Not font fit

Myself and philbo are off to font on saturday for a week. We are living it large with a gite and a double bed (to share) this time. Byron and bob have been out there for a month or so already and a friend sam (schofield) is heading out on thursday... these guys will all overlap with us slightly so we should have a full on team for the first few days!

I have done very little in the way of climbing the past week or so, psyche issues and waayyyy too much booze and chocolate. My "get fit quick campaign" for this week is underway though so fingers crossed for me not being entirley shit when we get there :) Phil is in devastating form and will probably do everything in the forest!

Big up to dom who is currently out there (the powers that be wouldn't let us go together) ticking his way through some classics and sleeping in caves... apparently.

Font Psyche

Myself and dom had a banging day in wales on tuesday... the plan was to get to the pass/ogwen but weather changed the plan. After a bit of a mooch around trying to warm up on the roadside block we slacked it and attempted to find the PAC MAN boulders. Attempting being the operative word... we ended up spending about an hour trekking around the moors which resulted in very wet feet and no climbing!

We headed to porth ysgo as dom had never been and had an amazing afternoon. Weather and conditions were amazing and we ran around like headless chickens ticking most of the classics. I failed on popcorn party again, desperate! Dom dispatched this pretty quick and we both did the truth sitter, a top notch problem!


Yesterday i headed to pantymwyn early doors to get the be ruthless sitter done. I did it but it was a bit of a battle. I managed to drop the slopey jug twice before eventually doing the deed. Pretty chuffed! I also did the gasoline sitter, a really good quality problem.

Myself and phil have booked our gite for font and the excitement is high! :D

a day in the hills

Myself and Gav headed to north wales yesterday (partly so i could get a pad...... i got a mondo, it just fits in!) for some action. I was pretty keen to go and try jerry's problem at the sheep pen but it was drenched. We stayed up at the sheep pen where i did the pinch (classic) and a few other things. Its an amazing spot and, save for one passing shower, we had mint conditions! Psyched to return and give jerry's a go.

We also checked out the caseg boulders near Beddgelert. After an interesting and very cold river crossing i preceded to get spanked :) I did the caseg groove, prob one of the best of its grade around.

Was very nice to be in the mountains again! Fingers crossed for more good weather this week.

Gav working the pinch, 7a+

Nature n shit

Back to the 'mwyn

Blasted back here on monday and ticked be ruthless... it went pretty easily on my second attempt. Feels nice to do something hard-ish after not climbing for so long. I then jumped straight on the sitter (7c+) and almost did it first go but failed getting my left heel high enough for the last hard move. I had a few more close attempts but soon got powered out.

I tried gasoline (7b+), one of the newer problems there. I did the stand (7a+) after a few shots but failed on the full link, didn't feel too hard just a bit too fatigued.

I repeated thug mentality and mental extension so I am very keen to try and get the full link, thug mental, which goes at a hard 7c+ so I've read....

I'm hoping this place doesn't get too affected by the shitty rain we've been having otherwise it may well be out of action soon until next year :/

Shopping list for this week:

One big bouldering mat that will fit in the fiesta. Mondo? hmmmm

The Psyche Returns

I have had a real psyche issue recently which was very naughty!
I reckon too much time working at the wall led to de-motivation as i never escaped the climbing scene. Instead of climbing I ate and drank a LOT :/ so i am now trying to regain the old strength and fitness.

Magic wood was good, we did some quality problems. Tom especially did a lot of hard stuff, octopussy and massive attack among them. I did a good bunch of stuff up to 7c, supanova, hohenzone and jack the chipper being standouts. We met some top chaps and had a fun trip, definatly want to head back when i'm stronger. I didn't feel as psyched as normal whilst out there which was a bit annoying as i would/should have done a lot more..... leaves lots to go back for i suppose!

I had about 3 weeks off during the de-psyche and did very little in the way of any kind of fitness training so i have regressed quite a bit on that front. Have been back climbing pretty much a week now and slowly starting to get back on the game.

Last week i went to pantymyn and did thug mentality, first go this time, which goes at 7b+/7c ish. I also got fairly close to the sitter to which was encouraging. I figured some wicked beta on be ruthless (7c) and got very very close indeed. This should go next time hopefully along with the sitter. I'm pretty psyched for this crag, some good stuff to project and pretty local... winner!

Yesterday myself, phil, dom and gav headed to burbage for a full day on the grit. Me dom and gav got there early doors and were thus brutalized by the time philbo showed up. I did rocket man and repeated the nose, me and dom should have done west side story (dom falling above the jug!) and phil did zaff skoczylas and velvet crab. Phil also repeated bling date, got close to blind fig and had a good blast at voyager (!!!!), all round looking like an absolute machine.












A few of voyager.


There is talk of font for the end of nov/early dec which is muchos exciting, i am super re-psyched :)

I've had a fairly epic amount of shifts on as of late so there's been little to blog about! I have managed a few quick sessions here and there...

...had a look at beginners wall for quick blast after work one afternoon... did a few fun problems there and should have done neil's wall (7c), a problem similar in style (not quality) to the press at rubicon.

A few of us from work shot up to Ina's rock again after work where i managed to get even closer to cornelius, faffing the hands up and getting scared one move from the salvation of the large rugosity... doh!

Bob, nick and myself had another cave session where i managed to do the initial moves of halfway house which is a potential go-er! I also got re-acquainted with the broken heart moves in preparation for broken sam. That man nick cox almost did bust lip, was good to see the effort being applied... he did perform a good fall, slipping off with the bomber heel nicely stuck and haveing to be coaxed to the ground by yours truely! Bob was looking stronger than ever on rock atrocity managing the crux moves. On bob's recomendation we checked out a bring your on beer curry house in winsford once we got back = winner.













Me attempting halfway house, 8a+ and the cox on bust lip, 7a+.


Bob, gav and i went to kentmere's little font lastweek for an epic spanking session. We all did the hole, a pretty soft 7a+ and i did runs on a weasel which is a really good problem going at 7b. After very few more sends we retired to kendal for another banging curry and beer:/.











Bob on/in the hole, 7a+

Much love to Dom for crushing thumbalina, a cracking effort considering his smaller stature :)
...also tommy seems to be in devastating form, flashing some hard things in the south lakes, big ticks in swizz for him i reckonz!

The last week i have just hammered the training in preparation for magic wood on wednesday. Cant fucking wait, about time for some time off!

CAVE PSYCH

Went to the cave with stevo, tommy, byron and jay kay.
Pissed it down the entire journey there but was in mint condition!

I did trigger cut, yes!

Me and tommy did the sam's finish sitter (tom 2nd go) and stevo did the stand up very quickly. Byron blasted out rock atrocity for his 4th v9!

We all had a play on lots of stuff and i managed a pretty spectacular tumble on a very feeble attempt at loui armstrong = sore back.

psyched.

Wee update

Bit of churnet action, got scared on thumablina again. More respect for this route needed i think, eddy got some cool snaps though...













Spent the following day in work completely zombie-fied, getting scared made me tired :)

Few good plastic sessions... bit of fingerboarding and campusing which was good to get back on after a layoff.

Cave with byron and tommy... byron did lou ferrino and we've a beaver (7c), a cracking day for him! Tommy looked good on pilgrim (8a+) and i should have done trigger cut, dropping the last move.

Met, chatted to and got a hand drawn topo off chris davies and dave noddings which was pretty slick!

Detox and psyche

Its been a pretty binge-y week this week so a bit of a detox is on the cards. I've decided to slack off the booze for a while as it always results in epic deviations from the healthy eating, not good for the crankin'!
I perfomed the two currys in one day trick last saturday and wednesday and ended up in a cake eating competition at lastnights work doo after eating shitloads before hand! The good news is that the psyche is super high!

I've decided i need to get on a bit of projecting, pretty keen to put some sessions in to get some hard things done.

Pretty low amounts of rock action this week... i had a early morning blast to the tor and beginners wall early in the week, keen to get back here to get a few things done.

...and yesterday eddie, dom and i hit up the cave and had a top quality session! The boys performed well, eddie haveing never been and dom once years ago. A bit of cave psych has returned, i did sam's finish and should have done the sitter, i'll bust this out next time before getting to work on broken sam. I also felt the best ever on trigger cut getting close to holding the shot hole. Phil popped down and looked at his normal level of beastlyness, getting close to halfway house and having a good bash at loui armstrong.













Dom on lip service and eddie on bust lip.













Philbo on halfway house and getting his gurn on loui armstrong

After finishing at the cave and feeling fairly tuckered out we went to the liverpool wall for a bit of a pre party session on the routes and problems there. We then all got royally fucked up with the rest of the awesome walls team... met some top chaps!

Stuff

Lots of work on this week so had a few sessions slotted in before/after work.

Monday gav and i went to sean's roof.... good video of the stuff here. I did most of the stuff there, orange si (a nails 7b), my friend flicka (7b) and paint it black (7c) were standouts. Paint it black is a really good quality crimpy prow problem.



















Paint it black, 7c

Tuesday i had an early blast up to the churnet, i tried thumbs again (still getting spanked) and got on the project dyno up at wrights rock. Its a looooong way but fairly keen to do this. I then ran over to the virgin wall to check it out. Managed to fall 4 times at the end of the virgin traverse (7b). Its got some quite technical pebble pulling at the end, not really my strong point but it needs to be done!

After work on thursday a few of us shot up to the cave for an evening sesh and cave bivvy. I got fairly spanked on the harder things, cave de-psych. Friday after slacking off eveything hard i did a few things on the front i hadn't done before which was nice and did a load of long linkups....turned out to be a pretty good training sesh! Gav did rock atrocity, big up!

Out for a 21st in belper yesterday, 2 currys and lots of beer..... a run and salad in order tonight then!

Even more work this week so may be mostly plastic pulling :/

5 days on!

May have hit it a bit hard this week... :/
...been a good one though!

Few good training session's, a fantastic trip up to the bowderstone and a evening razz and kip out at the churnet!

Wednesday gav, dom, tom and I went up to the lakes for another bowderstone mission. Between us we did a lot of new stuff.

Gav did ears of perception (7b/V8) and him and dom did the power pinch (7a+/V7ish), effort chaps. Me and tom did frank, a classy 7c/v9 extension to inaudabile vaudabile, tom did his best malcolm smith impression with spring chicken (7c/v9) and i did the the low traverse into impropa opera (a probably soft 7c+/v10) after breakfast on thursday morning. Lots of the easier stuff was ticked as well, all quality problems!

Tom fluffed the final move on both the low traverse/grand opera link (8a/V11) and the lateral gruntings/impropa opera link (8a/V11)! Doh! Next time sonny jim.

I got shut down on impropa opera lefthand (7c/v9) and grand opera (7c+/v10) again so keen to get back for these and maybe the lateral gruntings/impropa linkage.

We stopped off at trowbarrow thursday afternoon for a quick play as it was en route home. Pretty foolish as we all felt fucked and only stayed an hour or so. I made some progress on iron man but it still feels pretty nails.










Tommy on low traverse/grand opera and me on frank.







After work yesterday, where i spent all day weather watching and praying for dry rock, me and gav went to the churnet and found... dry rock! winner.
We had a quick whizz up to ousal, where i finally did the ousal traverse, a cool v6/7a traverse that denied me and phil last year. I repeated bizarre (very soft at 7c) and gav had a good bash, it's a banging set of moves!













Me and gav on bizarre

We then went to Ina's rock where i was super psyched to get on cornelius. After repeating thumbalina i jumped on it and pretty soon got through the low crux section to the scary rock over move. I should have done it but the encroaching darkness, shit head torch and generally being a fag meant that i didn't commit to the match on the slopey rail. Very very psyched for this.
Youtube Vid of first ascent

After calling it a night on cornelius me and eddy i solo'd most of the stuff up there, probably a pretty stupid idea in the dark.... Ina city riot (E4 6b), whispering myth (E3 5c) and lethal weapon (E5 6a) recieved the head torch treatment! Eddie performed a pretty good trick of ripping off a crimp and tumbling to the mat's....twice.

Back in the shop today finding bugs and bits of twig's all over myself from last nights bivvy. Feeling absolutely destroyed and very up for a night of nothingness after work!

Trowbarrow and peak limestone investigations...

On friday the team hit up the south lakes for some rock spankin'!

Having got close to wheelbarrow on the last trip i was psyched to get back on it. It went down 2nd go this time, tommy sent it pretty much 3/4th go after figuring some different beta from mine. beast. Its a quality problem and I'm chuffed its in the satch!













Tommy and I on wheelbarrow 7c+/V10

Both bob and gav looked good on the pit problem, gav having an epic case of screwing the pooch on the slab! I did Ned's problem (a tricky 7b) which, despite the slightly grotty starting moves, climbed really nicely using some funky footwork.

Byron was certainly on form... bashing out the pit problem pretty quickly before getting stuck into the lower 7c/v9 start. After stripping down to his boxers and declaring that if he did it he would strip off on the summit.... he did it. First 7c for him! He later smashed not bad dave at woodwell, his 2nd 7c... not a bad day for the B man.













Byron post 7c celebration


I whizzed out to peaks after work yesterday. After a bit of a mooch at the tor i went to have a go at the thing, 8a, its tricky.

Vid of tyler landman beasting.

Its a quality problem, pretty psyched for it as well as a few other things i got shown there.

Home and out for curry and few beers with the fam, sweet as.

End of an era

Graduation!
I have now finished university, feeling both happy and sad in equal measures. No more essays is a fucking winner though! Moving back home took a while to adjust to but i am now relishing the free/good food and nice bed. Commuting to the wall is a bit of a ball ache but i have lots of work on at the moment so it all works out.

This shit weather of late had put a bit of a stop to the frequent rock sessions we were having although it means a bit of training is being thrown back into the mix which can be no bad thing. I've had some very good quality sessions the last few weeks or so, feeling as strong as i've been. I am trying to mix up the training quite a bit more, utilising my home finger board and some light weights on top of the standard.

Despite the rain we have got out a few times....

Myself, bob, byron and gav descended to cheedale to tie into a rop (!?). It was a good day and cheedale looked beautiful in the sun (gay). I did sturgeon in the cupboard (7c) first try after putting the clips in and on sited a bunch of stuff up to 7a+. I had been on sturgeon last year, falling near the top, so it was nice that it felt pretty easy... improvement feels nice :)

The same crew also headed up to trowbarrow and woodwell last week. I got pretty close to wheelbarrow which was cool as it was the first session. I fell a few times on the final groove section, beta was the issue here.... when i figured out the best way for the end i was too tired for the link, next time eh!




Spackering up the end of wheelbarrow, 7c+.

The guys all had a proper session trying the pit problem (7b+), byron got very close to sticking the good crimp and will bash it out next time fo' sho'.













Byron on the pit problem


It lashed it down=woodwell.
We went to hunt out "not bad dave" on a number of recommendations. We found it pretty much dry, although a bright purple glove was needed to stop drips on the flowstone flatty. I did it in 20minutes or so, it is a classic line. Byron got over the lip to the good hold utilising some interesting foot beta, bets on for his first 7c.

We also had an evening pootle up to harmers wood, the now non climbing banned crag behind helsby hill. It seems to be a cracking little evening, easy circuit kind of place and very close to home... happy days!

psych

Had a good little pre-work session at rubicon (still didn't do tsunamish) but blasted out kudos, kudos hard, kudos traverse and the dancing fish stand start which are all pretty classy problems.

Few post work trips down to the tor.... I got into the start of powerband from staminaband only to forget the starting sequence and thus get very pumped. Progress though!
Had a wee session lastnight with phil, byron and bob... phil and i did kristians problem (a new 7b) which is fecking awesome and had some good attempts at the tumbleweed stand start (7c+). Byron was looking good on tharrr weedkiller. Ended with a very sad (but fun) at-crag training session, byron looking ridiculous with his one armers!

Thursday and friday saw a bit of a residential trip up to the bowderstone with byron, tommy and gav. Thursday was soaking. I managed inaudible vaudeville ( a class 7b+), having to spend minutes drying my shoes after each attempt, before retreating to keswick, a pub and lots of beer. Friday was banging... a lot of climbing was done. Tom ripped the place a new hole doing impropa opera, left and right, and grand opera in a smattering of attempts. Byron did his fist 7b outside the cave, ears of perception which is a classic!

I have just booked flights to magic wood in september! Heading out with tommy, stevo and rob swift from warrington... first trip here so super psyched.

Happy Days.

Im shit

Awful indoor session.

Excuses include; drinking last night, it being fucking hot in the wall, lack of rest (?) lack of psyche(?)

No power on anything, i defiantly seem to lose that extra "edge" of power not training on plastic quite as much.


Chin up you miserable twat!

cdjskacnldskncacdsacdsmckldsj;clk

A big up to byron who did the left wall traverse (7b, Parisella's) with his spacky leg :)

...also the news is bob is currently ticking his way through the welsh classics.... king of drunks and the cromlech roof crack, beasted!

Feeling like i've slacked off the old training a bit with getting out so much (obviously no bad thing!), so after work tonight i'm going to save some petrol pennies and have a bit of a board/campus session and get a reet good sweat on!

...and the good weather keeps coming!

...another round up of the last few weeks!

Myself, Byron and Paddy shot to north wales for a 2 day trip....
The first day saw us at the cave where paddy dispatched the right wall traverse, his first V6/7a, great success! I repeated a few things and managed to link sections of lou ferrino together, very much de-psyched by the cave for the moment though. Byron showed me his mental "miss all the bad holds" beta on clever cleaver and looked very strong on the full 7c link from the sit. He then went on to bash out the pill box original with ease, a pretty stiff v6/7a.

With the sun heading down we then headed to the little orme to meet up with bob and his imperial uni cronies and check out angel bay. A pretty uninspiring venue in my personal opinion although a good time was had by all dossing about on the beach.
Beer and burger in spoons and a night at the imperial uni climbing hut with no water supply!

The next day we headed to the pass for a general mooch about. I got spanked by jerry's roof again, i think there is a bit of a mental block issue with this problem so i've decided to just forget about it for the time being! I had a quick look at/play on the lizard king which is on an amazing bloc up on the hillside (looks like a potential for next time) and did a few problems there up to 7a+. Bob dispatched the heel hook traverse and him and byron got agonizingly close to the cromlech roof crack.
A good little trip, lots of easy problems done and fucking glorious views and weather!

Boulderers and blue sky and Byron on Pill Box Original.

Home and rest. ...headed to ravens tor with gav. Ben's roof went down first time this time round woooooo! I also did powerhumps (the hard way) which is hard! Shot back a couple of days later with gav and max and i managed to bust out the powerband which was cool.










Ben's Roof.















Powerband.

Yesterday i headed to the churnet with max to check out Ina's rock with dom and eddie. We met them at wrights where after a warm up we all had attempts at thumbs (its still nails) and the route fingers in every pie (E6 6c). First time I've tied in for a while but it was great fun :D

Dom on Fingers in Every Pie and Eddie getting ballsy at Ina's.

We then headed for Ina's. Dom and I did Ina City Riot a really cool e4 6b solo. Eddie showed off hiss massive kahonas by soling some very high things. I then jumped on Thumbalina a super highball v6 or e6 6b, managed this second go. Absolutely amazing route and left me fully buzzed for the rest of the day! Finished off with doing jacquimo (an awful 7b) and trying Cornelius which looks amazing and goes at highball v9/7c or E8. Very Keen for this.










The high top out of Thumbalina.

All in all a cracking week or so!

The Tor

Met up with tommy williams and slow stevo at the tor yesterday. Tom cruised bens roof shortly after sussing the moves... sickening. I managed to fall twice at the very end, almost cried, need some stamina. We all had a bash at the powerband, stevo making the final move look path! Good little session although no successes.

Whizzed in to the roaches on the way home for a bit of a mooch around, i did the nadins traverse into slopes traverse which is a good pumpy link and had a go at mushin'... its still nails!

Round Up

With the (mostly) good weather of the last few weeks we have been getting out quite a lot.

Had a few good sessions at ravens tor with dom, eddie and gav which resulted in a few cool things done. On friday i went up with eddie after work and fell off the actual last move of bens roof... it was a head in hands moment, although im pretty chuffed with the progress. I also fell on the powerband with my right hand in the final undercut....this is a total one move wonder!

Last weekend i met up with tom newbury and dave westlake for some south lakes action! On the saturday evening i got up to trowbarrow for a quick one, did jazz phonemena and had a bash at both wheelbarrow and iron man. Sick Lines. Sunday i was shown the delights of woodwell and woodwell oert road, had a quality day out and felt absolutely destroyed by the end!


Yesterday saw an epic woodwell afternoon/evening session go down! After picking up Danger B "double oh" Cock of the Antarctic (king of beers) we were on our way and fully psyched.
Lots of climbing was done... bob was looking fit and strong from his strict vegetarian diet and tree climbing training in hyde park and got stuck into some classics... he cruised some of the toms roof classics but managed to ping off the easier upper moves of the crushinator about 3 times. Doh, next time eh. Gav managed the screaming slave, effort, and I did the art of self destruction which is very cool, super psyched!

South lakes- fact finding mission

With the weekend off work myself, gav and nick (cox) headed to the south lakes (in the new wheels!) with the intention of checking out trowbarrow and woodwell. Saturday was utterly disgusting so we resigned to spending a lot of time checking out the ales.

After a night of boozing, too much brioche and a bivvy at morecambe bay i wasn't feeling my fittest in the morning.... after the use of a local campsites facilities and a strong coffee we were feeling a lightly more sprightly, the weather was also perfect so we shot straight to trowbarrow.

We went to red wall first to warm up and get stuck in, i did a few cool problems there, gav and nick had a good bash at shallow grave and nick polished off "nicks problem" quickly which was very fitting! I got utterly spanked by "ying yang" which seems very stiff for its 7b grade!













Nick on Nicks Problem 6a

The shelter stone was up next... this boulder is wicked! Nick and I did funk phenomena, gav getting very close. I then got stuck into the classic problems... the pit problem went pretty quickly once the beta was sussed, really cool. I then did the 7c that blasts straight to the lip from the low crack (the buccaneer?), this is also very cool and pretty tension-y. Vitruvian man was up next... my 2nd go saw me to the final jug only to lose tension and kick nick in the face! This went down a few goes later, class problem. Finished off with on-sighting the groove and the slopes traverse, very un-stylishly!













The Buccaneer 7c

Very psyched to get back here as well as woodwell as i've heard its very good..... the pit problem sitter, wheelebarrow, jazz phenomena and maybe iron man will be given a blast next time.

South lakes, two thumbs up.

A good week

Saturday night pretty much the whole of the stoke awesome walls/v12 contingent hit up ravens tor for a bit of a camp out :) We climbed from 8ish 'till about half 10/11ish which is a pretty good effort considering most of us forgot lamps and head torches!

I managed to bash out the weedkiller traverse, out of my tree and the "undercut crimp jug" problem which was cool. I had tried the traverse before after a rubicon session and got fully powered out... went 2nd go this time. Out of my tree is a funky, albeit rather painful 7b that took about 4 goes, pretty psyched to get on the route extension. The undercut crimp jug problem is very cool, pretty chuffed.... keen to try the sloper variation next time which goes at a slightly stiffer 7c. I also managed all the bens roof moves which was cool as it was my first time on it, seems like a goer. Psyched.

A big up to eddie for doing the weedkiller having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on one of his first attempts!


Sunday night just i was cashing up and preparing for a plastic session dave popped up on facebook suggesting ramshaw. winner. We just shot down for an hour or so, did a few easy things, tried daves project (which is sick) and did tierdrop (which is amazing and very high).

Monday i bought my first car :)












Hello freedom and greater poverty!

Font

All in all a pretty successful trip, the predicted weather looked awful but luckily it turned out to be very pleasant indeed! Managed to get to a few new areas which was cool and just got in a lot of quality climbing and quality problems.

Highlights included doing berezina (pretty quickly as well) and then the berizina into carnage link. I held the last hold on this first session but dropped it for some reason, first try the next day and it was done, very cool to get a (probably soft) v10 done out there!

La Berezina 7c

Rubis sur longle and magic bus (at buthiers piscine) were both great fun, and both went down surprisingly quickly. La baleine and big jim at petis boi were both awesome problems, la baleine being ultimate classic and big jim (6c) being pretty scary with a crux slap right at the top! Gargantoit at gorges du houx proved worth the walk, its an absolute cracker and probably one of the scariest problems I've ever done.


Magic Bus 7b+ La Baleine 7a+

Back Keele way now with no uni work, (and now no girlfriend... pretty gutting and a big dampner on the trip :( ) a bit of "real work" and a lot of psych for a good summer of crushing, chilling and partying. A car will be purchased this week or next which will finally mean ultimate freedom!!

Off on our Jollys!

Haven't been out that much in the past few weeks, 3rd year finals and lots of work at the shop being the main reason. Had an evening at rubicon in which i didn't to tsunami (ish) again, and had a few fun sessions at the churnet.

Sunday was a good day, good weather and lots of climbing :)
Phil dispatched Warchild pretty quickly... still feels nails to me. Here's a video of some guy doing it, phil used pretty much the same sequence but used a full body smear to get into the undercuts, noice!

I got annoyingly close to the extended simple simon start, (another video, a la this guy) falling off on the move to the good flat edge on numerous occasions!

We then shot over to gentlemens rock to try a load of the new stuff. We did them all bar the hugeeeeeee dyno, the horrible left variant to high speed imp act and the 50p problem which wasn't very pleasent to pull on! I flashed humpty dumpty which was cool.



Off to font today, weeeeeeee. Very psyched just hope the weather is ok. Pretty keen for just lots of quality climbing, getting Emily up some boulders and generally having a chilled holiday!

Churnet and Cave

Had a few hours down the Churnet after work on saturday with Phil, felt pretty good. We did a few of the newer problems, Johnny Utah and Bhodi, both 7a+... although probably pretty soft as i flashed them both.
We then both jumped on simple simon again, Phil repeating it his beastly campus way, and i actually figured out the best foot sequence for me... hopefully meaning that thorns is on!
We then both did the crack, 7a and tried the imaginatively named eliminate "no crack" 7b+ which is pretty funky. Phil then pretty much dispatched warchild in a session, dropping the last move. Monster.

Good little session and the first time i'd been out with Phil in over a month!


Monday we shot to the cave where i had my worst ever climbing sesh! Felt fucked in the morning.... think i was just overtired from little rest. Actually felt like i couldn't be bothered which is a rare one.
I did all the lou ferrino moves, first time i've been on this... seems very long! Gav did the clever cleaver sitter, 7c, looked good on rock attrocity and did the greek up at pill box... a pretty good day for him!

We then went for some fish and chips on the beach and i flicked the fuck it switch and stuffed my face and got battered in the evening. GOOD SHIT!

summer nights

Shot down to rubicon after work last night with Gav, conditions were delightful! After a glorious sunny day being stuck at work it was pretty nice to catch the last of the rays in the evening.

Should have done tsunami-ish.... hit the jug first go then deteriorated from there. Darkness then stopped play. Gay.



Met eddy at ravens tor for some puntering around with head torches, its a funky crag, keen to have a few sessions here.

Camped out with a fire and few beers then in for work this morning utilising the new work shower, absolute belter!

Day Off!

Monday was my first day off in over a week so a day at rubicon was on the cards! No successes were had but it was nice to be out.

Manged a cool eliminate problem that Phil had shown me at the warm up area, couldn't touch it last time so must have gotten stronger. Did a millers tail, a bigger tail and bigger splash direct a few times to get the fingers going then set out on trying tsunami.... soon slacked this off (foot beta needed i think) and tried the non- eliminate tsunami-ish, 7c+... got very close and was slightly annoyed i didn't do it!
I had quite a few attempts so soon began to feel tired, pulling on the sharp crimp hammered my skin to. Pretty psyched to almost do it in a session though, fingers crossed it will go soon!
Gav had a bash at the 7b+/7c rail start, the heel to toe change proved tricky for him.

A bit of puntering around then home. Car issues meant sitting around in cressbrook for a few hours though. not cool.

the churnet.....early doors

Had another early blast this morning... got to churnet for half 8ish with Gav and met Dom up there shortly after. The plan was to do thumbs and then try warchild. I couldn't repeat simple simon which was very frustrating and meant that thumbs was off the cards for the day. boooooo. Dom repeated simple simon all to easily....

Dom and I then both had a good bash at warchild, my it is slopey! No successes but progress was made, Dom in particular looked strong on it. A quick sprint over to Bizarre (which i repeated 2nd go :)) to show the beta to Dom and then to work where i ate far too much porridge! ooops.

Felt pretty shit which was annoying, few days rest now as i'm feeling TRASHED from a pretty heavy week, psyched for a day off on monday and a day of rock!

ROCK

Had the first taste of rock in quite a while this morning, absolute winner! The recent good weather allowed a dawn raid to the roaches before work.

Getting our asses out of bed for a half 7 set off wasn't as hard as expected, it could become a regular pre-work event if this weather holds.

We (me and Gav Nixon) got to the roaches for 8 30ish and headed over to the 5 clouds. I was keen to get on Tetris for the first time, I had heard its wicked problem. After an inadequate warm up i started having a bash at the moves, felt pretty tricky. Did all the moves but one but time and the bitter temperature were an issue. I opted to just try the stand up, the imaginatively named "Hard Arete," which goes at 7a+, this went after a few goes.

We then sprinted to the lower tier to have a go at mushin'. After hearing some good beta from Phil and Dom (Brannigan) i was pretty psyched. A few goes saw me getting the toe hook to work and pulling up to tickling the stacked mono, a very cool set of moves.
Finally I had a quick run down to three pocket slab and the green traverse to remind myself how good they were! Leaving the sun and heading to work was tough.

Felt fairly strong but a little clumsy and not quite "with it" on the rock after so much plastic pulling and training, was very nice to get out again though.... things are looking up!

new to the game...

So this is my first post... a lot of people seem to be blogging so i thought I'd jump on the band wagon!

A Quick Run Down

The past few months have seen a few successes in the ole' bouldering. Breaking into the 7c's, doing a few of the parisella's classics and ticking off a few quality grit problems are all stand outs. A pretty successful November trip to font saw a lot of climbing done, especially by Phil (Rose) who ripped the place a new hole.

Me on Brad Pitt, Stanage and Phil on Eclipse, Fontainebleau

The combination of bad weather, university commitments and landing myself a job at the new Stoke V12 shop have meant I haven't been able to get out as much as I would like... I haven't even seen rock for 2 weeks! :( :( :(

A car is potentially on the cards with the pennies from the new job which will mean being able to get out with no reliance on lifts... a first for me!!

Me and Emily (the girlfriend) are off to font mid May which is giving the training a bit of an aim.... pretty psyched for this, getting out after exams and a car!

My V12 boss (Dave "Fat Dave Graham" Deary) is clipping bolts in El Chorro for a few weeks which means a pretty solid 2 week stint at work for me. The aim is some hardcore training before/after shifts, this is being partially thwarted by my occasional heavy food binges though! :S. Currently biking to and from work which mounts up to about 18 miles a day... all in all i should be fit by font and the summer!!!