A proper grit weekend (9th - 10th October) Part 1

Cold weather? dryish? strong wind? sounds like grit season to me! Infact the original plan was to go to wales with Sid, Claire and Matt, but that all fell through at the last minute. Instead I ended up in the Peak with Ronnie, Andy, Nat & Jake the dog and what a bloody good weekend of grit climbing it was.

Like all good climbing weekends for me it started with a beer in the pub the night before and then finding a couch to surf the night away on. This time I actually got a bed... shared with none other than my not-so-famous-trad-climbing-french-friend Sid (don't worry I was safely tucked away in my sleeping bag). I picked Andy Rainer up in the morning (affectionatly known as "old Andy" due to him being a little older than us when I was at uni) and off we set to the Peak, Nat, Ronnie and Jake following. The plan was for a day at Stanage Edge with a possible crack at the unconquerables however a much more important tasked needed doing first, breakfast. Climbing at Stanage to the cafe in Outside, Hathersage. This also meant we could all pick up vital supplies for the day (cheese) at the Spar.

Claire and Matt were already up at Stanage by the time we'd finished breakfast and got up there. They'd meet some other friends and were working thier way across from Plantation to meet near unconquerables area. We'd parked at the top and walked in eyeing up routes all across the base of the crag until we spotted line up what looked like a blank slab. The line was Morrision's Reboute (E1 5b) and apparently soft for the grade, which is good because you'll deck should you fail the first proper move. I jumped on the lead with Andy belaying me. This was the first route in the about 4 years of knowing each other that we'd shared a rope on. The block you started on threw me until Andy pointed out I'd missed a crucial hold, then a crimpy sidepull to gain the break that turned out to be unpositive and slopey! I crammed a cam in, clipped and off I set. The route remained interesting throughout with a couple more hard 5a moves till I could belay on top. Andy came up to join me with no problems, then Ronnie flashed it. I would have liked to have seen Ronnie climb it as he's much shorter to he's a lot more technical than me. 

Andy's lead now and he'd been eyeing up the line of Mississippi Buttress Varient (HVS 5a). I deracked all my kit and Andy racked all his and set off up the slightly overhanging groove line. Seeing Andy climb was a real pleasure. He actually apologised for climbing slowly. He wasn't at all though. Andy seemed to consider every move before he made it, not setting off before he was sure of what he do and where he'd get to next. I thought this was a goof approach to climbing, and very safe. The Varient climbs its parent route to about half height then makes a tricky set right and then traverses diagonally upwards with a 5a move in the middle. I felt like I really struggled seconding it. 

My lead and I jumped on Link (HVS 5b). I took a direct line up the overhanging arete next to Dark Continent. The Roof is split by a nice crack and good holds but it was just brutal. From the start it was hard, then a brief respite before tackling the overhang. Here I ran out of chalk and a random guuy named Wes threw me up a chalk ball. I then cursed, pulled and pumped my up over the overhang only to get stumped by the mantleshelf move. I was just so pumped! I managed it and arrived on top with screaming arms, out of breath with a smile from ear to ear. Andy came up with ease and then Wes tied on an came up. He was really grateful to be able to have a crack at this route and I thanked him for the chalkball.


Andy now lead Centre Stage (HVS 5a), another 2 star route. He gave it a little variation start which was pretty hard and the slab and roof seperatly where quite nice. However there was a big ledge below the roof you could have bivied on which took away from the route somewhat. It was still a good lead though. I then wondered around before deciding on the next route. Dark Continent (E1 5c) had been a bit of a white elephanthanging around for me all day. We'd seen a couple of teams attempt it (and bail) and we climbed routes around it all day. It also caught me eye as one of Andy Kirkpatrick's top 5 routes. Apparently it needed a large cam, so carrying both size 4's as they were the largest we had I set off. 

The start was intesting moving along under a roof to make a big move round the lip. Forget a heel hook, I had a full leg hook going on. Me and Andy both thought that this would have been the crux, at the back of my mind my brain thought "that wasn't so hard, so where is the crux?". Onward and upward through sustained 5a ground to gain a break in the middle of the face. Here I needed the "big cam" a size 4. In all reality I could have gotten away with a size 3.5 but I guess the not everyone is carrying such big gear all the time. Then came the wild move in the middle of the face. Gaining the break with a left hand and getting my right foot in the break I smeared my left foot up the wall and reached my my right hand up and up and up! I took me a few goes ot work out exactly where I had to put everything but I snagged a really positive pocket with my finger tips and rocked onto my right foot. The route was sustained 5b climbing from then on but I was fly so I placed a cam and gunned it to the top. 

By the time Andy got up there it was getting properly dark (not to say Andy climbed slow, it was pretty dark when I topped out). We had to nip down quick, pack up and walk out by torch light. This would have been simple if Jake hadn't ran off. We were staying at North Lee's Campsite, just below Stanage Edge, but decided that we'd all earned a beer and some decent grub, so going on Andy's suggestion we all met at the Jon's Pub.

Andy Kirkpatrick & Tim Emmett

It's been a busy week. I've lost my work keys which is almost annoying to the point of amusement (I'm in a lot of different rooms around school, all of which are now locked to me). I had a really good session at Redpoint on Tuesday that has left the tips of my fingers weeping for days. I missed the opening of the new bouldering wall at Redpoint because I was at lectures. In fact I think it's actually a good reason I missed it, last time I went to a wall opening I woke up the night after with incredibly sore hand (stupid new abrasive holds). 

The majority of my week has been actually going to some lectures. Wednesday night was Andy Kirkpatrick at the Severn Theatre in Shrewbury and Tim Emmett was small and personal at the Old Edwardian Sports club, Solihull. Both night were a success and they are really the only climbing lectures I've ever been too. Having said that I did get to see Katherine Sherrmacher at Plas-y-Brenin one cold Saturday night, for free.

Andy Kirkpatrick has sort of been a hero of mine for along time. In fact I think he's probably a lot of peoples hero's. I used to read up everything he'd written when I discovered his site psychovertical many years ago. I didn't actually know much about him at the time. I knew he'd climbed in Patagonia, the Lafaille Route on the Dru and loads on El Cap, but I didn't really know what any of this meant. At the end of the day he was just another climber to me, but someone who had done the stuff I wanted to be doing.

Andy Kirkpatrick's talk was well structured. He opened with a talk of him growing up, the fact he was going through a divorce (which he seemed happy about) and that he had a new "girlfriend, partner, thing" called Karen, who was disabled. He then went on to explain his motivation for climbing based around Captain Kirk, how he's turned away from alpinism as it's all about suffering and hard work and why El Capitain is the best place to climb. He talked about scaling Zodiac (A2, 5.8) with his Karen Darke (girlfriend) and how he "cornered the market in getting disabled people up big walls) which lead to him climbing it with Phil Packer (injured service man, raising money for charity). He rounded the talk off with a discussion about his own attempts to solo Zodiac in one single day, and the people he climbed it with and how his own ascent went (he failed, but in a good way). The talk was all in good humour, and very frank and open. He took the mick out of himself much more than he took it out of anyone else (apart from Bear Ghyrills). Sadly I didn't think he finished the talk too well, leaving me questioning the point of it all. I think that's how he intended to leave it though. All in all the lecture was very slick, his material very honest and the talk funny. If you get the chance to see him, I'd take it even if it's only once.

Thursday night was Tim Emmett. Rachel has spotted and sorted tickets for this and it was held in a Rugby club house in Solihull. There must only have been about 50 people there, packed into this little room most seemed to be cradling a beer (they had hobgoblin on tap!) and waiting from Tim to start. Tim was walking round, talking to people, fiddling around with his computer and projector, downloading something off the net to stream from us at the end (something we were not supposed to see) and generally being real. I'll get to the last bit later on. Then after about an hour of fiddling he started. This blonde haired, ripped but unassuming guy started off on a talk about his climbing, BASE jumping and wing suiting career.  

He was so enthusiastic about his climbing and life that the fact that he'd not quite prepared (or had prepared too much material) didn't matter. He talked us through his rock climbing, then

his ice climbing, a mountaineering trip to the Himalaya with Ian Parnell and then base jumping and wing suiting. He went on about told us about amazing adventures he'd had around the world, how he's tried to combine things into para-alpinism. He was pretty open about how he makes his money from sponsor ship deals with various different companies. He finished his talk off with a little about "the big climb" with Dave McLeod and Muy Caliente (E10 hard letter, hard number). He actually had loads of really nice things to say about Dave McLeod especially about focused he is about his climbing. The little section on Muy Caliente was sort of old news for me as it's been all over UKC for a week or so, but he did show us a film from Bamboo Chicken Productions about the climb. It was pretty cool to see a guy like Tim Emmett struggling at the height of his grade, just the same as anyone else pushing themselves to do something hard. 


He finished off with a short film about climbing and BASE jumping off the Old Man of Hoy with too friends. It's worth a watch here. I've seen it before but this time I saw it through Tim's eyes as he described the journey of climbing to the too and jumping off with too close friends, both of which have never really climbed outdoors. His enjoyment seemed to come from seeing his friends achieve what for them was the impossible and enjoying it along the way. 


Going back to "Tim being real". What did I mean by that? Well Andy Kirkpatrick came across and real the when I saw him. I could see him on stage, listen to what he had to say and enjoy his honesty and humour. I came away from the lecture, sort of wishing I had not gone and just left him as this hero in my mind. Tim's lecture was same, in a bar. I could see every expression and every smile. The passion he had for life, not just for climbing came across with every breath. He seemed much more real to me than just another hard climber who puts up E10's.

Goretex or Event? Whats the deal?

I've managed to get away with only owning 2 lightweight outershell jackets over the years. Both have been the cheapest deal I could get away with so I've not paid over £160 for either. My first was a RAB latok Alpine. You could almost say that Outside gave it to me to test as they put it through the till wrong and sold it me for £1.60 instead. I didn't notice at the time, only after when they sent me a polite note asking for the grand sum of £158.00 for thier mistake. I didn't pay.

RAB Latok Alpine

When I first got the Rab jacket I was very impressed. It was cut well for use as a climbing jacket (I prefere it a little larger) had nice big pockets and was dry. Having a dry jacket was new to me. Because I didn't really know any better I didn't see many faults with it. It did all I asked of it. 

Then it stopped being dry, so I cleaning it and retreated it. That didn't seem to do much, so instead I cleaned it off and tumble dried it (as per instructions given to me by a RAB seller). This also didn't work. The jacket soon became worn less and less and subsequent rainy adventures stopped being undertaken. It was quite sad, but I also completly lost my fair in Event. The same thing happened to my friend Latok alpine. Maybe I was asking too much of the jacket? Maye it just wasn't up to the use I was giving it? either way it sucked.

Outdoor Research Yellow Thing

Then I snagged a Outdoor Research jacket from V12 at Half price. I've only got a few items of OR kit but they've been really werll designed and simple. The Vert Work Glaves are excellent in winter. Turns out I'd managed to get thier flagship do all winter, alpine, superalpine etc jacket. It was made of Gore-Tex Proshell and a nice yellow colour (a bright colour is of most importance). It was made of stronger fabric than my old Latok. The seams sealed better, pockets slightly better designed and a hood that really does work with my helmet. I've plowed it through crap wet britsh storms, days of scottish winter, digging snowholes and occasionally wearing around school when I have to do a duty in the rain (this kids already think I'm an odd teacher)

The big difference for me is that the jacket is still water proof. So what if the sleeve leak a little, thats acceptable, I get heavy wear there. The Goretex Fabric is pretty good to say the least. It's breathable, waterproof and yellow.

So Goretex or Event? Goretex everytime I think for me... or maybe I should try paramo?

god dammit!

I always remember reading somewhere that climbing was a relatively inexpensive hobby. Now at the time I was buying one nut a week with a little of my paycheck from the pub where I worked and was looking horrified at the price of a rope. Eventually it dawned on me that maybe climbing was inexpensive. Once you have your rack, it should last you at least 10 years.

Ok so if you climb close to home then climbing is a relativly cheap sport. However add winter climbing, alpine climbing, trips to all parts of the country each weekend and it adds a little more on. I'm not sure where this rant is going but I finally had to replace a cam sling.

Well infact it wasn't a good weekend for my gear. In transit too and from crags I've managed the damage 3 trigger wires (3 seperate cams) so they've had to be replaced. Replacing the trigger kits is obvious but it's still pretty hard work requiring a hammer and a pair of decent piles. With those repaired it was time to look at the sling on the size one cam. I've had the thing for 6 years now and its had a alot of heavy use and for a while the sling has been overly furry and generally looking a bit knackered. I did look into sending it back to Wild Country, but its £15 and they'll get it back within 3 weeks! 3 Weeks? I can't be without such a cam for that long! Well, instead I looked reslinging it myself.

After looking into various ways of reslinging and checking the BD website for thier lab tests on stuff like this, I narrowed it down to either a thing tape or dyneema. I was put off by the dyneema as I thought the knot would be massive and chunky (you need to tie a triple fishermans knot) so opted for some sling. As it happened the sling material was too thick and I ended up with the dyneema! The knots isn't actually that bulky at all and it works just fine. I was worried that I would worry about using a tied piece of gear, but it gives me no bother. All in all I'm happy with it.

Birchen, chopsticks and mushrooms

After a week of either good grit weather (cold and dry) or seemingly torrential rain I managed to get out at the weekend for a foray into the Peak district. Considering I spent 3 years living in Stoke I never really explored the Peak to it's full potential as I always seemed to end up at the Roaches, windgather or trying to go to wales. Since I brought the Stanage Guide and the Froggatt to Black Rocks Guide, I've been determined to explore the east peak more, so Saturday morning I got up early with Rachel, dropping in at Stoke to pick up everyones favourite French trad climber (Sid) and headed off to Birchen Edge.

A few of my friends have been to Birchen before and I've heard good things about it but I'd never been myself. We took a winding journey through the Peak driving through the grounds of Chatsworth House which was nice surprise. We also managed to spot a feild of Reindeer and a field of smaller more native looking deer. We parked up at the Robin Hood pub and walking in from thier, walking across the top of the crag instead of along the bottom.

Sid took the sharp end first and lead Trafalgar Wall (S 4b) which had a pretty hard start. Not bad for Sid's 4th trad lead ever. While Rach was taking a few photo's she met a Guy from her last trip to Font there named Chopsticks Phil, and his climbing partner Hannah. Chopsticks Phil is named from the use of Chopsticks that hold his hair up, Hannah was simply named at birth (I guess). From this chance meeting our party grew in size. I then tried a route called Hangover (E1 5b) but messed it up so many times and fell off I gave up in the end. Instead I jumped on Camperdown Crawl (HS 4c) which had a hard start and a very easy finish (reflecting the grade). It was a really treat to get some awesome finger jams in on the start though. They where just big enough for my fingers! 


After watching a guy solo the arete next to me while I was doing Camperdown, me and Chopsticks with his battered looking bouldering pad set about having a crack at it. Phil soloed it first with a tiny crimp round the Arete and a mono pocket low down then I managed it with the arete and a crimpy sidepull on the face. Both yeilded a nice solo seeing as the difficulties only extended to the first 10ft and I had Bulbous Brow (E1 5c) in the bag. Seeing as I'd managed to solo brow I then did the 5b and 5c starts to Camperdown Crawl.


The day was going well so we decided to explore another bit of Birchen Edge, especially after seeing the picture of the corner crack of Nelson's Nemesis in the guide book. We wondered across to the buttress, us through the woods and Phil and Hannah along the top till we heard Phil yodelling to annouce he'd found the crag. Phil and Hannah racked up for a "well endowed" HVD route (which Phil displayed his amazing mountain boot hell hooking ability) and Sid went for Nelson's Nemsis (HS 4b). This was Sid's hardest lead to date. He started off really well and eventually bunged in a good cam. Then he bridged up the corner crack and placed a nice and unshiny torque nut before moving out under the roof.


Then he went for it getting his hands along the traverse and leaving his feet behind. Me and Rach started yelling to take adventage of the little tiny edges for his feet. In the end he retreated from the lip shaking. He yell for me to take and I asked why?, "so I can rest" was the response. I told him I wasn't and that he'd be fine. This time he went for it again, moving quicker with the hands and getting his feet sorted, straight to the edge and getting round the arete where he sighed with relief. In went another piece of gear, clip and he was off again. I watched his shaking legs dissappear from view and soon later I heard "safe". I felt bad for not taking him, but he needed it. In the end I think he appriciated it. 


I seconded the route and found that the hand traverse was HARD. Coming out from the corner and getting the handhold by the lip was hard, The little holds for your feet where polished as hell and the good hold I thought he was going for was a shite crimp. Bloody marvelous effort from Sid.

I then took Cook's Rib (E1 6a) as much final route of the day. The crux was a escapable and avoidable rockovery move, protected above your head by a good cam. I went up, placed my gear and reversed to the floor, had a good look at the route and then went for it, slapping for a flat edged hold which was a bit crap to be honest. Then I rocked over. It was quite good. Both Rach and Sid seconded the route using the arete to get the 5c tick. I guess climbing was over for the day after that. We walked back through the sunset looking for mushrooms before getting into the Robin Hood's in for a nice Pint of Cockery Hoop. All in all a good day. 

POD Black Ice, first impression.

This is not a full review, far from it. I've carried the sack around for one weekend? hardly putting it through it's paces but I wanted to write up my first impressions anyway. 

It's a size 3 POD black ice. POD are famous for bombproof simple packs tha really stand the test of time. This pack is no different. I did already own a Lowe Alpine pack, but it literally hurt my back so after 3 years of good use I've decided I don't want another winter of backpain and thought I'd upgrade. I've been thinking about packs quite a bit recently and decided to try a POD sack under the premise that I'll probably end up with one anyway. My choice was between the new style sack with the roll top closure and the old school Black Ice. The deal clincher was the heavy, stronger fabric that the black ice is made from, meaning it'll be more hardwearing. 

It's a big sack, about 50 litres. You can remove the lid, the waist belt and back frame should you ever need to. All are really simple to do. Normally I cut off everything from my pack that I don't need but I'm struggling to find something to cut off this pack. I can fit everything I need for a days cragging, plus a belay jacket for staying warm in winter and double ropes. I've also packed it up with my normal winter pack and low and behold... it all fits (that includes crampons in the pack too!). But when it's been emptied down the sack compresses quite well and seems fine for carrying whilst climbing.

How did it fair this weekend then? Well tramping to the sea cliffs of Gogarth with full rack and double ropes was no problem for it (unsurprisingly). I even managed to snuggle down in my belay jacket with my flask of coffee to wait at the crag. Seeing as we moved from crag to crag trying to find somewhere that wasn't rammed full of people we walked for about an hour and there where not problems carrying it. As for Sunday walking up to Pant Ifan across the boulders field and scree terrain there was no problem with the packs stability.

So far it's living up to expectations.

Slow teams, Sea cliffs and Silly Arete...

 

So I should have been in the Lake District this weekend just gone with the Wrekin, but the allure of a trip to Gogarth was too great, and I'm a sucker for Gogarth. An alpine start on the friday morning was disrupted by Toaf and some keys, setting us back an hour. We still managed to meet Stewie and get some breakfast at Eric's Cafe. Here we met Tom, swapped into one car and hit the road to Anglesey. 

Toaf and Tom dislike climbing at Gogarth (they'll also admit it so they won't mind me putting it on here). Its not the climbing, it's the fact that you spend the time dangling around above the ocean I think. I can see where they're coming from completely. More than once I've let it get to me. Toaf will stretch to Wen Zawn, so that was where we headed, however it seemed like the world and his wife was heading to Wen so we buggered off that plan. Instead we took a short detour to Main Cliff.

You can walk into main cliff, but the word work is a loose term (as is the terrain, joke!). Sitting on the rim enjoying pre climb snacks Me and Stewie teamed up to climb something down on the cliff. On the cards was either The Strand or Gogarth itself. As we got down a scottish/finnish team was heading for the strand so we went straight to the base of Goagarth (E1 5b). Annoyingly there was a party on the first pitch, but after being reassured by thier friend that they where a quick team off we set up after them, taking our time.

As it happened they where not a quick team and we got held up all the way. We estimated that it must have taken us twice as long, but it least it meant we could take it easy. 

P1 (4b) fell to Stewie a groove to a sound belay while I hung out listening to the waves crash around beneath me. This pitch took us ages and my thoughts where left to wonder, normally towards the reason as to why the party before us was taking so long. I got P2 (5a) and traverse on small crimps which then went up and back round on itself. The pitch was definatly "out there" and not what I was expecting (quarztite always takes a little getting used to). I wasn't impressed with my ropework as I should have put more runners in on the final section. I was more worried about m0ving quickly for some odd reason.

P3 & 4 (5a) we ran together with Stewie taking a long (40m+) lead. From my stance on the 2nd belay I had a really good look at the final pitch and the crack system I would have to contend with. Stewie lead a good pitch of pretty hard slab and corner climbing and we sat eating wine gums, chewy sweets and waiting on the last but one belay. As we'd been climbing another party below us had started and I'd been talking to them. The poor guy had unleashed a krab of wires on the second pitch loosing what thier thought was a set of medium size rocks. Thankfully it only turned out to be 4 or 5, but I still made a note to be extra careful.

P5 (or p4 depending on how you look at it). It was supposed ot be a 5b pitch and looked like it too 3 steep/slightly overhanging cracks. I traversed out below them and placed enough gear should I fall off (Stewie commented that it was more than I use on most belays!). I knew the crux would be short (3 metres) and I could probably power through and place something after, so I went for it. The crux was hard. Like really hard but I managed it without coming off and then found that the rest of the climb seemed about 5a, not quite what I was hoping for. I got something in and then carried one, hanging on loose sounding flakes until I topped out on a gravelly ledge. Stewie must have managed it easily as he seemed to fly up it. 

So thanks to being stuck behind someone it took us most of the day to complete this route. By now Tom & Toaf had moved off to climb on Holyhead Mountain. We joined them to find Toaf topping out on a HVS 4c while me and Stu lacked the motivation to do anything more. Eventually we bombed back to the car for a couple of beers (7!) back at the Golden Fleece in Tremadog. 

Strangely I had almost no hangover from the night before. Maybe it was good beer, maybe it was all the water I drunk before I went to bed, or the nice warm bed I had in Eric's Barn. We breakfasted at Tremadog and set off for Craig Pant Ifan. Although Bwlch y Moch is closer I've been there so often that I can't get inspired. Instead I was to send Stewie up Scratch Arete (HVS 5a) while Tom & Toaf would do Scratch (VS 4b). Here's how it went...

I took first pitch of SA, which was harder than I expected it to be with some big moves to get over the overhang. Little did I know that this would be a day of overhangs for me and Stu. Stewie took the second pitch and started off the slab. I've told him not to btoher with the big gear (size 3 & 3.5 cam) as he wasn't going to need it but as I looked up I saw the final crack and rememeber I'd done the same thing last time. I decided not to mention it. At the over hang he hung around for a while placing as much gear as he could (finally my little cam gets used) and discovering the "hidden" peg round the corner. Later we would read about it in the guidebook! Not believing there was a good hold to go to, Stu then launched himself up and over the overlap finding said good hold and then carried on up the slab with relative ease to finish. What a route!

I then attempted Silly Arete (E3 5c) but after arriving at the overlap, I backed off. Someone had left a sling and maillion behind which I took adventage off, but I downclimbed it as much as I could. I know thats only a little thing but it meant alot to me. I was pretty bummed out about not climbing it, or not really trying when we got to the bottom... then Stu suggested doing Barbarian (E1 5b). 


Stewie took the first pitch and found it harder than he should he said. It didn't look or feel like a good pitch to climb though. I then had P2 (5b). I looked up at this massive overhang sticking out above us, "F*** that" I said. Stewie reply was somewhere along the lines of "just get on with it" so I did, begrudgingly. As I started off up the pitch with the first overlap I almost slipped off (good start!) and Toaf poked his head round to see what we where up to from the lead of Scratch. When he saw the overhang I was heading for he quickly called Tom across to watch too. 

Underneath it really was as big as it looked, but with pretty bomber gear. I got a decent wire in and then clipped the aging sling of a overcammed DMM 4cu, rotting away at the back of the crack (it looked ok). I thing thought of my size 4 cam, sitting on my bed at home. I'd neglected to bring it as I wasn't planning on using it. Last time I leave it at home as it would have fitted perfect! I then got up on into the overhand. With an extremely painful fingerlock which was so tight I was worried I'd get them stuck. I placed a size 1 cam and reversed to get a rest below the roof. Then went for it. I heard Toaf, Stewie and Tom yelling and egging me on as I scrabbled with heel hooks and slapping hands to try and get my fingers out of that tight lock and round again. I manged to get out, round the roof and got the ledge I was aiming for, shaking madly and tried to pull up on it. I tried so hard and eventually got it pulling myself up panting, sweating, shaking and smiling broadly onto the ledge. Never has climbing such a short distance taken so much out of me. 

Stewie followed my up with relative ease (I swear he's catching up) as I belayed getting dripped on by the roof above. He then took the last pitch, a 4c groove line. This was harder than 4c and had a loose block to contend with and was pretty dirty. Stewie lead it well and I followed still shaking a little. 

Thus ended our weekend, or so I thought. Stewie needed to get back so we high tailed it to Eric's cafe for a brew and he then headed off. This was going to be my first weekend in a while when I hadn't visited a new crag, but Tom suggested a final bouldering session in the evening sun before we went home so off to Carreg Hylldrem we went. My camera battery had died but we did some wicked bouldering (flashed a V4 first go) then worked a bunch of cool problems adding a removing holds as we saw fit.

Pictures...

Well I still have no can-opener but I have managed to add pictures to my blog again, after going through a different web browser. Life is annoying sometimes but solving all the little problems keeps me happy.

Pictures

Seriously. I can't upload any pictures to my blog at the moment. This is really really annoying. Also I've brought soup to work in a can, but no can-opener... how smart am I?

Peak District

Well it was a damp weekend anyway and I'd put my back out so I thought I'd take it easy. After spending my friday night working on my attempt at a finger board in the shed (lots of power tools, lumps of wood and mugs of tea) I had a lazy day sunday. I picked up Prescott on saturday morning them was amazingly ditched as we drove past the roaches (apparently his Cousins partner had not turned up).

So me and Rach headed over to Curbar stopping off in Hitch and Hike for some shopping because the weather was looking bad. I needed to get a guidebook anyway because I'm done with working out of my '97 copy of on peak rock (it's a great book, but it's a little old, outdated and only a select). I'm now bandishing a new copy of the Froggat guide, woop! Hopefully this'll encourage me to find out all the climbing in that area, which sadly gets quite neglected by me. I also might have walked out with a POD Black Ice as a new winter pack. I could only justify it by that fact I hate my old bag and it give me back problems. It's not a bad rucksack so I'll be looking to sell it on yo someone who'll get some use out of it than I do.

Curbar? I've not really been there before so it was nice to find somewhere new to climb. After a longer walk in to show me the boulders down the bottom and a walk along the base of eliminates area looking at all the lines I really didn't feel up to doing. In the end I settled on Avalanche Wall (HVS 5a) which looked slabby. I found out it wasn't and proper bumbled up it not really thinking about it. The cracks provided good gear all the way but, but hanging around to place it was a little annoyed. The route was a little polished too. I did however get a knee bar in and a elbow deep arm/hand jam. This in itself makes this an excellent route. When Rach came to second the route she got to within the last few feet and then her back gave you with spasming pain. I lowered her off and had to look on as she curled up on the bouldering pad in pain.

So that pretty much put a kibosh on any more climbing so instead we headed to the Grindleford Cafe for a pint of hot chocolate and a walk around the wood foraging for free food. We actually found loads of mushrooms and wild fennel, but managed to incorrectly identify a massive clump of honey mushrooms so we didn't bring any back. Better luck next time I gues. We then stopped off at Mam Tor so I could show Rach the distruction of the old road when part of the hill had subsided, I should have took a photo. .

Peak District (Sept 11th - 12th)

After a few weeks of completly not having my head in the game with the whole leading thing I finally think I'm back. To cut a long story short I slipped off an E4 in wales mid summer, pulling two pieces of gear as I went and missing the floor but very little (mainly thanks to the awesome Job Soames did belaying me). A couple of days later I then, in my infinte wisdom, jumped on Wings of Unreason (another E4). After I got the start sorted (technical crux) I couldn't actually bring myself to do the last move (psychological crux). I spent a hour there, wasting chalk (from a borrowed chalk bag), making my belayer really cold and failing to force myself to do the move. In the end I down climbed the majority of the route and lowered off the last bit, very humbled. Since then I've tried to "get back on the horse" as it were but to no avail. I was freaking out on VS's that ran out above gear and backing off things. However I cracked it this weekend.

Saturday was spent chilling out bouldering and climbing at the Roaches, in between the rain. It was a lovely day, bar the short showers that occasionally fell. We did some bouldering on the lower tier boulders before actually getting on soe real climbing. Hawkwing (E1 5b) seems tucked away on the lower tier. Infact it's right in the middle taking the front of a buttress but I think it just gets over looked. Hell it might be just me who's over looked it. The line it takes wanders around the overhang before heading across the face.

Snell jumped on to belay me and I set off. There was a interesting move under the overhang and round before a stiff little mantle. It was a "place your final pieces route" so I did just than and got as much gear as I could in (3 pieces!) and set off across the two breaks. The one for your feet gets worse to just smearing on the wall and the hand break gets decidedly better, thus ensuing the crux is right in the middle of the face.

It was wicked! The run out from the gear is more than enough to to get you scared but the jug at the end is massive. You can get a BS piece of gear in there but as I've said it's useless (maybe a massive cam at the back?) then a quick little layaway to gain the top hold (it's not easy). I sat on the top belaying Snell up (his first E1 5b, which he managed without a problem, even finding a pocket on the crux that made life a little easier) grinning manically... and shivering in the wind. My head was back!

So I promptly when an bouldered for the rest of the day at the "Piece of Mind" boulders. Ronnie showed me a couple of awesome little problems that pretty mean. So I ticked off and overhanging V4 that made you work for it and both sides of the arete on the boulder next to it, going at V2 from the left and V3 from the right. All good little problems. The rain started to come then and we ran away (we probably could have stayed) to watch Supernatural all afternoon at Ceara's house.

I woke up on a couch. This is a regular thing for me and I've spent alot of time couch-surfing over the years but this couch didn't do so well. Definalty a grade 3 couch. I'm going to have to write an post on couches.

I woke up with a bad back after being eaten by the couch almost to bad weather. The west peak it seem was getting wetted on. I was gutted but damned if I was going to give up hope. So I went and collected Snell, Ronnie and Chris, repacked my car so we could fit everything in the boot, remember to give Killian a bell and then picked him up and was off. The rain hit us as we drove over to buxton but no-one said anything about it. As we reached stanage we had a the makings of a beautifel day in front of us.

I headed straight for Tower Face area. The first time I ever went for a weekend away trad climbing I came to Stanage. I ended up on Tower Face under the impression that HVS was an easy grade (my climbing partner at the time assure me this was the case. I failed on the route, being lowered off about 15ft up. This was my first climb.

As you can tell it didn't stop me at all and on this day I went back and finally finished that climb I started 6 years ago. Infact it was Tower Face Direct (E2 5b) I did in the end as the line was so much straighter and more appealing. The start was just like I remember and I flew past my high point, then up on the bendy flake (it only bent a little) before commiting to the crux. I had a moments hesitation before I just went for it and got the final crack line. Pausing to turn around and smile at me belayer (with relief for not falling off) I noticed the weather coming in, hard. In went some more gear and up I scooted as quick as I could layback just as the rain arrived. I yelled I was safe and hunkered down behind a boulder.

As it happened the rain didn't hit us, well not properly anyway. Claire seconded the route and expressed horror at the loose feeling flake just below the crux. She then managed the crux in much better style than I did. A quick descent led us to my flask of hot coffee and a resupply of cheese and off to find another route.

We did Fina (HVS 5b) next. A juggey hand traverse with sweet FA for the feet lead to a hard moved to gain an arete. Then came the fun and games of working out the next move. I spent ages trying to sort it out in my head and trying different things until I ended up trying the same thing I'd started with. Last piece of gear and a awkward belay then "Safe!". Claire seemed to have as much fun as I did on the route.

Quick, pack another route in so off we went for a boulder problem start HVS 5b called Pullover. At the grand total of 9 metres it wasn't a tall proposistion but the first move was really hard. Personally having done two 5b climbs before I'd have given this 5c. Then again maybe I'm wrong. In the end after boudlering the start about 6 times and falling off 6 times I ditched my rack in favour of a bouldering mat. Eventually I managed the route and soloed the rest, which anoying was still hard. It was a wick route though. I checked the guidebook and it gets highball V1 too. I then set up a quick top-rope on it so Claire, Ronnie and Snell would have a go.

For some reason I then ended up soloing soloing a HS 4c called Hot Spur before we moved on again. Me, Snell and Claire then found a slab route called Big Screams that went a (E1 5c). The first move was the hardest and more of a bouldering problem really then you hammered up a sweet slab, over a slight overlap and then up the final slab. It could have done with a good brush off, but all in all it was a good route.

Thus this ended my day's climbing at Stanage. I did play around on another E2 5b called Shelf Life but it wasn't going to go so I backed off. It was a very relaxed day for me, but I still managed 5 routes and enjoyed some fantastic weather after the abbismal looking start. Having brought the new guidebook I was amazed by the amount there is too do at Stanage and how neglected some of the area must be. I'm going to head back and get one some of the more obscure classics in the area!

Re-slinging cams

In the good old days people would sling thier nuts on rope, tie thier own sling for extenders and probably climb in stout boots. I guess that how most the the members of the Wrekin started out.

Today however people just don't (apart from a friend of mine called Matt who ahs a rack that a museum would be proud to own. I'll definatly get a photo of it. He's go more cordage holding it together than I've got ropes!

My old wild country tech friends (to give them thier proper title) are now 6 years old. That 6 years of hard use and the slings on them are starting to show some wear. The size 1, 2 & 3 have been absolute work hourse pieces of kit, used pretty much in all my climbing. I've fallen on each more than enough times and they are still trucking.

But the sling it getting pretty worn on the size 1 especially. I've been throwing around whether to resling it on dyneema tired with a triple fisherman knot or some strong webbing with a tape not. I've got some beal 16kn tubular tape that I going to try I think, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Bouldering you say? (4th and 5th sept 2010)

After my first few days back at work I was taking a lazy weekend (unintentionally!). After a nights drinking up B'ham I had a hungover and late start to the day to meet Ronnie, Killian and Toaf at the Roaches for some bouldering... hell I'd even aquired a pad for the day.

People who know me well know that my view on climbing could be described as pretty, well... traditional (I guess?). It's not that I'm against bouldering as an activity, but I always feel that if I'm hunkered under some boulder trying a problem that 15ft high, I could we out on the sharp end in wales or on the sea-cliffs of Gogarth. Having said that being very hungover lends itself to bouldering quite well I found out. I mean your still out and legitamatly claim your "climb" in a broad sense, but you can spend the day asleep on a bouldering map.

So my bag for bouldering at least contains more food than is nessessary, a belay jacket of possible sleeping bag and a book, as well as chalk, stickies etc.

I spent 2 days boudlering this weekend. Saturday at the lower tier boudlers and I ticked off three pocket slab (V3) yet again, only the second time I've managed it. I also managed a couple of other 6a ish problems. It was just good fun really being out in a group bouldering. Hell I could spend a whole weekend doing it with the right people in the right location. Which bring me neatly around to sunday...

When I was supposed to be meeting Sid at Castle Naze. Sid was coming along with his girlfriend and dog. This is not normally a problem but when I got to Castle there a nice little sign stating that no Dogs are allowed on the land at all (something to do with "portection of moreland birds"). Either way I didn't get to see Sid, or the dog that day so we where stuck as to what to do. Rach is always banging on about how great the Churnet Valley is, so I manned up and offered to go there with her. I also knew that Tim, Ronnie, Toaf and Tom would be there.

I think it's best if I stop assuming places will be crap. That statement makes little sense but what I mean is unless I wantto go there I'll assume it's crap and I'll put it off for as long as possible. It seems that the longer I put things off for the better the place is. Churnet it seems has been taken straight out of a Tolkien book. There's trees everywhere! As for finding the crags, well I'd have just spent the day wondering around if it wasn't for Rach. She took me round to see Gentleman's Buttress to see an awesome traverse there and showed me where another bunch of crags were. Eventually we settled on a walk through the bracken to Wright's Wall to see the lads.

We arrived after about an hours walk through deep bracken, leaves, heather, stingers etc after finding Hidden Buttress in the process (not that I'd be able to make it back there) to find the lads pretty much asleep on thier pads. In the end we got a bit of boudlering done. I tried (and finished) a few problems at around 6a to 6b so I was pretty happy with myself. I also played on Rachel's Buttress to the right of Wright's called "left's wall". She showed me a wicked little problem that needs a bit of a clean but is so awesome!

So now I'm digging out the brushes and planning to head back to Churnet for some more bouldering. I guess wondered will never cease. My only complaint was that I'd forgotten my camera that weekend!

Wrekin MC trip to Angelsey (Aug 28th - 30th)

Off to wales (serious I should just move there) but to Angelsey instead of the mainland. Auntie Sally had sorted a campsite near Rhoscolyn (Outdoor Alternative, which is a wicked place to stay) close to the beach (walk) and a short drive to the sea cliffs of Gogarth and Holyhead Mountain.

On the Saturday I drove up with Rach from Birmingham meaning we could stop off in Llangollen. The significance of this that I could stop off here and do my shopping for the weekend. After stocking up on fresh fruit, potatoes, cheese and bread off we set. We climbed at holyhead mountain for the day. Starting on Ramp C Rach seconded a couple of routes while I scrambled round taking photos. Then I jumped on the sharp end and lead P.C.H. (E1 5b). I don't know what it means either. I nearly fluffed it too and backed off the crux. It wasn't the purest ascent either. Either way I manned up after some shaking and whining a little and did the crux (from the slightly easier variant!). Just after the crux I managed to get in my biggest blue hex (well torque nut). Its a lovely feeling placing of gear, it just defines a bomber placement! Then we wondered round the Ramp B and I lead Romulus (VS 5a). It was a good route but a bitter of a one move wonder. The I lead Candlestick (HS 4b) which was an awesome route. Both Sal and Rach seconded me up this and we decided to call it a day.

The Sunday greeted us with poor weather (clouds) which eventually became driving rain. After almost suffering another defeat playing domino's I opted to go to Holyhead and drink tea sitting in a cafe. My plan was that we'd have good weather later on in the afternoon. I was right and we had great weather, well too good weather. Burning sunshine and a 40mph onshore wind which ruled out Gogarth main cliff (after a quick sortie with Mick we decided against it). So ended up at Holyhead again and I took another shot at The Arrow (E3 5c) on Quartz wall. Today was not to the the day and I ended up escaping off onto Tension (VS 4b) which as it happens is a wicked route.

Then we left Holyhead through shear lack of drive to climb and headed back to the campsite. I fancied a walk across the beach and then along the cliffs to explore Rhoscolyn, and possibly get a route in. The walk was pretty nice and easy especially as the sun was starting to set and we arrived at Llawder (the crag) with plenty of time for a route. An added bonus, well a couple really, was that we were not in the wind and the cliff was a walk-in. Me and Mick picked Icarus (HVS 5a) to do, I lead both pitches. P1 was pretty cool as it looked simple until you actually go on it. There was less gear than desired but the climbing was easy above the run-outs. The pitch almost had me off as I tried to place a wire and nearly over-balanced. Never fear as I didn't fall off but finished the pitch a little more gripped than I would have liked.

Pitch 2 was just even better! The climbing was harder but the rock was better and had more friction. It was good bridging and jamming in the crack all the way up, but it was strenuous. In the end I thought I was going to come off, but I hung on and topped out, smiling in the evening sun.

Monday came around and the sun was out. Instead of a day on the sea cliffs we took advantage of the good weather for a day in the mountains. We did Grooved Arete (HVD) on Tryfan's east face. I took p1 which had a thrutch groove to contend with, Rach took p2 and did a great lead, p3 was mine and I went completely off route but manage to get 2 stacked hex's as a piece of gear! Rach then took p4, but slipped off and decided to belay there so I finished it. Rach was a little shook up from slipping off so I took the last two pitches. The p5 was the chequered slab pitch and p6 was a thutchy groove where I places every hex I had (always the sign of a good pitch). We then hightailed it down the descent gully and manged to walk off in the setting evening sun.

All in all it was a good weekend. I manged to get out onto a new crag (Llawder at Rhoscolyn), explored a new area of holyhead mountain and did a classic mountain route on a glorious day out.

Back to work...

For those who know me well enough to know that I do have a job, you'll know I work in a school in Birmingham (an outstanding school apparently, as I had drummed into me this morning in briefing). Like most school I've just had my summer break so I've actually had to head back to work.

This has been a crazy summer and in my entire summer break I think the longest I spent at home was actually 3 days. Annoyingly enough the 3 days I spent at home caught the wreakage of the house party my brother had had so I was left living in a dump. I've taught myself the basics of Sony Vegas, trying to put together another video for a trip to cornwall. Most importantly I've completly lost track of what I've done this summer and when. All the days have rolled into one massive trip away involving dodging the tide, abseiling into zawns, driving, eating bread & cheese, dodging the weather, more driving, waking up under and boulder, crawling in my tent, enjoying a pint in the Vaynol and donning a skirt for a night out in Blackpool, clipping bolts in a quarry to no dropping gear climbing on sea cliffs and walking off in the evening sun down a mountain.

It's been a busy summer and I've hardly updated my blog at all (sorry Wrekin MC). It'll all get done today... maybe.

A weekend in the Ogwen Valley.

So braving a pretty bad weather report off me and Rach set to North Wales. The journey there was a little interesting seeing as V festival traffic meant we too a detour round via Bridgenorth, then due to me jabbering on in the car I missed the turning on the A5 to Llangollen. Never mind eh? well we arrived to find Toaf in his car and we started to snuggle down under the boulders, soon to be joined by Tim, Andy and Matt. Believe me when I sat it was cosy under the boulders.

Saturday came around with good weather actually (we were all expecting it to be quite bad) so after meeting everyone at Pete's we ended up at the base of Idwal Slabs. Me and Rach set off up Hope (VD) with me leading the first pitch and Rach snagging the "twin cracks" second pitch. I then did a variation on the third pitch, taking a blank slab section before Rach lead us to the ledge. We then did Enola Gay (E1 5c). It was a pretty contrived route but good climbing. Both Rach and JD (using a sling as a harness) followed. Then Rach did Groove Above (S) with Matt Snell and Me and Toaf attempted a line not in the guidebook. It was pretty run out, not more than solo line but it went at about 5a. It was alright.

After walking down JD and Toaf spent some time bouldering at the Cromlech as the rest of us ate. Then it was time for a night in the Vaynol, so 6 pints later I stumbled back to my tent. Sunday started with Pete's (again!) and then off to Milestone Buttress.

Andy, Snell and Tim lead the Superdirect (HVS 5a) up until the final pitch and then too the Direct route chimney. Me and Rach did the Direct Route (VD) which was awesome. It's been ages since I've done it, but any climb that require jamming most of the limbs in various crags and salmoning up most of the route is fine by me. Rach also loved it, saying it was the most fun she's had on a day's out climbing. Considering our hangovers we headed back then, thus ending another weekend in wales.

A day in wales and a day at skyline...

It's raining, so I've managed to get to my computer and I've also managed to not finish 2 E4's recently, which is very annoying.

It started with a fun day of climbing with Soames in Wales. We headed up for the day and settled on some single pitching in Ogwen valley (Wales has actually got tonnes of single pitch crags, you just need a bit of nouse and a definitive guidebook to find them). We went to a little crag called Craig Caseg Fraith Isaf and started ticking through the routes. First up Soames lead Hollt Lydan (S) with a little 5a start, then I took Bulge (VS 5a). Soames them did Canol (HVS 5a) and I did Llech (HVS 5b). All the climbing was on good rock and pretty much good gear all the way up.

We headed up the crag a little to what looked in the guide book like another slab buttress with a little break at half height. The "little break" was a ledge you could have slept on and gave some broken but fun routes. Soames took A5 (HS) and I lead Olwthio (HVS 5b).

Then I jumped on Leaning Crack (E4 6a), which looked like a really nice little line. We spent a long while looked at the gear before I actually go on it. Eventually I had to. The first few moves where easy and then it became super intense for a short way and I had to place a cam really blind on the crux. I was pumped out and lowered off before jumping back on and having another go. This time I was over the crux, but with my feet wrong! I should have had them the other way around and it would all have been gravy baby but nope. As I made a really balancy move for a good hold, my feet slipped off and down I went... and out came my cam and one of the nuts beneath it. I slid down the slab pretty hard before landing with Soames (airborn at this point) about a foot off the floor.

Pretty bumped and scraped I stumbled away from the crag, humbled but happy.

Night passes and I headed up to skyline with Rach with nothing in mind. I guess my mind had other things planned and I got it into my head to try Wings of Unreason (E4 6a). Off we set with a pad, trad rack and a full flask of coffee. The wind was up and we had managed to dodge the worst of the rain by the time we got to the bottom of the route, not with me sliding leg first down a gully. It took me a while to crack the first move/sequence and I tried it a couple of times down climbing each time to reassess. Eventually I committed myself to it (accidentally) and found myself above a irreversable move. So onward and upward.

I got a good cam in a low pocket slightly off route and then made the middle pockets and the final piece of gear. From he I rocked into the pocket and ditched the rest of my gear. And here is pretty much where I stayed. I couldn't bring myself to do the last move. Rach recons I spent about 2 hours on these ledges trying to convince myself to make the final move.
[BETA ALERT]
I'll point out that the final move is a dyno (well for me at least). It should have been pretty simple as it's not very far, but I didn't have it in my. Talk about no having your head in gear!

And thus ended our jaunt to skyline as I backed off sheepishly. It's still been an awesome couple of days as climbing isn't about how many grades you tick off or how hard you climbing, but about having the most fun, and for me finding out as much as you can about yourself.

I'll have to go back and do Wings of Unreason though.

Cornwall, a southern adventure

Been kicking it in Cornwall for the past few days. I say cornwall but what I mean in Devon, Cornwall and Avon. Me, Sid and Rach drove down after picking up Rach from work at like 2230 on the monday night, meaning we had a nice arrival time of 3am, and to top it off it was pelting down with rain!

The Tuesday came around proper and it was still pretty wet. We made a break for the nearest foodery (ASDA) and ended up in the town of Bude. The rain held off long enough for us to get out for a walk along the beach. Then it cleared up and we made for Compass point but although the weather had cleared up sadly the tide was rapidly coming in. This was the first time this trip the tide was a problem for us. Instead Rachel (as a sea-faring hobbit) offered to teach me and Sid how to row, so we hired a boat and took it out on Bude canal whilst me and Sid learned to master the ocean, or try at least.

Wednesday was a nice bright sunny day so off we went to Baggy Point (Devon). We'd planned to climb in both Scrattling Zawn and Promontary Cliffs but the tide was massive and quick so we headed staright to Scrattling Zawn. This was Sid's first sea cliff climbing experience. We got down to the area we had decided to climb in and Rach had Sid's eyes lit up when he saw Scrattling Crack (VD). As he was worried about building a belay at the top f the route I said I'd jug back up the abseil rope and meet him at the top. So as he climbed up, I set off up the ab rope.

Sid had no problems leading the crack and topped out just fine. After a while we found enough anchors for him to construct a decent belay out of and up cam Rach. Not bad for Sid's 2nd lead. We had a spot of bread and cheese for lunch before another rapid descent down the abseil rope so I could get on Chiounard's Yard 1 (HVS 5a). I'm not a great big fan of the rockfax guidebooks as they just feel a little off to me, but the little symbol for this climb was "fluttery". I'd definatly say it was fluttery climbing because I have 6 pieces of gear in for the whole 40 metre route! Three of these were bomber, but all at or above half height of the route. Either way the route was pretty fantastic on compact sandstone. It had a few loose holds (both me and Rach pulled one off) and was beautifully exposed. I loved it, so did Rach and Sid.

With the tide hot on our tails be decided not to abseil back in but take a walk back to Croyde bay, foraging blackberries so Rach could make some jam on the way.

Thursday and off we set to Vicarage Cliff. The weather was looking a little overcast, but it didn't really threaten to rain. We parked up at the Tea Room and dashed off to the cliff. Alas us being so eager hadn't taken into account that the tide would be in. We had a choice of sitting and waiting staring out into the ocean, or sitting and waiting in the tea room. I think you can see that the choice was clear, so me and sid enjoyed a nice pot of tea and a warm scone with clotted cream, while Rach had coffee and coffee cake!

Off to the crag we went, take two! The walk in for Vicarage cliff is a little interesting. Finding it is damn awkward as the guidebook isn't too clear on where the descent is. It was only really by chance that I'd spotted the guiderope from the cliff top before that we found it. The descent has a couple of old pieces of cord to act as guideropes that end in a giant orange bouy, probably so you can see the damn thing when your running back across the beach from the tide!

Sid geared up for Tombstone (S 4a), his third lead and without any means for me to get to the top and check his belay, he was flying solo on this one. He lead it really well, with pretty much good gear all the way up. On the crux I was so nervous that his foot would slip off I actually almost couldn't watch, but he did it and was beaming with relief when he got to the top. I seconded this and concluded that it was not easy at all, so good effort Sid.

I then jumped on Harpoon (E2 5b). This was serious climbing, all about 5b on pretty bad gear. There was nothing larger than a size 3 nut, and mostly it was rusty old pegs. Having said that I got to place my tiny little yellow zero cam, something I've not really placed much and it was a crucial runner (thought it did reduce my finger hole to a mono in the process). The route itself wandered up the slab, using a little arete for part of it but it was mainly smearing for the feet and crimps and two/one finger pockets/edges for the hands. It was a great experience climbing something that you couldn't really afford to fall off. It's just something I haven't done for a while.
We then bugged out as the tide was coming in again and scrambled back up the dire walk-in.

Are final day in Cornwall (or was it Devon?) we packed up all the tentage and camping equipement and set off home early, but with a plan. Rach had not got to lead anything this trip os far so we where heading to Avon gorge on the way back. If we'd staying in Cornwall we'd never have got any climbing done because of the tides anyway. We ended up on The Arete (VD). Rach ran both pitch 1 & 2 together and sid took the second pitch, while I came along as a passanger (or and Uncle Rob would call it "technical support") and dutifully carried up a bad full of the food. The ledge that the route finishes on is called lunchtime ledge anyway so it had to be done! After a spot of lunch we abseiled off and got back in the car for the final journey home.

All in all it was a pretty cool trip down south. I've never really climbed in Devon before or along the Culm Coast so it was awesome to get on some sandstone like that. We took my camera and spent the whole trip filming everything with could so I've been trying to put it all together in a short film. I'll post it on here when I can!

A long over due post...

It’s been a long time since I’ve actually posted anything. I’m sat in Redpoint Climbing Centre after getting changed out the boot of my car (new car, which I’ll get to later). I’m on 1gram of something called Naproxen (which will give me stomach ulcers among other things if I don’t take them with food) for tendon/ligament and muscle damage in my thigh. I’m also toting a black eye, the relic of a vicious trampoline/ paddling pool/ bouncy castle incident (yes, alcohol was involved and no, it wasn’t malicious).

I’d love to say I’ve been climbing super hard in excellent weather, but the weathers been bad and I’ve not been out climbing as much as I’d like. I’ve been filling my time with other things…

I’ve brought a new car. Jess (tiny little red 1litre polo) which has served me, and all my friends above and beyond the call of duty over the last 3-4 years is suffering. Her little 1litre engine cannot cope with 35000 miles a year, mostly full of kit and people on the motorway. She’s been through a lot (sliding off the road in Scotland, keys lost in the snow, bouncing on barriers) and generally kept me alive and got me climbing. She’s now been passed on to my brother, who will hopefully have a few year good service out of her. I’ve not got a Ford Focus, unimaginative named Jess 2. So far she’s performing well!

I’ll try and fill in on what climbing I’ve been up to recently in the next few posts…