UKC

Following on from an earlier post I put up about going from 7a to 8a in a year I was wondering what the best way to structure a year of fulltime climbing would be. Basically I am going to have the following chunks of time (based in a campervan in Spain and France) :

Mid July – End of Oct – Climbing (with a fortnight off in the middle to spend time with family)
Nov – Mid-Dec – travelling hopefully get a fortnight of bouldering in
Mid-Dec – Jan – xmas with family in UK (with a chance to get a session or two at the climbing wall)
Jan and Feb - climbing
March – April Skiing (will try to find a wall or some bouldering to maintain fitness)
May – Mid June – Climbing (maybe alpine stuff if I have managed to tick the big 8a or have got jaded with sport-climbing)

What I am unsure about is how to structure the time. Should I use periodisation with month long sections for example:
1 month getting a fitness base by doing long multi-pitches,
1 month power-endurance
1 month power
taper over xmas
Jan and Feb – work on redpointing as much as possible

Or do a variety of types of climbing throughout the period?

It seems I will have two week enforced rest periods every month and half which seems like a good idea.

I was wondering whether to ski for a month and then climb for a month x2 rather than have a full two months of not really climbing whilst I am skiing.

Any advice appreciated

Tom

In reply to tnj:
From personal experience and things I've read from time to time:
1) Don't spend too long in one place. I find that if time is limited, I make every day count, if I think "well I've got another month here" I am much more laid back, get up late, chill out, don't get nearly so many routes done. I'm thinking that about 2-3 weeks before moving to a new area is good to keep me motivated every day, I'm sure it varies for everyone else.
2) If 8a is your holy grail, I wouldn't take as long as a fortnight off climbing at a time, maybe a week if you feel really wrecked.
3) I would either train indoors or go somewhere like Malta/Sardinia/Sicilly to continue sport climbing over the winter rather than take time out skiing.
4) For a single pitch 8a, you really don't need multipitch fitness. The fitness you are looking for would almost certainly be better built up on long single pitch 7a/b/c routes.
5) You said you get injured bouldering and personally I don't really enjoy it but I'm pretty sure that if 8a is your target, it would be a lot easier to access if you had at least a couple of bouldering periods for pure strength in there somewhere.

Disclaimer: This advice isn't really based on any sort of training program or science!

I suppose it depends a bit on what type of person you are. If you are the kind who can get psyched about training, go down to the bouldering wall and spend 2 hours doing the same circuit with a weight vest on every night for 2 weeks and drink only protein shake, you should have no trouble getting to 8a if you get Robbie Phillips or Neil Gresham or Dave MacLeod or someone to recommend you a training program. If that sort of approach would bore you silly then you might be better off concentrating on getting the most enjoyment out of the year, climbing in lots of interesting places and (while still pushing yourself) making a grade aspiration take second priority.

Also, I e-mailed you.

In reply to tnj: agree with h. You won't climb 8a with a programme like that. Unless you get sick you'll put in weight traveling. 2 months skiing will add bulk to your legs while your fore arms wither. If you want 8a then the eat would be time limited goals tied to trips. Eg 7b+ by end of Oct, then bouldering for 6 weeks at font. If you really want it professional coaching would seem like a must.

In reply to tnj:

When I took a year out I suffered from climbing burnout a couple of times digging myself into a hole that was harder to get out of. Because you have so much time it is easily done. Maybe this is less of an issue if you have a depth of training behind and are already some kind of a machine ie JB Tribout did 40 days straight when he came to the UK in the 90s repeating all the hardest routes.

Don't be too much of a slave to the grade goal as it may come to define how successful your year off. Injury, bad weather or bad luck may upset your plans. It sounds like you are prone to injury and ignoring tweaks in a drive to climb hard routes could be counter productive.

You have a wonderful opportunity to go to a variety places that would be difficult to go to when you are working and are limited by holiday quota. It will also give you variety of climbing which is good for lots of reasons. Think beyond Europe. Rodellar and other steep lime in Spain are wonderful places but you can go there for a long weekend, whilst China, California, Vietnam and Oz arent and there are other things to do that mean you are more likely to pace yourself.

As a cycle 3 hard weeks then an easy week works well then throw in the occasional week off entirely.

Have a blast. I'm jealous.

In reply to tnj: As someone who has nearly done that I can give you an insight! I did 7a to 7c+ in a year.

Boulder and boulder more and get on the finger board as much as possible the factor that will stop will be strength.

Boulder until you are outside regularly then top up strength indoors get fit outside.

Climb as often as possible on different rock types, vary the style.

Be fearless, get on an 8a now if thats your goal so you know what you need to do!!!!

I will be in ceuse in July and august if you fancy a catch! have some short and medium term targets - for a month and 3 months so you don't get complacent.

If you want any more advice from me let me know email me

laurent.moseley@hotmail.co.uk

In reply to tnj:

ever considered that you might be thinking about "structuring" it too much? You have a van, a year off work and 1000s of amazing climbs in amazing locations...just set off and see how it goes. Enjoy not only the climbing but also the opportunity to see a few new places and, if you take shark' s" advice about travelling further, opportunities to experience different cultures.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think bouldering is going to be the key. Bouldering and...avoiding injury whilst doing alot of bouldering.
Would love to head further afield but various things will keep me in Europe most of the time.
I'm not really too fixated on 8a but I do want to improve as much as possible. To be honest I would be pretty shocked if I did manage to tick it.But I like the vibe from the Maximum Climbing book and so will shoot for the stars!

In reply to tnj: Me and my friend are planning on doing a full year in Europe climbing whilst living in a campervan. I was thinking it would be cool to meet up and get advice/tips and some extra company if we are in any places at the same time.