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Progress!

Having recently climbed my 5 year project last month, Progress at Kilnsey, I have just been re-reading my previous blog posts about the route, which become something of a nemesis. Starting in 2017, they follow the process up until last year in some detail - hopefully useful to those planning their own campaign!

Reaching the 'Eyes' by the 5th bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

Success this year came from a number of factors, not least of which was the discovery of a new kneebar by the 6th bolt by Eder Lomba Lopez de Ipiña. I initially discounted this as I was so used to climbing quickly through the pumpy redpoint crux moves between the 6th and 8th bolts without even stopping to chalk and had done my 2nd bolt to top links in this manner. I also was concerned that the 4 extra handmoves required to climb into and out of the kneebar would add in more time on the rock and extra pump, despite the new opportunity to rest. However, after speaking to Josh Ibbertson who kindly shared his strategy with the kneebar (having sent the route the week previously), it became clear that it would be possible to climb straight into the long move up from the 6th bolt straight out of the kneebar cutting out some of these extra footmoves. Therefore, on balance, it was a no brainer for me to use the new rest. Why ignore a perfectly good kneebar?! My Youtube video of the climb (below) shows the discovery of the kneebar for any aspirant ascentionists:

                                    Video of the route 

Another factor in getting over the line this year was building my own board in January during the last lockdown. In February and March, I set some pretty savage problems on dowel pinches and basic birch ply grips which certainly helped to maintain power levels while the walls were closed. Once I got back on the route in late April, I was initially worried that I hadn't got the strength for the crux as I couldn't do the moves from the floor but this was just a lack of recruitment and just like last year, after a few sessions back on the rig, the muscle memory kicked in and all my board training paid off. Before long, I was climbing back up to the eyes by the 5th bolt, an 'entry level' link which is pretty much mandatory prior to getting in some proper redpoint burns. Shortly after this, the crag got one of its regular drenchings and North Buttress was out of commission for a couple of weeks in May with some unseasonably cold weather to boot.

Starting the crux at the 2nd bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

As soon as June rolled around, I got back into gear and with the arrival of warmer weather, managed to do the 3rd to top link and could feel the project coming together. I was about to go for the 2nd to top link after 2 rest days as it was quite warm but a crag regular persuaded me to go from the floor instead. I'm glad I did as I got up to just below the 7th bolt before I even knew about the new kneebar - it was on! Shortly after this good go, the 6th bolt kneebar was discovered and after commiting to using it, I experimented with different rest times to allow for optimal recovery. From the 6th bolt to the top is about 8a I would say but you have already climbed 8b+/8c to get there so you will not have much left in the tank...unless you are ultrafit and/or strong! On a really good go which was filmed by Marsha Balaeva (starting at 6:05 in my video) after one rest day, I managed my second best ever go from the ground in excellent, breezy conditions getting to just below the 8th bolt before the terminal pump kicked in and I was summarily ejected from the rock!

Tough moves at the 3rd bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla) Of course, there is no direct comparision to my high point in 2019 when I reached 2 moves further (but without the kneebar) as the route is now undoubtedly more manageable with the new shakeout for those able to reach the 6th bolt. I guess I will never get to find out if I could climb it without the kneebar and get the satifaction of smashing through my old highpoint. However, this is tempered with the realisation that I had discovered a new shakeout at the end of the season last year at the 6th bolt at exactly the same place as the kneebar (see my post from last year) which allows a similar recovery for the right arm, allowing you to refresh it for the long move. So, in reality I would never have adopted my 'extreme sprint' approach (with only one chalk of each hand at the eyes) again which made getting the perfect go with the required minimum 2 rest days and decent conditions very tricky indeed. I am happy to have ticked the route using the knee which allows me to move on and do some much needed new climbing. Regarding the grade, comparing it to others around this difficulty level, I am confident that the kneebar, whilst making the route more approachable, does not bring the route down to 8c, just a little lower in the 8c+ grade.  Another view of the crux by the 3rd bolt (Credit: Marsha Balaeva) After my close go, I rested up 2 days and was confident of taking it down but was torn as to whether to go for it that day as it was pretty warm and lacking a decent breeze. Alternatively, I could come back the following day when conditions would be likely better. Luckily Adam Lincoln convinced me to have at least one burn and after my initial bolt to bolt go and an extra warmup pitch (to kill some time while it cooled down slightly) I found myself setting off on my attempt.

Reaching better holds at the 6th bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla) The power of the psyche of other climbers is a big factor in getting up rock climbs as I found out over the next 5 minutes as Eder and Josh shouted up their encouragement. The redpoint went well up to the 6th bolt despite the heat as I felt stonger than ever and even not catching the pinch quite right with my left hand on the redpoint crux below the 6th bolt (due to the heat affecting grip on the smooth, rounded sidepull) didn't matter. Relaxing into the kneebar, I decided to allow myself two shakes of each arm only and stayed there 30 seconds rather than the 45 seconds of the previous session. The kneebar is pretty marginal for me at least and is definitely not hands off. At a certain point you start to 'lose more than you gain'!  The traverse moves between the 7th and 8th clips (Credit: Joe Crolla) The moves up past the 7th clip went well and before I knew it, I was moving right and up towards to the 8th clip and my highpoint. My fingers bit into the right hand undercut and I stepped my left foot down to a low foothold as I had worked out the last few sessions. This beta tweak added an extra footmove and a few more seconds on the rock but thankfully removed the left foot pop which had been the demise of several previous redpoints. I felt fresh enough for a cheeky adjust with my right hand on the undercut and moving up to the better holds I knew I was in with a good shout. Climbing past my highpoint and reaching the undercuts where I could reach down and clip the 8th bolt (using a long slip blu-tacked to the rock for ease of clipping) was an amazing feeling. The top kneebar slotted in ideally and I was able to recover well for 2 minutes before steeling myself for the top roof. Summoning every ounce of remaining power in my body I threw everything at these strenuous, reachy moves. Standing up into the big left hand undercut and grabbing the big pinch at the end of the difficulties, I could barely believe I was about to clip the chains and finally close this chapter in my climbing. Thanks to everybody who has belayed me over the past 5 years. For those of you with long term projects, stick at it, work hard and success will come! Send meal with the Manchester crew!

Source: Progress!

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Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

Now seems to be as good a time as any to look back on the year that is swifly coming to an end as the crags get wetter and the temps drop. Most people bar the hardy few have now retreated into training mode. Its time for a much needed power topup or some well deserved rest and recuperation. Time to dust down that training plan perhaps?

2021 will be remembered as one of the better sport climbing seasons we have had in recent years. The crags started off dry in April and bar a cold spell in May, that continued right up until early August when the first serious deluges rolled through. These proved to be no more than temporary setbacks for the serious Kilnsey redpointers, resulting in some minor adjustments to that all-important redpointing schedule. For those with time on their hands, this summer was the time to bring it all together and make the push to that elusive next grade or bag that pesky long term project. 

The Yorkshire Ripper 8b (Credit: Tim Eley)

For crag regulars, it was excellent to see the influx of recruits to the ranks as some new faces were welcomed to the scene with everybody keen to share beta and psyche. One of the best bits of having a regular attendance record at Kilnsey is the social scene and saying hi to a friendly face, especially after the recent lockdowns, The Yorkshire Limestone Facebook group was a great source of partners for many without a regular belayer or failing that, just rocking up and offering to belay resulted in a catch being secured on many an occasion - who knows just how many spontaneous sends resulted which otherwise wouldn't have happened? I will try and remember some of the many, great ascents that took place at Malham and Kilnsey although with the disclaimer that there were so many that I will inevitably miss out a few - if I have erred, answers on a postcard to give somebody I have missed their rightful place in the pantheon! (Crag coverage limited to the Big 2 crags because that's where I went most of summer!)

Working the crux on Sabotage 8c+ at Malha (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

To sum up some of the high end action at Kilnsey, Northern Lights 9a got sent twice by Will Bosi and Josh Ibbertson. I was lucky enough to witness Will's ascent and saw Josh get very close on multiple ocassions before he did it. It was amazing to see these high level performances and the sheer level of effort and dedication on show. From a personal perspective, my saga with Progress 8c+ finally came to an end in June, which felt strange to be finally able to move on and bring a multi-year siege to a close. It was awesome to see Josh, Eder Lomba de Ipina and Pete Dawson all clip the chains too and share the new kneebar beta that emerged, which proved to get the key to getting over the line, margins between success and failure being wafer thin at your personal limit. 

Northern Exposure 8b+ at Kilnsey (Credit: Andy Gardner)

Alex Barrow succeeded on Preposterous Tales a new 9a through the big roof at Kilnsey; its great to see that the crag is still yielding new lines, it looks like a funky piece of very difficult climbing  through a gob smacking feature. Tim Palmer, Josh Ibbertson, Pete Dawson and me managed to send the tricky Northern Exposure Part 1 8b+ after several years of this nearly forgotten testpiece lying fallow. The extension to this line, Northern Star 9a/+, Steve McClure's superroute from 2007 did see some attention with a crimp or two parting company with the crag most inopportunely back in June, rendering it likely harder. One can only hope that the line is still possible, although with the dismaying levels of strength displayed by today's up and coming young climbers, perhaps it is no bad thing that there are testpieces out there still to be freshly claimed.

Several well deserved ticks of Urgent Action were bagged, both male and female, including by Thea Cameron. It was certainly the year to lay your North Buttress project to rest with the usual worries of impending seepage dispelled for weeks at a time. Rhoslyn Frugtniet swifly despatched Full Tilt 8b, along with several others with some strong teams laying siege to the full line, True North 8c. I am sure next year there will be many clipping those elusive chains! The Yorkshire Ripper 8b received a rare ascent from yours truly which will hopefully lead to more from other climbers. Half the battle seems to be cleaning up dusty holds and getting on the thing, which leads to others showing an interest and helping to clean up the line still further. Indian Summer was sent by Josh Ibberton and his dad James (if I am not mistaken) and Neil Mawson with Tom Newberry adding All Out 8c to his ticklist to round out the action down this end of the crag. 

Mandella 8a+ was sent by several parties including Tanya Meredith and Ella Russell, again a great tick for a dry summer, no better time to add this mega classic to your trophy cabinet! Bullet 8a+ proved popular with Naomi Buys, amongst others, succeeding on a well-deserved tick.

Victor Hugo 8b at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Moving on to Malham, Eder Lomba de Ipina ticked Rainshadow 9a and Batman 9a/+ in the Spring, as did Josh Ibbertson and Toby Roberts, more recently in the autumn. There were a few ascents of Bat Route 8c, John Lawson sending it in the Spring and Tom Frost ticking it stylishly in September. Jim Hulbert ticked The Great Escape 8b+, the link of Cry Freedom into Predator with impeccable timing before the Autumn rains. Many worthy ticks of classics at a slightly lower grade took place. These were too numerous to mention by name suffice to say that many elated redpointers toasted their success in the Listers post-send on GBH, Zoolook, Austrian Oak and The Groove. The tough Victor Hugo 8b, the extension to Thriller 7c+ (above Consenting Adults 7a) got send twice by Pete Dawson and I, leading to mutterings on a possible upgrade but I digress. 

Attempts on Sabotage 8c+ at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and by early October, the crag was calling time on the season with some Autumn gales barrelling through and bringing some drastic seepage lines to the crag. My inroads into Sabotage 8c+, Neil Gresham's major extension to Predator will have to wait until next year after I invested a considerable number of sessions into the line from mid August through September. Rainman 9b may just hold out another year before the coveted second ascent, although I may yet have to correct this if last year's late ticks of Rainshadow by Josh and Toby are anything to go on! 

So, happy training everyone, enjoy some downtime from the stresses of redpointing and the at times full-on nature of being immersed in a long term project. 2022 may yet be your year!!

The last shakeout on Predator before the crux of Sabotage 8c+ (Credit: Tristan Roberts)

Source: Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

[Bradders]

One of the best bits of having a regular attendance record at Kilnsey is the social scene and saying hi to a friendly face, especially after the recent lockdowns, The Yorkshire Limestone Facebook group was a great source of partners for many without a regular belayer

Nice one Ted, great write up and such a good season for you!

It was great fun getting involved in the Kilnsey scene for the first time for me this year. The social side alone made it an improvement over lonely, sweaty bouldering in dark, dank roadside caves all summer.

On the topic of the Facebook groups; I said to myself at the end of April that I'd try and get on a rope twice a week, and go bouldering if I couldn't get a partner. It's strong testament to the success of the Yorkshire and Peak FB groups that I got out at least twice a week, every week, but I didn't go bouldering at all for 3.5 months! Great stuff. Looking forward to next year.

[Kingy]

Cheers Nick, it was a fun one. Felt like going down your local pub at times in the summer!

[Fiend]

Nice report and motivational words Ted.

[comPiler]

Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

Now seems to be as good a time as any to look back on the year that is swifly coming to an end as the crags get wetter and the temps drop. Most people bar the hardy few have now retreated into training mode. Its time for a much needed power topup or some well deserved rest and recuperation. Time to dust down that training plan perhaps?

2021 will be remembered as one of the better sport climbing seasons we have had in recent years. The crags started off dry in April and bar a cold spell in May, that continued right up until early August when the first serious deluges rolled through. These proved to be no more than temporary setbacks for the serious Kilnsey redpointers, resulting in some minor adjustments to that all-important redpointing schedule. For those with time on their hands, this summer was the time to bring it all together and make the push to that elusive next grade or bag that pesky long term project. 

The Yorkshire Ripper 8b (Credit: Tim Eley)

For crag regulars, it was excellent to see the influx of recruits to the ranks as some new faces were welcomed to the scene with everybody keen to share beta and psyche. One of the best bits of having a regular attendance record at Kilnsey is the social scene and saying hi to a friendly face, especially after the recent lockdowns, The Yorkshire Limestone Facebook group was a great source of partners for many without a regular belayer or failing that, just rocking up and offering to belay resulted in a catch being secured on many an occasion - who knows just how many spontaneous sends resulted which otherwise wouldn't have happened? I will try and remember some of the many, great ascents that took place at Malham and Kilnsey although with the disclaimer that there were so many that I will inevitably miss out a few - if I have erred, answers on a postcard to give somebody I have missed their rightful place in the pantheon! (Crag coverage limited to the Big 2 crags because that's where I went most of summer!)

Working the crux on Sabotage 8c+ at Malha (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

To sum up some of the high end action at Kilnsey, Northern Lights 9a got sent twice by Will Bosi and Josh Ibbertson. I was lucky enough to witness Will's ascent and saw Josh get very close on multiple ocassions before he did it. It was amazing to see these high level performances and the sheer level of effort and dedication on show. From a personal perspective, my saga with Progress 8c+ finally came to an end in June, which felt strange to be finally able to move on and bring a multi-year siege to a close. It was awesome to see Josh, Eder Lomba de Ipina and Pete Dawson all clip the chains too and share the new kneebar beta that emerged, which proved to get the key to getting over the line, margins between success and failure being wafer thin at your personal limit. 

Northern Exposure 8b+ at Kilnsey (Credit: Andy Gardner)

Alex Barrow succeeded on Preposterous Tales a new 9a through the big roof at Kilnsey; its great to see that the crag is still yielding new lines, it looks like a funky piece of very difficult climbing  through a gob smacking feature. Tim Palmer, Josh Ibbertson, Pete Dawson and me managed to send the tricky Northern Exposure Part 1 8b+ after several years of this nearly forgotten testpiece lying fallow. The extension to this line, Northern Star 9a/+, Steve McClure's superroute from 2007 did see some attention with a crimp or two parting company with the crag most inopportunely back in June, rendering it likely harder. One can only hope that the line is still possible, although with the dismaying levels of strength displayed by today's up and coming young climbers, perhaps it is no bad thing that there are testpieces out there still to be freshly claimed.

Several well deserved ticks of Urgent Action were bagged, both male and female, including by Thea Cameron. It was certainly the year to lay your North Buttress project to rest with the usual worries of impending seepage dispelled for weeks at a time. Rhoslyn Frugtniet swifly despatched Full Tilt 8b, along with several others with some strong teams laying siege to the full line, True North 8c. I am sure next year there will be many clipping those elusive chains! The Yorkshire Ripper 8b received a rare ascent from yours truly which will hopefully lead to more from other climbers. Half the battle seems to be cleaning up dusty holds and getting on the thing, which leads to others showing an interest and helping to clean up the line still further. Indian Summer was sent by Josh Ibberton and his dad James (if I am not mistaken) and Neil Mawson with Tom Newberry adding All Out 8c to his ticklist to round out the action down this end of the crag. 

Mandella 8a+ was sent by several parties including Tanya Meredith and Ella Russell, again a great tick for a dry summer, no better time to add this mega classic to your trophy cabinet! Bullet 8a+ proved popular with Naomi Buys, amongst others, succeeding on a well-deserved tick.

Victor Hugo 8b at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Moving on to Malham, Eder Lomba de Ipina ticked Rainshadow 9a and Batman 9a/+ in the Spring, as did Josh Ibbertson and Toby Roberts, more recently in the autumn. There were a few ascents of Bat Route 8c, John Lawson sending it in the Spring and Tom Frost ticking it stylishly in September. Jim Hulbert ticked The Great Escape 8b+, the link of Cry Freedom into Predator with impeccable timing before the Autumn rains. Many worthy ticks of classics at a slightly lower grade took place. These were too numerous to mention by name suffice to say that many elated redpointers toasted their success in the Listers post-send on GBH, Zoolook, Austrian Oak and The Groove. The tough Victor Hugo 8b, the extension to Thriller 7c+ (above Consenting Adults 7a) got sent twice by Pete Dawson and I, leading to mutterings on a possible upgrade but I digress. 

Attempts on Sabotage 8c+ at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and by early October, the crag was calling time on the season with some Autumn gales barrelling through and bringing some drastic seepage lines to the crag. My inroads into Sabotage 8c+, Neil Gresham's major extension to Predator will have to wait until next year after I invested a considerable number of sessions into the line from mid August through September. Rainman 9b may just hold out another year before the coveted second ascent, although I may yet have to correct this if last year's late ticks of Rainshadow by Josh and Toby are anything to go on! 

So, happy training everyone, enjoy some downtime from the stresses of redpointing and the at times full-on nature of being immersed in a long term project. 2022 may yet be your year!!

The last shakeout on Predator before the crux of Sabotage 8c+ (Credit: Tristan Roberts)

Source: Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

[comPiler]

Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

Now seems to be as good a time as any to look back on the year that is swifly coming to an end as the crags get wetter and the temps drop. Most people bar the hardy few have now retreated into training mode. Its time for a much needed power topup or some well deserved rest and recuperation. Time to dust down that training plan perhaps?

2021 will be remembered as one of the better sport climbing seasons we have had in recent years. The crags started off dry in April and bar a cold spell in May, that continued right up until early August when the first serious deluges rolled through. These proved to be no more than temporary setbacks for the serious Kilnsey redpointers, resulting in some minor adjustments to that all-important redpointing schedule. For those with time on their hands, this summer was the time to bring it all together and make the push to that elusive next grade or bag that pesky long term project. 

The Yorkshire Ripper 8b (Credit: Tim Eley)

For crag regulars, it was excellent to see the influx of recruits to the ranks as some new faces were welcomed to the scene with everybody keen to share beta and psyche. One of the best bits of having a regular attendance record at Kilnsey is the social scene and saying hi to a friendly face, especially after the recent lockdowns, The Yorkshire Limestone Facebook group was a great source of partners for many without a regular belayer or failing that, just rocking up and offering to belay resulted in a catch being secured on many an occasion - who knows just how many spontaneous sends resulted which otherwise wouldn't have happened? I will try and remember some of the many, great ascents that took place at Malham and Kilnsey although with the disclaimer that there were so many that I will inevitably miss out a few - if I have erred, answers on a postcard to give somebody I have missed their rightful place in the pantheon! (Crag coverage limited to the Big 2 crags because that's where I went most of summer!)

Working the crux on Sabotage 8c+ at Malha (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

To sum up some of the high end action at Kilnsey, Northern Lights 9a got sent twice by Will Bosi and Josh Ibbertson. I was lucky enough to witness Will's ascent and saw Josh get very close on multiple ocassions before he did it. It was amazing to see these high level performances and the sheer level of effort and dedication on show. From a personal perspective, my saga with Progress 8c+ finally came to an end in June, which felt strange to be finally able to move on and bring a multi-year siege to a close. It was awesome to see Josh, Eder Lomba de Ipina and Pete Dawson all clip the chains too and share the new kneebar beta that emerged, which proved to get the key to getting over the line, margins between success and failure being wafer thin at your personal limit. 

Northern Exposure 8b+ at Kilnsey (Credit: Andy Gardner)

Alex Barrows succeeded on Preposterous Tales a new 9a through the big roof at Kilnsey; its great to see that the crag is still yielding new lines, it looks like a funky piece of very difficult climbing  through a gob smacking feature. Tim Palmer, Josh Ibbertson, Pete Dawson and me managed to send the tricky Northern Exposure Part 1 8b+ after several years of this nearly forgotten testpiece lying fallow. The extension to this line, Northern Star 9a/+, Steve McClure's superroute from 2007 did see some attention with a crimp or two parting company with the crag most inopportunely back in June, rendering it likely harder. One can only hope that the line is still possible, although with the dismaying levels of strength displayed by today's up and coming young climbers, perhaps it is no bad thing that there are testpieces out there still to be freshly claimed.

Several well deserved ticks of Urgent Action were bagged, both male and female, including by Thea Cameron. It was certainly the year to lay your North Buttress project to rest with the usual worries of impending seepage dispelled for weeks at a time. Rhoslyn Frugtniet swifly despatched Full Tilt 8b, along with several others with some strong teams laying siege to the full line, True North 8c. I am sure next year there will be many clipping those elusive chains! The Yorkshire Ripper 8b received a rare ascent from yours truly which will hopefully lead to more from other climbers. Half the battle seems to be cleaning up dusty holds and getting on the thing, which leads to others showing an interest and helping to clean up the line still further. Indian Summer was sent by Josh Ibberton and his dad James (if I am not mistaken) and Neil Mawson with Tom Newberry adding All Out 8c to his ticklist to round out the action down this end of the crag. 

Mandella 8a+ was sent by several parties including Tanya Meredith and Ella Russell, again a great tick for a dry summer, no better time to add this mega classic to your trophy cabinet! Bullet 8a+ proved popular with Naomi Buys, amongst others, succeeding on a well-deserved tick.

Victor Hugo 8b at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Moving on to Malham, Eder Lomba de Ipina ticked Rainshadow 9a and Batman 9a/+ in the Spring, as did Josh Ibbertson and Toby Roberts, more recently in the autumn. There were a few ascents of Bat Route 8c, John Lawson sending it in the Spring and Tom Frost ticking it stylishly in September. Jim Hulbert ticked The Great Escape 8b+, the link of Cry Freedom into Predator with impeccable timing before the Autumn rains. Many worthy ticks of classics at a slightly lower grade took place. These were too numerous to mention by name suffice to say that many elated redpointers toasted their success in the Listers post-send on GBH, Zoolook, Austrian Oak and The Groove. The tough Victor Hugo 8b, the extension to Thriller 7c+ (above Consenting Adults 7a) got sent twice by Pete Dawson and I, leading to mutterings on a possible upgrade but I digress. 

Attempts on Sabotage 8c+ at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and by early October, the crag was calling time on the season with some Autumn gales barrelling through and bringing some drastic seepage lines to the crag. My inroads into Sabotage 8c+, Neil Gresham's major extension to Predator will have to wait until next year after I invested a considerable number of sessions into the line from mid August through September. Rainman 9b may just hold out another year before the coveted second ascent, although I may yet have to correct this if last year's late ticks of Rainshadow by Josh and Toby are anything to go on! 

So, happy training everyone, enjoy some downtime from the stresses of redpointing and the at times full-on nature of being immersed in a long term project. 2022 may yet be your year!!

The last shakeout on Predator before the crux of Sabotage 8c+ (Credit: Tristan Roberts)

Source: Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

[Fiend]

So how was the Yorkshire limestone season this year??

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Attraverso il Pesce

I was going through old files the other day and thought it would be useful to post up pictures of my ascent with Ben Heason of Attraferso il Pesce or 'The Fish' on the south face of the Marmolada in August 2009. I wrote an article about our ascent at the time and set this out below, in case it is of any use to anybody planning their own ascent. This was all before blogs or instagram!

The Fish – South Face of the Marmolada, Dolomites, August 2009

By Ted Kingsnorth

Having been on a trip to the Dolomites in August 2000 with some friends from Manchester University, when I had ticked a number of classic routes, I had always been keen to head back for more. I had been inspired by the huge expanses of vertical walls, spectacular situations and the high standard of free climbing that was possible with, on the whole, good protection, in the form of pegs or trad gear. In particular, when on the Comici Route on the north face of the Cima Grande, a very famous route of about E2 or E3 in standard, I had looked across at the vast overhanging wall on the same face taken by the Brandler Hasse, a sustained E5, and wondered if I would ever be good enough to climb it. A member of our party had done the Brandler that trip and so I resolved to return when I had gained the necessary climbing skills and experience to do battle once more.

Signpost to the Marmolada       Fast forward nine years and I have teamed up with Ben Heason to attempt the Brandler. Much planning has gone into this trip with countless emails exchanged to arrange the necessary gear and logistics. As we took off from East Midlands Airport, I could barely believe that we were actually about to set off on the trip after so much looking forward to it. Touching down in Venice at 9pm, we hastily jumped in the hire car and drove north, fuelled by large slices of pizza. Once in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the main town in the valley, we headed straight for the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the massif containing the Cima Grande, one of the six great north faces of the Alps. Bivvying out at the car park, on the first day we set off up the Fabjan, a nice 11 pitch HVS warm up climb on the south face of the Punta Frida. Suitably adjusted to the style of climbing, the odd loose hold and with the weather set fair we set our sights on the Brandler for the following morning.  At 4:30am, our alarms went off and wolfing down some pricey apfel strudel bought at the Auronzo Hut, we set off for the base of the route in the dark. It turned out to be an outstanding outing, despite us having to follow two other parties. The opening seven pitches whet your appetite for the main meat of the 7a/7a+ overhanging corners for which the route is famous. Ben pulled out a brilliant lead of what I thought was the crux of the climb, a wet overhanging chimney crack, the second 7a pitch. It was my lead for the overhanging 7a+ stamina crack and I sprinted up this, clipping everything in sight. Then, after a tricky 6c+ pitch, the upper pitches eased off and we were soon on the ringband contemplating the descent. South Side of the Marmolada Group from the Passo Giau

So, having bagged the Brandler on the second day of a two week holiday, what was next? Ben and I had talked reservedly of trying the Fish (or ‘Il Pesce’ in Italian) on the massive south face of the Marmolada but mentioned it in somewhat hushed tones due to its reputation for boldness, loose rock and hard 7b+ slab climbing. It had been recommended to us before our trip by Ben’s friend Eric Svab as being one of the best routes he had done in twenty years of climbing, The fact that Hansjörg Auer had free soloed it in April 2007 equipped with only boots and a chalk bag in what must be one of the most audacious solos ever accomplished only added to the mystique.  Extensive discussions ensued at base camp in Cortina on our rest day, aided by extremely strong coffee. We resolved to attempt the face as soon as the weather allowed. With the forecast looking very good for the next few days we drove over the Passo Giau to the south side of the mountain and began the one and a half hour slog up to the Falier Hut below the south face. As we arrived, we were greeted by some booming country music from a live band echoing around the mountain walls. It turned out that a local band had been choppered in for that Sunday afternoon. There was a large audience sitting in the sunshine on the hut terrace and plenty of beer was being consumed.

Ted approaching the Malga Ombretta refuge below the south face of the Marmolada en route to the Falier Refuge

Ted studying the Fish route with monocular the afternoon of the day before our ascent of the Fish

The Falier Refuge, the hut we stayed in before ascending the Fish

We were tempted to join in the fun but we had a route to climb so set off up the path to the base of the face, to stash our gear for the following morning. This is a trick we found very useful on the Brandler, as much for mental preparation as anything else. If you have seen where the first pitch starts and put your harness and gear next to the first belay, it puts your mind at rest and allows you to focus on the job in hand, without worrying about not finding where the route starts in the early morning, when any delay could be critical. We had a detailed topo from UP magazine (see below) which suggested scrambling in on a ledge system to the belay at the end of the normal pitch 2. We elected to do this as the first five pitches were meant to be very loose and not recommended. This left only three loose pitches before the start of the slab proper.

Dawn at the first belay of the Fish

Looking out from the start of the Fish

·

Ben at the second belay of the Fish

Ted leading the 5th pitch (French 5c or E2 5b)

·       A meal in the hut allowed us to meet the other teams of climbers setting off for routes the next day. There were three teams heading off to do Tempi Moderni, a 28 pitch E4 to the left of our route but we were the only party from the hut intent on the Fish. After six hours snoozing in the hut dorms, the alarm went off at 4:30am and it was action stations. After gulping down our coffee and porridge, without any gear to carry up to the base, we were quickly racking up by our stash of gear from the previous day after a 45 minute walk uphill. Ben set off up the first pitch in the half light, a French 6a flake/crack. The UP magazine description recommended linking pitches together to save time so we became used to doing mammoth 50m+ pitches. With Ben having runout 55m of rope, I started seconding up fairly loose terrain and was soon joining him at the belay. I then set off a 60m French 5a pitch. I knew it would be loose and so had prepared myself for the worst. Happily the reality was not as bad as I had feared and bar the odd bit of scree perched precariously on protruding ledges and some flaky holds, the whole pitch was not much harder than E1 5a. After Ben’s French 5b pitch that followed it became fully light to reveal a clear, sunny day; we were now warmed up and psyched for the much harder slab pitches to come. I led off up a 60m French 5c dihedral that was about E2 5b but had to be pretty sparing on the gear seeing how long the pitch was. Unfortunately, I belayed 4m below the true belay, a stuck hex, on a good peg but that did not stop us keeping on the right line as Ben headed up the first true pitch on the famous slab, a long, wandering and technical 6b+ pitch with many threads.

Ben seconding the 5th pitch (French 5c or E2 5b)

Ted leading the 7th pitch (French 6a+ or E2 5c) of the Fish

Ted seconding the 8th pitch (French 7a+ or E4/5 6b)

Ted seconding the 8th pitch (French 7a+ or E4/5 6b)

By the next 6a+ pitch we were becoming used to the style of climbing which could not have been more different from the Brandler. There were many in situ kevlar threads to clip with additional nut and cam placements. The pockets were pretty positive with the emphasis being on good technique to enable the ground to be covered as quickly and efficiently as possible. By this time, we had been joined by a German girl and an Argentinian chap, both guides or aspirant guides who had walked up from the valley floor that morning. Unfortunately, I overshot the belay of my pitch by about 8m due to a confusing topo description but it didn’t matter as, aided by the knowledge of the Argentinian, who had been on the route eight years previously, Ben was able to downclimb and traverse to the right before attacking the first tricky pitch, a slabby 7a+. With the benefit of hindsight it seems like I had followed the pegs on the line used by people intent on aiding the 7a+ bit, which is different, and more direct, to the free line.

Ted leading the 10th pitch (French 7b or E5/6 6b)

Suddenly the mist came down eerily around us and it became pretty cold even with all of our layers on. We had both taken a thermal and a soft shell plus one other outer layer and it was all I could do to keep the blood pumping by kicking my legs and punching the air while belaying. While following the 7a+ (equating to E4/5 6b), I knew we were in for some more testing climbing as it was very thin and balancy, although fortunately well protected by in situ pegs and optional cams. The next pitch was a nice 30m 6b+ (or about E3 6a), and which we could have linked into the previous 7a+ had I not gone astray on the previous pitch. Once at the belay, I looked up at the blank, slabby 7b groove above me, a photo of which graces the front cover of the Marmolada guide, and knew that this was where the real business began. It was my lead so without delay, I set off on what I knew would be a demanding lead. It began easily enough on large well spaced pockets with some respectable runouts but soon the pockets blanked out and the rock became smooth, punctuated by some very thin seams.  I clipped a chunky peg bashed downwards into a large pocket and then slightly higher an in situ tri-cam, with an unfortunately frayed sling attached and then contemplated the next moves. Apparently, you used to be able to aid this section but a small peg in one of the seams snapped off relatively recently, making the precarious move obligatory. I crammed my fingers into the crucial vertical slot and smeared my feet on the rough slab, running it out a few feet above the tri-cam. Next thing I knew, my fingers were sinking into a bomber pocket above and I knew I had done it. I linked the next 6c+ pitch into the 7b to make a massive 60m pitch of E5/E6 6b, at that time the hardest on-sight trad lead I had ever achieved and in one of the most stunning positions imaginable! The 6c+ was quite difficult in its own right involving a couple of mono pockets. Thankfully, as I had to keep reminding myself, it was only a slab! This led into the legendary fish niche, a niche high on the face that resembles the profile of a whale and gives the route its name.

Ted leading the 10th pitch (French 7b or E5/6 6b)

     The sun had now dispersed the mist and I was burning up in all my layers, my feet in agony due to the heat and having to stand on my toes for so long, despite my comfortable baggy shoes. I had a muesli bar and a gel to boost my energy levels and stripped off a few layers. A helicopter containing what looked like tourists suddenly came buzzing by to within 15m of the niche and I gave it a thumbs up to signal that we were fine. It was now approaching 3pm so we had no time to lose. The 7a pitch leaving the fish was like space walking, a long, weaving 35m E4/E5 on sinker pockets with athletic pulls between flakes and many threads. Ben now had the crux of the route, a short 7b+ pitch with a difficult series of pockets leading into some hard slab moves. He destroyed the pocket moves and then stood readying himself before the key slab section. I soon knew that he had done it judging from the triumphant roar that echoed down to me at the belay! (It turned out that the notorious runout that we had been told about on this pitch was far less scary than expected, making this into perhaps an easy E6 pitch). Seconding with a 2kg bum bag was no picnic but with Ben’s beta, I followed without incident and realised that we had only one more 7th grade pitch followed by a short 6c before the final 6c+ crack.

Ted seconding the 12th pitch (French 7b+ or E6 6b)

      The next ‘pendulum’ pitch was given 7a or 7a+ on different topos but they all said that you had to climb up to a peg and then reverse back down again before traversing left to the base of a crack. Apparently the famous alpinist Marco Lukic had failed on his on-sight of the route on this section after freeing all the preceding hard pitches! With this in mind, I headed leftwards at what I guessed to be the right level. I plugged in a TCU in a vertical crack and then headed even further leftwards, leaving the peg above me to my right. Any fall now would result in a substantial (but dead safe) swing to the right. I pawed desperately at the blank slab above me, teetering with my feet in small pockets. With things having gone so well up to this point, I was determined not to lose the on-sight of the Fish. After ten minutes of pondering and false starts, I resolved to attack the slab, seeing that traversing even further below looked equally as hard, if not more difficult than the moves I was facing. Uncertain that I had chosen the easiest traverse line, I committed to the moves with some trepidation. With my feet tiring and a sense of urgency spurring me on as it was now 6pm, I cranked up on a shallow index finger mono and smeared my feet up the grey limestone. Thankfully, my feet stuck and I eased myself leftwards onto some sloping shelves and then eventually some decent pockets. All that remained was a romp up the strenuous layback cracks above to the belay.

Ted seconding the 12th pitch (French 7b+ or E6 6b)

      Ben followed shortly afterwards and we now realised that an on-sight ascent was within our grasp. Ben fired off the short 6c undercut traverse pitch, unfortunately marred by some dodgy rock and then I was below the base of the final 6c+, our fourteenth pitch of hard climbing. Exhausted, I knew that I had to summon up my reserves for one last push. It is amazing what you can achieve when your back is to the wall and I battled up this steep E3/E4 pitch as quickly as possible, clipping the many in situ pegs. Topping out onto the large ledge at the end of the major difficulties was an amazing feeling knowing that we had freed one of the most famous rock routes in the Alps. When Ben joined me it was 7:30pm and only one hour of daylight remained. The Argentinian and German party had sensibly retreated one pitch after the Fish niche due to lack of time. 

Ted leading the 13th pitch (French 7a/+ or E5 6b)

Most parties intent on only spending one day on the route abseil down from this ledge and avoid carrying bivvy gear as it marks the end of the major difficulties. Twelve pitches of sometimes loose and often wet walls and chimneys do lead to the summit but a bivouac on the ledge or near the summit is virtually guaranteed as the last cable car down to the valley leaves at 4:30pm! The abseils are all fairly straight down but some use peg belays which are often on neighbouring routes so the difficulty of following this option should not be underestimated. We managed eight abseils most of the way down the face before darkness fell and we had to get our headtorches out. The last two abseils took up by far the most time as it was difficult finding the right belays in the dark but by 9pm we were at the foot of the face and running back down to the hut. Headtorches had been shone at us from the hut after darkness fell but we had not been in any difficulties so had not signalled back. The hut guardian Dante always looks out for climbers in trouble and there were some flashing headtorches near the top of Tempi Moderni from a party about to bivvy out. Routes on the south face of the Marmolada are long and this is a frequent occurrence, there not being enough hours in the day for all but the fastest of parties to top out and descend in one push.  Collecting our stashed gear at the hut, we thanked the people there for watching out for us and headed down to the valley. By 11:30pm we were safely ensconced in a bar in Alleghe wolfing down pizzas and supping on large beers to celebrate what for me at least had been one of my best days of alpine climbing ever. 

South Side of the Marmolada Group from the Passo Giau

Recommended Topos/ Guides

·         ‘Dolomites: West and East’, Ron James, Alpine Club 2005

·         ‘The Marmolada’, Maurizio Giordani, Versante Sud, 2008

·         Planet Mountain topo: http://www.planetmountain.com/english/rock/dolomites/itineraries/scheda.php?id_tipologia=38&lang=eng&comefrom=search&id_itinerario=374&gruppo=&cima=&nome=  

·         Up Magazine2004/05 ‘Mythical Routes’ section

Recommended Rack

·         One set of wires (sizes #3-9)

·         Four small/medium aliens or TCU’s

·         Camelot yellow and blue (blue not essential), or equivalent sizes

·         16-18 quickdraws

Other routes to do on the South Face

·         Don Quixote VI

·         Vinatzer/Messner combination VI+

·         Tempi Moderni 7a

·         Specchio di Sara 7c

·         End of Mystery 8a

·         Catthedrale 8a+

Source: Attraverso il Pesce

[bolehillbilly]

What a great read, thanks for posting this.

[dontfollowme]

Thanks Ted - I enjoyed reading that.

[jwi]

Made me psyched! Now I just need to convince my other half...

[Kingy]

Glad to hear it! Just shoot me a message if you need any more info, was a long time ago but may be of use...

[Wood FT]

Nice one, Ted. Good reading.

[Duncan campbell]

Brilliant write-up Ted! Makes it sound way less horrific than I thought it would be… though am aware that you and Ben are significantly better than I am!

[comPiler]

Kaabah

Six weeks have gone by since I completed my long term project Kaabah at Raven Tor and the whole thing has now sunk in. I have since been ticking some easier routes for a bit of variety and have also been on an awesome 2 week trip to the Alps around Chamonix. This required doing a few days of trad at Gogarth, Millstone and Stoney to get back into placing wires and cams, which was thoroughly enjoyable after so much time spent at the Tor.

I started trying Kaabah on the same day I clipped the chains of the Extension back in June last year. It felt like the logical next step to make use of the fitness gained in trying a similar route but even harder! While the Extension stacks an 8a on top of an 8b+ with two very good rests, Kaabah has significantly harder climbing (8a+) leaving Mecca just before its belay and then rejoining the Extension from below in the middle of its final traverse right, with only a poorer, single resting spot in a 'niche' high up on the wall. I knew this was going to push me to the limit when I began trying it but resolved that as long as I continued to see progress I would stick with it  as it would be amazing to do such a cool 'directissima' on Mecca, taking the route to its ultimate conclusion.

 The Mecca Crux (Video Still)

Early Days

I initially spent some time working out different methods for the very thin moves leaving the rest and studied the few videos of the route. I couldn't touch Steve's ultracrimpy method, its nails! Alex and Ryan's way going straight for the base of the Extension flake with the right hand was too reachy so I managed to work out a way pressing out left at the limit of my reach off a nasty thumb sprag to the 'car body filler' undercut of the Extension (don't ask!) I even managed to link to the base of the Extension Flake from the base of the Mecca groove using this early method before realising that by instead pulling on one of the tiny footholds of the Extension slightly higher up with my right hand the move was made a bit easier, although its still a very fickle customer in the wrong conditions. With my new sequence, although you are able to join the Extension a move earlier than either of Steve's or Alex's method's, you still have work to do as you are pretty stretched out and need to semi-dynamically flick you right hand into the tiny black sidepull used on the Extension once you have gained the left hand undercut (which is an extremely precarious move and requires you to drill you right toe into a tiny dink by your feet which is barely visible as you are pasted to the wall and can't easily spy your footholds). After repeated work, I was able to reliably climb from the niche to the Extension belay as part of my warm up on the route. This was the first time I had worked out a new method on a climb for myself so I was quite satisfied with the whole process.

Now just the link in of Mecca to go, easier said than done! In July last year I started the process of linking in sections of Mecca from successively lower stages (i.e. first level with the belay then the base of the groove by the 5th bolt then from the 3rd bolt by the big pocket). This adds a lot of pump to the upper 8a+ as I soon found. Before I was able to complete the key link from the 3rd bolt to the top, I got sucked into trying it from the ground, perhaps too early as this year it seemed that just knowing that you have completed this major link makes a big difference mentally. Progress came incrementally and last summer it turned into a war of attrition. Every saturday morning I would be there for another attempt and eventually got to the stage where I managed to join the Extension from the ground, although in a stage of terminal pump. I tried everything from gaffa taping the final clip into the rock to even using a fluorescent orange sticky tab to mark the hard-to-spot foothold.

On this route you only get very small windows for success as firstly you have to get yourself up Mecca every time. Then you need to be firing on all cylinders for the top wall so just scraping up Mecca is not enough, you need to own every hold and get to the rest with something left in the tank. On too many attempts I arrived at the shakeout with very little or nothing left to give to the top moves. They felt completely desparate from the ground and I found it was pretty much irrelevant how good they felt on the warmup. I got to the stage in August where I was fighting for extra individual moves on each successive visit, pushing my highpoint gradually upwards and routinely trying the hardest I have ever fought on a rock climb. Still, I was making some limited progress, enough to entice me to keep coming back for more.

The Falls

The moves on the top wall are so sustained that I found no place where you could stop and clip a bolt between the one you clip at the resting niche and the next one, which is a fair way above. There is the old 'bean can' aid bolt inbetween which offers a possibility for clipping an intermediate bolt in the middle of the upper crux. This can be backed up with a long sling  but I found that this drained power at a crucial stage so rather than diminishing my chances, I decided to press on and embrace taking the ride! If you fall off on the moves getting both hands on the Extension flake you will take up to a 25 footer (hard grit comes to the lime!) Don't let this put you off though as it is actually an alright fall if you take care to stay balanced, don't tense up and get a nice soft catch - I must have taken this fall over 30 times so I guess I have road tested it!

In order to clip the next bolt after the niche, you must get both hands on the Extension flake and then, (as per the front cover of Alastair Lee's DVD 'Psyche') take you right hand off to quickly drop the rope into the draw. I found that as the bolt was so close in this position, it was easier to use a single crab. This feels the living end from the ground as all your muscles are screaming for you to let go and end the agony! It feels the easiest thing in the world just to grab the draw and give up!

 The Big Fall! Attempt 24 June 2014

Failure

After 14 times reaching the resting niche or higher from the ground in August and September,  on my best attempt I got to the move shared with the Extension where you  have to put your right heel really high up on the flake while  compressing between opposing sidepulls in order to reach up for higher  crimps and easier moves leading to the final jugs. I probably only had  1% power left to give and remember squeezing like crazy between the  flake with my right hand and the tiny high sidepull for my left hand. I  briefly thought this was it, the time I was going to do it (a  mistake in retrospect). Then dismayingly my heel refused to go any  higher up to the flake as my arms gave out and I was off plummeting back into the void. Close but no cigar!

This last attempt proved to be my best go of the year and due to evening sessions on the route running out in late August, I was never able to regain this highpoint despite quite a few more attempts. I had a trip to Smith Rock planned in the last 2 weeks of October so resolved to get it bagged on my return but unfortunately the crag started seeping, which stopped everybody's campaigns on their projects for the year.

2014 - A Fresh Approach

A return trip to Smith Rocks in March proved the key to getting the monkey off my back. I felt a different climber this year, fitter from multiple laps on many 7b's and 7b+'s at Stockport but probably less strong from doing less bouldering. Ticking To Bolt or Not to Be at Smith was a great confidence booster and although it is a different beast to Kaabah being less steep but with twice as many moves, it provided a great foundation to work from. I had to bide my time up in Yorkshire in April and early May while the route dried out. Eventually the niche dried out enough to allow redpoint attempts. Crucially I managed to do the 3rd bolt to top link in late June, which I then managed on three other occasions. All I needed to do now was get up Mecca again.

 Link from the 3rd bolt to the Top - 1 July 2014

I was also trying to gain more fitness on Kristian's excellent 7c 'Resistance', which is the finish to either Mark Tomlinson's 'Resistance is Futile' 8a+ or a new linkup I did 'Chimes of Resistance' 8b and is conveniently placed just above and to the right of the Extension loweroff. I found that this provided a crucial extra few percent of stamina. Frustratingly in late June/early July, I had 3 or 4 sessions where I couldn't get up the big M. However, I knew I could do it, it was a just a matter of time before I could stick the crux of Mecca gaining the horn - get working your left hand deadhangs for this move!

The Send

The day I did it I had actually had two previous unsuccessful attempts at getting through Mecca. I tried from the ground for a third time more as a matter of routine than anything else but was very relieved when I finally held the horn and then gained the kneebar in the groove. I knew I had a good chance even though the day was getting on and the air temperature was warming up. Arriving in the niche, I remembered not to outstay my welcome and pressed on up the sidepulls and gastons. The moves leading to the Extension flake and making the next clip felt good and in control although I could tell I had only a small margin for error. This time on the compression move was payback time and I was able to get my right heel up just fine, no terminal pump this time round. The last few moves passed in a blur and before I knew it I was hanging off the final jugs shouting for joy. The finish up Resistance felt hard but a fitting finish to create a new linkup 'Kaabah is Futile', no change in grade, just more pump!

It was great to finish this project and finally be free from something that badly needed finishing off. So, onto the next project, good luck with all your sends out there, there is an end to all redpoint sagas...eventually!

Source: Kaabah

[comPiler]

The Year of Malham

It has been a vintage season for Malham Cove this year. I have enjoyed experiencing the different seasons at the crag from the cool temps of spring, the heat of summer (which can be avoided by climbing superlate at the crag), the send temps of autumn to where we are at the moment in the cold conditions of early winter.

I have been going to Malham ever since I was at university in Manchester and still have my Rockfax 1990 guide which has been a source of continuing psyche. Seeing Cry Freedom in the guide next to the other classics, I always wondered whether I would ever be able to climb this historic line. I actually tried it in 2011 with James Riley for a couple of sessions but was way off the level back then. This year I was excited to use some of the fitness gained from trips away and plenty of time spent at the Tor to try some of the legendary staminafests the crag has to offer.

After coming back from the Alps in August, it took a couple of weeks to get my sport fitness back but it returned pretty quickly. I was pleased to do Totally Free 2, which was totally awesome (linking The Groove 8a+ into Free and Easy 7c then into the final roof of Breach of the Peace). This must be one of the best challenges at the grade in the UK even though there are quite a few good rests at key stages. Having frustratingly fallen off the last few moves in the wet before going to the Alps heaving up over the final barrel once stood up over the roof, the key to doing this was taking the trouble to first tick 'An Uneasy Peace 7c+' which starts up Free and Easy to its last bolt. Instead of going up and left to the belay of Free and Easy, Uneasy goes straight up via a runout section to finish up Breach. I reckon the roof of Breach must be 7c in its own right as it is burly and a tough finish to Totally Free 2 after 25 bolts of climbing, despite the hands off rest below Breach. Definitely save yourself the trouble of climbing all this way without having the top ruthlessly wired...and try not to attempt it in the rain either like me! I couldn't believe it when the heavens opened on my successful redpoint. Luckily I managed to bear down enough on the final wet crimps to avoid getting spat off into the void below. Here are some pics.

 The lower crux of the The Groove

Bridging rest on The Groove

Strenuous moves leaving the rest

Starting the hard section of the second half of The Groove

Keep on trucking! Just past the crux on Free and Easy 7c

After this, I had a couple of sunday sessions on Cry Freedom second day on and sorted out all the moves but it was only when I started trying it fresh that I managed to make some breakthroughs. Linking from the undercut rest at the end of the initial 6 bolt 7c to the top was a massive buzz as it includes the first crux bulge which has some baffling V7 moves. The upper crux on its own must be about V6, depending on your reach. I know that climbers of shorter stature really struggle on this last section but I was lucky enough to be able to just reach the crux crimp with my right hand from the big undercut at the end of the final 'corner'. Getting fully crimped on this hold and having a little bend left in your arm while your right foot remains on a small spike foothold at the back of the bulge is crucial. You then place a tenuous heel/ toe cam in a big hole out left and take a grim little slot/ sidepull for your left hand. Releasing the heel/ toe is the real crux whilst remaining pasted to the wall as the next moves are a little easier and you are soon stood up over the bulge on small crimps eyeing up the belay. 

Here is a video of the send. I would encourage anybody to try this route who may be having second thoughts given the many stories of last move failure out there. This is a stonking route with a real sense of history. I even managed to get a decent kneebar rest below the last crux which with a 5.10 pad is not far hands off if you can tense up your core enough. Unlike Bat Route or Unjustified, the crux is right where it should be, at the top!

Cry Freedom 8c - FA Mark Leach 1988

A short word on the grade of Cry Freedom compared to Unjustied and Bat Route. I reckon it is harder than either of these two routes overall although of a different character. On Bat Route, while the moves individually are often desperate, particularly the roof section, the hard bits tend to be broken up by really good resting jugs and a bomber kneebar. Unjustified by contract is the opposite having virtually no rest but with moves which are perhaps not quite as hard with the exception of the crux bulge. I have gone with Mark Leach's original grade of 8c for Cry Freedom as this is apparently the grade he gave it initially after his 46 day siege, which has become part of climbing folklore. I hear it was only after the first few repeats that it got downgraded. Jibe Tribout apparently thought it was easier than Mecca but was going well at the time!

After Cry Freedom, I got my guide out and sussed out the remaining doable ticks I had left on the lower catwalk. Twisted and the Well Dunne Finish were obvious gaps and I was stoked to be able to tick both after a spot of spring cleaning of some very dusty holds. I would definitely recommend both of these routes. I would not say Twisted was much easier than Well Dunne but see what you think. Hopefully these two videos are useful for beta.

Twisted 8a - FA Mick Lovatt 1988

Well Dunne Finish 8b - FA John Dunne 1988

So the crucial question, which of GBH or Zoolook is it best to start up when trying Well  Dunne? Zoolook of course! To me, its a fair bit easier than GBH with a bomber rest at the fifth bolt that GBH doesn't have. So, get it while you still can, the crag is still dry I hear, see you out there!




Source: The Year of Malham

[comPiler]

Kaabah

Six weeks have gone by since I completed my long term project Kaabah at Raven Tor and the whole thing has now sunk in. I have since been ticking some easier routes for a bit of variety and have also been on an awesome 2 week trip to the Alps around Chamonix. This required doing a few days of trad at Gogarth, Millstone and Stoney to get back into placing wires and cams, which was thoroughly enjoyable after so much time spent at the Tor.



I started trying Kaabah on the same day I clipped the chains of the Extension back in June last year. It felt like the logical next step to make use of the fitness gained in trying a similar route but even harder! While the Extension stacks an 8a on top of an 8b+ with two very good rests, Kaabah has significantly harder climbing (8a+) leaving Mecca just before its belay and then rejoining the Extension from below in the middle of its final traverse right, with only a poorer, single resting spot in a 'niche' high up on the wall. I knew this was going to push me to the limit when I began trying it but resolved that as long as I continued to see progress I would stick with it  as it would be amazing to do such a cool 'directissima' on Mecca, taking the route to its ultimate conclusion.

 The Mecca Crux (Video Still)

Early Days



I initially spent some time working out different methods for the very thin moves leaving the rest and studied the few videos of the route. I couldn't touch Steve's ultracrimpy method, its nails! Alex and Ryan's way going straight for the base of the Extension flake with the right hand was too reachy so I managed to work out a way pressing out left at the limit of my reach off a nasty thumb sprag to the 'car body filler' undercut of the Extension (don't ask!) I even managed to link to the base of the Extension Flake from the base of the Mecca groove using this early method before realising that by instead pulling on one of the tiny footholds of the Extension slightly higher up with my right hand the move was made a bit easier, although its still a very fickle customer in the wrong conditions. With my new sequence, although you are able to join the Extension a move earlier than either of Steve's or Alex's method's, you still have work to do as you are pretty stretched out and need to semi-dynamically flick you right hand into the tiny black sidepull used on the Extension once you have gained the left hand undercut (which is an extremely precarious move and requires you to drill you right toe into a tiny dink by your feet which is barely visible as you are pasted to the wall and can't easily spy your footholds). After repeated work, I was able to reliably climb from the niche to the Extension belay as part of my warm up on the route. This was the first time I had worked out a new method on a climb for myself so I was quite satisfied with the whole process.



Now just the link in of Mecca to go, easier said than done! In July last year I started the process of linking in sections of Mecca from successively lower stages (i.e. first level with the belay then the base of the groove by the 5th bolt then from the 3rd bolt by the big pocket). This adds a lot of pump to the upper 8a+ as I soon found. Before I was able to complete the key link from the 3rd bolt to the top, I got sucked into trying it from the ground, perhaps too early as this year it seemed that just knowing that you have completed this major link makes a big difference mentally. Progress came incrementally and last summer it turned into a war of attrition. Every saturday morning I would be there for another attempt and eventually got to the stage where I managed to join the Extension from the ground, although in a stage of terminal pump. I tried everything from gaffa taping the final clip into the rock to even using a fluorescent orange sticky tab to mark the hard-to-spot foothold.



On this route you only get very small windows for success as firstly you have to get yourself up Mecca every time. Then you need to be firing on all cylinders for the top wall so just scraping up Mecca is not enough, you need to own every hold and get to the rest with something left in the tank. On too many attempts I arrived at the shakeout with very little or nothing left to give to the top moves. They felt completely desparate from the ground and I found it was pretty much irrelevant how good they felt on the warmup. I got to the stage in August where I was fighting for extra individual moves on each successive visit, pushing my highpoint gradually upwards and routinely trying the hardest I have ever fought on a rock climb. Still, I was making some limited progress, enough to entice me to keep coming back for more.



The Falls



The moves on the top wall are so sustained that I found no place where you could stop and clip a bolt between the one you clip at the resting niche and the next one, which is a fair way above. There is the old 'bean can' aid bolt inbetween which offers a possibility for clipping an intermediate bolt in the middle of the upper crux. This can be backed up with a long sling  but I found that this drained power at a crucial stage so rather than diminishing my chances, I decided to press on and embrace taking the ride! If you fall off on the moves getting both hands on the Extension flake you will take up to a 25 footer (hard grit comes to the lime!) Don't let this put you off though as it is actually an alright fall if you take care to stay balanced, don't tense up and get a nice soft catch - I must have taken this fall over 30 times so I guess I have road tested it!



In order to clip the next bolt after the niche, you must get both hands on the Extension flake and then, (as per the front cover of Alastair Lee's DVD 'Psyche') take you right hand off to quickly drop the rope into the draw. I found that as the bolt was so close in this position, it was easier to use a single crab. This feels the living end from the ground as all your muscles are screaming for you to let go and end the agony! It feels the easiest thing in the world just to grab the draw and give up!

 The Big Fall! Attempt 24 June 2014

Failure



After 14 times reaching the resting niche or higher from the ground in August and September,
on my best attempt I got to the move shared with the Extension where you
 have to put your right heel really high up on the flake while
compressing between opposing sidepulls in order to reach up for higher
crimps and easier moves leading to the final jugs. I probably only had
1% power left to give and remember squeezing like crazy between the
flake with my right hand and the tiny high sidepull for my left hand. I
briefly thought this was it, the time I was going to do it (a
mistake in retrospect). Then dismayingly my heel refused to go any
higher up to the flake as my arms gave out and I was off plummeting back into the void. Close but no cigar!



This last attempt proved to be my best go of the year and due to evening sessions on the route running out in late August, I was never able to regain this highpoint despite quite a few more attempts. I had a trip to Smith Rock planned in the last 2 weeks of October so resolved to get it bagged on my return but unfortunately the crag started seeping, which stopped everybody's campaigns on their projects for the year.



2014 - A Fresh Approach



A return trip to Smith Rocks in March proved the key to getting the monkey off my back. I felt a different climber this year, fitter from multiple laps on many 7b's and 7b+'s at Stockport but probably less strong from doing less bouldering. Ticking To Bolt or Not to Be at Smith was a great confidence booster and although it is a different beast to Kaabah being less steep but with twice as many moves, it provided a great foundation to work from. I had to bide my time up in Yorkshire in April and early May while the route dried out. Eventually the niche dried out enough to allow redpoint attempts. Crucially I managed to do the 3rd bolt to top link in late June, which I then managed on three other occasions. All I needed to do now was get up Mecca again.

 Link from the 3rd bolt to the Top - 1 July 2014

I was also trying to gain more fitness on Kristian's excellent 7c 'Resistance', which is the finish to either Mark Tomlinson's 'Resistance is Futile' 8a+ or a new linkup I did 'Chimes of Resistance' 8b and is conveniently placed just above and to the right of the Extension loweroff. I found that this provided a crucial extra few percent of stamina. Frustratingly in late June/early July, I had 3 or 4 sessions where I couldn't get up the big M. However, I knew I could do it, it was a just a matter of time before I could stick the crux of Mecca gaining the horn - get working your left hand deadhangs for this move!

The Send

The day I did it I had actually had two previous unsuccessful attempts at getting through Mecca. I tried from the ground for a third time more as a matter of routine than anything else but was very relieved when I finally held the horn and then gained the kneebar in the groove. I knew I had a good chance even though the day was getting on and the air temperature was warming up. Arriving in the niche, I remembered not to outstay my welcome and pressed on up the sidepulls and gastons. The moves leading to the Extension flake and making the next clip felt good and in control although I could tell I had only a small margin for error. This time on the compression move was payback time and I was able to get my right heel up just fine, no terminal pump this time round. The last few moves passed in a blur and before I knew it I was hanging off the final jugs shouting for joy. The finish up Resistance felt hard but a fitting finish to create a new linkup 'Kaabah is Futile', no change in grade, just more pump!



It was great to finish this project and finally be free from something that badly needed finishing off. So, onto the next project, good luck with all your sends out there, there is an end to all redpoint sagas...eventually!

Source: Kaabah

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Alpine Interlude

In August I took a two week trip to Chamonix to attempt a long term ambition of trying the Grand Capucin, an immaculate spire of golden granite near Mont Blanc rising above the Glacier du Geant to a height of 3,838m. Ever since I went to Chamonix on trips as a student in 1997, 98 and 99, I had a dream of climbing the Grand Capucin. A trip out in the summer of 2010 with friends from Jersey was blighted by poor weather and another chance slipped by. So maybe fifth time lucky! This trip, the dream team comprised of my good friends John, Ryan and Duncan.



After a few sessions at Stoney, Millstone and Gogarth dusting down the wires following a lengthy absence from traditional climbing, we began to get a bit of the trad flow back and it was time to practise these skills on the larger canvas that the mountain routes on the granite peaks around Chamonix offer. For me, while I had been doing a lot of sport climbing lately, I have been on a fair few alpine trips in the past, including a successful trip to the Dolomites in the summer of 2009 when Ben Heason and I managed to free climb Attraverso il Pesce or 'The Fish', a classic 14 pitch E6 on the south Face of the Marmolada. Big peaks like the Grand Capucin don't climb themselves and I realised that if I was ever to achieve my goal, it had better be right now!

                                                      Pre-alpine training - London Wall E5 6b at Millstone                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Cruise E5 E5 Gogarth Upper Tier

After a solid 18 hour journey from Nottingham (nice one for driving us all there non-stop John!), we set up base camp in the Ile des Barrats campsite just outside Cham. The next morning we caught the first 'phrique up to the Midi Plan intent on bagging the Aigulle du Peigne via its famous slabby north face. Unfortunately the first day up in the hills brought it home how wet the summer had been. The slabs were completely soaked and we had to abandon this plan in favour of the Red Pillar of the Aiguille de Blatiere. John and I bagged 'Deux Goals' 7a, a cracking, short 5 pitch line that involved plenty of jamming in wet, strenuous cracks!

 Deux Goals 7a, (pitch 1), Aiguille de Blatiere

Next up was an expedition up to the Envers Hut above the Mer de Glace. This was the only time we stayed in an alpine hut and it was a true pleasure to spend 3 nights in such a remote shelter perched precariously on a little rock shoulder under the towering granite needles of the Aiguille de Roc and the Pointes des Nantillons. I suffered mightily on the 3.5 hour walk in up endless iron ladders with my sport climbers pigeon legs! Routes bagged here by John and I were 'L'Age de Homme', an 11 pitch 6c ending on the 1st Pointe des Nantillons which was a warmup to the distinctly stiffer 'Pyramide' 7a, a more well known Michel Piola classic on an asthetic buttress right of the seminal route 'Children of the Moon', which Ryan and Duncan did on the same day.



Pyramide offered a short, sharp crux section followed by some 'meat and potatoes' jamming work in some straight in hand jamming cracks following by a delicate, exposed step out left onto an arete on the second hardest pitch, which John fired off despite the wet conditions. At the base of  the second tower, a burly hand and fist crack graded a stern 6b+ led to easier ground and the summit.

 Classic pose at Montenvers

 The Mer de Glace

 View towards the Deant du Geant and the Seracs du Geant from L'Age de Homme 6c, 1st Pointe des Nantillons

 Pyramide 7a (pitch 4),  Aiguille de Roc

  

Pyramide 7a (pitch 5)

 

 

 Poco Locos in Chamonix, a calorific feed!

 

Back in the valley, some rest and recuperation followed after 3 hard days in the hills and a raid to the excellent valley crag, Gietroz, which is just inside the Swiss border during which I managed to bag the classic 'Reve de Singe' 8a before a massive thunderstorm. One of the local guides actually said it had been the worst July for 30 years. Next came a run up 'La Fin de Babylone' on the South Face of Le Brevent in the Aiguilles Rouges (opposite from the Mont Blanc massif), an 8 pitch 6c on a dodgy weather day. This provided some good mileage purely on bolts while we were waiting for a 3 day good weather window towards the end of the second week. I even jogged down from the summit of Le Brevent to save the 8 Euro cable car ride down, must have been getting fitter!

'La Fin de Babylone' 6c (pitch 5), South Face of Le Brevent

We were so pleased to have a chance at getting a go at the Grand Capucin as the weather seemed set fair but were initially apprehensive as it looked very wintry up there and by all accounts there had been fresh snow down to 3,300m and the climbing is well above this altitude! We ummed and aahed and had many debates over leisurely beers and coffees in the campsite over whether to go for it or leave it for another year.  Finally we were galvanised into action after meeting a German team who had just done the Swiss route the previous day and said it was OK to climb although a bit snowy on ledges high up and pretty wet in many of the cracks. Sounded worth a punt! 

  

We were all pretty apprehensive heading down the snow arete to the glacier below the South Face of the Aiguille du Midi but excited at the same time, this was finally it, after months of waiting, planning, buying new kit and psyching up for the route, our chance was finally here. We trecked for a couple of hours down the Glacier du Geant roped up as a four and set up camp on the glacier a few hundred metres below the Capucin, which briefly loomed out of the mist before darkness fell. We could all feel the effects of the alitude as we were a fair bit higher up than our previous forays. It was bloody freezing in the night and despite buying a brand new top of the range sleeping bag before the trip, it was difficult to sleep in temperatures that must have dropped below minus ten.  

 

Home for 2 nights! Base camp on the Glacier du Geant below the Grand Capucin

 Early start for the Capucin (v cold!)

We set off as soon as it was possible to warm our fingers and were at the base of the route, having cramponed up the approach gully at 7:30am, while all the loose rock that tends to funnel down this later in the day was well frozen in. Temperatures rapidly rose until we were climbing in T-shirts. John and I had initially planned on doing the Swiss Route but as this was quite busy, we decided to branch off left onto O Sole Mio, a slightly harder line which involved some pretty burly jamming. It was a joy to plug in cams and solid nuts and move quickly over some very high quality, golden granite. The crux 8th pitch was an awkward, bolt protected wall and maybe it was the alititude but it felt a good 7a to me!

 O Sole Mio 6c (pitch 5), South Face of the Grand Capucin

 O Sole Mio 6c (crux pitch 8)

The air temps became distinctly colder later in the afternoon and time was marching on as we battled with some sustained crack work. All our layers came on and we presssed on to the summit even though it was getting towards 5pm, this was too good a chance to miss, how many times in your life do you get this close to the summit of the Grand Capucin? Finally we topped out and took in a breathtaking view across the entire Mont Blanc range. We only had 10 minutes to spare before beginning the 10+ abseils back down to base camp, which took longer than planned due to the (inevitable?) rope jams. At 8pm we crawled back into camp and had several revitalising brews and a tasty meal in the bag cooked on John's jet boil for supper.

 Summit of the Grand Capucin 3,838m, the highest I've ever been!

 View towards the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey from the summit of the Grand Capucin

 A long way (500m) straight down from the summit to base camp!

 Endless, cold abseils. Le Trident (3639m) in the background

The next day we were all quite tired so despite the
excellent weather, we took it easy and walked back up the glacier to set
 up camp below the south face of the Aiguille du Midi. We had one
 more day of alpine climbing left and managed to put this to good use in bagging the classic
'Contamine Route' 7a on the right side of the south face. I had actually
 seconded this 15 years previously on a trip here with Andy Pedley and
still remembered most of it. Duncan did a barnstorming lead on the crux
pitch, probably E4 at sea level - anybody's guess up at 3,700m! We just
made the last 'phrique down after busting a gut powering up the arete
with monster rucksacks packed full of wet ropes, tents, stoves and gear,
probably 70lbs plus each! I think our record time was 39 mins from the
glacier up to the ticket station! We were definitely all feeling fitter. 

 New base camp below the south face of the Aiguille du Midi

 Contamine Route, 7a (2nd pitch)

 Mont Blanc du Tacul (plenty of tents pitched)

 Dunc's big lead! Contamine Route 7a (crux 6th pitch)

So to sum up, we had an awesome time out in Cham - it was great to get away from familiar haunts back in the UK and do something different for a change. It has definitely inpired me at least for a return visit in the next few years. The Bonatti Pillar on the Capucin awaits, now that is a king line!

Source: Alpine Interlude

[Kingy]

Flashback from 9 years ago! To mods - Wondered if there was any chance of this glitch being sorted so only contemporary blogs get on the feed? It seems to have been embedded in my blog feed somehow for the last few years on here. Would be ideal if only new stuff gets posted - haven't completely abandoned the old blog yet!

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The Year of Malham

It has been a vintage season for Malham Cove this year. I have enjoyed experiencing the different seasons at the crag from the cool temps of spring, the heat of summer (which can be avoided by climbing superlate at the crag), the send temps of autumn to where we are at the moment in the cold conditions of early winter.



I have been going to Malham ever since I was at university in Manchester and still have my Rockfax 1990 guide which has been a source of continuing psyche. Seeing Cry Freedom in the guide next to the other classics, I always wondered whether I would ever be able to climb this historic line. I actually tried it in 2011 with James Riley for a couple of sessions but was way off the level back then. This year I was excited to use some of the fitness gained from trips away and plenty of time spent at the Tor to try some of the legendary staminafests the crag has to offer.



After coming back from the Alps in August, it took a couple of weeks to get my sport fitness back but it returned pretty quickly. I was pleased to do Totally Free 2, which was totally awesome (linking The Groove 8a+ into Free and Easy 7c then into the final roof of Breach of the Peace). This must be one of the best challenges at the grade in the UK even though there are quite a few good rests at key stages. Having frustratingly fallen off the last few moves in the wet before going to the Alps heaving up over the final barrel once stood up over the roof, the key to doing this was taking the trouble to first tick 'An Uneasy Peace 7c+' which starts up Free and Easy to its last bolt. Instead of going up and left to the belay of Free and Easy, Uneasy goes straight up via a runout section to finish up Breach. I reckon the roof of Breach must be 7c in its own right as it is burly and a tough finish to Totally Free 2 after 25 bolts of climbing, despite the hands off rest below Breach. Definitely save yourself the trouble of climbing all this way without having the top ruthlessly wired...and try not to attempt it in the rain either like me! I couldn't believe it when the heavens opened on my successful redpoint. Luckily I managed to bear down enough on the final wet crimps to avoid getting spat off into the void below. Here are some pics.

 The lower crux of the The Groove

Bridging rest on The Groove

Strenuous moves leaving the rest

Starting the hard section of the second half of The Groove

Keep on trucking! Just past the crux on Free and Easy 7c

After this, I had a couple of sunday sessions on Cry Freedom second day on and sorted out all the moves but it was only when I started trying it fresh that I managed to make some breakthroughs. Linking from the undercut rest at the end of the initial 6 bolt 7c to the top was a massive buzz as it includes the first crux bulge which has some baffling V7 moves. The upper crux on its own must be about V6, depending on your reach. I know that climbers of shorter stature really struggle on this last section but I was lucky enough to be able to just reach the crux crimp with my right hand from the big undercut at the end of the final 'corner'. Getting fully crimped on this hold and having a little bend left in your arm while your right foot remains on a small spike foothold at the back of the bulge is crucial. You then place a tenuous heel/ toe cam in a big hole out left and take a grim little slot/ sidepull for your left hand. Releasing the heel/ toe is the real crux whilst remaining pasted to the wall as the next moves are a little easier and you are soon stood up over the bulge on small crimps eyeing up the belay. 



Here is a video of the send. I would encourage anybody to try this route who may be having second thoughts given the many stories of last move failure out there. This is a stonking route with a real sense of history. I even managed to get a decent kneebar rest below the last crux which with a 5.10 pad is not far hands off if you can tense up your core enough. Unlike Bat Route or Unjustified, the crux is right where it should be, at the top!

Cry Freedom 8c - FA Mark Leach 1988

A short word on the grade of Cry Freedom compared to Unjustied and Bat Route. I reckon it is harder than either of these two routes overall although of a different character. On Bat Route, while the moves individually are often desperate, particularly the roof section, the hard bits tend to be broken up by really good resting jugs and a bomber kneebar. Unjustified by contract is the opposite having virtually no rest but with moves which are perhaps not quite as hard with the exception of the crux bulge. I have gone with Mark Leach's original grade of 8c for Cry Freedom as this is apparently the grade he gave it initially after his 46 day siege, which has become part of climbing folklore. I hear it was only after the first few repeats that it got downgraded. Jibe Tribout apparently thought it was easier than Mecca but was going well at the time!



After Cry Freedom, I got my guide out and sussed out the remaining doable ticks I had left on the lower catwalk. Twisted and the Well Dunne Finish were obvious gaps and I was stoked to be able to tick both after a spot of spring cleaning of some very dusty holds. I would definitely recommend both of these routes. I would not say Twisted was much easier than Well Dunne but see what you think. Hopefully these two videos are useful for beta.

Twisted 8a - FA Mick Lovatt 1988

Well Dunne Finish 8b - FA John Dunne 1988

So the crucial question, which of GBH or Zoolook is it best to start up when trying Well
Dunne? Zoolook of course! To me, its a fair bit easier than GBH with a bomber rest at the fifth bolt that GBH doesn't have. So, get it while you still can, the crag is still dry I hear, see you out there!







Source: The Year of Malham

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Update

I hope you have all been getting out and enjoying the mostly still dry crags. To update you, I am excited to be working with Scarpa from now on. I have been wearing Instinct VS's recently and have been very impressed with the edging power, stiffness and downturned toe which has been awesome on some of the small footgrips at the Tor. In particular, on Mecca you need to be able to stand on some pretty poor, polished edges on the crux section gaining the base of the groove and I have noticed the moves feeling easier due to more weight going through my feet, which is a great thing!



The Tor season is still hanging in there, I have to keep pinching myself thinking the crag is bone dry and it is 23 November! It is a bit of an effort to stay warm enough and avoid the dreaded hotaches or 'numbing out' as it is called across the pond. Sprinting up and down the road 5 minutes before climbing seems to work but then all the blood can go to your legs and away from your hands. Handwarmers work for some. Maybe the Spanish trick of a heated rock in the chalkbag might be an idea...or better actually move to Spain!



Right now I'm trying Haaj, the left hand extension to Mecca which is a cool piece of climbing with some V8 or even V9 moves on the crux on rat crimps and two gnarly undercuts. Fortunately there is a half decent rest after leaving Mecca Extension. I'm also trying a long link of Mecca into the Whore of Babylon, which is easier but will still be a stout 8b+. It adds a 9 bolt 8a on top of Mecca and is very pumpy!



For inspiration, here is a shot of warmer climes from March this year and one of the most classic 12d's or 7c's at Smith Rock, USA taken by my friend Tom Wright. Can anybody guess which route?

Stay tuned folks and happy climbing!





Source: Update

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Hajj attempts and new Mecca Linkup

Now seems a good time to pause and reflect on the last 2.5 months of
effort put in at the mighty bastion of peak crimping, the Tor. As
September gave way to October, I went back into project mode on Hajj,
the left hand extension to Mecca, which I had put on the back burner as a
 project while I put in the hard yards on Cry Freedom. Now the latter
route was ticked, I could focus all my efforts on this beast and I was
keen to get stuck in. Having found a good sequence using an improbably
small left foot hold earlier in September that allowed a massive reach
for the left hand to be made off a good, flat hold for the right, I knew
 it was on and I had made the crucial link from the Mecca belay to the
top. While evening sessions were no longer possible with it getting dark
 at 7, 6:30, and then by the time November rolled around, 4:30, I was
still going out to the crag after work for bouldering sessions, trying
to keep the edge with laps on Bens Roof, attempts at Powerband (I have a
 goal at some point to link this into Pump up the Power - the training
linkup 'Pump up the Powerband, which is a meaty 8c) and other boulder
problems such as Kristians direct start to Wild in Me 7b, Powerhumps
7b+, Out of My Tree 7b and various linkups/ circuits on Weedkiller and
Basher's problem. A keen band of lantern session boulderers kept psyche
levels high, after all, what could be better training that busting out
moves on real rock?

The Crux move of Hajj (Photo: Jon Clark)

At weekends, I
followed my routine of Saturdays on the project followed by stamina days
 at Malham. In October, I made some good
 gains on Mecca, getting up it 3 times in a session for the first time
ever. However, Hajj is a very tricky customer, with a desparate move off
 a small, flat undercut for the right hand proving to be stopper on all
of my redpoints. The set up moves into this are hard but manageable and I
 got to the point where I never fell off them, even from the ground. As
soon as my fingers bit into the first crimpy undercut for the left hand
and then I slapped into the crux right hand undercut, it was like
hitting a brick wall. When doing these moves from the shake on Mecca
Extension, you seem to have time to stand up into the undercut with the
outside edge of your left foot on a big flat hold (that you have
previously used as a hold for your right hand). However, once
 you are a bit pumped, it becomes much harder to stand up into the move.
 On almost all of my attempts from the ground, I would end up jumping up
 and out from the crag into the inevitable 20 footer down to the Mecca
belay instead of reaching up in control to the tiny left hand crimp
which allows you to match on an intermediate and then slap into the big
right hand gaston that spells the end of the crux sequence. These last
moves are exciting as you are a fair way above the last quickdraw (the
last dogging bolt unclippable off to the right) and would be on for a
fair old whipper! On one of my redpoint attempts, I got partially
stood up into the undercut and within 3 inches of the final left hand
crimp. Alas, although close to the move, I knew I was never going to
make it although it was my best go of the season. Still, this was a
window into doing the route and got my psyched.

Just past the crux on Mecca (Photo: Jon Clark)

Unfortunately,
after this good attempt, on my next go I split a tip on the left hand
rat crimp on my third redpoint of the day. I had been trying the link
into the Whore of Babylon as a consolation prize and had the moves
worked and was in two minds as to whether to go for this of have another
 go on Hajj. I decided on the latter and the tiny sharp crimps decided I
 had outstayed my welcome. This meant I had to take 10 days off the
route.

                                                                                           Mecca linkups and projects



It was at this point that I started trying to bag the
Whore of Babylon link. This is the red line on the above topo I have
drawn of Mecca links and projects. This is a cool linkup that Steve
McClure had first done but which I think finished up Crucifixion. The
 moves from where it leaves Hajj (after the first independent move) are
not too hard and the whole 2 bolt sequence before it joins Proud Whore is probably 7b+. The moves are not trivial but way easier than those
on Hajj. The finish up Proud Whore, although probably 7b+ again, was
steeper and more physical and on my link attempts from the base of the
groove on Mecca, proved to be very pumpy indeed!



As late
November arrived, me and the ever dwindling band of regulars started to
get hit with unreliable conditions as, even though the crag was still
essentially bone dry, as soon as the temperature rose above about 6
degrees, the dreaded condensation came on. On Saturdays in a row, this
happened, which resulted in frustrating enforced rest in the hope of
better conditions the following day. Basically, opportunities for
successful redpoints were dwindling fast. Even when the crag was dry, as
 December rolled around, it unsurprisingly became bitterly cold as the
sun now didn't rise above the hill opposite the crag and Mecca got zero
sun. One day when I failed to get up Mecca via my usual method in the
dusk due to a late arrival at the crag, I decided to experiment with the
 different ways of gaining the base of the groove, managing to climb it
via the classic right hand to the horn method and then, the following
week by the Egyptian way method. What I was after was an
easier, more reliable method and I hope that I have now found it with
the Egyptian way. After all, if Steve and most other people do it this
way, there must be a good reason!



As the end of the season
approached, I wanted something to show for my efforts and on last
session before the Works party, the Whore of Babylon link went down.
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) I discovered a really good rest in the
Creamteam break before the finish up Proud Whore which took the edge off
 it, although at the end of the day, this section still has to be
climbed and is no pushover. The direct version will be even pumpier. So, with the Tor season ended for 2014, I
have been getting stuck back into some plastic training and some much
needed new moves. I'm psyched for what the New Year may bring and will
be back for Hajj, and other projects, in the Spring! For now its off to
Chulila for 15 days of bolt clipping heaven, some onsighting and change
of scene, venga bichos!

A classic 8a route from around Chamonix earlier this summer, can anyone guess which one?

Source: Hajj attempts and new Mecca Linkup

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Chulilla and Visit to Costa Blanca

Hi folks, thanks for stopping by. I have just returned from a highly enjoyable two week trip to Chulilla
and the Costa Blanca with my friends Haydn Jones, Sam Hamer and Jose. We
 spent 9 days in Chulilla over New Year and then
travelled south to stay at Gaz Parry and Kate Mills' house near Oliva in the Costa
Blanca for a further 4 days. For the last couple of days, we visited
Jose in his home city of Murcia.



After the obligatory enforced layoff over Christmas it took a couple of days to find our feet but we soon acclimatised to the style of Chulilla, which generally offers long, vertical to gently overhanging wall climbing with most pitches being up to 30m or more in length. It seemed that half of Sheffield was visiting the area and it was cool to spend time with friends from familiar home crags. We lucked out with our accommodation and managed to get rooms in the same apartment as Matt Segal, of Progression fame. Most evenings were spent arguing the toss over grit highballing ethics with Matt and his mates. They cooked us up a proper banquet on New Years eve (see pic) as well, result!

 

News Years Eve banquet with the Yanks

The ancient village of Chulilla with arabic castle

So, what about the routes? I was psyched to spend some time on-sighting for a change and tried to be disciplined to move onto another route without redpointing it if I fell off. With whole sectors sporting endless 30m lines of 7c, 7c+ and 8a, who needs a first redpoint when there are onsight dragons to be slain! I was pleased to get two 8a onsights and some 7c+'s as well. My attempt to onsight an 8a+ called La Buena ended at bolt 5 of 18 unfortunately, you can't win 'em all ;0).  We only took one rest day in 9 days which made a refreshing change to the many double rest days taken before redpoints on home ground. I am looking forward to spending more time on this style of climbing in the future, the other side of the coin to sieging. Here is my ticklist of 7b+ and above:



Chulilla Ticklist



8a+ 



La Buena (El Balcon) - Redpoint



8a



El capataz incapaz (El Balcon) - Onsight

El agente naranja (El Balcon) - Onsight

La boca de la voz (Pared de Enfrente) - 1st redpoint



7c+



Plantea Namek (El Algarrobo) - Onsight

Ramallar (Pared de Enfrente) - Onsight

La quebranta (Pared de Enfrente) - Onsight

El rey de la palanca (El Balconcito) - Onsight

El Bufa (El Balconcito) - Onsight

Tequila Sunrise (El Balconcito) - Onsight



7c



Hipotermia (El Algarrobo) - 1st redpoint

Nivelungalos (El Algarrobo) - Onsight

Bricopaco (El Algarrobo) - Redpoint



7b+



Nikita (Competition) - Onsight

Andromeda (Competition) - 1st redpoint

Ca La Marta (El Algarrobo) - Onsight

La Buena 8a+

El capataz incapaz 8a

                                        

  Tequila Sunrise 7c+

In fairness, New Years eve in Chulilla had been a relatively tame affair so when the opportunity presented itself to party a bit in Valencia with Jose and his friends, we duly obliged. After a few beers, it seemed like the evening was heading to a close at midnight but then the cocktail bowls and bottles of spirits were busted out and an impromptu visit to a local club took place. The Spanish tend to stop out a fair bit later than us English folk, all I would say is sometimes you need more of a siesta than a fiesta! ;0)



With the party scores now settled, it was time to crank again and we were all excited to check out Gaz's local crags. Gaz and Kate very kindly put us up at their home just outside the small town of Oliva, which is not far from Alicante or Valencia airports. Situated amongst orange groves in some beautiful countryside just south of Gandia and a stone's throw from the Penon d'Ifach and Sella, this would make an ideal base for anybody looking to explore the Costa Blanca. I know Gaz has a room to rent so drop him a line if you are looking to spend time in this superb climbing area and soak up some rays!

Another grim day on the Costa Blanca

Gaz and Kate are both animal lovers and have a stable with some horses as well as some very friendly cats and dogs. The dogs include those unlucky animals who are unfortunate enough to have suffered an injury or simply have no home to go to. One of the dogs was my namesake which guaranteed some moments of confusion each morning before coffee had been consumed.

Some Spanish podencos

Feeding time

We were all excited to check out Gaz's local crag 'Sector 45' where his now ex-project Supersonico 8c+ is to be found. David Petts joined us to film the ascent with the aid of his awesome 'quadcopter' or drone which was buzzing around the crag filming the action from all sorts of angles. The days of hiring a helicopter for filming for £10,000 an hour are now a thing of the past. We were all very impressed with the gobsmacking hanging arete line of Supersonico and indeed the futuristic 9a+ project to its right, which is currently being worked by Spanish hotshot Primo. We all took the opportunity to tick the classic 7c 'Luz de Sol' that Gaz bolted along with the quality 7c and 7c+ tufa lines to the left with their tricky traverses on slopey tufas under the massive roof.





                         

                             Haydn on Luz da Sol 7c                                                                                                                                                         Jose on Adios Sol 8b

Is it a bird, is it a plane?

On the last day of my stay, we had spent the morning resting and arrived at the crag at half 3 to take advantage of the cooler evening temps. Conditions definitely felt a lot better than the previous days of working routes and after Gaz did a massive link from low down on the route to nearly the top, I knew a send was on the cards. It was very inspiring to see Gaz on his ascent which was obviously the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication.

Gaz post crux on Supersonico 8c+  

Haydn on the7c+

After Supersonico went down, riding on a wave of psyche, I managed to redpoint the third ascent of the excellent 8b 'Adios Sol' of Gaz's which has some cool Oliana-like tufas on the bottom section leading to a rest before the final, very thin wall. In fact, this section is so thin that it very difficult to stop and clip on the final moves, perpetual motion upwards being your only hope! There is significant potential left at this crag not to mention the other crags littering the surrounding area, those after a new route fix need look no further.

Not a bad view from the crag

Celebrating that night involved a mega 'all you can eat' chinese buffet complete with sushi and a chocolate fountain dessert, washed down with some San Miguels, after all we were on holiday! The next day, I took the coach to Murcia to rejoin the lads who had travelled down a day earlier with Jose. After a further night out, including a visit to a club in an old bullring, we lapped up our last rays of sunshine at the quality crag La Boveda near Orihuela. After the crag cooled down at around 5, I managed a flash of 'El Grinch' 7c+ as my final send of the trip and we were airport-bound. What a trip, I hope you all enjoy your own Spanish adventures soon!

El Grinch 7c+ on the last day around Murcia

 

 
 










Source: Chulilla and Visit to Costa Blanca

[comPiler]

Bouldering in the Cave and thoughts on training

After getting back from Spain in January, it was time to focus on training in preparation for the forthcoming routes season. I have been listening to a few podcasts of late, in particular the excellent Training Beta podcasts https://www.trainingbeta.com/trainingbeta-podcast/ with people like Jonathan Siegrist, Carlo Traversi, Angie Payne and lately Adam Ondra interviewed which got my thinking on how I was going to improve my climbing for projects this year. I don't pretend to be remotely scientific about any of this and decided to stick to what seemed to work quite well last year, i.e. doing lots of fitness laps at a medium grade at Stockport wall along with some fingerboarding, sessions of 100 pullups and as much bouldering as possible.

Working Lou Ferrigno V10 in the Cave

Which leads me onto a key debate, how should a climber who spends most of the year doing stamina routes prepare for this? How much of the year should they spend bouldering? Personally, when I came back from Chulilla, I felt pretty weak bouldering wise. I felt I had to get back on track with busting out some V9's and 10's. Parisella's Cave on the Orme near Llandudno is the perfect venue for this as there a lots of linkups and hard boulders like Rockatrocity and Lou Ferrigno to test yourself against. After stringing together a few saturdays in the Cave, I was soon back on track and whilst not feeling as strong as I used to feel 5 years ago when I was purely bouldering, I was not far off. I must admit at times, thinking back to those days in 2009, the thought did flash across my mind of getting back into exclusive hardcore bouldering. I would like to do a V12 and reckon with sufficient training and focus it might be achievable. However, I love routes too much and being an allrounder, you have to put the hours in on a rope indoors (or doing circuits) to have any chance of keeping a cutting edge come the spring. So, a compromise was reached and over the last nearly 3 months I have been bouldering saturdays and sundays and doing 2 routes sessions in the week at Stockport with fingerboarding or pullups on a Tuesday morning, just to keep it real ;0).

More Lou Ferrigno action!

I have since learnt that this is a 'non-linear' approach where the disciplines of stamina and power are maintained simultaneously. Necessarily, unfortunately it is not possible with this approach to generate significant peaks of performance at desired intervals in time (for a trip away for example). However, as this excellent post by Steve Bechtel on the Mountain Projects forum suggests (see midway down), modern athletes need to be fit all year round and there is a risk that by sacrificing stamina training for a punt on increasing one aspect of performance (i.e. power), overall fitness may suffer.



http://www.mountainproject.com/v/block-periodization-linear-periodization--non-linear-periodization/108438729



This has been the reasoning behind my loose 'non-linear' training approach and has been the source of many interesting debates on the way to the Cave recently. A friend of mine says that ultimately, to get stronger, it will be a case of having to knock fitness training on the head completely and work on power alone, maybe next year! Here is a video my friend Dan Cheatam made documenting some Cave action! This shows me working on Hatch Life High, a cool V11 which I managed to bag in February and captures the atmosphere of a good Cave session I reckon.

I am currently working on Lou Ferrigno sans Pocket, an upsidedown V11
with lots of compression and clamping along with Hatchatrocity, another
meaty V11 link into the classic Rockatrocity V9. Fitness will get you
nowhere on these beasts! Here are more vids of some forays to Tremerchion, an excellent roadside craglet of immaculate, crimpy limestone where several extremely cold sessions were had. Top tip, you can't fail to get mutant fingers cranking here, the holds are tiny! (Apologies for readers who have already seen these on Facebook).

36 Chamber Font V9

 22 Chambers V9

A raid down to Dartmoor earlier this month yielded a tick of Jungle VIP, an excellent bloc-style V10 or V11 (depending on who you talk to) at Burrator Reservoir, along with a second ascent of Alex Waterhouse's excellent new V8 slab, Aurora at Combeshead Tor, see these vids:

 

Aurora V8 (second ascent)

So, how much should a stamina climber boulder? I have no idea! but for me I have decided to try and maintain a decent level of power whilst still majoring on fitness like I did last year. For the future, maybe the rope will be put on the shelf for 6 months in exchange for a sustained period of power training but not just yet, did someone say Malham and the Tor were nearly dry, I'm there!





Source: Bouldering in the Cave and thoughts on training