[comPiler]

On the 5th Day... BELLAVISTA
9 August 2014, 9:54 am

Bellavista



Well… Long story short… Logan and I were successful in our attempt to free one of Europes toughest multi-pitch challenges and indeed one of the world’s most famous, hard, alpine style rock climbs. But the short story long is a far better tale to tell, so that is what I will tell now…

View from our tent ;)We travelled back to the Dolomites after a break in the bad weather would allow us to have a bit more time working the crux pitch. We had only had 2 days on the route so far and it had already seemed very possible to free climb, however the prospect of doing the whole route including all the separate pitches in one single push still felt like it would be a real challenge, and would require us to be on top form, climbing everything exceptionally well and especially to have the crux pitch dialed.

Chilling out making dinner night before the send...Logan had already decided that for him, it was more about the experience of doing the whole climb as a team and had reserved to take the second on the more difficult pitches to allow me to get the free ascent of those. For me, I wouldn’t really be satisfied with anything other than to free the crux pitches ground up… Alpine climbing is approached very differently than other forms of climbing I feel. It’s not about doing the climb free solely; it’s about getting to the top and experiencing the adventure that the climb takes you on. You can approach alpine climbing with a multitude of varying styles i.e. free, aid, team, individual or mixed ascent. Each has its own merits and are impressive in their own way depending on the route. Also, it varies a lot with the conditions you get on your ascent as sometimes it is impossible to complete free or indeed becomes very dangerous and stupid to attempt if the bad weather hits as is often the case in the alpine environment. You have to learn to take what you get sometimes and if your preferred style of ascent is not possible, then you just have to go with what is the most sensible option…

Being in the mountains is where we feel home... My desire was to free the route, climbing the most difficult and personally challenging pitches that I felt made the difference to the overall experience of making the free ascent and of course, to top out on the summit of Cima Ouest.

We spent our third and fourth day simply working the crux pitch, a really tough traverse that was already 6 pitches up on the face, hundreds of feet from the ground, on the most exposed face of the Dolomites and probably one of the steepest sections of multi-pitch climbing in the world! This pitch is famous for being the toughest in terms of technical difficulty of the whole route and has proven to be a stand out test of pure climbing ability compared with the rest of the climb which is relatively easy in technical terms. But saying that… the mental aspect of other pitches is far more demanding… I will go into this later…

So, the idea for day 3 and 4 was for me to become immersed in the crux pitch. To learn it’s secrets and to become comfortable climbing it so that when we went for a full free ascent (which we had scheduled for the Monday, after a rest day from day 4) I would be able to just hit it on command without too much hassle.

Leading one of the 7a pitches... As you can see in the background, we are in a cloud!!!What actually happened was that I struggled with the conditions of the rock during those two days. I could link large sections of the crux pitch together, but nearly always I would hold back and not try as hard as I could simply because I was uneasy with the slippy nature of the rock. Unfortunately, the rock up there is very susceptible to humidity and sucks in the moisture becoming almost permanently damp and slimy. It’s the kind of conditions that if you were at a sport crag, you just wouldn’t bother climbing it and you would pass it off for another, better day… However, Alpine climbing is very different and you have to learn to just take what you get.

On the 4^th day working the route, we bumped into none other than Dave Macleod who was there scoping out a potential new line and trying the crux pitch of “Panorama”. It was good to chat to Dave briefly about “Bellavista” as he had done the crux pitch with Alan Cassidy on a previous trip, however I was a little dismayed when he told me that the conditions they got where “Very windy and freezing cold”… So far all we had got was “zero to light wind and quite warm humid conditions”. We weren’t going to get freezing temps and so far the wind had been minimal. It’s been the wettest summer in the Dolomites for 30 years and despite a number of professional climbers stating they would be out trying “Bellavista” now, they hadn’t shown up on account of the weather… I basically decided that the best I would get was what I had already been experiencing, and although it wasn’t completely terrible (i.e. the route wasn’t soaking wet), it wasn’t ideal. On Day 4, I made some good links and realized that if I broke through the first 15m of climbing of the 55m pitch, then in reality, if I tried hard enough and pushed on through it, I could climb the remaining 40m even in bad conditions… I would just have to try BLOODY HARD!!!

At the belay of the crux pitch... CHECK OUT THAT ROOF!!!We had a day to rest; I said to Logan that I felt it might just be worth having an attempt to free from the ground on the assumption that all I needed to do this thing was the pressure to send! I already felt that I was holding Logan back slightly with this route as he wasn’t trying the crux anymore, just belaying me… Both of our ambitions to climb the route relied on my ability to climb the pitch, and I knew it was possible; the only thing holding me back was myself… I needed to be put on the spot, I needed to have to do the pitch, not just to prove I can do it, but to actually be in the situation where when I do it, we keep busting through the upper pitches to the top of the wall!

We spoke about what the best approach would be for us to climb the route… I wanted to have the full tick, i.e. to free every pitch, but on the actual send to swing leads and for me to climb the pitches that we both felt made the difference to claiming the individual free ascent of “Bellavista”. In my eyes, that was by leading pitch 1 (7b), Pitch 6 (8c) and Pitch 7 (8a). I had already lead the other pitches free onsight anyway and I didn’t feel they had as much to offer as those three in particular. So it was decided that I would lead those on the day and Logan would lead the rest. I ended up linking pitch 1 (7b) and 2 (6c) together and Logan linked pitch 3 (6a), 4 (7a) and 5 (7a+) together.

Logan getting excited at the belay...For me, there really was only two pitches that I was worried about (the 8c and the 7b). Pitch 7 (8a) was actually very easy, I thought it felt like a low-end 7b+. There was one tricky move after a huge rest and then it was good holds the rest of the way. Pitch 1 (7b) I was really nervous about... The 7b pitch was scary; it had a 10m run-out to the first piece of gear (a rusty peg) then more run-outs between more rusty pegs (all suspect and one of which I know already wouldn’t hold a fall). Not to mention the rock quality here is terrible… foothold and handholds crumble off practically every couple of moves, you basically just can’t trust anything completely. Finally, the crux is a bit of a lunge around a small roof which you get to via a run-out from a very bad peg that pops out if you so much as look at it the wrong way… the rock quality in the roof is the worst on the route and I must have sent a good few kilos of choss down on Logan when I was on my lead here. Climbing this pitch for me was probably the toughest mental battle I faced on the whole climb… I knew in some places that if I fell… it wasn’t going to be a learning curve… Falling at the roof would be a bad fall if that peg snaps. But I think I learned more about myself climbing that pitch than any other climb I have ever done… I discovered what I can handle and what the potential for me to do in that style is.

After leading that very scary 7b and the following 6c, I was amped up for the crux pitch but still had to wait for Logan to follow me up and for him to lead the remaining few pitches, then I would follow him on second. Logan breezed through these alright but the conditions weren’t the best and both the 7a and 7a+ pitches were pretty wet… I followed him with a rucksack on with all our gear and was finding it a really intense warm up for before the crux pitch. I managed to get through but took a fall on the 7a+ when my hand slipped out a massive wet jug just before the chains! So I lowered down and repeated that pitch again just so I could claim the whole route free…

We were now at the belay of the 8c pitch… I wasn’t really nervous, I was psyched for giving this thing my all! I went up once just to pad out the holds with a fresh layer of chalk as the conditions on the first section were pretty bad. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting for a sending try, but I knew it wouldn’t get any better, so I just had to try bloody hard! I attempted to replace a broken pin that I had fallen on after the crux from a previous day but unfortunately the sky hook failed and I took a big fall onto another suspect pin… Nervous enough as it was, I decided not to risk that again and came back to the belay.

At the belay, I took a 5 minute break, joked with Logan a bit and got myself prepared for the attempt… I was going through the sequences in my head, I had it all dialed… I knew if I got through the first crux, then I could get through all the next section as well.

And so… I went for it!

That is a LONG way down...I climbed through the initial traverse section easily, it wasn’t hard, just damp. I wasn’t going to fall off here anyway, but the dampness of the holds doesn’t help for the upcoming crux sequence on smaller sloppier holds. I rested up on a couple of 3 finger pockets before committing fully on for the first part of the crux! I managed to break through and before I knew it, I was resting on a jug pocket and positive crimp. I shook here a few times… the next section was the boulder. Only a couple of hard moves, but the holds are quite small and very damp. I had fallen here a few times before when my hand would just slip of them without warning. I was slightly nervous about doing this sequence because I didn’t really want to have to go back to the beginning to repeat this all again, but I knew in my heart that if I committed fully, I would be able to break through this as well! I committed… I was quick, I took the pinch hard, through my feet out right, pressed the small gaston and screamed as I went for the jug! BOOM! I had it and I was pulling up to rest at the next big jug.

This was my moment… I knew it! I had one opportunity here to take this to the end and to successfully free this pitch. I shook out here for about 5 minutes, just trying to get as much back as I could. The jugs were damp, but on each chalk up and shake, the jug would feel slightly better to hold onto. I got everything back in that time and I just had to hold it together for the next section.

Hi... from the Dolomites :) Postcard Perfect!I pressed on into the headwall of crimps pockets… I was moving confidently despite the insecurity of wet feet and damp handholds. I knew I wasn’t going to be getting anything back if I started to over grip or distrust my feet, so I just focused on giving them all my weight where needed and hoping that my body tension would hold them in the right place.

I broke through the next crux! This was a relief because it was the once place after the main crux here I felt I really could fall… I continued the progression and made it further and further along the wall. Occasionally I would do a committing move and scream for it just for that added confidence to my movement, every time I was successful! I soon came to a mega rest where I did a heel toe lock and could hang of backwards, hands free hundreds of feet in the air… The liberating feeling of hanging upside down from one of the most exposed pieces of rock I have ever been on, hundreds of feet from the ground was amazing! You feel like you are flying up there… I felt all my energy come back to me after a few minutes. I was fresh again and ready for the upcoming technical cruxes. I was about 15m from the chains now, it was almost over and I had never fallen off this section before on link.

I ran through the next sequence of moves in my head, then committed! The moves flowed and I was flowing with them… everything felt easy and I was making sure I was continuing to trust my feet. There was one move to a jug where I moved dynamically for it and accidentally punched it, but latched on as I fell back… close! I rested up again… 5m to go!

Freezing cold at the Bivvy... COLDEST NIGHT EVERRRRRR!!!!!I felt good and went for one last burn… the last 4m… 3m… 2m… I saw the chains… I pressed a gaston crimp, the index finger broke of a small chunk… SHIT! I matched it with my right hand… the pinky broke of something else… SHIT!!! I shifted my weight out left on some small crossly feet… I had run it out here skipping the last 2 pegs and was looking at at least a 10m run-out since the last rusty peg… I reached out and grabbed a slot in the wall, turned the right hand into an undercut and clipped the chains! I grabbed the rope chains, through my arm around them for added security and clipped hard into the bolts! YASSSSSSSSSS!!!! I screamed! I was howling with happiness! I heard Logan screaming back and even a few dots from the ground screaming stuff up at us hahaha! I couldn’t believe I had done the pitch…

Logan followed up on second, we were celebrating at the belay shortly before I decided to lead the next 8a pitch. I tied in and went for it straight away and managed to dispatch quickly without much effort (it’s probably only 7b+ anyway).

This was where the EPIC started… We accidentally went the wrong way and after an 8m run-out on terrible rock and no sign of gear, we realized something was wrong. We spent an hour trying to find the way before I decided to try traversing onto the Swiss route out right. The Swiss route was 10m off and we couldn’t see any gear apart from that of the Swiss route, but I decided that that was better than climbing into the unknown… However, about 5m into the traverse, I found a peg and felt happier knowing that somebody had done this traverse before hahaha I realized soon after that this was the way we were supposed to go and was confidently moving upwards on 7a-ish climbing.

We reached the bivy ledge shortly before a huge thunderstorm hit us… The rain was heavy and the thunder and lightning was terrifying! Logan and I huddled together for warmth and survivial from 7pm to 5am the next morning… It was the coldest night of my life! I couldn’t feel my legs the whole time and at one point I was seriously wondering how likely it would be to ever feel my toes again…

In the morning, the rain had stopped, but the wind was strong and the waterfall coming over the top of the Cima Ouest had grown over night and become a torrent over our route. We had not much option but to try and escape the route… We traversed under the waterfall getting quite wet, Logan especially as he had to belay under the freezing waterfall as I traversed the chossiest rock I have ever seen. I was searching for a way to abseil off the tower, a good belay point and an obvious line below where another route might be coming up. After traversing about 90m rightwards along a loose, chossy and scary runout ledge system, we eventually reached a decent belay and made three double rope abseils off the tower. When I finally touched the ground, I felt like kissing it!

Although we hadn’t summited the tower, we had accomplished something amazing for us and we were overjoyed to be able to revel in our experience back at the refugio with a nice warm cooked lunch!

This experience has left me with no doubt in my mind that this style of climbing leaves something with you unlike that of any single pitch climb. Its a true battle with your body and mind. You have to be strong enough to do the route, mentally strong enough to deal with the fear, but more than anything, you have to have the undying will power to keep going despite what happens. When the shit hits the fan and things get dangerous, you have to be clever and decide what its worth. It’s not like giving up is even an easy option in any case, because escaping the route in bad conditions can be as hard as summiting. We were lucky when we traversed the right way and found the belays… but we might also have been unlucky… if we hadn’t had found them, we would be in a much worse scenario… If we had decided to press on the night before in an attempt to summit, we would probably be climbing in the dark in a thunderstorm and even if we reached the top, we would be wet, freezing, and spending the night up there with no way of getting down before 5am!

I was strong enough to do the route which is a product of my training over the years, but equally, I am not an experienced alpine climber and I need to do more of this before I can really make a mark in this field (something I am really psyched about). I am very happy that Logan was with me on this route, I don’t think I could have done it without him and I am really psyched that we did this as a team… Hopefully the first of many future adventures in the alpine…

What’s next?  Well we are in Zillertal now sport climbing and trad climbing. We want to do the trad finger crack line “Ganja” 8a+ which will be my hardest trad route and my first ever finger crack haha I also tried “Love 2.1” (8c+) which I was really keen to work. I felt like it was a good route for me to do here and that it would go down quick after a couple more sessions on it, but unfortunately there was not as lot for Logan at that crag, so I have left it for another trip. We are now planning a few more days here in Zillertal to finish of the crack project and visit a couple more crags before heading to Grindelwald in an attempt to summit the Eiger and to climb one of the mega routes up the North Face. If we are lucky then the weather will be on our side… So far it has not…

Wish us luck everyone :D

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” ? Phil Jackson

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

[comPiler]

On the 5th Day... BELLAVISTA
9 August 2014, 9:54 am

Bellavista



Well… Long story short… Logan and I were successful in our attempt to free one of Europes toughest multi-pitch challenges and indeed one of the world’s most famous, hard, alpine style rock climbs. But the short story long is a far better tale to tell, so that is what I will tell now…

View from our tent ;)We travelled back to the Dolomites after a break in the bad weather would allow us to have a bit more time working the crux pitch. We had only had 2 days on the route so far and it had already seemed very possible to free climb, however the prospect of doing the whole route including all the separate pitches in one single push still felt like it would be a real challenge, and would require us to be on top form, climbing everything exceptionally well and especially to have the crux pitch dialed.

Chilling out making dinner night before the send...Logan had already decided that for him, it was more about the experience of doing the whole climb as a team and had reserved to take the second on the more difficult pitches to allow me to get the free ascent of those. For me, I wouldn’t really be satisfied with anything other than to free the crux pitches ground up… Alpine climbing is approached very differently than other forms of climbing I feel. It’s not about doing the climb free solely; it’s about getting to the top and experiencing the adventure that the climb takes you on. You can approach alpine climbing with a multitude of varying styles i.e. free, aid, team, individual or mixed ascent. Each has its own merits and are impressive in their own way depending on the route. Also, it varies a lot with the conditions you get on your ascent as sometimes it is impossible to complete free or indeed becomes very dangerous and stupid to attempt if the bad weather hits as is often the case in the alpine environment. You have to learn to take what you get sometimes and if your preferred style of ascent is not possible, then you just have to go with what is the most sensible option…

Being in the mountains is where we feel home... My desire was to free the route, climbing the most difficult and personally challenging pitches that I felt made the difference to the overall experience of making the free ascent and of course, to top out on the summit of Cima Ouest.

We spent our third and fourth day simply working the crux pitch, a really tough traverse that was already 6 pitches up on the face, hundreds of feet from the ground, on the most exposed face of the Dolomites and probably one of the steepest sections of multi-pitch climbing in the world! This pitch is famous for being the toughest in terms of technical difficulty of the whole route and has proven to be a stand out test of pure climbing ability compared with the rest of the climb which is relatively easy in technical terms. But saying that… the mental aspect of other pitches is far more demanding… I will go into this later…

So, the idea for day 3 and 4 was for me to become immersed in the crux pitch. To learn it’s secrets and to become comfortable climbing it so that when we went for a full free ascent (which we had scheduled for the Monday, after a rest day from day 4) I would be able to just hit it on command without too much hassle.

Leading one of the 7a pitches... As you can see in the background, we are in a cloud!!!What actually happened was that I struggled with the conditions of the rock during those two days. I could link large sections of the crux pitch together, but nearly always I would hold back and not try as hard as I could simply because I was uneasy with the slippy nature of the rock. Unfortunately, the rock up there is very susceptible to humidity and sucks in the moisture becoming almost permanently damp and slimy. It’s the kind of conditions that if you were at a sport crag, you just wouldn’t bother climbing it and you would pass it off for another, better day… However, Alpine climbing is very different and you have to learn to just take what you get.

On the 4^th day working the route, we bumped into none other than Dave Macleod who was there scoping out a potential new line and trying the crux pitch of “Panorama”. It was good to chat to Dave briefly about “Bellavista” as he had done the crux pitch with Alan Cassidy on a previous trip, however I was a little dismayed when he told me that the conditions they got where “Very windy and freezing cold”… So far all we had got was “zero to light wind and quite warm humid conditions”. We weren’t going to get freezing temps and so far the wind had been minimal. It’s been the wettest summer in the Dolomites for 30 years and despite a number of professional climbers stating they would be out trying “Bellavista” now, they hadn’t shown up on account of the weather… I basically decided that the best I would get was what I had already been experiencing, and although it wasn’t completely terrible (i.e. the route wasn’t soaking wet), it wasn’t ideal. On Day 4, I made some good links and realized that if I broke through the first 15m of climbing of the 55m pitch, then in reality, if I tried hard enough and pushed on through it, I could climb the remaining 40m even in bad conditions… I would just have to try BLOODY HARD!!!

At the belay of the crux pitch... CHECK OUT THAT ROOF!!!We had a day to rest; I said to Logan that I felt it might just be worth having an attempt to free from the ground on the assumption that all I needed to do this thing was the pressure to send! I already felt that I was holding Logan back slightly with this route as he wasn’t trying the crux anymore, just belaying me… Both of our ambitions to climb the route relied on my ability to climb the pitch, and I knew it was possible; the only thing holding me back was myself… I needed to be put on the spot, I needed to have to do the pitch, not just to prove I can do it, but to actually be in the situation where when I do it, we keep busting through the upper pitches to the top of the wall!

We spoke about what the best approach would be for us to climb the route… I wanted to have the full tick, i.e. to free every pitch, but on the actual send to swing leads and for me to climb the pitches that we both felt made the difference to claiming the individual free ascent of “Bellavista”. In my eyes, that was by leading pitch 1 (7b), Pitch 6 (8c) and Pitch 7 (8a). I had already lead the other pitches free onsight anyway and I didn’t feel they had as much to offer as those three in particular. So it was decided that I would lead those on the day and Logan would lead the rest. I ended up linking pitch 1 (7b) and 2 (6c) together and Logan linked pitch 3 (6a), 4 (7a) and 5 (7a+) together.

Logan getting excited at the belay...For me, there really was only two pitches that I was worried about (the 8c and the 7b). Pitch 7 (8a) was actually very easy, I thought it felt like a low-end 7b+. There was one tricky move after a huge rest and then it was good holds the rest of the way. Pitch 1 (7b) I was really nervous about... The 7b pitch was scary; it had a 10m run-out to the first piece of gear (a rusty peg) then more run-outs between more rusty pegs (all suspect and one of which I know already wouldn’t hold a fall). Not to mention the rock quality here is terrible… foothold and handholds crumble off practically every couple of moves, you basically just can’t trust anything completely. Finally, the crux is a bit of a lunge around a small roof which you get to via a run-out from a very bad peg that pops out if you so much as look at it the wrong way… the rock quality in the roof is the worst on the route and I must have sent a good few kilos of choss down on Logan when I was on my lead here. Climbing this pitch for me was probably the toughest mental battle I faced on the whole climb… I knew in some places that if I fell… it wasn’t going to be a learning curve… Falling at the roof would be a bad fall if that peg snaps. But I think I learned more about myself climbing that pitch than any other climb I have ever done… I discovered what I can handle and what the potential for me to do in that style is.

After leading that very scary 7b and the following 6c, I was amped up for the crux pitch but still had to wait for Logan to follow me up and for him to lead the remaining few pitches, then I would follow him on second. Logan breezed through these alright but the conditions weren’t the best and both the 7a and 7a+ pitches were pretty wet… I followed him with a rucksack on with all our gear and was finding it a really intense warm up for before the crux pitch. I managed to get through but took a fall on the 7a+ when my hand slipped out a massive wet jug just before the chains! So I lowered down and repeated that pitch again just so I could claim the whole route free…

We were now at the belay of the 8c pitch… I wasn’t really nervous, I was psyched for giving this thing my all! I went up once just to pad out the holds with a fresh layer of chalk as the conditions on the first section were pretty bad. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting for a sending try, but I knew it wouldn’t get any better, so I just had to try bloody hard! I attempted to replace a broken pin that I had fallen on after the crux from a previous day but unfortunately the sky hook failed and I took a big fall onto another suspect pin… Nervous enough as it was, I decided not to risk that again and came back to the belay.

At the belay, I took a 5 minute break, joked with Logan a bit and got myself prepared for the attempt… I was going through the sequences in my head, I had it all dialed… I knew if I got through the first crux, then I could get through all the next section as well.

And so… I went for it!

That is a LONG way down...I climbed through the initial traverse section easily, it wasn’t hard, just damp. I wasn’t going to fall off here anyway, but the dampness of the holds doesn’t help for the upcoming crux sequence on smaller sloppier holds. I rested up on a couple of 3 finger pockets before committing fully on for the first part of the crux! I managed to break through and before I knew it, I was resting on a jug pocket and positive crimp. I shook here a few times… the next section was the boulder. Only a couple of hard moves, but the holds are quite small and very damp. I had fallen here a few times before when my hand would just slip of them without warning. I was slightly nervous about doing this sequence because I didn’t really want to have to go back to the beginning to repeat this all again, but I knew in my heart that if I committed fully, I would be able to break through this as well! I committed… I was quick, I took the pinch hard, through my feet out right, pressed the small gaston and screamed as I went for the jug! BOOM! I had it and I was pulling up to rest at the next big jug.

This was my moment… I knew it! I had one opportunity here to take this to the end and to successfully free this pitch. I shook out here for about 5 minutes, just trying to get as much back as I could. The jugs were damp, but on each chalk up and shake, the jug would feel slightly better to hold onto. I got everything back in that time and I just had to hold it together for the next section.

Hi... from the Dolomites :) Postcard Perfect!I pressed on into the headwall of crimps pockets… I was moving confidently despite the insecurity of wet feet and damp handholds. I knew I wasn’t going to be getting anything back if I started to over grip or distrust my feet, so I just focused on giving them all my weight where needed and hoping that my body tension would hold them in the right place.

I broke through the next crux! This was a relief because it was the once place after the main crux here I felt I really could fall… I continued the progression and made it further and further along the wall. Occasionally I would do a committing move and scream for it just for that added confidence to my movement, every time I was successful! I soon came to a mega rest where I did a heel toe lock and could hang of backwards, hands free hundreds of feet in the air… The liberating feeling of hanging upside down from one of the most exposed pieces of rock I have ever been on, hundreds of feet from the ground was amazing! You feel like you are flying up there… I felt all my energy come back to me after a few minutes. I was fresh again and ready for the upcoming technical cruxes. I was about 15m from the chains now, it was almost over and I had never fallen off this section before on link.

I ran through the next sequence of moves in my head, then committed! The moves flowed and I was flowing with them… everything felt easy and I was making sure I was continuing to trust my feet. There was one move to a jug where I moved dynamically for it and accidentally punched it, but latched on as I fell back… close! I rested up again… 5m to go!

Freezing cold at the Bivvy... COLDEST NIGHT EVERRRRRR!!!!!I felt good and went for one last burn… the last 4m… 3m… 2m… I saw the chains… I pressed a gaston crimp, the index finger broke of a small chunk… SHIT! I matched it with my right hand… the pinky broke of something else… SHIT!!! I shifted my weight out left on some small crossly feet… I had run it out here skipping the last 2 pegs and was looking at at least a 10m run-out since the last rusty peg… I reached out and grabbed a slot in the wall, turned the right hand into an undercut and clipped the chains! I grabbed the rope chains, through my arm around them for added security and clipped hard into the bolts! YASSSSSSSSSS!!!! I screamed! I was howling with happiness! I heard Logan screaming back and even a few dots from the ground screaming stuff up at us hahaha! I couldn’t believe I had done the pitch…

Logan followed up on second, we were celebrating at the belay shortly before I decided to lead the next 8a pitch. I tied in and went for it straight away and managed to dispatch quickly without much effort (it’s probably only 7b+ anyway).

This was where the EPIC started… We accidentally went the wrong way and after an 8m run-out on terrible rock and no sign of gear, we realized something was wrong. We spent an hour trying to find the way before I decided to try traversing onto the Swiss route out right. The Swiss route was 10m off and we couldn’t see any gear apart from that of the Swiss route, but I decided that that was better than climbing into the unknown… However, about 5m into the traverse, I found a peg and felt happier knowing that somebody had done this traverse before hahaha I realized soon after that this was the way we were supposed to go and was confidently moving upwards on 7a-ish climbing.

We reached the bivy ledge shortly before a huge thunderstorm hit us… The rain was heavy and the thunder and lightning was terrifying! Logan and I huddled together for warmth and survivial from 7pm to 5am the next morning… It was the coldest night of my life! I couldn’t feel my legs the whole time and at one point I was seriously wondering how likely it would be to ever feel my toes again…

In the morning, the rain had stopped, but the wind was strong and the waterfall coming over the top of the Cima Ouest had grown over night and become a torrent over our route. We had not much option but to try and escape the route… We traversed under the waterfall getting quite wet, Logan especially as he had to belay under the freezing waterfall as I traversed the chossiest rock I have ever seen. I was searching for a way to abseil off the tower, a good belay point and an obvious line below where another route might be coming up. After traversing about 90m rightwards along a loose, chossy and scary runout ledge system, we eventually reached a decent belay and made three double rope abseils off the tower. When I finally touched the ground, I felt like kissing it!

Although we hadn’t summited the tower, we had accomplished something amazing for us and we were overjoyed to be able to revel in our experience back at the refugio with a nice warm cooked lunch!

This experience has left me with no doubt in my mind that this style of climbing leaves something with you unlike that of any single pitch climb. Its a true battle with your body and mind. You have to be strong enough to do the route, mentally strong enough to deal with the fear, but more than anything, you have to have the undying will power to keep going despite what happens. When the shit hits the fan and things get dangerous, you have to be clever and decide what its worth. It’s not like giving up is even an easy option in any case, because escaping the route in bad conditions can be as hard as summiting. We were lucky when we traversed the right way and found the belays… but we might also have been unlucky… if we hadn’t had found them, we would be in a much worse scenario… If we had decided to press on the night before in an attempt to summit, we would probably be climbing in the dark in a thunderstorm and even if we reached the top, we would be wet, freezing, and spending the night up there with no way of getting down before 5am!

I was strong enough to do the route which is a product of my training over the years, but equally, I am not an experienced alpine climber and I need to do more of this before I can really make a mark in this field (something I am really psyched about). I am very happy that Logan was with me on this route, I don’t think I could have done it without him and I am really psyched that we did this as a team… Hopefully the first of many future adventures in the alpine…

What’s next?  Well we are in Zillertal now sport climbing and trad climbing. We want to do the trad finger crack line “Ganja” 8a+ which will be my hardest trad route and my first ever finger crack haha I also tried “Love 2.1” (8c+) which I was really keen to work. I felt like it was a good route for me to do here and that it would go down quick after a couple more sessions on it, but unfortunately there was not as lot for Logan at that crag, so I have left it for another trip. We are now planning a few more days here in Zillertal to finish of the crack project and visit a couple more crags before heading to Grindelwald in an attempt to summit the Eiger and to climb one of the mega routes up the North Face. If we are lucky then the weather will be on our side… So far it has not…

Wish us luck everyone :D

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” ? Phil Jackson

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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Crack Addiction and Pockets
26 August 2014, 12:45 pm

After all the excitement of having climbed “Bellavista”, Logan and I gave ourselves a little bit of a rest from the alpine environment and headed instead for some apparently, more relaxing sport climbing adventures in Zillertal, Austria.

The reason I say “apparently” is because relaxing was not the best way to put our time in Zillertal… It was always raining when we were there, the camping situation wasn’t the best and Logan was having a bit of a hard time on the tough granite (Schist) style. We just felt dirty the whole time, something I have gotten quite used to on climbing holidays, but it does get a bit old after a while… it is nice to be in a proper campsite that caters for your basic needs such as warm showers, toilets, wifi… (not sure if that last one qualifies?).

The rain was starting to depress us slightly. We would have a decent one day window before the heavens opened sometime in the afternoon and we’d get washed out. Then of course the next day was generally completely wet or the crags would be really humid. It didn’t really stop us climbing too much, but it would have been nice to have some better conditions to climb in.

We had a couple of days at an excellent crag called “Ewige Jugrunde”, a place where I am going back as soon as I get a chance. I tried an 8c+ there called “Love 2.1”. Although I only had two goes on it, I felt it coming together quickly and despite the bad conditions, I could link large sections of it together and felt that within another day or so, I would be able to do it from the ground and be aiming for the send! Unfortunately, Logan was having less of a good time here… We discovered that Zillertal tends to favour those with superior climbing abilities and technique… hahaha no only joking… we discovered that Zillertal favours those who are a little taller than 156cm (Logan’s height). Despite that, Logan never once doubted the quality of the climbing in question… only how God obviously hates him and designed this place to torment him…

At Ewige Jugrunde, we also did a few other awesome climbs, one of which was a 7a+ on the right, which we warmed up on. “Warm Up” is a choice phrase for this; I would have said it felt more like “Taking to Boiling Point”! I was almost off in one section and then again felt really unsteady at the second crux… First time I have felt this on a 7a+ in a long time! Logan began his “attempt” which swiftly ended at the first crux . This was followed shortly after with flying curses and swear words at the route (always a funny reaction climbers have to an inanimate blank face of rock). We’ve all been there :P

I then tried an 8a to the left very briefly after Logan had left his quickdraws from the previous day. I tried to flash it, but was quickly denied about mid-way through the crux. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to get through it semi-gracefully. Apart from being a classic, this route was bloody desperate and I am eager to return to send it next trip!

We then tried a 7c on the left that I think might be the hardest 7c on earth! I did it on my 2^nd go, but holy crap its hard to read! Logan had about 5 or 6 goes in total. He has done 8b quicker than that!

We then both sent a 7c+ on the right, Logan managed it 2^nd go and I onsighted it. This felt about two grades easier than the 7c (but it was longer and more endurance based) and with no moves anywhere near as hard as the 7a+ I was relieved to find out.

That was when we left Ewige Jugrunde. I am really keen to return as soon as possible for “Love 2.1” :D Anyone keen for any Austrian adventures?

 

Learning to Crack Climb… on 8a!



My experience of trad crack climbing is limited to the hand jam at the end of ‘Ethiopia” (8a+) in Arapiles, Australia. That is about as much crack as I have done… and none of the drug sort either!

Logan and I spied that there was a sick looking finger crack hidden within the valley somewhere called “Ganja” (8a). When we found it, we were in awe of how pure the crack was… It was a single line up an almost blank, dark face of Granite. There was literally one face hold in 8m of crack, the rest was just the fissure line before topping out.

We were both pretty excited about the prospect of trying something so wildly different and as soon as we had a break in the weather, we “cracked” out the trad gear and threw a top rope down it to inspect the gear placements and try the moves. As this was my first ever crack climbing experience, I was really eager to learn the techniques. I discovered early on that crack climbing is vastly different to face climbing (what I am used to). It was really bloody hard for me! It took me ages to figure out a good sequence and for what was graded 8a, it felt a lot harder initially!

After about an hour or two of trying the moves with copious amounts of tape wrapped around my fingers, I was starting to feel how possible it was to climb such a seemingly thin crack. The only unfortunate business was that my fingers were getting torn up in the crack and my hands needed a rest to regrow some skin. So Logan and I opted for a rest day before we would hit “Ganja” again for one last attack!

We decided that as the conditions were so bad in the alps and the Eiger was looking increasingly unlikely for a decent attempt within our time frame, we would move base to a different climbing area away from the mountains. Frankenjura was somewhere Logan and I had never been before and was high on the tick list of places to visit, so it made sense seeing as it was only a few hours drive away. We went climbing at the Bergstation crag in Zillertal in the morning and headed to “Ganja” in the evening. I felt strong on the day, I climbed an 8b+ called “Elements of Addiction” on my second try, only working it as a warm up. I actually think I could have flashed this with the beta! Logan tried an 8a+ but the conditions at the crag where not great, as it had rained all night, a lot of the crag was wet and there was high humidity in the air… The rock was very soapy and the holds on the 8a+ were not working for Logan, so he stripped it and we left for “Ganja”.

Paul Steinig on "Witchcraft" (8a+)When we arrived at “Ganja”, we found the route in perfect condition, apart from a really wet part of the crack right at the start. We chalked it up loads and tried our best to dry it, but it never worked that well. Logan went for an attempt and did really well, breaking through the first crux and falling right at the very top after the point he felt he would not fall off after. It was really unlucky, but a good attempt nonetheless. I then went for an attempt, similarly to Logan, I did really well and even got further than Logan again making the jug crack at the top! I was only a move off topping out when my foot slipped on one of the smeary footholds and I came flying off! This was frustrating, especially as I had used up a lot of skin jamming my hands and fingers in the crack all the way up the wall. I knew I could repeat this effort again, so I chilled out for a bit and belayed Logan on his next attempt. Unfortunately, Logan never faired as well as he had on his first attempt. Now he was struggling getting past the first few moves… The crack he was using was damp and he kept slipping out of it. He was getting more and more frustrated and I could tell it wasn’t good for him. Eventually he decided to sack it off and not bother trying… I figured he just needed to have a rest overnight and try again the next day, but it was also due to rain and we had planned to move to Frankenjura the next morning.

I felt a lot more rested now and decided to give it a 2^nd go for that session. The crack felt even harder now, but I was absolutely determined to do it! I stuffed one finger into small pod at the third move, locking off deep, this allowed me to place a high nut into the crack (my first piece of gear). I found this first boulder crux the hardest physically. The mono ring finger jam was painful and a deep lock took me to a high sidepull jam that I couldn’t quite get to work properly, it always felt like it was slipping out.

Thanks Jacopo Larcher for this awesome photo :)

This was scary for me as my ring finger jam was solid and even quite difficult to get out once I was stood up. The smeary feet felt insecure and I was worried that if I slipped, my ring finger would remain where I left it i.e. inside the crack! Luckily, I never slipped and I managed to lock off into a crimp on the side of the crack. The rest of the climbing was really insecure for me; the jamming was never perfect, largely due to the lack of experience more than the holds, but nevertheless I pressed on and somehow managed to get to my previous high point. This time I was determined not to let it slip away, and soon enough I had latched the final jug hold and mantled out on top of the large boulder. I was so relieved to have sent the route on this try but more so satisfied with just having climbed the crack in the first place! It was such a wild style of climb and for me, and introduction to new potential climbs and adventures in this style J

Frankenjura – Land of Pockets, Beer and Cakes



The Action Directe!Frankenura is a fabled land in climbing… It was here that some of the worlds hardest routes have been put up in the past. By legendary climbers such as Wolfgang Gullich, Kurt Albert, Jerry Moffatt and others… It is in Frankenjura that the world’s first 9a, “Action Directe” resides, and visiting this amazing route was more for me a history lesson than a climbing experience.

On our first day, we visited two crags. One of them was to try an 8c I had heard was really good called “Raubritter” and the other was to an easier crag where we climbed an 8a+ called “Witchcraft”. I did “Witchcraft” on my 2^nd go. I had a flash attempt but didn’t feel warmed up and when I arrived at the final moves, I didn’t really want to pull hard on the pockets and gave a half-hearted attempt at making it to a two finger pocket. Logan was really strong in this style and was close to doing “Witchcraft” on his first day, but needed in the end a second day and a few more attempts to lock in the send.

On our second day, I did the famous 8a+ called “Slimline” next door to “Action Directe”, the world’s first 9a! Being at this crag was pretty special; to look up at “Action Directe” and to realize how much effort had gone into doing this piece of rock by Wolfgang Gullich was pretty inspiring. There were walkers in the woods watching us climb and I felt a little bit of hilarity thinking that these people didn’t realize that what they were looking at was actually one of the world’s hardest routes and a piece of climbing history.

Paul and Logan Duelling for the next go on "Slimline"“Slimline” was an awesome route and pretty hard for me. It took me 3 tries in total but I had to work hard on my 3^rd attempt. It’s funny because usually 8a+ doesn’t feel this hard… in fact 8b+ doesn’t usually feel this hard hahaha but that just goes to show you how style has such a big impact in climbing. Climbers are too obsessed with being the best in every style and it is just impossible! On this trip I have climbed 8c multipitch in the alpine, 8b+ on granite in a day, crack climbed granite 8a, runout scary trad pitches on dodgy rock and climbed 8a+ pocketed limestone (so far). Every one of those is vastly different from the next and requires a huge range of skills, few of which I would say I am good at. It’s just impossible to always be on top form in every discipline, but I do have problems telling myself this… I want to be doing the best in all disciplines and styles at the same time and it’s just not possible.

I knew full well that I would struggle with the style in Frankenjura. Bouldering on pockets is probably my weakest style and that is essentially what Frankenjura is all about. Most of the routes are very short and the difficulty of climbing resides largely in being able to pull hard on shallow three, two and one finger pockets with bad feet. Of course weaknesses are meant to be trained and it’s only by visiting these crags that we learn how really weak we are, this is what gives us motivation to train and improve. Also to learn how strong climbers such as Alex Megos, Wolfgang Gullich, Jerry Moffat and my friend Felix Neumarker actually are. What they have achieved in Frankenjura blows my mind and inspires me to push harder and train harder than ever to achieve my goals!

The Magic of the ForestI am psyched now to get stuck into some serious training when I am home and hope that it will prepare me well for my upcoming projects and for maybe a trip back to Frankenura in 2015 :D

Post Blog Update: In my remaining days in the Frankenjura I climbed a few more classic routes in the 7c-8a+ region including a classic boulder-esque 8a+/b “Masterblaster”. This was interesting as it has the slash grade and for me was easier than most of the other 8a+’s that were considered low in the grade! “Masterblaster” is short, powerful and the only pockets are a split two finger that’s juggy enough to clip and shake from… Looks like I’m gonna be training the pocket strength a lot more from now on!

                           Leaving Frankenjura... for now :)

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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The Transition - Where is it I am going?
3 February 2015, 11:23 pm

 

A lot of people have been confronting me recently on my apparent change of focus to trad climbing. For those of you who don’t know, I would probably be regarded as a “sport climber” if you were to file me into a category… and I definitely wouldn’t disagree here as sport climbing is what I have primarily done up until recently.

The real answer to the question, “why the sudden change?” is actually not that difficult to comprehend. In fact the route to this question stems from the reasons why I started climbing in the first place… Challenge!

Me climbing "On The Rocks" E7 6c (Photo by Russell Lovett)I have learned more about myself from climbing than anything else I have done. Climbing has brought me so much in life… travel, experiences, friendships and a pathway. And climbing has brought me to one ultimate understanding… I need challenges or I get bored :P

After climbing “Bellavista” in the Dolomites last summer with Logan Barber, I found myself back in my usual routine at home… training, coaching, setting and looking forward to the next sport-climbing trip abroad. Something was different though and I wasn’t totally happy with my situation. I found myself thinking back to the experiences I had climbing “Bellavista”; being up there in the mountains, the exposure whilst climbing hard, the fear, the thrill and everything that goes along with being pretty out there on a climb whilst trying to push your limit! It really was the ultimate experience and everything else felt so dull in comparison…

I went on a jaunt to Rodellar with a hope that I could rekindle that burning flame J It was a fun trip of course, I was with good friends and I was climbing well… but still it felt a little off, not quite what I was accustomed to. Everything was so easy out there… You get up, make your lunch, go to the crag, clip some bolts, come home, have dinner, watch a movie, go to bed, sleep, repeat… The formulaic approach to the comfortable sport climbing lifestyle just didn’t exhilarate me as much as it had done before. I still absolutely loved the experience of climbing hard sport routes, but I did know that what “Bellavista” gave me was more than just a tick in the guidebook and another grade to add to the list; it was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life, it shaped me and made me grow more than any experience I have had in a long long time.

When I came home I did some soul searching… I asked myself deep questions. The truth is that none of the questions can really be answered, but they can be pondered. I think it’s good to ponder about life and choices from time to time as it provides some form of clarity or “feeling of direction”. One of the many questions I asked myself was “Why I climb”? This is an easy one at first glance; because I enjoy it! Simples! However, when I dug deeper I found the answer was a little more complicated as I wanted to understand what I derive my pleasure in climbing from.Deil's Head

In the past I have taken great enjoyment in the experiences I have had when training for a project, sending a project, travelling, meeting new people, making friendships and more recently undertaking a monumental goal to accomplish something really BIG! The social experiences I have in climbing are incredible and to be honest don’t really change so much between what activities you partake in whether its at a wall or at a crag. However the challenges of the climbs I do was an obvious element to look into and what became very apparent was that I gained most enjoyment from overcoming incredible obstacles! Many of these obstacles took the guise of mental barriers such as “Fear” (in one form or another).

“Bellavista” scared me… but I overcame it! I made decisions on that wall to fight rather than give in, to go rather than stop and basically to end a battle with my mind one way or another!

I realized that I needed new stimulation, a new arena to fight in and something else that offered more than just a wall to figure out the sequence and fight my way through it. I still have much to learn and improve upon in the arena of hard sport climbing, but I decided to look into testing myself at trad climbing with a view to preparing myself for some bigger more adventurous stuff at a later date.

Neil working the moves on "Deil Or No Deil" (E8 6b)So that’s it, I have started my trad apprenticeship officially in 2015 :D It’s been a good January of getting into it. I have made a few trips down to Northumberland where with friends I have made some fun head-point ascents of known classics such as “On the Rocks” E7 6c, “Off the Rocks” E8 6c and even took a belter of a fall from “Peak Technique” E6 6b. The other amazing experience I had recently was my first ever trad first ascent alongside one of the key inspirations in my climbing life, Neil McGeachy. Together we climbed the “Deil’s Head” on the Arbroath sea cliffs on trad gear, a line that hasn’t been freed before and we head-pointed it giving it E8 6b naming it “Deil Or No Deil”.

So far the challenges of keeping a cool head and climbing under pressure have been intriguing to say the least. I am interested to see how I respond to more scary trad routes, how my strength of character on the wall holds up against varying styles of climbs. So far the routes I have done have been less technically challenging and more mentally so, but I am keen to explore what the harder more technical trad climbs offer (albeit being safer). Of course I don’t want to limit my scope and I really do want to diversify and experience all styles, so I am hoping to travel around and make the most of the British trad crags and not to only seek out hard head-points but to challenge my skills as an on-sighter as well. I respect that both styles offer advantages and disadvantages and are equally as impressive in their own way, so I would like to do both.

Of course the ultimate goal is to seek out newer challenges hopefully culminating in some first ascent action in Scotland and beyond :D Looking forward to everything that this year holds with a new step in my climbing development!

Neil happy to have topped out on "Deil Or No Deil" FA!!!

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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"New Statesman" - British Political and Cultural Issues in the Modern Rock Touching World
31 March 2015, 10:11 am



The grit was made famous worldwide after the movie “Hard Grit” was released in the late 90’s. Whenever I travel abroad, the moment it becomes obvious that I’m British (which is generally instant), I am queried about grit… Almost as if this island we live on is just one massive gritstone blob bobbing in and out of the sea :P Well I have a confession to make folks, I’ve not really spent much time on the grit… In fact my time on the grit can be narrowed down to half a day at Stanage bouldering and another spent top roping “Flying Buttress”. Saying that I’ve spent a bit of time recently on the sandstone of Northumberland (my local) and although it is finer grain, there are certainly similar characteristics style and rock formation.

What with the history embedded in gritstone, I kind of feel a little bit intimidated by it. You’d think that a bunch of sandy boulders barely 15m high on average surely wouldn’t be that scary? But I think because as I grew up, the reputation of the grit has been so prevalent in the media, it was always this looming rock that would forever feel scary and formidable to me.John Dunne on the FA

Because I have been getting well into my in trad recently, it made sense to take a trip down to the gritstone and get on a couple of the classics. But being me, I always love a challenge and I wanted to jump straight into the deep end! I contacted a friend of mine, Jacob Cook. We had been discussing gritstone plans for a while and on the cards, “Gaia” and “End of the Affair” had been climbs most often mentioned. I had even almost done a trip down for “Gaia” shortly before my Spain (Chulilla) trip, but weather got the better of us.

Jacob recommended “New Statesman” as a good route for me to try… arguably a very big step into gritstone and not what you would call a standard entry level climb, but it’s an amazing line and there is no harm in trying. Jacob had already climbed it and has even added his own harder variation on the same wall.

I really laid on the pressure with “New Statesman”. Committing myself to trying this with basically no gritstone experience and also brought along Euan Ryan (Finalcrux Films) to film the ascent for an upcoming series documenting my climbing adventures. The plan wasn’t to lead it this trip, simply to work it and figure out what I needed to do in order to make a successful ascent. I had more or less said to myself that this would probably take a good few trips to nail and I didn’t want to rush anything!

Working “New Statesman” was certainly an experience of intense learning and adaptation. I discovered many possible ways to climb the route; but what I wanted was a method that delivered success with the least likeliness of pre-sending failures, any of which might have involved broken bones and a swift end to the climbing season for me! So you can understand why I didn’t want to fall off!Working "New Statesman" sporting my Urban Uprising Tee :D

I played about with the sequences a bit, but by the end of my first day working the route I found my beta after a successful clean top rope from the ground. When this happens, it’s a flurry of emotions… you’ve done the route; all that’s left is to get on the sharp end and climb it “for real”! Not as simple as it might first appear…

I needed a nights rest to ponder my situation. The option to lead it was on the table and I was ebbing strongly in favour for this. The rest of that night I relaxed and had some good fun on my longboard with the guys :D

The next day, it took me the best part of 2 hours to get in the zone; which involved quite a number of false starts. I phoned a friend (Neil McGeachy) for some advice and discussed tactics with Charlie (my belayer). Neil’s advice was simple yet effective… the route would still be here next week. There was no pressure today and to drive home without it would in some ways be a more rememberable experience than to have ticked it off in a weekend. This calmed me down, relieving all pressure and strangely enough I felt hyped up to lead it now!

I had a stare down session with the route; I listened to music and stared at the climb… like an opponent in a duel I approached the climb with deadly seriousness and ambition, I didn’t want to let this beat me, I didn’t want to go away with my tail between my legs. The song “Sleep Forever” by “Portugal. The Man” rung through my headphones…

I stood below the climb reminding myself as I often do of the pointlessness of it all… I am spending hours, days, and years of my life obsessing over rocks, puzzling them out and getting emotional about climbing them; what a silly fool!

On the redpoint I was eerily calm inside… confident in every hand hold, every foot placemen; I knew I could do it! There was no doubt, not even a slither; I had this! As I came to the top of the highball crux section I gave a small power scream to shut out negativity; but that had been killed off long ago!

I rested a bit, then pressed on gaining higher and higher on the climb. It was now feeling quite airy for a boulder, but luckily here comes the comforting gear that famously ripped on Michale Caminati when he fell at the final crux. Staring ahead at the oncoming sequence of smeary unbalanceness above the fated gear that may or may not hold was a curious position to be in; but I was calm… there was nothing that could go wrong! I executed everything precisely and had nothing to fear… and then it was over!On the lead...

Questions cropped up as to why I decided to lead that day. One honest reason is ego… Perhaps it got the better of me? I wanted success and didn’t want to experience a drive back to Edinburgh knowing failure! But that wasn’t the real reason… I think it’s only a feeling you get when you’ve been in this situation but I knew I could do it! In the morning I wasn’t capable of climbing 3m up this thing; and yet after lunch I was impervious to any negative thoughts!

Climbing “New Statesman” for me was a huge step forward in my climbing career. Ego aside (as that’s where I often like to put it), climbing this particular bit of rock was a challenge for me in numerous ways and I learned much from the experience. You can’t put a price on experience and you certainly can’t grade it!

“E” is for “Experience” in this case; not “Extreme” :D

Ethics



One final note goes out in response to some of those who questioned the ethics climbing “New Statesman”.

First of all, my current stance on trad climbing is this:

•      Make the leader as safe as possible
•      Leave no gear behind
•      Respect the rock

I think those are some pretty widely accepted notions of what trad climbing is about. I don’t pretend that others will think differently, but from talking to other experienced trad climbers they agree with these points.

I used pads because I figured it would be safer. I’d say that’s reason enough. I am aware that John Dunne didn’t use mats during the FA, but there have been many ascents of this climb since then that have all involved mats. I conclude that my ascent was better or even on par with John Dunne’s… first of all he did it as a FA, so that’s pretty much as good as it gets! And I’m not too fussed if anybody wants to go repeat it with a bed of nails under them, it’s not a competition about who is bolder (but maybe it is for someone?); it’s climbing a rock at the end of the day… anybody who gets off on being the “big man” by climbing a rock in a particular way should probably reassess life goals; but I’m not going to judge too harshly as I have been that same guy many times before.

Ethics are really funny because what was ethically disdained upon 10 years ago; today is common practice. Some of the folk who have been against the use of mats are the same folk who practiced head-pointing when ground up and onsight style was considered standard and head-pointing was considered “cheating”. My take on this is, as time goes on ethics change… it’s really quite simple and a natural progression to the world and not just our meager little past time of clambering about on rocks.

Grades are a big part of climbing in the 21^st century, but I like to remember that they are man-made and not essential to life!

If I could get across one thing in this blog post it would be this:

“Last week I climbed a rock. I got to the top. I was happy. Some people liked my facebook pictures. Some did not. The End.”

Spotting Charlie on the E1 solo/highball

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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Still an "Unfinished Symphany"...
23 May 2015, 10:55 pm

 

“Unfinished Symphany”



There’s something special about making an ascent of a climb that's  only had a few ascents… I guess it’s like being one of a select group; it makes you feel like “The Big Man”! Sounds like such a ridiculous reason to do anything; but saying that, I think grades are really silly too and a lot of people climb routes for "grades" more than any other reason!

One of the main factors that attracted me to try “Unfinished Symphany” was that I could get a 2^nd ascent. I just like the sound of that… it’s not a first ascent, but it still means a hell of a lot for both the 2^nd ascensionist and more importantly the 1^st ascenisionist! You’re the guy who confirms the difficulty, which is always a point of deep intrigue amongst climbers.

After climbing “Unfinished Symphany”, I was flurried with questions regarding the grade, which only goes to prove how much grades seem to matter to climbers nowadays.

Another main factor to try “Unfinished” was that it was Alan Cassidy’s own addition to Scottish climbing. For as long as I’ve been climbing, Alan has stood out as being one of the top Scottish climbers on the scene, so it’s only natural that I’d be eager to redpoint a “Cassidy Classic”.

My thoughts on the build up to trying “Unfinished” were more along the lines of:

•      “oh shit, this is gonna be desperate!”
•      “I bet it’s really bouldery!”
•      “It’ll be typical Dumby nae foot huds and slippy basalt edges!”
•    
• I do tend to have pre-conceived ideas about climbs... For example, I tend to be very wary of Scottish Sport Climbs, thinking they must be more difficult than Spanish or French sport climbs at the same grade. Also, I am much more accustomed to limestone, so I was a bit wary that the basalt could cause more problems.
  
  We as humans do tend to create pre-conceived ideas fairly early on when we challenge ourselves. Often this is unnecessary, but sometimes it's good as it prepares us for any eventuality. However it's not great to be to blasé about things, but equally so I think it's important to be confident in your approach.
  
  Alan on the lovely sloper rest :D Photo by Adam Lincoln (Stolen for now but I'm sure he won't mind) ;)
  
  Over many years climbing, I feel I have developed quite a confident approach to climbing. When I was younger, I went through a long period of high anxiety around challenging climbing situations. I built up way too much pressure and backed myself into impossible situations in which I felt the only way out was success! I have learned my lessons and now I feel I have a much more secure and healthier grasp on the reality of "challenge" i.e. sometimes you win, sometimes you lose; the times you fall are also the times you learn... so learn to live with it!
  
  Back to "Unfinished Symphany" - it was certainly very bouldery, there was next to no footholds throughout the crux and it was all slippy basalt edges and pinches (standard Dumby really).
  
  For me the climb could be broken down like this:
  
  
•      “Persistence of Vision” – Techy 7a+ (first 15m)
•      V4 boulder including long traverse out right to “Requiem” crack
•      Rest in the crack for full recovery
•      V5 boulder out of the crack to gain sloper rest (not the best rest)
•      V6 boulder to chains
• The route took me 2 days in total (about 5 times on the wall, 2 redpoint burns from the ground). The first time I tried to go straight through from the ground I fell off the 2^nd last boulder leaving the crack. Unfortunately throughout my experience of the route, the crack was always sodden wet. The 2^nd day was better as I brought some cams to place in the crack so I could dry it easier.
  
  On my final redpoint attempt, I was terrified coming out of the crack with wet hands! I knew the upper crux was powerful and core intensive with very bad slippy feet. I really had to dig deep for this one!
  
  I battled through the traverse section and got a quick shake on the uncomfortably positioned sloping rail... here I could collect a few thoughts before questing upwards towards the belay. A few stray thoughts of negativity flew in... things like "your feet might be wet" and "you have to get these holds perfect or you won't hang them"... But luckily I stamped them out quickly enough!
  
  I took one final shake and went all out for the final crux! Each move passed and I was thanking my lucky stars that my core was working well and my feet weren't sliding off the slick basalt smears... and then BOOM! I clipped the chains :D That was a good feeling!
  
   
  
  The Grade
  
  As much as I don’t really understand climbing grades on the whole, I’d say that for me I would confirm Alan’s estimation of 8b+ to be fair. Certainly the difficulty increases the shorter you get so it might end up being even a little bit on the high end if your particularly short of stature. This just goes to prove how utterly nonsensical numbers in climbing are :P
  
  Well done Alan on a fab new addition to Scottish sport climbing, I am honoured to have made the 2^nd ascent of such a great climb and like you, I’m now looking forward to the 3^rd ascent! :D
  
   
  
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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

[SA Chris]

Now for the extension...

[comPiler]

Learning to climb all over again with Beastmaker!
28 May 2015, 12:49 am

 



The Beastmaker Board Comes to EICA

Is it possible that in 10 years of climbing and training; something can come along that totally blows your mind… that re-introduces you to training ideas and concepts… that inspires you and helps you see what is actually possible?Meditating under the Board

Well the answer to this is a resounding… YES!!!

Everyone knows that EICA: Ratho has the best route climbing facility in the UK by a long shot and is, without a doubt, one of the best climbing facilities on earth. The only downside to this amazing centre was that a few years after it opened, they destroyed one of the best bouldering walls in the country (at the time) to make room for offices… bloody offices!!! Who the hell made that awful decision? It has been the black mark on the centre since that day, and really is the only thing that has held the place back from being noticeably the best training facility for climbing. You can’t have a climbing gym without bouldering facilities, especially if it’s an international standard gym!

So climbers at EICA have been left with a mediocre bouldering room and a few really nice, but difficult to train on “feature boulders”.

I have been training with this now for about 10 years and although a good tradesman never blames his tools, I have to say, it does make it more challenging training! Nothing is steeper than about 30 degrees and the wall is covered in features with hardly any space for additional bolt on handholds. The big issue is that because of the lack of space for problems, we tend not to have anything harder than V7 set because most of the problems need to cater for the majority of climbers at the wall.

The first big improvement recently was the addition of an incredible fingerboard hanging station! This is a TRX frame that the guys at EICA doctored to become what I think is the best setup for pure finger strength training I have ever seen :D

But what I want to talk about is not the new hanging station… Nope… it’s our new Beastmaker Board; a 45 degree, 3m wide panel that has been set up with 250 hand carved wooden holds, all of which have been hand placed by Mr Dan Varian himself! We have also included with them a selection of Bleaustone pockets, pinches, crimps and jugs which bring the elitist aspect of the board right down to a healthy V2 level i.e. if you climb V2, you can use the board :)

I have been trying to get EICA to invest in one of these boards for a long time! My wish finally came true when Buz told me there was some money in the budget to put towards improving the training facilities at EICA.

Hearing this news, I instantly emailed Dan and got him to price up the holds/setting. A few months later and he was at the wall, screwing his little heart away, setting up our very own Beastmaker board!

That day when I walked into the centre and saw the board fully set up through the large glass window, a tear came to my eye… The perfectly sculpted holds, the symmetrical patterns… it was like a beautiful butterfly that had transformed from a dirty brown cocoon (aka the board that was there before).

Dan was kind enough to stay for a bit longer and train us in the best way to utilise the board. Now I have been training for years and am rarely told things that surprise me, however there was one thing he discussed that totally changed my perception on one key aspect of my training…Dan giving the Team some tips...

The Beastmaker Board and Core

Dan explained that the key to good core wasn’t in the ability to actually hold a strenuous position like a front lever or L-hang, but actually to be able to transfer the weight/push through the feet in those positions! This is obvious right? I mean, I could have told anyone that; but what I suddenly realized upon getting on the board was that despite knowing the fact, I wasn’t able to implement it on the actual board myself - my feet just kept pinging off all the little foot holds.

The Beastmaker board spanked me… If my feet popped, I was off! If I made a mistake, I was off! There is no room for error on this board, especially with the feet! What you learn quickly is how important the feet are in order to climb these problems, and because of this, it forces your body to learn how to initiate the full strength of your core in a very climbing specific fashion!

I can do front levers fine… I can hold an L-Hang for ages… I can do upside down sit-ups all day… but my feet where popping off! There is obviously a weakness there in the core, but it was a specific weakness, something that would be difficult to target in any other way other than through actual climbing, which is just one reason why the Beastmaker board is such a brilliant piece of kit!

The Beastmaker Board and Technique



It was great having Dan talk us through how to use the board, his opinions on training and how he utilises it for different types of climbing. I have only had the pleasure of training on it these last few weeks, but have noticed a massive improvement since starting.Dan giving me some tips...

The angle of our board is 45 degrees - that is very steep! But what that means is that you can’t get away with not having a strong core, strong fingers and utilising good technique all at the same time. As I always say, it’s not how strong you are, it’s how much of it transfers to your actual climbing through technique… this is the trick, and it is this which the Beastmaker Board trains so effectively!

I have heard so many climbers over the years saying that they can’t climb steep rock because they aren’t strong enough… this is definitely not true! Climbing on steep walls is so technical, more so than slabs and vertical walls! There are so many dimensions to steep climbing, so much more so than slab or vertical because there is a time limit set… you can’t hang off your arms all day and because most slabs and vertical walls have less to do with your hands than your feet, that then reduces the problems you have to deal with on the wall already!

I was totally amazed at how good this board is for training technique. Much to the disapproval of other climbers at the wall, I have been utilising techniques such as drop knees, twisting etc… I know that front on training was something that training gurus like Malcolm Smith, Ben Moon and others all pushed, I really just don’t see the benefit for myself though. If I want to develop the strength for front on training, then I will make a problem that forces this, but I just can’t force myself to train front on when that’s not the technique I should be using for other problems…

I will not sacrifice technique on this board; I just don’t see the benefit. Campus boarding is supposed to be a basic pull movement… climbing is not! If I am climbing, I am moving well! I want to learn how to use the strength I have in a productive way and what better way than by building problems that force the technique out of you whilst training strength and power at the same time?

I have learned more about climbing technique using this board in the last 3 weeks than in years climbing indoors and out for that matter… interesting!?

The Beastmaker Board for Power and Strength Training



I am tough on myself, I know this… but I am also realistic about where I am. I know I am not strong; I am weak compared to my technique and endurance. I have always been good at figuring out the easiest way up the climb. I take pride in this, I don’t climb to be good at training, I train to be good at climbing!Getting ready for a sesh on the board!!!

I have never been able to do 1-4-7 on a campus board, deadhang an edge of one hand or do multiple one armers. I train these because I know I am weak at them, but still… can’t do 1-4-7!

I did 1-4-7 the other day on the campus board without even training it for the first time! 3 weeks on this beastmaker board and I am feeling strong!!! My fingers just aren’t struggling to hang holds like they usually do…

I did a one armer on each arm like it was nothing… I couldn’t believe how easy it was and I haven’t even been regularly training these?

And on top of all this, I have been climbing my project boulder problems on the board. Every session I have been seeing progress and doing new amazing movements that I thought impossible on first try…

As I said before, this strength and power is all transferable. My core is stronger than it ever has been with no dedicated core training routine… All I am doing is using small footholds and trying not to let my feet pop – it’s reaping incredible results!

Yesterday I did a rings session with Jess and I have never felt so strong on them either. I did muscle ups first of all!!! They were so easy - I never even knew I could do them. I tried ages ago and couldn’t, but I was busting them out like they were nothing at all yesterday. I also beat my personal record on dips and one armer assists with no specific training routine focusing on them, just the Beastmaker Board!

Conclusion



I am more convinced than ever that the right training is always going to be what’s most specific to what your doing… Climbing for Climbing. Obviously there needs to be some de-construction of the actual movement so we can focus on specific areas such as antagonists.

Also it is important no to over-train on these! I can see this being incredibly easy to do. I am going to admit this now, but I have gone and done myself a small finger injury by being overzealous on the board… It’s not the end of the world; I am just going to have to be a bit more careful with my training.

The last 3 weeks have been great! It’s given me an insight into training on boards like these. I have never had access to a facility like this for any length of time and now I am amazed at the progress you can make… at the same time I am really aware of the intensity and that intelligence and patience are required to use these to their full potential in the long run!

I am really excited about how this board is going to help develop the local Edinburgh based climbers… Onwards and Upwards!!!

 

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

[duncan]

My core is stronger than it ever has been with no dedicated core training routine… All I am doing is using small footholds and trying not to let my feet pop – it’s reaping incredible results!

Told you so!

 

[comPiler]

Silbergeier - 10 Thousand Hours Lead to This!
9 July 2015, 8:36 pm

 

Everyone has dreams, yet few of us ever get to realise them... Some might say it's sad when you have a dream you will never see realised; the aspirations to realise mine is what ends up taking me to places I never would have gone to without them in the first place! So what if I never realise the dream? Well at least I experienced the journey!

This story is a happy ending though; I didn't just go on the journey... I realised the dream!

The Legendary photo of the no-hands rest on the 7c+ pitch of "Silbergeier"

The Dream I have just spent 7 full days on a 250m high limestone wall attempting to climb one of the world's most famous Alpine multipitch climbs, "Silbergeier".

This climb has been a 10 year dream of mine... Since I first saw the pictures of it, heard the tale of Beat Kammerlander's amazing triumph over this immaculate bullet hard and almost featureless limestone wall and grew up hearing about the even greater challenge of climbing the Alpine Trilogy of which this climb is one third of - it has been in my mind as a climb to aspire to do one day!

A part of me thought that to climb this route would always be a dream... a beautiful one at that, but a dream none-the-less. There is always a leap of faith when you dare to capture a dream like this. What if you fail? What if it all turns to ash in your hands, slipping between your fingers like so many before...

But you can't let the thought of failure stop you, otherwise the dream will never come true. I have been through the process of "dream seeking" before and know through personal failure and triumph that both doubt and fear never help."Silbergeier" takes the really obvious looking barrel feature of this wall

It was born... I decided last year that I wanted to try "Silbergeier" in 2015. It has always been a part of a larger goal to do the "Alpine Trilogy", but "Silbergeier" was always the ultimate of the three!

I needed a partner for the journey but was unsure of any who would be up for the challenge. Whilst in Oz last year, I spoke to my friend Monique Forestier (one of Australia's Top Climbers) about the prospect of such a trip - she was "over the moon" excited!

We kept in touch over the year until finally meeting in Switzerland for the adventure of a lifetime!

Unfortunately we were greeted with very bad weather for the first big chunk of the trip. This meant we had to abandon the Ratikon for drier climates and return when conditions were more suitable. Thankfully the weather got a lot better in the following week and we managed to get a good 5 days on the wall together before Monique had to leave for Australia.Monique arriving to a wet Ratikon :(

Monique and I made good progress on every pitch as each day progressed; however it became apparent very quicky to both of us just how difficult this route really was! It isn't a case of just slapping a grade next to a pitch and saying "yeah, that's how hard that is" - the climbing is extremely technical, really run-out and super exposed! From my 80 odd 8b-c ascents collected from 10 years of sport climbing... I ain't ever climbed anything like these before!

Sadly Monique had to leave, but I wasn't alone! Thankfully my friend from back home, Willis Morris had decided to join me on the trip and felt satisfied enough just being away from the dreary dreak skies of the motherland to belay me for a few days on a big blue limestone wall!Feeling like a mountaineer... in the sunshine... clipping bolts...

The Ascent  Willis spent 2 days on the wall with me before we decided to go for a redpoint. I had had 7 days on the climb and was confident that I could get through the first 4 pitches to the crux 5th pitch, but was unsure of my chances here...

On the day, we got up bright and early, power walked into the crag and jumarred the 200m of static to the base of the climb. Today we would be running of ClifBar products - thank god for them!

I wanted to beat the sun which was coming around fast, so without much rest I ran up the first pitch, a meaty 8b/+ warm up! When this guy arrived... things got a bit more crazy!

By the second pitch the sun was closing in on us but it was still quite cool. I managed to clean the 7c+ pitch also despite it feeling about 8a+ and insanely technical and balancy - probably the most intense 7c+ I have ever climbed!

The third pitch was in the sun now but I was desperate to get through this before being burnt alive on the wall! At 8a+ this pitch was no pushover and for me was one of the most intense pitches of the climb. The climbing like all the previous is really technical and very run-out!

There is one more pitch before a resting bivy ledge - this is 7a, but rest assured if I was to grade it at an indoor wall, the locals would be begging the wall manager for my head and demanding an upgrade! Hahaha!

Willis and I sat up camp on the bivy ledge, fortifying our position on the wall with a collection of our layers and shells to sheild us from the 30 degree sun! It only shaded us partly - my ankles were swollen and burnt by the end of that! We stuck it out for 4 hours, baking in the sun before finally the sun passed around the mountain.When I was a kid I used to love building forts... Now that I am 25, I still love building forts!

It was finally my time to put the skills to the test... the dreaded 5th pitch! Grades are so subjective so you can't expect anything from the number on these big walls, but for me this pitch was absolutely terrifying! The climbing is extremely technical, the wall is dead vertical to slightly overhung, the holds are visciously small, always sharp and often gnarly razor crimps or shallow serated pockets! Maybe it's just me... I'm 70kg of "muscle + organs" and about 10kg of "flabby bits" give or take a kilo depending on whose feeding me... that's a lot of guy to be hauling up on those small holds!

In not much time at all, I found myself "somehow" working my way through the cruxy bottom half and into the demanding headwall! A nightmare thought appeared in my mind - my friend Manu, a 9a strong German crusher relayed to me his experiences of falling on this section of the climb on three separate occassions from which he had made the full ascent from the bottom completely free... What if I fall here too? Will I have what it takes to come back? Am I good enough to do this?

I blocked out the negativity and focussed on what I was doing - the climbing is all that mattered. One move flowed into the next and I found myself pulling through the crux, not easily, but with intent! I had made it through and was looking into the final daunting traverse of apprehension, insecurity and complete and utter terror! A 7m run-out on smeary feet and upside down hand-holds does that to a person, but somehow the desperation to not have to re-climb that pitch got me through it.Much like in the Titanic, I felt on top of the world - very happy that I am making progress on each pitch on the send!

Willis jumared up on second and we were celebrating making it through the hardest pitch. All I had left was a 7c+... this pitch is famously known for being the most scary, having a dangerous fall on the crux moves before a final 20m run-out on what I can only describe as "choss chimney direct" - with climbing more akin to caving.

Somehow I sketched my way up this pitch, not gracefully but with intent on not wanting to re-live the stress that pitch 5 causes me but more importantly, not wanting to be helicoptered off the cliff.

The End of a Dream? Topping out on "Silbergeier" was the best day of my life... It's hard to put into words when I speak let alone on paper (or a computer screen), but I will try.

"Silbergeier" was a lifetime ambition of a life dedicated to climbing. A 15 year old boy grew up with this goal as one of the fundamental driving forces behind a life dedicated to climbing. And at 25 years old, the boy has seen it through!

Is this the end of a dream? Not quite... the other two of the "Alpine Trilogy" have yet to be climbed!

 

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

[comPiler]

"Project Fear" - 2nd Ascent!
16 July 2015, 3:55 pm

Inspiration The Dolomites is without a doubt one of the most beautiful mountain landscapes I have ever visited. The whole of the Tyrol and more specifically, South Tyrol region will always have a place in my heart… I love it here so much! The mountains, culture and climbing combined make for one of the most enthralling locations I have had the pleasure to visit during my time as a climber.Blast from the past - last year on "Bellavista"

Visiting the Dolomites last year was a huge eye opener for me, it challenged my view of climbing and what I really love about the sport. Since climbing here last year, my directions have changed so much and I am having more fun than ever as a result!

Last year I was lucky enough to be here when Dave Macleod first started work on “Project Fear”. On my first day at the Tre Cime, I walked around and saw him dangling up high in the roof, working his way through the immense overhangs, scoping out the direction to which his variation on the wall would take. The weather was terrible that year but despite this both Dave and I managed our respective projects, “Bellavista” for me and “Project Fear” for him.The Mountains at Work

 

Project Fear This year I planned to make a return to the Tre Cime, inspired by the walls and the area and of course “Project Fear”. I must admit, I knew very little about the climb… I am very bad at studying and about the only preparation I did before going to try the route was to check how hard each pitch was on Dave’s blog during the walk in! Willis couldn’t even believe I had never seen the video for “Project Fear” either… I still haven’t!

On our approach we knew that the route started up the “Baur Aid route”, but I had no idea where this was… I took a guess at a random line of pegs on the wall that seemed like it worked it’s way towards the roof and went for that… We were lucky on this occasion and picked the right line.Willis after he took a whipper on the 8a+ pitch

When we reached the roofs, Dave’s new route branched out right from the “Baur” taking in two new pitches of climbing before joining with Alex Huber’s 8c pitch on “Panorama”. I was a little nervous approaching the 8a+ pitch as I had just come from the Ratikon where 8a+ is desperate, but actually the style really suited me well. There were lots of options for feet and hands (if they didn’t break off) and I was actually at the last piece of protection on the onsight when a handhold broke as I was shaking out. I was very surprised at how steady the climbing actually was on this pitch – probably because I’d just come from the Ratikon where 8a+ feels more like 8c+ on your first attempt!Getting bomber gear like this is real motivation NOT to fall off!

Willis and I then reached the famous 8c pitch from “Panorama”, the Alex Huber classic. I had one go to work out the moves and was blown away that it didn’t feel too hard. 8c usually feels a lot harder… but this was really steady. We came back for a work session the next day and on my first go, I redpointed the pitch! I was in a state of excitement from the knowledge that I could potentially free the whole route, but also in awe from the position I was in, hanging in a roof hundreds of feet above the ground and the incredible exposure that you only get from walls like this.

Willis and I were excited beyond belief about doing this now, so we opted for a rest day to give us recovery from our first 2 days in the Dolomites…Looking scared is a common occurrence on these walls...

 

The Ascent The night before our first redpoint attempt, a freak thunderstorm hit. I heard the rain battering down hard as I cowered in my van, it sounded awful from inside! Then the thunder and lightning came… all I could think about was how I wish I could have gone for an attempt on the second day!

We awoke at 5am; the rain had ceased but there was dampness in the air and on the walls. Willis wasn’t sure about an attempt that day but I had my heart set already… I had dealt with this last year on my “Bellavista” redpoint and I would do it again on “Project Fear”....but then so is looking AWESOME!!! :P

We started climbing at 6am, the first 100m of relatively easy wall climbing up to 7b+ went down fast! Then the 8a+ pitch came… I was a little interested in how it would feel in damper conditons, but I needn’t have worried; I climbed the 30m pitch in about 10 minutes and before long, Willis was at the belay of the 8c pitch with me.

I wasn’t nervous at all… I have been climbing 10 years now and in that time have been put under pressure enough already to know that when it comes down to the crunch, there’s only one thing you need to do, and that’s climb! Climb for you and you alone, give it your all, and if that’s not enough, then bloody try harder next time!

Representing the motherland on the 8c pitchI set off into the roof; the holds were greasy and damp, but that was to be expected. The first big move into the crux section I grabbed a positive jug and it was completely soaking wet, a dribble of water ran down my arm… I shook out on the jug knowing full well that it wasn’t doing anything to dry my hands, but it would at least give me a percentage back for the oncoming crux.

I powered through the following moves, one of those awkward sections of climbing when your pulling over the lip of a roof and there is no grace in it whatsoever, but you know that groveling is the only way through it! Through one roof and still another to go, I found a knee-bar and recovered for the final crux, a pocket that was right now full of water! I reached for it and felt it pop as the pressure created by my middle and index finger caused the water inside to explode over my hand… I retreated back into my awkward little shelter under the roof, chalking up again and building courage to just deal with the conditions no matter what! Once again I reached for the pocket, dug deep and pulled the lip of the roof throwing over for a secondary pocket and then finally a thank god jug! Feet off is an important photo to get for any big ascent!

I scrambled up to the ledge where the belay was, made myself safe and screamed so that all the Dolomites could hear me! Much like last year, an echo from the valley returned my call of excitement and relief – a mixture of climbers and on-looking tourists.

Willis followed, jumaring his way to meet me and celebrate. We still had a long way to go but not even another freak thunderstorm could stop me from getting to the summit this time! The climbs that followed were a breeze in comparison to the first half of the route but far less equipped; in a lot of circumstances falls just aren’t optional!

We summited Cima Ovest relatively early at 6pm and were down on the ground by 9pm, both of us exhausted yet still on a high after what we had just done.Happy to be at the top... we won't be in 5 minutes when we realise how difficult it is to get back down!

 

Experiences in the Mountains To climb a wall like this in the mountains is a privilege few on this earth get to experience… I love challenge and adventure; so doing these big walls and multi-pitches is the perfect way for me to be at one with myself. I never feel better than when I am up on the wall, leading a hard pitch, feeling the exposure and dealing with the technicalities of the climb… it is my ecstasy in life and I am addicted!

“Project Fear” was a wonderful direct link into one of the most classic alpine rock climbs on earth, “Panorama”. Although it is not a “new” route as it includes only two new pitches; it is a completely obvious direction to take and I am surprised nobody thought of it sooner! Respect to Dave Macleod for seeing the link and for opening the line – I am inspired by this wall and the self exploration climbing it can give you; I am now inspired to seek my own adventures in the mountains as well as following in others footsteps…



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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

[Tommy]

What I don't understand, is why is no one saying the 8c pitch isn't 8c? Cummon Robbie, tell us the real deal and stop posing about saying you're climbing 8c's with soaking wet holds :-). Or is everyone too scared to do a downgrade on the Hubers?

[Kingy]

From what I understand, I think the 8c pitch on Project Fear is a new one leaving Bellavista and Robbie has done the 2nd ascent of it (still could be <8c tho )

I think the 8c pitch on Bellavista is accepted at 8b+ now after Alex Huber revisited it and said that certain pockets had been chipped/ enlarged somehow since his FA of it.

[Adam Lincoln]

I think the 8c pitch on Bellavista is accepted at 8b+ now after Alex Huber revisited it and said that certain pockets had been chipped/ enlarged somehow since his FA of it.

From what i hear, its pegs coming out and what they leave behind thats made it easier than the said 8c. That and general traffic on the route has probably cleaned it up, etc etc.

[a dense loner]

Excellent blog and pics tho. Almost makes me wish I went higher than 10 ft off the floor, almost

[Doylo]

Excellent blog and pics tho. Almost makes me wish I went higher than 10 ft off the floor, almost

You mean 5ft 

[abarro81]

The hard pitch on project fear is the same as Panorama, not Bellavista. I think from the blog we can assume that Robbie doesn't think it's 8c, but doesn't really want to comment explicitly for whatever reason

[comPiler]

Chamonix - Grindelwald
1 August 2015, 11:25 am

A Break from Mountains



The last week and a half has been a bit different to the rest of this Summer’s activities of big wall multipitches and mountains.



 

Willis and I drove to Grindelwald from the Dolomites after our ascent of “Phantom der Zinne” on the Cima Grande.

We were meeting up with good friend and professional filmmaker, Euan Ryan (Finalcrux Films). Willis and Euan had a previous engagement to film the “Eiger Paraclimb”, a project lead by Scottish climber Mark McGowan in which he was helping lead three disabled climbers up the west flank of the Eiger - I left the lads in Grindelwald and escaped to sunnier climates in Chamonix (France).

Moving to Chamonix

I love Facebook! I had no climbing partner… one status later and I had three!!! I met up with my new friend Vaidotas (Mr V), a 24 year old Lithuanian climber currently based in London. He was climbing with Duncan Botrill, a strong ex-London based climber and now working for EpicTV in Chamonix! And last in the team was the Belgian, Miss Therese-Marie Becker (TB) who is the bubbliest girl I have ever met! She is currently working as a Social-Media strategist for EpicTV (cool job!).



Digital Crack

First on the list was to go up the Aguillde du Midi on the Mont Blanc massif and attempt the famous 8a, “Digital Crack”. This is an absolutely incredible granite spire jutting out the line of the Cosmic Arete. The wall is almost completely blank with the exception of the occasional tiny blade-like edge. These are accompanied by a lot of flat smooth granite for smearing your feet on. Luckily the wall isn’t entirely flat; it turns into a groove that you can bridge up making the climbing “not impossible”!

8a isn’t that hard in the great scheme of things, but what isn’t shown by the grade is the pure technicality of granite not to mention the fact that you are 3840m high. Although it’s not “that” high, it should be enough to start feeling some of the effects of altitude.

I managed to climb the route on my 2^nd try with V-man on second – Really happy with this as one of my first pure granite climbs in the mountains!

 

Sport Climbing in the Valley

Unfortunately “Digital Crack” was my last mountain adventure during my time in Chamonix. I couldn’t find anyone keen during my stay for mountains, so I was “forced” to go Sport climbing… Woe is me! Hahaha



The climbing in the valley was actually really good, much better than I had expected. In the week I was there I mamaged to onsight some routes in the 7c-8a range and made several 8b’s on my 2^nd try amongst a few 8a+’s as well.

The best part of my time in the valley though was hanging out with the crew. We had so much fun chilling out in the evenings, having sushi nights, eating out, and swimming in the lake; it was far removed from the idea of a dirtbag climbing bum! Maybe I am getting old, but living rough just doesn’t appeal… I’ve gone soft!

 

Back to Grindelwald

I travelled back to Grindelwald to pick Euan and Willis up for the main goal of this trip, “Paciencia” on the Eiger.



We have just spent a couple of days together, chilling out in the van, having a days climbing and now we are in the final preparations of getting gear sorted for an attempt when the weather clears. It also turned out that Sasha Digulian arrived on the same day as me with the same goal in mind… this was unexpected and has forced us all to consider more logistics than we expected. However I am sure it will all work out in the end… “Paciencia” might be the hardest rock climb on the Eiger right now, but it’s going to be the most popular over the coming weeks with both of us trying it.

 

There is only one thing to do now and that is to climb….

Wish us luck everyone!

 

 

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet
6 August 2015, 7:27 pm

Epic on the Eiger

The Eiger, one of the most feared mountains on Earth; its reputation goes before it. Many have died on it’s unforgiving North face but the difficulties of climbing the Eiger is not just in the technicalities of the climbing, but in it’s momentous scale, the rock fall and unpredictability of weather.

Sorting out gear in Grindelwald before making the EPIC walk up the hill! (Finalcrux Fims)

The Eiger lies just on the tip of the Swiss Alps making it the sentry point for all bad weather and serious mountain storms to gather. It’s difficult to get the Eiger in good condition, most of the time there is a permanent cloud surrounding it; when it’s a sunny 30 degrees in the neighboring town of Grindelwald, it can be a life threatening thunderstorm on the north face!

There are many climbers in history who have made their names on the Eiger with epic ascents of it’s faces, ridges and slopes. In our generation, it’s guys like Ueli Steck, Robert Jasper and Roger Schali who are pushing the boundaries of what is being done up there.

Roger Schali (Left), Robert Jasper (Right)

The Eiger and Me

We woke up in the stollenloch (an opening to the train tunnel within the mountain). Our legs ached from the endless hours of persistent walking we did the previous day. It was our second night in pitch-black darkness; inside the mountain nothing gets through! The pressure from outside battered the window of the Stollenloch – I’m amazed it’s survived so long!

The Stollenloch - Climbers have died inside and out of this door (Finalcrux Films)

It’s bloody cold in the morning, my muscles were rigid but I was eager to climb. I crawled through the window and the pressure pushed me back – it’s an ice cold burst of air, but once through the wind stops. I looked up and saw the immense walls of the Rote Fluh (the right hand overhanging walls of the North Face). There was dampness all over it; I could see the walls disintegrating like a giant wet sandcastle. How does anybody climb this? The conditions weren’t in our favour; we would have to wait…

It was a constant waking dream, I didn’t sleep that night… excitement had me! I wanted to be on the face but was dreading that it would still be soaked!

We began climbing at 06:30am…

Leading the first two pitches in the wet was harrowing; long slabs of grey limestone, a few bolts and not much for your hands or feet.

7b/7c+ Pitch - Grades don't mean anything on this wall (Finalcrux Films)

Around 80m of climbing on wet slippery limestone, a small waterfall and a choss-filled crack and I was standing at the start of the main overhang. The wall above me was huge! Hundreds of feet of steep blank face lay before me; but at least it was dry…

I continued on the lead… I was slowly gaining height as each pitch was freed and I was confident that this was going to be a successful ascent within the next day. Before long we reached the first ledge and were staring up at the hardest pitch… I was so excited as I knew that when I was through this pitch, we would only have a few more before stopping and setting up camp on the large halfway ledge.

Exposure is what you get on this wall! (Finalcrux Films)

The crux pitch was on a steep orange bulge of beautiful limestone and looked absolutely brilliant to climb on. Moving on this pitch was challenging, the holds were small and sharp and there was some serious exposure, but I managed to get to the belay and rejoiced that it was possible! Above me I heard abseiling and Frank Ketschmann (Photographer) peered his head over…

“Your on the wrong route Robbie… this is Robert (Jasper) and Roger’s (Schaeli) crux pitch of their new route!”

I was devastated… I’d have to abseil down and climb another hard pitch as I was now on the wrong route. My forearms were cramping with every tense of my muscles, the blood in my head was thumping across my temple, this was getting close to my physical maximum for the day.

I began climbing again, this time on the true line of “Paciencia”, but I was too far gone. My fingers were uncurling on every hold, my forearms were involuntarily causing my wrist to curl over and I was blacking out in concentration! I had to get off the wall…

 

It’s Over…

Another long night in the Stollenloch, I had drifted in and out of a decision to head back up there the next morning, but this was going to be my third night on the North Face and my body was not enjoying it. The weather was due to make a serious change but we didn’t know when… Word amongst the climbers on the face was that we had until tomorrow evening to get to the bivy before a thunderstorm might hit the wall.

I love figuring out the sequences on these blank faces... (Finalcrux Films)

9am the next morning, I feel like a smashed up china vase that someone has glued back together… I’m still in one piece, but definitely broken!

We decide to go for the ascent…

Willis and I make the grueling journey back up the face passing each of the long hard sections of wall we made on the previous day. It feels like ages but it's really only hours ago the previous night that we'd been up here before! Back at the crux belay I feel better than I did the day before but I’m still tired. I sucked it up and began to climb…

Each section rolls by like a dream, my forearms are cramping, my hands are sweating and I can feel the pressure of the unknown weighing in… I have never been this high on the pitch! I see a blank section of rock, reaching for invisible holds I feel something like an edge but it crumbles to dust in my fingertips! Nothing but air and miles of rocky face below me, I dig deeper and reach higher, the forearm cramps up but for some reason it feels stronger… my fingers roll over a solid edge and I pull up – thank god! I mantled over a crumbly shelf, the rock disintegrating as I whaled my body over the top. When I stood up my head hit a roof (ouch) and I notice a bit of old rope hanging between two very comforting bolts!!! I had done it!

Life long friendships are forged in the pursuit of Adventure

I shouted to Willis that I’m safe and he screamed with excitement; we were on a roll now, we’re going to the top! He followed me up by climbing the rope using ascenders and we took a quick look at the next pitch. There was a drip from above, it hit me on the head but I knew it was just from up high on the wall. As I began to climb the drip got kind of worse… Was it just me or did it feel like it was coming from different directions now? I placed a couple of good cams and found an old rusty peg about 5metres in; the drips got even heavier… Willis still at the belay was getting wet now; this was not just seepage anymore, it was rain!

I returned to the belay but by then it wasn’t just rain, the water was cascading down the wall on top of us! We were in the middle of a waterfall and had to escape before it brought down more than just water on our heads!

Then we heard a terrible sound… a crashing thunderous sound that nobody likes to hear when they’re trying to escape a collapsing mountain! The wall to our left was crumbling apart under the tremendous weight of the cascading waterfalls; a piece of rock the size of a car flew down the wall and shattered across the shelf below… Willis and I looked at each other in what I can only describe as a “lets get the hell out of here” kind of way.

I was worried I wasn't skinny enough to squeeze through this... (Finalcrux Films)

Willis trying to squirm through the crack on second with a rucksack on!!! (Finalcrux Films)

Willis abbed down into nothing - Using momentum, he bounced back and forward from the wall to somehow reach a ledge 40m below us. I was soaked to the bone but thankfully my tight mid-layer and base layers were acting like a neoprene scuba suit and holding the water tight against my body allowing it to stay fairly warm. Needless to say, we had to keep moving and we had to escape!

I donned my soggy gloves and zipped down each abseil point as fast as I could. The water from above was easing off slightly but there was still rock fall all around us. The rope was speeding through the belay device, I could hear the hissing from the water evaporating of the soaked rope as it created friction on the metal.

It’s interesting how fear can grasp a hold of you in some odd situations; and yet moments like these when you expect fear to be at its pinnacle… I felt nothing… I was completely at ease, actually enjoying the environment around me, the chaos of the crumbling mountain! I was cold and wet and my life balanced on the edge of Fate’s dagger; but I couldn’t have been happier than if I was sitting on the bivy heading for the top of the wall!

View from the North Face... (Finalcrux Films)

When you love what you do and you try your hardest, it doesn’t really matter that you might fail. Of course it’s always a bit of a disappointment when you do, but at least you are out there doing what you love! Willis and I gave our all to this route; we never gave up until the consequences really were at their most dire and I am proud of what we achieved up there. Maybe there was not an ascent to write about yet, but we pushed harder and further than we ever had before.

The climb is called “Paciencia” which literally translates as “Patience” – this makes a lot of sense to me now… The climbing is not the hard bit, it’s the situation of getting caught out up there in a storm, the possibility of not being able to get off the mountain… that is the real fear!

You need patience to wait for the right conditions and the right moment to make your move.

 

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips

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Head in the Clouds...
29 September 2015, 8:16 pm

Dreams can be a dangerous thing… you never know where they might take you!

This comes from experience as I’ve spent most of my life with my head in the clouds… Even before I was climbing there was always something I spent my school days day dreaming about. Mostly it was big ideas of how I would make my millions and conquer the world… still an ongoing project.

Climbing is the ultimate activity for someone with an overactive imagination and a tendency towards the eccentric obsessive. When I started climbing I had found something that truly ticked every box… Adventure, Challenge and Lifestyle! The one sport where your eccentricities are normal and your obsessiveness admired… Climbing is truly the sport of the geek!

I have noticed the similarities amongst my fellow adventure driven; climbing obsessed and generally well travelled brethren. Talking to a friend recently, he described his childhood in a similar fashion to my own – obsessive beyond belief, completely disinterested in the socially accepted norms (namely football) and his head in the clouds most of the time. This makes me laugh thinking how I used to be at school and yet I don’t think I’ve changed much since then… I’m a little wiser and definitely not so high strung, but I’m still the dreamer I’ve always been – I just found my niche!

“Paciencia”



Dreams can be a dangerous thing… you never know where they might take you? Like up the Eiger for example!

The North Face of the Eiger is steeped in history, all the way back to the original attempts in the mid 30’s to the modern day hardcore first ascents from guys like Ueli Steck, Robert Jasper and Roger Schaeli.

“Paciencia” was Ueli Steck’s addition to the myriad of new hard climbs on the Eiger and to this day stands as one of its most challenging paths through the steep mountain face!

For me, climbing the Eiger itself was an ambition; but as all climbers know it’s not just about getting to the top, but how you get there. The choice of style and route is down to the climber, for me it’s an important decision to make for your own enjoyment of the climb. “Paciencia” is one of the most technically challenging rock climbs on the Eiger which was a big reason why it appealed to me so much. However a strong inclination behind my desire to try “Paciencia” was from the history of its previous ascents…

The first ascent was Ueli Steck, a legend of our time in the alpine world. The second was David Lama, the same age as me and yet has probably the biggest tick list of hard alpine rock climbs of any climber on the planet! The third was Dave Macleod, fellow Scot and another personal hero; a guy I have looked up to since I started climbing at 15 and who has helped foster my passion for pushing standards through his own achievements in the sport.

The history of this climb, the effort it took Ueli Steck to complete the project and the few names of climbers who have managed to free it’s path entirely was enough to make my desire to climb this route an unbearable itch!

The seed was sewn the day I first read about the climb, so when I saw an opportunity to climb it for real… I took it!

A Second Chance



If you have been following our story, you would know that we failed on our first attempt at “Paciencia” when we were so rudely blown of the face by a deadly storm…

Willis had to return to Glasgow to make some of that green stuff that’s often required to survive in this harsh first world utopia we live in. In the meantime, I parked my van outside a friend’s house in Chamonix and leached of him, occasionally throwing a can of chickpeas his way as my addition to the evening meal.

Things were looking rather gloomy as the weather had been awful for the last 2 weeks and I had no climbing partner to return to the Eiger. At that point I realized several things…

•      I wasn’t going to get another climbing partner for the Eiger…
•      Willis was gone and wasn’t coming back…
•      I was eating all of my friends food - I’d have to escape before I became too fat to get into the van!

And like a miracle from God, an incredible thing happened… The story of our adventures this summer had captured the imagination of a kind-hearted individual and Willis was given a second chance! The anonymous benefactor supported Willis allowing him to return to Switzerland with me and give this climb one last chance!

And so we returned… I picked Willis up in Geneva just as the weather had improved and we drove directly to Grindelwald where we would do battle once more with our nemesis on the Eiger!

Back on the send train (we couldn’t afford the real train)



Arriving back in Grindelwald with the sun shining felt like a sign, this was our moment! Everything since Willis leaving had felt like a bad dream, but now we were back on track.

We spent Wednesday morning getting all our kit sorted – there was a lot of it! We packed our bags outside the van and were left with two 30+kg heavy rucksacks… That included all our gear (quickdraws, ropes, protection, etc), food (meals for the wall, bottles of water) and extra clothing in case the stuff we wore on the wall got wet.

We walked the whole way to the Eiger from Grindelwald! Normally climbers get the train, but this was impossible on our budget. You can get a train from Grindelwald to Kleineschedegg for around 50 francs for a single. Or if you are a guide you can pay extra and get the train to take you directly to the Stollenloch, which cuts out about 4 hours of approach! I did wonder… If I could, would I take the train? The alpinist inside me said “No… this is the way you would do it anywhere else in the world, plus it’s good training!” – the Scotsman inside me just looked at the price of the ticket and said “Screw that! I’d rather solo the Eiger than pay for a single”! The sport climber inside me was eyeing up the train, figuring out it’s blind spots and working a plan to sneak on board unseen.

The Scottish Alpinist won over the Sport climber this time and we took the path less trodden….

Back at the Stollenloch…



Returning to the fabled window of the Eiger was a surreal moment… The first time I ever saw the window; I wouldn’t know just how much the image of this opening into the belly of the mountain would affect me so deeply. It’s both a beautiful and terrible place – the window is the last checkpoint before taking your first steps onto the North Face from where there is no more shelter; it’s just you and the wall!

I didn’t sleep that night… We slid into our sleeping bags once again, waiting in the darkness until the first glimpse of light would creep in through the window signaling us to prepare for our ascent.

And it begins…



We were up and ready by 6am, the rock was cold and my fingers were numb but luckily the climbing was easy and the rock was dry. There were around 350m of climbing to get to our highpoint – we warmed up on the first few easy pitches before things got serious! A vicious technical 7c+ followed by yet another bouldery 7c+, a tough 7a and then the “crux” pitch, a long and sustained pumpy 8a that throws curve balls at you on every turn. Everything had gone smoothly; then just shy of the 8a belay my foot slips and the rope catches me!

I can’t believe it - 40m of climbing and my foot slips! I lower to the ledge and start again… I don’t fall on the second attempt.

The following pitches to reach the bivy range from 6a to 7a+ but this is in no way respectful to their actual difficulties… the 6a’s are dreadfully chossy and actually quite dangerous; the 7a’s are challenging and complex with long run-outs and 1000m of air and exposure below you!

One of the last pitches is a steep, practically falling down choss corner, it doesn’t feel at all comfortable to climb – check out this video from Willis for proof!

The final pitch before the bivy was caked in about a foot of snow! Luckily it was only a very easy scree slab and I just dug my climbing shoes and punched my fists into the snow to try and maintain some composure.

We reached the first bivy with a couple of hours of light left so we chilled out and made the most of the time to set up our camp to keep us dry in case of any unexpected weather.

Alpine Starts!



The term “Alpine Start” is reference to the necessity of getting up early for a long climb. Well we are only halfway up the Eiger and we certainly don’t deserve anything such as a lie in on this one – it’s an alpine start for us!

6am on the dot and I warm up with a cheeky 7c+ traverse. The holds are small and sharp, the first 5 metres of bouldering on quarter pad edges is a wake up call that I certainly didn’t expect but got on with it regardless! It was a good thing though as the following pitch would prove to be the most challenging climbing yet!

I was rudely awakened to the fact that grades really mean nothing! I am happy warming up on 7b+ at most crags, but not on the Eiger. This pitch was viciously technical on small finger numbingly sharp edges, tiny sloping feet and it just kept coming for the whole length of the climb! I fell at about halfway when I was unsure of how to traverse the seemingly blank section of wall on holds as marginal as a pound coin!

After working out what to do, I came back down to the belay and set off again after a few minutes rest. This time I was successful and didn’t fall – mainly because I was wary that with every fall I’d have to return to the belay and start again. This meant that there was less time in the day to get to the top and without any signal on our phone we were unsure of what the weather might have in store for us! We felt isolated on the wall… no contact to the outside world… nobody to help us if something went wrong.

I continued up the wall onsighting every pitch as it came. Some of the 7a’s and 7b’s were stout – then we came to a long run-out 7a pitch, this took me a bit more time as there was some serious fall potential on this! We reckoned that I had made up a lot of the time we lost on the 7b+ earlier from speedy climbing up some of the harder pitches that we had broken through, but the climbing was now getting more precarious and I was certainly slowing down. We made it through the last 7b+ pitch thinking the difficulties were over, but we were so wrong!

The easier 6a-c pitches were really chossy and wet. There was nothing else to do but climb them; you just had to accept it! It was becoming increasingly difficult to identify where to go and the walls were just falling apart around us!

To my left there was a gully that was spewing rock and ice, a chunk the size of a football wizzed past my head and another the size of a golf ball knocked me in the chest throwing me off balance…

The light was fading now but we had to keep going! As the climbing eased the pitches just got more severe with a combination of loose rock and run-outs.

Eventually through one way or another we reached the top! We had accomplished what we set out to do and through so many doubts of whether the weather would hold… it somehow did! I knew all along we could climb this route; we just needed conditions and that was exactly what we got!

The End of an Epic



We rapped back down to our bivy and slept there the night – I’ve not slept so well in a long time and this was on the side of a mountain!

We made a leisurely start and rapped down the rest of the cliff making it back to the Stollenloch to retrieve all the gear we had left in case of emergency. We made the long walk back to Grindelwald with ever so slightly lighter packs from the food that we ate on the wall.

It’s been weeks since our ascent and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what we achieved… In some ways this is the hardest climb I have ever done. I haven’t had to put as much energy into a single climb over the course of several days as this, but then I have never climbed anything as long either. For me, “Silbergeier” was the hardest both technically and physically of the climbs I did this Summer– it’s a testament to the skills of Beat Kammerlander that he put up such a test piece in the 90’s and that it still stands today as one of the most challenging of it’s style in the world!

“Paciencia” is hard because it truly combines the element of difficult rock climbing on a harsh alpine north face where weather is a key factor in your success. Ueli was right in naming it “Patience” – this is what you need for such a climb.

The truth is I had heaps left in the tank for a climb like this; I wasn’t climbing at my limit and I am sure that with a bit of extra work I don’t see any reason why I couldn’t put up a climb of this style with much harder pitches and of a more sustained nature! For me, this style of climb is the ultimate challenge, combining all technical, mental and physical factors into one discipline. I am enjoying repeating these routes because it gives me insight into what I am capable of on these walls, but it also gives me a better understanding of what is required to open up new big walls in the future.

The future for me is to continue to repeat some of the world’s classic big walls in all styles and to start seeking out the king lines that have yet to be climbed… One day I hope to find a wall that will challenge every fibre of my being, taking me to the edge of what I think is possible and then some more!

It’s out there… I know it!

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Source: Blogs from Robbie Phillips