Swastika Stones

On saturday afternoon I headed up to Swastika Stones (named after this) to meet up with Matt and Jim - who'd travelled all the way from Sheffield to visit this quality bit of esoteric grit. I'd only been there once before on a sunny evening not long after moving to Burley so was keen to see what it was like in colder conditions. It was grey and windy and although a lot of the rock looked damp it was in pretty good condition.

After warming up we spent a load of time working out the sequence on a 6A arete which I thought I hadn't done before but according to my ticklist on yorkshiregrit apparently had and even more time working out the sequence on Christmas Day arete which I'd also apparently done before. I hadn't done this on the right-hand side though and couldn't use the lank method Matt and Jim worked out and so after many skin-ripping slaps for the sloper that Matt and Jim could get statically we moved onto something else.

I had said to Nicky that I'd come back in time to watch the rugby but we soon got sucked into trying the dyno Swastika Eyes that gets 7B in the latest Yorkshire bouldering guide. The top of this was pretty damp giving a limited area to catch:



Matt got his hand over the top after a couple of jumps and soon had it ticked - although topping out pulling on clumps of heather looked pretty exciting! A lot of tries later I also managed to stick the top and opted for a scary mantle on the 2 inches of dry rock on the lip instead of the heather option. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that this isn't 7B and I wouldn't argue with the 6C this gets on yorkshiregrit. Whatever grade it is it's a great fun dyno - kind've like an easier version of Jet Set.

I headed home to find that Nicky's grumpiness that I'd not made it back in time for the match was partly defused by the fact that Wales had beaten England!

Three sevens in a day!

After an unproductive trip to Crookrise on wednesday when I slogged up to the crag with 2 mats but failed to do anything new and a brief trip to Ilkley with Matt on friday - got to crag, it was raining, came back for cup of tea - I was keen to get out this weekend. It was wet and windy yesterday but today was forecast to be perfect. I got woken up before 8 by the sun streaming through the windows but Matt was suffering from a night out in Leeds and so it was nearly 12 before he arrived in Burley. I wanted to go to Simon's Seat/Lord's Seat and so after some cunning parking (glad we weren't in my car as I doubt it would have fitted in the space) we slogged up the hill to Barden Fell. This was nowhere as bad as I thought it would be (only 1 mat helped) but I think it was more of a struggle for Matt!

We headed to Lord's Seat first and after a quick warm-up (the grit here's so rough that I was keen to preserve skin) I tried the 7A to the right of the classic prow/arete McNab. Despite having video beta my "flash attempt" was pretty lame. Matt then had a go and found a great heel-toe and with that and a bit more video foot beta a few goes later it was in the bag. I then pulled the mats over under McNab and after some more video beta and a bit of skin loss I got the crucial undercut and was rocking up onto the slabby topout for the second Font 7 tick of the day.

Matt had quite a few more goes at the 7A (Deep Black) with his lanky method and a few other folk turned up. He was looking pretty close but didn't quite have the energy to pull on the crimps so decided to sack it and so we packed up the pads and headed back towards Simon's Seat. On the way we wandered across the moor to what I thought was Hen Stones but as is often the case the great looking crag in the distance turned out to be tiny and the real crag was a bit further away. When I found it the classic arete we were looking for was obvious and some kind boulderers had put loads of stones in the bog below the arete to keep the pads out of the mud.

The right side of the arete gets 7B and has a much less nasty looking top-out than the left side (7A) so we got on this first. After working out the sequence (no video beta) I was ready to throw for the top but didn't commit. Matt seemed surprised as it didn't look that far and next try I did slap up - missing the good hold but the friction was so good that I stuck it and bumped my hands up to get the jug and then top-out the final 7 of the day. Matt had lots of good attempts on this but couldn't stick the barn-doory move lower down. I got Matt to take a post-send glory shot:



I then had lots of failed attempts to pull onto the 7B+ arete of Free Range but only succeeded in wearing through a couple of tips. Matt managed to get off the ground on this (unlike me) with some extreme span, high foot sequence and so he's keen to come back. I then had a few goes on the left-hand side of the arete that Bird Flu climbs on the right but the first time I got up to the top I didn't commit to the scary mantle and the tries after that I didn't really try to get to it (so I didn't have to wuss out of it again!) We headed back in the faded light after a great afternoon.

Pulling through to victory with bleeding tips...

One of my favourite climbing quotes comes from Warren Harding after he climbed the Nose: "As I hammered in the last bolt and staggered over the rim, it was not at all clear to me who was conqueror and who was conquered: I do recall that El Cap seemed to be in much better condition than I was." What that has to do with today's antics should become clear later but first I ought to note down what I've been up to since I last posted.

Once my fingertip had sort of recovered from Earl I had a couple of hours at Brimham where I looked at some of the outlying bits. I did an ok 6C and then had a few goes on Elwood P Dowd but the top sloper was all gritty and the top-out was wet. After both having rather too large nights out in Leeds on friday Matt and I were too hungover to enjoy the sunny cold conditions on saturday but headed out last sunday. We started off trying Cowboy Daze but it's pretty high and the top needed a clean so after Matt bailed off the last holds I wasn't very psyched to put much effort in. The bottom moves are nice though so I guess I should get on it when it's clean. We then had a lot of goes on Boris or Bust which even with 4(!) mats feels scary. It seemed pretty tricky too but it could just be that once you've had one barn-dooring out of control fall off it committing to the moves feels hard!

Matt on Boris or Bust:



Matt off Boris or Bust:



On wednesday it was again cold and sunny with a gentle breeze - perfect grit conditions. I headed back to the outlying bit of Brimham and with the amazing conditions thought I'd done Elwood P Dowd second try. I then tried to do the slightly harder and better line to the left, Harvey. Due to my own stupid fault - not resting properly between attempts, I failed to stick the slap for the top a few times and then my tips were too trashed to do the start. To make matters worse I got home to discover from the fountain of all knowledge UKB that I had used an eliminated hold on Elwood P Dowd and missed out a hard move.

Today I went back and worked out how to do the last move on Elwood P Dowd without the disallowed hold (and with tape on most of my finger-tips) which was tricky but much more satisfying. However my tips were so sore and pissing blood on the rock that I was worried I wasn't going to be able to do the start. I had a couple of goes but failed to stick the last move. I then had a go at the top move of Harvey and that felt fine. Carefully constructing the minimal amount of tape protection so I wasn't bleeding but could crimp I pulled on Elwood P Dowd and scraped my way up it. I then dragged the mat over under Harvey and also managed to drag myself up it. No post-send glory shots I'm afraid as there was no way I was pulling back onto those slopers with tips like this:



Going shopping in Sainsbury's with bandaged fingers and blood-stained clothes on the way home drew some interesting looks...

Early end to a day of perfect conditions

Cold and sunny with no wind this morning and Matt was keen for a trip to Earl as he's not bouldered there before. I figured I'm so weak at the moment that anywhere we went I'd be disappointed not to crush anything in the perfect conditions so Earl was as good a choice as anywhere as I know where all the classics are and have done quite a few of them so could spray beta.

We met up at Steeton station and I drove to the crag. It looked a bit frosty at first but all the rock was pretty ice-free. We warmed up on the usual aretes where there were a few folk about. A couple of them were trying Handy Andy's which I did years ago between snow showers on an absolutely baltic day when I'd dragged Nicky to the crag from York - she was upset when the snow started but I was so keen to stay I suggested sheltering under a boulder rather than retreating to the car. I've had a few plays on it since but never seriously as the crimps are pretty sharp. Anyway keen to dole out the beta I pulled on and the crimps felt pretty rubbish - they were caked in chalk and felt a bit greasy. For some reason I kept on (probably because I was doing better on it than the other people there) and a few goes later I fell off when my foot popped off as I hit the penultimate hold. Now I was really keen to get it repeated and kind've ignored the suspicious flat spot in my finger. This was a bit sore from earlier in the week when I slipped with a knife whilst chopping celeriac to make soup (how middle-class an injury is that?!). A couple of attempts later the inevitable happened and I tore a huge flapper.



The rest of the day was pretty useless for me as all the tape on my finger tip wasn't helping my already poor form. I failed to do The Flakes, did the John Dunne Slap the crap non-slappy way after way too many goes trying to eliminate the intermediate crimp and had a few useless attempts on Sloping Beauty - probably more goes than it took me to do it years ago.

All in all pretty useless waste of the best conditions this winter. Really need some motivation to get out and try and regain some of the strength from last year.

Perfect conditions

Ice on the bird-bath and sunshine melting the frost of the roof of the houses signified excellent grit conditions this morning. I met up with Matt at Norwood car park and we drove to Brimham.

We started off on Heart shaped slab, thinking this would make a good start to an afternoon of crushing. After flashing the 5+ mantel to warm-up I got on the arete and first go I was rocking over onto the slab thinking it was all in the bag when my foot slipped and I rolled back off. Another few attempts ended the same way but finally with some crucial differences in foot position and a healthy desire to not have to do it again I grovelled my way over the top. It felt pretty insecure and I was glad I didn't get that far when I was on my own!

I pulled back on for some glory shots:







Matt had some attempts but wasn't getting the toe-heel to stick as well as his first attempt and I don't think my dismounts from the top were helping his psyche!

We then went over to the Anchor and Matt crushed this (and on camera too) making the mantle onto the slab look pretty graceful.

We then headed over to Take a Bough a new problem climbed last winter. The landing to this looked worse than I thought but I soon had my heel on and was attempting the committing moves upwards. I got scared as the heel is so good but the hands felt a bit scrittly and so kept backing off. Just as we were about to sack it some more folk turned up and so with about 6+ pads underneath it I tried again but was still not getting committed. The other guy that was trying it had a couple of goes to but also got scared and once the sun went behind the trees it got baltic very quickly so we sacked it and went home.

When it's this warm inside you know the friction will be good on the grit:

(not quite so) weak at Brimham

I went to Brimham with Matt on Sunday meeting up at the Norwood carpark and sharing a lift to the crag. We started off at the Anchor which was absolutely plastered in chalk with tick-marks everywhere:



This really annoyed me as the tick-marks are pointless on this problem as the only hard bit is the horrific mantel to top out. Also although this is hardly the most tourist-visible bit of Brimham a lot of non-climbers go there to look at the rocks and so covering them with chalk is hardly going to improve relations with the National Trust who own the place. I cleaned off as much as I could and then Matt had a few good attempts but failed to do the mantel.

We then went to a very cold and windy Fantasy League and I still couldn't do the last move - I don't get this problem at all, however strong I feel on the start I just don't have the power to slap round the arete. I think I need some better beta for my feet.

We then did a nice 6A+ wall which I should have flashed but was too busy gossiping and so did second go. Then we moved onto Heart-shaped Slab and tried the 6C+ arete on the right of the slab. After working out how to do the huge reach at the start I had a couple of good attempts but ran out of daylight before topping it out.

I came back to Brimham on Wednesday and tried the arete again. The first moves felt easy and soon I was past Sunday's highpoint and thought it should be in the bag. Multiple attempts later all failing with me rolling backwards off the rockover onto the slab and my skin was too trashed to do the start any more. Really annoying as with the benefit of a spot I think I'd have MTFU'd up and topped it out. Oh well another one to come back for. After this I had a couple of goes on Fantasy League but my skin was too trashed really.

I went to Brimham again today as the cold sunny morning looked really promising. Unfortunately on the way I was chasing some ominous clouds and when I got there it was pretty damp. Fantasy League was too scrittly to attempt so I wandered down to the Pommel area which was pretty green and damp. The only thing that was dry was a crimpy eliminate that gets 7A+ in the new guide. I'd had a few goes on this a while ago but it was sunny and the slopey crimps felt rubbish. In the cold today they felt great and I soon had the hard move done. I then spent a while cleaning holds and finding the most positive bit of the damp top to get the (easy) top out done. This meant I had to match one of the crimps so I could go to the top with my left where it was flatter.





A nervy, slimy grovel over the top and it was in the bag. Not sure what grade this is really as it's pretty eliminate but it has some nice moves. 3 days in 7 on the grit with crap skin have taken their toll though.

Weak at Brimham

I met up with Matt at Brimham today. I wasn't feeling particularly psyched so I was happy to wander over to the Titfield Thunderbolt block and give Matt the beta on that and Whisky Galore. I did the latter 2nd go and then Matt spent a while trying to adapt my short-arse thumb spragg beta into something that would work for him.





I had a few goes pulling back on Titfield but I wasn't really throwing for the top and my skin was getting sore so I went back to spotting Matt and soon he'd got Whisky Galore done. He did it again for the camera and I did it with his beta which had a lovely move for the top.







After that we wandered over to Tom Peckitt's arete problem from last winter. I'd forgotten how bad the landing to this is but with 3 pads Matt got on it and would have done it easily if he'd been a bit fresher. I had some rubbish attempts but couldn't remember my beta but could remember how relieved I'd been to top it out so wasn't really that that keen to get back on it. It's a great problem so I should really get on it again.

Back on the grit

It's been ages since I've been climbing and even longer since I posted on here. I was back in the lab over the summer for about 6 weeks and after that I went on holiday with Nicky. We did some walking with my parents in the lakes:





and some biking up near Nicky's parents in Aberdeenshire. Nicky particularly enjoyed pushing her bike up Clachnaben



only to be confronted with a "Granny-stepped" descent that was a bit too technical for her to ride. I managed to get down most of it - although not without a couple of head-first dismounts and subsequent tumbles down the slope at the side of the path! It was lovely to do a big ride with no tarmac and the views were great.

After the ridiculous temperatures recently that were more suitable for drinking beers in the sun than crushing on the grit, I was pleased to wake up yesterday to a frozen bird bath and frost on the cars outside - a sure sign conditions would be good. As I'd not been climbing for months I thought a trip to somewhere new would be better than failing to do all my favourite warm-ups at the Cliff so I went to Hunter's Stones near Otley. I'd forgotten how rough the grit is here and my skin is so soft after no climbing (and no dosing with 100% ethanol in the lab) that I knew it would have to be a quick session.

I did a nice 6C arete (Mnemonic) in a few goes and then looked at Orion on the side of the big roof but the landing was a bit awkward without a spot so I wandered into the woods to see if the X wall was dry. It was and so I had a look at the left arete of this wall - By hook or by crook - which is 6C+/7A from standing. This looks totally desperate and until I worked out where the crucial heel hook suggested by the name went - I couldn't make any progress. Once I worked this out the next go I was set up to throw for the top but didn't really commit. I climbed over the top to check out what to throw for and the next go it was in the bag.



I thought about trying the sitter but my fingers were already starting to show the strain of pulling on the sharp crimps on this block so I sacked it and went home.



I got back to discover on checking my e-mails that the wrangling with the typesetters was over and my paper that I spent so much of last winter writing has been published. I'm really pleased about this as it's taken up so much of my life for the last 4 years and so it's a great feeling to know it's finally finished - although obviously nothing like as satisfying as latching that pocket on the keel ;-)

More Yorkshire biking

Last Saturday I went biking with Nicky on a lovely loop from Clapham (a village off the A65). It was classic dales riding with stoney tracks and some great views. Blue skies and a pint of Golden Pippin made for a great afternoon's ride.



Unfortunately my brakes needed some attention as by the end the front brake lever would pull to the bars without any contact between the pads and disc. I spent a couple of hours on Monday afternoon with syringes full of brake fluid getting them bled properly so they felt solid again. Even with a new sequence meaning each end only took one go it still took twice as long to bleed 2 disc brakes as it took me to change the oil, oil filter, air filter and diesel filter on my car that evening.

After a hot and greasy couple of hours bouldering at Snowden Crag last night with Matt I thought it really was too hot for climbing so decided to go out on my bike today. I started in a lay-by off the B6160 near Bolton Abbey, rode down the road into Addingham, then out up a minor road and then off-road towards Skipton.



I planned to avoid the busy B6265 to Rylstone by going over Sharp Haw and up some quieter back roads, which meant all the height lost descending into Skipton (which was great - rocky and rooty) had to be regained before going over Sharp Haw.



It looked much worse than it was.



The bridleway doesn't go to the top of Sharp Haw but for some reason the track I followed did. The view across to Rylstone (the next climb) was great.



The descent to Flasby was good and not too boggy and the roads to Rylstone were quiet - the few minutes along the B6265 confirmed that avoiding it was a good plan!

The climb up onto Barden moor wasn't as bad as it looked and was all ridable (apart from when I had to push past some sheep who kept zig-zagging in front of where I was trying to ride).



Then it was (sort of all) downhill to Halton Height with views back to Rylstone



and across to Simon's seat.



A bit of invisible bridleway meant it took a bit longer to find the gate (that was unlocked and didn't have PRIVATE signs on) into the woods above Bolton Abbey than it should have but I was soon back to the road.



A quick spin down to return to my car 4 1/2 hours after I left. I got back to Burley just as it started pissing it down which seemed like great timing until I remembered I had to wash my bike. A meal and a couple of pints in a pub in Otley finished off the day.

Back in the saddle

I've not posted for a while mainly because I've been busy reading papers and looking for jobs. Last week I went to the Depot for a proper power-endurance training session (with a stopwatch and everything) which left me broken for days. I've also been out running a few times with Nicky.

In preparation for Chad's stag do this weekend which is going to involve biking, I decided to go out on my bike. Stage one was to replace the sealant in the tyres which was pretty hassle free - the tyres re-inflated 1st go and they didn't lose air overnight. Today I biked around some of where me and Nicky ran on Sunday on Middleton moor. Some of this is possibly a bit cheeky but I met a few walkers and they were all pretty friendly - even holding open a gate for me on one of the climbs.

It was pretty windy so uphills with a head wind were even harder than when running on the weekend but the stony descents were much better on the bike. When I came back I couldn't remember why I don't go biking so often but after all the post-ride cleaning faff I could! Running is just so much less hassle...

Here's a couple of pictures:



Obligatory bike leaning against stone shot



Quality singletrack on the moor

Power is nothing without endurance?!

Since coming back from Fontainebleau I've not been out much mainly because my middle left-hand finger was feeling pretty sore after pulling hard on the starting pocket of Carnage. I went up to Fairies Chest and did Pixie Tits from standing - which has a pretty scary mantle above a crap landing (even with the 2 pads I'd lugged up there) but the hot weather and sore finger meant I couldn't manage the sit start. The next day I had a sociable evening at Caley with Matt, Johnny and Dom but didn't do anything hard and Matt missed the pads falling off the top of the Pinch and hurt his foot which looked very nasty.

Escaping the Royal Wedding I went to Guisecliff armed with my copy of the new Yorkshire (moorland and esoterica) Gritstone Bouldering guide. This was great as it's easier to identify where all the boulders are in relation to each other than it was from a handful of printouts from yorkshiregrit.com. It started to rain when I got there and was a bit humid but I had a few goes on Pok-a-Tok and went up to Trust - which looked great but I wasn't sure how to pull on.

I was at Matt's for his birthday BBQ on Wed that week and had drunkenly agreed it might be time to go sport climbing. Matt txted me on sunday to make sure I had remembered and so we headed to Troller's Gill on Monday afternoon. For the last few years I've only been bouldering so it's almost 4 years since I actually tried to climb anything hard on a rope and since then I've got a lot stronger but have no stamina at all. I thought it would be a bit of a depressing experience and I was right. After Matt put the clips in the Jim Grin (7a/+) by pulling on the draws and resting on every bolt I had a go on top rope. Predictably up to about 3 bolts I was thinking "this is piss all the holds are huge" then I got pumped and suddenly I couldn't pull on anything. I managed to do all the moves with a lot of rests but didn't really recover even after I was on the ground for a while. I did go up it again on top rope (again with several rests) but wasn't feeling recovered at all. The next day I felt totally broken in a completely different way to how I feel after a hard bouldering session.

I guess that I need to work on my power-endurance (I've never been very inspired by long stamina routes and most UK sport is short and cruxy) or go climbing at the right hand end of Raven Tor if I want to improve my sport climbing grade. Unfortunately training power by working lots of hard boulder problems is fun but training power endurance means pain! I knew this would be the case as I've been bouldering several times when women who've done 8b were trying the same problem and it's obvious a) that they aren't very powerful but b) they can apply the same amount of power every single go for many more attempts than I could - which clearly illustrates you don't have to be able to pull *that* hard to climb power-endurance 8s...

In an attempt to get a bit more volume to my climbing I went up to High Crag on Ilkey Moor and ticked 3 3s, a 4, a 5, 3 5+s a 6A and a 6B+ in about an hour but then got sucked into the "classic of the crag" a 7A+ on slopers which felt desperate in the heat (and I think I might have been eliminating an undercut that is allowed). I tried to focus on doing easy problems with the minimum amount of effort which was hard on some of the dirty top-outs!

Yesterday I went back to Guisecliff armed with video beta but the undercut needed for Pok-a-Tok was filthy and I didn't have a proper brush to clean it. I went up to Trust and tried pulling on with the high foot method I'd seen in a video on UKB but this was so contorted that I needed to bounce off my left foot to get it off the pad. I then tried rocking up off a lower left foot hold without "french starting" off the pad. Eventually I could do this and hold the side pull and 3 goes later (including an exciting out of control fall bouncing off the edge of the pads and tumbling down the slope) I'd done it. This gets 7B but it's a bit odd as I found getting off the ground without bouncing off the pad is the hardest bit. If there was one good foothold just a couple of inches above the ground to start on it'd be a lot easier. Certainly if you were tall enough to pull on 1 move higher (which I could do off 2 stacked pads) it'd be a gift for 7B (Matt are you reading this?!)

Here's a picture anyway

Sept B plus dans la Forêt

Just back from a quick trip to Font via Kyloe In and Edinburgh. Conditions were pretty hot and sweaty for a lot of the visit. I surprised Chad and Humble by getting up early on two days to find good conditions for crimping hard but unfortunately even with spotting/encouragement from Humble dragged out of bed at 8am for the second session I failed to keep my feet in contact with the rock on what should have been "the go" on Rubis sur l'ongle. It's a stunning line and I will definitely go back for it.

The day before that after a leisurely extended warm-up at Rocher Canon and some scary falls off Rêve de Pierre (thanks for catching me when I totally missed the pads Chad!) we headed to Cuvier. It was the quietest I've ever seen it and conditions felt perfect. I watched someone having a few goes on the sitter to Carnage and when he got it done and left there was no-one under that wall at all (anyone that's been to Cuvier will realise how rare that is). I moved the pads over and some other people also came over for a go. I started like they were - pulling on with the hold to the right (on la Bérézina?) but although I was easily making the distance to the crimp I wasn't hitting it properly. I was surprised by how good a hold it obviously was - well I suppose if you're going to chip a crimp you might as well make it a good one....

I then tried a couple of times with the jump start method and on the first time I held the crimp I moved my feet up and pulled though to the first sloper which was a whole lot better than I expected so pulled my feet up and went for the next hold which also felt huge. My feet cut loose and after a vague attempt at putting them back on I just campused up to the boss, matched it and reached up to the incut finishing holds hardly believing I'd just done one of the most famous 7B+ problems in Font in about 10 goes.

Unfortunately my crack spotting team were busy climbing elsewhere (although Chad did see me top out) so there's only this picture from Chad of one of the earlier attempts to illustrate the moment...



Really pleased with this because although I've climbed a few 7B+s in Yorkshire, I've never done one so quickly (i.e in a session) and to do it in the forest was an unexpected bonus.

all gone a bit quiet

Just realised I've not posted on here for a while. This is because instead of doing much climbing I have been mostly writing/editing a paper.

But it's been submitted now so I guess I should say what else I've been up to. Caley early morning raid (too warm at 9 am is not a good sign). Thought I'd done some random 7B prow at the Chevin but it felt like I hadn't really finished it (I knew it doesn't top out) and it does finish one (tricky) move higher. Lost a lot of skin slapping for sharp holds. Brimham (not so) secret venue trying undoubtably one of the best 7Cs on grit but nails for those without a big wing-span.

That's about it really.

Birthday at Earl Crag

I've been out a couple of times since I last posted. On Friday once the mist had cleared I headed up to Caley. It was damper than I hoped but I got most of the moves done on Ju Ju Club depsite the slopers at the top being greasy and damp. I'd forgotten how much this problem trashes my skin and elbows though. On Saturday I went over to Rochdale to go out for Thai with some of my friends and on Sunday I got a tour of the classic problems at Hobson Moor quarry from Jo and Ben. Some of these were very crimpy and felt pretty hard in the sunshine!

Today it's my birthday so I headed to Earl. After the usual warm-up I wandered over to look at Superfly, but the monos were hurting my finger and the ledge you top out on looked very green. I then spent the rest of the afternoon falling off various combinations of holds on Lager, Lager, Lager/Dave's groove. I need to decide on a sequence as at the moment I can either go with my right up to the sloper and then fall off bringing my left into the groove or cross through to the good bit of the bottom of the groove and then fail to hang the sloper with my right. It's a brilliant problem so I'm keen to get it done before it gets too hot.

Sunny Widdop

I was going to go to Earl today but as I got to Cowling I decided to carry on and head to Widdop. It's always dangerous driving for an hour to go to a crag where there is only one problem you want to do but today was especially so as my car exhaust is blowing and I discovered the boy-racer loud roars were accompanied by exhaust fumes coming into the car. Sunroof and windows open seemed to stop me feeling too light headed though!

I got to Widdop and conditions were perfect, sunny but with a breeze to keep the temperatures down.



Fight on the Black both had chalk on and was still in the shade. After a few easy problems to warm up I pulled on. First go I held the break and put my hand up to match. This wasn't as greasy as last time but still didn't feel great so I dropped my hand back down and moved my foot up. As I rocked onto my right foot I realised the next hold was a bit further away than I thought and so I only just got my finger-tips onto it. Fighting the panic that I was going to blow it I bumped my hand up shedding lots of skin and an exciting top-out later it was dispatched. No self timer glory shots I'm afraid - just this arty pic of the starting hand-hold.



I then wasn't sure what to do but the sunny boulders on the opposite side of the valley looked lovely so I slogged up there with 2 pads. I did a couple of nice roof problems, wandered along to look at Last Boy Scout which looks great but is pretty high with a not-great landing - definitely not a good place to fall off on your own! I staggered further to Boggy's Roof which looked good but hard and then saw Dove Stones in the distance. This was too appealing to ignore as there's an amazing picture of this 7A overhanging prow in the new bouldering guide.

10 minutes of bog trotting later I was regretting not having spare shoes and socks in the car and a bit later I got to the crag. The prow, Pro Diablo, was as amazing as it looked with big moves between large edges. After working out a crafty heelhook I quickly got it done and then all that was left was the long slog through the tussocks and heather back to the car.

Bustin' Blocs

After Friday night's downpour everything was pretty damp on Saturday and Matt wasn't psyched to go out on Sunday so I spent most of the weekend watching the rugby. It was a pretty grumpy weekend in the Jenkins/Meenan household as Wales seemed to rely on the fact that Italy couldn't kick penalties, France forgot how to score tries and despite Ireland handing them penalty after penalty basic defensive errors hurt Scotland badly. On Sunday evening I wandered up to Caley to see how damp it was and to my surprise Blockbuster was pretty much bone dry.

I got up at the same time as Nicky this morning and tried not to notice how damp it looked outside. Walking up to Caley in light drizzle is hardly a good start but the rock was pretty dry and it was clear from the chalk on the holds that it hadn't rained overnight so I carried on up. Blockbuster was in perfect condition and although the air was a bit damp it was colder than it's been for a while. After a quick stretch to warm-up and a few jumps I held the first pinch and got my foot on only to not quite get the crimp. I gave the holds a brush and a couple of attempts later had my fingers on the crimp. I tried the right hand 'guppy' and left hand cross through method for the first time and my fingers were on the bottom of the flake. Feet sorted and right hand up to the flake and it was in the bag, the holds on top were a bit damp but you're not going to fall off there!

Really pleased as I've jumped up and down below that bit of rock many times over the years and so it's good to get it ticked. Also this is the first 7B+ of the winter for me. For the ethically curious I started off a single pad:

Sunny Whitehouses

The crap weather finally changed yesterday and Matt had left a message on my phone the previous evening to say he was keen for climbing and wanted an early start. It transpired that this was before he went out drinking so when I phoned him in the morning he was a little bit the worse for wear. It also wasn't as super-sunny as forecast so we agreed to meet at Whitehouses after a more leisurely start.

It was pretty windy up there at first but the sun was shining and if anything it was a bit hot. I repeated all the things I'd done there before and got a bit closer to doing Peshmurga with some new beta but the crimp was eating my finger-tips and so I sacked it before I went through. Matt cruised up Rageh Omaar once I'd given him some beta that didn't work for me but was more lank friendly..

I headed to Caley on the way back which was predictably soaking. Blockbuster was almost dry though. Randomly I met the bloke who posted short-arse beta on a thread I started on UKB and he showed me his sequence. Unfortunately he climbs 8A and so when I tried the same sequence I didn't crush it with the same ease. I did feel like I could do it in better conditions though. I even got up early today and went up there but it was even wetter than yesterday.

It was good to be out in the sunshine again though - here's a picture (with the old, less successful beta for Peshmurga).

Wednesday at a Wet Widdop

It was super-sunny this morning and instead of taking the sensible option and heading to Almscliff I drove over to Widdop. The amount of green visible on the boulders didn't look promising on the walk-in but I pressed on anyhow. Amazingly the holds on Fight on the Black were dry-ish and so I pulled on. After I remembered the sequence and how exactly to hold the start handholds I hit the break a few times but failed to stick it. I should have perhaps noticed that every time I failed to hold the break all the chalk on my left hand tips was gone. After a bit I climbed up the back and negotiated the green slime on top of the boulder to clamber down to see the break. When I put chalk on the hold it looked OK but as soon as I gave it some brush-on-a-stick action the chalk got wet. Optimistically I dabbed a chalky hand on it a couple of times and went down for another go.

This time I stuck the break but when I moved my other hand up to match it I realised that the only semi-dry bit of the hold was under my left hand. My right was covered in slime and so there was no option but to drop off. Very frustrating as if the break was dry I'd have topped it out and not have to drive all the way over to Widdop to fall of the same holds another time!

You can see the damp patches from my finger-tips in the overly chalky break here:

Not so grouchy at Brimham

The torrential rain and gale force wind last week were perfect conditions for paper writing so I concentrated on staring at structures and sequences and writing. Today was sunny and calm so I headed to Brimham. I wasn't sure how dry stuff would be and lack of toe care and some over enthusiastic clipper action meant that a couple of my toes were pretty sore before I'd even put my boots on. Fortunately The Grouch was dry and doesn't require the left foot on any small holds. This was in danger of becoming another Nemesis as I fell off the last easy but committing move last autumn just before a couple of guys came to try it. With them there and hence a spot for the last move I couldn't stick the crux slap up to the break again.

Armed with a new bit of youtube beta I warmed up by trying the top move. To reach the break I had to stack both folded pads making them useless for stopping me hitting my back on the ground. A few goes and I got the new top-out move to work and it was less scary but still a bit exciting especially as the top was a bit slimy!

I arranged the pads to protect the top, pulled on and sent it first go. The slopers felt great today and I did the crux move several times to get some self-timer glory shots:

After that I failed to do the last move on Crimpy Roof a load of times and left just as the sun was setting.

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.