Its been a wee while since I last blogged, sorry about that, but I’ve been insanely busy of late! The past few months have been pretty intense with competitions, coaching, travelling, trips and lots and lots of training in between! To start of with, I was training really hard up until June/July for a big trip to Ceuse (an amazing limestone crag in France). Ceuse is the glimmering, crown upon a majestic mountain top set deep within the heart of Southern France! Its sparkling, orange glow can be seen from miles around and can easily be spotted from the neighbouring town of Gap. My adventures here started when I was 17 years old, and although I’ve done nearly all of the easier stuff between 7b and 8a, there is still plenty of stuff there to get stuck into in the higher 8’s! This year, I travelled with Natalie Berry (Currentbody team member), Eleanor Hopkins, Jonathan Field and Gabby Stewart (First sport climbing trip abroad), all very capable climbers. When I’m climbing outdoors, particularly in places such as Ceuse where there is not many easier climbs closer to the harder stuff, I struggle a lot warming up… what I have found out though, is using my trusty compex, sticking it on a warm up setting or light endurance session, I can build up a really good forearm pump without actually getting on the wall which give me a really good warm up! Up until Ceuse, I had been focussing largely on localised forearm endurance. To do this, I had a very intense regime of climbing orientated training as well as lots of cappilarisation and endurance sessions on the compex!
Anyhoo, our first few days in Ceuse were spent just getting back into climbing outdoors and adjusting to the mega walk-in! This is probably one of the hardest parts of climbing at Ceuse, the walk-in is pretty intense and if your not careful you can exhaust yourself before you even get to the crag!

Ceuse in the light of the sun!

In my first few days, I got quite a few good ticks in, including an onsight of a very nice 7c+ called “Bleu Blanc Girophare” and tried an 8b called “L’ami de tout le monde“! “L’ami” was an intense route which seriously shocked me. I was expecting more of an endurance climb, instead, I got stuck with a hard bouldery route with some pretty intense climbing through steep terrain and very little rest, but it was an incredible route! I could have completed it, but as we only had a short period of time, I really didn’t want to spend any more than a couple of days trying it. In the end I got it with three rests, which I was happy with, next year I will return for the whole summer and complete that amongst many more!

"L'ami de tout le monde" 8b

The rest of the trip was spent enjoying the amazing climbing Ceuse had to offer and meeting up with friends. Our friend Neil Gresham came to meet up with us and do some climbing for a few days. Neil is probably Britains top climbing coach and being a coach and training nut myself, I always enjoy catching up with Neil and discussing new coaching and training strategies. The time Neil was about certainly made the walks to and from the crag a lot more interesting! One thing we discussed in depth was warming up before training and in particular, at the crag. It is such an essential thing to do, to prepare your body for exerting such high levels of physical performance, and if not warmed up correctly, it can lead to injury, poor recovery and lower performance levels. This is why I thought the compex was such an amazing tool to have with you in such situations. One of the best days I had at Ceuse, was after making sure I got the best warm up I could possibly get. We got up extra early to make sure we arrived at the crag and did not have to queue at all to get on easier climbs. I did 6c+ and 7a twice to get a good pump going, after that I  did a 7c to get rid of any flash pump remaining and to get an early burn on something with harder moves and then I did some one armers on a positive jug at the bottom of the wall to recruit some power!

Recruiting Power!!!

That day I went on to come agonizingly close to one of this years big goals: Onsight 8a+!!! It was obvious that everything that happened in that day had lined me up perfectly for the best performance of the trip! In the end of the day, even though I didn’t get massive amounts done, I still had an amazing experience, learned lots about myself and my climbing, and in what areas I need to focus on for my next big trip!

The crux of the 8a+!!!

After France, Nat, Eleanor, Jonny and I were straight back into hard training! The British team were having a training day at EICA: Ratho along with the French team. This was incredibly intense, especially after 2 weeks in France and not even a rest day in between the two! As well as training, the meet also included an Open event (Scottish Open) which the french team participated in as well! It was great fun, unfortunately for me though, the senior team who were at the event decided not to compete on the day as they felt they weren’t fit enough (crazy if you ask me?) which left me in a category to myself : (  But the routes where amazing and I still competed against the french and british juniors who were only a year younger than me anyway. Our first route was only 7b, which all but the lower part of the category topped. Our second route was an amazing 8a+ going straight through some of the steepest sections of the comp wall! I fell right at the top going through the final roof placing higher than most of the junior category apart from two french guys and another brit.

The first qualifier "7b"

In the finals, we where up against a spicy 8b heading straight through the right side of the comp wall. On tiny edges at over 45 degrees overhanging, this was a formidable climb! I headed out of isolation as the last competitor, not knowing what was ahead of me, I had heard the cheers of the crowd from the last climber, he had been out quite a while, “he’s probably got quite high on the route”. I walked out into the crowds towards the wall, I gave it a quick route read and got suck into the route…

Falling flying out to catch a terrible crimp, I was off… to find out though that only two french and two brits got further left me content. I was pleased with how I had climbed and I look forward to what the future brings in competitive climbing!

Crouching Climber Flying Robbie!!!

The next big thing is of course the Youth World Cup!!! As I am not competing I have opted for commentating, which should be good fun and something new. I am very much looking forward to it and I think it shall be an experience I won’t soon forget!

My next big trip is Kalymnos (Greece) in October. The last time I was here was 2007, so I am really looking forward to this! I am going here for 6 whole weeks, basically from the start of October to end of November! The first two weeks I will be with a big group of guys, after that I will be meeting Neil again and hopefully, I might get to do some bolting of my own and establish some first ascents! One thing I really want to do, is climb a bunch of new routes bolted and climbed by Neil. He has an 8b, 8a+ and 7c+ in a sector called “Jurrasic Park”, they are all insanely steep, long and exciting tufa and stalactite climbs, I can’t wait!

7c+ Onsight from 2007

So training for Kalymnos is pretty intense right now! I am climbing only 4 days a week, but the days are incredibly intense and I include fingerboard and campus board routines as well as compex on all my rest days. A typical day for me right now includes a morning campus board/fingerboard session along with circuits or bouldering, resting in the afternoon and from 4-5 oclock the second session starts including either routes or bouldering as well as circuits, campusboard and fingerboard again!!! I need my rest days to be proper rest days otherwise I won’t be able to recover properly. Right now I see my biggest weakness as finger strength and short term anaerobic endurance and this is what I am concentrating on. I’ve been doing a lot of campus board power endurance which has been seriously hard work but I will see the benefits. The compex has been invaluable on my rest days to help recovery and warming up before my home board sessions as well as keeping my forearm endurance topped up whilst i’ve been focussing more on strength.

Right now I see my goals closer than ever, I have 6 weeks in kalymnos and I am super psyched to see them through. I want to climb more 8b’s, onsight 8a+ and get 8b+ or 8c (if I have it in me) ticked! It might mean sacrificing more time at home and spending it abroad, but I don’t have any problem with that : P. After Kalymnos I have Christmas and then Spain which I think should be another big turning point in my climbing and again see new levels in my climbing than ever before!

Livin' the dream...

Keep livin’ the dream guys…

Robz

Hey Everyone!

Its Robbie here! The past month has been absolutely mental! Everyday there has been something on and my body feels like its never been pushed so hard before! At the beginning of the month I had planned a climbing trip down south to a well known crag known as Malham Cove. Set deep in the yorkshire dales, Malham Cove is an awe inspiring feature, scarring the very tame countryside it resides in. Everytime I walk down to the crag, I am reminded of the Shire from Lord of the Rings, I hardly expect to be seeing little hobbits running around everywhere : P

Malham Cove AKA "The Shire"

I travelled down to this incredible place with a bunch of my close friends not to relax in the beautiful surroundings though, I came to crush hard sport climbs! Staying with friends at the nearby village of Settle, I had no excuse but to get some serious climbs under my belt! First day, I warmed up on some easier climbs (easier climbs at Malham though aren’t typical warm up routes). My warm up consisted of Malham’s 3 star classic 7a’s and 7a+’s, “Consenting Adults”, “Free and even easier” and “Yosemite Wall”. My friends whom I was down with where attempting to climb “Yosemite Wall” during the trip so I left the quickdraws in. My first hard route was to be an onsight (First go, no information on the route) attempt of “Toadall Recall” an 8a on the upper tear. As far as I know, onsighting 8a in Malham is pretty much unheard of, especially grades harder than 7c! So off I went on my epic voyage up the route!

The Epic Face of Toadall Recall! 40m off the ground!

The start felt really easy, nothing seemed to shake me. As I scaled up the towering head wall, the sun burst out from behind the clouds, causing the rays to reflect off the glistening, white rock and blind me! Everything was white, I couldn’t see any holds for my hands or my feet! I continued moving upwards and onwards, steadily getting higher, until I made a bad judgement, instead of traversing right along an obvious rail, I continued to head straight up into the ever steepening face! The holds disappeared and I was lefty hanging onto crumbling, black rock, way off route! As I attempted to correct my mistake, I wrong footed myself and came hurtling off the wall far left and high above my last draw (protection), I came hurtling down and was caught by my belayer! Dangling far above the ground, a new perspective on the rock I could see and the sun diminished behind the clouds once again revealing the new path I should have taken… Getting back on I effortlessly climbed to the top…

The Crux (Hardest Move)

An amazing climb… but more was awaiting me on the lower tear…

I headed down to the lower tear after my adventure on “Toadall recall” and chose another 3 star classic of the crag to turn my attention to, “Mescalito” 7c+! As far as I know it had only been flashed (first go with information) once, by a friend of mine. After getting all the beta (information) from another climber also attempting the ascent of the route, I warmed up quickly and took my chance. The hardest moves where all at the start, I effortlessly breezed past these which left me confident for the rest of the climb…

The Crux

As I headed up through the vertical face, the wall steepened more and the footholds (like the last climb) seemed to diminish (an apparent feature of climbing at Malham). However, the holds increased in size, more positive handholds made me feel much more confident and by increasing my dynamic climbing, I eased my way up the wall.

As i got higher, my hands got colder and colder… This isn’t a good sign, when your hands become numb, you can’t feel what your holding on to and its  not ideal when you are hanging off small edges and slopers… Heading on to the overhang I was still confident, but now couldn’t feel anything I was holding on to, I was eager and desperate to flash this route! Although I have achieved flash and onsights of much harder grades than this, the fact that this route is in Malham adds to the ascent as well as the history of the route. Getting aggressive as I sped through the overhang, I reach some massive jug undercuts, they felt positive and I felt strong, but the footholds where terrible and the position was awkward. The only handhold to go for seemed miles away, but building my courage, I slapped wildly for it, screaming “ARGGGGHHHHH, YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!” I latched hold of it!

The Jug I jumped for (more of a sloper)

My hands where now utterly freezing and they began to bleed and tingle with the horrible pain of blood trying to get back into the frozen fingers! The pain made me feel so ill and as I managed to get the next few holds, i couldn’t feel what I was holding on to… A second later as I stepped over the wall onto the easy ground my foot popped sending me flying (once again) towards the ground… Angry, cold and drained from my failed efforts, I hung on the rope looking up at the wall wondering of what could have been, just another step towards the ultimate goal.

Only by failing can we succeed!

The following weekends where equally eventful… The first of which I route set and demoed for the YCS (Youth Climbing Series) held in Glasgow Climbing Centre. A really great event it was, and I was indeed proud as my young climbing prodigees Andrew Barr, Jamie Drummond and Abi Blunt achieved 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their respective categories!

The weekend after was the Skymasters competition! This event has been happening for the past 3-4 years at the NEC in Birmingham! It was the first time I had been to this competition so I didn’t know what to expect. The style of competition was very strange to me as it was Speed. Usually I compete in Difficulty so Speed was something I have never really tried. Anyway, I remained confident and gave it my best go. I travelled down with fellow competitor Robert Mackenzie and Natalie Berry (Currentbody team member). Nat didn’t compete but she was great support!

Nat in train with Robs hat on...

The first day of the competition we found out exactly who we where racing against. Out of 26 competitiors (some of the best climbers in the country!) I was pitted against my good friend and training partner Jonathan Field! There was to be two separate races, one from the right wall and one from the left wall. Both walls where exactly the same except they come from a different direction, so this makes it fair when comparing the two competitors. In the first race, I felt really confident, I blasted through all the obstacles with little effort and finished 1st place by a good margin.

Beasting it!

In the second race however, I wasted time fumbling with a clip which cost me a lot of time, as well as that my foot slipped causing me to waste more time making it up the wall! However, i still remained on top with 1st place without as much of a margin though…

The two times where added together to give you the ranking. I had qualified in 11th place! That was the first day over now and I could relax… The second day was a bit different, there was only one route and it was knockout. I was pitted against another top climber in the competition. This time I really had to give it 100% As the whistle blew I blasted up the wall, I knew I was ahead because I could see him at the corner or my eyes, as I reached the second obstacle I had problems clipping which sent him ahead, keeping the pace up I through myself at all the holds catching only with my finger tips!

As I sped up I knew I was gaining on him, however as I reached the 3rd obstacle the clip refused to clip! I spent a good while messing around and as I reached the end of the 3rd obstacle I had a lot of problems building my feet over the mantle! He had won by the time I reached the end of the 4th obstacle… That was me knocked out in 9th position… It was still great fun though and I look forward to competing next year! Congratulations though to Robert who won the comp in an unforgettable, dominating performance throughout the entire event!

ROBZ OUT

Hey everyone!

My name is Robbie Phillips. I am 19 years old and live in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the moment I am a full-time climberand part-time climbing coach at the EICA (Edinburgh International Climbing Arena), the largest indoor climbing wall in the world! I am also the newest member to the Current Body team. I first received my MI Sport late last year and have been using it ever since solidly, seeing some amazing gains since.

At the moment, I am training hard for upcoming competitions and climbing trips. My periodised training plan built by Neil Mcgeachy (British Team Coach) has been keeping me “off” my feet and on my hands lots over the past couple of months. I have finished my first block (Preperation Physique Generale PPG1: Anatomical Adaptation) and am now onto my second block (Preperation Physique Generale PPG2: Anatomical Adaptation). In my first block I was using my MI Sport largely on endurance and recovery programs, but now as the training is progressing I am moving onto shorter endurance programs and power.

My training is based around what I want to peak for in the year. As I am both a competetive climber and outdoor sport climber, I want to peak for both competitions and trips. So this year, I am hoping to peak for a trip to Austria with Natalie (Current Body Team Member) where I’ll be doing some totally outrageous sport climbs, again for the British Senior Championships and then once more for a climbing trip to Ceuse, France. Last year I had both a succesful competition year and outdoor climbing season, competing for my country in three European Championships and World Cup. Outdoors I onsighted a few 8a’s and almost did my first 8b+! I would be one of very few Scottish climbers to climb this level outside! This year I am hoping to achieve this and break into the next grade 8c, which only 3 scottish climbers have ever achieved!

Anyway, I’m hooking in right now to some sweet Compex action before bed and tomorrow I’m up early for another hardcore training session at the EICA!

ROBZ OUT

I was asked to contribute a couple of tips for Climber Magazine’s February 2010 issue. You can see my tips below which were at number 2 and 15 in their top 20. You can find out more on February’s issue of Climber magazine here.

I was hoping to wear these when I appeared on The Gadget Show on Channel 5 but the director had other ideas!