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#25 YCS Round 3 - "The Pleasance" (2013)
March 21, 2013, 06:00:31 am
YCS Round 3 - "The Pleasance" (2013)
20 March 2013, 12:26 am

EICA

GCC

TCA

Alien Rock

Avertical World

Stirling Spiders

Wow! The 3rd and final round of the YCS has come and gone already... Time surely does fly. This years Youth Climbing Series in Scotland has certainly been a rollercoaster of emotions for a lot of kids! I can talk from experience in the South Scotland as I have been coaching many of the kids entering these competitions and all I can say is that all these kids deserve medals for the dedication, training and continual pressure they put themselves under.

As much as the YCS is meant to be a relaxed kids competition, it gets beefed up by the fact that only the top 3 in each category can make it through to the finals! This years regional rounds have witnessed the most competetive categories ever seen in Scotland. In Youth D and above, to make finals, you actually have to be at the top of your game! This is only a good thing for improving the standard to which our young climbers can achieve - it's survival of the fittest at work.

Anyway, the night before the final round, Iain Sneddon, Mike Mullins and myself were hard at work setting boulders and routes at "The Pleasance" climbing gym at the Edinburgh University Centre for Sporting Excellence. We set a variety of styles across a range of grades that would hopefully challenge the best of the bunch the following day. It ended up being the latest I have ever had to set for a YCS. We were there until 21:30 (closing time), something I had never thought would happen and also hope never to repeat again.

On the day of the competition the centre was packed to breaking point! It was quite unbelievable that 75 kids and their parents/family members could all fit into such a small space, but somehow we managed it. The climbing I saw that day was nothing short of inspiring. Across ten categories, I don't think I saw one kid in any of them not giving it their all!

Youth E and D girls where the smallest category with only 3 entrants in each, but despite this the fight for 1st place was fierce. In Youth E, Katie Moore and Stephanie Millar have been neck on neck throughout every round, with Katie tipping Stephanie in the two previous. Round 3 proved no different, but with only 1 point separating them! I am proud to say I coach Katie, but she'll have to watch her back if she wants to keep ahead of the very inspiring Stephanie.

Youth D had a similar fight between some very talented climbers, Lisa Kean and Caitlin Storie. In the end Lisa came out on top by what was only 1 point (a slap and touch of a hold) - it must be pay back for Glasgow when Caitlin had tipped Lisa to 1st place :D

Youth E Boys on the other hand was a bigger category. The winner was the crowd favourite, Leo Harland-Sendra, last years podium 2nd in the Series Finals! Young Thomas Miedzybrodski came 2nd with Caitlin's (from Youth D) brother Andrew coming a close 3rd!

Youth D Boys had another strong bunch of climbers with Matthew Fall, Rory Whyte and Evan Davis battling it for top positions. Their finalist positions had more or less been secured as they where all consistent podium placed in every round, but the question on everyones minds was who would take the final round first place. Matthew had been unstoppable the last two rounds but Rory was determined to take his place. Rory's determination was apparent after a phenomenol climb in a super final against Matthew for first place! Matthew had fallen from the last move, but Rory had only just held the second last hold before making a wild jump and catching (not dropping) the final hold! I think George (Rory's Dad) might have had a mild seizure...

The competition is only getting hotter as we move up the categories. Entering into the Youth C's the number of participants increases as does the standard of all those competing. Youth C Girls was Rhiannon Freireich's for the taking, before she went and broke her arm during training the folowing week! So stepping up to the pedestal was Emma Davidson and Holly Davis who would go onto a super final to see who would take the South Scotland Series Crown... Emma was victorious!

Youth C Boys was in fact the most competetive category so far with 6 boys all with a chance at making finals. David Miedzybrodski had been an unstoppable force in the two previous rounds with flawless perfromances and an almost pristine score card with practically all tops across each round. Round 3 was no different, once again he demolished routes and boulders in his very focussed, quick and strong style. 2nd and 3rd was up for grabs with Sam Harland-Sendra, Rory Schoehuys, Connor Moore, Euan Farmer and Robert Davidson all with an equal opportunity to get that podium. There was impressive performances from all - but in the end it was Sam and Rory who ended up taking the places. I would like to say though that Euan Farmer and Connor Moore were both the youngest and still managed to get 5th and 4th place respectively... Effort!

The Youth B Girls was probably the next most competetive category. Eilidh Vass Payne had pretty much got this sowed up with a string of 1st places in the rounds previous and she made a hat trick of it with a third 1st place at the Pleasance. Kirsten Gray was favourite for 2nd but surprisingly dropped the last route a bit lower than expected, though she still managed to retain her 2nd place in the overall rankings. The real competition was for 3rd place with Gabriella Stewart and Keira Farmer eager for a chance to prove themselves worthy for the finals. In the end, Keira only just nabbed 3rd place with an epic performance on the final route that got her 2nd place in the 3rd round! A special mention as well to Jodie Brown (5th) and Claudia Charlwood (4th) who both did amazing across the whole competition.

Youth B Boys was a surprisingly big category overall and with some very strong contendors as well. Euan McFadyen, Ivan Bialy and Ian Bownes all represented themselves well across each round, but in the final it was Euan that took gold in a strong super final performance - the super final was a traverse I had to make up last minute when Ivan and Euan cruised up their final with apparent ease...

Finally, the Youth A categories! The oldest category in the competition was well represented in both the males and females. In the girls, it was Eleanor Hopkins who took first place overall with a hat trick of 1st places across all the rounds - not surprising from a current Irish Team member. 2nd was Beth Scott who was biting at Eleanors heels and missed out on a joint 1st placing by only 1 point!!! And in third was Megan Saunders.

The boys category was pretty big with 12 competitors in total. The top 3 contendors were Alexander Bosi, Fraser Mcllwraith and Euan King. All of these lads are long time competitors in the YCS. Alexander tipped Fraser to 1st place overall but was 2nd in the final round to the boulder beast. Euan King was 3rd place overall and 4th in the final round.

And that pretty much sums up the 2013 Regional Series of the YCS in South Scotland. It has been a fantastic set of rounds this year with an amazing glimpse into the developing and very promising talent coming out of Scotlands Climbing walls. Speaking as a very proud coach representing EICA, two thirds of the podium places belonged to kids training at EICA! That is a pretty good result :D

Nice on guys! Looking forward to our Scottish Team in the finals and seeing everyone giving it their all - CRUSH!

 

 

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#26 Welcome to da Costay Blancay!
March 29, 2013, 06:00:34 pm
Welcome to da Costay Blancay!
29 March 2013, 3:18 pm

My first trip to the Costay Blancay (Costa Blanca for those not familiar with Bo' Selecta). If I'm honest, I was not sure what to expect... I have heard a lot of good things about this place, but also a lot of not so good things :(  The unfortunate truth about flying to Alicante is the permanently etched image of Benidorm and British tourists on hen and stag parties... Not my idea of a holiday truth be told.

When I arrived at the airport at 9am, the plan was to go sort out the hire car, drive to accommodation, sort out stuff then return to pick Nat up from the Airport at 10pm. On arriving at the airport and seeing the car people, it turns out there is a law of no hiring out cars to people who have held a driving license for under a year... I didn't realise this and apparently it is in their terms and conditions (Chapter12 - Article 15 - Paragraph 9 - Section D - Point C).

So I waited about for ages until Nat finally arrived and we grabbed a €90 taxi to our accommodation in the pleasant little village of Finestrat. Finestrat is a beautiful little village perched high in mountaineous outcrops of Alicante, far flung from the horrors of Benidorm :P It's like being in any other climbing area I've ever been to in Spain - Siurana, Rodellar, Santa Linya, Margalef... It has the same rustic, rocky feel to it that I have become so acquainted to. It certainly is good to be back in Spain!

893153 4903729504691 823522964 oSella - Wildside

So far we have had 4 days climbing out here, just under a week. It has been an interesting experience so far with both Nat and myself having to adjust to climbing on rock again. Nat has had less time between her last rock climbing adventures whereas my last sport trip was back in August (terrible I know!). But it has all been coming together slowly...

On our first day I climbed a popular 8a called "Watermark". I almost did the extension (8b) 2nd go but as I was pulling the moves after the crux, my foot slipped on a very polished foothold and as I fell my desperation to maintain grip on the crimps I was holding came to no avail.

Each day I have been here I have been using the abundance of 7b+'s and 7c's at the crag for warming up on. The climbing in these grades is really fun, there are no really hard or tweaky moves, all the holds are positive but there are sections of more bouldery styled climbing separated with good rests which makes for a nice warm up.

On the second day, I decided to try an 8c called "Espacio Tiempo". This literally translates into "Space Time" - cool name if you ask me :P I was keen to try this for a few reasons:

  • Upon reaching the crag, you notice there are 3 main sectors - Left, Middle and Right. The right side is easier angled (but still steep). The left side is again, easier angled but more sustained than the right. And the middle is just a very steep bulge with sustained moves on incredibly overhung terrain - this is were "Espacio Tiempo" is...

  • The climb itself covers a wide range of stylesof climbing - Slopers, Crimps, Tufas, Kneebars, Bouldery, Sustained, ect... You want it, it's got it!

  • I spoke to a local at the crag (a man we have come to call "Jesus" for the simple reason that he looks like a Spanish Jesus) who told me there is a link up between "Espacio Tiempo" and another 8b+ "Oceano" which gets 8c+ (though some guy took 9a for it?). I would definitely like to try this!
The first time I tried it I did every move first go without too much trouble, but it was noticeable that there was little rest between each section and it would be hard to link. I had two tries on Day 2, the second of which I managed a fairly big link through the first crux and into a good knee bar before "the crux" (the hardest move on the route).IMG 0156Alvaro Arenas en "Espacio tiempo" 8c

After a rest day we came back and I had another scout out of the route, trying the moves again, assembling a better sequence for the upper half and generally tidying up my lower sequence. 4th go I shocked myself falling off the last clip from the ground! I fell more because I was so shocked of my performance - I wasn't actually that tired...

We came back yesterday and I gave it a redpoint attempt after warming up on a spectacular 7c called "La Casa de los Tullidos". I fell again right at the very top but only because my foot popped thanks to a rushed placement. I decided to clean up my foot movements up here for a better, more efficient sequence. On my 2nd go of the day, 6th go in total, I climbed from the bottom all the way through my previous high point into a good knee bar and stuck the final crux without much trouble. Clipping the chains felt good and that was my 2nd ever 8c and the first (hopefully of more) for 2013...

I was a little worried at first how I would climb this trip. I have had an unfortunate finger injury plagueing me since the start of 2013 and it has forced me into a much more gentler training regime. I know however that technique always triumphs over strength and that it was always possible to make a good trip out of this even if I wasn't firing on all cylinders. I am now confident that I can make more from this trip than I had expected with this early triumph and hopefully I can move on from this to some bigger and better ascents over the next few weeks :D

886644 4877704254076 968168848 oNatalie on a giant hand!

I was really inspired as well by some words taken from the world first 9a onsighter, Alexander Megos. I don't know him well, but I have met him a few times on my travels and have seen him at the competitions a lot over the years. His words really inspired me to take a deeper look into my attitude towards climbing and performance:

"Something I have learned in my climbing years is that time management is really important, but the most important thing is fun. It’s not worth training hard for a good result in a competition or to climb a hard route, if on the other hand you lose the fun which climbing should be. It doesn’t matter if you have climbed the route or you’ve won the competition. When you feel like chilling or doing something totally different, just do it. Sooner or later you will find your way back to climbing because it’s simply the best sport on earth"

Alexander Megos

32126 634122104580156250 To have and not to be 9a kalydna Kalymnos Climbing Guide 8

If all my young padawans are reading this back home, write this down in your diaries and reflect on it whenever your feeling down during training, at a competition or with a project climb.

Anyway, I'm gonna finish of my rest day today and tomorrow - VENGA TIO!!!

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#27 Costa Blanca - Week 1
April 01, 2013, 01:00:33 am
Costa Blanca - Week 1
31 March 2013, 9:37 pm

So it is the end of our first week here in Costa Blanca! Nat has been cruising everything and has only just started to check out some harder stuff now. Unfortunately she is not staying for much longer, only 1 day of climbing left :( I however have plenty of time and am hoping to get much more ticked before I go home on the 18th April...

I was keen to see how Nat would get on with something much harder than what she has ever tried before. Nat doesn't push herself that much, she will go for things when she feels like it, but often she chooses to do things that she can tick within the day. This is a cool approach and means she gets a lot of climbing done, but I know she has the potential to climb a lot harder if she got stuck into a proper project!

So yesterday, I chose an 8b+ for her to have a go on. The route I thought she would like was called "El Club de la Lucha" which translates as "Fight Club"! The climb takes an obvious blue water streak up a slightly overhung wall. The climbing is immensley technical on small slopey edges and slopers. I have not tried this route before, but according to comments on 8a.nu and from reading the guide, it appeared to be both popular and sustained rather than cruxy.

photo-13Needless to say, Nat went for it and got high on the onsight making it to about half-way before falling mid-way through the crux. She quickly got back on the wall and cruised through the crux moves before falling again another few metres higher... After working this section out she continued to climb higher again falling just shy of the chains... Nat came down slightly dispondant as to how hard it felt, but all I can say is that if I had been as solid at climbing 8b+ first try as she was on that, I'd be thinking I had a bloody good shot at doing it second go.

Nat doesn't have much experience with redpointing as she often just does routes onsight or 2nd go... In time and with a bit more work spent trying harder routes, Nat should be capable of climbing 8b's and 8b+'s with relative ease after work and I have no doubt about it that 8c is well within her ability...

During the last couple of days I have been doing a bit more mileage mixed with trying an 8b+ called "Océano". Now, I didn't really choose this route based on it's asthetics or quality... It has few ascents on 8a.nu and from discussing with locals, not many try it as it is regarded as a tough 8b+... there are much friendlier routes in the area at the grade to try so people prefer to go for them :P The main reason I was attracted to this route was because it linked in with the 8c I climbed the other day to make an 8c+ (or 9a according to some?).

I wanted to check the moves out to see if I could climb them and whether or not it would be possible for the link. After one go to check out the moves, I went for a redpoint attempt and fell off the very last hard move. It was close but I still felt that the move I was doing was very tough and I wouldn't be able to climb it from the 8c. After a 3rd go I fell at the same place and decided that a new sequnce was in order. After a bit of working out and trying different methods, I discovered a much nicer way of doing the move. By now my fingers were pretty trashed and I wasn't feeling as though I could pull it off, but owing to the fact that I am in Spain and seeing the VENGA/VAMOS/AMUERTE attitude of the locals, I decided to go for it :)

As I came up to the crux move, I set myself up into the new position and went for the hold (a positive tufa) that I had prevously fallen from. I stuck it solid and continued with upward progression to clip the chains :D

I know I could do the link for sure, but if I am totally honest, I am totally awe struck by so many awesome lines here that I don't want to leave with just a few. I will see how the next week goes as there a re a few more routes I really really want to climb, and afterwards if nothing else piques my fancy... then maybe I will go all out for the link :)

At the end of week 1, Nat and I have accumulated a good tick list:

Robbie:

 

  • Todos Los Caminos (7b+) - Onsight
  • Extranjeros (7b+) - Onsight
  • Océano (7b+) - Onsight
  • La Casa de los Tullidos (7c) - Onsight
  • Celia (7c+/8a) - Onsight
  • Meditaranneo (8a) - Flash
  • Watermark (8a) - 2nd Go
  • Ergometria (8a) - 2nd Go
  • Océano (8b+) - 4th Go
  • Espacio Tiempo (8c) - 6th Go
 

Natalie:

 

  • Todos Los Caminos (7b+) - Onsight
  • Extranjeros (7b+) - Onsight
  • Oceéano (7b+) - Onsight
  • Ya Somos Olimpicos (7c) - Onsight
  • Celia (7c+/8a) - 2nd Go
  • Meditaranneo (8a) - 3rd Go
  • Watermark (8a) - 2nd Go
  • Ergometria (8a) - 2nd Go
 

 

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#28 Costa Blanca - Week 2
April 07, 2013, 01:00:19 pm
Costa Blanca - Week 2
7 April 2013, 8:32 am

So another week has passed in Costa Blanca and the weather has managed to maintain up until now, however the rain only lasted a very brief time and is now off again and the forecast is due to be sun, sun and more sun!

Nat has gone back to Austria already, but not before a brief stop in France meeting up with friends, visiting her old workplace for Entreprises and stopping off in Mallau to watch the Boulder World Cup. She had a great trip out here and now she is looking forward to the rest of her work placement in Austria (Landeck) and hopefully joining us for a trip to Ceuse in the Summer :Dphoto-7

So today this week has been yet another eventful one for Team Scotland! I have been joined out here by two others, Amanda and Jules who are keen to push their own level as far as possible. Amanda has been getting stuck into some quick redpoint mileage and has thus far dispatched a couple of quick 7b+'s and is now working on a 7c. Jules only just arrived and today was her first day climbing. Jules is hoping to work an 8a out here, she had already tried one from her last trip called "La Putita de Millau" so was keen to get on this. DSC 0111Amanda Lyons bending her way through the crux of "Yo Somos Olimpicos" (7c)

In the morning today, I decided that the 8a seemed easy enough at the beginning to justify warming up on which resulted in a successful onsight for me :D Turns out that if you don't go direct at one section it is only 7c+, fair enough as it felt too eays for 8a, but this is where things start getting a bit weird and I don't really see the point in giving it 8a if it is easier to climb 1m left of the bolt as opposed to straight up...

"Dosis" (8b+)

DSC 0037End of the tufas on "Dosis"After warming up, I got on with my redpoint attempt on "Dosis" (8b+). First go I mucked up the first crux as it was so cold and I couldn't feel my fingers. The moves through this section are really powerful between one small but positive crimp, a bad sloper and a small pinch (tufa). With my numb fingers I just couldn't feel anything I was holding so opted for a return to the ground, 5 minutes rest and a re-attempt. This time I crushed the boulder crux and made it through the the tufas out right... It was only once here that I realised my kneepad was too high on my leg for the kneebar :O I quickly moved through the next sequence to a higher (better) kneebar that would fit and finally I could shake out a bit :DDSC 0044On the upper section of "Dosis" (8b+)

The next part of the climb was a techy sequence between pockets and a slopey right hand tufa which involves one or two quite powerful committing moves. Luckily I didn't much these up and managed to continue with my upwards progression into the rest before the final crux.

This last section scared me considerably as it involved some big moves between some not very good holds with bad feet! I had issues figuring this bit out on my first time up the route, but now at least I had a decent sequence sussed. After a good shake at the rest, I blitzed through the moves and before I knew it I was clipping the chains - WHOOP!

"Dosis" for me was the ultimate Wildside route, it literally had everything you could want - Slopers, Pockets, Crimps, Jugs, Tufas, Technical climbing, Bouldery climbing, Endurance climbing, etc... It was a real adventure and the first time I have felt nervous climbing a route on redpoint this trip for the sheer fact that I knew there was multiple places I could fall off if I just wasn't positioning my body accurately.

"Pinoreta" (8c)

As well as "Dosis", I have also done a few other excellent routes in the last few days. I climbed the stunning line to the right, "Pinoreta" (8c). This was the last hard pure line to climb at Wildside for me before I start either moving onto link ups or projects if I want to try something harder.

"Pinoreta" is a beautiful sheet of orange rock scattered with long sections of water polished tufa and a short bouldery section at the start on pockets and crimps. The route itself is split into these two sections, the top probably raking in at about 8a from the rest point (a massive jug!). The bottom crux is weird and I am not sure entirely of the boulder grade? It could be anywhere from V6 to V8 - hard to tell. It involves a pretty cool set of moves:

 

  • Big rock over on a high tufa to make a flat undercut hold
  • Heel hooking a tufa to reach a good 2 finger pocket
  • A precision jump to catch a small finger slot in the wall above
  • A few more moves of sustained climbing until...
  • A hard cross through move followed by slapping a bad sloper then jumping for a jug!
 

DSC 0016The crux of "Dosis" - Going to the sloper!That is the boulder crux of "Pinoreta". The 8a top out is mostly technical bridging between two slopey tufas, but there is a rather hard section right at the end of the most difficult part of the climb where you have to stab for a good sika crimp quite high up. This move for me wasn't hard on its own but required good precision and accuracy as well as enough energy in your left arm to create the force necessary. To avoid unnecessary pump for this move, I missed the previous clip (which I would have clipped from my right hand, holding on with my left). This meant that after doing the move, I would be around 4m runout and to get to the next clip you had to climb still another 4-5m of climbing that wasn't entirely easy. When I did the move on the redpoint, all thoughts of falling went out of my head, I was focussed and determined asnd climbed this section as confidentally as ever before. Thanks to Dan for capturing the ascent on video. The guys said afterwards that from skipping the clip I did it might be worth an E11? :P

DSC 0131Ramon (local) getting the first clip in on "El Club de la Luchas" (8b+)

 

So what now?

After doing "Dosis" yesterday, I tried another 8b+ called "El Club de la Luchas". Nat had a go on this before and the climbing looked awesome! It is very sustained with little or no rests for most of the way, but the good thing is at least it isn't too overhung meaning a bit of weight through the feet and you can reduce the pump slightly. The climbing revolves around a long blue bumpy streak created by waterflow down the wall which has resulted in awesome sidepull slopers nearly the entire way up the climb! It certainly is very different to anything I have done before and I am really excited to get back on this today and hopefully finish it off.

DSC 0006

After "El Club de la Luchas", I still have another 12 days left! There is one or two 8b+'s left in the sector, one called "Septiembre" which does look really good! Also another called "El Ultimo Mono" that looks amazing, but a bit dusty as if nobody has ever climbed it :P I now this isn't true as it is regarded as a top 50 in the guidebook, but maybe it has had less traffic this year?DSC 0004Jules preparing for her first attempt at "Yo Somos Olimpicos"

There is also some good looking 8a-8b's I have yet to climb which look great and I would love to practice my onsighting and see what I can get up to with them.

And of course there are the link ups :D But there is so much good new climbing to be done!

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#29 Costa Blanca - Week 3 and Home Again!
April 22, 2013, 01:00:54 am
Costa Blanca - Week 3 and Home Again!
21 April 2013, 9:50 pm

So I have just returned from what was yet another successful climbin trip in Spain. The Costa Blanca has inspired me for another season on rock.

Since my last blog post, I climbed a few more hard routes and even got my very first "First Ascent"! When I left you last, I had tried "El club de la Lucha" (8b+) and was going back for the send on the following day. On arriving at the crag, I warmed up by doing the first 5 moves of the route (just climbing up and down), then went straight for it. Initially I wasn't feeling 100%, but I decided that I would just press on anyway and give it a good blast.

525303 10151527002248022 481788747 nOnsighting an 8a at "Cabezon de Oro"I mucked up the lower section of the climb resulting in a forced down climb to get another shakeout below a roof. I don't know what happened really, I think it was a lack of knowing where my feet should be going, luckily the climbing in this section of the route wasn't actually that hard and I could recover well enough to continue into the meat of the route. The climbing from then on was very sustained with little or no rest for around 15-20m. I climbed quickly only stopping to shake at one point mid-way and then again just below the chains. The scary part was deciding to skip a long extended quickdraw before entering the redpoint crux which resulted in an 8m runout with not so easy climbing to the top :P Luckily though I never fell and to the relief of both myself and my belayer (Jules) I clipped the chains before letting go :D532663 10151655792678203 756767054 nOur awesome villa!

What next? Well, I decided seeing as I was climbing most of the hardest stuff at the crag within a few goes, that I might as well have a look at one of two unclimbed projects at the crag. The one that caught my eye in particular was a route called "Tendon House". It was first bolted and attempted by a climber from Madrid and had seen some interest from locals but was yet to have an ascent. The route takes a wildly blank yet still very steep wall for 25m before you clip the chains. From the ground the route looks very similar to a 9a in Gorge du Loup called "PuntX" which if i'm honest scared the living daylights out of me :P Locals at the crag estimated the route to be a possible 9a given that it had not had an ascent and I wasn't inclinded to argue based on what it looked like from the ground...DSC 0058"Tendon House" (8b+)

Upon inspection, it turned out very differently... I found a lot of hidden pockets (drilled) and sika crimps blind from ground view (unless you know where to look). I had a bit of difficulty with the first crux close to the ground at first, but deciphered a brilliant sequence through it which made it little more than about V7 on it's own. After this, you took a quick shake out on some small holds and from there you where firing up the wall on positive mono pockets for another 5m. The climbing itself is not hard, it's just whether or not you can stand hanging from one finger and pulling quite big locks between each of them.

There was another crux coming up which involved a powerful move to a sika undercut crimp, but once that was over you were back on mono's on slightly less steep angled wall.

I had two tries to work out the moves - my second involved a brief attempt but I failed in the first crux and decided to work over the moves once again. The next day I came back and sent it first try with the locals watching. I pretty much cruised the whole route with the exception of one move right at the end... a hard lock off from a left hand mono, high feet on smears to a good mini jug. I missed the jug short of half a centimetre on my first pull and managed to hold it coming down and rest again on the two lower mono's... I tried again giving it a bit more umph this time and succesfully stuck the hold and topped out!601852 10151655778268203 1432936087 nThe world's hardest 8a - "Ultimo Aviso" - I think it helps if you 7ft tall!

The locals were excited to see the project sent and eagerly awaited my grading of the route. I climbed it on my 3rd try, and based on how it felt when I climbed it and the breakdown of boulder problems on the route I felt it would justify anything above 8b but not as hard as 8c. I reckon that in some areas, this might get 8b. Somewhere like Frankenjura or Margalef where this style of climbing is common and people are used to it, but for Sella grading, I think this would be consistent with the other 8b+'s of the crag.

DSC 0003After doing "Tendon House", I was psyched to do some easier routes and more mileage. On one day I climbed a new 8a bolted by some cool Spanish guys we met at the crag, an 8a+ called "Romocop" which in my opinion was the best 8a+ I have ever climbed, then finished the day off onsighting another 8a called "Paula" bolted by Armando (Sella's answer to Jesus). And the next day I flashed "Tirali Valent", an incredible 8a+ up a slightly overhanging section of the wall and small but positive edges all the way to the top :D

66821 10151527002083022 812164071 n

In the last few days I climbed a few more routes in the low 8's and high 7's. I climbed a couple of new 8b's, one which I was one move off the flash and probably would have done so if it had been slightly cooler. This was called "La Criatura" (8b). It is the most fake, manufactured/sika'd climb I have ever been on, but despite this, it was actually quite nice :P I also did another 8b 2nd go called "Maestro Suriyoda", another route that I think a flash would have been possible with cooler conditions. When I climbed this it must have been 30 degrees and it literally felt like a sauna as I climbed! I had built this up in my mind as a really hard route as I had seen Armando battling with it for a good few weeks... On the send though it felt OK with only the easier upper section (7b-ish) feeling like I was in risk of falling off, thanks to the high temps.

375772 10151527001543022 231748851 nDyno method to crux...On the second last day we headed to Cabezon de Oro. This crag is utterly amazing and I only wish I could have had a couple of extra days there. I onsighted a fabulous 8a there called "Columneta" and tried one of the best lines I have ever been on, an incredible 8b called "Clemencia". The crux move can be done as a dyno, but I managed to do it with a very high drop knee and using a terrible 2 finger undercut intermediate. This made thngs more controlled but it was still at least a V7 boulder with 8a to finish!430498 10151527001583022 504145005 nDropknee method to crux...

And finally, the last day we headed to a smaller crag called "Castellet de Calp". Now... my honest opinion of this place was - Total Crap! However, I can't speak for everyone as the rest of the group actually really liked it :P I thought it was short, sharp and choss... not what I came to Spain for. Despite this though, I dealt with it as it was my last day and did every hard route at the crag including 3 x 7c+'s and 2 x 7c's. For the record, "over-caffeinated sugary drink company" (7c+) and "Chasing the Dinosaur" (7c) were actually not too bad, but none would be worthy of 3 stars if you compare with other crags in the guidebook... which does make you wonder whether they actually think about what they give stars to when writing the guide?923056 10151527001878022 315049189 nThe move!

Anyway, was such a great trip and despite having ticked sector Wildside bar a few routes, I will definitely be back. It seems that there is a lot more to go at in the surrounding area as well and I am super keen to get back to Cabezon de Oro as well as the facing crag which apparently is like to Oliana!?!?!?!

Right now, all I can think about is getting back on the rock... Ceuse here I come!!!

Thanks also to Stewart Stronach for the photos at Cabezon de Oro and Amanda Lyons for the photos at Sella, Wildside :D

 

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Youth Colors (Day 1) - An Eye Opener!
18 May 2013, 9:09 pm

Hey Guys!

At the moment I am writing from Natalie's flat, situated in the small village of Landeck, 15 minutes drive from one of the world's best climbing walls, Kletterhalle Imst!

DSC 0829A busy day at Kletterhalle Imst

Kletterhalle Imst has been hosting international competitions for many years, and one of the traditions of the wall has been to host a very special competition called the "Youth Colors". This is aimed at kids not yet able to compete internationally for their country due to being too young, so Youth Colors is for Youth D and Youth C kids (or Children and Pupils as it is called in Austria). DSC 0614David Miedzybrodski on the 7c Yellow

I flew over on Wednesday night fom Edinburgh to Frankfurt, where I slept overnight in the airport, then caught a flight from Frankfurt to Innsbruck an then a train to Imst. It was a bit of an exhausting trip but worth every bit of it to see the kids in action at the comp this weekend :D

So today was the first day of the competition. I am here with a number of Scottish kids who I coach as well as a full British Team of 16 kids who are all attending the competition. Talking to Andy Knabl (Imst Team Coach and Organiser of Youth Colors), he said this year is bigger than all the previous years! There are literally hundreds of kids from all over Europe competing and all at a very high standard. The grades of the routes across the board are high, with the easiest in Youth C Boys and Girls (11-12 years old) being about 7a and the hardest probably in the region of 7c+? For the the younger boys and girls in Youth D (9-10 years old) the routes range in difficulty from around 6a+ to 7a!

All the kids climbed out of their skin today and I am happy to say there was about 95% positive vibes the whole day from everyone with only a little bit of disapointment (which never lasted very long anyway) :P

DSC 0688Connor Moore giving it his all on the Blue 7c!

Young Connor Moore and Nathan Whaley (London) are both in the lower end of Youth C and therefore had a very tough competition as they were competing against kids a year older and more developed than them (it's obvious the difference when you see the size of some of the kids :P). Despite this they each gave it their all. Connor climbed exceptionally well on his first three routes (all graded around 7c) making it to around 3/4 height on all of them. It took Nathan a little longer to get the hang of things, but that is only natural when it's your first International competition and especially when your one of the smallest and youngest in the category. Nathan in particular came into his own after the mid-day break on the second set of three routes - it was here he managed his first top of the competition, a tricky green that could be 7a/b? He also gave a great effort on both the Black and Blue routes that had each only a handful of tops.

DSC 0784Nathan Whaley of London crushing

David Miedzybrodski was competing beside them and as usual was dispaying impressive amounts of focus and tactical preparation - he is a machine in mind as well as body :P After the first set of three routes, David was ranked 23rd I believe. It was unfortunate that he dropped some places in the second round when he made some little errors on one of the routes, nothing to worry about, just experience for next time - he can make it up tomorrow I'm positive :D

DSC 0673Rory Cargil before topping his 2nd route (7c)From Aberdeen we also had Rory Cargil, probably Scotlands current strongest hope for a Youth B international contendor after Angus Davidson and William Bosi move up to Youth A. Rory showed us all how hard he has been working since he was dropped from the GB Team end of last year - I think they should re-consider after his epic performance today. Rory was within the last 10 moves of every route he tried bar the ones he onsighted!!! He is seriously working in another league right now, its mega impressive to watch :D Hopefully he makes the Team for Youth B next year and gets to continue to show his amazing progression in the international stage for 2014! At the end of today Rory was placed 12th with 3 points separating him from 10th and that was after messing up his first route by climbing it at the speed of light because he thought he only had 4 minutes :P Tomorrow I think he can make up some more places with a couple more brillaint performances...

Lisa Keane, the youngest of the kids out her with me started today a little shaky. She has only just started her competition career this year, so jumping from small regional rounds to full on Internationals is some step up!!! I don't think there is anyone in the whole competition though I can say has made more progress than her. At the start of the day she was holding back and not going for moves, eventually to the point that she really didn't want to go on the wall anymore. After a chat outside in the sun about not letting the fear of results or competition ruin a good performance and instead, just going for it on every move and trying your hardest, she returned to the climbing with renewed vigour and psyche and went on to really enjoy her climbing! The difference was phenomenol, she even made the hardest route look easier than the girl who is currently placed 1st!DSC 0853

There are of course a much bigger contingent of Brits out here with a strong crew from England and Ireland. Eddie Cooper is out here with two of his kids, Carson and Anna, and Ian Dunne (GB Team Manager) is out here with a number of English kids as well including GB Team Members Aiden Dunne and Alex Norton, both of whom climbed exceptionally well today - Special mention must be made to Alex who timed out on two different routes, both of which he would have topped (one of which he did actually top out on but failed to do so in the 5 minute time limit).

Anyway, it has been a fantastic day and I am so psyched to see such a well organised kids competition - the day has literally flown by without so much as a hiccup or time delay throughout the whole day! Probably the best organised competition I have ever been to...

Props to Andy Knabl :D

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#31 Youth Colors - Training Week
May 23, 2013, 01:01:24 am
Youth Colors - Training Week
22 May 2013, 8:54 pm

We are now well into the trip, 3 days to be precise. We have been non-stop since the Youth Color Climbing Festival in Imst, the kids have barely had time to sit down for a rest! I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that they have certainly been put through their paces training with the Austrians! WOW! Those kids have some endurance! But I think it is starting to rub off on our British kids as they have been looking fitter and fitter by the day... and tonight was probably the peak of the trip.DSC 1415Nathan on classic 6a @ Tumpen (Ötztal)

 

After a mornings climbing at Tumpen, a fantastic low grades crag in the Ötztal Valley, we headed straight to Kletterhalle Imst where we met up with the Imst Team and their trainer Andy Knabl for our second days training with them. We trained for 3 hours, most of which involved a heavy session doing various styles of endurance based training on lead and top rope, after which we headed outside to the huge competition wall for some hard leads. Connor made an impressive onsight of a Yellow 7a and 7a+, the second of which he was into the roof for the second pitch graded 7b+! David climbed out of his skin despite a very hard days training and even managed to knock out his first 7c onsight, a purple crimp fest that built into a severe overhang on powerful moves and a huge tufa! He then went onto onsight another 7b...DSC 1461

Connor after stripping the 6b+ (That's a lot of quick draws!!!)

 

Lisa and Nathan have also been making some impressive leaps in performance. Nathan who is mainly a boulderer back home in London has been pushing his endurance threshold and was managing laps on one of his comp routes for the YCCF! Lisa has also made some incredible gains in performance, after having only just been introduced to lead back in March and never having taken any lead falls - on this trip she has been pushing her lead grade to an insane level and has now lead both 6c and taken many lead falls on route graded up to 7b+!!! Not bad for a 9 year old girl :P She has become good friends with a little Austrian girl called Yana, both have been pushing each other and its very nice to see some international friendships being created on this trip.DSC 1433

At Tumpen this morning, Lisa climbed her first ever sport route outside, a classic 6a. David, Connor and Nathan also climbed an amazing 6b+ called "Indian Reservation" and David tried a 6c at the end of the outdoor session. Despite these low grades, the climbs themselves felt very hard - more to do with the style than anything else. I think the rock type is Schist, for the grades I would probably have said the 6b+ felt more like a 7a on Limestone if I'd compared them. I looked at the 7c and couldn't see any holds... scared me silly :P

Yesterday we had a rest day as we had been climbing three days on (two days of competing and a days training with the Imst Team). For a rest day we headed to the mega fun water park called Area 47. This place is just insane, there is so much fun to be had here and I honestly can't wait to go back next year :P We managed to sneak Connor onto some of the bigger rides that required him to be a year older, one of which was a huge water slide with a sled that you lay on your stomach whilst going down. It was mad!!! I also got winded badly doing a huge slide/jump which threw me at least 10m into the air before I landed back first into the water... Pictures to come :P

There was also a pretty cool climbin wall, bouldering wall and a pillar of the bridge that Hansjorg Auer had bolted and climbed. We where all interested to try these fun looking routes but we hadn't brought our climbing kit with us... The receptionist told us that only Hansjorg has climbed these :PDSC 1447

Tomorrow we are climbing again outside in the morning, then heading to the wall for another training session with the Imst Team, after which we will probably hit the Outdoor wall again :D PSYCHED! Oh yeah, Nat and I have also been enjoying the Imst wall climbing - I have onsighted the two hardest routes from the competition both which were 7c+, onsighted three 8a's on the big competition wall outside and managed an onsight of an 8a+ on the competition wall outside as well. The crazy thing with Imst wall is the volume at which they set routes... every 2 weeks every climb in the main hall on the main sections of wall are changed... so basically every 2 weeks there will be a new set of around 20 x routes from 7b to 8c... The last set included around 8 routes 8b and harder! Thats one reason why all the climbers here are so good :P

 

 

 

DSC 1468Connor psyched after achieving 7a+ onsight at Kletterhalle Imst!

 

DSC 1470David Psyched after achieving his first 7c insight!

 

 

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#32 Céüse 2013 - There an Back Again...
August 14, 2013, 09:56:36 pm
Céüse 2013 - There an Back Again...
31 July 2013, 11:05 am

Hey Guys

I have just returned from yet another eventful and character building climbing trip to Céüse, France. I was out there for around 4 weeks in total with two others travelling with me from Scotland, Andy Latta and William Bosi.

For those of you who don’t know Andy and William, Andy is one of my oldest and best friends, we have shared many adventures together since we were young and he is still my favourite climbing buddy on outdoor sport climbing trips. William is one of my young apprentices who is quickly becoming a master. For William, this was his first big trip abroad with the guys, he’s only 14 but he was ready for it and he has no doubt learned a lot from the weeks he spent at Céüse.

1012447 10151761687954802 1744691131 n

The Journey Out



We had planned to head out from Edinburgh early on the morning after we packed the car, however a last minute decision changed our plans and we ended up leaving at midnight of that evening. It was quite a big step for me as I had never driven so far in my life, the idea of driving 20+ hours in a car laden with all our kit including ourselves was scary, however after the first couple of hours I adjusted well to the endless streaming of lights passing by on the motorway and the doubling in weight of the car.

602726 10151761685259802 335798619 nWilliam tucking into his staple brekkie of Cookie Crisp without milk - all you need to crush at Ceuse

There is no doubt about it; Andy is the best driving companion I could ever have had. He is the most organized person I know, he had the maps and directions down and all the necessary paperwork for the ferry as well as all our passports kept nice and safe (if it was up to me, I would probably have ended up in some remote part of Asia no doubt). Andy was like my human sat-nav/alarm clock, when I looked tired he was the first to step in, slap me about a bit and stick on some good beats to get me psyched up again.

All in all we didn’t go too far wrong on the journey out – we got a bit confused around London that cost us a short amount of time, then we had to spend a lot of time waiting for the Ferry in Dover. And when we finally hit the French roads we managed perfectly until the final step of the journey i.e. reaching Céüse from Gap. I had never actually done this before and our directions only took us as far as Gap, so of course when we arrived at 5am in Gap, finding the crag took a bit longer than anticipated.

It was all good in the end though, we found the crag, set up camp and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow :P And that was the start of Céüse 2013!

Getting Started



So I wasn’t sure what to expect with Céüse 2013 – I had hoped to go back this time and get on some of the harder 8th grade routes as it is mostly these that I have left to climb. As I had climbed a number of 8b+ and 8c routes this year in Spain, I figured it might be a possibility to do an 8c in Céüse as well, this would certainly make my year since the Céüse 8c’s are amongst the most stunning lines I have yet to encounter on my travels.

774349 10151582538548178 755803135 oDarren climbing a big 7b in Berlin Sector - I did the 7b to the left of this which might have been 7c anywhere else!

The last time I had actually been to Céüse was 2 years previously and I had felt reasonably strong on one of the 8c’s then, so this year I was hoping to see some improvements. Of course, it takes time to get used to a style and seeing as I had just driven a ridiculous number of hours already, gone 2 days without sleep, drunk 4 over-caffeinated sugary drink companys and sung a lot of Oasis… I was probably not in the best state of body or mind for climbing hard routes. Needless to say I flung myself at them anyway and got a bit shut down.

The first week became more of a “getting used to Céüse again” experience after that… What was really good to see was just how well William adapted his strong indoor fitness and strength to the Céüse rock. On his first day he came close on an 8a onsight (“Carte Blanche”) and then quickly dispatched it 2nd go without any trouble whatsoever. He then started trying an 8c in between attempts on other easier routes. The 8c he tried was called “Chronique de la Haine Ordinaire”, a tough short boulder section presumed to be of around F7C+ boulder difficulty followed by a longer section estimated at around f8a+ route grade. The boulder section was split in two, both around F7B+ I’d say. We could both do each section on its own, but I struggled a lot with one move going to a pinch on the lower boulder whilst William seriously disliked a small mono hold on the upper boulder. The 8a+ section was still possible to fall on, but both of us felt very confident that if we made it through the lower section then we would get to the top. I gave “Chronique de la Haine” a few goes but wasn’t psyched after it tore a big flapper in my finger. William persisted longer with it but did the same after a few more attempts.

I then decided to try easier routes that I could do in less attempts, as I wanted to get more into the style. There was still quite a few 8a’s and 8a+’s I had yet to try so I was keen to go around them and clip a few chains. This turned out to be harder than expected :P

Whilst William was trying 8c’s and I was ticking some of the easier routes in Céüse, some that were repeats and others new to me. Andy was getting back into sport climbing after a long time off. He had suffered a very bad rope burn on his hand earlier this year that laid him off climbing for a long time! He was mostly interested to see how much the scar tissue on his hand would be affected by the sharp rock in Céüse. Thankfully, Andy didn’t seem to be affected too badly by his hands and managed a quick repeat of a super classic 7b “Lapinerie”.

1005466 10151761688434802 810303464 nWilliam Bosi trying "La Part du Diabl" (8c) - in the foggy fog!!! CRAZY BOY!!!





 

Starting to Function



After a week of climbing in Céüse, all of us were starting to get the hang of things. I still didn’t feel 100% in tune with the rock but it was coming slowly. It was this week that a few friends were arriving from various places as well which meant instead of lots of walking, I got to do some more driving!!! FUN!!! Our first guest was Alexander Bosi (William’s older brother) who was arriving in Grenoble. Secondly we had a very good friend of both Andy and myself, a Danish girl called Michelle Kim-Theisen who was supposed to meet us in Gap but ended up messing up (because she’s Danish) and we had to drive to some random little town in the middle of nowhere :P It was actually quite an adventure and Andy will do a good job of describing some of the “roads” we had to avoid falling off the side of… Worth it to pick up Michelle and grab us some pizza :D  On the way back Andy and I serenaded Michelle with some amazing Oasis sing along action – by the way, if anyone is interested Andy and I are now doing a karaoke style duet which covers mostly Oasis but also do Owl City stuff and Magic Man by B.O.B.

Also joining us at the campsite was a friendly (and slightly terrifying) face from home, Mike Halcrow. Mike is a friend of Andy and myself who joined in on the trip as well. I told him lies about how Céüse is really soft and that climbing 8a here is like climbing 7b+ at the wall… Now I am scared to ever see him again otherwise he might kill me :P

1009814 10151761685679802 1670113497 n

As well as Michelle, Alexander and Mike, we met up with some more friends at the campsite. The always-friendly German beast, Felix Neumarker was one of the first to arrive. I last saw Felix in France end of last year but only very briefly, and we had been climbing together a lot the previous Spring. Since then he had climbed numerous 9a’s and one 9a+, La Rambla, which he told me is only 8c and isn’t so hard… Yes… Just don’t tell Dani Andrada that… Also climbing with us for a week was young Alex Waterhouse and Billy Ridal, both friends of Williams’ and mine from the national competitions.

We also made plenty of new friends of course as we always do on these trips, in particular we met a group of British climbers, two of which (Sam and Darren) study at Aberdeen university, not forgetting of course Jay and Mark. It was good to hang out with these guys for the majority of our trip as they certainly livened up our days.

969938 10152466139470656 1555792960 nSam and Darren at their camping spot - Note: Hammock is a good idea!!!

Anyway, the second week of climbing felt a lot better than the first. I started the week by ticking of a few routes I have always wanted to try but never got round to before. First on the hit list was “Femme Blanche” (8a+). I fell after the crux at the top on my first attempt in the dark, then did the dirty tech slab onsight during my successful redpoint the day after… I also managed a very solid flash of a classic 8a/+ called “L’ami Couette”.

On the same day I did “L’ami Couette”, I also did an 8a+ called “Les Poinçonneur de lilas”. This was a route I had wanted to try for a number of years, as it looked amazing – and it didn’t disappoint either. It wasn’t too hard compared to other Céûse 8a+’s but perhaps the boulder mid-section could be hard for those breaking into the grade.

1074030 10151582537398178 890197595 oOnsighting a big blue 8a! I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out this bit :P

William and I both tried a good looking 8a+ in Berlin that I had never noticed before. The route was called “Ratman” and took a slightly overhung section of the wall on what seemed small but positive holds all the way up. Both of us had onsight goes on it on which we both fell on the same move at the crux around 4/5th’s of the way up. When we discovered actually how hard the individual moves where, we were blown away! This is probably the hardest 8a+ I have ever done, possibly in line with another 8a+ I climbed to the left of this called “Queue de Rat” which I did on my last day. “Ratman” climbs a long section of steady 7c/+ climbing on small but positive holds before you hit a gnarly V6 boulder with a not so good rest just before entering this. After you do the boulder problem there is still a little bit of techyness and some very droppable moves… Luckily neither of us dropped them and we both sent :P In all honesty, I have done 8b+ that have felt as hard as this and it would be 8b anywhere else for sure! Same goes for “Queue de Rat” and funnily enough my statement is backed up on 8a.nu by Ethan Pringle who says exactly the same :P

Big Ticks and Big Falls



Eventually, I managed to find something harder that I fancied projecting a little. The route was called “Slow Food” and was situated in probably the steepest sector of Céüse. Unfortunately in this sector there are only two climbs, “Slow Food” (8b+) and another absolute classic 8a called “Bourinator”. I was very lucky as Michelle had decided to start work on “Bourinator” which suited the two of us very well for belaying each other.

William had tried “Slow Food” briefly a few days previously and had told me it was really hard but that he was keen to get back on it. When I approached this route there was already a young American boy called Mirko (Caballero) trying it. It was impressive watching him make some good links on the lower section (crux) despite only being 12 years old! Also with him and his parents was young Ashima Shiraishi, the 12 year old girl who was climbing V13. I couldn’t wait to see her climb as I had heard so much about her :P I watched her walk up “Slow Food” (8b+) 2nd go with so much ease – it was nothing short of incredible. What was nice to see was her wonderful attitude towards climbing, she didn’t seem to have any ego despite being the best climber at the crag (by far) and was very happy to just go and climb anything that took her fancy, not jaded by grades or pressure in any way.

My initial attempts on “Slow Food” started out as bolt to bolts as the bottom section for me felt pretty nails, but quickly I discovered beta that improved the situation massively and on my 3rd attempt I stuck the first crux to my surprise and fell on the last hard move of the 2nd crux. This was huge for me because previously the route had felt totally nails and now I knew that if I had got through that 2nd crux I would have completed the route.

968822 10151707556900279 1705918951 n"Slow Food" (8b+) - the gnarly drop knee crux moves :D I loved this bit!!!

A couple of days later, William in amazing style at the end of the day did “Slow Food” for his first 8b+! At 14 years old, he matches the youngest Brit to climb 8b+ and is now the youngest Scot. A day later, I got back on the route and made it through both of the lower cruxes (only just) and was at the top of the final crux… I felt really steady and was moving to a huge jug when the right hand crimp shattered in my hands sending me hurtling off the wall! I didn’t really know what to do… I was hanging off the rope a little confused, I didn’t know if I should be angry or happy. I had made it through every crux and had essentially done the route, but the hold had broken stopping me from clipping the chains :P In my heart I know I did the route, but I hadn’t got the tick truthfully, so I decided I would try it again after a rest day. Unfortunately the rain came and I never got a chance to get back on it… Oh well L I will be back soon to clip those chains :D

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I got into a habit of taking the jump from the top of “Slow Food” whenever I got to the chains. The fall is huge but very safe and so was good fun even if you didn’t do the route – it was always my excuse to go to the top just so I could take the jump. I then convinced Michelle, William and Alex (Waterhouse) to take the fall when they got to the end of either “Slow Food” or “Bourinator”.

 

As well as jumps from the top of routes, a popular rest day activity was jumping into the lake from a 10m high concrete tower. The hard part for me wasn’t the height, more the cold water… I improved at this rapidly however, going from not wanting to jump in at all, to jumping in multiple times in the sun, then one day suffered a terrible dare where I risked losing an eyebrow unless I jumped in at night on a particularly foggy evening… trust me, it felt a little like the start of a horror movie :P Luckily I had a partner in crime, Jay, who was the darer but agreed to do it with me… Thanks man!

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More friends arrive...

We were coming to our final week in Céüse and more friends were arriving from all over making it much harder as the days towards our departure loomed ever closer. Alex Barrows (now made famous by his cheating knees) joined us as well as Tom Richmond (current Ednburgh local) and Andre Hedger (my biggest fan - but apparently he's more impressed by Alex's knees nowadays).

Impressively on one of the first few days of arrival, Andre ticked "Seurs Froides" (8a+), and I have heard via text that he has also made quick ascents of "Encore" (8a+) and "Femme Blanche" (8a+). Good Effort!

Also, Alex I have heard has made an impressive flash ascent of "Encore" (8a+) since I left - but he still fell on a 7c+ onsight attempt at the start of the trip so it kind of evens things out considerably... ;)

And Michelle made a very impressive redpoint of the super classic 8a "Bourinator", probably the burliest 8a I have ever tried and one of the few 8a routes I think I am scared of trying again. I did it again this year and it felt just as hard as it did when I first climbed it years ago! BEAST!

 

Coming to an End

As the trip was closing to a finish, I started to realize just how much I love Céüse… I can’t quite place why exactly I love this place so much… its not just one thing, it’s a mixture. I have been here five times now:

$1.     Céüse 2007 – with Rich Simpson when I was 17 (5 Weeks)

$2.     Céüse 2008 – with Andy when I was 18 (5 Weeks)

$3.     Céüse 2010 – with Natalie when I was 20 (10 Days)

$4.     Céüse 2011 – with Natalie when I was 21 (4 Weeks)

$5.     Céüse 2013 – with Andy and William now I am 23 (4 Weeks)

That equates to around 20 weeks living in Céüse altogether… I guess I have been there so much that it has literally become a home away from home of sorts. Whenever I return, I feel like I am coming back to a place I am comfortable in, not like going on holiday, like going to my other home :P One of the best things about this home however is that it has the best crag on earth 1 hours walk from my tent… That and the scene at base camp is unlike anything I have ever experienced at any climbing destination… The Céüse experience truly is one of a kind…

1077060 10151582542678178 1843184182 oThe crew...





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#33 Coaching Awards
October 01, 2013, 01:03:30 am
Coaching Awards
30 September 2013, 5:51 pm

It's been a long time coming...

0Climbing Coaching is finally being recognised as a real pathway for Climbing Instructors/Coaches and those involved in the industry to take if they wish to improve their coaching skills. Although I can't say I have been around long enough to witness the days when professional coaching in climbing didn't even exist, I have been working as a coach for long enough that I can see a massive requirement to provide those working at walls with the necessary skills to coach more effectively all aspects of a climbers performance.

1MANCHESTAAA!!!!This week I travelled down to Manchester to take part in the first Providers Induction Meet for the new MTA Coaching Awards. A few weeks previously I had applied to become a provider for the new course and luckily they had picked me amongst 18 others to become the first providers of the course. I was honoured to be  selected amongst such a high number of very qualfied and experienced coaches but at the same time terrified to be the youngest at the table with the least number of years exerience working in the industry. It's nice to read through Al Halewoods blog and see that he was feeling the same nerves as me. I know that together, the 19 of us will make a fantastic start to this new coaching award.

For two days we were presented with the new scheme by Martin Chester who has been working hard at getting this program off the ground and into the hands of us new providers. He organised the 2 days of presentations, practical workshops and lectures at the end of which I felt buzzing with anticipation to make these courses a success.2Presentations

To give a little bit of understanding behind what this new award is, there is basically three tears (two of which are going to be available soon and one of which is geared for next Spring).

  • Foundation Coach
  • Development Coach
  • Performance Coach (Next Spring)
The idea behind the three levels is that coaches can gain experience relative to the type of people they will be working with. All Climbing coaches and instructors start working with beginner level climbers, so at this stage it is ideal to attend the Foundation Coach Award. You will learn all about the techniques and skills required to coach climbers just starting or who are stil learning the fundamental techniques and skills.

5Rob giving a bit of schpiel

The development coach looks at developing climbers over the course of a longer period of time and delves more into advanced skill acquisition and coaching processes - how do we improve the standards of any climber wantint to improve over time and how do the needs and requirements of beginners and advance level climbers change? The performance coach will be geared at high performance orientated coaching and will incorporate more advanced skills yet again.

6Manchester from Charlie's flat

All I can say is that I am psyched to get these awards going ahead and I am going to be putting my head down to getting the first dates for the courses advertised. Stay tuned to hear more from me on the new Coaching Awards and when they are going to be available to book onto.

Robbie

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#34 BLCC's 2013
October 07, 2013, 01:00:33 pm
BLCC's 2013
6 October 2013, 10:54 pm

I’ve just returned from what I can safely say was a very successful BLCC for Scottish climbers. The British Lead Climbing Championships (BLCC) is the National competition of the year for sport climbers hence why it attracts so many young talented athletes from all over the country. This year we had a strong team attending with kids in nearly every category from Youth C through to Youth A (unfortunately no Juniors).

Buz, Jessica and I headed down on the Friday night, stopping off in the Lakes before driving the rest of the way to Sheffield at 6:30am on Saturday morning because Buz was too lazy to go the full way the night before… typical! We did have a good time staying at the “Climber’s Club Hut” in Borrowdale which involved a bit of Monopoly action and an epic to get the fire started. Thankfully I am an expert in the lore of fire-craft and speedily sorted out the mess that Jess had created – Answer: a lot of firelighters!!!1376492 10153280235800142 1075487294 nChilling out at Borrowdale Climbers Club Hut

On Saturday morning we were a bit late (nobody’s fault Neil “we need to stop for an hour for coffee” Busby…) but we didn’t miss much thankfully. William Bosi and David Miedzybrodski had already climbed but they had both done well. William’s hand slipped off an awkward move on the first route (a techy blue 7c), which I was told by one of the setters for the event, Mike Langley, that it could have happened to anybody, as that particular hold was really greasy. In fact it did happen to other climbers and proved to be a bit of a stopper move with only two others making it through that sequence both of whom got to the top. William was competing in Youth B with another Scot Angus Davidson. Angus managed to get to the same spot as William but fell off in a similar fashion. On their second qualifier, a much easier looking pink route, both boys topped pretty quickly but with a thankful “Phew!!!” from Angus as he clipped the chain from a slightly bent elbow!!! I was super impressed as always watching Jim Pope run up both routes – he really does have a talent for climbing walls :P

Not forgetting Ian Bownes who this was his first National Lead competition. Ian was rather nervous for this but gave it his all and made us all very proud with an 11th place – his forte is Speed but unfortunately I never got to watch them on the Sunday. I heard it went well for the whole Speed Team and a big congratulations to Alexander Bosi who is the 2013 British Junior Speed Champion!

1275434 533367053410724 1972689429 oGood Effort Lads!

In Youth C boys, David Miedzybrodski did really well to make it high on his first qualifier and this pushed him far up the chain in the strong Youth C category for his first climb. The youth C category is probably one of the most competitive categories with seven boys who are almost all as good as each other or not far of it. Also from Scotland, Rory Cargill managed an impressive top of the same route and then another top on his second qualifier. David unfortunately got a little stuck in the final few moves off his second route, struggling to clip and then deciding after three attempts at it, just to move on to the next hold. A good thing that he went for it, as it was this that got him in joint 6th place for the final! David was placed 7th but we appealed to the judges and managed to get him bumped up when it was made apparent that he had scored the same as the climber in 6th place on both routes – good thing we appealed!

In Youth C girls we only had Rhiannon Freirich representing Scotland. Rhiannon climbed well achieving a top on her first route and making 8th place overall! I will be climbing with Rhiannon in Kalymnos for the next 2 weeks so stay tuned to hear of what she gets up to out there :)

In Youth B Girls we had Keira Farmer, Kirsten Gray, Rebecca Kinghorn and Eilidh Vas Payne from Scotland. All of them are very experienced competition climbers with Rebecca Kinghorn currently the newest member of the GB Team and who made finals in her last European Cup. I know how hard all these girls have been training so it was exciting to see them all put it to the test in the competitive arena. The first route looked OK with most of the girls not find it too bad with quite a few tops and the rest all getting quite high. The second qualifier however was shared with the Youth C boys (the blue that was their first qualifier) and this wasn’t so straightforward. Everyone found this second route a huge challenge with nobody making it look easy whatsoever. The route was vertical with one small overhang lip to pull at the start that spat off a lot of climbers in all categories climbing it. All the way to the top there was hideously sustained sequences on small crimpy holds and bad feet – to get high on this route you needed rock solid determination and unwavering focus. I was immensely proud of Kirsten Gray’s performance on this – she never looked like she lost her focus on any part of the route and she found good body positions on practically every move, in short I think it was one of her finest moments out of her whole competitive career. She has been training hard for this competition… I’d say all the hard work has paid of… Both Kirsten and Rebecca made it through to finals. Although Eilidh and Keira never quite made finals, I think they both climbed well and have hopefully learned a lot from their experience – competitions are tough, not everyone can stand on the podium or make the finals each time, but everyone can give it their all… I think they all did that. Keira and Eilidh came home with 13th and 7th place respectively and there is definite room to improve for the next big competition!563151 10153280978045142 2089866373 nViewing time after isolation...

Alone in Youth A Girls we had Rebekka Drummond who has come back with vengeance after dealing with injury for the last year. I have been coaching Rebekka recently to build up her overall endurance and to mentally be able to fight harder on on-sights of routes in competition that she might deem too hard for her to on-sight. This has obviously worked as she cruised her first qualifier and placed 3rd on her second qualifier matching a number of the GB Team Members in the category above her! The fight she put in on her second qualifier was amazing and I feel that she has come a long way since being injured – I’d even say she has come back stronger than before! It was obvious that this route was going to be hard and in fact too hard for everyone in the category, but it didn’t matter, what was important was being able to go for it and give 110% despite how hard it might feel.

So that was that for the Qualifiers, most of the Scottish contingent made it through to finals and those that didn’t climbed their socks off and are psyched for the next big competition.

On to the finals then…

The Youth C boys and Youth A Girls had the same route, an Orange 8a on the right hand-side of the comp wall. David was the first up and climbed the start really well until getting to one move where he probably should have forced a clip before moving on, but instead got a bit flustered and made an admirable attempt at making the following move, but unfortunately fell. Rory Cargill managed to make it to the same move but he grabbed the hold and took a wild swing off when his feet cut. Those two boys are not far off each other and it will be exciting stuff to watch them head to head in the Scottish Youth Climbing Championships (SYCC) in November. When David was off the wall he sat with me, Jess and Buz as we watched the final competitors. David and I were routing for young Alex Norton (the smallest Youth C competitor) as he is an amazing climber and fantastic to watch.

 

The route chosen as the Youth C boys final was quite thuggy and between slopey big holds, but despite this Alex climbed really well and made it to the same point as David before falling. Severin Domela was also on the cards as one of the top climbers but fell at the same point as David and Alex. I was lucky enough to get to spend some time coaching Severin at the recent National Academy in Sheffield - watch out for this guy, lots of potential!

Then Aiden Dunn and Kieran Forest made it a couple of moves further than the others and tied for first place with Aiden getting 1st on count back. Good effort to Kieran though as I know how hard he has been training, 2nd place is a fantastic achievement – I should know as I was 2nd in the same event last year! :P

Youth B girls was another show stopper with the first competitor blitzing her way from 6th place to 1st place in an awesome performance that made the whole Centre erupt in applause for her. Rebecca Kinghorn made a route reading error and got stuck mid-way through the crux. She wasn’t the only girl to do this but it just goes to show that route reading still affects the very best competitors. It was a true display of just how strong and fit Rebecca is though when she hung around the crux for longer than anyonelse, attempted to use the same foothold multiple times and even pulled on it before losing her grip and falling off - this still kept her at a solid 4th place. Kirsten Gray made it to 5th place in yet another gripping performance and unfortunately lost potentially a higher placed position due to misreading the sequence. I think though that for sure the best climber of the day won the Youth B girls with a flawless climb by Emily Allen.

In Youth B boys William came out as one of the first climbers having dropped his 2nd qualifier lower than expected, however, he totally dominated the route making it look easier than everyone including the Canadian who won the Junior Boys Category and finished with the highest position in the Youth B category – another 1st place for Bosi. Angus Davidson who is climbing really strong at the moment did very well making it just shy of Bosi’s high point but got confused in the roof and pumped out for taking too long to make a decision… more roof sequence reading for you mister! Angus finished in a well-deserved 4th place.

And finally, in Youth A girls, Rebekah Drummond gave a strong performance on her final maintaining her 3rd place position behind Tara Hayes and Molly Thompson-Smith.

Stanage – Grit for a day…



On the Sunday we decided to make the best of the good weather and we headed to Stanage to climb on the grit. I was keen to have a good day out with friends so I spoke to Chris Forest (father of Kieran in Youth C) and his family and we arranged to meet up with them at Stanage for a days trad climbing and bouldering. Stanage is such an awe inspiring crag and I have never spent more than an hour there before, I felt it was really worth it to go and experience the crag that has dominated the lives of so many Peak District climbers. Kieran, David, Chris and I all climbed the mega classic “Overhanging Buttress Direct” HVS, a classic roof climb on mega slopey jugs as well as another easier crack climb. David, Kieran and I also spent much of the day finding little boulders to climb about on and come the end of the day we made it along to Stanage Plantation to have play on the Deliverance boulder. We all tried the 5+ and 6b arête, I did both of them, Kieran did the 6b but felt the 5+ was a bit too reachy and David got to the final move of both of them but wasn’t quite confident enough to go for that last committing move… I felt pretty much the same but had an extra couple of feet at my disposal so making the final move was a little less scary :P

At the end of the day we were all satisfied with a good weekends worth of climbing. I am now sitting on the train writing this blog and looking forward to tomorrow when I will be boarding a plane flying off to Kalymnos – excited doesn’t do it justice!

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#35 Kalymnos 2013
October 29, 2013, 12:00:58 am
Kalymnos 2013
26 October 2013, 11:21 pm

I have just returned from an epic trip to Kalymnos! It was a bit of a mixed bag of climbing coaching and a bit of personal climbing at the end, but hey, its all good :) I was in one of the most beautiful climbing destinations on the planet with good friends and always in the sun - living the good life!

Coaching Week

The coaching week was aimed at kids who are already experienced climbers, keen to develop their climbing skills further and also to transfer their indoor training to outdoors. All of those attending compete at regional, national or international level, and I feel that it's important for them to have other focusses outside the competition and climbing gym scene. Climbing trips outdoors offer a different challenge free from the same types of pressures that are often put on the kids at competitions.

1383582 10202327384929704 594998720 nDuring the week my aim was to get all the kids to climb as much as possible, to tick a few harder routes and to have lots and lots of fun. Needless to say everyone gained a lot from the trip!

On the first day, despite everyone being tired from travelling, some of which had spent numerous nights sleeping in other cities and countries before arriving on Kalymnos, they all got stuck into climbing. I was eager to get everyone moving on rock ASAP so there was no wasted time. As any experienced climber knows, it takes time to assimilate to climbing on rock, especially if you climb mostly indoors, so you've got to make the most of your time when you get the chance to get out on rock.1392683 238690012958676 2099439334 nDavid sending "Spartacus" (7b+) on his 2nd try

As the trip commenced everyone looked like they were slowly getting to grips with the features, trusting their feet on rock (especially smeary feet) and even trusting their hands on rock, something which is often overlooked (you need to relax on the holds and not over grip). The one thing most people struggled with was the tufas, a feature only found on Limestone that requires a very unique technical style. The technique required to climb on tufas is difficult to acquire quickly and it requires complete confidence and trust in your body movement. Initially this is really difficult to do, especially if you are relatively inexperienced in rock climbing as you need to trust the small slopey features of the tufa for both your feet and your hands. The one person I felt really developed a good style on tufas during this trip was Rhiannon - initially she was very wary of these features but as the trip went on she looked more and more comfortable until eventually she was onsighting routes up to 7a+ using tufas! She made a very impressive onsight ascent of "Les Amazones" (6c), 2nd go on another classic tufa 7a and flashed the tricky 7a+ "Nickel"! All of these routes required good tufa technique to climb - well done Rhiannon!

1393880 240325939461750 101502940 nKirsten Gray climbing IVI (7a+)There was a few issues with confidence pushing on rock, especially on the sharp end. To some extent everyone had an issue with this, but it's only natural and I challenge anyone to say they have never been scared whilst climbing - I still get a little nervous... Especially when taking 20m lobs off the top of the Grande Grotte! What was really good to see was everyone breaking through the mental barriers throughout the trip - of course it wasn't easy and sometimes required more pushing from me (and Sam - you don't want to be saying "take" when he's belaying, he doesn't even know what it means!). I guess what everyone has to remember is that the transfer from indoors to rock isn't just technical, it's also mental. The environment is completely different and everyone will have a transitional period, sometimes it's longer for one than the other... I definitely noticed the change in environment when I went from outdoor sport to outdoor multipitch. Climbing 8b+ from a hanging belay is terrifying... 7a Verdon slabs on multipitch are no less scary!

As the trip commenced everyone was getting a bit more into the style. Kirsten Gray was climbing very well after a shaky start getting her first 7a flash on rock followed closely by her first 7b+ then her first 7a+ (in that order). The 7b+ was no slouch at the grade either as it was the uber classic "Spartacus". The 7a+ "IVI" she should have flashed but got a little nervous during a runout after the crux. After what seemed like an hour of shouting encouragement to press on she down climbed and sat on the rope... When I lowered her she looked at me and said,

"Why did you let me down! You should have pushed me harder!"



Of course... It's my fault :P Good to see though that some kids like being pushed...

1400746 595045637219164 2129914460 oRosie on the super classic 6b "Pterodactyl"Errin and Rosie were mostly top roping during the trip, however, towards the end of the trip Errin took to leading a few routes and even managed a 6b+ on lead which was a massive step from last years trip to Siurana where the hardest top rope she did was 6a+. Adding to that, at the beginning of the week she was struggling with some 6a's, by the end of the week she had climbed several 6c's (one of them Onsight) and even managed a 7a Onsight! If you can Onsight 7a as your hardest grade then there is loads more potential there! Rosie climbed a tonne of routes from f4 through to f6b and certainly got in the mileage - I think the best part of Rosie's trip was taking the big swing at Jurassic on our final day :P

I was massively impressed with David Miedzybrodski in Kalymnos in terms of his approach to ticking routes. He is very calculated most of the time, taking the time to work sequences after he's given the Onsight the best possible attempt. He came close to 4 or 5 x 7b+ Onsight/Flashes and did all of them on his 2nd attempt. He even redpointed the massive enduro-fest "Priapos" (7c) on his second attempt. He made every 7b he climbed easily Onsight including "Gladiator" and "Lulu in the Sky" with the exception of "Aurora" at Kalydna.

This was interesting as I found "Aurora" pretty steady, however, when I climbed it I knew David would struggle... It has a very technical tufa section and is very exposed with a bouldery crux right at the end. Needless to say David got to the top, but after a lot of falls throughout the tufa and in the final crux sequence - but this was all for the good of him and I reckon he gained more knowledge on his weaknesses and areas he can improve upon on this route than any other! Kids if your reading this - it's important to be all round when your young especially, try and get in as many different styles as possible and work routes that you genuinely find hard and challenging as opposed to routes that suit you. If you don't work weaknesses like this it will limit what you are able to climb when you are older.1377989 238690186291992 205277335 nSpartacus sector - home to classics such as "Daniboy" (8a) and "Spartacus" (7b+) - I climbed Daniboy three times this trip just because...

So altogether it was a great week of coaching for the kids, everyone achieved something grade orientated, developed new skills and challenged themselves beyond their comfort zones - I think these courses are invaluable for the development of aspiring climbers and I'm looking forward to running more in the future.

It has to be noted as well that there were four other young scots also out in Kalymnos at the same time who weren't part of the coaching trip. Rory Cargill, Rebecca Kinghorn, Scott Donaldson and Max Milne were also enjoying the wonders of Kalymnos. Rory managed his first 8a "Fun de Chuchunne" a few days ago and Rebecca redpointed the very tough "Daniboy" (8a) making her the 2nd Scottish female to redpoint the grade (and the youngest). Max I have been told by my Aussie friends has been ripping up Odyssey sector and acting as bolt gun for them on occasion :P Good work Max!

In the evenings we would meet up as a larger group and eat out together - any restaurant that suffered us that night would literally come to a standstill as there was around 30+ scots in total half of which were kids between 2 and 16 years old! MADNESS!!!

Climbing Time Day 1 After the coaching week ended, I spent a few days climbing with some good Australian friends of mine, Lee and Sam Cujes. I first met Lee and Sam 2 years ago on a trip to Kalymnos where we spent a good few weeks climbing lots and laughing at our ridiculous Scottish and Australian accents... They find my habit of saying "down a wee bit" when stipulating to be "lowered down a little lower" absolutely hilarious... much to both our amusement :P

I also had the pleasure of making some new friends from Australia, Lucy Ellis, Tracie Hua, Erik Smits, Cathy De Vaus and Adam Demmert.

On my first days climbing I went to Galatiani Cave with Sam and Rhiannon for their last day on the island. I had always wanted to go to Galatiani as I had heard there was a number of good 8a's and 8a+ there to try and onsight. Gaz Parry had satisfied my curiosity of the place and told me that the routes were actually all excellent if a little soft in the grade. 1391539 10153294618040142 1936936199 n

When we arrived, I warmed up on the first part of the 8a+ "Seur D'hommes" which was given 7a and when I got to the chains, I just continued going for the 8a+. Immediately after the chains was a tricky couple of moves followed by a good knee bar rest. After this it was steady all the way and before I knew it I had succesfully onsighted the 8a+. Not a bad warm up :P

Rhiannon and Sam both did the 7a to the left, an awesome looking route that I unfortunately missed out and then I managed to onsight both the other 8a's at the crag, "Debout Le Morts" and "Zero Chichon". Sam finished off with a 7b and trying a 7c which he got high on the onsight whilst placing clips, then I finished off with the same 7c onsight "Gegoune" which I think might be the best 7c I have ever done!





Day 2 On Day 2, I met up with another very good friend of mine Andre Hedger. It was good to catch up with Andre again on a trip. We met up in Ceuse briefly this year and saw each other at the BLCC's but apart from that I haven't seen much of him.

I dragged Andre to Telendos as I wanted to do an 8b there called "Glaros". "Glaros" ?is situated at an amazing crag called Glaros and takes the steepest line through the central part of the crag. The holds are pretty much all positive and includes only one hard move that I found a little tricky.

The climbing on it involves a lower sustaine dsection of climbing that probably equates to around 8a level in difficulty up until a singularly hard move around 3/4 of the way up the climb. The move in itself isn't hard on it's own, just low percentage as it requires good accuracy at catching a gaston sloper in a crack which you can't see from a sloping pinch in a bunched up position... I fell from this move twice before catching it and doing the route to the top!

Andre had a good day managing to tick 7c+ on his first day on Kalymnos. The 7c+ was a particularly tricky one called "Breakfast on Pluto". Interesting to note that the way Andre did it was really hard and could be 8a, whereas I have since spoken to others who actually missed out the crux of the route by traversing out right. Makes sense to do this as it follows the line of weakness, we just didn't know the holds went out there so we did a stupid bouldery move instead :P

On the way back we opted for a spot of training on the boat...

1383289 10153335001855142 1904106533 n

Day 3 On my third day I went to Arhi sector in the morning and Secret Garden in the afternoon with Lee, Sam, Andre and Eric. I was super keen to try and onsight the 8a+ classoc "Ne pas toucher a ma bite" but failed just shy of the chains... On my 2nd go I fell of the 7b+ start because I'm an idiot and didn't look at the sequence... So I lowered and then did it straight away :P Without a doubt the best 8a+ I have done on Kalymnos... so nobody do it before it becomes as polished as "Angelica", the other 8a at the crag which is basically a marble wall now...

1375803 10153300662945142 822967834 nGreeces greatest invention...Lee and Andre both had goes on "Angelica" but unfortunately didn't get it, although Andre's onsight was inspirational, he fought basically the entire way and fell off at the final crux... Close! Later on in the trip I heard he onsighted another 8a :D Good effort dude!

Later on in the afternoon we went to a sector I had not yet visited. It's name is Secret Garden and many of you who have been to kalymnos will probably have visited this place. In all honesty, I didn't expect much as I was unsure how many more great crags can be found on the island... but I was blown away by the sheer quality of pretty much all the climbing here. Maybe a bit of an overstatement as the low 6's on the left looked rubbish... but everything right of them was gold! I climbed an epic 7c+ onsight on the left side called "Savina" followed by an 8a+ that I almost onsigted then did 2nd go called "Flood Gates". This was a great route but the crux had to be the 6c first pitch which I thought was absolutely nails!

Day 4 On my final days climbing in Kalymnos, we went back to Secret Garden. Sam had a project 6c there on the left which she was eager to finish off and I was really keen to see her complete it. I put the clips in for her and even found a cheeky knee bar rest before the crux. She had been trying the route the past day with Eric but had fallen off the crux move, a hard lock to a bad sidepull hold. The difficulty in the move is the requirement to be accurate when your tired especially when the hold is quite blind and round a corner. 1403197 10151734947785896 553503052 oTracie being a hero on "Kalydiva" (7c)

On her redpoint attempt she made it to the knee bar rest without a hitch and managed to get slotted into the resting positition. The shake out seemed to do the job as she managed to completely static the crux and before long was mantling out on top, but suddenly she was stuck and sturggling a little on the top out... everyone on the bottom was watching with bated breath unsure if she would make it... luckily she pulled it out and continued upwards to the chain :D Effort!

I warmed up that day on a 7c on the right called "Kaly Diva" which had super nice moves if a little crimpy and grim for the skin. I met a Polish couple who climb at Ratho trying the same route which was a funny coincidence as well.

After the 7c I tried to onsight an 8a to the left called "Narcissus" which I only missed out on the onsight by one move!!! The top crux proved to be really hard actually and it took me a bit of time to figure it out. Thankfully I did it 2nd go despite forgetting the sequence and doing it completely different anyway :P

After that I went over to try a 7c+ called "Syrtaki Lessons". The day before I met a Finnish girl called Roosa Huhtikorpi and watched her go for an amazing onsight attempt on it. She powered throgh what was definitely the crux but unfortunately messed up a little higher - onsighting is a tough game! She quickly despatched it afterwards. I hadn't really taken anything from watching her attempt as I was preparing myself for the 8a+ at the time so I still had an onsight attempt at "Syrtaki Lessons". In the end, I was very tired after having had a really hard 4 days climbing, I did the lower crux fine which was supposed to be the crux but I made the same mistake as Roosa and climbed onto some slopers out right. I had to hang them for quite a while until I decided that hanging about was not helping me and I opted for mantling the slopers with the help of the tufa on the left... I later found out this was a stupid idea but thankfully I managed to pull it off and I made it to the chains for another 7c+ onsight :D

The Future And that pretty much concludes my Kalymnos 2013 trip... I am eager to get back next year, I really want to get stuck into projecting some of the harder routes here and I think I need longer than 4 days dedicated to this, so I am going to have to put some time aside for this :P

What now? Well, I have a very busy week ahead of me... I am setting in Denmark for a competition all next week and after that I am heading to Terradets in Catalunya! I am really psyched about this trip as I have not been to les bruixes sector before and it looks absolutely mega there :D A lot of routes in the 7c-8b region, perfect for onsighting!!! I am going on a mission for onsighting, lets see what happens...

1392059 10153342345140142 702544066 n

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#36 TCA Setting (White Circuit)
October 29, 2013, 12:01:02 am
TCA Setting (White Circuit)
27 October 2013, 11:10 pm

A few months ago I was asked by Rob Sutton (manager of TCA Glasgow) if I would set one round of the White circuit. The white circuit is the TCA's hardest with problems ranging from F7A to F8A+ historically. Of course I took up the opportunity as I always love setting at TCA and it would be good to put myself to the test and see if I could come up with some hard blocs for the west coast boulderers to get their meat hooks stuck into :D

A few days before I was due to come home from Kalymnos I noticed in my diary that I was due to be setting that very week! I had kind of forgotten about it but was suddenly super psyched for it and had loads of inspirsation having just come back from an amazing sport climbing trip!

Long story short I set a whole bunch of new problems that should hopefully be enjoyed by all. Tom Bolger even joined in and set a few with me so there is a real mix of styles. 1375976 10153348511230142 541393692 nCave Right F7C+?

I think the grade range is from F7A to F7C+ in my set but I am sure Rob and Alan will also add a few more of their own to the set.

I am particularly proud of my three hardest problems which I reckon to be around F7C/7C+. These are the "Cave Central", "Cave Right" (Slopers) and "The Cobra Roof". The Cobra Roof is the easiest of the three probably in the 7C mark and the other two are maybe 7C+, but I am awaiting confirmation on this from Adam Lincoln - TCA's official bloc grader :P

Get down to TCA guys and check them out for me :) If anyone can flash the dyno - Hi5

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#37 Route Setting in Denmark
November 10, 2013, 06:00:33 pm
Route Setting in Denmark
10 November 2013, 11:49 am

 

After getting back from Kalymnos I only had a week before I was due to be setting off again, this time to somewhere a little less mountainous than my usual destinations. I was in fact heading off to Denmark! Whilst out in Kalymnos, a Danish friend invited me to set for a competition in a small town called Skælør. Seeing this as a great opportunity to do some fun competition route setting and visit a new place I happily accepted. In the meantime however I was desperate to get some training in as I had only 2 weeks before I was due to be in Terradets (Spain) sport climbing.photo 1-1Flying in class...

The night I got back from Kalymnos, I organised a set of endurance sessions that would hopefully give me a little bit of a boost before Spain – obviously not the best preparationbut something is better than nothing. Amazingly I felt really fit despite not having climbed much in the way of harder routes in Kalymnos, I did however feel like I was climbing quite well, moving far more efficient and much more self aware of body position and balance. This goes to show just how much of a difference climbing on rock does for your technique! I need to live somewhere where there is amazing sport climbing surrounding me... I think it's the gap that's missing right now... Hmmm... One can dream :Pphoto 2-1Sunset on the way to Copenhagen

I had a few good sessions with Mike Halcrow and one with Adam Lincoln. By the end of the week I was feeling really fit and even managed to lap 8a+ three times in a row at Ratho before leaving for Denmark. I don't think I'm pulling as hard as I ever have by any means, but I'm definitely not unfit which means hopefully I should be feeling relatively good for osnighting and trying lots of easier routes in the 7c-8a+ range. I’m in Terradets now as I write this blog (the first moment I have had any spare time to do this) and I can tell you that having the extra endurance definitely has helped for onsighting.

Before leaving I also managed to squeeze in some great sessions with some of the kids. It was great to see Lisa climbing so well (make sure you get in your fall practice!), Connor looking really fit on the comp wall, David who is always looking strong and a last session with William which turned out to be a queuing session as we waited to get on routes because half of ratho had been shut due to the roof! Hope your all training hard!!! I was happy to hear that everyone did really well at the weekends Scottish Youth Championships :D Good Effort Guys!!!1457534 10153389713420142 367966236 nLicense to drill... Thanks Yann

The next day, off to Copenhagen I flew. I had an early flight to London then a connection to Copenhagen from Gatwick. What a pain in the butt easyjet is though; they won't connect your haul baggage through to your final destination for some bizarre reason! So I have to check in my baggage twice... Annoying!!!photo 4Let's get stuck in...

I was greeted at Copenhagen Airport by Jacob Hasselbach, one of the board members for Crux Climbing Club (the wall I was setting at). Interesting fact: in Denmark there are only one or two commercial/privately run climbing walls, the rest are all owned and operated by climbing/mountaineering clubs on a completely voluntary basis. It was really inspiring to see how the community of climbers at the wall all band together to make the centre as good as possible. When I arrived at the centre that night, there was about 15 guys and girls all stripping the walls, cleaning the place up and sorting out the holds and cherry pickers for me for the week I was setting. None of them were getting paid, it's just because they have a great community spirit and ethic to help others out.1425746 10153389717200142 278579346 nWhen you've set for days on end... the holds begin to talk to you...

The first day setting was on the Wednesday. There was a bit of an issue with the cherry pickers - because of the heavy winds that hit both Denmark and the UK, people from all over were in desperate need of them for repairs to buildings so securing our own cherry picker suddenly became a lot more difficult. For half a day I simply set off the ladder the bottom section of most of the routes and then at 4pm finally we had use of one cherry picker.

For the remaining two days of setting we had two cherry pickers. This made the setting a lot more fun, less physically taxing and the creativeness on routes was limited only by our imagination. I was happy to be joined by two Danish climbers (not competing), Thomas Blaabjerg and Andreas Fink Simonsen as assistant setters. Thomas is one of the strongest Danish climbers and competitors having climbed 8b and made finals in the European Youth Cup this year in Edinburgh, however he had a nasty fall and broke his ankle so is currently still recovering from that. He could set from a cherry picker though :P

1379435 10153389718615142 1992661087 nThe Routesetting Team - Top Left (Me), Top Right (Thomas), Bottom Left (Andreas), Bottom Right (Dany the Danish Viking)We spent Thursday and Friday night setting well into the early hours of the morning to make sure the routes were the best they could be and that they would do the job of splitting the field. By the end of the week we had a selection of 21 routes for qualifiers and finals - all of them great fun to climb on but also would hopefully split the field of competitors as well.

Come Saturday morning (an hour after I had gone to bed), Jacob shows up and says that the event is to start at 10:30 and the competitors will be arriving shortly. As you can imagine I was pretty exhausted, but this didn't restrain my enthusiasm to see our creations being attempted by the competitors.

The qualifiers were exciting to watch with such a massive range of ages and abilities competing together. The routes I had set would fit any size and shouldn’t favour one person over another, but there was a lot of different styles so the best all-rounder would do well in the qualifiers.

photo 5My baby blue - never broke down once... Scottish Cherry Picker Companies take note of this!

After the qualifiers finished, the finalists were called out and isolation began. I was excited to watch my finals routes in action and see how they split the field. It’s always a tough one to set for a finals and even tougher when you are setting for a competition where you don’t really know the standard. I am told that the top Danish Men onsight 7c+ and the the top Danish woman onsight 7b+, but grades are so subjective and I don’t really know exactly how hard to set the comp for. If I was setting for a British National it would be much easier as I know the competition well as I am used to competing in them and most of the climbers who are in the top 10 I would have seen climb many times before.

 

1397580 593418504058374 956869776 oThe second crux of the Woman's final - down climb a little, a powerful move then into the final quarter of the overhanging pillar!I really wanted to set some nice routes for the final that would test the very best but also allow everyone a fighting chance to get high on the route. I know from personal experience that it sucks when you fall off at the second clip on your final, so I like to set some nicer, friendlier starts which gave everyone a friendlier competition experience.

My woman’s final route was probably 7b+ overall and the men’s was 7c+ (8a now as I changed it after the competition).


Mens

Womans

Half-Height

7a+

6c+

¾ Height

7b+

7b

Full Height

7c+

7b+

1417575 593418397391718 1064029794 oWoman's Final - Good rest on stalactite before half-way mark  

 

The woman’s competition was certainly an exciting finale. There were three girls in particular who made it high on the route, Nea Herforth, Primula Aalund and Liv Gyllenborg. Primula was the favourite from listening to everyone in the crowd as she has had the most success in international competitions. When I watched her climb, it certainly seemed like she was the “strongest” competitor there, she was confident throughout the whole length of the climb, but unfortunately it looked like she ran out of steam towards the end and there, just before the finish she fell. Liv was the first one on the climb and she made it very high indeed just falling short of making the final stretch – she actually timed out as she fell! Finally, Nea was the second up and scared me a bit when she made an impressive onsight of the route (with 9 seconds remaining). She never really looked like she was going to fall apart from right at the very end, but she made it and there was still Primula to go after her who was qualified in first place. Scary for the route setter when that happens but luckily qualifiers had split everyone evenly anyway, so regardless of what might have happened in the finals, the positions were already set.1400603 593418727391685 265471780 oMikkel making good use of the knee bar rest half-way into the men's final - the last real recovery before the intimidating and pumpy finale!

The men’s finals were no less exciting. I was happy to see that two friends from previous climbing trips, Casper Helmark Anderson and Mikkel Hojgaard Larsen were both competing in the finals that day. The men’s competition was a bit of a mix with two young lads who were both international youth competitors and a selection of guys who maybe were not as experienced in competition, but were all experienced rock climbers. Mikkel and Casper both climb at least 8a on rock and have the experience of climbing on many different types of rock and styles of climb from all over the world – this helps a lot even indoors – but they are not experienced competition climbers which definitely does make a big difference in finals.

I had deliberately set the men’s final with a multitude of different styles - everything from a techy vertical corner to start with, to some powerful moves on good holds in the 20 degree overhang, into a roof with 360 degree spins and a knee bar into a stalactite and some powerful moves coming round the lip of a roof, then a tricky sustained finale that gradually got harder and pumpier the higher you got!

1008841 593418767391681 1484471220 oMikkel making his way to the high point in what would secure him his victory!In the final it was interesting to see the different styles of approach – Mikkel was fast and confident through the harder sections but definitely took his time and rested in the right places making good use of the knee bars. Frederick Thulstrup who was the favourite to win seemed to rush through the rests a little faster than others and I think this tired him more than necessary and ultimately drained him for the final section leaving him in 2nd place to Mikkel.

The competition was a massive success and the setting seemed to do the job – so I am happy J It’s also good to hear that since then the routes have been acting as fun training routes for all the locals at the climbing wall and hopefully I will be invited back again to set one day J

Thanks to everyone in Denmark who made my stay so fun and for making me feel so welcome :D

1426735 10153389718235142 440569099 nMe and the Champ!

I am now in Spain climbing in the world famous crag of Teradets – it’s awesome out here and I am having a fab time – blog and pictures to come soon!

 

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#38 Terror-Debts (Terradets)
November 21, 2013, 06:00:31 am
Terror-Debts (Terradets)
20 November 2013, 10:20 pm

Woah! 2 weeks out here has gone fast!

I have just spent the last 2 weeks climbing in the mecca of Limestone that is Catlunya, Spain :D Of course that doesn’t really narrow it down much does it? I have been climbing at some mega impressive crags such as Terradets, Oliana and Santa Linya!DSC 1019Lee Cujes on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) belayed by Sam Cujes

On arrival I didn’t really have a plan – I thought I would try and get some public transport to Terradets and work it out from there… I had heard there was a refugio and hopefully that would be open. Totally by chance however, a good friend (Henward Nind) was climbing at Siurana and I messaged him to say I would be climbing at Terradets if he fancied meeting up… Long story short, Henward let me stay in his van and we have been climbing together for the last 2 weeks!

DSC 0965Me onsighting "Latido del Miedo" (8a)

One of the main reasons for coming out now was also to meet up with two really good friends from Australia, Sam and Lee Cujes. They were also in Kalymnos when I was there, but this is the end of their 2 month trip to Europe and it might be a while before they are back L Unfortunately, Lee suffered a tweak in his right shoulder on one of his final days climbing in Kalymnos and this seems to have stuck with him throughout his trip to France and Spain. Thankfully though things seem to have eased out a bit and he is back in crushing mode :D Sam and Lee have both been climbing at Terradets with me the last week and a half and it’s been awesome hanging out with them and occasionally invading their apartment at Villanova de la Sal (Tell everyone!!! It’s lush!!!).DSC 0954Getting my trusty Shamans on for the next send :D

So we have been mainly at Terradets this trip however we’ve had half a day at Oliana and half a day at Santa Linya. Oliana was absolutely amazing, I can’t wait to go back there ASAP! I tried the mega classic 8b+ “Humildes Pa Casa” and was blown away by its awesomeness! It is without a doubt in my top 2 routes I have ever climbed… up there with “Tom et Je Ris” in Verdon. Unfortunately I didn’t get to actually send the route L we arrived at Oliana quite late and the next day it rained so I only got one attempt at the climb – I am planning on coming back one day with Lee and we will do this beast together!!! YEAH BOI!!!!DSC 0120Lee high on the redpoint send of "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - Fun Fact: He actually jumped on me after clipping the chains :P Two guys hanging of a static didn't feel so secure :P

Santa Linya again was only half a day and the crag was pretty damp. There had been a massive rain and pretty much everywhere was wet, so we headed to Santa Linya, the one place steep enough to stay dry. Unfortunately it was still very humid inside the cave L I tried an 8c called “Ingravids Serps” which I managed all of the moves bar one on my first try and it felt very do-able in a short time if conditions had been better. I then turned my attention onto an 8a+ in the cave called “Irak Attack”. I had planned an onsight attempt of the route but was weighing up whether or not I should given the bad conditions – but hey, if you wait around for good conditions you’ll never climb anything. I gave it a good burn and got high on the onsight but mis-read the sequence and fell off the crux… I lowered, untied and in a fit of annoyance/arrogance I tied straight back in and re-climbed it to the crux, this time not going wrong and sent it :P Felt like a return to my endurance training back home :P Probably not the best tactics ever and I apologise for my lack of discipline (especially to those I coach – please don’t do as I did here – it’s called being an idiot).DSC 0036Sam looking way too strong on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - LOOK AT THOSE GUNS!!!

When it wasn’t wet we’ve been climbing in Terradets. I have been here only once before but never actually climbed, just sat and watched :P This time round I was climbing almost everyday and have had such an amazing time :D I was blown away by the quality of every route here, nothing is bad, nothing is below par, it’s all awesome!

I heard so much about Terradets being the ultimate crag for onsighting in the 7c-8a range but I really had no idea until trying it out for myself. There is literally dozens of routes in that grade range all over the wall… there is one section where I’m sure there are at least 4 classic sustained 7c+’s in a row!

On my first day I onsighted the two classic 7c’s “Avant Match” and “Occident” followed by another 7c+/8a “Primea Linea” and then finished off by redpointing the extension of “Avant Match”, a bouldery 8a/+ which I fell on the final move on the onsight. After such a great first day, I didn’t really know what to expect for the rest of the trip. I feel really in my element when I am going about the wall ticking off routes I know I can do onsight or 2nd go, it’s one of my favourite styles of climbing because you can get so much climbing done J Even at the ends of the day when my fingers were tired and bleeding, I was still going for more on easier routes.IMG 0510Me onsighting "Millenium" (8a) - I found the start quite tricky as you can see :P

I continued to tick off more routes in the 7c-8a range with some more classics such as:

  • “Mallorca es Funky” (7c+) - OS
  • “over-caffeinated sugary drink company” (7c+) - OS
  • “Orient” (7c+) - OS
  • “Energia Positiva” (7c+) – OS
  • “Latido del Miedo” (8a) – OS
  • “Bon Viatge” (8a) – OS
  • “Millenium” (8a) – OS
  • One of my favourite routes of all of these has to be “over-caffeinated sugary drink company” (7c+). This was a tough little number and had me a little scared at one point when I climbed too high on the tufa and had to make an awkward cross-through to a pocket from way too high up :P When I went for this I was only warming up at the time and I thought it was only 7c. Of course it’s actually probably the toughest 7c+ at the crag and in my opinion probably as hard as some of the 8a’s!

    IMG 0517Higher on the onsight of "Millennium" (8a)“Millenium” (8a) was an interesting one too. I did this at the end of the day and was already a little tired. I had to put the quickdraws in on this, which was a bit of a pain (why can’t all crags be equipped with in-situ draws damn it!). There was a scary moment at the third bolt where I had found it really awkward to clip the rope through the gate of the quickdraw… I thought I had clipped when in fact the rope had got stuck on the gate and I was in risk of decking! I heard Sam whisper my name calmly as she had seen the rope not go in… I knew that the rope hadn’t clipped in correctly… but then I heard the faint ‘click’ of the quickdraw as the rope slid into place (PHEW!). I continued on the climb and managed to get a good rest at half-height. The next section was really technical on tiny crimpers and bad feet (reminded me of Malham). I took my time on this section, making sure that each hand was freshly chalked and as dry as possible to get a good grip on every slopey little edge. Thankfully I managed to get myself through this section unscathed as well. Next thing I was heading into a large booming bulge that terrified me to bits! There was no chalk at all on this thing and I hadn’t the faintest idea of what to do… but then suddenly I saw some undercuts… they were flat and I needed to get my feet as high as possible to get some power behind them. IMG 0494Climbing "Xarop de Basto" (8a)When I did this, I managed to make a long stretch over the bulge and reach a positive flatty (the thank god hold!). I could relax now and cut my feet to mantle over the bulge and into the final head wall… little did I know that the hardest move was just ahead! I rested for a bit on some good holds and scoped out what was remaining of the climb. I knew that the chains were after the next bolt, but the holds in between were small pocket things and I couldn’t fit my chubby meat hooks into them. I saw a small left hand pocket that the very edges of my fingertip pads just stuck to and the right hand one was slightly better but much lower down… I could see a hold high up for my right meaning I was going to have to pull hard on my left and lay one on for this thing… I built up the courage and went for it… I remember the moment so vividly as I pulled on the small slopey left hand hold, expecting it to rip any second, but nothing happened, I kept moving upwards and with a scream I caught the right hand hold which turned out to be a good edge! YASSSSSS! I was in :D I pulled over and mantled out the top to clip the chains – SUCCESS!!! This was probably one of my favourite moments onsighting a route – I really feel like I climbed it well the whole way up and took every challenge as it came, responding to the situation effectively!

    IMG 0399Starting out on "Non-Stop" (8b)Henward was also doing well and getting used to climbing on steeper ground, something he is very adamant that he is bad at. I tell him that he needs to give it time and learn the technique and flow for climbing on steeper ground… he just moans some more and asks if we can go to vertical crags… I stare at him blankly… “no…” :P Despite his incessant moaning, he was doing bloody well and going from strength to strength throughout the whole trip. He ticked another 7b in his first few days, then did another 7b, then a 7b+ (his first of his year long trip!) – quit complaining Sully (he looks like Sully from “Monsters Inc.” with his mad turquoise fleece which is obviously for girls :P )IMG 0408Pulling through the steepness on "Non-Stop" - Photo by Lee Cujes

    Definitely one of my biggest challenges this trip was a tricky 8b called “Non Stop”. 8b usually doesn’t take more than a few attempts but this took me a couple of days to close. I think this might be for a number of reasons though:

    • When I first tried the route I noticed a massive scar where a hold had been in the midst of the crux – most likely something has broken off and made it a bit harder
    • On my closest attempt at the route on my second day trying, I snapped off the crux hold making the route (without a doubt)… much harder!
    The second break was slightly annoying but also ridiculously funny :P I couldn’t really be angry with it – I was actually amused more than anything as the whole route was a massive a pile of choss. I was surprised that the hold hadn’t fallen of earlier despite the sika (I am obviously too fat). The amazing thing though was that after the break, I found a new sequence, totally wild and whacky with a mental sideways dyno maneuver. I can only relate to this by watching some crazy Daniel Woods or Chris Sharma video… The sequence worked of course but was very hard for me…IMG 0452                        Campussing through the roof of "Non-Stop" (8b)

    Astonishingly, I sent the route on my next attempt that day! It wasn’t without a heck of a lot of trying. I threw for the hold with everything I had, the swing almost ripped my arms out of their sockets and truthfully, I thought that if I actually took the fall I might have ripped a hole in the space time continuum… there was a lot riding on me sticking this move as you can see :P I screamed like I have never screamed before and when I realized I was still on the wall – I screamed some more in sheer surprise, happiness and slight fear as well as I didn’t want to screw up the end! Luckily I didn’t mess up the finale and I ticked the route :D YAY!!! It was a great feeling to come back after getting spanked a bit on this one.

    IMG 0456Liam on "over-caffeinated sugary drink company" (7c+)There was one other 8b I tried at the start of the trip called “Golpe de Gas” – I am still unsure whether or not I was trying this route the right way. I had to try it in the sun which didn’t make things any easier but for all the life of me I couldn’t do the final bulge crux… Not being able to do the moves on an 8b has not happened to me in a long time – I am not going to say it wasn’t frustrating but I accept that maybe I need to get a bit better at tiny slopey crimps and bunched up feet for this one. I was mega impressed to see that Karin Magog crushed this back in 2008 (according to 8a.nu stalking) – all I can say is “oh my god, what a beast!”

    In the last few days I have managed a few more onsights in the 8a range and even managed a cheeky 8a+ onsight today with a route called “Formula Weekend”.  I didn’t expect to onsight this all the way as the top of the route was completely wet. Over the last few days it has been raining pretty heavily, luckily most of Terradets has remained dry however the top outs are pretty much all wet. “Formula Weekend” is 8a to the first chain, then there is a 4m long roof and a bulge which turns into slopers. The 8a felt pretty steady for me, I never felt like I was going to fall but there was one moment just before the chains where I had to pull pretty hard on a small damp crimp… I was a little unsure on whether or not my fingers would stay put on the wet crimp but thankfully they did :P The remaining roof section for the 8a+ was damp and the bulging sloper was not sodden wet with drips coming off it! I just went for it to see what would happen… before I knew it I was grabbing wet slopers and mantling to finish on top :P WHAT!?!?!?! A pleasant surprise :P It actually didn’t feel that hard, but I think I was quite lucky with reading the sequence correct and that my hands didn’t slip on any of the wet holds.IMG 0465The previous crux - out of interest, the right hand crimp I have here is what broke off... which changed the sequence for me so I had to dyno through with my right hand off the undercut to catch the hold I have with my left hand in this picture :P

    Lee and Sam were having a good trip too, of course Lee was held back slightly by his shoulder. Despite this he was still trying 8a and getting 7c+’s sent. Sam was trying a 7a+ called “Pasta Sin Agua”, I did this one my last day – OH MY GOD – it’s fierce for 7a+, definitely as hard if not harder than “Jam Session” (7b).

    photo-2-8This is actually much smaller than it looks like in real life :P The broken hold!!!On my last day I really wasn’t too bothered about doing anything in particular. I had had an amazing trip and had ticked the best routes at the crag, I was just happy to spend my last day climbing with friends… but that’s not to say I didn’t do anything :P I had one last route that I had attempted the day previously which I had not completed, an 8b called “Democracia”. “Democracia” is situated just right of the very steep cave where the other 8b “Non-Stop” is and it’s also the right hand variant finish of the 8a+/b “Anarkista”. “Democracia” includes the same first half as “Anarkista” and then a new upper section that veers out right where “Anarkista” breaks left. I was pleasantly surprised to repeat the first section of the route without any issues and onsighted the 8b section until the main crux (which was very hard!). It was here that I got stuck into redpoint mode for the last time this trip. It took me a few goes to figure out exactly how to do the crux in the most efficient way possible, it had a pretty intense technical sequence involving a long reach to grab a three finger single pad crimp which you had to do a cross-through match with your right hand into a positive two finger pocket situated just above (quite awkward actually as your left hand gets in the way of your right crossing through). After this you did another big cross-through off the two finger pocket to grab a really bad tufa pinch! IMG 0475Finishing off "Non-Stop" (8b)This thing was proper filth and required me to figure out exactly which finger had to be placed where on the tufa – pinky, ring, middle, index and thumb were all placed individually during the cross-through so I could get the right amount of friction and strength to complete the next move. Once I had the pinch there was a tricky twist and I grabbed a very bad polished edge that would only be quarter pad at most – from that I step my feet up (making the tufa feel a bit better) and cross again into a good slanting slot on the upper section of the tufa. From here to the top it’s probably still about 7c in it’s own right so still very droppable I guess! The horrible thing though was that the last crux below the chains was wet as well so I had to climb this pulling on slippery wet crimps and pockets… LOVELY!!!photo-3-6A site I will never get tired off - This was the first view I got off Terradets area almost 5 years ago that I saw... So B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!

    I had one attempt after my first working go/onsight and failed at the first crux again – I thought this crux could be potentially very problematic for me now, not only because of the difficulty but also my skin was beginning to get pretty torn up from resting on some bad pockets and jamming my fingers into slots lower down on the route :P On my third attempt I felt pretty good and managed to get all the way to the rest before the crux without too much bother… here I rested for a while, eyeing up the crux and waiting to feel that moment when your forearms are recovered just enough to make a beeline for it… I felt it was about ready… I shook out one more time with a chalk up on each hand and then went for it! I moved fast, the cross-through to the pocket was solid and I didn’t hesitate in the next move to the pinch but I made sure I positioned every finger in exactly the right place… SQUEEZE!!!! I crushed the pinch into oblivion and made the next move to the small crimper which I took without any thought of failure… I position my feet and made the next move to the good slot and suddenly felt very fresh and not at all like I had felt on my previous dogging attempts (I love this feeling!). I kept going and got a cheeky kneebar rest before the final crux which was still slightly damp… I sat scrunched up in my kneebar relaxing my grip off the two sloper hand holds I was shaking out on… at the corner of my eyes I saw Lee and Sam watching me and I gave them a little wave :PDSC 1102Me pretending to be a photographer for a day :P I was not completely confident that I had this in the bag and I needed to relax for the final section - I always climb best when the situation isn’t serious – sometimes it’s a good thing for me to talk to myself or give a little wave from a rest to friends just to alleviate some of the pressure. On the last section I moved quickly and got all the holds pretty perfect… they were all a little wet still and didn’t feel completely secure but I wasn’t about to give up… I just moved confidently and put trust in myself to do this... I moved out right and grabbed a weird awkward pinch which splayed my fingers a bit, I crossed again into a wet crimp and then made a big move to a wet jug – DONE! It was sealed, I had done the route, I pulled a few more jugs and clipped the chains – YAASSSSSS!! It was a really good feeling to tick something challenging like this on my last day in Terradets :D

    My last day wasn’t just my success though – Henward ticked his first 7b+/c with a very boulder route on the left side of the crag “Tarambana” and Lee ticked “Mallorca es Funky”, a very powerful 7c+ up one of the steepest sections of Bruixes wall. I even finished the day off doing another 8a+ called “Flix Flax”. I tried to onsight this one but made a silly mistake low down which cost me the onsight – I then did it 2nd go.photo 5-1The Lone Ranger!

    That pretty much concludes my climbing trip then :P The last night I had dinner with Lee and Sam ad we said our goodbyes... I hope to see them again soon! Henward gave me a lift to the airport and I had some problems with my tickets but got home eventually :P Now I am comfortable in my own home and looking forward to setting and coaching over the next few weeks... Got a busy build up to christmas now... I am always psyched to be on climbing trips but it is nice to come home and get back into a routine again - I have missed all the kids I regularly coach and I am looking forward to seeing them all in action now that I am back! Hopefully they have all been training hard and not slacking :P

    See you at the wall!

     

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#39 MCofS National Academy @ EICA: Ratho
November 26, 2013, 12:01:18 am
MCofS National Academy @ EICA: Ratho
25 November 2013, 9:18 pm

 

Only just back from Terradets and I was already straight back into work route-setting and coaching for an MCofS event on Saturday!

photo-3-10Routesetting whilst listening to some good tunes in freezing temps - LOVELY JUBBLY!The event in question has been on the calendar for a while now - it was set up to be a National Academy for young climbers who made finals in the YCS (or who were up to standard).

photo-1-13Iain Sneddon (Master Bloc Setter Extrodinaire)The two days prior to the event, I routeset with Neill Busby and Jackie Sequeira. The original plan was to run the day using a fun style of setting called a Mangrove Tree (the idea being that you can create link ups of various routes to make easier or harder climbs depending on what you are after). Unfortunately, the wall best suited for this (the Hangar Wall) has been out of action due to roof repairs and as well as this, the conditions of the wall right now due to the high humidity levels and freezing cold temperature have made it very difficult to climb at the end of the centre (for some reason that end is a lot colder!).

So instead of having a Mangrove tree, we instead set a selection of routes to practice onsight skills on. All in all we set a panel of routes ranging in grade from 6b to 7c.

We also had one of EICA's main route setters and a fellow MCofS Coach/Setter Iain Sneddon on the boulders. He built some fantastic and intricate problems to challenge the kids.photo-4-9It's a long way down... See if I can get Buz in the head with a hold :P

On the day of the event, I was taking the morning route session whilst Alan Cassidy took the morning boulder session. Alan Cassidy is the new GB Bouldering Team Coach and Representative in Scotland. As well as this he is the TCA Youth Team Coach in Glasgow and is a wicked strong climber having climbed as hard as 8c+ on routes and V12 on boulders! It was great to have Alan coaching with me for the day :)

Alan Glen Nevis by Dan WalkerAlan Cassidy @ Glen Nevis: Photo by Dan WalkerThe routes in the morning went well despite it being very cold, the kids managed to stay warm and there was some hard sending going down alongside some big falls :D It was briliant to see all the kids climbing so well after having been away so much recently. The funniest part of the morning was seeing all the kids get the no-hands rest on the massive black volume on the 7a up the steepest part of the wall :D

photo-3-8Connor Moore making good use of the no hands rest on the Black route :P

 

After the morning session - we went for lunch and regathered in the lecture theatre for a slideshow with Alan. It was really interesting what Alan had put together for us - a slideshow all about how to be the best climber you can be specifically aimed at kids. The whole slideshow was geared at explaining to kids why training the way adults train is not the right thing to do and he also went into detail about how kids can get more from their sessions in terms of quality of learning movement skills. One of his main points (which I agree with wholeheartedly) is that too many people (and kids) focus on getting stronger (not better). They focus all their efforts on doing one arm pull ups, getting stronger fingers, stronger core, etc... when in actual fact they should spend more time looking to get better at climbing. With children this is even more relevant because during this stage of their life is when they are going to be learning how to move efficiently. It's so obvious when you see kids climbing down the wall that burn of all the adults - it's because they can learn how to move much more efficiently much quicker!photo-3-9National Academy Plan + Routes set in background

After the slideshow we resumed with routes and had a great end to the session. The centre was getting colder and colder and I could see energy levels were getting less and less. After everyone had tried all the routes and the session was coming to a close, I got them all to do one final exercise - the famous "Austrian Laps" training that has become so popular these days :P

Then finally we had a brief discussion period on how the day went and we were finished. Another great event run at EICA by MCofS coaches. Thanks to Alan Cassidy and Jackie Sequeira for their help coaching and setting - it was much appreciated and I look forward to more events with these guys soon :D

Next up I am busy this week with a lot of coaching and this coming weekend I am running a Fundamentals 2 course with Alan Halewood at EICA :D Looking forward to it!

 

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#40 Fundamentals, Coaching + Training
December 09, 2013, 06:00:23 pm
Fundamentals, Coaching + Training
9 December 2013, 1:40 pm

Since getting back from Spain it’s seemed like the world has just suddenly sped up double time! I’ve been doing a lot of coaching work at EICA as well as attending competitions, training and assisting in running a Fundamentals 2 Coaching course – all of this has made time fly by and before I knew anything it’s almost Christmas!!! I can’t believe it really! How can time go so fast? Too much fun I guess? As much as it’s been a fun period of work and climbing, it’s also been really tiring. I don’t remember a time when I’ve felt so lethargic and worn down from day to day life. With all the travelling, training, trips, coaching and route setting… all of it has just caught up on me and I am now only just experiencing the effects! I have to be really careful I don’t burn out!

 

Fundamentals Level 2 @ EICA

Last weekend I ran a Fundamentals 2 course with Alan Halewood - for those of you who don’t know what this is, the Fundamentals are courses designed to give climbers, coaches, teachers and anyone really a better understanding of the fundamental techniques and skills climbers use on the wall. These courses can be used to better your own technique and understanding of climbing techniques as well as giving you the knowledge to better your ability as an instructor or coach.11281959404 01e4c8de8b

We run these courses through the MCofS (Mountaineering Council of Scotland) and I recommend anyone with an interest in climbing or coaching to take part. It’s also a step towards the new Coaching Awards that have only just been introduced by MTA (Mountain Training Association).

11281863255 56ac80d909Don't Ask :PSo Al Halewood was the lead on this course and I seconded him as his assistant (or trusty side-kick, whatever you want to call it :P ). It was a good day of learning for all those attending – I saw some new faces as well as a few old faces from the climbing community and some who have taken part in courses I have ran previously.

I am hoping to run more of these in the New Year as well as the up and coming Fundamentals 3 courses (Physical Training) which will be starting in Scotland early 2014!



Training + Climbing – It’s time to man up!

11282027243 8636121c76My personal training has not been going as well as I had hoped recently with all the work and travelling… However, I have been inspired by my good friend Andres’ approach that you can read in his blog here! He works a hell of a lot and still manages to train through this – he is a total machine! 6am sessions are what it’s all about :D

Andre works 56 hour weeks some weeks but still manages to maintain a good level in climbing onsighting up to 8a! He fits his training around his work and this for me is absolutely inspiring considering the volume of work and training he does. His work is also heavily involved as both a climbing performance coach for the White Spider Climbing Centre in London and as a teacher at a deaf school (LEGEND!).

11282014493 617accfe66I guess some could argue that this could be seen as too much and maybe a road to ruin... but I think if you balance it right and it works for you then there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to train hard and work hard! But i'd much prefer to train hard and play hard... and then forget about the work bit completely :P

I have been training a bit at Alien Rock 2 recently – “The” place in Edinburgh if you want to get strong at pulling hard on your arms and forgetting your feet :P Only Joking. Alien Rock 2 for me has always been a place that I go to get spanked! Usually what happens is I climb there for about 4-5 days and have an absolute nightmare, getting shut down on every problem and looking very out of my depth… then I get used to the style, recruit some fast twitch muscle fibres into action and suddenly I can do most of the problems there and I’m lapping the blocs that I could barely lift my butt of the ground during the first few days :P11282018513 1197d2b066Angus doing the campus egyptian :P

The last session I had was the best one so far in the last 2 weeks. I came in and managed to climb several grade 8 problems (that could be anywhere from F7B to F8A) and managed to repeat a few 8’s I had climbed in previous sessions pretty easily J This is good for me and it was nice to feel progression. Hopefully I will be able to go out to Margalef and feel like I can at least do the crux moves on the 8c’s and 8c+’s I want to try :D

I’m off to Margalef in 10 days time with some good friends sport climbing over the Xmas and New year period. It’s going to be cold, but I am psyched for some sweet limestone sport climbing with good friends in beautiful Catalunya! I am travelling out with my pal Sam Williams and we will be staying at Tom Bolger and Lynne Malcolms house. My first Christmas away from home… It’s gonna be even better when Ed, Sam, Ethan, Andre and Adam are all out there! There will be a good crowd at the crag and it will keep motivations for trying hard high :)

tumblr m2lz6181HK1qewqbro1 500Anyone who knows me will know that I am not majorly into projecting routes. I usually get bored and de-motivated trying the same routes over and over again. However, I am at a stage right now where I feel in order to know what I need to do training wise to reach the next level in my climbing abilities I need to test myself on harder routes. That’s why this winter I am not going to put any pressure to actually climb anything :P I am going to go to Spain with the intention of trying 8c/8c+/9a routes… If I can get to the top of a few routes whilst I’m out there that would be amazing, but I am really keen just to learn what I need to do to attain the next level. 9a is the goal in the next 3-5 years, it’s definitely possible but I would like to get to the stage where I can get on one that suits me and at least feel comfortable trying to link sequences and not feel totally out of my depth. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, dedication and training… but it will be worth it :)

 

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#41 British Youth Open Sheffield 2013
December 11, 2013, 12:00:27 am
British Youth Open Sheffield 2013
10 December 2013, 12:53 am

 

Last weekend was the British Youth Open - a competition open to anyone fitting the age categories Youth C to Junior (11-19 years old) and is one of the major competitions throughout the year where the GB Team Coaches select new team members.11281755456 19fbcd6e64B-E-A-UTIFUL Morning Outside Casa Hamer

This weekends Youth Open was held at "The Foundry Climbing Centre" in Sheffield. "The Foundry" is one of the oldest climbing walls in the country opening in 1991 as the UK's first dedicated indoor climbing wall! So I was 1 year old when "The Foundry" opened :P The Foundry has a massive following of climbers and has stood as a beacon in the Sheffield climbing scene as one of the top facilities to train at.

I headed down for the competition on the Saturday. Originally I was meant to be going down on the Saturday to support the Scottish kids at the bouldering event, but unfortunately I couldn't make it, so I travelled down by train on Saturday evening and stayed with the bandits of Bakewell, Sam and Ed Hamer. Also staying with them was my good friend Andre Hedger - we had a good night chilling out in front of the fire and catching up - and watched a crazy movie with Liam Neeson called "Unknown" :P11281710515 73fe2a2685Pretty awesome looking comp wall at "The Foundry"

The day of the competition, Andre and I drove down in the morning to "The Foundry". Upon arriving we were instantly stopped in our tracks with just how busy the place was - there was hardly any room to move!

I was down as Scottish rep and coach, so I was generally looking out for all the Scottish kids attending the competition of which there were quite a large number of.11281750964 f00a3e022fBUSY!!!!

When attending these competitions as a coach, I think it's important not to take on the role as a technical advisor as it does give an unfair advantage. It's OK to listen to the kids talking about the sequence and to give them encouragement and support, but obviously I don't go there with an aim to give them the hidden secrets of the routes. I think it's really important for kids to learn to compete on their own, to be self reliant and strong enough mentally to be able to deal with the pressures i.e. the ups, the downs and whatever might come their way... but what I do think is important is that they know the support is there - I am there to help and to give advice and encouragement when they really need it. Sometimes it's a thumbs up before they get on a climb... other times it's a pep talk... and most of the time, it's just a lot of shouting "ALLEZ VENGA A MUERTE GO FOR IT" when they are on the climb :P

Of course all the kids put in a massive amount of effort at the competition. Congratulations to all those who competed and who have been training hard for this event. 11281739844 f9d751256bConnor Moore giving it "A Muerte" on Qualifier 2!!!

In Youth C boys we only had one Scottish competitor, Connor Moore. Connor is one of the most psyched young climbers I have ever had the pleasure of coaching. He reminds me so much of me (not even as a kid, but now!), because he just loves climbing to bits and will do anything and everything to get better. Like me he also puts a lot of pressure on himself, but what I have learned is that pressure can be both a blessing and a curse depending on how you use it. On Connor's first climb of the day he unfortunately fell off at the 2nd clip where there was a really bouldery sequence. Nobodyelse in the category actually made it much further on the climb as it had some really tricky moves. On Connor's second qualifier he had completely chilled out and nerves had been lost. He went "A Muerte" on the climb and did fantastic achieveing 3rd place on the route! This shows just how much potential he has - it's just about being able to relax and give your all on the route when it comes down to it.

In Youth B Boys we had two competitors, David Miedzybrodski and Rory Cargill. Both of these guys are incredibly talented and very strong!11281834943 02d60b1306Connor getting ready to do battle! David has been training hard all year and didn't get the results he wanted at the weekend unfortunately, but it's yet another good motivational push for him and a lesson to learn that its important to take the bad days as learning curves and not begrudge them too much.

The routes did have some really big moves on them and David is a little smaller than the other kids, this definitely had an effect. I really felt for young Alex Norton, one of the most inspiring climbers I have seen in the British youth scene for many years. He has a height disadvantage but makes up for it with tenacity, technique and a brilliant attitude. Unfortunately the moves were just too big for him in the end and it couldn't be helped... he couldn't make the reaches :( The actual difference between the top 15 competitors was not much... some guys who usually make top 5 where in the bottom 15! It was a mixed bag of results which certainly wasn't a bad thing - I think it just shows that we have a massive number of really talented climbers comng through and all of them have the potential to compete at a very high level in climbing :)11281751343 cdbeb0758eRory Cargill giving it some welly in the finals!

Rory did really well to achieve 5th place in the competition overall :D His final climb was inspiring as he gave it 110%! He fell just short of the high point and no doubt he has the potential to win these competitions in the future!

In Youth A Boys William Bosi did his usual and climbed fantatsically. Peter Dawson just beat him by a + point with an amazing fight on the final route! It was one of the best performances I have seen in a while and Pete wholehartedly deserves his 1st place position :)

In Youth C Girls we had young Emma Davidson competing. Emma is super keen for the competitions and she always comes away with a smile. She has a fantastsic attitude towards them, she just goes in for the fun of it (the best way to be). Emma came away with 12th place, a brilliant result for her :)

In Youth B Girls we had Rebecca Kinghorn, Kirsten Gray and Keira Farmer competing. This category is probably one of the most competetive with 26 competitors in total! Rebecca is on the GB Team and has climbed 8a already this year in Kalymnos. She did her usual and blitzed the comp topping both her qualifiers with ease and winning the finals on countback. Kirsten Gray has been climbing really well recently and qualified for finals in 8th place on the day. She came away in 5th place at the end with a brilliant performance in the final - if only she had seen a cheeky heel hook and maybe she could have gone a bit further? I think we will see a lot more from Kirsten over the 2014 competition season - she is only just getting into her stride :) 11281816923 113567266aKirtsen Gray after a really good climb on Qualifier 2!

Keira was 15th overall and placed 13th on each of her routes in qualifiers. To be honest, there wasn't much between those in the finals and those who didn't make it - Keira was a plus point of Kirsten on qualifier 2 and qualifier 1 if she had topped she would have been in! Keep aiming high guys, you are all stars!

In Youth A Girls we only had one, Eilidh Vas Payne. I haven't seen much of Eilidh recently but she seemed to be climbing well - the Youth A category is always tough and she is still only the bottom end of that category so hopefully over this year she can step it up some more in prep for her 2nd year in the category. She has also been doing more bouldering than routes over the last year which might have left her a little rusty on the ropes :P In the end she came away with 11th :) Good work11281637405 091138acbeKirtsen Gray in the finals!

Finally Rebekka Drummond in the Junior girls came 2nd place overall but was qualified in 1st place! This is amazing considering the time she has taken off climbing due to her injuries this year. She has really stepped up to the mark and I was well impressed. It's been fun working with Rebekka this year and I look forward to helping her progress throughout 2014 as well. Next week she is off to Hampi in India for a bouldering holiday with her boyfriend Sean. Hope you guys have a great time :D

So was a good weekend of competing for British kids - well done to everyone! I am now back in Edinburgh and looking forward to my trip to Spain in 8 days time!!! AGHHHHH!!! So Psyched!

 

 

11281511035 5793f98a14Inspiring Final from Pete Dawson!

11281631403 e600a13201Alex Waterhouse falling on the final route

11281737044 586b2551eaWilliam Bosi on his second qualifier

11281569116 f15d97e88eRebecca Kinghorn on the final route of Youth B Girls

11281806283 a59a0759ffRebekka Drummon on her second qualifier

11281693006 6d235deb7dWilliam Bosi higher on his second qualifier

Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips


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#42 New Years and Xmas in Catalunya
January 17, 2014, 06:00:27 pm
New Years and Xmas in Catalunya
16 January 2014, 3:37 pm

New Years and Xmas in Catalunya

HOLA!!!

Well I'm actually in the UK now so saying "Hola" is probably not gonna get me very far but I will probably continue saying it to everyone I meet over the next few weeks until I get out of the habit :Pphoto 1 2Skies leaving Liverpool early morning

I've just had what has been such a seemingly quick trip to Spain, the time there just flew by, something I am only too well acquainted with from my climbing trips over the years... why can't they last forever!!! This time I headed out with a more recently accrued friend of mine, Sam Williams, a young and very eager climber who has a talent for decking out on trad routes. I met Sam this year in Ceuse during his mega summer road trip with his friend Darren, both of them undergraduates at Aberdeen Uni. Sam is now in his final year of study and is gunning for a PhD at the start of the next academic year (clever clogs).

Sam and me became good friends from practically our second meeting (not the first meeting as his first impression was me having a tantrum as I struggled on an 8c... frankly he thought I was a bit of a douche!). He was correct... but he somehow forgot this and I managed to con him into coming to Spain with me over Xmas and New Year :Pphoto 4 2Me and Sam at Espadelles (First day psyche!)

Our plan was to drive out to Spain from Scotland and meet up with my good friends Tom Bolger and Lynne Malcolm. They have a house situated very close to Margalef, PERFECT! A combination of good climbing, good friends and home comforts will make this trip very good indeed :D We did have a few issues getting out however... On every climbing trip there are always moments of madness and muck ups that make the experience even more memorable. Our first one wasn't really until we had made it into Spain... Our journey was split into two sections really, Scotland to Liverpool (where we slept at Sam's parents) and then Liverpool to the house in Spain :P That was a hell of a long drive! We did share it but Sam did most of the driving because I only had the insurance from when we arrived in France. We decided to go to Riglos as soon as we had arrived in Spain to attempt the amazing "Fiesta de los Biceps", however upon our arrival we found much to our disappointment that the huge pillar was covered in a cloud of mist... not ideal conditions and although it would be possible for us to do still, the 30 hours of driving we had just undertaken was having an ever so slightly negative effect on our energy levels... the idea of climbing 250m in the wet with a 40minute hike off it in the rain after driving for 30 hours was not so appealing. Not to mention I was also suffering from car sickness :( So we abandoned our plans and set off for Tom and Lynne's house.11994426154 a66e8af21cRiglos towers under a cloud mist :'(

Amazingly this was only the start of our adventures that day :P We drove another few hours around the long and windy roads towards Pobella de Cerbolla ("Village of the Deer" in Catalan), where Tom and Lynne's house was situated. Upon reaching the village we were both completely exhausted and ready to lie down and have a rest... as we entered the village however, I saw Tom and Lynne pass us in their caravan and much to my disappointment they didn't even notice as I passed them by waving like a lunatic! So Sam and I were in the right place, but we didn't know exactly where their house was... I had some vague directions on my iPhone describing turns on a dirt road just outside the village, and so our next epic begins! 2 hours later we have got lost on muddy dirt roads in the rain, lost the front underside guard of the car (somehow?), overheated the car trying to get up a muddy dirt track and lastly we got stuck in a ditch at the side of the road on our attempts to escape this hellish maze. I managed to push us out after cleaning the mud of the wheels with a stick in the pouring rain...11994425784 7150cb23cbWHAT A JOURNEY!

We eventually got out the maze and back onto the main road where we met up with Tom and Lynne. Amazingly, we were actually on the right road (yes... the dirt track was correct) and if we had gone only 20m further down it we would have come across their house... :'( I wanted to cry...

Not a great start to our time in Spain but certainly one we won't forget in a hurry. Lynne and Tom's house is situated a mere 45 minutes drive from Margalef and an hour or so from Siurana. When we arrived there was no heat, electricity or food... but a few days into the trip and the place was looking a lot better! Tom bought a wood burning stove from town and in a very short time the place had gone from looking like it hadn't been habited in years to looking like home :)

 

Climbing Time Our initial days in Spain were mostly spent regaining energy from the drive and doing a spot of climbing to lift our spirits and get into the flow of things. Margalef is without a doubt one of the very best climbing destinations I have ever been to for those climbing in the 7c and up grade range. My expectations of what Margalef would be like went along the lines of, "steep, powerful, big holds, pockets, like an indoor wall".11994358383 3cb4720707We've Arrived :D SUNNY SPAIN!

Well... I have heard people describe Margalef like this... my thoughts on this are that they are probably on a selection of very few routes that fit this description. I have actually been to Margalef before but only for a few days. I climbed at a sector with classic 7c's and 8a's which all fit the gym-style description, however, the majority of Margalef is more like steep, powerful on technical pocket climbing requiring sick body tension on the steeper stuff and really good foot-work and soft rubber for everything else! The climbing is super technical if you want to climb pretty much anything, even the 6's are desperate! Onsighting is a nightmare as there are millions of pockets to choose from and they are very difficult to guess how good they are going to be which makes planning rests and sequences very challenging!

To climb well in Margalef you need to be strong on two fingers! That goes without saying, every hold is either:

  •   3 finger open hand pocket
  •   2 finger open hand pocket
  •   MONO!!!
  •   and occasionally you get a jug :P
11994068525 4291e9db47Pockets do horrible things to your skin :/The funny thing is, I actually thought I was good on pockets before this trip... oh how wrong I was! I am a total punter on pockets and this has spurred me on to new levels of motivation for my training in 2014 :) A lot of the time on routes harder than 8a your rests are literally hanging on two fingers, if you can't relax comfortably like this you just won't recover! The other thing that became apparent very quickly is that I thrive on being able to put my thumb over my index finger when I need to pull hard or do longer sections of pumpy climbing. It's amazing how much your thumbs can help you indoors and on crimps, which has made me think  differently on training indoors for outdoor sport climbing. 11994861036 72fae81d628b+ in Margalef

I guess though that this is a very specific problem only at certain crags where the climbing is on pockets or flat edges. Somewhere with a lot of tufas and I think you would perhaps be quite strong coming from an indoor environment - probably one of the reasons why I thrive on tufa climbing :P

 

11994425164 be1782ea1e"Ultimos Vampiros Hippies" (8c)So, our trip got off to a bit of a shaky start... A tiring journey through the UK, France and Spain left us a bit exhausted, but after a few easier days on the rock, we were starting to get into a bit more of a routine. Sam and I were climbing mainly at Margalef, specificaly in a sector called "Raco de la Espadelles". It was here that I tried an 8c called "Ultimos Vampiros Hippies". On my first attempt at this route I surprised myself at being able to climb the bottom crux with the exception of one of the moves... This move I found quite hard on it's own, but I feel that the reason wasn't solely down to strength, but more limited by an injury in my right knee that prevented me from using the high right foot most people use for that move. I got all the beta from a young New Zealand climber called Wiz Fineron (who I had actually met about 5 years previously whilst competing in the international competitions). From the bottom crux to the top, the route is about 8a+ which I found quite easy on it's own. I felt that if I managed to get through the bottom then I would have done the whole thing. The lower crux as a boulder grade is probably in the region of V10 I would say?

11994349013 c77172c9e6Sam on a 7c at EspadellesSam tried the hardest 7a+ at the crag, a horrible tenuous and very committing route at the left of the crag called "Dracula"! This thing is grim with a few very had pocket moves on it! I think I've done a lot easier 7b+'s!

Villanova de Prades We were climbing a lot with Tom and Lynne and so would check out some other crags with them such as Villanova de Prades. This crag is not as popular or well-known as Margalef. On my first day there I found it absolutely nails... on my 2nd day there, nothing changed :P I actually fell off a 7b and then had to do it 2nd go after figuring out all the beta! Then I projected a 7b+ and managed it on my 4th or 5th go? About as long as 8b+ usually takes :P Then I did an 8a 2nd go and Tom flashed it! The 8a was easier than the 7b+ no doubt :P11994415904 258f6d7c9cA horrible 7a+ at Villanova de Prades :P

Christmas @ Tom + Lynne's Our Christmas Eve was proper grim :( We stayed in one of the worst hotels I have ever had the displeasure of being inside. The Margaelf hotel is so bad I can't even out words to describe it... Imagine faulty towers without the funny characters and in place of them, just a grumpy Catalan woman who looks at you like she hates you with every shred of her soul. The actual hotel was cold, had no atmosphere and genuinely just felt soulless!

It was an unfortunate circumstance that we landed there... the situation was that we had decided to stay at the Margalef refugio for a few days of warm showers and being a bit closer to the crag, but unfortunately the refugio had ended up being closed over the xmas period, so we were forced to stay in the hotel last minute. 11994354583 2d059c6b39Christmas with my friends :D

On the note of the refugio called "Raco de la Finestra", it's absolutely amazing! I highly recommend staying there whilst in Margalef :D The people are lovely, the atmosphere is warm and friendly and the place is clean as anything! If I went back to Margalef on my own or with friends, I would stay there without a doubt. The guy who runs the place and his manager are some of the main equippers for Margalef who put a lot of their own time and money into making Margalef what it is today, so it's actually worth staying there even just to give back to the bolting off the area.

 Christas Day was so much better! Sam and I went climbing at Finestra sector - Sam climbed an amazing 7c which I did after him. I also tried to climb the 8b called "Niña Mala" but was unsuccesful - it had a pretty hard move of a mono which I loved and hated :P I need to get better at monos!11994056135 822013cc81EVIL ARTHUR! :P

 After climbing we went to Tom and Lynne's for Christmas dinner :D It was soooooo good :) Those guys know how to do a good Christmas! The place was covered in tinself and christmas decorations - Arthur the cat was going mental with the tinsel and bobbles hanging from the tree :P After dinner we had a mad game of "pass the bomb" (a funny word game) during which time, Tom, Lynne and Sam became ever so increasingly merry.

The best part of Christmas for me was having my bag of christmas presents that my mum had given me to take out... it seemed I was the only one with any presents so the others just sat and watched me open mine hahaha and occassionaly I would give them one for the pleasure of opening :P We shared any confectionary gifts... Lynne insisted!

  New Years!!! New years was so much fun! New Years Eve was spent climbing at one of the most stunning crags I have ever been to, Montsant, Raco de Misa!!! I spent most of the day belaying Sam on a 60m long 7b+ hahahaha that was a long belay! Honestly I thought it was just selfish of him to choose that route :P11994419514 5cd60002beRaco de Misa (Montsant) - Lee Cujes, L-Mens is another one for us to go and do :D AMAZING!

It was an awesome effort by Sam though and a worthy onsight for him :) I tried an 8b+ called "L-Mens" which was again, stunning and with incredible moves on incredible rock in an incredible position! Don't think I can use the word "incredible" any more times in this blog? I didn't do it unfortunately as we had limited time - so I only had one go at it but I enjoyed the process of figuring out the moves for my next trip there.

We met up with Sam Hamer, Ed Hamer and Andre Hedger at the crag who were out there on a climbing trip with Ted Kingsnorth and Simon Smith. It was really good catching up with them and Sam and I ended up bringing in the New Year with them at Siurana :D

11994867426 d3927b8b7cAttentive belaying :PWe had dinner at a nice refugio in the Siurana village and then headed to Cornudella for the party! I am not a party animal by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun going out with friends on New Years and being with climbers for once hahaha. At the party there was so many good climbers, I have never seen such a concentration of 9a climbers in one spot! It was good to see old friends from past trips who I hadn't seen in a while, guys like Rueben and David Firnenburg, Izidor Zupan, Eilidh Rouxel and he husband FLo, Wiz Fineron, Alex Megos, Daniel Jung, Felix Neumarker, Michelle Kim Theisen and of course all my good friends from the UK, Ed, Sam H, Sam W, Ted and Andre!

I won't go into details of the night... there are only three people who can remember what happened on New Years Night in Siurana, Wiz Fineron, Alex Megos and myself as I think we were the only non-drinkers there :P As far as eveyone is aware, what happens in Siurana, stays in Siurana... well... I will give up the secrets for the right price ;)

11994060495 183ee6c3b8L-Mens (8b+)

 

The End of our Trip  After New Year, Sam and I stayed at the refugio some more to be closer to Margalef. It was a good scene there too! I met up with some friends from back home, Nic and Jon who were out on a trip over the holidays. Also met up with some Danish friends Mikkel, Bjorn at Katrina who are still out climbing there right now :P LUCKY!!!

11994060905 928303c1d2Sam getting rather excited at New Year Party :PSam and I mainly climbed at Espadelles for the remainder of the trip. All was going really well until Sam ripped one of the biggest flappers I have ever seen when he was warming down one evening on a 6c+! It was horrendous :O That put the lad out of action for a few days :( I continued to climb and decided as it was only a couple of days until we headed home just to focus on mileage. I ended up making a new friend, Alan Pierce, an English climber who now lives in Andorra. We climbed together for two days at Espadelles and one night he tried to show us how to cook with a pressure cooker... this failed miserably resulting in us smoking out the refugio living room hahahaha It was so funny! So that night Alan very kindly treated me to a refugio cooked chicken dinner hahaha :D Thanks man!

The next day, Alan and I climbed at Espadelles again. I did an 8a called "Transilvania" whilst Alan flashed a tricky 7a to the right. We then went further round the corner and Alan tried a really tough 7c in the sun. I tried to onsight it and failed :P It was so greasy in the sun. Luckily I did it 2nd go, but it still felt gnarly! props to Alan for choosing one of the toughest 7c's I've been on in a while :D

11994865966 865bde88b7Masriudoms!!!On the last day of our trip, Sam and I headed to Masriudoms with a South African called Ebert and his American friend (who lives in SA), Michael. Masriudoms is a crag near Reus which is largely steep tufa climbing, a very big cotrast from Margalef! It felt similar to Terradets climbing actually, suited me to a tea :D I had a fun mileage day by onsighting two 8a's, did another one 2nd go and then did a 7c and a 7b+ onsight at the end. The 7b+ had a huge move at the end that I thnk would be bloody nails if you were much shorter than me... Tom almost fell off on it hahaha!

 

Headin' Home So that was our trip to Spain :D We headed home the next day via a 4 hour car journey to Bilbao, then a ferry for 20 hours to Portsmouth and then another car journey to Southport to Sams parents house. I got the train the next day to Edinburgh from Preston.11994361593 48eb37af7aAlmost missed the boat home... by 2 minutes!!!

It was a fun trip for sure, maybe not the best ticklist I have ever had by a long run, but it was for sure an educational trip that showed me where my weaknesses lie still. I need to work on my individual finger strength and pocket strength! Also, I was expecting to be relatively fit having only recently come back from a very succesful onsighting trip to Teradets and having felt fit at the wall, however, the open hand style of Margalef totally took me by surprise! I discovered that my open hand endurance is actually really bad. I think for some time now I have been lazy by not training this facet of my climbing and instead just trying to get up hard routes, circuits or laps indoors by any means necessary. I feel now more than ever that if you really want to get the best out of your indoor training for rock, specificity is so important!

I am in the training zone now and have some big plans for 2014! Australia trip is 9 weeks away :D Better get training hard!!!

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#43 Australia Psyche
January 26, 2014, 12:00:27 am
Australia Psyche
25 January 2014, 8:25 pm

Hey Guys

So things have been moving quickly since I returned from Spain a few weeks ago. I am back into my usual coaching and route setting routine based at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, but it's never long before I am off on another adventure :P

My next trip is to Australia for 6 weeks at the end of March! I am seriously looking forward to this trip as Australia is somehwere I have wanted to go to since I was a wee knipper. Something about this place down under has always intrigued me... I don't know why? Even before I was climbing it was somehwere I had only ever dreamt about. When I started climbing I remember reading "Climber" magazine and finding this picture (below) of Stefan Glowacz on the stunning line of "Kachoong"

kachoong

 in the Arapiles. It was that moment seeing this picture that I knew I had to go... it was magical and something that was etched into my soul forever!

Since then even more reasons to go continually were thrown at me. I have been travelling with climbing since I was 16 and have met so many climbers and travellers from all corners of the globe. Australians always do it big style when they make a trip because they live so far away, so whenever I'm on a trip I always get to spend a lot of time with them. It's something about the Ozzie style/humour/personality that clicks with my Scottish-ness :P  At least that's what I think? There is definitely a similar type of "crazy" that is bred into Scots and Aussies that makes the connection? :P

On top of the picture of "Kachoong", another picture blew my mind! It was in Simon Carters annual photo calendar (I think?) when I was about 15 years old... It was a picture of Justin Clarke on the mega classic line on Taipan wall called "Groovy" (7c).

SimonCarter 3

 This picture again was etched into my mind as something that inspired me to climb and push myself harder so that one day I could go and climb this incredible route! For some reason I thought it was like 8c? It looks it from the picture hahaha But it's only 7c to here... the extension however is 8c and this is what has been pushing me to train hard for this trip!

The unfortunate business with my plan to attempt "Groove Train" (8c) - Extension to "Groovy" (7c) - is that there has just been some massive fires in the Grampians region which has meant a temporary closure to Taipan Wall... It looks as though it will be closed still when I arrive ;( what rotten luck! However, this has not dampened my spirits... I am still psyched to go and do other routes in the area.

I remember when I first met my friend Logan Barber in Ceuse back in 2007. We were talking about classic climbs in Australia that we had to do, and the big one that was mentioned was of course, "Punks in the Gym" (8b+). Commonly referred to as "Punks", this route is another that has made itself a constant motivational driving force in my mind!

First climbed by Wolfgang Gullich in 1985, this climb has stood out as a benchmark of difficulty in the 8b+ grade! I have climbed around 20 x 8b+ grade routes now, but I am pretty confident that this one is not going to go down easy :) It has a reputation of stopping even some of the best climbers in their tracks due to it's weird style... I think I am going to have my work cut out for me!

From a non-climbing point of view, Australia has always attracted me from the wildlife point of view. I have always been into nature since I was very small, fascinated by anything that crawls, slithers or scurries (even those that bite). I was a big fan of Steve Irwin when I was a kid, watched his TV show everyday after school for years :D

So yeah... lots of psyche for Aussie-Land!!! The plan is to go to Grampians and Arapiles for 3.5 weeks, then a quick stop in Brisbane, then heading down south to Sydney and Blue Mountains for a week, then back up to Brisbane for another bit. A lot of the people I have met over the years from Australia have been from Brisbane - funny seeing as I don't think the climbing scene there is even that big, but hey, it looks like a really good scene! The crags such as the Pulpit and Coolum look really good fun and I have heard so much about them that I actually can't wait to try them out for myself :)306044 10151185779923867 1170013977 nLee on something totally awesome! It's funny, because I think what people usually want from Australia is to just go to Blue Mountains or Grampians, but I think I am more looking forward to seeing Coolum because of Mr Lee Cujes, his wife Sam, Matt Schimke (who I met in Ceuse) and Tracey Hua! They have told me everything about the place and thanks to facebook and thecrag.com I feel like I already know the place intimately... but just haven't climbed there :P It's been described as a grotty cave, but I think I'm gonna love it! Hey... It has kneebars... What's not to love?

Blue Mountains was not originally part of the plan, but I'm glad it is now :D I am going to get to experience some of the best climbing destinations in Australia in one trip!!! This is going to leave me open to visit more of these places for longer hopefully on future trips there :) Blue Mountains is near Sydney and looks like one of the best places on earth! My friend Logan Barber lives there so we are going to stay at his house for the week - think it's going to be an interesting experience to see the Blue Mountains after hearing about it for years. Also, not that I am mega into visiting places of interest... but my two big ticks that I wanna go see are:

1) I wanna go to Sydney Opera House :D

2) I wanna visit the crazy wall that Ben and Lee Cossey train on :P

1315225819sydney-opera-house-at-night

It will be interesting visiting the Blue Mountains for climbing. I am not sure how I will get along with the style? My good friend Ed Hamer went there early 2013 and had an amazing trip, but he is a beast on crimps :P I am not quite as strong as Ed and I reckon I might find it hard!

New wave wallEd Hamer on an 8b I wanna do!!!!

Check out this sweet video that Tracey Hua made of her recent trip to Blue Mountains :D It's really funny (slightly mad) and you get to see a bit of what I imagine climbing at the Blue Mountains is like...

So yeah... I'm psyched... Can you tell? :P

I'm training a lot of crimp strength, 2 fingers for maximal strength throughout all fingers, power endurance (a lot on campus board) and I have just bought a mount from Crusher Holds for my fingerboard so I can finally have one in my house :) Not had one in ages... this is going to be good for me!

Anyway, 7 weeks to go now :) Time is flying and before I know it I'll be boarding the plane... better get training!

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#44 1 Week in Australia!
April 01, 2014, 01:00:35 pm

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#45 More Time in Oz!
April 14, 2014, 07:00:24 pm
More Time in Oz!
10 April 2014, 8:55 am

 

The last week has been a whirlwind of climbing here in Australia. I have dabbled in both trad and sport but the highlights for me have certainly been in the sport climbing (and sometimes mixed).

IMG 4111Tracey on "Krank 'N' Dangle" at Muline crag, Grampians

Firstly, after doing “Punks in the Gym” so quickly, I had surprised myself at what I could achieve already. I was keen to do more challenging routes in the area but there wasn’t anything really hard in Arapiles that inspired me. I had a looke at the f8c/33 “Somalia” which had last year only received it’s first ascent from Wiz Fineron, however I wasn’t inspired at all by the climbing or the line and felt it was more of a painful 1 move boulder situated next to some much better looking routes. I think “Somalia” for me would be something I would have to invest more than a few days into anyway and I don’t think I would be prepared to do that.

I seeked out only the best looking routes, those that really inspired me to climb them from the bottom t

o the top!

Ethiopia 30/8a+

The first thing I saw was “Ethiopia” 30/8a+. This was already on my ticklist. It’s famous outside of Australia as well for being outstanding climbing, but also because it’s largely placed protection and not bolts that are securing you. There are on the route 1 bolt and a carrot

IMG 4005Me climbing "Ethiopia" (30/8a+)

I believe that protect you from over halfway to the top of the route. As well as that there is one fixed wire and plenty of room for cams and other nuts all over the place!

I tried it at the end of the day with Logan Barber, an aussie friend of mine who I’ve known for years! Logan and I are planning big trip to the Dolomites in a few months time so it has been good to climb with him out here as well beforehand.

IMG 3972Me and Logan tucking into Breakfast at Natimuk before climbing :DMy onsight of “Ethiopia” didn’t go as well as I had expected. “Ethiopia” has a 7c+/28 variant called “India” that busts out right after the first crux. Unfortunately I didn’t even get past the first crux L I fell on the crux move going to a big slot in the wall falling onto the fixed wires. I spent the next 15 minutes trying various things but couldn’t get through. All until I found a vital way of holding a pinch on the wall, which I had not been using! As soon as I discovered this I cruised through it and was into the second half.

I was lucky, the second half of the route was actually quite easy and probably on 7c/27 on it’s own. There was a tricky crack sequence at the end that took some time solving for me, but once I had figured it out it was easy. A day later I came back and sent!!!



Lord of the Rings 31/8b



The next big hit on the list was the ultra classic “Lord of the Rings”. This is yet another historic route with a little bit of comedy gold as well. This route is famous world wide thanks to a picture of a keen local who is seen climbing the route solo wearing flip flops whilst drinking a pint. When you actually get on the route you realize how utterly mental this must be and it quickly becomes apparent that this can’t be possible!!!IMG 4026Heading into the final few tricky moves of "Lord of the Rings" (31/8b)

I found out that it wasn’t :P The guy was wearing his harness under his shorts and was clipped into one of the “Ring” bolts (hence the name “Lord of the Rings”).

The climb is cunning and challenging to figure out. All the holds are obvious but they are small and there is a lot you can do with your feet. I also figured out multiple sequences I could use to get through the main crux section but these all ended with slightly different difficulties on redpoint.

In the end, a Kiwi climber also working the route (James Gunn) gave me some of his beta and that worked for me nicely. I quickly despatched this afterwards, but not before taking a fall from the slab right before the chains… D’OH!!! Exactly what the guide says try to avoid!

Some say this might be as hard as “Punks in the Gym”? For me it felt a long way off, but it certainly doesn’t mean that for some it isn’t as hard… Just depends what you feel comfortable doing.

The epic story of “Lord of the Rings” for me is one that went crazy on Facebook. I jumped off the top whilst working one of the sections and the quickdraw that was clipped into bolt snapped!!! The quickdraw was a Petzl Spirit that James had equipped the routes with. The biner snapped in two, sending me flying towards the ground. Luckily, Tracey caught me before I hit the tree and I was only a bruised in my ribs and wrist.IMG 3969Snapped Quick-Draw!!!

The reason this happened is unsure right now. Speculations have gone from, dodgy Chinese knock-off Petzl biners to the potential that the biner cross-loaded. I believe that the dodgy home-made hanger attached to the bolt caused the biner to flip and cross-load as well as opening the gate and weakening the whole thing completely, then my jump was obviously too much to take and it snapped.

A scary predicament to be in but luckily everything is still in one piece and I live to climb another day. I would say to locals to re-place the dodgy hanger with a newer one, possibly placed in a way that won’t make it as easy for the biner to open? But I will leave that up to them…

Onsighting and some Quick Ticks



The rest of my time has been spent trying to onsight other routes. I was really happy to onsight the 28/7c+ “Slinkin’ Leapord” that climbs just to the left of “Lord of the Rings”. It didn’t feel hard on the onsight but I was shocked to see that it hadn’t actually had any previous onsights on 8a.nu which makes me think I might have had a lucky moment where everything came together for a good climb.

I fell on the last move onsighting “Wagalak” (29/8a) whilst placing quickraws. This was frustrating for me, it felt really steady until the last move but the hold was really spooged up and the conditions were really hot and humid. I came back on a much drier, windier day and did it first go! I really liked the style on this route, it felt way different to everything else I had tried beforehand in Arapiles. “Wagalak” is just a steep overhung prow on slopers and a couple of crimps.IMG 4090Climbing "Break and Enter" (29/8a) - This was a seriously nice piece of climbing despite looking a bit junky in this chasm :P

We spent a morning climbing higher up on the Bluffs. Logan was really keen for a 31/8b up there called “Leaps and Bounds” which he had heard was ok. When we arrived, I must admit I wasn’t inspired. The rock looked a bit crappy and the line wasn’t that obvious… looked a bit like a filler in and not something you travel to the other side of the world to climb. When I actually got on the climb, I was pleasantly surpised and the moves were actually really cool. Both Logan and I got all the moves dialed on our first attempt and we felt confident for a second go burn.

My second attempt at the route went really well! I stuck the crux move and scrambled my way through the next tricky sequence. Before I knew it I was on top clipping the chains :D A cheeky wee 8b to start the day! Logan was close to making it through the crux on his second go as well but unfortunately missed the hold which he takes slightly different to me due to reach, and he has left his quick-draws on it for the send later on in the trip.

IMG 4075Standing below "Leaps and Bounds" (31/8b) - Yet another line that looked rubbish from the ground but actually had nice climbing in it - No Punks though :PAfter doing “Leaps and Bounds”, I was on a high and was really psyched to do the 7c on the main face called “”. It looked like a mega line going straight through the most sustained and blank looking section of wall. The 26/7b+ to the left called “The Prow” was getting a heavy number of hits that day, it shared the same start, and so in-between their attempts I jumped on. Logan had mentioned that he had tried the 7c years previously and found it really hard, so I was expecting to battle. At about half-height, I saw a really tricky sequence ahead on some pinches. I did my best to read what to do from the rest and the I gunned for it. I managed to break through the slopey pinches that were felling rather wet and grimy as well, but the next section was totally blank and there was no chalk anywhere. I was starting to take a bit of a run out now and all I saw was a nut placement to secure the final headwall. I shook out at a rest and went for it! There was a few tricky moves at the top with another quite big run out from the nut but all was good and I came out on top. On the final few metres, a slackliner who was running a highline from the top of the tower to a wall on the other side was talking to his friends whilst hanging from the line, I heard him say “This climb looks amazing from here, I wish I had my camera!”. I wish he had too because it felt really exposed and I imagine the photo from the slack line would have looked wild!

Tracey climbed really well that day and made her hardest ascent on trad for the trip, “Thunder Crack” 21! That route looked really exposed and scary and I think it would bring even the strongest climbers to their knees without a good head on them.IMG 4086Nearing the top on this EPIC 7c that I onsighted - it even had a few gear placements!!! Does that count as Trad?

In the evening, we caught up with Logan’s good friend Aido who was also trying “Punks in the Gym”. I ended up getting on a 29/8a called “Break and Enter” that was situated just to the left of “Punks”. I had a flash burn with some beta from some guys trying it but unfortunately fell just short of the chains. I ended up finding a much better bit of beta for the last move and stuck it on my second go! YAY!

The next few days we spent climbing in the Grampians and Arapiles before heading over to Queensland. I am now in Brisbane for a few days, climbing at Coolum and The Pulpit :D

Stay tuned for a blog on the Grampians in the next few days and my time in Brisbane :)

PSYCHED!!!



 

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#46 Grampians :D
May 02, 2014, 01:00:26 pm
Grampians :D
2 May 2014, 6:50 am

Hey Guys

A lot has happened since my last blog post! I have been climbing in the Grampians, the Blue Mountains and around Queensland. It’s been an incredible trip and I don’t want it to come to an end :P

Towards the end of our time in Arapiles, we made a couple of trips to the Grampians, which is only a short distance away. We visited one of the most amazing crags I have ever been to, a super steep sculpted sandstone wonder known as Muline. This place is literally like something out of a crazy dream world where the rock is formed like a huge tsunami of orange lava! I really can’t think of any other description for it :)

When Muline was first discovered, the guys who found it must have literally had to pick their jaws up from the ground… What a find!

When we first arrived at Muline there was nobody there but us, but within a few hours, fellow Edelrid sponsored climber, Nathan Hoette and his wife Heather joined us at the crag. I had not seen Nathan and Heather since I was 18 on a trip to Ceuse back in 2008, so it was really good to catch up :)

On our first day at Muline, I started of with a warm up on the classic 24/7a+ called “Krank ‘N’ Dangle”. It has one shouldery move low down and afterwards is just swinging about on big holds. It was really good to get the upper body moving properly before trying anything harder.

“Eye of the Tiger” 29/8a

The next route I did was the über classic king line of the crag, “Eye of the Tiger” 29/8a. This one was what I really wanted to do today… I had first seen this route in a picture Nathan had posted on facebook before I came out... it looked wildly overhanging and gymnastic in style. I couldn’t wait to be up there :D

The first section of the route is a sloping ramp of flat jugs for about 10m. It traverses diagonally leftwards along the side of the huge “Tiger’s Eye” feature that the route is named after. The holds in this section are all really positive and you don’t really get too pumped. You can then get a really good rest at the top of this section and chill for a while before heading out into the roof.

I looked out from the rest position into the roof, scoping out the next holds and trying to visualize what it was you had to do. The climbing took me out feet first, something you very rarely get to do on rock, and involved a cool hand to foot match and a swing as you released your weight.

Once your established in the roof, the only way is up! I powered on through the steepness onto big positive holds and managed to crank through into a rest just over the bulge. Talking to guys later on, it seems that the rest here is not great, but for me I really managed to recover and relax before the impending upper section where the holds become much smaller! For me, this rest was important otherwise I just wouldn't have been recovered enough...

I did a few more moves on positive holds before reaching a traverse out right on smaller crimps and pockets. The good thing was that although the holds were small, they were positive and I could shake out well on all of them! Before I knew it I was clipping the chains :D ONSIGHT!



“Path of Yin” 30/8a+

Another absolutely stunning piece of climbing art was “Path of Yin”. There was a picture of Nathan in the guidebook on this which looked awesome and I had already been told of it by a friend from Melbourne (Gavin) that this was something special :)

I read it from the ground, a tough boulder to start followed by easier climbing then a rest and a sustained finish. I figured that I could onsight this if I broke through the bottom boulder but I would need to try hard! AMUERTE!!!

I pulled onto some small slopey crimps then reached out to a big slopey pinch… I launched into a compression sloper with my left and held a small cut loose. I threw my right foot onto a good footer and kneebared in with my right knee allowing me some stability to bring my left hand over onto a better hold and then I pressed onto some good holds out right. YASSS!

I was through and all I needed to do was keep it together The rest of the climbing looked about 28/7c+ from there. I kept going upwards, rested at some jugs before another steep section then kept moving. Thankfully none of the holds in the steepest section of the route were bad and I was comfortably moving higher and higher! I reached a rest at the last clip… the next section looked sustained on small edges traversing left towards jugs and the chains! I moved quickly and efficiently… everything was going fine, I felt strong, I rested on some positive holds then kept going. Before I knew it I was eyeing up the last hold before the chains… I pressed out left and held it, I was just about to move when I slipped… NOOOO!!! I was pretty upset… the last hold I had was in the middle of a wet streak of water, I had the hold solid in my grasp but obviously was holding too hard and I just slipped straight of it!

Everyone on the ground was as devasted as me, they didn’t expect it either… Nevermind… It’s part of climbing, dealing with the little slips. In truth, if I was a better climber I would have just done it anyway hahaha like ONDRA on "Mind Control"!!! But I did it 2nd go so I was happy with that :)



“Flying Duck” 32/8b+

The big tick of Muline for me was a link up of “Path of Yin” into “”Eye of the Tiger”. Now I know it sounds like a bit of a cheeky tick :P Link two routes you have done already to get a harder climb, but in all honesty, “Flying Duck” was very much it’s own route, with a large linking traverse section being the crux.

Nathan Hoette states in the guide that he thinks it’s the best bit of climbing at Muline… I don’t have the credit of Nathan that that statement deservses because I haven’t climbed everything at Muline, but I can vouch for him by saying that it’s the best climbing I did there!

Include the boulder crux of “Path of Yin” that probably weighs in at around V6/7? After this you rest at the linking point of “Path of Yin” and “Flying Duck”. This is then followed by a tricky pumpy section busting out right where I found some cool beta that I think was completely new, as I had not found any chalk on the holds I used and the route has still very few ascents to this date.

You can rest up on a sharp crimp rail before doing a short boulder sequence of probably about V5 or V6 difficulty involving a powerful dynamic throw for a sloper rail of a 2 finger pocket! AWESOME!!! From here it links into “Eye of the Tiger” for a nice and steady 26/7b+ finish :)

Other stuff in Grampians



As well as those classic three routes, I also did a few other great climbs at Muline. I had an awesome onsight attempt on “Centinnial Line” 30/8a+ which was only buggered by the fact that I accidentally traversed to far left before going upwards and instead of being on the 8a+, I was actually making an onsight attempt of Nathan Hoettes new bolted project which looks like it will be in 31/8b grade range :P I actually managed to get quite far along it before taking a whipper :P I think if I had gone the right way it would have been on for the onsight of the 30/8a+.

I also came close on the onsight of another 30/8a+ called “Deamon Flower”. I fell on the crux move but did make it through the first crux which is pretty gnarly. If I had made that one move then it would have been done :P Cool route but very sharp!!!

More?



All in all my experience of Grampians was limited to one crag due to weather and time. I really wanted to go to Taipan but I think that will have to wait until next year :) Something to come back for YIPEEEEEE I will come back next year for a big chunk of time and spend a lot of it at Taipan to get the most out of the crag :)



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#47 "Punks in the Gym" 32/8b+
June 30, 2014, 07:00:22 pm
"Punks in the Gym" 32/8b+
30 June 2014, 8:54 am

 

“Punks in the Gym” is an iconic sport climb steeped in history. It was a route bolted by a local Australian climber that was free by Wolfgang Gullich in the mid 80’s and became the world’s first f8b+/32. It has since been the goal for many climbers to one day repeat this hard historic piece of sport climbing history.

When I first got on the route, some of the moves felt really low percentage, like I could fall of them a lot and it could get rather frustrating for me quite quickly. Every foothold is a smear of sorts, nothing is a perfect edge or blocky foothold like on limestone or other rock types. And the smeary feet aren’t just smears of friction, it’s glassy making it even more improbable that your feet should stay there.

There are several moves on the route that just feel so committing that you don’t want to do them for fear of failing…. But you know you have to do them with a do or die attitude, the true “Amuerte” spirit, otherwise you simply won’t make it!

On my first go, I did all the moves but found several sections of the route particularly challenging:

Crux 1: Heel-Toe Lock



The first real crux is a sequence of moves leading up to a particularly tricky move involving a heel-toe cam and a powerful lock move to gain a jug of a fat pinch. After the first couple of clips, you gain a nice flat jug rest after which the sequence is continuous for around 9 hand movements with lots of foot movements interspersed. The last move of this series if the heel-toe cam, which is tricky to place and even trickier to pull off the lock move following. It involves a powerful move of a positive but flat edge to gain a fat pinch, from there you place the heel-toe cam. As soon as the cam feels like it’s locking, you switch the pinch to a gaston and pull through to gain a really nice jug! That’s pretty much the first half of the route over, but just after this with little rest is a techy sequence traversing leftwards on some small crimps and smeary feet. I luckily never fell off this sequence :)

IMG 2553Long move before the heel-toe

Crux 2: The Birdbath Cross-Through



The famous move that has thwarted so many climbers! This crux move is probably the hardest singular move on the route, which follows about 6 fairly intense moves alongside “A LOT” of foot movements! The crux move itself is fine on it’s own, but it’s quite difficult to keep the percentage chance of success high as it requires good body tension to maintain constant pressure through your feet for the bad smeary foot placement.

I was trying out various different foot placements before I discovered the best one - a left foot smear on a slightly more friction based part of the rock which was slightly further left than what seems to be the most popular smear, which for me was causing a horrible barn-door effect.IMG 2557

When I figured this beta out, I stuck the move first time from the ground and it was the attempt following that I sent!

The sequence before this definitely tires you out, but luckily you get a really good rest beforehand, I even got a cheeky knee-bar, which I used a little bit.



Crux 3: Horrible Slab from HELL!!!

The top vertical slabby section I found so hard on my first go! It was like a balancy Fontainebleau slab boulder problem right at the top of the route… The difficult part about this is the fact that it comes straight after “Crux No.2” with no rest in between! As soon as you grab the “Birdbath” hold, you pull into a bad thumb sprag and again into a sharp gaston crimp! From here you do a series of very intense movements, one which involves foot to hand on the “Birdbath” and then a couple of very small side-pull crimps. After that you are on the balancy slab bit which isn’t restful until you gain two small but positive edges on a sloping ledge. And even here, it’s not the best rest… When I climbed the route the weather was so warm that I was greasing off these very quickly and only had a short time to rest before having to press on into an extra few tricky moves.

The last hard move is a high step into a positive but flat side-pull. The reason I hated this move was because the high step was onto a horrendous smear foothold, which felt really dodgy! I just felt like I was going to blow off it every-time. Luckily that never happened but it doesn’t mean it was any less scary :P

The Send!



The day I sent it was fresh after a rest day, but conditions for climbing hard routes was not in favour. Temperatures were in the low 30’s, there was little or no wind and everyone was complaining about it being greasy. I wasn’t feeling like I was climbing in the best conditions when I was on the wall, but I decided to give it my all anyway. I managed to get through the first crux pretty steady and was feeling confident for giving the second crux a really good go!

As I rested, eyeing up the following 6 moves that would decide whether or not I would get through into the final head wall, I felt a hot mist roll over me… You know that horrible feeling when your body is just overheating and you start to perspire extra quickly? Well, that was happening, and so I decided to chalk up loads and move quickly, making sure my left hand was rested more than my right for pulling hard on the side-pull that I needed to gain the “birdbath” hold.

I went for it! Every move went perfect, I hit every hold exact and when I came to the “Birdbath”, I set myself up, sat my body out from the wall ever so slightly so I could get as much pressure on the left foot smear as possible, and suddenly I powered through my right leg and pulled hard in on my left hand and caught the “Birdbath”!!! YASSSSSS!!!

I knew I could do this right then and there, I didn’t waste any time! I moved through the following “Crux No.3” sequence fluidly and even though I could feel the sweat dripping and my tips bursting under the sharp crozzles of the crimps, I moved regardless and placed every foot and every hand in the exact sequence I had planned J Before I knew it I was resting on the final crimps before the dreaded “smear move”. I rested up for a couple of minutes making sure I was ready for it and then gunned it down! There was a moment when I was stepping high that I felt my body sink slightly but I sucked it in and pulled through! When I grasped the jugs I was so relieved J I pulled up and made the final few moves to the chains… SUCCESS!!!

Feelings

Climbing “Punks in the Gym” was an amazing experience for me :) It’s one of those routes that you have to climb in your lifetime if you think you have the ability and certainly just one to try out if you ever visit Arapiles even if it’s only one shot.

It’s the world’s first 8b+… that means it used to be the world’s hardest route! Such an amazing experience to be climbing on the same bit of rock that the best climber in the world 25 years ago was gunning for… especially when that guy was the legendary Wolfgang Gullich!

Now having done the route for myself, I see why it has inspired so many climbers over the years. It’s a beautiful piece of rock in an awe-inspiring setting. There are no crowds, few cars and no room for egos! The way I like it – just you and the rock and a few friends to share your experiences with…

Interviews from Australia:



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#48 Nordic Youth Camp: Bornholm
July 18, 2014, 07:00:21 am
Nordic Youth Camp: Bornholm
17 July 2014, 11:38 pm

I have just returned from a great week climbing and coaching in a wonderful little island on the east coast of Denmark called Bornholm. "Climbing in Denmark?" I hear you say... Well yes! Amazingly this little island hosts the only real climbing in all of Denmark! The island itself is just a massive chunk of granite plunked a mere half hours flight from the city of Copenhagen. A gem of an island for Danish rock climbers, Bornholm is the home of a growing scene of sport climbing (and trad climbing) as well as some serious potential in granite bouldering :D

DSC 0004Scouring the Bornholm beaches for beautiful boulders :D

My story with Bornholm starts with one man, Erling Strauss, whom I met last year whilst working in Skaelskor, a little town an hour from Copenhagen where I was route setting for one of the Danish National competitions. Erling is a local climbing coach and teacher, he works with the local club in Skaelskor, but is also the current head of the Danish Youth Committee and working hard to get more young Danish climbers into climbing as well as providing opportunities for the current young Danish climbers operating within each region and club.

Erling and me got along well and shared similar thoughts on climbing and getting young climbers into the sport as well as how to develop them into better, all round climbers. So he invited me to coach at the Nordic Youth Camp in Bornholm, an event that has previously had big names such as Steve McClure and Sasha Digulian coaching on. I was honoured of course and took him up with it pretty much immediately. DSC 0005SO MUCH POTENTIAL!!!! ("American Accent")

The idea of the Nordic Youth Camp is to bring together all the Nordic countries and to have a really fun, social atmosphere for the kids to learn climbing but also make new friends and experience different cultures. Over 50 kids from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden attended :D I was allowed to bring a team of 5 kids from Scotland if I wanted to, but unfortunately nobody came :( I think this was a shame as it was probably the best atmosphere for a climbing camp I have seen and offered so much more than just a great climbing experience. I learned so much abut the Nordic countries and their cultures as well as making a lot of new friends and contacts for when I visit them :) I can't wait to go to Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland - they sound like incredible places with a lot of awesome climbing :D

Day 1DSC 0149Massive game of British Bulldogs before climbing ><

The first day of the camp was spent getting to know everyone with some fun games and a spot of bouldering. We went to the seaside on a beautiful sunny summers day and played amongst the awesome granite boulders. It was really hot that day so conditions weren't perfect for the granite, but it didn't matter :) After a couple of hours of scrambling about, the kids all jumped in the sea and went for a nice cool swim :D

Day 2

Today I was joined in the coaching by both the Danish Senior Female and Male Champion, Bjorn Isager and Katrine Vandett Sailing. I have met Bjorn a few times before on climbing trips and Katrine I only met once last Christmas when I was in Spain. DSC 0125Bjorn getting excited... about some sort of blue mat?Bjorn and Katrine are awesome, I love them both because they have such a good attitude for climbing and are so much fun to be around :) Bjorn is one of those guys who I think finds joy in everything he does and has so much focus and passion for climbing. Katrine on the other hand is probably one of the most stubborn and determined climbers I have ever met :D She has a vibrant personality that shines when she coaches and you can really see how much she wants the kids to do well and to have a good time on the trip. I was so lucky to have them with me coaching, it really wouldn't have been the same without them, so thank you guys for being involved and giving your time to coaching at the camp :)

DSC 0131Katrine chalking up... For no reason, I think it was just to annoy me :P

Today we visited the main sport crag on the island, a huge granite quarry! It doesn't sound great "climbing in a quarry" but it was actually really good and offers some really awesome climbing in the low 6's and 7's (french grades). There are a few sections to the quarry which offer a range of styles, grades and lengths. The longest routes being in the region of 35m are spectacular and take some really beautiful lines up some immense features of granite. There is a lot more potential in the quarry and I think that in the next few years, there will be maybe another double of what there already is!

DSC 0085Sara looking strong on Bornholms hardest F6B!

We got a bit rained on in the morning, but after an hour it stopped and the sun came blazing down on us :D We had an excellent day climbing the sport routes with everyone getting a lot done! I gave them all the goal of ticking 6 climbs clean by the end of the week... I think they might all have done that that day! :P

Day 3

We went and did a half day, sport climbing in the morning and bouldering in the evening :D The bouldering was again by the beach, but focussing on some different stuff and this time I had Bjorn and Katrine to show me what was what.

The evening session was awesome, we climbed until it was dark and with the sun setting over the sea, it made a beautiful light and atmosphere to climb in :)

I tried a V9/F7C called "Tyrannosaurus Rex" with a few of the kids towards the end of the day but conditions weren't the best and we had to leave it for the time being. DSC 0010Me climbing the very short but intense F7C/V9 "Tyranosaurus Rex"

Day 4

Today was a rest day, I ended up going sport climbing and bouldering with Bjorn and Katrine. Bjorn and I tried a project in the quarry, but conditions were appalling!!! I think it would weigh in at around f8c, with a tricky V9/10 boulder into potentially f8a climbing in a crack after that! I had to clean a lot of the gunk of this one as the route hadn't been touched in over a year and had accrued a lot of slime and mud in the cracks. One for next time I think :)

In the evening, we all went into the town by the port and set up a slack line across the harbour :D Only a few of us got across... the rest all fell into the water :P Great fun for a rest day!DSC 0074Arto of Finland impersonating Gollum:P

Day 5

We went back to the sport crag for the morning/afternoon and we told the kids we were going bouldering in the evening... this was however a cheeky lie. We were in fact going to climb a lighthouse on the island that some of the other adults had set up top ropes on! When we reached the lighthouse that evening, the kids didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed that they weren't actually going bouldering hahaha But it turned out to be an excellent decision and climbing the lighthouse was both hilarious and challenging!

One of the Finnish boys (Arto) had a GoPro which we got some excellent and very funny video footage with.

Day 6DSC 0123Liv fron Norway climbing something cool on the boulders :)

Essentially the last day, we went bouldering all day long! We went back to the beach boulders... The kids with me attacked one of the main boulders where there was a V4 and a V9. Frederick Thulstrup (Denmark), Otto (Finland) and Ola (Finland) all climbed the V9 (including myself) and Sunniva (Norway), Liv (Norway) and Munti (Iceland) were all mega close to the V9 as well :D

We then went to another boulder and attempted the worlds hardest V4/6C which might be more like V6/7A or even harder? Then we had some plays on a project V12/8A+ and then I did a potential first ascent variation on the V4/6C which I think would be about V6/7A. It was a direct mantle onto the slab, basically made a slightly harder finish :)

Everyday of the trip was awesome :D We played lots of games after climbing in the gym hall as we had a huge basketball/football/badmington/volleyball court. This was a brilliant end to each day and meant getting a good nights sleep was never really an issue. DSC 0161BOOOYAAHHHHHH!!! Check out this amazing f7b!!!

After the camp was over, I had realised I had accidentally booked an extra day in Bornholm hahaha so I just stayed and climbed :P One of the Swedish girls Sara who lives in California stayed as well and we went bouldering with Bjorn and Katrine for an extra day. Sara was a really strong boulderer from the states and regularly competes at Nationals out there so it was good for her to get an extra wee bit of bouldering in before heading back to Sweden for her summer holidays.

So now I am travelling home... I am currently writing from Oslo where my connection to Edinburgh is made from. I really hope to be involved next year in the camp, and if so, I am going to bring some young british climbers even if I have to force them to come hahaha

Now I am home for 5 days before DOLOMITES!!! YASSSSS!!!

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#49 Welcome to the Dollies
July 30, 2014, 01:00:32 pm
Welcome to the Dollies
30 July 2014, 11:38 am

So I’ve been in mainland Europe for a week now… I am out here climbing with a good friend of mine, Logan Barber (Australia). I first met Logan on a climbing trip to Ceuse back in 07 and since then we have been on many a good climbing trip together and share a lot of similar goals. At Christmas time I spoke to Logan about a trip to the Dolomites, and thus the seed was planted… Logan was keen for it immediately and we spoke more about the plan when I was in Australia. Before I knew it I was flying off to Munich to meet Logan only shortly after my previous trip to Denmark for the Nordic Youth Camp.DSC 0343

The whole idea of the trip was to attempt the famous Alex Huber 8c multipitch “Bellavista” on the Cima Ouest. This is a route that is steeped in fame and infamy becaue of both the legend who freed it and also because when it was put up in 2002, it was the hardest multipitch climb in the world and still remains to this day one of the greatest challenges of the European Alps.

Unfortuntely, upon arrival the weather was not on our side and we had to quickly abandon our post in the most expensive town in Italy (Cortina D’Ampezzo) and head off for another (hopefully drier) alternative climbing destination, at least for the time being.

We drove to Innsbruck and spent the day there where we decided that Zillertal would be a suitable option. This was where we spent most of the last week climbing…

Zillertal has proved to be a totally outstanding destination for us. It offers a completely awesome climbing experience (albeit a little on the spoogy side in current conditions) and there is a multitude of hard granite sport and bouldering crags to go at that are dry all the time J

The first day after a recommendation by both Gaz Parry and Jacopo Larcher, we headed to a crag known as Bachexe (meaning “Witch of the River”) and attempted a classic 8a called “Electriv Avenue”. I was surprised at how hard it was climbing on the granite and it did actually take me 3 goes to do the 8a! Logan got on it and struggled a bit with the powerful moves as he is quite a bit shorter than me and unfortunately didn’t climb it clean. I then tried a beastly powerful 8b+ called “Landerhammer”. On my first attempt it felt really tough… huge shoulder moves to holds that are difficult to see, however on my second attempt it felt much easier and I actually made a really high first link. Hoping to go back for this one as it for sure will go in the next couple of attempts.

The next day I tried a route that I have literally been waiting 9 years to try :P After seeing a poster at Avertical World in Dundee of “Total Brutal” (8b+), this climb has been etched in my brain as a classic to climb one day… And so I was given the opportunity to go try it after I convinced Logan it would be an awesome little project for us J

I was really happy on my initial attempt at the route. I found the first crux quite tricky but the rest was actually not that hard. Felt like a tricky V7 crux start into a f8a to top out. On my 3rd go, I made an awesome link from the start right to the second last clip but fell when my foot popped on a small smeary foothold. This was really frustrating as I had done all the hard climbing and was pretty much going to send it, but that’s what happens I guess…

I came back for it yesterday and sent the route after a couple of goes. Jacopo and his girlfriend Barbera (Zangerl) were at the crag as well. Barbera is trying “Total Brutal” too and she is getting mega close. Was awesome watching her attempt at it as she has flawless technique and immense skill in climbing… I also got to talk to her a little on the Alpine Trilogy, a feat of climbing that has only been achieved by very few (including her) and something that I am keen to try next year.

Bellavista (8c)



So we have had 2 days on “Bellavista” so far… I can’t begin to express how insane this route actually is… It’s really difficult to put into writing the experience of being hundreds of feet from the ground on some of the most difficult rock climbing in the alps whilst your protection on the wall is limited to rusty pegs hammered into fissures and cracks in the wall that you have no idea how long they have been there or how much weight they can actually take… The only real comfort is that the belays are bolted (with one bolt 10m into the crux pitch) and you are so high up and the wall is so steep that hitting anything during a fall is pretty much impossible… you’re just gonna take a massive fall into nothing!

Having that much air below you certainly gives new perspective whilst you climb and it is sometimes quite difficult to forget the almost limitless nothing that awaits you if you fall, but its just something you’ve got to get used to…

On the first day we had OK weather, with some light rain that only splashed us a little on some of the belays, but apart from that, all was good. Logan lead the first 7b pitch and one of the 6a’s and I lead the 6c+, 7a and 7a+ pitches leading to the 8c crux pitch. The 7b pitch was quite scary and involved a 10m solo to get to the first bit of protection! The others I didn’t feel were nearly as bad, but the 7a and 7a+ pitch had some really bad humidity issues, the holds were soapy and damp and quite a few times I almost fell purely because my hand or foot would slip… this is also not to forget to mention the fact that the rock quality is about as comforting as climbing a giant bowl of Apple Crumble… That is to say it’s crumbly… oh so very crumbly!

The sensation of feeling your footholds crumbling into dust when you put so much as a toe on them is something I can’t compare to anything else… that and the sensation of holding a very flexy piece of rock that your trusting to hold you onto the wall… hmmmm not a very nice feeling at all. But at the end of all that, you feel like you have really accomplished something incredible and outright scary! The position on the wall is stunning and totally out there… like nothing I have ever experienced before…

The first day we got to try the first section of the 8c pitch. We didn’t really put any more time to try the rest of it as we were tired and satisfied with having figured out the first pitches of the climb and at least having a glimpse of the 8c pitch. I managed to do all the moves on the first crux and was happy with that for a start.

On the second day, the goal was to try the full 8c pitch and to start working it in an attempt to get it dialed for a lead free attempt pretty soon when the weather is on our side. I was super psyched to find that actually, the rest of the route wasn’t that hard for me… I lead the full thing going from peg to peg, just figuring out the moves and trying to be tactical about the whole operation. I know that attempts on this are limited, so I really do need to know what I am doing up there. Rock quality isn’t the best so I need to be confident where I am putting my feet in order to be as efficient as possible on my redpoint attempt. I attempted the crux two times that day… the first crux pulling the bulge I did several times in a row and have good beta for it now and the last section I did in sections and figured out all the best rests, even a kneebar in the middle of one of the cruxier sections which aided me in not only making one move a lot easier but also gave me an extra little shakeout position. I don’t think anybody else has used this before as there was no rubber on the foothold I was using.

So all in all, me and Logan are really excited about this! I know I can do this pitch so it all comes down to just getting the conditions, getting a bit lucky and making sure I am in the right zone! Logan has decided that he doesn’t feel he can lead the 8c pitch free with the limited time we have, so it’s all on me for this one and Logan is going to try and free the 8a pitch above. I am also going to aim to free this one so that when we go for the full ascent, I will have freed every pitch!

AMUERTE!!!

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