Welcome To The Jungle – First Tastes Of Plymouth

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated” – Russell Warren.

With a recent survey confirming my long held suspicions that it is my accent and not my looks that are holding me back with the ladies, I have been able to put my mind at rest and finally sit down and type up another blog post.  I apologise it’s taken me so long to anyone who’s been waiting/nagging me (*cough* Father Ratcliffe) but here at last there is one, so enjoy…

I lost my feet when it came to climbing for a few weeks when I moved down to Plymouth. I went out and had fun, met new people, had a good time, perhaps to much of a good time on some nights. I was still climbing but it was nothing like the kind of training I did before coming to university. The passion was still there but the psyche it seemed was not. I didn’t even realise I’d lost the psyche at the time, I was too distracted by the freedom coming here had given me. Of course eventually it all caught up to me and one to many drunken misadventures later and I was brought humbly back to earth. Although I still enjoy and want to go out occasionally, it was pretty clear it was time for my extended fresher’s partying to come to an end. Drunken escapades no longer such a regular occurrence, I have been reminded that my heart is that of a climbing bum and with that reminder the hunger has returned.

Psyched once again to climb and get stronger,  I’ve really started putting in the hours down at the wall, trying to climb as many days as possible. Although there’s no training room at High Sports, the setting is really good with some interesting beta often needed to send the problems. My “training”, as I like to call it, has just been picking a selection of hard problems I think I can do and trying them until I can do them.  Nothing new there then really. Eight sessions over a month is the longest I’ve spent on a problem so far, but failure in the previous seven sessions before the send only helped make me stronger (I hope). The problems aren’t graded and I’ve stopped suggesting grades as someone always comes along and suggests something different, so I can’t really say what my boulder grade is at the moment. As there’s no training room/systems board (not that I used them loads anyway)  I’ve also been trying to do some plank, lock off exercises and dead hangs at the end of most if not every session in hope of gaining some strength as well, so hopefully at Christmas after a few sessions down at Redpoint I’ll be able to get a gauge of how the training is paying off.

I’ve also learnt a lot about granite in recent weeks, however seen as a lot of that was in lectures I won’t bore you with the details of it’s petrology. In a climbing sense though, there are two key things that you need to know about Dartmoor Granite;

1) You need to add about 3 V grades onto the original grade of any boulder you try to work out whether you’ll have any chance of doing it.

2) It really hurts your skin.

Or at least that’s what I’ve worked out from the three trips I’ve had out onto the Tors this term. I assumed moving nearer to the beach would mean better weather, how wrong could I have been? The rain has been the main thing stopping me getting out climbing but the few days I’ve been able to get out have been good ones.

My first trip out on the granite was to Bone Hill and it left me scuttling home like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs. I got shut down by a V5 called Llama Farmer and just about sent a V3 after been heckled by some locals who knew the crafty heel-toe jam beta. However it looks like there are some doable hard boulders out there and I’m definitely keen to go out and hunt them down in the spring and see if I can tick off some hard stuff on the granite.

It was a few weeks before I had suitably recovered from my first experience of Dartmoor Granite before I headed out again, this time around it was to Haytor to try my hand at some trad. Full of confidence and keen to get some ticks under my belt I went and promptly fell of the E1 D’argtagnan. I then went and fell off it some more, before finally managing to pull over the roof and onto easier ground. Clearly I have a lot to learn about climbing on granite, but with plenty of time left before I finish my degree, I’m sure I’ll learn. I did manage to flash Haggis one of the classic E1’s at Haytor before the end of the day, learning that if you trust your feet on granite slabs they generally stick. After you’ve managed to get up the slab on Haggis you are left with some good gear and some fun moves on good holds to get over the roof and it’s easy to see why it’s such a popular climb.

What do you mean it’s the end of November?! Enjoying the glorious weather on the easier moves at the top of D’argntagnan.

Chris starting of the Plymouth Uni send train on Haggis.

Psyched for more trad as well as more bouldering I managed to get out to Hound Tor to look at some of the harder routes there after learning there was the potential for some good highballs. Limbo Dancer an E4 5c was a route I especially wanted to look at and after looking at it, I think it would make a really good highball with enough pads. I flashed the crux on a top rope and probably would of flashed the route if I hadn’t had my rope bag covering half the holds on the top as I was using it as a sheath. Rope bag moved I got it clean next go and did it one more time before the end of the day, so I’m confident if I got the chance I’d send it. There are also two E2’s at Hound Tor,  Aerobic Wall and Anaerobic Crack, that look like they’d go as fantastic highballs, so I’m hoping after the new year they’ll be a Plymouth Uni team send day at Hound Tor.

Me enjoying an end of the day lead on the classic VS – Suspension Flake.

Anyway with a week till I’m back in Birmingham for Christmas it’s time to start getting exited for some grit action!

Here’s a few more pictures from recent weeks –

Apparently Father Ratcliffe  saw this picture and thought I was merely enjoying the scenery. No prizes for guessing what I was actually up to…

Will enjoying the easier moves after getting through the crux od D’argtagnan.

 

Sunset on Low Man as Nick seconds the classic Outward Bound.

 

New Kid In Town – The Final Summer Write UP

Independent life has truly begun, I’ve left home and I’ve headed south for the coming winter and the next three years. The melodrama of moving away is now behind me, suitably numbed by the nine nights of drinking throughout fresher’s and the discovery that I can in fact use a washing machine when all you need to do is feed it some money, make sure the tablets are in and press the button labelled “Colours 40 degrees”.  Although I was forced to sing “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” in order to bring a tear to my mothers eye on my departure and fulfil my duty as a son, moving out was far easier than I expected. Back on the rails and having found my feet with the style of climbing at the local wall, I’m hoping to start getting out climbing soon and hopefully put another good winter of training under my belt in order to get stronger. So with no exiting tales from Plymouth to tell yet it’s probably about time I rounded up my summer adventures from “up north” as it is referred to in these southern lands –

Following mine and Craig’s successful but cold, hungry and tiring, almost week living under Cornice, I didn’t expect to feel up for much climbing in the following days. However pizza, a few beers and a good nights sleep and the psyche was as high as ever. The following Sunday I found myself in Dan’s trusty (but now no longer with us) Ford on my way to The Roaches to do some trad and some bouldering.  My new found confidence in trad gear and with the stupidity fearlessness of youth on my side I decided to go for an onsight of Wings Of Unreason (E4 6a). I made it through the boulder problem start pretty easily and to the crucial cam placement. The next move was a tricky mantle for the tall where you hav to get your foot into the pocket where your hand and cam were. Eventually my fear of committing to the move was overcome by my fear of blowing the onsight and I entered the mythical trad bubble and made the move. All that followed was a pop for the top, after checking I couldn’t just lank it out in my usual fashion I took a deep breath and with a lack of fear, made the double handed pop. Luckily I didn’t notice I had half kicked the cam out when I made the mantle, but hey it probably would of still held…maybe?

Committing To The Mantle On Wings Of Unreason

Transformed by my successful onsight of Wings from dumb into dumber, I decided to try and onsight San Melas (E3 5c). If you wanted to find a route more unsuited to my style San Melas is it and it’s was hardly surprising that with the gear below my feet and my feet unable to smear I quickly found myself acting out a Wiley Coyote scene as I attempted to find something for my hands. Fortunately Dan’s years of trad belaying meant the rope caught me and I didn’t end up in a bush. Lesson learnt though I decided it best to save any future lead attempts until after I’ve learnt to smear and have tried the moves on the safety of a top rope.

Dan Onsighting San Melas

Me Falling Off San Melas

Mirf’s Peugeot has also sadly left us and the final weeks of summer were spent in his new Ford Estate (I’m hoping the Metro survives the winter). Although both me and Mirf had projects up at Dinbren the sudden and un-British return of the summer heat meant eventually we lost hope of success in such harsh conditions and went bouldering in the peak instead. I was pretty psyched to get A Lack Of Colour (7B) done in a day after been inspired to try it after watching the film Escaping Norfolk and I managed to get mine and Mirfs ascents on film as well (https://vimeo.com/105877424). I also managed to drag my parents out bouldering for a day at the Churnet before I left and despite been a little hungover after an impromptu night out and dad trying his best to upset me by blasting “Money For Nothing” as loud as he could when I had to help him out that morning, I had a surprisingly successful day.  I flashed High Speed Imp Act (7A) and The Nose (6C) and then sent Martins Mono Problem (7A+) and got it all on film (https://vimeo.com/106103687). It would of been a pleasant end to the summer, but I had to go and ruin it by getting spanked trying Kudos (7B) and The Press (7B+) at Rubicon before I left and getting close to both, but succeeding on neither.  Oh well I’m sure they’ll both be just as polished when I get back on them anyway.

And that sums up summer, there was another weekend in Yorkshire where I led a nice VS and fell off trying lots at Malham trying to onsight 7a’s and I think that was it.  Anyway here are some more photo’s that got taken throughout the summer. I’ll keep you updated on my life down south when I start getting out climbing.

 

Dan Sending C3-PO (Roaches)

Just Before I fell Off San Melas

Me And Mother Ratcliffe At The Churnet

Trying The 50p Problem (Churnet)

The House Martins At Dinbren

Youth – A Summer Update Part Two

I finished my last A-Level exam on the morning of June 13th 2013. That afternoon I went climbing at Dinbren with Mirf and Geoff and climbed my first 6b and my first 6c route. I remember having to run home after the exam in order to get back in time after catching the wrong train by mistake. On both routes I was pretty scared but despite this, the feeling I got from clipping the chains was enough for me to know that I wanted to keep climbing outside.

Every opportunity I’ve had since then I’ve climbed outside if possible and I think I’ve enjoyed every day out, despite all the frustration, anger and upset on the days where things aren’t going your way cause, because at least at the end of the day I’ve been able to go out and do what I love.

Me On Just Another Rote Name, My First 6c

I had definitely been frustrated and upset about not been able to do an 8a before my trip to Yorkshire and I knew after that trip, that if I didn’t put climbing 8a on the backburner and was still unsuccessful or at least didn’t start to get close to sending one, that fundamental fun I got from climbing would soon go missing. Instead I took my psyche from the trip and focused on using it to help consolidate my 7c/+ grade.

The week after Yorkshire I went out with Mirf again to Cheedale Cornice to make the most of it been in condition. Although I had, had two sessions on Powerplant, a classic 8a, earlier in the summer, I decided to stick to the plan and get on something slightly easier. I had initially wanted to get on Cry Of Despair (7c), however after a quick read of the guide book, Mirf suggested I tried This Is The Sea (7c+) instead. This Is The Sea definitely suited my strengths been like a Cornice version of The Rivals, a hard boulder problem start followed by a 6b+ route to the top maybe. I managed to work out the start moves relatively quickly, making a big pop to a back gaston off a sidepull and an undercut rather than use these two horrible crimps. Then on my first redpoint attempt of the day I got through the crux and onto the easier climbing above. Having done the top section twice with ease on a top rope I hadn’t put enough focus into memorising the moves and soon found myself struggling to make the last easy move around a bulge to the jug you clipped the chains off. Trying to pop my foot across in a final desperate commitment to send the route I barn doored off and took a five metre lob of the route, cutting up my arm as I came crashing back into the wall.

Looking Happy, If A Little Battered, After Falling Off This Is The Sea

A week later and I was back at Cheedale Cornice, but after belaying Mirf on his send of K3 (8a+) I wasn’t feeling psyched enough to get back on This Is The Sea and instead we headed over to Rubicon so I could try Too Old To Be Bold (7c). Unfortunately though whatever had cursed me last week struck again and I fell of matching the final jug. It is a phenomenon I am naming premature ejugulation.

In between my those two trips though I did get out in the peak and did have two sessions trying an 8a at Raven Tor. Having done the 7A+ boulder problem start to Rattle and Hump super quickly, I already knew if I could work out a sequence for the top I’d have a good chance of doing it and having a vague idea of the sequence from a brief look at the holds on the upper wall I couldn’t resist having a look at the moves when I ended up at The Tor. I have found a sequence that works and I have managed to do the 7A+ start almost every time since, unfortunately the crux move on the upper wall is skin dependant and my skin hasn’t held out enough for me to have more than three serious redpoint attempts. I’m not to disappointed though as I know I can do it and it isn’t to hard to relearn the sequence, so who knows with a bit of luck it might go and I did manage to send my first 7B boulder (in under ten attempts) after no longer been able to try it on my second session, so I didn’t come away empty handed.

I also took a day of sport climbing and went out for a days bouldering and trad climbing at Stanage Plantation. Although perhaps been unable to do a V2 layback a day after doing a 7B didn’t fill me with confidence, I did have a fantastic time and got up some stuff. Not To Be Taken away is a fantastic boulder and one definitely worth doing if you boulder 6c or above, the hard part is definitely the start and once on the ramp, all you need to do is stay calm, enjoy the position and feel super cool as you heel hook your way to glory. I also did Telli (E3 6a), I’m happy to admit I top roped it first and led it on a bomb shelter of pre placed gear in the break, but I still got a proper buzz from the adrenaline when I sent it. I even took my first trad fall as I fell off it on my first attempt, although I think I fell of as in the back of my mind I knew I needed to take a trad fall and that was as safe a position as any to take it in. However I can definitely see how people get addicted to hard trad and I’d definitely like to do a few more routes on the grit before I head down to Plymouth.

Dan On Not To Be Taken Away

It also looks like my summer update is going to be a three parter as I’ve wrote far more than expected. Hopefully I’ll get that wrote up pretty quickly though.

Here Comes The Summer – A Daytrip To Millstone

Although I am terrible for going out with a plan, a route I want to try, a goal for the day, sometimes, it is nice just to go out climbing without a plan. You have the chance to do whatever you feel like on the day without any pressure you’ve put upon yourself in the predeceasing days.

Two Sundays ago I was supposed to be attempting to run eight and a bit miles around Sutton. I’d even had to pay for the privilege of participating. But two and a half months after I had signed up and one five mile training run five weeks before the day itself and it was pretty clear I was anything but prepared and I definitely wasn’t psyched for it. So on Friday when Mirf told me that a large majority of the redpoint massif (two member of mums on tour included) were heading out climbing for the day on Sunday, I quickly checked the forecast for an excuse to bail on the fun run.  Glorious sunshine forecast and confirmation it was me and not my father who had paid for my entry to the fun run and my mind was made up.

Fast forward to Sunday and I had somehow persuaded Father Ratcliffe to drive me to Dave’s so I could get a lift with him to Millstone. I had only been told we were going to Millstone at 8 o’clock that morning, so only had time to grab my copy of the guidebook before I left. I had no idea what to expect from this quarried gritstone crag I had never been to before.  A quick flick through the guidebook in the car on the way there seemed to reveal that unless you wanted to climb some scary arêtes, it was time to learn how to crack climb.

The View From Embankment Wall At Millstone

Unsure what to do when I got to the crag, I decided to throw a rope down and abseil of the edge to try and take some pictures of Dom on Embankment Route 4.  Mirf had already led it and left some gear in for him, but still, it would be his first gritstone E1 and his fourth ever trad route, it was definitely going to be exiting to see how his lead played out. After climbing mum had fully prepped him and made sure he had an adequate rack to further protect the route, he kindly waited until I was ready before he set off. I think everyone who watched, felt that it went extremely smoothly and apart from one cam placement that didn’t go his way (and he ended up not clipping), he eased his way up the route extremely confidently. However I did ask Dom how he felt it went –

“I was excited to start off and found the climbing easy, although I had one iffy cam placement which made me nervous, after this I started climbing well again and composed myself to make it safely to the top.”

 

 

Dom wasn’t the only one attempting E1’s though and with a few tips of Mirf on how to climb finger cracks I decided to give Embankment Route 3 a go. The fact it had two old pegs in it and that cracks are well protected, was probably a big help for my confidence in climbing the route. However despite my total lack of experience climbing cracks, I did find the climbing extremely steady and I even managed to find a no hands rest.  Apparently using it was showing off though.

To finish the day I seconded Mirf up an E2 finger crack which was amazing, and is definitely something I’d like to go back and lead along with routes such as Reagent Street (one of Mirfs top ten peak routes). I also had a go on a few boulder problems and before I knew it, it was time for an ice cream and then home. So it was another excellent family day out and I look forward to the next. Lets hope this good weather is here to stay.

In the meantime here are a few more pictures I took at Milstone-

Bill Climbing

Everyone Looking Happy 🙂

Some Serious Climbing Taking Place…

The View From The Top Of The Crag

Tiger In My Tank – A Day At The Roaches

If you read my post on my goals for this year you’d have probably guessed that Trad was something at the very far back of my mind.

But just in case you missed it this is what I wrote-

Trad – At the moment I’m not as psyched for trad as I am for sport or bouldering. I’m not experienced enough to jump on anything really hard and I really want to do some hard climbing this Summer. This means I probably won’t focus on it loads until Autumn or Winter and even then I’m just going to continue building up my skill and confidence. E2-E3 is achievable in terms of climbing difficulty but whether I can pull of the mental game and be safe is a different question.

To put it bluntly, I want to climb hard this year and I felt that I wouldn’t be able to do this on trad.  Having never tried anything harder than E1 and have never gone out and been able to try any trad route I would consider hard, I was really put off putting any time and effort into it. Now I’m not saying I’m suddenly going to convert to Trad,  my main focus for this summer is definitely sport, but my opinions have definitely changed after my day at The Roaches last Thursday.

After having not been able to get out since I tried Wild In Me a week and a half before I jumped at the chance to get out with JD, even if that meant going out trad climbing. But with a glorious forecast and a chance to climb on some real rock, I was hardy going to say no.

Despite been unable to decide what we wanted to focus our attentions on for the day, I quickly found myself tied in for an easy climb to warm up. Just as I had put my first piece of gear in on the severe I had gotten on, a group of school kids wondered past escorted by their teacher. Rather than walk on by of course, they stopped and the teacher tried to explain what I was doing. Now I’m not going to lie, I’ve had to back of severes in the past and with a group of school children watching,  I didn’t feel my pride and dignity  could take the shame of having a repeat of past experiences. What was supposed to be a pleasant warm up became a daunting prospect. Fortunately my confidence has greatly improved since I backed of Twenty Foot Crack at Burbage North at around the same time last year, and I made it to the top without any whimpering. A quick round of applause and a sigh of relief and the kids wondered off before JD had a chance to show off by seconding the route in his trainers.

After then seconding JD on a really nice VS where you literally had to crawl out to top out, JD put a top rope down on Barriers In Time. Having never climbed anything harder than E1, I expected the moves on a grit E6 to be impossible for myself, especially on a slab climb. So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself falling off just two moves from the top on my first go. Unfortunately I could not work out the two moves between where I got to and the top on any of my subsequent attempts. However it is definitely route I would like to go back and try again, especially as it looked pretty safe apart from the big fall you would take falling off the last two hard moves.  However it’s nice to know I should be able to do the moves on some harder grit routes and hopefully give them a go.

After we got bored of falling of Barriers, JD put another top rope on another three star slab route called The Thin Air.  An obligatory E5 solo with a nasty ground fall if you ever tried it.  However with the safety of the top rope I quickly found out I could do all the moves.  But it is still really droppable with a hard rock over followed by a toe to hand match before a hairy top out.  Despite this I kind of feel tempted to have a few more top ropes and then see if I had the guts to try it. JD managed to do it in a oner and I’m pretty sure he’ll be back this winter to tick it.

To finish of the day JD told me I should try Sifta’s Quid, which is in the guide book described as a “classic Roaches rite of passage”. Basically you have to crawl through a hole. If you want esoteric  value then this is the route for you.  Been assured you couldn’t fall out of the hole I headed up in my trainers without a rope to discover the wonders that lay within. I came out the other side about ten minutes later with a hole in my t-shirt and grit rash on my elbows, back, front and pretty much anywhere else exposed.  But if anyone is looking for a severe they’d struggle to fall of or a bit of fun, it’s definitely worth doing. Just remember to take of your harness if your soloing it and be prepared to lose your trousers if your belt isn’t done up.

My Back After Doing Siftas’ Quid

I was nicely surprised at how good the day out was as learning experience and it has definitely opened my eyes to what hard trad would be like. Maybe if I can keep my head together on the sharp end I’ll pull some cool ascents out of the bag this year, if not I’m definitely keen for a few more relaxing days having fun on some easy trad. A big thanks has to go out to JD for taking me out and showing me some new things and letting me top rope some harder stuff with him.

 

Mountains Beyond Mountains – The Goals For 2014

I went of to The Chorro with a number of goals in mind, I wanted to onsight 7a and I wanted to lead 7c. I hadn’t sport climbed outside since September last year due to bad weather in the U.K., but I knew I was strong enough following a winter of training indoors (I’d done a F7B problem indoors the week before I left) and I was feeling sport fit as a result of countless laps on the bunker board and roof in the weeks leading up to my trip.

Unfortunately despite hundreds if not thousands of routes to choose from and two weeks of glorious weather, I didn’t come close to either of my goals. I onsighted a few 6a’s and 6b’s and the hardest thing I lead was this sweet cave 7b. I still had a fantastic time and I’m still super happy to have done 7b (my third of the grade), but when I was out there I acted like a child in a sweet shop. I ran around, not really working anything hard more than a handful of times, if that, and fell of countless onsight attempts. But it was my first trip of the year, my first time abroad on my own and I’ve taken a lot of other positives and learnt a lot of lessons from my trip. I’ll definitely be better prepared next time I go on a long climbing trip!

Wit Walls Like This Everywhere, Who Wouldn’t Be Like A Child In A Candy Shop?!

Now back in the U.K. I’m as psyched as ever to climb outdoors and I still have a long list of goals for this year:

Sport Climbing – This year I know I’ll do 7c, hopefully next time I get to Dinbren. I started working a route out there called ‘Dyperspace’ towards the end of last summer and felt like I was just one redpoint away from doing it when it started to rain. After this though I’ll take it one step at a time like I did last summer, going from route to route based on how I feel and what looks good. 8a is the number in my head, but I know full well I need to build up to it. Onsight and flash wise I’d really like to flash ‘Rubicon Roof’ at Water Cum Jolly and I’d like to onsight another 7a as well. Putting up some of my own routes on top of this would be an amazing feeling and something I hope I’ll get the opportunity to do this summer.

Bouldering – I do love bouldering as well and it’s another thing I’m keen to spend a few days doing this summer. If I can do F7B indoors, I feel I should be able to pull it off outdoors as well and it would be nice to maybe have a F7C project over the summer, but I guess we’ll have to wait for it to stop raining to find out whether that happens.

Trad – At the moment I’m not as psyched for trad as I am for sport or bouldering. I’m not experienced enough to jump on anything really hard and I really want to do some hard climbing this Summer. This means I probably won’t focus on it loads until Autumn or Winter and even then I’m just going to continue building up my skill and confidence. E2-E3 is achievable in terms of climbing difficulty but whether I can pull of the mental game and be safe is a different question.

So those are the goals, I’m going to keep training hard and I’m going to get out as much as possible to make it possible. However the key reason I climb is because it makes me happy, and although I am a bit if a number cruncher of a climber at times, I’m not going to keep trying anything I don’t enjoy nor will I push it to a limit where I’m not happy just to be able to say I’ve climbed a certain grade.

When it Started – A Brief Introduction.

Two weeks ago today I stood entranced by the beauty of the limestone before me. It had only taken me a plane, a train, a bus ride and then a hitched lift to get there, but I had arrived.

The View From My Tent In El Chorro

However before I start rambling about the magic of El Chorro, I want to write a post about myself, my climbing and the intentions of my blog.

I’m an 18-year-old climber based in Birmingham, who started climbing four years ago at Redpoint Birmingham. I’d headed down one Friday night with my Explorer group, loved it, and was back the very next day as a Rock Monkey. After a year and a half of this I started to climb on my own at the wall and get to know what was going on in the local climbing scene. But it wasn’t really until last Summer when I managed to get outside regularly that I became truly absorbed by climbing.  Nothing compares to the freedom I get moving on rock and working then completing routes. Following my trip to El Chorro I want the opportunity to share my experiences, my goals and my pictures and hopefully provide an interesting read, so that’s why I’m going to try to start to blog. So expect regular posts on my antics, starting with my El Chorro trip and my goals for 2014.

Enjoy,

Kiaran.

Me On Quality Control, 7a, At Cheedale Last Summer