My Favourite

I’ve been going to our local climbing wall in Brymbo on and off for the last couple of years now. And I have come to love the Moon board. It has without doubt become my favourite angle to boulder and train on – pure genius! Fair dues to Ben, it’s a brilliant concept – a regulated board, hold spacings, angle and specific sets of holds specifically designed for the terrain. Some may argue that moon boards are elitist in some way but I think their pro’s greatly outweigh their cons. Being able to get problem ideas with grades from the moonclimbing website and set them yourself on your board – sharing your latest creation with a really wide audience and potentially getting feedback from climbers around the world. I have to admit I’ve never tried any problems off the website nor have I shared any of mine – but that’s just because I have never suffered from a creative drought while using the board! The holds are just perfect to pull on! Small yet finger friendly – and the angle... oh, the angle! Steep enough that you need a lot of tension but not so steep so that your feet become useless. I’ve found that with enough time and cunning even the most improbable moves become doo-able – and if they don’t yield to technique then you just need to get stronger! If I was building a board of my own and had the money – I’d build a 45 degree board to the specifications on the moon website and fill it with moon holds – spread a few jugs, slopers and pinches around for some variety and enjoy getting strong! The only thing is I don’t know how well it’s working – 10 weeks of easy training under the belt now and I feel strong and happy in my own world – but still very much in my own world. I invent a problem, work it, send it – know it’s harder than anything I’ve done before but don’t get a lot of feedback from others and have no idea how hard it actually is (and of course it’s set by me so it will suit me) – it’s a bit frustrating at times. I’ve started to record some problems like they do in the Dublin Co-ops using the grid system – hopefully some people will try them and I’ll get some feedback. Nick Dixon is running a improver class at the wall so I’ll see if he can be tempted onto the board – Wad!