Posts
Bhagirathi in the Indian Himalaya, a truly cool place.
Text here
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Under the radar
It's probably not news that's going to rock the world. Like a nutter shooting 13 people dead in an army camp in Texas. But still I liked reading about Marko Prezelj's trip and so stuck it here too for others. I met Marko randomly on a back street in Dundee 2 years ago. A very unassuming guy. Although I think at the time he was lost. Not good on the back streets of Dundee on your own. Good on him though. Nice work.
Bhagirathi in the Indian Himalaya, a truly cool place.
Text here
Bhagirathi in the Indian Himalaya, a truly cool place.
Text here
Dry ice oddness
Is this a picture of Mr Gaz Parry beef cake rock climber extrordinaire hanging from some car seat belt strapped to plyood handles or are my eyes deceiving me? Is he laughing out of pure enjoyment or because he's thinking wtf am I doing here? Strange. I heard about these 'interesting' creations 18 months ago when someone rocked up to Scott Miur's wall in Aviemore and started using them in front of us. I'm still struggling, like many in the Dragons Den, to figure-four what's going on here exactly and are they actually going to catch on. That's all I have. I am now out of words.
Here's the campaign poster
Nuclear fusion
Some brief notes for those folks that have been asking me about the new fusions from BD.
Asthetically I have to be honest and say the tool generally still looks recognisably like a Fusion. Except of course the colour. A lot of thought went into the way the tools swing and clearly that's the main difference with the new design. They swing a lot better. They are the same as the Viper in their shaft shape and feel more rigid and better weighted than the old Fusions. This means essentially they are not just a mixed tool anymore but more of an all-rounder and much better on ice. The head can still take a small hammer and the pick is still the low profile fusion pick. The head now is basically a copy of we were doing for comps, which was to grind the old heads so they were less overhanging at the back. Also worth noting that you can add a spike now the the bottom of the tool if you wish.
The upper grip has been improved as well, by adding a better rubberised molded surface and by making the finger rest or trigger more ergonomic. The main grip though is essentially the same shape and the same fit - often better for smaller hands and tighter for larger hands (but expandable all the same). Generally the tool feels more balanced and usuable. In essence where I used either a specific comp tool, the Petzl Nomic's or the Fusions before. Now I'll be using only the Fusions.
The tool has been notorious in the past for bending picks, bending heads or worse still snapping just above the grip. It's impossible to say if this will happen with new ones. You certainly won't see me in the garage trying to get all 'Myth Busters' with it. Tools cost money! If you're fretting about whether you should or shouldn't buy them.... just get out there and get a pair. They certainly won't make your climbing worse and when is all said and done only a bad workman blames his tools (a catch-all phrase that blankets most situations very conveniently!!).
Check out my mates photo of a bent Fusion pick here:
http://vibrez-drytooling.blogspot.com/
Asthetically I have to be honest and say the tool generally still looks recognisably like a Fusion. Except of course the colour. A lot of thought went into the way the tools swing and clearly that's the main difference with the new design. They swing a lot better. They are the same as the Viper in their shaft shape and feel more rigid and better weighted than the old Fusions. This means essentially they are not just a mixed tool anymore but more of an all-rounder and much better on ice. The head can still take a small hammer and the pick is still the low profile fusion pick. The head now is basically a copy of we were doing for comps, which was to grind the old heads so they were less overhanging at the back. Also worth noting that you can add a spike now the the bottom of the tool if you wish.
The upper grip has been improved as well, by adding a better rubberised molded surface and by making the finger rest or trigger more ergonomic. The main grip though is essentially the same shape and the same fit - often better for smaller hands and tighter for larger hands (but expandable all the same). Generally the tool feels more balanced and usuable. In essence where I used either a specific comp tool, the Petzl Nomic's or the Fusions before. Now I'll be using only the Fusions.
The tool has been notorious in the past for bending picks, bending heads or worse still snapping just above the grip. It's impossible to say if this will happen with new ones. You certainly won't see me in the garage trying to get all 'Myth Busters' with it. Tools cost money! If you're fretting about whether you should or shouldn't buy them.... just get out there and get a pair. They certainly won't make your climbing worse and when is all said and done only a bad workman blames his tools (a catch-all phrase that blankets most situations very conveniently!!).
Check out my mates photo of a bent Fusion pick here:
http://vibrez-drytooling.blogspot.com/
5 ways to help avoid elbow injury
2. Thorough warm-up and warm-down.
I use hand exercisers and a powerball and then do some easy traverses.
3. Using tubigrip.
Normally I use a short length of tubigrip support bandage doubled up on either arm.
4. Press-ups.
Anything from 30 to 100 press-ups at the start and again at the end of the session.
5. Dips.
Between 10 and 40 dips at the start and again at the end.
6. Slow lock-offs.
Always be careful, slow and deliberate when locking off your elbow or releasing a lock-off.
All of the above is predicated on the fact that you have ignored the obvious cure number 1'' in the list.... not training any more. A dumb idea.
Testing out my homemade dip bars. 2 tree trunks, 2 towel rails
and lots of grip tape. Then get involved.
If any of this seems depressingly methodical, then like me you can 'un-depress' yourself with the sight of other peoples carpentry creations.
Photo: Adrian Croome. Role model for hold density.
Photo: Dave Macleod collection. Role model for steepness.
More pics here:
I use hand exercisers and a powerball and then do some easy traverses.
3. Using tubigrip.
Normally I use a short length of tubigrip support bandage doubled up on either arm.
4. Press-ups.
Anything from 30 to 100 press-ups at the start and again at the end of the session.
5. Dips.
Between 10 and 40 dips at the start and again at the end.
6. Slow lock-offs.
Always be careful, slow and deliberate when locking off your elbow or releasing a lock-off.
All of the above is predicated on the fact that you have ignored the obvious cure number 1'' in the list.... not training any more. A dumb idea.
Testing out my homemade dip bars. 2 tree trunks, 2 towel rails
and lots of grip tape. Then get involved.
If any of this seems depressingly methodical, then like me you can 'un-depress' yourself with the sight of other peoples carpentry creations.
Photo: Adrian Croome. Role model for hold density.
Photo: Dave Macleod collection. Role model for steepness.
More pics here:
Monday, 9 November 2009
Stepping it up
Just for fun, I often call this phase of pre-season training 'witness the fitness'. A great phrase... thanks to Roots Manuva for teaching us all that one. It's a part of the training that generally takes place between 2 and 4 four weeks in, depending on how strong you were to start with. For me this year I started this phase about 10 days ago. What I am really trying to figure out more than anything is where my level is at. Then keep pushing it over and over. It's a logical extension to the exercises in 'starting training'. But the key difference now is that I don't leave the wall until I am totally finished and I can't do another pull-up.
I do more dips, more press-ups, more sit-ups, more pull-ups and more climbing than before. I know this because I keep a whiteboard on the wall with the last sessions efforts and then try to beat it in the next session. And so on for every session after. I find it's really important to keep progressing. Stalling for more than 3 days for me just means I get bored and loose interest. Not good. I get bored quickly. Having really tangible yardsticks keeps the improvements coming. Bit by bit, then maybe the odd the leap or two now and then.
The whiteboard of justice. It never lies.
I'm now extending the circuits to be 10-20m long equivalent including stints across the roof. I'm also doing longer moves, on smaller holds and using less footholds. On some exercises, particularly the dynamic ones, I'm starting to use weights. Waist weight belts are good and mimic the heavy harness syndrome. A rucsac can be good too. But I generally prefer weights on the arms or wrists best. That really gets results quick. Each week, 2 of my sessions are dedicated to stamina work with super long circuits. And 2 others are dedicated to power training. This power training now includes, easy 1 rung at a time campusing with tools, one arm lock-off's on each arm and one arm reaches and 'deadpoints' with a straight shafted axe. Pulling hard on old skool mountaineering axes with big gloves over and over is the best way to improve grip strenght fast.
You definitely get a lot more wasted during these days of training and I'm definitely sleeping pretty well at moment. But the biggest issue for me is battling to keep the skin intact. Lots of filing back calluses and hand cream is about as good as I can manage. Not a problem though, I've never been big into shaking hands with strangers.
I do more dips, more press-ups, more sit-ups, more pull-ups and more climbing than before. I know this because I keep a whiteboard on the wall with the last sessions efforts and then try to beat it in the next session. And so on for every session after. I find it's really important to keep progressing. Stalling for more than 3 days for me just means I get bored and loose interest. Not good. I get bored quickly. Having really tangible yardsticks keeps the improvements coming. Bit by bit, then maybe the odd the leap or two now and then.
The whiteboard of justice. It never lies.
I'm now extending the circuits to be 10-20m long equivalent including stints across the roof. I'm also doing longer moves, on smaller holds and using less footholds. On some exercises, particularly the dynamic ones, I'm starting to use weights. Waist weight belts are good and mimic the heavy harness syndrome. A rucsac can be good too. But I generally prefer weights on the arms or wrists best. That really gets results quick. Each week, 2 of my sessions are dedicated to stamina work with super long circuits. And 2 others are dedicated to power training. This power training now includes, easy 1 rung at a time campusing with tools, one arm lock-off's on each arm and one arm reaches and 'deadpoints' with a straight shafted axe. Pulling hard on old skool mountaineering axes with big gloves over and over is the best way to improve grip strenght fast.
You definitely get a lot more wasted during these days of training and I'm definitely sleeping pretty well at moment. But the biggest issue for me is battling to keep the skin intact. Lots of filing back calluses and hand cream is about as good as I can manage. Not a problem though, I've never been big into shaking hands with strangers.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Winter but not as we know it
...or is it actually just a normal start to winter, given the past few years? However that said, this week in Copenhagen we had our first snow just yesterday. Not much and no settling but snow still the same. Schizzle. There are reports coming in of conditions forming in the major areas too. Will Gadd has been getting out on thin early season ice in the Canadian Rockies and major ice lines are starting to firm up a bit in Colorado too according to Clint Cook and the San Juan guys. Good news if you live there. If you live in the UK though.... for now... keep praying. I'm so psyched about these stories of hope, I've gone and splashed out in celebration.
Yes that's right I bought 80 bottles of Lucozade.
Yes that's right I bought 80 bottles of Lucozade.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Warming up
First thing to say is that I am definitely not the world expert on this. But I have struggled with the concept of the best way to warm up for the last few seasons and have seen first hand many of the worlds leading climbers doing their various routines. Learning from that, this is what I do now.
I get my heart rate up by cycling to the climbing wall. But this could be just a quick run before you start climbing. Nothing too prolonged and arduous but enough to get the heart rate up high for a several minutes, infact maybe as long as 20min. Then I try and loosen up. I'm not a huge advocate of static stretching although a bit of this might be necessary. I prefer to spend more time doing dynamic warming up, like circling my arms, wrists, ankles and shoulders, loosening up my hips and back from side to side. Some folks think 'windmilling' you arms and shoulders is bad. However I've watched Markus Bendler (world champion) do it everytime before a big comp. And he is pretty much the ultimate althlete in terms of mixed ice climbing, so I think I'd follow him rather than the doubters. Some static stretches for your arms, back and legs are good to do, but essentially drytool training is a very dynamic beast and static stretches just aren't enough. That said I do stretch my calves, hamstrings, triceps, biceps and back.
So now that my core is warmed up and my joints and limbs are looser, I warm up my hands and forearms. When all is said and done, they are the ones getting most hammered. I normally use spongey hand exercisers and a Powerball for several minutes. After this your hands, wrists and forearms should feel sufficiently woken up, maybe even with some minor pump. Another area that gets very stressed with any dynamic training is the elbow. Hence I always try to do at least 50 press-ups and 30 dips before I start training. The dips can be given various types of assistance in order to make them less strenuous as a warm-up.
Kat demonstrating a basic hand exerciser.
Then it's time to get going, but with the first few exercises being just easy traversing to help get the muscle-memory and brain-focus both tuned in. When I trained at Scott Muir's wall in Aviemore I used to start with 20mins of traversing easy stuff with hands and trainers on a vertical wall before picking up the tools.
The Powerball in action.
I have to add, that there are some things I've seen that I truly cannot explain. At last years world championships in Switzerland myself, Rob Gibson and Tim Emmett did what you might call a 'normal' steady warm up for 30mins. Whilst other folks from other countries jumped straight into campusing the tool board and footless traverses of the angled monkey bars. Either they were a robotic super species not yet known about or they were numbnuts. I am still to this day dumb-founded by how you can go from being stone cold to reps of campusing without injuring yourself? Strange.
I get my heart rate up by cycling to the climbing wall. But this could be just a quick run before you start climbing. Nothing too prolonged and arduous but enough to get the heart rate up high for a several minutes, infact maybe as long as 20min. Then I try and loosen up. I'm not a huge advocate of static stretching although a bit of this might be necessary. I prefer to spend more time doing dynamic warming up, like circling my arms, wrists, ankles and shoulders, loosening up my hips and back from side to side. Some folks think 'windmilling' you arms and shoulders is bad. However I've watched Markus Bendler (world champion) do it everytime before a big comp. And he is pretty much the ultimate althlete in terms of mixed ice climbing, so I think I'd follow him rather than the doubters. Some static stretches for your arms, back and legs are good to do, but essentially drytool training is a very dynamic beast and static stretches just aren't enough. That said I do stretch my calves, hamstrings, triceps, biceps and back.
So now that my core is warmed up and my joints and limbs are looser, I warm up my hands and forearms. When all is said and done, they are the ones getting most hammered. I normally use spongey hand exercisers and a Powerball for several minutes. After this your hands, wrists and forearms should feel sufficiently woken up, maybe even with some minor pump. Another area that gets very stressed with any dynamic training is the elbow. Hence I always try to do at least 50 press-ups and 30 dips before I start training. The dips can be given various types of assistance in order to make them less strenuous as a warm-up.
Kat demonstrating a basic hand exerciser.
Then it's time to get going, but with the first few exercises being just easy traversing to help get the muscle-memory and brain-focus both tuned in. When I trained at Scott Muir's wall in Aviemore I used to start with 20mins of traversing easy stuff with hands and trainers on a vertical wall before picking up the tools.
The Powerball in action.
I have to add, that there are some things I've seen that I truly cannot explain. At last years world championships in Switzerland myself, Rob Gibson and Tim Emmett did what you might call a 'normal' steady warm up for 30mins. Whilst other folks from other countries jumped straight into campusing the tool board and footless traverses of the angled monkey bars. Either they were a robotic super species not yet known about or they were numbnuts. I am still to this day dumb-founded by how you can go from being stone cold to reps of campusing without injuring yourself? Strange.
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