Money For Nothing – 2015 So Far!

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!

D.A.N.C.E – Catching Up

So I’ve been a bit behind the past few weeks on writing up my climbing adventures. But I’m going to try and be better and with four days in France coming up with no climbing I have plenty of time to write things up. So hopefully I’ll be a little more up to date in the coming weeks.

This post however is quite an old one which I had wrote and for some reason hadn’t got round to posting. It’s about the week beginning on the 23rd June:

Part One – First Trip To Rubicon –  The first trip of the week was to Rubicon at Water-cum-Jolly with Mirf (low key legend),  Zac “good one mate” mini Mirf (age three) and Bramble (dog who thinks she’s a seal).  So early on Tuesday morning with child and dog in tow we headed out early in search of some sport climbing.

With 8a firmly planted in my mind I started of by trying the v7/8 boulder problem start to Hot Fun Closing – Kudos. It was not a success as I got the beta all wrong and couldn’t even get two moves of the floor. However having seeing some videos since our trip there I am tempted to have another go with the right beta. Moving on from Hot Fun Closing on that day though, I decided to jump on the top rope Mirf had left up on The Sissy. The first go gave me a good feel for the moves and how I would have to do the route.  With the start and the end of the routes been almost jug fests the difficulties of the rout lie in its middle section which is very sustained and technical, requiring good footwork and some matching/swapping of the hands on small crimps. The final move of this sequence is the redpoint crux and involves popping of two tiny crimps to a really positive crimp before you get back to the jugs and a short romp to victory.

Even though with a lot of work The Sissy felt like it could be a potential project, my heart wasn’t in it and I realised what I really wanted to do was just send a route in a day for a change rather than expand the project list any more. Because of this I jumped on  A Bigger Splash a 7b+ route which is basically a soft 7A boulder into some jugs to a break. After the break you go into an undercut before getting some good holds before a bit of a tricky top out if you’re not used to climbing over bulges. Although I blew the flash, I had a sequence within the next ten minutes. A short twenty minute rest and four quick redpoint attempts later to get through the boulder problem and the route was in the bag.  I was a little surprised to do it so quickly especially seen as 7b+ was a grade I didn’t even climb last year. However I have been climbing outside a lot lately, training has been going well and the route was definitely my style.

Before we left I had one last top rope on The Sissy,  which Mirf had managed to send that day (before going on to flash A Bigger Splash). It definitely felt better second time around and I feel it is doable, but it would take a fair few attempts to get it wired and smooth enough to do it, so with so many other routes on Rubicon I’d like to try it might be one for the backburner.

Part Two – An Evening Session At Dinbren –  Mirfs project or the proj as it has become known is one of the last few hard lines at Dinbren left to be unlocked. Although it traverses above the also unclimbed roofs of Dinbren, it still looks super hard and must be at least 8b+.  With blue skies and hot daytime temperatures over the past few weeks it has been almost impossible to climb at Dinbren between around midday and threeish, so on the Thursday I headed out with Mirf for an afternoon session in hope of finding some cooler conditions.

I wanted to get back on The Rivals and see how it felt in cooler conditions after trying it the week before and nearly getting cooked well done in the process. I warmed up top roping the upper section (which feels about a 6b/+ route) a couple of times, before taking another look at the hard 7A+ boulder problem start.

Looking “Well Done” After Trying The Rivals First Time Round

Having only tried the start a few times the previous week I had no idea how I would find it in more idyllic conditions, but at least I knew where the holds were and had an idea of what the sequence for it would be. The first move and the last two moves of the boulder problem are the hardest and every move in between is droppable. The problem also relies on good foot placements on either really small footholds or placing your feet on sideward facing holds. I don’t know if someone else has been trying the route or the chalk marks where just ones Max placed the week before that I missed first time, but they revealed some foot holds out left that were more positive than the ones I was trying to use and definitely made the problem slightly easier. So after a few quick goes getting the moves wired on top rope I was ready to start trying to redpoint it.

Mirf was also ready to start redpointing the proj, so psyche was high and I was hoping we could get the send train rolling. However it was not meant to be and I dropped the last hard move twice after only getting through the first move twice out of about ten times.  At least Mirf is still psyched for Dinbren for his project and this means I’ve been able to go back and get on it again…

If you want to see my best effort on The Rivals on that day here is a link to the video.

 

 

Fancy – The Project List Increases

8a is a mythical grade to many, but with the rise of indoor training facilities it is becoming ever more achievable. Last year 8a was my lifetime climbing goal, but as a result of access to training facilities that mean I have been able to train four to six times a week over the winter, it has become a possibility for this year. So with two 7c’s now under my belt and three months until I go to university I have started heading out and projecting a lot of harder routes.

Although not quite 8a, The Rivals, 7c+, at Dinbren, was the first of two routes I tried the week before last. With no wind, no cloud and temperatures of 22 degrees it was a scorcher at Dinbren last Wednesday. However Max was the only person around to go out climbing with and as he doesn’t drive either, Dinbren was the only place we could get a lift to thanks to Dave who was heading to Trevor for a training day. Mirf had recommended The Rivals to me, telling me it was a 7A+ boulder problem into a 6c route. It definitely sounded my style and a lot nicer than The Boltest had done. Jumping on the route on a top rope the route above the starting boulder problem actually only felt around 6b, however the opening boulder felt as hard as the start to Agent Provocateur, so 7c+ seems a fair grade. The boulder problem itself has positive handholds, but the foot holds are appalling little things that are like tiny smears.  Despite the heat and thanks to Max working out most of the beta I had managed to do all of the moves by the end of my third top rope on the route.  Unfortunately though the day just kept getting hotter until it was unbearable and we ended up heading to Trevor in search of some cooler conditions after we realised there was little hope of any redpoint success.

As none of the routes at Trevor are harder than 6c we just picked one at random and lead it one after the other. Max said it felt around 6b and I said 6a+, the guidebook when we checked however said 6c.  Well I’m not going to complain, I’ll happily take it as a 6c onsight. It made for  a pleasant end to the day even if I had appeared to shake my way up it and the 6a+ I onsighted afterward. I don’t know why but I just seem to shake on onsights. Max descried me as the only guy he knew who could look smooth trying to redpoint an 8a+ but look terrified trying to onsight a 6a+.

The following day, not wanting to risk frying at Dinbren again, me and Max headed out to Crunch Buttress with. Mirf wanted to investigate the other 8a+ and the 8b there following his knee injury on Agent Provocateur the week before. This of course gave me the perfect excuse to try Agent Provocateur again with the new beta I had discovered after re-watching some videos of Ethan Walker and George Carmichael doing it. The new beta definitely worked for me, making the top sequence  few moves shorter and a lot easier, it also made the bottom sequence feel easier, however watching the videos again I have realised a slight change in my left foot position might make it even easier again. Despite not having this valuable information about my left foot at the time I still had four redpoint burns on the route and managed to do it in three parts, doing the upper boulder problem in one and the bottom half in two parts. This gives me the confidence that if I can get through the 7A+ boulder at the start and catch the first jug that I have a really good chance of doing the route. So for now all I can do is try it whenever I can persuade someone to drive down there and enjoy the process of trying it. I’ll only get stronger trying it and hopefully this means if I get a few sessions on it this year I’ll send it. If not I’m still really psyched by it and enjoying trying it and there’s still plenty of other routes I’ll hopefully do.

Too Close – Raven Tor Round Two

So as has been the case for almost all my other days off recently the forecast on last Tuesday looked grim. However this time round I didn’t have to try to beg and plead to get out and get wet as Bill and Nick had already decided to take to risk and kindly said they would put up with me for the day. Heading to Raven Tor as this was the place it would most likely stay dry, I was super psyched to get back on Wild In Me, and I felt pretty confident I would get it.

As we drove past the left hand side of The Tor to go grab the parking spot at the other end I quickly spotted Ethan Walker standing there surrounded by a massive camera set up. As we wondered up to have a look at Weedkiller Traverse we where greeted by a super psyched boulder with a massive grin on his face. He quickly told us he had sent Powerband and that it was Sean McColl trying Hubble that was been filmed.

Nick Having A Quick Play On Weedkiller Traverse (7B)

It was hard not to be super psyched after hearing all this and after Bill and Nick had had a quick play on Weedkiller I jumped straight on for a redpoint attempt on Wild In Me. However this quickly backfired and as I hadn’t been on the route in over two weeks my footwork was all over the place. My classic drunken giraffe style was out in full force. Jumping off to recompose myself I belayed Bill and Nick on it and they both found the opening boulder problem pretty easy and Bill looked steady on the crimps in the upper half.

Bill Looking Focused On Wild In Me

Just after lunch time the pros left the crag (no doubt to head to the pub) leaving only the true hardcore behind. Not wanting to get shown up by a pair of dads I knew I had to get my act together. Fortunately I managed to put aside my drunken giraffe antics and pull some decent attempts out of the bag at the end of the day, but once again even when I touched the hold at the end of the last hard move, I wasn’t able to keep a hold of it. So it looks like this one is going to have to wait for session number three.

However I didn’t go away empty handed.  As Bill and Nick were playing on the boulder problem start to Rattle and Hump and because I felt to boxed to have another go at Wild In Me I jumped on it.  Going a 7a+ I was definitely not expecting to do it that session, yet alone it under ten goes, but clearly the training is paying off and now I need to go and see what the rest of the route is like. So who knows maybe before the end of the summer I will tick an 8a route. Lets hope I can get the Nick and Bill out to crush it as they will definitely send 7c this year!