Sandstone Bouldering (Kalmit, Pfalz)

Today was magnificant. The sun was out every now and then, it was neither too hot (to climb) neither was it too cold to be out all day long. We set out for Kalmit this morning after squeezing three pads into the car which already involved some effort.

It was a brilliant day outside with the guys. We did not complete (but we did try) some harder problems (some 6c-ish stuff), but I was able to pull several 6a flashes out of the bag which rendered me confident for the upcoming visit to the Bouldering Mekka - Fointainebleau. One more week... I can't await it!

Pul-ups, pull-ups and ... pull-ups

I started doing pull-ups every morning after my jogging lap and started with a pyramid of 6-7-8-9-8-7-6 reps with legs kept straight and horizontal. The later is awesome for core tension - just try! Today I decided to do a simple 10 times 10 set. The first 50 or 60 are made at ease. However, then the pain (and hence gain ;) ) increases with each set. Again, I tried to keep my legs from dangling in vertical direction but to lift them - if not 90 deg then at leas a little.

Let's see how this effort reproduces on the wall in, say, a month...

The nice weather is finally destroying my motivation for work today, so hopefully your day start's out with a little more enthusiasm...

new toys

I haven't had the passion to post a blog entry for some time.

After the last entry I had two month of very good finger strength gains and weight reduction which resulted in my red point grade raising from F6c to F7a during the winter. Further, my bouldering grade finally settled at the upper Fb6b-ish level with some Fb6a flashes.

But all the climbing (which was good fun!!!) held me back from training. Recently, I found myself realizing that while my power endurance has improved considerably my finger max strength raduced slightly - and sent me back to the training bench.

I can tell you it feels good and painful all at once when dangling off the hangboard... It has been quite a while since I last upgraded the blog and I spent some fun time doing handicrafts for developping new power toys.
So first I build a simple bar for doing pull ups etc. as to increase power endurance and for warm-up laps. I added a larger bar for open handed one armed lock off training. The back and forth swinging possiblity of the bar requires additional core tension which is a nice to have.


And here is something a build some months ago (nice training for pinches)


The latest improvement in my home training is the following sloper bar with two different angles (approximately 30 and 20°). Please forgive the poor mounting, but I ordered some holds and have planned to build a training board with variable hold mountings on which the sloper bar can be mounted at ease. Hence, I have not put much time into the temporary mounting of the thing.

While the smaller angle is easy to lock for a longer time, the steeper one is ideal for upper body lock of training and I am also expecting good finger strength gains. Maybe I will further increase the inclination angle later.

That's it for now. I am looking forward for an awesome week in Fontainebleau in two weeks and will definitely provide you with some nice pics (hopefully the wheather will be fine).

Small steps towards success

Two weeks ago I went climbing in Donautal where we found ourselves alone at the crag - despite perfect weather (almost too warm) and perfect rock. On the first day we went sport climbing and onsighted a bunch of easier routes as warm up before we attempted a F6c+. I only managed to climb this grade twice (indoors) and never tried outdoors, so I was not too enthusiastic about giving it a try.

But so I did. And damn, it went smooth. I managed the lower crux with no problems and also the not too easy moves that came after. Then, on the last hard move, I failed. Dammit. Onsight blown. I did not try once more and left it for later. Here are some nice pictures I took:





The next day we did a long (100m) three pitch F6a+. Alpine sport climbing - my favorite! :) And this crack spit me out last year in Octobre so I had some personal motivation to get the thing over. And I did. I can't tell how good it felt to not fall at the final crux move (like last time).

The past week-end we went to another crag nearby. The weather (again) was magnificant and after some warming up I made short process of two F6b+ routes which I onsighted. So the finger boarding sessions I started with shortly show considerable effect, particularly with the 3 kg I lost during the past 6 weeks due to an anabolic diet.

On sunday we will be out there again and try some slopery routes on perfect rock - really looking forward to it!

Have a nice week-end everyone!

Training Equipment Pics

I finally put together some shots of the training equipment:

Campus Board with first row of rugs removed for the Finger Board

The reason for the alternate placement of the Finger Board - a perfect hit of the screw into the oil pipe...fortunately not too much damage, but still a nasty smell around for about two weeks

selfmade rock rings with crimpy edges - a perfect workout item!
The holds - the pocket 2.5 is for a pocket where I am not sure whether I should squeeze three finger tips in or have a comfty 2 finger pocket...

I will hopefully be able to add two or three more items to the board soon, where I would focus on additional holds for the "DOIY rock rings" and for two or three differently sized wodden bars for pull-ups (a small one and two larger, slopy ones).

Training progresses but I am currently suffering from some power loss due to the anabolic diet I'm currently on - the weight loss is worth it! And on the week-ends ("carbo-loading days") I feel very strong and climb my "hardest" routes in the gym at ease. Let's see what the next two month and the endurance trainig later this year will bring.

Some brute force efforts

The extensive Campusing and Bouldering has given me a powerful strength gain over the past four weeks. Today I went to the gym in order to do some endurance training climbing routes. I was surprised to find my endurance at a supreme level.

And another big project is coming up: A monster traverse I discovered outdoors on a 90° sandstone wall - and about 80 m long. I have not yet found a way to link more than 20 m in a ingle burn. The single moves are approximately Fb5a to Fb6a. In total this should make at least for an easy Fb7a(T) - which is far beyond my current climbing level. I can now do all moves, with approximately 5-6 sequences getting me really pumped. The big link is hopefully happening later this year.

Ah btw: good news. The digicam is back to work and will deliver some nice shots in the next days.

Self-made "rock rings" and some desaster coming up...

Before leaving to a congress in Venice for the entire last week I build my own "Rock Rings" which can be attached to my small Campus Board. Nice things to hang onto actually :) I will put a picture at this place as soon as I get my digital camera back which is still lying around in some friends caar somewhere...

Today I went to the post office to pick up the finger board I have been waiting for sooo long! (twelve weeks or so) The DIY-thing went pretty well - until I hit the oil line when tightening the last screww that went into the wall. WHAT A MESS!!! Damn. I should have know it. Anyway, the tube was some two inches inside the wall, so there was absolutely no chance to detect it from exterior. Good luck anyway: The pump was turned off since I have a green mind and thought about the waste of electric power - so I detached it sometime this spring. Next week it will turn out, how much the assurance company will take over and how long it will take to get the nasty smell out of our appartment. Attachment of the finger board is hence delayed for another week (at least).

Hope your day did get a better go so far...