Costa Blanca

Nik was so lost in the hardcore techno on his I pod he momentarily forgot where he was and started dancing

A week or so after my big breakthrough i was lucky enough to meet up with Nik Jennings. He had been running a coaching course in the Costa Blanca and had a few days after to climb. A 6.30 am start saw me arrive in Alicante about 12, I keep forgetting how big Spain is. I was knackered after driving through thick fog, rain and even hail at one point. Not just now and then but pretty much for 300kms of the journey.

It was wet there too so the planned trip to Forada was not on. The only dry place we could find was Ibi. It looked OK and was in a very nice setting tucked away behind an old water mill.

 The only dry route in the village

Unfortunately there were only 2 dry routes on the whole crag in the central section. We got there just in time to see a group lowering off La Chica yeye. When i say lowering off they were lowering off a maillon from the bolt below the chains. Not always a good sign. Nik reckoned that 7a+ that people have bailed from is a great warm up grade and told me to go for it, thanks Nik. I fell at the 2nd bolt on a dynamic lunge for a pocket. I hit it, but didn't hold it as it was blind, i got it on a bad part and i have a saggy arse. My words not Niks.I am not holding my tension when i hit a hold and as a result i may touch the hold but often fall away from it meaning failure. I managed the rest of it up to the final bolt.

It's worth mentioning here that the route was about 10 moves long and all of them were strong, reachy and most were using bolt on bits of rock filed down.Very bizarre, even for Spain.

 Spot the bolt ons. There are 3 in this picture alone.

The last section had a yellow resin mono hold and a small blue crimper up and right. It appeared you had to somehow reach the miles away mono and then yard up on it. Nik mentioned something about using my feet and pushing up but i went for the yard up on one finger tactic, and failed. Cut a long story short i had 3 rp goes and everytime got to the mono and fell. Even Nik didn't manage to get it in one. He was finding the reachy move low down really hard but eventually cheated on the mono move by using technique and going again for the crimp.

The finishing holds. You can see the massive holes in the roof above and a breeze block nailed on for good measure. Subtle !

My mono finger was feeling tweaky so after another attempt failing at the mono we quickly decided to move on to the other dry route hoping it would be just as good. At least this one had no holds bolted on it. Shame really as a couple of them could have really improved it and would have meant we didn't need to use the razor blades disguised as holds. Imaginatively named Route 10 it wasn't what we'd come to climb on really. I didn't get it in the end but with comments about the crag saying it's sandbag heaven i wasn't too upset. It salvaged something out of a very wet day and i still wasn't scared of falling. I took more falls that day than in the whole of last year.

The view from the crag - not bad i guess

Next day we were going to Forada. Nik had told me it's the best crag in the Costa Blanca with no bad routes on it. The weather decided otherwise again, and as we couldn't even see the crag due to the cloud we diverted again. Heading North until we could see the sun meant we ended up in the Xalo valley at Las Pinturas in the Los Pinos area. It was a cool looking place. A long, short, open cave of orange rock with some cave paintings and some climbs with very steep starts before rounding the lip to what looked easy slabby ground above.

Las Pinturas

Starting off with a bang i went for Route 5 and found wet pockets followed by bloody sharp holds on the slab above the bulge. Failed again ! I got a good pump on though so it did it's job as a warm up. Next up was Paprika. As Nik won't allow people to take it easy he made me have a bash at on-sighting it. This quickly turned into a bolt to bolt to work the moves out. It was fierce steep to start. Having rested a while i thought about having another go to get it wired. I was quickly dispossessed of that idea by Nik who told me to get on it and crush it. 1st bolt clipped, sneaky foot faggotry to get through the hard bit and....my foot popped off. Lack of concentration. Bugger ! The good news is it went next go and felt easy. I wasn't even pumped. How does that happen ? Once through the crux there was a shake point and i had to stop myself leaving too early as i felt like i was flying. Normally you can't get me away from rests.

Even better news is that it's thought to be a hard 7b :0)

So what to do for the rest of the day, apart from belaying Nik trying 8a on-sights of course ? Well i could go for a 7b+, a 7c or a 7c+. Of course i went for the 7c+.

7c+ mentalness.

 It actually looked the most do-able option with a fairly obvious sequence.It is called The Reaper and is described as having a hard start leading to a very hard move. I should say. Using my new found extra appendages ( my feet ) i surprised myself by making fairly decent progress. I ended the day one move off from the easy ground. After only a couple of hours on it i was pretty happy with that. If it was local i'd have it as a project and i don't think it would take too long. I've never pulled off moves that hard before, not even when bouldering, and the amount of  weight i could get through my feet was wicked,

Next day saw us a bit battered but finally at Forada. I summoned up all my psyche and warmed up on something sensible this time - a nice steady away 6b+. Target for the day was a 7a on-sight and a 7b RP.

I ended up with a 7a flash of Starman and a pretty miserable fail on Muscleman. It's a great route but i just didn't have anything left in the tank after 2 hard days. It was pretty frustrating as i felt if i was fresh it'd go down quite easy. I was faffiing about at the steep bit and had no energy left for subsequent goes.

So it was off for another 6 hr drive back home. I'd got some successes, some failures but most importantly i'd learned a hell of a lot.

The comeback kid !

Well it's been nearly 6 mths to the day without a blog. Basically it's gone like this:

• Lack of psyche following breaking through into a new grade
• elbow tendonitis = 6 weeks off any hard climbing
• Summer = 6 weeks of too hot to climb anything hard
• Broken ribs = 6 weeks of no hard climbing

Taking these one at a time.

Lack of psyche was confusing to me, until recently. I'd just broken a new grade and physically it didn't feel that hard. Mentally however was another story. Being scared to death of falling and trying to climb as hard as i thought i could meant i was likely to fall. I just wasn't enjoying the process. It was only recently that i acknowledged that this happened when chatting to Steve at Loja. We talked about how he is scared of falling on on-sight and i am scared of falling on red-point. Steve is a red-point machine and brilliant to watch. He sorts out sequences very quickly, focuses and goes 100% on his attempts. This often gets results. I get more scared on red-point because i am much more likely to fall. I then hesitate, get tired and fail. The whole build up to it and mental pressure was just not floating my boat at the time.

I took the chance to go to physio for my elbows and whilst she didn't say stop climbing i was told to keep it at a low level for a while or she might have to repeat the really painful massage she had done on me. 'Nuff said and i was a good boy. What i found helped a lot were all the little things you do that aggravate it. I changed how i belayed in particular ( straight brake arm and no tension in it ), how i drove, how i carried my rucksack and loads of other little things that were stopping it recovering fully. It hasn't come back so fingers crossed.

Summer was just hot and everyone went away on road trips and left me partner less and sweaty, so not much done there.

The broken ribs was one of those things i couldn't do much about. A bit silly really but i got involved in a bar fight in a friend's bar. I grabbed the big fat fella who was causing all the grief and took him down to the ground from behind in true ex policeman style. Unfortunately i was a slightly drunk ex policeman and got it a bit wrong and he ended up falling on top of me and we hit the corner of a table on the way down. To add insult to injury i got whacked around the head with an ashtray that someone was trying to hit someone else with. Owch ! It wasn't all that bad after. I am sure i cracked a couple of ribs under my right armpit and did something round the back near my shoulder blade but it could have been worse. You should have seen the other guy :0) After a month i was able to pull hard again, but it still hurts when i sneeze.

After all this i was ready for trying again. Steve and his friend Paul were coming over for a week and Steve wanted to try Hasta Luego Luca again. It's an amazing twin tufa pipe climb with consecutive knee bars, and Steve had bought a 5.10 knee pad. Despite the fact that it has been universally agreed that this bit of kit takes off half a grade i still failed on it due, yes you guessed it, being scared of falling. I was too hesitant and slow. Steve cracked it off in good style.

Me really dancing while Steve basks like a lizard

We met up again a couple of days later at Cauche where a weird thing happened. Paul was trying Tomohawk, the very same 7b i climbed 6 mths ago that put me off. I got back on and sorted the low down boulder problem ( ish there was still 2 possible sequences for the boulder problem ) and flashed the rest. After a short break i tied on, climbed it decisively ( using the new sequence but going at it 100% ) and cruised it. I had not done anything different in my approach, i had no 'pre-flight' nerves, no fear of falling, just a feeling that it was going to be OK. I have absolutely no idea what happened. All i can say is that if that is how it feels for everyone else then i want more. I have started to worry though as i had not done anything to lose the fear, it could easily come back.

 

Getting to the steep bit

The crux is slapping for a blind edge over your head from the slopey undercut.

  

Crux done, just the easy ground to mess up on now

Victory swing

Real progress at last !

Well i finally climbed a 7b. Tomohawk at my local crag, Villanueva De Cauche, which was nice. I'd been on it on a top rope once before following Ale, a very tall, very dynamic, climbers beta and buggered up my right elbow. I then watched Silvi climb it with technique and vowed to remember the beta.

Steve ( Eagle River from UKC ) has recently got married. What's that got to do with me climbing 7b you may ask ? Well his in laws live less than 1 hr from my house here in Spain. Why couldn't i find a woman like that ? Weirder coincidences are to follow as it turns out he lives about 10 minutes from my Mum's back in Manchester. Anyway i digress, get back to the exciting stuff i hear you cry. He came over for a visit and was allowed out for a few days climbing. I surprised him with freezing cold weather and torrential rain just to prove to all the UKC'ers that it's not always sunny in Spain. We spent a chilly, but mostly dry, day in Archidona cave. I told him not to believe the hype that it's one of the world's premier climbing venues. Yes the routes at 7c and above are awesome ( so i've been told ) but the whole floor - and many holds - are covered in a lovely mixture of bird and goat shit. Anyway we made the best of a bad day and i failed on a 7a on-sight again. Steve got introduced to the world of steep European limestone on Danza Agressiva and then we retreated due to the cold.

Steve had a goal of getting a 7b in a session. He likes bouldery routes and came armed with a clip stick. Tomohawk ( yes i'm back on the story now ) seemed to fit the bill. A couple of metres of easy climbing, a V4 section involving a gaston, guppy, double undercut sidepull off a massive ( but strangely insecure ) tufa with really high feet to dyno for an OK'ish hold. I had 2 more top ropes on it but wasn't feeling like i had the firepower to do the crux slappy move.

Steve showed me how with a very well executed redpoint. As someone who redpoints a lot his experience with that really showed. He figured out, and remembered, sequences much quicker then i can. Most importantly once he knew the moves he climbed them with a lot of confidence and just the right amount of aggression. He cruised the crux, rested and then blasted his way up the 6b+ ish climbing above.

I had half decided ( well more 80% if i am honest ) to just have another top rope but found myself pulling the rope through unexpectedly. Peer pressure kicked in. I reckon if he'd offered me a ciggy i'd have said yes. I quickly found myself entering the crux having scorned princess clipping the 1st 2 bolts ;0) Totally nervous, totally expecting to fail until something clicked and i just thought " Fuck it, i'm here now i may as well just see what happens." There was a pause of about 2 or 3 seconds as i latched the crux move while it sank in that i'd got it. I remember inwardly shouting at myself. " Stop staring at that shit hold you're on and move to the jug next to it." I eventually did and just had the easy climbing ahead after a rest point. Feeling rested, and on a real positive high, i set off into the much easier crux above, totally bolloxed it up, got wrong handed and ended up pulling out some weird, high footed, undercut, gaston thing. I've got to stop trying to mess things up for myself.

Silvi said it'd go next time and it did. She also said i wouldn't be far off Rasca y Pica ( Itchy and Scratchy ) a 7b+ round the corner. So that's my next target.

I've finally updated my goals on here as they were from December so just got to stick to them now.

Things are slowly coming together

Another 7a on-sight failed. I still smiled when i got it 2nd go though.

Well it's been another 2 months since my last post. I can't follow blogs where people waffle on about every time they go out or what they had for lunch. I haven't made any massive leaps in progress, no eart shattering news, but i thought that what has been happening was worth a summary post.

I have spent the last couple of months climbing with people from the Olive Branch in El Chorro which has been great. Strangely i have ended up climbing with lots of people from Cumbria who i didn't know before. The climbing world is a small one, but only in El Chorro it would seem.

I kept on trying for the 7a onsight and so far have kept on failing. Everytime i am so close. I am into double figures now. It has either been just one mistake or my head that has been stopping me. How i react to that mistake, and deal with the subsequent fear of falling, is what is stopping me.

I am now resolved to take some falls every routes session and if i don't then you can call me soft ! It's still a massive issue i need to overcome. Because it's a massive issue i am hoping to make some big gains in performance.

This has come to a head due to my new climbing partner(s). As the season is coming to an end a lot of people have left the Olive Branch and i have also started the search for work. I know it's tough but i haven't done a days work since July 2011 so i need to get back to it.

Silvi cruising

This led me to get in touch with the rockclimbingcompany and Silvi Fitzpatrick. Not only did she think that we could work together she also wanted to climb together. Feeling nervous i went out with her for the first time climbing at the Chilam Balam cave. I was bricking myself but ended up pleasantly surprised at the amenable grades that were there as well as 9a+(b) madness.

I ended up getting a real introduction into what it takes to climb hard grades. A never ending passion for giving it 100% seems to be what it takes. You can't fail to be carried along by Silvi's enthusiasm for climbing. One second she is laughing, the next deadly serious. It's obvious climbing is what makes her tick, a real obsession. She enjoys it, but it's not to be taken lightly. If it's worth doing then it's worth devoting your entire life to see where it takes you seems to be her motto.

The new love of my life, Ciara the worlds greatest crag dog

Due to some old injuries she has had to change her climbing style and is now a bit of a technical master ( mistress ?). Climbing with her is like having your own personal coach. She's great to watch and also knows when to chip in with advice when i am struggling. She has a massive amount of experience and i am going to learn everything i can from her. On top of all that she's really nice too.

The amazing line of Chilam Balam

One thing i've noticed, other than how strong her fingers are, is how much she moves her body position about. I tend to grab a hold, stay static and try to figure then next move out. I just about always start the next move from the position i am in. Silvi is never still. She milks every position for what she can get out of it and will get a hold in one position, move into a restful position, figure the next move out and then move to the optimum position to execute the next move. It's not done as statically as i describe it. It flows beautifully from one move to the next.

She also climbs much more side on. I remember AJM from fit club saying he had had a coaching session with Adrian Berry who pointed out that he didn't climb as side on as he should. I always thought that was a bit odd as it's obvious that when it's steep you turn side on. However watching Silvi she is rarely front on to anything. She sits on her feet when outside edging keeping her arms dead straight and pushes her way up routes with her legs.

I should now get the opportunity to get back on harder routes. I've been on a handful of 7a+'s and 7b's but never had chance to go back after an initial feel of the moves. I've now got a couple of projects, including a 7c monster that i will be able to get back on and give them a real go. It'll be good to see where my limit is. Silvi reckons a 7b will go next time for me ( now she has shown me how to clinb it with technique ) and with a bit of work there is a 7b+ waiting for me. I just have to believe her.

Me climbing face on - again

The project ! Cenizo 7c
It's a bit steep.

Time flies !

Andy T on Rock the Kasbah 7b

Shocked to see it's been nearly 2 mths since i last posted. Xmas seems to have got in the way as has life in general. I don't seem to have the time to sit and type of an evening. Mrs Biscuit has flown back to the UK for a week so i have now got the time for an update. It does mean she has the Mac with all the piccies on it though so i've not much to brighten this blog up.

Mario did come over and we were cut off in our prime after a quick RP of Diedro Candela, a stamina 7a+. The idea then was to tick off another 2 or 3 in the last few days he was here. Instead we got the virulent shits ( think going to the loo 40+ times a day and not eating for 3 days ) and i wasn't even well enough to drive him to the airport. Respect due to the Maz with his kill or cure approach using a Whopper meal to kill the bugs. Braver than i am to do that 1 hr before getting on a Ryanair with only 1 toilet.

In my last post i said i had learned a lot about redpointing and onsighting. This seems to be true and i am forming a definite routine in how i approach both. So far my redpointing has only been up to 7a+ and haven't been sieges. It's been more looking at the moves i don't have the fitness to hang around and execute onsight and then the route goes next go.

I blogged a while ago about trying Arabesque, an 3 star 7a, and how it was all technical and balancy and not my thing, along with various other crap excuses. I got back on it yesterday, had a bolt to bolt to remember it and figure it out, and then did it next go. It felt pretty standard to be honest and i was certainly no where near my limit physically. I'd been having a chat with someone earlier in the day about the mental side of things. Andy climbs 'a muerte' every time and is super psyched. He's great to climb with because of that and it rubs off on you. I think i've only just started to realise how much the mental side has been holding me back.

I've always known that i don't like falling but since moving here i've gone from abject panic at the thought of falling above a bolt to a kind of ' I really don't want to fall but the desire for the route outweighs the fear.' This is a massive improvement but it's still there, especially on onsights and it needs to be squashed down further until it warns me of danger but otherwise shuts up.

Seeing Andy take more falls in a session than i do in a year shows me what i need to do and i have now started climbing with the knowledge i may fall and i have fallen. Guess what ? Nothing really happened.

Although i am going to really work on the mental game i have also started a 16 week periodised training schedule. Lots of reading has been done and it's a full on aero cap, an cap, aero pow, an pow thing. After week 1 i am tired. Not great as it's supposed to be a very easy breaking in week. Oops ! I will post full details of it soon so you can get an idea of what i've done. So far i've only planned the first 8 weeks, which is my base. I have the next 8 weeks ( peak ) rough planned but no detail yet. It'll be really interesting to see what effect it has.

My goals are now different - again. They have been chaning as logistics change and as i come across more appealing routes. No bad thing and they will all stretch me. I want 7b by the end of this 16 weeks. I have been really impressed by routes like Anack Sunamun at sector La Momia in Chorro. Next to it is this years big challenge: Honk Down ! a looong 7c. Think long 7b to a jug rest and a few moves into a V4 that's easier for the tall. It's a gut wrencher as if you fluff the crux you've got to climb another 30 metres to get to the crux again. I am actually looking forward to it.

As for the 7a onsight goal. That's still very much there and a word from the wise ( John Kettle climbing coach ) means i can fit both in by trying 7a onsights as part of a warm up for routes in the 7b region.

Bring it on ! I'm going to put a stamp on the pea and crush it. Sorry private joke.

On-sight and Redpointing - lessons learnt.

Since my last post i have been trying ( and failing ) to on-sight 7a. I have only tried 3 and got 2 of them 2nd go. The 3rd ( Arabesque ) i only had chance for one try on. I've been having a good hard think about my approach and what is wrong and right with it.

I am never going to on-sight a 7a unless i get on them so that's for the good. But should i be trying the 3* classics before i am ready ? Ah well too late now as i've buggered up 3 of them.

I haven't been giving myself the best chance at them though. I've not spent the time route reading, visualising, or built my base. I was surprised to find out i've not filled out enough 6c and 6c+ on-sights. Something to go at there then.

The biggest problem i still have is being scared of falling. Even when i practiced falling at the wal,l until i was happy enough to take huge lobs, i was still scared to try 100% at on-sights. On Danza Agresiva the other week i ended up taking an accidental practice fall. It was a controlled fall and in the place where i am most likely to fall when i go back for the RP. It wasn't planned but when i got there i knew it was for the best. Now i will feel more comfortable on the RP. Practising a fall is very different to falling 'out of control' un-expectedly. I guess more practise falls are needed until i can convince my brain it's OK to fall on on-sight.

For red-pointing i just need more focus. I have warmed up too much and over cooked it, not warmed up enough, warmed up and then got too cold again but tried anyway, changed my plan on a redpoint burn etc etc etc. I still have a lot to learn about this game but things are improving with experience.

I've been very lazy and tired over the last month or so. Not much climbing and certainly nothing to blog about. I got some good mileage in when Pete and Kate came over but after that i felt strangely lethargic. I am now finally part way through a good training week and seem to have some psyche back after being ill for a few days. I have not been on the scales as i don't need them to tell me i am fat.

I've been back to El Torcalito to get pumped on the traverses there and have made a 40 move 6c/6c+ ish traverse. It has one decent hands on rest in it where i hang off an awesome little mini tufa pinch for a minute max and one easy section that i skip through asap. There is a but of a cruxy start and a definite crux after the rest. I have managed to repeat it 3 times with 3 mins rest in a session after warming up and bouldering about. It's not the most specific but it's the best i can do at the moment. Filming myself on it has shown i have gone very static again so i am concentrating on dynamism at the moment.

Mario is coming over for Xmas and i've got my (our?) eye(s) on some 7a+'s and that elusive 7a on-sight.

Bring it on !

Strength or fitness - which is most important

Douggie on the start of Poema de Roca

This time last year i was getting ready to go to Kalymnos. I had spent literally hours of my life going round and round in circles doing circuits on a Bendcrete board at Cockermouth and getting to Kendal wall as much as i could. The result was a 7a+ of a long, steep route in the Grande Grotte that i was really chuffed with.

This year before coming to Spain i bouldered almost exclusively with a few trips to Penrith wall - all of 8 metres high. The result was a 7A+ that i was really chuffed with.

I wasn't expecting to have any fitness at all when i got here and when i first went out that was the case. More than anything i was scared to death above a bolt and still in bouldering mode. I was grabbing every hold as hard as i could, through fear and my body being so used to grabbing everything 100%. Un-surprisingly i was pumping out very quickly and sitting on a lot of bolts.

Fast forward a couple of months and i have just climbed Poema de Roca.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=112605

Neil on the rest just before the crux

It's route that relies on economic climbing and recovery en-route, with 3 hands off rests and 2 partial shakes. It's notoriously pumpy and i was saving it for an on-sight attempt at the end of the year. Circumstances ended up with me standing at the bottom of it yesterday and giving it a go 2 months early. I wasn't too shocked to find myself dangling off the rope at the 4th bolt on my first go. I was quite shocked to completely cruise it 2nd go. I got to the top feeling fresh and it went like clockwork.

I was pondering what had improved so much to make it go so well. I've come to the conclusion it was a combination of being stronger and lots of volume. The amount of easy climbing i've done in the last couple of months has been greater in total than the last 2 years. I am reading routes well, spotting cruxes and sequences and, most importantly, i now have the move 'library' and strength to pull the moves off.

I think strength endurance, or fitness, is the icing on the cake. Volume of easy climbing and bouldering strength and know how seem to be the most important factors for me anyway.

I am going to carry on with the volume, with on-sighting as a priority, until Xmas and then i am going to redpoint the next few months with an idea of hitting 7b+ ( maybe 7c ) by April ish.