[comPiler]

Team No Hope head to Hoy...
13 September 2012, 7:27 pm

When Adam Bailes and Dan Varian said yes to a trip to Hoy I was excited. It’s always nice when you ring people to go on a trip and they say they’re well keen, it’s like they’re saying they don’t think you’re too much of a tool, although me and Dan were gutted Adam said yes as we only asked him out of politeness (only kidding). Inspired by the pictures of Dave Macleod on the top pitch of Long Hope we were keen to check it out ready for an attempt on the whole thing in the longer days (and hopefully better weather) of next year. Battered Haggis & Chips

 

We started the climbing in Northumberland on the Great Wanney where we all did Endless Flight after Northumberland Wall and Great Wall. Next up was Crisis Zone. First go I struck the ledge which unfortunately wasn’t a ledge hung about on it for 5 mins trying to make use of the mono above before a flash pump caught up with me and an undignified reverse ensued to reduce the fall on the stretchy new ropes.

2nd go involved being still boxed from the 1st go but knowing I didn’t need the mono I put a rattly little tricam in it committed to the next move and ‘bravely grabbed the tat on a weird bolt as my fingers were uncurling. Varians first go back on trad for years and after a warm up burn his next arrived him hands over the top arête but unfortunately the greenery prevented the top out. Next go we both did it and it’s a class ‘ships prow’ climb, Adams fingers were too big to fit in all the monos. And we all finished on Thin Ice a great E4. We drive through the rain and camp in the Arrochar Alps hoping to head to the Cobbler.

Waking up to very strong winds we head to the Anvil where Dan goes up Firepower to check the moves and does it easily next go. Watching him piss the V10 crux I remembered he’s got several grades in hand. I nurse tired arms from the poor warm up the day before and head back early for a coffee and guidebook read. We drive to Fort and stay with Guy and Blair. Next day we head to Reiff. This place is special. The rock feels like granite. We solo abit and walk for hours without finding the routes i was keen for. We do a nice E4, Walk like an Egyptian where Adam showed his disco routine on the top corner.

 

Dan did some despo slab on the left of here and as he topped out a good 15m away from the sea a freak wave splashed high and soaked him. He was lucky he’d topped out as it would hurt to have fallen.

On the way back I stared in awe as Dan nearly does a heinous looking Font 8a/+ above his carrymat, finger on the last hold but not quite hanging it long enough.  We eat at Reiff then drive to near Scrabster to get the early ferry. Knackered. Mark reeves had told me the Rackwick bothy was the best bothy in the world and I think he’s right, this place is special. We make a base that eve and play lots of cards and scrabble after a beach walk to test the rock stability of the region.

The next day was a little epic. We hike up with all our ropes and kit to the top of St johns head. The ground was very wet and it was very windy but I was keen to abseil down to assess what would be required for the hard final pitch. As I set off over I looked down at 400m of Seagulls, my 100m static blew horizontal and never dropped from the winds grip. I nearly backed off the abseil but with thoughts of Drummonds and Hills exploits on the wall I managed to MTFU. I looked at the gear and some of the holds on my way down but learned little as I was in trainers and gloves and couldn’t fathom climbing in such conditions. I head up and Adam goes down for a peek. Coming back up he pronounces the pitch easy with youthful enthusiasm. I suggest a decamp to Rora head hoping for shelter or at least better temps. We abb in off dans Dog stakes, I’d left the guide at the Bothy as it looked abit heavy with all the other stuff we had. It was getting late by now but thinking to do a quick classic I had a vague memory of where Mucklehouse Wall went. I set off up the middle of the face and after locking into an undercling thought better of it and reversed (my vague memory ended up being totally wrong). Wanting to be back at the hut we discuss options. Dan says the way out via the shore is dodgy. Thinking about how smug I’d be if I made it round to the top to look down on them jugging up I try anyway. I get close. Having slithered onto the end of a slopey platform as the waves wash out all I have to do is drop down 4 feet and do 3 boulder hops to safety. I watch the wave. Feeling like Papillon a feeling of achievement starts to set in when suddenly the swell picks up hitting my perch and the feeling changes to terror. I look back the way I’ve come and it looks like it’s about to become one with the sea. I manage to only slip in up to my waist once whilst reversing. Feeling like a fool I join the others who inform me that as the smallest member of the team its best if I jug up the rope first to confirm the rope is running well and back it up. We get back to the Bothy knackered.

The next day makes up for the first. After a lazy start we ab into Rora head again (with a guidebook) and do an amazing 3 pitch E6 called Two Wee Laddies. The position and gear was great and it ranks as one of the finest of its grade I’ve done in the UK. The next day we make the pilgrimage back to St Johns head. Abseiling down the face is sheltered from the strong Southerlies giving perfect climbing conditions. I spend half an hour on a grigri playing on the moves and checking the protection. Adam goes down for a look and when its my turn for a top rope I’m keen to do the longest link i can and manage to link it 1st go

 

with plenty of good shakeouts it felt about 8a+. As the gear appeared excellent I was keen to lead it immediately as this is essentially the Salathe Wall crack pitch of the UK.  I abbed in and as evening looked like it was coming in thought better of it and jugged back out again. We were keen for GMB on the Old Man but with the Squalls that had been passing this pitch appeared the better idea.

The day after we arrived there again, I rechecked the gear and warmed up mincing about on the nice E5 wall to gain the gear and the crackline. It’s quite windy but as it was our last day i knew it would give me confidence to come back to try the full link if i led this pitch. The lead went smoothly and as a locked the 2 crimps to reach for the jugs before a hands off and the e4 6b finishing crack my foot popped off. Although I fell on the biggest runout on the pitch I had a good rock 11 and rock 2 at foot height. I was going to pull back on and go to the top as I’d learned what I wanted to about the pitch but Adam said to give it another go. After a good rest huddling from the wind on the belay we pulled the ropes and I set off up. I’d asked Adam about how he did the crux high step about halfway up which I’d felt a little sloppy on. I attempted it his way and promptly fell off that move. Pissed off I came down pulled the rope and after afew minutes climbed it and this time it felt steady. I abbed and stripped it and Adam jugged out near hypothermic for his belay efforts. As i took out the last of the belay and swung out on the Abb rope I felt I was going to die, swinging out 15/20 m with the wind taking me towards Big John I start to jug up the rope as fast as I can feeling dizzy.

The pitch would way in at E8 7a, with good protection after the initial E5 start. It’s a great achievement by Dave Macleod to do it after all the other pitches as climbing an E8 7a when tired is hard. The pitch itself is not E9 because it’s lacking in any form of runout with many E6/7s being much more serious propositions than this. Once you’ve done the E5 start you could fall off any move and not go very far and even the E5 you’d just take airtime.  It also has only 1 move that would warrant 7a, and 2 of 6c.

E9/10 should have multiple 6c/7a moves and a runout, when you look at Macleods Echo wall and Rhapsody these routes fit the remit of E11 well, 8c with big runouts - amazing efforts and a big step forward in trad standards in the UK. Ricky Bells the Rachlin Effect is blatantly a sandbag at the grade of E8 having 8a+ climbing and a 6b move after a 10m runout nr the end which would give you plenty of time to admire Rachlin wall, sounds like E9 to me. If Longhopes top pitch was graded harder than Ricky’s I don’t think it would be fair as I doubt it’s anywhere near as big a lead. I look forward to getting back up there with a team next year and expect it to be one of the uber classic hard routes of the UK as it deserves. Stunning efforts from Drummond, Hill, Arran, Turnbull, Macleod and Turner. Get up there.

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

[comPiler]

A Shit State...s Trip
26 September 2012, 6:21 pm

Heading to Yosemite tomorrow with a largish team. I’ve been there 3 times previously. The first was 11 years ago with my dad, after he’d retired from building footpaths for the National Trust. We’d planned to try the Nose as he’d loved the history with Harding and regarded Lynn Hills 1 day effort as the best ever. Unfortunately the journey took its toll on his already pummelled hip so walking was issue enough but it was great to see the place. The second time was with Al and Joe Wilson, Chris Hope the ‘other Chris’ in 2002. 2 friends I was meant to be climbing with had bailed near the time of departure but it was still a pretty good trip doing lots of the smaller Valley classics like Astroman, Rostrum, West Face of El Cap etc. I climbed Astroman with a guy called Joe, I’d been warned not to climb with him for being too slow but we topped out at 14.00 and apart from getting his helmet stuck in the Slot for 5 mins he seemed quite fast. When we topped out he asked, “Do you think Warren was watching us?” I assured him that he certainly had. The 3rd trip was last October and was somewhat special in terms of shit luck. I had had high expectations of this trip for having a great team of people and being twice as fit as when I was last there. Alison Osius emailed what I was hoping to do and I naively said Golden Gate, El Nino and Freerider. Myself, Neil Mawson, Adam Hocking and Hazel Findlay travelled out and Ryan Pasquil, Katy Whittaker, Paul Smitten, Pete and Vicky Hurley were already out there.

Hock on the Hollow   I’d booked a 4-door economy hire car through Dollar. On arriving they said we wouldn’t fit and would have to upgrade via lots more money.  We said we’d try and going down to the garage I felt like Victor Meldrew when I saw the car they’d allotted us. It was a 2-door car with no boot. After an angry interchange at their office it ended with my credit card getting brought out...

 

Dan (broken heel) McManus

We manage to get a camping space in upper pines the first night where in the middle of the night we get flooded and spend the next day drying out everything. At some point that night I think I reversed the car slightly into one of the concrete bunkers in the parking spaces but thought nothing of it until Mawson points out a scratch on the back. Nobody had wanted to pay additional insurance and any damage to the car would be taken by the credit card used. This made me nervous during the whole trip and for pretty good reason as it was used like a wheelbarrow for much of the trip. The weather was awful the first 2 days so we visited a steep sport cliff called Jailhouse. On arriving I couldn’t believe my luck, Alex Honnold and Niko Favresse were there, 2 of the modern time climbers I had most respect for. I’d spoken with my friend Pete Robbins about such a possibility. Being on higher than normal sport fitness and being a total idiot I try to impress them. After falling high on a climb in the middle of the cliff 3 times I was totally wasted.

 

My arms contracted into claws during the night which many experienced climbers could tell you means your arms wont work very well for at least a week. After a rest day packing me and Hock set off on Golden Gate hoping to get ahead of the French climbing team of excellence by going up just after the rain. At the base as we’re about to set off hauling 2 Krabs drop down within minutes of each other and sound like bullets. Having seen the pictures of Alex Huber and others on the wall we were both without helmets and I had no envy of the people working in Ahfganistan.

Things were looking good at first. We made it to Hollow Flake which made a great bivvy for 2 wee Cumbrians. The next day things were still looking good. I’d led the Monster offwidth, had hauled and Adam was seconding, we’d managed not to fall so far although the 11b to leave heart ledges was definitely a sandbag. It was only 12.30 and an easy pitch led to El Cap Spire where the plan was to play cards and fix another pitch or 2 in the cool of the evening.

Adam shouts to take him there and I look down to see blood around him. He manages to jumar up to me and I see blood and goo in his hair. I knew he was a tough git as in primary school I’d chased him over a 2m drop he’d taken headfirst when his feet clipped a rail, he’d got up and walked away with a bump and bleeding but not crying. The decision to abseil off was quick and to get back across to Hollow Flake involved jumaring sideways on 3 little bits of core attached to one peg with a heavy haulbag attached to me. At the fixed lines we met Piton Pete who had been pissed to lose a partner 2 days previous but had found someone more willing and with a haulbag dedicated to beer they were resting and getting aled up. I’d melted the top of my widebrimmer hat using it as a teatowel for a percolator minus its necessary water so with that and Adams face covered in blood we looked a pair of tools. Pete gave us some great advice as we passed “you wankers go get yourselves some helmets”. We touchdown, walk back to Camp4 and Hock gets his head looked at which thankfully only needs a few stitches.

Hocks Face at the Base

 

I get a lurgy the day after and although I didn’t know it at the time something called central fatigue or burnout started at this point. Hazel combined with Hanzjorg Aur set off up Golden Gate and many other teams set off up it. A few days later plans are changed and thinking to get Ryan up a route we make El Nino the target. As I wake up that morning I have to stop 3 times on the half km walk to the Lodge due to a trapped nerve in my back (due to receiving a cornice on the head in Scotland) and I could empathize with how frustrated my dad was whilst in the Valley. Ryan forgets his rope so we start a little later than expected.

Ryan starts off on the Black Dike pitch. I think I hear a helicopter and looking up to see it fly over a black shape starts to get bigger,’ maybe it’s a bird?’ but no it’s a rock fall which splits, some bits just missing Ryan, some hitting the ledge I’m belayed on. Ryan hardly noticed and with the heat starts to take some big falls. He comes down from the pitch saying that ‘you’ll piss it’. We go down. Impressed with Patch’s and Leos efforts as watching Ryan on the first pitch and having spoken with Hans about it makes me think it would be about E76c in the UK.

The day after was not a vast improvement when belaying Dan McManus on Cosmic Debris he slips whilst clipping a cam and lands on a rocky slab.  

Hock on Separate Reality

Deciding on how much damage was done took a few anxious minutes but luckily he’d only broken his heel and also that it was the last two days of his holiday. Walking back to camp 4 I’d decided on two possible options for the afternoon. Option 1 was to read my kindle, option two, to write about how turd the trip had been.  On arriving I find my kindle is broken probably from the flooding the first night. Hocking and myself were living in a ‘holy’ tent lent by the great Libby from SARS and it made for quite a dry dusty environment. After a few days moaning about everything even Hocking had had enough and set off on Pete Hurley & Cos’s perilous journey up Half Dome which was going to involve 9 people bivvying on a small foot shelf.   This fellowship was broken after the first 2 pitches and a small elite team came back successfully a few days later.

 

Towards the end I did have some fun days out with Sean Villanueva O’Driscol and Hazel. Sean climbs somewhere beyond the 100% level where psyche and adrenaline come into play, the effort and psyche is contagious and helps show why he’s one of the top big wall free climbers in the world. He outshone my Bear story considerably saying he’d awoke in sleeping bag once and a Bear was in front of his face, he screamed and it left.

Hazel, light and rested from success on Golden Gate did a great lead on a very tiring blank corner called Book of Hate. The last 5 meters have no holds (in fact many bits if it are lacking in holds) and she looked like Hitgirl running down the corridor at the end of Kickass, moving fast, missing out the last protection totally focused on the climbing. Sean and myself were silent, very impressed. Hock and I managed to devour huge quantities of coffee in the Lodge which made for jittery climbing performances and the other highlight of the trip was a the picture of Hock looking out from the back of Separate Reality, when you zoom in on the eyes it’s a masterpiece.

The dream topping of this trip was a £220 bill from Dollar hirecar 2 weeks after I got back from the UK. I swore I’d never go back to America and spent 3 months dealing with the ‘burnout’ thing you read about in sports science books.

In the New Year I changed my mind remembering that when I first got into climbing doing a big route on El Cap was a primary objective. Another team has been ‘assembled’ and I’m feeling a bit luckier this time although one member of the team Ben Bransby has just cancelled two days ago due to having a virus, Vertigo or Labrynthitus?  Ben will be sorely missed on any pitch involving hard moves, especially the steep ones but hopefully will be recovered for Longhope next June. Myself, Callum Muskett and Dan (broken heel) McManus are heading out.  Others include; Hazel, Alex H? And Neil Dyer will be there as well. Callum and Dan are going for Golden Gate and everyone else is going for Muir Wall and if there is time I’d love to try Salathe. Dan did Goliath 15 times the other night before doing some sort of speed solo on it so I’m sure he’ll find the Monster OW easy (ha). I’m looking forward to hanging out on El Cap as much as I can and I’m hoping to do less abseiling and moaning.

Sean with Flute

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

[comPiler]

Yosemite 2012
29 October 2012, 2:12 pm



It was a considerably different trip from last year although still a regretfully large carbon footprint.

Highlights included; freeing every pitch of Premuir with Neil Dyer and Hazel Findlay after some abortive efforts to get going due to weather and hold-ups, watching Dan McManus and Callum Muskett climbing Golden Gate over 5 days and trying Golden Gate in a day with Dan McManus. The most sadistic moment of the trip was a young friend stuck in/on the Hollow Flake chimney.

Of particular note were Hazels performances every day on Premuir which were some of the best I’ve seen in climbing and it didn’t surprise me hearing a top American climber suggest she may be the best female trad climber in the world. Although Dyer missed out a few of the easier pitches which were awkward in a 3 he was the strongest member of the team and could easily have freed it all. Neil Dyers climbing became more of an enigma as we gained height, with his limits being nowhere in my sights.

Things weren’t looking hopeful when setting off. After losing my partner Ben Bransby to a form of labrynthitis I was left with vague messages from potential partners travelling down from Canada in a ‘car of chaos’. Filled with philosophers and waifs, their ETA was unknown even to them. Messages about how hot the weather was were not sounding optimistic either. I’d written off using my new haul bag and was going to talk Dyer into trying day hits on Freerider and some other big routes.

Climbing with Dan and Callum the 1st few days was ace. We did Astroman the 1st day and with 1 litre of water between us meant that the last 5 pitches were climbed with syrup like mouths. After Astroman Callum was keen to go pulling on the knobs in Tuolomne Meadow hoping for cooler conditions but myself and Dan persuaded him that the hot cracks of Yosemite were where it was at. They began preparations for Golden Gate and McManus was probably the most psyched person in the valley at that point. Just before they set off I picked up Dyer from Merced and passing under the Cap at midnight with the rolling stones playing and a full moon making it glow, Dyer was stoked for a look at the Muir wall and we make plans to try the 1st quarter called the Muirblast.

We got up at 2.00 and climbed Moby Dick then two 5.12s by head torch and a 3rd in the dawn light to arrive at the 5.13b traverse well before the sun hit it as the weather was still baking. Having seen a piccy of Kurt Smith undercutting across the roof I set off doing the same and after a quick tussle fell off. Realising shorties need to palm across it, with a quick rest at the belay it goes. 3 more great pitches lead up to heart ledges where we abseiled off talking about the best day out climbing we had ever had.


McManus Monster OW

Hazels potential partner hadn't made it although myself and Neil think she blew him out as Neil’s way better looking and I've a much greater fashion sense. The idea of Muir Wall being Hazels - we formed a team.

Neil and I hauled a 60 litre bag of water and other crap up to Grey ledges, about 16 pitches and one day later I set off on the Muirblast again with Hazel whilst the legend Dyer hauled a bag of food alone. We arrived at the 13b traverse at 1st light and Hazel had been saying all sorts of self deprecating stuff on the way up but when she mentioned the word ‘flow’ I was concerned for her sanity, let alone her climbing ability.

When she set off quite slowly across the easier bit I settled in for a long belay stint. I’d told people I wouldn't be surprised if she flashed it but as she used her same slow pace to waltz across the crux and I was in fact surprised. We reached Heart and gave Dyer a hand hauling to past Mammoth.

On the way down we had a good ‘Panorama’ of McManus who, having built the Monster OW up the last month, was adamant he was going to do it in the shade. Unfortunately Salathe was as busy as it gets and he was forced to do it in the sun. It was great to see the Welsh language in full flow on the Cap. Callum: “Iawn Dan”  Dan: “Cae dy Geg ****!  Dan did a great lead in the midday heat.

Going back up a day later Hazel leads 12b(E5/6) by head torch and I lead through linking a 12d and 11d as the aid belay is in the middle of the crux. Arriving on Grey my heart sank as Mike and Mike were climbing the Shield which makes a fankle probable. By the time they had polished off the 13b corner it’s in the sun and mission shutdown ensues. I had a burn and after 2 falls I reached an impasse. Hazel does a superb effort breaching the impasse via a heinous move and falling high on the final corner. I second up and realising times getting on suggest to Hazel to get to the next belay any way she can. When I arrived there it was very cold, neither of the 2 pitches we’d wanted to do were completed, the forecast was shit, we couldn't communicate with Dyer and other aid climbers were coming up to use the good bit of grey ledges. Feeling gutted I suggested we bail as my thoughts of the Sierra Nevada in the beer locker to commiserate our efforts became prominent.

We fixed down to Mammoth and had a beer. After a couple of days getting impatient in Camp4 - the forecast was for it to shit out at 11.00 - and as Dyer had not done any climbing and these pitches were awkward in a 3, we headed up and did the corner and slab 1st go before patching the haul bags up to weather the rain and Dyer did everyone a favour by replacing 3 of the fixed lines down from Heart.

At Camp4 the other prospective member of the team arrived briefly and having mentioned ballistic and ethics many times in one conversation I was slightly relieved he wasn't coming up Muir as I associated neither of those things with our current efforts. We were keen to do it in similar style to Caldwells Shaft ascent. Up to Heart, have a rest day on the deck, then go. With the weather being a bit shit an extra rest day or two was had. Nico Potard and Paulo set off on the Friday in the turd weather and we joined them at Grey ready for a final push. Hazel did the 13b corner 1st go and Neil followed through climbing the 13a slab first go with Hazel making short work of it. We do 2 further easier pitches and bivvy on the triple direct.

The next day was a big one in the sun. An 11d links into a 12b, a 12a/b layback, a 12c layback and hauling doesn't sound much but it felt it. Hazel laybacks up the 11d leading to beneath the crux and pulling out of sight onto what looked like a ledge from the meadow and starts moaning about it being hard. I managed to hold my tongue wanting to tell her to just get on with it which was lucky as it was an awful and desperate pitch when seconding. It felt like a 12c slab with very loose flakes making climbing across it feel like the old game ‘operation’ as the flakes would decimate teams starting the Nose.

We made a base beneath the crux which looked incredible and Nico and Paolo were good enough to leave 3 pegs in. Keen to save time I aided the corner that night and lower down to climb it with 2 rests and sleep more happily in the knowledge it was doable. The next day was quite fierce. We all warmed up with a burn up the corner on a rope, then Hazel and I checked out the top crack which has a sting boulder problem near its end. We waited out the sun and in the evening I had a burn in the sun on a rope to save time and Dyer blasted the corner looking like Samson pushing the temple apart and almost flashes the tope crack. Hazel, Ms Patience, makes an awesome ascent pulling the ropes she leads it easily 1st go. Under pressure I was well happy to second this pitch before darkness. I was so close to falling off the top crack it felt like a stiff breeze blew me into the final finger locks.


12D Knobs

The next day was another big one in the sun. After losing an hour to mincing we arrive on a 13a traverse involving a burly down climb of an arête to a dyno for a jug where your feet run out necessitating swift execution of 2 quite filthy moves before a much easier lip traverse.

Watching the sun creep across the face made for a frantic effort. After falling nr the end first go I get it next thinking it quite reachy and was therefore super impressed with Hazel working out a shorty sequence in the sun so quickly.

The next 12b gave us all some grief but luckily Hazel found the midget variation. I knew some of my friends like Robbins would be well suited to the brilliant 12d pitch beyond, involving some hot knob pulling it led to some great ledges where we had some porridge and grub.

Dyer led the next traversing 12a dyno pitch, which lead us to a fantastic ledge above the shield wall. As the ledges were getting set up I quickly fix the 11d above ready for morning involving using shrubs to reach a chickenwing to gain a layback I abbed to the belay thankful I didn’t have to climb this ‘choss’ pitch in the morning.

The next day started badly. Some strange noises coming from the 11d as I’m belaying are at first amusing but after ten mins are worrying. Hazel had gone the wrong way on the layback and had become stuck in a chimney. It was seriously close to a 999 episode and I was concerned both for Hazel and myself when Steve Findlay next came round to pay me a visit. Luckily our dihedral queen got extricated and we continued via an ace 12b to the penultimate pitch a 13c corner. Hazel and I checked it out and Dyer pulls a blinder flashing it easily on second. About 7c laybacking to half height it then gets really hard for 5/10 metres. We hung out hiding from the sun and just before dark I give it 3 burns in 15 mins slipping off the easier bit each time I was pissed off and knew the evening was going to be long. Hazel had a sterling 1st burn almost catching the ledge post hard climbing.

Her next goes are more tired and things begin winding down with Dyer having belayed the both of us for 3 hrs by headtorch. I ask for 1 last go and manage to slither to a high point, pasting my feet wherever I slap the ledge, mantel and spin round to look down most of El Cap and crow down with delight at my friends. Hazel quietly sends it next go and we have a very tired final feast on our ledge. Topping out the next day was fantastic and I was more than happy with how we’d climbed it with Neil and Hazel being great company on the wall. Neil giving the strength, Hazel the next  gen’ talent and myself offering an impatient edge. Almost every pitch was as good as it gets. As well as relief at being finished it was also sad as you may not climb with the same team again. The moment passes.


Yosemite 2012

The 1st rest day didn't go too well, losing a forfeit in cards with McManus, for who had to lead the Monster OW, on our 1 day bid to try Golden Gate, which with the weather due to pull in unfortunately had to be sooner rather than later. Dyer and Callum were going for Freerider the same day and Naomi and Gareth on the Nose, there were jokes about a mass Brit rescue as the weather was due to go bad at 23.00.

After 2 days rest we set off at midnight and things didn't start well. Falling low down I realised I’d put the dud batteries in my torch. As I’m blocking to Mammoth Dan kindly lends me his torch and chatting to Dan about how much better life is I fall again on a 4b move cursing into the night, climbing without due care and attention this time I felt ill and I knew Dan would be thinking exactly what I would have been, which was ‘what am I doing on the cliff with this clown’. Not wanting to let Dan down I pulled myself together re-climb it and things go fast and smooth from here to the move pitch. Dan hadn't fallen to here and having grabbed a good sidepull he needed only to pull his right foot up. He had 2 goes getting cringe-fully close. With the grey clouds having moved in time is against us. I get close on the 2nd twice in ten minutes.

Dan tells me later it was horrible to watch as my fingers uncurled on the finishing holds. We hit the Tower for the people (pitch 30, 8 to go) zonked and nervous about the weather. Going French free and getting a little lost in the night we topped out around ten and staggered down east ledges to camp4, both of us more knackered than we could remember being. The heavy rain came down an hour or two later. If Dan had got through the Move pitch I’m pretty convinced he’d have polished it off or would have gotten deadly close. Dan has been one of Britain's best trad climbers for a decade now and has been going very well the last 2 years, if any companies would like to give him free gear (like Scarpa and DMM) he’d be a great ambassador for it. When I go again GG in a day with a bigger weather window will be top of the list. From that effort I couldn't open my eyes for more than 20 secs for 2 days, looking out like Moley from Wind in the Willows enviously at everyone with 20/20.

Dyer cooked up a mega feed round a fire in Camp4 on the final night in the valley. Dan and Callum and I finish the holiday hanging out in San Fran eating loads. The Fort Mason YHA overlooking the Golden Gate and Alcatraz must be one of the best based YHA's in the world.

 A MEGA Trip.

 Thanks a lot to my partners, Pete Graham for helping haul gear to El Caps Base, Justen Sjong for ace beta, Scott Cosgrove and Kurt Smith for being bold enough to find the line and placing the belay bolts for our horrifically heavy haulpigs, Nico and Paulo for the pegs and Will Stanhope for picking up the bags, Neil and even Hazel from the picnic car park.

Thanks also to Sophie for not having too many parties while her devious partner was away, my Sponsors for ace gear to try and trash and the Brenin for the time off.



...Oh and one more 'Big Up' to Raff, a captain with British Airways who tried to get us upgraded to Business Class and got us some champagne - legend.




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

[comPiler]

Winter in Wales
19 November 2012, 7:38 pm



The Lleyn

I could moan a great deal about the weather we’ve had in North Wales for most of the past 12 months but to sum it up I can say that if Mark Reeves makes a sequel to his 1st climbing film it could justifiably be called ‘Between the Floods’.  Rock climbing through the winters in North Wales generally involves some bouldering, some Slate, the odd day on Gogarth or Tremadog but the most reliable venue for good weather and dry rock is the Lleyn Peninsula.  The Lleyn is the area I associate with being forced to go to after constant weeks of rain and having a lack of the boredom threshold necessary for going sport climbing on Pen Trwyn.  

Looking down Samarkand with the green Mariners Lichen being the fluffy stuff on the rock, common on many UK sea cliffs  

The Lleyn is never likely to become popular however much Pat Littlejohn touts its virtues because it boasts some of the loosest rock you are likely to climb on. Don’t get me wrong there are some routes with great rock down there, Path to Rome, any on Pen Y Cil, Cripple Creek and Tonight at Noon all have pretty good rock. However, on many of the climbs on Stigmata buttress on Dorys I’d guestimate 6 out of 10 of the holds you use are very loose and the other 4 more solid ones you could pull off without trying too hard, you get used to only pressing down on the holds, never outwards. It has always surprised me that the crag is still there every time I’ve visited it over the years and I presume this is down to the low rainfall because heavy showers would surely wash much of Craig Dorys into the sea. Climbs that get E6 on the face would be HVS/E1 if solid and generally follow the bigger corner systems, such as the Gross Clinic and Rust Never Sleeps. The climbs are not quite as dangerous as they sound although the safest method to climb necessitates a cautious approach and has been described by one friend as slow ledge shuffling.  The new ‘super’ routes Stevie Haston has put up follow very steep lines through the looseness and look terrifying with no recourse to bridging when the holds you are on start disintegrating.

If adventure climbing is your thing and you enjoy sea cliffs then the Lleyn should be top of the list, Gogarth pretty much pales in comparison (certainly in terms of rock quality). The highest proportion of potential new routes in North Wales can be found on the Lleyn.  Jack Street and C Jacksons 1968 epic route Vulture on Cilan Main is possibly the wildest climb of the grade in North Wales and the fact that there is only 1 other free climb on that huge bit of face adds to the feeling of remoteness.  The other freeclimb on this face is Terrorhawk, a contender for the best multi-pitch E6 in North Wales with the most serious pitch being the first one which it shares with Vulture, the rock thankfully gets better as height is gained.

One of the few forays outdoors since I’ve been back was to have a day out at Dorys with Sophie. We chose Samarkand, an E5 just right of Byzantium which I know has some of the best rock on the cliff. I gave Sophie 2 tips before starting. One was not to fall off the start as seconding with 45m of rope out could easily put you on the deck/boulders with the stretch. The other was to check every hold before using it as it’s not like grit. The contrast between the good Yosemite granite and the ‘good’ Dorys rock felt considerable and after our ascent we met a friend Sam at the Beacon Climbing Wall who had pulled a flake off the top of the same climb and broken his leg in the fall. I classed this as getting away lightly having been nervous about the prospect of pulling a hold off the top wall my imagination had made the consequences more serious. There are many terrifying stories people have from climbing on the Lleyn. Sat in the Heights with Leigh McGinley he tells the story of him and Chris Wentworth going for a repeat of Littlejohns and Sustads epic traverse of Dorys, War and Peace, a 16 pitch E5. Towards the end a ledge collapsed on Leigh and his fall pulled out Chris’ belay with the pair of them left hanging on one cam and both of them battered and bloodied. They had no car so had to walk back to Abersoch and hitch back to the Heights in Llanberis to consume lots of ale. I presume they had a thousand mile stare on each of them.

Climbing on Terrorhawk, a Littlejohn and White masterpiece

 

A trip out to the Lleyn for me usually involves doing 1 climb before I remember why I hadn’t been down there for months which does not bode well for my recall as the days out I’ve had there have been some of the most memorable. Climbing Vulture with Mark Reeves I remember watching him walking/climbing along the 5b traverse pitch with no gear until near the end and wondering idly where we’d/he’d end up if he fell. Climbing Terrorhawk with Jack had been a good adventure where Jack managed to place a bulldog on route, the first summer placement I’d seen used at the time.

Climbing Other Realms with Neil (the youth) Dicksen was an interesting affair. The climb was originally given E5 by Littlejohn even though his partner Chris Forrest had said it should not be given such a low grade. A strong team had pulled a block off it and had been forced to retreat, another strong team had had some combined ‘shananigans’ for an ascent to be made hence it had earned a reputation. Neil led the direct variation first pitch which felt like an E6 6c. On the 2nd pitch I climbed up to a bulge at 10 metres and stretched to place a cam high on the left in a loose looking ‘tombstone’ flake. I grabbed the most solid looking undercling which came off in my hand, thankfully I stayed on and reversed to the belay knowing the youth was revving to go. Neil was near his most relaxed and fatalistic form at the time and climbing up to my high point he didn’t hesitate to grab the loose flake I’d placed a cam in which I realised was directly above the belay. He backed it up and sat on the runners whilst I adjusted my belay to swing to the side if the flake plunged downwards. Neil comes down to the belay and suggested something about the crux bulge I didn’t want to hear.  I go back up more relaxed with the knowledge that Neil had tested the flake and was at least 2 stone heavier than myself, I committed to the bulge and grim wall above. We topped out and like the others who have done the climb more recently it left an impression as do many of the climbs from Littlejohns legacy.

In 2007 myself and Nick Bullock went for a repeat on a classic 2 pitch Dorys ‘E5’ called Bobok which according to one of its first ascentionists  means ‘the chant of dead people’. Bobok was put up by Ray Kay and Dave Jones, 2 devout loose rock activists who put up some truly terrifying climbs in great style. Stevie Haston tells the story about trying a new line through it and lowering off some appalling runners he was able to flick out with the rope when safely on the ground.

The hard suffering Sophie looking at the bible before being forced to abseil down  

Nick set off on the first pitch and took an hour to get 10 metres.  2 hours later at 20 metres he had to pull up a 2nd rack and after 4 hours he reached the belay.  Seconding the pitch I counted 40 runners and realised that the rock and protection quality was such that a fall would not have been prudent even with that amount. Nick having taken many awful falls onto terrible runners must have felt the same.

On the second pitch I’m thankful the rock quality is better and using a big foothold I make a long crucifix to gain a groove and eventually the top. Nick gets into the same crucifix position when seconding and the big foothold comes off leaving Nick ‘campused’ in a strenuous position, fair play to him though he didn’t fall. It had felt quite a bit harder than the E6s on the crag.

The one time I’ve climbed with Pete Robins on the Lleyn involved a slightly regretful experience for a friend. We went down to repeat Professor Whitaker, an E7 in Vatican Zawn. After a quick look in the guidebook I led what I thought was the first pitch and Pete led through on the second rapidly as Pete does. The gear had seemed good and we felt it to be very easy for the grade and/or that we were going well. We went back to Llanberis and told Jack Geldard how easy it was and how great the protection.

Jack obviously spent more time checking the guidebook and with Tim Neil went and tried it. He reached an impasse and felt it to be a bit dangerous so went down after a fight with the rock and maybe a dodgy fall?. Sometime later after some questioning it had turned out me and Pete had climbed the E4 called Messalina to the left of Professor Whitaker. He was unimpressed. Sorry Jack.

If you’ve climbed a lot at Gogarth and are after an adventure this winter buy the Lleyn guide and be careful.



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

[comPiler]

Most used items 2012...
20 December 2012, 9:48 pm



ARC'TERYX:

Caff smug in his warm Fission SL jacket on top of the ever windy St Johns Head, Hoy  

Undoubtedly my Fission SL jacket, the lightest weight fully waterproof insulated jacket Arc'teryx make. I hate being cold and this is very warm with a good hood, pockets, and internal pockets for drying gloves out. It's great as a double wammy with a waterproof in horrendous rain and wind with the double waterproof layer being a tip from the veteran of outdoor work Martin Doyle after a horrific weekend  a few years ago where all PYB instructors and clients were soaked to the skin within an hour of being outdoors.

The base layers Phase SLs have only left me for the time it takes to wash and dry them, great stuff. The shirts are very trendy as well, the only thing I find more strange than myself being in such great kit is when I see Ryan Pasquil in it.

DMM:

The offsets of every size seem to be the wires of the year for me and I think I've placed more of these than the standard wires/wallnuts. The Alpha quickdraws have been getting some whack as well. The sport ones feel abit like the Mambas but you can dismantle them to use the krabs for other stuff making them more useful for me, they feel pretty heavyweight so that they'll last a long time and won't flap about in the wind easily, great for redpointing.

I've been carrying a few longer alpha trads for lower down routes to reduce rope drag and saving afew of the lightweight phantoms for the top half of climbs. I'm a bit of a trainspotter nowadays.

STERLING:

The yellow Velocity 9.8 is the rope of the moment for me. Its was certainly useful for holding Calum on his many falls last week. The 2 Photons, 7.8 mm 70m ropes have been great as well, they were used for fixed lines on El Cap briefly but I'm hoping they'll be good for the Longhope route in the summer as they may be getting well tested up there.

The Photons being used on El Cap with Hazel Findlay having completed the dyno gaining ledges above the Shield headwall on pitch 29 of Premuir/Muir Wall, Yosemite, California.  

RED CHILI:

A bit of a parting shot this one. I'm looking forward to wearing 5.10s from January but have been with Red Chili for about 14 years and have liked alot of their range. The Habanero and Dos Equis in the late 90s, the Voodoo and X-Cube in the early noughties and finally the Coronas and Matadors from 2008 ish till now. The only Red Chili shoe that now fits my feet is the Matador. These are pretty downtoed.

When trying Big Bang  in 2011 I went down from size 6.5 to 6 being nervous about slipping off the small foothold on the lip and they did the job  but this could be why the Coronas no longer fit? who knows. I used them on the Meltdown slab as well and when knew they can feel fantastic (as long as the laces dont snap in which case you're knackered). They only come in black so don't where them in sunny, warm places like..........!



Cheers to Richie Patterson, Mark Smith and crew for the support over the years.

See Left - The Matadors and an incriminating picture off a social networking site put there by the person who gained some airtime on the Enduro Corner (and many more pitches) on Astroman just above.

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

[comPiler]

New Beacon Climbing Centre – Routesetting...and Climate Change
2 January 2013, 10:34 pm



The new Beacon climbing centre has been up and running for a few months now and I'm sure its owners, Steve and Gill are happy to have the Beacon associated with good dry routes, not that the routes found at the old Beacon located on the side of Mount Doom were poor or damp. The new Beacon offers great routes, bouldering, a great cafe with views and with the Indy Wall on Anglesey there are now 2 very good training facilities in North Wales not including the Mill. Many members of the National Youth Academy and other very good youths are climbing/bouncing around at these venues all the time so I'm expecting to get a rope up lots of climbs I'd like to do next year or for them to put the clips in.

The BMC lead ladder started on the 1st of December and I set 5 of the routes 7a - 8a. Steve Mayers had warned me not to set any sandbags so I was quite liberal with the holds. When Mark Reeves made light work of the 7b my suspicions grew and were later confirmed when Calum got up the 8a very quickly, I was gutted but had some satisfaction when the 8a spat Pete Robins off the last move. They've all had a grade knocked off them now.

As well as the BMC lead ladder climbs I set an 8b. I expect Emma Twyford will be throwing laps on this climb soon before going over to Malham early next year (if it dries out again) to finish off Unjustified, a route she was looking close on early last year. One thing I know for sure about the new beacon 8b is that Pete has no chance on it.

Ian Maxwell and Anthony 'Ginger' Cain at the new Beacon Climbing Centre  

Climbing indoors is probably the most sociable type I can think of, with people of all ages and backgrounds under the same roof. Chatting with Anthony 'Ginger' Cain is always an eye opener. Ginger is 82 and owns Llanberis Mountain Arts which has many of Gingers fantastic paintings of crags and mountains in the UK and abroad. He heads to the wall afew times a week. Talking about climbing in the Lakes he said he'd once walked from Ambleside over to Wasdale up to Scafell to climb and walked back again the same day- we've definitely got it easy nowadays. Last week after a chat at the wall he asked if I was heading down the pub later, I replied that I was having a quiet night in and left the wall feeling suitably soft compared with Ginger.

Facilities like the Beacon and Indy are crucial for keen climbers in Wales, especially as 2012 was the 3rd wettest year on record in Wales. Having had to leave my car half a km from my house the other day and wade through floods to get home gives some indication of the levels of rain we've been having. Work recently has consisted of trudging through bogs with maps, compasses and hoods up although myself and Dan Vajzovic did manage to get some climbs done on the Orme and the slate in the mornings before arriving at the Beacon due to downpours. The highlight was Dan seconding Pull My Daisy just before the rain, with Dan having only started climbing this year.

Dan and goats on the Orme  

In North Wales it's nearly always possible to find somewhere dry to climb but admittedly I can now name every good gear placement on many of the climbs on Tremadog, Holyhead and the Slate from having done them so many times. In 2008 at Plas Y Brenin I climbed Striptease 15+ times in the summer as one of the driest amenable climbs. Working outdoors nearly every day makes you think about the weather a great deal, effecting where you go, what you do and mental stability.



As part of the contracts for Plas Y Brenin you are expected to give a number of general interest talks in the evening. For the first year I did my talks on climate change, fresh from my environmental science course and slightly concerned that very few people believed human activity could affect the weather. The emphasis of the talk was on the IPCCs (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Report and their findings and also the Stern Report as a separate source with similar findings. I also had a small look at Nigel Lawson's 'Great Climate Swindle' which essentially involved him and 1 entomologist going against 99% of scientists saying climate change was caused by Solar Flares and it didn’t effect a certain type of insect. Interestingly a few days after Nigel’s show the Met office put graphs up on their website showing that solar flares couldn’t account for the warming.

Rhian, Kirsten and Paul in a bog  

The general theme of the research was that climate change was very serious with a changing pattern of weather distribution and much higher likelihood of extreme weather events being just 2 of many grim consequences. No scientist would say climate change causing the heavy rain but it's probable that it’s a major factor affecting the weather.

After a year of depressing people I changed my general interest talks to showing exotic climbing destinations like Madagascar and Yosemite. The hypocrisy of my change has not been lost on me. The first talks implied it was morally unacceptable to waste energy willy nilly and the next talks were helping inspire people to blow their energy consumption sky high with international flights. If you are a climber who would like to become a true environmentalist I'd recommend becoming like one of Britain’s most low impact climbers, Chris Doyle who was born on the Orme and is looking unlikely to ever leave it other than for the odd trip to Dyserth down the road.

Being a 'low impact' climber and a climber keen on going on trips abroad are never likely to go hand in hand. If anyone knows how to reconcile the 2 without spending weeks on a yacht please get in touch.

The media seems to have put climate change on a back burner in recent years other than for random reports on 'leaks' that bare no relation to the full findings of the reports. The next few decades are likely to show how accurate the IPCCs predictions are going to be. I see wind farms and solar arrays as a very small price to pay for mitigating some of the effects of climate change and any way that energy consumption can be reduced and offset seems to be a worthwhile venture. There is nothing to lose by doing something although with a possible long flight this year and next I think I'll have to do more than most for it not to be 'business as usual'.



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

[comPiler]

La Rambla
18 January 2013, 9:56 am



A Siege in Siurana...

There are many climbs which have a good element of history about them which can add to the desire to climb them and in the realms of sport climbing La Rambla is up there amongst them. It’s 40 metres long and follows a crack and amazing headwall. The majority of it was climbed by Alex Huber in 1993 who placed a chain 5 metres from the top next to a 2 finger pocket. He gave it 8c+ and it’s regarded by many as a sandbag at the grade which having a v8+ boulder sequence after an 8c it probably is a toughy. In 2003 Ramon Julian made the first ascent of the full link to the top, pipping Dani Andrada to the post who himself had been getting very close.

I had a look at the moves last time I was there wanting to make certain the dynos Chris Sharma does in the middle section of the climb are possible for a weak shorty like myself. I managed all the moves thanks to some good info off Alizee Dufraize for 2 of the reachy bits and if I was going to try a route of this calibre La Rambla would be my number 1 choice.  With this in mind I'm postponing my Brenin contract and am heading out to Siurana on the 21st January to be out there until the 16th of February trying it a few times as well as some other great climbs in the area. A good team of people are coming out for the first week or the entire trip, partly on a recommendation on the quality and feasibility of this climb.

Long drawn out red pointing is quite possibly the most boring past time of climbers and I am a little disappointed my most boring friend Pete Robbins can’t join me for these first few attempts. Luckily my next most boring friend Ryan Pasquil is psyched to come out for the duration, taking time out from his plumbing. I know he’ll find the big moves in the middle easy and the headwall at the top will certainly suit him as well. Speaking with him over the phone the other day made me concerned over how seriously he’s taking it having reduced his alcohol intake and even his tabs!

Having seen Mina walk up Pump up the Power first go on lead a few years ago I thought she’d get on well on the headwall. She’s coming out for the first ten days to check what it's like and it wouldn't surprise me if she starts racing Alizee for the first female ascent. Calum Muskett is also coming out having been training with his cheat sticks in Norway over the New Year Calum is taking time out from his memoirs and is looking forward to the steep limestone of Siurana. I'm especially glad Calum is coming as last time I was in Siurana the little turd put rocks in the bottom of my rucksack which I didn't detect until at the airport! Ray Wood is joining Calum and Mina on the start of the trip, having not been to the region before he's likely to be blown away by the landscape. As well as climbing Ray is hoping to get some piccies of DMM kit with a slightly brighter backdrop than found in North Wales.

 For any sport climbing nerds like myself the route is essentially a stamina fest, the first 30 metres involving a burly 8c with big moves on good holds leading to a reasonable shakeout beneath the 10 metre headwall which is about 8a+/8b with 2 quite droppable moves on it. Thankfully the top headwall is less steep and has smaller holds which are not as far apart so it's a bit more like UK climbs.

It has spat off many great climbers over the years so I’m not too hopeful about doing it this trip but will be chuffed if I get onto the headwall and if it felt close I’d think about going back out in November for a rematch. Ryan is unlikely to need a return visit, not to put too much pressure on him. Climbs beyond my normal limit generally involve giving up certain luxuries for a short period be it cakes, alcohol, coffee and lbs. I've given up on giving up these things since Christmas but I'm hoping to have more discipline whilst out there as well as a stiff breeze and a miracle.

Thanks a lot to DMM for contributing towards the trip



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

[comPiler]

SHUT DOWN IN SIURANA
22 February 2013, 10:00 am



CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

I was going to start the report positively but thought I’d give warning of what lies beyond. The big flop was another potential title. For the first week myself, Ryan Pasquil, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, Calum and Ray shared a small cabin before me and Ryan set up our tents in Siurana Camping, the place of much wind. During our stay in the cabin Calum dealt with the cooking, Ryan the plumbing, Mina the positivity and press ups, Ray took care of the twittering and I looked after the sarcasm; as well as being overall winner of the iron bladder contest each morning.

The positive elements at the start of the trip apart from a great crowd of people shifting through the campsite were Ryan and Minas’ performances. I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t DMM climbers’ finest week but neither Mina nor Ryan had any decent quick draws so we just gave them ours and pointed them at various climbs with me and Calum shouting encouragement.  Although Mina hadn’t put on a rope in ages within a few days she had great day flashing an 8a and doing an 8a+ and looking more than fresh enough to have scored a hat trick. This was combined with pretty much scoring the high point for the team on her first session on La Rambla as Mark Reeves texted me soon after, although with the spelling it was hard to tell! Mina massively reduced the drudgery of hanging out with the less charismatic members of the team and I/we were all sorry to see her go. Mina is thinking about a sport trip next autumn and I can’t wait to see what she does.

Ryan Jancyn Lankyn Pasquil.  It’s hard to know what to say really. I’ve seen Ryan climb amazingly well many times and at the start of the trip he was on fire (he got a bit tired from the windy nights and helping to commiserate my side of the trip). After onsighting Siouxie and Anabolica he had 30 mins on a 9a called Jungle Speed at the end of the day doing the crux moves almost straight away. I told him there was no way he was talented enough to climb 9a but he didn’t listen. Next session on it he nearly did it and 3rd session he got the send, which I believe may be the fastest ascent of a 9a by a Brit. A few days later it looked like A Muerte was going to get the same treatment with him linking from beneath the crux to the top second session and on the 3rd he made it to the last hard move to the under cling 3 times.  

He is about 6ft, has a +6 ape index, is quite scrawny with small ears and is very good at timing moves. His athletic diet is well known to those in the Sheffield scene, which is partly what blew me away with what he could climb after pretty minimal ‘preparation’. There is no doubt in my mind that Ryan can climb 9b. Fact. He did manage to put one foot wrong falling on a 7c, which both Ben Moon and I did not but I didn’t make a big deal about it. Did I mention that Ryan did put one foot wrong on a 7c...Apart from watching Ryan make short work of really hard climbs it was also great that he had a propensity for losing at cards to decide who washed up. Very good skills Ryan.

Alice, Helen and Iris in the Siurana Camping Barn  

I suppose I should mention La Rambla seen as how it’s what I intended to try. After a month or so of pulling on more plastic than I ever had before I felt I was where I should be to get started on the first 2/3rds having had quite a few 2/3 session days and 2nd session doing most routes in the beacon between 7c and 8b once or more before finishing on a fingerboard. I got on it and checked the first half again, to my dismay it all felt desperate and after 3 goes my arms and body felt rinsed. I was totally gutted and couldn’t face another go for more than a week.  The dream felt broken the first day. I had 3 or 4 more goes on it which were all focused on getting up the starting crack and each ended with butchered fingers and morale. I likened my attempts to a Redhead painting: something not to be taken seriously but with images which could portray how I felt. Sitting on the third bolt looking up at the chain 35 m away life seemed pretty grey but at least it was more colourful than hanging out dry tooling in the slate quarries.

The list of debacles which went on in the first 2 weeks were too many to name, like a seismograph going from bad to worse. Ray and Calum had come out partly to support my dream, having faith in my ‘ability’ and I have no idea how I cocked up so badly. I was feeling as emotional as Gascoigne, obviously minus the tears, this may be attributed to something in the Soja drinks according to some friends but I think this is best left out of this report! On my final ‘look’ Ryan lowered me to the ground and I was truly disgusted with myself.  A nice guy from Holland had asked why I didn’t do something else but to me the question was like asking someone who had come to try the Nose on El Cap, why not try one of these others. I'd already built it up too much in my mind. About 2 weeks in I gave up on the idea of getting on it again and to be honest as most people who have done it have onsighted 8b+ or harder I probs should have stopped sooner. If I get back to the fitness level I got to in 2011 I'll go back just to try and squeeze up the start.

Looking From Siurana to Montsant  

The last few days involved some late nights and some fun days out climbing. A big team of friends cooked up a feast in Cornudella, French Fred was chef, and the team included Ben Moon, Gavin Ellis. Craig Smith, Nick Sellers, ‘Barcelona’ Ben and Dave the spy who gave me and Ryan a lift back later on. The chat during the evening ranged from Craig regretting not going back up Salathe with Skinner for the first free ascent to Barcelona Bens explorations in Barcelona and even a Yorkshire chipper got mentioned.  Ben Moon was the first guy to give me some money for climbing which proportionally makes him my biggest ever donor, I was totally blown away when he said it was the first year of his business in 2002/3 and I was a bit ashamed by his lack of return. The talk was of a big wall trip in 2014 so I’m hoping I can repay him through some Hauling guidance.

The last night at Siurana was one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Myself and Canadian Nick kicked everyones’ arse (Ryan, Iris, Alice and Colorado Terry)at cards, we didn’t brag about it though, it was the cards, the cards were the stars. After a Paella in Siurana camping things really got going in the Barn, Adam Mulholland lost arm wrestles with both Bob Hickish and myself and turned his ire on Ryan with a Cumbrian wrestle, I’m not too certain if it was the north or the south that won but both got dirty. Bob Hickish snuck off to bed early but Bobs tent was soon found and dismantled with Bob nearly catching his first air time into the Manzanita bushes.

Camping in Siurana varied between paradise and life after the apocalypse depending on your attitude. The final night of the trip was spent groggily at Barcelona airport having been rescued from being lost on the trains by a super nice guy called Fernando. Mulling over the trip that night I tried to pinpoint the lowest point on the trip, was it day 1 when realisation that there was no chance dawned, the middle of the trip when realisation had been tried and tested to failure or the end when I became an mass of sarcasm oozing round the cliffs. Hanging out in Spain is no hardship and Malcolm Tucker from the Thick of It had correctly pointed out that you can stick some people in paradise and they’ll be walking round moaning about not having a mobile phone signal.

Ryan about to lose for washing up again  

Why was I so gutted about my pitiful efforts? Letting down friends, family, sponsors, failing at the first hurdle? A few years ago a friend was surprised when I Paid £50 for a cam that protected Masters Edge, I had a few hundred quid in the bank and would have paid most of it to have bagged the climb, the cam was certainly what I regarded as a necessity, not a whim. These climbs can end up meaning a lot for the ardent climber, more than they should perhaps. My build up for La Rambla got me 8m up it (probs head height) and the 2 trips cost more than a big wall trip to America which is an economists guestimate of the value I placed on it. This makes the first 8m on La Rambla my most priceless bit of climbing yet. I got home binned my boots, chopped my ropes and burned my beastmaker.

Only kidding. I’m off to work to do some great work now for Phil George and Plas Y Brenin.

I'll be back Ryan, just you wait!    



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

[comPiler]

MARCH ROUNDUP
24 March 2013, 12:05 pm



 After working 16 days on the trot with some overnight camps, night navs

and late sessions I headed up to the lakes via LPT and gave a talk at the

 Kendal climbing wall, the start of 3 days off.

   The weather had taken a turn for the worse and the day after the talk

involved brewing in the Square Orange Cafe catching up with Adam Hocking for 2

hours waiting for the rain to stop planning to visit my sister and godson in the afternoon.

 Around 13.00 I head down to Falcon crag, climb 2 routes and with the weather

 improving I txt my sister that I was going to be late, 7 routes on shepherds requires

 another txt to my sister. I leave borrowdale and drive round to Thirlemere.

 Looking up at Castle Rock and feeling somewhat selfish I send yet another txt

and with a trip up Harlots Face to finish the afternoon re-acquiantance on Lakeland rock

 Ipromise to return again asap.  

 In terms of climbing great routes in a fantastic landscape there are few places like it.

I drive back to Wales late that night musing over which was most dangerous

between soloing a few extremes or driving down the M6, it seemed that more could

 go wrong on the motorway in terms of mechanical failure and human error.

    The next day involved a trip to Treaddur Bay with Hazel Findlay to check

Tim Emmets E9 6c, Chicama out. The tide was high, the rigging complicated, the

downclimb toprope to check it a pain in the arse, the route was dripping wet and

seemed very reliant on rotting pegs which all reminded me why I’d not tried it

before. The moves were thankfully really good so a return visit is in order especially

 seen as how Hazel and Pete Graham have replaced the rubbish old pegs, a great

effort as it wouldn’t get climbed without them so it would just be left neglected.

Hazel made the 2nd ascent after very few trips down and did it in pretty cold and poor conditions.

 Hopefully the weather will improve for Hazel to make light work of some more

 hard Welsh trad. Emma Twyford is also keen for this climb having been on it once

 with Hazel. Watch this space!

Hazel looking down on Chicama on the first visit  

 

After my 3 days off 7 days of mountain navigation courses resumed which

were great if a little cold and windy. My first day off I was very stoked to do

some climbing and with Mark reeves in tow we made the pilgrimage through the

rain to Craig Dorys where the rain stopped and thankfully the crag was dry. The

previous year Leigh McGinley and Stevie Haston had put up a knew E7 going up the

left side of the Stigmata buttress naming it Box of Blood with Leigh saying it

was the best climb he’d ever done and Stevie pronouncing it a 5 star route. I

get racked up with a huge rack to embark on my first trad route of the

year.  

    The first half of the climb is shared with an E5 called Crucial

condition, bridged in a shakeout at about 20 meters where that route sneaks left

to ledges I feel pumped already from the careful style of climbing which is

dictated by the loose rock. With a nest of cams in weird wafers that Leigh had

said were good I pull up and climb fast for a few meters as there is no

protection. Wedged into a groove I put a sling over some iron coloured crusts of

rock and plug in a poor cam to help hold it on. I found 2 very poor rps and try

and work out where to go. There were 2 possible paths, the continuation of the

groove on the left or where the first groove fades and forms an arête. I go up

the arête, arms tired I make some steep moves and reach up for what appeared to

be a good ledge, feeling a crumbly sloper I stare for 2 seconds at a sloping

crumbling choss section and feel ill at the place I’ve climbed into. Thoughts of

a big fall or worse were in mind and it was 50/50 on wether to scrabble for dear

life or reverse the steep moves on tired arms and a swift reverse to my perch in

the groove ensued. After a few words with myself I found the true line up the

continuation groove which led to good gear in a break thankfully and an awesome

'crack' in a vertical headwall. Hanging off hand jams on the final shakeout

having climbed up and down from the last 6b moves on the headwall 3 or 4 times

trying to work it out my mouth was parched, fingers on a timer as soon as they

used small holds and there was a deep ache in shoulders and legs-this was a

pretty familiar feeling and if the gear is good with a clean fallout zone it’s a

position I highly recommend. I wasn’t convinced the gear Leigh had mentioned in

the final crack would hold a fall so it would be a good ride from the top.

Having tapped a very loose looking flake to check it would hold my foot I

committed to the final long rockover out of the crack to a good edge and final

lunge for a porthole just beneath the top.  

    The route was incredible and gave me the feeling of deep satisfaction

like a game of chess which you had to try hard to win. I was blown away Leigh

McGinley had climbed the route a few months after a hip operation- knarly git.

Mark Reeves seconded up having belayed for more than 2 hours I got him a brew

and cake in Abersoch. Nice one Mark. Yet again 1 climb on the Lleyn is enough.  

Mark Reeves loving the moves on the 2nd ascent of Box of Blood  

   

In the realms of bouldering Pete Robbins continues his development in

Ogwen valley giving yet another devastatingly difficult arête called Madame

Allure which at font 8b makes it one of the top 3 or 4 hardest problems in the

Welsh mountains. In Spain Ryan Pasquil continued his run of good form making a

swift 2nd ascent of Vacuna Matata, 8c+/9a and doing a few 8b+ in a session. Strong

buggers!

Pete Robbins bringing seriously hard moves into the Ogwen Valley on his Madame Allure

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

[comPiler]

Easter weekend: Harmony & a Pass Challenge
1 April 2013, 8:22 pm



Luckily 9 days off work coincided with some of the finest weather North

Wales has seen in some time making the area into a ‘Little Chamonix’. A

recommendation by Calum Muskett of the quality of Stevie Hastons route Harmony

on Craig Dorys led to a visit there on Saturday to escape the bank holiday

crowds. After a warm up on the beach boulder and a lengthy belay for Sophie I

managed to top out on yet again a stellar route by the Haston/McGinley team,

definitely owe them a pint. The route felt like a trickier version of the Great

White on the White Tower of Mother Careys in Pembroke but with pumpier climbing

before reaching the thin crux high up. Care is needed on the first roof but

after that the gear is quite good (take plenty of cam 2s) and this climb

deserves more attention together with its next door neighbour Tonight at Noon

one of the better protected E6s in North Wales.

Abbing down Harmony to strip the gear  

The day after was a great day delving into a few different aspects of

climbing down the Llanberis Pass with Jim ‘Big Guns’ McCormac. The ‘Man of the

Pass Challenge’ was thought up by Neil Dyer some years ago involving climbing

Cascade, Jerrys Roof and Right Wall in a day. In January 2 years ago he did a

fantastic effort having climbed Cascade and Jerrys Roof in foul conditions Neil

scampered most of the way up Right Wall only to find verglas and snow on a ledge

leading to a big fall, a better tick than climbing it in my mind. Neither myself

nor Jim had climbed Central Ice Fall Direct and with clear skies it seemed

perfect conditions to try a Pass challenge as Dyer had thought up. Gareth Ashton

having been disappointed to have missed Neils effort the 2 years prior was keen

to come out and get some footage along with Neil Dyer himself.

    Being a Bank Holiday weekend we expected a crowd to be at the base of

Central Ice Fall when we arrived but we were delighted to be first on the scene.

The night before 2 friends and Pass/world climbing pioneers, Tim Emmett and Neil

Gresham had climbed 3 of the best ice routes in Wales starting on the Devils

Appendix and walking over to Craig Y Rhaedr to climb Central Ice Fall and

Cascade finishing at 4 in the morning. I was a little disappointed that the top

icicle still had lots of damoclean icicles and a txt from Tim saying watch out

for the top pitch ‘its fragile’ wasn’t great for the morning nerves. Another

friend Gareth arrived and made a swift solo of Cascade and when myself and Jim

arrived beneath the top pitch 3 friends, Jon ‘the Hobbit’ Ratcliff, Andy Scott

and Tim Badcock were perched at the first belay. I told them it would be like

being in Vietnam to be where they were and they said to do whatever I had to!

Shouting "ice" a great deal it was Andy Scotts whoops which let me know they

were enjoying dodging the pieces and were still thankfully ok. After cleaning

the bit to gain the icicle I pulled above and noticed the inch wide horizontal

fracture Tim had warned about. The route had 3 fantastic ice pitches and me and

Jim were made up. We got to the base at 11.20 and a handful of locals and Mick

Lovatt had arrived, unbelievably quiet, we weren’t complaining. At the Cromlech

boulder Clare Carlsen was a total star and brought our team a breakfast butty

each before we headed up to the Cromlech.

Me and Jim on the top icicle with Jon, Andy and Tim stying out of the ice fall zone  

Arriving at the base with Jim I was disappointed to see big wet streaks

down the top of the Lord of the Flies and an ice chandelier which looked like it

could go and if it did could knock off the leader or injure the belayer. Dyer

comes up and being a legend pronounces he’ll boot the chandelier off and get

some shots from above. Tim Emmett (the ever stoked furnace) and Sophie arrive

along with ‘Fluff’ and Adam Wainright making the atmosphere pretty sociable. The

first ¾ of Lord were dry so I thought to do that and finish up the top of Right

Wall but reaching the girdle ledge I ask Neil if the top looks climbable, he

gives the green light and a few goppy moves later with some yells of

encouragement led to the top. It was the 4th time I'd led Lord of the Flies and

to be honest it felt as good as the first time. Climbing it reminded me of

Liveseys foresight, Fawcetts skill at climbing it in welly boots, Leos at doing

it by headtorch, Dave Thomas by soloing it and the first time I climbed it at

the end of a great week in Wales in 1999 with Colin Downer and Wesley Hunter.

During the week staying with Ken Thoms in Deiniolen we did loads of Welsh

classics, the Cad, the Moon,  Sexual Salami, Cardiac Arete, Silly Arete, Central

Sadness, the Dervish, Edge of Time, Weasels, and finished the week on Left Wall

and Lord. It was one of the best weeks of climbing I'd had at the time and doing

Lord was the cream topping of the week. Tim and Sophie bomb up Right Wall having

mentioned him and Leo had done it in trainers with a crap belay on the girdle I

was both impressed and disturbed by their antics.

Neil Dyer practicing his photography and me wondering if I should jump for him for telling me to try it. Lord of the Flies  

We pile down to Jerrys Roof with Neil mentioning it should be a formality I

wasn't as confident having woken in the morning with painful aching strap

muscles and bingo wings from the Lleyn the day before. Jerrys is a problem I

must have done around 200 times or more and could do a few laps quickly when

fit. However I've gone from warming down on Statement of Youth to having to

redpoint it again in the course of a few months and ten goes later on Jerrys

things were not looking optimistic. Considering it was some poxy fun challenge

for locals I felt a ridiculous amount of pressure to get up it knowing I

wouldn't be trying the trilogy again nor would conditions necessarily come

together to allow it. After a 15 mins rest I managed to drag my sorry self up it

feeling considerably relieved. Tim Emmett comes down and having not done it for

years gets it done super quick. A burger fest at the Heights bar with most of

the people who had been out was a great finish to a day incorporating some of

the great types of climbing in the Pass. Thanks to Jim, Gaz, Dyer, Clare,

Hobbit, Andy Scott, Tim, Sophie and everyone else for making it an ace day.

Jerrys roof before burgers all round at the Heights

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

[Johnny Brown]

Hero.

[comPiler]

The 'Rest' of the Week 
8 April 2013, 8:12 pm

 

   Highlights of the rest of the week were having a nice boulder down the

Pass with Neil Gresham, a great day on the Lleyn with him Mark Reeves and Llion

Morris, Neil Gresham repeating the ‘king of the pass’ challenge and repeating

Chicama on Trearddur Bay with Neil Dyer.

   Having driven back up from London having only been in Wales 2 days before

Neil Gresham was psyched for the Pass challenge. I met up with him down the Pass

for a great day bouldering and hangout and with Reeves and Llion in tow we

headed down the Lleyn the day after as Neil hadn’t been down there before and

was keen for some sun having been shivering up the pass the day previous.

    We repeated Dan McManus’ fantastic route The Apprentice on Porth Ceiriad,

E7 6b. Starting more or less off the beach it follows a crack system with quite

good gear and holds which appear just as you need them, combined with some of

the best rock on the Lleyn I think it’s destined to become a classic. I think

it’s best to do it in 1 pitch just in case a loose hold comes off and you wipe

your belayer out. Reeves and Morris put up a new route up some choss and Reeves’

dishevelled look when we met them after it told the story of their climb well.

We finished the day climbing Cripple Creek on Dorys and the views back towards

the snow covered mountains were spectacular.

The Apprentice, Porth Ceiriad   On the Saturday Neil Gresham was off to try the Pass Challenge with

Robin Thomas and myself and Neil Dyer headed down to Trearddur Bay to look at

Chicama.  I’d watched Tim Emmett on

his first attempts on the line in 2003 and was impressed that he led it with

pretty minimal pegs which were of dubious worth and also did a tricky looking

DWS to get into the start which would definitely get your arms going. Tims jump

off the top into the gap was also terrifying stuff. I was also impressed with

Hazel Findlays speedy ascent as most of the moves seem to be big reaches between

good holds and Hazel is only ~4 ft 7 . Hazels psyche and Pete Grahams pegging

skills were the main reasons some of us ‘locals’ got interested.

 

  I’d been down it once with Hazel but it had been wet and a little uninspiring at the time.

This time it was dry and having lowered down and warmed up on the upper wall I did it

 from near the bottom first go but with arms that felt a bit baked from the previous days.

Neil hadn’t climbed since being in America last year but still looked like he

could have climbed it without his feet! I went down once more to assess some

gear and sequences and belayed Neil again. The hardest climbing is to gain the

halfway mark where a good shakeout and cam are had before pumpy steep climbing

beyond. Being 45 degrees overhanging and tidal gives the climb an intimidating

nature. I thought I’d give it a go as it seemed reasonably safe with the current

in situ stuff although the start has a poky feel to it and it has a hard move

off a ‘crescent’ sidepull high up which would make for an exciting fall. Neil

built a belay on the slab left of Treacherous Underfoots crack and I climbed up

to place the first key cams and wires and down climbed to Neil for a breather.

Clipping the first peg I found an easier method for the next bit and the rest of

the climb went smoothly although I did feel tired on the crescent move. We

stripped the gear and headed for ice creams.

Neil Dyer-Legend      

That evening Robin Thomas dropped by with news of Neil Greshams success

on completing Jerrys roof, Lord of the Flies and Central Ice Fall in a day. As

they were coiling the ropes at the top of the ice route they heard a loud roar

and when they reached the base they discovered the top 2 pitches had collapsed.

I thought Robin was pulling my leg at first. I’m pretty sure my robust friend

Chris Guest who climbed it the day before must have destabilised it in his

passing. It was great seeing how Neil was stoked for the climbing in North Wales

again, although with the sobering climax Neil must have felt he was back on the

Indian Face. Good skills Neil and Robin.

Neil Gresham enjoying the tranquillity of the Porth Ceiriad beach with Reeves and Morris looking shady behind

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

[comPiler]

Pembroke
8 May 2013, 10:32 am



  A good weekend in Pembroke left me wondering why I’d only been down once last

year.  Myself and Jim McCormac rushed down Friday night from Llanberis to make

it in time for drinks at St Govans Inn.  We started the Saturday on Pleasure Dome

 where I enjoyed belaying in both the sun and sea spray before heading into Stennis

 Ford to try Bubbly Bosun. It was a bit more serious

than I expected and placing a wire blind halfway up with it being the first

proper protection gave me flashbacks to doing some of the Pete Whillance climbs

in the Lakes as a teenager. I wondered what I was doing there for some minutes

before getting pumped clipping the 2 crap pegs beyond my wire and reversing the

dusty crux 3 or 4 times in the process, deciding wether to commit. Having

extended my wire to stop it flicking out I did eventually commit wishing I’d

worn my smeary boots rather than brand new ones but gaining a good hold, wire

and last tricky moves to the top. It’s amazing how pumped a 7a+/7b can get you

when climbing carefully and reversing some of the hardest moves because of anxiety

about the unknown. The climb is marginally easier than Souls but with none of

its good protection, I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody less than 5.7 as the

gear would be very tricky to place, it has good climbing, shame it’s not got more gear.

    After doing a brilliant E3 corner in Huntsmans Leap called Strap Up we finished

the day on an E6 I’d been meaning to do for years called Fortune Cookie which

felt like a well protected E5 after the mornings route and gave great wall

climbing.

Stennis Fords fantastic wall      

The same day a strong North Wales Team were in the middle of a great

holiday. Calum Muskett and Dan McManus were cruising up lots of hard climbs

doing three E6s on the Saturday having done similarly the day previous and doing

 more hard climbs on the Sunday even managing to finish the holiday on Pat

Littlejohns stunning 2 pitch E6 on St Govans, Crimes of Passion. Worth keeping

an eye on what they get up to this summer. Alex Mason and Gemma Powell were also

on a mission with an ascent of Ghost Train and other tricky routes. The banter

in St Govans was great Saturday night even with Calum and Howard there. Calum

gave his best joke yet:

 “What did the egg say to the boiling water?”

“You’ll have to try your best to get me hard, I just got layed this morning”.

Picnic at the top of Ghost Train with Alex, Gemma and Jim      On the Sunday we started in Stennis Ford on the Mysteries/Hysteria

combo before repeating a great route of Dave Pickfords called Nightflight which

accesses the Point Blank headwall from the left. About E4 to a great shakeout

jug and good cams before a techy crux on sidepulls with a runout it deserves to

become popular at the E7 grade being about 7b+ rather than the 8a of Point Blank

and considerably nicer than Bubbly Boson. We finished our Sunday with 2 quick

routes on Govans before the prerequisite tea and cream Scones at Ma Westons’ Old

World Café and the dreaded drive back leaving friends who were lucky enough to

be staying an extra day.

    Thinking about Pembroke on the journey home I realised that I’ve done

more great routes there then on any other crag. With all the new guides coming

out I’ll be down there again soon. Big up to friends doing great deeds on

Wimberry and of course to Jordan who got the 3rd ascent of Rainshadow. Very envious.

The end of a weekend in Ma Westons with Jim, Jenna and Dyer

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

[comPiler]

Longhope Trip
18 May 2013, 9:24 pm

 

   

Driving Northwards on Monday to try the Longhope route in a day with Ben Bransby. We are going in Convoy with the super youths Alex Mason and George Ullrich who are also going for a 1 day attempt on the Longhope via the Turnbull/Arran route. Gritstone extroardinaire Adam Long is also coming up for part of the trip keen for some sandstone action.

Dave Macleod on the stunning top pitch of Longhope.    

   

I’m looking forward to trying to climb the full height of St Johns Head with Ben. I’ve been involved with 2 trips with Bransby and Long both of which were very memorable. The first was 11 years ago when we put a free route up the Nose on Eigg in the Hebrides. Ben and Adam along with Robins had attempted it ground up on a previous visit

and got shut down with loose blocks and later a stomach bug. Adam had attempted to aid it and this also proved futile. We resorted to abseil and in the blankest looking bit one of the hexagonal columns came away leaving a jug exactly where it needed to be. I couldnt believe our luck. We had a look at it on a rope and tried it the day after. Ben had cruised up to the last move and was about to reach for the finishing jug when the pump set in and a monster fall onto the RPs in loose columns was tested. Adam Long got a picture about a second before the fall which was on the front cover of an OTE magazine. We both got back on it and led it. It was a fantastic feeling partly because it is a great knew route and partly climbing it with Ben. I wanted to call it Picking the Nose but the others were’nt into

it. It was 7 years later when with the same team we repeated the Vouie Petit on the Grand Capucin in the Alps, this

was one of the highlights of the last decade or so of climbing for me with a congratulatory email off Arnaud Petit who had set the climb being a cream topping to the trip.

Bransby with a jug just above his head but very pumped and about to take a big fall onto shit gear. The Nose, An Sgurr, Eigg    

   

Bransby is sounding super keen and watching him walk up an 8b the other

day and shakeout halfway through the slappy crux reminded me of how good Ben is,

as Pete Robins put it he’s quite often the‘best at the crag’. The person who

most obviously could climb 9th grade sport routes but hasn’t got round to it/been boring enough to put

in the days.  After winning the youth comps for years Ben came to the Lake Distict in 1999 and blew me away with

how well he was climbing.  After pathing many of the E6s and E7s of the Lakes he set off up Impact Day on Pavey

Ark totally onsight!  This route was given E9 6c at the time and he got within a whisker of it, with a hand on the scoop right at the top but with nothing left to hang it. An unbelievable effort to have the confidence to set off and he literally stunned everyone not least his belayer Pete Robins. Adam Hocking phoned to tell me what had occurred and I thought he was pulling my leg. Nobody has tried a climb graded E9 in the same manner since that I know of without knowing everything about the climb although the stuff that Honnold and Favresse are doing is probably near the mark! We are talking 14 years ago now so it was well ahead of its time.

Route topo. Big pitches. I hope Ben doesnt get vertigo!    Ben missed out on the Yosemite trip last year due to his Labrynthitus, literally having to pull

out 2 days before so it will be great to get him up on what I believe to be one of the best trad routes in Britain, with pictures of Dave Macleod giving inspiration for a preliminary trip last year with Dan Varian and Adam Bailes. The plan is to drive up hopefully doing some routes like Dalriada and/or Romantic Reality (xtreme rock tick) on the way up. Get the ferries then brush and work the top pitch to make sure we’ve got a chance and on the 1st dry day set off from the sea level to the top. I think we’ll both be keen to lead the top pitch and if we go the same day

as George and Alex it should be a sociable affair. I intend to stash some nice beer on the summit to have something to look forward to and maybe help the energy levels for the crux top pitch as well as taking a good headtorch just in case we're going slow. Dan Vajzovic will be making a flying visit for an ascent of the Old Man of Hoy as a lead up to a potential big wall trip next year on the Naranja de Bulness. If the weather is good and all goes to plan maybe there will be time to try a knew route around Rora Head which is good quality sandstone and full of impressive lines. But if not we may enjoy travel scrabble and cards back at the hut. I’ll go with Dave Macleods philosophy of just going to give it the best effort we can. Climb more, tweet less.      

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

[Fiend]

Dream team!

Climb more, blog more about it :D

[Wood FT]

Good luck all!

[willackers]

 This is amazing! Good luck!

[Adam Lincoln]

Don't forget Reqiuem on the way up. First o/s?

[andy_e]

70m HVS 4a... Sounds scary. Good luck with the whole thing!

[Johnny Brown]

I think that's the one pitch I'm not intimidated by...

[SA Chris]

I was going to say similar. That one would be my lead.

Enjoy it guys. Rora Head looks fun too, you going to get on it? Got room for a surfboard JB?

[Johnny Brown]

I'm flying up on Friday, so no. Hoping to get to as many crags as possible though, plus do the megalithic sightseeing rounds obvs...

[SA Chris]

Obvs. Don't forget your copy of Modern Antiquarian.

[Fiend]

Good luck with your big HVS 4a lead JB 

[SA Chris]

Topo says 4B? Academic I suspect.