I didn't sleep well last night - blame it on eating pizza and then suffering some really weird fucked up dreams as a result of cheese overload.
The dog is getting in the way and just annoying me.
I feel heavy and lethargic - even my warm up problems that I have done plenty of times feel about two grades harder than they are in reality.
My bloody knee is giving me grief and my shoulder doesn't feel right.
I just don't feel psyched - there is stuff out there that I know I am capable of doing and I just don't try.
Excuses, excuses, excuses - plenty more where they came from.
All I really know is that conditions were mint out in the Peak today. Didn't make much difference as it proved to be one of the worst climbing days I have endured in a long while and as a result I am really pissed off!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Three Bears
For a while now I had been meaning to check out the Three Bears boulders at the end of Burbage North but had just never got round to it before now. Yesterday I finally got my act together and wandered down there with the Fiend and a few other people and can’t recommend it highly enough.
Combined with the easy solos at the end of Burbage North or just used as a warm up before carrying on down to the boulders in the valley they are well worth a visit. The problems range from english tech 4c to 5b and are slabby, smeary affairs with horizontal breaks or steeper wall climbing again with breaks and while there are not many of them - 8 or 9 problems with the potential for further eliminates - they are all good technical problems. The best by far is the 5b slab problem and it is only improved when done "properly", with the high foot in break and rockover method that the tall will lank past while wondering what the fuss is all about. Speaking from experience the tall lose out here and it is the short get the better deal out of it - I can lank the move in question if I want to stretch a bit but it's rubbish doing it that way - trust me on this!
Need more reasons to go? The landings are all good - the slab of Daddy Bear is the worst but with a couple of mats and some thought it is OK and the top outs are all reasonable edges - no slopey horror shows to contend with here so in theory it should be a sure fire winner for those seeking a easy afternoon out or a gentle introduction to bouldering. The reality is though that these boulders don't see as much traffic as they should given the quality of the problems so there is the odd bit of scrittle here and there but nothing that a few more people climbing on them wouldn't solve.
So what are you waiting for - be brave and walk on past the 20 Foot Crack area for change and go to the far end of the crag - you might just be pleasantly surprised...
Combined with the easy solos at the end of Burbage North or just used as a warm up before carrying on down to the boulders in the valley they are well worth a visit. The problems range from english tech 4c to 5b and are slabby, smeary affairs with horizontal breaks or steeper wall climbing again with breaks and while there are not many of them - 8 or 9 problems with the potential for further eliminates - they are all good technical problems. The best by far is the 5b slab problem and it is only improved when done "properly", with the high foot in break and rockover method that the tall will lank past while wondering what the fuss is all about. Speaking from experience the tall lose out here and it is the short get the better deal out of it - I can lank the move in question if I want to stretch a bit but it's rubbish doing it that way - trust me on this!
Need more reasons to go? The landings are all good - the slab of Daddy Bear is the worst but with a couple of mats and some thought it is OK and the top outs are all reasonable edges - no slopey horror shows to contend with here so in theory it should be a sure fire winner for those seeking a easy afternoon out or a gentle introduction to bouldering. The reality is though that these boulders don't see as much traffic as they should given the quality of the problems so there is the odd bit of scrittle here and there but nothing that a few more people climbing on them wouldn't solve.
So what are you waiting for - be brave and walk on past the 20 Foot Crack area for change and go to the far end of the crag - you might just be pleasantly surprised...
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Reading of the riot act.
"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.
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.
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!!
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