The staff and management at Durham Climbing Center have been really proactive of late to try and improve their clients' experience of using the wall. Although this wall maybe doesn't have the highest volume of climbing in the UK it is really good to see the team trying to give their customers a great experience. Once a wall is established then regular high quality route setting is the most important thing in my opinion to keeping people coming back and Durham have recently been employing myself and Mick Page quite a lot to ensure that this is the case. On top of that there have been a number of events such as adult and junior competitions, informal Tuesday night coaching and also a workshop on how to use their latest bit of wall, the "Beastmaker" training board.
When I was asked to put together a 2hr coaching workshop I was at first a bit daunted, however, after taking the first step of putting pen to paper I was amazed at how much I had to say about the subject - maybe using all my spare time researching the Internet for training advice over the past 10 years wasn't such a waste of time? I kicked the session off by gathering the group round my laptop screen for a youtube viewing of Splinter (below).
With everyone suitably psyched, we went through pretty much everything to do with using this style of training device, from the blurry distinction between "training" and "climbing" as the video of Malcolm displays so well, to the relative merits of training on a board rather than other tools such as fingerboards or campus boards and not forgetting the specific aspects of actually training on the board itself! The session went really well and I think everyone came away a lot more confident to take a more structured approach to their training and start really getting the most out of this great bit of wood!
Michael Daglish was also on hand playing with his cameras as usual so lookout for a bit of footage from the session soon...
Additionally I've also been at Durham for the past couple of Tuesdays to lead their informal, open to everyone coaching sessions. The relaxed atmosphere with these session doesn't really make them feel tat much like work but I suppose thats an advantage of your job also being what you do in your free time anyway! It is really cool to be able to help people out in such an informal manor, with different people after different levels of coaching ranging from beta / demos of a problem to specific advice on how to address their weaknesses. This all being in a friendly chatty atmosphere makes it great fun and I look forward to doing more of these in the future!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Monday, 19 September 2011
Website is live!
I've been meaning to get this sorted for a while now, so it's great to finally get a website uploaded to the internet. http://www.michaelstainthorpe.co.uk Lots of work still to do but I think it's a good start!
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
An evening at Shaftoe
Last month I went out to Shaftoe and managed to get these two problems on video. The quality seems to have been reduced by vimeo for some reason. I'll try and get it sorted for next time.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
The Wainstones
Today me and me da headed up to the Wainstones. Steve and Karin had mentioned that there had been a flurry of activity recently. I always like to try out new crags and this place is only 45 mins away from my house so we thought we'd check it out. For some reason I never head down to the moors but I might start checking it out more.
The problems... We warmed up around the boulder with the easy crack (pic) problem on it, doing some fun eliminates and sit starts. Notably just to the left of the crack, the left arete/pillar climbs really well. I then did Redhead's roof, which is fun and necky. Very good at the grade - 6bish.
Then it started raining so we hid under the bivvy roof. A local lad, Sam had told us of a problem coming out of here at around 7b which I then flashed. Start on the bloc in the back of the roof with hands and feet. I then went straight to the lip but there was chalk on an undercut in the roof if you're that way inclined. Throw your heel round and a bit of a thrutch and bobs your uncle. The wet slab topout was interesting! I thought 7a for that one. EDIT - Just found this problem in this video - "Hand to hand combat"
I then tried The Hollow Sit Start from this video. Nice little prob, around 6c or + To the left of this there is a problem called the finger (pic below). At first I thought it was nails and couldn't do the first move into the mono. [I've since found out the established prob starts at the mono, not the ledge.] I thought I might as well try the move from the mono and got it about 3rd go. The pic was meant to be a vid but dads can't work cameras :p In my opinion there is a good crouching start at the lip which I tried a bit but couldn't work out the move to the mono. Someone taller would be able to lank it with their feet under the roof but I couldn't reach, maybe 8a ish from there?? I think the grade is a bit of a purely belter, about 7b from the mono. Fat fingers need not apply! Someone had also started cleaning a problem to the left again. I had a quick feel but couldn't work out a sequence. It felt hard. The ground was really boggy underneath so I didn't pursue it.
We then walked down to what was to be the main event... The big prow thing. 7a+ on one side, Cruel Intentions - 7c on the other (also featured in above vid). Unfortunately the rain came back and this time it was heavy so we had to bail. Fortunately though, this group of boulders are at the bottom of the hill so next time the walk in will be a little bit easier. Hopefully get back to them soon!
The problems... We warmed up around the boulder with the easy crack (pic) problem on it, doing some fun eliminates and sit starts. Notably just to the left of the crack, the left arete/pillar climbs really well. I then did Redhead's roof, which is fun and necky. Very good at the grade - 6bish.
Then it started raining so we hid under the bivvy roof. A local lad, Sam had told us of a problem coming out of here at around 7b which I then flashed. Start on the bloc in the back of the roof with hands and feet. I then went straight to the lip but there was chalk on an undercut in the roof if you're that way inclined. Throw your heel round and a bit of a thrutch and bobs your uncle. The wet slab topout was interesting! I thought 7a for that one. EDIT - Just found this problem in this video - "Hand to hand combat"
I then tried The Hollow Sit Start from this video. Nice little prob, around 6c or + To the left of this there is a problem called the finger (pic below). At first I thought it was nails and couldn't do the first move into the mono. [I've since found out the established prob starts at the mono, not the ledge.] I thought I might as well try the move from the mono and got it about 3rd go. The pic was meant to be a vid but dads can't work cameras :p In my opinion there is a good crouching start at the lip which I tried a bit but couldn't work out the move to the mono. Someone taller would be able to lank it with their feet under the roof but I couldn't reach, maybe 8a ish from there?? I think the grade is a bit of a purely belter, about 7b from the mono. Fat fingers need not apply! Someone had also started cleaning a problem to the left again. I had a quick feel but couldn't work out a sequence. It felt hard. The ground was really boggy underneath so I didn't pursue it.
We then walked down to what was to be the main event... The big prow thing. 7a+ on one side, Cruel Intentions - 7c on the other (also featured in above vid). Unfortunately the rain came back and this time it was heavy so we had to bail. Fortunately though, this group of boulders are at the bottom of the hill so next time the walk in will be a little bit easier. Hopefully get back to them soon!
Saturday, 3 September 2011
New sets at Durham and the Matrix
Last Friday I'd been asked to do a reset at the Matrix in Sheffield. So Thurday evening I travelled down for a quick session at The Climbing Works, it's always nice to check back in and see what's changed since my time there. Not finding anyone I knew to climb with I got stuck in on the comp wall. After about an hour and a half I was totally spent, having despatched a fair number of the 7's (though I avoided the hand jam yellow) and thoroughly enjoying the death star volume bloc through the roof. Anything that goes feet first gets my vote!
I was up bright and early the next morning and working by 7.30!! I met up with Kook, Diego and together we stripped and reset the wall. 75 probs in total. Not bad for a days work. As it's the first set of a new university year they had requested an easy set but I did stick one 7b+ in there on the woody ;-)
Yesterday I was once again up bright and early and setting at Durham by 8am. Thankfully no stripping to do here... and a good job too as I moved a load of the volumes around before setting 35 problems ranging from 4-7c This bell curve of difficulty for this set is once again shifted to the right (they're all harder than last time), however, there isn't anything as hard as the two hardest problems from the last round. So if you're looking to maximise your score, it's concentration and session stamina that are important rather than maximum strength. Have fun, any feedback welcome and encouraged...
I was up bright and early the next morning and working by 7.30!! I met up with Kook, Diego and together we stripped and reset the wall. 75 probs in total. Not bad for a days work. As it's the first set of a new university year they had requested an easy set but I did stick one 7b+ in there on the woody ;-)
Yesterday I was once again up bright and early and setting at Durham by 8am. Thankfully no stripping to do here... and a good job too as I moved a load of the volumes around before setting 35 problems ranging from 4-7c This bell curve of difficulty for this set is once again shifted to the right (they're all harder than last time), however, there isn't anything as hard as the two hardest problems from the last round. So if you're looking to maximise your score, it's concentration and session stamina that are important rather than maximum strength. Have fun, any feedback welcome and encouraged...
Thursday, 1 September 2011
The last couple of months...
It's been a fair while since my last blog. Here is a round up of what I've been doing over the last couple of months....
Firstly I sold the van. Sad sad times but after a little bit of renovations I ended up making a slight profit on it, just like property ladder but with vans!
Rosie was accepted to Durham University to study a masters so that meant we had to be located in the North East for at least the next year. With this in mind we swapped wheels for walls and moved into our quaint little bungalow in the suburbs. I've been keeping busy doing various bit of renovations and such like.
Not long after I'd been home the management at Durham Climbing Centre contacted me about building a symmetrical systems board in the centre. Training on boards has long been the secret of the elite boulderer as revealed in Jerry Moffat's autobiography - revelations. After deliberation on the all important angle, the board was built. 45 degrees and 8ft wide. Hayley, the manager had asked me to set the board so it was perfectly symmetrical which was something I'd never done on this scale before but was up for the challenge. The holds were delivered by Dan Varian from Beastmaker on Friday ready for a full day setting on the next Monday. After lots of measuring with tape measures and spirit levels (not the usual tools of a route setter) I finished it and set some preliminary problems. I'm rather pleased with the result and have regularly been lured out of my own garage to train on it, high praise indeed!
Soon after the board was finished it was time for Durham's summer bouldering ladder. Round one kicked off with a delivery of some brand new volumes. Myself and Michael Page set the 35 problems which competitors then toiled away on for the next few weeks. I have since set the next two rounds on my own and have been pleased with the feedback from the competitors.
I've also been training fairly hard, and eating hard too. I've gained about 5kg which I'm happy with. The standard train heavy in the summer and climb light in the winter technique will hopefully pay off once the weather turns cold.
Oh, and I heard the weather man say it's officially autumn in meteorological terms. Woo woo! not long till this dastardly heat buggers off, what what
Firstly I sold the van. Sad sad times but after a little bit of renovations I ended up making a slight profit on it, just like property ladder but with vans!
Rosie was accepted to Durham University to study a masters so that meant we had to be located in the North East for at least the next year. With this in mind we swapped wheels for walls and moved into our quaint little bungalow in the suburbs. I've been keeping busy doing various bit of renovations and such like.
Not long after I'd been home the management at Durham Climbing Centre contacted me about building a symmetrical systems board in the centre. Training on boards has long been the secret of the elite boulderer as revealed in Jerry Moffat's autobiography - revelations. After deliberation on the all important angle, the board was built. 45 degrees and 8ft wide. Hayley, the manager had asked me to set the board so it was perfectly symmetrical which was something I'd never done on this scale before but was up for the challenge. The holds were delivered by Dan Varian from Beastmaker on Friday ready for a full day setting on the next Monday. After lots of measuring with tape measures and spirit levels (not the usual tools of a route setter) I finished it and set some preliminary problems. I'm rather pleased with the result and have regularly been lured out of my own garage to train on it, high praise indeed!
One of the sample problems I set
Soon after the board was finished it was time for Durham's summer bouldering ladder. Round one kicked off with a delivery of some brand new volumes. Myself and Michael Page set the 35 problems which competitors then toiled away on for the next few weeks. I have since set the next two rounds on my own and have been pleased with the feedback from the competitors.
People trying the comp problems
I've also been training fairly hard, and eating hard too. I've gained about 5kg which I'm happy with. The standard train heavy in the summer and climb light in the winter technique will hopefully pay off once the weather turns cold.
The project, more on this later...
Oh, and I heard the weather man say it's officially autumn in meteorological terms. Woo woo! not long till this dastardly heat buggers off, what what
Monday, 2 May 2011
Home
Well, we're back in the UK. The time has come to sell the van. If you're interested in buying it then send me an email or a facebook.
Santa Gadea was really fun. The temperatures stayed hot which meant climbing hard was limited to the early morning or late evening. In the end I didn't do anything worth noting. I kept trying Yogano over and over but despite continually having my hand on the jug I just couldn't keep hold of it. Perhaps I should have left it and tried other things? It's incredibly hard to leave something you could do on any go though, and I think it is the best line in the area. I did do a lot of other cool problems but nothing that hard. I came close to Killer Eyes - the 8a at Resconorio but fitness, skin and heat were all against me and I couldn't close the deal on that one either. I did brush a project but didn't do that either. No doubt that scoundrel Richie Patterson will get it done while I'm away!
The tone of this blog might sound a bit depressing but it's not meant to. I genuinely enjoyed ticking a lot of slightly easier blocs in a stunning location with no crowds or polished holds with nice people -oh my god I'm turning into a climbing hippie- Or perhaps I might have had I not returned to font
We got to Font in the middle of the Easter holidays in sweltering heat. Awful conditions for climbing. Though Adam Watson did manage a repeat of Elephunk, top effort young lad! Anyway we met up with my parents and decided to just embrace it and do some circuits. Circuits were fun for a while and then I decided to try some harder things and ticked some 7a's which I'd never done before but didn't really have the motivation or the means to try harder stuff once the sun had set. More than anything the general atmosphere of the place was more like a Eurocamp holiday club and I didn't like it. Quite a culture shock from the past couple of weeks.
Quite the family affair, we exchanged my parents for Rosie's sister Katie, who wasn't really interested in spending the whole time climbing so we adjusted our usual regime to show her the sights and sounds of Fontainebleau. At the same time Disco Dave Yarwood arrived ready for a slightly different tour of the forest (involving more boulders). Together we climbed a fair bit but on the whole it was just too hot. Dave did supply us with some lovely Mammut treats for which we are very grateful, thank you Dave!
To summarise, I'm a cold weather climber. I'm a sweaty bastard at the best of times. No hard problems were sent towards the end of my trip which is a bit of a waste of a golden opportunity, however, I did have fun watching my skin disappear in the heat falling off 6b's.
I should have gone to Magic Woods but the tale Spanish weasels scared me off.
Time to train. Time to work. Roll on an early cold Autumn.
See ya'round yeh!
Small enough to park, big enough to live in!
Santa Gadea was really fun. The temperatures stayed hot which meant climbing hard was limited to the early morning or late evening. In the end I didn't do anything worth noting. I kept trying Yogano over and over but despite continually having my hand on the jug I just couldn't keep hold of it. Perhaps I should have left it and tried other things? It's incredibly hard to leave something you could do on any go though, and I think it is the best line in the area. I did do a lot of other cool problems but nothing that hard. I came close to Killer Eyes - the 8a at Resconorio but fitness, skin and heat were all against me and I couldn't close the deal on that one either. I did brush a project but didn't do that either. No doubt that scoundrel Richie Patterson will get it done while I'm away!
Lots left to go on this wall. Richie eyes up his next target...
The tone of this blog might sound a bit depressing but it's not meant to. I genuinely enjoyed ticking a lot of slightly easier blocs in a stunning location with no crowds or polished holds with nice people -oh my god I'm turning into a climbing hippie- Or perhaps I might have had I not returned to font
We got to Font in the middle of the Easter holidays in sweltering heat. Awful conditions for climbing. Though Adam Watson did manage a repeat of Elephunk, top effort young lad! Anyway we met up with my parents and decided to just embrace it and do some circuits. Circuits were fun for a while and then I decided to try some harder things and ticked some 7a's which I'd never done before but didn't really have the motivation or the means to try harder stuff once the sun had set. More than anything the general atmosphere of the place was more like a Eurocamp holiday club and I didn't like it. Quite a culture shock from the past couple of weeks.
Quite the family affair, we exchanged my parents for Rosie's sister Katie, who wasn't really interested in spending the whole time climbing so we adjusted our usual regime to show her the sights and sounds of Fontainebleau. At the same time Disco Dave Yarwood arrived ready for a slightly different tour of the forest (involving more boulders). Together we climbed a fair bit but on the whole it was just too hot. Dave did supply us with some lovely Mammut treats for which we are very grateful, thank you Dave!
Dave under and on Egoiste, Apremont.
To summarise, I'm a cold weather climber. I'm a sweaty bastard at the best of times. No hard problems were sent towards the end of my trip which is a bit of a waste of a golden opportunity, however, I did have fun watching my skin disappear in the heat falling off 6b's.
I should have gone to Magic Woods but the tale Spanish weasels scared me off.
Time to train. Time to work. Roll on an early cold Autumn.
See ya'round yeh!
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