[gme]

One of many examples springing up at the minute. 16 year old comp climber who’s been forced outside for the first time 3 months ago nips out between comps and climbs 8c+.

https://www.8a.nu/news/la-proue-debridee-8c+-by-mejdi-schalck-16

[Fiend]

On the subject of the UK's hard bouldering potential:

"If you're looking for some Font 8B+s, like many of them, and good ones, you should come and check this place out"

"It's a 2½ hour walk-in, and before that you've got an hour drive on a single track road"

That's all part of the 8 hour drive from Sheffield. And, yes, of course it is right in the very middle of the top band of highest rainfall here https://i.imgur.com/RpbTI91.png

 

 

[SA Chris]

wetter than an otter's pocket. Looks cool tho'

Always wondered why D.Mac hasn't developed the Ben More Blocs (pg 115 of the guide).

[Adam Lincoln]

Wow that looks amazing!

Smalley caught on camera too, almost as rare as the stag.

[andy_e]

Stags are ten-a-penny in the Highlands, that's why there's no trees and driving anything over 40 mph at night is suicidal

[SA Chris]

Smalley caught on camera too, almost as rare as the stag.

Darkest Dark Horse and Aurora in the same week, what a time to be alive.

[Bradders]

If ever there was a venue where an e-bike is highly recommended....

[Coops_13]

Hopefully the mellow boys were listening...

[Fiend]

You expect there to be anything amongst the endless bog and heather that pretends to be a path let alone a bikeable track?? 

I bet the midges are pretty high calibre too.

[gme]

Looks amazing but it will just never work logistically. Why would the "Mellow boys" as Dave puts it go there when there is just as much stuff to do in Switzerland/Austria/Norway/south Africa etc etc.

The only way a place like this could ever work is to develop it 1st. Maybe an organised meet where loads of stuff gets done at once. There is a bothy in the valley i think that could be a base and some kind of vehicles to take the a big cache of pads in for everyone to use to make the walk in more palatable.

Late April- May or late Sept-Oct for the midge.

A portable bar, slacklines and a bongo drum party round a fire and it would be really popular.

A perfect plan but unfortunately it would piss down and everyone would wish they had gone to Rocklands.

[remus]

Looks amazing but it will just never work logistically. Why would the "Mellow boys" as Dave puts it go there when there is just as much stuff to do in Switzerland/Austria/Norway/south Africa etc etc.

The only way a place like this could ever work is to develop it 1st. Maybe an organised meet where loads of stuff gets done at once. There is a bothy in the valley i think that could be a base and some kind of vehicles to take the a big cache of pads in for everyone to use to make the walk in more palatable.

Late April- May or late Sept-Oct for the midge.

A portable bar, slacklines and a bongo drum party round a fire and it would be really popular.

A perfect plan but unfortunately it would piss down and everyone would wish they had gone to Rocklands.

Just wait for the good weather then get Caff to fly everyone over in the chopper, then when the weather inevitably turns abandon the whole lot and fly out again.

[turnipturned]

Funnily enough was actually thinking about checking this place out at the end of the month. Anyone got any details or point me in the right direction (not literally). Thanks in advance.

[scragrock]

If you have a Rib or just a wee tender, sailing/power boating in from the west is the quickest and least strenuous way to explore Glen Pean plus you can carry camping gear/extra pads.
An open canoe might work too.

[Fiend]

Further....

https://youtu.be/9z-c5YxEmCE?t=437

Interesting video as always, if the approach from 7:17 to 8:27 doesn't inspire the mellow team I don't know what will.

[dunnyg]

Looks like the walk up to almscliff in deepest winter.

He is psyched off his face isn't he!

[Fiend]

Less cowpats than almscliff and if there were the constant bog would rinse them off.

[mrjonathanr]

Is the title of this thread some sort of ironic comment on the endless rain? 

[JamieG]

The irony is the weather looks great on Wednesday just in time for a new national lockdown. Someone’s got a sense of humour.

[Fiend]

Billy Ridal on The Boss

https://www.climber.co.uk/news/news/billy-ridal-gets-third-ascent-of-the-boss/

Q: Finally, what have you got lined up for the year ahead – assuming that the covid restrictions are lifted soon as anticipated?

A: Competitions!

[teestub]

Hardest problem on grit is a warm up for comps.

[Wellsy]

This topic is interesting to me, not because I'm remotely capable of even going near the easiest actual comp problem (I am not), but because I only just started climbing outdoors and to me it seems way, way harder than indoor stuff. I got seriously shut down at first on grades that indoors I can do consistently and I don't think that's unusual. In fact I am told it is really common?

But clearly there is an element where like, if you are really fucking good indoors, then when you go outdoors, you just breeze it even hard stuff that is at the level you operate at, as all these comp wads seem to do.

[M1V0]

My consideration of this phenomenon is that the difference between those transitioning from indoors to outdoors, as opposed to comps to outdoors, stems from competition climbers knowing how to try and pull, really hard. Most indoor stuff, compared to same grades outdoors, doesn’t require the same level of hard pulling and body tension. It takes people a while to get accustomed to this idea.

Comp climbers, on the other hand, are trained to produce max effort exertion for the duration of a climb for comps, and it is this that translates well to the outside, in a relatively short period of time. If you spend your time training for comps and a five minute period of max effort, you can do the same outdoors and see the results.

Reading this back, it’s an incoherent mess, but the idea is there, just poorly framed.

[SA Chris]

Also, I think for the majority of climbers first venturing outdoors to boulder the default is grit (confirm Wellsy?) which takes a bit of getting used to to say the least, so be prepared to get your ass handed to you for the first few trips, until things start to click.....

and you realise the limiting factor is actually your skin.

[Wellsy]

Yeah my first experience was on Grit late last year. I've also been on the Limestone and that is a lot closer to indoor climbing for sure, so yeah definitely if your first time out is Grit then it's a real shock to the system.

But yeah that's a good point about like, pulling really hard and staying focused and keeping your body tension. I guess if you are a comp climber in really bloody good shape, and you are used to climbing really hard, then you're just better equipped for it.

I think for the vast majority of climbers, the transition from indoors to outdoors is really hard for loads of reasons that people here will know much more about than me. But it just surprised me to read this topic and see comp climbers being the other way around. Like when the reasons are given it makes a degree of sense, it's just interesting.

[SA Chris]

Can't remember the initial thrust, but I think it was also more leaning towards routes rather than bouldering.