Chapter 2: "Training" with Dani Andrada, Edu Marín and Patxi Usobiaga

Online 6 Week Training Programme for begining of June - Recruiting for 5 clients

Grotte de Sabart, Ariege, Pyrenees

We are recruiting for 5 clients for our online training programme beginning May. If you climb between 6a to 7c.

The plan will  work around the cycle of Strength > Power> Power Endurance against a back drop of a Fatigue cycle to induce an extended climbing peak.

 If you are keen to train for 6 weeks using our online Dual Factor Programme then please contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com for details. The cost is £100 or 100 euros (English & Spanish)

Route Setting for Para - Climbing in Europe

Gijon World Championships 2014

I will be specialising in route setting for Paraclimbing from May onwards in UK then available in Europe after August 2015.

I have been working specifically in Paraclimbing for a while now as a coach and have decided to combine my route setting experience with Paraclimbing coaching to hopefully provide a service based around excellence  supported by a depth of knowledge in movement in climbing that has led me to this point.

Please contact me at markmcgowan01@gmail.com for rates if you are a climbing centre or event organiser looking for Paraclimbing specific route setting.

Online 6 Week Training Programme for May- Recruiting for 5 clients

We are recruiting for 5 clients for our online training programme beggining May. If you climb between 6a to 7c.

The plan will  work around the cycle of Strength > Power> Power Endurance against a back drop of a Fatigue cycle to induce an extended climbing peak.

 If you are keen to train for 6 weeks using our online Dual Factor Programme then please contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com for detail. The cost is £100 or 100 euros (English & Spanish)

Dave Bowes thinks he's so pretty! But is he pretty enough for 8a?

Dave in competition (Pretty good!)

Dave Bowes thinks he's so pretty! But man... I think he's ugly, cause me and Ali are much prettier!

Much Prettier!

'... Even the sweat on his own head runs backwards from his face... He's so ugly... My crocs are even prettier than he is, and they are ugly man...'

A little prettier?

Finding your climbing style takes time, like learning to box well, I expect, never done it! It's hard trying to look so pretty when your body is being busted with explosive movements or drowning in lactic acid, but me and Ali do our best!

Dave is asking me why I don't send the 8a (I demonstrated it for Finalcrux Films last year with one slip... Woopsie!) But I keep telling him that until I get my tooth fixed, then I'm just not pretty enough to send the route...

Dave has a great climbing style, but he is gonna have to get much prettier!

OK, maybe he is pretty?

Pretty good?

... But we are much prettier!!!

Dave's chosen charity that inspires him to fight the demons of living with a hidden brain injury is pretty good...

Tougher days

                                            

#dosomefingerstrengthtrainingprettyboy!

Fingers: Training them in three phases - Strength > Power > Power Endurance...

There's obviously a few ways to strengthen your fingers for rock climbing. At Reach, we break it down into three phases:

• Strength
• Dynamic Power
• Power Endurance

The main focus is to wait until you have an appropriate level of static finger strength before converting it to dynamic power and finally power endurance. 

Ruth Jenkins (Stunt Woman &
first UK female to climb 8b),
pulling on tiny holds, Pyrenees, 2011

Ruth's partner told me a few weeks ago that Ruth went out and worked the moves on an 8c in the first session having not climbed for a long time. Some people (like Ruth, and her son!) have an amazing strength to weight ratio and some people (like me!) have to work harder at it.

Bouldering in Spanish Pyrenees
pulling on bigger holds than Mrs J!

We are running a 3 week online training programme in English and Spanish beginning Monday the 27th of April for £35.

If you want to join and see a marked improvement in finger strength gains using our framework then please contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com before the 25th of April.

"What?" (Mark), "Nothing..." (Dave), "Good!" (Mark)...

After Leaving the Google+ popper in Birmingham, I managed to hook up with GB Paraclimber Dave Bowes near Liverpool. I drank all his wine then we headed into Wales the following day to get Dave on his 8a Project.

Dave's brain injury is very complex for me to understand but we are getting to know each other better and building trust in our climber coach relationship.

I think as a  better coach you have to be in the persons life a little more than you might expect and that is very satisfying as a human being. I didn't feel very human being this morning after drinking Dave's house out of vino tinto, pero ahora, yo bien :)

Developing mutual respectio takes time, building trustio takes time and maybe its about time Paraclimbing in the UK chewed on some 8's. Ocho a para Dave Bowes pronto yo creo.

A bit rough on the communication at the start of the day, but we got there and Dave is getting ever closer to climbing 8a.

A good day...

Becoming A Birmingham Google+ Millionaire!

Contemplating my millions in my house
 in Auzat, Pyrenees
 (or hiding from my hangover!)

John pointed out to me that I was a google+ millionaire when we were discussing how to bring more awareness to Paraclimbing on an international platform. It turns out my Google+ hits are above the million. If it helps us attract more people to support the Eiger Paraclimb then that's great.

It feels a lot easier hitting my first google+ million than it was hitting my first £1,000,000 in business sales in my previous life! Funny...

A great week with John. Competitions, training, systems development for Eiger, running with John for first time and eating shit loads of his food. All good. Snowdonia ahora por favour...

Don't know why I added this,
but it still gives me a giggle. Not a google...

Visual Impairment Coaching - Transitions

John at TCA Bristol Competition for
Eiger Paraclimb 2015

I have coached directly three VI's over the last year. All different:

• Peripheral Vision only
• Bind from birth (100%)
• Tunnel Vision (3%)

Gwyn and John have probably taught me the most about VI coaching but in very different ways. Gwyn lead his first trad route with me after losing his sight 14 years ago in Wales and also introduced me to Paraclimbing.

John employed me for coaching and subsequently sight calling for him in the World Championships.

Gwyn (Perif VI)

John and I have been working harder at preparing our partnership for this years International Competition Circuit beginning in June at Imst in Autsria, then Chamonix in France in July, then Eiger Paraclimb, then back to UK for Sheffield Worlds again.

John  (Tunnel VI) on a V4 at
Birmingham Bouldering Centre

Our biggest task is to leverage John's strength gains with more fluid body positioning as he climbs. The 'transitions'...

As someone who hadn't witnessed climbing movement, John has no concept of what position the body should be in or undertake to set up for the best possible chance of catching or reaching the next hold. We use various methods but we are exploring some new stuff now that will hopefully give him a climbing style that is less mechanical and more intuitive through more and more experiential exposure to harder moves through bouldering. I am an advocate of improving peoples climbing technique through increasing the difficulty, because when working harder moves, there is no where to hide and you are forced to adopt the correct body position or your off, off off... Until you climb it like it needs to be climbed.

Changes to our calling strategy is also under review to allow more time for processing a call to a body position then to a move...

Hard moves need hard work. Hard work needs time. We have 3 months to make the transition before Austria.

Inevitable Withdrawal... Me & Amy, Just Friends.

The Underworld, Gozo Island

"... Just be my own best friend ... and just fuck myself in the head with Superwoman..."

It's funny, you know? ..."It"...

Last year, I self prescribed myself time out from any relationship with a self imposed period of celibacy to see if  'it' would help me get on the right path with my life and give myself an emotional break. It's working but the side effects seem to be a lot more swearing? Must be the testosterone building up or something, fuck knows...

Good things happening: Eiger Paraclimb 2015, Climbers On The Rainbow - A documentary about Autism At Height and some other cool stuff with iDID Adventure and Reach.

Amy Winehouse is my new best friend. Hot but fucking unavailable, so it works. I'm on my side now...

Anyway... 'Al right baby, run it, RUN IT!'

Autism At Height Project...

I'm launching a project called 'Autism At Height' involving climbers on the "rainbow" iin September. If you want to get involved as a participant then email me at Reach Climbing I'm looking for a film maker with a depth of experience in documenting harder edge social issues to work with us in bringing this together. Please email me on markmcgowan01@gmail.com

A Way of Life... Happiness In Climbing & Coaching

Nietzsche’s claim that “what does not kill me makes me stronger” has great intuitive appeal, and many of us believe that experiencing hardship and troubles can leave us in a better place than we were before. Psychological scientists have become increasingly interested in studying the positive life changes that people report in the aftermath of highly stressful life events including (but by no means limited to) diagnosis with terminal illness, bereavement, and sexual assault. This notion has been referred to with many different names, but the construct is most commonly referred to by scientists as adversarial growth, posttraumatic growth, stress-related growth,altruism born of suffering and benefit finding.

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a scientific construct that strives to capture these positive transformations in beliefs and behavior. PTG may take five forms: improved relations with others, identification of new possibilities for one’s life, increased personal strength, spiritual change, and enhanced appreciation of life. These positive changes relate to the development of important qualities of character, such as diligence, generosity, love, purpose, and humility. Thus, adversity may provide opportunities for the development of important character traits. (https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/learn/growth)

My amazing German, Italian, & Spanish friends from my long walk
 on the Camino de Santiago de Compestela

When I chose to let the GB Team in Gijon get on the airport bus without me last year and go for a long solo walk through Spain, I realized a lot about myself and my resilience born from my life as it had been. I began to understand that difficult circumstances were only temporary and not to let that fear and insecurity create further panic or anxiety, because what I had previously experienced in my life made most current challenges seem small and ultimately lacking significance in my true well being in my pursuit for my ultimate and important goal of personal and true happiness...

Letting go on el camino...

The last few sunny days in Wales climbing in the most beautiful of surroundings with friends really brought home that I had made it. Made it, to the place I hoped I would when suffering a profound level of human pain a few years ago in the Pyrenees. Made it, to a life of more emotional freedom and less personal judgement. Made it, to a life where my life was my work and not my work my life. My happiness has become the center of how I operate my life and i am moving away from knowing more than the things I don't want in my life, but the things I do now. It has took me more time, than I thought I had left in me, but it all feels worth it now.

But, it has come in the shape of something I would never have imagined for myself all those years ago now when I was drowning in the empty world of high growth business for profit. It has come in the shape of giving who I am honestly to others against the backdrop of rock climbing. It would be nice to have transport again, a couple thousand in the bank, and more food in the cupboard, but I wouldn't give up chasing the most inspired life I can achieve for myself, so we walk more, spend less and be like Gandhi for a week or two! Swapping coaching for food, piano lessons or just friendship. Happiness.

I remember that first day bouldering on my own on Craig MAD in Scotland in 2010 feeling such delight in the physical movement of rock climbing again after 15 years of being away from it. And now, my life is shaped around it again, so lucky! But it took a lot to get to this place and it's not easy staying here when money is tight in coaching but the freedom I feel in myself is inexplicable and I just feel as though I am true to myself again like a boy playing on the rocks, just the sun shining on our face saying yes. Yes to what we are doing, yes to feeling happiness inside and yes to staying the course.

Stevie Haston & I doing new routes on Gozo Island

The sun on my face whilst out climbing with friends is one of the best feelings for me. The long reach to that small hold, when you wrap your finger tips round it's edge and your skin begins to bite with knowing confidence that you can pull up and through to the next hold is such a great feeling. That feeling when someone above you benefits from your words of encouragement to help them commit to engaging in their wrestle with fear with the possibility of a scary fall, is, happiness for me.

In my younger years as a climber, I was at war with the world and fed off the danger of what rock climbing brought me, but now as a coach in a sport, I am enjoying this new way of life where I get to give something that is real to others in a world that has so much to give me back. I am becoming a happier person in my little world on the rocks. A happier life with less fear of others, el humano.

When I left the world of business I thought that I wanted to be a teacher. It looked amazing to be so open with people and to teach them about something that had meaning for their lives, but I was too scared, I thought. And so, now I am there teaching what I know in rock climbing to others and watching it change their and my own life for the better. A great way of life in the pursuit of more and more happiness for me and for others. My integrity is everything for me now. Felizidad.

Recruiting for April Clients for Reach 6 Week Online DF Training Programme (plus one day '6a to 8a' workshop)

RAC Boulders, North Wales, UK

We are looking for 5 clients to join our 6 week Dual Factor Training Programme ending in a days Reach '6a to 8a in 180 days' Training Workshop in North Wales. The total cost for both the 6 week training programme and 1 day workshop is £100 per person.

If you climb between 6a to 7c and would like to sign up for April Team then contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com 

Getting to the CORE of where we might be going...

Jay working his Ormes (North Wales, UK) project 2014

I am seeing big changes in Jay in the last month; confidence and self esteem growing, social confidence with others, but his strength is on the move now and bouldering with him at this level is making me realize that if I can climb 8's with a few weeks focus, then whats stopping Jay getting to that level.

He trains harder than anyone I've climbed with (well except Haston - he would train my core till I could barely stand in the Pyrenees). Jay is working his core pretty hard now and I am sure this will help connect his movements and coordination.

Core work in the cave with Haston

But the real journey we are on is not getting Jay to 8a as quickly as possible (that will come). We are knocking on the door of  7's at the moment and we will both need to learn how we find a way to reduce the complexity of dealing with the more athletic and mentally demanding ground of the upper 7's when we get there, but we will.

The real journey is finding a way to share Jay's experience with other kids with autism through climbing and I expect that Jay will assist me in coaching others and help me to understand and improve what we are doing with more focus on delivering what works.

 My focus is working alongside Jay to develop Paraclimbing Coaching and to learn from him as much as I possibly can and make sure he has the best opportunities possible in climbing to better his life. And that's the difference with Paraclimbing for me. Its not improving your grade to 8a for thrills, it's improving peoples lives in the most profound way if we take risks now and try to get it right

Coach Jay! A nice sound to it...

Jay and the girls at ROCFest, Manchester (UK)

... So next stop CWIF in Sheffield to enjoy the climbing festival ...

High Sports Basildon & Castle Climbing Centre... Paraclimbing #Autism

I am trying to find a way to travel regularly from Snowdonia to High-Sports Basildon  or Castle Climbing Centre in London to coach a young boy with autism without passing on exorbitant travel costs to his family. If anyone in area travels this route in a car, helicopter or private jet and would be up for me bumming a lift (not literally bumming!)

I would be very, very grateful. Promise not to talk too much or whistle uncomfortably :)

Kind regards
markmcgowan01@gmail.com

#autism #paraclimbing
@IFSC

Recruiting for March Clients for Reach Online Dual Factor Training Programme

If your planning a trip in 6 weeks or more for some sun rock, why not join our 6 week DF programme with Reach before you go...

It is designed around your needs against a backdrop of our training strategies to help prepare you for a climbing peak before your trip. Don't hang around, join us for the March Team...

Hanging around!

More hanging around... Don't do it!

The cost of the DF Programme is £100. Contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com for further details...

Reach Climbing Coach - 1:1 Sessions in North Wales

If you climb between 6a and 7c and are looking for 1:1 coaching sessions in North Wales (Llanberis area) in the month of March then please contact markmcgowan01@gmail.com for prices and dates.

The sessions will focus on training methods to improve your bouldering and/or sport grade: Outdoors if weather permitting or at one of our local climbing walls.

Sport!

Sun!

Teeth!

Climbing for All - Disability Awareness in Rock Climbing - The Outdoor Partnership, North Wales

Climbing for All - Disability Awareness in Rock Climbing

The Outdoor Partnership have organised a ‘Climbing for All Disability Awareness in Rock Climbing’ Workshop to raise awareness and impart knowledge of disability climbing to those volunteering and working in the outdoors in North Wales. The workshop will be delivered at one of North Wales’ climbing walls on Saturday 25th April 2015 by Graeme Hill at a subsidised rate of £5.

Graeme specialises in disability in the outdoors, he is the GB Paraclimbing team manager and is a member of the British Mountaineering Council Equity Steering Group. 

The workshop will be open to individuals and organisations who would like to see the provision of climbing for disabled people increase for those living in North Wales through community clubs and centre based activities.

How individuals and organisation may benefit from attending the course:

·         Club volunteers who would like to be able to provide inclusive club climbing sessions and are working towards an insport accreditation.

·         SEN and mainstream school teachers and staff who would like to gain more knowledge of the sport to feel confident in organising climbing sessions for the pupils

·         Parents, family members and care workers who would like to gain more knowledge of the sport to feel confident in taking disabled people to organised climbing sessions and community climbing clubs.

·         Providers and outdoor centre staff who would like to increase their provision of climbing for disabled people in North Wales

(For those holding a Mountain Training qualification this course is included as part of Mountain Training’s Continual Professional Development (1 point) and has also received endorsement from Association of Mountaineering Instructors).

For more information about the course please contact your local Outdoor Activities Development Officer or to reserve a space please email marian.lloyd.roberts@outdoorpartnership.co.uk.

 www.partneriaeth-awyr-agored.co.uk

www.outdoorpartnership.co.uk

A Collective Person...

Jay socially interacting

Jay describes himself as a 'collective' person. He collects stuff and organises it in his room the way he likes it to be. It makes him happy.

He has been busy collecting some other stuff recently. He came first in his category for Autism at ROCfest in Manchester the other week, Did his first V6 boulder problem yesterday and is making more friends in the climbing community both here in North Wales and around the UK & France.

In the sessions, Jay and I talk about life and autism; perceptions, the spectrum, rainbows, female relationships, the benefits of a good core and other stuff like feeling up, down or even sideyways! (sideyways is not a 'real' word, it's sideways, we know that, but you knew that!)

Jay and I have been climbing together for a year I think? And we are beginning to understand what he is actually capable of in climbing and more importantly perhaps, what his journey could mean to others with autism, looking for more from their lives. Jay constantly wants to make sure that what he is doing and the efforts he is going to in his training and learning, are going to help others with autism, especially younger kids. Because when Jay was younger, it was so much harder for him as he didn't have the tools or life experiences to understand as much as he does now and it was VERY, VERY tough for him...

Jay is going to write a book one day, and if struggles to find a publisher (which he won't), then I will write a book and sneak his book into that book! Sneaky bastardo!

Jay and I communicating at height about the crux
 ahead on his outdoor 6c project

But we both agree that the genius in having a less than ordinary life / hellishly tough, is to eventually use it to step sideyways  of judgement and to be kind to yourself and especially to others and not let the sometimes unbelievably horrendous experiences of the past pull you down and prevent you from enjoying the best of humanity, openness, kindness and love.

('hellishly' is a word, so why isn't 'sideyways' a word. What's that about!?) Fuck knows? Or maybe it doesn't... Swearing is naughty, don't do it! Well, not in private, cause that's fucked...


Kindness & Love
Coach Bastardo

#autism

Route Setting for Paraclimbing. It's Orange!

Good route setting is hard man!

Good Paraclimbing setting is hard man...

It was great that a recent UK bouldering comp got a few of the GB Paraclimbers down to share their experiential knowledge with the paracomp setters before the comp... There's a lot of 'comp' in this paragraph?!

It was also great that the same comp organisers (ROCfest) changed the podium presentations for the Paraclimbing event to run alongside the presentations of the other categories instead of the scheduled plan. Another accidental win for this great event at ROCfest... Its called inclusion. It was one of the best comps I've been to and the atmosphere was awesome...

ROCfest Paraclimbers enjoying their podium

Inclusion works two ways... Awesome display of 

strength from the male and female Senior Cats. (Nice bobble hat gorgeous woman)

But here's the stuff I love about Paraclimbing: When it comes to route setting, we may need to begin to move away from inclusiveness with the route sets (in competition) and aggressively segment the setting so that it tries to achieve the following:

• Is more specific to Paraclimbing categories (upper limb, lower limb etc..)
• Highlights the category competitor's specialist abilities and athletic ability specific to their catergory
• Understands the specialist techniques currently employed and challenges the competitors to advance their techniques in example more core orientated setting...

This is an 8a in Pyrenees That I believe I could coach an upper limb Category up

 (with appropriate core and technique training)

So for instance, one might set a technical roof route with various knee bars like the above video that would test perhaps an upper limb category with one arm on both technical roof climbing but with realistic opportunities to heel and toe lock or knee bar and shift enough weight to the core and lower limbs in an athletic way to allow for the next hand movement, as opposed to forcing the climber to just get their feet up and slap to the next hold, after hold after hold until their power is quickly sapped.

The Physical Variances

So the facts are that if you have one leg, then that means you have one rock shoe and two hands. It's a study of movement in it's own right and that is what Paraclimbing route setting has to unpeel and then deliver for the most spectacular Paraclimbing  Competition events. Do this well and we get to really show what these dudes are about.

Its Orange!

BMC GB Paraclimb Team Manager: Graeme Hill enjoying
 the comp at ROCfest

I could go on about route setting in Paraclimbing for hours, but I won't,... Just set it.