Nicking a November day at chedale

In light of my progression indoors I have been desperate to get some routing in outdoors, and although El Chorro is booked for the end of January I couldnt wait that long.  A break in the wet weather gave Paul and I a chance to head up to chee dale and start at the embankment again. Considering it was cold it didnt take too long to get feeling in the fingers!!!



Paul on 6c+, nice new jacket

We spent most the time just working routes on top-rope, particularly as the rock wasnt in perfect condition. Paul came really close to cleaning his 6c+ (cant remember the name), and i managed to clean a 7a+(cant remmeber the name) on the third or fourth attempt.

My new Beta-clipstick in all its glory

8a

I have finally reached a milestone in my climbing with a redpoint of an 8a route at pinnacle climbing centre and thought it was worthy of a post.  Having not really been outdoors much over the past few months due to house extension works and bad weather i have been getting quick sessions in down the wall as i can.  I first tried the 8a  route with a couple of stops in lead - and cleaned it on a second  the attempt on the second.  Two weeks later I lead the route with 1 stop.  Two weeks after this i cleaned the route on lead :).
Then with the 8a+ route left at the wall i managed to work all the moves and will be looking for a redpoint on this route on my next visit!

Chee dale: The embankment

It didnt take me too long after my first trip to chee dale to return - about 39 hours!  This time we ended up at Max wall for a warm up  - as the most polished route I've ever done and graded at just 6b this felt incredibly hard.  Trying to escape the polish we headed up to the embankment to tackle the very technical routes - although only graded at 7a+ these were really tough.  I dogged up the first route - Bream in black and managed to clean it second attempt.  The next route- The Barracuda bass sound along seemed much harder for the same 7a+ grade and took   3 or 4 attempts to get clean (I guess it did say high in the grade in the guide book...).  These routes are tough to read and to find the holds so it was great practice and I really need to start reading routes better.



The Barracuda bass sound , 7a+ looking friendlier in the photos

The Barracuda bass sound , 7a+, trying to sort those feet out after the relief of clipping the second bolt!

The intensity of the side pulls and crimps was greater than I have ever experienced on rock anywhere and I can see great gains to be made by getting alot more mileage in at this venue.  At Chee dale I have found that getting the first couple of clips is a bit stressful, so I think a clipstick must be on the shopping list and as Steve McClure (who was at the crag) said 'everyclimber needs one' - then I can really start pushing my grade further:)

Cavewoman tying on ready to crush...

Chee dale, the most idylic climbing spot in the UK?

Another break in the Brtisih summer and it was time to explore another area of my new peak limestone book.  I have always wanted to climb at Chee Dale but looking at the grades in previous years I had felt a bit imtimidated by it, with very hard overhanging limestone rumoured to be littered with tough side pulls and small polished crimps.  However if I want to improve my climbing it seems that this is the place to head to, and I wasnt dissapointed.  We headed to Blackwell Halt for a warm up before moving onto Max wall and the embankment.

Paul seconding the arapahoe collection, 6b+ at Blackwell Halt. I had taken a whipper on this after passing the crux and reading the route wrong at the top doh!



Side pulls forcing me into horizontal positions on Max pax em in, 7a



Technical on the footwork

Leading Max pax em in 7a, Max wall

All the routes ranging 6b-7a that we climbed were challenging and technical albeit with some very polished rock and dirty rock in parts.  That said, the limestone was still the best I have climbed in the peak (and the closest to home...) and with the routes currently in condition this is a venue I definatley want to continue to come back to with so many potential projects to focus on.  Areas such as max wall were very unique next to the wye river and make this place such a special setting to climb in.

Picturesque Max wall

Stanage July 2012 (with cavewoman)

Its been a good week capitalising on the break in the wet weather with a third trip out on rock in a week.  Ilona and I headed to the Stanage popular end as I still have a long list of  lines to tick off.  This includes the 'top 50' classic Inverted V, VS 4b.   Other good routes of the day included Heather wall VS 5a and right twin crack VS 4c.

Heather wall VS 5a

Inverted V VS 5b

Ilona seconding Inverted V

Recess wall HVD

Ilona seconding crack and corner S 4b

Having lost my nut key I was amazed we left with all the gear, thanks to Ilona (aka cavewoman!) being a great second - although next time no excuses she will lead some routes!

Masson Lees

I'd heard a rumour that Masson Lees quarry is the best quarry peak sport limestone, which usually takes until May to dry out.  Perhaps it was a bit too optimisitic to expect to find some of the overhanging walls to be dry given the wettest june on record last month.  Unfortunately we were unable to find any of the harder routes (in the 7s) in condition.  I found a couple of routes on the overhaning wall which were great but a little damp, dirty and loose - once conditions improve there are lots of great looking harder lines.

Paul on Pocket rocket, 6c on the overhanging wall

The black wall was had the type of routes I avoid,  holds were not positive and required open handed grips from what i could tell.  But with not alot of choice we did a couple of routes on this wall - and I was pleased with the 6c+ onsite of cattle mutulation expedition.  The red wall and wake up walls (south facing) had some good quality lower grades, but its the routes on the overhanging and black walls I would be interested in tackling next time!

The overhanging wall and black wall in the distance

The trip was well worth a days holiday off work, eleven routes done -and its always nice to go out with a new partner in crime, especially when they are as mad about climbing as me.

Mum comes to Stanage

Finally we have a dry few days forecast and my mum comes along to see what this climbing thing I do is.  That is worth a post in its own right, I have been trying to get her to come and have a go at climbing for years.  We had seen the suns litering the UK map on the forecast but hadn't realised that winds were forecast and so at the top of Stanage there were pretty strong winds so it was impossible to verbally communicate...

High Neb buttress, Stanage

Still, we solidered through it enjoying the grit stone conditions which considering it was July with high temperatures forecast they were pretty perfect!

Very wind swept Mummy B at the top of her first climb since school

Horseshoe Quarry

After the wettest June on record we finally see a day forecast with no rain and head out with the dogs to finally get a full day at a crag with them.

Wheres mum??

Up the left wall

 With the older peak limestone guide I ended up just jumping on anything that looked like fun, nothing too hard though to give Coll a chance to lead and lower off her first ever route!  Briefly flicking through the new guidebook at the Outside Cafe it turned out that Coll had climbed her first 6b+s.

Coll climbing well on a 'new' 6b+ right of the main wall.

After about 7 hours button slumps on the rope and decides shes ready to go home

Team spot

Portland July 2012

I won a guidebook for Portland back in 2007 so it was about time I headed down to Portland.  Whats more, on cliffs there is no livestock and so it is a good place to start training the pups to become crag dogs! We managed to book into a caravan which would accept dogs it was just a shame after 2 hours of climbing the rest of the weekend was a washout!

The first evening we arrived was perfect weather so we wandered to explore the nearest crag to us, the cuttings.

Pepper exploring the cuttings with mum

Sunny Thursday eveing at the cuttings, with Button

The next morning we were on the rock and with the dogs for around 2 hours before the rain started.  The climbing seemed pretty good and I can't wait to get back in drier weather so I can do some more challenging routes instead of getting rained off during warming up!

The spotty crag dogs on guard

Leading a first route at the cuttings

The girls didnt seem too bothered about us climbing, once Pepper had tried to run up the rock and failed, but instead then they both ran up a hill opposite the crag so they could watch with a better view!

Cuddles in between climbs!

So that was it for our climbing this trip but I took the chance to drive around and work out the location of the other crags on the island ready for next time.  We spent the rest of this trip- walking the dogs in the rain and eating before heading home 2 days earlier than planned!  Of course we couldnt leave Porland without the obligatory light house shot.

Smiling even in the rain at Portland Bill

Sicily 2012

I'd heard about climbing in Sicily through word of mouth and although there is limited information online we decided it was worth a trip. A huge bonus was that there was no need to hire a car as we paid for transfers to the el bahira campsite (san vito la capo). We stayed in a mobile home where the 5km of bolted cliffs were simply a 4 minute walk away overlooking the campsite, perfect. The loud music they call animation until 12am not so perfect, although this is only during June- September. The staff at the campsite were not so friendly not that it particularly bothered us as we still got 20% discount for being climbers. Online they welcome climbers but they didnt have a guidebook in stock which made our first few days interesting jumping on routes. The shop was reasonably priced for food and we would also walk for 40 minutes into San vito for food from a bigger supermarket. The food at the restaurant on site was comparable in quality and price to those in San vito- very much geared up for tourists.

That's the logistics out of the way now about the climbing... The routes on the cliffs around San vito are world class with a range of styles from tufas to slabs. The grades (quite stiffly graded) were well spread out so we were well accomodated climbing as a three with different abilities from 4s to high 7s.



Menage a trois 7a+



Menage a trois 7a+



 

Menage a trois 7a+



Day one climbing we eased in with some 5s and 6s, finding particularly the last moves of climbs razor sharp. I slipped off a climb at the first bolt burning my forearms and cutting my finger. Luckily climb on bar stopped this becoming an issue for the rest of the trip. After this i still managed a stiff 6c+ onsite which considering it was day 1 I was pleased with. We also encountered a wasps nests on a climb that day... Three stings later it was time to get on the beach. Over the next few days I continued to warm up on a couple of 5s and 6s then got on the grade 7 routes. Flashing a 7a ('Knockenmaderll') on day two and making a first lead of 7b 'Seltsam ammutende vollspacken'.

Stiff start of 'Il menotauro', 7b



'Il menotauro', 7b







Onto the easier terrain of 'Il menotauro', 7b



This trip I had aimed to go for quality of routes(grade 7s) rather than quantity (lots of routes well within my grade). This strategy worked as I challenged myself each day, although I still found trying to make the transition from onsite climbing to focussing on redpointing routes particularly hard. On several 7bs and 7cs I felt that given more time I could definitely send the routes after a couple of attempts as on the majority of routes I was able to make all the moves. One route I felt particularly motivated by was 'Seltsam ammutende vollspacken' having taken 2 stops on day two I felt it would go clean on the next attempt, and 12 days later I was delighted to have cleaned the route on my second attempt after flashing  'Boandkromer' a 7a just before.



Flashing 'Boandkromer' 7a





The steep roof of 'Seltsam ammutende vollspacken' 7b





Shaking out on 'Seltsam ammutende vollspacken' 7b





Last moves of the 30m  'Seltsam ammutende vollspacken', 7b



One of my favourite routes was an unusual 7a climb with a horizontal roof, missing a crucial hold through the roof and slipping off I cleaned it on the second attempt.



'Yoshimi battles the pink robots'  7a




'Yoshimi battles the pink robots' 7a




The rare choice for me of a more vertical route...'O brothers' 6c



The hardest onsite was a 7a+ named 'Frateelo Caldo', very well chalked and polished through the crux it required a very dynamic move and almost a second crux at the end as the rock once again became razor sharp. There is still a huge potential for climbing in he San vito area which could rival the likes of kalymnos. There seems to be climbs for all abilities. Following further development I would return to climb in Sicily again.

El Chorro 2012

The rest of our El Chorro trip was focused mainly on getting on some single pitch routes much above our onsight grades and get some experience of routes in the high 7s and up to 8a.  After Zeppelin on day one it took me a couple of days to feel ready to do this so we decided to head to a sectors we hadn't visited last year and enjoy some easier routes.



Day 2: Hanging out at Escalera arabe, solo eteitar, 6a

We returned to two of my favourite crags over the next two days (Days 3 and 4), sector suizo and poem de roca.  In a new attitude to my climbing I decided to get back on routes I'd previously failed on as I wanted to use this trip to get my head into redpointing (instead of just trying to onsight/flash routes).  I was pleased to come back and get a route that I was fustrated with at not getting the onsight last year - Cano paco -7a, especially as on one of our warm up routes (prepotencia 6b+) I slipped and fell on a ledge ripping my trousers open and giving me a dead bum cheek!

My ripped beloved trousers left me in shorts for the rest of the week

Al fresco dining with the wild country chef at sector Suizo

Similarly getting back on a very pumpy Bienvenidos el circo 7a+ and getting this clean on second was satisfying as I was unable to piece it together in one last year (a shame I didn't end up going back for the redpoint of this).

Bienvenidos el circo 7a+ sector Suizo

Due to bad weather we spent a couple of days at poem de roca, where I resisted the urge to get back on poem de roca (7a) as we did this route and the 'direct' route of it (7c - on top) last year.

Teamwork got us up Viva porus (7a+ -stated hard for the grade in the guide), as Rich lead to about 2/3 of the route and then I went up and lead it to the end.  As the cave was busy this day we went up it a couple of times to get it clean.  Rich lead up a very overhanging 7c route (Talisbania) -I seconded this route with relative ease on the overhanging terrain but the last couple of moves on the vertical section felt quite bouldery which I couldn't get clean - but a good motivator for future power training.

The steep terrain of Talibania, 7c

Unlike most of the overhanging routes in the poem de roca cave- Slimbo (7b) was a thin route up a crack, as crack climbing is a weakness of mine I decided to give this route a try.  I lead the route with two stops, and then decided to work this route on top rope.  I found I could do all of the moves but it was fustrating I was not able to sustain the required power for the duration of the route.

Lowering off a route in poem de roca

Its worth noting here as a reminder for my next trip to El Chorro that a new sector we visited prior to poem de roca (and the rain) one day was Sector Momia, looks like there are some good hard routes here.  I only had time to do 3 routes here, the best of which was El Onejazo 7a.

The last day involved an epic walk over the 'notch' to makinodromo, except we missed the notch and went further over terrian Rich reckoned was more a grade two scramble - I dont know about scramble grades but I thought it was like a grade 3/4 climb in parts.  After three hours of this trek to include numerous episodes flat on my bum down spree paths we made iut to Makinodromo feeling battered, unlike Rich who enjoyed it...

View from the 'notch'


When I think of El Chorro I think of one of the most famous routes in the world, Lourdes (8a) and this time I couldnt leave El Chorro without trying it.  In the previous year we had climbed the classic life is sweet (6c+) and Lourdes was busy, but this year there was no-one else at the crag.  I seconded la panda Zampabollos (7b) as we accidentaly warmed up on this instead of a 6b.  Rich got on another 8a -Mutenroy, clipsticking up and working, it - I decided to give this route a miss because I wanted to save all my energy (and skin) for Lourdes.

Steep terrain of Lourdes



Again a joint effort got us half way up Lourdes, Rich leading first, then I lead a couple of further bolts to a total of 8 bolts to a mushroom section (about 1/2 -2/3 up i think).

Taking a rest on Lourdes

Feeling battered we felt the best strategy given that this was our last day was to work this section of the climb.  So now I have got this first section clean, and on any future trips to Chorro I will want to primarily focus on this route (certainly not just getting on it on the last day of a trip!)

Unfinished business: One day I'll be back...