[SA Chris]

YHM.

Got it thanks

[comPiler]

Back to square zero...
5 April 2014, 1:07 pm



I've only had two sessions climbing this week:

The first one I did my hardest trad lead of the year so far and thus felt pretty confident about how my climbing was going :)

The second one I pushed myself training indoors and ended up with my wrist the sorest it has been since injuring it two months ago :(

Cuntflaps.

Anyway this was the day out at Glen Coe roadside crags, which were fairly accessible if completely hidden, bone dry despite the location, sheltered from the brisk easterly, and offered fine climbing despite their mossy appearance:

Warming up on the soft touch Sweltering.

Cranking through the crux on the non-soft touch Smouldering.

The latter took some effort committing first to a fingery 6a crux on the lower wall and then a bold 5c crux on the upper wall with few positive holds and only a C3 000 between me and a whopper whipper. All fun and rewarding stuff. Notice my taped up cranking right hand on the above photo - that is NOT the problem. Direct cranking on small sharp crimps has been fine on my wrist as it's locked in place with little rotating around. Conversely, forgetting about my wrist and flicking my walking pole up into the air and waving it to signal that I'd actually found the damn crag - that IS the problem. Combine that with some fairly cold climbing temperatures and it was a bit tweaky and susceptible.

Then I went down to GCC after a rest day and was trying pretty much as hard as normal on the steep stuff, and now it hurts pretty much all the fucking time. A restrained and gentle session after the Glen Coe tweaking would have been fine. A steep cranky session without a previous walking-pole-induced re-tweak might have been okay. Combining both has been a fucking cock-up. What do I always say to people about looking after injuries??  

 

"Be diligent - always keep aware and keep careful or you'll re-injure it"

Again, CUNTFLAPS.

Ice, rest, wrist-guard, very gentle training, vitamin I blah blah fucking blah.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Seperating wheat from chaff.
15 April 2014, 5:26 pm



I've always been rather fond of the North Yorkshire Moors / Cleveland Hills. I think I first went to Scugdale 17 years ago although I'm not exactly sure. I went to Goldsborough Carr in the evening and got a bit scared by the steepness, slept in my old 340, had a morning soloing at Scugdale and then shepherd's pie for lunch in Thirsk, marvelling at an area of a country that I'd never even seen before. The 1992 Orange guidebook was my bible for esoteric craglet exploration for a while. Later on it was replaced by the North East Outcrops guide in which the information was more plentiful and only a bit less esoteric. Sheffield replaced Nottingham as a base, Northumberland replaced NYM as a sandstone destination of choice, but still I went back on sporadic visits, introducing friends to the quiet crags, expansive views, and funky little sandstone climbs. Then I moved to Scotland and it all got a bit too far away.

In recent years, there's been another replacement: noise replacing quiet, static replacing silence - not on the crags but in the new pico-community that are re-discovering and re-developing them. Unfortunately rather than a calm celebration, it's a discordant babble of grating catchphrases, embarassing hyperbole, transparent trolling, beggy look-at-me personalities, and juvenile gimmickry. All of which obscures the useful information and realities of the climbing being done. The attention-seeking "characters" involved don't need any more mention, but perhaps their discoveries DO. No smoke without fire and even if the smoke is pretty noxious, the fire could be quite pleasant.

Thus I headed back down to the North Yorkshire Moors, seeking shelter from strong sou'westerlies and some new crags to explore. We had a whirlwind tour and went to Tranmire, Stoupe Brow, Roseberry Topping, Round Crag, Smuggler's Terrace, Thorgill Crag and Clemitt's Crag, with variable results, all in a few days (and there's enough trekking around there for my poor wee legs!). I was a bit hampered by travelling tiredness, steep ground weakness from lack of training, and skin that was out of practice with continuous sandstone climbing and thus rapidly wore out, but still managed some good routes. I missed out on a couple of other good ones and saved some for the future. I did have to remind myself that I'm still in injury recovery mode - although my wrist has reverted back to steady healing from the last blip, and survived this trip well, it's only a month or so ago I was having to be careful wiping my arse to avoid tweaking it! With the colossal portion of home-made chicken (surely ostrich?) kiev at the Lion Inn above Round Crag, that was some hardcore wiping on this trip so I'm glad it's feeling stronger now.

On the subject of shit....what about the recent routes and developments?? What gems were hidden amongst the forum/blog diarrhoea?? Quite a lot, it seems. The new routes are good, the new venues and re-developments of old ones are good too, simple as that. The information gleaned online was mostly accurate - more so than outright fallacious - and while the grades and descriptions might be a bit varied, the star quality is genuinely appropriate. Out of everything we did, almost everything was worth it's stars, a few maybe one less, but a couple maybe one more. The quality of the developments and the climbing speak for themselves, and that's what I hoped to find down there. At the end of the day, ignore the chaff and enjoy the wheat - that is what we did and it was worth the effort.



Source:  fiendblog

[SA Chris]

You must have done well getting to all those crags using North East Outcrops!

[Franco]

Hi Fiend,

I'm glad you had a good time in the Moors and thanks for giving some balanced feedback - genuinely appreciated (without wanting to sound like I have ownership of Moors climbing).

I'm not sure why you have this bee in your bonnet about noise. The only noise there's been in the last however many years is a couple of blogs (something I notice you have too - also published on UKB...). There have been about 40 new routes climbed in the Moors since Christmas up to H8 (many of them very good), 5 (very significant for the Moors) bouldering areas discovered. There hasn't been any reporting of any of this anywhere. Meanwhile, think of how much news there has been from climbers (that you no doubt think of as modest) in the peak district, merely for repeats of routes... And Catchphrases? At least they're not cliches. Hyperbole? Perhaps it's just genuine enthusiasm.

How would your ideal world look fiend? Groups of sandbagging, falsely modest buffoons waddling around talking everything down? Only those people who have correctly 'positioned' themselves in the market visible, so that you think they're just a really nice psyched climber who's not interested in self promotion, but then somehow you hear about them all the time. YES, that would be progress. That would be a world I'd love to live in.

[turnipturned]

Interesting blog, of what very little bouldering I have done in the NY Moors, I thought it was brilliant. Really looking forward to the new guide coming out and checking some of these areas out!

I wouldn't worry what people think Franco. I think its great that you guys are exploring and doing new stuff! You are clearly really enthusiastic and that ace. Keep it up!

[Franco]

Thanks. I won't worry too much - just feel a little unduly criticized you know...

The bouldering guide is going to be really good I think - hopefully there'll be one for the routes in a few years too!

[petejh]

I'm not sure why you have this bee in your bonnet about noise. The only noise there's been in the last however many years is a couple of blogs (something I notice you have too - also published on UKB...). There have been about 40 new routes climbed in the Moors since Christmas up to H8 (many of them very good), 5 (very significant for the Moors) bouldering areas discovered. There hasn't been any reporting of any of this anywhere. Meanwhile, think of how much news there has been from climbers (that you no doubt think of as modest) in the peak district, merely for repeats of routes... And Catchphrases? At least they're not cliches. Hyperbole? Perhaps it's just genuine enthusiasm.

How would your ideal world look fiend? Groups of sandbagging, falsely modest buffoons waddling around talking everything down? Only those people who have correctly 'positioned' themselves in the market visible, so that you think they're just a really nice psyched climber who's not interested in self promotion, but then somehow you hear about them all the time. YES, that would be progress. That would be a world I'd love to live in.

Well put.

[Boredboy]

Meanwhile, think of how much news there has been from climbers (that you no doubt think of as modest) in the peak district, merely for repeats of routes...

 

What captures the interest and imagination more than the casual, under the radar, lo-fi , word of mouth, who gives a shit attitude of an esoteric climbing scene. That's an endangered species for sure, the Moors must offer some potential for preservation of this dying breed......     

[comPiler]

Peace and quiet.
23 April 2014, 10:55 pm



The Lakes...

Iving Crag in Kentmere - a peaceful dead end valley where the only disturbance to the quiet is distant thrum of engines as cars try to rearrange themselves in a complex parking puzzle on the tiny cramped lane to avoid the £5 payment for a privilege of using a field. Actually the whole journey down to The Lakes was unusually relaxing and pleasingly swift, right until leaving Kendal from whence it was insta-gridlock presumably all the way to Ambleside and beyond. Thankfully we were only stuck for enough time to remind me how shit Lakes roads / driving / fucking bumbly drivers are, before swerving off to Kentmere. Iving Crag is a bit off-piste but it's pretty good for the mid-extreme climber and we got a few good routes done, I didn't do anything too hard as it was all a bit steep and intimidating. By the time we were shat out of the valley, the queue had pissed off to whatever BnBs / holiday cottages it was infesting and it was another relaxing journey over Wrynose to Duddon.

Far Hill Crag in the Duddon Valley - not a dead end valley but even more peaceful, and one of the best places to escape from the hordes in The Lakes, as well as sampling some fine outcrop hidden gems. Far Hill Crag is relatively far up the hill towards the backside of Dow and is thus more hidden than most, it also has some finer gems than most. Every route would be worth an extra star at a more popular crag, and the exceptionally rough rock - with a texture of cement sponge and endless right-facing side-pulls - is worth a visit in itself. If you have working legs and can cope with the walk-in, that is. I don't, but I could, only because it's relatively low angle for it's long length. A couple of routes in and things were going great, but the disturbance of the day came when the perfectly bone dry forecast turned into a drizzly swirling rain shower when I was part way up Lagonda. I suspect they heard my tantrumic swear-a-thon in Seathwaite if not over the hill in Coniston too. Thankfully after a furious cheese sandwich and an hour sulking, the skies cleared enough to grab a few more routes. It got a bit too cold to make full use of the evening, but doing First Of Class (another Duddon guide photo tick) made the day for me, an exhilerating testpiece and my hardest route of the year so far.

Burnt Crag in the Duddon Valley - closer to the road although just as arduous to walk up to, and far more of a honeypot with classic trade routes like Shifter, but still just as tranquil compared to the fleshpots of Langdale just over the mountain ranges. Well it was tranquil for a bit and then a group of local old boys turned up and any semblance of quiet was shattered by a storm of Cumbrian banter, beta, and bloody good laughs. This was actually quite welcome as they were an entertaining bunch, I do like meeting local veterans as they know all the hidden holds and gear placements, are amused when you don't find them, impressed when you ignore them, and generally can share good knowledge and crack about the crags. This was particularly true on the day and perhaps the highlight was the reaction to my last ditch solution to the squirmingly thin intricacies of Scorched Earth (yup another photo tick, the Duddon guide is full of inspiration that way). Tenuously bridged with a juggy ledge just out of reach, the obvious choice was to leap sideways for it....."foooking 'ell, he jumped for it! Did you see that Keith? Aye, foook me that's the move of the day, never seen anyone jump for that!". Quite amusing as that was considerably easier than the moves below.

3 days. 8 routes. 2 new venues. Mostly good weather and only 1 hour of rain and 10 minutes of traffic jams, I can live with that. Quite a lot of walking, and a few pretty challenging routes....I'm feeling more on form and more inspired. So here's a picture of the sunset from Far Hill:





Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

It's just the newness wearing off...
5 May 2014, 12:27 pm



A classic phrase from a classic climber, George Smith. I think it was used in his excellent article about Lleyn climbing a few years ago, and I had good cause to use it on a recent trip to the Far North, which is far north of the Lleyn but certainly has the potential for similarly high quality experiences. In general North Scotland lacks good choss compared to North Wales and North Devon / Cornwall sea-cliffs (apart from the Old Red sea-stacks), but it seems there is enough lurking around the fringes if you know where to find it. My partner Steve knew where to find it, except he didn't know he knew because he sold the cliff to me as "clean and beautiful", well one of those is certainly true. Actually the cleanliness is partly true, it's just the occasional bit of cleanliness likes to detach itself to reveal more potential cleanliness underneath.

So the Far North in general. I'd been to Creag Shomarlie before and I'd been to Scrabster before, but never the section of coast in between. It was cold and desolate and beautiful when the sun came out. There's just enough civilisation up there even if it doesn't stretch to two-lane roads and cafes in every hamlet. Ben Hope and Ben Loyal provide a dramatic backdrop to the coast, or is it the other way around as the coast is spectacular in itself. It reminded me a lot of Devon and Cornwall, the difference being you can feel the emptiness and solitude at your back, compared to D&C where a few miles inland and you're in back to back villages and towns and back to back caravan jams.

We didn't actually do that much climbing up there, due to driving, cold weather (belaying in t-shirt, windproof, bodywarmer, hoodie, downie, snood, beanie and gloves and still freezing?? Yup welcome to May!), crag complexity and the need to balance out the Cocoa Mountain cafe with the Craggan pub, but it was certainly interesting exploration. The most interesting being The Tiger....for which I went through as many motivational fluctuations as the stripes on the cliff. The first photo Steven sent looked kinda scruffy - unpsyched. The next photos shown in person showing the scale and dramatic rock markings - psyched! Abseiling over the grassy edge onto highly variable terrain - unpsyched. Belaying at the bottom and looking at all the potential lines - psyched! Following up and encouraging the newness to wear off a bit quicker - unpsyched. Lying in the Tongue hostel thinking about the next line I spotted - psyched! Standing on the headwall with two shallow cams at my feet, two more okay cams 6m further down, looking up at fragile rock leading to a final smooth gearless groove - ummmmm..... Well I spotted a tiny bomber C3 placement under an overlap and topped out and it was a bloody brilliant adventure up a bloody dramatic cliff. You're not going to mistake it for mundane honeypots like Sheigra...









  Who Rattled Your Cage? E3 5b ** 45m

Requires a non-provocative approach and a double set of cams. A fine adventure up the central black stripe with good climbing but spaced protection and variable rock.

1. 5b 12m. Start as for TT or on a rock left of the blowhole, depending on swell. Gain the smooth wall at the black/orange boundary, where fine bold climbing leads to a good foot ledge and large cams above. Belay or on the ledge just right useful to prevent rope-drag.

2. 5b 33m. Continue up the orange/black boundary to the overlap and traverse right beneath this on quartz rails. Pull over leftwards (medium cams) onto a block. Step left to avoid dubious blocks then climb boldly to the final slim quartz groove (tiny cam on left). Finish delicately up this.



Source:  fiendblog

[SA Chris]

Looks cool, did he get a soaking in that second pic.

[Fiend]

Nope, there is a big rock in the way, it was breaking over the rock in the photo but the bottom of the face was just about protected. Would be a relaxing spot in calm seas.

[comPiler]

Taking stock.
18 May 2014, 6:23 pm



Sporadic blogging, sporadic things of interest to write about. I've been climbing in a variety of places, done some nice climbs, and have to think a bit harder to actually remember them all. It's been that sort of May - it started well by pissing it down but even the weather has perked up enough I don't even have that to moan about. So here's the current crag review:

Balgone Heughs - a demoralising pile of rubble that perfectly blends the aesthetics of the worst Peak limestone crag with the rock quality of the worst Central Belt quarry. HOWEVER the climbing is actually quite good fun, and it's a far better use of bolts than any retro-bolting nonsense in the Central Belt. I only had a fleeting visit but felt pretty confident climbing despite the weird rock.

Bramcrag Quarry - a demoralising pile of rubble that perfectly blends the aesthetics of the worst Central Belt quarry with the rock quality of....something considerably better. The aim was a mixed trad/sport hit and we did well to get any trad in as it was in the process of being retro-bolted as we climbed. I think they have done a couple of routes too many, but overall it is more suitable than any retro-bolting nonsense in the Central Belt (RBing is being done by the FA, most previous trad routes were not so classic, many of them relied on pegs and spaced bolts, trad is not as precious a commodity as it's surrounded by 2 guidebooks worth of classic Lakes trad, and clear delineation between quarry and nearby crags precludes bolts spreading). Did a few pleasant routes and left the harder sport for a breezier day.

Armathwaite - an appealing crag of aesthetic rock that is somewhat more traumatic to climb on. I'd visited a few times over the years, worked my way through some classic leads, and got inspired by harder lines. Unfortunately those lines tend to be bold and rounded and smeary with worrying "half-in" gear and it's all pretty spooky terrain for getting on the lead. Thus I'm less enamoured with the place and will file it under the "late Autumn pseudo-grit death route" wishlist.

Bleater's Wall - an appealing crag of aesthetic rock that is somewhat more traumatic to climb on. It's a fine sheet of Arrochar schist at it's most obtuse, with blind fingery holds and hidden and spaced gear and a strong sense that none of the harder routes get onsighted, at least neither at the grade given nor by people who climb the grade given. I certainly didn't manage that much apart from a lot of furiously crimping up and down the start of routes trying to place tricams and C3 cams quicker than they fell out under their own weight. Thus is the price of straying 30 mins drive from the Central Belt / honeypots of Cambusbarron / Dunkeld / Weem to a sunny idyllic crag with a 10 minute walk-in and a nice grassy base.

I think I want to go somewhere vaguely normal now...

Maybe Gruinard Crag, Stone Valley, Creag Nan Luch, Goat In The Woods, Mungasdale or Reiff?

Maybe Iron Crag, Castle Rock, Reecastle, Goat Crag, Falcon Crag, Bowderstone Crag, or Gouther Crag?

Maybe Creag Dubh, Stac An Eich, Glen Nevis or Creag A Mhuilinn, Tunnel Wall or Aonach Dubh if it gets warm?

Maybe my wrist is better enough to get on some harder stuff too. I've had reassuring sessions down Ratho, pretty much at my previous standard with pretty much not much pain. It seems a while since I got on something solidly and reliably challenging (Easter) so I am getting those urges again....May has been a bit headless chicken so far and I want to feel more focused.



Source:  fiendblog

[SA Chris]

Choose quickly, midge season is just around the corner

[Fiend]

I choose whatever is breezy....

[comPiler]

MungasFAIL, Leaning FAIL, Ashie FAIL.
3 June 2014, 10:48 pm



Back in the North West recently. Lots of good stuff: I got to hang out plenty with PJ, and hang out properly with his mate Richie who is a nice guy and knows plenty about me from PJ's gossip which is kinda funny. Had a nice brief chat with Ian Taylor in Ullapool, and a lengthier and friendly chat with Gary Latter at the Leaning Block. Had a really rather good curry in Ullapool, and then burnt it off by managing to do the Leaning Block walk-in without any rests (aided by plenty of drum and bass on the mp3 player, and walking in in my underpants - I may have looked like even more of a twat than usual, but who had the freshest bawbag on arrival eh??). Had mostly great weather, got some decent sun on my lardy body, and did okay on Mungasdale and Gruinard walk-ins too. Did some useful re-recceing of inspiring routes, and worked out a better racking system for my new gear-loops-just-slightly-too-small harness. Yeah.

Oh, climbing. Yes, umm, climbing. Well the routes I did in the end would have made a pretty great single mileage day. Over a long weekend, much less so. Mungasdale was too warm and midgy to get on my main inspirations, and I even ended up failing on E2 groove there, partly because it was truly fucking awful climbing, but really because I was too scared to push on and risk falling above gear. Leaning Block was mostly rather fine but late starts and team-of-3 logistics made it difficult to get on my main inspirations, and I ended up failing on Losaigh, partly because it was truly greasy as fuck, but really because I was too scared to push on and risk falling above gear. Gruinard was surprisingly good conditions despite light winds, but feeling jet-lagged due to the previous days ridiculous schedule precluded even looking at anything hard, Coupe Du Monde was nice compensation though. Ashie Fort was again very pleasant after managing to get there from Inverness by 2pm (!), and although I did one funky E3, I ended up failing on the Sick Whipper / Whipper Snapper groove, partly because the wind had just bloody dropped and it got too sweaty, but really because I was too scared to push on and risk falling above gear (albeit that gear was a collection of complete abstract bollox half-in cams and insitu RPs, but even so it was right next to me and 5 wrongs would have definitely made a right). Basically I am complete coward and even more so when conditions and team logistics aren't in my favour.

It's a bit dire when one starts thinking "oh it's just nice to be out in the fresh air with some good scenery and good company". Ugh. Whatever next, enjoying "nice long easy routes in the mountains"?? Therein lies the path of even fatterness, even weakerness, even punterliness. I had to make it back up by going to Ratho the day after and making sure I did a bit of beastmaking as a penance after doing my usual routes session. That route session included some of the usual falling practise but clearly I need to do it more and bigger as it's still holding me back.

Ashie route I didn't fail on:







Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Months of moronitude.
7 June 2014, 10:07 am



January - The Month Of Potential: Cruising along after a brilliant 2013 and an inspiring trip to the grit in December, trip booked to Pedriza for maximum slab practise and hopefully the perfect practise for the tail end of the grit season.

February - The Month Of Sulking: All cruising come to an abrupt halt with a randomly tweaked wrist - can't stir fry, struggle to do the dishes and wipe my butt. Can't train and can't go to the gym and get pretty depressed and slothful and even more overweight.

March - The Month Of Recovery: The wrist slowly starts healing, the weather slowly becomes more reliable for general trad and I'm able to potter around. Knowing that I just need gentle mileage, it's quite pleasant getting back into and exploring a bit.

April - The Month Of Near Normality: As always happens, a steady diet of Easy Trad (tm) has got my wrist into a generally functional state, especially for almost all climbing except coming into underclings from below. The mileage has paid off and I'm climbing pretty well and doing some good challenges.

May - The Month Of Scrappiness: And yet somehow in May it all gets a bit scrappy, scrappy periods of intermittent reasonable weather, scrappy venues to take advantage of the weather windows but that never seem to offer reliable climbing, scrappy climbing progress that is actually more regress as despite feeling more healed than ever. I seem to have done a fair bit of climbing and can't remember any of it.

June - The Month Of .... Fuck knows. The month of more stupid intermittent weather?? The month of feeling lazy and slothful and slacking off my training?? The month of being hopelessly disorganised and missing out on most dry weather days??

....The month of really needing to get my act together. I am about as focused as a wet fart at the moment and if I dared try to pull a hard move that's probably what would happen. Once again there is a massive disparity between my levels of psyche and inspiration (high) and my levels of motivation and organisation (wtf?). Once again I feel detatched from myself because of that. That's not some airy fairy hippy bullshit (I had steak last night...), just simple facts. I happen to be a climber so I better fucking act like one.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

The Gun Show vs The Gut Show
8 June 2014, 5:07 pm





Wearing a hideously bright power vest might make your arms look a bit bigger (and you look a bit of a twat), but it doesn't make you any less of a fat, heavy, and weak climber.

Recently I have had no less than 3 climber guys mention "the size of my arms". 3 guys who were nice enough but not quite enough to "turn" me, sorry. Relatively muscular arms in theory vaguely correspond to stronger muscles and thus vaguely correspond to hauling yourself up rockfaces, but it's not even remotely close to being that simple: Arms were mentioned by Colin when I was down at Bramcrag Quarry, where of course it's mostly slabby and decent finger strength, dry skin, and good smearing are far more important, and then by Richie and Davie at Ashie Fort, where of course it's bold and intricate and steely fingers and, stamina for fiddling gear, and a cool confidence are far more important. No-one mentioned it when I was in the steeper stuff at Reiff because those so-called muscles didn't do fuck all then did they....

So all of this means that the "hide the gut show the guns" power vest motto is, errrr, working aesthetically. So I guess I might get some good photos.....on routes that are piss easy because I'm too weak to get up anything else. Muscles, schmuscles. They mean precisely jack shit when you're far too fucking overweight AND have no stamina AND no lock-off ability AND no confidence to push past the pump. I don't even know what they are doing on my arms to be honest, and having anyone mention them is ironic and farcical. No one mentions how slim I am nor how long I can hang out without getting pumped nor how confidently I can push on above gear. I can't even think of any items of luminous clothing that could encourage nor highlight those more relevant features/skills. Power feather fucking boa maybe??

Possibly the simplest truism in physical climbing is there is no substitute for being skinny and light as fuck. Sure anyone can point out the few exceptions who are 1. Actually still light as fuck not just as light as fuck as the other good climbers, and 2. Ridiculously fucking overstrong with it. So any dissent is pure bollox. Conversely people keep expressing amazement when Ondra takes his shirt of and there is nothing there (incidentally I think Ondra is now topping my world-class climber man-crush table, just ahead of Dave G with Nalle possibly in 3rd, this crush is nothing to do with physique it is to do with incredible climbing and a devoted but fun attitude). Well fucking DUH of course there is nothing there - except skin bones and fast twitch muscle fibre. I suspect my forearms are bigger than Ondra's calves but I suspect every bit of Ondra's body is honed to hauling himself up 9as onsight and that his power to weight ratio is astronomically high. It's all about power-to-weight and it's exactly the same down at more relevant levels and every time I hear fucking Shark or my mates Dunc or Phil moaning about being heavy or weak they need a serious boot in the cock for being some combination of skinny cunts, tall cunts, or strong cunts and still daring to complain about it.

Anyway I'm off to the gym. Hopefully the muscles won't get any bigger but if I manage to burn a fraction of an ounce off it might help the tiniest bit...



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Athletic Attitude.
14 June 2014, 7:48 pm



Embarassing as it is, I do actually know some non-climbers. Some of them are unavoidable (family), some of them are due to odd circumstance (a few friends). Quite often they accost me with bizarre proclamations:

"You're looking fit."

I might look *whatever*, but that is irrelevant to me. Half the time I look okay I've still been too lazy and inactive.

"You seem to have lost weight."

No I haven't. I've put on 3 pounds since you last saw me and have been desperately failing to shift it.

"You're heading back home to go to the gym? You're crazy."

No, I'd be crazy NOT too. I have to keep fit and I have to keep training. That *should* be normal for me.

"You're like the Duracell bunny, you never sit still."

No. I really wish this was true, but it's the polar opposite. I spend far too much time sitting on my fat arse, being inactive, badly motivated, and disorganised.

"Stop moaning about being weak, you're much stronger than normal people."

So? I don't care about comparisons with normal people, I care about what feels right for me, and what is right by my standards and the standard of the activity I'm involved with.

"Don't worry about not exercising today, you can have a day off."

No, I absolutely cannot and must not. I MUST keep exercising for my own health (DVTs + seeming high tendency to weight gain) and my own sanity (passionate about an activity that requires fitness and strength).

Basically non-climbers look at me and think I'm doing great physically. This highlights two things to me: Firstly that their standards are the utterly wrong ones for me to pay attention to and judge myself by, and secondly, when I consider their comments by the correct standards, then whilst I am generally doing "okay" physically for myself and my climbing, I'm not doing "great".

I am a CLIMBER*. I am passionate about and dedicated to a challenging physical (and mental) activity, and I enjoy pushing myself and progressing (or maintaining) my ability in that activity. It's not something I "do", it's something I "am".  The standards I judge myself by are those of an athlete - albeit an amateur punterish athlete, but an athlete nevertheless. Ideally I focus on that activity, I do it a lot, and I train both generally and specifically for it. Ideally I would have an athletic attitude, to get the most out of what I enjoy doing physically.

Except, of course, I don't: * - I am a climber but that is sort of mixed in with being a geek, being a gamer, being a depressive sort, oh and being a bit of a cripple too. My attitude is tainted with a whole load of issues that you fuckers don't need to know the details off but that inhibit my desires and motivation and encourage me to sink into ruts of inactivity, whilst my tangential other interests allow me to wallow in those ruts all too easily. Hardly the attitude of an effective athlete, is it??

I need to have that athletic attitude. Not in a rigid, dry, monotonous, excessively regimented and scheduled sort of way because whilst I want to be a better person I don't want to be that sort of better person, and the regimentation doesn't really work with my climbing passion. This is why I'm writing about ATTITUDE, the attitude of training and exercise and activity being the complete normal status quo. It's more of a generalised way-of-life thing. In which I am fit.....I do maintain (or even lose) weight.....I go to the gym often because that is totally normal.....I don't sit still all the time....I do keep strong.....and maybe then, with the right attitude, I could even afford the occasional day off because it will be in the context of regular, normal, dedicated action and activity.

I NEED TO HAVE THAT ATTITUDE.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Is This The Best View In Scotland??
24 June 2014, 4:37 pm



....says the sign at the Highland Wildlife Park, overlooking the same entirely familiar and fairly mundane vista of the Cairngorms that everyone sees everyday driving past Kingussie. No it's not even in the top 20, nor probably the top 100 depending how detailed you want to go with your best views. It's not even the Best View Of The Cairngoms From The A9 - that accolade goes to driving back down from Inverness and seeing the Cairngorms covered in snow above the intervening countryside. Admittedly within the park itself, the view of a pair of enormous polar bears flopped out on their haunches, chilling out nibbling on meat and carrots just a few yards away is a contender for the best view. But taking the Scottish landscape alone, here are a few of my favourites:

1. Kinlochewe - the view down the valley to the end of Loch Maree:

 

2. Neist - the panorama of the Outer Hebrides with the pinnacle of An Teallach in the foreground.

3. Ardmair - the view of the bay, islands, and massive ridgeline framing it:

4. Steall Meadows - the view of the meadow and the waterfall as you pop out of Glen Nevis gorge, or better still, pop down from Wave having walked up the other way:



5. Ben Ledi, Eastern Trossachs, and Ochils - the view as you pop over the hill south of Stirling on the M80 and see the start of the Highlands open up, not the most amazing but the sheer amount of hills and mountains just after leaving the Central Belt.

6. Erraid - the view of the utterly perfect beach beneath the main climbing areas:



7. Sulliven - the view either from the Leaning Block cliffs or from Ledmore Junction. Either will do!

8. Loch Torridon - the view back from the viewpoint en route to Diabeg:



  9. The view back up Gruinard River from Goat Crags:



10. Pick one of the following: Loch Linnhe up to Fort William from the Mull ferry, looking South along the coast from Aultbea to Gairloch, Glen Torridon itself, the Buckle above Rannoch Moor, any view around Gruinard Bay, any view around Stac Pollaidh, the panorama of the coastline around Tongue with Ben Hope and Ben Loyal towering in the distance, the view from Diabeg over Applecross and Skye, or any of the other thousand amazing views....



Source:  fiendblog

[GCW]

A'Mhaighdean across Fionn Loch takes some beating, Matt.

[comPiler]

The ethics of failing.
24 June 2014, 6:43 pm



Climbing is a pretty simple activity. Go to a crag, pick a route you like, read the grade and information from the guidebook, have a good look at it, get on it and try to climb it. If you're good enough to do the route you'll get up it and succeed, if you're not good enough you won't and you'll fail on it by falling off or resting or whatever. If it's a new route or an unrepeated route then there won't be the same / any information about it so you might need to inspect it further rather than climbing it normally, the same if it's a cutting edge of difficulty that hasn't been climbed normally (an extremely obvious distinction that needs no further comment, it applies throughout this post). But usually you'll turn up, climb from bottom to top and than you've done the route - and done the level of challenge the grade entails. Except:

First E5!!!! WOOOOOO ( Lead RP )

First E5 fail.

Worked on rope then went for the lead. Very happy first e5.

First E5 fail.

Probably could have onsighted this, but wouldn't have :) First E4!

First E4 fail.

First E4. Went okay after I found my sequence on the rockover. ( Lead RP )

First E4 fail.

first e4 stoaked!, although made a hash of placing cams low down in the crack and came off,

First E4 fail.

My First E2! Got it second go.

First E2 fail.

After Working, what a way to claim First E2!

First E2 fail.

First E2- took a tumble on the crux, got back on the horse and got it 2nd try.

First E2 fail.

seconded up it before then lead. first E2 without bolts!

First E2 fail.

Ummmmm..... In an ideal world UKC would replace "Lead RP", "Lead dog", "Lead dnf" and of course "TR" with "Fail".

What is so difficult to grasp that if you're doing a route at the grade given for an onsight, you've do the route as an onsight?? I presume that if someone is running a 100m sprint, they know that the time recorded is from starting at the starting line and running to the finish line, and to do that time you don't start part way along or ride a bicycle?? It's just the same and just as simple in climbing, to do that grade you do it in the context given. Sure the grade is given to the route not the ascent, but equally bloody obviously it's given for doing the route in a particular style - not worked, not with a ladder against it, not bolting on holds, not aiding it or anything else.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong whatsoever with trying and failing. It's part of the process. God knows I've failed on more routes than most people have succeeded on. It annoys me when I do it but it's nothing to be ashamed of - if I've failed on a route I haven't done it, sobeit.

Of course.....there's a world of difference between trying and failing, and not even bothering to try at all, by choosing to top-rope first. Failure to do a route is one thing, failure to even try to do it is something else. To acknowledge a challenge, to see it and be inspired by it, and somehow deliberately choose to not engage with that challenge is....very strange behaviour. Why bother to go near it at all?? If you can't even try to do it, then simply don't - there are so many more other routes to actually try.

In the context of all this common bloody sense, it was quite perturbing to see people failing to top-rope dog a mega-classic Lake District E5 trade route at a clean, dry, roadside crag the other day. It's the incomprehensibility of it that gets me. At first I assumed they'd be on a much less ascended E7 next to it (given that's getting towards the realms of "rarely climbed normally"), but no....mega-classic trade route at a very normal leading standard. Sometimes I think I'd like to know the reasoning behind this "Oh I can't do this route, so I will not do it by hanging on a top-rope", but it's such an alien concept I'd have better luck trying to understand telepathy with a squid or a patch of moss. What about "Oh I can't do this route so I'll get more skillful from doing some of the other few thousand routes in the area and get fit slogging up hills and get strong at the Bowderstone and then actually try it"?? Pass the moss-squid, it might be able to grasp that concept.

Of course "people can do what they like as long as they don't damage the rock". Sure WHATEVER. Yawn, snore, etc. What a drab response that misses the point of the climbing experience: the experience is about pleasure, about excitement, about tackling challenges....about quality. And the quality of the routes is about the experience of climbing up them, not the non-experience of not-climbing them by top-roping/working. Top-roping doesn't just eradicate the challenge and the grade, it eradicates the quality and the star rating. Sure people can choose to not-climb something, they might claim to "enjoy" that, but it doesn't make it any less weird - people choose to have sex with animals too and claim to enjoy it... And yes that is an entirely fair and accurate comparison. Cheers!



Source:  fiendblog

[Wood FT]

this is you fighting the ceaseless tide of the 'live and let live' brigade, you're only thinking of them, trying to improve their experience...




I feel just as bitter but people just tell me to shut the fuck up.

[slackline]

You could perhaps not waste your time reading and worrying about how others choose to climb and record their ascents on UKC?

Maybe its the comments you're getting at but I suspect you would be wound up even more if there was, as you suggested there should be, only a dichotomous way of recording how routes have been climbed on UKC rather than permitting "TR practice" / "Lead Dog" / etc..  Why?  Because all of those "ascents" that you highlight would simply have been recorded as successful ascents rather than the true reflection of how they were climbed, and then you wouldn't have anything to rant about on your blog (or perhaps you would as you'd "know" that there couldn't possibly have been so many ethical ascents of such routes) 

I'll also pick you up on your assertion that E5 is a "very normal leading standard".  Its not, for something to be "normal" it has to be common place.  E5 can and is regularly on-sighted, but this is by a minority of very good climbers who make up a small subset of all people who climb.  Take the whole distribution of grades climbed by those participating and the "very normal leading standard" will probably be around the HS/VS mark (and thats perhaps being a little optimistic).

Finally you perhaps are over-looking the fact that people may well have set out to on-sight the route, perhaps even its their first attempt at the grade, but failed (which you acknowledge as fine) and then did the next best thing, got it second try, have you never failed on a route?  Perhaps next time they try a different route of the same grade they might get it on-sight.  Recording your failures, and the style in which you failed, is all part of the process of learning and improving.  They might have been very proud of the effort they put in to get to the stage of trying it, and that might come through in their comments, but at least they have been honest with themselves as to how they failed (as thats all they have to be, I'm sure most couldn't care less what strangers on the net think).

There are just too many unknowns for you to be quite so disparaging in passing judgement on people you don't know or interact with.