Norwood

Today Matt and I went to check out the relatively recently developed boulders at Norwood. After a brief warm up on some easy but sharp problems we both did a very soft 7A roof called Pocket Rocket. Then we headed over to try a couple of 7A+ problems called Falcon and Falcon Pro. I couldn't work out what I was supposed to do with my feet and the sit-start felt very cramped as you couldn't really hang the starting holds properly as there is a block in the way. It's a pity as this move looks awesome:



Matt had some good attempts on the Ruff Traverse on the same boulder but just ran out of power on the last move. Then the sun went down and it was time for an icy drive home.



Unlikely to be out now 'till after Christmas.

Almscliff

Met Matt at the Cliff this afternoon for what we thought would be a short baltic session. Surprisingly up at Demon Wall Roof it was really pretty pleasant in the sun but the cold air meant that the friction was great. Matt finally managed to repeat Demon Wall Roof on his first go today.



I also retro-flashed it and the finish of Stu's Roof. We then had a play on Dreamland which I've done a couple of times. The starting crimps were trashing one of my not-quite-healed tips so I gave up after a couple of tries. Matt had a lot more goes with some power-screams and top-off attempts (which I'm not going to post the pictures of on here). The best go was probably this one:



After Matt got bored we headed down to look at the problem I thought was an eliminate last time I was at the Cliff. Now there's no snow drift under it I can see where the sit-start should go from but I'm still not sure which holds are in. The sun was setting by then and it was freezing so we headed home. Going out again tomorrow as if there's sun and no wind it's actually OK to climb when it's this cold which is much better than the last cold spell.

More adventures in the snow

Despite the brief thaw on Saturday when it got above zero for the first time in days, most of the crags are still covered in snow. I went to Whitehouses on Monday which was sunny and snow-free and after multiple failed attempts on Peshmurga I moved over to Rageh Omaar which I abandoned last visit due to it trashing my skin. After a few goes trying to avoid the skin-shredding sloper I just MTFU-ed and did it the way I was trying last time - the sloper felt great and the pop to the next hold felt piss. Funny how with grit the difference between failure and success is so subtle - a tiny change in body position or catching a hold just right makes a problem feel effortless when moments before it felt desperate.



I had a few more goes on Peshmurga after that and then went home just as it got dark. Nearly couldn't get the car out of the lay-by which was a bit of a worry - I really must buy a shovel to keep in the boot!

Today I went to Almscliff to see what was dry. The road up was almost totally clear of snow making driving to the crag much less stressful.



It was pretty windy at the Cliff (what a surprise) and so properly baltic. I had a go on a problem on a bit of rock I've never climbed on at Almscliff near the heart-shaped slab. I think I missed a move out as the snow underneath the problem means a sit start is probably a lot higher than usual. I had a bad sequence involving slapping for a huge jug and so the inevitable happened:



Putting on my shoes I noticed a foot hold I'd missed and so pulled on my rock boots for another go after attempting to stop the blood with lots of chalk. This hold and a crafty toe-hook enabled me to do the move to the jug static. I did the problem from the probably-not-the-real sit start and topped it out which led to an epic cold and snowy descent. It's supposed to be 7B but what I did felt more like 6B so I think it must be an eliminate or something. After the descent I was frozen (rock boots and snow-drifts are a bad combination) and so headed home.

Almscliff in the snow

Dug my car out of the snow and went for a drive to try and find some snow-free rock today. Caley was abandoned before even getting there as the lay-bys on the A660 were buried in snow cleared off the road. I decided to try and see if I could get up the road to Almscliff.



The road was covered in snow but no worse than last winter. As expected the crag was buried with the only bits of dry rock being the front of the Virgin, Demon Wall Roof (although snow was starting to melt on top and so it was getting a few drips on) and the roof underneath the Top Cat traverse. I warmed up on Demon Wall Roof and then went to have a go at Sewer Rat Connection. As usual in the snow keeping everything dry was a problem and once the sun went in it was baltic. After I saw the gritting truck go up and down the road past the crag I sacked it and went home to warm up.

Lots of photos of the snow on my flickr site.



Unhappy sheep!



Icy Virgin

Snow

Been out a few times since last blogged but not got anything much done. I had a good day at Whitehouses last Friday but only got Fat Punter's Roof ticked due to skin issues - great venue though and I'll have to go back there soon. Went to Brimham on Sunday with Matt but everything I wanted to do was covered in snow so wandered over to Crimpy Roof but I only had a couple of goes as felt pretty rubbish.

It started snowing as we left Brimham making for an interesting drive home and has been snowing off and on since then. I went for a run over to Ilkley and back on Monday and walked (too much snow for running now!) over there today to do some shopping.

Looking across to the Chevin

The Cow and Calf

Calf buried in the snow - Ringpiece (the overhanging arete on the left of the boulder) will have to wait for a while...

Olicana butress

Brimham frustration

Yesterday the early morning fog burnt off and it was cold and sunny so I headed to Brimham for a quick session as I had to go to the opticians in Leeds and then had made plans to meet a friend for drinks. I went to look at the Grouch as frustratingly I'd got to the last move of this a while back and not committed to the final slap for the top. Unfortunately it was wet and so I had to think of a plan B.

I went round to Crimpy Roof which was in the sun and pretty warm as there was no wind. Had a few good attempts but still a way off hitting the top so I practiced the final throw until I actually had my fingers over the top at which point I tore a big flapper and so it was home time.

Another crappy self-timer picture - maybe I should get a tripod!

Steve's Wall

My fingertips were still pretty sore today but it was such beautiful weather that I couldn't not go climbing. Headed to Almscliff which was pretty busy for a weekday afternoon. After the usual piss-off-someone-working-it-by-retroflashing-Demon-Wall-Roof warm-up, I headed down to Steve's Wall. This is a gap on my Almscliff tick-list that I've pulled on a couple of times before but got absolutely nowhere on. It's very morpho (for those not au fait with climbing jargon, morpho (i.e. morphological) is a posh way of saying "hard for the short" - taller climbers will say it's also used to describe problems that are easier for the short (hideously bunched rock-overs etc) but I'm unconvinced that being inflexible represents the same handicap as being unable to reach the starting holds on a problem). I tried all the moves after the reachy sit-start on friday and to my surprise they were pretty straight-forward so I tried the sit-start but once again got nowhere.

At home I had a quick look at Jon's excellent yorkshiregrit.com and saw that in the 2 videos of this problem both times the climbers were starting from a crouch not a proper sit-start. The second time I tried the crouching start today I hit the next hold and the third go I held it and then promptly fell off the next move!

I then did the problem from the move after the sit-start which reminded me that a) it's pretty easy and b) my skin is trashed. Realising I wouldn't have many goes before bleeding would end play I put some fresh tape on and sent it next try. Another tick on the Almscliff 7+8s list.

I tried to get some self-timer glory shots but 10s isn't very long to run over from my camera precariously balanced on a rock and pull on so this is the best of a bad bunch:

After that I had to go home unable to enjoy the perfect conditions due to this:

pissing blood on all the holds. Better let my fingers heal before the next grit session I guess...

Sulky Little Boy

My skin was feeling pretty sore today but decided to head to Slipstones as some friends were going there. Should have known better. Slipstones is home to one of my nemesis problems - the skin shredding, compulsive and frustrating Sulky Little Boys. It's 7a and I should have done it years ago, in fact I should have done it pretty much every time I go to Slipstones but somehow the line between "nearly doing it" and "actually doing it" never gets crossed. This time I spent far too long remembering that I can't do it the "normal" way and have to use some special short-arse method to get the gaston hold in a way that enables me to actually pull on it. By the time I remembered this there was blood splurging out of the tape on two of my fingers and it's going to be yet another trip to Slipstones to try and tick one stupid (yet undoubtably classic) problem.

Ouch - the damage from three days on the grit...

Cold at Bridestones

After all the rain of last week it was perfect grit conditions today, so I headed over to Bridestones planning to meet up with some friends which didn't work out as they were more keen for biking than shivering at the crag. It was pretty baltic up there but ok in the sun. Spent most of the time failing to do Jerry's arete which was pretty annoying as I haven't tried it for a couple of years and it still feels desperate. On my own so no climbing photos so an atmospheric picture of the sky instead:

Afterwards went to Jo and Ben's just in time for Callum's teatime - not sure who was more amused by watching the other eat peas with his fingers!

It passed!

Always a surprise when my car passes the MOT but it did it again today! That's a load off my mind and means I don't have to find a new car (it was likely to be scrapping time if it failed big-time) and can go climbing instead...

Wet in Wharfedale

To mark my return to a life as an unemployed climbing bum I thought it might be a good idea to start a blog to: a) remind me what I've been doing and b) motivate myself to go and do stuff to write about. So here goes...


Today has been wet so no pictures of rocks just the rain lashing down outside my kitchen window:


Hopefully it'll be a good winter and there'll be more of this instead:

Better start writing a ticklist!