I was getting really frustrated with only having indoor/comp style bouldering problems in my training diet, for me the harder they get the more unrealistic and outlandish they become, they turn into freaky circus problems which are reachy, not very aesthetic to climb on and they don't translate very well to outdoor bouldering, and don't get me started on those feckin' comp style volume problems !! They are ridiculous. I was missing the good aul days of the northside co-op and wondering why South Dublin's climbing scene doesn't still have a fantastic co-op training facility !? Anyway thankfully, out of the blue, The Gravity Center decided to build a 35 degree training board and it was so refreshing to have a steep board to pull on and we set about beastin' on it most regularly, months of solid board training ensued it was good times in that little board room and we all mutated and got stronger fingers, power and core ...
The training board in Gravity, where beasts are forged :)
That Glendo season I didn't get outside too much but I climbed a couple of class problems, the classic steep pogo dyno B.B.E sitter 7B and the new line Computer World left 7A+ near Cloghouge, two gems ...
B.B.E night sesh
`I was training fierce hard for Best Buzz Ever(B.B.E) 7B. Throwing myself at the 35 board, desperately lobbing my paws at little wooden crimpers and slam slapping down on molded slopers in attempts to match on them and move off again. Its such a fun way to train and really effective. I made a replica of B.B.E, it had a sit start on crimps into a great big pogo dyno, when you catch the hold on B.B.E your core barn doors and you come spinning off the block crashing down on the mats, my replica was just the same and it helped me to learn that you can counter the barn door by turning your core in the opposite direction at point of contact, I also learned that by swinging your leg at different angles you can aim your pogo correctly at the target hold.
B.B.E 7B pogo dyno move
The day I sent B.B.E was rather odd, I somehow managed to fall off one of my easy warm ups on the Egg boulder and miss the mat, I fell from very low, mabye my feet were no more than 1.2 meters off the ground, I came down heavy on my heel and I injured it quite badly, I knew it was fucked and that if I didn't climb B.B.E that day I would be waiting quite a while before I was able to get back on it, so I hopped on and with the extra incentive I pulled on the crimps as hard as I could and swung my leg from left to right and launched myself at the hold on the lip, I hit it, held it and it felt so cool as I controlled the swing, it was a sublime, silent, slow motion moment of weigthlesness, I threw me heel up and topped it out whooping for joy :) An authentic Glendo classic, I stuck me heel in the cool water of the river and limped out of the valley later that evening, I was on crutches for 2 weeks after that !! It was a bruised heel ...
Brain Hall on Computer World Left 7A+
The other epic send of the season was Computer World Left 7A+, a magic boulder problem in a tranquil setting amongst the deciduous forest on the banks of the lake facing Luggala's soaring granite face. The approach to the boulders is via a steep gully, we lashed the pads down the hill and watched them bounce out of sight and collected them when we got to the bottom, the way out is a horrific uphill trudge that seems to last forever, I shudder when I think of it and vowed never to do it again, but there are more nice boulders down there so I probably will have to repeat the slog in the future. In fairness its an unreal problem and worth the hassle, the crux is an amazing throw move under the boulder to a perfect half pad crimp, I figured out a swazzy knee bar that unlocked the problem for me, this is a king line, one of Wicklow's finest, go do it !!
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