Peak (again...)

I would have written up a blog post for last weekend, but other than managing my first 7a boulder problem at Churnet it was a bit of a let-down. The problem was the same one I almost managed the week before (fingers).It reassured me that I didn’t manage it the first time because I was getting physically tired, rather than technically incapable. This is something that I was worried about. I find it quite interesting that I prefer working boulder problems which my friend Toaf would describe as “just pulling on holds, with no technique required, only big guns”. I think this says something more about our different styles of climbing rather than the problems to be honest. As I was saying, I prefer working boulder problems with long powerful moves rather that short moves and intricate sequences. However when trad climbing, I’m much more likely to head for something slabby, with obvious rests and less chance of getting tired, pumping out and falling off. When it comes down to it I guess when you’re going for the onsight its just better to stack the odds in your favour. 

The Sunday was spent climbing at the Roaches. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know how I feel about the Roaches, but for those who haven’t I’ll reiterate it. The Roaches is an excellent climbing area. There are amazing routes, multipitch and single. There are big overhangs, slabs, walls and a host of classic bouldering… and I’ve ruined it for myself! I’ve spent so many days bumbling along the Roaches through my uni life taking out groups, and then bumbling along with little or no desire to climb only to be outside that everytime I got there I’m just left wanting to be somewhere else.

I’ve tired making tick lists of climbs I want to do there. I’ve tried getting psyched for particular routes and I’ve been bouldering there loads, because well there is loads of awesome bouldering there. And I still can’t seem to get inspired. I’ll keep trying, I really will because it’s defiantly one of the best climbing areas Staffordshire has to offer. 

I did manage a one route on the day (that’s after failing to even get onto the slab of C3P0, backing off Eugene’s Axe and belaying Ronnie on Pincer) which was Valkyrie Direct. I seem to having a bit of a saga with this photogenic prow of rock. I’ve never actually completed Peter Harding’s original route (Valkyrie). On my first attempt I managed to do the crux and then it rained, torrentially, forcing my inexperienced climbing brain to back off, getting lowered through the damn holly bush. This wasn’t the last time I’ve been through that bush either. I’ve been back since and done the crux, only to reverse the whole thing and then quit climbing for the whole day (it was the day after my grandfather had died, and I shouldn’t have gone out climbing). I’ve been involved I a rescue when the flake was pulled off. I ended up arriving first on scene and then leaving last and stripping out the guys route once everyone else was off. And I’ve spent an evening sitting on the belay after the first pitch, after me and my climbing partner at the time decided that she wasn’t going to do the second pitch but the view as the sun went down was too good to waste. It was then I found out you could walk off from here, if you’re careful.

So when I headed up Valkyrie Direct (HVS 5b) I didn’t really know what I was expecting. I climbed slowly and carefully and managed to deal with the overhanging flakes quite easily (though I did stich it with gear). I then finished up Valkyrie doing the crux and climbing round the corner, only to sit on the top and decided that the route was badly over graded. It wasn’t until I checked the guidebook description later that I realised I’d missed out the stiff, wide crack and therefore the crux and point of the route. In future I’ll stick to taking my guidebook up with, or actually reading the route description properly before I set off.

In the mean time I’ve been tapping away on mine and Soames’s little guidebook and I’ve been teaching myself how to use GIMP, although slowly. It’s quite hard to learn how to use a new program, without a manual. Mostly I’ve been ploughing away learning my trial and error, but this can be a disheartening process. I’ve little or nothing to show for hours and hours spent practising with the software, but I’m full of ideas about what I’d like to do with it. 

On the note of the guidebook and therefore the cliffs development in general it’s all I seem to think about. I’ve been asking various friends down Redpoint [hyperlink] and further afield if I can borrow size 4 cams for the crack line of hydrophobia. This sticking corner crack, dubbed Hydrophobia by Soames based on my seemingly intense fear of the sea but enjoyment of awkward crack climbs, has been sat in my mind from the moment I saw it. It fills me with dread and fear, but I can’t wait the literally get stuck into it.