Decided to take a look at Carls Wark at Stoney yesterday. There was few reasons behind this, the first being that it was somewhere that I hadn't been before, the second was that it had easier problems to attempt. The final (and probably most compelling reason) was that I couldn't be arsed to drive to Rubicon with the intention of not going anywhere near A Millers Tale, ultimately failing to do so and end up having a rubbish session on it due to the exertions of the day before.
Given all the above I set off mid afternoon to go and locate the crag which for me proved a lot easier than the descent to it which was interesting to say the least. Once there I had a quick look at the left hand wall and decided that the 6a was a bit much for some lonesome bouldering action given it's highball rating and so attention was turned to the more amenable right wall instead. It was baking in the sun so an hour was whiled away with short bouts of brushing a few holds and forming some ideas regarding sequences and longer bouts of general idleness until the sun disappeared behind the trees. There are worse ways to lose an hour of your life I think.
It was action time - the 6a looked deceptively simple - left hand on the sidepull, right hand in the break, right foot low, cross through to an obvious foothold with the left and mantle up to the flake\sidepull with the left hand at which point it would all be over. All in all it looked far too easy for the given grade and seemed that way as my initial sequence resulting in me flowing upwards until I reached up for the flake\sidepull only to be stopped a couple of inches short and after a couple of attempts at something different dropping back to earth. OK it is probably not 6a for the tall then... Thought about it some more and then tried a higher left foot - no discernible difference to the amount of height gained so try some different handholds - same again. Tried a few more various combinations all of which resulted in tickling the very bottom of the sidepull and no more - things weren't going quite as imagined while I sat and looked upwards at the holds in the bright sunshine.
Deciding that I needed time away from this particular problem I then flashed the 4 in very bad style, again seemingly obvious moves proved to be otherwise in reality but a snatched fingerlock got it done first time. Tried a few more different ways of doing it and finally hit on one which made the grade seem feasible but more importantly that I felt did the problem justice in terms of style and movement.
From there it was a quick step right and onto the 6a+ which was similar to the 6a but the move upwards was to a slopey two finger dish for the left hand. I actually reached the dish once and kind of held it for a brief second before finding myself back on the mat with some sore fingers after they ripped out without warning. Experimented some more with foot positions without success and then back to the 6a for a final few goes which stubbornly refused to bow to my theory that I could reach the sidepull and use it.
With that a retreat was beaten back to the van and home where a few hours later while watching The Matrix (an entirely unrelated point) the one thing I hadn't tried crashed into my conscience - turning the right hand into an undercut. As far as unlocking the sequence goes it was a bit belated but if it works I take it. Hopefully it will make the 6a problem feel more stable and provide the necessary couple of extra inches of reach and there is a chance that it could work on the 6a+ as well.
Given all the above I set off mid afternoon to go and locate the crag which for me proved a lot easier than the descent to it which was interesting to say the least. Once there I had a quick look at the left hand wall and decided that the 6a was a bit much for some lonesome bouldering action given it's highball rating and so attention was turned to the more amenable right wall instead. It was baking in the sun so an hour was whiled away with short bouts of brushing a few holds and forming some ideas regarding sequences and longer bouts of general idleness until the sun disappeared behind the trees. There are worse ways to lose an hour of your life I think.
It was action time - the 6a looked deceptively simple - left hand on the sidepull, right hand in the break, right foot low, cross through to an obvious foothold with the left and mantle up to the flake\sidepull with the left hand at which point it would all be over. All in all it looked far too easy for the given grade and seemed that way as my initial sequence resulting in me flowing upwards until I reached up for the flake\sidepull only to be stopped a couple of inches short and after a couple of attempts at something different dropping back to earth. OK it is probably not 6a for the tall then... Thought about it some more and then tried a higher left foot - no discernible difference to the amount of height gained so try some different handholds - same again. Tried a few more various combinations all of which resulted in tickling the very bottom of the sidepull and no more - things weren't going quite as imagined while I sat and looked upwards at the holds in the bright sunshine.
Deciding that I needed time away from this particular problem I then flashed the 4 in very bad style, again seemingly obvious moves proved to be otherwise in reality but a snatched fingerlock got it done first time. Tried a few more different ways of doing it and finally hit on one which made the grade seem feasible but more importantly that I felt did the problem justice in terms of style and movement.
From there it was a quick step right and onto the 6a+ which was similar to the 6a but the move upwards was to a slopey two finger dish for the left hand. I actually reached the dish once and kind of held it for a brief second before finding myself back on the mat with some sore fingers after they ripped out without warning. Experimented some more with foot positions without success and then back to the 6a for a final few goes which stubbornly refused to bow to my theory that I could reach the sidepull and use it.
With that a retreat was beaten back to the van and home where a few hours later while watching The Matrix (an entirely unrelated point) the one thing I hadn't tried crashed into my conscience - turning the right hand into an undercut. As far as unlocking the sequence goes it was a bit belated but if it works I take it. Hopefully it will make the 6a problem feel more stable and provide the necessary couple of extra inches of reach and there is a chance that it could work on the 6a+ as well.
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