On the face of things I'm a little dissapointed with the year. I got out the least I have for a few years and saw no real progression, no PB's and only 3 ticks (out of 36) on my 2011 wishlist.
However putting a little more thought into it, this could have been the year I needed.
I really chilled out with striving to achieve and took a bit of a backseat. I was able to just go out cragging and get on E5's, a feat which only a few years ago I used to think would cap off my climbing career.
I didn't manage to do much sport climbing, but on my trip to El Chorro I managed to flash a 7c which matches my previous PB.
I did my first FA, or so I thought. It turns out that the lower groove had previously been climbed by Tim Neill 10 years ago. This doesn't really matter though as the experience of discovering a (new) line and climbing it in the best style I could was nourishing. It gave me a wave of psyche, one day I even ran up there with only 2 hours to spare to give it a clean. I definately like to do a proper FA one day.
This year though, has been a major tipping point for me with regards to bouldering. I had a month working 4days on, 4 days off at the Indy Climbing Wall and managed to gain that strength everyone else had. Now when my feet come off it doesn't necessarily mean I will, and I finally gained coordination to slap for things without forgetting to take at least one hand off. This major progress was a result of rest days. Every winter for the last four or five, without fail, I've managed to pick up a finger injury through turning my hand to training and hammering it day in day out. I may have enjoyed it but my tendons didn't. Listen to your fingers.
In essence this year has been a real consolidation period. I'm ready for E6 now, I'm ready for sport in the 8's and I'm ready to really enjoy the physical and mental challenge of the rock. I'm still (optimistically) ambitious but I remember now why I want to do hard things. It's not about the grade, it's about the relative difficulty to yourself and the situation you find yourself in when really pushing it. The thing I love most about climbing is the fight, toeing the line ready to spar with adversity.
The major thing for me to overcome in 2012 is the irrational fear of falling. I'm not saying I was ever totally comfortable with it, but somewhere along the line in the last few years I developed a real fear of falling and failure. It manifested itself by avoiding getting on things where the odds on success were less than 80%, and it really inhibited movement for a lot of the year. So at the start of the year I'm going to take hundreds of falls to show my brain that it's generally as much of a buzz as success. This should stop me beating around the bush, going out with intention, but instead quietly settling for a lesser challenge.
So the new years resolution is: get on with it!
My 2011 Highlights:
Decomposed for the FA experience.
Reproduction for ticking all the boxes of what I love about climbing, getting on with it against the odds, big runouts, litres of lactic, and on a beautiful canvass of pocketed lime.
Psychic Threshold, for being totally nails at E5 and just making it.
King Wad, for the phoenomenal finish, slapping whilst runout and super exposed.
Byzantium, just a brilliant route thats got everything.
John Wayne, I normally climb slowly but I did all 40m of this in about 10mins as the sun was setting on my time in Pembroke.
Ludwig and Walt Disney, both for being quite out-there and totally spanking my head, and revealing my weaknesses.
My days out sport climbing racking up lots of 7's in a day.
My peak bouldering trip for boosting my bouldering confidence, laying some old demons to rest and realising what I could be capable of in 2012.
For anyone interested here's my wishlist for 2012.
THE LIST: 2012
ONSIGHT
The Golden Mile E5
Bastille E6
A Kilnsey E6
Ghost Train E6
Souls E6
Pretty Girls Make Graves E6
Potency E6
Rainbow of Recalcitrance E6
Disillusioned Screw Machine E6
The Long Goodbye E6
Teenage Kicks E6
Midnight at Noon E6
2 Main Cliff E5’s in a day E6
Skinhead Moonstomp E6
The Cad E6
Angel Dust E6
Conan the Librarian E6/7
The Clown E7
Surgical Lust E7
Yukan II E7
Dominatrix 7c
Boat People 7c
A Ceuse 8a
FLASH/G-UP
Dinosaur (rematch) E5
Wall of Evening Light (rematch) 7b+
Bad, Bad Boy 7c+
Mescalito 7c+
Dead Calm 8a
Jerry’s Roof 7C
Anything from the Onsight List
RP
Master of the Universe E7
A Scimitar E7
Nightmayer E8
Totally Wired 9 E8
My Piano E8
A Grit RP
A Leap E8
Mussel Beach 8a
Battle of the Little Big Orme 8a+
The Waiting Game 8a
Melancholie 8b
The Ashes 7c+
Urgent Action 8a+
Supercool 8a+
Ecstasy 8b
A Ceuse 8a+/8b
BOULDER
New Jerusalem 7A
Ringpiece 7B+
Underhand 7B+
Eastwood Traverse 7B+
Dick Williams 7B+
The Storm 7B+
Suavito 7B+
Powerband 7C
Ben’s Roof 7C+
Brad Pitt 7C+
The Gimp 7B
Incredible Shaking Man SS 7B
Wavelength 7B+
Barrel Traverse 7B+
Roadside Full 7C
The Big Smile 7C
Lou Ferrino 7C+
Diesel Power 8A
The Highlife 8A
Well you gotta aim high...
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