Bye Winter?

I really hope so, yes i will soon complain about the grease and the condensation but fuck it at least i won't be freezing my nuts off! I sat in the car today with the windows up and just baked like a crisp. God it was nice! I did some Mayfair wall descaling the other day. The big flake on the start on Masterclass came off with virtually no effort. I could have done it with my hands. Very scary to think of all the people who have hung off it over the years. It came off in one piece and is now wedged in the ground. I don't think it will affect the route much, there's quite a good foothold there now: probably 20 inches by 20

I also levered the big flake left of Contusion off in the name of crag safety. To repay me if someone could upgrade Masterplan to 8b+ i'd be much obliged. I haven't been on Walking Mussel for a week. I'm at the stage where i could get the undercut well next go and top out or i could fall off for another ten days. It's hard to improve on it really, improving means doing it. But then i might still fall off the dreaded crack! I'm in the midst of some viral affliction so have been taking it easy. I did a few routes at Penmaenhead yesterday, the sun really was too good to resist. I climbed on Expresseway Wall which i hadn't been back to since we developed it. I did my old kings hardest FA, The Quarrywomen (6c). I was quite impressed, good quality and a good lead from Mikey. It really is a little gem that crag. It is good stone and rock and there's loads to go at. Easy sport climbing in Wales pisses all over the Peak and Yorkshire for quality from what i've seen. Today i met up with Ben Bransby who was keen to check out Dulas. I was only 5 minutes late but the impatient git was doing some dodgy self belay manouvres up Ralarwdins:

He told me he'd done Bat Route last week so obviously a man on form. I replaced the hanger that some cunt had nicked of Tony Stud and we headed up to the main cave. The place was a shit tip, some dickhead youths had been having a Carlsberg and Nik Nak orgy. Messy little twats. I bagged it up and took it when we left. Ben was keen for Last Crusade, he got most the way across the roof on the flash but was stopped by the sequency finish. I set off up Tony's atmospheric caving experience, Lord Nibbler. This route climbs up the gulley right of Last Crusade goes past that routes belay and up the wall to the finish of Zoidberg. Despite its modest grade i was a bit gripped as much of it involved back and footing between the two walls. Anyway it was great, a great experience for a 6b. People should do it more. I'm still glad i didn't finish Crusade up there though. Ben fell off the end on his next two goes. Despite my illness i got on my link up project. I'd been quite disheartened walking away from it last time. Every move on the new section felt nails! The beauty of these roofs though is that there is nearly always some hidden trickery. You've just got to put the time in and suss it out. I made good progress this time and at the end i was in the position where i could basically do all the hand moves but one but with a few feet manouvres still to sort out. There's two moves where my feet are so spanned after doing a big move left i can't release them without swinging off. I think/hope that i'll be able to sort this with some of my Parisellas accessories. The new section is only 7 hand moves but it's probably 8a condensed into 7 moves at a guess? The route is still a pipedream at the moment but it doesn't seem quite as far fetched after today. Inspiring and daunting in equal measure but so fuckin meaty you just gotta keep going. Ben got The Last Crusade on his 4th redpoint in the end. I think on his last go he could start to hear Pete Robins taunts in his head so realised he had to pull it out. Soon all the holds will be dry as will pigeons and t shirt in bed will be no more! yeee The longest clipstick at Waterfall: