An Extended Winter ......

An Extended Winter

 



Team Crush and friends

As I’m sure people will have noticed this winter seems to have a certain resilience to it and seems reluctant to give way to spring. Undeterred, in February Team Crush and friends headed out to El Chorro in the hope of having a week away from the depressing British weather.  Enticed by the impressive sport climbing and the infamous gorge walkway that El chorro has to offer we hopped on the plane and poured over guide books, giddy about the climbing to come.  After a bit of a false start struggling to find the villa  (we ended up in the middle of an orange plantation and nearly ran over somebody’s dog!) we reached our home for the next week and despite the freezing temperature made the most of the pool as the light of our first evening faded.


Brruurrrr...

Morning came and after having to share a bed which had some sort of love netting on it I was all too keen to get up and find some rock. We headed to the Frontales cave, Poema de Roca.  It looked fantastic.  Massive hanging stalactites lead up the side of the cave into a massive roof which stretched out to the horizon where some eagles circled in the distance. 
We all ran up some pleasant easier lines to warm up giving me a chance to use my new rope - unfortunately I made the school boy error of not uncoiling it and so ended up with the mother of all knots to untie before I could actually climb.  Eventually it was sorted and we could finally get to the hard climbing.  The first thing we looked to was a short but strenuous 7b which took a funky line and finished right in the centre of the roof.  I watched a couple of people try it and then pulled on. The first clip was about 40ft up and even though the climbing was very easy it was still a massive relief to reach it.  I entered the main section of climbing and with it being my first difficult sport climb for months, I felt extremely intimidated as I hauled through over gripping everything and only just did it. As I reached the chain I was ecstatic, it was far from the hardest thing I had climbed but probably the biggest adrenaline rush I’d ever had.
The next thing I tried was a very pumpy and tiring 7b+ up the centre of the cave.  I did it and was happy to match my hardest flash so early in the trip.  

One of the climbs I wanted to try was the 7c “The Eye of The Storm”.  The climb, as was its reputation, was extremely 3 dimensional and disorientating.  Most of the holds were jugs but you were swinging around all over the place and getting heel and toe hooks everywhere to support your body as it took a line straight through the horizontal roof.  Spurred on by Alex’s impressive on-sight of the route, I reached the last move but unable to see the finishing hold I ran out of steam and fell.  Frustrated that I had come so close to finishing it but happy at my performance, I was psyched to get back on.  I finished the day by climbing the classic of the crag which it gets its name from, the awesome 7a “Poema De Roca” which follows a line of tufas and stalactites to finish on some draining sloper moves.

The next day we headed to Desplomilandia, a spread out area but with fantastic climbing nonetheless.  Several of us had our eye on a classic 8a at an area called El Triangulo.  We warmed up on a nice 6c and some tried an awful looking 7a which I don’t think anyone actually did.  

Next Jonny and I got on the hardest 7a+ in existence – it had a massive pull through on a mono at the start - WTF!  We moved on to the lesser of the two 8a’s on the crag and Alex pulled on, he put in a fantastic effort releasing a few power screams and then fell on a awkward move right at the top. To his dismay he found this to be the last difficult move of the route and was furious at coming so close to on-sighting 8a.  Johnny and I both tried it but were not psyched for the route so we let Alex try again and this time he did it!  

Our attention was then drawn to a 7b that Gracie and Tash were trying.  The climbing was not too hard until the very last move which was a massive jump from a rubbish peanut shaped hold up to a jug.  I did it and found it to be a very enjoyable route if quite frustrating as the last move was very droppable. 

Finally we moved onto the classic 8a, I had seen Amanda trying some of the moves on and it looked amazing.  Pockets and tufas on a constant over hang, brilliant!  I gave it a go, working the moves and it was even better than it had looked from the ground. 

The day was coming to a close and I had time for one redpoint attempt. Alex put in another impressive climb and had flashed it, this had got me Psyched.  I climbed smoothly and felt good, I was getting pumped but I managed to pull through what was for me the crux, you got a good 2 finger pocket, reached up into a sloper and then had to slap up a tufa with your left hand.  I moved my feet up and fell across into another pocket. Suddenly I realised that I was going to do it, the climbing above was easier and I was confident on it.  I placed my feet on some poor foot holds and reached up to clip…...  ping.  I fell most of the height of the crag because of all the slack out for clipping but I didn’t even notice.  I was absolutely fuming at myself for having such a stupid thing deny me the route.  I vowed that we must return so that the route could be done.

And then the rain came... We had a solid 24 hours of rain; I didn’t even know that was possible in the south of Spain! We kept the psyche up with climbing films and batman and planned the next day’s climbing.

We were now over half way through the trip and so we wanted to head to another classic crag called Makinodromo. As with most of the rock in Spain it looked incredible but the difference was that this crag had one of the best 8a’s in the whole of Europe on it “Lourdes”.  The only downside of this crag was reaching it. There were three options:

through the gorge,

over the gorge, or

through the train tunnels. 

Through the tunnels was definitely the fastest but risked a 2000 euro fine and no one was to keen to pay that. The gorge and the walk over it were meant to take about the same time but some friends had told us that due to the rain the river was too high and you could not get across it once through the gorge.  Over the top it was then. At this point most the adults split off and decided to walk the gorge anyway as all the climbing at Makinodromo was hard and they would have had nothing to do.  I’m sure most people have had an experience when walking of trying to get somewhere but it never seeming to get any closer. This was one of those times; the hill seemed endless and most of the climbing was on scree slopes so you went one step forward and slipped back 2. After about an hour of gruelling walking and getting lost as the path seemed to disappear, we reached the top.  Our happiness at conquering what we all agreed must have been a mountain was very short lived as by reaching the top it revealed that we were in fact only half way to the crag.  Fortunately the walk back down was far more pleasant and as a result much faster.  As the rock came into view we were all psyched but the pitter patter of water droplets on the ground told me not to get my hopes up.  We reached Makinodromo only to find that it was like a shower, every tufa on the entire rock was seeping making it completely unclimbable. Sad that no climbing could be done we chilled out on the boulders below reluctant to have to walk back over the hill.

Eventually we got the best news of the day from the other party that the river through the gorge was in fact passable and that we could go back through the gorge rather than the way we came. We scampered down the hill side to meet up with them and eventually saw them across the chasm and then we saw what must be crossed to reach them.  An ancient rusty bridge barely 4 feet wide with no hand rails, cautiously we crept across it one by one unable to avoid looking at the 350ft drop below to the raging torrent that had crafted the gorge over millions of years. 

The gorge walkway was built about a hundred years ago for the king of Spain simply because he wanted to see the gorge. (That’s when you know you have too much power right?)  Anyway, it has not been kept in good condition and so all the metal work has rusted and the concrete has huge holes in it everywhere you look.  As a result it is technically off limits to the general public because of how many lives it has claimed.  

Undeterred we headed back across it using the wire to attach at any points where the path was particularly dodgy.  On one bit, the adults had found the wire had snapped down to just a few strands over a bit where the walkway had gone completely and you had to traverse the rock.  Bravely my dad had set a rope up across it to make it safe for everyone.  We all got across safely and carried on. A couple of weeks later we actually discovered that this piece of wire had snapped and a man had gone plummeting the full 350ft into the water below.

Astonishingly they had survived with just a broken arm; I guess it just wasn’t their time. The rest of the walk went smoothly and the views were beyond anything I have ever seen before. At the end of the walk there was a small flat wall and as we had done no climbing that day we were desperate to do something, so we all did a great 7a+ and whilst waiting for Alex and Jonny to try a vert dirt 8a we campussed along the train bridge.

Day 5, more rain had come in the night and so we decided to play it safe and return to the Poema de Roca cave as it was dry in the rain and did not seep.  Alex and I took a detour and did a classic multi pitch called Amptrax.  It was just 6a so it was not difficult but the climbing was amazing and the views even better.  Once we had abseiled back down we rejoined the others at the cave.  I returned once again to “The Eye of the Storm” and this time knowing the Beta I did it, as did Tara getting her hardest outdoor grade, good effort! To finish off the day I did a 7b and a 7a which were both very enjoyable, annoyingly I fell off right at the top of the 7a due to a damp hold, more cautious the second time, I did it comfortably.

The final day had come and there was only one place that I was going - back to Desplomilandia to finish the 8a at El Triangulo.  Jonny, Amanda and I started up towards it whilst everyone else headed to a different area.  Yet more rain had come in the night and we were worried that the route would not be climbable.  Our fears were confirmed as we saw Pete Dawson and the rest of the South West Team heading down from the crag; they informed us that it was soaked and would not be climbed today.  Gutted, we turned around and went to join the others. Their area was also wet making most of the classic routes there unclimbable.  There was a severe lack of motivation in the group who were depressed by the weather stopping them trying what they wanted.  We huddled under the overhang out of the rain, ate food and looked sad. Some people tried a 7b that was mostly dry but when Sarah fell off and hit the ground with only Flo to break her fall, most were even hesitant to get on that.  As bad as it sounds it was quite fortunate that Flo took most of the impact from Sarah as neither of them had any serious damage and that may not have been the case had she not been there.

Finally, we realised that we needed to get in gear as sitting around was achieving nothing.  Some of us headed up the hill to find some more rock whilst the others stayed and tried to get the 7b done.  We found some great 6c’s to try and they raised our spirits massively. 

Feeling optimistic again I wandered back to the 8a to see for myself what condition it was in.  I found it in fact to be mostly dry and thought that it would be climbable after all.  Jonny and I grabbed the gear and went to give it a go quickly as the day was coming to an end.  I dogged up it to put in the clips in and did my best to dry the damp holds.  Jonny got on and passed his previous high point but on reaching the holds I had tried to clean found them still too damp to clip from, unable to continue he fell. Then it was my turn.  I climbed well until about a third of the way up, my foot popped, I managed to hold on but it had shaken me up.  I continued but I climbed badly, I was over gripping and I got very pumped, I reached the crux and in my panic forgot where to place my feet, I put them in completely the wrong place and fell.  I wasn’t angry this time, just sad that we were out of time and the trip was over, neither of us had time for another go and so we left the crag feeling the same as when we had got there, depressed. The others in the end had in fact all managed the 7b which was a very good effort given the conditions.

All in all it had been a good trip, the weather had somewhat dampened our spirits but everyone had got some good ticks and it had been a great time with a bunch of friends. 

A huge THANK YOU goes to Mark Pashley for organising and booking the trip – much appreciated J

The CWIF

The following weekend was the Climbing Works International Festival or the CWIF.  It is a great competition which uses a world bouldering cup format for the semis and finals but it’s open for everyone.  It attracts over 350 entries and so despite The Works being a massive bouldering wall it was still very crowded.  For qualification there are 30 problems ranging from very easy, f3+ ish to very hard f7c ish.  It’s great to have a competition where you can climb against some of the best climbers in the world and I think this is part of the attraction - along with maybe the hefty cash prize.

The competition is very hard so I didn’t expect to come anywhere; nevertheless I was happy with my climbing and thoroughly enjoyed it.  In the end I got 156 points which was enough to come somewhere between nowhere near qualifying and really nowhere near qualifying? However the girls put in some great performances and soTara, Gracie and Sarah all reached the semis with Tash missing out by just one point.  The semis and the finals were awesome to watch.  I look forward to the competition again next year.

Easter Holidays, so far

As the Easter holidays arrived and I planned to try and do a lot of outdoor climbing.  Sadly the ridiculous weather has turned the start of spring into a continuation of winter and so the Peak District is currently under 1–10ft of snow making any sort of climbing difficult. Despite this I have manage to get out to the Plantation once for a bit f bouldering.  I quickly did “Captain Hook” a cool 7b which follows round the lip of a low roof before a difficult mantel over the roof’s nose.  After that I gave “Deliverance” a go but being a slightly height dependant climb it could be a while before that goes.  After that I went and worked “Jerry’s Traverse”.  It is a super classic boulder and as the guidebook states “a rite of passage for climbers”.  Psyched I gave it a go and after a lot of sour skin and frustration, I had manage to do it in 2 sections.  I hope to do that next trip when I’m a bit fresher.  Just as I was thinking of leaving the sun decided to put in an appearance as did Tara!  So I stuck around for a while and gave a disgusting slab ago with her for a while before may skin decided it was time to go home.

That’s about it for the year so far, I know it’s been a lengthy one so good effort if you have made it to the end.  I have a few projects planned for this year so hopefully the training will pay off and I will have something else to write a blog about.  Until then……..

Christmas Crack 2012

Christmas Crack 2012

 

Every year, several brave, determined or possibly slightly deluded climbers make the trek up to Stanage on Christmas day, to carry out the task of climbing the famous Christmas Crack. With the clue in the name as to why this climb is chosen to have multiple ascents every Christmas, it is always a social gathering to which many veterans, and a few younger climbers – predominantly just me – attend. This year, similarly to the last two years which I have done this, the conditions were not exactly ideal, as you would expect. Despite this everyone who attends is determined to battle their way to the top, through rain, wind and worst of all, icy cold rock. It is one of those things which seem exceptionally stupid leading up to it, and throughout it. You do not get any sense of accomplishment at all until safely back in a warm car on the way home, when for some reason you think “That was fantastic we’ll definitely come back to do it again next year”. It’s a climber’s thing...

 

The climb itself is probably one of the more miserable things you could think of to do at Christmas. The walk in is muddy and marshy, pulling your shoes away from your feet. The bitter wind bites at any exposed skin for the duration that you are outside. When you finally reach the base of the climb, the atmosphere changes entirely. You are welcomed by multiple merry and often festively dressed people who are usually supporting a hip flask of varying spirits to take the edge away from the weather. Up until this point my dad was planning to take the lead, but after one glance at the sopping wet rock he gallantly offered for me to lead it instead.

After queuing up for a short period, I set off up the climb. It is not very physically demanding at just HS 4C but that is not the challenge. After only a few moves all heat drains from your hands and very suddenly the only tool you have to hang on with is stiff frozen ice cubes attached to your wrists. Placing gear becomes nay on impossible every move no matter how basic, it’s difficult. You pull over the top eventually expecting relief, only to be greeted with unrelenting wind pounding over the edge straight at you. Desperately trying to block out the wind you must set up a belay and then sit on the cold rock for the time it takes for the rest of your party to reach the top. It is not too bad to begin with but as the heat and adrenaline leaves your body you can again feel the brutal cold that surrounds you. After much longer than seems necessary everyone reached the summit. And you can allow yourself some sort of celebration that you have again managed to complete the climb. But you still have to get back down.

The descent is not as bad with the prospect of warmth and Christmas dinner to come -it is much easier to withstand the onslaught of what nature throws at you. And then, eventually back at the bottom you can finally look back up, mentally pat yourself on the back and say to yourself “I just did that”. And for me, that is why I do it.

Many thanks to Mary Sealey for supplying the photographs - see you next year Mary.

 

 

 

 

Kilnsey 2012

Kilnsey 17th-22nd August 2012

This year’s stay in the village of Kilnsey came with a firm goal for me, to top out an 8a. I had tried to do this the previous year but a lack of strength - that I would like to think I have improved on now - and the fact that I injured myself mid-way through the trip, stopped me from doing so. I had intended to return to "The Thumb" an 8a on the north buttress as this was the climb that I hurt my back on, a really stupid injury because it was my fault for bailing and making the swing into the wall really hard, I wanted to get back on it to prevent myself from becoming scared to climb on it because of my history with it. But a recommendation from Tom Bonnert and an intriguing looking line drew me to another 8a climb next to “The Thumb”, “Dead Calm”.

Before that, on the first day I had another score to settle with a 7b+ called “50 for 5”. I had only had one redpoint attempt at this last year and I needed to get it finished, I pulled on for my first attempt, also having to put the clips in. I remembered a lot of the sequences from the year before and quite quickly I was moving into the harder top section, after having to quickly rethink a bit of beta on one move because I committed to what I thought was a bomber hold and was in fact an overly chalked bit of smooth rock.  I quickly swapped hands and reached up to a positive pocket, a quick sigh of relief before a quick traverse so I could stick a heel hook in for a small rest for the last crux section. I pulled up into the two pinches and looked up towards the finishing hold, I could see a tick mark and lunged towards it, I hit the jug completely wrong and I fell.  Frustrated that I had fallen off when I had felt so good I pulled back on and this time I topped it out. 

A quick rest between climbs whilst watching Tom on "The Bulge"



Next I intended to go on a 7c called “Dominatrix”, one of the classic routes on the crag, but it was seeping from a lower section so instead I headed over to another classic, the 7c+ “The Ashes”.  I first belayed Sarah on it but she couldn’t do the top section so I would have to put in the remaining quick draws. I raced up the first section with relative ease and then came into a harder section around halfway up which I fought through and then dropped a move going into the biggest hold on the route which would have been a full recovery. I pulled back on and did that move, but now I had to put the draws in on the crux of the climb.  About ten minutes later after falling off multiple times, I decided I would have to skip the clip that I had repetitively failed to clip.  I pulled on through the moves and lunged out right to this quite poor side pull, then I got a crimp for my right and slapped up into the better part of the side pull then it was a big move for me into this slopey hold by the next clip, I threw up for it and missed the good part and took a huge fall.  A bit shaken I tried once more but I couldn’t do it. I clip-sticked up to the top and began to thread the rope.  Unfortunately this in itself was a big challenge because after the amount of falls I had taken the figure of eight was almost impossible to undo. It took me almost twenty minutes to undo the knot by which time I was not very popular with everyone else, because it was the end of the day and they all wanted to go back to the house to get some food.

That evening we headed over to a river that we were told was good to swim in, and I suppose they were right if you wanted a swimming treadmill.  The current was so strong it was almost impossible to swim up stream and you just didn’t move.  On top of that it was freezing cold.  But we decided that it would be perfect to set a slackline over and after scouting around a bit and almost getting swept through some rapids, we all agreed we should return to set up a slack line.

Orrin on WYSIWYG with me, Tom and Aiden
preparing for our attempts on Dead Calm



Day 2 was devoted entirely to working “Dead Calm”. Tom wanted to finish it as he had tried it the week before and also Ian Dunn turned up with Aiden to try it as well.  We all went through the beta a bit then Tom pulled on and had a heart breaker, dropping the last move.  Next it was my turn and I wasn’t expecting too much as it was my flash attempt.  With Ian below being a fantastic beta man I successfully got through the first crux of the climb on a 7b WYSIWYG.  After this there is a good rest in a groove and then some not too hard climbing up to two jugs just below the looming crux section right at the top.  After resting I pulled into the last section slightly blind which is not a good idea. I reached out right into this sharp gassed on crimp and then I reached into a strange hold which has three different bits to it.  This is what got me pumped trying to work out the best part of this undercut hold.  Finally I made a decision but by this time I was too pumped to grip the next hold and unsurprisingly I dropped it. Despite this I was happy with my performance and I had just flashed the 7b at the start.  Soon after this Tom managed to top out which got me really psyched. I pulled on again and soon I found myself in the same place as before. This time though I knew what I was doing. I hit the side pull just right, then out right to this cigar like hold, then again to this crimp with a good thumb latch and I stood up into the next undercut.  I realised now that I was actually getting very pumped and slapped desperately up over the lip into a little crimp, to my surprise I held it, but not for long as I barely even had enough left to take my other hand off. I fell but I was not angry because this had given me the knowledge that I needed to improve how I rested.  For my next attempt we decided that, like Tom, I needed to rest much longer in the groove lower down and have just a short shake at the jugs below the crux because it wasn’t giving me very much.  My next go I hit the crimp like before but I felt much better and I was able to do the next move out to this sloper way out to the left.  From this you have to do a long blind move to a crimp side pull, then get your feet really high for a big rock over and an optional knee bar. From that you have to cross into a huge undercutting flake and grab it as you fall away from the wall. Sadly I missed the side pull and fell again.  After this I decided I would leave it and come back fresh the next day.

I did just that, and I found myself again at the big move right to the crimp side pull, but for some reason unknown to me I decided to completely confuse the beta and I tried to put my feet high for the rock over on the move below, as I hung there bewildered by why it suddenly seemed so hard I fell off because I was so pumped and still confused, tried to do the same thing again, and couldn’t do it. Eventually I realised what I was doing and I was furious with myself for making such a stupid error when I had felt so solid.  Thankfully, my next go everything went right and I found myself grabbing the finishing flake. It was a good feeling to top it out especially when it had all come together all the moves had flowed so easily and I was barely pumped when I reached the top.  With the relief that I had completed my goal for the trip I could relax and do a bit easier climbing and try and get a bit of mileage in to get a feel for the crag. Over the next few days I did some 7b's called “Smooth Torquer”, “Sticky Wicket”, “Nerve Ending” and “Ground effect”.  I also tried to do “Comedy” but there are three moves on it which are huge for me and although I could do them all it was so "hit and miss" that I gave up. I wanted to get on “Dominatrix” but it remained wet the whole time. 



Tom - the hero of the trip!



On the Monday we returned to the river armed with a slackline and a lot of determination.  To our horror the rain we’d had swollen the river to make it deeper and even faster flowing!  Despite it being probably slightly stupid, we went ahead anyway and quickly we were across the river to attach the slackline but the real challenge was returning the other way whilst trying to keep it relatively dry.  We headed off and me and Orrin seemed to be doing alright, until we hit the strong flow in the middle and it took us instantly. It was the moment when our concerns went from keeping the slackline dry to just desperately hanging on.  As we hung on for our lives, everyone on the bank got increasingly concerned for us as they rolled around in fits of laughter.  Eventually Gracie stopped laughing long enough to try to help us but all it did was mean that there were now three people desperately hanging on to the slackline.  Finally we pulled ourselves into calmer water to re- assess the situation.  We decided to go up river a bit and then use the current to bring ourselves along rather than try to fight against it. So this time Tom set off and we thought it was going to work before the slackline went tight and sadly it was too short.  By this point we were all shivering terribly and all we wanted to do was get back to the bank, we left the slackline.  We shivered for about ten minutes before we knew someone would have to go back in to retrieve the slackline. Tom stepped up to the mark and got it back.  He was the hero of the trip.



Gracie on Pantomime 7b+



On the last day, me and Orrin attempted “Metal Guru”, but although Orrin onsighted the crux lower section he didn’t have enough left to top it and I was shut down by the powerful moves so there was no glory there.  Apart from this Tom had a disaster on his second project, “The Bulge” after working it so that he was redpointing to the last move almost every time.  Unfortunately on the last day the rain caught up with and the seepage prevented him from climbing it, to add insult to injury when he dogged up it to retrieve the clips he actually found new beta for the move that made it quite easy for him. "Next Time", he said sadly.  The final project of the trip was Gracie on “Pantomime”.  She had worked it all week and on the last day it all seemed to be coming together.  She got passed her high point and then dropped the last move.  Frustrated she got on again and did the move but then fell off on the very last bit of climbing on a move that we had taken for granted was quite steady, clearly wrong because Gracie had a lot of trouble with it. Despite some people having disappointment on their projects on the last day, on the whole it was a really good trip for me and everyone.



My ticks:

Smooth Torquer – 7b
Sticky Wicket – 7b
Nerve Ending – 7b
Ground Effect – 7b
WYSIWYG – 7b
50 for 5 – 7b+

Dead Calm – 8a

 



A big thanks to Naomi for organising me and the trip and feeding us and a thank you to Naomi and Flo's grandparents for letting us stay in the "Bothy".





The Linz EYC

The Linz EYC - 28th June-1st July 2012

This was the first European outside of the UK that I had been to which resulted in a lot of anticipation of what the trip would be like.  I was very excited to compete and climb to the best of my ability after my disappointment at my result in the Edinburgh EYC when I came 19^th having slipped on the second route - I could have got much further.  As well as this, I was just as psyched to get away from the miserable British weather as the weather reports of 30 degrees in Austria sounded very appealing.  The plane flight there and drive to the hotel went smoothly and when we finally got there the sun was glorious! 

The first thing we did was get settled into our rooms which were awesome because the lighting in the bathroom was green!  Then came the challenge of attempting to translate the menu.  After 5 minutes or so we mainly all had some sort of beef steak thing from the barbeque which we had fun chewing - it was tasty nonetheless.  We had a bit of a look around the pool before deciding that the sauna was a better option for the evening.  The sauna seemed like a great idea right up until the moment when Jim, Johnny, Molly, Charlotte and me were sat in it regretting the decision but unwilling to be the first one to get out. A lot of sweat later we bailed out.  Eventually we retired to our beds.  The next day was occupied largely by the swimming pool, a trip to the shops and going to find the climbing centre.  

Finally the first day of the competition came and soon we were sat at the wall reading through our routes and getting psyched to crush the climbs.  My first route looked very pumpy but other than that none of the moves looked too hard.  My second climb on the other hand was a flat wall but covered in terrible holds and 2 polished wooden volumes which looked horrific. Despite my negative description of the second climb I knew it would be the one that suited me better because I wouldn’t get very pumped and it was just a matter of good foot placement and focus.  I was mid-field on the first climb so I had plenty of time to warm up and get to grips with the route and where people were falling.  Angus and William both fell off around 2 thirds of the way up with Angus getting a couple of moves further, this gave me the idea of where the first crux was and where the benchmark would be.  My attempt came and I pulled on feeling good.  I went through the first section relatively easily, although looking back I had my feet off a bit too much in one section which was not very efficient. I reached a bit of a rest just below the first crux feeling fresh until I pulled round the corner and instantly I felt the lactic acid creeping into my arms, it continued for a few moves before the pump beat me and I fell in the middle of William’s and Angus’s positions.  I wasn’t too disappointed with where I had got until when I was lowered to the ground and I was informed that my foot had smeared on an out of bounds bit of wall and I had been marked down to almost last place. I was not happy! 

Knowing that I really needed to redeem myself on the second route I pulled on quite blind as I was early on and hadn’t seen much of the route.  I climbed confidently not feeling sketchy at all and I felt good all the way with the wooden volumes not being as bad as they had appeared.  Suddenly I looked up to realise I was on the last move.  Careful not to lose my focus I went for the last hold and caught it. I just had time to begin to feel the elation of topping out before my right foot slipped and I was airborne.  My anger at slipping was reduced when it turned out that I had in fact timed out 2 moves below anyway and topping out would have made no difference to my finish. By the end of the competition qualifiers I felt that I had climbed well and that my finishing position of 28^th didn’t represent that at all. I couldn’t help but be disappointed at this despite how happy I was with how I climbed.  Fortunately this was forgotten in a water fight with the other competitors and a good bit of sunbathing in the 30 degree heat.  By the end of the competition Johnny Stocking had qualified for the final and a number of others had been very close. That evening we went in the pool with some of the other teams, mainly the French and then had a much more pleasant meal of wienerschnistzel.



Johnny Stocking on the Junior Male Final Climb



The next day was another early start to get to the wall. It was an impressive final with Johnny climbing well to a very respectable 8^th place.  From there we had lunch at the hotel before heading off to the airport. The trip there was interesting in both cars as we went different directions, one of them being caught in a hail storm which was breaking car windows! The other getting lost for 15 minutes and lapping a roundabout about 4 times. We reached the airport to discover that the flight had been delayed for 40 minutes and as we were early anyway we had a lot of waiting to do. Que Buster and Jim, unofficial team jokers. Eventually we got onto the plane and by the time I was home it was 12.30am.

Overall a good trip.  I climbed well despite not finishing in a good position but just as importantly we all got a break from the terrible weather and managed to get a tan!

 

Link to full results here:

 http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php?page_name=resultservice&comp=1424

The Old Man of Hoy

Trip to the Old Man of Hoy

First glimpse of the Old Man of Hoy

Our trip to the Old Man of Hoy was one that was long anticipated by the 3 of us (me, my dad and Dan Bradley). The idea of trying to climb this famous sea stack had come about around 2 years before the actual event.  The first date we set was unfortunately cancelled due to Dan inconsiderately dislocating his ankle and braking his Talus bone - how selfish! After that the trip was put to one side as we knew it would not be possible for a long time. Fortunately a year later an opportunity arose where we were all able to make the long journey up to the remote Orkney Islands to attempt our goal. The weather did not look fantastic but it was our only chance to try and we had to give it a go.

Finally the time came and on Thursday 21st June we set off on the 9 hour car journey up to Scrabster. The trip did not seem to be as long as it actually was with a good book and an entertaining "mooing" sound on the sat nav, the time passed relatively quickly. Once we had reached the top of the scottish mainland, it was an hour and a half ferry to Stromness which would be our stopping point for the night. Unsurprisingly the weather was pretty poor with a strong cold wind, miserable clouds and a hint of rain, as we passed the ominous site of the great sea stack on the ferry.  It was not the most inviting prospect that the next day we would be trying to climb the thing. Finally we reached the fishing town of Stromness and we had a welcome stay in a very pleasant hotel.

 

As we woke the next morning, the sun poked through the clouds and gave us hope that the weather would subdue long enough for us to complete our climb. But after a hearty breakfast it was not such a bright prospect. As we boarded the ferry to the Isle of Hoy, the clouds and wind once again set upon us and it was seeming more and more unlikely that we would be able to climb. We reached the island and we had a short taxi drive to the start of the walk across the island to the sea stack. Unsurprisingly we didn't see a single other car on the journey, as Hoy has a booming population of approximately 272 people. The taxi dropped us off and we changed in to some more weather resilient clothing before setting off on what was supposedly a 15 minute walk.

An hour later we arrived at the top of the cliff by the Old Man after walking through pounding winds and such low fog that our view was depleted to just about 50 metres. The rain picked up and teamed with the vapour in the fog, by the time we reached the end of the walk, we were soaked to the skin. As we stood on the cliff looking out at the ominous sight of the great sea stack, we couldn't help but be intimidated by the fog that gripped the top couple of pitches of the climb. It was then that we had to make the decision that we would be unable to climb it that
day because we new that if we sat on a belay towards the top of the climb, no matter what clothing we were wearing, the gale force oceon wind and the water vapour from the fog lingering in the air, hyperthermia would be a very real possibility and none of us were to keen to risk it. Nevertheless we made the short trek down to the base of the old man. The huge sea stack towered above us still bathed in fog with Fulmars - a kind of seagull that vomits on you if you get too close - circling around. I climbed a grand total of 2  metres up, not a particularly impressive ascent but evidence that I have climbed on the rock nonetheless. Sadly, we returned to the top of the cliff and enjoyed some fruit pastilles, the only food we brought with us - some great planning there! From there we made the 4 mile walk back to the populated part of Hoy, we were slower than the walk in with no excitement of a climb to come to drive us on, just the fact that for now we had been defeated.

From the end of the walk we again got the taxi and went to a place called "The Hoy Hotel". This had been a bit of a gamble to stay on Hoy so that we could try again to climb the next day. However the hotel was... i'll say.... 'interesting' to say the least. We were waited on by, and I quote, "Probably the best chef in the whole of Orkney"! After having some fanastic food the day before, we had a huge menu to choose from - scampi and chips or fish and chips - as the chef would have to go to the local shop to make anything else. Despite this, we ate hungrily because of the lack of food, other than fruit pastilles, that we had eaten that day. We then played darts for a while, which I can safely say I have a natural talent for, no wait I mean i'm terrible at! We reflected on our day's failier and debated what our next plan of attack was for the next day, and then retired to bed.

Sadly, on the Saturday we stood by the plaque warning of the lack of rescue for anyone stuck on the Old Man, we yet again made the decision to give up as we knew it was not worth making the walk in only to say the conditions were too poor again. And so, fully defeated we returned to the ferry and left Hoy for good but determined to return to conquer what had beaten us. We quickly made the switch to the ferry back to the scottish mainland, and then yet again faced the long drive home, with new found determination that we would return and succeed.