First Weeks With a Fingerboard

After about two years of constant "canwecanwecanwe?" / "no, you'll only injure yourself" / "but pleeeeeeeeeeeeease", and one decisive bout of steep limestone sport climbing in Spain that made us both admit that we just had to get better finger strength, I finally relented and bought Lise (well, ok - us) a Metolius Simulator Fingerboard for Christmas.

A mere four hours of strenuous screwing later (stop sniggering at the back there) it was installed in pride-of-place above the living room door, and my wrist was ready to drop off (I said STOP it!):


I've been careful to start slowly, and not overstrain myself, but I have to admit that in just over a week, I'm already seeing a real improvement. Enough to make me think it's worth keeping some kind of record of it, and that I might as well post it here for future reference and probable hilarity for you rock gods reading this who probably do a hundred one finger pull-ups just to warm up:



So here goes. All the advice I've read from Dave McLeod and others led me to shy away from crimps and concentrate on open-handed strength, so that's what I did.

I started out doing:

• 3 10-second dead-hangs, open-handed on the two big jugs.


• Then I'd do slow open-handed pull-ups on those same big jugs (slow as in a slight enhancement of Tim Ferris' 5x5 method - 5 seconds going up, lock-off at 90 degree elbow position for 5 seconds, then take 5 seconds going back down). I could do two of these in perfect form, was really struggling by the down-stroke of the third, didn't even start the fourth.


• Finally I'd do open-handed dead-hangs on the biggest flat edges (four-fingers) for as long as I could. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that that was all of 3 seconds at first. Eep!

I've been doing this above routine maybe twice a day every other day, for about ten days, and already I've moved up to the following:

• 3 15-second dead hangs on the big jugs


• 3 clean 5x5x5 pull-ups on the big jugs, can do the up-stroke of the 4th but can't hold the 5s lock-off yet


• 3 10-second dead hangs on the largest flat edges


• 2 5x5x5 pull-ups on the largest flat edges - really struggling at the end of the 2nd, couldn't start the third


• 1 3-second dead hang on the top slopers

I've also noticed a definite improvement in my open-handed grip strength at the indoor wall, particularly on slopers.

So I'm going to keep up the progress reports in the hope that it makes me keep at it, and gives me a bit of inspiration next time I'm feeling weak.

First Gritstone Solo

On Sunday we pitched up at Birchen Edge just after lunchtime, figuring that if it's going to be busy everywhere then we might as well take advantage of the easy walk-in, laid-back atmosphere and good range of low-grade routes there. Neither of us really felt like pushing grade too much, the weekend was about relaxing and getting away from work more than anything else. Especially after The Midge Incident and Lise's unsettled mind yesterday.

So we arrived at the Edge and headed straight for the far end, where we found the only unoccupied bit of rock past the Emma's Dilemma area.

Let's just boulder a bit round here first, said Lise, and proceeded to do just that.

After a few warm-up foot moves around the base of The Gangplank (M **) she thought out loud:

I could solo this, you know

So off she went, looking calm and confident all the way. As she topped out, I thought

Well, so could I!

...and off I went, without really thinking about it. I actually found it perfectly OK, with only one point where I felt the rising nervousness as I contemplated a typical gritstone mantel top-out at about 8m. But I quashed it down as quickly as it arrived, and just went ahead with the move - which was fine - and topped out with a satisfied grin on my face.

Now, admittedly it's only a Mod. That's the lowest grade anything ever gets, and it was practically a staircase - the slew of people on UKC describing their ascents as no-handed / one-legged / juggling fire on a pogo stick shows it's not exactly a difficult route by any means - but still, 10m is not a distance you want to fall, and as someone who is no stranger to what could best be termed EPIC HEAD FAIL, I felt a little chuffed at having had my first ever solo.

I'm not in any hurry to start soloing harder routes, but it did feel like I crossed some kind of threshold, having done that. I was confident enough in my footwork (thanks Jack !) to KNOW that I wouldn't fall, and that's a rarity for me on grit, where every hold is rounded and a pebble is classed as a Good Foothold. Maybe there *is* some improvement in my technique after all...

Campsite review: Greenacres camp site, Edale, S33

Stress was building up for Lise and I, so we nipped up to the peak district on Friday for an impromptu weekend away from it all, ending up at the Greenacres camp site after the usual Hardhurst farm was full.

The view from Greenacres campsite
Originally uploaded by Dr Snooks

This site is a bit more out of the way - continue on into Hope, turn right just after Old Hall pub towards Edale, keep driving after you think you must have gone the wrong way, under the bridge, after the spooky farmhouse on the corner, it's on the left just after the pony trekking place - but has a really pleasant view, decent toilets, spring water on tap... it's actually pretty good. The only negative was the trains going right past the bottom of the site - but stay at the roadside end of the fields and it's fine.

There's a bit of a slope going down away from the road, so pitch your tent with your heads facing away, but the ground seemed firm and well-drained. There's a dedicated washing-up sink by the toilets, and you can get tokens for the hot shower from the house.

We arrived about 11pm on Friday, and were rewarded with a jaw-droppingly beautiful night sky, the likes of which I haven't seen for well over ten years. The Milky Way was clear and bright, with so many stars it was hard to pick out even the familiar constellations. We brewed up on the Trangia, layed back, and watch in wonder for a full half an hour, letting the images settle in to our memories. Beautiful.