I decided to give my fingers a break after finishing Paul Robinson's 6-week training
program.
I set an easier next goal for myself, which was clearing all the V5s and V6s in the cave
area of my gym for the current set.
Unfortunately, the pandemic happened, so I actually ended up with one V6 short and I
didn't have the chance to get a variety of different angles or close-up shots for
the routes.
I've been hoping the gym closure will be short-term, but I think it's been long enough,
so it's time to release this video with what I have.
In my opinion, climbing comes down to 3 main points.
First, figure out the technique and evaluate whether you have the strength to do the crux
move individually.
Second, figure out the technique to climb as efficiently as possible so you will have
enough strength to do the crux move.
Lastly, read the route correctly so you won't waste time and strength climbing with the
wrong beta.
Executing these 3 points right is not as easy as it seems.
Every climb is different.
The crux could be different for different people.
It's all about accumulating the experience of doing it by yourself and seeing other people
doing it, so I am going to break down the climbs I did based on these 3 points, and
hopefully you will find it helpful.
The first route is a yellow V6, the crux for me is these two awkward dyno-ing moves.
Initially I habitually jumped into it, catching it with straight arms, and it felt like I
almost injured my shoulders.
I then remembered that whenever you dyno onto a hold, you should bend your arms and engage
your scapulas so your muscles can absorb the sudden force.
Also, you should lift your legs to elevate your center of gravity to reduce the leverage. The same principle applies for the second dyno.
Once I got to this point, it took me a while to read the route correctly.
I encourage you to pause the video to think about it even though the holds might be a
bit hard to see.
I initially thought I had to cross my left hand up this hold, and then get my right foot
to this hold.
That felt like a natural continuation.
However, it is incredibly hard because the foot hold is very slippery.
Eventually I figured out the right beta.
The lesson for me is whenever there's a beta that includes heel hooking a jug, chances
are high it's the right beta.
The second route is a pink V5.
There wasn't any crux move for me.
I was temporarily stuck in one move because of route reading.I tried multiple times reaching
with my left hand to the next hold and then matching with my right, but that felt hard
because my body was too stretched out.
Eventually I figured out I could simply reach out with my right hand first and avoid matching
in a stretched-out position.
The third route is a white V5.
Again, there was no crux move for me but I had route reading problems in the last few
moves.
My first thought was to reach out with my right hand right away, but putting weight
on footholds on the roof while your upper body is already over the roof is always harder
because of the awkward body position.
A better approach is usually to figure out a way to use the foothold that is also over
the roof.
The fourth route is a blue V5.
There's no crux move and all the moves are straightforward but it's super long.
That means I had to climb very efficiently in order to complete it.
I had to remind myself to stay really low and keep my arms straight for the starting
sequence in order not to run out of gas at the end.
The fifth route is a red V5.
All the moves are straightforward but there's a crux move here.
I ended up doing the move by toeing in as hard as I could while keeping my core as tight
as I could.
This reminds me that climbing crux moves is not just about temporarily pulling as hard
as you can with your arms.
It actually involves temporarily pushing the whole body as hard as you can.
The sixth route is a purple V6.
Route reading is difficult for the initial sequence, but I will skip the breakdown because
it's hard to see from this camera angle.
The crux move is a big throw towards the sloper.
There's nothing technical about this move but in order to have enough strength at this
point to throw myself up, I had to climb very efficiently in the starting sequence.
This move here at the start can be easily muscled through by cutting feet, but I will
run out of gas when I get to the crux.
In order not to cut feet for this move, I had to toe hook really hard and keep my core
really tight to make it happen.
This reminds me that climbing efficiently doesn't necessarily mean generating less
total force.
It's about figuring out how to generate less force with the muscles that are more quickly
to get fatigued, which for most people are their arms.
The last route is a blue V6.
Route reading is difficult for the initial sequence, but again I will skip the breakdown
because it's hard to see from this camera angle.
Once I get to this position, here is an ok pocket, ok crimp that could be a hand or foot,
a low foot somewhere down here, an ok pinch here that might or might not be too high,
and another ok pocket here that might or might not be too high.
It actually took me days to read the route right.
If it had not been because of this, I probably would've had enough time to complete the
last V6, so definitely pause the video and think about this and let me know in the comments
if you actually get it right in your first try.
Alright, so the answer is actually to step on the ball feature really hard with the left
foot to not slip and then reach out to the pocket with the left hand!
After a few moves, I reached this position, which is also confusing.
I knew I had to get my right hand up to this hold, but how to do so was not obvious.
Eventually I figured out a difficult but possible way to do it.
That is bringing the left foot up and throwing up the right hand in a barn-door fashion.
This is the crux of this climb.
The key is to bend the left arm and lock it so you can be as close to the wall as possible
and shorten the throw distance as much as possible.
The setters in my gym did a really good job on this one.
If someone had told me the right sequence, I would have probably flashed it, but instead,
it took me almost a week!
Thanks for watching.
As always, make sure to like, subscribe and check out my website geekclimber.com.
See you in the next video.