Louis Armstrong 3rd ascent

Congrats to Mickey who recently made the 3rd ascent of Louis Armstrong. A neo classic!

Your Sunday Sermon - Life is like a shit sandwich, the more bread you have the less shit you eat.

Well after six months of sermons father doyle is going on a sabbatical which will begin in Switzerland next week. I intend to spread the word of Jonny, the world must know that they are pulling on Jonny jugs. Young Danny Cattell informed me on his trip back from Branson that Radja (a hard Nicole problem) was laced wih G jugs. Gee did the almost impossible during his heyday yet his legacy is not secure. Admittedly this could be partly his fault, instead of travelling to the nu skool softly graded areas he chose to keep it real in his own back yard on lines that inspired him. He did not seek the publicity and the stuff he did was simply unbelievable to some(fools!). I'm not saying that Gee was the best in the world but i do belive in his style of ferocious boning he was unsurpassed. Set the Gee loose on Amandla and see what would happen. I hope you all have enjoyed these weekly sermons, remember - never give up and when its time to crush do so to the best of your ability. Finally i would like to say a prayer to young Simmo who proved last week that he could still cut it with a holiday ascent of the classic Burn4U 8c in the jura. God bless you all.

Swiss Vids

I'm going to magic on friday so i've been checking out swiss vids on youtube, here are a few i've found:
Check this beast out:


Go Brit girls!:


CORE!:


Go Parry:


A male PISSING Shark Hunt:


Six problems:


An 8a me an Mule tried:


Komilator:


I'm going to Swiss with the Cypriot, mainly cos i hate work and need a small break. I will hopefully get some ticks and check out some harder stuff. In November i will be returning to stay for a while so i should be able to get stuck in then. Keen to get some footage and to finally crush an 8a bloc (please oh lord!)

BELL fast

Just got back from Belfast, it was a good trip. Japs was his usual self. Him an Jackie have got a nice little house in Belfast:



We met up with trad hero Ricky Bell too and had a session on his board - very nice:




Sat night we went partying then today we just chilled and then got a flight home- a good flying visit!

Your Sunday Sermon - Don't undervalue your efforts

When a strong man pulls a basic move it will often feel easy, does this mean the move is easy? No. When a man finally crushes a problem after a protracted seige and it feels easy does this mean that the problem is easy? Once again the answer is no. It is important that climbers don't undervalue their efforts and ability especially when grading things. This is a slippery slope which will lead eventually to a grade meltdown. So it is important that climbers be realistic and accept that they are at a certain level.

Pill box vid

Check out Jamie Kings vid of me doing Malteser/Last Orders link (7c+) last november

Success

After ages of going backwards i finally tasted success on my pill box project today. Yesterday i twatted my thumb with a hammer at work so i thought it was game over. Anyway i crushed it today with Dense spotting my back - it felt easy. The mysteries of climbing eh! Oh yeah the linkup of Malteser/Last Rites rates 8a (maybe a hard one?). Off to belfast now to visit Irish Si and his lady wife with bonse and inspector.

Rhiw Goch and a breakthrough!

Me Matt, Dave Buchanan and Louise went back to Rhiw Goch near Betws, this is well good little crag. Very hard to find though with a bushwack through bracken to get there:


We looked at Mules sitter to Ride the Wild Smurf, a great hardcore problem which he gave V10 back in the day. This is damn hardcore and at least 8a. Matt did RTWS stand V6 and White Rider V7, good problems:

Then Dave repeated Mules Nazgals Traverse, well good, he gave it 7b+ back in the day but its 7c i think. I did alright on it but its a tricky link:


Today we donned the cave and the box, i felt nothing special but on my first go of my link the dropped off with my fingers almost in the last pocket. This is a major breakthrough for me and i was very happy. After going backwards for the last 3/4 weeks all that muscle memory and effort is finally kicking in. Like i always say - persistence pays! Some pics of Louise almost crushing Last orders 7a:



A couple of over pics:

Your Sunday Sermon- Weight Issues

Everyone knows that rock climbing is easy when your light. Thus the temptation is always there to try and lose some weight in order to crank harder. This is however easier said than done. Often when a fit rock climber attempts to lose weight he'll be fighting against mother nature. It is not easy to shed the pounds unless your a rik waller wannabe:



So instead of trying to lose weight why not just get stronger, train heavy, get big muscles (the chicks will love this too)! Then maybe you could lose a couple of pounds and crush the world's hardest bloc!

Pics and Smith

Pics of the Mill




Tom Newman trying Drink Driving - i think he will do it. Lanky bastard. Get it done beast.



Cave pics: Matt on RA:


Me and Rich rocked up to the orme today to find Big Malc there. He was pottering about in the cave:


Malc recrushed Louey and Simmo recrushed RA (not bad considering he ain't bouldered for 3 years!). I showed Malc Jonnies problem on the box, he was suitably impressed.
Simmo also copped off in Chester (see below):

Your Sunday Sermon - The Overachiever

We all know about the underachiever in rock climbing. Those men or women that are have strength in abundance but never quite cut it on the rocks. Well this week i would like to pay homage to a rare breed known as the overachiever. These individuals are not blessed with natural strength or stamina but seem to manage to pull out decent performances outside. They punch above their weights through persistence, mental strength and the will to try hard. A perfect example of the overachiver is that of Paul Reeve of Sheffield, this young man manged to tick Mecca after a seige. This is a hard rock climb that many men who are significantly stronger than Paul have failed to tick yet. Big up to all the overachievers out there!

Stale

I'm getting stale pulling on the same holds and doing the same moves every weekend. I need to do new moves and climb new things- they're aren't many where i live though so i'm resorting to plan B - back to the board. I intend to start training again next week at the Den and the Mill. Hopefully i'll acquire the type of strength that Herculean greats dream about and i can go out and crush blocs easily. We'll see.
Oh yeah and i paid 6 quid for a double vodka and coke last night in a certain drinking establishment- outrageous!

Your Sunday Sermon - Climbing Vs Work

A problem facing every committed rock climber is trying to decide how much to work and how much time he should commit to trying to excel at climbing. Everyone needs a certain amount of spondolees but it is traditional for the obsessed rock climber to work as little as possible in order to try and reach their potential. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. The likes of Dr Tony Mitchell (8c redpointer from Yorkshire) achieved great things within the restraints of working full time. The majority of us however will try and keep work to a minimum to live the climbing life. However there are pitfalls to this. No one wants to get to an old age without a pot to piss in - no house, no pension, no career, no savings! Who wants this! And so a balance must be found. I would say one can do what they want until say there mid 20s but around that time they must start to think of the future and realise that climbing will probably not always be the highest priority in their lives. Obviously the priviledged few (Sharma, Graham etc..) earn a decent wad to live the climbing life. These individuals are extremely lucky. The rest of us need to consider our options and plan for the future. Happy cranking!
Ladies and Gentleman the great Jerry Moffatt:

Sea View Vids

A nice film of Sea View Walls from Gareth of V12. Enjoy!: