UKBouldering.com

 fiendblog (Read 379464 times)

comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#400 K1
April 12, 2013, 07:00:12 pm
K1
11 April 2013, 4:54 pm



"Yeah let's go for the 8am ferry, sure we have to be up at 7am to get a bit of breakfast but it's two hours time difference so that's like 9 UK time..."
After 8 hours of travelling, a Mythos, and a good quantity of Haloumi and chicken Slouvaki, no-one was thinking deeply enough to remember the time difference was the other way. So the 5am (UK time) start was somewhat shocking, no thanks to the dawn chorus that revved up at midnight and the appalling Nescafe filth to start the day. Thankfully the coffee scenario was vastly improved by the in-situ team at the apartments, but the residual knackeredness has lasted all day and when combined with the sensible but surprising heat and a lack of recent training, has combined in the phenomenon commonly known as "Punterdom". I had to keep reminding myself of these factors as well as the usual "first day warm up" procedure and not get too demoralised, but still did some decent routes, albeit easy ones by the skin of my teeth. Someone later described Sector Odyssey as "old fashioned sport climbing" and I think that's a fair appraisal. Although I did use a hand-jam in a tufa early on, albeit on a route I failed on by slipping off a foothold.

On the plus side, here is a really cool tiger kitty from the harbour:





Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#401 K2
April 13, 2013, 07:00:18 am
K2
13 April 2013, 1:00 am



Well what do you know, 10 hours sleep does help... Ably aided by a fine Greek dinner of "cheese with fire" (just what it says, what more do you need??), kalamari and doulmadi. So today went a bit better, it was still hot, sweaty, pumpy, and surprisingly grindy on the skin compared to the endless stream of tufa jugs I was expecting. I was also vaguely expecting the sales-pitch generous grades, well that is complete horse cock, the old Rockfax grades are general sandbags and even the new guide grades are solid, I've done one soft-touch in 12 bloody routes, this is hardly Ardmair is it!! Today's half a dozen were a characterful and fun selection, I'm still keeping it mostly steady but getting inspired by enough stuff for the rest of the week. Rest hard enough and I might climb some good stuff ;)



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#402 K345.
April 16, 2013, 01:00:41 am
K345.
15 April 2013, 6:59 pm



3.a. Scooters are fucking terrifying as a passenger. All I could think about was ending up as long streaks of Fiend paste smeared along the road.

3.b. Ghost Kitchen is a great name for a very fun crag.

3.c. Any route described as a "stalactite-mushroom parade" has got to be awesome, and indeed was.



4.a. Scooters are a lot less fucking terrifying as the driver. So much so that I went for a cruise for fun in the afternoon and got to grips with it pretty well, despite never having been on a motorised two-wheel anything except the previous evening's coaching. However there "might" have been a chicken incident on the way back.

4.b. I can get my leg into the Kastor hole at Arhi cos I'm short. Alas all the tall people in the group were both elsewhere and much more beastly so I didn't get to gloat too much.

4.c. When jumping off a sizeable rock into the sea, there are a variety of recommended landing postures, of which "sitting back in an armchair" is definitely not one. Fuck me my slapped butt hurts.



5.a. I had enough tactics, pacing, and determination to do my main Kalymnos inspiration of the boring standard honeypot trade route DNA. It's very steep!

5.b. Also did Trella (draining!), Taz and Les Amazones and generally had a fine day and feel I've really got into Kalymnos-style climbing.

5.c. My slapped arse still hurts and has spectacular warfarin-exacerbated bruises.  



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#403 K6.
April 16, 2013, 07:00:19 pm
K6.
16 April 2013, 3:58 pm



Still going....somehow....starting to get a wee bit tired. The penultimate day, yet more tufas, yet more funky rests, yet more pockets, yet more pump. I did a couple of very fine routes today and also tried something a wee bit harder, above my usual confidence level. Boulder problem crux and then I somehow contrived to slip off a good big pocket after the crux. Suffice to say I win the Finest Crag Tantrum Of The Trip award, and thanks to Jade for retrieving my shoe from it's distant landing place. When I calmed down I was still angry but also reassured that I'd come pretty close, and curious to very slightly reassess what my current limits *might* be - it showed potential at least. On the subject of which, all of my aches and tweaks are feeling a lot better, no doubt because I'm climbing loads ;).



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#404 K7.
April 18, 2013, 07:00:07 pm
K7.
18 April 2013, 2:25 pm



Need to go on a cheese detox....so much cheese....so good though. Last day today but a 9:30 flight from Kos allowed for a 6:30 ferry and thus almost as full a day's climbing as previous days (which were invariably curtailed by sunshine, soreness, or satisfaction). Another strong coffee, another colossal multi-kilo chocolate croissant from Fani's mini-mart, and another 5 good routes including Callipso, an intense tufa-bulge-razor-slab-crimpy-micro-broccoli horror that ensure my fingertips and sanity were ready to end the holiday on a high and tired note.



Overall it was a bloody great trip. Great varied climbing in a beautiful and convenient location, good company and fairly simple logistics, fine weather and nice food. Climbing on the stalactite-mushroom parades was why I wanted to visit Kalymnos and it was well worth it for that. Any trip where the debriefing includes "favourite mushroom" and "favourite kneebar" has got to be good. My climbing went very well, despite a harsh first day. I certainly feel climbing fit as much as climbing fat ;).

Simple Scottish trad next, I hope...  



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#405 Challenge #2 - Smith's Arete.
April 28, 2013, 01:00:23 pm
Challenge #2 - Smith's Arete.
28 April 2013, 11:23 am



I'm dispensing with the alliteration for now, which is probably a relief. I've got a few more challenging inspirations for Scottish climbing this spring/summer and I guess I've already started with them. Cleopatra's Asp at Reiff would count as #1. 4 weeks later my minced hands have just about recovered, just a few small scabs left.

So Smith's Arete at Ballater is #2. The most distinguished line of the crag on the cleanest, if smallest, buttress. I'd already muffed the grim and sketchy Peel's Wall so this was the last thing I really wanted to do at Ballater - now I have and I don't have to go back again ;). I've learnt to be wary of the conditions on the shiny, slopey granite, so made good use of yesterday's fresh and cool weather on a 5 hour round trip to Ballater. Warmed up on Blutered and Larup Head, both good. Ate an obligatory egg sandwich, rested, faffed around a lot and did Smith's.

It was a bit different to I expected - rather than being quite sketchy and serious above the skyhook, it was surprisingly brutal and reachy getting to the hook, then surprisingly reasonable past that.  Due to the style of the route I bouldered out the start, partly to re-warm-up, partly to get that part on auto-pilot so I could focus on the scary bit past the hook, partly to get the hook in place and tensioned off well, and partly because it was pretty damn hard! At the time I found this style a bit dissatisfying (and it did feel an adjectival grade easier), as well as uncomfortable landing like a sack of spuds on my "bouldering hoodie", but in retrospect I think it is okay for this sort of route - especially getting the crucial hook tensioned down. Without a gri-gri to hand, hanging around while the belayer tries to tension a clove-hitch on his own while belaying at the same time would be unpleasant. Anyway with the faff out of the way it was very enjoyable - cool, switchy arete moves past the hook, bomber gear at the break, and the delicate finish as a bonus.

Now the weather is showery bollox again, and although I'd be up for the mighty R for some falling practice, in the absence of any offers I'll probably just go the gym and rest my tweaky A2s. I still feel fairly confident about more quick hit challenges though.



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#406 Challenge #3 - The Prow.
May 02, 2013, 07:00:08 pm
Challenge #3 - The Prow.
2 May 2013, 12:48 pm



I managed to sneak up to Cummingston in perfect spring conditions and tackle another cool challenge - the steep, striking, and supposedly serious Prow. I'd had a good look at this before and worked out some cunning gear placements to protect the bulk of it - I knew it would take a lot of faffing, but that should warm me into the steepness nicely and get me ready for the daunting lip shenanigans. And it worked perfectly:



As with Smith's Arete, the amount of faff and downclimbing did spoil the purity for me, but also does fit the nature of the route - once all the faff is done, it makes it a slightly-bold-feeling but essentially very fun romp in space, rather than a dangerous solo. A grade easier to lead but maybe a star extra? After this I went to do Aesthetic Ape in a more straightforward way - worked out the start, placed the gear, and got on with it past the very funky and slopey crux. Another rewarding experience.

The slight downside to the visit was muffing what should have been Challenge #4 at Huntly's Cave - Lime Street. I'd warmed up fine on Huntly's Wall, then later got on Lime Street. Right at the start my hands were cold and instead of doing the sensible thing and reversing to either let them warm up or leave it for a warmer day, I pressed on into the steepness and pumpy layback and lack of ability to grip and falling off bollox terrain. Although I'm climbing pretty well this early in the season, it doesn't mean the rock has magically warmed up enough to make perma-shaded pump-fests suitable at this time of year - a good lesson about conditions.

I also had a realisation that I am doing pretty well on climbs where I can blast through a tricky section to an obvious respite / rest / protection, but I reckon I might struggle with long sustained periods of tiring climbing, and I reckon that the circuit boards at TCA might just be the thing for that. As well as more falling practice at the mighty R, of course. Looks like the weather will provide the opportunity for both...



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#407 Best Winter Season Ever?
May 04, 2013, 07:00:08 pm
Best Winter Season Ever?
4 May 2013, 12:55 pm



It's the start of May and definitely into prime spring/summer tradding season: It's cunting it down in Glasgow and the forecast for the whole of the North West is dire. Hopefully it's early days though. In the meantime I feel an urge to retrospect on the Scottish Winter Season aka Fuck All That Pointless And Ludicrous Snow Plodding Shit And Go Bouldering Instead Season, which happened to be bloody good this year - lots of the boulders were in prime "nick", as was my inspiration and choice of blocs.

Thus I think this has been my best bouldering season ever - not necessarily for difficulty, nor overall difficulty, nor quantity, but for sheer diversity and quality of problems, better even than any season I had living in Sheffield. To put it in perspective, here's my ticklists of the most prominent and inspiring Scottish problems over the last 4 seasons:

2009:

Monkey Spanking V8

Spanking The Monkey V6

Slap And Tickle V5

The Prow V4

2010:

Clash Arete V7

Retroclaim V6

Jawa V4

Tourist Trap V4

The Nose V4

Slipstones Thing V5

The Persuader V4

Outstanding V4

Razor's Edge V6

2011:

Powerhouse V6

The Economist V5

Watch Your Back V4

The Nose V4

Black Orc V6

Thousand Year Egg V4

Flying Fiend V4

The Wall V5

2012:

Romancing The Stone V6

Squelch V5

Haven V5

A Long Winning Streak V5

The Dude V6

The Slippery Slope V5

Brin Done Before V5

Le Toit Du Col Du Mouton V6

Sheep Pen Groove V4

Gale Force V6

Autumn Arete V6

Pyramid Lip V5

The Bottler V4

LDV V3

Excitement In The Buoys V6

Right Arete SS V4

Forever Unfulfilled V4

Stretch Armstrong V6

Big Growly Thing V5

Summer outliers:

Butterboy V4

Peel Sessions V4

Pump Up The Jam V5

White Matter V6

Bowfinger V6

Diesel Canary V5

Helipad V4

Good Ass V4

As can be seen, although I haven't quite done more awesome problems in this one season than all 3 previous seasons put together, it's pretty close! As well as the diversity and sheer classic quality of many of these problems, there is a wide personal variety for me, from problems that inspired me for years (Brin Done Before, Haven), to problems that only recently inspired me but took some serious effort (Gale Force, Autumn Arete), to problems I never thought I'd get round to (Romancing The Stone, Stretch Armstrong) and problems I hadn't even heard of until recently (the Farr Boulder trio).

The end result: For all the driving and heather-slogging and crappy information and neglect and bog and rain and midges and moss, Scottish bouldering has some bloody great national-class maybe even world-class problems, and I am happy to have explored many of them :).



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#408 Challenge #4: Downies Syndrome.
May 12, 2013, 03:52:30 pm
Challenge #4: Downies Syndrome.
7 May 2013, 12:08 pm



As can be seen most of the inspiring climbing - indeed any climbing - I am currently doing is in the Centre and East of Scotland, because in this haphazard showery climate (currently glorious in the West then forecast to piss down), the East has the most reliable weather, although not the most reliable climbing conditions...

This weekend was a planned trip to the Aberdeen sea-cliffs, described during the week as "probably the best condition I've had any north or east facing coast crag", "pretty good nick", and "dry and in excellent condition". It seems we were there on the exact cusp of conditions changing from excellent to appalling, as the wind swung around from WSW to SSW with shocking changes in warmth and moisture. This cusp didn't even happen overnight or during the day, it happened during one ascent... That ascent was Downies Syndrome, and when I started it was starting to feel greasy (although thankfully positive enough not to affect the challenge where it mattered), by the time we were back down it was glistening wet.

So I'd sneaked in in the nick of time and it was well worth the effort as it's a brilliant route with committing cruxes, an all out slap for me, just enough protection, and a whole lot of pump - even the HVS 4c finishing wall felt hard afterwards. It's not the hardest thing I've done this year but it's hard enough, and it's worth noting that the bizarre attempts by locals (possibly the same locals who have tried to christen the amenable Ardmair as "Hardmair"????) to mis-grade this route and it's neighbour Auto Da Fe, are complete horseshit: It is not E3 5c and ADF is not E3 5b. They are great routes with currently fair grades, particularly in the context of Bobalouie (which definitely does need re-grading) and The Paranormal (which is very amenable and another satisfying route to sneak in). On a normal/national scale, some Berrymuir routes are:

Downies Syndrome E4 6a *** - at least a full grade harder than B and TP - harder cruxes, two of them, steepier, pumpier and spaced gear. Modern small gear makes no difference as it's medium cams that are crucial.

Execretor E4 5c ** - solid at this grade, shortlived and reasonable protection but slopey and pokey.

Auto Da Fe E4 5c *** - soft but still a full adjectival grade harder than B and TP. Easy 5c but  very steep, committing, and with possible groundfall if one muffed anything near the break. An off-route side-runner in the block of The Flatulent Alien is just that.

X-Crack E3 5c ** - failed on the ledge in hot conditions but only a couple of moves and clearly a grade easier than DS, Ex, and ADF.

Bobalouie E3 5c ** - my warm-up for ADF, wild but steady, shortlived, and very obvious gear.

The Paranormal E3 5c *** - my warm-up for DS, a couple of bouldery moves off the ground, then easy and safe E2 5b with good rests (both B and TP hard sections are like doing an easier version of half of Downies Syndrome).

Obviously this is nothing to do with ego nor grade-chasing - I have as little to do with that bollox as possible, and with 7 leads of E4 and above this year I have nothing to prove to myself. What it does have to do with is: Firstly SOMEONE IS WRONG IN THE INTERNET so clearly that needs sorting out ;). Secondly as an outsider who has visited the Aberdeen coast A LOT, I think it has plenty of interesting and exciting good climbing, despite it's fickle nature and pokiness, and I think that quality needs to be represented fairly. It's not a good promotion of the coastline to have some routes mis-graded for local benefit rather than accurately graded for everyone's benefit.

At any rate there is little arguing with the quality, when in good condition, and gull-eyed readers might notice that both DS and ADF should be upstarred. Maybe subjective, but they are worth the effort. I remain unconvinced about the X wall though - too slopey.

The next day was fully smegged out, so after recceing Long Slough and Craig Stirling and getting well inspired for drier times, we went to Ballater AGAIN, it was warm and I did very little except one minor fun route as I had a sore throat and now I have punter-flu ARSE BOLLOX ETC.



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#409 The Direness.
May 12, 2013, 03:52:34 pm
The Direness.
11 May 2013, 12:12 pm



Dire and damp, both outside and inside. Outside the weather is celebrating the onset of Scotland's reliable prime trad month of May by twatting it down, with the forecast in the West being dire for the foreseeable future and the East being not a whole lot better. Inside the damp is coagulating in my lungs, absorbing dust, bonding with defensive mucus, sapping my energy and getting coughed out at 4am as the punter-flu lingers and malingers in a most unwelcome way.

I feel a bit like this:

This is all pretty fucking boring, I want to get out and climb awesome routes or if not I want to train hard and keep fit and strong and focused. As well as the best winter's bouldering ever, this spring has been the best start to a trad season for the challenges tackled: A pre-emptive strike to Morocco, a great Easter weekend, and sporadic days since in which I've felt bouldering strength and regular falling practice have combined into something approaching "confidence" (a rare feeling) and have outweighed the default "punterdom"(usually much less rare). Obviously I want to capitalise THE FUCK out of this and obviously shit weather and a shit cold don't help.

So what I am going to do is be patient (for a couple more days until I stop fucking coughing), order that Devourment CD to get me syked, then get back into the training. Easy mileage at first because I will be SHIT, then build up to circuits and comp wall problems, mix in gym sessions, and all the time get to lead walls for more falling practise - all the fucking time. If the weather keeps being a cock then I might even head South or abroad for climbing. Anyone with me??



Source:  fiendblog


Fiend

Offline
  • *
  • _
  • forum hero
  • Abominable sex magick practitioner and climbing heathen
  • Posts: 13413
  • Karma: +676/-67
  • Whut
#410 Re:  fiendblog
May 12, 2013, 06:29:49 pm
should be embedded in that post, just so you know :)

comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#411 County Syke.
May 13, 2013, 07:00:14 pm
County Syke.
13 May 2013, 12:38 pm



Along with "May is often the greatest trad month in Scotland", another usually reliable maxim is "If it's wet in the North West, it's dry in Northumberland". Especially when it's definitely westerly bollox weather and the forecast is for dry and breezy from Alnwick to Coldstream....and we're just past Jedburgh and it's wanking it down. So in the end I drove over 200 miles this weekend to second one route I'd soloed before, in the icy wind and sporadic showers at Back Bowden. Wow. Still we gave it a go and I got to recce a couple of routes and I was still fucked with this chest infection (now on anti-biotics, so back to training as soon as they kick in and back to climbing as soon as the weather fucks the fuck off) so couldn't do much anyway and during the drive I managed to work out how to crush the last mission of Heart Of The Swarm (build an entire army of Swarm Hosts, slowly burrow forwards, and use Kerrigan to take out any Ravens and other air units....I think I lost about 5/200 supply of units in the final battle). I also got to ponder more on the County, and came to the conclusion that although I have climbed at loads of crags and done loads of great routes, I haven't done much that's actually challenging, and if the dire weather continues, I might have the opportunity to do some more down there. So far I've done:

Outward Bound @ Back Bowden - easy and fun.

Sir Francis @ The Drake Stone - easy moves but damn bold!

Broken Wing @ Great Wanney - quite tricky and committing

Thin Ice @ Great Wanney - safe and steady, cool climbing.

Shine On @ Howlerhirst - steady but committing, nice.

Stealth @ Linshields 1 - bold and good.

Mirage @ Lineshields 1 - bold and good.

Stella @ South Yardhope - kinda serious but manageable and a cool route.

Also I've backed off / failed on:

The Trial @ Bowden - downclimbed from the upper crux 5 times, reachy and dangerous.

Rice Krispies @ Callerhues - escaped at finish, pretty bold.

The Sabbath @ Kyloe Out - fell off crux onto slider (backed up with 3 bomber cams)

Over The Edge @ Simonside - backed off start, hard and dangerous sandbag.

Generally there is a correlation between success on "bold routes above gear" and failure on "dangerous routes before/without gear". Throw in a bit of confidence and a lot of inspiration for cool lines, and my wishlist starts to look like this:

Back Bowden:

Merlin - steep as fuck but actually has gear in. Might need a partner abseil clean / thread replace. Lots of bouldering to warm-up.

Hard Reign - should be fine.

On The Verge - bold and smeary grit style. Intimidating but with the right sort of bouldering warm-up, could be okay.

Bowden:

The Gauleiter - thin but good gear in break.

Goose Step - not sure about gear situation on this.

Poseidon Adventure - *gulp*, very bold without pads, will need a lot of bouldering training.

The Trial - 6th time lucky??

Callerhues:

Twin Hats - should be fine with committment

Ned Kelly -should be fine with committment

Toshiba Receiver - should be fine with some finger training and a lot of faffing with gear.

Goat Crag:

Overdrive - should be fine.

Underpass - should be fine.

Hard Shoulder - bold but I'm usually okay on aretes.

Great Wanney:

Endless Flight - super-inspiring, gotta stick with the falling practise.

East Buttress Direct - as long as it's not too serious to start.

Pratchett's Plunge - should be fine with some cunning.

Kyloe Out:

First Born - probably bloody hard but safe and can try to use bouldering strength.

Rothley:

Master Blaster - inspiring, intimidating, might need a partner abseil clean, but it's gotta be worth a look.

Masterstroke - if I'm too scared for MB but feeling strong enough. I have sliders!

Also got to visit Harehope Canyon, do a few harder things at Jack Rock, more mileage at Callerhues too, but the whole Simonside plateau can fuck off until it's been climbed on enough to be in good condition. Anyway that's enough to be getting on with...



Source:  fiendblog


Adam Lincoln

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 4943
  • Karma: +111/-30
    • Flickr Page, Vimeo Videos and Blog
#412 Re: County Syke.
May 13, 2013, 07:19:54 pm
County Syke.
13 May 2013, 12:38 pm
Back Bowden:

Merlin - steep as fuck but actually has gear in. Might need a partner abseil clean / thread replace. Lots of bouldering to warm-up.

Hard Reign - should be fine.

Source:  fiendblog

Merlin is fine, easy traverse in, quick shake. If you get sequence right and are warmed up, you will be fine. Defo needs a clean first.

Hard reign isn't easy for E3! Start is hard and then the meat of the route is tricky. Maybe i missed something. Jordan used a knee bar, but think i did without, possibly making it harder!

Fiend

Offline
  • *
  • _
  • forum hero
  • Abominable sex magick practitioner and climbing heathen
  • Posts: 13413
  • Karma: +676/-67
  • Whut
#413 Re:  fiendblog
May 13, 2013, 09:22:29 pm
Cheers!

Hard Reign has a rest and loads of gear at the Arches and RPs above and I reckon I can faff around enough to work it out. Mmmmm faff  :smirk:

comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#414 Unsuccessful-ish Ullapool.
May 28, 2013, 07:00:09 pm
Unsuccessful-ish Ullapool.
28 May 2013, 2:17 pm

 

An odd but good long weekend away, mostly avoiding my main inspirations but still having a good time despite a few setbacks.

Glen Clova:

Didn't do anything, and...

The Wildebeest - tried the start a few times, stupidly dangerous despite no mention of this in the guide. Blind dynamic 6a crimping with a couple of friable looking holds, no gear, and a terrible landing. Incomprehensible.

Clairvoyant Reality - tried this instead, another very dangerous horrorshow. Precarious off-balance shuffling, I committed to a sketchy move to get a tiny fingerflake with possible gear behind, but couldn't take my hand off to place it. 6m up with no gear and little chance of going up or down, absolutely hideous, one of the worst climbing moments I can recall, with a very real prospect of breaking my lower limbs. I somehow managed to slither back down by the skin of my teeth. Ridiculous.

Empire Of The Sun - Had a look and was pretty inspired but still felt sick after the previous route, no chance of going near it.

Ardmair:

Did a few good leads that got my head back into climbing after getting totally spooked at Clova - Operation Brumby had a good committing crux, and Aussie Rules was a really nice and fairly committing route. But...

Neart Nan Gaidheal - too still and muggy at the end of the day. Very inspired but needs a fresher day.

Burning Desire - seeping!

Reiff:

Did a couple of pleasant routes and also managed the walk-in both ways with only one small rest each time. Whether it's familiarity or a lighter rucsac, I don't know, but it's good exercise and it's reassuring that I can cope with it. But...

The Gift - far too greasy. Very inspired, I reckon it might be manageable.

The Screamer - far too greasy. Intimidating but I could probably warm up into it.

The Road To Nowhere - too still at the end of the day. Pretty inspired despite the pokiness, but needs a fresher day.

Split Personality - the so-called "well protected" crack on Golden Walls, what utter horseshit. Having comfortably done the other 3 Golden Wall routes, this should have been fine but quite clearly wasn't. Steeper, worse breaks, harder crux, so-so shallow cams below the crux and hard to place adequate gear off bad holds after the crux. Mis-graded and mis-described in Scottish Rock.

Goat Crag:

Did Hydrotherapy after the steady warm-up route. Skin of my teeth battle of blind cruxes, sloping holds, and sweaty hands, and definitely harder than the following F7as: The Ticks Ate All The Midges, Sand In My Pants, Expecting To Fly, Clutching At Straws, Going Through On Aggregate, etc etc, still it was a good value fight, and after 3-4 days my tweaky finger was still feeling okay. But...

Freakshow - another horseshit description in Scottish Rock. No hard climbing but utterly ridiculously steep and pumpy, the so-called "crux" diagonal break was a piece of piss (E3 5c to the down-pointing spike), the so-called easier flake was extra pumpy, and the so-called good holds at the final crack were smooth flat layaways just as I was too exhausted to use them. Obviously I simply wasn't good enough to do the climb, but being accurately mentally prepared for the challenge might have helped enough.

...

At the end of this weekend, I haven't done anything I planned to do, have hardly tried anything I wanted to do, have failed on things I did try. But... I've got back into the trad, I've got some useful and reassuring mid-range mileage, I've come pretty close to a very challenging route, I've started to feel familiar with the Reiff walk-in, I've had a useful reminder about conditions, I've got some good exercise and I've maintained the syke. I'll try to put into action ASAP.



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#415 Gotta stop punting...
May 31, 2013, 01:00:13 am
Gotta stop punting...
30 May 2013, 6:45 pm



» Gotta make plans more pro-actively.

(I still do too much faffing around worrying about weather and the right people and the best plans, I've got to stop doing this and just get organised and go climbing.)

» Gotta get going earlier in the morning.

(Too much time wasted not getting on with it.)

» Gotta stop pestering partners who have their fixed groups.

(Too much time hanging on waiting for people I seem to get on with well but rarely include me in their outdoor climbing.)

» Gotta keep training my fingers.

(Still worried about not being able to last long on small crimpy holds, need to keep focusing on them.)

» Gotta keep doing circuits at TCA.

(Have been recommended it as a way to train crucial endurance, I've finally managed to do the stopper move green circuit, so I feel I can progress with that.)

» Gotta keep doing falling practise, and do it harder.

(Had a good session last time, need to ramp it up with bigger falls AND trying harder routes until I unavoidably come off)

» Gotta pace my wall training so I don't trash my skin.

(One of the main problems I'm having with training....I can get stronger to compensate for being a fucking bloater, but I can't get my skin better, so it grinds off and limits further training. Shorter sessions and stopping before it's trashed.)

» Gotta do my shoulder exercises daily.

(Still tweaky, only due to sleeping not climbing, but it's not getting any stronger by doing nothing)

» Gotta get some more Super Chalk.

(Got Moon Dust that's like rubble and DMM chalk that's like silky talc, fuck that shit my skin is sweaty enough without bad chalk)

» Gotta order some more Anasazis.

(The 7.5s I mail-ordered were more like 8s, comfy enough but I have nothing precise with rubber left on them, why is climbing kit so damn hard to get in Scotland.)

» Gotta keep running.

(I hate it, it sucks, last time was 5 mins warm-up, 10 mins of constant demoralising pain, but it keeps me moving.)

» Gotta keep stretching.

(Too old and fragile not to.)

» Gotta sleep better.

(Getting fed up with going to bed too late and crashing out in the day. Napping != training/climbing)

» Gotta be careful with caffeine.

(Almost certainly the cause of the above, I love coffee but only in moderation, gotta stop abusing it)

» Gotta eat healthier and drink more water.

(Related to above. Had lots of fun junk food in Ullapool but still not detoxed enough from it.)



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#416 Greatest Gabber free compilation CD
June 03, 2013, 01:00:18 am
Greatest Gabber free compilation CD
2 June 2013, 6:11 pm



A specific compilation of 15 tracks from the "golden era" of gabber, approx 1995-2000. I've tried to go for a good spectrum progressing from almost hard house at the start to speedcore at the end, but with an slight emphasis on more uplifting, well crafted tracks, rather than just a load of swearing and cheesy samples over a kick drum (although there is a bit of that of course ;)). If you want a CD, simply email/PM me your address and I will send one - fiendophobia@googlemail.com

This is something I've been wanting to do for a decade. I genuinely believe that some gabber has as much musical merit as any other dance/electronic music, and I wanted to try to show that with this compilation. This is a personal choice, mostly from CDs I owned, and is only partially representative of what would be played in a hardcore club at the time. For a wider selection, getting hold of the Helter Skelter Technodrome Annual would be essential: http://www.discogs.com/DJ-Producer-The-Clarkee-Helter-Skelter-The-Annual-1995-1996-The-Technodrome/release/67426

1. Technohead - The Passion

A nice, haunting, chilled out and well produced track from Technohead who wrote a hardcore column for DJ, mixed compilations for React records and had a minor hit with "Who Wants To Be A Hippy" before Lee Newman sadly passed away.

2. Strychnine - Utopia Project

An unusually uplifting track on Industrial Strength Records, with typically ravey gabber mutating into a lovely finish. I wanted this as an intro track but it's really an outro...

3. Nordcore GMBH - Holle

Taking things a bit darker with a typically atmospheric track from this German collective - epic cyberpunk soundtrack gabber!

4. R.Wagner - Listen Carefully

A mega-anthem that was absolutely brilliant in a rave and just as good to listen to. Sheer hardcore euphoria.

5. Chosen Few - Name Of The DJ

Another classic anthem, straight up happy ravey gabber.

6. The Original Gabber - Headbanger

The starting track of the legendary Terrrordrome compilation series. Unsubtle but fun and varied headbanging track

7. The Original Gabber - ADDA

Another banging but varied track, with cool melodies and some great acid touches, sadly underused in gabber.

8. Fazer 5 - Innocent Trip

A relentlessly ravey track that captures the atmosphere of being in a gabber rave - bounce bounce bounce.

9. Nordcore GMBH - Robocop

The best gabber track ever made?? I could have filled the CD with 15 copies of this, it's that good. Dark, atmospheric, europhic, and exceptionally well-crafted - the way this track builds up is as good as ANY dance music gets.

10. Liza n Eliaz - White Line

Hard and harsh but an unusually funky bassline, if you don't pogo around to this then check your pulse. The second track in this compilation from a sadly deceased top female producer.

11. The Shaftmen - Shaftman

Silly, vulgar, noisy and great fun. If the sampled intro doesn't earworm you senseless, you get your money back.

12 - Gabba Front Berlin - Halo

Actually a more recent track but one that shows the best in uplifting gabber - pretty much 220+bpm trance, packed full of melodies and madness.

13 - Disciples Of Annihilation - New York City Speedcore

Another mega-anthem, this time on a much harder tip - a simple stomper with a classic riff sample.

14 - DJ VibeRaider - Make The Floor Burn

"Doesn't that mean it goes terrifically fast??" A moshpit monster.

15. The Bezerker - The Final Sacrifice

The ultimate....nothing more to be said!!



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#417 A week of extreme punting.
June 07, 2013, 07:00:10 pm
A week of extreme punting.
7 June 2013, 1:50 pm



Battering Ram, Shepherd's Crag - did the first pitch with some effort, climbed to the crux of the second pitch, blocked a crucial fingerlock with a cam, tried to reverse, slipped onto the cam and FAILED.

Overdrive, Goat's Crag - cranked through the start, placed one cam, underclung right a move, felt out of balance and very sweaty, sat on cam and FAILED.

Spandau Ballet, Birnham Quarry - did the hard 5c start, did various 5b moves up the crack, did a hard 5c move onto one lone foothold below the crux, committed to the hard 6a layback crux, only managed to find slopers above, foot slipped off and FAILED.

How can one experienced and dedicated trad climber who is pretty familiar with such a moderate level of mid-grade challenge be so utterly punterly?? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE??

Well...

En route to Shepherds, I drove from Glasgow, battled traffic and the hordes in Keswick to try to buy rock shoes, slowly drove into Borrowdale, hit a rock fallen from a dry stone wall, tore a 3" hole in my tyre, took a chunk out of the rim, had a 3 hour delay and £170 bill getting towed back to Keswick to get two new tyres fitted, by which time it was well warm enough to climb topless and then I just made a stupid mistake blocking the obvious hold even when I knew I would. Total bellend approach but maybe some other factors putting me off.

At Goat's Crag I'd warmed up punting around at Bowden, re-warmed up on steeper bouldering at Goat's itself, and got on the route which is pretty brutal off the deck. Again conditions were weirdly cool AND muggy at the same time and I just lost all confidence pulling hard in steep ground. I didn't chalk enough, I didn't battle enough, I simply didn't focus enough. Not acceptable.

Birnham was an end of the afternoon one route quick hit type job. The line is obvious and confidence was high, even the hard moves to start and higher up didn't put me off, and I just got on with it and went for it on the crux only to discover it was a total sandbag. Simple foot slip, I should have been more careful, but also I was going for obvious "holds" that would fit with the 5c move the grade implied, if I'd known it was a full grade harder I would have tried the move differently.

So some mitigating circumstances and some downright punterism.

I'm trying to tackle the latter by getting some mileage in, training at the wall and gym, keeping aware of conditions, buying new shoes in a proper size and hopefully just trying HARDER in general, god knows I need to!!



Source:  fiendblog


rich d

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1313
  • Karma: +80/-1
#418 Re:  fiendblog
June 07, 2013, 08:25:32 pm
Was at TCA Glasgow on Wednesday in the extreme heat! Saw a bloke wearing support socks/tight things wearing a fluorescent vest. Was going to come over and see if it was you and say hi, but after a brief sit down you'd disappeared (guessing there must be a maccy d's near by?) leaving only a psychedelic neon acid trail in the air.
Rich

Fiend

Offline
  • *
  • _
  • forum hero
  • Abominable sex magick practitioner and climbing heathen
  • Posts: 13413
  • Karma: +676/-67
  • Whut
#419 Re:  fiendblog
June 07, 2013, 10:02:19 pm
"Might" have been me... Wed was TCA b2b gym, felt good.

comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#420 Confirmation.
June 11, 2013, 07:00:09 pm
Confirmation.
11 June 2013, 2:41 pm



I had a weekend at Creag Dubh, a crag I'm usually both surprisingly comfortable with and unsurprisingly inspired by. The latter hadn't changed at all for this trip, but I found little comfort in my climbing.

Acapulco - I had seconded Wet Dreams to warm up, and felt pretty confident and happy about getting on this route. At the roof I stalled due to the lack of good holds / protection, and had a few times climbing back down and back up from the rest. The last time I felt slippy on a finger jam, checked my pink damp fingers, somehow decided not to chalk (?!), and slipped out of the jam onto the gear, and thus failed before even getting involved with either the crux or the quality meat of the route.

Bratach Uaine - Despite the above infuriating cessation of climbing a quality route, I also approached BU with a lot of positivity, not least because the reasonable protection and general situation is evident from Wet Dreams. I ended up going up and down to the crux roof - 2 times to sort out protection, and 4 times to try the crux. Somehow I neither had the strength to pull the crux move nor the confidence to trust my weakness anyway. Eventually I cleanly downclimbed and backed off.

The second day I stuck to easier routes to get some mileage (which I did) and regain some confidence (...) and they felt consistently hard, although manageable.

Yesterday I tried to get any local climber to go out somewhere in/near the Central Belt on a lovely sunny, breezy and bone dry evening before rain during the rest of this week. No-one seemed to want to get out, so I went to Ratho bouldering to train strength. I started off fine, feeling fairly energetic, but soon felt weak and my skin got so sore I couldn't pull properly on it.

Today I wanted to train again but my new shoes created such a painful bunion at Ratho (I'd successfully taped my toes over the weekend) that I can't even look at rock shoes. The forecast is now bad for the foreseeable future so I will have plenty of time to train though.

------

This few days, in conjunction with the last few weeks, has confirmed that I am consistently climbing at a lower standard than usual and a much lower standard than a couple of months ago. From feeling as good as I've ever felt on bouldering, then sport, then trad over the spring, I have kept training, kept getting out, and watched without comprehension as my climbing has consistently deteriorated. I'm not climbing "bad" (although it sometimes feel that way, as I don't enjoy having the climbing I love marred by doing it badly), but the current low period is definitely lower than before and lower than I feel comfortable with, and I need to work out ways to deal with this period and progress out of it.



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#421 Deal With The Matter.
June 12, 2013, 01:00:13 pm
Deal With The Matter.
12 June 2013, 11:48 am



God I am boring at the moment. No celebratory tales, no semi-amusing anecdotes, no entirely-serious ethical ranting, no photos, no videos, not even any animals. Sorry. It's fairly representative though. I suppose I should have got a photo of the chunky hardback-sized quartz jug I pulled off The Hill, but I forgot and I didn't even take an exciting whipper.

So in the absence of amusing, I have been musing. And the conclusion is that I need to deal with the matter - the matter that matters being regaining the pleasure, and application of inspiration, in my climbing, preferably by doing it well and regaining my confidence and climbing energy.

Mileage:

An obvious choice to regain confidence but there is a slight technical that I am not inspired for mileage (which can tread perilously close to the anathema that is "climbing for the sake of it"), compared to my passion for specific challenges. So I need to acknowledge what is available and try to get syked for it. The more I can do, the more diverse rock types I can keep my hand in once, the better...

Scotland:

Reiff

Ardmair

Gruinard

Stone Valley

Diabeg Peninsula

Glen Nevis

Ardnamurchan

Glen Coe Roadside

Aberdeen Area (Black Dyke, Newtonmore, Little O, etc)

Glen Clova Doonies

Arbroath

Weem

Glen Lednock

Glen Ogle

Dunira

Dunkeld

Souter / Fast Castle

Northumberland / Northern Lakes:

Bowdens (just)

Callerhues

Corby's

Jack Rock

Swirl Crag

Falcon Crags

Shepherd's Crag

Training:

Whilst pondering of the powerlessness I felt on Saturday, I had the minor epiphany that although I have kept up with the training to maintain the season's previously great start, I haven't been doing it nearly hard nor comprehensively enough. For example, I felt pretty good and strong bouldering over winter, and my first few trips out on a rope, I was finding the moves pretty steady - which makes sense. It also makes sense that having only trained circuits and the occasional route session since then, I have lost a lot of strength and power. I suspect it's similar with falling practice - I've made the mistake of once it's started working where it matters (i.e. outdoor trad), I've stopped training it. But even more than strength, I am always so far behind with that aspect of climbing I need to keep training it even when it seems to be working. So:

Strength / power:

Keep at it. It might not be Scottish Winter Bouldering Season any more, but I still need some for the routes I'm inspired by. Mix up my indoor stamina sessions with indoor strength sessions. Take a brush, liquid chalk, anti-hydral, to stop my skin getting too sore and allow me to keep pulling hard, and have short regular sessions if skin gets too sore. Accept failure and current weakness as a need / path for improvement. Only go for "gentle" sessions if I'm wrecked or definitely have a big day out the next day.

Stamina / endurance:

Keep up with the circuits / indoor routes, and try to focus on doing them slower and calmer with deliberate recovery and shaking out where possible.

Mind / confidence:

Falling practice. I just had to look up which out of practice/practise was correct, so I better fucking do it.

Fitness:

Keep up with gym / running and not shy away from walk-ins. I've done okay with walk-ins recently, I'm certainly no worse than usual (although never going to get any better), so that's some reassurance.

Patience.

Enough said. I've had low periods before and worked through them. This will be the same.



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
When 5c is no longer easy, and 5b isn't a rest any more...
14 June 2013, 2:51 pm



Glen Nevis, another zone of usual comfort and maximum inspiration. Another easy mileage day where the easy felt hard and the hard felt incomprehensible despite my colossal personal desire to tackle it. Every time I think about, read about, see one of the challenging routes that inspires me, I want to do them with such a pure passion, but at the same time they just seem incompatible with my current state. It's like not being myself, living as someone else, and being unable to reconcile a true view and a distorted view.

This comes out when I am doing mileage routes - I feel it is something I need to do, should do (see....wrong terms for climbing desire already!) to get back to progressing, but that does not feel right for me. Gym training is horrible BUT it is a means to an end. Indoor wall training is just training but it is fun and means to an end. Climbing is not a means to an end, climbing is the end, an all-encompassing action and activity in it's own right, where the path to progression has as much value as the progression. Thus routes-as-training is valuable only if those routes are intrisically valuable irrespective of the end goal of doing them.

Certainly the few climbs I did were good, one even classic, but not being true inspirations, it felt odd doing them - going through the motions, but not my motions. The motions of a shadow-self - a shadow-self who finds smearing unnerving and discomforting, so definitely related to my normal self!! This was perhaps the best learning of the day, how out of touch I am with different rock types. Too much break-to-break-slam-in-cams of Reiff and Ardmair and not enough hunting for RPs at Creag Dubh nor laybacking up rounded ramps at Polldubh. Viewed in this was, I did get important value out of the day, and a lesson learnt.

------

Concurrently with the above realisations, I was wondering what is best for me during a low period. One thing that is really helpful is having positive and encouraging friends and partners around me. People who have plenty of syke, people who will include me in their plans, people who will happily get me out there and get me involved, people who will recognise when climbing feels difficult and be supportive and understanding, people who will be part of a general good atmosphere of sociability and climbing enthusiasm.

Alas in Scotland this still feels a long way away. Two of my better friends are now parents and very restricted with time. Other friends make very positive noises about getting out climbing but then always seem to be vague to me and then arrange things with other partners. For the day I ended up at Glen Nevis, I had specifically arranged to climb with a regular friend, who had texted me the evening before to acknowledge the plan and suggest somewhere in the Central Highlands, and then texted me shortly after to say he was climbing in the Cairngorms instead - no explanation, no reason to let me down, and no reply to txts nor a phone call asking what was going on. This is hardly a good atmosphere of sociability and climbing enthusiasm!! Thankfully I found someone new at the last minute, but it does show how external odds can be stacked against me, and I'm not sure what I can do about that. Keep banging my head against the wall of txt/msg silence, and keep finding strangers rather than friends to climb with?? And keep fighting my low climbing ebb on my own, I guess...



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#423 Baby Steps...
June 17, 2013, 01:00:14 pm
Baby Steps...
17 June 2013, 11:21 am



Day in the Lakes, at Swirl Crag. Unlike last time in the Lakes, I didn't wreck a tyre on a fallen rock, didn't waste 3 hours and £170 getting it sorted out, and didn't wreck my sanity by failing on an easy warm-up route and doing fuck all else. Okay, this time I did fail on the easy warm-up route, well it was a bit tricky but as usual I was a bit fucking rubbish, got sloppy with my feet, and pinged off the sort of move that is normally utterly familiar to me. So starting the day with the usual bollox. But I managed to salvage something by getting up a couple of other easy warm-up routes for mileage (pretty much the sort of routes I wouldn't have even bothered getting on two months ago).



Crap climber does easy routes - not noteworthy in itself, BUT for a change I actually enjoyed them. They were good climbs - a steep powerful thin crack on one, a bold balancy thin crack on the other (above) with good climbing, on a new-to-me crag that I'd fancied visiting, and I was a bit more focused on trying to do them well. Focus that I wouldn't normally need, but focus that got me involved in appreciating the routes and hinting at the possibilty of progressing slowly by using and pushing that focus. A small step for punterkind....



Source:  fiendblog


comPiler

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 6759
  • Karma: +62/-3
#424 More steps...
June 23, 2013, 07:00:05 pm
More steps...
23 June 2013, 12:16 pm



Ratho #1 - Went along with suitably low expectations and came away with surprisingly high reassurance. The ulterior motive was falling practice of course, and I was sweating in the car on the drive over about the prospect of dropping off! I decided to start small and work up, and ended up taking a few decent falls and doing a few decent routes. Fiend 1 - Punterage 0.

Falcon Crag - I've started to revise the Lake District guides and realise that I still have plenty of easy mileage to do there, not stuff that really fires me up but plenty of choice at least. Falcon Crag is a prime example as it's butt-ugly with weird rock and weirder lines, but there's loads of mid-grade routes to go at and the adventurous terrain, spaced protection and inevitable massive rope drag make for good trad practice. I did fine on a couple of easier routes, and enjoyed them despite the crag aesthetics (or lack thereof).

Castle Rock - More revision, this time of the quite frankly excellent Eastern Crags guide which not only covers a lot of climbing closest to Scotland, but has the best photo-topos I've seen for the rambling mashed up Lakes crags. The main wall topo at Castle Rock look like viewing a tube map on acid, but they do actually make sense of the features. Another couple of easy-ish routes, one of which took a wee bit of effort and I put that wee bit in and again it went fine. Rigor Mortis, actually a brilliant route, more enjoyment, more positive steps.

Ratho #2 - Slightly higher expectations, slightly better performance. I'm actually climbing closer to my normal Ratho average despite still punting along outside. More pumpy routes, more fun falls. Well not too many falls, with Robert D on the end of the rope with his super-stiff lock-off plate, I got a bit bored of the 6 Gs of deceleration at the end of each fall nearly snapping me in half. I need to go there with more skinny oiks and wee lasses I think ;).

I'm starting to feel like a crap climber climbing easy routes well, rather than a crap climber climbing easy routes badly. That is another step... I'm also enjoying the easy routes, which gives me the correct positive motivation to try things a bit harder....maybe....



Source:  fiendblog


 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal