A busy day at Caley

It seemed like everyone woke up this morning and decided to go to Caley. It makes me feel better about rarely straying from Yorkshire when folk from Sheffield travel up here to go bouldering! Anyway with a massive supply of pads there was only one thing I wanted to get on - Ben's Groove. I've had a few goes on it before (surprisingly enough the last time there were 10 pads under it) but never got further than touching the pocket.

After a quick warm up, Matt and I wandered up to join the crowds. It was pretty busy and Matt wasn't keen to get on it in front of so many people so went somewhere quieter. I hung around to get as much beta as possible but was also a bit intimidated and so went off to have a few goes on Crystal Method. Realising that a) conditions were great and b) I might not get a chance to get on Ben's Groove with so many pads under it and all the holds brushed and chalked (thanks to a retractable ladder), I went back up.

It was a bit quieter up there and someone else was also trying it and not making it look total piss so I felt a bit less stage-fright. I asked if I could have a go, pulled on and did it 1st go which felt great! It was awesome to pull over the top and see all the lovely brushed, chalked holds for the slightly exciting top-out.

I texted Matt and he headed back and had a few goes on it too - making some good progress after he got some crafty beta from someone less vertically-challenged than me. I got him to take some post-send glory shots:





I then went over to Blockbuster which Naomi Buys was trying. She told me that according to Steve Dunning (author of the latest bouldering guide) pulling on at the crimp and the lowest boss with your foot on the first foothold is 7B. I've always tried jumping off the ground (as in Stick It) but never got anywhere. I tried this new start and 3 attempts later it was in the bag, complete with the obligatory Stick It quotes "show us your topping out skills" etc. I'm not convinced about starting that high, but then jumping off the ground is obviously very height and how many pads you start off dependent.

After that I contributed some pads to the slightly diminished pile beneath Ben's Groove and hung about spotting and spraying beta till it got dark.

A quality addition to Brimham

After a bit of work on my paper this morning, the beautiful sunshine outside the window was too hard to resist so I headed out to Brimham for a quick session. One of the roads was closed on the way leading to an impromptu diversion navigating minor roads by the position of the golf balls at RAF Menwith Hill.

Once I got to Brimham, I got straight on Tom Peckitt's new arete problem. Once I'd worked out some short-arse beta it was quickly despatched. I think it's probably 7A but more importantly it's absolutely superb and the rock is solid which is great as so many problems at Brimham involve pulling on gritty slopers at some point!

A damp afternoon at Shipley

Yesterday I had a failed trip to Caley with Matt: went to crag, it was piss wet, went back to mine and Nicky's for tea and biscuits.

This morning after virtually no sleep due to consuming the quantity of coffee that gives me the required motivation to go to a notoriously green, North facing crag on a damp day the alarm at 7:15 was pretty unwelcome. Nicky had booked for both of us to go to the Turkish baths at Harrogate and offered to drive so I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed and make some coffee. The baths were great and 2 1/2 hours of steaming, plunging and hot-rooming left me feeling surprisingly awake and very relaxed.

Matt was keen to get out and I persuaded him to meet me at Shipley Glen as I've only been there a couple of times and not done much there apart from Manson's wall (multiple attempts on a sweaty june day - what was I thinking?!) and Red Baron (flash on a perfect November day). It was a bit damp but after Matt's surprise at my not-touching-the-rock-as-my-tips-are-thin warm up we headed to headed to Manson's Wall.

I had hoped to retro-flash this but kept slipping off the big footholds and the crimps felt terrible. I wandered up to the top and climbed down onto the tree and the top crimps felt damp and minging but the top of Phil's Wall (1 m to the right) felt much drier - weird.

We constructed a brilliant terrace below Phil's Wall with 3 of the 4 pads we'd brought to the crag and after watching Matt have a couple of goes I pulled on for the flash attempt. I screwed up the sequence and got to the crux but couldn't get my weight in the right place to move my feet. 3 or 4 attempts later and I was on the final crimp reaching up for the slightly damp top. Matt offered to take a glory photo with my hands on the top but I was too worried about slipping off so declined and topped it out for another 7A/+ tick for 2011.



It wasn't quite as dismal as this photo makes it look!

Matt then fell of Red Baron a couple of times before announcing "this time I'm going to do it" and he did. I'm not sure if he's repeated this before but he looked solid on it - even posing for photos:



We then wandered along to look at Millstone Grip and Grit but a couple of minutes of rain were enough to puncture our massive psyche and it did look very green from above so we headed back to the cars just as another rain shower helped convince us that sacking it was the best plan.

The best bouldering in Yorkshire?

I went back to what is possibly the best bouldering in Yorkshire (and therefore by definition the UK!) today



Even with a late start it was still pretty cold - check out the ice on the puddle:



The crag was dry but the frost still lingering on the top made topping out impossible





As Nicky will testify (having been to Earl when it was snowing) it is the coldest crag in Yorkshire and as you leave the lovely sunshine and head down to the gloom it does feel a bit strange to be shivering in the cold on such a lovely day, but that's the price you pay for friction I guess!



I was pretty spanked after yesterday so apart from falling of various combinations of the same holds on Dave's Groove/Lager Lager Lager not much got done. I did head back via Ilkley for some pathetic attempts on Ringpiece and a lovely sunset though.



I desperately need some new (soft touch, 7B-7C) projects!

One more go...

At last the rain has stopped and this week has been perfect grit conditions. I got so fed up with the weather that I even went to the Depot twice last week. Unsurprisingly training on the Beastmaker board made my elbows a bit tender so I bought some dumbbells and did some recuperative eccentric wrist curls. Due to a miscalculation of the weight I was using the first few times I did these were a bit harder than they should be, but a few more with less weight and 30-40 mins of icing worked great.

On tuesday I went to Brimham but despite the sunshine and breeze a lot of stuff I wanted to try was wet so I ended up at Crimpy Roof again. First go was probably the most determined as I fired backwards off the crimps heading for the slap. I really think this is going to be very hard for me as it's a long long way. I'm too much of a wuss to use the razor sharp intermediate crimps though.

My middle RH finger was a bit tender so I had a rest and went out to the cinema with Nicky on wednesday and then today headed to Earl. Conditions were perfect: sunny but no wind. After a quick warm-up I headed to Grape Nut. This has been a bit of a nemesis as the only time I've held the jug (starting from the floor) I bottled the move off the gaston above. The first time I pulled on I hit the jug and tore a bit out of my finger. I taped up and 2 goes later held the jug and then once again couldn't commit to the move off the gaston.

Each subsequent go resulted in hitting but not holding the jug and 2 more flappers and it was all looking like another failure session. But a bit of MTFU when I held the jug and a scary rockover and I was at the break with just the slightly green top-out to negotiate. A good thing really as I doubt my hand could have taken much more.



After that I had a couple of goes on Andy Brown's wall but didn't get near hitting the top. I think the problem with this is because one time I was at Earl I tried this with the whole of the ground beneath it covered with pads and a good spotter and still didn't hit the top any subsequent attempts have been a bit half-arsed. I then went down and tried the Flakes and Lager Lager Lager (or Dave's Groove). The Flakes is still a massive reach and I wasn't getting anywhere but I made some good progress on the other problem (whatever it's called now!). By crimping the back of the first sloper hard with my right hand I could get my foot in the slot and cross my left onto the sloper - no idea what I'm going to do next though! After that I went for a walk to check out the 7A+ arete in the quarry in the new guide but it was covered in ice and then went back for a couple of pathetic goes on Underpants which reminded me my tips really were pretty thin. A great day though and the best conditions all winter - the sort of day that really used to make me depressed when I was in the lab.

Almscliff again

It dried up and got sunny at about 11 today so I headed up to Almscliff. As expected it was very windy but Demon Wall was sheltered. I did what is fast becoming the usual warm-up - traverse, stretch, Demon Wall Roof, Stu's from standing, Stu's LH and felt pretty good. Then I failed to do anything new at all. No further on Stu's proper than I was years ago, couldn't get off the ground on Streaky's traverse and Sewer Rat Connection was impossible with the tape over the remnants of Saturday's flapper. It was grim in the wind so I sacked it and retreated home via a walk up to Caley crag to confirm it was as wet and green as I thought it would be. I desperately need some new, quick drying, projects.

Almscliff

This afternoon, once yesterday's snow had melted, I wandered up to Almscliff. It was pretty damp to begin with but the wind dried things out pretty well. It was hard to stay warm though. After the usual warm-up I did Stu's LH for the 4th or 5th time I think. I then had a couple of good goes on Sewer Rat Connection before tearing a small flapper. I taped it up and tried again but wasn't getting the heel to stick anymore so headed home.

Norwood

The promised cold and sunny weather failed to materialise today so it was a cold and damp afternoon at Norwood. I went to the boulder with Falcon on as it overhangs so much it was bound to be dry. By starting Falcon a bit further down the slope and closer into the rock I found it much easier to pull on without hitting the rock below. After a couple of goes it was in the bag for the first 7 of 2011.



I had quite a few goes on the right hand variant Falcon Pro but couldn't catch the first big move without dabbing my arse on the ground. I guess this also requires a crucial start position so that your trajectory as you throw for the hold keeps you off the ground - unfortunately often the crux of lowball problems.