Month: February 2009

My housemate has been digitising his slide collection over the last few weeks, not on the standard slide scanner though, he’s opted for a projector and a digital camera, which given some of these shots are old, scratched and been reasonably unloved for a while seems a sensible solution, compared to spending years with a scanner, to do the same job. Whilst some have very little interest for me, others given his time in climbing, and his dedication to climbing all over the UK means that some of the images are of iconic routes. Some of which even I have gotten my arse up.

This evening though he showed a slide of Finale Groove on Boulder Ruckle at Swanage, now being my original stomping ground meant that I should have a wealth of experience here, unfortunately I was a complete punter back then and didn’t actually venture onto the ‘proper’ cliffs, instead I stayed around subluminal, a pleasant and inviting single pitch venue, with a nice non-tidal ledge. It was only when I came to Wales and learnt to climb that I actually wanted to go back down there and climb.

Unfortunately none of my friends from Bournemouth climbed, and an attempt to get a friend to second me up the classic VS Marmolade (sic) Buttress, resulted in my friend having eyes out on stalks, and a array of deep cuts to his fingertips induced by excessive grip on a few of the flint edges! So suggesting we went down to climb another route was met with stern Resistance, and a suggestion that the pub is a better option.

So I was faced with a bit of a dilemma. I was on holiday from University, and had decided to spend it in Bournemouth with my folks, however I now had no one to climb with. So I came up with the idea of Shunting a route on Boulder Ruckle because, whats the worse that could happen? I can always jumar up the rope!

So which route, I had a copy of Pat Littlejohn awesome guidebook to climbing in the South West of England, but it was a very limited selective guide, and also trying to identify a route from the top of a cliff and abseil down it to then re-use the abseil rope as a safety rope meant the route had to be a. easy to identify from above and b. straight up. There were very few routes that fitted that criteria except one, Finale Groove.

On a two dimensional topo it was straight up, it was also on the boundary of the seasonal restriction, so different colour markers were in place at the top, meant it was identifiable from above. So with my climbing rope and a small rack to tie off the stakes at the top I headed off to climb this HVS corner/groove.

To say that the stakes were far from inspirational, was an understatement, considering I was not just going to belay off them but abseiling, I did my best to equalise one rusty one, one really rust one and the most sturdy piece of gorse I could find and with all the confidence of someone who was about to embark on something they were oblivious to the risks of, lent back and abseiled down the line.

I was only when i was 50ft down, that my first oversight was completely apparent, in that as good as a topo is, it really can only capture two dimensions. Unfortunately this route is very much three dimensional, as I became more than aware when my abseil finished 5 metres out from the base of the cliff. Undeterred I clipped on the shunt and climbed upwards, praying that I wouldn’t fall off the first section of the climb, as the pendulum into the ‘ruckle’ looked uncomfortable to say the least, in fact I prayed I didn’t fall of anywhere.

Whilst god answered my first prayer, he made me pay for my ambition, and falling off, from the traverse left out under the overhang, resulted in a massive swing and a hefty drop as the slack was taken up. As I recovered from the initial shock I realised I was, twixt the devil and the deep blue sea, free hanging in space 60ft up a 150ft overhanging cliff, and it seemed like a good time to see if reading Iain Peters and Alun Fyffe Encyclopedia of rock climbing chapter on prussiking was going to be good enough to get me out of this predicament.

Lets just say I had a few false started, but eventually I started inching my way upwards, and this point someone must have gotten concerned, as the next thing I know there was a Coastguard helicopter hovering next to me. Trying to look calm, and this was planned I waved and smiled nicely, and they soon disappeared off, and I soon made it back to the rock where I climbed to the top and quickly packed away my things and ran back rather embarrassed back to the car.

The moral of the story is we are all punter at one point!

Well after ranting on about the ‘Not in My Back Yard’ Dog owners the other day, I venturing out to Cwm Idwal and was shocked at the state of the place. The main tourist path is thoroughly disgusting at the moment, it made me think what dog owners consider acceptable behaviour when it comes to their dogs doings. It seems that in Cwm Idwal the first 300 metres of the track is basically a K9 toilet. I would suggest a sign to educate these guys, however I disagree with signs in the mountains, so instead I say let the farmer get his gun out and put it to good use.

How hard is it as a dog owner to realise that when you leave the car your dog will no doubt want a shit within 300m, and taking a plastic bag to put it in is actually what people do nowadays, if you find the thought of taking a bag of shit round Cwm Idwal disgusting, then either a. don’t take the dog, b. Don’t buy a dog in the first place, c. Leave the dog at home or d. walk back and put it in a bin before continuing on.

If you won’t let your dog shit in your own back yard then please think twice before letting it shit in a place that hundreds of thousands of people like to enjoy ever year, preferably shit free. I for one don’t want to play dodge the turd on my walk in to Cwm Idwal, that looks more like an inner city dog park, than a national park at the moment.

Well I would like to think that it is the power of this blog, but after finishing work today the road works that I mentioned a few days back about being there to get in the way of a weekend, were being removed. However I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a overtime scam. Either way it seems odd having some road works up just for the weekend.

I have spent the week teaching on a Plas y Brenin rock course, for their Fast Track instructor scheme. Having spent the Monday getting the group climbing in Dali’s Hole, and most of the group got a lead or two in on the easy sport routes there about’s. Most of them starting on the route that I was accused of bolting so my clients can ‘learn to lead’, well busted there I am afraid!

We also had a lovely chat to a Security Guard from the power station who said that we shouldn’t be there, which was funny, if a little painful, and involved a lot of biting of my tongue. Considering he asked me what I would do in the event of an accident, and how the Mountain Rescue Team, would get there. Interestingly he didn’t seem to like the answer that I gave him saying we’d just lift the gate of its hinges!

I had noticed a couple and their young child climbing, so when the guard came over I tried to keep him at the other end of the crag to them. As one of the arguments that the security guard has levelled at previous groups was that being there encouraged families to use the site. So just as the guard was about to leave, the inevitable happened and the baby started screaming, so we basically had to listen to him blame us for them being there as well. Despite the site appearing in several guidebook, magazines, and internet sites.

We had a great day though, in the sun. Which continued the next day at Upper Tier where we looked at the ropework required for the next three days. Where yet another fantastic day in the near spring sun. Andy Newton who was running a SPA training course for Manchester Metropolitian University was up there as well, some of his group I knew from an ML course I worked for Andy a few months back.

With the weather poor in the mountains then it was back to Tremadog again on wednesday, where my team of two climbers scaled Bobo, Obleron and top two pitches of One Step in the Clouds. Again you really shouldn’t get paid for this work, as it is criminally pleasant. A school day on Wednesday, kept me dry, although I did sneak in 30 routes at the beacon. Before I went back to Tremadog and my guys lead Christmas Curry and Yogi. Not a bad weeks work really.

I have scheduled this to be published when I am out teaching a Mountain Leader Refresher. If your interested in a climbing course then I offer private guiding/instruction when I am not freelancing for places like Plas Y Brenin, via this website.

Well I introduced the concept of scripts for imagery in previous post, and thought I would elaborate the concept to allow you to develop a script for a boulder problem that you can climb in overlapping sections but not yet link. Meaning that basically you can do every move but need help in making the route climb as efficiently as possible. To do this we are going to use our imagination to ‘dream’ about climbing the problem successfully. In order to do so we want to concentrate on the not only a sequence of movements but a series of stimuli and responses that we might have when climbing it.

Setting the Scene
To start with we need to set the scene, so write down a description of the boulder its setting, and distinguishing features, a nearby stream or road, add in wind, sun, sounds even smells to that descriptions. To the general setting add how you feel emotionally stood below it the anticipation of the climb, the excitement of trying.

Adding the Actions, feelings and emotions
Now start by describing each move of the problem, and add to one a distinct feeling with each action. By this I mean what your body feels like, often this is a verbal form of description of what you need to do to achieve each move. If the problem is at your limit it will often involve many tiny micro movements, so be sure to include details like inside or outside edge of boot.

This script of the actual actions should when read back feel as real to actually climbing the route as possible, in terms of the moves and how they feel physically, the next step is to add how they make you feel emotionally. So when for instance you describe the crux move, use a positive framework to hanging the hold, it may even be relief.

These emotional tags, feeling success, winning, fighting for the next hold need to be added throughout the script especially at parts of the problem that you feel are key to the success. It may take several attempts to get a good script that includes all of these aspects.

Written versus MP3 scripts
Once complete you can either read it back to yourself and image the problem, eventually you’ll probably find that you remember it by heart, this is probably the right time for you to try the problem because you can now visualise success in your mind. An alternative is to record it onto you laptop and upload it onto an MP3 player to allow you to listen to and imagine the script one or twice a day.

I had a call from a colleague last night, she is heading away to morocco with a friend, and needed a spare Ice Axe. I haven’t seen her for a while, so asked why she thought I might have an axe she could borrow given she knows many instructor types?

Her answer was quite hilarious, she said she tried to think of someone who would have a walking axe yet be unlikely to use it in the next two weeks. I didn’t know whether it was a compliment, dig or insult! Either way her tone did make me laugh though, as she was right, even if it was great Scottish conditions I was extremely unlikely to go up there since I haven’t made it up in about 3 years!

So I handed over the axe, that I am unlikely to use in the next two years let alone two weeks. Winter Walking in Scotland despite being excellent given the right conditions in ultimately a exercise in futility if you live anywhere below Hadrian’s Wall. Where invariably you travel up in the cold snap to arrive in time for the thaw and driving rain.

Anyway I lent the axe on the understanding that I get at least one preferable Travelling Gnome type snap of my Ice Axe’s Holiday.

Well if you make it through the welcoming road works this weekend, and through the perilous mountains and to Llanberis High Street, beware of the turd’s, it appears that they are everywhere. I guess since most people’s backyards are concrete in the village, means it is better to let your dog shit anywhere but your own backyard.

As such it is quite messy out there since the usual deluge hasn’t ‘washed’ the shit away for a while now. A friend who moved here recently hasn’t witnessed anything like it, she is having nightmares of waking up swimming in the stuff, she says its making her ill, to which i suggested she stop eating it.

Its not just on the high street either, the weeks dry spell means it is building up on my usual running route as well! So I might not venture out tonight, as I don’t want shit on my shoes. Besides if you have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder like myself, and you can’t tread on any cracks in a crazy paving pavement that is the high street then, combined with not stepping on shit as well makes the whole experience thoroughly painful, and requires at least three baths to wash any shit off, and two hours of rocking back and forth chanting to counteract any bad luck from stepping on any cracks.

If you don’t make it her till Saturday or Sunday morning then you can expect, at least one portion of chips and two piles of vomit to decorate the pavement. In the interest of tourism, that isn’t a sign of rural decay, but actually the modern art of geographically confused Andy Warthog.

Maybe a solution might be some of those doggy-do bins, so the dog owners who are responsible enough to pick up their pets offerings, don’t just fling the plastic bag into the nearest hedge, tree or bush.

Well I am not sure if its Conway or Gwynedd Council who have put up these traffic lights on the main road from Capel to Snowdon. They weren’t there this morning when I went to work, but they were there and totally barren of any workman by 3.45 as I returned from teaching rock climbing at Tremadog. Now if there was a massive hole in the ground I could understand, however, all these road works are is a pile of dirt on the side of the road.

Now these road works are going to stay there all weekend, for no reason, with no work being carried out, essentially because some council worker or their sub-contractor couldn’t be bothered to tidy up a about 2 tonnes of dirt. What the hell do I pay my council tax for, other than to subsidise some work shy, half a job team of road maintenance engineers. Although the term engineer seems a little optimistic as it points towards the use of forethought and planning, before dumping some dirt on the side of a road on a Friday and leaving there all weekend!

So if you are up on holiday I hope you enjoy the Welcome to Snowdonia Roadworks, and I apologise on behalf of the residents who rely on tourism. We don’t seem to be able to get the council staff with an ounce of common sense. I fact i am sure that it must be a question that comes up on an interview for a local government job.

Imagery Scripts are under used in climbing mainly because very few people have an idea about what an imagery script is and what information should be in them. Again like all things to do with imagery when you look into the research the decisions are from from straight forward, a lot at my first blog on imagery will highlight some of the important consideration in terms of script content. 

When I refer to aerobic endurance I am talking about our ability to keep climbing for a long period at an intensity where we don’t get pumped. Whilst this might not seem that appropriate if we want to improve the grade we climb, this ability to keep going for long periods can help us recover quicker if we get pumped. It does this through two mechanisms the first is helps develop the heart and lungs like I suggested in a previous blog about cross training, but more specifically it helps us grow, reinforce and widen the capillaries within our arm and upper body muscles to help promote blood flow, and therefore get oxygen and energy supplies to where we need it.

In essence this type of training requires you to do a large volume or number of routes at a level that you do not find yourself getting pumped at. Again like everything start of with maybe 10 routes up to a certain grade, and then try and increase the number of routes in each subsequent session (12, 14, 16… or 15, 25, 30…). The important thing is you don’t feel pumped so this could mean that you end up repeating very easy routes a few times if there aren’t enough easy routes at your wall. With this type of training it is often better to start by increasing the number of routes rather than the difficulty.

Outside I have sometime used long enchainments of easy routes on places like Idwal Slabs for this purpose. i also get to take clients up what are easy routes for me, so often I can train for aerobic endurance as I work. If you are not that lucky just think high volume and low intensity.