Beastmaker may not quite be at this point but its close. After all, fingerboards for training had been around for at least a decade before Dan Varian and Ned Feehally set up their company but somehow, these new boys managed to revolutionise their niche industry. And they did it all with only two models, each cut out of a 6"x2" piece of wood.

The book feels nice, is scattered with inspiring photos of climbers doing their thing on boulders across the world on some really aesthetic problems. The text, formatting and chapters feel well done, intuitive, good for browsing or for finding some dedicated information. In the intro Ned says he has extracted the most useful and usable nuggets of information and is passing them on as simply as he can. He has done a great job on this. On a similar note, if you have the option, put the fingerboard somewhere easily accessible to make sure you actually use it. Ideally close to the TV, not in a cold garage and preferably not in the kitchen due to constant changes in humidity and temperature. The aesthetics of the book are great, there are inspiring shots sprinkled throughout, useful clear photos of various stretches and exercises, and clear diagrams. Text is broken up, so never feels monotonous.Comfortable, labeled edge sizes, holds for warming up and training hard, great full length jug hold, asymmetric hold layout One thing I missed was an in-depth discussion of periodization and strength training. Feehally does touch on some of those aspects, briefly, but not as much as some of the nerdier training enthusiasts (me) might want. To be fair, Feehally purposely left all the nerdier stuff out. He puts his experiences within the context of these high-end athletes and reduces the information to its most essential characteristics. From the foreward, Feehally admits that he will leave the citations out of this book and recommends your following up with additional reading if interested. Chapter 5 of Beastmaking Cons: Like the Boulder Trainer app above, Beastmaker offers no supplemental content on the app itself. It’s basically a purpose-built timer with some hangboard workouts programmed in. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!

Cons: At this point in the life of Rakkup, there simply aren’t enough guides available, though this will surely change over time. The app’s design is also a bit bland, with a dark blood-red strip at the top; it leaves a bit to be desired. Some users may also find the guide prices too steep for their taste. Keep in mind, however, that these prices are on par with the cost of any physical copies you’d find. And as any experienced climber knows, the price of a good guidebook is well worth it. Cons: There are some minor technical issues with the app’s design, such as a muddled filter feature that sometimes makes it difficult to find problems, and slightly awkward navigation functions. Some of my other favorite chapters include details on how to structure your session on a board and how to train endurance on a board. Another describes campusing drills. As someone who’s had finger, wrist, and shoulder injuries in the past, I appreciated the chapter on hand and upper-body maintenance.The training potential of the Moon Board and its app is vast. Many climbers have used the app to train almost exclusively on the Moon Board, and most have become stronger for it. The social aspect of the app is fun as well––climb classic problems set by Ben Moon himself and many others, or create your own and watch as they are climbed, graded, and rated by your fellow climbers around the world. It’s like a video game for climbing! The book provides a range of ideas and methods for training for climbing. It mostly focusses on training more at the power end of the spectrum, though does contain a section on endurance training. Based on comments on the net, DaveMc seems to do this type of coaching (although not really Sheffield area:-) I can bodge up most 6c's at my local wall- even onsighting a couple of them. The highest grade I can get up just now is a grip/upper body-strength oriented 6c+. It took me a few attempts to begin with but I now get up it successfully without too much hassle. Build your ascent pyramid, and review your past climbing sessions. KAYA is loaded with over 200 gyms and 100k outdoor climbs.

A note from the 27 Crags crew: "The .premium subscription of 27 Crags gives you access to the pool of hundreds of high-quality .premium topos from popular climbing destinations. In addition, it will give you the chance for offline use!" Grippy - Beastmaker workouts As would be expected from a dedicated boulderer and co-founder of 'Beastmaker' the authors focus is as the sub-title says 'a fingers-first approach to becoming a better climber' the book however offers much more than that with chapters on tactics, flexibility and core amongst other things.With a standardized progression of hold sizes, unmatched comfort, and space saving design, this board is an excellent home training tool Overall: The thought of having the Red River Gorge, Joshua Tree, or the Southern Nevada Bouldering guidebooks inside of your phone is so enticing. I find the lattice rung to be even kinder on the skin than the beastmaker. It is harder though (especially if, like me, you are stronger in a half crimp than a drag). Admittedly, Beastmaking doesn’t scrimp on the word count but nor does it mince its words. Throughout, the message remains clear and the overriding theme is that you’ll still need to put the effort in to make any gains. Right from the Introduction, Feehally makes it clear that “the benefits of simply owning a fingerboard are fairly limited” and simply buying the book and expecting to suddenly climb harder is no different. At the end of the book, there are interviews with Alex Puccio, Adam Ondra, Jerry Moffat, Melissa Le Nevé, Tomoa Narasaki, Alex Megos, Alex Honnold, and Coxsey. Questions range from “What is your five-second maximum one-arm hang on the Beastmaker 2000 middle edge?” to “What is your advice for climbers who want to improve?”