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Photo Shot...
6 January 2011, 7:15 pm

The road back to Margalef seemed long and slow, but eventually we found the Refugi, and soon after sleep found us.  With the last day dawning clear and blue, we had many options for places to climb, but settled on the easy choice of Laboratory as unfinished business is a strong lure.  For those that don’t know the Laboratory I will give you a quick run down...

Its very short, less than 20m, and steep, very steep, except at either end where it becomes very very steep.  It is predominantly climbing on pockets, which are usually fairly good, except from the ones that are not, and are always covered in chalk.  This means that it is usually possible to get a good idea of the route before even leaving the floor, and so a pretty good place for onsighting.

The left hand end of the cliff is home to the famous roof routes of Darwin Dixit and Demencia Senil, but nestled in amongst its more well known brothers is a route called Photo Shot.  At 8b, Photo Shot is the cheapest of the routes in this sector, but since I have been called a scrooge on more than one occasion; it seemed like a good place to start my onsight bidding.

There isn’t really much to say about the actual ascent... apart from it went pretty well. I luckily chose the right holds at the right time, and after a short time found myself at the top.  Something that is worth mentioning however is the holds on the route!  Unlike a lot of the other routes in Margalef, and this sector particularly, they are not too painful.  A welcome surprise, and one to seek out...

Onsighting Photo Shot, 8b in the Margalef Laboratory

After lowering off Photo Shot, I felt pretty energized and half decided to jump on an amazing 8b+ (sorry, I forget the name) a little to the left.  Eventually, I decided to leave it for another visit as you only ever get the chance once, and to spend my last remaining energy on Ley Innata.  It was a very good call not to try the 8b+ because I turned out to be pretty tired, and after one of the biggest fights of the trip just to claim my quickdraws back, the only thing left was the drive back home.

Here are a couple of photos from our mini-trip to Spain.  Next time I will be back on the Grit!

Source: James Pearson

[Doylo]

 
The holds may not be painful when you do it first go but they sure are after 10+ goes! (eh sausage!)

[Adam Lincoln]

The holds may not be painful when you do it first go but they sure are after 10+ goes! (eh sausage!)

 

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Eat Natural
21 January 2011, 5:57 pm



Just a quick one to say how happy I am with one of my new partners... Eat Natural.

Tasty treats in my climbing pack from now on!  Yum yum :)



Source: James Pearson

[Jim]

did we all miss something?

and was even lucky enough to climb my oldest hard grit project on a crisp, snowy Boxing Day. It was awelcome surprise to feel so solid and in control on something which had once felt so hard. Infact, the last time I tried the route in question, there was on move entirely that i could not do – so big big changes are happening!

what is this route?

[Nibile]

I got super curious as well.

[Paul B]

The one next to the one that Pete W flashed recently? (significant repeats thread)

[Jim]

not new then?

[Adam Lincoln]

not new then?

Xmas'ish. (Or did you mean new, new?) Was a 'new' one yes.

[Bonjoy]

It's the arete mentioned as a project at Bank Quarry (Matlock) in the new Froggatt guide.

[Jim]

not new then?

Xmas'ish. (Or did you mean new, new?) Was a 'new' one yes.

Boxing day to be precise as in the quote I quoted 
just didn't hear anything about it, does it have a name/grade any pictures?

[Johnny Brown]

I think Simmo was there, so presumably keep an eye out for Climb's exclusive coverage.

[Doylo]

Lets hope its not another 5 pager.

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Morocco
28 January 2011, 8:48 pm



Morocco was always going to be a bit of a wild-card, even with the original sugar-coated plans.  Yet as the departure date drew nearer and everything fell apart, we began to really doubt if we had made a sound decision – even the thought of remaining in England began to seem interesting.

Eventually, the statement of “even if the climbing sucks, ten days in Morocco cant really be that bad” was made, and on a cold new years eve morning, we boarded a plane bound for Agadir, joined by a load of pasty white fatties in search of some winter sun.

Being met in person by our hire car rep, watching him fill in all the paperwork by hand and pay him there and then in cash, reminded me that, despite the cheap flights to get here, we were not in Kansas anymore.  

The car, as to be expected, was a tiny pice of shit, which contrary to popular belief, is actually worse than a big piece of shit, as with a big piece of shit, you can at least fit in your bulky luggage and several bouldering pads.  Fortunately, there was just the two of us, so with a bit if rearranging, everything slotted in fairly well and we set off into the unknown.

Unknown may seem a little dramatic, especially when compared to some of my recent expeditions, but actually it described our trip to Tafrauote pretty well.  We had no idea of the town, we had no idea of the rock, we had no idea where to sleep, and we had no idea if there would be other climbers.  We brought gear for trad, sport and bouldering, because we didn’t know what to expect, and as it turned out, we used everything, every day.

As we moved away from Agadir the landscape quickly became rugged, wild and barren.  Cliffs became larger and more regular, eventually turning into jagged brown mountains as we neared our destination.  And then, just like snapping your fingers, as we turned the final corner into Tafraoute, huge round boulders appeared!  Whole mountains covered in them; giant orange eggs, interspersed with the occasional embedded house, and lush majestic palm trees – the most beautiful place I have ever seen.



Source: James Pearson

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The Expedition Reports - 3 - The Crack
31 January 2011, 5:43 pm



Its time for more Expedition Reports from Chad.  This time, Alex takes on one of the most disgusting routes I can imagine...

So this dispatch is about a cool arch I got to climb. I’m typing it from the back of the jeep while we quest around the desert.

We stopped at the Sao Paulo [sp??] Arch a few days ago while we were driving just to see it as tourists. But when we parked underneath we discovered an amazing offwidth crack that split the whole formation from one side to the other. The whole team decided that we should give it a go, but we didn’t have any wide gear and no one else really seemed thrilled to climb a sandy offwidth. Tim was kind enough to go up top and drop a line down through the crack to give me a toprope belay and I set out up one side to check out the rock. My first attempt I chose the side with better rock that looked a little easier. I made it half way across the roof before my legs gave out and I collapsed from fatigue.

We broke for lunch for a while and then I tried it again from the other side, which involved a sandy boulder problem on friable face holds before gaining the crack. This time I gave the whole things the fight of my life, knowing that once I made it to the middle I would be back into familiar terrain. Jimmy was hanging in the middle of the arch shooting pictures, which always makes things a little more fun to have a friend hanging out next to you. And Mark and James were shouting up encouragement from below while I grunted and struggled across. The whole process took an hour and ten minutes of hanging from my legs and thrutching wildly. I broke off tons of holds and a certain points could hear sand pouring into my ears.

In some ways it was the most disgusting route of my life in terms of poor sandy rock and hard climbing. But it was also the most satisfying pitch of the trip for me. It was awesome to try my very hardest for so long and barely be able to squeak it out. I’ve deemed it the hardest offwidth in Chad. I don’t think there’s much competition.  Alex Honnold



Source: James Pearson

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The Expedition Reports - 4 - Shiny Pointy Things
10 February 2011, 9:25 am



Expedition report 4 comes from team photographer and fairly handy climber, Tim Kemple...

There are two types of thugs in this world. Those that will knife you and those that threaten to knife you. Fortunately these were the later.Its been one of those days for me really. The harshness of the desert has begun to set in --every step calculated, as snakes, spiders, insects, and flesh eating grass seem to be lurking everywhere. Making things more stressful, we’ve broken enough camera gear to keep B&H in business for another year… its almost like our video equipment can feel the stress of the Ennedi as well. Yesterday James and Mark bagged another tower first ascent (The Wine Bottle) so we packed up the 4x4’s and headed deeper into the sand in search of more desert gold.

We have no real system for finding new routes. Just drive for hours across the desert to the next well known landmark and see if the rock is climbable. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so much stone in my life, so at times it can be overwhelming. Its mostly loose sandstone, but there is enough good rock to be found that every turn finds everyone’s eyeballs glued to the windows wanting to be the first to spy the next gem.

That’s how we were yesterday when we ran underneath Aloba Arch, reportedly the biggest land arch in the world at close to 100m. The solid ‘Red Rock’ black faces to either side of the arch were going to be the perfect passport to the summit. We were stoked! Problem is we were also so busy looking up that we hardly noticed the 4 knife wielding teenagers approach from the bushes. At first we thought they just wanted us off their land, but soon it became clear that they wanted to mug us.

Normally I would have been fine leaving my gear for the bandititos, but I forget North Face athletes don’t like being told what to do; so we picked up sticks and got ready to do battle… Fortunately their knives were just threats and they ran into the dusty desert afternoon.

We took off as well, the Delicate Arch of Chad awaits.

tk

Yes, It was pretty scary!



Source: James Pearson

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The Expedition Reports - 5 - The Arch of Ba-Chikele
14 February 2011, 5:51 pm



Here it is folks, the final instalment of our Chad Expedition Reports.  This time Renan Ozturk takes us on a journey up the Arch of Ba-Chikele - the most impressive and delicate rock formation any of us had ever seen!  

I'm a little sad the reports have come to an end; it has been fun to share it with you all, and in a small way it was like being back there again, staring out into the unknown, wondering what magnificent route lay just around the corner.  But fear not, as the Camp4 team are working day and night on the video edits so you should get to see something shortly.  As for the pictures, I have seen the final edit and they are something special.  Check out the April edition of Outside magazine if you are State-side, or the August issue of Climber Magazine for those in the UK.

“Expedition Time Distortion”: I think this could describe what the whole crew is experiencing at this point out here in the remote Chadian desert.  Although we have only been gone for a matter of weeks, and it probably seems like a blink of an eye to all those back home, to us it truly feels an eternity lost in the endless sea of unclimbed sandstone, micro barbed picker grass and roaming camels.

Despite the looming homesickness, today the moral is high.  We convinced Piero, our tireless guide, to go for a final hail mary quest to the most remote part of the region to check out what seems like the most inspiring formation from our research: a tower/arch that we have deemed “the delicate arch” of the Ennedi.  Piero is skeptical of the whole journey after the incident with the knife bandits (see dispatch 4) and tried to ward us off from the idea:  “You know there are vipers and cobras in camp-- definitely maybe!!”  Even though we will only have an afternoon and morning worth of water to explore the location before have to turn back we all agree it’s worth it.

More 4x4ing through the heat and we arrive at the objective.  It is even more inspiring than we could have possibly imagined: a helix of two spindly towers ~160 ft tall connected by a tiny arch that truly resembles Canyonland’s famous Delicate Arch!

With our limited time the team quickly sprung into action and headed up the talus cone in the brutal midday heat to scope the line.  Each side had distinct cruxes of chossy unprotected slabs or decomposing cracks. Eventually Mark and James decided on the slab.  The rest of the day was spent battling for protection in the decomposing sandstone. At one point Mark tried to place a bolt and it was so loose in the hole he had a double stack pitons around to make it even remotely passable as protection.  Jimmy, Kempy and I scrambled around trying to document the madness we could here James cursing after Mark relinquished the lead:  “Its like bloody Caster sugar up here, after you break the outer surface the rest just explodes,  #(*)&#@#&!!!”.

Feeling a bit antsy at the base Alex took matters into his own hands and went for the kamikaze onsight free-solo first ascent of the crack up the other side.  At this point it was a free for all with time running out to find a way to the summit.  “Here you go dude, take this wireless mic,” I suggested and he clipped it on.  After sending half the formation I could hear his breathing elevate with is knee stuck in a wide crack unable to commit to a loose flake transfer.  Displaying good judgment and some extreme skill he carefully retreated down the lower tech face as we all watched clenching our teeth.  Darkness set in James and Mark also decided to play it safe and descend, hoping to get it done with an alpine start the next morning.

During the night as the climbing teams rested for the morning we stayed up most of the night documenting a moon-rise we will never forgot:  The nearly full moon rose directly behind the arch and tracked a perfect path slitting the formation.  For the Camp4 Crew this was a mind-blowing coincidence for us to be able to share the beauty of this place.  We ran 3 timelapses through the night, one on a motorized Kessler dolly tracks to add another layer of movement to the tracking stars and moon.  I have to say it was kinda gripping scrambing around wondering if the aforementioned snakes might be lurking under any rock.

Before sunrise the games began again.  James took the final leap of faith.  I’m sure the details of his moment with God will come out in his and Mark’s own detailed descriptions but all I have to mention is that Mark could barely force himself to belay the pitch.  If he fell he would have ripped the entire pitch including the anchor...

After some victory screams he brought up the rest of the crew for some truly feel good moments.  Its so rare that in this day and age that such iconic first ascents are still a possibly.  Looking out over the expanse of rocks and village life below it was an unsaid realization how special this experience has been. .  (The Arch of Ba-Chikele)

Our time here is coming to a close.  By Marks’s vision of putting this adventure together, Piero’s 20 year knowledge of the landscape/people, Alex and James’ bold summit leads and the Camp4 Collective crew photo/video efforts we all hope to bring back a greater understanding of the Ennedi to share with those back home.  However haggard, diarrhea ridden, sand caked, starved and exhausted we all may be there is no doubt we are vastly grateful for the experience and the opportunity to be the first to climb in this remote region.  Stay tuned for not only a feature in Outside Magazine and Video Dispatches but a more polished film festival piece highlighting the start to finish epic!

Thanks for following and cheers from the whole team out here in middle of nowhere!  ~reo

For more inspiring pictures, check out "the Word" at realbigpimp.in



Source: James Pearson

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Tafraoute's dirty little secret...
24 February 2011, 9:52 am



Arrival...At first you feel like you have died and gone to heaven, a bouldering heaven decorated with palm trees and coloured carpets; but fairly quickly Tafraoute reveals its dirty little secret.

Very rough, very sandy, and very frustrating is how I would describe the rock in Tafroute in polite terms.  My mum told me saying bad words makes baby Jesus cry so I wont stoop to those despicable levels, instead I will use SCIENCE to demonstrate my point.  

Surveying...

Utilising some of the most modern and accurate methods of visual guestimation, I was able to conclude that 89.74% of the rock is bad, and of the 10.26% that is good, 2.37% is inaccessible due to its location, and 6.44% is just featureless.  This leaves a disappointing 1.19% of good quality climbing which may not sound much, but thankfully Tafraoute is all rock; as far as you can see in every direction, mountains covered in giant orange eggs entice you to explore.

Cleaning the holds on one of many new trad routes...

I know that the perfect line is out there, hiding somewhere in the shade is a line of perfect edges and huecos through a big roof, but this on this trip I didn’t find it.  However... we did manage to climb every day, for 8 days straight on good quality problems.  Sport, bouldering, and trad – we even found time for a mini desert rave.  That’s not too bad going when you think about it.

Caroline chilling before the onslaught...

I'm planning on writing something a little more in depth about our adventure in Tafraoute, to be published in one of the climbing rags at some point down the line along with a host of pretty pictures.  There is also 60gb of raw HD footage sat on my hard disk waiting for someone with the time and skill to turn it into something cool – if any of you budding film makers fancy taking a look, drop me a message and we can talk some more.

Just another beautiful sunset, just another beautiful day...

For now, I want to say a quick thank you to Ivan and the rest of the smiley Spanish for the helpful information they gave us – without it we would certainly have climbed a lot less.  You can find Ivan’s website here.  There is also a lot of useful information about climbing in Tafraoute here.

Source: James Pearson

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The Return Of The Jedi
14 March 2011, 9:15 am

The Return Of The Jedi...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I promised you a detailed description of my latest grit route “The Return of the Jedi”; a great little arête in Bank Quarry, climbed on boxing day last year.  As seems to be the norm these days, I have been mega busy over her in Austria training and preparing for another English project in the near future, which if all goes well, should be a really exciting time...  But before I start going into details of what is yet to come, I need to go back and put right the past!  

So, my project...

The Line... and the landing!Shortly after starting climbing, I was introduced to 2 “projects” in a small, dirty quarry, not far from my parent’s house.  The quarry was not the most inspiring place, but these 2 lines were simply stunning and I decided I had to climb them – the only problem was, back then I couldn’t even move up the featureless overhanging rock!

I sporadically returned over the next few years as my climbing improved, and on Boxing Day 2004 I made the first ascent of “The Power of the Dark Side”, an awesome route up a slightly overhanging fridge, and a route I still consider to be one of my very best.  At around fr7a+ the climbing was relatively easy, but as the route took no protection and climbed over a terrible landing, leading it was a pretty intimidating prospect.

The main project still remained, and from time to time I would wander up from my Parents to have a play, gradually working out the moves and developing an idea of how the route would one day climb.  Three dynos/slaps (where my feet would often cut), linked together by several other powerful insecure moves, all above another horrible landing.  I knew the line was possible but I also knew it was damn hard, and for one reason or another, I never found the motivation to lay siege and get on the “sharp end”.

Yet another session...  

The quarry (and its projects) were unknown by all but the most esoteric explorers, and this gave me comfort; my little project was not in any danger of being snatched up from under my nose, I could sit back and relax in the knowledge it would be waiting, should I ever feel like the time had come.  That was until the new Froggatt guide was published earlier this year, including detailed information about all the Matlock quarries, and a nice picture topo which includes my line as the “E9 Project”.  Shit!  My secret was out, I needed to act...

Boxing Day 2010 dawned clear and crisp.  Persistent snow still covered the ground; if the route was dry, conditions could be prime.  After abseiling to clean the route I returned home to warm up.  Pulling on the rough gritstone edges on the side of my home brought childhood memories flooding back; a lot has changed for me over the last few years, there has been good and bad, happy and sad, but all of it has served to make me stronger, in many senses of the word.

A very cold Caroline...  

Caroline offered to be GriGri girl for the day, and the two of us made our way to the quarry, neither really knowing what to expect.  This would be her first experience of belaying a hard grit route, and it would be my first time on the route since failing to even do the moves during my last visit; what was going to happen was anyone’s guess.  Climbing the route first try on toprope came as a big surprise!  The rock felt grippy under my skin, the holds felt big under my fingers, and the moves that were once so hard, now came easily.  I knew it was on...

During my time away in Chad, I noticed a big change in my mentality towards trad routes.  Rather than look at and plan for all the negative points – where will it feel hard, where will I get pumped, where will I feel scared, where can I sneak a no hands rest... I now found myself excited to try, eager to see what challenges lay ahead, confident that I was fit enough and strong enough to succeed.  The same could be said about this project – leading it would be fun.

“The Power of the Dark Side” was named after a pair of Christmas socks, and in keeping with the idiot Star Wars theme, I’m calling this new one “The Return of the Jedi”.   I placed a couple of boulder pads at the base of the route that made it a much safer proposition than it would be without.  I still believe that it’s not possible to offer an E grade for a grit route climbed with pads, simply because of the potentially limitless amount of protection they can offer.  For me it was E x, for the next ascent with more pads it may be E x – y, and the one after with less pads, E x + y, with y being dependent on the number, size, and quality of your foam.  

The Return Of The Jedi...

HXS 7a explains as much, or as little as you need to know.  In other money it is perhaps F8a+ to toprope and would be a fierce little offering with a couple of bolts – from the floor to the ledge it is slap slap slap, no time to stop and chalk!  With enough pads and big balls you could possibly consider the bottom section a highball boulder, but the top of the route is pretty far from the floor and still has a tricky move.  I chose to take a rope and place some (bad) gear, if nothing else it kept Caroline smiling until the ordeal was over.

I’m really made up to finally finish off this duo!  It’s a strange little place, but the lines are both 3*, the first projects I ever tried, and only a few hundred meters from my house – how about that!  

To see a small gallery from the route, as well as a video of the first ascent, check out realbigpimp.in...



Source: James Pearson

[Nibile]

 I still believe that it’s not possible to offer an E grade for a grit route climbed with pads, simply because of the potentially limitless amount of protection they can offer.

 

[comPiler]

Preparation...
23 March 2011, 8:34 am



Things are going well, which as I type this brings a smile to my face, and for a brief moment I even considered marking the occasion with an elegant and refined self-portrait.  I'm sure you know the sort - tops off, slap on the baby oil, flip the mood lighting and stare moodily into the distance – but unfortunately, I can’t find my favourite pair of aviators, and you know as well as I do that a portrait without aviators is no portrait at all.  The reason for this blog is that the day I depart these snowy lands to return to England is drawing near. I planned to talk about how strong I feel both physically and mentally, about the preparation I have made to increase my concentration and performance under pressure, and how I feel it will be to return to hard trad after such a long time away.

However, my gooning groupies are on holiday this week (everyone needs a break once in a while - even from the best job in the world) and so my overly indulged ego is feeling a little fragile today. I fear being accused of narcissism for the second time in a week would likely be a blow from which I would not recover, so instead of continuing to talk about myself and my life, this blog will be from now on dedicated to the best of British - Fish and Chips and Galaxy Chocolate.

And talking about Chips and Chocolate – I have to give a big shout out to the good old cup of Tea. Enhancing both sweet and savoury, is there a more versatile and appreciated drink? Answers on a postcard please...

Groupies - Check, Tops off - Check, Aviators - Check!  Is any more proof needed?

OK, Time to be serious... If the above few paragraphs seem a little more eccentrically out of place than normal, you should head on over to UKClimbing to read the amusing (if a little lengthy) forum thread discussing my mental condition. Whilst I am flattered that people are so interested in the inner workings of my mind, I can’t help but feel that there must be more important things to discuss?  I'm not entirely sure how much (or little) of the content was serious, but regardless, it is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while.

On with the show...

Here are a couple of photos from the weekend, sampling the brilliant trad climbing at Cadarese, Italy.

Mustang 8a, Cadarese - Photo Riky Felderer

Mustang 8a, Cadarese - Photo Riky Felderer

Despite training harder than ever and being in the best shape physically, I know that trad is an often difficult and delicate mistress to please and I felt it was important to spend a few days reminding myself of her subtleties.

Cadarese is a bit of an anomaly in Euro granite as the entire place is made up of splitter, after splitter, after splitter. Development began around 8 years ago, and as is usual in these parts the main sector was fully bolted. Three years ago, Riky Felderer and friends began to develop an adjacent area that became known as “The Crack Party” and since then, perfectly protectable trad routes have been established up to 8a/+.  I began the day warming up in the main sector, climbing a very fun full body experience 7a+, followed by the sectors current hardest route, the 8a+ “Once Upon a/Beslan Memorial” combination. Beslan is a wonderful route, with two distinctly different crux sections, but most importantly follows perfect hand and finger cracks for most of its length – Time to bring out the friends!

The first thing I noticed when racking up for a trad route after an extended sport period is how heavy the gear is. Stepping off the floor, one immediately feels the effects of all the extra metal as it swings back and forth below your hips. Secondly, it is so much slower than leading a sport pitch, even with very simple protection.Every placement has to be found, judged, selected, (often reselected if you are bad at stage 2), placed, tested, and finally clipped. This process breaks up any rhythm, vastly slowing down the climbing and increasing the time hanging off your hands – and all this before we even go into the mental aspect of trading.

The lead went well, and despite having a bit of a tussle to seat the final crucial .5 friend and getting majorly pumped in the process, the last 5m run-out on slopey crimps passed without too much drama. This was a relief for reasons more than simply ticking the route, as my England project is in a similar style to this final section – its confidence inspiring to know that I can perform well on crimps despite being pumped silly and far above protection.

Up next was Mustang, the route from the above pictures, and a route I had been drooling over since Riky shared with me a picture from the year before. After an easy hand crack for 10m, one finds themselves at a brief rest point, with a tiny finger lie-back crack the only way to the belay, 12 meters above. The climbing begins with a technical, delicate sequence, and finishes with a burly, pumpy sprint, with the transition between the two extremes bringing the crux.Unfortunately, the crack was not entirely dry, and after a careless foot swap the damp crack spat me off on my onsight attempt.

After another slip, I worked out the secret of staying on the rock. By keeping my hands and feet close together I could apply even pressure directly to the rock, no twisting or extending made for very powerful climbing, but atleast I could stay on the wall. Placing protection was difficult due to the small size of the crack and the powerful body positions. Small friends have small lobes, which means a small margin for error when placing them – it doesn’t take much change in the rock for one of the lobes to miss its placement. To be able to confidently commit to the climbing, you need to invest a lot of energy in placing the gear. Its a bit of a catch 22 situation, but ho-hum, it all adds to the fun, and after a big fight I made it to the top. One of the best!

I’m back in Innsbruck, resting my skin for something big... Ill tell you more soon.

Source: James Pearson

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Tricks of the Trade...
6 April 2011, 4:52 pm

The life of a climber is often not as glamorous as people think.  Travelling the world can be tough, waking up every day in a beautiful place, with fresh air and great friends quickly gets old,  and the well defined physique we get without any real effort is not as magnetic to the opposite sex as you have been lead to believe...

Ok, ok, so the life of a climber is actually pretty cool, and we are essentially gods amongst mortals.  But there is one down side - we are naturally stingy with our hard earned cash.  Deep pockets and short arms can find us in some uncomfortable situations, but fear no more, because here is one of the best, to show you how to play it like a pro!



Source: James Pearson

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Pembroke...
17 April 2011, 8:36 am



Believe it or not, I have never climbed at Pembroke!  

With hundreds of 3* routes, loads and loads of amazing e6’s and 7’s next to one another, usually with good pro and good holds, Pembroke is without doubt one of the best trad climbing areas in England, if not the World.  However, there is one small problem, at least it was a problem for me in the past...

...because of all the good holds and good gear, the routes here tend to be quite pumpy for the given grades!  Trad climbing for sports climbers – if you can place wires and are fit, there are few places better.  The trouble was, being a predominantly a grit climber and boulder, fit is something I definitely was not, and so I avoided it like the plague.

When I first moved to Austria in 2009, my original plan was to develop my sport endurance to improve my trad climbing for my scheduled return in 2010.  The move to Bristol never happened, but my original idea remained strong and for the last year and a half I have been beavering away in foreign lands waiting for a time I would be inspired enough, and feel ready enough to return.

Late 2010 brought me the inspiration I had waited for, and all that remained was to put in a few month graft to get in good shape.  With the help of someone cute and French, my sport climbing progressed faster than expected, soon surpassing the level I have hoped to achieve.  With 2 months still to go before my planned departure date, it suddenly dawned on me that my distant plans made 2 years before, could actually materialise.  All I needed to do was not get injured, and then not get scared...

With a couple of weeks to go, I felt it was a good idea to re sharpen my pro-placing skills and so spent a day in Cadarese climbing some sport cracks on trad gear.  You can read in detail about this day in an old blog post, but for those short on time, I will sum up the day by saying I was surprised at how different the same route feels when you climb it on bolts or gear.  Even with solid, regular protection, the route is an entirely different proposition, and the overall difficulty increases significantly.  This concerned me a little, and left me wondering how I would cope with fiddling in small wires and then running it out above...

We raced down to St Govans on Friday afternoon.  Even with a potential 15 days to spend here, I was so excited to get on the rock we literally ran to the cliff to make the most of the final hour of daylight.  “Ghost Train” (E6) was to be the route of choice, but as we neared the top of the ford, things looked a little soggy.  I wasn’t exactly sure of the line and hoped that on closer inspection I would find the wet patches just off route.  Sadly, the wet streak began just above the infamous runout, and continued down the wall to just above the first big threads soaking everything in its path.  The holds looked big and so I considered my chances anyway as Keith abed in.  It was a momentary case of excitement overruling common sense, but Keith raised his concerns, which was enough to convince me it was a bad idea.

The next morning dawned sunny and warm.  On arriving at the cliff, the route seemed to be dryer, and so once again we set up the ab rope and lowered in.  Holds at the end of the runout were still wet but the section below seemed almost dry and I decided the light was green.  Wow, its a good old way between those two threads and the final holds were a little wetter than expected! Fortunately I was very happy to find myself fit enough to relax and treat them with care, as I cautiously made the final slimy moves to safety.  “Ghost Train” is such a fun route, and with all those threads it is “practically” a clip-up.  One wire in 45 meters is not too bad – I highly recommend it.

After a pleasant E5 with Keith and a break in the sun for lunch, the time again came to drop into the Ford for the final route of the day.  “From a Distance” (E7) looked like a good route to try for a sport climber as it is well protected by nuts and threads, but at a suggested sport grade of 7c, has the potential to be quite pumpy.

On sighting is always much more difficult than other styles when sport climbing, but when trad climbing it has the potential to be even trickier.  Not only do you need to find the line of the route, which is not defined by a series of shiny bolts or perma-chalk, you then need to find the correct holds, the gear placements, and then the correct piece of gear.  Even before setting off on the climb you are faced with complex decisions of what protection, and how much of it to take.  Unlike sport climbing, it is nearly impossible to look at a route and judge what protection is required.  The last thing you want is to run out of a crucial piece at the end of a long run-out, but at the same time, setting off with an unnecessary 10kg of surplus gear is far from helpful.

I guessed “From a Distance” had not been climbed in a while, as the route was completely free of chalk.  The few tatty threads gave me an idea of where to go, but apart from that, climbing the route involved lots of feeling around and searching for the right holds, resting in awkward places only to discover a jug two moves higher.  The route was quite a journey and packed in a lot of different styles throughout its length, from a bold lower wall, to a well protected boulder problem, awkward to read shuffling, a technical slab and ballancy run-out upper wall.  

I was psyched to on-sight it, but more psyched to feel comfortable climbing tricky moves above my own gear.  Whilst I still feel I lack a little speed in selecting and making placements, once I have good gear in place, I am completely confident about climbing past it and am able to focus entirely on the climbing.  This is a good starting point to be at, and I am hopeful things will get better and better over the coming week.

One final thing, just before I go, is to warn any future repeaters about the loss of holds from the crux. This occurred under the heavy hand of Keith whilst attempting to second me.  I’m not sure how much it affects things, but he seems to think it was quite a big piece of rock.  I guess I will find out tomorrow when I try to on-sight “Point Blank” (E8), a wild looking route just to the left, sharing the same start.



Source: James Pearson

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Point Blank
23 April 2011, 9:56 am



Keith had previously revelled about his experience on an E5 called “Out of my Mind”, that last year he had tried and backed off from after getting out of his mind with fear and pump.  The tide was in, “Ghost Train” looked even wetter than before, and so warm up routes were in short supply – time to get a little out there...

The first challenge of the day was to access the belay stance, involving a timed dash across a wave washed platform.  At times the waves were mellow, barely covering your feet, but then all of a sudden a huge mass of white water would roll in, and roll out again as a giant frothing waterfall – scary.  Once crossed, we racked up, flaked the rope and set off.  The sun was shining intensely on the wall, glistening off the shiny limestone making things difficult see.  Thankfully, I had sunglasses, unluckily Keith did not, and by the time I has slowly wobbled my way to the top he was complaining of sunstroke – poor baby!

I had forgotten how slow Trad climbing was, and by the time we had finished the warm up, it was already time for lunch and a lie-down in the sun.  Today was not as windy as yesterday, which made relaxing all the more pleasant, but worried me slightly in regards to conditions on the route.  Luckily, the west wall of the ford is in the shade for most of the day, and so by the time we lowered into place, the rock was pretty cold – no excuses... time to roll...

After extending the peg on “From a Distance” I surveyed the line of holds leading diagonally left and began to asses my options.  When the rock in this cliff is free from chalk, its exceptionally difficult to see even a few holds ahead of you, and so on-sighting here comes down to staying calm, thinking quickly, and a good helping of luck.  The first section went pretty well, with only a brief pause to find the best crozzle to crimp in an otherwise slopey hold.  After a few more moves on better edges, a long reach lead to a very good one-hand slot and a bomber no.0 friend, which allowed a short rest and chance to plan the moves through the impending run-out.

After a few minutes, I admitted to myself that I did not have a clue!  All I could see were the double barrel pockets 6m above, and as my only other option involved staying where I was for an indefinite period of time, I decided on pushing upwards, a little blind but full of hope.  After a lot of feeling around and a few awkward moments, I found enough small edges and slopers to reach the twin pockets.  Whilst good enough to relax a little, they were not jugs, nor did they take any easy gear, and so onwards I pressed until the sanctuary of the top break finally came – perhaps 10m from the last friend.  

Point Blank Photo Shoot - Lucy Ham  Even more so than being happy with my fitness level, I am happy with my head and how it responds to being far above protection.  I was worried about the getting the shakes, which makes for a fast and heavy pump, usually quickly followed by a fall, but luckily it has not been the case.  The gear here tends to be very solid, and once I have the correct piece placed, I treat it exactly the same as a bolt.  There is no worry that it might come out, the only concern is the climbing, and not falling simply to avoid failing.  

Developing my sport fitness has changed my climbing more than I would have ever imagined.  Apart from the obvious act of no longer falling off after doing more than 5 hard moves, I am approaching climbing in a different way to before.  After a frustrating plateau period, climbing has become exciting again, as I can now see a path to where I want to be.  The path is not going to be easy, in fact it is full of rocks and very steep, but it is a path none the less.

When I viewed life wearing the blinkers of a UK Trad climber, on-sighting E8 was something I considered as almost godly, but now I realise it is far, far away from what is possible even at this current time, let alone in the future.  Sure, there are many E8’s that I wouldn’t dream of attempting in this manner, climbs that whilst perhaps technically easy, are so insecure in a deadly place, that I personally can’t justify.  However, there are just as many E8’s and above that are well protected but physically hard, that become possible once ones physical level surpasses a certain point.  You just have to be able to hold on...

Source: James Pearson

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Daddy Cool E8 - Flash
23 April 2011, 10:07 am

Years ago I remember seeing a picture of this route in an old copy of Climb.  I recall a mirror like wall, a solitary climber looking longingly at an even more solitary looking peg, and all above a horrible stepped rocky landing.  The route looked great, yet horrendous at the same time, and I was fascinated, intrigued, but also repelled.  My first hard traditional routes were usually bold and insecure.  I was too weak to climb hard routes any other way, but after coming very close to slipping from a dangerous slab route in the Peak District shortly after my 18^th birthday, I told myself from that day forward I would try to avoid insecure death slabs, and only climb dangerous routes when there were actual holds to pull on.  I needed to know that my physical level was higher than the climb, so even if something went wrong I could dip into the reserve tank and pull a little harder to get out.  You can’t pull harder on smears – if your foot slips, you are gone!

The weather in South Pembroke was a little damp and so to salvage the day we decided to drive north to the miniature city of St Davids.  Flicking through the guide, we decided on Carreg y Barcud as it was possible to climb a lot of the routes at all tides, and it just so happened that Carreg y Barcud was also home to “Daddy Cool”.

After the successes of the last few days my confidence was pretty high, but at the same time I felt very intimidated by the description of the route from the guide and the internet.  “Protectionless slab”, “increasingly thin moves”, “first gear at 45ft and the landing is pretty shocking” were just a few of the descriptions running round in my head.  I didn’t like the idea of top-roping the route, but perhaps going for an onsight/flash was a little reckless as I was completely unfamiliar with the style of this wall and rock, nor had I climbed any slabs, let alone dangerous ones for many years.

As I popped my head over the top of the wall, I got the fear!  From the top it was difficult to gauge the size of the wall, all I could see was the lack of features, the lonely peg, and the crashing waves far below.   Abbing in was a different story, as to the left of the static was a line of perfectly chalked edges.  Suddenly the wall changed and became much friendlier, the wall seemed smaller, the holds looked great, and I instantly found myself in a much happier place.

After un-coiling the ropes and sorting my gear whilst waiting to be joined by the others, I looked up again at the previously friendly wall, only to be greeted by terrifying blankness.  I could not see a single trace of chalk, not even tell where the route lead, as all of the holds were now perfectly disguised with their surroundings.  This place was like a hall of mirrors, making reality morph and transform depending on how you looked.

After warming up I began to feel more comfortable as my familiarity with the wall grew.  I climbed a line to the left of “Daddy Cool”, which offered fantastic and hard climbing well protected by good wires, and was spoiled only by a tiny bit of vegetation on the upper wall.  From this line, I could see some of the holds on Daddy cool and they looked ok.  I remembered something Charlie had said about the moves being quite easy up until the final move to the break and started to feel a little bit more confident about my chances without pre-practice.

The line of Daddy Cool!  As Keith was taking a rest day and I wouldn’t have the comfy option of watching him try the moves, I abed back down the route to clean and chalk the holds as at least I would be able to visualise the moves  better from the ground, and also be certain that the holds were free of lichen.  The definitions of on-sight and flash seem clear at first, but on closer inspection become very grey areas.  I believe it comes down to personal judgement and common sense, which is always going to leave room for abuse, but should also excuse us the ridiculous task of creating strict, finite criteria for an infinite number of situations.

For me, abseiling down a route to clean a holds sits somewhere between the two.  As long as you don’t touch the holds/try the gear, you will receive more information than an on-sight, but much less than a good flash, where you learn the sequence, the holds, the correct gear, and many other useful little titbits.

I set off with an idea of the sequence that turned out to be around 50% correct.  The other 50% was made up on the fly, which was fortunately not too taxing as there were several good crimps where you could stand a lot of weight on your feet.  After placing a psychological friend in a vertical flared crack, and having a mini-moment with an “about to break off crimp, I arrived at the crux.  A series of 3 awkward moves, the last of which was the most awkward of all lead to the sanctuary of the mid height break and much needed gear.  I calmed my breathing, climbed to the last crimp, placed my right foot uncomfortably high on an uncomfortably small edge... and 2 seconds later, I was safe.

Rather than clip the peg on the right, and then traverse for a few more meters rightwards to the easier E6 6b, I chose to skip the peg, and climb 2 moves left into the harder E6 6c.  The line seemed a little more direct, and avoided the use of (what seemed to be) the only piece of fixed gear on the wall, plus the climbing is fantastic, hard, and quite sustained which made for an overall great continuous route.   The obvious challenge of the direct finish remains, but will be one hell of a piece of slab climbing!

Source: James Pearson