[shark]

10.11-13

M.

T.

W. AM. High Tor. Met Nick at top and Mike Hutton also came to take snaps (see below). Top rope on new route to start to warm up. Felt greasy. Abbed into cave. Nick had a go at Castellan. He didn't get on at all well. I managed to flash thru but muffed going right onto rib and struggled to pull up rope to clip second bolt due to drag. Did it in sections. Nick then declared a last go on C but this time got thru it  I decided to have another go. Surprised myself by getting thru Castellan ok. Dropped a rope though was a bit nervy on a single rope. Put in a big effort and got within two moves of easy ground despite still struggling with drag as rope got caugt in the crack on Castellan. Called it a day

T. 

F. At top of High Tor for 8am ! Breezy. We alternated lowering in and top roping the rib both just about doing it in a oner from the first bolt. Then abseiled into Cave. Nick put kit in Castellan roof for me. I stick clipped new bolts in roof to left then went and clipped his gear and reversed. Immediately felt tired. One day rest was not enough. Had a go but was unable to do an extra udge on the roof and tried to swing out on the intermediate but it didnt work. Arse. Down again. Things not looking hopeful.
MTFUed and with a bit of applied shouty aggression got through the Catsellan roof and up to the bridged rest. Awkwardly jettisoned knee pads, crack glove and one of the ropes!!. Launched right . First clip and big move went ok as did second big move to mono. Felt comfortable enough on mono to do the clip. Two finger gaston and up to pocketed edge. Managed to get a bit of a shake this time. Left hand on edge and right cross through to split pocket and back two into key hole pocket. Power scream and launch for incut front three pocket totally stretched out. Right foot in and then desperate foot move up with left with Nick shouting encouragement. Hauled up on steep pocket slab balanced precariously and pumped. Bolt on left out of reach. Climbed last 15 feet tentatively to bolt belay. Amazing. 14th new route at High Tor over the space of 31 years and one of the best.
Nick decided to have a redpoint attempt. He put in a big effort and got it! Amazing effort considering he hadnt worked it that well. He came down. We agreed 7c though that somehow doesnt seem to adequately reflect whats involved. We abbed to the ground and Nick headed off. I had time to kill so abbed another prospective line but decided it wasnt good enough to warrant the effort. Then abbed into High Tor Gully and scrambled out. Then lounged in the sun on the summit until it was time to head off and pick up Poppy from drama school. Superb day.

S. Shattered. Eve. Drank too much.

S. PM Went to Anston Stones for first time with Tommy. Still tired and probably a bit hungover. Went to the Wave sector. Nice enough. Did some problems up to 6C. Had a go on Betablocker 7A but didnt get very far. More rest required.

A bit of a mission to get my route done at High Tor and props to Nick for his support and to Mike for the pic. Means quite a lot to me that crag. Ive made as much of a sport route as possible without interfering with existing routes though the solution isn't ideal. The rib itself is superb and ranks with the best pocket climbing on Peak Lime though admittedly that isnt saying a great deal. The position of the rib is amazing. It is easy enough to shunt or top rope from the easily accessed Castellan tree belay so hopefully it will attract some attention though many will be put off by doing the Castellan roof. Full route description here Glad it is put to bed especially as I am of to France for two weeks with the family on Saturday. Generally feel burnt out so will try to take it a bit easier this week.       

Big Cigar by TheUKBShark, on Flickr

[Duma]

That looks ace, nice one Simon!

[Luke Owens]

Effort Shark! Route looks ace in that picture, looks like a slice of French Lime!

[shark]

Thanks Duma and Luke,

Hopefully it will get some attention but I'm not holding my breath. We have usually had the crag to ourselves and good conditions including on days when people have complained about poor conditions elsewhere.

[Wood FT]

Thanks Duma and Luke,

Hopefully it will get some attention but I'm not holding my breath. We have usually had the crag to ourselves and good conditions including on days when people have complained about poor conditions elsewhere.

It sounds very interesting and the photo is great, well done Simon

[ashtond6]

Great work Simon! Really does look good that mono!

Still successfully on the mend, getting back to speed slowly



M Horseshoe after work, did megalithic man direct first try 6c+ and another 6c
T rest
W rest
T stanage for a bumble, did a 6C traverse
F rest
S Water cum jolly, onsighted the 6c+ at moat buttress. Tried the 7b+ (poor RH crimp for the crux made me stop due to injury). Tried the 7a flake and then incapacity benefit at the cornice
S Two Tier, tender fingers so did the 2 6cs and quality control 7a

M rest
T rest
W the works, still building finger back up, felt good
T quiet evening at burbage, nothing of note, soloed a short E1
F rest
S did lots of 6a-c at masson, also did the 7b on steep wall which has great sequences
S flashed a 7a at masson, did exo6 7a second go (silly foot mistake) and the 6c

[Duma]

Goals:
Summer - lots of local sport, unfinished business with cider soak from 15 years ago, identify (and if possible do) candidates for:
8A (Hunters Roof?)and 8b by next June

68.5 kg. Should go away in the van more...

Body Audit: shoulder much improved, hard to tell if its a week off climbing, a week of less driving, driving the van rather than the car, or a week off work. back on all of it this week, so will see how it goes.

M: TCA with daughter, not too much for me.
T: drive to pembrokeshire fair bit of swimming in the waves with daughter
W: more of the above, fun bodysurfing
T: bit rough and exposed on freshwater west, so less in the water, more hanging out on the beach
F: bit of playing in the waves in AM, then took daughter bouldering at Mynydd Dinas in PM. She loved it, esp having the wild ponies with foals wandering about too. Such a beautiful spot. Few easy things for me. Great to take her out and her to be into it. 
S: more at Mynydd Dinas in AM, did a couple of things in the mid 6's. then drive back to Bristol
S: nothing, then nights.

[monkoffunk]

STG: climb Everyday Lives of Ordinary People. Find 7c+ project.
MTG: 1. French 7c+, before 1/1/17. 2. Get into shape for Spain
3. Tick unfinished business list (5/13).
4. Font 7B before 1/1/17.
LTG: 1. Cider Soak and Academic, before 1/1/18. 2. Font 7B+, before 1/1/18.

M - Chillin.

T - Red spider. Sort of double session. Bouldering for a couple hours including another horrible slopey 7A which wasn't too shabby given the humidity and dirty holds. Then about hour and a half rest followed by aero cap. First time specifically training it for Spain trip. 10mins on, 10 off on slightly overhanging 5+ ground. Enough to get a sort of continuous burn on without failure. Three sets. Really dull!

W - Sleeping pre night shift.

T - Nights. Pre shift aero cap session. Similar to Tues, 10 on 10 off x4.

F - Nights. Got another session in which wasn't really expected so my planning was off. Did some bouldering, semi productive, but would have switched last two sessions round if I'd known.

S - Nights, properly in night mode now so no training.

S - Last one....

More training this week than I hoped for, hopefully climb something this week now with a few days off!

[the_dom]

Not a great week in terms of 8A success..

Monday: Crossfit
Tuesday: Moonboard and campusboard
Wednesday: More moonboard and more campusboard
Thursday: Crossfit
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Sneaky Rocklands day trip with optimistic thoughts. Drove 250km. Arrived. It was warm. Project was in the sun. Sat around for 2.5 hours. Warmed up. It was still warm. Started trying project. We didn't improve as conditions did. No dice. Drove 250km home with tails between our legs. Quite dispiriting, but that's trying to climb my first 8A in 6 years, at the ripe old age of nearly 37..

I need a strong training week this week to offset a weekend of good food and wine (and no climbing) next weekend.

[Coops_13]

STG: Fix myself before Magic Wood
MTG: Get solid on 7B/+ boulder and 7b/+ sport and find/do a project
LTG: 8A & 8a

M - Indoors, managed 1 4 7 leading right arm for the first time!
T - Played squash, great fun and very tough
W - Indoors
T -
F -
S - Drove up to Almscliff. Had a play on Underhand 7B+, worked the sequence out to the crimp and managed to get heel on, too powered out to get further. Tried the Keel, got to same position as last year, too sweaty to make progress. Found some shade under Wall of Horrors, did a 6C+ dyno. Very good and well worth doing, only 4 ticks on ukc? Had a play on some of the climbs on DWR but way too sweaty. Went to Norwood, error. Battling through ferns taller than me. Managed Night Raiders 7A+ which was actually really good, if a bit sharp!
S - Drove to the Tor. Warmed up. Popped Finger pulley on Weedkiller Traverse. Lost my flapjack. Drove back to London 3 1/2 hour drive took 6 hours. NNFN. 

After the progress I've made and the stupid number of injuries I've overcome this year, this was pretty devastating for me. Never heard an actual pop from my finger till now, the pain isn't really that bad but it hurts if I try and pull on anything. Seeing doctor tomorrow and hopefully specialist ASAP. Not looking good for Magic Wood in four weeks 

[Muenchener]

STG (August/September): get a couple more decent alpine rock routes done.
MTG (2016): Redpoint 7b
LTG (<= 5 years): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60.

Visiting family in .uk. Was kicked out for a few days so that sis & son could enjoy some auntie-nephew bonding time, so spent an enjoyable few days in the Peak.

M: Shoulder rehab exercises
T:
W: Stoney West with a  hookup from ukc. Half a dozen routes around onsight level up to & including the very good Satisfaction, 6c. Rock quality not quite up to Frankenjura standards, but some pleasant climbing nevertheless. Thought the 7a on the left hand buttress looked immaculate, but didn't want to get into projecting when I only have very limited time.
T: Took advantage of the the non-summery conditions for some grit bouldering in Burbagetal. Molto sitting around waiting for the rock to dry between showers, enjoying the scenery and eating bilberries, all very pleasant. Sad to see Banana Finger polished to a shadow of its former classicness though.
F: Morning at Stanage with another random internet stranger. One hears horror stories, but the random internet strangers I've climbed with so far have all turned out to be competent climbers and good company, and today was no exception. Seconded the Unconquerables - straightforward enough climbing, but I'd have some work to do to get my trad head in order for leading them. Led Wall End Slab: actual ledge shuffling, delightful.
S: Drive from Peak to family in Norfolk. Hideous traffic, took most of the day. My impinged shoulder doesn't like long periods motionless holding a steering wheel.
S:

[nai]

Effort, Simon, looks a nice piece of rock.

took daughter bouldering.  She loved it.  Great to take her out and her to be into it. 

Brilliant feeling isn't it


goals:
summer - train - maintain fitness, get stronger
Autumn - Powerplant & Raindogs (and Body Machine/Proud Whore if dry) + WIPs
LTG - might be passing phase but OS 7C and do an/some E6s. Tequila top of the list

M - rest day - went to a kids playpark where Mrs tore her calf muscle meaning we wouldn't be doing any more walking or walk-ins.

Tue
7am  2x10 mins traverses, repeaters on portable board

PM - Les Gaillands, kids did 3 routes before lunch (4c, 5a, 5a) and were climbing so well I thought I'd put them on the sharp end.  Put clips in a couple of 3s for them and they both did ok (although the youngest did climb as far as the first then unclip it to gasps from the watching hoards)

Wed 7am - Argentiere Moraine - Big upped by chalet owner but sadly needs more traffic. Nice change but nothing inspiring to go back for.

Thur  -

Les Bossons, 7:30am.  Hard to get going but eventually managed the 7A traverse I didn't quite get last week.

PM - Fayet - 6 routes, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4c, 5a, 5c. Youngest (7) did them all and was throwing laps on the 5s at the end. Sense of pride watching her mantle onto a couple of small edges in a Satin kind of way was immense.

Fri - pissed down all day.

S crammed in a Repeaters workout while packing to leave.  Drove 800km.

S Drove 500km, arrived home at 5pm, intended to do something but back very sore and just too tired.

Good couple of weeks, kids, youngest especially, did great.  Psyched for more and both want to go back to the mountains.  I make that a Result.  Just need to find some suitable Peak lime for them to climb now.

Bit of a nervy step on the scales this morning but weight's hardly changed despite the usual holiday indulgences.

[Nibile]

Power Club
STG - training despite heat, work and study. Easier said than done.
MTG - go try the route.

Mon - one set of high intensity PE, terrible. Hot and humid. Useless. Foot on campusing +10 kg x6. Much better. Weights complex x2, speed.
Tue - 1' overhead carry x5, 1' waiter carry x5, 1' overhead carry x4. 1' rests in between. Beautiful.
Wed - rest. Kind of.
Thu - idem.
Fri - idem.
Sat - max cleans at 53 kg, (3x2, 4x2, 5x2, 4x2, 3x2) 1' rests, brutal. Snatch high pulls, Pull ups, 5x3 to decompress spine. Fantastic.
Sun - EMOM set with muscle snatch, 5x10, brutal. 1' overhead carry x5, 1' waiter carry. Stretch pause pull ups, 5x5, piece of cake.

Not bad week. Shame about the PE training, really disappointed. Too hot, impossible to chalk up and reset feet and hands properly in 15". Good power on the foot on campusing though. Fingers a bit achey, must stop doing front two full crimp training.
The weights are fantastic, and going heavy is the only thing to do. Heavy and speed.

[petejh]

STG: first 8b+ (Mecca), in July October
MTG:
LTG: 8c, by June 2018

'Ticking over phase'


Looks like Verdon Shark! (not the shoes)


M. Core & mobe sesh
T. Short evening sesh on the Orme. Warmed up on Contusion-Mayfair link then OS'd The Bearded Clam, finally, after putting the top bolt in the Reader's Wives Finish years ago I'd left it long enough to make it a legit OS. Good route
W. Short kettlebell workout.
T. Diamond. 3 goes up Empire State. Great route that stays grease-free due to the golden prickly rock. Failed to work out crux. Young birds have fledged and the colony are unaffected by climbing on the wall left of Pink Star, despite what the restriction may say. The cliff deserves more effort by the BMC access team to manage properly rather than accept blanket restrcitions, issues like these are far more important to the average climber than a stupid brand-name change.
F. Checked out Pete R.'s 'new' bouldering spot at Fedw Fawr - he's been a busy lad! 100 probs, some proper gems.
S.
S. Fedw Fawr. Did Lobster Pop, brilliant. Then got sucked in to the left hand proj finish involving the rockover of death. Keen for this but suspect the deal will be sealed by Bobbins very soon!


New venue, plenty of good stuff like this:

[SA Chris]

STG - get climbing again (thumb still knackered)
LTG - get strong

M - cutting fucking hedges. Started at 9, finished 10:30 knackered.
T - surf. Got in at 8, surprisingly cold, quite strong cross onshore breeze. Bit more sheltered up against harbour wall and got some great rides on Footdee "reef" nearly had enough by 9:15 and was about to get out, but mate showed up and felt obliged to stay in a bit longer, ended up catching a few more great rides
W - surf. Smaller and cleaner than yesterday, ended up a paddle fest, but good fun and mellow vibe. Last man out at just after 10.
T - bit broken, did nothing.
F - mowed lawn, ran 10 k. first run that distance since late 80s. Actually felt OK, and reasonably pleased with pace.
S - shopping and funfair.
S - bike ride. Windy, but still maneged 45k at reasonable pace. walk with kids in afternoon. 5 k run evening.

[csl]

STG - End of August
 
Get on an 8a
Try and do Azazel 7A + Goat Rage short 7B

MTG - End of the year

Climb an 8a

Tick a few off this list

Dominatrix, New Dawn, Biological Need, Tennessee, Paradise Lost, Realm of Chaos, Colours, Stay Golden, Frazzled

LTG - 2017

more trad, onsight 7c

Mon

Pretty crap session, did some stuff.

Fri

Fingerboard Benchmark + Core

Trying to work out weight for max hangs, got up to 32kg fro 13 seconds on a just under 1 pad edge. Think i can do more tho since this was 8th hang working up from 5kg added.

Core - front lever progressions, ring i's, pressups

Bad week for training, should get back on it this week, and hopefully of DWS'ing on the weekend

[Duma]

took daughter bouldering.  She loved it.  Great to take her out and her to be into it. 

Brilliant feeling isn't it

Yeah it's ace, glad yours had a good time too!

[tomtom]

Some good work being done here - congrats all...

M: Depot - good session, working slowly through the Purples and starting to feel stronger
Tu:
We: Stockport wall. Another fairly decent session...
Th:
Fr: Back to Rubicon.. bit of a test session to see how I was compared to pre birth.. Warmed up OK and felt good on the fingery straight ups by the traverse area. All positive. Went over to try a bigger tail - got to the rock up for the high finger pocket thing every time, but didnt quite have the same beans/bounce/power that I had pre birth. But otherwise encouraged. Got stuck into 'A bigger prize' - the soft 7A on the far RH side of Kudos wall, that I have tried once but always scorned.. Its a bit eliminate (try and miss out the huge obvious holds along the crack/flake, but took a bit of working out, and a fair bit of pulling before it went, so probably is soft 7A. Though if it were graded by whoever else graded the low 7's at Rubicon it would be 6B :D Nonethless, first new 7 of Fatherhood and felt like I was climbing strong..
Sa:
Su: Harmers with Jim in the evening. A bit of a potter - but was climbing OK. Nice to get the sandstone crimp going again...

[SA Chris]

Such a beautiful spot. Few easy things for me. Great to take her out and her to be into it. 

Not exactly doorstep, but a beautiful; place to get into it. Hard to find easy stuff near us that isn't a) a long walk or b) has a treacherous approach / drops into the sea nearby.

[filz]

Effort Simon! The route looks great.

I got my wrist checked and was diagnosed with a strain. It hurts in some positions and when pushing, so for a while I'll have to train mainly deadhangs and pull ups and be careful when climbing

Mon: pull ups. Ring dips. Rows
Tue: nothing
Wed: fb max hangs. pull ups 
Thu: nothing
Fri: nothing
Sat: some walking around
Sun: sport climbing on sand stone. Warm up, then tried a 6b+ wrist started aching after a wrong move so I had to stop.
 

[monkoffunk]

S - Drove to the Tor. Warmed up. Popped Finger pulley on Weedkiller Traverse. Lost my flapjack. Drove back to London 3 1/2 hour drive took 6 hours. NNFN. 

After the progress I've made and the stupid number of injuries I've overcome this year, this was pretty devastating for me. Never heard an actual pop from my finger till now, the pain isn't really that bad but it hurts if I try and pull on anything. Seeing doctor tomorrow and hopefully specialist ASAP. Not looking good for Magic Wood in four weeks 

Ah that sucks man. Don't push it if it is a bad one, even a cancelled trip is better than a year out.

[tomtom]

Sometimes they clear up quickly... You can hear mine popping at 1:43 on this and it took only a couple of months to be back to normal (though that was fast). Rest it for a week or so then start climbing on jigs open handed.

[webbo]

Mon. Biked to work 20.13 miles. Biked home 20.14 miles.
Tue. Board tried project about 10 times, then did 2 problems I couldn't do on Saturday.
Wed. Group ride from Malton 24.31 miles cut short due to it pissing down.
Thu. Board tried a project about 10 times, move on the one I have been trying for last 5 sessions did it 4th go.
Fri. Bike to work 20.12 miles. Biked home 20.15 miles.
Sat. Board 30 warm up problems then repeaters 5 secs on 5 off x 5 5 sets with 31 lbs. Bike 17.85 miles intervals. Walk 3 miles with missus and grandson.
Sun. Bike 60.90 miles 3 hrs 30 mins hard as hell in 40 mph winds, battered.

[shark]

Nice one on the board project Webbo.

How come you're not climbing outside again?

[webbo]

Its too hot and I'm too fat.