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!