Thursday 1 September 2016

A blog a week until I'm up to date: Post 3 - New Year in Cornudella

Next up in my roughly weekly fortnightly catch-up are some highlights from my trip to Siurana, Margalef and Montsant with Ted Kingsnorth over new year 2015/16 (Ted's account can be found here).

The trip didn't start well, with me sat in Manchester airport departure lounge receiving ever more urgent texts from Ted until the inevitable message admitting he wouldn't be making the flight came through. However, I got very lucky as sitting in the departure hall was another climber I knew in passing - Ross from Bristol, en route to meeting friends in the Costa Blanca, and willing to divert to Siurana for the day as he'd never climbed there before. A plan was hatched, hire cars collected and we drove to our excellent AirBnB accommodation "Siurana Climbing House" in Cornudella (highly recommended) which we shared with the convivial Duncan and Heather.

Before the trip, with my shoulder reverting to grumpy state of semi-instability I didn't have any specific goals, beyond tidying up Hidrophobia at Montsant - a long and pumpy 8a that I'd tried to flash, and then failed to redpoint a few years previously. Highlights of the first few days before going up to Montsant were:
  • Witnessing Ross's extraordinary lack of stamina; pumping out on a long 6b+ despite recently redpointing his first (short & bouldery) f8a
  • The excellent long arete of Lua, 7c
  • A surprise on-sight of a tough 7c+, Puceta de llançol.

An old photo of me trying to flash Hidrophobia back in 2012

Whilst talking with another visiting climber on New Years Eve, I was advised to swap between different 2 and 3 finger combinations to rest and fatigue different fingers alternately on Montsant pockets.  After a relatively quiet evening, New years day dawned and despite his ankle injury, Ted agreed to walk up to Raco de Missa and belay me on his rest day so I could try out this pump minimising theory.

Ted's grapefruit sized ankle, complete with brace and my borrowed rockboot (a full size bigger than his own)

After a warm-up and dog of Hidrophobia to reacquaint myself, it became apparent that the useful advice wouldn't work on my left hand, as my perennially dodgy ring-finger meant I took all the small pockets with a front-2 grip.

Hence, despite the holds turning into sinker pocket jugs at the top, I made an airborne retreat with an astonishing level of pump, and was too beat up to even think of having a second redpoint attempt! The next day, my forearms were still toasted and it was my turn to belay Ted at Margalef, whilst on an enforced rest-day.

Ted climbing at a damp Racó de les Tenebres
A couple of days later, I cashed in on the beat I'd gleaned from belaying/watching Ted and flashed the classic Magic Festival (7c) and then went on to on-sight the other crag classic, La corva de la felicitat (also 7c). We finished the day at the bouldery, roadside El Laboratori sector as Ted had unfinished business with Tsunami. I had a go too, but the first dynamic move of the jug rail made my shoulder crunch and I kept well away whilst Ted and our new South African friend, Brian ticked with ease.

On our final day, I fought up the long and pumpy Hot Knife with an increasingly painful and unstable shoulder. Hence, whilst travelling home on a disgustingly uncomfortable Ryanair flight, I gave significant thought to whether surgery would solve my ongoing problems and get me back to full strength...

Friday 12 August 2016

Another newbie! "Enter Sandman" 7c+, The Gap, South Wales


Enter Sandman, 7c+, The Gap, South Wales.

Many moons ago, The Pickford had raved about Mad at the Sun, 7c/+ being "the hardest route on South Wales sandstone" but beyond that, I'd never really thought about climbing at The Gap.

However, owing to a dodgy back sustained from falling off the high-break of Traverse of the Gods, avoiding using too much body tension by doing some vertical/fiddling climbing seemed like a good idea. Helen was keen for the terrific Encore! Magnifique! (7b+) so we plugged Pontypridd into the satnav and set off for The Gap.

A momentary lapse of reason, 7b+/c is a very thin and technical route, with a slightly chequered past; the FA climbed the gnarly lower wall, then skirted around the roof on the left to a belay just below the heather. Since being re-geared with staple bolts, recent ascents have finished at the last bolt on the lip of the roof to avoid the the manky original belay (one rusty bolt; another sticking out 2 inches), as shown in the topo and description below.



The Gap topo from SWMC website
After a failed on-sight go at the lower 7b+/c bit, I had a play on the upper roof and worked out a tenuous sequence on micro-edges and sloper to take you up to the old belay direct. Everything was set - all I had to do was get through the start again!

After an aborted attempt, my skin was very thin, but the extra tie-in meant I'd now got a bomber sequence of crimps and high steps, so getting through to the rest below the roof was fairly straight forward.

Shouting down to one of the other climbers at the crag that day, I passed out instructions for taking photos with my phone and then set off up to the roof.

The mid-height rest - chilling out and passing on camera instructions

The internal dialogue went something like this:


Stretching through the roof
Long reach through the roof to the finishing hold of the original, clip the belay, heel up and stretch to the pocket. Turn the heel to a toe, frog stance and take the...

...Shit - which crimp is it?

...all the chalked holds feel dusty and rubbish...

...ah there it is - the chalk free one I brushed clean!

Sort the feet out and bounce to the better crimp - elbows out out - go for it anyway - catch the sloper with the right hand and stand up to the thank god jug.

Chicken wings for dinner anyone?

Enter Sandman is about 7c+; it's certainly short of the speculated 8a - the rest before the roof is just too good (Caveat - being tall helped on the first lock-off, but otherwise it isn't too reachy)



Monday 1 August 2016

A blog a week until I'm up to date: Post 2 - Some newbies

Here are the details of four three new routes I've climbed over last 6 months, to bring you up to date with that side of my climbing; in no particular order:

1) Baba O'Riley, f8a, Malham

Years ago, when I was still obsessed by head-pointing routes at Sea Walls, Avon, I had my first taste of Yorkshire sport climbing on the easiest route at Malham - the short and grotty "Bergozi and the ledge lizards", f6a+. I remember at the time looking up at a solitary bolt in the bulge above the belay, and thinking - what goes up there?

Twelve years later (yes that does make me feel old!) in late 2015, Ian Dunne bolted a new 6c+ called "Whodunnit" just to the left of the aforementioned 6a+ and upon repeating Ian's route, my interest was piqued to once again look at that un-climbed bulge.

My first attempt at bolting a new line was an abject failure when I left the drill battery at home; the second only marginally more successful, with a belay and runners in the bulge successfully placed, but the battery running out halfway through placing the final bolt midway up the head-wall.

With just a day of the bolting season remaining I was unable to fix the final bolt as I was stuck in work and hence I was reduced to using an 12ft long sling hanging off the belay as a runner whilst working, and making redpoint attempts on the route.
A big block I had to trundle - however despite being obviously loose it took a good number of blows with my weedy ice-axe to dislodge it.
After a few days of working the route, a sequence of  typically tenuous Malham footholds unlocked the burly undercutting to take you to the lip of the bulge, where a crimp for the left hand and a super high heel allowed a series of four slaps with the right hand. The final slap uncurled by body enough to then swap the heel to a toe and rock over into balance by the extended sling runner.

After making a number of exciting falls from the final slap having skipped the second clip in the bulge, I reworked the sequence and found I could make just 3 of the 4 slaps and rock further on to the heel, snatch a side-pull and thus avoid another plummet. the first time up the route with the new sequence, Baba O'Riley was born, f8a?

The line of Whodunnit 6c+ (blue) and my new extension, Baba O'Riley 8a (red) with the large scar left by the trundled block easily visible.

N.B. The route name comes from classic The Who track used as theme tune to the modern TV Whodunnit classic, CSI: New York.


2) "Almost Familiar" f7c+, Parisella's Cave

A fun juggy extension to Jerry Moffat's classic 7A boulder problem "Parisella's Original" with a "technical knee" (01:46) deployed for the finish into the excavated scoop below the belay (another large block needed trundling whilst cleaning it prior to the FA - a developing theme?!?)



Adam Lincoln flashed the second ascent using an extra hold I hadn't discovered up and left, suggesting f7c.


Variations and projects:
  • Sit start/reverse Right Wall Traverse before joining the original, FA Ally Smith, f7c+/8a (You could do the Clever Beaver Sit Start into it at the same grade? Edit - did this link-up on 20th August - felt slightly easier - 7c+?)
  • Trigger Cut/Almost Familiar, FA Chris Doyle, f8a+ 
  • "Almost Halfway" = Halfway House/Almost Familiar, FA Chris Doyle, f8b/+ (video shows the easier finishing method Adam found - starting 02:44)
  • Broken Heart/Parisella's Original/Almost Familiar, project. A bit more stamina needed than the Trigger Cut link up, hence f8a+/b? (Edit - I completed this link in August 2016 at f8a+)
  • The Wire/Parisella's Original/Almost Familiar, project, baby f8c?
  • Director's Cut/Almost Familiar, project, f8c? The better and more direct line then the previous suggested link-up? (Edit - Doylo completed this link in August 2016; confirming my speculated grade of f8c news item and 1st ascent video here)
  • The big daddy - a direct line from the back of the cave to the lip - i.e. Hatch start/Rockatrocity/Almost Halfway. A slightly easier counter diagonal to Pete Robins' concept f9a+ link-up of Lou Ferrino/Bonnie extension, maybe somewhere in the realm of f9a?


3) Leftwall Reverse 7B (or f7c+?) Parisella's Cave

Does it exactly what it says on the tin - start at the finish of Leftwall and reverse the classic sequence; climbing rightwards and ever so slightly downhill on the final, crux sequence (portrait/smart phone footage in the video compilation) to finish at the Leftwall starting position.

I did shake out and try and continue back up Leftwall on the FA, but fell after 3 moves when I failed to leave enough room to match the horizontal shot-hole - one to go back to next winter?

UKC logbook keeper-of-the-cave Rich Hessian gave it an online slating, but i think it's a worthwhile thing to do when the cave is otherwise condensed out/seeping?





4) Oh yeah, I might have had something to do with the FA of this classy f8a too...

Wednesday 27 July 2016

A blog a week until I'm up to date: Post 1 - Chulilla, November 2015

So, my exceedingly patch approach to updating this blog continues...

...I offer some pathetic explanation to this lassitude:

11 months ago, I went down to Dorset for a weekend of DWS, Andy's tasty home-brew and some hungover bouldering. The DWS was great, but the sun-burn healed much faster than the rotator cuff injury I picked up bouldering on Portland the next day. The recovery from this injury has been a long and winding road, without much logic as to what causes relapses from near full strength back to grumpily unstable.

Sun kissed Lulworth; just about the last thing I climbed before destroying my rotator cuff

Following the initial injury, I took a full fortnight off from climbing, something I'd not done for many years. After this, I undertook 2 months of weekly physio and made gradual improvement, but insufficient to commit to a planned autumn trip to the Red River Gorge, KY.

By the end of November, my shoulder had progressed well enough to visit Chulilla for a long weekend break.

Beautiful Chulilla, as seen from the upper, dam end of the gorge

My small amount of training for this trip was done very carefully, with the strong emphasis on remaining in complete control; i.e. static finger-boarding and foot-on campus routines, as directed by Coach Randall; hence, my expectations were very limited as I had no idea how well I'd be performing on rock...

...A retro-flash of the excellent Los Franceses (7b+) and on-sight of the bouldery El Muerto Matao (7c) constituted a highly successful re-acquaintance with rock on the first afternoon.


The belayer's perspective: Liz on the start of Miguel Gomez (7a+ now there's less holds on the crux)
The next morning, our team of four we shifted to the shadier sectors accessed from the dam where Liz completed the thin and slightly run-out Miguel Gomez (7a+), and I got back on Magica Montana (8a+); a route I'd attempted whilst tired and cold on the last day of a weekend break to Chulilla in Jan 2015.

This time around, I sketched wildly on the slopey tufa pinches where previously I had a solid sequence, but with the fitness gained from the super-boring foot-on campus sessions, I recovered at the jug rest, sneaked through the crux with improved beta before romping up the exposed crimpy headwall with a growing grin on my face. Clipping the chains, without feeling too pumped, I let my imagination run wild and gazed up at the 8c+ extension; maybe my climbing career wasn't over just yet...?

With no photos of me climbing in Chulilla, you'll have to make do with these couple of videos:

1) some random chap on Montana Magica (best viewed with the sound turned down)

2) The results of me drinking half a bottle of red wine to celebrate the redpoint - somehow I recovered enough to on-sight a soft 8a - El Agent Naranja - the following day!

Magica Montana red wine indulgence from Ally Smith on Vimeo.