Let it begin

Training a lot doesn't really make for good reading on a climbing blog. It all gets a bit samey,'went down the wall tried this project' etc... Well thats what i've been doin apart from work. Last week was spent in East Ham, a bit of a shithole (sorry if anyone from East Ham reads this). Me and the Inspector were doing some work on a falling down church:




Next weekend i start the weekend work so now i'm keen to get stuck into my training. The deadhang board will hopefully be going up soon in the new digs and i'm keen to get to the new Den and Matts board aswell as the Mill. Might even start doing some training on the orme now i'm a local. Ironically i haven't been yet since i moved. I have set three hard projects on the Mill 50, i reckon they will weight in at 7b+. One i can defo do so thats good, the others will probably take a bit more doing. Me and Nodder were talking today about our desire to get to the next level. This is obviously tricky when you have been climbing for as long as we have, in my case some things have improved others have got worse but the general standard hasn't improved much. We'll see how things stand in a month or two. Went to the superboulder with Matt, Nodder and Jack the other day. Hadn't been for 6 years so it was nice to see it again, i did a sitter to a one move 7a called the Crack, took a while to work out the feet, very bony and vertical, uhhhhh! Maybe an FA? Sorry to the last people who asked for discs but i'm struggling to burn them at the mo, power callibration failure or something, anyone know what this means??

Rock the Mill!

Managed to get the mill twice this weekend. Saturday was a write off as i spent the whole time moving and sorting shit out. Cheers to the Cattells, for arriving two hours late. Anyway i'm set up in Penrhyn Bay, today i spent bout 700 notes on a few things but most importantly on a 42 inch tele.I wanna see West Coast Gimps on the big screen!
Ted glued the Pill Box hold and made the second ascent of my Malteser/Last Rites 8a. I regard this as the 2nd hardest problem i've ever done. Ted seemed to make mincemeat of it. He also did Pit Of and Cave Life in the same day- good shit mate! Drink driving next!
I'm still having a ball in the Mill. I realise however that this is still the honeymoon period, because i haven't trained for so long improvements are coming quickly. I expect in a few more weeks to plateau and then the real task begins. In the old days in the school i used to slog along at the same old standard for months old end seeing little improvement. All that training is not for nothing. It all kicks in eventually! Today was a dream sesh, i did about six 7's. Two new 7b's and some 7a+s and 7as. I also set two harder problems which could be potential 7b+s. In the Den i only did one 7b+, god they were hard. I think though that the angle of the Mill suits me more so the grade is undoubtedly more attainable in there for me. Danny has done a 7c in there so i can use this too measure my problems by. Back to London tomorrow though! Bastard!

Moving, Den and Fame at last!

This weekend i am moving to Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno. This is a great step for me cos i will be a lot closer to the action. Closer to the Ormes, the mountains and the mill! Hopefully this will benefit my climbing. I'm sure it will also be nice to have my own gaff with all my wordly belongings in one place. Today i am shifting a load of furniture and then i'm going to climb somewhere. So if any hombres are in the region from now on you must pop in to Doylo towers for a cup of tea and a homemade scone.
DVD wise i have sent them all out now (hope i haven't missed anyone!). I've had a couple more recent requests but these folk will have to wait till i'm sorted. Thanks for all your interest anyway, it means a lot.
Yesterday me, Dan and mule stripped the Denbigh Den and started resetting it. We have taken off all the nasty holds and brought all the nice ones into the centre. The Den was a great facility which yielded some great classics but things were stale. We all needed a change - i was at my wits end with it. Looking at it now there were a lot of nasty holds which are now gonners. My climbing has changed considerably, i no longer want to pull on tiny wooden crimps when training, this is no longer fun. I have started climbing on a lot more fat pinches and bony undercuts, much more fun. Anyway with the Den, the Mill and matts board Wales is well equipped for training facilities. The new era of the Den has begun.
Finally i was shocked and disgusted to find out Gresham was not on the front cover of Climber this month. Instead it was this punter:


Ha ha! Fame at last!

PILL BOX WARNING

Please do not use the loose hold on the Greek/Whisky Bitch/Drink Driving. It has become even more unstable and could soon be lost. We will try and re-inforce it ASAP so if you could leave it for the moment. Thanks my life depends on this.

8b vid

here is a vid of brads containing swiss 8bs. Slicker than his bridge as usual:

BBB from pascal brown on Vimeo.

TRAINING!

I have been to the Mill four times in the last week. I love the place, i really do. I only climb on the steep board as it is high and wide and full off nice holds both wooden and resin. There is a small group of enthusiasts who can't get enough of the place. I did a couple of den 7b's this week so this is a positive start to my training. Back when i was at uni i used to go to the school 3/4 times a week, i got pretty strong on the board but wasn't really cranking the big numbers outside. The last few years visits to the board have been infrequent and not intense enough. Despite this i have climbed ok on the rock (four 8a's in the last six months). I figure if i can get my old board strength back maybe i could get to the next level. Back in Hoole St, Sheffield i used the spend hours every week hanging off a small bit of wood, i could only hang it for ten seconds, but i did lots of sets. Not surprisingly i used to be pretty nifty on small crimps. These days i can bone down no where near as hard (nor do i like too!). The plan is to put my bit of wood up in my new house and resurrect the old regime! Combine this with consistent power training in the mill (i will be soon working weekends) and hopefully great things will happen.
Couldn't get in the mill today so went to the Cave for some training, as usual on weekends these days it was rammed. I hommed around doing the odd move here and there. Not psyched, all i could think of was the Mill 50! Ted Kingsnorth has made the 2nd ascent of one of my harder links on the Box. Malteser/Last Orders goes at 7c+ (soft according to Ted). Good work!

DVDS

I was shocked when i checked my Inbox, a lot of people want DVDS. I have no idea who looks at this blog as i don't bother with the tracking software and all that crap. I don't care who reads it. But yes its nice that people out there are psyched for it. A lot of the names in my Inbox i remember from when i released West Coast Gimps, four years ago. Its nice that my films have some sort of following, cheers guys. Anyway a lot of people are after multiple DVDs. I'm happy to do this but it is very time consuming, each DVD is burnt individually so when one person wants five discs it takes time. Luckliy i have been off work this week cos of the snow so i'm currently getting as many sorted as i can. The first lot have been sent away so you should receive them soon (apart from you foreigners out there). Also i keep running out of DVDS and packaging (i keep having to buy every padded envelope on the shelf in Cresta,Holywell). With the new set of DVDs i have to check them to make sure they are burning properly. Unfortunately the quality of the disc seems to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer! Anyway hopefully you'll all receive your discs soon and they will work sweeter than a colony of bees. Enjoy!

The Power and the Glory

Well my latest flick is finished. The Power and the Glory is a shortish film (45 min) featuring footage froom 4 trips to Switzerland over the last few years. I'd say its an ok film, nothing special and fairly incohesive. The main attraction must be the number of hard problems on display. The highlight definetely being Micky's ascent of The Dagger at Cresciano. Anyway if anyone would like a copy please email me: crimpmaster28@hotmail.com (send me your address). I may ask for a few pennies to cover my expenses (DVD's, postage etc). I'll see how many people want a copy. Also available are my older films:

West Coast Gimps
Stonedlove
Best of the Westies (hueco)
Obsession

Making climbing films is a great hobby of mine, i love it (particulary the editing side). One day i'd like to combine the rawness of my stuff with a more professional approach but i'll probably never get round to it so your stuck with the homemade feel for now.

Dennis Rodman canes it into a cliff!

In Swizzy Ty showed this youtube clip. I just remembered about it, so funny:

Be Like Jerry

A couple of years ago i went to one of Grimer's Ape Index lectures when living in Sheffield. Presenting that night was the one and only Jerry Moffatt, he delivered a humorous and deeply inspiring talk. Danny C described it as one of the best nights of his life. It certainly was an inspirational talk and ranked far above other top climbers talks i have seen (John Redhead's Shaft of the Dead Man comes in a close second for comedic reasons). Jerry oozed charisma, he was the man. Flashing America's hardest routes, doing the influential routes of there time in Britain. Mastering all the arts - bouldering, sport and trad. I once met Jerry in Bed nightclub in Sheff, i could barely contain my excitement and shouted to him "your Jerry Moffatt", he looked at me and a big grin came across his face: "Yeah, i am he replied". I spent the rest of the night outside the mens bogs waiting to get another glimpse of him. Jerry's autobiography has just come out. I'm only four chapters in but its a great read. I've just got to the bit where he was sitting on the plane coming back from his historic trip to America when it dawned on him that he was probably the bst climber in the world.
Anyway whilst in Switzerland i had lots of time to ponder things. I knew one of my climbing ambitions was to tick 8c. To me it is the magic grade (not 8b+, soz Steve). Well obviously Britain is not the place for the most do-able 8c's. They're generally short and very BLOC, brick hard in other words. The pumpy ones like True North are often wet so not ideal. Realistically for me to tick 8c it has to be in Britain because its gonna take so bastard long and that is where i live! I can't be arsed moving to France or Spain. In fact it has to be in Wales, thats where i live and this is going to be a prolonged seige. LPT has three 8c's (all hard for the grade uunfortunately!), Infanticide (which i've tried) didn't really inspire me despite being a good route. Its too technical, too many small fidgety moves. No No. I haven't been on Sea of Tranquility but i've belayed Mcclure and Simpson on it and it looks far too bouldery for me. Liquid Ambar is 7b+/c into a extended boulder problem, power endurance and probably the best hard route on LPT- amazing rock and moves. In the 80's DVD it looks mega, Jerry climbs it so well. I turned straight to the LA pages in Revelations. Jerry worked up to it over three years and classes it as the best he felt about a new sport route in Britain. So i think this is the one, i will feel the holds and check the moves when it warms up. I'm under no illusions that i'm at the level to do this route yet but i believe that my climbing style wil be beneficial (I.e. start off shit seige for ages and despatch). What i lack in natural strength and ability i believe i make up in mental factors. Jonny G belives that mental factors are very significant in getting things done outside. How many beasts are out there who just can't be arsed to spend more than a few days on something! They will never climb at there limit. The ability to handle a seige is in my opinion very important when it comes to climbing at ones limit. Patience is a neccesity, of course everyone gets sacked at times but the key is to keep going. So in the next few weeks i am going to get the ball rolling by moving 30 minutes down the A55 to Llandudno, i need to be a local to achieve my Orme aspirations. Liquid Ambar is high up the ticklist and i'm prepared to try it on and off for as long as it takes. Ben Moon climbed font 8b+ at 40 so as long as i can keep motivation up i could be in! Liquid Ambar for me is deeply inspiring, i used to have a pic of Moony on it on my wall when it got E9 7a. This is my goal.