Progress 8c+ by Ted Kingsnorth (44)

Ted Kingsnorth, who started climbing in 1994 and turns 44 today, has done Jerry Moffatt's Progress 8c+ at Kilnsey. He did his first 8c at age 36 and his first 8c+ one year later.

"Progress is a classic power endurance route with very little rest and with 35 sustained moves of continuous difficulty (the first 7 bolts) leading to good holds and a kneebar before a final pumpy roof to keep success in the balance until the final moves! The crux sequence is around Font 7c in difficulty by the 2nd bolt. It was a long journey to climb Progress over 5 years mainly due to the quite short season that we have in the UK at Kilnsey. Seepage is always a risk and can turn your project into a waterfall overnight or temperatures can be too high for small crimpers in mid-summer. Staying optimistic is essential and you have to be ready for when the good conditions arrive."

How is progress possible 40+?
I think consistency is the key in all training over the long term. I don't follow any training plan, just head outside when conditions allow and train on plastic if too cold or wet, I boulder on my woodie I built in my flat or do one arm assisted hangs over winter. I think its not that important exactly what you do for training, the main thing is to keep up the intensity and stay psyched, then you will see the gains! I make sure I rest more during summer than over winter to allow proper recovery. I hike for 2 - 3 hours on some rest days which seems to help recovery and increase fitness. Also, enjoying the days at the crag increases motivation and sharing in other people's successes is important and helps everybody crank out an extra grade at least!.

Having Progress go on for 5 years was hard on motivation for sure as I got close in 2019 but couldn't regain my highpoint that year and then it got warm and wet. Covid didn't help last year and it was harder to regain the fitness for long routes without proper route training indoors. This year, bouldering on my home woodie I built in January was the key and I felt much stronger on all the moves straight away. It took some weeks to get the route fitness back in May but it came back fine after some hard sessions. Also Eder Lomba found a new kneebar by the 6th bolt which allows a new shakeout, although it was definitely not hands off for me personally. Taking 2 pads up the route was a bit bulky but worth it for sure!