UKC

Where will you be ‘wintering’ this year?

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Mrs Paul in Sheffield and I were off our usual beaten track this week with first visits to a couple of walls away from sunny Sheffield. In one of them which is a bouldering centre, there was a noticeable cozy warmth inside. Having a mid-session cuppa, i was informed ‘I think we shall winter here’.
I’ve got to say that I got to a certain age where I find climbing and training in the cold an absolutely miserable experience inside or out (I’ve got an outside 10 degree rule unless conditions are exceptional) irrespective of the gains to be made in grit season. Mrs P has Reynauds ;-(
Add in that it was lively but big enough not to be rammed, nice cafe and menu, good training boards and a wood burning stove, what’s not to love?
Anyone else got their ‘wintering’ sorted out?
 AlanLittle 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

I'm sufficiently old school that I still attempt to convince people to go out in search of dry scraps of south facing rock on sunny winter weekends. But it's definitely becoming increasingly difficult to find victims who are willing to be dragged away from the warmth & comfort of the plastic.
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

In Edinburgh the seasonal migration of indoor climbers from Ratho to Alien Block has begun while the hardier specimens are adopting the Ratho winter plumage of down jackets and beanies.
 Coel Hellier 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

So where is this idyll?

> Add in that it was lively but big enough not to be rammed, ...

Not The Works then?
In reply to Coel Hellier:

> So where is this idyll?

> Not The Works then?

hope Graeme isn't reading this........no, not The Works ;-(
I know that my son and all his buddies will be crushing probelms all winter in shorts and beanies, but I just can't hack it anymore. I was wrapped up like a michelin man at Awesome Walls yesterday and it wan't until well into a 4x4 session that I could feel my feet.
PS in addition to the warmth and space, the route setting is all done in house and seems to be excellent.
In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

> In Edinburgh the seasonal migration of indoor climbers from Ratho to Alien Block has begun while the hardier specimens are adopting the Ratho winter plumage of down jackets and beanies.

I'm taking it that you're one of the 'hardier specimens' wintering in a Scottish Quarry
 GridNorth 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

I struggle to put up with the cold these days. I sold my ice climbing gear the year before last because on my last trip to Cogne I could not get warm and I didn't really enjoy the climbing because of that. Even indoors can be a struggle. All the youngsters in vests and shorts asking for the heating to be turned off and me wanting it turned on. Having said all that I never did like climbing with cold hands it's just that as I approach 70 years old I can't tolerate any cold at all. Mediterranean warmth and sunshine for me from now on.

Al
 lithos 26 Nov 2017
In reply to Coel Hellier:

sounds like the Red Goat in York, but they dont do all the setting in-house, they use a variety of experienced setters
 alx 26 Nov 2017
In reply to Coel Hellier:
Would not recommend the Climbing Works in the winter, you need an axe to break the ice in the toilet to take a piss and cannot get warmed up.
Post edited at 17:21
1
In reply to GridNorth:
We’re off bolt clipping on Malta this Xmas which I’m looking forward to as I’ve never visited before, then Kalymnos in the New Year.
Having said that, the ever lovely Horseshoe quarry is a short walk from home, and is positively balmy on a still, sunny winters day.
In reply to alx:

> Would not recommend the Climbing Works in the winter, you need an axe to break the ice in the toilet to take a piss and cannot get warmed up.

Blimey, your profile says your 33, I thought you’d be down the Works in shorts and a beanie in mid winter.
 John Kelly 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:
I wonder if the twin miracles of working indoors and centrally heated homes is making us all extra sensitive to chilly weather, in kendal they all wore down indoors, what's that all about
Post edited at 18:11
 mal_meech 26 Nov 2017
In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

> In Edinburgh the seasonal migration of indoor climbers from Ratho to Alien Block has begun while the hardier specimens are adopting the Ratho winter plumage of down jackets and beanies.

Still the only “indoor” wall that is sometimes colder than outside... and gets its own clouds...
 alx 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:
I train in Virgin Active around the corner in the winter. There’s now quite a good scene building in the callisthenics/gymnastic training for climbing

All you need is a portable finger board, rings and with the rest of the available stuff you are set. Virgin does have a short autobelay wall with around 20 routes but it’s no climbing wall. It has a cracking spa and big variety of training equipment and classes. A couples membership is £45 per month per person which depending on what Works membership plan you are on can be comparable.

The spa is great after a cold day out in the Peak.


 abr1966 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:
I shall be 'wintering' in Glencoe, Aviemore and Fort William with a big smile on my (freezing cold) face!
Post edited at 18:36
 bouldery bits 26 Nov 2017
In reply to John Kelly:
> I wonder if the twin miracles of working indoors and centrally heated homes is making us all extra sensitive to chilly weather, in kendal they all wore down indoors, what's that all about

Posing!

BB (ex-Kendal wall regular!)

Besides, the coldest wall in Britain is Calshot down near Southampton. It's literally colder inside than out year round.
Post edited at 19:41
 angry pirate 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

You weren't in Derby were you?
 spenser 26 Nov 2017
In reply to angry pirate:

I had a suspicion he was talking about the Climbing Unit!
 olddirtydoggy 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Off to New Zealand, stuff the north of England!
1
 angry pirate 26 Nov 2017
In reply to spenser:

Yep, me too
The wood burner certainly takes the edge off: I was there on Wednesday and climbed all evening minus fleece or beanie for the whole session!
In reply to angry pirate:

> You weren't in Derby were you?

Yes, gas heating, wood burner, and really impressed with it overall. Never been there before, and it’s now firmly on the wintering list. Dead friendly people on reception too.
 John Kelly 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Would it help if we climbed more routes quicker
In reply to John Kelly:
> Would it help if we climbed more routes quicker

That’s why we have to go to Awesome Walls to try and get some stamina. Bouldering leaves me unable to climb except in discrete 5 metre bursts.
Post edited at 22:19
 angry pirate 26 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

I'm not a huge fan or bouldering walls but I am a concert to the Unit for exactly the reasons you give. Really friendly staff, great use of space and some roped stuff tucked away in case the mood takes!
 stp 27 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

I'll be staying in Sheffield, something I don't mind at all as I think all 3 walls are totally fab. I agree on really cold days it can be hard to warm up sometimes but I find if you do enough in short succession once I get warm I tend to stay warm as long as I don't rest for too long. At the Works just do a load (30 or so) warm up problems. At the Foundry and Awesome Walls I do 5 or so routes on the auto belays. Once warm I often end up in shorts on all but the coldest days.

Maybe you need to get on steeper stuff? The steeper climbing tends to work the bigger muscle groups and so the extra effort makes you glow inside.

The nice thing is once warmed up on a cold days I can do my projects I can't do on the warmer days.
In reply to stp:

Certainly think 2 are fab and the other is ok because the walls are tall and good overhangs, and it’s big enough to cope on a wet Sunday afternoon (the route setting isn’t great and the bouldering worse, but that’s not why we go there)
To coin a Sheffield phrase, I think I’ve turned ‘nesh’ like some softie southerner, and hate even the warm up in the cold ;-(
 Jackob 29 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Malham cove such a suntrap and really sheltered from the wind! Was belaying in a tshirt yesterday when it was 1 degree outside and could barely feel the cold
 stp 29 Nov 2017
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

You need to learn the dark art of cold thermogenesis. That eccentric dutch guy climbed up Everest into the death zone in wearing just shoes and shorts so I'm sure the Climbing Works wouldn't present a problem on the coldest of days.
 Bulls Crack 30 Nov 2017
In reply to Jackob:

> Malham cove such a suntrap and really sheltered from the wind! Was belaying in a tshirt yesterday when it was 1 degree outside and could barely feel the cold

There's always one!

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