Paratrooper

We had two sunny days in a row in Wales which is unprecedented for this year. It's raining again now obviously. Yesterday the Orme had recovered in a big way. The Cave looked very dry and LPT was good too. Pete Robins managed a mega new 8a+ link downstairs. Paratrooper does all the hard climbing on Parasite to the rest at the flat break before moving up and right into Battle of the Little Big Orme up which it finishes. It's pretty cool because you end up climbing Battle with the original left hand sequence which no one ever does now. Battle was 8a+ when first done by Chris Plant in 1990.

There was only one 8a+ in the 97 Rockfax but there will be no less than 7 in the new guide:
Pas De Deux - Direct finish to Bad Boy, hard 8a+.
Melancopout - Training link. Melanchollie to the undercuts then step right and finish up Bad Boy. Likely done years ago.
Bad Melons - Another training link starting up Bad Boy and finishing up Melanchollie. Also likely done years ago.
Melon Beach - Great link climbing the first hard section of Melanchollie, then up Bad Boy and finishing up Mussel Beach (or even better up Parasite).
Moonwalk - Neglected FA by Tommy taking a direct line into Over the Moon Direct. Get on it people.
Paratrooper - See above
Wild Understatement - An upgrade from the last guide. First climbed by George Smith in 89 but ridiculous for 8a (makes Statement look piss).

I was back on Walking Mussel after a enforced 10 day lay off and god it was a battle. I felt bored and had no zest which basically made it impossible to try hard (which is essential). I'm going to have to dig deep if i'm going to climb this route, it's well passed the 'fun' stage and i've had enough. I linked the crux on my 3rd day, it's essentially a boulder problem route and yet here i am still falling. I'm pretty sure i know what the answer is, i need to get down to my fighting weight and just blow it out the water. This is problematic as i'm enjoying grub right now and my missus will definitely kick off if i get any skinnier. I just keep thinking about the battle on Hole Truth last year and then how easy it was when i lost weight. One things for sure, i need a conclusion to this epic!

Shauna was back in the Cave and climbing more very hard things with minimal effort. This time In Hell, a solid 8a+ coming from the back wall into Rockatrocity. She said she's only got 2 weeks left in the country this year. It's alright for some, watch out hard blocs of the world!