Other stuff

One of the reasons that I have been out of the loop re: blogging for a while is that I have been doing stuff on pROJECT mAYHEM though not as much as I would have liked due to missing the best part of a month down to Christmas and then the wintry conditions which followed.

Another reason is that (for me at least) I have been climbing a fair bit in the last week or so. First outing was a part of a mates 40th birthday do in Wales which resulted in a first time visit to the Sheep Pen Boulders. It wasn't the most productive of trips as I had consumed what could quite rightly be called a prodigious amount of beer the night before but spending the night in the van seemed to have mitigated the worst of the ill effects that I really should have been feeling so off we went. The great plan was also hampered by yours truly forgetting to pick up his bag of climbing gear when leaving Sheffield resulting in a rather painful outlay of £80 that I really couldn't afford but the resulting day spent luxuriating in the relative painlessness obtained by going up half a size helped. Unfortunately the new shoes didn't make the walk in any easier (I thought I was Fiend I was blowing so badly) or give me access to vast amounts of previously untapped talent - if anything the talent available was even less than usual. First couple of problems got dispatched and then I had a major wobble topping something out which rather shocked me and things lulled for a while before going on to try a fair few problems at the top end of my ability and not getting too far. This was largely down to the rather awkward style of climbing on the Sheep Pen Boulders (it might be a feature of the rock but I haven't done enough in North Wales to say). This is not to say that the climbing is bad - it is very good but all of us struggled a bit to come to terms with the movement required. A few more trips to figure out how to unlock the rock and I think I could get quite good (relatively speaking) on it as it seems to suit the basics of my climbing with good edges and quite powerful moves all wrapped up in some improbable sequences. Nice! Finished off the day trying Dog Shooter which is totally my style and should go next time with a bit more commitment and a bit more fitness.

Thursday was the Climbingworks with Flipper and Beagles - tried the green and pink spots circuit which started off OK before descending at about problem 13 into a mass of nasty thrutchy oddness which really didn't find any sort of appreciation from me. Did OK though considering I had finished work at 7AM that morning - flashed one of the black and purple spots problems at about 6a+ which I was pleased with and then promptly ran out of steam. Good fun all round but it proved to me that I need to get some fitness and soon!

Saturday\Sunday was spent at Almscliff - the Saturday wasn't much fun with a baltic wind blowing in and the odd shower following it. Went to have a look at The Crucifix but the ground underneath was a churned up bog so sacked that idea, played on Flying Arête and got the start worked a bit better and then decided to sack it off to the pub as we were fed up with being cold and the weather was closing in again. Sunday was a better day - got Pork Chop Slab first time and then played around on the overhanging 6a problem from a sitter to the left until I pulled something in my shoulder\back which wasn't good. Thankfully it only seems to be a minor pull and seems to have settled down OK so just the ignominy of getting burnt off on a problem that I know should have been in the bag and finished with to cope with now.

Gah!!

How long....

It has been nearly a month since I last rambled on so what is new in the world of butters then? pROJECT mAYHEM continues to progress and the worst of it seems to be over and the end is in sight allegedly. The rear speaker housing has been completed, the speaker cables have been belled out and once a few other tasks have been finished off the van will feature its full complement of 11 speakers but for now though I am just revelling in the sound of phat bass emanating from the working sub woofer. I finally got round to sorting out replacing the amp that was driving the sub (or not in this case), sorting out a few other minor tasks at the same time and getting the HPF's sorted with rather impressive results even though I say so myself. I am still getting a small degree of bass rattle through the passenger side speaker but I was half expecting this and it is only at very high volume so I can live with it for now. Eventually I will get round to fixing the problem permanently as is down to the door card not being fitted correctly but it is a job for a fine day as it is quite possibly the most frustrating job know to man to remove and refit the bloody thing.

Anyway here are a few pics of the rear speaker housing to be getting on with for now - I did take some of the speakers in place as well but they are rubbish so just make up some pretty pictures in your head as they are likely to be just as good as the reality.

No snow...

No snow has meant that the sledge remains untested but at least I have been able to get back on with pROJECT mAYHEM stuff for the first time since Christmas. What I have been trying to do is build the housing for the rear speakers which has been quite simply mind-bending at times due to the proliferation of angles that exist in the back of the van. In short nothing is straight and after spending just over a day creating the first version only to realise that it was not going to work regardless of how much I tried at least I am now making some sort of progress. I have got the back made up out of ply thin enough to bend to the contours of the van and the centre section is pretty much done but that was the easy bit as you are only dealing with an angle in one direction - the fun starts with the rest where I will be dealing with angles in two directions at the same time. It is actually quite enjoyable work but progress is very slow to say the least - still another day or two should see it done hopefully and then it is on to the next stage.

Now all we need is some snow...

Take a few pieces of scrap wood (including a section of old climbing wall) some screws, half an idea of what you are doing and finish off with a sling and carabiner - voilà a sledge that may or may not work. The initial test of giving it a quick push in the snow outside the lock up makes me think that it should be pretty good though thanks to the 6mm ply runners. Now all we need is some more snow as it is thawing far too quickly for my liking at the minute and quite possibly some big balls!.

Sledging fun

A lot of people get wound up by the snow but with the exception of one heart stopping moment when I though that pROJECT mAYHEM was going to become a very expensive lump of broken metal I have really been enjoying it.

Spent yesterday throwing myself down the hill on a piece of plywood and some plastic sheet at Meersbrook Park with a few friends and most enjoyable it was too. Afterwards while relaxing with a leisurely pint in the Sheaf I decided to make a sledge today reasoning that I have plenty of off cuts of wood, I can't work on the van, I have the time and above all I am bored. There is also the challenge involved in making something that will achieve reasonable speed down a hill. The only downside would seem to be the weather which has turned to sleet rather than the snow which is not what is required but I have decided that I am going to make the sledge regardless.

Operation Butters Homemade Chilli Powder

I decided last night that I would spend a couple of hours round the lock up today even though I wasn't feeling exceptionally motivated for it. Part of this lack of motivation is down to it being bloody cold at the minute, part down to flogging myself for a dead horse prior to Christmas but I felt that I really should do something so the plan was to make a start on the rear speaker housings. Looking out of the window this morning to be greeted with the 2-3 inches of snow that had fallen overnight solved that problem though, any semblance of motivation was simply gone. There was no way that I was going to try and get pROJECT mAYHEM down the hill let alone start making speaker housings for it in a freezing cold shed today.

So, with the original plan for the day gone to the wall I decided that I would put Operation Butters Homemade Chilli Powder into action instead. This is an idea that I have been toying with for a while now and suitably armed with two different recipes as a starting point (here and here) I ordered the following:

• Chile Ancho
• Chile New Mexico Red
• Chile Chipotle
• Chile De Arbol
• Mexican Oregano
• Hot Smoked Paprika

The plan is to use the first of the two recipes as the base but I will definitely be adding Chipotle as suggested because it adds such an awesome flavour to a Chile - real big depth as well as heat. I will also add a little Hot Smoked Paprika and maybe some Cinnamon or Allspice (Pimento) to the mix and see where we go from there.

Sure as hell beats freezing I reckon.

First Post of 2010

A new year, a new decade, a new crag and a whole lot of new problems to go and do.

After drinking far too much champagne and wine on New Years Eve, the Dear Boy Philip and myself went to Almscliff with the intention of doing something. Quite what that something was we weren't sure but upon arrival it transpired that it largely consisted of hanging around the Demon Wall area drinking "corrected" coffee, trying not to freeze to death and every now and then pulling on a pair of climbing shoes. A day of low achievement it has to be said but a pleasant day out regardless.

Inspired by our visit we proceeded to have a few more drinks that evening and planned a return the following day with a vague idea of what we would attempt. The lack of any wind was noticeable compared to the day before but there was also a degree of moisture in the air making the holds a bit less than perfect which was a pity. In the end we tried a few things, looked at some more things and even climbed some things and following my two visits I have got a tick list of sorts to go at now:

• Matterhorn Ridge (4+)
• The Crucifix (5)
• Pork Chop Slab (5)
• Morrell's Wall (6a)
• Crucifix Arête (6a)
• Flying Arête (6a+)

Of the above I have tried Matterhorn Ridge (backed off due to snow\ice) Morrell's Wall (I can do the hard move pulling up to the crimp so it should go soon) and Flying Arête (can see it going with a bit more work) and the rest are yet to be tried. Add all of the other problems up to 6a+ into the mix and it is enough to keep me syked for Almscliff for a month or two as yet.

As if two good days at the crag weren't enough I spent last night in The Sheaf playing crib with Lord Sloper of Grindleford and taking a fair chunk of change off him in the process. Unfortunately he didn't have to break a note so it wasn't quite as one sided as the infamous trip to Ireland but it does give me ammunition to use every time said Ireland trip gets mentioned in the future which will do nicely.

All in all a good start to the New Year and long may it continue.