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James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log... (Read 71857 times)

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#50 Endless Summer
September 19, 2014, 07:00:42 pm
Endless Summer
19 September 2014, 12:11 pm

  This summer has involved 3 trips and some excellent work ranging from MLTs to guiding with Stan,  Cian, Catrin, Cameron, Dan, Khalid and Russel. The endless summer has meant a healthy scene in North Wales with trains of people going up routes like Lord of the Flies and the JubJub Bird. Alex Mason has been climbing well dispatching some cool new routes on Gogarth. Pete Robins gave the pass one of its hardest boulder problems and the Diamond one of its hardest routes as did Chris Doyle in Llandulas cave. Pete Harrisons limestone guidebook has arrived so next year should be a big year for North Wales Limestone.

     Stan and Cian on the belay of Big Groove direct, E4. Gogarth Main cliff        Catrin and Cameron climbing Hardd, staying dry in the heavy rain  
       The first trip was to the Lakes for 4 days and involved climbing Bucket Dynasty (which having a fairly reachy and bold crux received a good flash by Emma Twyford), Dusk Till Dawn, Borderline and repeating some old classics. Dusk Till Dawn particularly deserves attention, Al Wilsons vision. I climbed with Al Wilson a great deal from onwards and when Al spoke of this it was with a bit of awe. After doing the crux on Bucket Dynasty a traverse right leads to 10m of jug pulling and a good cam1 (I’d left mine lower down) where wild moves lead up left from a peg to a sinker and still testing finish. Steep single pitch routes don’t get much better than this.

   Clare Carter organised a ‘Ravens Pit’ evening in the field outside the Sticklebarn pub in Langdale with Dave Birkett giving a great insight into how tourists are lucky not to be shot or run over on motorbikes nowadays as that used to be the usual Cumbrian welcome. It was a good final night to the trip.

   Having just read Pete Liveseys brilliant biography I’d like to recommend it. His routes in the Lakes were very futuristic when they were put up, a precursor to Pete Whillances and Dave Birketts; Footless Crow, Dry Grasp, Nagasaki Grooves, Bitter Oasis amongst many other greats which were and still are testpieces shutting down Lancashire’s finest. Loved Liveseys thoughts on Statement “What do you reckon about this route in Wales? 7 bolts in 70 feet?, how can that be E7?”Good effort to Mark Radtke and John Sheard for slotting it all together.

Looking down The West Face, Great Zawn, Bosigran       The second trip was to Devon and Cornwall and involved ticking the final few extreme rock ticks in the vicinity apart from America and Guernica. I’m giving myself 2 years to finish the book so I’m giving Neil Foster some time to do it first. Highlight climbs were The West Face, Morgawr, The Marksman, Astral Stroll and Il Duce. One of the best parts of the trip came in seeing the ‘spirit of adventure’ in some other climbers though. Worried about some friends who had set off late on Dream Liberator I eventually grabbed a headtorch and went exploring to the top of the zawn about half ten, I could hear voices now and again but couldn’t get a visual. I scrambled to the top of Xanadu to get a better picture to see Gwen topping out on the final 5c pitch by headtorch, with James and Mark still on the belay with no torches. It looked awfully dark down there so I lit the wall up with my headtorch as James and Mark climbed it. I was well impressed with their adventurous attitude although not with James and Marks preparation. Mention should be made of Sophie Evitts efforts this trip as not having climbed for a year doing routes like Il Duce is no mean feat and there were a few ‘eyes on stalks’ moments. I thought Guernica might have been a tad cruel to get back into things.

Sophie enjoying the easier angled pitch on the superb, Il Duce       The final trip of the summer was with Ryan Pasquill. I’d not taken 9 days of ML work to have this trip, probably equivalent to £1500 and I was interested to see if it was worth the cost of not doing the work. Original plans were to go up to look at Echo Wall on Ben Nevis. Having not sport climbed since May and having found a project back in Wales I managed to talk Ryan into a different type of trip.

  We set off in the afternoon from Sheffield and arrived in Dovedale with climbing gear and sleeping bags at the ready. Walking into the campsite shop we had difficulty deciding on wether to carry a bottle of wine or some beers. It was a tough decision and in the end we took both. We hiked up to Dove and after a warm up on the Flying fissure finish I send Ryan up Dusk Till Dawn. A flash pump kills him high up on the pillar and he says he’d wished he’d done Dynasty first. I mentioned I’d only done that one first because the description was wrong and I’d gone 3m higher than the traverse right and was too pumped to downclimb.

We leave the kit at the crag base and go up to the brilliant bivvy cave the Priests Hole where we played cards and cooked up a feast (of couscous and rice). The morning after the sun shone straight into the cave and there was a layer of mist in the valley bottom, I can see why Millican Dalton spent his summers living in his cave in Borrowdale.  

     Morning views from the Priests Hole        The Priests Hole  
      The Commital Chamber, Iron Crag, Thirlmere       After warming up Ryan did Dusk Till Dawn and Bucket Dynasty and I did Vlad the Impailer and Beyond the Pail (which is still E6 rather than 7). Climbing on Dove we were both in a perpetual pumped state and I knew my fitness had deteriorated considerably since May when I’d onsighted 3 E7s in a day in Pembroke. The day after we went to Iron crag to climb Commital Chamber and Al Wilsons excellent link-up from Western Union into Pumping Iron, Iron Man which deserves attention.

  Heading back to North Wales we both felt cooked and there was no opportunity to get Ryan on the Promontory Slab project and the Meltdown which had been part of the plan. Having pretty good gear but a ludicrously hard start I spoke to Dawes who said he’d done the moves on the middle bit but didn’t think the start would go. I think it’ll be V11ish starting 8m being considerably harder than Stone Temple Pilots or Diesel Power but on a steep slab! The only way I can see of anyone doing this is what me and pete used to take the piss out of Jack for, being a ‘**** on the shunt’. I suppose that was me on meltdown as well though.

The Promontory Slab project        We head down to Pembroke in the late afternoon and do Another Day, Another Dog, The Barbarians are Coming, Ships that Pass in the Night and Dogs of Hoare which I’d not done since the late 90s. Climbing with Ryan necessitates sponsoring St Govans Inn each night! I’ve been to Pembroke many times over the years and think the drive down from North Wales is one of the most picturesque drives you can do. The quantity of great climbs there is near limitless and I’m sorry Gogarth but Pembrokes certainly offers the best sea cliffs in Britain.

  Pembroke was fairly quiet, which is unusual for such a nice weekend. We headed straight to Huntsman’s Leap where Ryan gets going on the technical E5, Magazine people with myself and Mawson offering some heckling as Ry doesn’t feel himself and seems to climb left, right and centre all the way up, never finding the easiest path. I do Black Lagoon which with the some of the pegs missing felt quite committing and should be regarded as considerably harder than Souls, the classic, ok E6 of the Leap and bloody hell it’s got a tough move after the first thread. There is only Nothing to Fear I really want to do in there now. After another Leap E5 we finish on Trevallen on Smash the Bass (which has 2 extremely dangerous blocks right beneath the roof now-don’t do it, I started to lever it off but was worried of chopping my ropes) and the Hole.

Lee Roberts and Joe Betalot on Darkness at Noon. The chalk marks on the right shows Black Lagoon       Free Masonry traverses the lip of the arch to gain the small round cave. Then goes straight up        That night Mawson divulges the delights of Free Masonry, a 4 pitch E6 on the outside of the Cauldron. Taking Crispin Waddy a few efforts over 2 years the ascent required procuring George Smith and involved the odd retreat into the Sea from the final pitch. Neil had said himself and Charlie Woodburn had done some epic sideways abseiling/traversing to retreat from the final crux pitch.

 We woke up groggily and set off with intent. We racked up at the summit of the impressive Cauldron Hole and walked down the ridge. A sea level traverse leads to 20 metres of commando style caving to eventually pop out before the Stone Bridge which gives Free Masonry its first pitch. Now, talking about 4 pitch sea arch E6s in the pub doesn’t quite give you a good impression of what they actually look like close up. On the apex of the Arch was a small cave at the end of the 3rd Pitch, the top of this had a 1m horizontal roof above it leading to severely overhanging ground and eventually to an extremely blank looking groove nr the top of the cliff. Although E6 isn’t that big a grade many people who have climbed routes graded E9/10 won’t have onsighted 10 routes of E6. Basically some of them can be really hard and because the more esoteric ones get done little or not at all when compared with many easier climbs the grade is more likely to be off the mark.

We both went quiet for a minute before some awfully soft, almost unconscious excuses started coming out of our mouths.

“What do you think?”

“We’re pretty tired”

“The start looks quite wet”

“The seas too rough to abseil into and besides which, how the **** do you swim with a rack on?”

We looked back at the caves, our still easy line of retreat.

Our excuses sickened me somewhat, although it may have been the Broadside. We decided to have a look as it was only the first 5 metres looked wet. The first pitch of the Stone Bridge, a 1980s Mick Fowler E5 6b provides a suitable start having a pumpy groove leading to airy moves round an arête and a good thread belay. Ryan leads through across more exciting terrain, a horizontal traverse leading to a 7m downclimb down a groove and a hanging belay right on the lip of the arch. The 3rd pitch involved wild climbing, jumping feet across the other side of grooves to get bridged and piling around a wild arête where you could climb it several different ways but all around 6a/b. Pulling into the cave is just the best belay. Its 5m deep and the birds who once inhabited it must have thought they had the best, least likely to be interrupted home until Crispin and George poked their heads in. In the guidebook it had mentioned that the climb was generally well protected. I now knew that it was a George/Crispin sandbag as the pitch before had been E6 and with slightly more small and fiddly gear than you’d like for the style of moves you do away from it.

The lip belay with the cave not far beyond  



The inside of the cave       Ryan, not wanting to leave the cave      

 Ryan arrived in the mega cave and we were both feeling a bit tired, the route finding had been tricky even to here which is what had helped stop Neil and Charlie on the final pitch. I won’t spoil the surprise of the finale but crux moves just above the cave lead to big moves on big holds to a still 6bish groove nr the top. I was totally blown away (as was Ryan).

   I’ve done Conan the Librarian 3 times and think it’s an amazing climb but this was well beyond that for both brilliant climbing and ludicrous terrain it follows. The pictures just can’t do it justice. We went to Govans East and finished on Psyce n Gurn which although it gets the same grade is thankfully about E4 6b. The following day we were battered, Ryan did Yellow Pearls and I did Fabulous Fishing but both our elbows were out by this point. The afternoon was spent watching a remarkable effort by a friend of ours but I’m sworn to secrecy.

  I look back on the trip and the £1500 in work I’d not taken. I can roughly attach a price to many of the climbs for what they are worth to me (economists and insurance companies love this kind of thing). Vlad, Iron Man, Black lagoon are each worth ~£200 being great routes I’ve thought about doing for years. The ascent of Free Masonry with Ryan though, that’s trickier, it was absolutely priceless and will keep me chuckling for years. Free Masonry.



Source: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...


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#51 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
September 19, 2014, 08:47:05 pm
Great report, we really need more of this.

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#52 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
September 20, 2014, 01:14:03 am
Yes indeed..

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#53 Choronzon   E10  7a(8b+)
September 23, 2014, 01:00:19 pm
Choronzon   E10  7a(8b+)
23 September 2014, 10:53 am

    “The gears a slider, a tricam, a cam and a wire”.

   I nod my head to Neil in the hope he thinks I like the sound of what he’s telling me. A slider, what bloody good is a slider? So its 7c+/8a to get to this gear at 15m. A fall anywhere near the end of this first runout would deposit him on the ground. From this gear, all placed at the same point hard and dynamic moves lead right and then straight up for another 5m to a crux slap. From here 2 more wires are had, small offsets before more hard moves lead to easier ground.

I’d known about Neils Pembroke project as long as he’d had it, since about 2011. It sounded pretty epic but I’d expected something looking similar to The Big Issue, a steep face with a load of good looking pockets and good gear here and there. Standing beneath Neils route it only shared the steepness. There were no juggy pockets, only some small spaced calcite crimps which Neil informed me was the easy part of the climb! Higher I could see it looked very hard with a dynamic crux move at the end of a lot of hard, bold climbing. It was obvious looking up at it that only a meticulous climbing performance would get up the devil.

  Behind me I heard Ryan cracking open one of the cans of Guinness, we’d brought 4 down to the beach with us thinking to share a celebration with Neil and his partner Nathan. It was the end of mine and Ryans road trip and having done a lot of climbs from E5-7 in the Lakes and Pembroke we were both toasted and enjoyed going to lend moral support to Neil and watch the show.

  I knew Neil had put a fair amount of effort into it but Ryan brought it home mentioning Neil had often driven the 5 hrs to Sheffield and camped on his own to go and work this project. On many of his efforts over the years the conditions have been too gop to attempt it. On hearing about Neils efforts against shite conditions I thought having a project like it an extremely poor idea as I couldn’t be arsed having sport projects on the Diamond in N.wales due to the gop, let alone a venue 5 hrs drive away.

     Neil abseiling in from the top        Neil warming up    
      After a quick look and warm up into the moves on a rope he says he’s going to have a go. After putting in the first runners and reversing for a ten minute breather Neil starts the lead. He climbs the crimpy calcite wall like a smooth robot and at about 10m entered the no-fall zone to eventually arrive at the flake where a poor shakeout can be had and thankfully the nest of gear. To this point would be E8/9 for sure looking to be a considerably bigger lead than Gribin Wall climb. After the gear is in and a 5 minute shake the Mawson machine continues, climbing fast he is suddenly a fair way above his tricam and cluster of shite and is eyeballing the jug.

His body sags a tiny bit and he falls outwards as his fingertips tickle the jug. A big fall brings him downwards and Nathan his belayer upwards till they are level. The cluster held, obviously. After stripping the gear Neil gave it one more go. Climbing smoothly again past the first runout to the nest of gear. Unfortunately seepage had set in and a wet hold chucked him off a little after. Even though Neil didn’t have glory that day his performance was a very inspiring one.

Neil high on his first lead attempt       Neil on his way down from his first attempt       Actual steepness of face       Driving back with Ryan I was still trying to take in what Neil had put into that bit of rock and was pondering wether it was a worthwhile venture, after all, in that time you can do a hell of a lot of other things. He certainly wasn’t doing it for any financial gain, as one of Britain’s top climbers he’d get a load of free gear being a hero near his home, he has a full time job and didn’t need to risk life and limb on a project.  No, this was a very personal endeavour, a mission to try and climb quite a futuristic, overhanging wall, certainly in terms of trad.  

   What if it got wet and he didn’t get it this year? The thought disturbed me on Neils behalf, having to start again next year, getting fit enough to do 3 laps on an 8b+/c, re-working the moves, psyching up again.  

I’d asked Neil to message me when he had success and to give me the name. I was on the way back from the Lakes having caught up with family and climbed a few classics on Pavey Ark and Goat crag, the opposite end of the scale from what Neil was doing.

“Hi Caff. Did it today! Amazing conditions. E10 8b+, name Choronzon. It’s a mythical demon that lives in the abyss of one’s mind. It tries to reinforce the negative thoughts going through ones mind”

  An appropriate name although I’ve never required a demon to supply me with negative thoughts. I’ve climbed a few routes graded E9 in a session or 2 with speed of ascent and minimal inspection being one of my main aims on routes I couldn’t onsight, hence the odd failure due to lack of preparation. It was obvious this was a different proposition to those climbs requiring a whole lot ‘more’.

   I think it’s probably the hardest trad style climb in Wales and England with routes like Equilibrium deserving a grade of E9 7b perhaps, being hard but not as big a lead. I know Neil would have voted yes if given the chance as if Scotland became independent Choronzon would be the hardest in the Unitedish Kingdom. As it stands it will be one of the hardest 3 in the UK; Rhapsody, Echo Wall and Choronzon.  All very different routes in different venues but they’ve one thing in common, it took 2 great climbers a great deal of effort and dedication to climb them.

 Nice one Neil.



Source: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...


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#54 A 100 or so good E6s
December 18, 2014, 06:00:22 pm
A 100 or so good E6s
18 December 2014, 3:40 pm

   It's the time of the year again when I start to formulate lists of must do routes. I've put together a list of some of the better E6s I've climbed over the years in various areas. Scotland is sadly lacking in the list but Murdo, Ian Small, Blair and Tony Stone are all good candidates for info on the better ones to go for. Many are incomparable in terms of difficulty and seriousness, with routes like Hells Wall and Eye of the Tiger being technically hard but much easier leads than routes such as Other Realms or Stage Fright.

  The routes on the Stigmata buttress should be handled with care. Some of the routes are well known and probably get as much traffic as any E6 does but there are a few more esoteric ones people might be keen to search out. The guidebook descriptions for many routes at around this grade should be taken with caution as often they're off the mark with the grade as some get repeated rarely. I've shaded green ones that are good tasters at the grade but they may still have some bite. The ones with a + sign may be at the upper remit of the grade.  I've left out the highballs and the total clip ups although Grezelda and Ghost Train just scraped in. Many of the routes are by the same list of first ascentionists, the likes of Littlejohn, Gibson, Crocker and Fowler, Livesey, Fawcett being very prolific.        Paul Swail enjoying Above & Beyond, Fairhead       Wen Zawn, aptly named where Conan the Librarian and Mr Softy are found       Smoothlands. Hellbound and Creeping Flesh offer brilliant slab climbing       Strangers tackles the short but brilliant right arête found in north Pembroke, Craig Llong. A Crocker classic       Pasquil showing that although he struggles on brit 9a+s he has no problem on grit        Robins getting ready to race up Ghost Train   Two Wee Laddies, Rora Head, Hoy                                     Great White, Blue Scar                            

Handren Effect, Glen Nevis                                                Milky Way, Ilkley

Highlander, Kioch, Skye                                                     Conan the Librarian, Gogarth

Old El Pastits, Gairloch                                                       The Cad, Gogarth

Dead Calm, Gairloch

Bonxie, Pabbay                                                                 Mr Softy, Gogarth

Sweet Disregard for the Truth, Glen Coe                              Skinhead Moonstomp, Gogarth

Faery Stories, Fairhead                                                       Barbarossa, Gogah

Above & Beyond, Fairhead                                                  Ludwig, Gogarth

Hells Kitchen Arete, Fairhead                                               Crack Eats Man Alive, Gogarth

Taming the Tiger, Fairhead                                                 Jub Jub Bird, Rhoscolyn

Pressure Point, Mournes                                                     Dreams & Screams, Rhoscolyn

Footloose Crow, Borrowdale                                               Tonight at Noon, Lleyn

Daylight Robbery, Borrowdale                                             Terrorhawk, Lleyn

Camikazi, Borrowdale                                                         Gross Clinic, Lleyn

Ringwraith, Scafell                                                             Rust Never Sleeps, Lleyn

                                                                                   ++Other Realms, Lleyn

                                                                                      Negative Equity, Lleyn

Western Union, Thirlemere                                                 Surreal, Tremadog

Internal Combustion, Raven Ullswater                                  +No Holds Barred, Tremadog

                                                                                       Fingerlicker Direct, Tremadog

Liquid Engineering, Raven Ullswater                                     A Midsummer Nights Dream

Sixpense, Langdale                                                            Unleashing the wild Physique, Pass

Das Kapital, Thirlmere                                                        Lord of the Flies, Pass

Bucket City, Dove crag                                                       The Wrath of Khan, Pass

                           

Pail Face, Dove Crag                                                           New Era, Pass

Woodhouses Arete, Dow Crag                                              Pretty Girls Make Graves, Pass

                         

                                                                                        Alchemy, Pass

                                                                                        Potency, Cwm Silyn

       

                                                                                        The Silver Usurper, Bodlyn, Rhinogs

Paths of Victory, Dow Crag                                                  Rainbow of Recalcitrance, Dinorwic

Stage Fright, Hodge Close quarry                                         Naked Before the Beast, Dinorwic

Hells Wall, Borrowdale                                                        Sombre Music, Dinorwic

Defying Destiny, Stanage                                                    Leafstorm, Nesscliffe

Crypt Trip, Stanage                                                            Strangers, Craig Llong, Pemboke

Salmon Left, Bamford                                                        All or Nothing, Barcud, Pembroke

Block & Tackle, Higgar Tor

Crème de la Crème, Yarncliffe                                            Fear no Evil, Range West

Adam Smiths Invisible Hand, Millstone                                Grezelda Grezelda, Pembroke

Perplexity, Millstone                                                           Obsession Box, Pembroke

Messiah, Burbage south                                                     Big in America, Pembroke

Mickey Finn, Gardoms                                                        Hunter Killer, Pembroke

Make it Slappy, Gardoms                                                    Souls, Pemboke

Barriers in Time, Roaches

Master of Reality, Hen Cloud                                               White Hotel, Pembroke

Linden, Curbar                                                                   Little Hunt, Pembroke

Eye of the Tiger, Dovedale                                                  +Free Masonry, Pembroke

Coronary Country, Sharpnose                                              Orange Robe Burning, Pembroke

Hellbound, Smoothlands                                                     Oranges & Lemons, Pembroke

Absolution, Bosigran                                                           +Great White, Pembroke

Morgawr, Bosigran                                                             Ghost Train, Pembroke

Demolition, Sennen                                                          Crimes of Passion, Pembroke                                        

Caveman, Berry Head                                                The Empire Strikes Back, Pembroke

Emergency Ward Ten,Lundy                                                Chasing Shade, Pembroke

+Watching the Ocean, Lundy

 

Voyage of the Acolyte, Lundy

Chase the Ace, Lundy

Ex-Cathedra, Lundy

The Price of Admission, Lundy

Ryan on the brilliant Free Masonry, possibly the best on this list       Robins wanting Ryan to hurry up on pitch 2 of Conan       The Rainbow slab, home to some of the best       2 idiots on the belay of hellbound. This is best done in one pitch as the belay consists of 2 old pegs you can back up with skyhooks. First pitch has loads of good wires

Source: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...


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#55 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 18, 2014, 11:10:12 pm
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Nice list Caff

 :)

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#56 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 18, 2014, 11:33:25 pm
Nice one Caff. Pics don't come through tho :S

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#57 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 09:36:16 am
17

Nice list Caff

 :)

20 (9 green, 8 on sight, 7 flash, 4 ground up, 1 second + 6 fails)

Hell’s Wall (fell off), Crypt Trip (fell off), Lord (fell off right at the top), Skinhead Moonstomp, Hunter Killer (fell off), Master of Reality, Coronary Country and Caveman jump out as the ones I’d still really like to do... mainly cos they're all pretty safe (apart from Lord).

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#58 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 10:52:18 am
Jeez. I've led two and seconded three, one of which we agreed (Caff led) was E4! On the plus side I didn't fall off any, though I did jib my pitch on Two Little Boys.

Smoothlands looks amazing.

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#59 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 11:11:01 am
Four for me:

Make is Slappy (head point)
Grezelda Grezelda (flash)
Lord (onsight)
The Cad (onsight)

Wood FT

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#60 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 11:22:05 am
Jeez. I've led two and seconded three, one of which we agreed (Caff led) was E4!

 :bounce: do tell

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#61 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 11:30:11 am
Highlander on the Cioch. It's a bit like an easier version of the Knock.

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#62 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
December 19, 2014, 11:32:21 am
Pics don't come through tho :S

Click blog link.

comPiler

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#63 The 'Pro-climber?'
January 25, 2015, 12:00:45 am
The 'Pro-climber?'
24 January 2015, 7:37 pm

    The Wizbang enjoying Ramadan, Siurana     A talk by Jack Geldard about ‘Do you think you can be a professional climber’ and a blog by Andy Kirkpatrick got me thinking about the ‘Pros’. My thoughts immediately went to Wiz Fineron.



    The Superdirect on the Mot used to be my favourite E1 in the Pass, I’d done it on my own  many times over the years in most conditions and never been nervous, until 7 yrs ago. My partner was leading. Halfway up the top pitch, due to his small size he had to body bridge the groove ‘quarryman’ style to the roof. Flicking in a cam 0 at full stretch he went on to fearlessly dyno through the roof before romping to the top. Wiz was 11 and very small. He moved to NZ and I knew that if he carried on climbing he would be pretty unstoppable. It must have been about this time that an ever positive Tim Emmett told the then young Hazel Findlay to go for it with regards to becoming a pro-climber. I’m glad that he did, I would have told her that she was bonkers.

 Wiz reappeared in Blighty last year and didn’t disappoint. He’s a good contender for the best rock climber operating in Britain at the moment. His no falls, 1 day ascent of Silbergier might be the best ascent yet from a very good international contingent who have repeated the climb.  Wiz lives on carrots, doesn’t make any money from climbing and I doubt there are any climbs in the world that will be out of his remit in the next few years with boredom threshold being the key factor for the harder sporty ones.

  I’ve been a sponsored climber since the late 1990s on and off, having had some great sponsors. Red Chili, Wild Country, ME, Moon, V12, Mountain Works, Arcteryx, 5.10 and my current sponsors, DMM, Rab, Boreal and Stirling Ropes. They’ve all been great because I’ve ranged from a good sponsor/role model, for example getting up before work to train, having and helping to publicise achievements but I've also been an awful sponsee/role model. Getting up having a couple of tabs and a coffee, going to work and getting pumped solid trying to lead something I could easily have soloed when leading a semi-healthy lifestyle etc. I’d like to reassure my current sponsors I’m in the former role. For me the free kit over the years has been a ‘support network’ for kit I would often have struggled to afford.

  Sponsorship has changed over the years. In the 90s you could get free boots and kit for climbing well and if you were a little known maybe even some free clothes. Nowadays to be sponsored free boots you are expected to have a blog, twitter feed, a facebook 'athlete' page and a climbing CV which states you can redpoint almost as well as Ondra can onsight.

 Even then you might get booted off the boot team. Last year 5.10 got rid of anyone who wasn’t a ‘good’ self promoter in Britain. Pete Robins had been with them since the 90s, is one of the best rock climbers around, had been on front covers of magazines, dvds, guides as well as lots of online footage of him doing the hardest boulder problems and routes in Wales and they ditched him for not having a blog and social media accounts. I was one of the ‘chosen’ getting an email saying:


“When we get round to 2015, we will review how the year has fared for you and hopefully you will have achieved greater media interest. Please send me links to your online news, Youtube and Vimeo vids, personal blogs etc. If something appears in a magazine/newspaper or on the telly, let me know. I don’t want to get to 2015, and see that there is nothing against your name, when in fact you have been setting the world alight. It is up to you to promote yourself.”

A 5.10 athlete expresses disappointment at being dropped from the team     I realised at this point more than ever that sponsorship is not about performance but more concerning social media salesmanship.....of oneself.

  Being a sponsored climber and being a ‘pro’ are 2 different things, having never been a ‘pro-climber’ I do know a bit of what it consists of and am impressed people have chosen this over a job as for anyone who isn't a trustifarian it seems a bold move. In 2011 I was in Yosemite and climbed with Hazel Findlay and Sean Villanueva for a day or 2. Even through my fickle seasonal contracts in the UK outdoor instruction industry I was earning about 4 times what they earned combined. They were living out of a bag following their dream. I was waiting to buy each series of Game of Thrones, pumping money into a pension scheme to subsidise the usual PYB pension of EBAYing off the free kit. It’s no surprise that there is little money in climbing, I love climbing and have done a lot of instruction and coaching over the years but if it’s a choice between a climbing film or Masterchef the latter wins.

   Anybody working a 5 day week who can have the weekend and 2 evenings off has enough free time to climb as well as many of the ‘pro-climbers’ in the world today but with the added benefit of a reasonable salary and perhaps a pension.

A look at some ‘pros’:


  Leo Houlding left home when he was 14/15 to pursue his dream, and lived out of a bag. His achievements on El Cap stand the test of time, especially his ground up effort on the Prophet. Very few climbers in the world would stand halfway up El Cap look up and set off on a serious 7c pitch without knowing what was there. In fact knowing the grade and where to go very few climbers in the world would get up it without abseil inspection. What I like about Leos achievement is that he abhorred training, wasn’t a keen sports climber but with all the modern strength gains the best of today would still struggle to replicate his effort. Although some UKBeliebers would argue the point.

  Hazels achievements are spectacular with the granite being a tough medium to climb on often giving blank, insecure and reachy pitches which have to be executed in exposure and heat whilst being really bolloxed from hauling. This done groundup on routes which many good climbers abseil down to rehearse pitches to up their chance of success. When she stops moaning about her whingery I expect more great things.

 Steve Mcclure is another enigma to me. I’m really glad he decided to become a pro climber and make it worthwhile for Ondra to visit Britain, but what most impressed me about his choice is he stopped a career in engineering to do something which pays him less than half as well, is highly insecure, and has limited long term prospects. He ditched a good salary and gave Britain some iconic cutting edge climbs.

  There have been many climbers over the years who could have become sponsored climbers or even ‘pros’. In the 1980s Douggie Hall was onsighting E7s which is a bit like the 4 minute mile in blighty, some years next to nobody does it, apart from maybe Ian Small.

  Probably the most impressive soloist to have partook of the activity in Britain is someone few people will know of. He used to do laps on Void, onsight soloed Great Arete (a mountain crag E5 in the Carneddau) as well as many other much easier soloes, like Positron. He was...the great Doug Shaw, or Doug the Thug to people who knew him. I laboured for him for a while and he is a top guy. What he did back then was comparable to what Peter Croft did in Yosemite, if I had to choose between going up Astroman or Great Arete without a rope Astroman would win.

  The achievements of these trad climbers often isn’t recognised like that of the well known sport climbers like Ben Moon who has been shown to be ahead of his time in terms of physical climbing ability. The likes of Pete Croft, Douggie Hall and Doug Shaw could easily have done more ‘terrifying’ things if they used tactics employed nowadays. For instance, if Doug had been arsed to dick about on a rope on Strawberries for an hour I’m confident he could have soloed it if he wished, as Croft could solo big E6/7s if he’d rehearsed them more, who knows he probably did.

Going back on track to a next generation climber like Wiz, my advice to him is it would be a damn shame for him not to climb as a ‘pro’ for a while to see what he can do, although he’d certainly be better off getting a job as a fireman, just ask Ed Booth. Wiz is what I deem an excellent role model and the main hurdle setting him back is his modesty.

   I’ve told him not to worry about ‘selling out’ via the social media outlets, there is no such thing nowadays as everyone is on there. Peter Capaldi gets it bang on in the Thick of It when he says “everybody is spewing their guts up on the internet”. If it sometimes feels a bit wrong and broken then just treat it like the environment- something to be ignored. I hope he can manage it without helping to promote poisonous drinks to kids. I cant help with hash tagging on twitter but should mention that Lauren Lavine said if you use more than 3 hash tags it’s likely that your # shit in bed.

 I’d advise him to ask for more than just expenses if he is having to travel away for boot demos or talks. If you have a job as an outdoor instructor you can earn £150-£200 in a day, which means that you may be better off staying at home, going to work and going shopping. I recommend V12.



I’ll give the Prophet the final words of wisdom:

The priestess said to the Prophet: “Speak to us of sponsorship”

& the Prophet said: “People of Orphalese”

“I know not of work, the chalkbag is my lathe and the wingsuit my scythe”

“The modest man goeth hungry lest he not in top gear”

“Through Posing thou cometh into emancipation”



   



Source: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...


kelvin

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#64 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 25, 2015, 08:02:15 am
There's some great bits in there.

*off to drink a over-caffeinated sugary drink company

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#65 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 25, 2015, 08:14:26 am
Brilliant

tomtom

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#66 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 25, 2015, 09:43:06 am
Quality last para :)

abarro81

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kelvin

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#68 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 27, 2015, 09:21:22 am
Beat me to it Alex.

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#69 Re: The 'Pro-climber?'
January 27, 2015, 09:42:19 am
What I like about Leos achievement is that he abhorred training, wasn’t a keen sports climber but with all the modern strength gains the best of today would still struggle to replicate his effort. Although some UKBeliebers would argue the point.

 :lol:

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#70 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 27, 2015, 03:43:13 pm
I'd have loved to have not been a keen sports climber yet went to the wall all the time sports climbing before I became junior British sport climbing champ  ;)

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#71 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 27, 2015, 09:36:53 pm
Exactly

kelvin

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#73 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 27, 2015, 10:37:21 pm
Whilst Bishrat comes across as quite thoughtful and eloquent, this guy comes across as a fuckwit, to the level that it doesn't seem worth responding to the post

kelvin

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#74 Re: James Mchaffie - Caffs (B)Log...
January 27, 2015, 11:18:42 pm
Hazel Findley has commented on facebook too, saying how well articulated Bishrat's article was and how uncomfy chimneying in hotpants must be.

Can't say SBC bothers me that much, she's always seems happy on her twitter feed and her pics are far more random than just pretty girl snaps. I did follow Sasha Deguilian for a while but to be honest - got sick of all the promoting of products. Not exactly subtle.

* to redress the fact that I look like an old perv, I also follow grimer and sheffield rumours  :whistle:

 

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