2 old men meet for the first time

I headed up to The Lakes this weekend. The forecast was at best uncertain....heavy rain possibly, strong winds possibly, snow possibly.......so I kept my options open and with a view to having to change plans if necessary.

So this old man decided to meet another far more famous old man for the first time..... Coniston Old Man via Goat Crag and then onto Dow etc and descent via Walna Scar Road back to Coniston itself.

I arrived in Coniston at about 9.30am and quickly realised I'd need to change my plans. The snow had started to fall and with no crampons or ice axe, scrambling up Goat Crag was not an option! So I decided to take the main path up out of Coniston and passed the copper mines.

Lower down the valley the snow wasn't sticking, but as I got past the old mining bridge, it really began to take hold. The path was still quite well defined but visibility in any direction was becoming less and less the higher I climbed. Underfoot, the ground was now becoming quite treacherous and I knew the descent was going to be tricky, one slip, one turn of the ankle and I was in trouble.

I met very few folk out on the hills (3 other walkers in a group coming down having been defeated and not reaching the summit and one other loan walker who I ended up walking part of the way with and enjoyed the company for a short while. A faster walker than me though, he left me at a rest point not far from the east ridge and that was the last I saw of him. I contemplated retiring at this point. I was finding it hard going (that stamina thing again!) but was also more than a little worried about my car being stuck and not being able to get home which I needed to do!

I decided to press on though. I am nothing if not determined and I generally don't let things beat me without a bloody good fight. To be fair, it was indeed a bloody good fight, The Old Man gave me a right battering! The east ridge was a struggle, hands and knees in places but I managed to reach the top only to see, well, nothing! It was just white, everywhere!

 

 

 

 

I couldn't see the summit cairn and decided it wasn't worth seeking out. The winds were picking up and total white out conditions were a very real possibility and so I retreated back down the east ridge to the main path and traced my steps back down the way I'd ascended and into Coniston again.

On the descent I passed one loan walker on his way up although he said to me he'd already decided he would stop at the east ridge and then come back down. I also met a young couple who asked me for directions. They were to put it mildly, not really dressed for the conditions (she had on a skirt and tights......full make up though so that's ok!!). I tried to convince them to forget it and join me in the pub but they were having none of it. I seriously doubt they'd have made it much further on but I do hope they were ok and also that MR weren't called out because of them!

On returning home (having stopped in at The Ship Inn for hot soup and a pint of course!), I got chatting on line to a couple of guys who'd also ventured out (there weren't many of us!). Both had almost gotten into difficulty. The first had experienced total white out on the very same mountain I was on. He'd had to use his compass to take a bearing or two for the first time in 20 years! The second had ventured into Glencoe. He gave the wrong location to friends and family but didn't realise until he, thankfully, made it safely back to his car! Lessons to be learnt here and it made me realise that actually, I kind of know what I'm doing up here!

I'm getting fitter too! I found it hard going, I really did.......but this time last year, I'm not sure I'd have made it even half way up.......The Old Man and The Old Man got on just fine!

When it's raining try training

Having had a pretty fantastic Summer in terms of climbing weather, pretty much the whole of November and now well into December, has been a washout, and I mean literally! Weather and resulting phenomenon like a waterfall at Malham Cove (not seen in 300 years), devastation across Cumbria, widespread floods, at one point I was thinking of digging out my 'The End is Nigh' billboard! It hasn't even been walking weather. 80 mph winds rendering days in the mountains, at best, treacherous! MRT's are busy enough dealing with the floods to be bothering rescuing some idiot venturing into the mountains on days like these!

So, apart from watch with helplessness the unfolding carnage across Cumbria (there is a just giving page so please donate and help families and businesses left stricken!), I've been left with one option, hit the wall!

I'm not good with training, for a couple of reasons. The first is, I'm in inherently lazy. The second is, I get bored easily. Throw those together and basically you have a recipe for a climber who will never improve!

I know this and so I have to work really hard on things like motivation and being able to keep myself interested and focused. Just in life in general, I need lists, reminders, constant prompts to get things done. I need challenging, constantly, I need goals, and that way I can maintain my interest. In a nutshell, if I have chores to do around the house, I hate doing the chores but I love ticking them off a list when they are completed. That sense of achievement, no matter how small, is what keeps my mind engaged and my motivation focused. It's not enough for me to say "do the dishes because then you will have clean dishes". My rational mind will immediately say "well you could buy new dishes". However, saying "do the dishes and that's one ticked off your list", that motivates me, it's a challenge and I like challenges.

So, what works for me training wise, if anything? Well, there is a whole internet worth of material out there on training, training programmes, theories, it is a subject that far more qualified people than myself, have written about in great detail so I don't intend to do that here. This is simply my own take on things, my 'training plan' and it's results.

My first step was to set goals then! What do I want to achieve? I believe this is crucial. Set your goals too unrealistically high and the resulting constant failure can act as a demotivator, but set them too low and the risk of boredom setting in rises dramatically!

Last winter was my first foray into the world of indoor climbing for some time. Yes I'd been on an indoor wall here and there, but to call that 'training' would have been to use the term loosely, very loosely! I started to regularly visit a number of walls but mainly hopped between Manchester Climbing Centre and Rockover Bouldering, also in Manchester. At this point I had 2 simple goals.....to get fitter and braver! That was it, simple goal setting.

I've always been quite strong and able to do quite powerful moves, but my stamina (at this point I had none!) always lets me down. So I could string a couple of hard moves together but that would be it......"Take!" I was also very fearful at times and so I would feel the pump coming on, start to overgrip, sweaty hands would set in, as would panic, and that would be the end of that.

So this was where I was last year, struggling to lead 5+, what difference has a year made?

In a nutshell, last week I lead my first 6b+, and in fact flashed it apart from the very last move where the hold colours confused the hell out of me ( why do walls group routes with similar coloured holds together!!). I now class 6a as a warm up. In terms of my fear, I couldn't be happier about how this is going. There is a double overhang at MCC which I'd only ever got to the lip of the 2nd, never actually being able to top out. I did this recently too with no problem. I also got to one move off the top of a 6a+ on the main wall (I bailed not because I was scared but again because I couldn't see the last bloody hold!).

How have I got here? By training and working on where I'm weak. Mental training, concentrating on breathing and staying in control, forcing the fear to the back of my mind. Stamina wise, if I'm bouldering on my own at Rockover, I will do laps on the traverse wall to warm up. I then pick 4 problems around V3/4 which I know I do fairly comfortably and I climb them in succession, no rest inbetween. I then  rest for about the same time it took me to climb them, then repeat. I try to do this 3 times. I then work for 20 minutes or so on something hard before warming down on the traverse wall again. If I'm at MCC then I'll jump on the auto belays and climb everything on that line that I know is within my capabilities, again no rests, then move onto the next auto belay and so on. I'll then finish by working on something harder before a warm down.

It's working for me! My technique, strength, fitness and being able to manage the fear, have all come on in leaps and bounds! My goal this winter is to emerge from my 'cave' ready for the climbing season start in Spring, having lead a 7a! Watch this space!