[Adam Lincoln]

Surely Mutation would suit your fingers, and style Ted... Assume you have had a play?

[Kingy]

I see Mecca as great training, still not sick of it yet. I decided to go for the remaining extension I haven't done (Haaj) while I had Mecca wired so I guess it goes with the territory! I would love to try Devo or maybe Evo, have never tried it but will get on it next year I reckon. Looks a different beast, that one ain't a stamina climb!

[Doylo]

Only joking, i can hardly talk about milking more out the same bit of rock 

[comPiler]

Haaj attempts and new Mecca Linkup
28 December 2014, 1:10 am

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 Haaj,  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?

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, Haaj 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.

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 Haaj. 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 Haaj (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 Haaj. 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 Haaj, 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: Ted's Blog

[comPiler]

Chulilla and Visit to Costa Blanca
16 January 2015, 10:43 pm

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, he 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: Ted's Blog

[comPiler]

Bouldering in the Cave and thoughts on training
26 March 2015, 1:53 pm

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: Ted's Blog

[Fiend]

Good post, interesting thoughts.

[Sasquatch]

I think they're coming from different directions to generally the same point.  If you look at the details of the workouts themselves in RCTM, they have huge climbing components.  Outside of the FB cycle, all of the RCTM workouts entail a very large volume of climbing.  Even the FB program has a 10-15 ARC, then a 10-15 problem boulder ladder.  This matches with Steve's concept that 75% of your time should be spent climbing. 

Like most things the devil is in the details. Adam Ondra's training beta podcast seems to indicate his training is some blend of block periodization and non-linear periodization. 

Lastly, is understanding the athlete's key weaknesses.  What holds you back from accomplishing your goals?  I think this is part of the reason different types of training work for some people, and don't work for others.

[abarro81]

I think it depends a lot on who you  are. I've experimented with maintaining PE during base phases, and with ditching that maintenance. I think ditching it works fine for me, especially if doing aero cap and an cap as they'll have some cross over. Conversely, I'm always maintaining strength/power, as that really drops off for me even after 3-4 weeks of onsighting sport routes.
I agree that most people should be spending most of their time climbing, preferably on rock, loads. Certainly when climbing in the 6s & 7s. D Mac said a lot of sensible shit in 9/10 climbers.

[Kingy]

Yes I think that hits the nail on the head there in your last paragraph Sasquatch, different climbers have different training needs. A boulderer coming into sport climbing after a long career of exclusive bouldering would be best served by majoring on endurance training, maybe in a block of exclusive stamina sessions or maybe as the predominant activity in a 3:1 or 4:1 endurance to power non-linear programme.

The other side of the coin would be a stamina climber who wants to get stronger to accomplish his/ her dream project that has a crux which is currently just above their current power level. They might be best advised to go on a block of exclusive power for 6 - 8 weeks or lots of bouldering interspersed with bare maintenance of their fitness (for example a routes session every 7 - 10 days in between sessions of maximal power). 

75% of training time spent on climbing sounds like a sensible figure to work with for such an ultimately skill and technique based sport. 1 - 4 - 7 or a one arm pullup is a nice goal but perhaps won't help on a climber's project as much as they might think. Even Magnus Mitbo said recently that his one finger pullup on an old video were mainly just for show as were his fabled one arm pressups. 

Anyway, I know nothing about TRCTM as I haven't read it so should probably stop there! 

[comPiler]

Attempts on Just Do It
24 June 2015, 8:46 pm

I have now been back 6 weeks since another amazing trip to Smith Rock in Oregon. After climbing To Bolt or Not to Be last year, I always wondered what the other famous Jibe Tribout route at Smith, Just Do It, would be like. Climbed back in 1992 by Jibe, this legendary line was the first 5.14c or 8c+ in the USA. I had heard that it is a very different animal to To Bolt as it is similarly vertical in the bottom two thirds but leans back considerably in the upper third of the route. The climb goes up the west face of the incredible Monkey pinnacle, which has to be one of the most impressive rock formations I have ever seen. The top section of the Monkey has a distictive band of purple rock and this is where the meat of the climb lies. The bottom part is a recognised 13d (or 8b) in its own right with its own chains. The upper part, which is mostly in the purple rock is considered to be 14a (or 8b+). I had seen the excellent videos of Ryan Palo and Drew Ruana crushing the route before my trip so I had some idea of what to expect. The route is long, at 35m+ it is a 17 bolt monster!

Me on Just Do It at the upper shake out (I'm wearing a black T shirt about 15 foot into the purple rock)

It was obviously going to big a major challenge for me and with only 2 weeks available, there was limited time to get stuck in. With this in mind, I decided I would focus completely on the route as there would not be time to do other easier classic routes, although there are no shortage of them round these parts. I teamed up with a good friend of mine, Richard Waterton, who was also keen to have a go. We were joined on the route by Mike Doyle, one of Canada's top climbers fresh off his send of Necessary Evil 5.14c in the Virgin River Gorge.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The Team! (at Redmond Airport). Me and Richard[/td][/tr]

[/table]After touching down in Redmond airport, the next day, despite the jet lag, Richard and I headed up to the route via some warmups in the Aggro Gulley and got stuck in. The bottom part turned out to be surprisingly unsustained with an initial 5 bolts of hard, crimpy 8a+ climbing involving a very tweaky, almost slabby 2 finger pocket move leading to 3 bolts of much more moderate climbing of about 7a+/7b with 2 very good rests on jugs.

Mike Doyle on technical edge cranking by the 3rd bolt

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Mike on the crux pocket move of the lower part by the 8th bolt[/td][/tr]

[/table]The crux of the lower part is at the 8th bolt and is a desparate  deadpoint off a 2 finger pocket to a distant finger sloper which you  must stick with perfect timing which leads to an excellent rest by the 9th bolt bridging on smears in a vague groove where you can hold onto a small ledge with the heel of your hands. (This is the famous 'Sharma rest' where he took off his jumper mid redpoint during his quick repeat back in 1997). This tricky move took a while to figure out but by my 3rd day on the route I had managed to redpoint the initial 8b. On my second day, I was able to do all the moves of the upper part so once I had got through the 8b section for the first time, I had a go at redpointing as far as I could get to and nearly made it to the 13th bolt so I was psyched.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Me approaching the shake out at the 13th bolt[/td][/tr]

[/table]The first moves of the upper section are not too hard and involve pumpy 7b/7b+ climbing with one big lock move to a sloper leading to some massive flat jugs by the 13th bolt, where you can shake out with your heel out left on a sloping ledge, although it is pretty strenuous to hang there for long - this is your rest before the upper crux.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Mike approaching the purple band, at the 11th bolt[/td][/tr]

[/table]The next 30 foot section is by far the hardest section of climbing on the entire route and is 8b in its own right. Off the flat jugs, some basic pulls on flat crimps leading to a desparate crank off a sika'd edge for your right hand to a terrible sharp 2 finger crimp for your left hand way out left, which is difficult to catch as you have to deadpoint for it. From this crimp the hardest move of the route is a massive and powerful lunge to a tiny toothlike crimp for the right hand which allows you to stretch left to what we christened the 'Jibe rest'. This is a hole which would be a decent hand jam were it not for the fact that a chockstone has been irretrievably wigged into there so those with sausage fingers (myself included!) can't get their fingers more than a couple of joints in; also you are only on smears for your feet. Off the Jibe rest, there are 11 further hand moves involving powerful slaps between two 2 finger pockets, some diagonal edges and finally some better holds before the easier top out moves (This last section alone could be a tricky 2 bolt 7c+ if it were on Peak limestone)

So basically to do the route, you must do a long, technical, vertical 8b to the Sharma rest, a further 7b+ to a steep shake out on some flat jugs followed by a steeper, short and powerful 8b. If the route is broken down in this way, it begins to sounds almost manageable, however redpointing is the only way to test this! I have put together this 10 minute video of Mike on an attempt on the route just to show what its all about:

 Video of attempt by Mike Doyle

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Me just before the flat ledge and the upper 8b[/td][/tr]

[/table]On my 4th day, I managed to get to the flat jugs by the 13th and pressed on into the crux, surprising myself by reaching the sika'd edge by the 14th bolt and slapping out to the 2 finger crimp (there is big whipper to be had here, around 20 - 25 feet with rope stretch, as you can't clip the 14th bolt and are forced to skip it!) On my second burn, I managed to stick the 2 finger crimp but it was like hitting a brick wall, the tooth seemed miles away! I was encouraged by getting this far though and it seemed like I might possibly be in with a shout of cracking the route by the end of the trip.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Mike about to go for the lett hand 2 finger crimp at the upper crux (14th bolt) with the Jibe rest up and left[/td][/tr]

[/table]However, the moves leaving the Jibe rest are critical to getting the route done and on my link goes from the 13th bolt I hadn't managed to find a reliable method, even straining my right bicep in the process while extensively working the moves (there are 3 methods from the various videos to enable you to use a poor 2 finger pocket for the right hand take an awkward left hand gaston and then stab into a good 2 finger pocket again for the right hand). I think it was on my 5th day on the route that Mike pointed out a crucial footmatch and outside left edge on the sika'd crimp (used as a handhold earlier) which made a big difference. As we had found it was essential to take a rest day after each day of attempts as the nature of the climbing is so intense, my 6th session on the route would be on the 11th day of the trip, leaving only one further day of attempts -  nothing like a bit of pressure to spur you on!

On the 6th session I again got up to the 2 finger crimp but still failed on the lunge for the tooth, although it was feeling closer. I had a concerted effort to finally do the link of the upper 8b from the flat jugs by the 13th to the chain and got quite close to getting through but didn't quite make it to the good 2 finger pocket. In retrospect and with more time on the route, I should have concentrated more on doing this 8b link before I made any attempts from the ground. As it was, it was tempting to have 2 full blooded redponts from the deck every session, which meant that I never managed to do this crucial link, which would have been a massive psychological boost.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The Monkey, never ceases to amaze![/td][/tr]

[/table]I decided to take 2 full rest days before my final, 7th session on the route. It wasn't meant to be though. Although I got up to the 2 finger crimp twice from the ground and ticked the tooth before the Jibe rest, feeling not a million miles from sticking it, there no cigar! Obviously although it was a little disappointing to go away without the tick, I was happy to feel good on the initial 8b, to have had 8 good attempts in total failing at the 14th bolt and to have finally found a good method on the upper exit moves. I was feeling a lot of soreness by the end of the trip under my left shoulder blade at some 'trigger points' in the rhomboid muscle, where it joins on to your ribcage and I decided to get this seen to by a physio as this could have been holding me back on the crux move to the tooth. (I have had 3 sessions so far with great results). There is always next time and having written down a full beta crib sheet on the plane home, I am fully amped to return for another crack as soon as I can armed with full knowledge of what the route entails and some specific training.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Sunset at the Monkey Face[/td][/tr]

[/table]Thanks for reading folks and I can fully recommend Smith Rock to anybody looking for incredible technical edge climbing on stunning faces and aretes, get to it, you know it makes sense!

Last morning onsight attempt on Scene of the Crime 5.13b/ 8a

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Higher on Scene of the Crime[/td][/tr]

[/table]



Source: Ted's Blog

[a dense loner]

Good write up Ted

[cheque]

Fascinating and well-written as usual. 

[Fiend]

Yeah nice one, strong inspiration.

[Zods Beard]

Nice stuff beast.

[a dense loner]

Leave me out of this Zod, we're bigging up Ted on here

[Zods Beard]

If you did a blog I wouldn't have to read it.

[comPiler]

Hajj attempts and new Mecca Linkup
28 December 2014, 1:10 am

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?

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.

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: Ted's Blog

[comPiler]

Hajj and future projects
31 July 2015, 11:43 pm

Hi folks I thought I would write a few words about my experiences on Hajj 8c at the Tor. A UKC Report from a few weeks back has the details but I though I would share a few thoughts and reflections on top of that and show a few of the photos, video stills and some of my own tripod footage that I have accumulated. Climbing Hajj represented a big milestone for my climbing and was a culmination of a lot of effort spread over 7 years at the Tor in trying first Mecca in 2007, 2008 and 2009 then the 3 extensions to it (The Extension, Kabaah and Hajj) in 2012, 2013, 2014 and this year.

 David Pett's Video 'The Outdoor Office Part 1' of HajjHajj closes a chapter for me and my involvement with Mecca, although I intend to keep doing it for training. Its time to move on to pastures new, even if that might only be 20 feet to the right to Evolution! I didn't like to think about what I would do after clipping the chains on Hajj as I preferred to focus on the challenge at hand. Now it has happened, the last few weeks I have been busy in getting stuck into my next projects. These are True North 8c at Kilnsey and Evolution 8c+ at the Tor. It has been such a pleasure to seriously try such an amazing historic line as True North while fresh on my first day on on a saturday. For the last few years I have usually devoted my freshest climbing days to the Tor and while I don't begrudge that at all as it was all for my long term goal of doing the trilogy of Mecca extensions, the fact was that the years were going by and I wasn't getting a chance to try hard routes at other crags as much as I would have liked. Now I am free and it feels great!

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Video Still courtesy of Jon Clark - the crux of Hajj[/td][/tr]

[/table]So, what made the difference to doing Hajj in the end after trying it extensively last year? Well, as always, the devil is in the detail. I will try and explain below the small things I found this Spring when approaching the route with fresh eyes after 6 months away from it that together put me in a position to send the route.

 My own video of an attempt from last year

After coming back to Hajj in June off the back of my trip to Smith Rock this spring, I noticed it was easier to step my left foot up earlier before (rather than after) slapping into the first undercut for the left hand on the crux. This seemed to make the crux move feel a little easier going into and standing up into the right hand undercut. I had to press my feet a little harder into the tiny smears but once I got the engrams after repeated attempts, I was happy with the end result. Such a small change in beta but such a big difference! Also, I decided to sack off the long quickdraw on the crux and clip it short with my right hand off the undercut to the left of the Extension top pocket rest. As the foothold here is quite big, the position is not strenuous and you clip on your way up to the next handhold anyway. Suddenly the crux move felt easier as I found that before I was making it harder than it had to be by stepping round the rope in a position of some difficulty! My right foot now shot out quicker to the smear out right before I did the big reach up to the final crimps.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Video Still courtesy of Jon Clark - Gaining the 'Horn' on Mecca by the 4th bolt[/td][/tr]

[/table]Ally Smith helped me to put in a new dogging bolt on the top crux which enabled me to work the crux moves directly off the rope whereas before I always had to climb into them from 3 moves below as the bolts were all 1 metre off to the right. As soon as the bolt went in, I realised that it was possible to take the undercut slightly lower with all four fingers engaging directly into it and the index and ring fingers biting into the best bit. Again, this made the crux move feel a few percent easier, not by much though.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Video Still courtesy of Jon Clark - Getting into the first kneebar on Mecca[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]

[/td][td]

[/td][/tr]

[/table]Also, I found that I could use the most miniscule of intermediate  pinches for the left hand with a crucial, sharp thumbcatch to help get  stood up into the undercut, which I had found on an earlier, too hard  method of climbing the crux more to the right but had since discounted  (we are talking tiny here, don't get your hopes up!)

[td][/td]

[/tr][tr][td]Video still: The first crux on Mecca[/td][/tr][/table] After failing at the upper crux from the ground five more times in June, I decided to try a new approach doing links from the top down. Two weekends before I did it, I had a massive breakthrough and managed to climb from the 4^th bolt to the top and then from the 3^rdbolt in the same session. I would recommend the top down approach to anybody looking to get past a sticking point on their redpoint project. I realised that in all my attempts from the ground last year and this year, I had never been from the 4th to the top. Doing this link was a big psychological step. I realised I was now getting fitter on the route, I could feel it on my link goes where I would flick hands between moves just to get a little bit back. By really looking closely and ticking up the best part of the left hand undercut on the crux (which is uneven and quite crozzly but with a better bit for 2 fingers at the bottom of the hold) rather than just getting it any old how was the key to getting the right hand undercut successfully. As you must semi-dynamically slap into the hold, it is tricky to get this right but it certainly made a difference.

Just before the first undercut on Mecca

Taking the first lefthand crimp on the main curx of Mecca

I found a funny, contorted double kneebar at the Mecca belay  which took about 20% off my bodyweight I estimated, which all helps up  there. I fine tuned my rest at the top Extension pocket and made sure I stayed there for only 1 chalk of each hand. Its not that great a rest as despite the pocket being massive, the footholds are off to the left and its quite draining to stand there for more than a few seconds.

Getting ready for the crux jump (for some!)

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Catching the horn on the Mecca crux[/td][/tr]

[/table]So, what's next? Well I am excited to move on to new horizons and am having fun trying Evolution and True North. For the former, I may have to raise the bar bouldering-wise as a vicious V11 boulder problem over the roof left of Chimes of Freedom guards the top wall (which must be around 8b in its own right). Not even a spot chalk up on the entire route, tough stuff! One thing for sure, this route is a considerable jump upwards in difficulty from Mecca, not many takers for this one. True North is a little steeper than most of my projects that I have tried but it motivates me to try and get better at this style, which is more Euro style, pumpy endurance cranking rather than straight crimping.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Jerry Moffatt on Evolution 8c+, Raven Tor [/td][/tr]

[/table]I leave you with Jon Clark's excellent video from last year, which contains some earlier footage of Hajj from last year and sums up the psyche required for climbing at the Tor in December! Thanks for reading and good luck on all your projects out there!

Jon Clark's Raven Tor Video



Source: Ted's Blog

[comPiler]

A Kilnsey Summer and Campaign on True North
13 October 2015, 1:46 pm

Now the autumn rains have finally arrived seems a good time to write a few words about my efforts at Kilnsey over the last 2 and a half months. It has mostly been a good, dry summer apart from a 3 week blip in the last half of August and we have even enjoyed something of an Indian Summer through mid September and into early October. Since July, I continued with evening sessions at Raven Tor despite the shortening evening light and had some productive sessions on Evolution, managing to do the top wall in a oner and getting to the two crimps over the lip from the ground and having a go at the crux rockover. I now see what it will take to climb this route, which is more power, put simply! I also did lots of bouldering to keep on top of this side of my climbing doing ever increasing links on Ben's Roof, Powerband and the usual suspects down the right hand of the Tor. However, I decided to devote my energies to True North 8c (the extension to Full Tilt 8b) at the weekends so have put Evo on the back burner for now.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Adrift in sea of rock. The sanctuary of the kneebar of Full Tilt with 8b climbing to go from here[/td][/tr]

[/table]So, how did True North go? Its been refreshing to try a hard project at a different crag from the Tor or Malham having not spent as much time at Kilnsey over the years. I was psyched to get a highpoint of the next to last bolt and on 3 redpoints got to the second intermediate for the right hand off a big, burly undercut for the left hand just before the slot/ jug on the steepest part of the route (which must be about 60 degrees overhanging). This slot offers a final, brief shake for the left hand only before the last slap for the final jug. On 4 other occasions, I fell a move or two lower with many more redpoints ending on the first crux after the Full Tilt belay passing 2 razor blade crimps.

  Attempt in September

I would often try the route 2 days on the trot on saturday and sunday as I was paranoid about it getting wet the next weekend, even if the crag was bone dry, given its notorious reputation for taking any seepage going. I was surprised at how even if I was feeling broken on sunday morning, after warming up, I was still able to make some good redpoints, its amazing what you can put your body through. Perhaps in retrospect it might have been better to have done some less intense climbing second day on and got some mileage in on some 8a+'s at other crags which is what I would have done on any other route at my limit. However, obsession took over and I was psyched to gradually piece the route together and get increments of progress with each visit.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Match of justice on the first crux of Full Tilt 8b[/td][/tr]

[/table]I still did lots of other climbing though for fitness usually after already intense sessions on True North. Over the summer I did laps on stuff I have done before like the Ashes  7c+, Man with a Gun 7c+, Biological Need 7c, Comedy 7c, Slab Culture  7b+, 50 for 5 7b+ and WYSIWYG 7b+.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Comedy 7c[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The lower crux of Comedy[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Vertical tech on Man with a Gun 7c+[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td]

[/td][/tr][tr][td]

[/td][/tr]

[/table]I also did the following routes for the first time:

• Bullet 8a+

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Starting the crux moves on Bullet 8a+[/td][/tr]

[/table]

• 50 for 5/ The Ashes 8a+
• Complete Control 8a
• Sticky Wicket/ The Ashes 8a
• Rubble 7c (onsight)
• Dreamtime 7c+
• Dead Calm 7c+

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Stamina needed on Dead Calm 7c+[/td][/tr]

[/table]I repeated both of Seb Grieve's new extensions to Dominatrix, Exit to Eden 7c+ and Drag Queen 7c+, which offer good climbing in superb positions on the upper part of North Buttress plus a session trying La Connection 8b and a brief go on Over the Thumb 8a. It has been a busy summer!

Trying La Connection 8b

When True North got wet in mid August, I thought that was the end of attempts for the year and prepared to get ready to do battle with Evo. However, events proved otherwise and I got a second bite at the cherry in September. However, conditions were not perfect as the route did not fully dry out again and it was usually a case of stuffing beer towels and/or paper towels in the crucial pockets/ slots that get wet (at the niche by the first bolt, the break by the 3rd bolt and the pocket for the left hand at the Full Tilt belay). My technique at prepping the route improved a lot over a few sessions and I came to the conclusion that papers towels are the way forward along with copious amounts of chalk crammed into the back of the pockets which tends to generally keep the worst of the seepage at bay (unless its absolutely gopping), welcome to UK redpointing! (Actually we Brits are not the only peeps to employ such dark arts but I digress).

It was frustrating to slip off on several occasions whilst feeling fresh and strong on one time after redpointing Full Tilt as my left hand lost traction in the dampness at the back of the pocket by the belay and by the 3rd bolt when I took a big whip completely out of the blue pinging off a damp pinch, suitable swear words at the ready :). However, ulimately, I cannot blame the dampness or any other reason for not climbing True North. Not being able to get my left hand fully into the deep pocket you clip the Full Tilt belay off before taking the awful thumb press for the right hand and using it to gain the higher razor blade for the left hand (which is one of the harder moves on True North) undoubtedly made this move harder than it had been in August when this pocket had been totally dry. This was because I was using a diabolical polished footdink as my main right foothold and could hardly get any weight through it, making this move desparate as I was so bunched on the handholds; this method may be easier for the short as they are less bunched.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Moving right from the Full Tilt belay into the first crux of True North[/td][/tr]

[/table]However, on my last session on the route on 3rd October (a couple of days before it turned into a waterfall and all attempts were ended for this season), I discovered that I could make this move a fair bit easier by stepping down to a good foothold for my right foot which meant that it didn't really matter if you couldn't bury your hand into the pocket. I was shocked at how much easier this was and was kicking myself that I hadn't spotted this sooner, the perils of redpointing! The lesson here is to always keep trying different methods as even if they had previously seemed not the right way on the dog, 'sequence evolution' can occur and they could morph into the best way of climbing a particular section. I think this is largely down to how you tend to get stronger on the moves throughout a redpoint campaign so keep an open mind out there on your projects folks!

On the upper moves off the burly left hand undercut, I also discovered a significantly easier method as I had been too bunched again on all of my 7 best attempts. Basically I had discounted a good, low right foothold by a bolt in favour of putting my right foot straight up on a high, downwards sloping niche hold that I now use later on in the sequence, which made standing up into the undercut the living end on the link, although it felt misleadingly OK on my warmup links. My new sequence has two new foot moves which make this bit easier overall as it is less strenuous and involves keep my feet lower.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The hardest move of Full Tilt (for me). Going direct above the 3rd bolt using the boney left sidepull.[/td][/tr]

[/table]So, in retrospect, I am a little disappointed to have redpointed Full Tilt a lot (26 times in total this season) with only a 1 in 4 strike rate at getting through the crimpy moves above the belay and not having the best method on the upper burly moves. This meant I never got to try that last slap in anger from the deck. On the flip side, I am pleased to have been fortunate enough to have discovered 2 much better sequences which should serve me well for next year's campaign. I only wish I still had a dry route to try! Never fear, a return trip to Smith Rock beckons next week, its a hard life. Enjoy your climbing out there!



Source: Ted's Blog

[cjsheps]

Detailed! Really puts across the attention to detail that goes into high-level redpointing.

[Doylo]

It's all about the detail...

[comPiler]

Progress on Just Do It
13 November 2015, 9:17 pm

I've been back nearly 2 weeks now since another trip to Smith Rock to try the world famous 'Just Do It'. I have been going through the photos that some of the talented  photographers, Heather Furtney, Jason Bagby and Julien Havac took of me  on the route and thought I would share some of them here. I was excited to see what difference a summer of climbing would make compared to my attempts in May plus the fact that I knew the beta now. As things turned out, I ended up trying True North up until early October due to Kilnsey remaining amazingly dry so it didn't leave much time to prepare for a longer, supposedly pumpier affair like Just Do It. However I needn't have worried as despite its 35m length, this rig is much more about power than stamina, unlike Jibe's other famous line at Smith To Bolt or Not to Be.

I went alone this time and was lucky enough to get belays off some kind local climbers (Andrew, Crit, Justin, Andi and Calvin thanks a tonne!) Conditions were better than in May being mostly colder and without too much wind. The day after flying in and attending the Reel Rock Tour film showing in Bend, I went up to re-familiarise with the moves and the day after, managed to do some decent links on the upper section. It reminded me of how hard the crux by bolt 14 actually is. Imagine a viscous V8+ shouldery, crimp problem on Pill Box Wall on the Orme and you wouldn't be far off! This first hard section leads to a 'pod' resting slot (described in more detail in my post back in May).

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Reaching the crux left hand crimper at bolt 14 (Picture by Heather Furtney)[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]The crux move at Bolt 14 (Picture by Jason Bagby)[/td][td]

[/td][td]

[/td][td]

[/td][td]

[/td][td]

[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td] Sticking the 'tooth' by bolt 14 (Picture by Heather Furtney)[/td][/tr]

[/table]From the resting pod, there follows a very tricky and powerful traverse involving two 2 finger pockets for the right hand and some slopers, gradually easing to the belay beyond bolt 17. The move hitting the second 2 finger pocket and locking it to a left hand sloper is probably V8 alone.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Leaving the resting pod and starting the tricky traverse at bolt 15 (picture by Heather Furtney)[/td][/tr]

[/table]

 Crossing through to the gaston off the first pocket then using it to stick the second (Pics by Heather Furtney)

Alan Watt's description of the route from his seminal 1992 guidebook is below:



I would agree that the first 13 bolts are merely a warm up (!) for the difficulties between bolts 14 and 16 when you are hit with some savage cranks straight off a good but quite pumpy resting rail at bolt 13. These days the bottom part of the route to bolt 10 is considered 13b or 8b due to some very thin pulls on pockets and crimps but after doing it a few times and getting it wired, its probably only 13c or 8a+ I reckon, like Alan Watts says.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Easier moves at bolt 4 (Picture Jason Bagby)[/td][/tr]

[/table]

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Approaching the lower crux at bolt 8 (Picture by Jason Bagby)[/td][/tr]

[/table]I decided this trip to focus at first on links into the upper crux and on my 3rd day on the route was psyched to climb from the rail at bolt 13 to the top for the first time, which is an 8b link. I found a slightly easier method on the crux before the pod by first bumping my left foot up to a small pocket before slapping for the 'tooth' crimp with the right hand which seems to make the move higher percentage. I also found that by trailing your right foot on the move to the left hand crimper on the crux rather than first placing it on smear, this move became much more manageable.

On my next session I started climbing from the belay at the end of the first pitch (bolt 10), which must be 8b+ if climbed to the top and links through a 3 bolt 7b or 7b+ to the resting rail at bolt 13 before embarking on the top 8b section. On this link attempt, I was pleased to make it through the crux at bolt 14 (the first time I had ever climbed any distance into it). After a brief shake at the resting pod and chalk on each hand, I got to the stab move to the second 2 finger pocket, just failing to stick it. I have made a little video of my link attempts on the upper section plus the bottom wall to give you a flavour of the climbing involved (and to remember the moves for future attempts):

If I had had more time I would have continued trying this link as it  would have been a big confidence boost to have got it in the bag before  trying from the ground. However, with only a week left it seemed to make  more sense to try the full rig and 'roll the dice'. On my 5th day I started the first of 3 days' worth of attempts from the ground before my trip ended. Each session would start off with 20 minutes warming up on a board indoors before hiking up Misery Ridge to the Monkey and climbing Spank the Monkey, a runout 12a. I would then climb short sections on the route to the top to prepare for full blown attempts. I had 6 attempts, two per session and got to the move slapping for the tooth before the resting pod on 6 occasions in total. I felt closer to this move from the ground than in May when I frequently fell on the previous move to the left hand crimp before the slap to the tooth. It was frustrating not to stick the tooth though and make it to the resting pod. You would think that with an excellent, approaching hands off rest at bolt 9 (I stood here for 2 - 3 minutes on redpoint), you would recover almost back to zero and I felt fresh at this rest on all of these 6 attempts. However, something about having cranked through all of the lower section five minutes before attacking the upper section makes it tougher to crack than if you have simply slumped on the rope at bolt 10.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Reaching bolt 16 on a link attempt, nearly there! (Picture by Jason Bagby)[/td][/tr]

[/table]On my 6th session, I managed to one hang the route, resting 5 minutes on bolt 14 before pulling on 2 moves where I had fallen off and climbing to the top, which was definitely progress since my last trip. This was the first time I had done this on the same tie-in, which is a better 'one hang' ascent I guess than if you climb your 'overlapping sections' over different tie-ins or sessions. On my last attempt, despite taking 2 rest days, I definitely felt a bit tired on the route after 7 sessions on it in 13 days. What you need ideally is a longer period of time during which you can do other climbing in order to remain fresh on the route....or a higher overall climbing level. With only 2 weeks at a time available from work, I will have to adopt the latter approach for future trips although perhaps a few days trying easier routes to mix it up a bit wouldn't go amiss. After my last tie-in I hiked down Aggro Gully and managed to onsight Kill the Hate, a cool 5.13a or 7c+ in the gathering gloom and felt that I was feeling stronger in general after the previous 2 weeks of effort so all the hard work is certainly not going to waste!

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Hiking up Misery Ridge to the Monkey Face with Calvin (Picture by Julien Havac)[/td][/tr]

[/table]So, what did I learn from this trip? Well, the experience was invaluable in spending more contact time on the crux and managing to discover some important new beta. I have realised that I need to change my training to get stronger so the crux feels feasible with more climbing in the arms from the lower wall. My previous training in the Spring focused on both stamina and power and I made some gains in both areas. Training for this trip was mainly doing routes outside over the summer at Kilnsey and bouldering on Peak Limestone. For my next trip, I am be changing to a '3 to 1' power/ stamina training plan where fitness is put on the back burner in favour of bouldering  and fingerboarding. I think this will help my climbing in general. I want to get back to my bouldering level from a period when I was exclusively bouldering 6 years ago. Fitness training is important for sure but there comes a point in every route climber's career when they have to knuckle down and get stronger. After all, as Tony Yaniro said: "If you can't hold the holds, there is nothing to endure!"

I hope these ramblings encourage others out there knuckling down to long term projects. Redpointing ain't easy and if they went down without a fight, it would hardly be worth it would it? Onwards to projects in the UK and the next trip!

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]A moody looking East Face of the Monkey (Picture by Julian Havac)[/td][/tr]

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Source: Ted's Blog

[Fiend]

Rig? Seriously Ted, down with kids of today eh.

Good write-up as usual, and an inspiring project. Sack Julien though, that HDR is making my eyes water.

[Kingy]

Cheers Fiend, haha gotta have a nod to the yoof  Yes, don't know much about photography but some serious 'processing' has gone on with some of those pics!