Back to work

Haven't been updating my blog as much as I should ( last update was in september!) so the new year heralds a new lease if life for my poor neglected blog.

Ok, so. Been back on the slate recently after my week long jaunt over new years to Berlin. My plan of action is to aim for french 8a by Easter.
I've been on Tambourine Man and The Medium, both of which are very technical and fall offable but completely my style i.e. not for the strong! At the end of last year, I was trying to redpoint Concord Dawn on rainbow walls and one thing or another got in the way and I ended up not putting my all into it. I've started again and it's all coming back to me. I've got the crux nailed as well as the bottom half of the route but it's all wet at the moment thanks to this miserable weather around North Wales. So today was supposed to be a quick trip to work some parts of the route, but lo! Seepage in abundance and I was miserable because I've lost my new Anasazi Verdes and someone's taken them from Twll Mawr where I'm sure I left them. I went for a look for them as all the other routes I wanted to do were wet, and as I was near the slag heap tunnel (one of the few I hadn't been through) I thought I'd be able to get into Twll Mawr. Wrong! The tunnel is blocked. I squirmed around and tried to squeeze through but there's no chance. Cool tunnel though.

Creepy! The tunnel at the bottom of twll mawr

Also the hut in twll mawr that was once standing, has now collapsed. Quite sad to see a bit of preserved history biting the dust like that but it was close to crumbling last time I was there.

Also, something worthwhile I did but didn't write about was going to Craig Doris with Mills and doing Cripple Creek - a three star E3. Awesome route, but get there before it all collapses! I only seconded but I can't wait to get back there and lead it, as well as path to rome, the other E3 round the corner and the Fascinating Witches traverse.

Mills on Cripple Creek E3 5b

'm also pretty stuck at the moment as the van is in the garage having failed its MoT. A vehicle around here is pretty much essential, considering that the public transport is dire. Plus one cannot walk everywhere when it's cold and pissing it down.

Grand Raid Pyrenees 160km Ultramarathon

Just got back from my much anticipated trip down to the South of France for the Grand Raid des Pyrenees ultramarathon. I'd been looking forward to this race since i took part in the shorter version last year and enjoyed every minute of it. The weather was fantastic, the views were stunning and everyone involved was incredibly helpful. It also helped that i finished the race with the minimum amount of training under my belt (maybe 100km total in the year leading up to it).
So this year it came around quite quickly, too quickly to do any training it seemed. I had great intentions to do some and actually be prepared for once, but I never got round to doing any! So when the time came and the enormity of the task was realised, i wasn't paticularly confident of finishing. But I have a strong will and great stubborness in these situations, so I had something going for me.
I flew down to Toulouse with a friend of mine on the Wednesday hoping that an extra rest day would be of some benefit to us (turned out it was time well spent!) and we picked up a famous Japanese runner on the way.
There were storms predicted on the morning of the race so the organisers decided to delay the start for two hours and cut the Pic du Midi climb out of the race entirely. Most of the competitors were quite uPset at the news but i was secretly celebrating, as last year it was one of my least favourite bits of the route. But this was the 160km ultra! And cutting a small bit like this wasn't going to make much difference.
I started quite strongly for the first few km's, keeping a steady pace with my friend. After the first big col i kept at my pace and he understandably bombed on ahead. A few moments later and all hell broke loose. It got cold. It got wet. It got very miserable. Going up the Col de Sencours, i lost all feeling in my hands and face and got soaked to the bone. When i got to the top, it looked like a medical tent in a war zone! There were runners with wool blankets and thousand yard stares, blue hands and a couple of poor guys with hbad hypothermia hooked up to drips.
For the rest of the way I felt very strong. I was amazed at how well I was going, considering I was so unfit! I got a bad pain in my knee around halfway round and had to put up with excrutiating pain for the rest of the run. But it was worth it. When i got to the finish line, all the pain, lack of sleep for 48 hours, dehydration and malnourishment didn't matter at all. I was so happy!

Look how tired and happy I am!

If it wasn't for the knee, I definitely would have finished under 40 hours. My time of 44h55m is  not to be sniffed at though, considering my complete lack of training. So one of my goals for this year can't be ticked off. I don't care! Just finishing was good enough for me. There is always next year of course. I don't see myself onsighting 7b or E6 anytime soon either, especially as I've missed a good few weeks of much needed climbing time. Now the bad weather has arrived, it doesn't even look like I'll be doing any cragging for a while. Maybe I'll just be weird and hang out in the cave of justice.

I knew it!

I was hesitant to make a blog because in the back of my mind I knew I couldn't keep it up. Very true! I've been climbing on and off, no major advancements towards my goals, but I've had a lot of fun regardless and I've been reasonably high on psyche. And isn't that more important? At the moment I'm not thinking of improving drastically, I'm busy having fun!
I went down to Chamonix with two others to try some out-there climbing on the granite alpine faces. It was a total loss. It rained every day and the van began sounding like it had a very expensive problem. We left two days early. I did manage to get a proper taste of grim offwidths thanks to Thai Boxing; it's strange how frigging your way up a dark crack in the most uncomfortable and painful positions, falling off and feelin sick can pass for fun... but it was AWESOME! I will be looking forward for some more offwidth masochism in the future.
A chance call to Ian resulted in me popping my twll mawr cherry, where a new route awaited me. And what a route! It's not often I get scared on a second but I couldn't help shaking because of the exposure and the eerie atmosphere down there. Easy, juggy climbing on the first pitch was bifurcated by two hard (6a/b?) moves to move out of a groove on to a slab and back again. The following three pitches provided some of the most enjoyable moves I've done on slate, with a belay on the observation ledge, allowing us to look down on what should be a 3* trade route from now on. I even got the bonus of Ray Wood coming and taking photos of us, one of which is going to be the fold out back cover. Aaaaand I'm on the DMM website!
I thought that was all. Hosey B had posted a giveaway project some months ago that led Ian to cast his eye over another obvious line running top-to-bottom again that, at first glance, would offer equal quality and difficulty. Again (luckily) I was involved in the first ascent and was very, very impressed. Even better than the first - and harder! And i seconded them all onsight and absolutely pissed it! I even thought the first pitch was mid 6 when it was actually 7a+, so I must be doing something right. So the whole route was graded 7a+, 7a, 7a. Three stars and three pitches of the best climbing on slate! Never been so happy after topping out on a route. Some other bloke who joined us on the first ascent commented that the third pitch was "a five star finish". He ain't wrong. Get out there and try them! Plenty of approach info et al online.
And thanks to Mills, I've been getting out in the Pass, great! I did mabinogion in less than favourable conditions and wind, kaisergebirger wall and little groover are my other ascents. I out-of-my-mind psyched for some harder stuff, just need to get rid of this 'don't want to fail' mindset.

But oh, oh dear, oh dear. I have neglected my running! The race is a month away and to this date I've done about 3 miles of running. Crap!

New Toy

I haven't posted much, mainly because all my time and money is going into my new toy. If you can call a Volkswagen T4 a toy that is. I've got big plans for this baby, who has been christened "Waynetta", due to the bloke I bought it off being called wayne, was bald with a lizard tattoo on his head and lived on Chatsworth road. First stop: Pembroke, and then Ceuse! Got to get it insulated, sort out the rust, carpeting, kitchen, bed, engine, electrics...etc etc. I've got two months to get it ready, yet this month doesn't really count as I only have £3 in my bank account and 37p in my walllet, meaning anything I want to buy for the van to convert it will have to wait unitl the end of this month when I get paid. Also, inbetween 48 hour stints at work and bodywork (very impressive if I say so myself) I've managed to go bouldering a couple of times, nowhere special, but I feel much stronger nowadays.

Bloody Fingers

To me, bloody fingers are always a good sign. Had an excellent couple of days climbing and have sore and bloodied hands to prove it. Managed to get a couple of days off to climb (after doing 48 hour weeks for the past month). Yesterday I went to Never Never Land with Ian just tick off a few routes I've been wanting to do. Having not lead anything properly since the 8th of march, I thought I'd be in for a bit of a shock. First up was a new route, Swiss Air F6c. I was a bit apprehensive at first due to the lack of practice, but got on it anyway. Turned out to be a nice steady route with simple climbing and some interesting features. Proably worth F6b/+. My attention then turned to the main attraction of the soaring slab round the corner to our right. The routes I was interested in were Khubla Khan E46b and Small (or is it short) Stories E46a. Both are quite run out with some ground fall - big pendulum swings. Decided I'd go for Stories first, as I'd heard it had excellent climbing. I wasn't dissapointed. Quite sustained, with some interesting thin moves and would probably go at 7a as a sport route. So this was  very good onsight lead for me. Didn't have much of the collywobbles, even going for the high reach to finish.
Second route was Khubla, looking a tad easier, with natural protection and the crux right next to a bolt. The 6b section went smoothly (it's probably 6a) and was about VS climbing with a few bits of pro that weren't very good, up to the last move that felt quite spicy, especially when, because I was using a single rope, as I moved right all my gear down to the bolt fell out, leaving me with a 5c move to do to safety, with the prospect of an almighty ground fall if i cocked it up. As you can guess, I managed it.  Hooking the big spike with a sling was quite a relief!

Today, I was looking forward to climbing on the Rainbow slab, but as Ian's back was playing up, I settled for some carpentry in my grandparents workshop. I was quite surprised and very happy to get a call from Ioan. He was up in the pass and keen for some climbing. I shot up there as fast as you can in an underpowered Peugeot, and we had a short walk up to Bryn Hel. I've been looking for this place for a while, as it looked good in the guide, and was tucked away in a nice little spot. We got spanked, completely and utterly. The grades felt quite stiff, and it wasn't the cleanest of venues. The climbing may have been stiff, but it was still enjoyable and my fingers got completely destroyed as I shoved and cammed them into minging cracks and slowly peeled off, cursing my ineptitude. We soon gave up after Ioan had a quick play on Corridors of Power, a Dave Noden problem, not a very obvious or aesthetic climb, but a good find nonetheless, looks like it climbs well. Hopefully I'll be able to give it a go in the future.
Had a look at Jerry's Roof as well, as I'd never been there, and got a guided tour of the routes. Gnarly. It's just complete power all the way. Didn't do too badly for someone who climbs slabs day in, day out, but it gives me something to work on and get me into a more of an all-rounder, then I can tackle the Cave of Justice without looking like a complete punter, and get stronger for my trip to Ceuse!

Grit and Slate fun

Was in Sheffield the previous weekend for the CWIF. I've never seen a climbing competition let alone taken part in one. All in all I found the experience great, except when I realised that I don't usually like bouldering and that almost everyone there was a wad or on their way to becoming one. So it didn't surprise me when I placed 154th. But hell, I only competed for a laugh. Got told I had good technique, but poor strength. I knew this already.
Ioan didn't qualify, so we headed off to Stanage. No pictures as the phone had run out of batteries, but the views were stunning. Shame about the rock we were climbing on. It was nice to try somewhere new, but grit really doesn't get my heart pumping and my hands sweaty. Not a bad day out, but the rock is definitely overhyped. Plus stanage looks like a massive turd that some giant has stepped on.
Cue my return to the quarry, and my forage for a hard route to work. Had been told by Caff that Concord Dawn (F8a) was low in the grade, so Ian and me have chosen to work it. It's not like a usual slate slab. It's almost vertical with powerful moves, large handholds and nothing for your feet. After having a quick toprope, I had all the moves but one sussed. I also pissed the top crux first go. Don't know how I managed that! Ian then kicked a massive flake off, reducing a poor crimp to an even worse state. Worse still is the hollow sounds coming from parts of the climb which could, if these bits fell off, drastically alter the climbing. And, oh, what climbing it is! Really nice technical moves and quite steep, I'm really psyched for this. The smile that I couldn't wipe off my face said it all. The desperate climbing also made for some odd sound effects from both Ian and me! This will probably get done before Easter; now that gets my heart racing and my palms sweaty. Balls to grit!

Pembroke

Took a trip down to Pembroke with a friend this previous weekend. The idea was to go down early on the friday, get a few routes in. We managed to get down reasonably unscathed (so long as 3 unfair points and a £60 fine isn't the end of the world for Doyle) but the weather was seriously against us. Had a walk around, and what a place! Some of the formations like Huntsmans leap and Stennis Ford gave me the willies without me even climbing in them. That, and the area is used as a military firing zone!

We decided to save a bit of money by camping in the car:

Luxury!

Psyched!

Super Psyched!

Wasn't the best sleep I've ever had. Better that than shelling out £100 on a hotel room.

It carried on raining until the early hours of the morning, and once we woke we were greeted by sun beaming in through the condensation soaked windows. Had a quick breakfast and set out to the cliffs. When we got there the signs were promising. A few walls were already drying fast in the increasingly warm sun. We walked over to Bosherton Head which turned out to be dry, and decided to start off on an HVS called Hercules. Ioan led, avoiding the gopping crack that the route usually went up, opting for an easier line up the arete on the left. I was seconding, and we had put the bags on this ledge, away from the unbelievably rough seas:

The 'almost ruined our trip' ledge

As I was halfway up the route, a freak wave hit the shelf and started dragging our bags back into the murky depths! Ioans bag stopped well short of the edge, whereas mine was washed far too close to the edge for comfort. Cue a series of screams of desperation from the both of us, a quick descent off the route and a dive onto my bag to stop gear, phone, keys, clothes etc being lost. Then set up a winch system to save the bags from another unexpected trip. Managed to finally finish the route, still couldn't believe how close we'd been to completely ruining the trip.

We decided to head further north to try and escape the rough seas and do a top 50 climb. We had to abseil in, and the sea was just as bad, worse even. We wanted to do Strike Lucky/Lucky Strike E1, but the high waves forced us to make a higher than usual hanging belay to stop us drowning. Ioan led off again, as the route was wet and we were in a very exposed position. We had already been scared silly as the waves were just about hitting us on the belay 20ish metres up, and looked like there were bigger swells on the way. Ioan finished the route, only getting hit by a bit of spray near the top of the route (35-40m high!!) and I had escaped with wet feet. As he was setting up the belay, a massive 20+ ft wave was coming towards me. I had just enough time to roll off a few choice expletives before the wave was crashing above me. I got drenched. My chalk bag was even full to the brim with salt water. Despite being cold and wet, I completed the route fine, minus my dignity of course. Another epic to go with the first! Ioan also said " I've been less scared climbing E7's" which summed it up perfectly

Look at the height of the waves!!

After I'd dried off and picked through the ruin that was the inside of my bag, we went to trevallen. A lot of it was wet, but Ioan spotted an E3, the name of which escapes me, that looked dry. He set up this and was struggling a bit near the crux. It became apparent to me why, when I stuck my fingers in the crack, cammed my fingers in, and subsequently slipped straight out. Somehow he'd managed to frig his way up this gopping crack, good effort! I had a few problems going up it, and realised I seriously need to work on my climbing.
That turned out to be the last route of the day, as we decided to make our way to Cardiff for a wee drinkie poos. It turned out to be a small drink for Ioan with me compensating for his sobriety by having about 8. Needless to say I felt rough the next day. We chose to just drive back, as it was probably dry up in Tremadog or the Pass.
We stopped off in Tremadog, had a quick chat with Eric and we thought it would be a good idea to try the crack pitch of Neb Direct. Went up to the top to ab down, the walk purging me of the toxins from the night before in the form of profusive sweating. Views and weather were stunning. The crack itself wasn't. A birds nest and lots of water made us rethink our tactics. In the end we opted for home.

Well, that was a very eventful and enjoyable trip. Shame I didn't manage to lead anything but that should come in time. It great to climb with someone as good as Ioan though. He's put a lot of effort in and he has incredible natural talent and is keen to share his invaluable knowledge. We're off to Sheffield on Friday for the CWIF bouldering competiton. I've been talked into entering for some reason. A V4 climber doesn't belong in there, amongst the best and strongest climbers doing the rounds. Ah well, I might learn something. Don't get talked into entering the CWIF's, probably?