Speed!

Watched this vid of Ondra and Patxi competing this morning:

Ondra is seriously swift, much quicker than Patxi. Ondra advocates minimal shakeouts and just climbing quickly. I have been thinking about this, less time on the rock must mean less pump! I think speeding up a little could do a lot of people some good, i know i am pretty slow in general. I feel like i'll make mistakes if i go to fast, especially on tricky ground. On the other hand though Patxi is a skoda in comparison to Ondra and he still does alright (but then he can hang on forever!). Maybe fast on some sections of a climb then slow it down for the important bits. Pete Robins flew up Liquid Ambar in less than 2 minutes i think, the footage looks sped up! I think i chalk up to much at crucial moments too, this is also something to look at. I started looking through my footage keen to analyse some speed climbing. I found this footage of Cave Life, Mule pounds the life out of the rock whereas Danny is a snail in comparison. Danny is still on the wobbly jug when Mule is on the crux. My ten stone (twas a few years ago- bad news!) frame is somewhere in the middle! Makes for interesting viewing i think. Of course Danny still gets the furthest but then he is the Cave beast:

Yesterday was wet so we bagged climbing outside and trained. Getting sick of green tea but its for a good cause, will soon be at my fighting weight and my fitness is going up with every Mill sesh.

Komilator Vid

Short vid of Brick doing Komilator in Chironico, i'm hoping the quality will be a bit better than usual, finally stopped being lazy!

Progress

Hit the Diamond yesterday with Pete R. I feared the worst conditions wise. Low tide was at 12 so we met at 11, a bit early for this crag really. Sure enough it was pretty damp, overcast skies didn't help i'm sure. It was a high low tide so we only had a few hours so we had to make the most of it. Pete jumped on A Skip of Fools, a George Smith 8a+ from back in the day. First run up was a hold finding mission, these holds hadn't been pulled on in a long time. The start proved tricksome and took Pete another go up to figure it out. Then he pissed it, typical, was a fine effort and probably a 2nd or 3rd ascent (anyone know??). I warmed up on the top of my proj and played around a bit, the last move to the finishing jug had been a bit goey but then i guppy'd the hold like Pete suggested which made it more solid. I love getting intimate with a route, knowing exactly what you are doing. This is my favourite stage. I did some links on the top. Next run up i wanted to experiment with a different boot on the crux. A while ago a friend Ian Whyatt gave me one Mad Rock boot (for some reason) so i tried it on the tenous heel on the crux. It stuck like shit to a shovel- amazing! This would be a big help:

Thanks Ian and if your reading this come back you tit.
Next up i really surprised myself, i have only done the crux twice recently and have never managed the cut loose after it. With the magic boot i did the move, cutloose and thought fuck it keep going. I got to six moves from the top falling on what will probably be the redpoint crux, amazing my best effort to date (in shit conditions). Confidence was growing! I have worked out a very rough breakdown of the sections of this route, the start is font 7a to some massive jugs. Then you do a font 7b+ sequence which is followed by a 7c+/8a to the top. Can any experienced beasts out there suggest a grade for this cos i'm still not sure! Anyway the sea was coming in so we sacked it, very productive sesh.
Pete doing a very hard campus move at the bottom of a very steep wall:

Diamond Training

Its been full steam ahead on the training front at Doylo headquarters, never have i felt so determined to get into better shape. I have been deadhanging on my greasy bit of wood and training power and fitness at the Mill. Considering how things have been going on the route i was surprised how weak i was at the Mill. I knew i had no fitness so presumed things must have been happening on strength alone. No i could barely do 7a. Usually i would be disheartened at this scenario but not now, as with my fitness the fact that i'm starting from a fairly low point means that it should be easier to make gains. For example i should be able to improve my fitness a lot quicker than a man who is already fairly fit. For this route i need a bit more finger strength to get solid on the crux and i need power endurance with a bit of shake out recovery thrown in for good measure. So in the Mill i have been doing a bit of this on the steep board:

This gets me really powered out and makes you fight when you feel like you can hold on no longer. This will be important for the top of the project when 100 percent effort and commitment will be required when boxed. On the 30 board i have been trying to do circuits up and down the board with a fairly poor shake out position in between goes, this boxes me too! The angle is also similar to the middle/top of my proj. I haven't done any specific fitness training for years so hopefully i'll see improvements. I have also been running twice this week for 50 minutes each time, my legs are knacked cos haven't run since Aber. Tonight i ran past the Little Orme in the dark, it was a nice reminder of why i'm putting myself through this pain. Also i have been watching what i eat again. Using this Calorie counter i have worked out that i'm consuming just over 1000 calories a day. I'm not hungry though so could probably push it further a la Stevie Haston (700 Calories a day=9a!!!). So thats it, i intend to keep this regime up as long as it takes, hopefully it will work!
The old king with Detritus and the meaty Little Orme behind him:

Ladies and Gentleman i give you.....the Diamond!

Any man who has had a good look through 1997 Rockfax North Wales Limestone guide will have noticed on page 127 a photo of North Wales climbing legend Steve Mayers on a spectacular looking project up a seriously overhanging piece of limestone. I for one certainly did! The crag was called the Diamond, a fairly well known but rarely visited cliff on the impressive Little Orme. On this cliff were a collection of existing routes which were very impressive in their own right. George Smith and Mayers left a series of testpieces here up to 8a+ but the development came to an end in 1991. Steve had got close to the project shown in the photo but injury prevented him from finishing it. I was always intrigued by this cliff and so i made a few visits about 5 years ago, walking in at low tide and marvelling at this bit of wall. The existing routes impressed but the projects were what took my eye and the Mayers one in particular stood out as as being fantastic. I was inspired! I returned to have a closer look with Danny and Mule. I dogged up the old bolts for a quick look. Jesus it was steep, i wasn't used to such consistent steepness. Anyway the seed was planted. I returned a while later with Neil Dyer and Miles Perkins and with the petrol drill in tow we re-equipped the line. I came back to try the moves on the route a further 3 times. The most successful of these was with Si Panton when i managed to work out and do the crux, a fingery long stretch followed by a hard cut loose. Not long ago when i was climbing strong and at my lightest i returned with Inspector Mawson but was perplexed when neither of us could manage the crux sequence again. On the way out our dingy sunk and we had to swim to shore. And this was the problem with this crag. At low tide you would get maybe an hour if you were lucky walking in and out. It also had to be a low tide (spring for example). This gave you a few days a month to climb there, just not long enough to complete stuff at your limit. Then enter stage left came the motivational machine that is Pete Harrison. The man who rebolted LPT set about establishing a Via Ferrata into the crag making it a similar deal to LPT (say 3 hours before and after low tide). Pete showed me his masterpiece and i was buzzing with excitement, maybe now my dream of climbing this route could finally be realised. Getting to the crag was no longer an issue! Another pain in the arse fact about this place is that its bird banned from 1 March through to mid August. This means the Diamond season is short, effectively from August until it gets to cold to climb. So yes a pain in the arse it is but is it worth it? yes is the answer. Left of my project are two more lines which both look in the 8c/9a region and both are stunning. When you think how worked out every other crag in Britain basically is there must be scope for more development here. I have now managed to have my first full proper sessions on my project. Its going well, each time the links are getting longer. I'm buzzing off this route right now. Climbing on that wall is a joy. The best sport route in North Wales? Myself, Tommy and Pete H have also rebolted Boat People 7c, Never Get out of the Boat 8a and Skip of Fools 8a+. The rest of the climbs could do with being re-equipped and i'm sure they will be as people start going there. I would like to take this opportunity to ask Steve Mcclure or anyone else for that matter not to do my proj. I've put the hours in (and bolts and resin) and i want to finish it. Thanks. Exciting times! From here on in i will be on a strict regime which will be based on making as much progress as i can on this line. Tommy has bolted up the yellow wall proj and Pete has bolted the cool diagonal line. Please respect these projects too as many hours of time and effort were put in to equipping them. Information on the Via Ferrata will soon be up on the limestone Wiki here: wiki

Tommy on Boat People:


My proj



Tommy bolting the yellow wall:

Pete Robins checking out a 8c/9a proj,this line only has one bolt in it thus far, mega:

Pete Harrisons project:

The approach:

Project

I have a project, i need to lose weight ASAP. As from tomorrow the cakes, pizza, chocolate and carbs come to an end. i have until it gets too cold to crush. This thing is amazing, a dream come true in fact. I can hardly contain myself. More details another time. May the good lord give me stength (and stamina and power endurance)!

Power and the Glory Footage

I have uploaded some footage from The Power and the Glory, here it is:

Ticking Along

I have spent the last week enjoying myself ticking a few nice routes around these parts. Sausage came over and did Masterplan, c'est classique! I've done some nice routes recently that i would recommend including Martha 7c, The Bearded Clam 7a+, Plagued by Fools 7b+, El Tigre 7b, Down by the Sea 7a+. Also tried Moffatts' Oyster 7c+ yesterday. This has a seriously hard move, you get a painful awkward jam with your right hand and do one hell of a powerful move. Its essentially a one move route but wowzer what a move! I wouldn't normally wanna spend multiple days on a 7c+ but i might make an exception for this one, would be great to do it!
Some pics, Pete Harrison on Plagued by Fools:


Jordan trying Carinthian Groove:


Some bolts and resin for some ormes re-equippping:

'Dulas Proj

Yesterday i bolted up and tried the Dulas roof. Its always a bit worrying trying something new that you've just bolted. What if its just far too hard? This looked like it could be but luckily i manged to link the holds across the roof including an outrageous cut loose! It climbed brilliantly, i was chuffed. The crux however is at the end and i haven't worked it out yet, feels hard at the mo. Hopefully i'll find a way! The route joins a new 6c after all the steepness so actually has a nice length to it- mega. Some pics courtesy of Mike Doyle:

A Lifetime of Opportunity

Ever since i came to settle next to these sacred Ormes earlier this year i have realised that if your into hard rock climbing there is a lifetime of opportunity here. Whereas the yorkshire season is drawing to an end things are just kicking off over here. In the last few days i have identified many new routes to climb in the area. And there is no need to start linking boulder problems into routes or climbing diagonally across many routes to get yourself a FA in these parts. Many stellar lines exist and remain unclimbed aswell as all the obvious linkups and minor routes. The crags take very little seepage unlike the major crags over in England and so climbing is possible all year round. Since i did Pas de Deux i have been eating lots of yummy food, chilling and also checking out the possibilites for new routes. Check out this project wall with an amzing tufa line on the right:


Unclimbed! With all the existing hard sport climbing and bouldering and the projects its hard to see how a man could get bored here. I'm certainly laying my hat down for some considerable time. Today i'm going to bolt a project at Llandulas, 8b/+ roof climb. SO MUCH TO DO!
Me piss wet through exploring:

Pas de Doylo!

Yesterday i went down LPT only to find that Pas de had a wet hold, gutted. Temps were good, conditions have started to get fresh in these parts. In the end i did the 7a and 7a+ to the right of Boardwalk, pretty good routes. Today i went back with Dicky Simpson. The hold had dried, things were feeling good as i put the clips in. Managed the top in two sections. First redpoint i hit the sloper at the end but couldn't close it up. Second time up i was feeling stressed, the RPs were racking up on this one now, i needed closure. So i pulled my finger out! Rocking over to the last pinch i was gripped, half expecting to get spat off. But i didn't and i climbed up the juggy flake to victory. Get in! 3rd/4th ascent?
As for the grade i had decided to just take the guide grade of 8a+, i didn't want to be known as an upgrader. But today after Simpson tried it i changed my mind. Out of Pete, Holger, Ioan, Simpson and Danny none of them could even do all the moves nevermind attempt it from the deck. Zeke which most men take 8b for took 2 days, this took 9. You do the math. Simpson who has done 8c recently said for him it could be 8b+ (he's shorter than me). Anyway i'm happy that it is a good route and hopefully it should get more attention. From Melancholie next year.....