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A 6a and an error of judgement
May. 16th, 2013 09:17 pmMet up with R for an early evening session at the quay. After doing a few easy bits and pieces, I suggested working up with a couple of new five somethings. I thought they looked OK from the ground, but when R tried them I belated realised that they were actually pretty nasty: a no usuable footholds at the start of the more difficult one and a few tricky sections in the easier one that benefited from a more dynamic approach. I apologised and let R pick the next few routes.
Which explains why I managed to complete the nastiest of the 6a challenges on my todo list. Having struggled with it for weeks, I finally cracked the transition section, where it goes from small pinchy holds at the bottom through a few pockets, including one particularly tough one that doesn't have much to offer when you're below it, to the larger pinches that make up the top section.
Even if it wasn't as clean as I'd've liked — I'm going to have to do it again a couple of times to ensure I've really got it — I'm pretty pleased. Not only does it suggest that my technique might be improving, but the relative ease with which I handled the pinches indicates that I'm build up stamina in the right areas. Which agrees with something that I noticed while climbing another 6a on Sunday: I caught myself clamping on to things that, a few months ago, I'd barely have been able to hold never mind being able to grip with enough strength to hang my body weight off it.
Which explains why I managed to complete the nastiest of the 6a challenges on my todo list. Having struggled with it for weeks, I finally cracked the transition section, where it goes from small pinchy holds at the bottom through a few pockets, including one particularly tough one that doesn't have much to offer when you're below it, to the larger pinches that make up the top section.
Even if it wasn't as clean as I'd've liked — I'm going to have to do it again a couple of times to ensure I've really got it — I'm pretty pleased. Not only does it suggest that my technique might be improving, but the relative ease with which I handled the pinches indicates that I'm build up stamina in the right areas. Which agrees with something that I noticed while climbing another 6a on Sunday: I caught myself clamping on to things that, a few months ago, I'd barely have been able to hold never mind being able to grip with enough strength to hang my body weight off it.
