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#725 Three Funerals And A Model Shop
October 01, 2016, 07:00:04 pm
Three Funerals And A Model Shop
1 October 2016, 1:15 pm



This summer started with a funeral and a model shop, and it finished with a funeral and a model shop. That has a certain circularity, or symmetry, something I generally like. A sort of ontological neatness, of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, but pleasing to certain peculiar individuals. The climb that swallows all your cams but the only one needed for the belay (two left just wouldn't do), the last minute pub that has run out of most dishes except one meat dish for me and one veggie dish for some good-friend-but-dietary-freak I'm with, the road closed detour on the way back from a crag that takes me past a boulder that I've got just enough daylight to do, no more and no less, the Zillertal trip that starts with an evening doing a classic F6a+ at Ewige Jagdgründe, lustily eyeing up the amazing F6c+ next to it, and fuelling my desire in the Gasthof-Restaurant Perauer, and finishes with me fighting up that very same F6c+ as the last route at Ewige Jagdgründe, and celebrating the ascent at the same Gasthof-Restaurant Perauer. Do you see what I mean??

In general I would have preferred there to be less funerals involved in the whole procedure and I am somewhat tired of them - being familiar with the process is not something I'd really aspired to. Too many funerals is symptomatic of too many deaths and there have been a lot around me this year (apparently there have been many celebrity deaths too, however I'd have to calculate some 1/? anti-number to show just how few shits I give about that, and it might break blogspot). Simon's death made me shocked (his funeral being the early outlier of the summer bookends), and I still have moments of wondering when we'll next hook up for climbing before realising....oh fuck, we won't. Rachel's death had a sad sense of inevitability as it unfolded, but still felt strange. Asad Shah's death made me very angry about the sheer pointless stupidity of killing a nice, decent, if quirky man - his shop is less than 100m from my front door and was the regular stop off for soft drinks and emergency chocolate. Uncle Fred's death brought sad but calm acceptance, celebration of a life well lived, and a strengthening of family ties.

Mia's death made me feel utterly sick. I've been friends with Rosie for a decade and used to hang out regularly around the Peak District, enjoying her feisty banter and Mia's sparky, spirited presence. I found out via Rosie's emergency Facebook post while I was away climbing in Cornwall and it "did my fucking head in" for several days. It's simply the worst thing that could happen to a parent, I couldn't comprehend it and could barely comprehend how Rosie managed to be so communicative and informative. Everyone always says how lovely and wonderful children are and blindly sing their praises in any circumstances. I don't - in general I find breeding repugnant, parenthood an awful concept, and children pointless wee shitebags. But as I said then and say now, Mia really was an ace girl, astute and clever beyond her years, as well as being sharp-witted and gorgeous. Another pointless, stupid killing of someone who least deserved it, and I really don't want to see anyone else I know on the BBC News website for now.

Rosie has many vials of Mia's ashes, at some point I will get one to scatter at a crag in Northumberland where I first hung out with them - I think it's either Back Bowden or Kyloe Out in the first photograph of Mia in my bomber jacket in this article - if anyone can Id it then I can get the right crag, or maybe just a wee bit at both. And several boulder problems in her honour of course.

Mia's memorial service was the end of the summer, Fred's was the first. Fred was the co-founder of Steve Webb Models And Hobbies , where I hung out in my youth and glued balsa to my face and sliced into my fingers (a main finger ridge scar still being an annoying exacerbance to my continual skin problems), but didn't actually get involved in the radio control part of the hobby as my parents (rightly) thought I couldn't be trusted with such complex kits. My tribute to Fred highlighted the importance of hobbies and passions, although of course the shop was closed. It was, however, open when I drove from Llandridod Wells - where I had been nu-routing with Pylon King and Don Sargeant in the Elan Valley as well as fending off Don's relentlessly demented spaniel Cadi - to Wirksworth for the service. So a couple of decades late I treated myself to my first R/C car....

It is a blast, ridiculously fast and agile, although the learning curve is steeper than the skate ramp in that video. I've only broken two suspension ends, an axle, a suspension arm and suspension shaft in as many runs.... But it's all part of the fun even if R/C spare parts stores are swamping my bookmarks. I fully intend to strap an MP3 player and speaker on top and terrorise local quarries with pounding gabber once I've fixed the shocks. Well....maybe ;) Actually one of my main inspirations was getting out into the local limestone quarries near Bristol....vast gravelly wastelands, loads of raised hummocks and easy angled slabs, they'd be absolutely perfect. Pity I'm 400 cunting miles away now. Camby will have to do, but when I head back, I'm bagging the first R/C ascent of stuff like this:





This is Glacial Point at Fairy Cave. Definitive borderline E3/4 5c/6a and rather good fun with a pretty smeary crux. This was a pleasing micro-challenge but fairly indicative of the bumbly depths I had to sink to when my stamina, confidence, and skin dryness disappeared entirely up my arse. The list of inspiring routes I abandoned all hope on in the last month of being down South is probably longer than the list of great routes I did during the first month, so it was a fairly tail-between-legs end to my time down there. More on that later, but in the meantime I'm taking a week or so off climbing, which will then necessitate a full month of fighting hard to get back into it. Such is my climbing fragility.



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#726 Re:  fiendblog
October 02, 2016, 08:31:56 am
Missing video from that post:


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#727 Obsession Futile
October 15, 2016, 01:00:28 am
Obsession Futile
14 October 2016, 10:08 pm



Of the many carefully cultivated and nurtured personality defects I've accumulated over the decades that are specifically detrimental to climbing (inhibiting aspects from keeping fit to keeping friendly contacts), one would assume that obsessive tendencies would be the least worrying. I certainly obsess about climbing a "little" bit, but as I once said to my good friend Potty, my main problem is I'm not nearly obsessed enough, although perhaps what I mean is that my obsession can be deflected elsewhere, again into the realms of climbing detriments.

This time it's all the fault of another good friend Jo, who I had a couple of nice days out with down in Bristol, and who revealed to me the shocking confession that she was "quite into" painting toy soldiers, but frustrated about not being good enough and could I offer any advice?? Well if I'd had paints and brushes with me I could have done so quite easily, but I didn't....but this still swerved my obsession wildly away from the true path of climbing and into a desire to share the painting geekdom.

So I got back to Glasgow and did fuck all climbing and training and instead did a series of 14 fucking painting tutorial videos (each one taking about 2 hours total painting, filming, and editing) which is great for anyone who wants to know about colour schemes and blending and brush angles and a whole host of tips and tricks picked up from a couple of decades doing this very strictly tangential hobby, but utterly fucking useless for keeping me fit and strong and trying to rectify the uninspired mood I came back with.

What a bellend.

Still I've learnt something. Don't do it again.

In other obsessive news, I've still been enjoying my wee car:



I've actually upped my success rate in that I'm having more full battery runs where I don't break something than those that I do. And I clocked it at 37mph the other day, it should be able to do a bit faster out of the box, but being well over the speed limit is pleasing enough, and it's a bugger to control at that speed with a stopping distance akin to a full size car. I don't feel nearly as.....soiled by this geekout, as it takes less time farting around, gets me out in the fresh air and is more social etc etc. Even if sometimes...

Still no excuses now, I've got to get back training. It would help if I knew for what. I've been so scared of still being shite at climbing and not having the confidence to get on the things I want to do, I don't actually know what I *do* want to do... Answers on a postcard to the usual email address.



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#728 Re:  fiendblog
October 15, 2016, 09:58:36 am
I'm glad you didn't borrow my camera after all.....

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#729 Re:  fiendblog
October 15, 2016, 10:04:56 am
Jesus fucking Christ Fiend, amazing conditions in that second video, sunny and windy, you should have been climbing! Or at least training.

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#730 Re:  fiendblog
October 15, 2016, 10:22:28 am
Fultonious, the reason I needed to borrow a camera for painting tutorials was due to the incident in that video  :alien: . Thankfully I took it to AJ Johnstone in town and their technician managed to force it back in so it's all working fine.

Nibile....I know, I know  :-[. Although I was visiting my brother's dog so I think that's allowed...

Also, compiler broke that AGAIN. That second video is suppose to be a link "Even if you just can't get the staff these days"

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#731 Back in the game.
November 11, 2016, 01:00:07 pm
Back in the game.
11 November 2016, 10:05 am



This post is proudly brought to you by...

...slightly compensating for Fiend's fucking awful skin since October 2016. Any products mentioned in this post will be subject to 100% bias on that basis.

Somehow I underestimated the time it took me to get back into training and climbing. Usually due to legs, weight, damp-susceptibility etc, any more than one rest day results in doubling number of days on  (either outdoor climbing or alternating indoor wall with general exercise) to get back to my previous form. 2 days off, 4 days on required. 3 days off, 6 days on required. Approximately. Anyway this time it wasn't so bad. It turns out that while toy soldier painting videos are bloody terrible warm-ups for training, disassembling and reassembling RC cars with constant fiddling and screwing (uhuh) is a pretty decent warm-up for the fingers. I expect to see Dave Mac espousing this pretty soon.

On the other hand it doesn't seem to make a great different to skin quality so that was an immediate frustration down at TCA, resulting in a useful discussion with TCA's High Empress Jackie in which she recommended regular, rather than sporadic Anti-Hydral use. Years ago I got a bit over-excited when fatdoc from UKB started importing AH, and bought 6 tubes of it, which I've probably used a handful of "emergency" times in the intervening decade. I always thought it shouldn't be relied on and was a specialist treatment only for real weirdos with freakishly bad skin.

Of course, I AM that real weirdo with freakishly bad skin.

What an idiot - what the fuck have I been doing for the last decade??

So I've started using it - tiny spots rubbed into my tips before bed - most days a week with a day or two off, and fuck me it works. My skin isn't feeling dry, or leathery, or hard....it's feeling fucking NORMAL. N O R M A L. What a revelation. This had the amusing side-effect of going down to TCA, not greasing off the holds, and falling off them cos I couldn't hang on. It's amazing how much WEAKNESS is exposed when it's not masked by excessive sweating. Then pretty soon, since I was pushing the limits of my muscles not the coefficient of damp friction, I started feeling pretty decent pushing myself at the wall - as well as increasingly psyched to see how well normal skin would do on the rock. Of course my own personal damp is not the only moisture around and Saturday's forecast is saying no grit visit this weekend :(. But in the meantime I can keep training okay - at the moment I'm sticking mostly to bouldering to start the winter, and will transition to routes and stamina later on.

Also pushing the limits of friction is this wee beast:



This sort of relaxed driving style is why it needs so much maintenance and what keeps my fingers warmed up pre-climbing ;)



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#732 Re:  fiendblog
November 11, 2016, 02:05:26 pm
Fiend,

as a fellow sufferer of kipper flippers I thank you for this post as it has reminded me to get applying it, it's next to the bed but I just keep putting it off.

I write this with greasy tips having fallen off a lot last night with wet hands.

Yours,

Sweatfest

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#733 Re:  fiendblog
November 11, 2016, 04:54:05 pm
Fiend + greasy tips + a lot last night + wet hands + Yours + Sweatfest
:lets_do_it_wild: :lets_do_it_wild: :lets_do_it_wild:

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#734 Re:  fiendblog
November 11, 2016, 05:05:55 pm
It has got me inappropriately oozing just thinking about it.

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#735 Bristol Calling.
November 11, 2016, 07:03:07 pm
Bristol Calling.
11 November 2016, 7:01 pm



Training - the way I do it, only semi-structured, bouldering and routes indoors, but pushing myself and my limits hard, listening to my body, working some weaknesses, keeping some awareness of relevance - is fun. The pleasure of playing with movement, piecing together puzzles, crushing challenges. But it's also training for something. Sometimes that's something specific, upcoming trips, particular plans or route inspirations. Sometimes it's just keeping strong and fit, which is a worthy goal in itself. My mate PK, a semi-recent convert to not training and not pushing himself at all, sometimes berates me "yeah wot u training for tho?". Well not being weak and unfit and useless for a start!!

So there came a time recently when my TCA sessions turned into a Ratho session full of surprisingly decent performance and easy falling practise which was confirmation that a planned Bristol trip was inspiring again. This was in theory going to coincide with getting to Cornwall in colder conditions and getting on crisp granite, but it didn't, alas that will have to wait for next spring, hopefully a reasonable grit season will be enough preparation for that. In the meantime I took advantage of much more local climbing and a much cheerier vibe than one would ever find around the Central Belt, as well as splitting the journey up following some inspiration from the shiny new Lancashire Brick (more on that almost excellent volume later). So it went a bit like this:

EKU28 or The Russian at Wilton 4 (since they are essentially the same route in a "use the crimp with your left, or right, hand" sort of way). This was highlighted in the Wilton 4 clean-up film earlier this year and despite a slightly green appearance, it was in the fabled "mint nick". A lovely wee solo, probably E2 5b.





Fiend Alone with Jeanette, Pots And Pans Quarries. An old inspiration from an old photo. Another E2-ish 5b solo in another minor quarry. This one was a bit eliminate avoiding the arete, but smearier and scarier. Reaching the top in the encroaching gloom, whilst actually alone, was quite satisfying.

Whilst I was down in Bristol, PK made good on his long term threat to take me to the Frome Valley sandstone. This is esoteric and specialist even by my perverted tastes, although admittedly the climbing would be quite fun if it was clean. Maybe his imminent guide will replace cobwebs with chalk and moss patches with polish? This wee route for example, was 6m of juggy roof climbing. Not bad for something 20 yards from a busy footpath. That busy footpath saw the farcical scene of PK and I hurtling along it at dusk, trailing gear, rucsacs and 50m of rope, frantically trying to escape the above wasp that was cunningly embedded inside my vest. One emergency disrobing and 8 stings later it met it's well deserved fate. The stings were itching for days, the wee cunt.



Two fun sport routes at The Gap. The first is a groove, the second is an arete. Two sides of the same feature, I like that. Both very nice fun routes that belie an initial slightly flakey and grubby vibe, very typical of the area which has seen minor quarries transformed into worthwhile sport venues. Very soon these will transform into overrated honeypots due to an imminent Rockfax guide. Unfortunately the same PK was due to write a proper independent / local activists guide to the area but other parties didn't get organised in time, so this Rockfax purchase will actually be justifiable for a change.  



Crimpy sandstone sport climbing is quite fair training for crimpy quarried grit trad climbing, as evidenced by a fun start to a glorious Saturday at Lower Montcliffe. Unfortunately this fun turned sour as we were kicked off this delightfully sunny but newly owned quarry, albeit after a conversation that turned from typically bullheaded "git orf my land" to a useful discussion of possible progress, respect, and future access with permission. It turns out the situation is somewhat more complicated and hopefully will get resolved sooner rather than later, as LM is a fine example of hidden gems away from the big Lancashire venues. Big venues such as Anglezarke where we finished off the day with a couple of decent routes although frustratingly a re-failure on Tangerine Trip, approximately 0.5 inches from the finishing handjam after me climbing, and pushing past terminal pump, surprisingly well. At least I'm now experienced enough to know that if this is E3 then Supercrack and Wilton Wall are solid HVSes....so it's not. Still I came away from the weekend with enough inspiration for more Lancs suntraps until it gets cold enough for proper grit (i.e. not long probably!)

Missed off this list was a bit more sport dicking around, and an exciting day at Avon doing Yellow Edge (apparently suitable for ambitious E2 leaders, I think I'm a decade and a half beyond that and it was tough, sustained and dangerous as an E3 thanks) and Last Slip (apparently suitable for people who find grit E4 5cs easy and also ignore guidebook bullshit like "lots of small wires". Yeah, lots. All 2 of them. In the same fucking shallow slot. Well below your feet on the 5c quarryman bridging crux. Thankfully the weather was crisp enough to get it done with a lot of deep breaths and my eyes half-closed). An evening celebrating with Kwak beer and a fantastic amount of in-house cats at the Bag Of Nails pub went down very well.

I also got to Fairy Cave and didn't get halfway up Balch's Slide.....but I know someone who did....





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#736 A matter of values.
November 12, 2016, 01:00:05 pm
A matter of values.
12 November 2016, 10:20 am



There was another minor retro-bolting debacle at Ratho Quarry. Ho hum. I didn't even notice it until B pointed it out during a mutual sieging session on the notoriously addictive grey stamina circuit at TCA, and once I did, I didn't feel it enriched my life in any way. Basically Buz put up a new 7b or c or something up an old Robbie Philips / Lincoln / Small project that included two bolts in an old, starred E3, and an "enhanced" hold. There are many things to say about this of varying lack of interest, such as Smally popping his head out of his dark horse's stable to condemn the matter, Buz once again thinking he could get away with it by not having any public consultation and present it as a fait d'accompli, and the usual myopic morons (and an off-target McGeek) throwing a spanner into the works with such red herrings as dismissing anti-retro-bolting concerns because apparently approving a lower-off on Pettifar's Wall to avoid the grim and created-by-the-M8 extension earth cornice is "hypocritical". What, as hypocritical as abseil points at the Cromlech, Martin Crocker suggesting pre-placed belay ropes in the Rhinnogs, an abseil chain at Sharpnose, recommended pre-placed belay ropes at Carn Gowla, bolt lowers before the unclimbable shale band at Anglezarke?? It takes a special kind of fucking imbecile to think that lower-offs are incompatible with trad climbing, but the Scottish sport climbing scene seems to attracts such idiots like flies around dogshit.

The upshot of it all is that - ignoring the chipped hold / heavily cleaned break for now, something probably quite similar to the ""heavily cleaned"" holds on John McCain F6b (I'm quite proud of my UKC factual analysis "If you want man-made routes, the ones inside the arena are usually better") - it boils down to one bolt that should have been placed 2' to one side, making the 7c a bit more run out on 6b ground and the bolt suitably off-route for the E3, something which is quite bloody obvious and would have avoided all the fuss if Buz had actually bothered to consult a selection of the climbing public rather than just Ratho Wall regulars. SIGH.

What is of more interest is discussing this with Craig on a trip over to inspect the nonsense, get rained off, and enjoy those man-made routes inside the arena (a particularly nice red 7a with slopers). He - possibly with his mind addled by the ominous and imminent onset of "Scottish Winter Season" - whilst not supporting retro-bolting, expressed a more relaxed attitude to the ethics of the situation because (forgive me Craig if I paraphrase this wrong) "they are just grotty quarries and local training crags". Obviously this is fallacious reasoning as a reductio ad absurdum would see Master's Edge etc bolted, but his further explanation was that size, grandeur and the beauty of the mountain environment are what he truly values in rock climbing, and even I am forced to admit that for all their 3 star qualities, Shear Fear and Wally 1 don't really have those.

This highlights an interesting difference in values. The ethical side isn't of much debate - good trad climbs are good trad climbs and shouldn't be fucked with without a lot of due consideration and consultation. But what makes climbs really mean something to someone?? Ben Moon or was it Malc "didn't climb to be in beautiful places", and I don't either. I climb to have beautiful trad experiences and that can be finally committing above the skyhooks and RPs on crisp dolerite edges in the mid-December sun on Wally 2, despite being sandwiched in by the monstrous fire escape, the EICA arena, and the distant hum of the M8, or it can be slotting in the next satisfying jam (#16 in a series of 40) on the soaring Whispering Crack, alone with PJ, the mid-summer sun and the endless serenity of the ocean and distant Hebrides. Of course, I like beautiful places, but the main value of my rock-climbing doesn't depend on that, it depends on the intrinsic quality of the climbs themselves, and the surroundings are an enhancement.

Similarly, for me size isn't everything. According to some people you "can't have 3 star boulder problems". Funny that, I thought I'd done hundreds of them (including a couple of national class problems in a grotty local training quarry). At once extreme, climbing is still just Training For The Greater Ranges, the bigger and grander the better, irrespective of the actual climbing qualities of the climb. At the other extreme, climbing is now just cross-training for the Beastmaker and it all boils down to the move, the challenge, the incremental progression. I'm somewhere in-between, but I do errrr towards the joy of movement and technicality and the quality of the climb rather than the setting, context, history etc. So yes, Wally 1 is brilliant whether it's in Ratho or Reiff, the laybacking on Shear Fear is great 10m above a quarry floor or 100m above a mountain hillside, Nijinski is as unjustifiable to ruin by top-roping adjacent to a carpark as it would be high on a Yorkshire moor - these experiences all have value.

Of course, by Craig's values, stricter ethics should apply to the mountains and wilderness and presumably Tunnel Wall and Creag Nan Cadhag and the wee crag beyond Ardmair should be de-bolted. Coel already advocated that for Creag Nan Cadhag, and they may have a point - not necessarily one I agree with, but it's always nice to have people taking stronger ethical stances, maybe doing so will keep the Ratho-style nonsense at bay.

Finally...

A very trad climb with a bolted lower-off in a grotty quarry.A convenient bolted sport climb in a wild beautiful environment.



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#737 Re:  fiendblog
November 12, 2016, 01:09:36 pm
Well you an count me in to the special kind of fucking imbecile club with Smally then. Drilling holes is incompatible with the trad ethic. That's not to say I'm unable to come to a pragmatic compromise in all situations, but arguments like popularity and convenience are pretty weak imho.

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#738 Re:  fiendblog
November 12, 2016, 06:49:11 pm
Smally wasn't making any comment about the lower-off on Pettifar's, and was more concerned with chipping than  bolting. And most definitely not any kind of imbecile!!

The lower-off on Pettifar's IS a pragmatic compromise: Originally the route topped out as normal, then - according to the guidebook - the M8/9 extension work happened, destabilised the top of that bit of crag, resulting in an incongruous earth cornice, and later semi-impregnable gorse. This led to the route being neglected and was partly the reason Buz initially jumped in and retroed it, but after seeing sense and de-bolting it, left the lower-off in place so it could be climbed as a feasible trad route (which it is, and it's great).

Any Central Belt regular will be familiar with how the route changed from the motorway work and how the earth cornice temporarily ruined the route (I'm assuming you're less familiar with it) so for them to cry hypocrisy is bullshit (particularly when it's coming from ardent retro-bolt supporters who have given up trad despite claiming otherwise).


Obviously I don't think you're part of any imbecile club  :-*. So I'd be interested in what you think about bolt lower offs on, say, The Manatese (top photo), Young And Easy And Under The Apple Boughs etc etc? And is it just drilled gear that is the problem, or any large scale fixed gear for "convenience"??




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#739 Re:  fiendblog
November 12, 2016, 09:10:47 pm
Lovely photos of Montcliffe fiend. I always thought the slate quarries held a 'special' position in the bolt debate. A bit like the Australian carrot. I'm against bolts and lower offs of any kind in grit quarries but find it pleasing to clip old ironmongery sometimes. I'm sure I heard a drill at work in Wilton 1 a month or so back so I guess some disagree.

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#740 Re:  fiendblog
November 13, 2016, 12:16:26 pm
So would bolted lower-offs be okay if they were Australian Carrots (i.e. completely mechanically unconvincing)??  ;D

I should make it clear that what I find obnoxious is PRO-RETRO-BOLTERS using the "hypocrisy" argument as an attack on anti-retro-bolters, and presumably implying that the routes should be retrobolted rather than having a lower-off in place as a compromise for a now-inaccessible route.

IF the argument was PRO-PURE-TRAD-CLIMBERS using the same issue to argue that the lower-off should be removed, presumably with all the other retro-bolts around, then that would be a completely different scenario, not least because it would actually be the slightest bit bloody consistent and an ethical stance.

Wilton.....doesn't Jimmy Nip opposite the prow already have a bolt lower-off in?

The Coal Measure face at the Zarke.....that's another very clear example, I remember there was a fuss about that?? I did a wee E1/2 at the left end the other day, nice route with a delicate little step past small cams and RPs, and a bolt lower-off before the shale cornice. Made perfect sense to me. Having said that, come spring and once the seepage, I'll be looking forward to multi-pitching there with Johnny Brown, I'll try to get up the E3 6b (looks well good if a bit ferny) and JB can kick steps up the 6m shale pitch, there should be some decent trees for a belay at the top for when Fatty Fiend pulls off half the crag top  :)

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#741 Re:  fiendblog
November 13, 2016, 01:56:49 pm
BTW, that's not the interesting bit. The interesting bit is: Is a 4 pitch classic mountain route in the wilderness of far Scotland intrinsically more valuable than a technically perfect but unaesthetic single pitch route in a gritstone quarry, or for that matter a perfectly formed but microscopic gritstone sit start??

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#742 Re:  fiendblog
November 13, 2016, 06:45:32 pm
Haha, I wouldn't use a carrot lower off that's for sure. I pulled one out in Tasmania while aiding up a very wet bottom pitch of the totem pole, struggled to trust them after that. Some good observations about the aesthetic value of climbing and landscapes, there's no accounting for taste that's for sure. Luckily it keeps most of the heathens enjoying the views while the connoisseurs know where it's really at. Re the bolt debate there's something to be said for respecting the history, development and style of a place even if it means kicking steps in shale 😂 Not that I know much about Lancashire climbing.

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#743 Re: A matter of values.
November 14, 2016, 06:58:17 pm
A matter of values.
12 November 2016, 10:20 am



 Of course, I like beautiful places, but the main value of my rock-climbing doesn't depend on that, it depends on the intrinsic quality of the climbs themselves, and the surroundings are an enhancement.



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Well put.

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#744 Re:  fiendblog
November 14, 2016, 09:28:50 pm
Good post Matt.

For me on trad, sport or mixed - beautiful moves trump (sorry) aesthetic beauty and grand surroundings. For ice climbing or alpine climbing - beautiful features trump moves, because the moves are all similar or there's so many you can't remember individual sequences. To have both is desirable!

Fixed gear. Ha! ...

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#745 Re:  fiendblog
November 20, 2016, 08:11:49 pm
Cheers. I'd forgotten about Pen Trwyn as the bustling micro-cosm of lower-off equipped trad too!

I'm hoping JB will respond at some point, I wasn't baiting him, I do like his approach a lot and in general like hearing the arguments of people with stronger ethics.

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#746 Re:  fiendblog
November 20, 2016, 09:21:36 pm
BTW, that's not the interesting bit. The interesting bit is: Is a 4 pitch classic mountain route in the wilderness of far Scotland intrinsically more valuable than a technically perfect but unaesthetic single pitch route in a gritstone quarry, or for that matter a perfectly formed but microscopic gritstone sit start??


There's no such thing as intrinsic value in your examples - they lack any intrinsic value. The only value they have to a climber is extraneous - i.e. given to by humans. Those different climbs you mention have a different extraneous value according to each individual. The best all-round climbers might be the best at valuing all types of climbs.

But you knew that.

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#747 Re:  fiendblog
November 21, 2016, 01:08:59 pm
Quote
So I'd be interested in what you think about bolt lower offs on, say, The Manatese (top photo), Young And Easy And Under The Apple Boughs etc etc?

I don't know enough about them.

Quote
And is it just drilled gear that is the problem, or any large scale fixed gear for "convenience"??

I've written something similar before, but in principle, I see the point of trad/adventure climbing as navigating my way through a found environment using my equipment and skill. However once someone has decided to ab in and drill a bolt the character of the environment is changed - it becomes one manufactured for climbing. Someone else has made the fundamental safety decision for me. It ceases to be the same challenge. I've still never seen a decent argument as to why chipping holds and drilling holes are different.

I don't generally mind coming across leader-placed gear left by others making the same journey as me. Too much detracts though. I definitely object to replacement by drilled gear.

Of course grey areas remain.

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#748 Back once again....
January 26, 2017, 01:00:07 pm
Back once again....
26 January 2017, 11:37 am



....and who knows I might keep it up this time.

In short, November and December I sulked. New Year I went to Costa Blanca and Albarracin, more on that later but suffice to say I cooked the best tuna steak I've ever had.

Now I'm back in the shithole that is Scotland in the winter, and back training. But for what?? Good question. My immediate goal is to spend the next 3 months climbing on gritstone - right time, wrong place, but I'll try. The training for that revolves solely around anti-hydral cream and some stretching. In the longer term I want to push myself and physically improve (a little bit!), but in what direction?? What do I need to do to do what I want to do, which is essentially "more of the same" challenging inspiring trad, in more varied situations??

To answer this, what could have been better last year, which was mostly decent for the first 2/3 of it?? What did I struggle with, and what can I train to improve those situations.

Some UK routes I failed on, and some reasons why:

Traction Trauma, Dinbren - undergraded, reachy, missed footholds when boxed.

Back To The Old Ways, Backways Cove - undergraded, silty death.

Gale Force Zero, North Pembroke - conditions (too smeggy), undergraded, got pumped

Life's Just A Ballgame, North Pembroke - conditions (hot and sunny), scary bold friction climbing

Peryl, Avon - conditions (too sunny and hot), missed guidebook description of rest ledge.

One Rawl For All, Avon - conditions (too hot on the rock).

White Spider, Dartmoor - conditions (only warm but very slopey friction climbing)

Some E3, Anstey's Cove - conditions (warm even in the shade), tired, slipped off.

Black Sapper, Robin's Rocks - very pumpy, committing, hard to read, more pumpy.

Some E2, Gower - conditions (okay on the rock but too warm in general), hard and holdless.

Dragon's Den, Dewerstone - conditions (a bit grubby and not cold enough for rubbish slopers), didn't rest long enough to let skin cool down and rechalk.

Some F7a, Wyndcliffe Quarry - conditions (damp and greasy), hadn't warmed up enough.

And a few routes I really struggled on:

Mad Mutt, North Pembroke - conditions (a bit smeggy), undergraded, power endurance.

Tremelo, North Pembroke - conditions (a big smeggy), very undergraded, pumpy

Black Magic, Pentire - conditions (gloomy and greasy)

Dogs Of War, Gogarth - conditions (hot and sunny)

The Baldest, St Loy - undergraded, missed hidden RP.

Useful. Really fucking useful. Don't climb when conditions are bad, don't get on sandbag routes.Yeah sure let me factor that into my TCA / Ratho sessions *rolls eyes*

Okay. So, more useful might be to rewind back to the late winter sport trip where I really struggled, and conditions were less of an issue - compared to routes being reachy, or really hard to read with endless blind pockets, at least. Physically though, there are a few common threads:

1. Getting generally pumped on relentless trad.

> I can train a bit for this by doing laps on routes and TCA stamina circuits.

2. Powering out on short sections of steep ground and intense climbing.

> I can train a bit for this by doing more climbing on steep ground, this has previously been identified as a weakness of mine. I've started doing some sets on the 45' foot-on rung ladder at TCA, partly because I've got an injured wrist and it requires little twisting, but I think it should be relevant. I'll also do more nu comp wall routes at Ratho when it warms up.

3. Getting stressed and tunnel-visioned in the above situation and missing options.

> This I am not so sure about as it's partly mental. I can try to focus on looking around me whenever I'm challenged indoors, try to spend a bit more time on the holds to get used to hanging around. General fitness and general climbing fitness will probably beneficial as the problem goes along with being tired, out of breath, etc.

So that's a start. As mentioned my wrist is tweaked (annoyingly from doing eccentric wrist curls to try to prevent further tweaking to my elbow!) which limits what I can currently train on normal indoor holds by about 50%. I'm trying to work around that with more board and fingerboard work.

I still need a lot more regular grit partners though. I haven't been down once yet. Fuck living up here.

Source:  fiendblog


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#749 Re: Back once again....
January 26, 2017, 01:35:40 pm
3. Getting stressed and tunnel-visioned in the above situation and missing options.

> This I am not so sure about as it's partly mental. I can try to focus on looking around me whenever I'm challenged indoors, try to spend a bit more time on the holds to get used to hanging around. General fitness and general climbing fitness will probably beneficial as the problem goes along with being tired, out of breath, etc.

I don't know if you've read Vertical Mind, but there is a chapter in there (and I'm paraphrasing from memory so excuse any inaccuracies) about having certain triggers/keywords to use in various situations.

The one I found the most useful is for the situation you describe.  Basically, when you feel the tunnel vision/stress setting in, close your eyes, take two deep breaths, and say 'reset' in your head.

And use this as trigger to reset yourself, and return to moving well.  Takes a bit of mental practice, and obviously won't be for everyone, but I find it works quite well...

 

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