Projecting a hard route: notes and experience
Blame Rob Cummins blog for this and the recent excellent interview with him by John Belton of No17. Rob has continuously kept writing his blog for the most part for the better part of a decade now. I’ve had the blog for at least that long myself but drop in and out of the writing frequency. Life and all that!
Anyway, it’s 3.5 years since my shoulder surgery and after spending the summer reminding my body how to climb again, I’m back in the saddle and idly wondering what happens when you test yourself. There’s a certain level of grade I can knock out quickly now, but what about if I really pushed myself and stepped up to the mark with a new grade, after all this time off? Naomi was on board with my idea and it’s been a journey while here in Siurana to find that route that gives the ideal balance of test, a small glimmer of actually doing it, and motivation. After going up the classic ‘Zono 0’, I realised it was just a bit too burly for my level of fitness right now. While I can climb pretty well again, my body doesn’t have the same level of power as it did with pre-injury mainly due to the lack of training under its belt! (People want to use the excuse of age, but it’s not that really - although I do notice I do require more rest days which is fine!). I went back over to another I’d tried previously, and really should have done: Ramadan. This one is interesting - many years ago at the end of a good trip, I got on this and blasted up it really quickly and for the first time in my life, saw the possibility of flashing routes of this difficulty. Unfortunately, it was the last day, and the last afternoon of the trip, so I never did get to get the route done and it was left for another trip. Many years later, I went back up it and….realised I didn’t have the physical training under my belt as the original trip and found there was a move I could barely even do! Wow! So I bailed that time with tail between my legs. This time? The same again, I just can’t get the power down on one single move so that means that route is scratched off the list. Maybe forever?
After that, I was at a bit of loss, aimlessly climbing around, enjoying myself and infrequently going up the moves on ‘Zono 0’ again but not really committed. Then, I visited Pablo again and he mentioned the route to the right of ‘Zono 0’ and that it was quite good. This one I’d seen people on before: in fact, watched in awe as an Austrian woman, several months after giving birth, absolutely destroy it. But I wasn’t at her level and I also knew there was a huge run-out…. I cruised on up, using a stick clip for the very first time on a hard route. Feeling alien to be not really pulling some of the moves, I’ll be honest I didn’t really enjoy this whole experience that much. But I did get up it, and was bemused to find that my stick-clip is long enough to make the reach over the long-run out. A small win. In all, it came down to the start of a tricky 7c+, then the route breaks left and through a bulge. A couple of powerful pulls, leads you to a mid-point rest where my flexibility came to advantage as I realised I could almost - almost - get a hands-off rest. Then, a weird sequence to an undercut, before three tiny holds on tiny feet led to some slightly larger holds on tiny feet, a bolt clip (3+ metres above the previous one) and then a relatively easy finish. I didn’t really believe, but with lack other options, and that it was mainly finger-strength based (not pure shoulder/back power), it seemed like the one with the most possibility. Slim, but a possibility. And here we are with my diary below of the journey :) I’ll continue to update this as I go until we leave at the end of December, and make sure to write up reflections at the end no matter!
Day 1 (15th December)
I purchased a stick clip for the first time in my life this year. Amazingly, it took me this long to get one! I’m still undecided if I like it however, it makes the first experience on a climb much less enjoyable. Anyway, did most of the moves: found the start interesting having to do the ‘7c+’ start (Although it looks like very few do the ‘direct’) and the upper crux….
Day 2 (16th December)
Inspired after watching Naomi climb her own target route, I went bolt to bolt without the stick clip as was lacking in confidence. It turns out a side effect for myself when using the stick clip is uncertainty in capabilities to do the route: can I do the moves, am I comfortable with the run-outs?
So, the decision was made for a quick test-climb from the base to see how I got on. Dropped off at 5th bolt, unable to find a position to clip from. Hmmm. What’s really interesting from the Strava link below (update: all links) is watching the heart rate. Topping out in the high 170’s at times, and only getting down to 140 at the ‘rest points’…. I continued on up, tweaking bits of movements, adjusting beta, thinking about where to rest and where to charge. Progress.
Day 3 (18th December)
Warmed up on 2 x 6a+, 7a and up the first 5 bolts to put the quickdraws in. Felt damp. Lowered, took a 20-minute rest and went for it. Got to the 8th bolt and fell out of the pocket. Really testing my reach on my right shoulder. Still though, a good start and understanding of what I need to do.
The next attempt went even better than expected?! Through the pocket section and into the main crux. A foot slip is all that stopped me from getting into the final headwall Progress! Only three more holds and its all over…. That’s easier said than done of course! It’s a world of a difference between falling where I was and making it a further three holds when you’re red-lining!
Day 3 (19th December)
Not feeling as hot today, just not able to turn on the afterburners. Start up route but know immediately and bail after the fifth bolt. Strangely, unable to explain what was occurring however I could feel mentally and physically my energy wasn’t there. Experience tells me it’s better to just call it quits.
Day 4 (21st December)
Still not feeling 100% but hey ho, get on it and give it a lash. It’s a weird weather day, huge rain showers then blazing sun. First attempt I make it to the rest, then step up into the pocket…and slip straight out as it’s damp. fill with it chalk for another go….
And on the next go, 90 minutes later, I’m still not moving with ‘freshness’?! What the?!?! anyway, fight may way up to the ultimate highpoint of all attempts so far but it doesn’t matter. I’m not recovering properly, and it’s also roasting, the tiny edges are unholdable. Even try to climb that section after a rest, but it’s way too warm!
Decision made: take three days off with lots of stretching, eating and recovery, then one final day of attempts. Fun times!!
Day 5 (25th December)
The last go and it’s a non-event. Temps were on their way to 17 degrees on the day so it was way too hot to get into it. Psychologically I think I wasn’t into it either, really. The crag was very busy on Christmas Day and a lot of '…boisterous… groups didn’t leave a fun vibe. I ended up dropping off at the ‘damp’ pocket (there’s one pocket that seems to seep some days) and just go bolt-to-bolt to the chains to strip the route. Interesting as always seeing the heart rate throughout. the peaks near the start are the entry moves, then a small rest at 7:30 before the next sustained section, then rest as much as possible before pushing into the next sections. From around 15:00 onwards, I’m just pulling on bolts :)
Reflections
What can I say? The main summary is it was an interesting experience overall :) Committing to something that I could do the moves on, but struggled to envision myself doing all the moves in one go made for a great insight into the psychology around convincing yourself that it was possible. Breaking the route down into individual sections, memorising every part of the route to the millimetre - where to precisely put that foot, where to put that piece of the finger on the hold for the best traction, where to rest, where not to rest, etc.
It’s definitely an uncomfortable feeling at times as you go through the doubts and the biggest reflection overall in the gaps in knowledge were around warming up and getting ready mentally or attempts. Warming up, on only one day (18th December) did it feel like I was pulling 100%. On others, my head was in gear but just my body just wasn’t warmed up so the ‘strong’ sections just didn’t feel good. However, it’s also interesting to see that ‘good’ day. It felt like I was floating up the route, every hold felt huge and if it wasn’t for one foot slip, the route would have been done. So near, and yet so far! It also confirmed the importance of temperatures and conditions also - that was the only day where it was less than 10-12 degree air temps while in the sun and it made a huge difference. The evenings in the shade were almost too cold to get going so it was a fine line to walk.
The main conclusion? Get back onto another route - especially making sure it’s route that inspires and ‘suits’ you - and try again :)
Thanks for reading!