I’ve been ill with a virus twice in the past six weeks, I’m currently stuck doing exams and I haven’t wrote a blog post since just after Christmas. Needless to say I feel pretty bummed at the moment.
Until a few weeks ago not enough exiting things had been happening close enough together to justify writing anything. I got a minor shoulder injury locking off cold, but fortunately a trip to the physio and a few weeks easier training saw me fit enough to put in a top 50 performance at the British Universities Comp up in Sheffield and a chance to repeat Conan The Librarian (6B) at Mothercap. It’s just such a good little highball! I also managed to onsight Barney Rubble (7a+) at Torbryan my hardest onsight to date and a bit of a surprise as I’d only gone up it to warm up and put the draws in. My lack of success on the granite and at night bouldering also ended with a send of the classic The Rippled Wall (6B) at Hound Tor.
Repeating Conan The Librarian Before The Snow Came Down.
However by the time Easter Holidays rolled around and with a month of Birmingham based climbing awaiting me I was feeling strong. Unfortunately whilst on a field trip/rest week the week before getting back I got a nasty chest infection and virus and it wasn’t until the last week and a half of my trip back to Birmingham that I started to feel back on form.
I went out climbing anyway and my first day out over Easter was a trip to Burbage North to spend some quality time with Mum and Dad and after falling off everything hard I tried I managed to send Remergence (6B). Definitely another grit classic and perhaps the hardest 6B I’ve ever done thanks to the heinous rock over on it! Remergence took me a few goes and I was so out of breath that it was clear I was far from recovered and the glorious sunshine probably didn’t help either. The following day I picked myself up a little and went out with Sarah and Ming to The Churnet and had a better session ticking of some quality problems up to 6C+ and having a play on a few harder things to work out sequences. The Churnet is definitely and underrated venue, there’s so many good problems once you find your bearings and get used to the rock.
Tops Off, Top Out On The Wafer Sit Start (6A+)
Trying to cram a few more days in around revision I had another two days out the following Friday and Saturday and definitely felt a lot better having managed to have a really good training session at Redpoint. On the Friday me and Sarah headed out to The Churnet once again both determined to finish off some unfinished business from the week before! I managed to tick off Simple Simon which is given 7B+ in the new guide and is definitely the hardest problem I’ve ever done, whatever the grade. My method involved having to campus the start and getting a bomber, but a little scary and tricky to get into heel-toe cam to do the last move. I also managed to do the stand start to Bizzare at 7A+ that day, but despite finding the moves from sit pretty steady just couldn’t link it into the huge pop/dyno at the end and even on the next session about a week later I just didn’t have the skin or the psyche to keep committing to the final move that session.
On the Saturday I went to Raven Tor with Mirf, Dom and some of the other RP strong men and to be honest wasn’t expecting much as my skin was pretty sore and I felt pretty tired from Fridays beastly session. However knowing I might have another session at The Tor the following week if I was lucky I decided to jump on a 7c+ just to see how hard it felt compared to the 7c+’s I did last year and if I felt stronger last year. I tried The Green Alternative which is pretty much a boulder problem on a rope, you pre clip the first bolt and the next bolt is the lower off. For something so short to get that kind of grade I knew the moves were going to be pretty much as hard as you’d ever get on any 7c+ route. The route breaks down into a 6A boulder problem then two moves into some crimps and then a 7A+ (maybe a little harder) boulder problem on top. I actually found it a lot easier than expected and did all the moves that session.
Next Wednesday with fresh skin and fresh arms me and Mirf headed back to The Tor early to make the most of conditions and on my warm up I made it to a high point and then managed to find a better sequence for myself and sent the route on my second go. It felt really steady and I’m pleased it felt so easy as hopefully it’s a good sign for routes this year especially if I can get some fitness.
I Dressed Myself, Honest!
I got one last session out the day after to The Churnet, where as I said I couldn’t send Bizzare but I did do a nice 7B problem called Slow Worm which I imagine would be impossible or super funkily dynamic for the short unless you were super strong!
It was really nice see everyone over the holiday and I hope everyone gets their projects especially Sarah and the Birmingham guys trying Call Of Nature (8a) at the Tor, good luck! I’m sure I’ll do some climbing with you all this summer I’m super psyched for the Peak and Dinbren! I’d also like to thank Mirf for going back to The Tor so I could finish off The Green Alternative, Sarah for going to The Churnet three weeks in a row so we could try send some projects and Mum and Dad for putting up with me been grumpy and ill and taking the time to take me out for the day, even if I was a bit moody cause I was still weak from been ill!
2015 So Far!
That’s pretty much how things have gone since Christmas, I feel a lot better now after been ill again and I am still training hard. My exams finish on Wednesday and after then I am free till September to go climbing and I’m definitely dreaming big again this summer!
The blog also marked its year anniversary not to long ago so I’d like to say thanks to everyone who has read it and supported it over the past year and don’t forget to tell anyone who might be interested about it and help it grow!
Tales Of A Drunken Giraffe 