really blessed in the UK with many hard crack climbs, how did you learn the specific techniques required to climb cracks?

I initially learned to crack climb out in the USA, in Yosemite park. It’s a good place to learn, but also a harsh one. There aren’t any footholds or face holds outside of the cracks, so everything seems desperate at first. I met a guy from Montana, whilst in Yosemite, who seemed very happy to go climbing with me for a week and show me what to do on every size – I guess I owe him quite a lot!

What any aspiring crack climber out there should know though, is that every person starts off having a terrible time, cutting their hands up, dropping a million grades, and experiencing humiliation. The thing that marks out most good crack climbers is that they were prepared to go back and try again and to continue to experiment. My first crack was an HVS splitter hand crack (when I was face climbing E3) and I couldn’t get more than 15ft off the deck after an hour’s effort.

Tom training on his crack beam. Photo Randall collection. Please don't reproduce without author's permission

Can you describe a typical training session you used to develop the strength and technique for climbing cracks?

I don’t really have a typical training session that I use, but I’ll give you an example of some stuff I did in my offwidth cellar before going out to the USA.

I’d begin the session by doing a low intensity warm up, and would generally sample lots of different sizes to get a feel for how I was feeling that day. Was I strong/tired/sore skin etc, which would then dictate how my session would be carried out. On a good day I would spend an hour working on strength endurance sets (around French 8a/8a+) – so very hard moves and around 15-20 of them in a go. I’d combine them in continuous reps with variable rest until I started to feel I’d lost the “edge.”

To finish off the session, I’d then spend another hour or so doing endurance training (around 7b+) doing lots and lots of mileage! This generally involved getting sweaty, losing some skin and wanting to have a shower afterwards.

You seem to have created a variety of innovative training techniques to help you get stronger at climbing cracks, such as crack situps. Can you describe what you did and how they helped?

I’ve always been quite analytical about my climbing and how I improve, so I broke down crack climbing movement/technique into its constituent parts. I then devised different ways of training each section of the climbing. For example, the upside down situps, were for Century Crack as I knew I’d have to sit-up and place stacks or Friends between my legs over, and over, and over again….

I noticed you training with a 20kg weight vest. What benefits did the vest bring to your training sessions?

The weight vest was used during the later parts of our training season when Pete and I felt that it wasn’t possible to get a high enough intensity in our training sessions without it. When you can do endless laps on a horizontal crack without tiring, it’s pretty much essential that you go back to basics and shock the body again.

The weights vest doesn’t bring any benefits itself – it’s more that it allows you to control the intensity of the training session. If you’re not continually overloading the body, it’ll stop adapting and growing stronger/fitter.

The scars of crack climbing. Photo Randall collection. Please don't reproduce without author's permission

Did you also use weights in your training to help you target specific muscle groups?

I didn’t do that much weights work relative to people that are really keen on it, but I did identify certain muscles as requiring a decent workout. In particular, the bicep was key to giving high standard of crack climbing (especially on very steep terrain) so both Pete and I did thousands and thousands of bicep curls. I can’t remember the amount we did in 2 years, but it was a very large number!

With the crack climbing you were trying is it important to have good overall body conditioning such as a strong core?

Having a strong core is very important in all sports, but it tends to highlight itself as a weakness in certain types of movement. Having said this, I’ve coached quite a few people who think they have a weak core, but in fact it’s not always that simple – hip flexors and lats can have a massive effect on the chain of movement in your core.

Overall, it’s important to have an overall body conditioning that is adequate to allow you to sustain a prolonged training cycle. Often people wade into a year of hardcore training without preparing the body beforehand. I suspect that early season injuries are a result of this in quite a few cases.

How did you develop the endurance required to climb a sustained roof crack?

The endurance to climb roof cracks is generated purely by lots and lots of mileage on that terrain. If I were intending to climb a 30ft roof crack, then I would make sure that in my training sessions I can climb at least 150ft of horizontal roof in each session. This amount can be broken down of course, but the total mileage is important as your body is almost over-prepared for the event in a way.

It’s also important when trying to improve endurance that you don’t spend to much time “totally boxed” as you’ll be more likely to fail to complete the whole session. Take it easy, pick your pace and get the work done…

Tom bouldering out a crack. Photo Randall collection.Please don't reproduce without author's permission

How did you fit this training into your normal climbing training, such as bouldering and circuits?

I didn’t really to be honest! I had to make some fairly significant sacrifices in my normal climbing to achieve my crack climbing goals. I don’t regret it though, as I have achieved something that I’m pretty content with and if I put a paper bag over my head down at the local wall, they’ll never know it was me who’s failing to get a up a crimpy V2….

I’ve seen you resting from your feet jammed in a roof crack. How did you develop the strength to get yourself into this position and then rest?

Again, this comes down to practice. At first, I spent ages working out all sorts of different sequences with my feet and what angles I had to have things in the crack and then, well, it was down to getting out there and doing it again, and again, and again…. You get the idea! When it comes to unusual things in climbing that people often see as some kind of mad trick, then it’s about not being embarrassed to make a fool of yourself and just try it out. After all, you can never look as silly as me.

Our thanks go to Tom and Beta Climbing Designs the UK importer for Sterling Ropes and Climb On for arranging this interview. For more information on Tom visit his Blog. Tom is sponsored by:

Tom Randall on Training for Crack Climbing 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. Tom Randall – Offwidth King
2. Mountain Leader training awards update
3. Magnus Midtbo on Climbing Training

DMM Alpha Trad Carabiner

I recently received a set of DMM’s new flagship traditional climbing quickdraw, the Alpha Trad.  As soon as you as you pick up one of new Alpha Trad’s you realise that with this quickdraw DMM have really tried to break the mould, by creating a product that incorporates a lot of thought about the climbers requirements when they are leading. This has been achieved through the use of clever design features, with the overall aim of reducing the time spent clipping and the risk of potential cross loading.

From an aesthetic point of view, DMM have created a beautifully designed and engineered carabiner, as well as manufacturing them to the highest specifications. It took me a while, from picking up the first one to actually put it back down!

All the carabiners are manufactured on site in Wales, ensuring that all products are designed, manufactured and tested to the highest specification. Using the latest hot forged I-Beam construction has enabled DMM to keep the weight of a single Alpha to just 34g, without compromising on strength. DMM are certainly one of the leading experts in the climbing field of hot forging. They have recently introduced a whole range  of hot forged cams, ice axe shafts and nuts. This expertise has facilitated designs, weights and enhanced features that simply wouldn’t have been possible with cold forging.

DMM are fanatical about the quality and safety of their designs. Their carabiners are rigorously tested at every stage of the manufacturing process. In addition to the gate opening and gate closed tests required by law, DMM go the extra mile with a host of extra tests, resulting in some of the most extensively tested carabiners that money can buy.

With the Trad, DMM have adopted the wiregate approach. This offers a number of advantages over the traditional solid gate. The first of these is the reduced weight, because of the lower metal content and the wire forming part of the spring mechanism itself. From a safety point of view the lower mass reduces ‘gate flutter’ during a fall situation, reducing the risk of it opening and causing failure of the carabiner. From a clipping point of view the wiregate has a flat surface, which provides a wider gate opening than a solid gate.

As soon as you pick up a set of Alpha Trad quickdraw the most apparent thing is just how light they feel. Having been mainly sport climbing lately, I had forgotten about the weight impact of a trad rack. With a rack of 10 extenders weighing 770 grams, the weight was considerably less that the set of wires I was using.

DMM Alpha Trad showing grip and rubber stitched into quickdraw

When I was on a route and removed the first quickdraw off my harness, some of the design features of the Alpha immediately become clear. The kinked back and the grip on the back and below the wiregate of the Alpha Trad, gives you enhanced grip and reduced risk of fumbling as you remove the quickdraw from your harness and clip through the gear and rope.  This will be even more apparent if your hands have gone numb during a gritstone winter or you are wearing gloves on a Scottish mixed route.

As I clipped the Trad through my first piece of protection, the clever nose and asymmetrical wiregate design really stood out. By making the wire close within the carabiner itself, DMM have created a very smooth nose profile, which is impossible to snag on your protection and enables the rope to pass very smoothly through the gate. The gate itself has a nice balance between having enough tension to stop accidental opening/gate flutter/accidental unclipping and still being easy to clip. A chat with Simon Marsh of DMM revealed that the Alpha gate required a good deal of attention in the design process, as the tolerances and specifications are tight. They have used an offset shape to the gate to help create the correct tension across the whole range of movement, whilst still making it easy to use in either hand. The final kink on the wire gate leg as it connects to the nose and the low profile nose design itself also helps reduce the risk of accidental unclipping because the leg forces the rope over the nose rather than letting the rope fall into a gate/nose recess.

The gate asymmetry does actually make the carabiner feel different when clipping with your right or left hand. It actually feels really nice and smooth when clipping the protection with your right hand and slightly more awkward when clipping with your left. The gate opening is also slightly larger when clipping with your right rather than left. It’s not a major issue, but does feel unusual when you first use the quickdraws.

Clipping the rope into the Trad is made much easier by the shape of the carabiner. By adding a bend to the back, the wiregate has more room to open, resulting in a wider area to clip the rope through. Once the rope is clipped, this shape also ensures that the rope is placed correctly within the carabiner and the risk of cross loading is minimised.

I have been using a mixture of wiregates and bent gates over the years and still feel that the wiregate has a way to go before it is as easy to clip as a well made bent gate. In fact the DMM Mamba is still my prefered quickdraw for hard climbing.  The recent relaunch of this product has been welcomed by many people I know, as well as myself. DMM are offering a bent gate version of the Alpha and I would be really keen to test this to see how it compares with the wiregate Trad. I would be happy for a small weight penalty in return for the smoothest possible clipping action.

DMM Alpha Trad showing rope seating position

When leading I had no problems with the carabiner rotating in the quickdraw. DMM have stitched the rubber within the quickdraw, making rotating a carabiner on the quickdraw almost impossible. Until now alternative solutions based around a variety of different rubber rings have still resulted in difficult clips due to carabiner rotation. In fact they make it harder as the rubber makes it much more difficult to turn the carabiner round before you can clip the rope through. I have seen this design before on other manufactures quickdraws and the rubber failed after a month of use. DMM have attempted to overcome this issue by stitching thicker rubber into the quickdraw. So far I haven’t seen any undue signs of wear, but time will tell.

Fortunately I was lucky enough not to take a fall during the test! To help protect the rope itself the hot forging process has created a flatter surface where the rope seats. The effectively disperses the forces over a wider area of the rope, to reduce the overall rope wear.

I had received a variety of different length quickdraws from DMM.  For low drag situations I had the 12cm, 11mm Dyneema quickdraw. As the potential drag increased I also had the option to use the longer 18cm and 25cm quickdraws. The routes I was trying crossed a mixture of terrain from small roofs to slabs. For my rack I would take 4 each of the 12 and 18cm quickdraws and 2 of the 25cm quickdraws.

DMM Alpha Trad 12, 18 and 25cm Quickdraws

Because of the extra cost associated with engineering such a complex and innovative product this is at the premium end of the quickdraw market. Typical retail prices start at £9 for the carabiner and £19 for the 12cm quickdraw. For all the features packed into this quickdraw this is money certainly worth paying. For someone looking to purchase a new set of quickdraws or add to their existing ones, this product should be at the top of your list. Although the design is based around traditional climbing, I have been happily using them as sport climbing quickdraws as well. However given the choice for sport routes I would opt for the the solid bent gate version called the Alpha Sport or the Mamba. For those people really focused on the lowest possible weight in their quickdraw there is also the Alpha light, which includes many of the design features of the Trad.

Our thanks go to DMM for the support they gave us in making this review. For the Alpha Trad specification and feature video visit the DMM Website.

DMM Alpha Trad Quickdraws Review 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 equipment review – Wild Country ‘Wild Wire’ quickdraws
2. Wild Country Helium Carabiner Review
3. Climbing equipment review – ‘Trigger Gate’ Carabiner by Mad Rock

Fiva is the true story of Gordon and his twin brother John’s, attempt at climbing a route named Fiva (pronounced Fever), on Store Trolltind, the highest mountain in the Romsdal region of Norway.

The adventure takes place in 1969. Gordon and brother John embark on a mission to climb the 6000ft Fiva route armed with a limited rack, 3 cheese sandwiches, 2 Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut bars and a lump of cheese. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty!

What I really love about this book is how perfectly it captures the feelings that anyone that has done any kind mountaineering has experienced at some time or other; The anticipation, the apprehension, the satisfaction, the feeling you get when it slowly dawns on you that you’ve royally screwed up, the restorative decision making process. And unless you’ve suffered an epic of biblical proportions, a whole lot more…

The writing is detailed and descriptive without being flowery. The pace is flat out from the very first page. This is not a book you’ll slowly meander through over a period of months, it’s a high octane read that you’ll get through in less than a week.

In conclusion, if big, bold, bum twitching adventures are your cup of tea, you will certainly not be disappointed with this book.

Fiva was officially launched at the Outside Cafe in Hathersage last night.

I’ll be trying to get some copies for the climbing book shop, but in the meantime if you want a copy the RRP is £9.95. They’re already on sale at Outside and are due to be on sale in main branches of Waterstones and Amazon soon.

Fiva – An Adventure That Went Wrong, a Book by Gordon Stainforth 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 book review: Peak District Climbing (Vertebrate Publishing)
2. Climbing book review: Eastern Grit (ROCKFAX)
3. Climbing book review: North Wales Rock (Ground Up)

In the past four years he has taken his climbing more seriously and moved onto specifically training for competitions. Over the years he has gone through various training plans and slowly worked up to some fairly extensive and intense training plans.

Due to his excellent competition results in 2010 he was selected for the 2011 GB Climbing Team. He has continued to build on this during 2011 by competing at two European Youth Championships, placing 2^nd in the 2011 British Lead Climbing Championships and coming 1^st in the 2011 July British Youth Open. As a culmination of 2011 he was re selected for the 2012 GB Climbing Team.

Tom onsighting Jog Jog 8a

This has all been juggled alongside his school work as he prepares for his all important final year of A levels.

Tom has described a typical training week below.

Monday

AM Metolius Fingerboard session

Encores – Hang from a hold that is fairly hard to hang from. Hang for seven seconds and then rest for three. On each repetition of seven seconds change the arm angle between 135, 90 and 45 degrees.

5 x 1 mins on open hand crimp and 5 x 1 mins on full crimp

PM Anaerobic Capacity and Aerobic Capacity Roughly 1000 moves

Anaerobic Capacity – Climb a 12 – 15 move boulder problem (add an extension to an existing problem if there isn’t a long enough one at the wall) close to on sight limit and climb 12 repetitions. Between repetitions have a three-minute rest and then get back on to next repetition.

Aerobic Capacity – Find a route that is five grades below on sight limit and climb it continuously on a top rope for ten minutes, rest for ten minutes. Repeat this until four lots of ten minutes climbing have been done.

Tuesday

Core and Flexibility

Wednesday

AM Special Strength Session

Exercises – 3 sets of 8 toe touches on Metolius Fingerboard Jugs, 3 sets of 8 offset pull-ups, 2 sets of 8 pulley assisted one-arm pull-ups, 3 sets of 1 minute dish

Weights – 3 sets of 8 forearm curls, 3 sets of 8 wrist curl, 3 sets of 8 dumbbell flies

PM Anaerobic Capacity and Aerobic Capacity Roughly 1000 moves

Anaerobic Capacity – Climb a 12 – 15 move boulder problem (add an extension to an existing problem if there isn’t a long enough one at the wall) close to on sight limit and climb 12 repetitions. Between repetitions have a three-minute rest and then get back on to next repetition. Aim to complete about 9 repetitions.

Aerobic Capacity – Find a route that is five grades below on sight limit and climb it continuously on a top rope for ten minutes, rest for ten minutes. Repeat this until four lots of ten minutes climbing have been done.

Thursday

Core and Flexibility

Friday

Tom deadhanging using a Metolius Woodgrips Finger Board

AM Metolius Fingerboard session

Encores – Hang from a hold that is fairly hard to hang from. Hang for seven seconds and then rest for three. On each repetition of seven seconds change the arm angle between 135, 90 and 45 degrees.

5 x 1 mins on open hand crimp and 5 x 1 mins on full crimp

PM Aerobic Capacity Roughly 600 Moves

4 by 4’s – Climb a route that is at on sight limit, either completing it or falling off. Straight after this climb a route that is five grades below on sight limit three times. Rest for 10 to 15 minutes and complete and other set of this on different routes. Four sets are to be completed before session is done. This equates to four routes, four times.

Saturday

Rest day

Sunday

All day Freestyle Bouldering Session and Active Recovery Roughly 500 to 600 moves

Freestyle Bouldering – Climb a lot of boulder problems for the session. Try and climb a lot of different problems and mix up the style of climbing. Try some steep ones and then try vertical technical ones.

Active Recovery – Climb continuously for 20 minutes. This should be at a standard that whilst you are climbing, you feel as though you will feel better in the morning because of this.

Our thanks go to Tom for sharing his training details with us. We wish him every success in his climbing competitions this year.

Tom is sponsored by:

Tom Bonnert on his Climbing Training 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 9 – Guest post from Ignacio Romero
3. Mina Leslie-Wujastyk on her Bouldering Training