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!

The Power and the Glory

Well my latest flick is finished. The Power and the Glory is a shortish film (45 min) featuring footage froom 4 trips to Switzerland over the last few years. I'd say its an ok film, nothing special and fairly incohesive. The main attraction must be the number of hard problems on display. The highlight definetely being Micky's ascent of The Dagger at Cresciano. Anyway if anyone would like a copy please email me: crimpmaster28@hotmail.com (send me your address). I may ask for a few pennies to cover my expenses (DVD's, postage etc). I'll see how many people want a copy. Also available are my older films:

West Coast Gimps
Stonedlove
Best of the Westies (hueco)
Obsession

Making climbing films is a great hobby of mine, i love it (particulary the editing side). One day i'd like to combine the rawness of my stuff with a more professional approach but i'll probably never get round to it so your stuck with the homemade feel for now.

Dennis Rodman canes it into a cliff!

In Swizzy Ty showed this youtube clip. I just remembered about it, so funny:

Be Like Jerry

A couple of years ago i went to one of Grimer's Ape Index lectures when living in Sheffield. Presenting that night was the one and only Jerry Moffatt, he delivered a humorous and deeply inspiring talk. Danny C described it as one of the best nights of his life. It certainly was an inspirational talk and ranked far above other top climbers talks i have seen (John Redhead's Shaft of the Dead Man comes in a close second for comedic reasons). Jerry oozed charisma, he was the man. Flashing America's hardest routes, doing the influential routes of there time in Britain. Mastering all the arts - bouldering, sport and trad. I once met Jerry in Bed nightclub in Sheff, i could barely contain my excitement and shouted to him "your Jerry Moffatt", he looked at me and a big grin came across his face: "Yeah, i am he replied". I spent the rest of the night outside the mens bogs waiting to get another glimpse of him. Jerry's autobiography has just come out. I'm only four chapters in but its a great read. I've just got to the bit where he was sitting on the plane coming back from his historic trip to America when it dawned on him that he was probably the bst climber in the world.
Anyway whilst in Switzerland i had lots of time to ponder things. I knew one of my climbing ambitions was to tick 8c. To me it is the magic grade (not 8b+, soz Steve). Well obviously Britain is not the place for the most do-able 8c's. They're generally short and very BLOC, brick hard in other words. The pumpy ones like True North are often wet so not ideal. Realistically for me to tick 8c it has to be in Britain because its gonna take so bastard long and that is where i live! I can't be arsed moving to France or Spain. In fact it has to be in Wales, thats where i live and this is going to be a prolonged seige. LPT has three 8c's (all hard for the grade uunfortunately!), Infanticide (which i've tried) didn't really inspire me despite being a good route. Its too technical, too many small fidgety moves. No No. I haven't been on Sea of Tranquility but i've belayed Mcclure and Simpson on it and it looks far too bouldery for me. Liquid Ambar is 7b+/c into a extended boulder problem, power endurance and probably the best hard route on LPT- amazing rock and moves. In the 80's DVD it looks mega, Jerry climbs it so well. I turned straight to the LA pages in Revelations. Jerry worked up to it over three years and classes it as the best he felt about a new sport route in Britain. So i think this is the one, i will feel the holds and check the moves when it warms up. I'm under no illusions that i'm at the level to do this route yet but i believe that my climbing style wil be beneficial (I.e. start off shit seige for ages and despatch). What i lack in natural strength and ability i believe i make up in mental factors. Jonny G belives that mental factors are very significant in getting things done outside. How many beasts are out there who just can't be arsed to spend more than a few days on something! They will never climb at there limit. The ability to handle a seige is in my opinion very important when it comes to climbing at ones limit. Patience is a neccesity, of course everyone gets sacked at times but the key is to keep going. So in the next few weeks i am going to get the ball rolling by moving 30 minutes down the A55 to Llandudno, i need to be a local to achieve my Orme aspirations. Liquid Ambar is high up the ticklist and i'm prepared to try it on and off for as long as it takes. Ben Moon climbed font 8b+ at 40 so as long as i can keep motivation up i could be in! Liquid Ambar for me is deeply inspiring, i used to have a pic of Moony on it on my wall when it got E9 7a. This is my goal.

Perky PInky

Some years ago i made a short film called Perky Pinky, here it is (thanks to Neil M for uploading it!)