Rather wonderfully I found out last week that I have been mantling if not wrong, at least in a way that is less than ideal, for the last 27 years. I found out last Friday. I always assumed that finishing off a route or a problem, one where you were topping out on an edge, with no holds set back from the lip, was bound to involve a "see-saw of terror" moment. Until that is your weight finally came over your foot and you could stand up.
Turns out it 'ain't necessarily so. Turning one of your hands palm down at the end of the process will throw your weight foward and makes the whole thing rather more fun. Saturday at Almcliff was spent grinning stupidly and effortlessly mantling up anything I could find. While I blabbed inanely to anyone in earshot. This gem from Mark's book was worth the purchase price on its own. How come I never knew? WHY DID NO-ONE TELL ME? Actually why did I never ask?
Aside from the technique change I feel I have improved this week. Saturday saw me finally getting up a long standing problem at the Cliff in the form of South Cave arete. It sucumbed to some determination and a new sequence. More to the point it took fewer sessions than my projects have in the past.
Last night at the depot with a new set of hopefully still sticky purple problems from Dave Barrans. I was bouldering with more focus and most importantly better outcomes. I am putting this progress down to an attitude that is considering success possible or even probable. Rather than one that sees failure on a problem as the end of the process. I was also taking things on I would normally have not risked trying.
So whilst I probably climbed no harder. I did a lot more at my top level than I have in the past. Where previously I would have been happy strugling up a couple of problems I got 10 and some of them really flowed. After an hour I was still operating well, when uusally I am becoming fatigued, I didn't really want to go home. I can't be sure that any of this is down to a more positive mental approach but I felt I was giving myself a chance and I got a load more out the session than I expected.
On to week three
