[Wood FT]

just be the hustle hustle n'am saying?

[slackline]

Is there some way I can punter Ethan via this thread?

No, the blog pile doesn't work like that, it simply sucks in the RSS feed from various blogs.  Wad/puntering applies to individuals who have posted.

[Doylo]

Is there some way I can punter Ethan via this thread?

What have you got against flapjacks?? 

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Mammut Masterclass at The Foundry
10 January 2013, 6:19 pm

Kickstart a new year of climbing with a masterclass from Mammut Pro Team  members and Team Mammut UK

Mammut Pro Team climbers,  Jakob Schubert and Anna Stöhr are heading to the UK later this month and  for a series of masterclasses.  Jakob will be offering tips to lead  climbers whilst Anna will be on the bouldering room.  Whether you’ve  just started out or are a seasoned climber get in touch to reserve your  space!  

Check out masterclass times on the Foundry  website or their facebook page then call the Foundry to register.  The  Foundry will take names up to Tuesday 22nd January then pick the names  of those in each masterclass  out of a chalk bag!  There are four spaces  in each class and six classes in total.

FREE entry to The Foundry and freebies for masterclass students,

© Reinhard  Fichtinger

Win a place in  one of these classes and you’ll get free entry to The Foundry for the  day plus a free Mammut goody bag

Spot prizes and  giveaways

Mammut will be dishing out random spot prizes and  giveaways all afternoon – stickers, pens, toys, beanies!

Cash  prize routes

The guys at The Foundry will be setting a couple of  fiendishly hard routes – whoever gets the highest gets some cold hard  cash!

Harness and belay device demos

We’ll have a  range of climbing harnesses and belay kit from Mammut to try out.

Mammut Climbing Challenge

The all-new Mammut climbing  challenge will be up and running with prizes a plenty!  Twelve routes  both top rope and lead from 5+ to 8b will be set for you to try.

Team Mammut UK on hand form tips and advice

Cailean  Harker, Ethan Walker, Jess McCaskey, Nathan Lee and Oli Grounsell will  be on hand for advice.

When? Saturday 26th January from  2.00 – 6.00pm

For more information visit www.foundryclimbing.com  or call The Foundry on 0114 279 6331.

Source: ethan walker

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Bloc action
25 January 2013, 11:35 am



Since the start of the year I've really been enjoying going out and doing a lot of bouldering. Mainly because it has been a bit too cold at times for routes, but its also great fun showing friends around areas they've never been and just doing a bunch of new stuff.

I've had a few sweet sessions at Rowtor with the crew, ticking things like Jon Fullwood's, My Apple and Domes Sitter, which has the most awesome sequence of burly roof techinical-ness. Grit bouldering at its best I'd say. Real big thanks to Jon Clark for the shots, this lad knows his stuff.





Ted and myself have also been busy up at Burbage where we both did the highball/route Nefertiti. Originally E6 6c... but these days more like a 7A boulder... HA I actually don't have a clue. It had been on the list for ages but just one I never got around to, so we thought screw it, chucked a few pads down and went for it. Seriously cool climbing, and safe as houses! Managed to get a quick video of the man of the hour on his send below...

I'm also full on psyched for training at the minute too, and spending a lot of time down the wall and hanging off the board at home. Trying to get strong for our upcoming trips abroad! Time is flying by like crazy and it won't be long before we're packing our bags again and jetting off.

Don't forget to pop down The Foundry this Saturday for a series of Mammut Masterclasses and cash prize routes! Come find us and say hello!

Cheers, I'm off to build a snowman and cook up a curry. x

Source: ethan walker

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Mammut Team Meet
4 February 2013, 6:42 pm



It was great to meet up with team last weekend and big thanks firstly to Mammut for sorting everything out and making it possible and The Foundry for putting up with us all and being top hosts! There was a huge turnout and it was cool to see people psyched and getting involved. Hoping everyone enjoyed the masterclasses from Anna and Jakob and we're already looking forward to the next one.

It was a shame we couldn't get out on the grit for very long, but we did manage a few hours up at Curbar and an interesting short while at Minus Ten wall...

Also thanks to Mike Hutton for taking pictures all weekend!







Source: ethan walker

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7 UP
26 February 2013, 7:18 pm

I've just had one of my best few days on the grit EVERR! Temps have been super chilled, its been dry and perfect for getting stuff done! Me and my homie Sam have been to check out a few 'esoteric' places and routes that are absolutely brilliant but for whatever reasons, never get done.

The tick-list that we have managed to drum up between us over the last few days goes something like this:

Fat Slapper - E7 6c, third and fourth ascent...?

Speak the Truth - E7 6b

Jumping on a Beetle - E7 6c

Moon Madness - E7 6c

Benign Lives - E7 6c

Velvet Silence - E6 6c

Fat Slapper is a Seb Grieve classic, and a route made famous in the opening minutes of the movie, Hard Grit. When this was first done I would have been about 5 years old! We all randomly got inspired to try this historic line a few months back and finally went to give it a bash, it didn't disappoint! It is honestly one of the finest grit routes I've ever done, steep pulling with big moves on a good set of holds. It went down super smooth after a good scrubbing and we left on a massive high. Cheers Seb!  



The next day we wandered into a dank and grotty looking quarry... Hardly stunning surroundings but there is a hidden gem here that sticks out from all the crap the minute you walk in. If it was anywhere else I'm sure it would prove to be immensely popular. A razor sharp arete rising up from the brambles and boulders below! Bit of a sketchy landing.... but immaculate climbing nonetheless! Check it in the video.

As the weekend came round we popped to Froggatt. Here Sam floated up the tricky Dawes slab Benign Lives. Rad effort from the lad on this, its all in the feet guys. I definitely wasn't feeling it so we packed up and made the trek across to Moon Buttress at Curbar.

All or nothing on Benign...

The snow flurries seemed to be getting heavier and oddly falling from clear blue skies???? But conditions were top drawer and as the sun went down I went for it on Moon Madness, everything clicked, hands sticking to the holds like no tomorrow. A surprise tick to finish the day. Will post up a video soon.

I seem to have tapped into something pretty crazy at the moment, knowing I'm 100% confident of being able to execute the route without any problems or fear. Its a great feeling for sure!

Time to step it up a gear...

Source: ethan walker

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More hard grit...
8 March 2013, 6:07 pm

Its been a case of back to reality this week, in terms of the weather anyway, and it doesn't look like its gona change much over the coming days! So I thought I'd take a break from training and sulking over the state of things outside and post up a short blog with some cool pictures from last week.

I made a trip over to Shining Cliff about a week ago, its probably one of the closest crags to my house being about a 15/20min drive. This place has had a bit of attention of late from our friend Tom Randall where he made the long awaited FA of 'My Kai' the direct to Seb Grieves route, Gecko Blaster. Another great lump of solid, slightly overhanging gritstone, on small crimps, sidepulls and gastons with a spicey last move... Awesome effort from Tom on this, a frickin BOLDD solo for sure!

Gecko Blaster, E7 6c

We ended up doing a slight hyrbid of the two routes, joining the direct version lower down rather than at the overlap. It felt to be about french 7c this way, and even though I didn't have a try at the boulder problem start it looks pretty tricky and I can see why Tom suggested hard 8a for the linkup! Keen to return sometime soon. Big thanks to Jon Clark again for coming out and getting some more sweet shots!

  Sketchy last move, long way above the ground...

Then a few days later it was back up on the edges joined this time by photographer Mike Hutton. We all had a fantastic day out, sunshine and blue skies for everyone. Why can't it be like this all time! Check out what we got up to below. Cheers Mike for the pics, great work! You can see more of his work here: www.mikehuttonphotography.com

Cool Moon, E7 6c

Spanish Fly, E6 6c below

 

I also bagged another couple of funky routes, that hardly get much attention, back up at Black Rocks. One being Tom de Gays 'Small Things' E6 6c. A wild and unusual sort of line to the left of Golden Days. I guess its slightly eliminate... but not by much and who cares anyway. If you are up around that way, I'd recommend you give it a look as its all squeaky clean now! Then it was a quick trip around onto the front face for 'Camel Hot' a rad exposed arete from the 80's. Its crazy to think of the stuff people were doing back then, much respect to those guys!

Cheers for checkin in ya'll, have a good weekend!

Don't play with cams kidzzz!!!

Source: ethan walker

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Cornelius
26 March 2013, 5:20 pm



Here are a few photos and a short clip of our trip to the Churnet a couple weeks ago. It is such a sweet spot down here and Cornelius in particular is one of the most perfect lines you could wish for. For those of you that don't know about this line, its something that sits somewhere in between a highball boulder and route. Its pretty dam high whatever way you look at it! Originally given E8 6c but now generally thought of as V9, which seems fair. The crag is also situated in what feels like the gardens of Alton Towers!

I do love the Churnet, its very unique with mostly immaculate rock wherever you go. Its certainly a different vibe climbing here and makes for a nice change.

Thanks again to Jon Clark for hanging on a rope all day to get these shots for us. And to Dan for capturing our ascents on video!



Sam pebble pulling above his nest on 'Inaccessible' E5 6a



Source: ethan walker

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Return of the Jedi
10 April 2013, 10:59 am

Since climbing The Power of the Darkside earlier in the season, I've been super psyched to get back to Bank Quarry and try its bigger and harder sibling, Return of the Jedi.I remember reading about Pearson climbing this a couple years back and being pretty impressed with the line and how cool the climbing looked. At the time it was another world really and I never had any thoughts about ever trying it.

Heres a link to the UKC news story they ran at the time.

www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=61066

The bottom half of the route and the bulk of the climbing is completely unprotected and features some very WILD moves up the arete. I guess this could just about be classed as a highball... but its definitely getting pretty close to what you might start to consider a route and not just a boulder problem. Once through this though its still not over and after stashing some rotten cracks with slightly suspect gear you have one final tricky move between you and the top. At this point it is 110% NOT a highball!

So with all this in mind I can totally see why it was never given a 'proper' grade and instead the unknown tag of HXS 7a. Whatever that means... Personally I felt the climbing to be somewhere in the region of F7c+/8a as a whole, maybe slightly easier...

Since being first done its had just two? ascents that I know of, from Ryan Pasquill and Dan Varian. They both did the route ground up which required some serious commitment and balls, so massive respect to those guys!

We all decided to check it out on a rope first and see how it was feeling. Ed had persuaded Dave Mason to make the trip over to try as well and he was looking strong and fired up. The crux revolves around a crazy dynamic move to a good flatty and once we had this dialed I knew it was game on. I

stuck this move on the lead but then missed the next tag in move and took the long flight down to the deck, missing the pads and just being caught by Ed! Annoyed but buzzing at the same time that it had been that close! After a breather I went again and this time didn't mess up, stuck the move, feet up and powered to the jug. Total relief!

Big props to Dave sending as well, proving he's not too shabby at climbing with a rope on either! Here is a cool video he put together of the ascent, which includes some big air time!

Putting aside all the talk about how hard it is etc, its just an fantastic line, with some truly great climbing. I really enjoyed the process with this one and again its cool to see the progression and to keep moving forward. Cheers to Ed, Dave and Gracie for all the support!

Thanks for reading

Source: ethan walker

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Snowballtastic
29 April 2013, 12:48 pm

Messiah, Burbage South | E7 6c

Here's a blog I wrote before we flew out to Germany. Unfortunately we had to cut our trip short but we all still managed to get some really cool routes done and see a bit more of what Franken has to offer. I'll post up a report on what went down when I get chance.

________________

Well everybody has been having fun in the snow over this last couple weeks and taking advantage of some of the hugeeeeee drifts that have formed under many of the harder routes up on the edges. Meaning some of these routes have finally had a second ascent after goodness knows how long and other lines have seen a constant stream of traffic.

Big team up at Shine On, Stanage | E7 6c (font7A+)

I kinda missed out on the last round of snowballing, whenever that was,  2010 maybe...? But made sure we got in there while it was still fresh  this time. I've managed to get most of the classics done that include, Three Blind Mice, Corrida, Shine On and a flash of Cemetery  Waits. It is  pretty cool the way that people have been rallying together on all  these hard grit lines and its been nice to see so many guys and gals out and  sending these old time routes.

Three Blind Mice | Burbage South

Samwise riding the stunning fin of Clippity Clop, Ramshaw | E7 6c

Its not been a case of packing the ropes and trad rack away though as we've all been out to take advantage of the dry and sunny conditions that have been left behind in the aftermath of the snow dump.

First up was Sam's ascent of Clippity Clop in some of the most baltic and windy conditions everrrr! Hardly what you need on a precarious arete, but he dispatched it in his usual smooth style although I know he was pretty relieved to grab that top jug. Then Ed and myself both got a quick tick of another perfectly formed arete, this time at Burbage South. I've wanted to do Messiah for a long time and being able to climb it under clear blue skies surrounded by snow made it all the better. Si tres belle!

Ulysses or bust, E5 6b

Finally, a few weeks ago I had made a short ticklist of routes I'd really like to get done before we head off to Germany. Right at the top of this list was Simbas Pride, E8 6b. I know I go on and on about all these amazing lines all the time, but this one is special. An incredible over hanging arete with an awesome sequence of moves from start to finish.

Simbas Pride

Hitting the top on this with all that space below you and your body thriving off that feeling of being in total control was mind blowing and something hard to explain, but I was stoked out of my head! Dave went next with a very impressive flash and then Pete quickly followed. A brilliant way to finish off the season right before we leave.

Take a look at the video below for some footage from the day!

So now our thoughts turn to and focus in on the Jura! I can't wait to return to this place and we're all immensely looking forward to a month of pocket pulling in the forests. We'll all be blogging out there so be sure to keep checking back for updates on whats going down! Auf Gehts!

Source: ethan walker

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Schnitzel, Kuchen and Pockets
9 May 2013, 3:26 pm

 

So our trip to the Jura was full of its ups and downs and unfortunately we decided to fly back home a couple of weeks early. It seems like the whole of Europe had been hit by a very harsh winter, which we soon realised on our first day over there, with many crags having a large amount of seepage. But its all about learning to deal with these kind of situations and just get on with making the most out of it all.

We spent the majority of our time in the northern parts, revisiting some of the crags we were at last year and checking out some new spots as well. Climbing once again in shorts and t-shirts, nearly everyday felt amazing. Its been a while!

King Lui at Diebsloch | 7c

I really do love the style of climbing over here, it suits me pretty well and I'm constantly fascinated by the vast amounts of crags dotted amongst the hills and around the forests. The countryside is incredible and sometimes you'll be lucky to bump into anybody all day.

Last day send of Nullkommanix, 8a+

The trip didn't exactly get off to the best start as I woke up the morning after our first session with a screwed up finger. I was so annoyed with myself and my motivation quickly slipped away. After a few days rest it seemed it be healing and by the following weekend it felt good enough to pull on again. I took advantage and dispatched one of my favourite routes of the trip, 'Primeur de Leux' a very popular 8a+ at the small roadside crag of Kuhkirchner  Wand. This set me up for a brilliant next few days and during this time I really started to feel strong and felt my body fully adjusting to the toll, pressures and joy of sport climbing again.

Primeur de Leux

I'm sure we'll be back here soon! There are so many routes we all wanted to try on this trip but in the end you gotta take what you're given and move on. It ain't going no where! Enjoy the photos. I'll post up some more when I get chance.







Source: ethan walker

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Progression
13 May 2013, 11:06 am

Since getting back home it has been so good to finally have a settled period of weather with a decent amount of sunshine and good conditions. If you could guarantee something like this every year in the UK I would quite happily stick around and not chase off around Europe as much.

Sport climbing season is now here and in a big way. The crags have been drying fast, even the Cornices! I always find it weird how it only takes one session back on the lime or even the grit for that matter, to suddenly get you instantly hooked again and forget about everything else.

There is no doubt about it that our Jura trip has set us up perfectly for the season and I've been reaping the benefits of this and all the training throughout the winter, over the last couple weeks. I love to see progression and there is nothing better than to see all the hard work begin to pay off.

Heres a short list of the stuff that's been going down in the two weeks since getting back.

Kneedless - 8b+

Zeke the Freak - 8b

Sworn Enemy - 8a

Caviar - 8a+

The Sissy - 8a

The Free Monster - 8a

O'Leanna the Butler Dunn It! - 8a?

River of Life - V11

The day after we flew back into Manchester I got a tick I've dreamed of for quite a while. Zeke at Rubicon. We arrived early, it was cold, perfect for sticking to those holds and I was fired up! We warmed up, put the clips in, got all the moves dialed, had a brief rest and it was done. Such a crazy feeling clipping the lower off on this route. It had felt straight forward all the way, solid on every move.



River of Life

A few days later another one fell, but not without a bit of a fight first. This time it was down at the sleepy hidden crag of Turning Stone. A small grit outcrop not far from our house. I've been going down here all winter and each time its been soaked so when we found out it was dry I was over there in a flash. Amongst the rhodedendrums lays one of the best roof problems on grit, if not the best! River of Life.



This bloc began to mess with my head at one point and started to become quite a mental battle along with butchering my fingers like never before. But it succumbed in the end and I found the whole process to be a great learning curve. Its been said before but you really do have to stick with these things sometimes and basically in the end, just try harder.

No excuses.Then last Monday I was able to do another route that I've craved after for a long time! Jon Clarks masterpiece 'Sworn Enemy' over in Dovedale. Its probably the best 8a in the Peak and one of the best in the UK... True Euro style climbing through a magnificent limestone arch. Big thanks to JC for having the vision and investing the time into putting up such an awesome line.



Since writing the above I've had a crazy weekend! Even though the rain returned and tried to dampen the mood at times, the crags held out firm. An 8b+ linkup at the Tor and two 8a's on Saturday and yesterday I fought my way up the crimpy piano playing number, The Sissy back at Rubicon. It poured it down for most of the afternoon, but we had fun and that is what matters most!

My psyche is extremely high right now and I'm constantly amazed at just how much stuff there is to do in the Peak and the UK in general. I'm very much looking forward to sticking around for a while and seeing where we can go with things. Lots of projects, the tick-list of stuff that we want to get on grows daily!

Peace out and thanks for checking in.

E

Source: ethan walker

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Yorkshire Trip Trippin
12 June 2013, 4:33 pm



Last week we headed up to Yorkshire for a few days, camping at the brilliant little campsite at the mouth of Gordale. I've not been to Malham in about 2 years so I was mega keen to get back there and change things up a bit. It turned out to be one of the best weeks camping we've ever had. The weather was incredible! Waking up to clear blue skies and bright sunshine every morning gets you really psyched and sets you up good for the day ahead. Nothing is worse than hearing the rain hammering down on your tent as you wake up!

Waking up to this every morning!

I wanted to try and get to as many crags as possible and seek out some of the classics I've never done. So first up was Raindogs at Malham, a must do and probably the most popular and sort after 8a in the UK? Definitely in Yorkshire anyway. We were at the crag for about 8.00am, in a bid to beat the heat, which was building by the minute, and the dreaded midges!

 It was a bit of a race as the sun was moving around fast and our window was small but fortunately it went down without too much trouble and it was time to bail and find some shade!



It may surprise some people but I've only ever been to Kilnsey once, about 3/4 years ago for a very brief visit. It is incredibly impressive and I'm still amazed at its length and size. We spent an afternoon here ticking our way through a few of the classic lines including , Comedy, Pantomime and Tragedy. Then it was back to chill in Gordale and eat a tonne of food ready for more the next day.

I'd heard a lot about Giggleswick and one of its sectors in particular caught my eye flicking through the guidebook. The Hollywood Bowl. Its a very unusual sort of crag for the UK, and something you'd more expect to find on the continent somewhere. Its dripping in tufa's of all shapes and sizes. Big, fat, thin it seems to have them all. While its nothing compared to places like The Loup it made a huge changed from boning down on rat crimps. Along with this and the warm breeze you could easily lose yourself for a second and think you were chillin' at some crag in the South of France.

  The Hollywood Bowl

There are a lot of hard routes here with many a FA from Steve Dunning and recently Jordan Buys, that tackle the tufa on the lower walls and then launch through the big roof above. Kleptomania stood out to me, as I'm sure it does to many. An extremely short route that is more like an extended boulder problem up a perfectly formed thin tufa. Apparently some kind of knee bar makes this easier....? I found it to be pretty dam tough and clipping the belay felt like the absolute living end! Anyone who jumps to the chain on this is a douchebag!

I'd love to come back to this awesome crag soon to get on more of the routes here. There is a hella lot to do!

Tufa heaven!



After this I decided to go search out the famous G-Spot sector. Home to probably one of the hardest routes in the world. John Gaskins unrepeated 9a+ Violent New Breed. While I'd already decided to save this one for laters the line to the right, Militia, is a popular 8a+ and after wandering around searching for the crag, which is probably the smallest crag I've ever been to, we eventually stumbled upon it. As soon as I saw it I was syked immediately and quickly set to work brushing the holds and figuring out a sequence. From a distance it looks super short, which in reality it is, but then you realise it starts way down in the cave at the bottom and actually packs quite a few moves in. It suited my style perfectly. Steep, small edges, big moves and even some sneaky toe hooks that unlocked the starting moves. A slight change of foot beta through the crux proved the difference and I was yarding my way to the top on my 3rd try. It must be one of the few sport crags around that you can actually top out on.  I'd highly recommend this rig to anyone, go check it out. It is class!

  Post send Creme Egg

It was a perfect finish to a brilliant few days of hanging out with my Dad, chillin in the sun and getting a bunch of cool ticks. Looking forward to heading back up very soon!

Peace



Source: ethan walker

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The Big One
26 June 2013, 8:28 pm

Where to start. Its been another crazy few weeks since my last update. The summer weather we've all been wanting has continued, crags are drying out again and sending conditions have been in abundance.

The Cornice in Chee Dale sounds as if it is approaching something of the state we all enjoyed over that famous summer a couple of years ago... However I've been biding my time a little before venturing back down here, mainly down to the fact I've had other projects on the go.

Yesterday marked a big step forward in my climbing and a major dream realised that I've had for as long as I can remember. Mecca at Raven Tor is probably one of the most famous routes in the country and lusted after by many. My Dad can remember it as an old aid route back in the day and the majority of UK climbers will know of its history.

I've had a fair few friends over the years take down this short, power endurance test piece and I even gave it a try myself a year or two ago but the madding crowd waiting in the blocks behind me, rearing for there turn, always put me off and I decided to leave it.

My psyche returned for it though a few weeks ago after knocking out an ascent of the long 8b Waddage, amongst a few other endurance fests. While its hard to compare the two routes, as one is pure endurance with no totally desperate hard move and the other a short bouldery rig, it suddenly dawned on me that I might actually have the fitness required to have a good go at Mecca. So about a week ago I decided to jump on and see how it felt. The moves came back to me fairly quickly and after various beta from folk I had done the main big 'pocket link'. I was buzzing as all that was required now was to add around 4/5 extra moves and it could be game on... So I went away stoked on the rapid progress and spent the next few days barely being able to contain my excitement for the next session.

One thing about this route is that it can destroy your skin, particular the left hand so I took a few days rest and waited for the temps to cool down. Saturday came around and I ventured back, hoping the extra couple days rest had done me some good. Conditions felt prime when we arrived at around 8.30am and there was a good breeze. I was fairly confident of being in with a chance of pushing on through to the top, using my new found fitness and ability to recover, if I could just get established in the base of the groove. I tied in, pulled through the start fine, set myself up for the crux and before I knew what was happening, found myself at the top of the groove. However the fatigue quickly set in as I attempted to free myself from the tangle of knee bars and egyptians and I peeled off into space.

But I was on the home straight. This was it, the feeling we all know when we suddenly realise something is within our grasp. Four redpoints later and I had gradually increased my highpoint inch by inch, with my last try proving to be the closest yet. A simple foot pop prevented me from reaching the final hold you use to rock over into the finishing flake. Gutted but psyched out of my head at the same time I decided to call it a day and I'd take a couple days off to fully recover and grow some much needed skin!



Driving over early yesterday morning I felt a mix of excitement and nerves clashing together but I was fully confident in myself and knew that in theory it should all be a formality... I met up with the crew and after a good warm up I fancied giving it a try. The bottom moves felt totally solid, skin felt good flicking between the crimps then all of a sudden POP and my right foot slid off. That certainly wasn't in the script to happen, at all. It did throw me for a split second and I felt a tiny sliver of doubt suddenly creep its way into the back of my mind. But back on the ground I tried to focus in, put it down to a false start and keep my eye firmly on the task in hand. After a brief rest I was back up there in the same position but my foot popped again! Only this time I crimped up hard, readjusted and fired up to the horn. Clip, clip, shake, undercut, crimp, drop knee, crimp and I was back at my highpoint, the last hold staring in my face. This time I made sure my foot was solid, tensed my core, boned down on the crimp like no tomorrow and it was there. I stabbed my feet over, reached into the flake and clipped the belay.

A lifetime dream, a route I've looked up at and wondered about since I first visted the Tor as a kid, was complete and it felt dam good! But now I'm hungrier than ever for more and we'll be back out in the next few days and onto the next project. That's how the wagon rolls, and how we progress!

Thanks a lot for reading and checking in folks. Have fun out there!



Source: ethan walker

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Karma Killin'
3 July 2013, 12:19 pm

There is a route down in Water Cum Jolly that waited over 10 years for a  second ascent. Karma Killer was first put up in 1997 by Tony Coutts and given 8b. Although I'm lead to believe it has been tried by a fair few since, it  was Jon Clark that grabbed the long awaited repeat of this neglected  90's testpiece a couple of years ago.

"A chequered history. It's the route that mentally broke Tony Coutts (he  gave up climbing having done it & emigrated to Australia) &  physically broke Steve Fearne & Robin Barker (that mono)."

Andy Harris

It has been on my ever  growing 'wishlist' for some time and I finally went to give it a serious look  sometime back in May but then it got wet so my attention turned to other things. I like the way Rupert described one of the  holds to me when I was quizzed him for beta, calling it a "cornflake".  You couldn't describe this tiny undercut better. It's thin, small, and  as if someone has got creative with a box of Kellogs and tube of sika.  This is what the crux revolves around, oh and a one pad mono thrown in  there too. It is a pretty unique rig and wouldn't look too out of place  buried in the forests of the Frankenjura.

Jura pulling dream!© Jon Clark

I was incredibly  pleased and slightly bewildered to get this done early Saturday morning and make the 4th?  ascent... It's firmly up there with one of my favourite ticks without a  doubt and I'd highly recommend it. Just make sure those tendons are  fully warmed up first ya'll!!!

The day after I was keen to look at another route on this wall, Agent Provocatuer, a fierce 8a+ to the right of Karma. The photo below of Jon on the head wall of this always put me off... So I was pleased to find out from someone that Ryan Pasquill had found some new way for these final moves. Basically a huge span... With some heel/toe trickery and a final big dyno to a glory jug. An absolutely brilliant move if you like that sort of thing. The skin felt shredded and bruised so we left to go home, but it was all dialed up for the next time.

© Pete Clark

Yesterday, fully rested and with nice fresh skin on the tips I went back with the young and keen George Carmichael and JC in tow and pulled my way to the belay. The start is technical, and tenuous on the feet but not too bad and you'd have to say it beats routes like The Inch Test and Caviar for quality... Get to it people, its clean, chalked and waiting!

Jon has been following us around over the last week collecting some cool looking footage of various routes and he managed to get yesterdays send on camera too, so keep an eye out for that. I'll post it up as soon as he's finished doing his thing with it!

Cheers

Source: ethan walker

[account_inactive]

I've had a fair few friends over the years take down this short, power endurance test piece and I even gave it a try myself a year or two ago but the madding crowd waiting in the blocks behind me, rearing for there turn, always put me off and I decided to leave it.

Not to be a pedant, but I'm pretty sure you were on Mecca quite a bit last year. Good effort all around though yoof!

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A Muerte!
19 July 2013, 7:45 pm

Chee Dale is where its at right now. Even more so if you want to escape the infernal heat that has appeared out of nowhere and is now providing those endless summer days many of us had forgotten about or even knew were possible this side of the channel!

I signed off my Tor season a couple weeks back with a tick of Revelations, 8b and I'm quite content now to leave the place till the autumn arrives and with it the cold temps needed to climb well down there.

I had two main routes in mind down at the Chee Dale cornice at the start of the season. One I had tried the last time it was dry 2/3 years ago, Kristian's big roof masterpiece Gran Techo, 8b and an uber bouldery 8a+, Devonshire Arms.

With all the hot weather they both quickly came into condition and I was really fired up to get stuck into climbing here again. That summer of 2010 seemed a long time ago and its just fantastic to see the whole scene reappearing, see everyone syked and have everything dry once more.

After reacquainting myself with Gran Techo (which literally means 'big/great roof' in Spanish) it went down fairly quickly, and I had brief thoughts of trying Bob Hickish's harder direct finish, Techno Prisoners which he gave 8b+. I remember him doing this a couple of years ago and it was just something on another planet to me at the time and never imagined trying it. I knew I had the roof dialled up well so started to wonder how hard it'd be to carry on for a few extra moves, even though I'd heard rumours of a HUGE span on the head wall.

Before that though I had a date with Devonshire. Nige had given us all the beta for this very short lived and burly product of the 90's, a couple days previous and I almost sent the morning after climbing Techo! But it wasn't to be so we came back on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year, hardly ideal at all for this route... Much to my relief I made it through the powerful sequence of undercuts, chalking way more than usual to keep the grime and sweat at bay and suddenly the chain was staring me in the face and it was laid to rest.

I think a lot of people are put off by this one after hearing how hard it is and how it should really be 8b. Maybe it should... I don't know, but it isn't as bad as its made out, you just have to be prepared to pull a bit harder! So get to it and ENJOYYYY!

Gran Techo | Screenshot from an upcoming video short...

I've had to try enormously hard on routes many a time, but yesterdays efforts on Techno Prisoners seem to eclipse previous endeavours. It literally felt like the fight of my life! I could have dropped every move after the crux so easily, spat into the waiting void behind me. Maybe the next try would have gone better, if I had blown it, and quite often I prefer to climb something with the feeling of being in total cruise control on every move. But to have tried so hard and succeed makes it all the more sweeter.

Most sport routes pass us by and we generally forget what it all felt like to get to the top. I've read a lot lately from folk about how it is the 'process' that we all crave and enjoy, rather than the eventual send. With this, yes I enjoyed the whole process immensely but I equally enjoyed, if not more so, the actual feeling of redpoint success. It was a close one, and an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Source: ethan walker

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Gran Techo video edit:
19 August 2013, 2:28 pm

If you've not seen this already then I'm pretty stoked to be able to share another cool video edit from Jon Clark. Featuring my ascent of Gran Techo down the Chee Dale Cornice last month. He's done up another slick looking job on this and I hope it gets people keen to go check it out next year.

It's a massive shame the whole crag is now totally soaked, we really did have a hella lot of rain in such a short space of time a few weeks back. But it was great while it lasted and at least we still have plenty of dry rock to keep us going! Time is flying by, its literally insane how fast it goes. I don't know if its the same for everyone but I really struggle sometimes to get my head around it. Just where has the summer gone??? Anyway here it is!

I had a awesome time in Wales last week with the Mammut team, climbing on The Orme for the first time, testing out a bunch of shiny new gear that's due out next year (there is some seriously snazzy stuff on its way) and consuming a large amount of extremely good cake. I'll get round to writing up something for that later but big thanks to the guys at head office for sorting it all out and to the Plas y Brenin staff for putting up with us all!

Currently on a rest day and gearing up for a mini adventure tomorrow... Buzzing for something a little different!

Hope you guys enjoy the video, I'm off to cook up a tasty chicken casserole!

Cheers



Source: ethan walker

[Kingy]

Excellente!! What a shame its all out of commission 

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Wales, new places, new people and cake!
23 August 2013, 3:40 pm



The last few weeks have all been a bit of a whirlwind for me. They seem to have passed by so quickly its hard to believe it'll be September next week! I am psyched for the coming season and a return to the brown stuff but it'd be nice to just hang onto the long summer days all the chillin in shorts and t-shirts and clipping those bolts for just a little longer.

I mentioned in the last post about our trip over to Wales just over a week ago to hook up with the Mammut team and a bunch of shop reps from all over the country. The idea was to get everyone together to learn about and test some of next years range of hardware and basically squeeze as much climbing in as possible!

I'd not been to Wales in probably over 5 years and never even set foot on the Orme! So I was obviously pretty excited to check it out and hopefully get some time to climb there. We managed a session in the cave of power, Parisella's, a place I've wanted to get to for a long time! I thought Stoney was badly polished but this place takes it to a different level.... Still, it has some mind boggling problems and linkups and I can finally say that I've been. Rock Attrocity got done quickly on our first day and we'll be eager to return in the future for more.

There is so much to do in North Wales and I can see that next year I'm going to have to make a tonne more trips over. On the way back to The Brenin one evening I persuaded the guys to make a quick stop at Jerry's Roof in the Pass. Extremely glad we did as it lived up to everything I'd heard and a nice way to finish the day. Then it was back to base for tea and cake!

Jerry's Roof, V9 | Llanberis Pass© Ollie Berkin © Ollie Berkin

 We also fancied taking a look at Pigeons Cave which has seen a massive amount attention of late and on the last day we got the chance to head down. Its a stunning venue, in a sweet little cove right next to the ocean with a really different style of rock. Unfortunately it was all soggy and wet but we were too syked to care and while we left Nathan to go wading through the incoming tide in search of a boulder, both Cailean and myself got in on the action with an ascent of Stiff Upper Lip. A real smash and grab job!

The impressive and super steep Pigeons Cave

Livin' it large on Pill Box wall....

The trip definitely opened my eyes some more as to how much Wales has to offer. Very refreshing to be at totally new crags and in a breathtaking part of the country. And we didn't even managed to make it down to one of the best spots, LPT! Something that we need to sort out for next year its just another place where there is soooo much to go at.

Thanks again to Mammut for putting together a fun week for us all, looking forward to the next one!

Swiss style gear demo© Ollie Berkin

In news a little closer to home I've been spending a lot of my time down at Two Tier, ticking our way through the classics, stuff I've never really got round to checking out before. I think one week I spent about 5 days here! Pretty keen yes and I'm sure some of you will laugh, but with so much to do and not knowing when the weather might take a turn for the worse I decided to get stuck in.

Conditions down here have been top drawer and its been the place to go since the cornice died the death and for those not quite wanting to sulk back to the Tor just yet.

The Simon Nadin classic 'Gonads' 8a+

Secteur Nadin is brilliant with a whole bunch of those classic limestone routes that should be high on peoples lists. Abberation, Celebration, Minos and Gonads are all quality and it was great fun working our way along the crag. For some reason Gonads was another one that always put me off and could never get massively inspired for it. When it reality it ain't all that bad with some funky moves from start to finish and has a slightly different feel to it than other routes in the dale of a similar grade. Its all about mixing things up with your climbing and keeping things fresh and as long as you're motivated and having fun, its all plain sailing.

Have a good bank holiday guyz

Ethan



Source: ethan walker

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Gotta light?
6 September 2013, 4:12 pm



Around three weeks ago I suddenly remembered a route that I'd talked about trying in the past but never got to the point where I felt fully keen to go check out. It was partly due to the fact it is situated half way up one of the biggest crags in Derbyshire, rumoured to be 8b with a desperate move and since being climbed 6 years ago it hadn't had a second ascent...

I don't know what it was that got me psyched but all of sudden I said, right I really want to head up to try Limelight and see what its all about. So I called up the first ascentionist, Jon Clark, who was equally psyched to head up there with me and excited to finally see someone on his route.

The last time I climbed on High Tor was around 6 or 7 years ago, still a youth doing my GCSE's. I felt super excited to be climbing somewhere new, and the thought of pulling hard moves high up off the deck with all that exposure behind you made my palms sweat!

The route isn't actually all that long, tackling the big roof immediately to the left of the famous E5, Castellan. It had been a project of Malc Taylors back in 1992, but one move shut him down and he never got to complete the line, and said it could potentially be 8c!! In 2007 JC made the first ascent and not really knowing how hard it felt he gave it a grade somewhere roughly between 8a+ and 8b...

It is one of those lines where I'm sure it'd feel much easier for someone 6ft odd with a huge ape index, as the crux involves one desperate span off a deep undercut pocket to get around the bulging roof before a sustained but steady headwall. But for anyone else its a biggie!

Jon throwing the crux on the FA

So I gave it a good clean and worked out what needed to be done before the holes in my hands (and left arm!) meant I'd have to come back another day. Which we did a few days later but after a bunch more tries and refining beta for the move it shut me down again. However I'd made a big link through the crux to the top which gave my confidence a massive boost as I was beginning to wonder if it was even going to physically possible for me. All that needed to be done was to add the four starting moves and it'd be done...



The next session started off well with all the moves feeling steady on the warm up burn, but then as soon as I'd try from the floor the span move would just spit me off. I got a little frustrated with myself as Jon and Pete had put the time in to come up and support me and it didn't look like it'd be going down that day. Then suddenly I changed the way I was holding the undercut ever so slightly and straight away made the move and thankfully managed to keep it together on the easier post crux moves all the way up to the belay. Relief!

Crux span!

Thanks go out again to Team Clark for coming out with me on this one, I really appreciate the time they put in to get me up it! We got some awesome video footage that so keep an eye out for that being released sometime soon. I hope it inspires people to head up there to try the line as it is really unique and in an amazing position above the valley.

 

Source: ethan walker

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The road to 8c
19 October 2013, 7:07 pm

Since the last post, just over a month ago, I have been focusing all of my energy on one particular project, Steve Mcclure's Mecca Extension. Since climbing Mecca back in June I had the idea to maybe take a look at the upper section, but at the time it was still something I felt was way way above and beyond anything I'd ever be able to manage.

Mecca Extension:

The full version is an incredible  stamina test which packs an 8a+ on top  of the already desperate 8b+. There is a rest at the Mecca flake and a  breather higher up before the upper crux.

I've belayed friends on this in the past and would often try to put myself in their shoes and state of mind as they set off up Mecca on each redpoint. How does it feel knowing you have to repeat an iconic 8b+ before you  can even think of carrying on up the technical wall above? And how do  you deal with the obvious mental pressure weighing you down. It was just  something I could not get my head around at all.

I've watched  many people attempt it, all extremely talented and fully capable  climbers, each cruising on up the bottom section only to drop it from  the last few moves countless times. How do you prepare yourself for  something like this? All these questions kept going through my mind over  the summer.

People would keep asking me if I was thinking of maybe trying it come  the autumn and as the summer months went on and I was able to tick off a  bunch of hard routes I got more and more psyched to check it out, once  it was cool enough for the Tor season to kick back in again.

Jon Clark high up on the Extension back in 2010©Robbie Shone

So once September hit I found myself back at the crag and took an opportunity to pull up to the head wall and take a look at the moves, see how it felt and more importantly how I felt about getting stuck in and giving it some proper efforts.

The first time up I just thought I wasn't physically tall enough to make any of the moves and felt as if I needed to be strung out on a medieval stretch rack to give me the height and reach to shift my body between the marginal holds. However I quickly found out I could just about do all the individual moves and all that was needed was for my body to adjust to the different positions and let muscle memory do the rest! It is the same with anything that is at your limit, as we've all experienced at some point during our climbing lives. Things that feel impossible suddenly become possible etc etc. It is hard to fathom how this bizarre phenomenon works, but man does it work.

The route really is a game of two halves. With the bouldery and powerful bottom section giving way to a nice big rest on a chunky flake. Once you've shook the latic acid out of your aching forearms (and pumped some blood back into your lifeless fingers) you launch into some sustained, technical and extremely delicate face climbing, on gastons, sidepulls and crimpy blades. Holds that take absolute delight at eating into the skin of your fingertips. It's safe to say its all pretty intense and complex up there. Sounds lovely right?

©Robbie Shone

That first session finished and I was totally hooked. It had gotten my full attention and I was super excited to get back again. Each session got better and better and I quickly started to make some big links on the top half. I knew what was coming next. If I was serious about giving this some proper burns I needed to jump back on Mecca and start to remind myself of what to do. So I tied in and set off and completely surprised myself by repeating it at the first time of asking. I was chuffed to bits and decided to carry on to see how far I could get. I shook the arms out, feeling pretty boxed and tried to put myself into the mind set of what it would take to recover here and then have enough left in the tank to climb the second half. I eventually ended up screaming my way to within around 8 moves from the finish! This opened my eyes massively and turned the whole thing and idea of climbing this route into something that was actually possible.

I still hadn't managed to link the top half yet, from the Mecca belay to the finish but I'd gotten so far up the top wall on my attempt from the ground that I imagined it would just get easier and easier. Which it did, but at the same time I admit I got slightly carried away with myself and very quickly realised that the need to make that link was pretty critical, just for my own confidence if nothing else.

Eventually I found that I could do the link with a fair amount of ease and made sure that it was incorporated into my warm up every time. Those small little edges for your feet still had the tendency to scare the life out of me every now and then. I like how Ted describes them as "timebomb smears". It really paints an accurate mental picture of just how on-off it is up there. However, even those in the end started to feel good and my confidence grew and grew with each attempt. I found myself getting higher and higher, inch by inch and each session I left feeling more motivated for the next one.

Mecca felt easier and easier each time, to the point where I was barely out of breath at the belay, but then my arms would suddenly die on me on the final few tense moves. I blew it from the last couple of moves about 4/5 times, taking some big falls in the process.

Neil Mawson was at the crag for one of these attempts and we talked after about the stresses that go along with hard redpointing and that when you fail on a particular move that many times, you should start to re-access and think about changing up your sequence. So I did just that. All it took was the changing of one foothold at the top and the whole sequence felt 110% better. I knew that this new beta was without a doubt going to mean the difference between getting to the top and falling countless more times at the same hurdle.

Thursday morning I set the alarm for 7am and picked on old climbing friend up from the station. The weather seemed perfect and I knew it'd be prime conditions. I also knew that Ben Moon, who had also been trying the route with me, had managed to get the it done a couple days before, so it was going to be dry!

My first attempt went like toss, dropping a move that normally goes fairly smooth. My fingers were numb, I couldn't get the blood back into them and I fell feeling pretty disappointed in myself.

I took an hours rest and began to get nervous as the sun slowly began to accelerate around onto the face, knowing from past experience it'd soon be way too hot for another attempt. However maybe climbing in the sun today would be a bonus and at the very least my fingers would have to be warmer?

I set off for another burn and sure enough arrived at the belay with much warmer digits and feeling a million times better all around. I kept it together all the way up to my highpoint, heard the shouts of encouragement from friends on the ground, telling me to just breathe and relax. I took a breath, placed my left boot on the new found foothold, pulled on up into the final two gastons and cranked on through to the jug! It was shear joy, a crazy mix of emotions and like a total dream. The battle was over. It was won.

The mental pressure of climbing something like this, and something at your personal limit is crazy and if you're not careful it can blow you away and seriously start to effect your performance. I tried to limit myself to two big efforts a session to keep this pressure at bay and maintain motivation and it seemed to work. I did my best to maintain focus and concentrated on enjoying every moment of it all, and not get sucked into the ticking pressure cooker that I've witnessed others get dragged into.

The whole process from start to finish was an incredible journey, I learnt many things and I can honestly say it was the best experience of my climbing life.



Source: ethan walker

[Doylo]

Effort!

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Chillin, relaxin and the GRIT is back...
1 November 2013, 4:28 pm



It has been so nice these past two weeks to be able to relax a little, chill with friends and have none of the pressures of redpointing weighing on my mind, as well as indulge in some incredible tasting bread! I absolutely love being in project mode and cannot wait to get back in that vein of thought next season but its great when you can just head to the crag stress free and not have to worry about the weather, conditions, skin and queues etc etc. I've spent my time checking out next years project, this one is significantly harder and definitely a big step up from the Extension, but I've made massive inroads within just two short sessions and it has fully fired me up to get training over the winter.

Take a look at the cool pics below I had sent through from JC of a quick shoot we did on Mecca  Extension a few days ago.

©Jon Clark

©Jon Clark

I am also immensely psyched for the grit and while it might not be fully here just yet it is getting there and yesterday saw us kick off the season with a bang. Our good friend Andre was up visiting from London, keen as mustard to get stuck into some sketchy trad! We all headed over to Shining Cliff with Ed and Dave both wanting to get Gecko Blaster done. Sam had already took down this slightly scary solo the previous weekend and I'd first managed it back in February. However there was still the second ascent of the direct start up for grabs... Something Tom Randall had put up last winter which he had given E8 6c. http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67790

Andre committing to the final tricky move on his send of Gecko Blaster, E7 6c©Ed Hamer

Ed went first on Gecko and smoothly climbed to the top, Dave got the flash and then Andre suddenly decided to go for it and also managed to get it done. Top effort from those lads.

After completing spotting duties I pulled on the boots, eager to try the tricky boulder problem that guards the direct start. I had tried it briefly before, and found it to be awkward, not too pleasant and abit of a skin trasher... My fingertips felt good though, toughened from 3 days off and the sharp crimpers felt perfect from the moment of pulling on. Within seconds I found myself on the top wall committing to the final sketchy pull to the good edges and then it was all over.

It is a quality bit of wall, always dry and sheltered from the wind, super solid rock throughout. It is definitely not your average grit route however, and climbs kind of like a sport route would. Think crimps, gastons and powerful undercutting. With something like this it is incredibly hard to commit to a grade. Overall I felt the difficulty of 'My Kai' be somewhere between french 7c/7c+, maybe a tad harder, I don't know. Basically, go try it and see for yourself!

Good skills from Tom making the FA of this old project! You can check out his blog with his own thoughts on the route here.

I've caught the grit bug again in a massive way and cannot wait to see what this winter brings. It is currently hammering it down with rain outside, lets hope those cold and crisp mornings that we all love so much, are not far around the corner... Hope you all have a good weekend!

Tea and cake to finish off a successful day back amongst it on on the grit!

Source: ethan walker