Heavy gravity day

Just found this post that I wrote a couple of weeks ago but abandoned as the siren’s song of The Sheaf was too much to resist...

It had all looked so good in the morning, the overnight rain had blown through and had left sunshine and a breeze in way of trade so I decided to risk a raid to Secret Garden to have a crack at First Bulge. This had seemed a reasonable proposition on my last trip there and the wind had dried most of the problem but unfortunately not the slopey bulge above the crux holds, which was still suffering some run off. Hoping that it would dry off later I set to working the lower section from a standing start and after a bit of effort managed to figure a way get to the crux holds without feeling so stretched. As an added bonus I also figured out a way to do the crux that I am pretty sure will work. 

Having done that I sorted out what seems to be the logical line for the lower half of Sitdown Groove which, again, looks pretty doable - quite where the top half of the problem goes is anyone's guess but I will assume just to the right of First Bulge. The two lines are so close that they pretty much bleed into one another above half height but given that it looks to be easier ground above it’s probably not so important. 

Also had a play on what I think is the line for Topless Crack and managed the start and could get stood up and stable but a small and rather sharp pebble in the one of the pockets I was using stopped play after a few goes when it ate through my skin. Definitely one to go back for but I will almost certainly have to work out a different sequence in an attempt to avoid the skin mangling pocket.

A quick look at the top of First Bulge revealed that the crag wasn't going to dry sufficiently to allow success I bailed and headed off to Calver for a chip butty and then it was off to Baslow to try The Highland Circuit - something I have been meaning to do for a while. Even if I do say so myself, this seemed a very good idea, in fact I thought it was an idea with an element of brilliance about it that lasted all the way to the crag where I found out that I didn't have the guidebook in the van. Great - no guidebook meant no brilliant plan and so it was back to the familiarity of Curbar and the Trackside block instead – not such a brilliant plan it has to be said but it would have to suffice.

Did a few of the usual odds and sods to warm up and then got stuck into the ramp line problem but the move to the final hold was proving elusive to say the least. It certainly felt doable but try as I might I just couldn't seem to get in a position to get it statically which is the way it will have to be done as far as I can see. Putting this ineptitude down to the chip butty consumed earlier I decided to sack it off but got tempted to have a quick go at Strawberries before I left. It felt absolutely nails, so nails in fact that I couldn't do it. 

Damn that chip butty!

Let the mAYHEM commence...

With the tangible possibility of Spring approaching thoughts have turned to getting pROJECT mAYHEM to the next stage of completion or as it is also known spending a truckload of money.

Today has seen the van booked in to have the side windows fitted - unfortunately it won't be until March as the recession doesn't seem to have rocked the VW market too much and in fact it seems to be booming at the minute. Also making an attempt to get the R&R Bed commissioned though that was thwarted by the minor fact of the boss not being there - no great issue really as I know the majority of the things that I want for it and it was more a matter of confirming a few thoughts than anything else and also getting some sort of build date so that I can start to plan out the changes I am going to have to make.

So what is to be done? What follows is an extensive (and probably horribly expensive) list:

• Strip carpet off side door ready for window to be fitted.
• Remove opposite board, cut down to half size ready for window fitting and refit.
• Remove other boards and re-glue where they have come away from the ply.
• Remove old floor and speaker\amp housing - strip of all parts that will be reused.
• Build new lattice frame under floor and cut new 9mm boards to fit.
• Move leisure battery to under R&R Bed.
• Run power cables to new location for battery.
• Rewire front speakers and add more sound deadening to try and stop the minor but very noticeable rattling.
• Move speaker cabling for rear speakers.
• Run cables to new location under R&R Bed.
• Build new bass bin and amp housing.
• Wire up amps - power, speakers, RCA cables and the like.
• Rewire interior mirror via a relay to the battery and re-run the wiring for the electric windows.
• Build cupboards in remaining space under R&R Bed.
• Fit electrics - Invertor, cigarette socket and the like.

That will do for now as it is a lot longer than even I expected it to be and I am sure that there is 101 more small jobs that I haven't even though of at the minute...

Beasted

The original plan was to hit the 'works yesterday and have a session on the Beastraper but a rubbish night at work - i.e. one of those where I had to do something - knocked that on the head. Last night was better as I got to do bugger all and so today was the day to go and make a fool of ones self hanging off a piece of wood.

Got to the 'works and warmed up for a while and then it was time to hang - first set went OK but the slopers were particularly hard work as I tend to wobble like hell when on a finger board which I am guessing is a sign of a lack of core tension. Still I managed to almost do the set of six on whatever the sloper angle is on the 1000 series - 35 degrees possibly - but it was probably five or six seconds a hang as opposed to the prescribed seven and the three second gap between sets wasn't strictly stuck to in all honesty. For the second and third sets I opted for the easier slopers which went a lot better (who'd a thunk it) so there is still work to do in that area . At least the four finger and three finger hangs were OK and while I could really feel it in the forearms on the last set overall I was pleased to get through the session without too many problems. 

From here the next stage is to try and reduce the overall wobbliness factor when hanging and to improve on the slopers till I can do the sets on those with a bit more success - I am aiming for one set on these initially and build up from there. Also see how the three and four finger hangs progress and maybe drop one set onto the half digit holds but that is a few weeks away as yet I suspect - again build up from there. Lastly I will have to see if there is a stage up from what I am doing now (on the 1000 not the 2000) and start to work that in to the routine but again that's a few weeks away - you can't get strong when you are injured!

Getting shut down

I like to think that everyone has a nemesis problem or two that they just can not do or have done and can not get close to doing again - it makes me feel that little bit better about my own particular nemeses.

I have done Wafery Flake at Owler Tor (Font 6a+ at a guess) in the dim and distant past but since then it has repelled me repeatedly and while I really should console myself with the fact that I did it once and therefore have no reason to do so again it just doesn't work. Sheer bloodymindedness means that I keep going back and trying it again and again and again.

So far this year I have spent two sessions on it - the first was with Northern Dave and Brokeback Beagle where both just displayed how tall they were by reaching past the "rubbish" sloper and to the good break above - bastards! I had a few goes but because the problem sits in the sun (or because it is my nemesis and is therefore fucking with my head) the "rubbish" sloper feels just that - rubbish. Hit it and then grease off - repeat till everyone else gets bored and drags me off to try Conan the Librarian instead.

Went back again on Saturday with the plan being to warm up at Owler Tor and then head off down to Secret Garden to try First Bulge - a Font 6b that I was close to sending in a session the previous time but failed on due to a tweaky bicep and some rather interesting wrist separation issues. Somewhat predictably the plan went out of the window and a siege of Wafery Flake ensued instead as the conditions are feeling better and (so the theory goes at least) the problem is there for the sending. Conditions were better it has to be said - the sloper was only mildly rubbish and I was feeling pretty good on it but still couldn't get past the move off the sloper ending up inches then millimetres then microns short of the sinker pocket. Another day without the send and therefore another trip back to try it yet again. Next time I will pack the Whites - maybe a bit of mid-sole stiffness will make the difference or maybe it won't but it can't hurt.

Finally a new post

Which will be followed my at least a couple more as I get round to writing about various things.

So what have I been doing? The good news is that before Christmas I got out to Froggatt with Tomtom and Nai and sent my (according to the guide book at least) second Font 6b problem - Joe's Arête. Whether the problem is actually 6b is a bit debatable to my way of thinking – comparing it to the only problem that I can relate it to - Mr. Smooth at Caley - I would say that it was closer to 6a\6a+ than 6b but until the new guide comes out I will take the stance that the guide book doesn't lie. It also should be noted that regardless of the grade it is a nice problem though if it remains at 6b it will be a slightly better problem to my way of thinking. 8-)

Christmas was spent working and then after a few days back in Suffolk with the family I flew out to Italy to spend time with friends though the joy of seeing the Albanian Rat Hound again was tempered somewhat by him getting so excited by my arrival that he pissed all over my foot. Useless bloody dog... Withstanding that it was a good trip – didn't get any climbing done but had a good time anyway and it was pleasant to be in temperatures that while only single figures were on the plus side of the scale for a change. I don't think it had dawned on me just how debilitating the constant levels of sub zero temperatures had seemed till that point.

Getting back to good old blightly has also seen a slow return of the SYKE and with that a bit of time spent at the Climbingworks just trying to get back into some form which does seem to be coming together. While I haven't been pushing myself with circuits at least I am doing something in-between getting out and about doing the odd thing which I will detail in another post soon. It is also good for the social side of things as well – just catching up with people and having a chat and – astonishingly to me at least – being remembered by The Dawes.

I also seem to have made a brief foray into the strange world of fingerboarding which is an odd way to spend an evening to say the least but which has made me address the (probably long known) fact that I have no crimp strength worth speaking of. This in turn has repercussions on my unfocussed plans for the limestone (bouldering) over the summer and ultimately my somewhat more focussed plans to get A Miller's Tale in the bag. The sit start to it seemed OK when I spent some time on it .last year though the transition into the standing start needed a bit of work. From there through the steep section was pretty solid but it all broke down at the crimp for the right hand and while getting the crimp wasn't a guarantee by any means the sheer though of pulling on it was incomprehensible. As I am typing I can almost feel the awful sharpness of that right hand crimp so the the hope is that it will seem a bit less of an issue with some finger strength in hand (pardon the pun).