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The earth goddess and a moment of madness
19 November 2013, 8:16 pm

“Higher you  go, closer to the morgue  you are”

There are some routes, particularly on gritstone, that have legendary status and a special aura about them. The very name of some of these routes is enough to send shivers down your spine and the thought of ever being on the sharp end is incomprehensible.

Two of the arguably most famous of these so called routes can be found at Black Rocks. Johnny Dawes 80's masterpiece Gaia, and Seb Grieves ground breaking line, Meshuga.

Gaia stands proud on the west face, the line so pure and distinguishable running straight up one of the best blocks of grit around. Your eyes are instantly drawn to it the minute you come up the hill.

Meshuga however lurks around on the dark side, barely seeing the light of day, guarded by the permanent shade that the front face of this classic crag casts. It is quite possibly one of the most intimidating lines you'll ever see. They are both iconic and are firmly cemented at the top of British climbing history.

Both these routes shot to fame and became 'immortalised' in the film Hard Grit back in the 90's. I'm sure we can all relate to how it felt watching this movie for the first time. The horrifying sound of Jean-Minh Trin-Thieu smashing into the lower arete as he loses all control on Gaia, and then the classic running commentary as Seb attempts to calm the nerves on his ascent of Meshuga.

Seb Grieves featured on the cover of HARD GRIT, making the First Ascent of Meshuga©SlackjawFilms

Black Rocks is my home crag and where I first went climbing around 18 years ago. Gaia in particular is a route that I have always, for as long as I can remember, looked up at and dreamed of one day being able to climb. Virtually everybody within the climbing world has heard of this testpiece and it is a much sort after tick. I have to admit though, it would always scare the living daylights out of me, and I never imagined I was good enough to do it, let alone have the right mindset something like this requires.

So it sort of got put on the back burner. Friends came along and did it and yet I still couldn't find the psyche needed to get stuck in. This season though my attitude towards these hard routes changed, to the point where I could not wait for the temperature to drop and grit season fully kick in. Thankfully it finally did a couple weeks ago and I felt more fired up for the coming season than I had been in a long while. Maybe it was due to knowing how much stronger I've been feeling from a summer of sport climbing, as well as realising I had a half decent amount of fitness in me.

It has been a truly incredible start to the grit season already. Probably up there with one of the best anyone has ever heard of, and its only mid November! E9's and E8's have been falling down and tamed left, right and center. It has been pretty inspiring reading daily reports of peoples successes, and it does beg the question, what in the world has happened!?! I have my own thoughts but will leave them for now.

 

About a week ago I took an opportunity to hit up Black Rocks and throw a rope down Gaia. It was unbelievably hot and sweaty with zero wind. We waited until the sun dropped a little lower and almost instantly things started to feel a million times better, and I managed to link the thing in one go. Time was starting to get the better of us though so we packed up and decided to leave it till later in the week.

Wednesday came around and I'd arranged to meet up with Jon and Pete. There was a frost, the sun was out and it looked like being a perfect winters day. However I'd woken up with a grim cold, and sore throat but decided to head out anyway and see what happened. The moves felt fine, my sequenced was fully drilled into my mind, I knew what needed to be done and was 100% certain I'd be able to execute. It was hotting up a little though but luckily just as I was about to set off a cloud bank came over that made your fingers grip to the crystals of grit like glue.

Clipping the gear I pulled onto the face and set up for the crux pull into the groove. It all went like clockwork, suddenly I was above the cams, this was it, now or never. I padded my way to the top of the groove and delicately reached out left to the sloping shelf, making sure to keep my mind from wandering astray and firmly on the prize. The next few tricky foot swaps went well until I was all set up for the final lunge. I chalked up, took a quick breath, ran my feet up the wall, kicked my toe out right and locked on up to the bomb proof arete hold with a massive sign of relief and unexplainable joy. A big big moment for me and my climbing career.

 

The sense of relief and satisfaction it gave straddling that top arete is hard to describe and a moment I've often found myself trying to imagine how it would feel. It is so different to the feeling of clipping the belay of a hard sport climb. Probably because you've come out of an extremely dangerous situation and certain ground fall, alive and well!

 

I'd had this idea a few days before of being able to climb both Gaia and Meshuga in the same day. The Americans did it a few years ago and it'd be a pretty cool achievement. In order to do so it was paramount I made sure all images of Jean-Minh and  Mawson smashing into the ground were well out of my head.

I was already half way there and already knew what to do on Meshuga from taking a look a couple weeks previous. Both Pete and Jon were keen so we packed up and headed around onto the front face. Conditions were minted, the rock was bone dry and I ended up top roping it at the first time of asking. It was more than possible. The route is totally my style all the way, with its compression slapping and big moves. I did it a few more times, gave the holds a good scrubbing and firmly went over the sequence in the my mind again. For some bizarre reason I still wasn't sure about it though. But I started to get prepared to go for the lead. I tied in, pulled on my shoes, and tightened up the helmet. I stood at the base of the route, hands chalked and placed on the starting holds. Then all of a sudden my state of mind seemed to change and various thoughts started to emerge. Climbing Gaia seemed like a lifetime ago and I didn't want to go for this one just for the sole purpose of being able to say I'd done both in a day. I knew I'd regret walking away, but I also equally knew I'd regret it even more if I screwed things up and got hurt. But the conditions were mind blowing, that perfect velcro like grip had arrived and everything was prepped!  

I took the decision to back down and promised to come back the day after. I wasn't prepared to risk, at any price, ruining the feeling of such a special day by getting greedy and potentially messing up.

Here is what can happen with a route like this...

The next day my mind felt renewed and back in the game. The sun was out again but the wind was raging like a bull! Hardly ideal on something as serious as this, when a moment lapse in concentration could mean you shattering your bones on the boulders below... After warming up on the route again I took a walk around into the sunshine and sat and ate a chocolate flapjack I'd been saving as a celebration treat. My body felt like it needed a little comfort! All that was bothering me was the distraction of the wind. But then I just suddenly decided to go for it and before I had chance to changed my mind, ran back round to tie in.

Everything went as planned, no hickups, although I admit to feeling a little more nervous than I usually do! Within seconds I was at the break and the welcome sight of a solid 0.5 cam. It was a strange feeling topping out on this one. Without the wind, I'm positive it would have made the whole experience so much more enjoyable but it didn't matter anymore. A route that even in my wildest dreams I'd never imagine being able to do, was suddenly done, over in a matter of seconds. Standing in the light of the setting sun, on top of the crag, just made it all the more special. I was left to reflect and gather my thoughts on what had truly been a whirlwind couple of days.

 

Massive thanks go out to team Clark yet again, for all their support and patience standing in the cold for me. I am very grateful. Enjoy the videos and pics!

Source: ethan walker

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Getting into The Zone
6 December 2013, 3:19 pm

It is hard to know where to start with this  one as it seems so much has happened in such a short space of time. For  that reason I'll try to break up the latest news into a couple of posts  and hope ya'll don't get too bored!Cold  days and top  conditions in abundance have continued to arrive each week, which has allowed us to get out there and  work our way steadily through the grit hit list. I've gotten into  the habbit this last couple of years of writing out a list of routes to  try over the approaching season. Some are dreamy, some maybe more realistic  but I just find it not only maintains motivation, working through a list,  it also means there are no days spent wasted trying to decide what you want  to climb. All you do is check your list and pick one that takes your  fancy. Simple.

I had hoped to try The Zone last winter but  in the end time ran out and the winter was over, so this year it was one of the routes at the  forefront of my mind. I knew that after a summer of crimping and  climbing things much much harder it would in theory feel okay, as long  as my head was in the right place and I swatted up on my skyhook  knowledge...

I also wanted to do something where you actually  had to pull a bit harder, and not just keep it together on another  'steady plod' above a big scary run out.



The route was first climbed  back in 1998 by the legend that is John Arran. What this guy hasn't done  is not really worth knowing about. He was one of a small collection of  guys who were at the front of the gritstone revival back in the 90's,  with numerous hard and bold ascents up and down the edges. To put into perspective just how good this guy was, one of these routes  was 'Dr Dolittle' at Curbar. Thought it be somewhere in the region of E10  7a, it remains unrepeated to this day.

Just over a week ago  I got a brief opportunity to jump on The Zone and check out the  climbing. It is one of those routes that you look up at and all you see  is just a blank canvas of rock. No matter how hard you gaze upwards it  still appears to be virtually holdless. Only when you get up close and  personal with it, you begin to see that actually there are holds there  and the majority are fairly good. Flat, positive edges.

Anyway  the sun was baking, people were walking around in t-shirts and  the smaller holds felt disgustingly hot and sweaty. I understood now why it needed to  be really cold for this route. Regardless of this I still figured out I  could do all the moves and it was obvious that in crisp cold conditions everything would feel so much better.

The protection for the  route to most would seem farcical and an utter joke. Carefully  placed pieces of metal hooked over small edges, situated at just over halfway up  the almost featureless wall. In the past I too thought this was  completely bizarre and that you'd have to be a mad as a hatter to put  your faith in something that seemed so 'marginal'. However they had been  tested, most recently by Oli Grounsell last winter, and rumored to be as solid as a bolt...

I managed  to borrow a collection of skyhooks and all I needed now was the right  day to come along so I could head back up to try again. Tuesday arrived,  it was cold, freezing in fact and I had manage to persuade Jon and Pete  to meet me at the crag mid morning. I arrived with no real intention of  going for the lead but knew in the back of my mind that it could  potentially be something worth considering if everything went according to  plan. I just treated it like any other climbing day I've had recently,  with the attitude of not caring too much and just having fun out with  friends.

The Collection, weighted down with a  couple of heavy bags.

After jumping around for  about 30 odd minutes and  trying to force the hotaches I jumped on and eventually the blood very  slowly started to make its way to my frozen fingertips. I could at least  now feel the holds! The sequence quickly came together, the crux holds  felt like different holds to the ones I'd been pulling on in the heat a  few days previous. The crux was linked, it felt solid, my mind started  to contemplate the lead, but ideally I really wanted to link it all in  one go which I managed fairly smoothly after a brief rest. This was it  then really, it was possible and all I needed to worry about now, beside  the suspect protection, was whether I could keep my fingers from  numbing up...

Most of my ascents of late have followed a  similar pattern. Once I know something is doable and tying into the  sharp end is inevitable, I've gone through a certain mini routine. This  generally involves, checking out the gear, fetching my skinny rope from  the car, cleaning my boots and all the while trying not to focus too  much on fully commiting yourself to the line until the last second,  right before pulling onto the first holds.

It was really  interesting to read what Katy Whittaker had to say recently about her ascent of Knockin' on Heavens Door. How  she slowly talked herself into it by taking small steps towards tying in  for the lead "just in case" she fancied giving it a try. It is a  brilliant tactic that works incredibly well to calm any nerves, take  away the pressure and just keep things nice and casual for as long as  possible.

The nest of skyhooks actually seemed to be  quite  decent and one in particular looked as bomber as a nut placement, which did wonders for my confidence. I  managed to fiddle 4 of them over two reasonable sized edges. Surely  together they would hold a fall...? They obviously had before but so had the  Parthian Shot flake and look what happened there...

.

I  was confident however they would not need to be tested so the helmet  went on, the boots tied up and off I set. Smoothly arriving at the gear,  I clipped in the rope and quickly blew on my hands to give them a  boost. The next bit went fine, and still going strong I took the little  left handed pinch. By this point it must have been too much for my  little fingers to  bear as they seemed to instantly numb up, the last drops of blood  squeezed out leaving them verging on lifeless. I could almost feel  myself falling backwards in slow  motion. It was either jump off here or give it an almighty lunge and  risk falling off anyway. I took the latter option and thankfully made it  to the good holds and easier climbing. SAFE.

The moment of truth...©Jon Clark

Another  huge relief and such a privilege to climb. It is hard  to comment on the grade and I have a limited amount of experience in these things. French grade wise, 7c/+ ish seems fair, definitely no harder. I will  say though that in no way should the route be taken at all lightly but  if the gear is solid and you could  absolutely guarantee it holding, then in some ways it climbs like a pretty bold,  slightly sketchy but brilliant, sport route... Maybe that's taking things too far. Just try to keep in  mind what  happened with the shipwreck flake and Will Stanhope.

Check back soon for a short video of the day as JC was again on hand to capture all the action and I'd  just like to thank Pete once more for his encouragement and patient  belaying.  Cheers!



Source: ethan walker

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...Happy Christmas!
17 December 2013, 7:30 pm

For this post I thought just uploading a few photos from our recent days out would be best. I do love to read about peoples ascents and thoughts but I equally love sometimes to just browse through pictures. Enjoy!

I should have some cool video to share with you all soon too, so keep an eye out for that!

Thanks to everyone that checks in and reads my blog. I really do appreciate it and all of your support really means a lot. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!! :) ????

Unfamiliar | E7/8 6c, Font7C©JonClark

The End of the Affair | E8 6b©MikeHutton

Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop | E7 6c©GuyVanGruning

Dave bearing down on Unfamiliar©JonClark

A green and slimey Balance it is... | Burbage South

©NadirKhan

Electric Slime...

©NadirKhan



Source: ethan walker

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Looking back at 13'
31 December 2013, 8:23 pm



It barely seems like 5 minutes since the start of the year. 12 months have disappeared in a flash and we are once again on the verge of a New Year. Looking back, so much has happened over this time it is hard to comprehend. I thought I'd just upload a brief recap with a few of my favourite images before the partying starts...

I'm sure of writing something similar towards the end of 2012 but this year has been a huge one for me and my climbing. Last year was brilliant, and another big step up in terms of climbing, but 2013 has blown it out of the water.

Taking advantage of some of the late season snowfall, in APRIL!©MikeHutton

For the last few years I've spent a fair amount of the time traveling and climbing abroad. It is crazy fun spending endless weeks at a sun kissed European crag, without a care in the world, other than your current project. This year however I made a decision to stay at home and climb local, with the hope that we might just get a decent summer. However we did make one brief trip back out the Frankenjura in April. Myself and Ted had a brilliant time out there last year and this time our aim was to stay for longer. In the end it was hardly the best of times and we found ourselves back home rather early, but we still got some great routes done and it was a good learning curve.

©EdHamer

Back on home soil it was time to get stuck into the sport season for real. The weather came good and stayed good for most of the summer months. Crags dried out, even the Chee Dale Cornice again, and lots of stuff got done by everyone. I love it down the Dale, there are so many routes to go at and all under the shade of the trees and right next to the cool river. Perfect.



©GuyVanGruning

It would be impossible to go through all of my favourite routes of the season but a couple stick out to me in particular. Routes that marked a significant step forward in my climbing and routes that I really had to fight for. One of these has to be Mecca. It was a major major milestone for me and made all the winters training and hard work in the gym worthwhile. Not only was it my first of the grade it is also a route of huge historical significance and one I had been looking up at since a young lad, when I could not even begin to possibly imagine ever being able to it.

Once this was done it was time to escape the heat and head into the depths of Chee Dale. The Cornice is a classic crag with a tonne of classic routes. I had missed climbing down here and it was dam good to be back! Some stand out routes from our trips here include the old school line of 'Devonshire Arms' and the new school testpiece 'Techno Prisoners'. I had also forgotten how good it was a few years ago to head to this crag on rest days and do a bunch of the easier routes the place has to offer.

One of the best new routes in the Dale. Gran Techo | 8b

©JonClark

I also had a couple of brilliant short trips with my Dad to both Yorkshire and Wales. We spent an awesome week camping at Gordale and climbing at the local crags. Malham especially is such a cool place and I always look forward to climbing there. We also got to check out Giggleswick for the first time, and spent a couple of sessions here, away from the crowds and heat. The weather was perfect, climbing early in the morning to beat the sun, relaxing on the campsite and enjoying being somewhere different.  

Jerry's Roof, V9 | Llanberis Pass

©OliBerkin

By the time the autumn arrived and temperatures started to cool off it was time to think of the main project that I had been mulling over for most of the summer. This was of course the extension to Mecca and I could barely wait to get stuck into something really hard, test myself and put everything I had learned over the last few months into practice.

It took a fair few sessions but eventually it went down. My first 8c. I loved every moment of the whole process, even the days when things didn't go entirely to plan. In some ways I was sad to see it all end, but it was another huge personal moment for me and one I won't forget in a hurry! Thanks again to all the support I received from everyone and to my Dad for the hours he put in belaying.

©JonClark

The grit season has been going amazingly well and as its all still fresh in the memory I won't go on about it, but again there have been some stand out moments over the last month or so and more major milestones reached. Lets just hope that the season continues at its current rate and the New Year brings more good conditions and top days out on the brown stone!



Happy New year to you all and thanks for ya'll continuing to check in. I'd also just like to thank all my sponsors, Mammut, 5.10, NakdWholefoods, ProBalm and GUEnergyUK for their continued support. They are all a terrific bunch and I am super grateful and to be working with them all.

Cheers

E

Source: ethan walker

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F-BO14
16 January 2014, 6:53 pm

The Event:On Saturday 8th February 2014 we  will  be holding F-BO14,  The  Foundry Bouldering Open.   This will be a BIG  one day  comp with a CASH prize list of £1700 plus other super spot  prizes from our sponsors.  The Chief Setters will be Rob Napier and  Percy Bishton with Mr Graeme Alderson as Chief Judge.  (For those old  enough to remember, Graeme was the man behind  FIBO at The Foundry back  in the 90?s).The Sponsors:MammutMoon  ClimbingBleaustone / Lapis / AxisThe  ClinicCragX  Climbing ShopSteepedgeThe Format:A ‘score yourself’ qualification round  with 25 problems starting from font4+.  Very similar to our normal  bouldering league comps.  Set so  there will be plenty of problems in  the font 5 to 6 range (equivalent to our level 1 and 2 problems in our  circuits) so everyone can have a good climb in the qualification round.

The top 6 men and women  go through to  an onsight final of 4 problems each which will be set on the  wave/Bleasutone walls.

The comp has  Senior (18 or over on  8/2/14) and Junior age categories (age 10 years (chnaged from 12) to  under 18 years on 8/2/14) as well as a Team event.  It is open to any  climber who is at least 10 years old on the 8th Feb 2014.  However,  please note  there will be no special junior problems set but again  there will be plenty you should be able to have a good go at.

Team entry – In the qualification round  any 3 people can make up a team on the day of the event,  just let us  know on the day that you want to be part of a team.  You do need to be  entered as an individual first, there is no extra cost to then be  part  of a team.  Teams must contain at least one female climber.  Being in a  team means you have a chance of winning more prizes!

Each competitor will receive an F-BO14  competition vest or T-shirt (for juniors) provided you pre enter  on-line.

SPOT Prizes – There will be lots of  prizes up for grabs by any climber  during  the qualification between  9.30am and 2.30pm.

Individual Prizes (Senior M&F):1st: £350

2nd: £175

3rd: £100

4th: £60

5th: £40

6th: £20

For more info check out: www.foundryclimbing.com/fbo14



Source: ethan walker

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The Competition Game
17 February 2014, 4:00 pm

Most people won't know me as a competition climber. For me it is all about climbing outdoors and I see indoor climbing purely as a way to train and occasionally a way of having fun messing around with a bunch of mates (especially on those rainy days). However it may surprise a few to learn that 'back in the day' I did used to do a fair few comps around the country. These were mainly lead events with the odd bouldering one thrown into the mix every now and then. I was never very good, but I made finals on a few occasions and used to enjoy the scene.

In more recent years however comps for me have gone off the radar, bar taking part in the odd one here and there. The last one I did was Rocfest last year and while it was good fun it also cemented the fact of why I'm not a huge fan. Queuing and massive crowds! It can be/is a nightmare. Constantly dodging bodies, all vying to try problems that are getting more and more filthy by the minute with sweat and chalk.

However after hearing about the FB0-14 and that Mammut were going to be one of its main sponsors I figured it would be good to show some support and it could actually be a fun day out. Plus the weather was guaranteed to be nothing special. The general theme of rain and more rain seems endless just now and it is hard to keep motivated.

  Morning qualifiers on The Wave ©MickRyan

In the end it was a brilliant day out, the qualifiers went pretty good and I thought all the problems were really well thought out and made good use of the limited space available. I made it through to finals in 4th place and was psyched to see what the route setters had conjured up for us all to battle it out on!

Problem 3 in the Final©PaulBennett

The final seem to go incredibly well for me, I felt fresh, focused and in the end totally surprised myself and somehow managed to eventually finish the event in 2nd place. Narrowly missing out on the  win by one tiny attempt! A silly foot mistake on bloc 4 ended up ultimately costing me!

A range of emotions hit me afterwards. I was obviously super pleased and stoked to have completely exceeded all my expectations of the day, but at the same time I felt pretty gutted to have come sooo agonisingly close to sealing the win, yet one slip up had let me down.  

It was a great experience though and in hindsight it is all too easy to say 'if only this' and 'if only that' but in the end I'm just very pleased to have competed, had fun and come away with a fresh outlook on competitions.

Stu entertaining the crowds and getting all funky on the last problem!©PaulBennettA day or so later I found myself watching the mens and womens halfpipe final in Sochi. Competitions in general are a cruel game, no matter what level they are at. It was interesting and also slightly encouraging to see elite athletes such as Sean White blow it and even Torah Bright not come out on top. Anything can happen in these things.

©PaulBennett

Finally a big thanks to The Foundry, the route setters and all the events sponsors for putting on a quality day for everybody! Same again next year I hope... Also congrats to all the other finalists, especially Martin and Shauna on their win!

If you haven't had chance to check out the video of the day from Ben Pritchard and Rich Heap then take a look here :)



Source: ethan walker

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Winter deluge
25 February 2014, 2:51 pm

Since the start of December the winter, to put it bluntly, has been nothing short of depressing. We have all been in the same boat, in some cases quite literally... But while we get annoyed about not being able to get outside on dry rock, there are people down south that have had their lives turned upside down, with crazy scenes of flooding. So I guess in that respect we cannot complain too much. We have definitely gotten away with the worst of it up around here. I can't possibly imagine having water half way up your front door!

People say always look for the silver lining and one positive to pull from the last couple of months deluge of rain has been training. With nothing to do but climb indoors it has meant I have really been able to focus all my energy into some proper training. Without a doubt I feel much stronger than even just 6months ago, maybe no way near quite as fit but with a bit of luck that won't take very long to get back...

I have to admit though at times it has been a struggle to maintain motivation. Obviously I have goals in mind but ultimately we all want to be outdoors and it can be a struggle waking up every day with the rain lashing down on the skylight.

I think now I've just come to accept it and understand that its important to not let it bother you too much. The days now are getting longer, surprisingly fast, spring is just around the corner and with a bit of luck it'll bring some more settled weather.

When it has come good, on the odd occasion, we have tried to make the most of it and managed one or two fun ticks. Routes have really been out of the question, so I started getting back into my bouldering. Heading out on my own, laden down with a tonne of pads and trying various problems around the Peak.

Huffy's Roof - 7C+

300 Pound of Musclin Man - 7C+

Ben's Wall (Curbar) - 7C

Great White - 7C

Ben's Wall (RHS) - 7C



It has however slowly been drying up since the start of February and it felt brilliant to get back in among the routes at the weekend. The wind was horrific so after a failed attempt to climb at Curbar we decided on seeking out shelter within Froggatt woods.

There is a route here I've known about for ages, Dick Van Dyke Goes Ballistic. I finally went to take a brief look at it with Sam Hamer a few weeks ago and while it was verging on a waterfall we figured it was worth coming back for during a dry spell. But with an armoury of brushes, as it was pretty filthy from top to bottom! It had probably only had a maximum of 2/3 ascents since first being put up by Dave Pegg 20 years ago!

Anyway I won't go into too much detail about it, but if you like something different, away from the main events then go seek it out. No doubt it'll have a flurry of ascents now, with the ground up gang queuing half way down the beck! Have fun.

Indoor Fisherman by the way, situated immediately to the right of this, is probably among one of the best E4's you'll find in the Peak, in a quaint little setting. So if you're looking for slightly easier/safer challenge, then I'd highly recommend it. :)

Source: ethan walker

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Keen Roof
27 March 2014, 10:14 pm

So Tuesday marked another BIG step forward in my climbing. It is still taking time to properly sink in as I have been super busy this week with various things and barely had chance to sit down, let alone properly process what happened.

Keen Roof is a boulder problem first done by James Pearson a number of years ago and given the grade 8B/V13. It climbs straight through the roof of the cave down at Raven Tor, and has had a number of repeats of the years. In fact I believe it might be the most repeated 8B in the Peak/UK...

Anyway I had put it at the top of my list of projects for the coming season. I strive to excel at all disciplines of climbing, (bar ice climbing, but maybe in the future...) and while last year I managed to break into the next level with my sport climbing, by doing 8c and then E9 on trad, my bouldering was something I really wanted to try and push further this time around.

Last week I got a message off of Mina seeing if I was keen to head down the Tor, and after hearing how dry the place was I got psyched to get stuck in on the first limestone session of the year. I figured it'd be a good opportunity to give the fingers a good burn and reacquaint myself with the other big goal for this year. It was a freezing cold day, baltic in fact. But all the regulars were there and the place had the usual busy busy atmosphere.

I gave my project a couple of tries and was pleased to find out I could still remember all the intricate sequences and beta. It is going to be hard I'm sure, but if it was too easy then were would the fun be right!

There was a bunch of pads all laid out in cave, with one of the visiting Italians Stefano Ghisolfi,  putting in some efforts on the monster problem 'Belly of the Beast'. A line were you virtually start lying in the dirt at the back of the cave before climbing out into Keen Roof. Chris Webb Parsons grabbed the FA of this thing a few months ago and it was cool to see somebody actually trying it.

Around 5 years ago I dabbled on Keen Roof, having no idea what I was doing at the time and knowing that in reality it was something way way beyond what I was currently capable of. Since then I've fondled the holds on occasions but never mustered the psyche to pull on and get involved.

So Saturday I took advantage of all the pads and had a quick 10 minute play with Stu. I decided to try the crux move out to the lip first and totally surprised myself in sticking it and climbing on through to the top. I was in state of slight shock at how straight forward it felt and quickly realised that I might actually be strong enough to pull this off. All I needed to do was link in a handful of starting moves and it'd be in the bag.

My skin was wrecked however and my whole body was a little shattered. But I felt super encouraged and full of excitement at what I'd just managed to do and quickly my thoughts turned to planning what day to return during the week. First though a rest day was needed to grow skin and recuperate!



My rest day was great, and I woke up Tuesday morning feeling much refreshed and rearing to go! Opening the curtains though over breakfast and we were greeted by mist and horrible drizzle and the forecast didn't look like it'd improve much. We figured we'd drive out anyway and take a look. Surprisingly the crag had held up fine, although conditions were not the best. Warming up my fingers felt strong and pretty soon I started to pull onto the different positions along the problem.

My first proper attempt from the start I slapped the lip, just missing the good hold. Second try, a while later, I stuck the lip move but fell coming around to match! It was close, I could sense that this thing was fully on now. The skin on my fingers felt super cold, to the point were I wasn't getting much purchase with the rock. I took 10 minutes to allow the blood to return and recharge myself.

The next try I instantly knew everything felt 100% better, pulling through the roof moves, sticking the lip slap with ease and coming around into the match felt bomber. Throwing the heel up I focused in and fired up to the finishing jug! Job done. It almost seemed a bit of an anti-climax. I hung there for a second or two to enable my brain to try and process what had just happened.

I had just climbed my first V13.

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get the actual send on video but luckily I had something still left in reserve for another round shortly afterward, this time in front of the camera. Here is my quick, and quite poor attempt, at stringing a short edit together. Thanks to my Dad for shooting this!



Source: ethan walker

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The Beast.
22 April 2014, 10:29 am

Belly of the Beast never even entered my radar as something I could ever conceive of doing. Even when I managed to climb Keen Roof a couple of weeks ago, the thought of actually being able to climb a problem that Chris Webb Parson had given V15/8C, never actually crossed my mind.

Just to clear a couple of things up here is a quick run down on the  problem itself. If you hate 'waffle' look away now.

For those that don't know this line, it basically starts right back in the cave at Raven Tor and climbs the extension start of Ben's Roof before breaking out and finishing up Keen. It's a fair amount of hard climbing, and virtually feels like a route in some respects. Yes, grovelling around in the back of a dirty, dark cave definitely is not everyone's cup of tea, and I know for certainty what some people think of the idea, but it's hard! And that is the point. The challenge. You have to look past the filthy surrounds of Gollums hideout and focus on the moves, which are actually fairly cool.

One of the visiting Italians, Stefano Ghisolfi grabbed the second ascent of it last month and downgraded it to around 8B+ or V14. Stefano chose to climb the line using the two knee bars that are available along the way, hence the downgrade and which I have to admit, definitely makes a difference to the overall difficulty.

Chris Webb however chose to climb the thing without, creating a much harder all round challenge.

Personally if a knee bar can be found on a route/problem I'll use it, to me it makes no sense not to and ends up causing the problem to become an eliminate.

Regardless of this, massive and utmost respect to Chris for preserving with it last year, when he had to deal with some pretty wet conditions to get it done. At the end of the day it is your own choice how you climb something and as long as you're happy with the style and having fun, who the hell cares.

Anyway it suddenly occurred to me after chatting with Dave Mason that it could be worth giving the thing a bash sometime. I'd done the start before, and was feeling fairly fit. So with this in mind I gave it a go. 1st try from the back I hit the lip of the roof. I was once again shocked. This is possible, this is actually going to go, I told myself. And by the feel of things, pretty dam soon!

However it didn't go that session, or the next, or the next unfortunately. I suddenly developed a mental block on the crux slap to the lip. My head would lose focus or I wouldn't place my feet right, or my fingers would numb up. It started to get super frustrating. I just wanted to get the thing done. Not for the grade, that was a bonus. But because it was such a long and hard piece of climbing.

Check out this funky short clip from JC of one of my previous attempts at the thing!

A week after first trying it, I suddenly realised I'd probably had around 4/5 sessions on the thing. There was no wonder it was starting to feel like a siege! A proper proper rest was in order. Some time to let the body fully recover and re-focus my brain on what needed to be done, so I took a couple days off.

Driving over last Thursday, the temps felt right and I was feeling well rested. We rocked up at the crag only to discover the holds were soaked. Unbelievable. The Tor can be a weird place at times.

Within an hour or two they had dried back slightly, so figured I'd give it a burn and see what happened.

It was feeling solid, I stuck the lip, screaming as I came into the match, heel went up, another power scream to latch the next hold and then another even louder than the last. It felt the hardest I have ever ever tried on a climb. One move from the finish though and it all came to an abrupt end. Every ounce of my power and strength squeezed from my body. Annoyed but buzzing at the same time, it did the world of good for my confidence. I knew it was game time.

 

Within 20 minutes it was in the bag on my second try of the day. Still a huge fight towards the end, but being more warmed up and with the extra confidence in myself, it made those final moves feel a little more steady. It was still probably the hardest I have ever had to fight on something.

Sitting on the mats afterward I tried to digest another big moment in my climbing. It was a nice feeling for sure.

Without a doubt I am feeling in best shape of my life right now, and I'm incredibly excited for whatever is next!

Source: ethan walker

[fatneck]

Nice Ethan, nice...

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Enter the Badger
27 April 2014, 5:22 pm

It has been another crazy busy week, with so much stuff happening. Today is the first time in what seems like ages where I've had time to actually just sit down and chill a little.

So, to kick things off:

I took a trip to the secluded venue of Badger Cove over the Easter weekend to see what it was all about. I had actually been up there a few times before, many moons ago, with my Dad on various camping trips that we used to take together. But I wasn't able to remember much as we're talking somewhere around 15 years ago, so it was slightly surreal to be back and see the crag in a whole new light.

The cove itself sits high up on the valley side with a full on view of the impressive prehistoric Thirst House Cave. The dale feels like it has long been forgotten by the general public, who instead opt for the more well known destinations such as Chee Dale and Millers Dale. However it is a super nice setting and made a change climbing away from the hustle and bustle of the usual spots.

In recent years Badger Cove has become the home to a small collection of some of the hardest boulder problems in the Peak. This has all been down to the dedication and hard work of Dan Varian. His problems Dandelion Mind and Bewilderness, bother given V14, sit side by side and climb through some incredibly steep and hard terrain on immaculate rock.

Check out the video below of Dan's quest in making the FA!

It was Dandelion that interested me the most so we met up with a friend who was currently trying the problem and he quickly walked us through all the beta. It is a very basic, short boulder. You could almost describe it as a typical 'board' style problem. The crux involves a hard deadpoint slap to a small but fairly positive side-pull before another big lunge left again to a decent sized sloper.I pulled on for my first try and within seconds found myself on this last crux move, which blew me off and I landed back on the mats. It felt brilliant to have gotten so close though. The psyche instantly flowed through me, it certainly was not a million miles away...Feeling pretty wasted I didn't make any further progress that day and left with a smile on my face and stoked to return ASAP! First though a couple days off was needed.

I found myself back down here after just the one rest day. I had taken Sam down to show him the layout and figured on giving the thing a quick try. Mason and James arrived not long after us and the psyche started to build. The next thing I knew I was power screaming my way through those final moves, up to the glory jugs! Again, another crazy feeling that is hard to describe other than just sheer unbelief. Having a bunch of mates behind me, shouting encouragement was a massive help and I do feel that was a BIG factor in me maybe trying that little bit harder and giving it that extra couple of percent on the final moves.The next day we woke up to it hammering it down with rain. But it no longer mattered, for once I could not care less. :)



Source: ethan walker

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Dovedale Developments...
7 May 2014, 8:35 pm

Around 8 years ago my Dad came home from one of his treks around Derbyshire, raving about a brand new, untouched bouldering cave he'd come across buried in the heart of Dovedale. Not long after he took me down and sure enough it seemed quite impressive and we shortly returned with pads and a scrubbing brush in hand.

There was obviously a bunch of various lines to be had, but one in particular stood out from the rest. Starting virtually at the back end of the cave, a line of weakness ran out through the roof that eventually lead you into a big juggy hole at the center of the cave. This seemed like a good a place as any to finish but there was clearly an opportunity to carry on from here and take the line even further.



I decided to share the place with a couple of friends, Matt Fry and Mark Evans. Together we spent a number of sessions working out some of the various problems and things started to come together little by little. It was clear however I was no where near strong enough for this place and a combination of that and the audious walk-in lead to it being put on the back burner for a long while.

Mark however ended up making the first ascent of the main line, calling it Future Proof and confirmed it to be somewhere around the V10 region.

Fast forward to the start of the limestone season this year and I vowed to really make an effort to get back down and get the place sorted out, before spreading the word. Over the years rumours had started to circulate of this hidden secret venue somewhere in Dovedale and I figured it was about time to put some effort in and open the place up.

My first session back we were surprised to find the place dry and after brushing up the main line I set about piecing it all together, trying to remember the intricate beta we had previously figured out. By the end of the afternoon however it was done and I could not have been happier!

Immediately afterward my mind started to think about the original plan of extending it all the way out around the lip of the cave....



Yesterday I headed back and managed to realise this idea, giving a really fun boulder problem, which packs in a lot of cool climbing and that actually feels more like a route!

I've dubbed the thing 'Bury My Heart' and figured it could well be around the 8A region as the extra moves around the lip definitely add a little on, but only time will tell I guess...

Regardless of this I feel it is a great addition to the dale and hopefully people will get psyched to check the place out for themselves and let us know what they think!

Directions:

Like previously mentioned, this place is seriously hidden away so listen closely...Approaching from Milldale the venue is around a 30 minute walk down the dale. Walk past Ilam Rock and carry on along the main path until reaching the wooden 'boardwalks' that skirt alongside the river. Immediately after the second boardwalk a small scree slope on the left appears with one of those 'money trees' lying at the bottom. Head up here and follow the small sheep track up and round until you see a large fir tree up on the left. The cave is situated directly behind this tree, but not visible until you are virtually stood on top of it!

______________________

Apologies for the quality but below is a super quick topo I've thrown together showing just three of the main lines. I'll do my best to get a better one sorted at some point that shows more of the other established problems but for now...

Future Proof, 7C+...

The main line of weakness from the back of the cave. Using a funky sequence of techy and 3D climbing work your way out to finish at the big jug in the middle.

Red: Bury My Heart, 8A

The full line of the cave, start as for Future Proof to its finish at the main central jug. From here bust on out to the block in the roof and make a big move up around the lip to better holds. Finish on a big flatty. Take care of the loose blocks!

Green: Black Heels, 7B+C

Start from a square cutout piece of rock and fire out to the big block. Use cunning/trickery to match before finishing up Bury My Heart.

Blue: 6C+ ish

The original problem. A standard lip traverse that finishes halfway along the mouth of the cave. Start low down on the left from the good juggy ledges.

Source: ethan walker

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The definition of hard.
3 June 2014, 7:44 pm

RECLIMBING THE CLASSICS

Mammut presents six 'rock classics' --  milestones in the history of sports climbing. And the people who climbed  them for the first time, revisiting their own routes accompanied by top  climbers from the Mammut Pro Team.

Two weeks back I hooked up with a bunch of Swiss guys and Sean Mccoll for a week of filming in the Peak. Mammut have this really cool campaign currently running that is showcasing some of the most famous routes throughout the world. Hubble is one of them, being the very first 8c+ to ever be climbed and a route that has still only seen a handfull of successful repeats in the 20 odd years since the first ascent. All of these repeats have been by British climbers. Not that foreigners haven't tried, plenty of the worlds best have, albeit on very short flying visits, but so far it has eluded them all. Even Ondra, who had this to say after his first acquaintance with the route a few years back...

"The world's first 8c+, which could be easily even 9a in my opinion.  It  is not the most inspiring line, it seems more like a boulder  problem  with a rope and easier topout, but one must admit that it is of   revolutionary difficulty for its time and I believe that it isn't by  any  means easier  than Action Directe, the world's first 9a established  a  year later..."

Anyway I had been getting myself psyched up for their visit ever since first hearing about the film project and was keen to get involved. It was fingers crossed the weather and conditions would hold out.

After spending a day belaying and getting super inspired by Sean on the route I started to get more fired up to take a look myself. Hubble is a route that has always been, and still is, completely out of this stratosphere for me. I almost felt a little embarrassed tying in to try it. A route of so much reputation and history.

But I figured it'd be fun to just check out the moves and see just exactly how hard it felt.

The answer... Bloody nails. The holds turned out to be much smaller than I imagined and the moves super intense and incredibly powerful. It was a pretty humbling experience but I was really glad to have taken a peek at what truly hard climbing is all about. As well as get a small glimpse at being able to comprehend just what it would take to do a line of this caliber. It is still crazy to think Ben climbed this way back in 1990 and makes you appreciate even more just how good he really was.

Maybe I'll try again in the future, I'd certainly like to, but first I need to get a little stronger... It is a dream route. Maybe not in an aesthetic sense, because on a whole it is nothing much to look at, but because it is HUBBLE.



It was great to hang out with Sean and the rest of the crew for the week. Keep an eye out for all the video which will be released later in the year. In the mean time you can follow the campaign over on the Mammut website: http://mammut-rockclimbing.ch/en/

And it you haven't already then take a look at the latest video in the series featuring Jan Hojer on Action Directe! Some seriously impressive footage and climbing!

A special thanks to Rainer Eder for the great photos. This guy has a very impressive photography resume. You can see more of his work over on his website here: www.rainereder.com



Source: ethan walker

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The highs and lows of summer.
20 June 2014, 12:46 pm

Well it seems to have taken a little while to get here but summer finally seems to be kicking off, just about anyway. It has been a strange last month or so in the Peak, conditions have been constantly up and down. One minute things seem dry, the next they're soaked again. The usual frustrations emerge.

©Rainer Eder

However, right now I am in full training mode as my trip to Ceuse is rapidly approaching. My original plan for this summer was to hit up Rocklands to try and test this new found boulder power on some real world class problems. Afterward I'd make a stop in France on the way home to tie into a rope for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately our plans don't always work out exactly how we'd like, so South Africa is going to have to wait until next year now. It does mean though that now I'll be heading to Ceuse for an extended trip. Flights are booked, we leave for round 2 at one of the best crags in the world on 7th July for a whole month. I cannot wait to get stuck into the routes here and once again settle into the chilled out campsite scene below, as well as hooking up with some old friends from around the globe. I am even looking forward to the walk-in, although I'm sure that will soon fade after a couple of days! Anyway with a bit of luck I'll have a slightly better trip than my previous visit 3 years ago...



In between making sure my fitness is as good as can be before my trip, we have had a cool few days up in Yorkshire along with the usual pottering about the Peak looking for new bits of rock and new moves to keep motivated.

 

Kilnsey is brilliant. I wish it was closer because for me (and I'm sure many others) it is the best sport climbing crag in the UK. I think I was even more impressed the first time I saw it than I was with Malham. Shamefully though last week was only my 3rd ever visit to this place. There is so so much to do here and it was awesome to be on fresh rock with countless routes to try, as well as provide a good means of fitness testing.

To my surprise my arms held out longer than expected with the classic route Let them eat Jellybeans ticked on my second try and an onsight of probably the best 7c in the UK, Dominatrix. A year ago trying something like this would have absolutely terrified me. This time I could not wait to tie in and set off up that perfect steep wall. It was a lot of fun all the way to the belay and lived up to its reputation of being a true classic.

Boobs (8a) on Chee TorPhoto: Jon Clark Just one of the cool routes we have sought out of late. A small lesson in your technical ability, in a tranquil setting by the river. I do love it down Chee Dale. It has to be my favourite place in the Peak to climb, and I was pleased to get up a couple of hard test pieces under my belt last month. Both Rupert Davis lines: Kali Yuga (8b) and his newer companion to this Flow (8a+). The rock quality is bullet hard on perfect crimps and dishes and while short n sweet they offer some quality moves, that sum up what climbing in this part of the country is all about.

Right, its time to go out and enjoy the June sunshine! Have a good weekend everyone!

Counting down the days... Le Massif de Céüse

Source: ethan walker

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Ceuse | The Return
19 July 2014, 1:32 pm



It feels amazing to be out here with so much fitness in the tank. All the training and preparation have already been worth it, yet as I write this it is only the end of the third day of climbing. Even the BIG walk is feeling good, much to my surprise!

Each morning so far we are awake early and buzzing to set off up to the crag. This place really is one of the best climbing destinations on earth and its great to finally be able to truly appreciate it. The routes are incredible, the setting a thing of beauty. The campsite is full of life as usual, packed with super friendly people from all over the world. It's been fun to get back into the scene and simple lifestyle here and again meet bunches of new and cool people.



I can totally understand now why the last time I was here the others were so keen to get up the hill each morning. When you are sending and climbing well you almost forget its often tedious nature and as you spend the time thinking about your next project the 40-50 minutes that the hike takes quickly flies by. But if things are maybe not going your way then it can become a real drag every day and your motivation quickly dissapears, which was exactly my experience on the previous visit.

The weather so far has been questionable... In fact I have only just dried out after getting totally drenched on the walk down earlier. It is certainly not as hot as 3 years ago when we wore nothing but shorts and vests for nearly a month, but conditions in general have been decent, just super cold at times. Down jackets and beanies are a must!

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The clouds roll in...[/td][/tr]

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Once again there are a whole host of international WADS out here including Alex Megos, who has been on fire this last week on his first ever visit to Ceuse. Unfortuntately we missed his ascent of Realisation a couple of days ago by 5 minutes! But then saw him cruise up one of the crags more recent routes, Mr Hyde (8c+) in absolutely baltic conditions. Very inspiring for sure to see people so strong!

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Waiting for shade to arrive with the German crew[/td][/tr]

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The amount of quality routes here can sometimes be overwhelming. Every sector has classic after classic all within a few meters of each other. So far the goal has been to just try to get through as much of the routes I failed on last time out, and then we'll maybe see about trying something a little harder after.

Favourites so far have got to be L'ami de tout le Monde (8b) and Les Colennettes (8a)! Both are world class lines and so much fun! Clipping the chain on L'ami was surreal as the mist was so thick you could barely make out your belayer on the ground! Climbing in the clouds! It was also pretty special on a personal level being my 100th 8th, nothing significant really but a nice landmark to reach.

Today is a rest day but tomorrow if the weather holds then it'll be back up the hill and hopefully carry on the send train. Off to rustle up a power curry now for dinner after a quick hitch down to Gap earlier to pick up fresh veggies! Rollin'  

Cheers for checking in!

E

Source: ethan walker

[comPiler]

French life, Part 2...
27 July 2014, 11:30 am

Ceuse|Part 2

Since writing this post the weather has improved a heck of a lot and we've finally been able to string together a few days of back to back climbing. Currently sat enjoying scrambled eggs and fresh French bread under clear blue skies. All is well in the world.



 ________________  

The rain is once again lashing it down outside, bouncing off my tent as  I lay warm and dry tucked up inside, wrapped in my down sleeping bag. Just another summer moutain storm passing through the valley, that seems to last a lifetime.

Today however it has fallen on a rest day for us so we can't complain and it should hopefully cool things down to make good conditions tomorrow at the crag. Hard to believe just a few hours ago we were chilling in the hot french sunshine, eating a leisurely lunch, drinking coffee and reading. Letting our aching bodies recover from the previous few days of climbing and walking. The perfect way to spend a rest day out here.

The days are flying by however, as they usually do on these kind of ventures. When there is nothing to think or worry about other than getting up each morning to go climbing, they very soon begin to blend into one and no sooner than you realise, that thing we call time has eaten into well into the halfway point of your trip. It is an inevitable thing that we have to put up with but when all said and done we cannot have any complaints really. We are in the south of France after all, climbing on some of the best limestone around!

My time here has continued in the same vein as it started and I could not be happier with how things are going. I only wish we were staying longer so that it would be possible to really get stuck into some of the harder routes. There are sooo many it boggles my mind! For now I'm quite content to keep ticking my way through the crag classics, and maybe by next week it might be time to check out something a notch harder...



Yesterday was a pretty special day. We awoke slightly earlier, had the usual breakfast and set off up the hill to Cascade, hoping for cooler tempertures. It was certainly much better up there than the previous visit and our psyche quickly shot up a gear. On the agenda  today was the uber bouldery 8b 'Violente Illusion'. The route is a game of two halves. A super sharp and powerful V9 boulder problem guards a brilliant 7b+ route above, on big buckets and perfect scollops of limestone. I tried without success a few days previous, in less than ideal conditions, which very quickly sped up the process of destroying my skin. After a warmup on the upper section I set off for a burn on the lower boulder but after 2 or 3 failed attempts decided to change things up. Sometimes you just know something isn't going to work so I reverted to another method, and with this my foot positions automatically found footholds that before seemed impossible to use. I stuck the crux slap into the groove virtually static. It was such a breakthrough for me I could barely contain my excitement. I lowered down for a brief rest and within a few minutes found myself climbing through the boulder problem and hanging out on the biggest bucket of a hold you can possibly imagine. From here I was left to enjoy the upper wall just as the warm midday sun started to sneak its way onto the crag.

The send train continued later on when my South African friend, Jamie, managed to send his route too. 'Face de Rat' one of the best 8a+'s at the crag, featuring perfectly sculptured holds, perfect moves with one or two typical spicey Ceuse runouts to keep things even more interesting along the way. I came so desperately close to flashing this thing a few days prior, falling at the final hurdle where with a little more luck on my side things may have been different... However it succumbed with ease on my second go and while slightly dissapointed it was just great to feel that fitness again and clip the anchor on another fantastic route. Big thanks to Michelle for guiding us up the wall with inch perfect beta!

We finished the day over at the Berlin sector and just as we were preparing to make our way down to the campsite for dinner we were lucky enough to witness Ondra take down Realisation. Very inspiring to see such an awesome feat of climbing from someone so crazy strong and dedicated. The perfect way to end the day!



The King shakes out after nailing the final boulder problem crux of Chris Sharma's world famous route 'Realisation' (9a+)

With a little luck this rain will stop soon and we'll be able to climb again tomorrow. For now though there is not much else to do other than get fired up for the next routes on the list, play some Candy Crush and read Sherlock Holmes!

Cheers for checkin in :)

Source: ethan walker

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A Summer in Paradise
8 August 2014, 9:14 am

The Final Roundup

After a month living at the foot of arguably one of the greatest and most majestic sport climbing destinations worldwide, I am finally back home and enjoying spending a day or two relaxing and catching up with family and all that's been happening in the world while we've been away.

I started to write a final post as the end of my trip approached, so below is an extract from that, along with a selection of photos with some more words and thoughts put together since getting back.

Put the kettle on yo!

_______________

So my time out here is swiftly drawing to a close. It is hard to believe that it is the eve of my last day before I start making my way back home Tuesday morning. It's one of those cliches but it barely seems 5 minutes ago that we rocked up at the campsite raring to go with a months worth of climbing to look forward to.



At the start it feels like the time to leave will never arrive but unfortunately everything has to come to an end at some point, and I could not be more psyched with how this whole trip has progressed. Even though I'm sad to be leaving, at the same time I'm looking forward to heading back home to a hopefully dry Peak... and chilling out with a few home comforts for a day or two.

This place, while totally awesome, definitely starts to take its toll on you after a while. Maybe not physically, more in a mental fashion. Each day I feel fitter and fitter but anyone who has spent a month or more out here will understand and know where I'm coming when I say this I'm sure.

While getting to climb here each day is on another level, one of my favourite times of day out here has to be waking up each morning, sticking on the stove for a brew, munching down on some cereal while mulling over and getting fired up for the days climbing ahead. Equally satisfying is crashing into your tent after a long hot day at the crag, cooking up a beast of a meal to refuel before writing up your ticklist and thinking over the session you've just had. Then to finish, sitting around till bedtime with friends and exchanging stories from everyone's day to then finally letting your head hit the pillow. All ready to repeat again the next day!

The perfect route? Sending L'Ami de tout le Monde (8b) as the clouds and mountain rain start to roll on in.Photo | Sophie Whyte

Without a doubt this has been the best climbing trip I've been on yet. Not only for the shear quality and quantity of routes I managed to get done compared to my previous visit, but for the countless memorable experiences along the way.

From those simple rest days where the only things you do all day long is lay in the sun, eating, reading and topping up the tan to those moments at the crag that you've been training for.

By the end of week two I flashed my first 'proper' 8a (L'Ami Caouette) shortly followed by a flash of probably one of the most famous (and scariest) routes in Ceuse. The super technical, slabby and much sort after 3 star 8a+ that is 'La Femme Blanche'. On a personal level achieving this is one of my proudest moments in my climbing and one I certainly will not be forgetting in a hurry. The trad head definitely kicked into gear as the slabby section began to get more and more run out. Scary gritstone trad must be good for something right...

The perfect rest day activity. Breakfast in Gap eating fresh French pastries!

Sam Hamer back in 2011, weaves his way through the perfect limestone pockets that form the upper headwall 'L'Ami Caouette' (8a)Photo | Dirk Smith

With L'Ami Caouette I set off with the flash in mind, figuring I'd just see how things felt, but on Femme Blanche I had no real plan and basically started climbing to check what all the fuss was about. Then slowly as I got gradually higher and higher up the wall I began to suddenly realise that maybe, just maybe I could reach the belay. One super scary moment, high above my last bolt, clinging onto a poor pinch before having to shuffle delicately back leftwards on tiny slippy smears for your feet, marked the turning point when I really started to believe I could reach the chain. Thankfully I had expert guidance constantly being shouted up from below by both Lena and Marco! Without their beta and help I can guarantee I would have never made it to the sanctuary of the belay! A huge relief. Cheers guys! Big respect especially to Lena for also sending, particularly as it was so soon after recovering from badly damaging her ankle out in Magic Wood 2 weeks prior. Strong!

It has been said time and time again that quite often with most sport routes we'll forget the feeling of sending, they just never quite stick with you the same as a hard scary trad line. This ascent however I will remember for a long time.

The view that never gets old

Fitness wise I was just constantly left amazed at the difference from 3 years ago. Routes I fell off a million times, pumped out of my brains, veins screaming, succumbed as virtual warm-ups. Others that I could only dream of sending before went down within a couple of tries. It was just mind blowing and I'm incredibly psyched that all the training and hard work have paid off. Just as an example, on my previous visit, in the space of 4 weeks I ticked something like 3 decent routes... The hardest being a bouldery 7c+ at Cascade. This time, I've come home with just shy of a 50 route tick list up to 8b with whole host of onsights and flashes.





The thought did cross my mind to maybe get on something a little harder, yet while very tempting there was far too much to keep us occupied and in the end I opted to just try and tick as many routes as possible, regardless of grade. There will always be another trip for the harder lines, and this one has got me fully fired up to return again in the future to give them a go. There are just sooo many!

Gnarly!

It would be a total nightmare to have to choose a list of favourites, virtually impossible, but below is a small selection of one of two that seem to slightly stand out from the others for me. Everyone of them a classic and an absolute joy to climb!

• Radote Jolie  Pépère - 8b                                    
• L'Ami de tout le Monde - 8b
• La Femme Blanche - 8a+ (Flash)
• Face de Rat - 8a+ (2nd go)
• Mirage - 7c+ (Onsight)
• Tout n'es pas si  Facile - 7c+ (Onsight)
• Encore - 8a+ (2nd go)
• Les Colonnettes - 8a (2nd go)
• Rosanna - 8a (2nd go)
• Makach Walou - 7c+ (Onsight)
• L'Ami Caouette - 8a (Flash)
• Sueurs Froides - 8a+
• Violente Illusion - 8b
• Berlin - 7c (Onsight)
• Cent Patates - 7b+ (Onsight)

I went out to Ceuse with a vague plan, a fairly rough idea of what I wanted to achieve. Which was basically, climb as much as possible and better than my first visit! So I am beyond thrilled that it all worked out and to not only accomplish what I originally set out to do, but so much more at the same time. It may sound slightly 'cheesy' but if you really want something and it means that much to you, then nothing can stop you from reaching your goals. Whatever they may be, big or small. Get out there and make your plans happen and your dreams a reality.

Huge thanks to everyone that contributed to making this trip so special, old friends and new friends from around the world. It isn't all about the climbing on these kind of ventures, that is only half the fun, but it is equally about the people you meet along the way and the new friendships you form. Once again we managed to hook up with a whole host of international guys and gals ranging from the USA to Denmark. Hope to see you all again sometime soon!

Big shoutout to Arthur and Alize for putting on an incredible surprise BBQ for us the other night. Totally out the blue and very much appreciated! Another example of how great and generous the climbing community really is.

Finally another huge thankyou to all my sponsors for all their support. They truly are the best in the business! Mammut, 5.10, ProBalm, Nakd & Trek Bars, Scheckters Organic Energy.

Special mention has to go to the folk at Natural Balance Foods and Scheckters Energy for sending me out enough bars and energy drinks for the whole trip. They certainly did their job in getting me through the hike to the crag each day and up all the rad routes we've managed to tick! If you've never checked these two companies out before then you are missing out! Click onto their websites and judge for yourselves :)

A thumbs up for Scheckters from Lena after sending her project!

The only problem with spending a chunk of the summer months away is that  you arrive back home and it suddenly dawns on you that 'summer' is nearly  over! Hard to believe August is upon us already, but that is the way it  goes I guess. Time moves swiftly on.

My plans now are to hopefully take advantage of a dry Cornice...? Maybe try to finish off one or two things down there, alongside making some more trips up to Kilnsey. Soooo uber keen for this crag! Excited to put some of this Euro fitness to the test there...

Then it'll be time for my first trip to Font in September, which I am pretty dam psyched about. Embarrassing I've never been before I know, so definitely looking forward to it. After that my thoughts and training will turn to a trip to Spain for New Years. Missed out on all the action out here the last few years, so this time it is GAME ON! Get me to Siurana!

Cheers for reading and following me on my short French adventure over the last month.

Onto the next!

Until next time Céüse...

Source: ethan walker

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Learning to try hard again
20 August 2014, 10:56 am

What does it mean to try hard. To really try hard I mean. To try so hard and give the absolute maximum amount of effort.

There have been a number of articles written on the subject and not just climbing related ones but across all sports and life in general.

We all have the ability to dig deep and find that extra bit of effort from somewhere that enables us to push boundaries and achieve our goals. How do we harness this ability though and how can we turn it on more often?

Within our sport there are obviously different types of climbing that require different approaches and different levels of trying hard. During the spring I had tapped into the ability to fully commit every single ounce of my strength and being into pulling through hard moves and bouldery sequences. I'm talking about the type of 'try hard' were we bust our guts on that one individual move, or scream like Ondra as we fight to cling onto those final few holds before the top.

It wasn't just having the physical strength but I also think the mental strength to train my mind into totally believing that the body was capable of pulling off that particular move and nothing was about to get in the way of that. If you can master this art of belief in yourself then you'll be surprised at what the body can actually accomplish.

Out in Ceuse you tend to have to adapt a different type of 'try hard'. The routes are long, pumpy and can be mentally challenging. It's a test of endurance rather than how hard you can crank down. Not that some routes don't require any pure boulder power at all, there are plenty that do. But in general, its all about how long you can keep on pulling before the dreaded lactic acid floods every single inch of fiber in your forearms!



So coming back to the Peak where the majority of routes are less than 20 meters and often built around short bouldery and powerful crimpy sequences, was going to be a slight shock to the system at first...

On returning home I took a couple of days to relax, recover and to just enjoy doing absolutely nothing. I caught up with friends, family and all that had been happening in the world over the last month and ate plenty of tasty home cooked food! Waking up in my own bed has never felt so good.

However the weekend came around and I started to get the itch to pull down on some rock. I needed my fix and the Chee Dale cornice was calling. Within 15minutes of leaving the car we were at the crag and already warming up. A pleasant change from the Ceuse routine!

32 is a short 8b+ and another tough offering from local and ever keen new route activist, Kristian Clemmow. It bascially takes a direct line into the top of the 8a+ testpiece 'R n P' involving some powerful and bouldery climbing through the lower bulges. The rain had beat me to it on this one last year so it was at the top of my list to finish off!

It is safe to say that I felt all a bit hungover to be honest, although at least I had managed to get myself reacquainted with the moves. My arms felt weak and it was obvious I needed my body to remember how to pull down on Peak lime again!

I spent a day trying to re-engage my brain into a 'bouldering on a rope' mindset. I knew that pure power was still there somewhere, but how to coax it back out again was proving difficult. Patience was the key...



Another couple of days resting I felt ready and refreshed for another go. The crux is rumoured to be around a V9/10 bloc and requires pulling off two low undercuts to a high sloper using  possibly the biggest drop knee you can possibly imagine. It was still feeling dam hard and I sensed the frustration starting to build. Then suddenly an intermediate crimper sprang into view, opening the whole thing up and within a couple of efforts I was pulling through the final hard moves and clipping the belay feeling pretty stoked! I'd got my boulder power back!



While writing this post I was reminded of an article written by Mina Leslie-Wujastyk  last year for Summit Magazine, where she discussed the art of trying. After reading her  thoughts on the subject again and her experiences, it was nice to see that we are both on the same wave  length.

"...that split-second moment when you should be falling off but you dig deep  – somewhere hidden and not often called upon – and for a moment you  think nothing, see nothing, experience nothing. But you’re still on the  rock."Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, 2013

You can check the full article out here over on her blog:

http://www.minalesliewujastyk.com/pushing-it

Quite often we will lay awake at night going over the moves of our projects again and again in our minds. We can virtually feel the holds under our fingertips and visulise ourselves climbing every move to absolute perfection. You find yourself totally buzzing and feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve, hardly able to contain your excitement for the morning to arrive.

Then sometimes we'll rock up at the crag the next day and nerves and doubt will start to set in as you look up at the blank canvas of rock before you. If only we could keep the mind in that state of psyche from the previous evening...

"Improving at this sport is an input-output  system—the  effort you put into climbing directly correlates to success.... we need to take that next fall, and then fall again and  again … until we send."Sasha DiGiulian, 2013

While it can be easier said than done, the next time you are struggling to get that breakthrough you are so desperately craving on that particular project, take a step back and attempt to engage your mind into that 'try hard' state of thinking. Maybe it'll only yield one more move further, or maybe it'll get you all  the way to the top. Either way you've made progress right?

Find that self belief to keep on pushing even when the pull of gravity starts to get stronger, your fingers begin to uncurl from their grip and your head begins to scream out for you to shout 'take'. You just never know where that extra bit of effort will get you....

For some mid-week inspiration in trying hard have a quick watch of this:

       

       

       

       



Source: ethan walker

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We've been duped!
22 September 2014, 8:30 am

The good early autumn temperatures that were upon throughout August very quickly gave way to an Indian summer and so far this month hasn't been all we'd hoped for. However plenty of stuff has still been happening and I'm learning to be patient and wait it out. The one positive is that the Cornice is still in prime condition. It's been fun finishing off the last few remaining routes I had to do down here, although there are still a couple left... but they'll probably end up staying that way! Desperate!

Anyway I've thrown together a collection of photos from the last few weeks that give a snapshot of what we've been up to. Time for a brew!



Three points on 'Four Door  Dostoyevsky'

Monumental Armblaster (8a+)











Finding the love amongst the butterflies...

Source: ethan walker

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The projecting game
6 November 2014, 8:42 pm

Where has this month gone?? The autumn seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate and once again we are on the home straight to finishing off another year.

There is a reason the blog has been quiet these past weeks. I have been focusing all my time and energy into a single project. While in some respects, it is probably the hardest route I've ever tried, it has been immensely frustrating doing battle with this one. I'm not going to rant on about 'conditions' and the reasons of how climbing in the UK can be so tricky, but for me it is a route that requires everything to be so absolutely perfect in order to execute properly. Anything remotely out of cater can make the tenuous crux sequence go from feeling pretty solid to suddenly core busting hard!

The main issue we've been experiencing is freaking numb digits. The minute you bite down on those knife blades at the crux, every ounce of life and every drop of blood you had in them is instantly drained. The ability to feel the intricate rocks details beneath your finger ends becomes an impossible task. And there is nothing you can do about it.

If you could guarantee the right temperature and conditions every time you set off up the wall I am pretty confident that it might have gone by now and we'd be rolling in fish n chips and Bakewell tarts till Christmas!

Normally by this point in the year my attention has switched to the grit. Spending the short days pulling down on fat slopers, balancing up aretes and fiddling in crappy gear into marginal and dubious breaks. However we have been blessed with a longer sport season than usual this time around and the crags are still dry, offering those of us still keen to get our projects done. It isn't everyone's cup of tea, I realise that, but I want this one bad. I'm determined to keep throwing myself at it until it either goes or we find ourselves 6ft under in snow!



It has been a pretty testing time these last weeks. I have to admit that the daily commute to the crag,

the usual warmup and having to deal with constantly changing weather, not to mention the countless lobs down the face after another failed redpoint, have definitely started to affect me mentally. One day it will seem within my grasp and then the next it'll go back to feeling a million miles away.

That being said my psyche is at an all time high for it. Small progress and micro gains continue with each day on the route. Even just getting up to my highpoint and feeling less pumped and more focused but yet still falling on the same section feels like another step forward on the road to those chains.

Climbing with Ryan Pasquill has been a huge benefit and he has taught me to not beat myself up too much and how to reduce the stress levels when things don't seem to be going my way. We are both on the same wagon. The redpoint wagon. Going through the same problems and emotions. Having someone to share that with is a good feeling and super encouraging!

I find what helps when things don't seem to be going well is to remind myself that this route is 8c+. It is up there with one of the hardest routes in the UK and I'm sure would make some 9a's in Europe seem a relative stroll in comparison... Sometimes it is all too easy to blame yourself and think that you are simply not good enough. When in actual fact these routes are bloody hard and we are pushing our bodies to the very limits of what they are capable of doing.

I want to try hard, climb the hardest routes and to be the best that I can be, and that is what keeps me coming back time after time and continues to drive me forward.

I have no doubt that it WILL go, eventually. To have something so hard and at your maximum limit to try and beast yourself on is hugely motivating for me. Getting home with your body totally, utterly wasted and beat up, knowing you gave it your all is a great feeling.

Today was a good day. Despite the freezing temperatures. Every burn now my body is stronger on the moves. One of these times everything will just slot into place. Just gotta be patient!

Man I love this game.

 

Source: ethan walker

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FBO Returns for 2015!
10 November 2014, 11:51 am



F-B0-15

Following on from the big success of The Foundry Bouldering Open that ran back in February, it is once again returning in the New Year! Last time out was a huge amount of fun for all involved and I know that it definitely got me psyched on the whole comp scene again.

Next years event, to be held on the 7th February, promises to be bigger and better and hopefully it'll be another good weekend for The Foundry crew!

Check out the link below for everything you need to know about the day.

http://www.foundryclimbing.com/fbo15/

And to get you even more psyched and for a taster of what to expect take a look at the video below from Ben Pritchard that gives the low down on last time out!

Big thanks to The Foundry for hosting this great event again and to all the sponsors involved for their support. A full report of what went down at FBO-14 can be found here:

http://www.foundryclimbing.com/2014/02/12/foundry-bouldering-open-2014/

Get ready for the weird and whacky©PaulBennett

Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Click here to register now and secure your place!



Source: ethan walker

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Letting go
21 December 2014, 7:38 pm

I've been trying to gather some thoughts together in my head for a blog update for a good few weeks now. Each time I came to type up the collection of ideas and jumble of words, I would sit staring at the blank white page on my laptop, without a clue of where to start or if it would even end up being remotely interesting to anyone. Eventually I'd give in and go make another pot of tea.

The end of the season didn't bring what I was hoping for and despite all the efforts and time invested, I had to walk away empty handed for probably the first time in my climbing life. This is what abject failure feels like is it?

Without wanting to sound big headed, what frustrates me more than anything is the fact that I know deep down that I should have nailed this thing. Yes it is hard, yes it would have been the hardest graded route I've ever done, but what was stopping me was not the fact I was too weak or just simply not fit enough. I think if that was the case I'd have been able to accept the whole situation much more freely and easier. It was simply down to factors that were completely outside of my control.

I tried everything in the book to keep the blood flowing through my little digits. My many belayers and partners will testify to how much time I spent experimenting with different methods. Laps, of Ben's Roof, dogging up to the crux, countless sprinting up and down the road, Pound Land hand warmers stuffed in my chalk bag. Even laps up Mecca before the red point go! Nothing seemed to work.

Luck would definitely play a part sometimes, maybe the sun would poke its face out and lift the air temp slightly or gently warm those tiny holds just as you approached the headwall, but in the end the weather or whatever you want to call it, soundly beat me.



After a couple of big breakthroughs and as I started to realise more and more that the route was actually a possibility I knew it was just going to be a case, as these things always are, of just getting everything to align perfectly together.

The first time the thought of the season ending and walking away with nothing entered my head, I started to panic and that is when the stress of it all really began to kick in. Nerves became a bigger issue with each session. Uncertainty and doubt can play havoc with your psyche. I wanted this thing so badly. I kept comparing it to where I was at last year when I was embroiled in another redpoint battle on the extension.

Time flew by at a crazy rate of knots, unlike anything I've known before, and even as November arrived and the first frosts started to appear, I still had faith that maybe, just maybe it would still go.

However I had to start to admit to myself that it might not happen this time and as the days flew past, at their crazy speeds, I gradually came to accept it. The route is going no where, it'll be there ready and waiting for me in the spring. Which when you think about it is only a few months away!

So even though I came away with no big tick, and occasionally it still hurts that it didn't happen I no longer view it as a failure in any way. I learnt so much about myself, about my climbing and what I am actually capable of. As well as gaining a whole new perspective and outlook on climbing in general. This sport is extremely addictive and despite the stress and the bad days it was still a hella lot of fun!

I hope that the whole experience has made me a better climber and that I'm wiser for it...

The stand out lesson for me though has to be learning to accept that sometimes, you really do just have suck it up and let go.



It has all been said before by various rock gurus but climbing isn't all about the send. You can argue that the majority of the time it is but it is also about the journey we take to get to that point of pure heaven when we finally tick our projects. It's about the mental battles, the physical battles, the breakthrough days as well as the days where nothing seems to be going right. In the end you'll more than likely remember the journey you took to reach that finish line, rather than the actual moment of success.

A huge shoutout and thank you has to go out to all the folk that encouraged and helped me during the last few months. You all know who you are and I really appreciate each one that supported me on my quest!

It was so close I could virtually taste success, but if it wasn't a battle then it wouldn't be hard. And that is what I strive for in my climbing. To push myself to my absolute limits. Not just physically but mentally too. Kaabah certainly did that.

Right now it is all about Christmas for me. Enjoying some time chilling out, relaxing, hanging out with friends and eating lots of good food. The weather has been pretty shoddy for any full blown grit ventures just yet, although I did manage to squeeze in a quick ascent of Ben Moon's 'Full Power' (V11) a week or so back. Definitely feeling the bouldering vibe at the moment. It is a pleasant change of scene from the rigours of the red point. I have my eye on a couple things but we'll see how stuff goes and if the weather gods are kind to us...

In the mean time I'm slowly getting stuck into some training, keeping the fitness levels up before full training kicks in at the start of the New Year. Ready for a couple of trips that are in the pipeline and another all out assault on the Tor in the spring.

We've also been working on a couple of really cool video projects over the last few months which I hope to be able to share real soon. Pretty excited to see the final edits so keep an eye out for those.

I have to admit that I'm loving having some actual time off. I think it could be good for me! Waking up with no real plan in place for the day ahead has been pretty nice.

Anyway, thanks for checking in and for once again sticking with my ramblings for another year. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you at the crag :)

Oh and lastly... It appears my blog has been shortlisted for some kind of an award. It'd be great if you could follow the link below and give me a quick vote. :)

http://www.trespass.com/blog-awards-voting

Cheers ya'll

Ethan



Source: ethan walker

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Comp scenes back!
13 February 2015, 3:57 pm

First post of the year! Where did January go? Anyway here we are, on the cusp of spring (we hope) and most of us are looking forward to putting the winter behind us and moving on to warmer and longer days. The winter for me has been a bit of a let down so far, it promised good things at first but then sadly it has yet to work out how I imagined. But apart from the odd ascent here and there, the general climbing population in the UK has had the same difficulties this time around. Last winter was so stellar that it was always going to be hard to match up to, let alone beat!

Anyway, last weekend saw the return of the comp scene for me. It was time again for F-BO15. This event last year was a huge success and I was major psyched to hear that it would be back again. I came agonisingly and surprisingly close last time to winning, only to be pipped to the title by the smallest of margins. So maybe this time around could make up for that...

Once again The Foundry put on a really great day for everybody, with a plenty of folk rocking up to do battle with the infamous 'Wave' and enough cake to feed half of Sheffield.

It was cool to see a mix of both climbing veterans and strong, up and coming youngsters, all competing together on some rather whacky problems.

Mens Problem 2©Keith Sharples

Qualification went well for me and by lunchtime I had finished which left plenty of time to chill, grab some lunch and be glad that I had arrived early before the holds gradually turned to mush with excessive chalk and grease.

The results were announced and I was pleased to have qualified for the final again in 3rd place alongside a bunch of very strong and good friends. Cailean Harker, Ben Moon, Sam Whittaker, Mike Adams and Stu Littlefair. It was lining up to be an interesting affair!

There is an excellent report up already over on The Foundry website of how everything eventually panned out, but one thing I will say is that the route setters certainly got their creative juices flowing and cooked up a selection of bizarre and sometimes baffling problems for us all. There was a bit of everything from hand jamming and techy wierdness, to swinging Lapis balls and then some good old fashioned pure 'wave' power to finish us all off.

Clear inspiration from the recent 'BIFF' on Mens 3©Keith Sharples

The eventual winners were Ben Moon, who really turned up the gas and showed us how its done, and Ella Russell for the women. The new King and Queen of The Wave! So big congrats to those guys and throughly deserved!



Check out a more detailed report here:

http://www.foundryclimbing.com/2015/02/10/f-bo15-foundry-bouldering-open-2015/

I ended up finishing the day in 6th place, so while not quite as good a performance as last time out I'm still really pleased and it was another throughly enjoyable day out, full of banter and good laughs. Our crew did end up winning the team event however so that was a bonus! Nice one guys.

Time to step up the training now and get prepared for The CWIF, which is less than 4 weeks away now! These things come around so quickly eh. Psyched!

Big thanks to all the sponsors who helped make the event possible. Mammut, Five Ten, Moon Climbing, The Clinic, Bleaustone/Lapis/Axis, Steepedge,  StoneSmith and CragX Climbing Shop. Already looking forward to the next one!

Big guns Whittaker takes the swing

As I sit here writing this all I can hear is the rain lashing it down on my skylight. It is hardly looking inspriring for the weekend but with a bit of luck something might be dry... I don't really care what, just want to climb outside!

Have a good weekend everyone, and hope you manage to get something done.

If not, drink plenty of tea and treat yourself!



Source: ethan walker

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CWIF
15 March 2015, 3:07 pm

Hard to believe another year has passed by and the CWIF was back for the 9th time! Whats even more hard to believe is that it has already been a week since it was all kicking off The Works.

I was mega keen to get involved again with this comp as it is always a great weekend of hanging out with friends, meeting new people and just generally having a real good time of it. Last year was the first time I'd entered in around 3 years and with it I achieved my best result yet, amongst a very very strong field, narrowly missing out on the semi finals.

This year I was determined to try and step it up a notch and try to get through to Sunday when all the action really starts to heat up. Qualifiers went fairly well for me, with a good mix of weird, powerful, techy and utter nails problems that the route setters had drummed up. I handed my scorecard in with a total of 248 points and figured that might just about enough to get me through to the next round.

All that was left to do now wait for the afternoon session to finish and then keep an eye out for the results coming in...

It was super close but later that evening I got the word that I had JUST snuck into the semi-finals by the skin of me teeth! I was buzzing and quickly headed off to bed for an early night hoping to feel refreshed and fired up the next day.

©DomWorrall

I will try to not go into too much detail with how Sunday panned out but after arriving at The Works and a slow, steady warm up we were all ushered into isolation ready to begin climbing at midday. By qualifying in last place it meant that I'd be first out on the comp wall. Something that can be an advantage but also a little nerve wracking at the same time! I fully expected the problems to be pretty tough and definitely made sure to be prepared for the bizarre and whacky.

They needed to be tough though considering the strong field that had made it through. Megos, Barrans, Jorg, Tito, the uber strong Swiss brothers, just to mention a few. The setters had to split us up some how, with the top 6 making it through to the evenings final.

Bloc 1 for me could not have gone any better, with a super quick and fairly straight forward flash. Phew. Nerves settled and I instantly felt at ease. I had topped a problem and anything else that happened now would just be a bonus from my perspective.

Men's Problem 1©DomWorrall

©DomWorrall

The remaining 3 blocs were definitely a step up and did the job of splitting the group up nicely. Two techy power problems up the middle of the comp wall, with problem number 4 being a nightmare balancing act up the far slab. Suffice to say only one us managed to get the top on this. Desperate!

The slab. ©DomWorrall

It was all over so quickly and I was then able to sit back and enjoy watching everyone else giving it their all. Before getting slightly stuffed on burgers from the famous free BBQ!

In the end I came home with 11th place which I'm pretty stoked about! I will be the first to say that I am definitely not a comp climber but I do like to dabble every now and then and this has for sure spurred me on to enter some more comps in the future!

©AlexMessenger

Those that watched the final were treated to some serious take down action in the form of eventual men's winner and german powerhouse Alex Megos with Shauna Coxsey leading the way for the women and defending her title in the process. Congrats to those guys!

Massive thanks and big up once again to The Climbing Works who absolutely nailed the whole thing, as they always do! It is so great that these guys are prepared to go to so much effort and lengths to put on such a cool event for us all to enjoy. Already hugely looking forward to next year, especially as it'll be the 10th year! I am sure they have big things planned...

The one and only! On hand to give out the prizes!©DomWorrall

Meat meat meat!

Big thanks also to Dom Worrall and Alex Messenger for the sick shots. Cheers boys!

Check out www.domworrall.co.uk/dom/cwifsunday for a full blown gallery of all the action!

In other news, I am flying out to Spain this Thursday. Heading to the pocket, sun kissed limestone heaven of Margalef to be exact! It'll no doubt surprise many that I have, rather embarrassingly, never actually stepped foot into Spain before... I am beyond psyched to finally get the chance to climb over there and I really cannot wait to get stuck into some deep mono action!

Flicking through the various guidebooks I have been blown away by the amount of routes and crags on offer within such a confined area. My tick list is huge but to be honest I am just massively looking forward to getting away from the UK, heading out and having a fun time climbing somewhere totally new and different. I am confident its gonna be rad!





Source: ethan walker

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Spain! Coffee, pockets and Chorizo.
1 April 2015, 7:17 pm

Just over 48 hours ago I was sat by the side of the road, sunnies out, vest on and basking in glorious 20 degree Spanish sunshine. Now I'm rugged up back home, down jacket firmly fastened up and listening to the wind and rain completely lash it down outside. Quite the change and a sudden shock to the system!

Anyway, that aside, Espanya or more specifically Catalonia, is finally ticked off of my places to visit. I have been to the mecca of sport climbing in Europe, albeit only a small sector, and have seen the light! I have always known climbing abroad is where it is at, but this trip has opened my eyes even further to just how much there is to do out there.



Margalef is a dreamland and a true climbers paradise. The amount of rock is on an unprecedented scale and situated in some of the most beautiful countryside you could wish for. It was everything that I imagined and I already cannot wait to get back.

I headed out with my friend Karl Smith who runs the only climbing wall over in Shropshire, Newport Rock, and has many years of climbing experience all around the world. I was super grateful to him for offering to come out with me and essentially be my belay gun and chauffeur for a week!

It did almost turn into a disaster however with our visit very unluckily coinciding with some of the worst and most torrential weather on Spanish record. For the first 5 days of our trip it did nothing but rain and rain and rain some more. I could have literally broken down and cried. For the whole winter in the UK I had put up with this nonsense and had finally gotten the chance to escape to what should have been 'guaranteed' wall to wall sunshine but instead been firmly hit, bang in the face with the very thing we were trying to get away from. Unbelievable. Out of the frying pan into the fire so to speak.

Not what we had in mind...

All that rock, all those amazing routes I had heard about and wanted to climb for so long were suddenly right on the doorstep but they had turned into full raging waterfalls. To say it was torturous would have been putting it extremely lightly.

We tried to keep the faith as best we could. Drinking endless amounts of coffee and tea, visiting cafes, eating nice food and spending a lot of the down time on the Internet.

Spanish lunch! Muy Bien.



Despite all the dampness we did still manage to get out most days and search out the odd piece of dry rock. In fact the very first day the trip could not have gotten off to a better start. We quested up to the beautiful crag of Espadelles, nicked named the 'mini Ceuse' which is not hard to see why! The crag sits proudly, high above the valley below and offers some truly stunning routes up and down the grades. I felt like a kid in a candy shop, my eyes flicking from one sector of rock to the next. Scanning through the guidebook, locating all the must do routes.

It was a tad chilly but I decided to dive straight in at the deep and quickly set off up a classic 8a, Transilvania. Within a few minutes I was clipping the chains on my very first 8a onsight. Not bad for a warm up and decent way to kick things off! Sadly that evening the bad weather came in and thus began a frustrating few days.

Moody afternoon spent wandering around the ancient city of Lleida.

We spent the first week staying at the pleasant retreat of Els Tres Pins. A small hotel situated in the centre of the village of Margalef itself. Having a solid roof over our heads, food cooked for you every night, free Wi-Fi and just somewhere to chill and hang out was pretty nice. Not that I don't enjoy dossing in a tent and sleeping bag but having that bit of luxury is a definite bonus.

For the last few days I moved just around the corner into the Refugio. The 'true climbers' hang out, the hub of the village and a constant hive of activity. To be honest I have to say that I enjoyed the scene here so so much more. Their super relaxed and friendly attitude, excellent modern and clean facilities, coupled with being surrounded by like-minded people virtually 24/7 makes for a brilliant vibe and atmosphere. You can go and leave when you wish, cook your own food and all for a seriously great price. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Check out their Facebook page here :) Thanks for a quality stay chaps, we'll be back! Gracias. ;)

Here I hooked up with Alex Barrows and Nic Duboust and spent the remaining days trekking around with them. Barrows is on a mission to climb his first 9a. The stunning Chris Sharma line of Era Vella up at La Catedral sector. Excited to hear that he is making good progress and I am confident that the lad will succeed! Venga youth!

La Catedral!

Barrows gives us the lowdown on the 9a breakfast...

Cooking and food - my next biggest passion outside climbing!



Eventually the sun returned and boy did it feel good. I took my beanie  off for probably the first time in about 5 months! Just laying out in  the sunshine with that heat beaming down on your face was pure bliss and  we quickly forgot the dark times experienced a few days prior.

I had written up a list of routes as long as my arm. Some I had wanted to try for years and others that had been recommended by various folk. I quickly realised that it was going to be an impossible mission, especially considering the dodgy conditions, to even get close to ticking half of them!

The ones I did manage to get through though were all absolute class and it would be tricky to single out any one of them. However at a push I would have to say that my two proudest sends would have to be the uber 'must do' and slightly cliche classic, Photo Shot and the mind blowingly good Sàtiva Patàtica.

El Laboratori

The Lab is perhaps one of Margalefs most famous and recognisable sectors. This is the home of the short, the gnarly and the mono pulling rigs that many people would most associate with the area.

To get a quick sense of just how steep and intense this crag is then take a look at the rad video below of Iker Pou repeating the desperate Sharma route 'Demencia Senil' 9a+!

Photo Shot sits just to the left of this famous testpiece and was a route that I had dreamed about climbing for a long long. Seated firmly at the top of my tick list. The whole idea of climbing at a perfectly located roadside crag, on sinker pockets had appealed to me for years and I was itching to get involved.

Easy to see where Photo Shot gets its name... Ben Heason showing the way here one winters day a few years back.  ©Andrew Stripp

I'll admit that I had vague ambitions of attempting to give it a good flash go. I knew all the required beta and was fired up to execute. Sadly I ended up blowing it which was slightly frustrating as it could have quite easily gone the other way. However I sucked it up and boshed it out a few tries later. I lowered off into the middle of the road and sat there for a while enjoying the moment after finally realising my little dream.

Thanks to Andy Stripp for the use of his cool photo of Ben!

Sàtiva is entirely the opposite style of climbing. Being a long 30 metre, pumpy juggernaut fest up a perfect crag on pristine rock. Clipping the chains on this represented my second true onsight of an 8a sport climb and without a doubt one of my proudest and most memorable routes.  

Below is a list of my best ascents from the week, while nothing too special or hard they were all brilliant and considering the rain I've come home fairly pleased with how it all went. Having not travelled abroad and visited many world class places as some people, these ascents have given me a tiny taster of just what I might be capable of in the future. The UK can be decent, but these foreign countries are where its at! Especially if you want to truly test your abilities and scale some fabulous formations of rock.

El Ball del Tríceps - 8b

Photo Shot - 8b

Transilvania - 8a (Onsight)

Sàtiva Patàtica - 8a (Onsight)

Dando Brea - 8a (Onsight)

Dr Feelgood - 8a (Flash)

Telemaster - 8a (2nd go)

Maligna - 7c+ (Onsight)

Aeroplastica - 7c+ (Flash)

La Corva de la Felicitat - 7c (Onsight)

Esquerre Espinazo - 7c (Flash)

The final headwall of Sativa.©Alex Barrows

The Future

On my very last day I got to belay the future of British climbing. The young Josh Ibbertson. At only 10 years old he has already climbed 8a on a recent trip to Margalef over the winter period and with that became the youngest ever Brit to climb the grade by a good two year margin!

I watched him totally cruise up a short 7c at The Lab first go. Very very impressive to watch! It is great to see such a psyched family all climbing together and full of  motivation for being in the outdoors.

Josh and his younger brother Jack are both ones to watch without a doubt.  Their extensive knowledge of the climbing world and psyche is quite astounding for lads of such a young age.

Enjoy the rest of your two weeks in the sun guys and catch you back here soon!

Josh cranking down hard on his first 8a, Innuendo up at Raco de les Espadelles©James Ibberston

It is so rewarding when you can plainly see that those improvements  in your climbing come from a direct consequence of putting in all that  time and training at the wall. I love training and pushing my body hard  but I have to admit that sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation  to bust out another lap of my circuits. Sometimes you really cannot be  bothered to drive out in the bad weather on a cold blustery winters  morning and spend the next foreseeable few hours pulling down on plastic on your own,  when all you really want to be doing is climbing outside.

However, when  the weather does finally improve and you do finally get to head outside  or jet off on an adventure to foreign lands, it is all so worth it and you will thank  yourself for that extra bit of effort you put in.

I kind of feel that personally I could have pushed the training a little harder this winter,  but what is exciting for me is that if my climbing can improve by this  much from the amount of hours I did actually put in... Then how much can  it improve in the future, with maybe just another extra 10% of effort...  Exciting times for sure and I am psyched to have finally been able to test myself and my abilities, however briefly, on a very small selection of some of Spain's classic routes.

The harsh nature of Margalefs pockets begin to take their toll...



It would have been so very very easy to have stayed in bed Monday morning, had a leisurely breakfast in the sun and headed back out to the crag! Just one more day even. But you could keep on saying that forever and still not be content. Such is the way of this climbing life!



I'm stoked for the season ahead. Projects,  more trips, seeing those gains, but most of all having fun! I had barely been back on home soil an hour before already looking at flights for my next adventure. We'll see where that takes me but fingers crossed it'll be soon!









Source: ethan walker