2012 Coaching Holidays

Hi everyone, Ted here!
Gaz is busy climbing right now in Santa Linya so I said I'd write the spring newsletter for him. Anyway the sun is out in Catalunya and we've been having lots of fun living on our field in our van with the horses, the pussy cats and my friend podenco Mog. So I'll just take this opportunity to invite you to join us in our climbing...

Warming up on Meneo Canari 7b

Resting on Fabella 8c+

In October we will be running 3 Costa Blanca holidays for 3 different levels of climber:
DATE COACH LEVEL PRICE SPACES
7th-12th Kate Mills L0 £550 4
14th-19th Gaz Parry L1 £550 4
21st-26th Gaz Parry L2 £550 4
L0 - Intro to outdoor sport climbing and learn to lead;
No previous outdoor experience required.
L1 - General outdoor skills, onsight, flash and redpointing;
Some outdoor lead experience required, no grade limit.
L2 - Redpointing workshop, push your grade;
Ideally able to lead 6b outdoors and want to improve.

In Feb/ March 2013 we will be running the same 3 holidays but in the Lleida region of Catalunya (dates will be confirmed later in the year).

If you would like any private individual or group coaching with Gaz or Kate they are both available in the UK from April to August 2012 and in the Costa Blanca or Catalunya from September 2012 to March/ April 2013.
see http://www.gazparryclimbing.com/p/coaching.html for prices

In September 2012 Gaz will be guest coach on Adrian Berry's Kalymnos course. Places for kalymnos always sell fast so book early to avoid disappointment.
http://positiveclimbing.com/climbing_coaching_holidays/fontainebleau_coaching_holiday.html


Well thats all from me right now, I'll look forward to meeting both new friends and old in Spain in 2012! TED

New Year, new Sponsors and free coaching at TCA

2012 feels old to me but it has already been fantastic. On my last day in Spain (Jan 6th) I managed to flash my first 8b. Traversia De Los Gliadores. This takes the obvious left to right diagonal break line starting up the grey rock in the back of the cave finishing in the top right of the pic.

Thanks to Jack Geldard of UKC for the pic

A full 50m of pumpy climbing where it is possible to fall not far from the end. Even with my years as a boulderer it is routes like this that I really love. Once the fitness comes it is a fantastic feeling when you are able to recover in amazing positions. Hanging from a jug in the middle of this cave is one of those places. Going from being boxed out of you mind to ready to go again. I find my self leaving my climbing mind and just chilling, able to take in the surroundings, even have a conversation with people around you and take time to watch others climb. Love it.

With my already hectic year almost one month old I have some great news. Not one but two new sponsors. I have joined the family over at Boreal and after a few years of working with their kids club I have put pen to paper and become The Climbing Academy's first sponsored climber. They join DMM and Beta Climbing Designs for 2012.

So what does all this mean?

Well its great to be involved with Boreal as they are a Spanish company and obviously I like Spain. I can now actually go to the factory and work with them directly to give them feedback and work on prototyping. I call it the Boreal family as it is a family business. Jesus (the boss) is the man that Jerry refers to in his book Revelations. It is family owned and family run, a rare thing nowadays. Its always a better feeling and a better relationship when you are dealing direct with a company and not through a distributor. Thats not to say I didn't have a great time with 5.10 over the years and I certainly wish Big Stone all the best. Its amazing to join the likes of Yuji Hirayama, Danni Andrada and the UK's very own climbing couple Jordan and Naomi Buys.

The real reason I have switched to Boreal though is this.

Yuji Hirayama on Boreal - UKC/UKH at OutDoor 2011 from UKClimbing.com TV on Vimeo.

Zenith, the stickiest rubber from the company that brought sticky rubber to the world of climbing.

My association with The Climbing Academy has been growing ever since they opened and with their recent Glasgow project coming on line we both felt now is a good time to make some stronger links. Having worked with the Youth Squad since 2009 we are now also incorporating regular setting and coaching sessions.

In order to achieve my goals for 2012 TCA's sponsorship will allow me to set a little less when I am in the UK yet still work and earn a crust. I will be working closely with Paul Twomey in Bristol and Al Cassidy (Assistant Manager in Glasgow) to develop a training resource that hopefully will help all their customers to achieve their own goals.

WOW I am really looking forward to visiting TCA Glasgow it looks amazing.

I will be around at both centres from time to time to offer 1:1's or small group private coaching sessions and on a few occasions I will just be wandering around offering advice to anyone who might want some and even if you don't want it you will probably still get it. TCA will use their newsletter and blogs to keep peeps up to date with my progress through the season and to let you know more about the training resource as it develops.

Tomorrow I will be at TCA Bristol coaching the Youth Squad and hanging out with Mike from Boreal at their boot demo. On Sunday 29th I have two coaching sessions left, one from 2.45-4.15 and the last from 4.30-6.00. They cost £60 for a 1 to 1 or £80 for up to 4. You can book or find out more by calling TCA on 0117 9072956.

But, the real reason I have signed a deal with TCA is so that I can partake in their fantastic Cappucinos. Try them as a double....rocket fuel!!!

I will be hanging out with TCA on the following dates:

Bristol
Jan 28 - Squad Coaching
Jan 29 - 1:1 Coaching. Book through TCA
May 26 - Open Coaching. Free for all.
May 27 - Squad Coaching
May 28 - Setting
June 15 - Setting
June 16 - Squad Coaching
June 17 - Open Coaching. Free for all

Glasgow
Feb 26 - 1:1 Coaching
Feb 27 - Setting
March 18 - Open Coaching. Free for all.
March 19 - Setting

You can also see where The UK Boreal boot demo tour will be stopping at here.

Happy climbing :-)

Back to the UK.

My time in Spain is almost over. One more climbing day left tomorrow. Then a late flight back to the UK. I am heading straight up to Sheffield for Boulder Team Training which will be interesting as I have been chuffing up and down routes for the past month.
After that I am setting at various wall around the country and will be available for some coaching sessions on the following evening in the following locations.

Sunday 8th TCA Bristol
Monday 9th TCA Bristol
Tuesday 10th Hull
Thursday 12th, 13th London

On January the 11th I will be joining Neil Gresham at the opening of the new bouldering facility at Rock City.......BlocCity. So come along to join in the fun and say hi.

On Sat the 14th and 15th you can catch me on the DMM stand at the Outdoor Show, Excel in London. Come down for a climb, to learn from the pros or just to fondle some nice new kit from the best brand in the world DMM.

Here are a few pics from the last month.

Pony rides in Santa Linya

Nailing the last hard slap on Fabelita 8c

Tom Bolger getting close to Cataxsa

A happy Irish John after multi pitching in St Llorenc last week. John is one of my regular clients and always rocks up with Christmas Pudding. Cheers for a great week John.

Blomu 8c+

Yesterday day was a funny old day. Over the last few days I have been making steady progress on Blomu in Cova Gran, Santa Linya. Slowly but surely I have been able to measure my progress by a one move higher each go. Blomu is a route with 3 belays, earlier in the year I on sighted the first section at 7b+ and completely failed to do the crimpy moves past the belay. At the top of the 7b+ is a good knee bar and a chance to refresh before the bulk of the route to the 8b belay. Climbing involving a crimpy boulder problem, a couple of small jumps, some good holds on which to rest and a powerful finish to clip the belay off a knee bar. Although there is a knee bar at the 8b belay it is by no means a place to recover, a chance to clip and chalk up and straight into a hard boulder problem, a powerful slap to a slopey hold followed by another sloper and then a hard move to shift the feet allowing another slightly better hold to taken. A big move rightwards then a hard move into an undercut (my highpoint the day before) allows a poor shake to be gained. Good hold with your left and crimp with your right. The last move is a 100% all out slap for a sloper just before the final belay.
The reason I say it was funny is because I wanted to complete Blomu before the New Year, with two 8c’s and a few 8b’s in the last month I think it is about time I climbed something a little more respectable. This combined with a lack of time in the day was starting to stress me out a little. With the slopers high on the route in the sun all day you can only really get good conditions in the shade, which means you only really get one good go right at the end of the day. I piled on the pressure, not sure about resting or climbing for a third day, a little niggle in a joint also confusing the issue. In the end I bit the bullet, opting for the usual bouldering warm up in the back of the cave. As I tied on I relaxed knowing what I had to do.
The power of the mind is immense, it constantly surprises me how strong it can be. I warmed and in the cold shade probably now 0 degrees, just before the redpoint I would donned my shorts took off my shirt and tied into my Sterling Nano, the feeling of freedom and lightness was fantastic. The mental battle was won.
Within seconds I managed to switch from totally stressed out to totally relaxed and in the zone. The various hard sections passed in a blur and as I shook out high up I felt myself practically completely recovering. A few more moves and the 8b belay clipped I switched into boulder mode powering past my high point to the poor shake out. I recovered a bit, focussing on how my left arm felt. All day I had been telling myself the next move was no harder than a V4, I kept saying I would never fall from a move like this on a boulder wall…..I didn’t.
Jug in hand I screamed in relief my first 8c+, the first one I have tried. Bring on 2012, but not just yet I still have another two days ;-)
Big up to Magnus Midtboe who today ticked his second 9a of the month. Fuck The System followed by Open Your Mind Direct……….strong man.
Hopefully I will have some pics up soon.

Oswestry Climbing Center

Another small video here of a set I did for the small but excellent Oswestry Climbing Center.

An afternoon setting routes at oswestry from Robbie Meade films on Vimeo.