Climb-with-Brian, Author at Climbit.ie

Climbing videos – a collection of short videos

Some climbing videos I hope you enjoy

Climbing videos!

This page showcases some awesome climbing videos. Some are videos I am in, some are videos I have shot and some are videos of friends and climbing partners crushing and having fun, be it on boulders, routes or mountains. I hope you can take some time to check out each one.

In search of Ice: A short video from January 2016 of climbing Carrauntoohil, via Curved Gully, in search of good ice climbing conditions.

Bouldering in Doolin: shot over a couple of evenings in the summer of 2014, this climbing video shows a group of friends (Radu, Cian, Brian, Seadhna and Maedbh) committed to working new problems and topping out on old classics. Shot by the uber talented Gavin Gallagher of Dreamcatcher productions, who makes a cameo appearance half way through. http://www.dreamcatcherproductions.ie

Dec Euro Trip: Follow Brian Hall and Helen Wallace as they travel across Europe in their trusty VW van. This videos shows the start of their trip, climbing in Font and on the way to Spain.

Jan euro trip: Bouldering in Albarracin with Hall and Wallace.

How to climb E6 and fall off severe: An Irish Mountaineering Club talk featuring Brian Hall….. route setter, trad beast and all round good guy.

Underdeveloped (Trailer): The best Irish Climbing movie to date? A group of friends go climbing around Ireland, showcasing the diverse nature and beautiful locations on the Irish climbing scene, as well as some amazing climbing. A great movie, worth watching time and again for inspiration.

https://vimeo.com/7725791

Slapstick: A short edit of Brian Hall climbing in Dalkey Quarry. Making only the third ascent of Ron Browners E7 Slapstick.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the videos and that they’ve give you inspiration to get out there and climb. Keep checking back regularly for updated climbing videos and new content.

Winter mountaineering in Ireland, in search of ice

Winter mountaineering Ireland. I never get bored of climbing Carrauntoohil, towering dramatically above you as you approach it, the effort is always repaid with the reward of summiting.

However, the thoughts of some classic winter mountaineering in Ireland and the hope that I might climb Carrauntoohill in perfect winter conditions excites me even more. Like every Irish winter climber, I’ve had plenty of failed attempts at finding perfect winter ice to sink an axe into, but it’s never a deterrent and each winter I find I’m drawn back once more.

It would certainly be easier to travel to Scotland or the Alps, for near guaranteed conditions, but to me, that’s not the point. Ascending such a stunning natural feature, on home soil, putting together all the skills I’ve gained as a climber, is an allure better than any abroad.

With this in mind it was no issue to rise at 4.30 on a Saturday morning in January, scrape the ice from my windscreen and drive for three hours to give it another shot.

As soon as we arrived at Lisleibane, it was apparent that we might again be let down, the temperature was pleasant even at such an early hour and there was an obvious thaw on.

As we walked above the snow line, the snow was slushy and wet and by the time we arrived at the base of The Lick and seen the cascading flow of water pouring along its route, the irony that the only ice id be likely to see that day was what id cleared from my windscreen wasn’t wasted on me. With little point in turning back, we decided a snow plod up Curved gully would be good fun, if nothing else.

And it was. It’s hard to be disappointed when surrounded with such surreal natural beauty and in the company of friends and others met along the way. Not far from the top of Curved Gully we decided to traverse onto some of the mixed ground on our left, if for nothing else than to practice some rope work and skills. Topping out shortly after, we decided not to delay long at the summit and made our way back down Curved gully and back to the car.

Arriving back home 13 hours later, it would be easy to consider the day a fruitless one. But to think of any day spent with friends and doing what you love most as unsuccessful is truly a shame, and it’s for this reason I’ll be back in Kerry again, hopefully soon and for years to come yet.

Heres a short video of an Irish winter mountaineering day, hope you enjoy:

Training your climbing weaknesses

A quick reflection on ‘training your climbing weaknesses’. There are many great books out there dedicated to training for climbing weakness and equally, there are many great climbing coaches. Each has their own specific take on what will bring your fore arm pump. rock climbing Ireland, Improve your rock climbing, Training your climbing weaknesses climbing to the next level. Some coaches are better at improving your climbing technique, whilst others will focus on increasing your strength for climbing. Every coach has their own style and manifesto.

However, one aspect that all coaches will agree on is that to you should really improve your climbing weaknesses. “Train your weaknesses!”. I hear it touted all the time. Nearly as often as “improve your footwork”, but that’s a different days work.

What does “Train your weaknesses” mean?

So what is it exactly that is specific to training your climbing weaknesses? It can be as simple as realising you aren’t good at slopers and from then on make an effort to climb on slopers more often. Simple to identify, maybe not so simple to address perhaps.

You see, that’s the problem with weaknesses, they show us up, make us look bad, make us feel bad. They create doubts and when the mind doubts, the body suffers. Id imagine there isn’t a single climber who hasn’t suffered from a negative emotional state which affected their performance. And working your weaknesses is a sure fire way of inducing a negative emotional state whilst climbing.

So where do we go with that? Well, even recognising this negativity exists is crucial to improving.

For me, endurance has always been my kryptonite. Ive always been relatively stronger at bouldering than I have been on routes. Now initially you could put this down to a lack of mental strength, inefficiency on route or lack of intestinal fortitude. Really its down to the fact that I boulder more often than I get on routes, thus, Im relatively better at bouldering. Its clear and always has been, that I have to specifically target those bulging overworked forearms. But I don’t.

And herein lies the main problem with training your climbing weaknesses. We all know what they are, but are we willing to actually address them in a meaningful way? Well, this year I am. Not I will, not I might, but I am.

Its as simple as that. Its making the effort to train on long pumpy routes and failing, instead of hitting the bouldering wall. Its making the effort to work the fingerboard in the shed, when the fires on and the house is warm inside. Its writing a plan and sticking to it. Its all these things and more and its working. My endurance is increasing, the chains rattle in agreement and the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

Beating the stopwatch however is not my end goal, this isn’t athletics and im no sprinter. To stick with the analogy though, training needs to be more like a marathon, because nothing worth achieving comes easy.

https://climbit.ie/improve-your-rock-climbing/