Blood Bath..

Beautiful Sunshine and perfect temperatures greeted us on the Bouldefield today, Myself, Paul and my little one Alisha were all psyched to hit the problems, We warmed up on the crack boulder climbing the crack, The Arete and the Lip Traverse, after a few attempts and much frustration Paul managed to get the crack ticked, I then went over to have a look at Blood Bath, Its a V5 with a pretty powerful  start, I had tried it a few years ago when i first started bouldering but couldn't even get of the ground, but today I managed to send it on the second attempt.We then headed on round to the jelly boulder, There was a cool V5 on here called The death of the Kings, I had a few attempt and kept falling at the last few moves, it was pretty pumpy and the rock at the finish was very sharp, I had a little break while the others climbed, paul managed to get his first V3 by climbing a little problem on the Arete called "Bag o shite". I was very proud of my little one Alisha too who managed to put up a new line graded at V1, she has named it "Prickles"After a short break and some food I jumped back on my V5, feeling strong and psyched I managed to send the route.
still pumping with adrenaline I went round the corner and managed to climb the V7 "Grafenberg".


All feeling pretty done for we decided to call it a day, I had a little look at "Lightning strikes on the way out and manged to work out a sequence on it so Im looking forward to getting this done, I did set myself a goal of getting it done by the end of the year but I think if I want it enough Il have done by the summer.

Alisha on "The Arete" V3

Paul on "The Arete" V3

Me on "Lip Traverse"

Sending "Blood bath" V5



Alisha



Me on "lemon Jelly" V3

Paul on "Lemon Jelly" V3

Me on " The death of Kings" V5

Alisha on the FA of "Prickles" V1

Paul on "Bag o Shite" V3

Me on "Grafenberg" V7

Still no Joy....

Another good day down at the cuttings boulderfields, Spent most of the day ticking off some low grade problems that I haven't done before, This was Paul's first trip to the boulderfield and he done pretty well. I also attempted my sand bag route "Pornographic Beats" but was unable to get the tick when I popped off on the last move, this route will defiantly get sent next time I'm down there. Put together a Little video of some of today's climbs so hope you enjoy....


Portland Bouldering from Tommy Harris on Vimeo.
A short video of some of the cuttings low grade boulder problems..

"Pinky Power" V6

Phil Belcher sending "Pinky Power" at the cuttings Boulderfield


Pinky Power from Tommy Harris on Vimeo.
Phil Belcher climber "Pinky Power" V6 at the cuttings boulderfeild.

Southern Soul

With temperatures being cold today a few of us headed over to Portland for some bouldering at the cuttings, We made our way down to the Atlantis boulder, there were a few problems here up to grade of V4 which we had never tried, we warmed up on a nice V1 called "Genedefekt" and although only a V1 it had a nasty little start to it that needed some working out, we then moved on and managed to get all the routes on the boulder sent including the nice V4 "waiting for the day to end".
Close by was the classic Portland boulder problem "Southern Soul" , although its only graded at V4 its a pretty tough problem, a slopey lip traverse with a sequence of heel hooks and power, Ive always wanted to do this and never really got round to trying it, we jumped on it all taking it in turns to work the right technique out, Phil being Phil and already done it before just cruised it making it look easy, was good to see but made us all feel a little weak, anyway persistence payed off and I managed to send the route, was pretty happy with this. Drew and James tried a few more times but were unable to complete it, certainly one for them to come back for.
Lunch was up so we headed to the Toll booth boulder to eat before Phil could try the V5 "Doogy howser gets VD" after a couple of goes he managed to get the tick, I also managed to onsight the V3 to left of this called "Doogy howser gets laid", this was a nice problem.
Next up we headed to the nice tree boulder where Liquid sunshine is, this is a tough V8 that Phil wanted to try. me, drew and James jumped on "Rain dodging" V3 and the V4 "A bracing dampness", I managed to get them both sent, both really good problems. Phil jumped on the V6 "pinky Power" and after few attempt managed to send the route, this was a pretty impressive especially knowing how hard the starting moves are.

A really enjoyable day out today, its also got me pretty pchyed to get down there as much as possible this year and get some of the harder routes done.

Drew on "Southern Soul"

Me on "Southern Soul"

Phil on "Southern Soul"

Me sending "Sother Soul" V4

Drew attempting "Doogy howser gets laid"

Phil sending " Doogy Howser gets VD" V5

Some new gear...

With the Denali Exhibition being less than 4 months away the bank balance has been taking a little battering, I have had some help with sponsorship but equipment doesn't come cheap, Although I already own lots of equipment this is the first real exhibition Ive been on so new items such has High altitude boots, Ski boots, Mitts and a really warm sleeping bag are all essential. Anyway some of these items have started to arrive.

I popped on down to Peglers in Arundel to check out some gear and place an order, First up was the boots, Ive always been a big fan of La sportiva especially getting on really well with the Batura boot, So i tried on the Olympus Mons, these seemed to work pretty well and I found them very comfortable, I did try on a few other brands such has the Scarpa phantom but these didn't seem has comfortable as the La sportiva, next up I ordered my down salopettes, these are branded by Rab. I also ordered some new mitts from Mountain Hardwear and some warm booty's to where in the tent, these items are all essential due to the how cold this mountain can get. Next up was a new sleeping bag, I already have a good bag from Marmot thats done me well in the alps but with tempatures reaching has low has -50 I decided to look for a better option, In the end I decided on the new Tundra -40, this is a high altidude bag that should keep me warm in the coldest environment.
While on The peglers Ice fest trip last I managed to get hold a good deal on some new Black diamond Quadrant Ski boots, I'm planning on getting to the indoor snow dome to wear these in and get used to them.  Just a few days ago I also ordered my Avalanche receiver rescue kit, This has also been supplied from Peglers at a really good price, Ive decided to go with the Ortovox model has this seems to be one of the best on the market at the moment.

A good team meeting last night has highlighted another few small objects that I need but apart from that I'm pretty close to having all my personal kit sorted now.

Remember to keep checking my blog and the team blog at http://coldsummits.blogspot.com/ for up to date info on the planning, training and progress of this exhibition.

New Black Diamond Quadrants

La Sportiva Olypus Mons

Tundra -40 Sleeping Bag

New High altitude mitts from Mountain Hardwear.