california Waves...

With all the rain lately I didn't think it would be possible to climb today but after buying the new reel rock tour 7 DVD and getting inspired I was going wind rain or snow..
Myself and Phil planned on looking at a route in the Cheyne wears area called "Road Rage". I met Phil at car park and we headed on down, the swell out at sea was incredible, the waves must of been around 15ft high and hitting the shores causing masses of spray, we ditched the bags and scrambled across the boulders to check the condition of the route, it was a case of dodging the waves as they splashed up and hit the face, the route being at the top end of the 7's we decided to change the plan.
With the only other crag on the island with possible dryness being the cuttings we decided to head there.
We didn't really have any projects there so we ditched the draws and got the bouldering mats out to try a few new problems,
We headed down to the Problems id been trying whilst injured, Harmaggeddon, After working it for a short while Phil managed to send it, i had a few goes and manged to work out a sequence to finish the route, but due to lack of climbing and stamina i felt tired moving towards the end, this will defiantly go next visit.
Phil also manged to send Blood bath V6 and the new line "Lost decade which goes at V6, I have already done these so didn't bother trying them again.
We moved onto a nice V7 called Hot Ride.. amazing problem, powerful compression moves to a dynamic sloper, my style of route.. we both had a few goes before getting closer and closer to latching the sloper but then came the rain.. we carried on for a while but withing moments the problem was now a kayakers dream.. we packed up and headed up to the main wall.
We walked round to the lower cuttings area and bumped into a few other boulderers from Devon, one of the lads was trying the Portland testpeice Guy Fawkes V11, he was so close to ticking it, he climbed through the crux and somehow manged to fall off on the easier bit, i have no dowt that he will climb this by the end of the day or in the near future. Phil had a little go at phat slapper but with the final hold being engulfed in a puddle we decided to call it a day..
I'm feeling pretty psyched at the moment and with the Kandersteg trip coming up I'm ready to crush, I have big plans to push beyond my limit next year in the mountains and hopefully all the training and psyche will take me there..

Phil moving into the crux of Blood Bath V6

Phat Slapper V5

Phat Slapper V5

Crux move onto the sloper finsh hold.. Phat Slapper V5

Ellis close to sending Guy Fawkes V11

Those crimps are pretty damm small.

Under Durress

Didnt climb today as still resting rescent finger injury but headed down to the cutings to watch Phil and Ian working "Under Duress" 7c+ managed to get a few nice pictures.

Spartan Race Motivational Video 2012

Spartan Beast

After Completing the Spartan Sprint a few months back I was hooked and wanted more so it wasn't long before I wanted to take on the toughest of the spartan races the SPARTAN BEAST, this is a gruelling 12 mile mud run with 25+ obstacles. the obstacles consisted of similar training for the US marines, this would involve Rope climbs, Net climbs, Mud baths, Bard ware crawling, Ice baths, High wall climbs, and many more and just when you think its all over you get to face the fierce Gladiators.
The venue for the beast was the Brands hatch race course, Id booked up around a month ago and to be honest hadn't trained nowhere near as much as id like to have so I was wondering how i would get on, I know i have allot of determination and with this years problems I had allot of hurt and anger that needed to come out, and what a perfect way to do that. I had a few friends that were also taking on the challenge, a work colleague Ian who was fighting is own challenge of attempting this being a type 1 diabetic, this made it a little more interesting for him having to ensure his levels were always correct so he wouldn't dose off into a comer half way around the battlefield, My other friend Ese was also running, he was taking part in the race as part of the Bournemouth crossfit team.

The start of the race was really good with hundreds of runners, all psyched and shouting to the spartan beats Arooo Arooo, it was pretty loud and atmospheric, the first part of the run was a lap of the Brands hatch circuit, the star was pretty crowded but as we got further around the track the pack started to spread a little, I was keeping a steady pace running with Ian, we were making good ground and both felt pretty strong, once the track was completed it went off road and into the woodlands, this is where it became fun, lots of mud hills, deep mud puddles, battery and tyre carrying, net climbs. After a short while Ian started to slow, it was hard to stick together so I just pushed on a little and before i knew it i was on my own, i ended up sticking behind some young lady who was running at a steady pace, after about 7 miles i could see the arena again and i kept thinking to myself is that the end, i hope so but it doesn't feel like 12 miles yet, I could see my dad in the stands cheering, by this time I was very dehydrated and starting to feel the burn, I came to a six foot wall and climbed it fairly easy, then another 12 foot wall, i jump up fairly easy but whacked my leg on the way up, i tried to just run it off but after a short while the pain became intense, i slowed and stretched for a while and realised there was still another 3 miles to go, i walked and loosened it up and lift my spirits, i was feeling pretty beat by this time and basically had hit the wall, thoughts in my head of finishing were fading and i was feeling hurt, i looked up and the sky and thought to myself i can do this, I'm gonna do this for my little girls and myself, overcome this pain and mental phase, by this time I could see Ian coming the opposite way so he wasn't far behind, i slowly jogged waiting for him to catch up, once he caught me i explain what had happened and encouraged me and handed me a handful of jelly babies, the secret ingredient of all challenges, the remainder of the course was tough with cargo nets, tyre carrying and rope pulls, then the ice and barbwire followed by the gladiators, after some cramp and much battling i finally arrived at the finish line, I was greeted by a pretty spartan girl who nicely placed my medal over my head... I had just completed the spartan beast, hardly any training, a routh 6 months and a brain like a tangled finish net I had done it...
I felt pretty cool after this and now determined to do more, I want to try do all three next year which is the sprint, super and beast, if you do all three in the calender year you are awarded with the Trifecta medal, i want this so I'm determined to do it.

In the words of a SPARTAN " Only the weak attempt to accomplish what they know they can achieve" ARROOOOO

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Taking on the Gladiators

Ice Bath

The wall

Happy but tired Spartan

The Spartan Beast Medal

Lifes challenges

Crisp Air and bright blue skies greeted us on Portland today, Myself and Paul layered and beenied up heading into the boulderfield, I was super keen to get back on Harmegeddon. I have a slight tendon pull in my middle finger on left hand so was playing on my mind abit how it would be today, we headed on down to a new boulder on the beach that we hadn't visited before called the white tower. A highball slab with not the best of landings, luckily we were only intending on warming up on the easier problems, we both climbed an easy problem called "Banner in the sky". It was a nice climb which was also very photogenic.
Next up was Harmegeddon,  I was pretty psyched but feeling down due to finger hurting a little, we arrived and Paul was buzzing at the line and length of it, we played for a little while re learning the sequence, Paul also managed to find another hold that id been missing so i was a little keen and went for it...
Snap!!! ouch no more crimping for me, the pain through my finger was crazy, I guess its defiantly time to rest now.. this put me in a pretty down mood, not having a good time lately with personal and family problems and now this..
Paul carried climbing but was unable to complete the route, he also managed to tick a few other lower graded routes.

It was nice to get out today and have a good chat with Paul about big plans for next year and the winter season, I guess now the finger as give up i will dedicate all my training to the axes, time to get back on the chalk and make use of the craggy island indoor dry tooling wall.

Paul on "Banner in the sky"

Me on "Banner in the sky"

Paul Keleher

Kendal 2012

Harmageddon

Another weekend, another trip to the boulderfield, this time paul was unable to join us due to a family crisis so I headed in with a newbie to climbing George, We were also joined by my little alisha, photographer and worlds best eater. We headed to a boulder I hadnt visited before called the Atlantis boulder, I warmed up on a couple of easy V2's there before jumping on a really cool looking traverse called "Harmageddon". It took along time to work a sequence out to move along the start of the problem,either i was missing something or it felt pretty tough for V4, after working it out I attempted my redpoint, halfway along the route i slapped for a hold and somehow managed to take a big slice from my finger, this was the end of my climbing for today.. Felt pretty annoyed at the fact I didnt manage to get the route but I am pretty psyched to get back down and get it clean... next time.. George had a good day and done well considering it was his first time in rock shoes, think hes now realised lifting weights and being ripped means nothing when it comes to hanging onto a rock.

More training and less cakes this weeke should hopefully see the tick next weekend..

Alisha

George getting to grips with "Harmageddon"

Hard sequence on "Harmageddon

Onsight of "Soulful"  Photo:Alisha Harris

Crazyman George on an epic sea crossing

"Harmageddon"  Photo:Alisha Harris

I want one of these.. the future is GoPro

Rough Landings...

Pretty Psched and looking for something new myself and paul headed down to the unknown boulders on Blacknor beach, this place is a death trap with some pretty crazy boulders and the some of worst landings ive ever seen, but on the other hand by searching we are starting to find some really nice problems and managing to put up some pretty cool first ascents. If you was to get some of these boulders and place then on a nice flat open ground they would definatly become wothwhile routes.
On walking down it wasnt long before we spotted a really nice looking boulder with a few small holds on, and although the landing not the best it also wasnt the worst, we moved some rocks around to try and make the landing zone a little more level. This was also good as it was warmimg us up ready to jump on the problem.. We started to play a little and at first it felt pretty desperate and i was starting to think it was too hard and maybe we should move on, but by keeping at it we started to open a tough sequence that may work, after a few attempts and dangerous falls i managed to send the route, due to the nature of the amount of skin it took from my fingers I decided to call it "First Blood", at first I would of graded it around the V6 mark but I think once you know the sequence the grade may get V4-5, it will surely be harder for the shorter. Paul kept trying for some time and was making good progress but didnt have the reach to make the moves I was so decided to go look for something else. we packed up and continued to search for some while, we spotted loads of really good lines but all the landings pretty awful, with some work and commitment there is definatly allot of potential down here, If you are gonna head down I suggest taking a large number of mats and maybe some bars to move some of the larger blocks.
We finished the day off up in the fort climbing some of the easier lower grade problems... Overall A nice day and good to be putting up new problems, we stopped for a Mocha on the way home and its probably the worst we have ever had, that bad that mr coffee himself paul is thinking of writing a letter of complaint...

Paul pulling hard on "First Blood"

First blood FA



Paul climbing a nice V2 in the higher Fort area





 

Paul getting angry is pretty

Seasons changing...

The light of day is starting to shorten and the cold is starting to settle in, There is a dew on the floor and slight fog in the air, the change of the bright green leaves are starting to turn to the crispy golden yellows and brown, With all the changes and emotion in my life this year time as flown by and I haven't really stopped to think what time of year it is, In my head it doesn't feel like Autumn but I guess its creeping up on us..

The Autumn winter months are my favourite time of the year, not only because I'm a lover of winter climbing and enjoy the ice much more than the rock but because I like that being out on a cold adventure and also as silly as it may sound I also like the feeling of looking forward to going home to a nice warm fire and cuddling up around it with my loved ones.

Myself, Paul and Alisha headed down to winspit today to play on the rope for a while, We also had a mission to take care of, Alisha's school was running a competition to see the craziest place the children could get a picture of them reading a book, most of the kids have been taking pictures in of them reading in the garden, the park or maybe the shopping centre... not Alisha! We decided to dangle her from the side of the cliff so she could read a few chapters of her favourite horrid Henry book, hopefully this will go down well with the teachers and also make her look pretty cool in front of all her school friends.

Conditions were really good today, really cold but with a bit of sun, after warming up on a few easy routes we jumped on a 6c called " Silver bream machine". As Paul don't normally lead much I persuaded him to give it go and go for an onsight attempt, he done really well moving up the lower part of the climb, it wasn't to technical just powerful and overhanging, he then came to the crux, after playing for a short while he got a little pumped and decided to come down. I then went on up and had a go, the climbing was really nice and it wasn't long before I entered the crux section, this was a blank slab, flapping for a while and not finding anything i had to rest on the draw, after a little looking i managed to find some small crimps and a sequence to move on up the lower off, I think the route is defiantly undergraded for an onsight attempt, I would give it at least 6c+.
On the walk into the crag i was thinking on trying Gorilla tactics, this is a very overhanging route which moves up the right side of a cave, I have always liked the look of this line but always been a little concerned about the it due to the loose looking rock and big boulders lying around, feeling psyched though i decided to give it a go.
The climbing was amazing, there were lots of good holds but all the moves were constantly powerful from bottom to top, there were some amazing positions and it felt really exposed.. I had to rest a while on it due to not being able to read the route correctly but eventually managed to clip the lower off, we also managed to find a loose block half way up.. But overall a really nice climb, Paul also had a go on toprope and it wasn't long before he realised why i was making lots of screaming noises, too pumped he decided to retire... The weather started to come in after this so we decided to call it a day and make the walk back up to society. I really enjoyed spending time with my Alisha today and it made it just perfect when she come up to me when i dropped her home and said " Daddy I love you, thankyou for today, I think its one of the best days of my life". Priceless and really touched me!!

I finished the day off by taking Alisha and angel for a stroll through the woods to collect some chestnuts, unfortunately they didn't quite seem ready for eating yet... and they done there usual in dragging me to the sweety shop...

Paul on the quite but pretty walk in to the crag.

A nice place to relax

My empire

A very rare smile from me : Photo Alisha Harris

My baby, my best friend Alisha

Paul warming up on "Plaice a bolt" Photo: Alisha Harris

Me on "Plaice a bolt" Photo: Alisha Harris

Paul Keleher. Photo: Alisha Harris

Paul making easy progress on the fine corner of "Fishy Buisiness" Photo: Alisha Harris

Alisha climbing "Plaice a bolt"

Paul attempting the tough "Silver Bream Machine" Photo: Alisha Harris

"Silver Bream machine" nice climbing, feels tougher than 6c Photo: Alisha Harris

Nearing the lower off of Gorilla Tactics  Photo: Alisha Harris

Paul feeling the burn on the steep "Gorilla Tactics"  Photo: Alisha Harris

A Good days climbing

Alishas book competition photo entry