Friday, 26 October 2012
Sunday, 21 October 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..
More training and less cakes this weeke should hopefully see the tick next weekend..
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| Alisha |
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| George getting to grips with "Harmageddon" |
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| Hard sequence on "Harmageddon |
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| Onsight of "Soulful" Photo:Alisha Harris |
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| Crazyman George on an epic sea crossing |
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| "Harmageddon" Photo:Alisha Harris |
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Monday, 15 October 2012
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...
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...
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| Paul pulling hard on "First Blood" |
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| First blood FA |
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| Paul climbing a nice V2 in the higher Fort area |
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| Paul getting angry is pretty |
Monday, 8 October 2012
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...
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...
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| Paul on the quite but pretty walk in to the crag. |
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| A nice place to relax |
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| My empire |
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| A very rare smile from me : Photo Alisha Harris |
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| My baby, my best friend Alisha |
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| Paul warming up on "Plaice a bolt" Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Me on "Plaice a bolt" Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Paul Keleher. Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Paul making easy progress on the fine corner of "Fishy Buisiness" Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Alisha climbing "Plaice a bolt" |
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| Paul attempting the tough "Silver Bream Machine" Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| "Silver Bream machine" nice climbing, feels tougher than 6c Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Nearing the lower off of Gorilla Tactics Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| Paul feeling the burn on the steep "Gorilla Tactics" Photo: Alisha Harris |
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| A Good days climbing |
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| Alishas book competition photo entry |
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