I’m giving a slideshow in the Great Outdoors this Wednesday, about my recent adventure climbing and new routing trip to Oman. It starts at 7pm, and is free, though you have to call Great Outdoors to let them know numbers.

IBL promo picture

As posted on climbing.ie:

“We’re delighted to announce that after a gap of several years that the IBL is heading north again!

Tollymore Mountain Centre (www.tollymore.com), on the edge of the Mournes, is Northern Ireland ’s National Centre for Mountaineering and Canoeing Activities. The centre is ideally located for mountain biking, hillwalking, climbing and bouldering so there’s plenty to do in the area after the competition.

The routesetters are:
Michael Duffy, Ricky Bell & Jose Argudo

The competition will be split into two sessions (like we ran in Galway) with a limit of 50 entrants per session.

The schedule for the day is:
Registration: 9am
Session 1: 9.30am – 1pm
Session 2: 1pm – 4.30pm
Prize Giving: 5pm

There will be approximately 10-12 problems to be completed.

There is a system in place which will allow OPTIONAL pre-registration via the Internet so entrants can guarantee their spot in advance. Please go to the IBL page at:

http://www.climbing.ie/index.php/ibl

* You will notice “IBL Tollymore Round 5 Fee” and an Add To Cart button. This will allow payment of the IBL entry fee by PayPal. You don’t need a PayPal account but you do need a credit card.

* In the Confirm Payment page you can add special instructions to the Merchant. Put in here whether you would like morning or afternoon.

* Please email ibl@climbing.ie to let us know that you’ve paid and whether you would prefer a morning/afternoon slot.

* Keep a printout of your receipt and bring it to the comp.

Entry fees on the day are:
Full fee: £12 (€15)
MI members/students/unwaged: £8 (€10)
Juniors: £4 (€5)

Please note that due to renovations there will be no accommodation available at Tollymore itself unfortunately.
There will be plenty of parking space available at the centre.

“Planning is an unnatural process – it’s much more fun to do something.
The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and desperation”
- Sir John Harvey-Jones 1924 – 2008, Industrialist

I’ve been meaning to write this one for a while but life and work have gotten in the way so it’s been a bit of a long road to getting to it! As mentioned on another interesting blog for those motivated by the sport of climbing, Doylo’s Blog had a good personal reflection on his own past year, and the lessons he learned and the forthcoming strategy for 2010. As it happens, Dave seems to have remembered he has a blog and decided to update it also with his own current plans and process he’s going through right now – sounds pretty organised!

I mentioned it a bit here when I took a longer-term view of my own progression from when I started climbing all of 11/12? years ago – sheesh! – and even on reflecting about my experiences so far in Sheffield and the potential for increases.

so, looking back on 2009, I can only say it’s been insightful also in so many ways. I’ve learnt what my natural baseline is now (after going for months of just intermittent climbing) and what many of my strengths were for this reason. I’ve also learnt of the weaknesses – imbalance of pocket to crimp strength, lack of power for burly moves, a lack of belief for harder routes sometimes. All good experiences and brilliant to reflect on now so that I can improve in the future. I was at a seminar today in relation to my course and one of the quotes was “when you share your learning, it grows instead of getting less” (an old 5th century Tamil poem). Well, to the two top-level climbers who answered my calls for advice, I owe you one and to keep the karma going, I’ll continue to share my learning on this blog and a bit on irishclimbingcoaching.ie so hopefully some of it will be of use to someone! LOL Having said that, I’ve always got a lot to learn myself, most notably in getting strong not just in your fingers so I’ll be picking some people’s advice

So, in taking another quote from the seminar – “the future belongs to those who prepare for it today” (some bloke called Malcolm X made that one – like Dave’s post, I have a rough plan to follow for the forthcoming months to prepare for my summer plans (so would probably benefit most people in my hemisphere). And in the interest of sharing, my next couple of posts are going to be my own plans. As part of those posts though, I’m expecting comments and thoughts – this discussion is a two-way thing. Hopefully you’ll get ideas of my own plans, and hopefully some can advise on what they think I should really be focusing on……

The topics (and I’ll update as I finish more)
- overall training plan for 2010
- strength work-outs (fingers, shoulders, etc.)
- fitness
- things that haven’t worked and failures

Are the Amazon links at the bottom of my posts annoying/useful/distracting?

Good training books from Amazon:
9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes: Navigation Through the Maze of Advice for the Self-coached Climber

Performance Rockclimbing

Self-Coached Climber: The Guide to Movement, Training, Performance

Jerry Moffatt: Revelations

IBL promo picture

As a request from Damien O’Sullivan, organiser of the event:
“Now that Christmas is over it’s time to get back to business. As you all know the IBL is on in less than two weeks, all the pieces are falling into place from an organisational point of view.
I do however need to know approximate numbers of people intending to compete. If numbers are large then I will set up some extra climbs in the hall down stairs. This will involve a lot of extra work, but it will make the competition much more enjoyable and safer.
I also need to let the Water Rock House know how many people will be eating there and attending for the slide show. I really hope that if you go to the comp that you will go to Water Rock House also, the food there is really good, the owner is going us an excellent deal too. There will be a slide show, and music to dance to if that’s your thing.
I will need to know approximate numbers by next Monday, so please send me an e-mail to ……….. [go to this link for his email address - don't want to post publicly], putting IBL as the subject.
Thanks, Damo.”

As for info on the comp, “We have our plans in place and we promise you an excellent days climbing. We intend setting 18 problems, each with a hard and easy variation. There will be problems easy enough for the newest of beginners right up to the most seasoned of strong (wo)men to enjoy.”

The first National Lead Climbing Competition in Ireland (in many years) is being held at the new wall, PlayAtHeight, in Dingle, Co. Kerry.

Categories are male/ female senior (update: 9/9/9: male is now full) and male/ female junior. Entry costs €20 for Seniors, €15 for Juniors, payable on the day. The event is organised by Mountaineering Ireland in Conjunction with Play-at-Height and is sponsored by La Sportiva.
It’ll be a great event for anyone interested in having fun, and trying their hand at some professionally set routes!

For more information on the National Lead Climbing Comp, make sure to check out PlayAtHeight’s website or the Irish climbing forums here with any questions.

- Neal -

One day course in Ropework for Adventure Racers teaching participants how to use equipment safely and efficiently. Skills learned will be those required for events such as the Irish Adventure Challenge (An Turas Beag) and An Turas Mor as well as many other adventure races.

Topics Covered will include:

• Safe use of technical equipment
• Attaching to and releasing from ropes
• Abseiling
• Jumaring
• Much more, including those requested by participants

Date: Saturday April 26th ’08 starting at 10.00am.

Location: Ballyryan, (Near Doolin) Co. Clare.

All technical equipment will be provided and participants will also be encouraged to bring their own equipment if they plan to use it during races.

Cost: 110 euros p.p.

Group sizes are small to ensure high-quality teaching – book now to avoid disappointment!!

Over the weekend of the 28th-30th of March 2008 the 1st Irish Performance Climbing and Coaching Seminar took place in Tollymore Mountain Centre. The event was hugely successful both from a numbers point of view and also (though it will take a few months) for permanently changing the face of the Irish Climbing Community. The weekend succeeded in raising the levels of available knowledge and increasing the drive towards the availability of high-quality coaching and mentoring as well as high level climbing and mountaineering.

A series of workshops and presentations from internationally respected coaches, medics and sports scientists provided participants with the background knowledge required to form a deeper understanding of how to improve both their own climbing and that of others.

Certain anecdotal research was undertaken over the course of the weekend that was extremely useful in guiding a number larger research projects that will help to shape the future of not only Irish climbing, but the global climbing community. I know for many of you attending you may not have seen the larger plan behind it, but you will in the future.

I want to express my huge thanks to Tollymore Mountain Centre, Sport NI and Outsider Magazine for being progressive enough to be able to see the benefits of an event like this happening and being willing to provide so much support – thanks guys.

I also want to extend thanks on behalf of everyone attending to the presenters – it was you that that enabled the high-standards anticipated for this event to be achieved and could not possibly have been as successful in your absence.

As a final note to all of you that attended – share the knowledge that you gained over the weekend. The event was held in order to raise standards within the community as a whole and to help change the less progressive attitudes that are unfortunately shared by some individuals and organisations, often deeply associated with the sport.

We have a very unique and close scene in Ireland (something that many people don’t realise until they’ve experienced those of other nations) and it is one that I am very proud to be a part of. It is this closeness that will help to make the knowledge generated from the seminar more sustainable and further reaching than just those that attended. Don’t keep it to yourself!!

Nigel Callender

Watch out for more info on the even on Climbing.ie, Outsider Magazine, Climber Magazine (UK), teamgearedup.com, irishclimbingcoaching.ie and the seminar webpage over the next few weeks. Also watch this space for more happenings related to the event.

The primary list of all services can be found here and any additional services can be found here.
These are the links found at the top of our website.

Neal & Nigel

Apologies to anyone subscribed by email or RSS (e.g. Google Reader) if you get all the old posts again, it wasn’t intentional……

Do let us know what you think of it, and what you’d like to see improved/added.

Neal & Nigel

LIMERICK, IRELAND (Irish Climbing Coaching) – March University Clubs Offer

Prepare yourself for the Summer Season with one of Irish Climbing Coaching’s Sessions for your Club

All 3 hr Coaching sessions only 50 euros per-person when booked before the the end of April!!

Topics covered during sessions include:
* Identifying strengths and weaknesses
* Identifying and setting goals
* Moving efficiently on varying terrain, e.g. footwork, advanced techniques etc.
* Route reading
* Mental skills
* Using the wall effectively
* Plus much more…

Sessions are always tailored to the needs of the group with video feedback being provided during the session as well as written post workshop feedback.

All sessions are run by our two experienced coaches, Nigel Callender and Neal McQuaid and are suitable for participants of all levels of ability. Max ratio is 1:5 so a high-quality coaching is ensured.

Don’t miss this offer – book now!