I’ve always tried to be an all round climber in terms of performance. But just because you spread yourself thinly across disciplines in performance doesn’t mean you should do the same in training. In this video about a lovely and hard project, I explore the results of an adventure in specialising to try and improve my skills as a generalist. It was a rough ride!

My course on climbing technique is out now on Altitude. As part of the launch week, I’m doing a live Q&A tomorrow night (August 5th). Please do join us!

For about 6 months I’ve been working with Magnus Mitdbø on a course for his platform Altitude. My course is on movement technique for climbers and it releases in a few days time. If you’d like to see a free video series from the course, focused on footwork, you can check it out here.

Anyway, Magnus said he wanted to come over to Scotland for a couple of days climbing. Despite a stormy forecast, I was determined as always to climb outside. I also really wanted to get on some new routes. We had a wild day trying some projects in Arrochar. I didn't expect the wind to be quite that strong!

Trying out the new Laspo Kneepad for the first time the other day, on the E10 project at Duntelchaig.

One of the things I’ve been meaning to do for a while is make a video about how to kneebar and what makes a good kneepad. I made my first kneepad in 2008 and have a pretty big selection of them. As with rock shoes, I still do tend to use all of them once in a while for different specific use cases. All kneebars are different and getting the right pad makes a huge difference in how long you can stay in the rest and how relaxed you can be in it.

Like many folk, for a few years I’ve mostly used the Send pads which are quite good and very convenient to use and last really well. But I’m always on the hunt for something better and so was excited when I saw that La Sportiva were bringing out a pad. I had actually been toying with the idea of designing and making a pad myself, since there is still no perfect pad out there. Unfortunately the new Sportiva Laspo pad wasn’t available for ages but have just come back into stock. So as well as ordering a set for myself, I bought some in for my shop for you guys to try. They are available now, right here.

I’ve only had a chance to try them once but that went well! There is a crucial kneebar on the E10 project I’ve been trying with Robbie Phillips. With the Send pad I worked up to getting 6 seconds hands off, which was definitely worth it. But trying the Laspo, I could immediately get 14 seconds off which obviously makes a big difference. Just one data point. But it’s a good one! I’ll do a full review of the pad in my knee barring video soon. But so far I think this is the best one I’ve tried.