To mark the last post of January, I will finish January off
with my review of the outdoors show at the Excel London. I went to the outdoors
show on the 15th January but couldn’t open some of the pictures I
took as the files got corrupted. This is possibly due to the fact that I have
been speaking rather disparagingly about my Samsung camera so maybe this is to
teach me a lesson about being loyal to my gadgets.
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| Traversing the wall |
I had a couple of sessions booked with the DMM stand at the show but in the end I only did one as my poor fingers were sore after a technique masterclass I did with Libby Peter. I did pass on my other booked sessions to my friend. The masterclass session started off with a chat with Libby asking the group what we wanted out of the session so as to tailor it to our needs. I mentioned that I wanted to get advice on getting the balance between keeping the body close to the wall and efficient use of energy by keeping arms straight when moving to different holds. There were three other people I climb with who were also booked on the session.
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| Libby Peter |
Starting off with traversing from one side of the wall to the other to get warmed up while Libby looked on. After a couple of minutes she gave tips on how to efficiently conserve energy by keeping the body low, close to the wall and aiming to keep the arms straight. At which point she gave a demo of what she meant. Watching her climb slowly with such grace from one foot hold to the next made it look so easy but trying it out was off course a totally different story.
Over all the session was brilliant and I picked up a lot from just watching her and trying out some of the techniques she was showing us. Like many things, climbing is one of those things that you have to put in the time and practice in order to improve technique and gain body strength. Sometimes I find that on a climbing route I tire quickly because I am either rushing the climbing or straining the grip on the hold because my arms are slightly bent. One technique I picked up from the session was to rest into the wall that is, making a few moves then resting by leaning into the wall. This allows you to rest your hands enough to allow you to climb for longer than you might otherwise do by rushing into a climbing route.
Bike show at the Animal Stand.
The session was meant to be for an hour but it went over a little which we totally didn’t mind nor did we even realise as we were too engrossed in the fun of climbing. Overall I am even more excited to do more technique sessions both for lead climbing and techniques. Some of the sessions I do at the Reach Climbing Wall means that I can climb with different people so this still gives me the opportunity to learn from some of the experienced climbers in the climbing group. Sometimes I get stuck on a route and end up screaming at the belayer at the bottom to give me a hint on how to make my next move to the next hold and if all else fails I do a rainbow climb just to get over the hard move. A climb that involves a minor cheat or using holds from another route just to get over a hard section is what I call a rainbow climb as you will mix the colours of holds you use rather than stick to the one grade or route you started with.
As you can see some of the pictures that I managed to save are slightly dark, hence why my Samsung needs to be replaced by a younger and newer model. I can’t complain too much though as its saved me well even when my iPhone camera died on me. Other than my techniques course I managed to blow some cash on some climbing goodies and try out the world’s longest indoor zipline at the Go Ape stand. I also came away with some Red Chilli shoes, DMM slings, screw gates, nut key. I didn't spend as much as I thought I would as I still came back with half the amount I took with me. Again, no complains with that one!
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| Longest Indoor Zip Line |
Hope your NY resolutions are still going strong. As I am currently learning how to develop for the Windows Phone 7 don’t be surprised if my next few posts in February are about programming.
Please don't forget to “like” me on Facebook if you haven’t done so already! Thanks for your support!
Bee
If you are just getting in to rock climbing, there are a few things to do in order to prepare yourself for what you need to expect. This article will give you an idea of what you need to do to prepare for your first climb.
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