Epic weekend..

The trips that are decided last minute always seem to be the results of awesome times, Late Friday it was decided a road trip was much needed, the plan... Liverpool for a quick look around, then drive to North wales for a few days climbing, didn't take long to pack before hitting the road early Saturday morning, the drive to Liverpool wasn't to bad, a few coffee breaks see us arrive in just under 5hrs, after a few hours shopping, spending more than i have and visiting the largest Nandos in the world we decided to hit the road again.. wasn't long before we were greeted by strong winds and rain in Snowdonia, I opted to hit the pub but young Emily had different ideas, wasn't long before we were geared up in our running gear and about to attempt a night run up Snowdon. The run was pretty hard and made allot harder with the strong wind and rain, most of it was spent wondering why...

Sunday see us climb the classic Snakes and ladders in the slate quarries.. even though I had done this before it didn't take any of the excitement away..
With weather not looking to great for Monday we looked at other possible venues.. cheddar, lakes.. Peaks. The peaks seemed the best bet so we set off Sunday evening,after few hours drive we arrived under Stanage edge for a cold night in the car.
Morning arrived, so no better way than a full English breakfast before a days climbing. I had my eye on the classic 7b+ "Deliverance" and wasn't long before i scouted it out, i spent the morning ticking off some of the lower grade routes up to V5, Emily also managed to climb her first boulder problem which was a great achievement considering how nervy she was with the height..

I jumped on Deliverance, didn't take me long to work out the moves to get into position for the dyno, but for some reason i couldn't get my feet to stick, i think its been blamed on my stickies being so worn and old they cant climb shit, after quite a few attempts and lots of lost skin i decided to call it a day.. unfortunately no send..

But not all lost, as i sit here and write now I'm just a psyched.. that much that Ive already packed and decided to head back up in the morning for a few more days climbing, fingers crossed..

Emily battling the chains

"Crozzle Arete" V4 6b onsight

Perfect peak conditions..

Such an amazing problem.. "Pebble Arete" V2 5c

"Delivarence" V8 7b+

Dancing with Shadows...

Onsight of "Pebble face direct" V4 6b

Winspit...

Another good weekend of climbing on the Jurrasic coast...

Dan on the classic 6a "Stone Mason"

Me on the crux of "Exubarance" 7a

Me on the crux of "Exubarance" 7a

Me on "Thought you had it" 7a

Emily & Frank

Emily on "Know what i mean pal" 6a

Emily on "Know what i mean pal" 6a

Psyche is high...

Psyche seems to be at its all time high of late, with weather not being too bad Ive been making the most of it, the last few weeks have days out have been to Winspit, Ive been getting loads of mileage in gaining back stamina that's been lost over the summer, then working the odd harder line, I also decided to test my composure by  Soloing the 6a route “Tend my Daisy” a little scary but a much better climb without a rope..( Video below ). I tried a tough 7a last week called “Thought you had it”. Such a nice line, it took me some time to work the crux out but now have it, due to a long tiring day I was unable to finish, fingers crossed I will manage the tick this weekend. Lets hope the weather gods are on our side so we can get out again and get some climbing done…

Be aware.. there are monkeys on the loose

Dan on "Hot Beef injection" 6b

Ben on "Hot Beef injection" 6b

Ben on "Hot Beef injection" 6b

Ben on "Gorilla tactics" 6c

Ben on "Gorilla tactics" 6c

Me on "thought you had it" 7a

Moving into the crux on "Thought you had it" 7a

Dont slip...

Decided to solo "Tend my Daisy" 6a..

If you love a bird, you dont.......

For some reason i must attract drama, never a dole moment, it seems as soon as i find happiness its taken away again, but one thing that never leaves is the happiness of climbing, its been too long and this weekend I headed out with my good Friends Dan and Ben, with it being a while since any of us had really climbed things got interesting.. a lovely day was had with nothing really hard climbed, there seemed to be more banter about Dan's weight gained over the summer than climbing and encouragement itself but the fun and laughs were at the highest.. thanks for a great day guys.. looks like training starts again... same time next week..

Injury strikes...

Its been a while since I have blogged about any of my activities, after my last blog I managed to have a couple of successful climbing days ticking off my project “Peppercorn rate” and coming very close to “dickstardly”, feeling strong and psyched was amazing. Then came the climbers nightmare, whist training mid week at craggy island I latched for a hold on the bouldering wall, with this came a large pop and a very bad pain through my finger and hand, I continued for a short while after but it soon came apparent damage had been done. I have currently partially torn my A2 pulley, so rest and therapy was of utmost importance, its been around 3 weeks now and the pain as eased a little, I am still able to train in the gym lifting weights, I am also doing allot of training on the ice axes on my home training wall, all I can do to try keep my stamina and strength up for my return. I headed out this weekend to introduse my friend Dan fletcher to his first days trad climbing, we headed to the friendly area of cattle troughs, all fairly easy routes fro VD to E1, I lead a few easy lines placing lots of gear and showing Dan the placements and how to set up anchors, Once happy he started to lead some routes, when confident he lead to classic of the crag “Bunnys wall” , the route is VS 5a, not to hard but a test for his first day on natural gear, he lead it well and was pretty psyched by the end of it. Feeling I needed my adrenaline rush I decided to Solo one of the lines there, I do quite a bit of Solo climbing when I am in the mood, the feeling of climbing with no gear, no rope, just myself and the rock gives me a great since of achievement, I had a small moment halfway up the route where I looked down and thought Christ if I slip here I am not going to see daylight again… after a few breaths and a calmness I pushed on and topped out. My finger still feels tender and with little pain so It will be a while before I am pushing things on rock again..

In the meantime, lots of easy trad, gym work & training on the tools.

Soloing

Relief after topping out..