Pond traverse progress
Thursday 24th June:
Good progress today. In an effort to get back to some semblance of fitness I’ve been getting in the early pre-work sessions, firstly because Brownstones isn’t far from my work, and secondly at this time of year the rock is cooler in the mornings. There are also less midges. Oh, and there’s noone about. So actually there are plenty of reasons. The primary reason however is that I have several routes there that are on this years list, and as we’re already half way through the year it’s about time I got on with some crushage.
Anyway, I arrived at about 7:45, which gave me an hour. The objective of the day was the Pond Traverse. I normally warm up at the pond area anyway, my usual warm up being the traverse from Verdi corner to watery arête and back. It felt ok, so I decided to work on the traverse further right. After a few minutes I had worked out the section from the manky corner to about half way along the wall, and it felt ok – the difficulty with this bit is that every move is as hard as the last, and there are no meaningful rests – all the holds are good though, and there are loads of small footholds but it’s relentless. All on the arms too. I’ve realised I need to be more focussed when I’m down there, and need to get straight on to whatever objective that day. Too many sessions I’ve ended up fannying around.
In the evening I managed to escape work earlyish and could get another 45 minutes in, so I went straight to Brownstones. The conditions were bad though, it was really hot and the rock was sweaty and I was tired. There is so much contrast between the morning and the evenings. Anyway, I got straight on to the second half of the first wall, and after 20 minutes or so I had the sequence worked out – I remember a lot of it from a couple of years ago. I reckon I could do the whole section if I were fresh, and I feel as though I made real progress today.
So I've now worked out sequences for all sections apart from Verdi corner to Brownstones crack, now I just need the stamina to crush it in one.
The day was finished off with a nice meal at La Scala to celebrate the father in law's birthday, only 2 beers and some wine had which didn't help the mission to lose the semi-gut I seemed to have developed..
Good progress today. In an effort to get back to some semblance of fitness I’ve been getting in the early pre-work sessions, firstly because Brownstones isn’t far from my work, and secondly at this time of year the rock is cooler in the mornings. There are also less midges. Oh, and there’s noone about. So actually there are plenty of reasons. The primary reason however is that I have several routes there that are on this years list, and as we’re already half way through the year it’s about time I got on with some crushage.
Anyway, I arrived at about 7:45, which gave me an hour. The objective of the day was the Pond Traverse. I normally warm up at the pond area anyway, my usual warm up being the traverse from Verdi corner to watery arête and back. It felt ok, so I decided to work on the traverse further right. After a few minutes I had worked out the section from the manky corner to about half way along the wall, and it felt ok – the difficulty with this bit is that every move is as hard as the last, and there are no meaningful rests – all the holds are good though, and there are loads of small footholds but it’s relentless. All on the arms too. I’ve realised I need to be more focussed when I’m down there, and need to get straight on to whatever objective that day. Too many sessions I’ve ended up fannying around.
In the evening I managed to escape work earlyish and could get another 45 minutes in, so I went straight to Brownstones. The conditions were bad though, it was really hot and the rock was sweaty and I was tired. There is so much contrast between the morning and the evenings. Anyway, I got straight on to the second half of the first wall, and after 20 minutes or so I had the sequence worked out – I remember a lot of it from a couple of years ago. I reckon I could do the whole section if I were fresh, and I feel as though I made real progress today.
So I've now worked out sequences for all sections apart from Verdi corner to Brownstones crack, now I just need the stamina to crush it in one.
The day was finished off with a nice meal at La Scala to celebrate the father in law's birthday, only 2 beers and some wine had which didn't help the mission to lose the semi-gut I seemed to have developed..
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