First V7!

Psyched to send my first outdoor V7. Hang Ten at Horseshoe.

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Introduction

I want to climb V8 and 5.13. The only problem is that I am in my early 40s* and I just returned from a 15 year climbing sabbatical. So expectations and reality may not be entirely aligned! I reignited my climbing passion in November 2017 after a couple of Momentum rock gyms opened in Houston and have been making bumpy progress ever since. Bumpy because of a seemingly endless series of climbing related injuries. That 15 year break has really taken it's toll on my tendons and ligaments! But each injury has been a learning experience and I have used them as opportunities to try different things and experiment with various training methods. So, the intent of this blog is to capture some of those learnings and chronicle my training journey.  There is no time limit on my goals. I'm playing the long game with a focus on staying healthy.  Well...let me take that back. My kids are 9 and 12 years old and they seem to be enjoying climbing. So I want to hit my targets before they ...
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Reality Check

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I had a bit of a reality check the last couple of weeks on my mission to climb V8 and 5.13. A few things happened. First was a fun weekend with Ammi at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Second a day out at Kilnsey in the UK with a strong Sheffield crew. Third a bouldering session at Craggy Island near London catching up with another old friend Duncan. Horseshoe Canyon Ranch First day I decided to warm up on The Greatest Show on Earth 5.8. Above the third bolt I looked down, the last bolt well below my feet and a flash pump setting in. I was gripped!! On a 5.8!! Lead climbing indoors the bolts are so closely spaced you can clip with the last one at your waist and it does not prepare you for the bolt spacing outdoors. Next up, Crimp Scampi, 5.10d. This should be a piece of cake I thought... Boom, gripped again I found myself shouting “Take”. Gutted. This little fella hitched a ride home from HCR Kilnsey It’s 20 years since I last climbed here and what a crag. Such an incredible density o...
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Finger Strength Goals

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Are my fingers strong enough to climb V8? There isn't a ton of information out there to be honest. Lattice have the biggest database and occasionally drip feed some nuggets of info such as Alex Megos can hold 130% of his body weight on one hand. Wow!! BEAST! Steve McClure posted on his facebook that he can 'only' do body weight or slightly less. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he can do 100% on a Rainman 9b day. The best info I have found is a study conducted by Beast Fingers Climbing Research - "Optimising Muscular Strength to Weight Ratios in Rock Climbing" by Aman Anderson, published March 2018. TrainingBeta put the link up on their instagram a while back and I downloaded it. They actually include all of the test results in the paper Appendix. So I did my own analysis, with the hope that it would shed some light on where I need to be to reach my goals. Here are some stats from the paper: So young and light! They tested on a 19mm ...
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