Aha! Butter solves everything. So, if I sandwich a cookie between a cat and a piece of buttered toast, does the resulting weightlessness also render the cookie calorie-less?

Empirical evidence derived from observation of my kids bouncing off the ceiling after eating enough cookies suggests that neither cat nor toast is necessary to achieve weightlessness in pre-teenagers. Furthermore, their skinny little bods suggest that calorielessness is a naturally occurring cookie bi-product for this age group.

For those of us who have attained more advanced years, however, I'd recommend at least the cat, and maybe the toast as well...

I'll need to read the book, but totally disagree. Most people really need to work the hardest thing of all to work. Mental attitude (and this is coming from a conservative climber himself). My old neighbor has the strength and ability to lead 5.14d sport, but he is spending the next 5 mos in Europe to break into the 5.14's. On the other extreme, we had a kid here in town (Flagstaff, Az) who was bold, but had slightly stronger then average strength but he also got on lead a 5.13c/d finger crack second try.

Now back to girl scout cookies, since they do rock!!!

And we are suppose to eat the cookie, toast and cat???? I'll stick with just cookies. And invoking the name of the great and all knowing guru (Homer)...... donuts (while drooling).

To be fair to Dave, the section 3 is: "Fear of falling: the real problem, probably" and section 4 is: "attitude, lifestyle, circumstances, tactics". So he does cover mental attitude. Still, the most valuable sections of the book (for me anyway) was the section on movement technique. I started focusing on how to use momentum while I boulder. I'm enjoying the training and I'm optimistic it will be useful in having a good climbing season.

I haven't read Dave MacLeod's book, but I may say something about body and mind in climbing, based on my experience. The two are synergistic. Muscle and endurance building in a gym will give the climber confidence. And a confident climber will "go for it" rather than dilly-dally and fight himself, draining his endurance. Sport psychologists suggest that the athlete imagine himself doing what he'll attempt just before attempting it and I've found this helpful.

Maybe for you, but it sure doesn't work like that for me.

One winter I spent a lot of time in the gym. Got stronger than I've ever been. Ticked off several low 5.12s in the in the gym.

Early the next season I got on Directissima. A 5.9. I got... Shut. Down. Completely. On the traverse, I spent too long fussing in pro, didn't have my feet placed properly, and completely toasted my arms. In the end, I wound up lowering to the belay with my tail between my legs, and my partner finished the pitch.

I had led a number of 5.9s in the Gunks in previous seasons. And I have never, either before or since, gotten shut down so hard.

I have NEVER since then thought that gym power = ability to lead trad. The beginning of every season now starts with humility, and re-gathering of my lead head.

Cheers,

GO

Maybe for you, but it sure doesn't work like that for me.

Ok, we differ that way.

I spent too long fussing in pro, didn't have my feet placed properly, and completely toasted my arms.

Perhaps had you trained longer and harder, you could still fumble around without completely toasting arms, maybe not.

The beginning of every season now starts with humility, and re-gathering of my lead head.

My experience too.

For me, (my experience only), I've kept a high level of fitness most of my life, but my lead ability has directly correlated to my head, and experience (which I don't seperate).To me its taken a long time to get rid of an overly conservative point of view towards climbing. Its taken a long time for me to understand that I SHOULD be leading .13's on gear, and to take the experience for what it is at the moment, instead of what my head says an experience I should have based on a grade.

Strength gives me confidence, time to place gear, power to pull through without technique when fatigue and fear cause technique to desert me. But strength comes from climbing overhanging stuff in the gym which does not teach me to use small footholds, a fact of which I'm reminded every Spring. But a few days back at the Gunks usually gets the lead head and feet back in working order. Feet + lead head + strength is better than feet and lead head alone.

On a more important note, one of the best things about working from home is there's no one here to sell me GS cookies. Mmm, Thin Mints. I can easily do a sleeve in a single sitting.

Mmm, Thin Mints. I can easily do a sleeve in a single sitting.

Good that you have a hard time getting them. At a single sitting, you might increase your seatprint.