Steve McClure - The late bloomer doing 9b FA at 46

Please describe Rainman 9b FA and when you started working on it? It's a real power endurance route. Basically it's 8c+ into 8c+ I think, split by a rubbish rest. Individually the sections are only 8c+ (only). But together they seem so much harder. I started working it a little in 2010, then more days each season, maybe 10-15 a year by 2013, lately more like 20 a year. Some years I was just playing, I knew it was not happening. This year and last I was putting in the effort and it was coming together. How do you think it is possible that in climbing you can keep progressing 45+? Progression is relative. As we age things will decline, its inevitable. Recovery is slower, and there are injuries. But with effort we can maintain power and strength that is already there. But its well known that endurance gains can be made later into life. However, I think the key is to look to where the weak links are. Often the 'older' climber may not have trained, or stuck with one style, leaving a huge gap in potential physical gains. We have to identify these and work on these. With fingerboarding, a one arm first joint edge, I managed to go from 0kg weight to 8kg weight in a few months. Its also likely that the older climber will end up with more structure and more focus due to time pressures; those endless trips away are gone with 2 kids and a job and mortgage. This leads to gains simply because of the structure. But still, as we know, climbing is more than just how hard you can pull. I had a great talk with Dave Graham, and we both agreed we were getting better, but mainly because we were getting cleverer. It's down to the 'micro beta'! The finding of those tiny efficiencies, and how long it takes to find them. the more climbing we do the more moves we cover; it's all logged, we just move better. With this route I wonder about my 100 days on it, and if I'd been presented on day 1 with the sequence I have right now just how long would it have taken? This year I spotted 3 or 4 really crucial beta changes, crucial in that they maybe only made 5% difference to that move, maybe only 1/2% overall, but it all adds up. I was left wondering how the hell I didn't spot them. 100 days of not seeing what seemed obvious now. Would another person see them? Or does it take that long to find them? Many were found out from necessity, a sequence that was OK on link just somehow didn't work on RP, but it took 50 days to get there on RP to find that out! Photo - Ian Burton