Veni, vidi, vici! Santa Linya bank-holiday weekend smash-fest

Not quite "i came, i saw, i conquered" as I'd visited at Easter as well, but for shear volume of successful climbing, my bank holiday trip to Spain is a personal highlight. It's worth mentioning my prep for this weekend; spangling a finger trying Melancholie at LPT and only pulling on jugs for the last 3 weeks. Hence why the previous Tuesday gets a mention:

Tuesday:
Leave work at 5 and race down to Llangollen and meet up with Liverpool's strongest climber/physio, Matt Donnelly. A few fingery 6c warm-ups didn't feel great on the dodgy digit, so i set off up "Extreme Ways" 7c with a high level of trepidation. The on-sight attempt floundered at the first hard move and i ended up sitting on every bolt up to the chains. A semi-efficient sequence was worked out and Matt sent up to try for the flash; close but no cigar.

Matt worked an alternate foot sequence around a move up to an obvious undercut on the headwall, so i set off on my redpoint go with a fuzzy memory of what to do mixed with a bum view of Matt's supposedly slicker sequence. Needless to say what's efficient for a whippet 5'9" climber with a panache for rockovers didn't work well for my 6 foot+ dimensions and i had to fight hard to get to the chains before the pump spat me off.

Ticking a technical 7c second go a few days before going away should have been a confidence booster, but it did just the opposite. Over the next couple of days I mulled over just how pumped i was going to get on the long Spanish routes if 12m of gently overhanging Welsh climbing had induced a near red-line lactic bath...


Friday:
Our shitty, cramped Ryanair flight down to Reus was full of stag and hen do's, as well as some other climbers we recognised from Awesome walls Liverpool.

(Aside: It's no surprise that Ryanair they have a 93% on-time record when you list your flight times as 10% longer than other airlines. There statistics for successful delivery of luggage is also massively over-hyped when their pricing policy means that only those with oversize luggage, or disallowed content (such as climbing ropes/karabiners etc) put in a hold bag. I counted 6 hold bags for a full flight of 180passengers - Rant over)).

We arrived in sunny Reus; got a sweet Fiat 500 hirecar and bombed it up to Cornudella for some lunch and an evenings climbing at Siurana. After a slow warm-up, tentatively testing the dodgy digits, the best was saved 'til last with an on-sight of the old-school classic Mandragora, 7b+. On the crux, the full crimp was deployed without complaint - get in!

Saturday:
An early start was made to THE cave of justice; no readers, not Parisella's but Santa Linya as it pisses all over our cave in all aspects of the climbing cave top trumps list. However, we soon realised this was going to be a short lived visit as there was much more seepage than our previous trip over Easter.

El Koala (8b) was wet so I was off the hook on that score, but still had unfinished business with Trio Ternura (8a) whilst John's target 8b was similarly wet, so he set about finishing off Pegue Nocturno (8a/+).

Santa Linya: THE cave of justice. In a top trumps game, it'd win hands down over Parisellas 

After some fairly epic hold drying, i sketched my way through Trio Ternura on my third redpoint. John's long distance film showed 7mins of kneebar shake outs in 10mins total climbing time - need to get fitter! The difference on the final go was figuring out a sweet little trick of tucking an extended quickdraw behind a tiny flake, thus speeding up the clip instead of it flapping in the wind.

Thus, the pace of the weekend was set; from there on i seemed to manage everything i tried by the skin of my teeth, and John seemed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory on multiple occasions, starting with 3 efforts on Pegue Nocturno, each time dropping a deep lock off from a 2-finger pocket to a slopey crimp just before the difficulties eased back to f7a-ish.

The sun came out and we went for coffee/second breakfast, before deciding to visit the other Santa Linya crag; sector Futbolin for the afternoon, where further unfinished business was dealt with in the form of Bestia Parda, a short and bouldery 7c+. A change of boots from Scarpa to La Sportiva muira's was the difference this time as the superior heel made all the difference.

Next up was the "crag classic" Opium, 7c. John went for the on-sight and pinged off the crimpy crux up high. I was beta'd up and went for the flash, but by now the fingers weren't happy with crimping and i slumped on the rope. I worked out a different method and got it next go, skipping a clip and barely making it to the chains with eyes on stalks and elbows pointing skywards.

8a RP, 7c+ RP and 7c RP in a day; I was chuffed with the turn around in performance compared to Dinbren and hence set about a great dinner of 3 courses for 15Euro with a carafe of wine.

My ham and melon starter; not bad for a 15 Euro set meal including wine!

Sunday:
A somewhat later start than Saturday was called for due to being as stiff as a board. John was psyched to tick something, anything even, so we settled on the Disblia cave at Sant Llorenc. I really couldn't get going, and was almost shut down by the 6a+ and 6c warm-ups. John tried a brilliant 7c+ with an 8a extension in the right hand cave, but was denied victory, not once but twice trying to clip the chains in a very powerful position. I sacked it off after dogging this route once and sun bathed instead. In the early afternoon the sun arrived and beer o'clock was called.

Beer and crisps break before getting a second wind and continuing the crushing at Futbolin.

We then headed back to Futbolin, and from no where i got a massive second wind (fairly obvious now that it was the jumbo packet of crisps we had with the beer). In a marked contrast to earlier, the fortunes we swapped so whilst John's power had faded and he sun-bathed I did a bunch of back-to-back on-sights up to 7b.

More food, more beer, more banter ensued before an early morning departure for the Ryan air flight home and a pleasant ride round Llandegla to round off the bank holiday Monday.

In total, all grades from 6a+ to 8a ticked in a 3 day weekend; "SMASH, SMASH!":

8a, Trio Ternura, RP
7c+, Bestia Parda, RP
7c, Opium, RP
7b+, Mandragora, OS
7b, Colera & The Oxfury, both OS
7a+, Spanglish, OS
7a, Por la Boca Muere el Pez, Brigadistak, & Lo dejé to blanco, all OS
6c+ El Kalkilo, OS
6c, Presidiari, OS
6b+, Red Dusk, OS
6b, La Discordia, OS
6a+, Presidiaria, OS

Terredets & Santa Linya; Easter 2013

My 9 day trip to Catalunya can be summed up in a few words/short phrases
- Lurgy
- Mild hypothermia
- Unfit
- Pumped


Photographically, these look like:

John seconding pitch 2 of "Smoking" 6b+ at Terredets. The sun left us shortly afterwards and the combination of having a shitty cold and only a t-shirt for insulation made for a fairly miserable experience shivering at each stance. Things weren't helped by only having tight down-turned boots to climb techy slabs with; ow!!

The helpful belay hangers on Smoking; no need to look at the copy of the topo we'd saved on my phone, just look at the customised hangers to know what grade the next pitch is (then add at least two french grades to estimate what it'll actually feel like - these weren't your average Spanish soft touches, no siree)

Post climb view of the crag; Smoking climbs the lighter coloured rock just left of centre

Rest day shinnanigans; what strange manikins they have in Spain??

Super thick and yummy hot choccy. All in aid of ridding myself of the lurgy, you understand? Honest guv!

Another "rest day" - this time i actually left the house and went to Collegats with the others; here Martin is struggling with a thuggish start to a 6b. He wasn't impressed when i demonstrated that with cunning use of a kneebar, the crux could actually be reduced in difficulty all the way down to a no-hands rest!

The whacky rock sculptures of Collegats inspired the famous Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi.

Climbing wise the trip wasn't a massive success; the combination of lurgy and getting spanked by the burliness of Santa Linya meant that i didn't get as much done as last year.

I had one good afternoon at Camarasa doing the classic 7c+ Shere Kahn on my 2nd go having dropped the on-sight catching a slopey bit of a hueco instead of the positive edge, right up by the chains.

Pegue Nocturno at Santa Linya took much longer than expected. I'd successfully dogged it on day 1 and took the ride from the last hard move on my first redpoint a couple of days later, but it wasn't until the second to last day that i clipped the chains, dosed to the eyeballs on paracetamol, 'brufen and all manner of other cold remedies. With that in mind i don't know if i have any right to comment on the grade, but it certainly felt a notch harder than my other f8a tick of the trip; Maneras de vivir on Bruixes wall, Terredets.


Maneras was a strange affair, ticked on the last morning of the trip, an hour before driving back to the airport. I ended up having an extra dog of the route due to the rope miraculously tying itself off to the belay when we pulled it down prior to our redpoint efforts. This probably wasn't such a bad thing as it made sure i had the crux fully committed to my memory banks. However, the visualisation of the successful redpoint didn't include getting my hair caught in an extended draw and having to pull a big tuft out before questing on up the route.

I'm already planning a return trip for the first May Bank Holiday; hopefully to finish off a bunch of routes in Santa Linya with John. Fingers crossed for cool conditions and a sending breeze?

Skiing Spring 2013 - La Plagne - Pow heaven

A quick photographic summary of a weeks skiing in France in March, 2013.

La Plagne - our home for a week. A few hundred km of piste can be access from La Plagne and the neighbouring Les Arcs, accessed by the mega 200 person gondola pictured below

Loadsa snow after a 3 day dump. Even on-piste there was 8inches of snow to contend with. Off-piste was perfect boot to knee deep powder.

Chainsaw massacre? No, a cold Wrigs on the first day

Mont Blanc in the distance on a clear day

Caroline's kiddies meal. The French start them young on raw meat. Tasty though.

Update on attempts at being an "All-rounder"

In reverse order:
Beer drinking - 8 pints:
Not had a big session since new years. Pretty sure i sank 8 beers (500ml measures, just shy of the pint mark) along with some whiskey on Sat before new year. This may have to be the starting date for the 8month time frame for "8 challenge" completion; thus i need to get the remainder ticked before 29th August.

Winter climbing - VIII:
Epic fail. I've had one single day out this winter; soloing the first 100' of II/III ground went just fine, but trying to lead off into unknown territory on a potential winter FA of a summer E2 was a bit too much for my winter skills repertoire. Basically i felt completely incompetent with tools & 'pons, and after 40ft or so i lowered off the first bit of gear i'd gotten in that i was certain would hold. Pete took over and lead another 40ft above my highpoint, but came down after finding unfrozen turf.
 
Running away with my tail between my legs was sufficient to put me off wintery stuff for the rest of the winter; that and training lots for the "real stuff" (This means Spanish tufa climbing to me, but something different to most other climbers!)

Thankfully Pete's efforts weren't in vain, as clearing the ledges of snow meant the turf froze and he got to climb the route a few days later with Nick Bullock. http://nickbullock-climber.co.uk/2013/01/28/the-meeting-of-hands-winter-climbing-above-bethesda/

Drytooling - M8
Not been. The weather in February has been too nice for that malarkey. Blue sky clear - perfect grit weather.

Trad climbing - E8:
Just one half day of trad in the Feb blue sky weather window; it's been too cold to ask people to stand around belaying most of the time. The half day was at Millstone, where i threw a rope down Masters Edge. I'd top roped this back in October, so armed with a black Metolius MasterCam I was hopeful for a successful lead. However, once I'd reworked the moves and the weak winter sun had raised the temperature sufficiently to dry the shady side of the arete, the tiredness levels had increased and the psyche was blown. Another time...

Sport climbing - F8a
At last, some success, though this is arguably the easiest of the bunch? I did two 8a's whilst out in Turkey over new years. Ikarus, 8a+ and Flat Rate 8a. http://allysmithblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/antalya-turkey-smash-smash.html

Bouldering aim - Font 8A
A couple of weekends ago i had a good day on grit; starting at Burbage West i was chuffed to tick West Side Story in an hour or so. This is the first "hard" grit boulder problem i've worked out the beta for in isolation instead of having locals/Gareth give me beta for.

I'm even more chuffed now i've done a bit of internet research and found that the Peak Bouldering on-line guide has got it down as 7C :-) See here: http://peakbouldering.info/problems/511

As it was freezing in the shade at Burbage West i headed over to the sunny side (Burbage North) and did some of the classics around Banana finger including a flash of "Definitive 5.12". Interestingly, i faced the opposite way to the chap in the video below, which might explain why my thumbs & backs of hands fingers got mashed up quite so effectively.

(Off topic: This was also the first time my girlfriend Caroline had seen what hand-jamming can do to your skin and insisted on smoothing oodles of antiseptic into my weeping cuts - OW!)

The rest of the session was cut short after I fell off the Sphinx (highball 7A+) and twisted ankle. This was painful for a week or so and hence the following weekend I directed my attentions to the mainly low-ball venue of Parisella's Cave.


First off, let me congratulate Alex Barrows' on the 2nd ascent of Pilgrimage.

However, his actions have left a nasty taste in my mouth. If i hadn't been shown and subsequently used a kneebar across the starting holds of Rock Attrocity I'd have gotten my 8A tick (see ~1min into this video http://vimeo.com/53279856) and I've had to settle for 7C+ for climbing Hatch Life in Parisella's cave. Not even doing it by lamplight after work could warrant the 8A tick I don't think.

I couldn't quite go no-handed using this kneebar and originally had a dilemma of whether to sprint this section, or shake out in the kneebar. Doing this gets a little back in the arms, but tires the core which is essential for the swing across into Left Wall, along which Hatch Life finishes. In the end, after doing sets of knee bar sit-ups at end of my sessions in cave, my core got fitter quicker than my forearms and I eventually I swung over onto Left Wall and finished off the problem off despite the mounting pump.

So, what of 8A? The Parisella's options open to me seem to be:
- Lou Ferrino sans pocket? I've done all but one move whilst working it, but again this is a fairly long link it up and it may take a while.
- Hatch Life High? Can i put myself through some of the same again?
- Broken Sam? I've done both halves of this problem previously, but again this is still another link-up dilemma.

So, there we have it. I probably won't complete "all the '8's" due to the massive fail on the winter climbing front, but might just make it with the f8a, E8, 8A subset. Only time will tell!

Antalya, Turkey - "Smash, Smash!"

I've been home from Turkey for a few days now and had a chance to reflect on what turned out to be a pretty awesome trip. Sure there were a few hiccups, but the quality tufa climbing made up for it.

Downsides:
- My ability to eat even slightly dodgy food is now almost zero. I suspect a 2 day old xmas turkey sandwich probably kicked it off, but i never seemed to rid myself of grumbling guts for the whole trip. Hold your noses readers, as i'll even admit to staining my kecks due tostretching a bit too far with a wide bridging move...
- The weather. We had it all; too hot, too cold and too rainy. The upper cliffs such as Sector Sarkit were scorchio in the sun, and not sheltered enough to climb on during the 5 days of rain we had. The one overcast day we had was perfect for this brilliant crag, but otherwise I choose to mainly climb on the overhanging and north facing Trebenna cliff to avoid the worst of the rain and sun.
- The grades. In general, grey limestone slabs and anything <f7a seemed to have a stern grade, but most of the overhanging tufa routes were seemed softly graded. Indeed, one "6b+" warm-up had me puffing more than the 7b+ I did afterwards!
- Efes - the local beer. Light or Dark are your only options and neither is exactly that flavoursome.

Upsides:
- Great company. I knew 3 separate groups of people staying in Antalya over xmas/new year. The York Uni hangers on I travelled out with with were perfect company for the banter and partying, but didn't fancy the same crags as i did. Team (ex-)scouse were keen for the same crags but their rest/climbing days didn't match up with mine very well. Meeting Andy at JoSiTo was a real godsend as he wanted to go to similar crags on similar days. Big thanks to his amiable girlfriend Ali for letting me steal him away while you weren't psyched and/or getting over lurgy
- TUFA! Kneebars, pinching, sidepulling, undercutting, even jamming inbetween, euro style tufa climbing is just brilliant. On-sighting is easier as even if you don't do a move perfectly, you've still got a good chance of pulling thru, where as British lime tends to spank you for even small mistakes.
- Did i mention the soft grades? Everyone likes a holiday tick!

Climbing highlights included:
- Zin Zhang (7c) on-sight on the first day, battling up damp rock and almost cocking up the final rockover onto the top slab pumped silly.
- Ikarus (8a+) redpoint - my 2nd holiday 8a+ after L'Adracador last Easter. Might have to think about a foreign 8b once i've regained that level on home turf?
- Melting Souls (7b+) on-sight. A brilliant tufa route with no obvious finish, so i tried questing on up the 8a extension. Getting a couple of clips from the top on this and coming super close to flashing Flat Rate (8a) really broke down some psychological barriers and made me start to think that 8a on-sight might be a real possibility in the future.
- Junimond (7c+) on-sight. Starting up the route an hour before the taxi left for the airport meant i had to "go big, or go home". Sitting in the no-hands rest before the top roof gave me a chance to think about all i'd learnt about on-sight tactics; slow and steady and milking the rests on easier ground, pushing on fast and trying to to think too much when the climbing is harder. Even then the dreaded Paz-esque* tactic of reversing to rests when you're not quite certain of the outcome was deployed on the headwall to bring the route within my grasp. An hour later, i was still pumped, but with a Cheshire Cat grin on my face whilst collecting my boarding pass for the journey home.

25 Euro a night for a 3 bed shed

General crag view on one of the rare sunny days

"Sun's out, Guns out" - Simon flexing in Kezban's restaurant...

...and at the crag

Ikarus - probably over done it on the photoshopping, but this is the best i can do with what was basically a dusk ascent

Charming Iranian girl at the saturday night party

The Turkish plumbing couldn't cope with the amount of shit my guts were producing!

George getting inappropriate with the goats

*Paz is/was the slowest climber in the SW. Legends abound; my personal best was a mammoth belay stint on the classic Avon E4, Peryl. After belaying for 3 hours, Paz decided to take a further hour to reverse the 100ft he'd gained "to preserve his on-sight". Despite this herculean display of stamina, a month later he happily let me lead the 1st pitch!!

Striving to be an "All-rounder"

The concept of being a good all-rounder in climbing is well established; back in the day Joe Brown was pushing the boundaries in trad, winter climbing and alpinism, even getting the FA of Kanchenjunga to boot. Today's top climbers are getting more specialised, but even top competition on-sight climbers can still knock out a decent boulder grade or sport redpoint.

I guess what i'm saying is that climbing hasn't reached a level of performance yet that to be a top performer you need to specialise in just one discipline. The standards listed below are by no means top-end anymore, but even just 10 years ago any single one of these would be considered a very high performance, but as a personal challenge I think it'll make for some fun times!


The "8" Challenge.
This measure of a true all-round climber has its origins in article about Andy Cave published in Climber magazine many moons ago.

Ideally for symmetry, all of these would be completed in an 8-month period:
Font 8A
French 8a
E8
Mixed/Dry Tool M8/D8
Scottish VIII

8 pints in an evening session (8,000m was in the original list, but working full-time I've subbed in the drinking challenge instead!)

Assessment of current level:

Bouldering:
In the last few weeks since getting back from Oz I've done a fair amount of bouldering. Ticking Tetris at the Roaches (7C bloc) and repeating Cave Life in Parisella's cave (7B+/C cave power-endurance style - yes Etchelion, you might be right in calling this 7B+ with the new foothold).

I always thought 8A would be the stumbling block for this challenge, and had hence come up with an alternative version of "9's" = V9, E9, IX, f8a x9, M9/D9.

However, I've started to think the original Andy Cave "8" challenge might be a goer this year, as I've worked out all the moves on the Hatchattrocity start to Cave Life (8A) and made some significant links.



Sport Climbing:
My aspirations for 2013 are to do Melanchollie (hard 8b, LPT) and Unjustified/Overjustified (8b+/c, Malham) so i really hope achieving 8a shouldn't represent much of a challenge. (There, I've said it. It's on the web and undeniable - no shirking the training sessions now, put up or shut up. 8c here we come!)


Trad Climbing:
I didn't have many days on the trad in 2012, but if I've gotten up some 8c strength, head-pointing an E8 couldn't be too much of a struggle should it?

I'm thinking Nesscliffe will probably provide the best bet to doing an E8 in 2013. I've top-roped a few there and just need to get round to leading them. Ed Booth's massive new arete in the main quarry sounds like one most likely to hold onto it's grade and above all it's an absolute corker of a line.


Dry-tooling:
I've no plans for an continental ice trip this year, so dry tooling at White-Goods or on the slate will have to make do. The fact i don't own froot boots might make route choice critical as fig 4'ing in big boots may add unnecessary difficulty...

Rob Pitt on Jaz at White Goods (pilfered from the entertaining White Goods Blog)

Scottish VIII:
I'm hoping Pete H will get me out winter climbing again and drag my sorry arse up something hard. Last years single Scottish winter trip, resulted in a total of 25ft of technical climbing (half a pitch of Fallout Corner before storm force winds made retreat the sensible option) and 5hrs belaying Pete on something hard on the Ben.

I figure Pete owes me a belay and I've got my eye on Travesty on Clogwyn Du; we just need some Welsh winter conditions in the new year.

You can probably see why this route is called "traverse-ty"

Beer Drinking:
Combining getting drinking-fit with the other more physical challenges presented here could be the crux of the whole challenge. 2.5pints of "Double Dark" this Tuesday pretty much ruined my guts the next day so I'm starting from a lowly level. The only way is up!

You know it's not going to do your guts any good when it's "Double Dark"!

Sydney

Ok, the reality is I've been back home longer than it is until i go off on another trip to Turkey. So this really is playing catch-up! (At this rate, expect a write up of climbing in Turkey over new year sometime late spring!)

The last 5-day leg of my trip to Australia was to the city of Sydney. Once again i was cursing a lack of research into this trip as my arrival in Sydney coincided with the last week of term and a whole host of school kiddies booking out all the cheap accommodation. After phoning around I managed to find a room in the city centre YHA for the first night, but there after it looked like I might have to swap dorm-room/hostels/hotels each night until flying home.

A last minute saviour was found in the form of my long lost cousin, Stacey. A Sydney resident for the last few years, but I hadn't seen face to face for many more. I was massively grateful to Stacey and fiance Dennis for offering to put me up for the remainder of the trip, but I was equally massively embarrassed to discover it had been 22 years since we'd last seen each other at Melanie's wedding!

My time in Sydney was spent at a more relaxed pace than the previous 2.5 weeks with more museum/art gallery/stately home visits than you could shake a stick at; walking huge distances each day despite having bought 5day travel passes to the tube/train/ferry/bus network.

The first use of the travel pass was to take a ferry under the iconic harbour bridge.

My top 5 Sydney attractions:

1) Maritime Museum: Lots of interesting exhibits including a 1960s destroyer and Submarine to go aboard and explore

2) The harbour - bridge/opera house and all that: Iconic views; need I say more?


3) Elizabeth Bay House: A 18th century folly that bankrupted the governor who built it. Needless to say it's a very fine example of Georgian architecture and the view from the lawn across the bay is almost peerless. I also enjoyed winding through the newer high-rise buildings to find a stoney grotto and koi pond which were part of the original house gardens.



4) Fish markets: Dennis dropped me at the fish markets on his way to work one day, and I ate a massive fish supper of calamari  snapper, crab sticks and salmon all deep fried and served with chips.

I really could have done with a lie down afterwards, but carried on walking around town and found...

5) Sydney Art Museum: An unexpected bonus as I stumbled upon a late night opening to celebrate the life of Francis Bacon. I'm normally an art philistine, but really enjoyed the displays of aboriginal and modern art.


Some other photographic highlights of Sydney:

Coming second in the pub quiz; Australians seem to think that asking questions about Europe makes their  quiz difficult, when in reality it just means that ex-pat teams take the prizes... (Me, $40 gift certificate and Stacey (+random)

$7 BBQ yourself steak - hmmmm....

A spectacular waterfall seen whilst on a daytrip to the Blue Mountains - The one bit of climbing i did here on a boulder above the path quickly deposited me back on my bum with a broken hold in my hand.

Feeding the colourful parrots on Stacey's balcony on the last morning (Rainbow Glories?)

Eventually the trip had to come to an end, and predictably I turned up late for this one too. Checking in with 45min to spare on a 26hr flight is not to be recommended but somehow I made it through security in time and settled in for the long flight home, via a brief 1hr stop in Singapore airport.

Arriving back to a dark Heathrow morning and 2 Celsius was thoroughly demoralising, and work on Monday morning all the more so, which just leaves one question...

...When to go back?