UKC

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week’s thread: 

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/fit_club_week_889-769173

I’m afraid various things are conspiring against me this week so there may be no write up this week (I’m ill, my laptop has packed up and I’m delayed getting back from Birmingham). Sorry about that, if anyone wants to write something have at it, hopefully next week I’ll be back to normal.

Ross Baker - Congratulations on getting married, I wish you both every happiness, I’ll be very disappointed if I see any training from you in the latter part of this week!

SSB - Hope your daughter is feeling better and the cast and scars are now badges of honour for her rather than things causing her grief. 

To the rest of you, keep it up, fingers crossed for better weather over the Easter weekend and bon voyage to anyone travelling for the holidays.

In reply to Tyler:

Get well soon 👍🏻👍🏻

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Ash, hope you feel better soon. If people want I don’t mind pulling something together about the week just gone?

Congratulations Ross, are you straight on honeymoon… at the Dugout?

STG (this month) – maintain a grip on daily life, get good weekly routine going. 1. Climb some nemesis grit E1-2s clean. 2. Six boulder problems 6B+ or harder by end of March (I did 4 in total in 2023) 4/6.

MTG (next 2 months)– 1. Give me strength – shoulders and core. 2. Climb some safe grit E3 routes. 3. Attempt 2 on run climb project.

LTG (next 6 months) – 1. Give me strength – fingers, steep stuff and slopers. 2. Rheinstor Lower Traverse?? 3. Trip to Sanctuary Wall

Mon – Morning at Roche Abbey in the Spring sunshine, with 2 buzzards circling overhead. Managed The Abbey Habit Start (f6A+) then surprised myself by doing Habitus sit into The Abbey Habit first go. Tried a few goes on Habitus sit before deciding to save energy for my nemesis boulders on Gypsy Buttress. Strict Fore (f6B+) went quickly after flailing on 2 previous visits. Then had at least a dozen goes on Flautist (f6B+), progress made but ran out of skin and energy. Great session.

Tues – Return to Roche Abbey with low expectations as tired and sore. Met those expectations by not getting to the top of anything of note. I did get 1 hand on the finish of my arch nemesis problem Flautist (f6B+) – twice! This sounds like progress but considering I reached the penultimate holds on my first session and have had 30+ tries since…! Hopefully won’t need another 30 tries to get both hands on top.

Wed – Nothing

Thursday – 43 mins run on the moors, 4.1 miles, 250m ascent. As hard as ever. 3 x 10 push ups.

Fri – 30 mins carcing on the work commute.

Sat – 2hr 24min run on 12.1 miles of the run-climb project. Fine tuning the best route amongst snow, hail, wind and rain. Hard going at the end with achy ankles and tweaky achilles, but good motivation as I was fired up by the previous evening’s Barkley marathon finish.

Sunday – Lovely afternoon in the sun at Agden Rocher, avoiding the crowds. 3 routes including Conjunctus Viribus (E1 5a) and Asteris (E2 5c). I got in a bit of a flap with the latter route when I committed myself wrong footed on the crux. I considered jumping off as the run out above is quite lengthy. However it dawned on me that whilst my mind was having a panic my forearms weren’t complaining so I carried on. In the past my mind has always had to drag the physical side up routes. It’s kind of nice for that equation to be turned round, although obviously it would be good to have both mind and body on song.  

Reflection - A good week. I didn’t get to do all the training sessions I’d planned but still had solid bouldering, trad and running sessions. The best was the realisation on Monday that I have actually made strength gains that I can feel on the rock. The first time that’s happened so far this year, and at a time when I had begun to wonder if the training was actually doing any good.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Go for it Ian if you have time and inclination.

Looks like a good week!  I love Agden and Asteris is quite a route.  That detached pillar is quite alarming, even if is is easy at that point!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Will do hoping to get something up this evening. More interesting than crap TV!

In reply to Tyler:

Wishing you (and the laptop) a speedy recovery!

Sun - nothing beyond projects and recovering from 5.30 am start, round trip to the Lakes, a fair old walk and a night out.

Mon - ten routes at Giggleswick South.  All felt typically clunky, but nice to get started.

Tues - Repeater block lifts at 21.6kg.  Weighted pull ups after 6 at BW.  Sets of five at 4.5kg, 6.8kg, 9kg and 11.3kg.  Sets of three at 13.6kg and 14.7kg.  Started late so very tired.  Five sets of stretching.  15 mins on the bike for 8km.

Wed and Thurs - nothing, unless you count attending a trade wine, beer and spirits tasting.

Fri - repeater set at 22.6kg before heading to Milton Keynes to take my parents out to dinner.

Sat - 60 BW pull ups in double pyramids to ten  30 push ups.  Lots of stretching and core.  15 mins on bike for 8.1km.

Reflection.  Quite pleased to be training consistently again, though still feel the effects of recent illness.  I'm six-weeks behind plan, but it really doesn't matter.  Put up the campus board last weekend ready for the next cycle.  Relaxed because I should have plenty of mid-week time soon!

In reply to Tyler:

Good evening everybody, sorry to hear you're having a crap week Tyler, hopefully if all the crap comes at once you can have a good run of crap-freedom?

Thanks for the wishes, we had a brilliant time, a really lovely day. Now my now-wife gets to experience having her surname misspelled in entirely different ways to what she was used to with her maiden name

Poor week for me from a climbing and training perspective, obviously, but I managed to get out today and had a brilliant week with everything else that's been going on! Driving back from our mini honeymoon tomorrow so normal programming will resume. Proper honeymoon will be later this year when we figure that out.

Last Week:

Avg weight 79.2kg, pre-wedding. Interested to see the numbers post-wedding!

M - Ice baths before bed.

T - Rest. Intended to nip out but bad weather rolled in and I was probably a bit tired anyway.

W - Rest. Typical pre-wedding stuff, setting things up at the venue, seeing family, that sort of thing.

T - Wedding. Great day! Some good dancing, surely counts as active recovery? Feels very weird wearing a ring but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I've got a chain to put it on when climbing, before you try and warn me about degloving!

F - Rest. Drove away to SE Peak for the weekend. Hot tub is excellent.

S - Rest. Log burner is also excellent.

S - Upper Matlock Quarries. A cheeky little visit to the urban Jackson Tor, culminating in my first boulder as a married man: Full Time (f7A+). Great problem, if a bit morpho. The sitter seemed hard and awkward (possibly less awkward sitting on a ~10cm pad instead of the ground!), but probably doable in decent conditions. Did the classic highball The Arête (f6A) next to it as well. Unlikely I'll be making a dedicated return trip but you never know. Massively luxurious free standing bath is indeed also excellent!

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Manage session load and build better habits.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Louisville Lip.

Rigpa.

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler, sorry you are feeling ill. Mini swede is mostly just pissed off at all the fun stuff she can't do for the moment but other than that largely ok.

Mon +Tues. Emotionally and lack of sleep nackered. Didn't get home from the hospital til the early hours of Mon morning and then up for work. Generally feeling like a terrible dad.

Wed. 8km run, nice to get out with friends.

Thurs. Short boulder at Curbar. Tried the boulder in the field down the hill but it was still wet from the morning rain. Did Trackside (no foot-block) (f7A+) then went for a look at the GW block. Took a while to work out where everything went then ran out of time to do much.

Fri and Sat. Mostly child taxi service and cheering on at the school cross country. Walked round the kids orienteering in the afternoon.

Sun. Millstone visit. Two working goes then tied into the sharp end for a lead go on Masters Edge. Climbed smoothly to just below the jug, couldn't quite get my left foot on properly which meant that when I threw for the jug I was just below it and took the ride down the face. All good though. Went for another go after a rest but my left toes were sore after bashing them when I came to a stop and I'd gone through a tip which was bleeding so I lowered off at half height. One for another day. Finished with a quick abb down Great Arete to see if it was as grubby as it looked (which it was) so I'll take a brush with me next time and give it a spring clean.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Congrats on the Master's lob, I reckon you'd feel short changed if you'd got it first go and not taken the ride.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I wouldn't have said that before hand but I think you are probably right looking back on it. Shame I couldn't get it done the next go but... 'its hard to be angry when the climbing is so good'!

In reply to Tyler:

OK! so here are this weeks reserve stats! Let me know if I've missed anyone

Tyler – sounds like 3 decent wall sessions so pretty good for a tough week. You could probably also chalk up the 2 Rugby social sessions as training for something… high altitude mountaineering?... rugby if you ever make a comeback? Do you think there was any link with this week’s lurgy? Hope you get better soon Ash.

Derek Furze – considering it was ’a very busy week’ you got some decent training in. You're not holding back on that bike are you. Is it a HIT style workout, sprint until your lungs give out? Great job on starting the Wainwright Quest and it sounds like you were given full value by the weather.

AlanLittle – sounds like a very good week hitting lots of different stimuli. I’d definitely take that Kilterboard STG if I were you. Yes the grades are all over the place but sometimes it’s just that those moves suit your style. Glad Tuesday’s fall/belaying ‘incident’ didn’t end up another way. Sometimes those things can be spooky but this time at least it proves that even though your mate wasn’t ready expecting, your systems do work.

Steve Claw – I always think if you can get a bit in on those busy work/life weeks then it keeps the year round consistency going. Not sure what your expectations are for Font, but 2 x V7s isn’t a bad place to be starting at. Also I suspect the amount of cruxy new routes you’ve been doing recently will stand you in good stead. The nice thing about Font is you can adapt it to where you’re at, so if the powers not there for the Cuvier Big Five! Then you can enjoy stringing together a full more moderate circuit.

Somerset swede basher – It’s a parent’s worst nightmare seeing your kid get hurt. Hopefuly as Ash says the cast is a badge of honour and they don’t get too put off. Also I hope it doesn’t overshadow your Saturday. You’re cranking at the moment - you need to get on something hard!

Ross Barker – Nice to get some new beta on an old project. Hopefully the mental health dip was just pre wedding ‘to do list’ stress and nothing worse. Sounds like the big day went well. Enjoy your deload.

Mattrm – Great week on the running – I make that 20km total by the way, not your 18. Your wall session sounds like its getting some decent structure, I think a good warm up is crucial – as well as getting the body going and reducing injury potential it’s a nice time to concentrate on technique. Either some drills, or trying out a weakness or something new in a controlled easier environment. Thanks for the skate boarding update and interesting to have Alan confirm your thoughts on the challenge of riding switch.

Tom Green – Good effort at Rive Gauche, I find that place desperate, so many insecure hooks – certainly harder than Jazz and well worth your Scottish VII tick! I think Bullock points probably beat Batoux points. Your recent near misses on big routes are no doubt a little frustrating, but it’s not wasted effort – it’s all experience in the bag that will pay off down the line. I know I’m jumping ahead but I did enjoy the live virtual coaching of your efforts at the Dugout on the FitClub WhatsApp.

Ally Smith – it will be really interesting to see where you take your climbing this year. Your winter of training is one of the most consistent impressive runs of cranking I’ve seen. I don’t know how you feel it compares with previous years but it must fill you with confidence. Nice also to see the lycra unleashed for your first ascent of Crumble post break.

The Sheep – hopefully life stresses have calmed down and your Mum’s partner is on the mend. A good consistent week of training. Are you training with a specific event in mind? I’m guessing triathlon. The only one I’ve ever done, was a real eye opener – great fun but surprised at how hard the swimming was and how scary the biking was on open roads!

biscuit – When you say official training plan is it self-coached or do you have someone setting the plan? Lots of good variety there. Also congratulations on making the podium, hopefully your comp bouldering skills will pay off jumping for the tufas on Cultura del meido!

Randy – you’re right that was a solid week. Good volume and also a nice mix of flashes and harder worked stuff plus working on weaknesses style-wise too. Hoping you’ve had some weather windows this week to get your outdoor season going and put that training momentum onto rock.

AJM – sounds like a busy life week. Mixing things up at a different wall sounds good though. Positive to get new stimulus and probably more worthwhile than lapping somewhere you feel more comfortable.

Tigh – always difficult balancing work and training/play. Sounds like you got a good minimum done. Interested what your 400m intervals were made up of? Are you using them as preparation for the mountains – if so I’d strongly recommend not doing them on the track, but doing them as hill reps.

Ian Patterson – if you’re still lurking thanks for the Moat Buttress beta.

Small Step – sorry to hear about the back but good to hear you’re back in action. My long term climbing partner has had major back problems, initially 15 years ago (Cauda Equina complications after he was squashed delivering a calf as a vet) when it took him nearly a year to be able to walk properly again. And then more recently when he broke his back again whilst walking his dog! Both times climbing proved to be very beneficial rehab as well as essential mental health therapy. Hope things keep on an upward trajectory.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

I reckon the quote ought to be "it's hard to be angry when the fall is so good!'

In reply to Tyler:

Week 890 right?  Hope you're better soon.

Weight - 14st 7lbs

STG - 10km fell loop in 1h 45m

MTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24)

LTG? keep on trucking?  stay fit? ummm

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - 2k run
T - 4k run
W - Bouldering @ Llangorse (1h)
T - 4k run

F - 2k run
S - 4k run
S - 4k run

Weekly kms - 20k

Diet status - Pretty good

Thanks Ian and Tyler.  I left the 2k on last week by mistake.  So it was definitely 18k.  I normally copy and paste last weeks stats and edit, I should have removed the 2k.

20k this week, all road miles.  Generally pretty good, including a nice 4k run with my son.  Left toe hurting a bit, so I'll take a few days off to rest that.

Got out skating this week a bit as well.  Nice slam on Monday.  Trying to get back into the bowl and was reminded how tough bowl skating can be.  Went out again today, mostly just cruising around.

Nice session again on the circuit board at Llangorse.  Felt much easier, so got on the harder stuff.  Even made progress on the v3 circuit.  I did start concentrating on silent feet and better footwork.  My footwork has always been one of the few semi decent things in my climbing, so want to get that back.

Good week.  Decent training load.

SSB - hope your daughter is feeling better now.

In reply to Tyler:

Thank you Tyler and Ian.

Had another work week, but still made it out a couple of times.

Font is a family trip, so serious bouldering time is limited anyway.  We all enjoyed it last year, and I liked how there is so much there, that you can always find something in your range to do.

M - Got a few hours free, so climbed my new 7b+ from last week again and had a quick TR on my friends new 7b+

T - 4 x 20 Press ups

W  - Nothing

T - Lead my friends new 7b+

F - Lead on Reckless (E4 6a).  Despite a quick TR a few weeks ago, the actual beta used on lead is quite different as the crux the gear is well below your feet, so a more secure style is needed.  Had one of those rare but exciting moments when gripping to clip the rope into a cam, the krab had rotated and then unclipped itself from the cam sling!

S - 4 x 20 Press ups

S - Nothing

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Thanks, co-moderators. Get well soon Tyler, Tyler's laptop - and me!

STG: Kilterboard 5C @ 45° - still not claiming it yet!
STG: Thalkirchen 5.9 "easy" crack
MTG: Rough Bounds Scottish backpacking trip in May
MTG. DAV Lofoten meet in July
MTG: Im Extremen Fels ticks     in August
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter '25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M:  Rest day. 
T:    Too busy at work to make it to the wall. Did some pull-ups, shoulders & half crimp block pickups at home.
W:  Bike one hour
T - S: Sick. This was frustrating. Of course it always is, but this week especially because it meant that at the weekend I missed the grand opening of a new bouldering wall at Thalkirchen, which was a project my son was heavily involved in and very proud of. Bummer
 

In reply to Tyler & Ian:

Hi Fit Club. Thanks for standing in with the stats, Ian. Sorry to here your week has gone off the rails, Tyler.

I've got a feeling I may have rashly volunteered to do the stats for Q2. Happy to take over next week, but equally happy to continue taking advantage of Tyler's excellent commentary -just let me know.

Fairly low key week for training -busy with life stuff, and ended up dropping a lot of planned sessions.

Week 12:

M: Nothing.

T: Trail run. 11.6km, 416m vert, 7:50/km. 

W: Bouldering. A bit of progress on Doug (f7A+) -thanks entirely to the real time beta and coaching from SSB and Ross! Feel close to catching the last hold... then just need to control the swing.

T: Nowt.

F: Nowt.

S: Trail run. 11.5km, 170m/vert, 5:40/km. 

S: Nowt.

Week 13:

M: Strength & Core.

T: Run.

W: Bouldering.

T: Run.

F: Strength & Core.

S: Bouldering or Run.

S: Bouldering or Run.

STG (end March):

A big load of fails across the board. Some reasons outside of my control (not matching weather/cons with holiday timings/partner availability, etc) and some reasons that I could have influenced -I simply wasn't motivated enough to keep making the effort to get to Scotland (not wanting to risk spending time and money on marginal forecasts, not wanting to be away from home to much, etc). The binary judgement of TICK/FAIL perhaps doesn't quite tell the full story though -I've had a lot of fun attempting to hit these goals, and I've tried hard and grown in some areas (e.g. improved my skiing). So not totally dissatisfied.

Need to come up with some new goals for the rest of the year now.

Maintain finger strength -average 2 sessions/week. (Done an ok job of this)

Consistent strength and conditioning -average 2 sessions/week. (FAIL)

Get ski practice in: 5+ sessions Dec-Feb. (TICK)

2+ off Scottish VII list (FAIL)

1 off Slovenian Winter list. (FAIL)

1+ off Alpine Winter list (FAIL)

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Short write up as a rush to get everything done before going to the airport for start of 4wk trip to Cape Town / Western Cape. 

Ian - I've had little or no structure to my board sessions/training so will probably discover I can't get more than 4 moves off the deck once i finally touch rock again, hence the lack of any concrete plans for rest of '24.

Week 12

M – Rest - achy

T – Board. Managed Jerbear, 2nd hardest “7B” benchmark on the 2016 set?

W – Extreme weight loss plan started at 7pm; AKA nursery D&V bug

T – Off work sick.

F – Weak!

S – Shaky board session, amazed myself by getting up S1 7B benchmark, something that indicates my L wrist is less fecked than it used to be as the crux revolves around revolving a sidepull into an undercut with very flexed wrist. Only one more 7B to go!

S – Extra board session, got a highpoint on Pleven Style DG (7C+) but otherwise not a lot.

"so will probably discover I can't get more than 4 moves off the deck once i finally touch rock again"

But what a gloriously hard 4 moves they'll be!

The Ace is only 4 moves long...

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Thanks Ian - yeah, surprisingly busy. And I agree, good to do different things. A decent week this week, 2 good board sessions and a good wall session. Plan to do a bit more this week and then by the weekend I'll be out on real rock in the sun, hopefully.

Wednesday - really solid 1-on-1-off. Was definitely feeling warmer and a bit sweatier where the board is so bad to squeeze a bit harder, big fight, very pumped

Thursday - my wedding anniversary. All the cool kids get married on 21st March Climbing wall after work. Decent session, was again able to try hard stuff without much issue. Fairly short session to ensure skin was in ok shape.

Sunday - redpoints on the board. Less rushed than usual so did a better warmup. Then onto links:

- on small feet, hard circuit into double easy circuit, about 40 moves, solid pump on

- tried 2x hard circuit on small feet, slipped off about 2/3 round.

- similar progress on easy-into-hard circuits on small feet, there's a move on the hard circuit that definitely feels disproportionately worse when a bit tired.

- same again on the last go.

Called it there, keen to make sure I keep it short and sweet and don't damage the skin in the runup to the trip.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

I think for many people it is about 400 moves long , but yes, I was thinking something similar!

Good effort on Master's Edge btw!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Thanks for jumping in Ian and my best wishes to Tyler. Unfortunately, we did not had any luck with the weather again. Currently, it is the classic situation of perfect conditions during the week and horrible conditions on the weekend . Of course, the easter weekend will be probably perfect when it is hard to free up enough time due to family duties

Mon: Rest

Tues: Indoor Climbing, Boulderwelt south,warmup on easy boulders, than a couple of short fingerboard hangs (2-3s) @80-95% of Max to fully recruit my fingers, One-Arm-Shoulder Engagement: 2x10-15s, afterwards finished the remaining boulders from last sesssion: one 6c/6c+ and two 6b+, all overhanging and very powerful, afterwards got close on another 6c where i fell on the last hard move; 

Wed-Fri: Rest, Business Trip to Berlin

Sat: Indoor Climbing, Boulderwelt south,warmup on easy boulders, than a couple of short fingerboard hangs (2-3s) @80-95% of Max to fully recruit my fingers, projected a 6c on tiny crimps on small overhang, could link the first part but could not sent the last move (probably a technique issue ; projected another 6c where i made some good links but was too tired to connect it, afterwards some easier comp boulder in the 5a to 6a+ range, all flash, finished the session with 3x12,13 Pullups with 2 min rest

Sun: Rest

Another good week, despite reduced volume due to business trip. Currently, it feels like i am making progress every session and i think that i am not far away from flashing 6c-6c+ boulders. Probably just a combination of a little bit more precision, determination and luck that is missing there.

Only negative thing is that i noticed a light stiffness in my left ring finger, the one that i had injured last year. Hence, i need to be a little bit carefull with the volume and intensity. Also started icing it after the sessions which hopefully helps. In case it does not i would probably need to back of with the intensity and do more endurance work instead.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Get well soon Tyler. 

And yeah it's a difficult balance Ian. More the same balancing act this week. Did get some mileage in tho. 

M- Strength

T - 5km run easy  pace

W - 11 km easy pace

T - 2x2 km intervals. With 4km easy. 

Fri and sat essay! 

Su - travelled to wales. 

Yep good point on the need for hill reps. I plan to do one interval session per week for the next 14 weeks and have programmed in hill reps. Lack of hills means it might be on an incline treadmill altho I am looking for some suitable hills near me. Plan this week is lots of hiking. Did a 10k circular route yesterday up to Y Garn and then went north along a ridge and back down. It was wet and windy! Keen to explore Tryfan ridge but it looks to be a pretty wet week ahead so will see how it plays out. 

Good week all

T

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Cheers Tyler and Ian

Sadly whilst he is now out of hospital the long term prognosis is not good as he has terminal cancer. 

On the training front i am doing an Olympic tri this year, however the big goal for this year is running related. As i turned 50 in January my lovely wife and children decided to enter me into a 50k ultra marathon  Its a local event and all off road so perfect for me.

Having said that the week gone by did not involve any running at all!

Monday, 1k swim

Tuesday, 1k swim

Wednesday, 1k swim

Thursday, 2k swim and stretch class

Friday, 16k cycle to work and 1k swim

Weekend was spent on DIY and kid taxi duties

With the Easter break coming up and work shutting down for a few days then its most definitely time to reboot the run training!

In reply to the sheep:

With the Easter break coming up and work shutting down for a few days then its most definitely time to reboot the run training!

Me too!  Though no ultras on my plan...

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Hi Ian, thanks for stepping in...
Get well, soon, Tyler.

Every week it's so, but this one I'm particularly struck by the spectrum of all the other things going on: illnesses, broken bones, cancers, mental stuff, etc., etc. Good speed to all - and to Ross, sounded like a great day - best wishes.

Ian, thanks for that example with your partner - holy hell, talk about 'comes with the job'...hope things are going well for him.

Nothing to report of course, all relatively stable for now: was at the wall twice, ca. 16 routes, nothing harder than 6b, moving quite well, just minor discomfort. One pretty good re-entry hangboard session.

The news for us is that we've finally taken the plunge and re-booked a tour to Nepal for Oct / Nov - the Manaslu trek with Tsum Valley. We ready to go in 2020 and then came Covid. Financially not a wise decision but our feeling is if we don't go this year, then we may never get there...so lots of walks & hikes on the agenda from late spring through to autumn...

Good week for all.

Paul

In reply to Small Step: Paul not sure if you’ve been before? But you’ll love Nepal, obviously the mountains are the worlds best but there’s a lovely chilled pace trekking in these ancient pathways. I found it a real soul restoring place. My mates doing well, he’s very psyched on his second return to climbing and starting to lead again.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Hi Ian, no I haven't been, yet - thanks for your reply - I immediately felt a little surge of anticipation. Really looking forward to 'chilled pace trekking'. And the restorative. Brillant advertising copy in just two lines!

My wife has been twice - Buddhist pilgrim trips through north India, Nepal, Bhutan...so she's familiar with cities and getting around...

You've been more than once? Were you mountaineering as well? Or was your trekking walking to base camps for climbing?

I had to Wikipedia your partner's cauda equina - pretty damn severe. Good to hear he's leading again. Next step - taking the odd fall? I enjoy reading about 'returns' like his - just the sheer joy at being able to climb again, without expectations, turn up and move. For me it's like play again, just pure and simple...

Hope you're doing OK, or as best you can.

In reply to Small Step:

Paul I've been twice, both times for expeditions. One was just travelling from Kathmandu to Tibet, the other trekking into the Annapurna sanctuary almost to Annapurna 1 basecamp then off the trails to our mountain. Both times brill!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Sorry Ian, for my somewhat naive questions; it took a while before a penny dropped and I thought, hhhmmm, and then I only needed to type in two names into google to find out...

Awesome...

I'm looking forward to reading the report this evening.

Have a good Easter

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Thanks for stepping in and raising the bar, fortunately only one more week for my shoddy work to be exposed!

Well I do now, talk about victim blaming! 😂

M: I think I went on my board

W: Beacon, after school club kicking off again but I got there early so went bouldering, was doing pretty well until I landed straight legged, would have been a perfect landing if I had been DWS but indoors it really jarred my back. Fortunately I had plenty of drugs with me and managed a reasonable session on the ropes afterwards.

F: Forced myself to the annex but was obviously coming down with something and after a short while couldn’t even pull on.

S&S: At a building and renovation trade show in the NEC. Turns out if you have lots of money and starting from scratch it’s pretty easy to decarbonise your house but if you have a draughty old place and no cash things are a bit more tricky! Couldn’t face annex when I got back as now had full blown cold and sore back.