Day of Reckoning

Today was the day, after months of thinking about it and studying footage i was going down LPT to try Liquid Ambar. My expectations were obviously low, my greatest hope was that the route wouldn't be so beyond me that it wasn't worth trying. I wanted a hard project but not an impossible project. Firstly on a route like this you do the moves then think about small links then big links then the redpoint. I was fully expecting to be facing moves i couldn't comprehend. Me and Tommy went down on this damp afternoon after warming up in the cave. Looking up it looked intimidating, i was so excited just to get on this classic, so intrigued to see what the holds would be like, could i hang the positions? The first thing that went through my mind though was the state of the second bolt, so rusty i was scared. I clipsticked it and pulled up quickly to get the next bolt in, i had no intention of trying the vertical start yet, i knew i could do it, i wanted to try the meat! On reaching the good holds on the start of the steep section i was quite startled to find a lot of glue reinforcement! Oh well i didn't care about that. I pulled up to feel the first left hand crimp, it was small but had good friction, the next undercut was positive too. I had a few goes then ventured higher i wanted to see what the supposed crux was all about. I grabbed the pinch simpson used, it was quite good but it was obvious going up off it would be extremely powerful. There are three methods on the crux, Simpsons powerful pinching, Moony's small crimp or Jerry's undercut reach. I opted for the latter, it was at the limit of my reach but i could get it. Be like Jerry,I almost stuck the move! get in, i did the next move and almost the move after. This was going well, better than expected. I went back down to the first boulder problem, one move felt very hard, undercut into undercut. I couldn't do it and it felt dismaying. Hopefully this will get easier with time. Quality wise this route is superb as you would expect. I estimate that the two boulder problems are Font 7c one after another, font 8a for the whole 8 move sequence and the start is about fench 7b+ up to the steepness. I got home and put the footage of jerry on, mega, so psyched bring on the seige. Looks like i may be living in Llandudno for a few more years! In the next day or two i hope to get this route rebolted and then everyone can try it safely. Long live Jerry!

Nappies

Some back in the day footage from Hoole street:

Broken shoulder

I'm up and running. Broadband at Doylo Manor went live this morning. The leather reclining settee has arrived. All i need now is a good women to get my tea on the table when i come back from the Mill.
I've started venturing back out to the crags and it feels good. I keep falling off broken heart just before the jugs and i don't really know why! Very perplexing, i experimented with the left heel and found that its bomber if you put it on the left of the louey hold and push it back against the roof. This feels very easy for 7c+ now. Good though! The cave is thriving these days with hommes from all over.

Darse did In Life midweek, good to see the young buck again. He runs round the Cave like a headless chicken:

Lincoln did Pit of and Ted took time out from the box to do the Highlife. I even showed Bennett round yesterday. The other day i really hurt my shoulder, don't know how. Its still not right. Instead of stopping climbing i have decided just to avoid moves that will aggravate it. This is not good for my climbing twice a day routine (be like simpson/moon etc..). The deadhanging was cut short by my injury but hopefully i'll be able to resume this week.

Went to Angel Bay with sausage yesteday to try Manchester dogs was in good nick, this is essentially a one move 8a. It fitted Lincoln like a glove and he pissed it, impressive! I feel i will be able to do this too, maybe need to get a bit stronger though. You have to do the nearest 8a to your house! I'm off to the Mill, bye.

Insania

Nothing much to report from my own climbing right now, apart from curling my fingers around bits of wood on manmade overhangs in order to increase strength and body tension. The Mill remains a source of inspiration, i enjoy the fact that i can go in and do a new problem almost every session such is the packed nature of the main board with varied holds. As usual 7a+ is the most frequent grade, these usually go down in a session. Indeed i give every problem i do in a sesh 7a+ regardless of how hard it felt. Nodder and Ian are the other prolific First Ascentionists and between us the place is getting an armoury of good problems. Neil James Mawson came the other day and flashed a load of stuff including a B of mine, better downgrade that one then. I think that the grades are close to Den grades but maybe slightly softer. It doesn't really matter as it is a higher and steeper board than the Den and thus hard to compare. We have a system of 'Mill' grades which works well and thats the important thing. I have been doing a lot more problems on pinches than usual, its nice to see an evolution in my climbing style. Went to do a few routes at Penmaenhead yesterday with Matt and Tommy though and felt well rusty. No surprise there.
Good effort to Ty on ticking 8c in the forest. He nailed Satan i Helvete assis in a sesh (spent two days? on stand). Nice to see that the young man is still progressing and doing the same business in Font that he has done anywhere else.
On a less stratospheric level Ted has ticked everything on the Box now apart from jonny's and drink driving (won't be long i'd say!). I am now starting to fear for my remaining projects. After the crimping machine has done DD he might turn his attention to these!
Peter Robbins has done Broken Heart from Louey, he used my BH sequence, good effort as this is a very insecure way of doing it. It seems Pete doesn't suffer the same groin danger as me. Probably cos he's more felxible that Dhalsim after a yoga sesh.

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!