"Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God Save the King!"
As mentioned a while back, Murky Rib at Brimham was due to be revisited and read the riot act, so Tim's stag do weekend seemed the perfect time to do it. Now given that Tim got married in August we were slightly behind schedule but since the organisation of said stag do trip had been entrusted to Duncan Disorderly (famous for his eternal struggle to get past the 5th bolt on Body Machine) the fact it was only three months late was notable in itself.
Anyway the plan, as far as I was concerned, was to punter about a bit and then get on my nemesis problem but somehow I missed out the punter about part and just found myself stood in front of Murky Rib. Mmmm...
Deciding to ignore this minor flaw in my plan I repeated the right arete as a quick warm up before spending a very amusing 5 minutes watching Sloper top out the problem "in proper style" and then discovering that getting off was not such a formality. At one point it looked like the fire brigade would be required to rescue Sloper from his lofty perch but, faced with the ignominy of said scenario, he finally made it to the ground and so I decided it was time to "read the riot act".
After the initial couple of goes to reaquaint myself with the problem it felt like it would actually go - the part which had given me so many problems before (getting the toe on) felt good and from there it was a slap for the big dish before topping it out. The slapping the dish bit proved to be relatively easy once I had done it a couple of times but the topping out was a whole different matter - six times I got the dish only to stand up and then slap blindly for the finishing hold in a fit of uselessness. Six bloody times I slapped on that upturned bath of a finish and six bloody bastard times I fell off and after the sixth time that I decided the reading of the Riot Act would have to wait a few more days - I was going to try something else and then have a pint.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Hurrah for the Albanian Rat Hound!
This is an Albanian Rat Hound - supposedly bred to hunt and kill rats in truth he has not been especially successful when it comes to curtailing the numbers of the genus rattus. Up till last week his number of rat kills stood at the lofty heights of zero but after 6 years he finally got the idea and killed his first rat!
Hurrah for the Albanian Rat Hound!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Guidebooks
Having been a late comer to the world of climbing a guide book that can get you to the crag and located at the bottom of the climb you intend to do that day has largely been a given. Not for me the experience of having to negotiate Stanage using that now infamous BMC guide which worked from right to left instead of following the more usual convention - I am used to climbing with a guide book containing photo topos and clearly marked lines on where the route goes. In other words I have been spoilt.
Now with any guide book that doesn't follow the conventions set out above there is always a spot of familiarising oneself with the language peculiar to that guide and how buttresses and features are described - it is simply a matter of interpretation and once you get a hang of this then finding the climb in question becomes that bit easier. However when you are dealing with a sport climbing crag it becomes a whole different ball game - these are often just seemingly blank limestone walls with a series of bolts rising upwards with obvious features being at a premium. Having previously only been sport climbing in the Costa Blanca with the Rockfax guide book clutched in my grubby little paws and three years later to Kalymnos (which not only has a fantastic guide book but also the names of each route and the grade written at the bottom of each route) finding which route was which had not been an issue. Sardinia was to change all of that though.
Sardinia was, at times, a route finding nightmare - hand drawn topos are not that great at dealing with a featureless wall of rock so you have to fall back on the tried and tested method of finding a route that you know is the correct one and counting from there across to the route you wish to climb. From there throw in a bit of common sense to ascertain if it is indeed the route that you are looking for (just in case an extra route or two has been added in) and off you go but what do you do when you can not even find a route to work from? Throw a wobbler out of pure frustration was the chosen method of yours truly.
So the object lesson here is before even thinking of going to a crag make sure that the guide book is one that you can actually use to a meaningful degree. While all climbing involves some form of suffering to a degree, be that mental, physical or both, it should be on the route itself not trying to find the thing in the first place.
NB - I should note here that I don't wish to be seen to be criticising the efforts of guide book writers. Having spoken to people who have been involved with this black art it is a thankless task at best and without their efforts serving to inspire me in the first place the thought of going to climb in some fantastic places would not have entered my head.
Now with any guide book that doesn't follow the conventions set out above there is always a spot of familiarising oneself with the language peculiar to that guide and how buttresses and features are described - it is simply a matter of interpretation and once you get a hang of this then finding the climb in question becomes that bit easier. However when you are dealing with a sport climbing crag it becomes a whole different ball game - these are often just seemingly blank limestone walls with a series of bolts rising upwards with obvious features being at a premium. Having previously only been sport climbing in the Costa Blanca with the Rockfax guide book clutched in my grubby little paws and three years later to Kalymnos (which not only has a fantastic guide book but also the names of each route and the grade written at the bottom of each route) finding which route was which had not been an issue. Sardinia was to change all of that though.
Sardinia was, at times, a route finding nightmare - hand drawn topos are not that great at dealing with a featureless wall of rock so you have to fall back on the tried and tested method of finding a route that you know is the correct one and counting from there across to the route you wish to climb. From there throw in a bit of common sense to ascertain if it is indeed the route that you are looking for (just in case an extra route or two has been added in) and off you go but what do you do when you can not even find a route to work from? Throw a wobbler out of pure frustration was the chosen method of yours truly.
So the object lesson here is before even thinking of going to a crag make sure that the guide book is one that you can actually use to a meaningful degree. While all climbing involves some form of suffering to a degree, be that mental, physical or both, it should be on the route itself not trying to find the thing in the first place.
NB - I should note here that I don't wish to be seen to be criticising the efforts of guide book writers. Having spoken to people who have been involved with this black art it is a thankless task at best and without their efforts serving to inspire me in the first place the thought of going to climb in some fantastic places would not have entered my head.
That was the week that was...
For a few days last week it was time to get really rad and syked - the leaves were falling from the trees, the sun was shining and the temperature dropped into single figures. Finally that magic time of the year has come around again - dig out the duvet jacket, the beanie, a whole host of brushes and the bouldering mat, round up a mate or two to offer beta, encouragement and piss taking in equal amounts and get ready to climb Gods own rock! It's gritstone bouldering season again!
Tuesday was spent at Stanage Plantation on the Pebble and a few new problems got sent including Pebble Arete Left Hand which went down with a fight to say the least. In all honesty I was just glad to get it sent regardless of the style having blown the top move earlier in the day and taking a big plunge onto the mat complete with a girlie scream that had people running from all directions to see what had happened. A big up to POD and his excellent mat design for letting me walk away from that one.
A couple of other new problems (to me) got done - one in good style and one where I got up it and hoped that no one had noticed me on it such was the lack of grace I applied to it - ah well another one to do another day and try to improve on the style.
Lastly an old nemesis in the form of Pebble Arete came that little bit closer to being sent - without doubt it was the best session I have ever had on it but those last tenuous moves are absolutely gripping and were just too much of an ask to commit to on the day. One day soon it will go down and it will be a big day when it does though getting it in the bag means that I will have to start paying serious attention to Crescent Arete instead - eek!
Wednesday was a new crag to me - Brimham Rocks and what an amazing place! Conditions were even more awesome than those experienced at Stanage the day before not that they could prevent much skin being lost on the holds of Murky Rib (not Mercury Rib as previously stated). Even the application of much tape couldn't get me up it but I will be back and next time it will be read the riot act in full! The best thing was that we hardly scratched the surface of what is there so even without the requirement of sending Mercury Rib the motivation to go back is high.
Thursday was a washout but Friday was a welcome return to form on the weather front and so it was off to one of my favourite places to boulder - Curbar. It was one of those sessions where you expected little but got a lot - everything felt tweaky or just plain ached but as soon as I was on the rock then the feelings of being trashed just ebbed away. Problems that usually put up a fight felt easy and I finally got the much needed (and in retrospect obvious) beta on Strawberries. I probably should have tried it there and then but the skin was thin and it will be there for the next time when I am feeling fresher and hopefully a quick dispatch will ensue.
Tuesday was spent at Stanage Plantation on the Pebble and a few new problems got sent including Pebble Arete Left Hand which went down with a fight to say the least. In all honesty I was just glad to get it sent regardless of the style having blown the top move earlier in the day and taking a big plunge onto the mat complete with a girlie scream that had people running from all directions to see what had happened. A big up to POD and his excellent mat design for letting me walk away from that one.
A couple of other new problems (to me) got done - one in good style and one where I got up it and hoped that no one had noticed me on it such was the lack of grace I applied to it - ah well another one to do another day and try to improve on the style.
Lastly an old nemesis in the form of Pebble Arete came that little bit closer to being sent - without doubt it was the best session I have ever had on it but those last tenuous moves are absolutely gripping and were just too much of an ask to commit to on the day. One day soon it will go down and it will be a big day when it does though getting it in the bag means that I will have to start paying serious attention to Crescent Arete instead - eek!
Wednesday was a new crag to me - Brimham Rocks and what an amazing place! Conditions were even more awesome than those experienced at Stanage the day before not that they could prevent much skin being lost on the holds of Murky Rib (not Mercury Rib as previously stated). Even the application of much tape couldn't get me up it but I will be back and next time it will be read the riot act in full! The best thing was that we hardly scratched the surface of what is there so even without the requirement of sending Mercury Rib the motivation to go back is high.Thursday was a washout but Friday was a welcome return to form on the weather front and so it was off to one of my favourite places to boulder - Curbar. It was one of those sessions where you expected little but got a lot - everything felt tweaky or just plain ached but as soon as I was on the rock then the feelings of being trashed just ebbed away. Problems that usually put up a fight felt easy and I finally got the much needed (and in retrospect obvious) beta on Strawberries. I probably should have tried it there and then but the skin was thin and it will be there for the next time when I am feeling fresher and hopefully a quick dispatch will ensue.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sardinia
Suppose that I had better say something about Sardinia given it is now two weeks since I got back.
Overall it was pretty good but more of a family holiday with some climbing thrown in but regardless of that it is always nice to go somewhere different and do some climbing with a good bunch of people. Plenty of coffee was drunk and if possible I came back even more of a coffee freak than I was before I went, a horse steak was consumed (very tasty it was too) and I also maintained my onsight level at 6a+ which was pretty pleasing in it's own way.
Sardinia (or more specifically Cala Gonome) has been on the climbing map for a while now - a point that is painfully obvious at the more popular crags which have suffered from the traffic of a thousand punters - the worst examples by far being Fuili and Biddiriscottai (aka the Cave of Polish). If you take the time to explore the less popular areas however then the odd gem emerges such as Margheddie - home of the classic if somewhat scantily bolted 6a+ slab climb "Nomadi" that deserves everyone of its 3 stars. Get that 20 minute walk in sent, do Biberon as a warm up and then get on it - you might not thank me for it at the time but you will afterwards - trust me on this.
As I have written elsewhere one of my aims for this year was to get 6b sent (preferably onsight) by the end of the year. To this effect I jumped on "I wanna hold your hand" at La Poltrona and was sent packing with very little fuss by it! Now maybe this is a particularly hard instance of 6b but it felt like the living end of hard at my level of experience - in other words f***ing desperate. In mitigation I hadn't warmed up properly in any way shape or form but even so it didn't make or break the route getting sent - I would have gotten a couple of moves further had I been warmed up but it would still have sent me packing in the end. In contrast the "escape route" - the route splits at about half way into the aforementioned 6b and a 6a called L'Eremita - was a walk in the park. OK the final section was a bit exposed and it probably would put the living fear into a 6a leader but it was still easy in comparison and that, as much as anything, highlighted just how much of a step up 6b seems to be. Still I seem to remember 6a+ felt pretty desperate at one stage and they don't seem quite as bad now...
Anyway Sardinia is not just about limestone - there is other rock there too in the form of Basalt and Granite. The basalt is located more towards the south west of the island which looks really funky and weird from the pictures I have seen but the north is all granite - huge crags of the stuff but it is predominantly climbed clean or as we know it trad style.
The exception to this is Capo Testa - now this place is like being on the moon or something with
the truly bizarre shapes that the granite has formed - it is worth visiting it just to see these but the climbing is rather excellent too for those interested in pursuing such options. One word of advice - don't bother trying to climb it once the sun has hit it as this will inevitably lead to a lot of swearing and the like with next to no upward motion being achieved. I speak from experience here and had the rant that accompanied me being lowered off a very slippery 5c+ been recorded I have no doubt that it would have gone global on YouTube much to my embarassment and everybody elses amusement by now!!
Overall it was pretty good but more of a family holiday with some climbing thrown in but regardless of that it is always nice to go somewhere different and do some climbing with a good bunch of people. Plenty of coffee was drunk and if possible I came back even more of a coffee freak than I was before I went, a horse steak was consumed (very tasty it was too) and I also maintained my onsight level at 6a+ which was pretty pleasing in it's own way.
Sardinia (or more specifically Cala Gonome) has been on the climbing map for a while now - a point that is painfully obvious at the more popular crags which have suffered from the traffic of a thousand punters - the worst examples by far being Fuili and Biddiriscottai (aka the Cave of Polish). If you take the time to explore the less popular areas however then the odd gem emerges such as Margheddie - home of the classic if somewhat scantily bolted 6a+ slab climb "Nomadi" that deserves everyone of its 3 stars. Get that 20 minute walk in sent, do Biberon as a warm up and then get on it - you might not thank me for it at the time but you will afterwards - trust me on this.
As I have written elsewhere one of my aims for this year was to get 6b sent (preferably onsight) by the end of the year. To this effect I jumped on "I wanna hold your hand" at La Poltrona and was sent packing with very little fuss by it! Now maybe this is a particularly hard instance of 6b but it felt like the living end of hard at my level of experience - in other words f***ing desperate. In mitigation I hadn't warmed up properly in any way shape or form but even so it didn't make or break the route getting sent - I would have gotten a couple of moves further had I been warmed up but it would still have sent me packing in the end. In contrast the "escape route" - the route splits at about half way into the aforementioned 6b and a 6a called L'Eremita - was a walk in the park. OK the final section was a bit exposed and it probably would put the living fear into a 6a leader but it was still easy in comparison and that, as much as anything, highlighted just how much of a step up 6b seems to be. Still I seem to remember 6a+ felt pretty desperate at one stage and they don't seem quite as bad now...
Anyway Sardinia is not just about limestone - there is other rock there too in the form of Basalt and Granite. The basalt is located more towards the south west of the island which looks really funky and weird from the pictures I have seen but the north is all granite - huge crags of the stuff but it is predominantly climbed clean or as we know it trad style.
The exception to this is Capo Testa - now this place is like being on the moon or something with
the truly bizarre shapes that the granite has formed - it is worth visiting it just to see these but the climbing is rather excellent too for those interested in pursuing such options. One word of advice - don't bother trying to climb it once the sun has hit it as this will inevitably lead to a lot of swearing and the like with next to no upward motion being achieved. I speak from experience here and had the rant that accompanied me being lowered off a very slippery 5c+ been recorded I have no doubt that it would have gone global on YouTube much to my embarassment and everybody elses amusement by now!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
I am Jack's complete lack of fortune...
For the last four years or so Tuesday night has been crib night - head to the Sheaf with the dog and meet up with Mike to have a pint or two and a few games of crib. Now to make the game that little bit more exciting we play for money - at 50p to the winner on the night and a further £2 if you win all 5 games these are not the sort of stakes which will necessitate an offshore bank account anytime soon but they still add that little bit of competition to proceedings. Anyway two weeks ago was the first time in the 4 odd years that we have been playing that I had to hand over the whole £2.50 and it hurt - regardless of what I tried it was just not happening - I was suffering from the dogs luck big time.
Fast forward two weeks and the dogs luck was still haunting me with a vengeance - comprehensively beaten in the first 4 games it was not looking good but you live in hope of getting that one game to avoid paying out that extra £2 and more importantly not suffering the humiliation of back to back drubbings. So it is into the fifth game - the one crucial game required to avoid the whitewash and I actually get a good hand - now there is still a long way to go but this is a marked improvement on what has preceeded it! Possibly, just possibly my luck might be changing for the better.
Now it was at this point I looked down and realised that my luck had not changed for the better - it had just got a whole lot worse. The dog - that finest specimen of an Albanian Rat Hound known to man has just finished puking his guts up on the floor of the pub - two huge piles of vomit that bore more than a passing resemblance to a pair of badly cooked sponges. After that I suppose that it goes without saying really that I didn't win the fifth game.
Fast forward two weeks and the dogs luck was still haunting me with a vengeance - comprehensively beaten in the first 4 games it was not looking good but you live in hope of getting that one game to avoid paying out that extra £2 and more importantly not suffering the humiliation of back to back drubbings. So it is into the fifth game - the one crucial game required to avoid the whitewash and I actually get a good hand - now there is still a long way to go but this is a marked improvement on what has preceeded it! Possibly, just possibly my luck might be changing for the better.
Now it was at this point I looked down and realised that my luck had not changed for the better - it had just got a whole lot worse. The dog - that finest specimen of an Albanian Rat Hound known to man has just finished puking his guts up on the floor of the pub - two huge piles of vomit that bore more than a passing resemblance to a pair of badly cooked sponges. After that I suppose that it goes without saying really that I didn't win the fifth game.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Kalymnos
Just what was needed following a summer that seemed to be wet when ever I thought about getting out climbing - a trip to the sport climbing mecca that is Kalymnos. To say that I was woefully unfit before I went out there would be an understatement - the last serious climbing that I had done was a long weekend in the Lakes at the beginning of August which did involve a fair degree of climbing but also a fair degree of rain as well. In between that there was a day at a new crag near Turningstone Edge route checking with Fiend, an afternoon on the Burbage boulders in far from ideal conditions on one of the infrequent dry and sunny days that the summer gave up and a couple of sessions at the Climbingworks all pointed to a trip that was going to hard bloody work.
In the end it went fantastically well - I stuck mainly to slabs, threw in a few vertical wall routes and studiously avoided anything that was overhanging and just climbed as well as I think I have ever climbed. Thirty routes in 5 days of climbing at 6 different crags, a new best onsight at 6a+ (consolidated over of the week) and a couple of big whippers too. Add to that getting adopted at the airport by Sarah and Rupert (a great bloke as well as a sick hard climber) and it all added up to one of the best trips I have done in a long time. Get in there!
The one slight disappointment was that I didn't get on a 6b which was what I had hoped to do as my ultimate aim but I am off to Sardinia in less than a week and if I am climbing at about the same level as I did in Kalymnos then it will happen.
Most of the routes were excellent - there were a couple of exceptions but I will gloss over that and concentrate on those that really impressed me.
Damokles 6a (Kasteli) - not a truly classic route but worth mentioning just for the crux - just hang in there and work out the sequence on thin crimps.
Skorpios 6a (Syblegades - East Face) - intricate route finding up the wall made this a real pleasure to get in the bag - another route that is never hard but you have to persevere to unlock it.
Nauticaa Nausica 6a+ (Odessey) - probably my favourite climb of the week as it just took me to a dimension where I rarely put myself - total commitment above a bolt where there was as good a chance of taking a nasty fall as sticking the move. A grim collection of slopers which all point is the wrong direction with the odd chicken head to relieve the pressure occasionally but basically total balls out climbing once half height is reached with a hugely welcome easing off at the top as I hadn't taken enough quickdraws.
Pillar of the Sea 6a+ (Kasteli) - a real classic in every sense. Never hard but has a couple of sections that really test out just how much you trust in your footwork and your body positioning and then it gets a bit stepper and before you know it the chain is in sight.
Also worth mentioning even though I didn't get them cleanly:
Oreads 6a+ (Poets) - sustained and a pity I grabbed a bolt in sheer desperation after getting the sequence going for the clipping hold completely wrong but I could see no way out other than take a whipper that was going to hurt in all likelihood - discretion being the better part of valour and all that. Definitely on the list to go and do properly next time.
Drama 6a+ (Syblegades - West Face) - my first attempt at 6a+ and a bit of a pity as I went for the clip too soon off a really painful hold when I would probably have had it in the bag had I stopped for a few seconds and made the next two moves to the huge jug instead and clipped from there. A learning experience but a slightly painful lesson all the same.
In the end it went fantastically well - I stuck mainly to slabs, threw in a few vertical wall routes and studiously avoided anything that was overhanging and just climbed as well as I think I have ever climbed. Thirty routes in 5 days of climbing at 6 different crags, a new best onsight at 6a+ (consolidated over of the week) and a couple of big whippers too. Add to that getting adopted at the airport by Sarah and Rupert (a great bloke as well as a sick hard climber) and it all added up to one of the best trips I have done in a long time. Get in there!
The one slight disappointment was that I didn't get on a 6b which was what I had hoped to do as my ultimate aim but I am off to Sardinia in less than a week and if I am climbing at about the same level as I did in Kalymnos then it will happen.
Most of the routes were excellent - there were a couple of exceptions but I will gloss over that and concentrate on those that really impressed me.
Damokles 6a (Kasteli) - not a truly classic route but worth mentioning just for the crux - just hang in there and work out the sequence on thin crimps.
Skorpios 6a (Syblegades - East Face) - intricate route finding up the wall made this a real pleasure to get in the bag - another route that is never hard but you have to persevere to unlock it.
Nauticaa Nausica 6a+ (Odessey) - probably my favourite climb of the week as it just took me to a dimension where I rarely put myself - total commitment above a bolt where there was as good a chance of taking a nasty fall as sticking the move. A grim collection of slopers which all point is the wrong direction with the odd chicken head to relieve the pressure occasionally but basically total balls out climbing once half height is reached with a hugely welcome easing off at the top as I hadn't taken enough quickdraws.
Pillar of the Sea 6a+ (Kasteli) - a real classic in every sense. Never hard but has a couple of sections that really test out just how much you trust in your footwork and your body positioning and then it gets a bit stepper and before you know it the chain is in sight.
Also worth mentioning even though I didn't get them cleanly:
Oreads 6a+ (Poets) - sustained and a pity I grabbed a bolt in sheer desperation after getting the sequence going for the clipping hold completely wrong but I could see no way out other than take a whipper that was going to hurt in all likelihood - discretion being the better part of valour and all that. Definitely on the list to go and do properly next time.
Drama 6a+ (Syblegades - West Face) - my first attempt at 6a+ and a bit of a pity as I went for the clip too soon off a really painful hold when I would probably have had it in the bag had I stopped for a few seconds and made the next two moves to the huge jug instead and clipped from there. A learning experience but a slightly painful lesson all the same.
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