Harriets Leaving Bouldering day....

Today a few of us met up for some bouldering to say a farewell to Harriet, Harriet has been down south for a while now trying to get used to the southern limestone but unfortunately due to work she is leaving us to go back up to the climbing capital Sheffield... I'm sure her climbing and happy smile will be missed by many.
Anyway we planned on heading into the blacknor beach area where there is allot of untouched problems just waiting for a first ascent... When we arrived the winds were way to strong for any climbing so we decided to head over to cuttings where it would be a little more sheltered..
We started off on the Tank boulder climbing all the routes on there up to the grade of V4, Sam managed to finally tick the "Worlds Best mono" V4 and I also managed to climb "Crouching start, Hidden Agenda" V4 again, the others came pretty close but didn't quite finish the problems. We then decided to move on to the cat boulder, I hadn't climbed on this rock before so I was pretty pyched to get stuck in, The top out on the problems seemed crazy, I spent allot of time working a problem called "Cat Killer". It is graded at V3, It must be the hardest V3 on the island. After about 5-6 attempts I finally managed to finish the route.
Paul and Harriet came pretty close but couldn't finish the crazy top out.
We then moved on round to the Tunnel boulders to play on the problems there, Chris managed to tick the tough V4 "in ya face" and Paul came very close to finishing his project "Streamline".
Overall a really Good days bouldering with good friends... Have to mention this even though I will probably get slapped for it but Harriet's boob also popped out to say hello to us all while she was attempting "In ya Face".. we didn't look though...

Climber on "Captain Cook" V2

Harriet working "Crouching start, hidden agenda" V4

Sam topping out on "The worlds best mono" V4

Me on "Cat Killer" V3

Harriet on "In ya Face" V4

Paul working "Streamline" V2

Harriet on "Streamline" V2

Vertical sailing in Greenland

Cant wait to see this...

COLD - TRAILER from Anson Fogel on Vimeo.

The start of something big...

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the owner of the company I work for informing me that one of his Friends Paul was going to attempt to climb Everest next year... Ok I said... then he continued on to tell me that he had never done any type of climbing before... I was then asked if I would go to the alps with Paul and take him on a few climbs to let him know what he was getting himself into.. I agreed to meet up with Paul and take him for a days climbing to Swanage first before I ventured into the mountains with him.


Today we met up down a durlston in swanage, We were also joined by Scott and Will, We headed down to Cattle Troughs to do a little training with Paul on different types of knots and techniques to help in progress and get a better understanding of the climbing world.
Paul seemed to pick up everything very quickly, We also manged to get loads of low grade routes climbed which he also done brilliantly considering this was is first time out on rock.
I feel a little bit happier now to take Paul on a small trip to the french alps for a taster of what to expect in the near future.
He is also booked onto a training week in July in chamonix with a potential summit bid on Mont Blanc with should also give him some idea has to what he has let himself in for. He is then moving on to try and climb Cho oyu in September before moving onto Everest early next year.


I think he has a big mission ahead of him and I Wish him the best of luck with his challenge, You can follow Paul on his own personal page at http://www.dosummitgood.co.uk/.

I would like to thank Scott and Will for there help today...cheers guys.

Scott Showing Paul how to use a prussik whilst abseiling

Paul abseiling into Cattle Troughs

Paul abseiling into Cattle Troughs

Will on" Bunnys Wall" VS 5a

Will on" Bunnys Wall" VS 5a

Paul on" Bunnys Wall" VS 5a

Paul on "Bunnys Wall" VS 5a

Scott on" Bunnys Wall" VS 5a  

Will on "Old lags corner" VS 5a

Paul on "Old lags corner" VS 5a

Neil Armstrong

After finally getting enough skin on the end of my fingers again after the recent Font trip I was able to get out climbing again this weekend, I met up with Scott, Nic and Phil on Friday for a spot of bolt clipping at winspit, Having not been there for a year or so I was really looking forward to it, I wasn't planning on getting anything hard done I was just looking to have a nice chilled day out with some good company, In the end it turned out to be a good day with me and Phil both onsighting a 6b+ called "Restless Heart" then I redpointed a 6c called" Things that make you go Hmmm". Phil then went on to climb "Ancient order of the freemarbles" 7a. We then spent the rest of the day getting some mileage in on some of the classic 6a+ routes on the south face.

Today I headed back to the cuttings to try and get the tick on Neil Armstrong, I had been trying it just before the font trip but didn't have much success after feeling tired and weak, Today I felt strong and was hoping to get it put to bed, anyway after a few attempts I finally managed to get the route climbed clean, I was pretty happy with this has its the first time Ive managed to climb a V6, after a little rest I then went on to smash a V7 called "Grafenberg". This didn't feel too hard other than the Mantle, I think my height may have made the route a little easier. I finished the day off with a few lower V grade routes before heading home.

Now to look forward to a day at paultons park with the family tomorrow before the depressing return to work syndrome....