Pete Robins has cleaned up another old project- this time down Pigeon's Cave. The 'S Crack' project is located on the right hand side of the crag and is essentially a 3 bolt boulder route. Think right hand side of Raven Tor but amazing. We don't know who bolted it originally but Kristian Clemmow had a few goes in the late 90s and i pulled a good hold off it about 8 years ago. The route involves a hard (font 7c+) move to gain the base of the prominent curving crack then some burly manoeuvres up the crack lead to a big slap the gain the lip and a few more tenuous but slightly easier moves to top out. We started our Pigeons campaign in mid May. Pete sorted out the moves and was quickly on redpoint. He was soon nailing the hard crux, a slap of a small slopey crimp and a trademark Robins magic heel. The following font 7b+ sequence to the top proved to be tricksome on the redpoint but he managed to get the lip only to be spat off bringing his left hand out the crack with incredibly tenuous footholds. He persevered but struggled with this move time and again. After a backwards session or two Pete made the breakthrough two days ago and managed to get both hands above the lip. To his dismay and disgust he fell off pretty much the last move just before the jugs arrived. It looked like today would be the day and after more frustration he finally topped out. The route is called Pump up the Jam and he's given it 8c as it took a fair bit of effort. It is pretty much as good as it gets for such a short route. The sequence is really good and the crack gives it a nice feature. I got it on camera and hopefully will be able to wrap up my little film soon!
Video still:
I was hoping to make it a super Sunday by finishing off my project but what i felt was going to be relatively straightforward is rapidly turning into an epic. On a good day i tickle the hold before the top but those days are becoming few and fair between for some reason. The starts often greasy and it does get wet so i don't really feel like i can relax too much.
We then headed off to a often wet but seriously impressive George Smith E5 by Crinkle Crags called Primeval. It was a bit damp in places and the tide was on its way out so not ideal for DWS. Pete's a bold twat however and didn't let that stop him. When in condition and at high tide it's one of the best Deep Water Solo's in the UK.
Vid:
Last night i asked myself a simple question. Which of these is the most fun:
a) Crusing up a big cliff with the sun on your back in a beautiful place. Stopping on a ledge every now and again taking your boots off bringing up your mate. Gaining a glorious summit high off the ground and finishing off with a couple of pints and a big fat dinner.
or
b) Spending multiple days on the same route, constantly tiring your skin and muscles whilst battling factors that are out of your control. Suffering stress, despondency and mental anguish all in the hope that one day the torment will come to an end and you'll be free to go and do the same thing again on a route 6 metres to the left/right.
Sounds like a no brainer on paper doesn't it. Then why oh why do so many of us put ourselves through the mental torture of trying routes that are so hard for us? Redpointing can be fun but i'm sure for the majority the fun days are vastly outweighed by the stressful, torturous days. And when it goes to 10 days+ you're on a one way street to a mental breakdown. I definitely struggled with the mental aspects of redpointing early on in my redpoint career. I remember being on the Catwalk at Malham in 2003, i was just about to have a redpoint of Raindogs and the self doubt in my mind was overwhelming. I was literally telling myself i was going to fall off. Ten years on i guess i'm a seasoned redpointer and have become quite resilient mentally. However it still only takes one bad day or even one go when you grease off and you can literally feel the doubt creeping in. It's so so hard to keep the perfect frame of mind. You need to be relaxed but also aggressive at the right times. You have to know within yourself that the end will come (this part is obviously easier the more you've done). Pete Robins (no stranger to the seige) says: "you've just got to keep going, through all the shit days where everything's wrong just keep trying. So when that good day comes you're ready to finish it". I'd love to know Mark Leach's state of mind after 45 days on Cry Freedom. He must have thought the end would never come. I guess the answer to my question is who wants an easy life? If we did we'd all be single and working in McDonalds. Most obsessives want to see what they're capable of and is there a better feeling than sticking a big number on your scorecard? Of course not. The epic ticks are ultimately more memorable, more rewarding. I can't remember much about The Cad or Lord of the Flies but i can still remember how i felt when i clipped the lower off on Melanchollie. It's a long hard slog with little rewards along the way but it's pure motivation and obsession. And that's what many of us need to get us going.
Neil Dyer after cliiping the lower off on his epic seige FA, Megalopa, LPT.
It seems like Winter has finally gone. It was a brutal affair spanning 6 months and while the ice freaks were having the time of their lives putting up amazing new routes keen rock jocks like myself were dreaming of cragging in a T shirt. Most years, sport season kicks off in March but this year the Marine Drive was temporarily shut as massive snow drift blocked the road. I had been climbing inside all winter with some forays outside and on the fingerboard. Weighted deadhangs were getting me strong but strangely enough my elbows didn't seem to like me hanging 30kg off them. I tried repeaters but they hurt my skin! So i spent the majority of the time pissing about on the board. A couple of weeks ago i had my first day on a rope for 6 months and got very pumped on everything. It was so nice to be out though, I've always preferred climbing continuously up a cliff to spending most of the day stood on a bouldering mat. I decided to try and tick Llanddulas to make myself do some mileage. I had 9 6's to do and Tony's route Tenacious T, 7b+ on the Tower. Tenacious T turned out to be a cracking route. It starts up Resist the Race then breaks left via some tenuous sidepull and backhand moves. Halfway up you get good footholds and can lean in and get a no hands rest. Then there is another tricky link to the top which felt hard on first acquaintance. I managed to get it first redpoint to tick the crag (72 routes). It is one of the better routes on the Tower along with Resist the Race and Vegas Nights. Most people still can't be arsed to walk any further than the Upper Cave though. I also went to Mayfair Wall in an attempt to do some mileage and ended up getting on Oyster which I'd dabbled on previously. I felt strong on the moves and started redpointing as it basically boils down to a few moves. It follows Bearded Clam (7a+) to a good shake then tackles a super burly crack. The key moment was a beta suggestion from Dave Evans which meant it was on. You know when you're working something and your belayer is shouting up beta suggestions despite never trying the route and it never works - well this time it did! It's crazy to think Jerry gave it E4 6b 30 years ago. Today it's 8a and rarely climbed. Moffatt was ahead of his time! I only need to Masterclass now to complete the Triple Crown. I've got a feeling it's going to be a battle. I had planned in winter to try and tick these two routes and make them a priority. You can't think of them as quick 8a ticks (unless you're really good!). They are old school and a lot tougher propositions for most than the modern style routes down LPT. I put another bolt in Masterclass today after the ledge belay. Last year i pulled the big flake jug off Masterclass with a metal bar. I also pulled off the big flake left of Contusion. I looked at the possibility of doing a new route there but couldn't really see it. It was a big gap between The Bloods and Oyster but i guess no one had bothered because of the flake. When lowering off Contusion the other day it looked like a worthy proposition. There were some cool crimpers in the white rock and there were a couple of holds on the left edge of the scar. The rock wasn't great on these holds but they were big enough for it to be ok. After doing Oyster i stuck 4 bolts in the new section. The route would start up The Bloods and rejoin it at it's last bolt at the top. I returned today with Pete Harrison to give it a go. The moves were really good and there were some mean little crimps and quite sequency feet. I was pro and made sure i had a good sequence dialled and managed to bust it out on redpoint. It was touch and go though and cold fingers didn't help. Difficulty wise i think it's at least as hard as Body Torque Direct which gets 7c but it really needs another opinion as it could be 7b+. The name is Blood Lust keeping with the Blood theme and also my mangled thumb from Oyster. Anyway it's one of the best walls on North Wales lime so any new route there is special. We have the greenlight to bolt the old extensions to Axle, The Bloods and Mayfair. This will turn already 3 star routes in 30 metre monsters. It just needs someone motivated to get stuck in, hopefully i'll get the time to do a bit.
Sometimes i question the merits of having an all consuming obsession like climbing in your life. For myself and many people i know it is apparent that once climbing became something far beyond what you would simply class as a 'hobby' then inevitably it would be to the detriment of other aspects of life. I'm 30, have little in the way of financial security;I don't own my own house, have no pension or significant savings. Of course getting the balance right is key to having a fulfilling life. To achieve your sporting dreams and aspirations whilst furthering your life by more standard parameters is a tricky ask for the majority. Dream climbing ticks for the average human won't sustain you in later life or provide you with a good standard of living. So obviously the key is balance and plenty of people manage to get the balance right. I think humans who have been 'lucky' enough to find something that they find truly exhilarating are in a way cursed. The mind will be dependent on a repeated buzz to truly feel alive. The mind drudging monotony of a normal boring routine will be a proverbial vampire for the soul. So many people i meet just want to 'get ahead'. Work, work, work, achieve financial security, retire, die. The latter option befalls so many and it is this i want to avoid. Anyway onto some climbing!
North Wales has many superb boulder problems spread amongst its diverse array of crags. There are significantly less that i would class as exceptional i.e. they would hold their own at some of the global top areas. Recently the exceptional list has been bolstered. Pete Robins has put up several pearlers in Ogwen including a recent new 8b extension to Danny Le Rue. There are IMO half a dozen or so problems that deserve this classification but one of the best i've seen is Nodder's new problem Roof of Baby Buddha 7c+ just outside Betws-y-Coed. There are a fair few famous problems that i've seen in Swizzy that aren't as good as this. The problem takes a big roof with a perfect start on big jug. Tensiony slaps up perfect edges lead to a satisfying top out. The rock is great, the line is as pure as they come and the climbing is equally fantastic. I hope i can get it done before it gets wet or it warms up and i get tempted by routes. The boulder is up a private road and it is pretty tempting to drive up and park near it. It has become apparent that if people do this access issues are inevitable and so park at the bottom people. It's only a ten minute walk anyway and just not worth jeapordising such a classic .
Over the last year or so Ryan Mcconnell, Luke Owens and friends have been developing a sweet little crag near the castle in Denbigh. Like the Dyserth crags this has been climbed on before on trad and top rope but the boys have been putting up some very nice bolted routes. The rock is interesting and featured and quite slopey in places. Last week Luke topped developments with a great looking new 7b:
The crag will feature in the forthcoming North Wales Lime guide but for a few more details check out Lukes blog.
As sport season (hopefully) approaches here's one from last year. Some phone camera footage of Pete Robins repeating Corinthian Groove (8b) on the Orme:
Below average temperatures are forecast until mid April so unless you catch Malham or Dinbren on a sunny day there's not much fun to be had on a rope for the wimps.
Alex Barrows has made quick work of Malc Smiths Pilgrimage in Parisellas. Pilgrimage (or The Big Link as it was always referred to) is a historic piece of Welsh climbing. In the early 90s long before the Cave was a popular and recognised bouldering destination an in-form Ben Moon got close to making the FA. The problem was written up in the first Northern Soul despite being a project and its legend grew in Cave circles. In 2004 legendary strong man Malcolm Smith invested considerable time and money (1000 pounds worth of fuel driving down from Scotland) and made the first ascent of the link at 8b+ or F9a. Over the years it has repelled would be repeaters such as Danny Cattell, Mark Katz, Gaz Parry and even Pete Robins who has done most of the links in there. Although all the moves are achievable for many the main undercut crux section is hideous after climbing the first half. Barrows has put the time into the Cave recently and has found kneebars on most of the links he has done. The rubber pads have resulted in the most minor of knee scums being utilised to bypass otherwise pretty burly moves. His sequence on Pilgrimage is quite something. He knees down on the arch to get into RA. At the start of RA he shakes out with a kneebar. The first serious move on Pilgrimage is getting your left hand into the penultimate pocket on Rocka. Here Barrows walks his feet round, gets a knee in and shuffles his left hand into the pocket. Then he rolls over to the Trigger Cut starting hold a la Malc and at the undercuts crux he walks his right knee into a knee bar and here he can get a almost no hands rest before the finish up Beaver Cleaver . Barrows reckons his sequence is worth 8c+. I think most people who have a affinity to the harder problems in the Cave will feel slightly saddened about these classic hard links being made easier. They've always been such meaty, inspiring challenges. It's not quite the same seeing them climbed with shakeouts at various points. Having said that they are still meaty bits of climbing and i for one still don't think the majority will take their kneepads to the Cave. The kneebars on Trigger Cut have been known about for years and still most try it without. Barrows kneebars in particular are so leg length specific and tricky that they will never be popular. All of this creates a nightmare for guidebook editors (poor Mr P). Anyway Spring has nearly sprung, its almost time to get the rope out!
I haven't blogged much of late - i haven't been climbing outside much and there has been nothing newsworthy to report. I'm pretty pleased with myself however as i've finally managed to get in the training groove. I always doubted whether i could curtail my rock obsession in the short term to get some bigger gains in the long term. The weather was terrible in December so there wasn't much of a decision to be made. My form hit a big low - a combination of not doing much and hitting the dreaded 12 stone mark- over half a stone up on Summer. Some people panic when they get over there fighting weight and immediately act to do something about it. At this time of year i couldn't care less and the sensible strategy for me seemed to be train heavy then slim down in route season. I wasn't climbing on rock much anyway so didn't need to be on top form and if i could get strong at this weight the eventual weight loss would surely have a greater impact. After a few demoralising board sessions my form started to improve. Ben Pritch had been raving about a weighted deadhang regime he had done in summer so i thought i might aswell give it a go. It only takes 30 minutes twice a week and is fairly painless. I did get stronger after a few weeks and was back up to doing some of the usual's on the board despite my obscene waistline. I'm working away now but Kendal Wall is only 45 minutes away. The training room has a 30 degree board full of wood and resin nubbins for feet. At first i was a bit dismissive of it but after climbing on it i reckon it's perfect training for British lime. So my immediate future looks to be an indoor one while i sit the winter out and hopefully get some spondoolees in. As long as injuries keep away i should be in form come the Spring. I have been outside a few times ticking a 7b+ and 7c link on the Box that i'd never done. Today we glued the Rockatrocity foothold back on so if the resin does it's job it should be there for many moons to come.
So i doubt they'll be much acitivity on the blog until warmer times when we can go all down to this amazing place:
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