[comPiler]

La Pedriza 5.
5 April 2011, 5:33 pm



This is what we have to wake up to:

Gosh I am tired. Today we combined the steepness of limestone-style climbing with the texture of granite-style climbing and with a walk-in specifically designed to fuck my shit up. We headed to the mini-summit of Cancho De Los Muertos in search of steep shady granite walls, lo, after a "stop and rest every 2 mins" death-slog, we found what was promised.

The view from Cancho De Los Muertos:

Cancho De Los Muertos from the view:

The Cancho is rather fine place indeed, with sheer buttresses forming a summit crossroads micro-plateau, each way out leading to a different spectacular compass viewpoint, and some ways out leading to cool little climbing canyons. We did a lot in the main one of these, relishing in the shade, sliver of sun, and occasional fresh breeze....and relishing in steep granite climbing WITH HOLDS. Yes, actual holds. That one can pull on and all! The only slight detriment being that some of them were quite small and most of them required quite a bit of pulling, so the skin has suffered. A night of marinating in anti-hydral cream and a day of "gentle slabs" calls. Eeeek!

Climbing: 7 good, satisfying routes, 6 short and intense steep things, one so-called easy slab to "warm down".

Wildlife: All the usual suspect, plus one bonus ginger and white cat (seemed quite placid lying on a wall, so I threw chorizo at it). Still don't know what the bloody red beaked heron things are.

And: 0% San Miguel. The connoisseur's choice. And by "connoisseur" I mean "idiot".



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

La Pedriza 6
6 April 2011, 5:25 pm



Today's kitty of the day is....small ginger (cute).

Today was a day of Anger and Lust. We were back on the slabs to rest our arms and trash our feet, and to continue trying to get to grips with this elusive slippery sneaky sandbag style. We found a shady slab, albeit not by finding the correct path to it, the usual boulder-bash being both an adequate warm-up and the redpoint crux of the day. We rattled off a few "easy" ones in swift succession, and one of them actually felt "easy". Possibly only a short grade undergraded. The Anger came next when I got on what could be the slab highlight of the trip, a mighty F6b+. Having done a few cruxy moves and generally on easier ground, I slipped off one poxy F6a+ move to finish. What a DICK.

Cue quickdraw and shoe hurling and a substantial stream of tourettes. As infuriating as this was, the general feasibility opened up the possibility of breaking the seemingly impenetrable F6b barrier. So I tried a F6c, did the crux moves of that (English 6b?) and then slipped off a slopey pull higher up, mostly due to warm conditions. It seems as the grade increases, the level of sandbagging decreases. Possibly. It also seems the conditions play as serious a role as they should - a couple of locals confirmed that "winter yes is the time for best climbing". Woot. Might have to come back. Not least because the Lust is there....finishing with a skin-of-teeth F6b, I felt a strangely alluring balance between the holdless horror of it all, and the zen-like zone of faith in friction. There is a seduction in these sheer slabs, a dark sensuality, a game of chance where one must seek calm in a hidden storm...

I rounded off the day with a dip in a snow-melt mountain river, mmm refreshing, an a huge tapas feast at a local bar. We could see the bar staff gazing and smirking at us when we'd clearly ordered too much and mountains of food kept coming, but they were all friendly handshakes and adioses and graciases when we paid the bill ;).

Climbing: Slabs slabs slabs slabs. 4 routes and a few more attempts....but it was supposed to be a sort of rest day....

Wildlife: The usual birdlife, camping kitty #8 - small, black (cute but limping), and lots of lizards today too.

And: Thanks to the hordes of people attempting to ID the mysterious heron-like things from my inept and vague descriptions, and congratulations to sidewinder who IDed them as White Storks. Here is a picture of a White Stork:



Source:  fiendblog

[duncan]

La Pedriza 2.


Hmmm yes the grades. There were rumours that the climbing was desperate for the grade, that is one correct way of putting it, another equally correct way is that the grades are complete shite. Either Costa Blanca / El Chorro / Costa Daurada / Siurana / Ceuse / Buoux etc etc are wrong....or Pedriza is. It's not rocket science, everything is simply undergraded by at least one, usually two grades. Oh wait, "It's friction slab climbing, you just aren't used to it yet". Bag of COCKS. I've done enough slabs and friction slabs to know. You don't get San Melas or Chalkstorm given E1 5a do you?? Exactly.

 fiendblog

Hmmmm. So Pedriza slabs are undergraded, Buoux slabs are undergraded, Font. slabs are undergraded, Swiss granite slabs are undergraded, Val di Mello slabs "ludicrously undergraded", any US granite without a crack to fondle is undergraded, in fact any slabs outside the UK are undergraded...

Perhaps it's us and not them? 

[comPiler]

La Pedriza 7.
7 April 2011, 5:16 pm



Today's kitty of the day is....large ginger (cross, ugly, and a personal favourite). A last minute winner with good reason I'm sure you'll agree.

Lime lime glorious lime. Well it is glorious out here rather than the blocky blotchy ugly polished choss that people climb back home. Chee Dale I ask you?? Honestly. Ponton D'Oliva is where it's at. It is actually a really good crag of very typical Euro-lime with lots of routes. And lots of pockets. I've pulled on so many today I've lost count and lost enough skin around my knuckles....but kept my tips nice and fresh for more granite horrors tomorrow. As well as good climbing there was good climbing dog action: Primo was my favourite as he had the optimum balance of chilled out most of the time but utterly daft and giddy once you stroked him:

But also this unnamed perro was a winner for cute faces (admittedly mostly when trying to scavenge queso y chorizo).

Talking of chorizo, I have some for supper, and I

chorizo :)

Climbing: 6 very fine routes, including a trio of good F6cs with thuggy starts and delectable finishes. Felt more like proper grades and proper climbing. Tired by the end! Back to slabs tomorrow to get spanked like the bitch that I am.

Wildlife: Kitties #9 to #11 - large ginger (cross, ugly, and a personal favourite), small black two (only one eye but a cute miaow), medium tortoise shell (actually looks like a proper cat rather than a scruffy mongrel). Plus loads of good crag dogs. Muy bueno perros! Or something like that.

And: 6th day on, still syked. Forecast still good...



Source:  fiendblog

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La Pedriza 8.
8 April 2011, 5:30 pm



Today's kitty of the day is small mongrel (annoying and hissy). A controversial choice but she is such a regular feature that it seems fair.

Let's play a game. Grab a blank granite slab, a pair of rock shoes, and a dice. Yes, a dice, you know, standard D6 that you roll to see if your Orcs hit with their axes or your Space Marine was saved by his armour. Got that? Good.

Pick a smear. Take your time if you like, there are many to choose from, but be aware there will be subtleties and factors you have no idea of that will randomise your choice. Now, roll your dice....you don't get to see the result, but you will feel it's effect:

1 - 3 : Your foot sticks.

4 : Your foot just sticks but has set you off balance, add +1 to your next roll.

5 - 6+ : Your foot slips and you fall off.

Now, assuming the result was 1 - 4 and you stayed on, pick another smear, and roll again (maybe with that +1 modifier you're not aware of), and again. And again. And again and again and again.

THIS is Pedriza. This is what we face on the slabs.

Climbing: 4 slab routes, including my first F6b+ (which was very good), but 3 failures on F6b/+s. The game of chance....bad luck to fall and fail, good luck to stick and succeed....roll the dice. Plus rounded off with a few minor but fun steep routes at a roadside crag. Good overall!

Wildlife: The usual motley crue with no change and no new kitties.

And: Despite wearing a t-shirt (or perhaps because of, since it was my hideous yellow Fiend t-shirt), I have more sunburn and have just eaten my own bodyweight in a very garlicky potato stew. Good luck me sleeping tonight :S



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

La Pedriza 9.
9 April 2011, 4:41 pm



Today's kitty of the day is....small ginger and white (cute despite gammy eye).

Today we couldn't get into the damn Pedriza park. At the main entrance there was the usual gridlock queue (surely mostly walkers....if you're that keen on walking then just park up and fucking WALK you dickwads and let the climbers get in to climb....this applies to Llanberis and Burbage and everywhere else in the world too), and the village entrance was barricaded by police FFS. So we spun round and headed back to the lime and explored a different valley crag that was thrumming with other climbers but seemed to have enough easy routes to soak up the ceaseless tide of punterdom (us included). We pulled on plentiful pockets and rattled off several shady routes which made for a good back-up day. Tomorrow an early rise, a hope that the devoutly religious Spaniards keep away, and a swift morning slabbing it up before a long drive to a late flight...

Climbing: Lots of steady pockety routes, fun but not much that really left it's mark apart from a cool little roof with awkward jamming in it (that the locals seem to avoid by a much harder duo pocket lock).

Wildlife: Camping kitty #12 - small, black and scruff (kinda cute, funny stare, pissed all over the hire car), and that's about it.

And: 8th day on and still syked, I was keen to push it more this afternoon if there had been anything else inspiring. Mmmm climbing is good yes.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

La Pedriza 10.
10 April 2011, 5:50 pm



The final kitty of the day is....a bonus one ;)

Well I have started writing this long before the final day and will no doubt finish it long after, but this is how it went in between those times...

Get up eat tortilla pack car cruise to La Pedriza walk into shady crag to do slabs and one steep arete realise shady crag is sunny cos we're early for a change ARSE try F6a slab fall off ARSE try F6a+ slab and give up ARSE both utterly nails get on semi-shady F6a+ slab do several English 6a cruxes randomly fall off top DOUBLE FUCKING ARSE fuck slabs go round to steep F6c arete cruise it YAY FUN redeem something out of the day walk back down go for swim in icy mountain river BRRRRR repack climbing bags and drive 5 hours to Alicante due to cunning timing arrive waaay early wait for hours for checkin YAWN eventually get through and stuff self on Burger King YUM more waiting at gate YAWN eventually get on plane pointing right direction MP3 player runs out of batteries and can't get comfortable to sleep FFS land wait for sodding ages for hordes of numpties to dribble through customs FFS YAWN wait more for airport parking bus JESUS FUCKING YAWN car starts thank god crash into bed at 1:30 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

10 days of climbing, and a really cool new area explored (what it is all about), I feel pretty...

...chuffed

Climbing: The 6c arete was very cool. I got a bit bored of how purely random the slabs were by this point.

Wildlife: Nowt.

And: Tired.



Source:  fiendblog

[SA Chris]

BK? Bit of a break from the norm? Sounds like a good trip!

[slackline]

La Pedriza 10.
10 April 2011, 5:50 pm



The final kitty of the day is....a bonus one

Well I have started writing this long before the final day and will no doubt finish it long after, but this is how it went in between those times...

Get up eat tortilla pack car cruise to La Pedriza walk into shady crag to do slabs and one steep arete realise shady crag is sunny cos we're early for a change ARSE try F6a slab fall off ARSE try F6a+ slab and give up ARSE both utterly nails get on semi-shady F6a+ slab do several English 6a cruxes randomly fall off top DOUBLE FUCKING ARSE fuck slabs go round to steep F6c arete cruise it YAY FUN redeem something out of the day walk back down go for swim in icy mountain river BRRRRR repack climbing bags and drive 5 hours to Alicante due to cunning timing arrive waaay early wait for hours for checkin YAWN eventually get through and stuff self on Burger King YUM more waiting at gate YAWN eventually get on plane pointing right direction MP3 player runs out of batteries and can't get comfortable to sleep FFS land wait for sodding ages for hordes of numpties to dribble through customs FFS YAWN wait more for airport parking bus JESUS FUCKING YAWN car starts thank god crash into bed at 1:30 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

10 days of climbing, and a really cool new area explored (what it is all about), I feel pretty...

...chuffed

Climbing: The 6c arete was very cool. I got a bit bored of how purely random the slabs were by this point.

Wildlife: Nowt.

And: Tired.



Source:  fiendblog

  Is this a rebellion or spy tactics checking out the competition?   

[comPiler]

La Pedriza Beta.
13 April 2011, 6:44 pm

Go here, it's cool:

La Pedriza beta April 2011

General approach:

45 mins from Madrid airport, roads generally easy to negotiate by Spain's appalling standards. Manzaneres El Real is the useful hub of the area.

Driving approach:

Main La Pedriza entrance is very busy at weekends but quiet in the week. Arrive before 9am weekends or you won't get in and will face an extra hour's walk. Sunday slightly quieter early on but busy later.

El Tranco entrance is also very busy at weekends. There might be sneaky parking available for the brave / cunning, unless the police close the road. Again arrive early.

Alternatives: La Ermita El Boalo is impossible to find from book, check a map in advance. Placas De La Ermita is a valid option.

Walking approach:

Most main areas are at least 20-30 mins walk, with many more distant crags, although a few areas are 10 mins. The lower paths are very good, the main difficulty of the approach depends on getting the right uphill path to the actual crags. Find them and the approaches are okay, miss them and double the approach time.

Accommodation:

Accommodation is a bit awkward as there is no obvious hostel / cheap climber's hangout available (El Tranco is a cheap hotel, the park refuge is 40+ mins walk in the park), and the plethora of camping options often have difficult to find information on the internet. The general choices are:

Camping at E18-20 for 2 people plus car / night.

Campsite cabins at E50-55, sleeps 2-4 / night

Hotel rooms at E50-60 for double / night.

E.g.:

Camping El Ortigal - below El Tranco crags, very convenient, very busy and the Spanish-only owner is can be uninformative.

Camping La Fresneda - few km out of town, close but car useful, have cabins but got booked up.

Camping Pico De La Miel - 30 mins drive away, but en-route to limestone. Have dozens of cabins and bar with rubbish food but decent beer. Owner can speak English.

Equipment:

12 quickdraws, 60m rope. All crags we visited we fully bolted, also we never saw anyone carrying nor recommending trad kit so I assume many if not most of the other crags were bolted. There are a few good trad lines but nothing you wouldn't get in West Penwith. There is a colour-coded guide to the safety(?) of most routes, this did not seem to correspond to the bolt spacing nor anything obvious.

Shoes:

Shoes need to be tight to get most precision on the crystals AND loose for heel down rubber contact, also need to be soft and rounded for most sensitivity AND stiff and edgy for most support and solidity. Good luck.

Climbing:

If you're thinking of going you should know what it's about: lots of friction slabs, lots of crystal climbing, lots of single pitch, some multipitch, some steep stuff that's well worth seeking out as respite. Be warned the slab climbing is mis-graded and highly random.

Grades:

Some might say the grades are sandbags / stiff / whatever. The reality is they are simply wrong, albeit usually consistently wrong. The grades are normally 2 full grades below what they should be, sometimes 3, occasionally 1 if you are lucky. E.g. A Pedriza 6a slab will feel AT LEAST like a F6b / E2 5c slab elsewhere. The steep climbs are usually only 1 grade below what they should be.

Conditions:

A lot of the park gets a lot of sun and the crags are exposed to all of it (and any wind). Early April it was 22-24 degrees in the local town and most of the time we had to seek shade. The rock dries quickly but there is no shelter from rain on the granite.

Crags visited:

Canchos De Los Brezos: sun, fully bolted, 20 mins obvious approach, Sector Izquierdo can be runout, 60m rope.

Cancho Butron / Colina Hueca: shade unless sun is high, fully bolted, 25 mins obvious approach, narrow but comfy base, CB RHS has new direct lines.

Cancho De Los Muertos: shade and sun, fully bolted, 45 mins approach along river and up, path hard to find, direct ridge path from further parking would be gentler, great location at summit X-roads with steep climbing.

Muro Del Euro: early shade, fully bolted, 30 mins semi-obvious approach.

Risco De La Foca: late shade, fully bolted, easy 10 mins approach, steep routes at Placa Oeste debolted except F6c arete.

Quebrantaherraduras Inferior: shaded by trees, fully bolted, easy 10 mins approach, very busy, minor steep routes.

Placa De Las Nueve: sun, fully bolted, 20 mins okay approach, 60m rope useful.

El Indio / Risco De La Fuente: sun and shade, fully bolted, 20 minutes easy approach, bad rock on shady side of RDLF.

Patones specific beta April 2011

General:

Local limestone is highly pocketed and good respite for the fingertips. PDLO is an essential visit in it's own right. Grades are usually a bit stiff but close to being right, some sandbags on shorter routes. Plenty of shade if needed. Easy road access heading East from the same motorway Junction that Pedriza is West from.

Crags visited:

Ponton De La Oliva: sun and shade, very easy approach, no parking problems, Placas De Sol upwards was closed from middle parking, West side is a cool setting, East side is as good as any Euro-lime crag. 60m rope recommended.

Los Alcores: sun, easy approach, entirity of riverside crag is flooded, remaining upper tier crag is worst I've visited in Europe.

Canyon De Uceda: shade, rocky approach and some narrow ledges, not child-friendly, Sector Antonio Martin worth visiting, rest very short.



Source:  fiendblog

[Fiend]

Hmmmm. So Pedriza slabs are undergraded, Buoux slabs are undergraded, Font. slabs are undergraded, Swiss granite slabs are undergraded, Val di Mello slabs "ludicrously undergraded", any US granite without a crack to fondle is undergraded, in fact any slabs outside the UK are undergraded...

Perhaps it's us and not them?

MEH 

I do recall doing a Buoux slab that was hard. It was F6c and felt damn stiff at that grade. Would have got F6a+ in Pedriza.

Font slabs are nonsense yes. Don't know about the rest.

The reason why it is THEM rather than US is because properly graded slabs are consistent with nearby other styles of climbing. E.g. if you get a normally graded gritstone slab it will feel overall similar in physical challenge (taking into account stylistic differences) to a same grade grit crack / wall / whatever. San Melas -- Gypfast, yeah they both feel like E3 5c. In Pedriza a F6a slab will feel waaaay harder than an F6b wall. Something is wrong and given the F6b wall is fairly consistent with everything else I've ever climbed on the planet, then I vote for the slab

Familiarity, yes that could be a factor. I was raised on grit and culm slabs and have done some of my hardest leads and boulder problems on them. Slab climbing feels totally natural to me, unlike say, relentless overhangs, blank grooves, wide cracks etc etc 

[comPiler]

A mulltitude of mulling on Mull.
27 April 2011, 11:23 am



Woohoo I got to Mull. Simon D and I had a long-running plan over the entire winter to go there for some suntrap cragging. Generally the "sun" part of the suntrap cragging didn't happen enough to justify the drive/ferry/limited accomodation logistics, so the winter plan became a spring plan and a "whenever" plan. That whenever was the last long weekend and we took full advantage of it and had a great trip...

Day 1

Venue: Scoor

Rock: Schist

Climbing: Sheer slabby trad

Routes: Lead E2 5b, E3 6a, E2 5c, E3 6a, E2 5b

~¤~

Day 2

Venue: Erraid

Rock: Granite

Climbing: Slabby and steep trad

Routes: Lead E2 5c, E2 5b, E1 5b, E1 5b, E3 5c, E2 5b, soloed VS 4c, VS 4c, HVS 5a

~¤~

Day 3

Venue: Loch Buie

Rock: Gabbro

Climbing: Bulging bouldering

Problems: Crushed V4 (flash), V5 (2nd go), V4 (4 goes), V6 (worked)

~¤~

Day 4

Venue: Ardtun

Rock: Dolerite

Climbing: Vertical crack/groove trad

Routes: Lead E1 5b, E2 5b, E3 5c, E2 5b

~¤~

In general

Climbing: Very good. Mostly short but intense. Good value.

Variety: Excellent. Various rock types and various styles (there is also granite bouldering, gneiss and limestone)

Acessibility: Reasonable once over there. Some long-ish walks but not steep.

Scenery: Stunning beaches or dramatic mountains.

Wildlife: 4 friendly pigs, a hare, a cluster of seals, a lost cow on a huge beach, a small lizard, a normal peacock and an albino peacock.

Facilities: Figden campsite exposed but lovely setting. Good showers but can run cold if busy. Fionnport shop excellent for it's small size.

Food: Tobermory whisky B2B Isle Of Mull smoked cheese.

~¤~

Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Glorious Gairloch.
2 May 2011, 3:36 pm



One of my current aims in exploring around Scotland is to sample the local whisky from each major climbing area I visit. I like climbing and I like whisky and I like supping on a wee dram of the latter with a campsite dinner after doing plenty of the former. The harmony of climbing on the bones of the land during the day, and feasting on the fruits of it's flesh in the evening. So far I've had good, great, or sometimes just adequate combinations of: Caithness climbing + Old Pultney, Inverness/Moray/Aberdeen climbing + Singleton, and Skye climbing + Talisker.

One place where this combination has always eluded me is the Ullapool-Gairloch area, rich in excellent cragging but barren in comparable whiskies, Inverness and Wick distilleries not quite having the local feel....until now that is!

A tip off from a local shop led me to this secret micro-distillery at Aultbea, and a small but expensive purchase of their cask strength spiced rum cask (to go with the summery weather) single malt. So far, so promising. After a fresh breezy day at Tollie Crag, there was something warming to look forward to. But what about the taste?? I am pleased to report it is a tipple that worthily matches the quality of Gairloch cragging. Brought down to bottle strength with a drop of water, it blends a good sharp spice with tropical fruit tones and a woody casky finish that was most pleasing. A rousing success.

Oh yeah and we climbed at Tollie Crag and Loch Maree Crag with not a midge in sight, and Loch Tollaidh (above) in fierce evening sun, then wombled past Whale Rock in Glen Nevis on the way back. Mostly fairly punterly but the weather was awesome and it was great to explore the elusive Tollie midge-havens in fresh conditions, and Arial at Loch Maree was the most outrageously big pitch I can recall climbing. Time for a wee break, some training, and hopefully some progression.

P.S. and someone set fire to Liathach DOH.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

The Usual Bollox.
11 May 2011, 8:05 pm



Sunshine and showers, the most despicable and infuriating of anti-climber weather conditions, guaranteed in it's unpredictability to turn out gorgeous if you stay in and and start pissing down as soon as you go out to touch rock, the heaviness of Scottish showers ensuring that even wet-weather options get adequately annoying seepage and the general on/off nonsense of such a reprehensibe climate cock-up preventing even the most slightly interesting trip away, maximising the boredom of snatched hours at local venues and allowing the myopic and unimaginative to claim they're having an awesome early summer climbing because they go to Stanage / Avon / Dumby every sodding time.

The silver lining to these mocking clouds being that I am 1. Kinda busy and 2. Kinda syked to train, after the last two glorious trips away which were great exploration but left me with a slightly sensation that I was STILL lagging behind the potential I wished to progress into, and needed to up my stamina and general physical and mental ability to cope with the steepness that obviously or insidiously infests most Scottish mid-grade cragging. Hence sessions at the campus board, gym, and the mighty R, which I went down to last saturday after a campussing and gym session and still did okay, which shows potential THERE but I need to, and will do, a fair bit more in the meantime. Bring on the pump.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

The Waiting Game.
19 May 2011, 12:26 pm



Some free time, some keen partners, some atrocious weather.

This is the way it goes but once all the moaning and ranting and fist-shaking is out of the way, what is the best way to make the best use out of it?? In Arno's Problem - Question - Opportunity terms:

Problem: The weather fucking blows.

Question: What can I do in climbing / planning terms to maximise current and future enjoyment despite the weather??

Opportunity: Work out what areas are best to explore in weather that fucking blows, work out what climbing desires can be incorporated into weather that fucking blows, take the opportunity to train in preparation for when the weather doesn't fucking blow.

So, here are some ideas for reference, for when it's the typical south-westerly sunshine/fuckingshowers wet in the west weather:

Venues:

Northumberland: Callerhues, Rothley, Simonside, Bowden, Goat Crag...

South West: Laggantalluch, Crammag Head, Kiln O' Fuffock...

Central Outcrops: Tig-thingy Viewpoint, Glen Croe, Ardvorlich, Glen Lednock, Glen Ogle...

Eastern Outcrops: Glen Clova, Limekilns, Roslin Glen, Cambusbarron, Angus Quarries, Weem...

North East: Ballater, Rosehearty, Tarlair, Red Tower, Harper's Wall, Earnsheugh, Craig Stirling and more...

...all of which have either useful training routes (physically and mentally challenging), or specific inspirations, or would be interesting to explore, or would tackle useful climbing styles.

Other plans:

Bouldering: Glen Nevis, Arrochar (projects ;)), Carrock Fell, Gouther Crag, Gillercombe etc etc, Queen's Crag, Simonside Plateau, Shaftoe etc etc...

...the weather might be occasionally warm but it's often bloody windy during sunshine/fuckingshowers periods, so conditions can be surprisingly good. More mixing and matching, more exploration, more physical training, more fun.

Suitable inspirations: As well as exploring super-awesome areas, I do want to push myself a bit more and explore new areas of challenge and personal climbing development. Some of those challenges are more local, more compatible with general training and a focused hit... ...so that could be a good aspiration.

Training: I've found I need to progress physically to progress with my climbing overall, particularly fitness, stamina, and power to weight ratio. The gym, the campus board, the mighty R, the local-ish sport venues are all suitable and I do have some syke to keep using... ...this needs to be balanced with "keeping my hand in" on trad, but should leave me better prepared when it's dry enough to get to proper venues.

Overall: when the weather fucking blows, explore locally, mix and match with other climbing styles, train hard, and be ready to crush the Highlands and Islands :).

(And paint more toy soldiers and listen to more drum and bass...)



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Backlog Bollox
11 June 2011, 9:24 am



Holy arse on toast it's been a long time since I posted any ramblings on here. The main reason being that things have been a bit bollox with weather, car trouble, partner mis-organisation, general slothfulness and other malaises.

Things I haven't done recently include:

• Got back up to anywhere inspiring in the North West or North East.
• Booked any rad and awesome trips away.
• Climbed much that has been particularly challenging or progressive.
• Kept up with training hard at the gym.
• Kept up with training hard at the wall.
• Followed my concepts for having a great climbing year.

Boo.

What a choad.

What I have done is sat on my arse too much, and then a bit of the following:

Horribly Weak at Harper's Wall

The low point of this year if not my life. Not only did I have to resort to climbing a VS, I actually enjoyed it. Ugggghhhhh. VS. Fucking hillwalking.

Breezy Cruising at Brown Crag

Obviously the above was completely unacceptable. So, after a good night's sleep and a strong coffee, Phil and I headed down to Brown Crag to see what we could do. The initial plan was to go back to square 1 and get some good E1 mileage there. As it turned out, conditions were good, the vibe was good, I was suitably wary/prepared for the steepness, and slowly eased my way into E1 5a, E1 5b, E1 5c, E2/3 5c, E2/3 5c, which whilst only just above hillwalking / descent route level, did actually feel like climbing. All pretty nice routes too.

Kinda fun at The Keel

I arranged to climb with Stuart. He suggested The Keel, a new local sport climbing crag on the Aberdeen coast. Ugggghhhhh. I expected something that would make Boltsheugh look like Ceuse. Really the last sort of place I'd want to go on a decent day with a plethora of trad available. Nevertheless I went along to give it ago, cos he's a nice guy, I might get some good training in, and maybe persuade him over to Coble Boards afterwards. As it happens although The Keel was short, steep and scruffy, it was long enough to make leading feel pretty worthwhile, and the climbing was actually kinda fun and it felt good to get involved and get a decent workout.

Casual Flailing at Carrock Fell

Each time I go to Carrock Fell it seems to be in bollox conditions. This time I thought previous bone dry days plus a forecast 10-20 mph Easterly wind would encourage some sort of friction but alas no. The rock was dry but my skin wasn't and although it was cool-ish there was a vague mugginess that ensured a brief session and a determination to revisit more in winter.

Going Okay at Glen Ogle

More local days, blah blah. Went up to Glen Ogle to sample fresh breeze and afternoon sun and it was pretty good despite it being blind rounded dusty slopey obtuse schist at it's almost worst. Nevertheless I climbed okay, highlights being a near miss on a slopey F7a - had actually committed fully to the moves and was 0.0000001 seconds away from getting a jug when I lost balance. Good that I put the effort in rather than wimping out but annoying it was rewarded with failing anyway. And a near success on the classic E3 crackline which was easy on all the steep bits and tricky on all the slabby ledgy bits and while never actually hard was sufficiently obscure enough I very nearly came off on dusty rock but somehow persuaded myself to adhere. Not so much a fun romp as a good exercise in staying calm.

Chilling at Cambusbarron

Finally went to Camby just for something to do, and that something to do seemed to mostly be lounging on my mat enjoying the sporadic sun. Did one warm-up route, tried a supposed easy E3 that was utter nails, backed off in a confused micro-huff, decided it was too still / tiring to try anything challenging and blah blah.

SoOoOo....what next to sort this debacle out. I'd love to say "more Highlands and Islands awesomeness" but I doubt the diabolical weather gods will be that kind. I certainly need to keep up with my concepts for dealing with shitty weather. I also need to train a lot more, and follow up some leads for a climbing trip abroad. Better get my arse off the toast and into gear then...



Source:  fiendblog

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Dabbling at Dumby.
18 June 2011, 6:29 pm



I've gone off Dumby a bit. Unless I got there properly focused with a clear intention, I usually end up dabbling on the boulders. The boulders, however, being stern, unforgiving and generally disdainful of human beings, do not tolerate such dabbling. They demand no less than the upmost dedication and the upmost determination to their harsh and hostile intricacies.

Plus I am fat and weak and can't do problems I could do years ago.

However I sometimes go down and get tempted to dabble in other directions - further upwards, with a rope and sometimes a rack. The other evening was one of those occasions. My fingers were knackered from a good campus / fingerboard session (part of the plan to de-weakify, given my fucked legs severely inhibit de-fatifying), so I just fancied some Easy Trad. Dumby isn't the best place for that once you've done the big Windjammer/LongBow combination, but a bit of hunting around reveals some options.

First up was The Whip. This was given a bland 5b grade in the old guide. IIRC, Dave Macleod was asking for feedback on some Glasgow outcrops, and I amongst other suggested that some of the longer "problems" at Dumby and Craigmore might just deserve adjectival grades. For example, The Whip is 5b, hard 5b to start and then fairly mild 5b to finish - 8m up above an abrupt angled landing. Well worth it's E2 5b and two stars. I set off in warm weather with little chalk and clunky resoled shoes, just intending to play on the bottom to warm up. However the steadily defined moves and good rests just encouraged me to go all the way up, so with some trepidation I did.

Second was some searching with Neil for a suitable lead for both of us. I spotted Eldorado, an obvious if mis-described direct start to Desperado. Neil muses "I thought you wanted Easy Trad, like HVS, rather than E3 5c". Well, errr, E3 5c IS Easy Trad, particularly when it's a short direct start to an HVS rather than some overhanging and unpredictable mega-pitch. I can't pretend otherwise. So I got on it. The start took some working out, with a low altitude but high chance of failure off balance lunge to a jug. After that it was steady up the HVS, which was actually an E1. I rather enjoyed it. Neil thought it was okay. The consensus was the start was sort of E2/3 5c/6a, with more risk of severe lacerations from brambles and broken glass than actual breakages of one's own.

And that was that. Very much a "treading water" session, like ALL the ones I'm having - and getting bored with - at the moment. Fun in itself but not satisfying the deeper exploratory and progressive urges. The weather is still sodding awful but I keep trying to be patient and keep training...



Source:  fiendblog

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Leisurely climbing at Loudon.
21 June 2011, 10:21 am



I had a terrible thought recently. I've been getting a few decent local days out, and I suddenly realised that it would be theoretically possible for me to be one of those smug patronising twats who, after a typically abysmal non-summer, whitters on with crap like "What was the problem with the weather? I got out a few times every week, it was fine" as if their myopic and insular repeat visits to the same local crag in between showers did the term "getting out" any form of justice.

So, make no mistake, the weather is fucking appalling. Sure I got out last Thursday evening, and yesterday afternoon in nice fresh dry weather, but Friday was pissing down, Saturday was pissing down, Sunday was constant showers, and today is so pissing down it makes Friday look like the Sahahra. Local cragging is keeping my hand in but it is in no way the sort of proper trips that a summer is for.

Anyway, Loudon. Finally got out with B, whose regular mid-week days off usually coincide with the rain when we've planned to climb, but not yesterday. It was quite fine at Mount Loudon despite a bit of mugginess on the walk-up (and maybe a bit hot and bothered after overshooting the A71 junction and ended up South of Ayr...). B was keen for trad mileage, I was keen for more treading water, and we followed that keeness, conquering Mount Loudon via 7 good routes, culminating in finally laying Epitaph Sodding Variation to rest. This was quite pleasing because last summer I had a right flap on it before reversing off, this time although quite hard it just worked naturally. So I guess I am maintaining a steady level. Hopefully this will set me up for pushing things a bit....at some distant point :S



Source:  fiendblog

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Two sides...
26 June 2011, 5:19 pm



Two climbers.

One route.

One challenge.

Both climbers tackle this challenge. Both climbers push themselves. Both climbers have to put a large amount of effort and many attempts into the route. Both climbers have to overcome previous difficulties to succeed.

One climber completes the route, and in his celebration of success, just mentions the route name and maybe the quality, but not the grade.

One climber completes the route, and in his celebration of success, just mentions the grade, but not the route name nor the quality.

A small detail, but...

One meaning or two different meanings?

One inspiration or two different inspirations?



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Classic Caithness Coolness.
28 June 2011, 5:22 pm



Yay! Back to Caithness at last. Somewhere that always inspired me from reading about it in guidebooks and magazines (I wonder if Duncan Disorderly knows I pinched his OTE with the Caithness special a few years ago??), and somewhere that has proved to be worth that inspiration on initial and subsequent visits. My visits now total 3, which I hoped would be enough (not least because of a certain tedium with the neverending Inverness > Wick finale of the 5+ hour drive), but will likely require at least one more, as this trip was 66% rather than 100% successful...

Much Climbing at Mid Clyth

Yay! For Mid Clyth. A brief initial visit merely sampled the compact and heavily starred Stack area, this substantial return visit confirmed the validity of those stars in an orgy of steep wall climbing. Yes, it really is as good as the guidebook (the definitive, not the less reliable selected guide which criminally misses out this fine crag) says, with a veritable plethora of minor classics crowded side by side above the most convenient (abseil descent aside) of flat platforms. More than you can shake a stick at....or even a seal. Verily the seals were out in force, lowing and mooing and staring quizzically at our bizarrely non-aqueous antics. Those antics simply included a lot of great climbing....and that was that.

Showers at Scarlet

Since the weather forecast predicted 3 unbroken dry days, the rain had the decency to wait until midway through the second day. Oh what courtesy. Before this meterological blip, the mighty Sarclet was the natural choice for the day. Sarclet is somewhat more adventurous, although the main adventure involved trying to construct a vaguely comfortable two man survival shelter out of a ropebag, a rucsac, a small rockshelf with a good RP above it, and a few badly tensioned and even worse placed anchors. This sufficed - barely - for early showers, thus allowing us to snatch a couple of warm-up routes. However the last route was led in light drizzle and seconded in substantial rain. After a soggy and swearful retreat, the sun came out at the car. Arse and double arse.

Evening Esoterica

After an emergency - and pleasingly free - weather check at the Wick library, there was enough promise for the 3rd day....and the 2nd evening. The showers had scarcely tickled Wick nor the coast further North, so we tried Auckengill, lured by the dubious promise of easily accessible 3 star 8m routes. Hmmmm. Well apart from obviously not being 3 star routes, it was pretty cool. A charmingly relaxed location above an arguably even more convenient platform. The couple of chosen routes were definitely short but also distinctly steep, providing some good value. Not nearly as steep as a final digestif route at The South Head Of Wick....an alleged E2 5b with a hard 5c/6a crank above just adequate wires, hard to place amongst severely overhanging climbing the whole of it's brief and brutal way. This required enough up and downclimbing to get a Munro tick, yet was still fun enough climbing to make a perky E3/4 despite such dicking around.

Slipperiness at Sarclet

Thanks to the still dry forecast, the day dawned drizzly on the campsite. Back to the ever-useful library and the promise of a dry afternoon to be worth a morning caffeinating (Morag's Cafe being surprisingly good in this regard), perusing the vast array of tractor magazines (10 different ones in total, I was struggling to decided between Vintage Tractor, Old Tractor, and Classic Tractors) and general faffing (like I need any practise). Heading out to finish the job at Sarclet once more, the brightening day and freshning breeze promised the elusive sending conditions. However my befuddlement about onshore and offshore breezes and sea-cliff conditions was at the fore again. After following the mighty Pimpernel and doing a brief warm up, my chosen inspiration, despite looking reassuringly welcoming from a pert wee belay ledge, was greasier than a whore's fuckflaps. Thus escape was made, and there was little more to be done.

A rather good trip but a couple of Sarclet classics still remaine...so close....yet not close enough...



Source:  fiendblog

[Duncan Disorderly]

Classic Caithness Coolness.
28 June 2011, 5:22 pm
Yay! Back to Caithness at last. Somewhere that always inspired me from reading about it in guidebooks and magazines (I wonder if Duncan Disorderly knows I pinched his OTE with the Caithness special a few years ago??),

He fucking does now you theiving bastard

That's not the one with the classic 8a's in it too.... If not it must be another of my "so called" mates

Pikey bastard

:D

[Fiend]

LOL  . You can have it back when you come up to go bouldering at Dumby....some of the Caithness article pages are a bit sticky but you wouldn't be reading those anyway 

[comPiler]

Sunstroke at Stranraer.
4 July 2011, 6:23 pm



Decisions decisions this weekend. The weather forecast was good but the midge forecast was less good especially in the hills, with the wind sometimes struggling to break the 5 mph bare minimum. Sea-cliffs or similar were proposed, and for the purposes of convenient travelling were narrowed down to: Ardnamurchan, Aberdeen area, or Stranraer Peninsula. Much triangulation of surrounding Met Office locations and averaging out potential wind speeds ruled out Ardnamurchan, enthusiasm for a dry-in-the-west forecast ruled out Aberdeen, so Stranraer it was, for the triple whammy of Crammag, Llaggantalluch, and Portobello (the crag, not the Edinburgh district not the London district nor indeed the mushroom, although there was talk of taking some to the crag, sauteeing them on a camp stove and getting the essential but still apparently unclaimed "Eating Portobellos at Portobello" tick).

So yes. The weather was glorious. I got sunburnt knees from my cutting edge shorts + compression stockings combo. And a sunburnt head. And sunburnt shoulders from my "hide the gut show the guns" wifebeater. We did some great climbs each day. Slabs and roof cracks and thin walls and all sorts. The micro-granite is a unusual delight, the greywacke a familiar delight. We saw a curious seal each day (probably not the same one) and lots of annoyingly loud seagulls. I did one of my finest crag turds ever, coiling it out in a splendid figure of 8. We stayed at a huge caravan park at Sandhead that despite being very distant from the wilderness experience, did good butties and good coffee. And went to a very nice pub nearby for a fine meal punctuated by a splendid butterscotch profiterole dessert, probably the highlight of the trip.

Hurrah for climbing really!



Source:  fiendblog

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Sweden calling...
6 July 2011, 1:22 pm



I am going to Sweden for 12 days! Bohuslan! Climbing! And the rest of my experience will hopefully be summed up in the two videos above! Won't have my laptop so no updates but no doubt there will be some extended waffling when I return...



Source:  fiendblog

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Sweden the country.
21 July 2011, 5:17 pm

• Everyone drives a Volvo. Usually an estate. This is great.
• Unlike the UK, most people do not drive like complete fucking morons. This is good.
• There seems to be no national radio station devoted to minimal techno 24 hours a day. This is very bad.
• All Swedish people speak good English and are usually very helpful. This is a revelation that British people could learn from.
• Unfortunately there are no English signs anywhere at all, for anything. Although "toalett" and "stopp" are mercifully comprehensible.
• All Swedish children are very blonde and seem very happy.
• Most Swedish women are very blonde and wear very short shorts.
• Everything is extremely expensive. The only exceptions being pre-grated cheese and low-alcohol beer.
• Supermarket meatballs are fairly average and I can't eat a whole packet of them.
• Restaurant meatballs can be very awesome.
• South-West Sweden consists entirely of fields, pine forests, lakes/inlets, and small lumps of granite.
• In Bohuslan, those small lumps of granite  can be very awesome.

Source:  fiendblog