Last night I went to Dan Varian and Ned's new uber board. I was well impressed. The first time I saw a bedroom board it was on Lydgate lane and belonged to Myles Gibson. His bed was the mat underneath, and he shared the room with his girlfriend. It wasn't a happy arrangement - she would have to turf the climbers out to get to bed, and the bedclothes would be covered in chalk! This board is a masterpiece of board construction. Imagine a giant (absolutely gargantuan) bed base. Atop that is his mattress and bedclothes. It pivots at one end and the whole thing lifts up and is supported by two beams - so thats basically holds on the underside of his bed base, bedclothes etc all atop the board. Three sheets of 8x4ft ply - 12 feet of climbing length from the bottom to the top - fifty three degrees - genius. No positive holds, pure tension and vice like grip strength required in order to succeed.
All boards have rules, and rules maketh the board. TC and Birch's board had rules that you were not allowed to cut loose, and feet were only permitted on the tiny wooden nubbins. Dan and Ned's board is symettrical, which means that if you do a problem you have to complete the inverse before you can take the tick. Apparently, this came from Malc - whatever, its a great idea. They too have nubbins for feet - no feet on handholds etc etc. Its very good.
My split got worse by pulling on small holds which ultimately frustrated my efforts. Had a good time though and am keen.
1 comment:
allez ned and dan!
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