Page 23 - 2009 AMA Winter

swop with your partner. Repeat this with a different 5 and 6a, doing the 5 once then the 6a twice (or two different 6a). Try and vary the types of holds and movements if possible. Once again keeping on your warm top or at least replacing it when you are not climbing. You should be starting to feel you are getting much warmer.
4 Sport specific stretching.
Now it is important that you do some spe- cific stretches to lengthen muscles and avoid injury. The main ones are forearms, lats, hamstrings, quads and calf muscles. Use trial and error to find what you need to stretch and what you can spend less time on. Finish with a 6a lead climb, have a swig of your drink then begin your session.
BOULDERING
Now we will take the example of a climber bouldering at V5 indoors. Again, warm-ups are flexible and this is just a rough guide to illustrate the progression.
1 Slightly increase temperature, breath- ing rate and heart rate.
Climb rainbow routes continually for 5 min-
utes using different types of holds encour- age good movement and raise your tem- perature a little. The t-shirt should still be on at this stage!!!
2 Gently increase your range of move- ment and mobility.
As for the roped climbing most of this will have been done already.
3 Further increase temperature, breath- ing rate and heart rate.
Begin easy graded routes starting with four V1s back to back, then three V2s, followed by a quick rest. Next try two V3s then rest. Try to vary the type of climbing of those routes to include slopers, progressively smaller holds and gentle overhangs. If you have a particular goal for the session focus on those types of routes e.g. crimps or slopers.
4 Sport specific stretching.
Again this will be similar to the roped climb- ing. Follow the stretching with one V2, two V3s, a rest and then a V4. Take a quick breather, have a swig of your drink then begin your session. The t-shirt should still be on at least until this point!
THE COOL DOWN
The cool down is also an important part of the process. When you have decided that you want to start winding down try and climb a grade lower than your most recent successful climb – if you fell off a 7a don’t try and warm down on a 6c, try a 6b. Then climb 1 grade lower (6a), then another grade lower twice (5). Use a similar pattern to cool down after bouldering V4, a V3 then two V2s. That will be sufficient to gradually lower activity and help to maintain good blood flow. If possible you should try to do some stretching at the wall if time permits but often it doesn’t. Always try and perform a stretch at home after climbing.
These are general guides only and should be tailored to the individual climber and the time available.
This can be applied to outdoors too with traversing, bouldering or top roping where possible but is totally subjective due to the weather, grade, route length, discipline (trad, bouldering, sport, multi-pitch) but you should still try to apply the rough guidelines to suit the situation.
AMA August Bank Holiday Meet
28-31 August 2009
The ingredients for a memorable rock climbing meet are simple – good rock, good company, oh, and a pub usually helps. This summer’s August Bank Holiday meet in the Peak District was no exception.
The National Trust bunkhouse at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is only ten minutes from the M1 and in striking distance from the Peak, with its fantastic gritstone and lime- stone climbing venues. Perhaps equally as important is that it is only ten staggering paces from comforting pub grub: the ideal base location?
Sixteen attended the Meet this year; a truly cosmopolitan mix of Regular Army, TA, Cadets and Royal Navy, making up a lively crowd that included the spectrum of expert to relatively novice climbers. The weather was set reasonably fair and with an abun- dance of readily accessible crags what more could you wish for?
Tim Bird along with the few experienced leaders was very helpful throughout the weekend in developing the skills and expe- rience of the eager young talent; work- shops were organised for the Saturday morning and took up the first couple of hours at Stanage before opening the day up to aspirations, reservations and desper- ations! Everyone’s intent to get the most out of the day and bagging a good haul of
routes was obvious, and so the scene was set; with a sandwich in each pocket, every- one climbed until they dropped.
For many this was their first AMA meet, whilst for others it was a welcome return to a great venue and the great atmosphere that the Association helps to provide. All in all it was a memorable meet and one that will hopefully be repeated next year.
The Association runs meets throughout the year at different venues, some with instruc-
tion, some without. All are free to members of the AMA and units often support with transport and claims. If you’d like to get involved then keep an eye out on the web- site or the diary section of ARMY MOUN- TAINEER. Alternatively, if you fancy getting involved a bit deeper then we are always on the look out for people to organise a weekend here and there; please contact the meets secretary for details (contact details in the front of the mag).
Major (Retd) Kevin Edwards. MIC
Enar Olive climbing Sourpuss VS 4C at the recent Peak District meet
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 21