[Jim]

nor are you made of clocks

[Ru]

Boasting some of the 'best movement' on the crag, we move right to Rupert's In Excess sitter. The hype is justified, its a bit damp, but the combination of wide pinches, slopers and drop knees gets our interest, and we both manage it. This is a good problem.

What bloody drop knees?

[Doylo]

It is eliminate you know Dob!

[Ru]

It's not an eliminate, I obviously just missed the nice sequence. You can do it by sitting on your right foot too, but it doesn't look as good. Will do it with a drop knee next time.

Submarine is desperate.

[Adam Lincoln]

btw i think submarine is 8a/a+

I presume you meant 'super' Submarine? Submarine is 7c+, just a bit knacky.

[Probes]

  was obviously in coco land yest, missed the blatant 8b+ sacarsm there. yeh i meant the sitter. i forget you can do it from standing as submarine.

[dobbin]

Submarine is desperate.

[Adam Lincoln]

was obviously in coco land yest, missed the blatant 8b+ sacarsm there. yeh i meant the sitter. i forget you can do it from standing as submarine.

Have you done Super submarine? Nice one. You can't be far off ticking the crag!

[Probes]

Nah, ive had a bit of a play on it, need to get dedicated for it tho. Nearly ticked it (the crag) but that walking bicep keeps adding stupid traverses and sit starts. And.. there's going down of course.. you can only say youve ticked if thats on the score card, cant see that happening very soon. 

[Adam Lincoln]

Nah, ive had a bit of a play on it, need to get dedicated for it tho.

All about conditions. Hitting the crimp is easy, took me 3 or 4 sessions after tapping it to do it.

[comPiler]

HIgh zoo
28 January 2011, 9:38 am

I always thought caley needed a couple of preceding days of dryness to be worth visiting. So when Thursday started damp I didnt have high expectations. Through the morning I kept making excuses to leave my desk and walk past a window, and suprisingly things looked bone dry. Lunchtime came and off I scuttled to Caley, which had obviously been wet, but felt ok. There was more of a wind than last week, and I thought it felt a bit warmer at first. The wind soon put paid to that, as although the air might have been warmer, it soon stripped you of any body heat. It was hard to warm up, and harder to keep warm. Have come to the conclusion that although in great condition, it may actually have been too cold.

First goes went badly. It hurt to have to bone those little sharp holds. Went off and did some crimping. When I came back, did the top again. Then did it from the undercut move - felt good. Just three moves to put on the start and that was it then...

Got chatting to lad called Si from Middlesborough trying Ben's Groove sitter. This looks ace. very different to Zoo log. Managed to get my interweb scoop filled and we watched the vid of it which is on pootube. THe man who does it there must be both very good and very tall. Anyway, I have a couple of goes where I fall off taking the swing from the cut loose. I'm struggling to make the first toe hook work. I stop the process and take the time to work it out properly - marking the notch so that I can see it when on the problem. Also someone has put chalk marks in the wrong place on the undercut, so i brush these off and put new ones where I use it. More goes take place and I feel like a bit of a warmed up too fast pump, and I decide to pop back to the car for some food and to get a brush.

When I come back up 15 minutes has passed and I am again cold. The next go is rubbish. Wait 4 and back on it. This is the one which should have been. The toe snags behind the undercut perfectly, I am able to drop into the edge perfectly, my fingers arranged in the optimum position - i feel good, the thought dances through my mind that this is the one. I step out and onto the nubbin, bang - up goes my left hand to the tape box edge - got it on three! its ok though, feels like a crimp jug for some reason, I bone it and ninja my right foot into the next toe hook, my left pastes around the arete and I move my hips into balance, this time perfectly finding the point of balance and casually reaching into the high sidepull (at least, thats how it felt!). As I take the hold i have time to settle my fingers perfectly on the hold and I feel attached, dare I say, actually quite good!

Engaging my core I release the toe, and some how I manage to kill the swing, scuffing my right up the wall and placing the heel on the pound coin - is it ok? is it on? dunno, but I dont stop to worry about - go for the move and hit the top left flake - its not quite right, but I have enough - i think, I fight to get it back in control, moving to try and try and mitigate the position and whilst its not perfect, my left is splayed across the hold. I can't bump it or change, but perhaps its enough? I lurch for the right hand intemediate and take it badly, my right foot scuds off the toe hook, with my dying gasp I slap at the top jug and miss! oh Shit! That should have been the one!

back on the mats I am kicking myself. I think thats it basically, I have as good as done it. Surely go down next time wont it? I rest properly, but make mistakes. Goes come and goes go - I look like I am going to do it, and I get worse. Never does everything line up perfectly and I never make it back to this new high point. The tipping point between thrashing myself and making progress passes and I am still deluding myself that I'm in with a chance and its well past the point of sensible stopping when I eventually admit defeat.

On the plus side, when I next get chance I know I can do it, but it would have been nice to have actually got it done. Oh well.

Source: The Blog of Dob

[chris05]

Nice post, perfectly describes some of my recent sessions where I have been so close only to fail at the final hurdle. Good luck next time!

[tomtom]

Superb post Dobbin,
Really sums up the thoughts/feelings involved.. at the same time I was engaged in similar thought processes accross the valley beneath Underhand.. sometimes catching, sometimes not, that sketchy thought if is this the time... 
Good stuff..

[comPiler]

El Roacho
31 January 2011, 11:11 am

The interweb was full of people blathering on about how good the weekend was going to be. You couldnt fail to feel at least a little bit excited by all the hype, and i just hoped the weather delivered on the promise. Which it did. Didnt have time to go to the Roaches, but I went anyway. Its fine to go places and try stuff on your own, but once a week is more than enough, and although it meant i wouldnt have long, I went where my friends were. Glad I did too, as it was a beautiful day to be driving down through staffordshire, que misty eyed daydreaming about living in a farmhouse and having dogs.

Anyway, back in the real world I arrive at bloc centrale and bump into some girls who I always see at the wall. Mild abuse of one another and I do some fun problems to get on it. Meanwhile my chums are nowhere in site. But with good reason, as Ed is having his last go on Tetris, and they have warned its 15 minutes walk from where I am, and in the sun is making it greasy. I set up camp beneath mushin. The last go is enough for Ed, who, like a prize fighter arrives victorious but covered in blood. Videos of this problem look fab - i would be keen to investigate for myself.

Mushin has always been on the list, but its a line of drainage and was wet the only other time I went to the roaches. And I think it might have been a little bit that way on saturday, although its meltwater this time. We start off reaching the jug dish with our left hands and then attempting to toe hook our way out to the right hand jug. I hit the jug a few times, but suspect I am moving too fast to actually hold it should i get there. Try going with the right hand a couple of times, and it takes a bit of work to make any progress, then I manage to get to the left hand dish above, and suprisingly theres a little mono thing in it, and the toes feel better somehow - more straight on perhaps? anyway, so suprised that theres actually a hold up there I dont get it right and fall off. Turns out that this is the way. So, another project added to the list!

To our right a pad hurtles from the top of the crag, bouncing down through the trees as though some hideous accident has taken place, but theres noone attached and its all benign. 'Isn't that stone's pad?' says James, then we realise that there has been a hideous accident, but its one of navigation - Sharples, Rae and Stone all clump down the path towards us, hopelessly lost and in search of a crimp to swivel around on. We set them back on course for Millers Dale and start packing up ourselves. Beautiful day, and -3 just outside of buxton on the way home.

Source: The Blog of Dob

[comPiler]

Sea Fog
3 February 2011, 9:24 am

If climbing on the gritstone can be compared to smoking weed, then the cave must be to climbing what crack (or crystal meth) is to drugs (i imagine). Hard, manufactured, crushing, addictive and with a faint stench of burning plastic. But to the user - its brilliant. And yesterday? soggy.

I wanted to go to a wall somewhere but they persuaded me to stay. It did feel tacky in places, and with a lot of work, and the adoption of far out new techniques such as chalk damming we made it just about climbable. If nothing else, it gave us a leisurely warm up. In the style of Jim, almost right out of the car - Bendy shot across halfway house, a quiet fell as he dropped into the undercut, turned and slapped for the shothole - good effort! but sadly he missed, and this was the best go of the day.

Dylan and I make tries, a bit of progress but noone does it. With so many pads we can make a platform from which to try the top. Its not easy! when you see videos of people doing it, they romp up it when they get the shothole, but its not as easy as it looks.

Jim, meanwhile, has set about Left wall high which is soaking. He manages to make it climbable and busts out some good links. I join him at the end and have to say - I recommend the climbing on this little sideways shuffle - its brilliant.

We leave, broken after a good day and doing some hard moves. Jim and I discuss how the reasons you go climbing dictate whether or not you will like the cave. Adam describes people training on boards as weightlifters, and to some extent thats what cave lovers are. For me, climbing is about pushing myself and doing hard, previously thought impossible moves. I want to feel like i have done something at the end of the day, I want to feel like I have had a workout (hence the weightlifting analogy), but for others thats not the way it works. I suppose we all like to push ourselves, but some revel in the physical challenge of overcoming a sequence of moves you arent strong enough to do at first, and some in solving a technical challenge.

Source: The Blog of Dob

[comPiler]

CakeRider
15 February 2011, 12:30 pm

It was a funny week last week. Volume of work is ramping up at work, but thats really not very interesting, and as we don't dwell on the humdrum, let's talk about rock climbing. Or at least, a very small amount of rock climbing. And cafes and cake.

On the subject of which, I took my young protege cake testing in the new Oakbrook tea rooms. Which is a nice cafe, new, and on Oakbrook road. It has good coffee, and does homemade cakes. On a lesser, but still important note, it has nice wall paper on one of the walls. I dont think they ran out of money and couldnt afford enough for the other half, more that if you put it everywhere it would look busy and might induce a migraine. What cakes do champs eat? Pecan brownies. What cakes do aging hasbeens eat? Lemon Polenta cake. I took the monster for a coffee on Friday and had a walnut and coffee cake. Polenta was better.

That same day I met with UKB's, and the internet's Italian ambassador - Lorenzo Frusteri. What a nice chap. With wild intense eyes! And re-met Michelle Caminati. We met at the Climbing works, warmed up and then drove out to try lowrider. In short, noone does it, and it was a bit wet. But the interesting thing is that finally I tried it the 'other' way - i.e. feet one side, hands the other - its loads easier! punter! So, three or four times I get to the end, but never do the last move. Its quite annoying that I have had to spend so long going on about it, and walking up that hill, sloshing through the bog to get there and try it a brutal but ultimately duff sequence. Ah well, thats the way it is sometimes.



Source: The Blog of Dob

[comPiler]

More from the cave
21 February 2011, 9:14 am

It appears that North America has a much more stable, predictable, and more importantly - dry weather system. You can probably pick any weekend in the right season in Colorado and just organise a weekend away with your chums and get to go rock climbing. On actual rocks. All that can be certain for the UK climber is that nothing is certain, and that you shouldnt commit to anything until the last minute. Which, when you need to book your time off with the wife, is tricky. I had the weekend arranged months ago, and all that we said we would do is choose something to do as late as possible, to avoid last years wet county weekend.

As the week wore on (and it did wear last week), the weather looked definate. Definately shit! A big bank of wetness was set to sweep east across the country, but as it was a band it would leave Wales first of all, so it had more time to dry out before we got there, and so thats where we went. Only getting out of Sheffield was difficult enough, as it was impossible to get up out of Ranmoor! Down worked, and we were soon on the way.

The cave was busy, and cold. And damp. Although, not so much so that nothing was climbable, and we set about trying to do stuff. I witness a chap making the kneebar look easy on Trigger, some chaps from UKB on the right hand side, and lots of scary wet holds and unexpected dismounts.

Finally manage to close the Left Wall high account, although make no more progress on Trigger. I think i need to be pushed through the move to the shothole a few times, as I just cant do it.

Sunday went to CityBloc for a change. It was cold when we got there, but soon warmed up. The problems are good. I am tired today. Martin Smith is a good climber. 

Source: The Blog of Dob

[willackers]

I fell off loads of problems at The Depot and Martin Smith walked up them 

[Stubbs]

More from the cave
21 February 2011, 9:14 am

pick any weekend in the right season in Colorado and just organise a weekend away with your chums and get to go rock climbing.

Source: The Blog of Dob

Colorado was a bad choice of example, as the bouldering areas are alpine, so they get a lot of unpredictable storms, etc.  Bishop, Hueco more so, the useful thing they have is fortnight in advance weather forecasts which are generally quite accurate!

[SA Chris]

They have climate, we get weather.

[comPiler]

NoRider again.
28 February 2011, 11:16 am

Well, the weather was wrong then wasn't it?! It was supposed to be shit on Saturday and nice on sunday, and whilst Saturday did start off meeting expectations, it then went on to exceed them by the afternoon. Figuring to make the most of the drying effect of the wind, I dragged Ned up to Lowrider on Saturday afternoon. To be honest, with hindsight, my undoing was my lack of preparation. The warm up was the hike up the hill through a bog and head down into the wind. A few pull ups on the jug at the start and then quick ascende of the end. Felt grippy. I felt good, it was surely on. We quipped that I would have to be quick about it before we both got frostbite. Which was to prove prophetic. Had a fanny go, forgetting the feet and making it hard on myself, called it a warm up go and sat down to rest before a proper attempt.

This came, and it went well, but not well enough. I turned the lip and got eyeballing the jug, but things were slightly not right and I couldnt take a hand off to go for it. Started the waiting game again. Shoes off, trying to keep warm, even hiding in the green cleft with Nedward for warmth. None of it worked. Body heat was departing fast. Squeezed bloodless white paws back into the teams and set off again. This time it was solid. I rinsed to the jug, sorted myself out and locked up to the rail, feels good, taken it in the right place for once, and then my left hand comes in, and its better than before, I know I've got it, and I can weedle myself into position. I kick my foot off and round to the unhelpful hole thing. It actually feels like I'm going to do it. Start to udge for the sweetspot, looking for that position where you are assured of success, and just as I find it - POW, off blows my foot and I am earthbound, suprised, gutted and cross.

Further attempts come and go, and I get back there about four or five times, but never quite as well, and I leave empty handed. My right foot is so cold that I am back in Sheffield and home well before I get feeling back. So, lessons learned : warm up properly - and possibly somewhere else. And, Lowrider could be one to leave until May.

I am surely due a mega week of account closing. So much failure recently, but so close and so many irons in fires on a number of things. Imagine the mega week - Lowrider, Zoo York, Trigger! That would be a takeaway curry and beer justifying weekend.

Source: The Blog of Dob

[comPiler]

MegaWeek
16 March 2011, 10:11 am

"I am surely due a mega week of account closing. So much failure recently, but so close and so many irons in fires on a number of things. Imagine the mega week - Lowrider, Zoo York, Trigger! That would be a takeaway curry and beer justifying weekend."

A week ago on Tuesday afternoon, after years of on and off trying I finally did Zoo York at caley. I wondered if the 'mega week' was here. But, as thursday passed and was rainy, I thought there was no way. Thursday was the Low rider window and it'd rained. I had no window at the weekend, and Monday was the day before my cave chance. In my head, this meant I wasnt going to get lowrider within a week of Zoolog. Anyway, the whole thing was just a ridiculous joke anyway - theres no way I'd end all my seiges in a week... was there?!

She and I went for a lovely and long walk on Sunday. We parked at the Strines inn, walked up to Back Tor from there, along the top of derwent, passed the Salt Cellar and down over the moor to Moscar. As you know, it was a stellar day and we revelled in our beautiful surroundings. On the way down towards Moscar heights, you can see clear across to Lowrider, and it looked beautiful. The late afternoon washed out winters sun bathed everything in a Constable-esque glow, and I loved living in Sheffield at that moment. We stood together looking up at Stanage and thanked our stars that we'd ended up here, and all was well.

Monday was also lovely. As the day went on I wondered whether there could be a synergy of intention between my desire to not do too much today (as preparation for the cave) and my dream of getting lowrider done. I realised that if I went to the wall at 1500 then I could warm up there and still get to lowrider for 1630. That, I realised was enough time to have a couple of goes, plus - the having to drive and walk up the hill would mean i wouldnt thrash myself on the board and potentially be in with a chance tomorrow too.... Perhaps the mega week was still open! At the wall I recruited Geordie Tom, and together we marched up the hill to Stanage far end.

The problem was all dry, it looked like someone had been on it over the weekend - the holds were chalked rather than washed clean. I wonder with hindsight, this made more difference than I realised? Anyway, pulled on and did the end. Felt good on that top seam thing, so I did it again just to reinforce. Brilliant. Set the old stopwatch, brush the holds and sit down to admire the other aspect of the walk we went on yesterday. Beep Beep Beep! I pull my boots on and take some breaths. My expectation is to fluff it on this first go, after all thats usually how it works on the first redpoint of the day, but not this time. I turn the lip of the bloc and I feel good, I know I have enough beans to do it, and as I latch the seam i feel good. My left hand comes in and I just feel i have the hold better than when I tried before, and I dont feel tired. I dispense with all this clever left foot beta - which just feels unnatural. Without allowing myself time to think about it, I squeeze my toe into the hole and feel for the position. Like a shift light in a racing car it flickers on and I reach casually into the jug! Awesome! felt so easy when it finally went down as well!

Tom is well psyched, and I wonder about doing it again, but getting him to film it? but he reigns me in - as I am climbing the next day, it would be folly to do it again for the camera. I see the logic, pack my stuff and walk down. Drop him off back at the wall and am home by 1800.

The forecast had warned that yesterday would be foggy and not so good, but it was down to 40 on the snake at 0620. My journey to Chester took ages. I didnt get to my desk before 0815. Had a busy but productive morning, finished at 12, jumped in the car and inbetween lid fulls (forgot spoon) of pasta salad, completed a conference call and hurtled down the a55. Lets just say that the weather wasnt promising. I'd spoken to Rupert who mentioned that at the weekend it had been like this but that it was actually quite good in the cave. And on arrival it sort of was. certainly there were people there, and the holds were the right colour and so on, perhaps there was a chance.

Gangly scouse cave lord Rich Hession loped around the classics with the energy of a man full of caffeine, Rupert and I scuttled around the wings trying to get some warmth in our bones. Realise as I start getting sucked into elimanates at the RHS that its time to start Trigger, so I pull Dylan's mega pad into position and set about creating a platform. Leah, Ste Mac and the Gresh arrive. My first go is log, feels wierd dropping in to the undercut. Second go is better, but I dont get the second hold right and therefore its hard. However, it sort of shows me what I need to do, and on the next go I get that second hold really well, I bone it and it feels good. I twist into the egyptian, take the undercut, turn the gyptian back and have a pat at the shothole. I have the height I have the speed, but I dont actually hold it. This is food for thought, I realise that to get the shothole you dont have to lock to it (unless you are Ben Bransby), you have to slap it from the position I have been in so many times. I start again, this time I just decide to go for it, I will try and hold on if I hit it, and hit it I do - bang! its a flippin jug! I dont believe it! You know how in videos everyone rinses to the top from here? well I know why - its easy!

Well, I know what it is - compared to what you have just done it feels piss, but pulling on there its still quite hard. With the shothole nailed, i rinse to the top basically footless in a trance at having done it. Wow wow and triple wow. I am so pleased, but in the back of my head I want that digital prize, I want it on film! exchange pleasantries with my chums in the cave, and have a few goes on halfway - which feels desperate! Then I decide to try it again for the camera. Once again i hit the shothole, hold it and rotate out to the side pull. I keep getting flummoxed with my feet, but as my left slips off it forces me to adjust. Fighting to hold it together I manage to get to the strong position and lurch through the jugs. Phew! thank goodness for that.

Here's the video of this second lap :

So there it was, the three nemeses crushed! the mega week was reality! Imagine for a moment, being Mick Page - mega few years! Anyway, diminutive geordies aside, I was happy, three great and hard problems done, on to the next goals. Which are? well, I was thinking about this on the way home, and theres halfway in the cave. If the block goes back on then theres in hell. Also, Ru and I tried Clyde - which is actually really good. So maybe that (scary). Over here theres HTY sit. Those things at Curbar - plenty in short, but the main event - Mecca, is what really looms in the distance. So I need to up the PE training I think.

Source: The Blog of Dob

[grimer]

Fine machine, nice post 

[Falling Down]

Nice work Dobbin, good storytelling too. 

[Richie Crouch]

It was marvellous to see TC dispatched with such ease and finesse!