Squamish Select

OK, so I've not posted for ages AND I've been back from Squamish and been on TWO climbing trips in the UK!!! In this post I'll do a bit of a Squamish write-up and then crack on with UK blogging when I begin revision tomorrow...

30 days, 110 pitches of climbing, 100's of metres of cracks and a good dose of rain. Trip outcome: Success all round!

The main aim of the trip had been to learn to hand jam and not rely on face holds of any kind whilst doing so, I started out struggling on 5.9's (HVS), even falling off one, St. Vitus' Dance! I then moved on to falling off 5.10b (bottom-end E2). This, I feel is Squamish's sandbag grade, with routes such as Seasoned in the Sun, Centrefold, Caboose, and Hand Jive all being harder than many 10c's I did. In fact I fell off all of the above except Seasoned in the Sun, which I feel was the hardest pure crack I climbed, with steep, thin hands jamming with no foot holds outside the crack, with it being to thin to jam with your feet! Again I found myself finding a normal-width handjam as good as a jug!

On the routes front, the top ten include (in order of granite-ey goodness):

1. The Angel's Crest 5.10b - an amazing adventure and the biggest route I have done to date, almost every pitch is 3 stars!

2. The Exasporator 5.10c - wanted to do it as soon as I saw it, way before I even thought about going to Squamish.

3. Squamish Buttress 5.10c - the first route to the top of the Chief, the crux pitch is an amazing corner very reminiscent of the Grasper at Bwlch y Moch.

4. Peasent's Route 5.10c - Done on my last day in Squamish with Loz, a fellow West Country bey! Brilliant climbing despite being soaking wet!

5. Hand Jive 5.10b - Got pretty shut-down by this one... fell off the start when I climbed it the wrong way, managed to do the vertical hand-crack fine until a fall on the last hard move to the chains! A good spanking!

6. Seasoned in the Sun 5.10b - My finest moment of crack climbing, I felt like a real crack climber after this!

7. Karen's Math 5.10a - An amazing varied pitch at the top of the Apron; steep crack, massive layback flake then a tricky face traverse to finish... I felt like Leo Houlding!

8. Flying Circus 5.10a - Just brilliant finger-locks up a slabby wall, the first hard crack I did in Squamish!

9. St. Vitus' Dance 5.9 - A brilliant route up the Apron with 3 contrasting 5.9 pitches in a row!

10. Banana Peel 5.7 - Me and Flo ran up this one afternoon, just so much friction slab fun!

I also did some awesome bouldering and sport climbing, highlights of these include 3 classic V4s in an afternoon; Superfly, Easy in an Easy Chair and Sloppy Poppy. The bouldering in Squamish is awesome, and I wish I had done more, but it felt like a cop-out when the Chief just screams to be climbed!

On the Sport climbing front the highlights have to be; Dark Don't Lie 5.11a (6b+) A brilliant flowing route that would be an amazing E3 with trad gear! The Neutered Bovine, 5.11c (6c+) 1st Redpoint as the first route of the day, super-powerful but brilliant moves! Face the Music, 5.12a (7a+) Didn't get it clean, but a brilliant crux sequence!! Cheakamus Canyon was great when the rain fell as it stayed dry, the only problem was getting there, however I would have loved to get to the Petrifying Wall at Murrin Park, but only went there one evening for a bear (beaver) hunt with Will Stanhope... Yep the guy who broke the Parthian flake!

This nicely brings us on to the next highlight of the trip.... THE BEAR IN CAMP!!!! Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence, as one grey morning, Heather got out the tent, I decided to have a bit of a lie-in, as I'm a lazy bugger! Until suddenly Heather ran back shouting "If you want to see a bear come quick!" Quickly, I dressed and ran out of the tent to find a bear trying to get into the bear boxes. Suddenly it turned and began to walk in our direction... luckily it was small and there were a lot of us! Eventually it left but what an amazing thing to see!

Despite having an amazing trip there are a few hints and tips for Squamish:

1. Don't be intimidated by the Chief, by the time I left I had completely changed my outlook towards it and given another week or two would have got on the Grand Wall.

2. Squamish is a prime place to learn how to jam and crack climb, HOWEVER you will have a much more productive trip if you know how to jam and crack climb and will be able to get on harder routes!

3. Go to Zephyr's Cafe and have a Chicken and Avacado Burger EVERY rest day... it makes you stronger.

4. Only wash ONCE a week in the Rec. Centre, and spend as much time as possible dicking around on the toys the swimming pool has i.e monkey bars (perfect for climbers!), Tarzan swing (perfect for belly-flopping) also watch the rain fall from the toasty warm jacuzzi.

5. Try not to forget your swimming trunks, especially on the day(s) you were wearing Union Jack boxer shorts... Laughter from your 'friend' and the lifeguards echoes around the swimming pool.

6. Buy a pair of crack-climbing shoes. These must allow your toes to be pretty much flat, not like face climbing shoes. They must also be made from something durable.

7. If you can afford it, get a car/van/truck... it means you can drive to dry climbing places/fun non-dry weather dependant places, and sleep on something that isn't gravel... yes, yes I know I should buy a thermarest... they just seem a little gay!

8. Go and get used to finding routes at Tremadog... Squamish is just Tremadog on crack!

9. Don't get stressed, just roll with whatever happens.

10. Enjoy it! Try and tick as many of the 'Ultimate Squamish Routes' as possible :-)

11. Go with a girl who will be fancied by Will Stanhope, he'll do anything to win favour and you might meet Sonnie Trotter... a proper legend! In fairness, it was pretty cool hanging out with these guys, and we got lifts to places! But seriously now... never go on a Bear hunt with Stanhope... he'll be secretly hunting for Beaver!

All in all, we had an awesome trip, and although some face climbing fitness was lost, a completely new set of skills were developed, going from barely being able to jam to feeling confident at relatively steep pure cracks, without tape. Hopefully, this will eventually improve my UK rock-climbing! Squamish is a really cool place, I would whole-heartedly recommend it as a first North American venue, as I hear the grades in places such as Yosemite are a bit stiff, they seem fair in Squamish.

Get on it!

Squamish Update...

Just a brief one here, had a really good couple of weeks here so far, done loads of awesome routes including Hairpin 5.10a, Karen's Math 5.10a, Slap and Tickle 5.10b, Paul's Crack 5.10a, Squamish Buttress 5.10c (PUMPY!), and Angel's Crest 14-pitch 5.10b/c yesterday! even topped out on the crest with enough time to go bouldering! Looks like the rain is set in for afew days so unsure of what to do, but should get better 5 days before we leave!!! Could be an intense 5 days!!!


See y'all soon, peace out.

Karate Kid and the Canadian Crack Addiction...

Last time I psoted, I was about to head up Helvellyn to sell Tea, Coffee and Bacon butties to unwitting punters at the top of the Mountain. It was a lucrative couple of days seeing a haul of 400 squid each after expenses... I bought a pair of trainers for squamish and headed to Liverpool to meet Jess and Heather, after a meal in the Egg, we headed back to chill at Heather's house. A teary goodbye to Jess and a hurried pack, and it was 3 hours till we had to leave for the airport. A short flight to London and we are off to Vancouver, witht he pressing issue of whether to try and sleep or to take advantage of the free movies... free movies it is. Upon landing in Vancouver we are interrogated by border control about how we know each other and how much money we have... a skytrain into the centre and we decide to go straight to Squamish rather than chill in a hostel, in the bus station we meet two Canadians who are heading out to boulder for the summer, Liam and Doug.

We arrive at Squamish and all I can see is the Chief rearing up above me... holy shiiit! That thing is BIG! the rest of the day I am too tired to do anything and all I can think about is the Chief... intimidated is a word you could use to describe the feelings going through my head... We head to bed early as we have been up for over 24 hours and are knackered.

The next day we went and got food and then headed out to the Smoke Bluffs to try our hand at crack climbing. We crush an unknown 5.7 and find that taping your hands makes a big difference, then a 5.9 is cruised, feeling cocky I get on a 5.10b, but the gear is poor, I make do with the best I can and sketch my way through to jams and a cruise to the top, after finishing with a 5.7 we head back to the camp-site.

Thursday dawns and we head to the Upper Malamute, a sort of sea cliff crag in which you have to ab in. Heather cruises a 5.8 layback corner, which means I get the lead on a 5 star 5.8+, High Mountain Woody. A tricky section off the ground leads to stead climbing and regular rests, I'm not entirely convinced its 5 star but it was awesome nonetheless. We head back for lunch and then head back to the Smoke Bluffs, we both crush an awkward 5.8, the Quarryman, and then Heather crushes Penny Lane, a tricky 5.9. Walking on to Neat and Cool crag, Flying Circus, a just off-vertical fingercrack at 5.10a catches my eye. TThe guide says it's polished from topropers, and the people before us have just toproped it, hmmm, I go for it anyway, and feel confident with sinker finger-locks and not terrible feet either. Suddenly, the fingerlocks open up and the feet diminish, a foot slips, but I manage to keep it together, make another move and I'm inot jugs and real footholds. The best route of the trip so far!!!

Friday is overcast again, but we planned to go and do our first Squamish multipitch today and the weather isn't bad enough to not do this. 'Hiking' (as the Canadians say) out to the Apron, we choose St. Victus; Dance, a 6 pitch 5.9. The first 2 pitches are steady, a bit of rock climbing, and then pullin on trees. The third pitch, only rated 5.8 is a massive 50m crack that widens as it gets steeper. I gear up ready for the fight and go at it, karate-chopping jams and fist jams in, whilst torquing my feet into the crack... Suddenly, it starts drizzling, I push on and squirm up the final offwidth to the belay ledge...phew!!! Florence's next pitch is a super cool 5.9 pitch that involves switching crack systems and then a wide crack to finish. Now the final hard pitch, involving an overhanging section of crack!! I go up, fix some gear and throw a fist jam in, pulling up, I stuggle to torque my feet in as the rope is in the way, first fall of the trip... taken. I lower down to the slab at the bottom, and engineer the rope so it runs deep in the crack, go again, and manage to haul myself over the top! It was only a body and a half length of crack but it was hard!, I carry on up to the belay and we top out, and walk back to camp.

I still feel like I have a long way to go before I feel totally comfortable at Jamming, and cracks, and long multipitches here, but hey we have had 3 days climbing and have still done some fairly hard stuff (for us).

Stay tuned...

Freeeedooom!!!!

Ok, so this time last week I had finished my exams but was desperately trying to finish my dissertation project proposal for 5:00pm... Thankfully, I finished it on time and plans were made to go climbing at Gogarth the next day. However, on awaking to heavy rain we decided to chill out and watched Shutter Island, a mega spinney film about a high-security mental institute for the criminally insane!! After this we went and got lunch at the Blue Sky cafe in Bangor, which, whilst expensive is pretty tasty!! Finally it was time to climb, but with threats of rain later on in the afternoon at gogarth, we headed to the slate quarries.

I used to go to the slate quarries a lot in my first year at uni, it was a place I felt comfortable... big slabs of smooth rock, big run-outs, but simply a case of trusting your feet and standing up until you were at the top or the next piece of gear, I even managed to go from onsighting E1's to onsighting 2 E4's on slate during first year, and so it became sort of a comfortable place to go. However, in almost every other aspect of my climbing I could only get up E2's, highlighting a major specialism in slabs and weakness everywhere else. Due to this and a couple of trips to Lower Sharpnose in North Devon and getting completely shutdown by the sustained vertical wall climbing, I made a conscious decision to get better at steeper rock, as after all that inspires me most... Despite my heavy addiction to the slate, I never got round to doing Fool's Gold, E1 5c. So on arrival at Bus Stop Quarry, I headed straight for it...

BAM!! "Now then Mr Duncan, where have you been all this time?" the slate teased as I grappled with the first easy moves. "Just away, you know on other rock-types, steeper angles, trying to become a more rounded climber" I reply balancing to get some gear in as high as I can for the crux sequence. "But we used to be such good friends, why should I let you up this when you have neglected me?" The slate angers, I misread a hold sequence, going for a poor slopey crimp, my right foot swinging round to the left to keep my centre of gravity constant. "Yes why should I indeed... hahahahaha!" Collecting myself, there is only one way to do the next move, use a small, polished foothold. I'm wearing brand new Anasazi whites and havn't got the sensitivity for polish, I commit, slap for the ledge and it's ok, just the odd tricky move in the upper crack. Wow, nearly spat off by something I would have walked up last year... Florence cruises up behind me, but team psyche is low, we have all spent a lot of time in the quarries and have almost run out of things to do in North Wales Rock.

But Mikey Goldthorp is back up for a couple of days, and is keen to go see Mason at the Indy on his first day! It was awesome to see Mikey, he is as positive as ever and strong as an ox, flashing a V4 I can't even touch, campusing in complete control so as not to fall and hurt his ankle... I have another burn at the now regraded full traverse which goes at Fr7a+ though I have heard people talk about 7b/+. I managed to redpoint this on one of the many Indy trips during exams, but never repeated it.

Sunday was a rest day but also the day Jess left Bangor for the summer so I helped her pack and said goodbye :( unsure of whether we would see each other again before I left for Squamish.

Monday saw more rain in the morning but team psyche was high for Gogarth and after a (un)healthy sized fry up, a massive team headed out; Me and Jez, Mark and Tom, Florence and Livvers, and Fingers and Lyndsay! On getting to the Main Cliff racking up spot, I noticed something was different from the other times I had been to Main Cliff, there were LOADS of rucksacks... I had my sights set firmly on Stimulator, a 2 pitch E3 5c to the left of a classic and strenuous E1, Emulator. The bold 5c starting groove felt greasy, but the holds were just positive enough for me to chalk up and go for it, soon reaching good holds and the top of the pitch. Unsure of whether to carry on and link the 2 pitches together, I belayed so I could keep an eye on Jez. After a good effort trying his best, he managed to haul himself up the pitch more than a bit boxed. Feeling guilty for the sand bag, I set off on the 5b 2nd pitch, which starts with a bold teeter around an arete until good finger ledges are gained. A party having a slight epic on Emulator were just starting the '2nd' pitch, and I tried to offer words of encouragement. The last piece of the route is a brilliant little handcrack, so I became quite gripped then! Suddenly, I realised a problem, the 2 routes share a topout sequence. Seeing the other guy flapping, I let him go first though suddenly regret it, he is right above me and his feet are sketching, I am on 2 hand-jams, a foot-jam and a small edge. I place a cam inbetween my hands and hope he doesn't fall off. He doesn't and I race to the top, sharing belay anchors we chat as we bring our second's up.

The next day a crack team of crushers (Mason, Steve Ramsden, and Jake Cook) recruit me for a hit on Clogwyn Yr Eryr, in the Crafnant Valley. This esoteric little crag is an absolute gem, though known for having stout E2's! After yesterday's exploits I feel tired, but on arriving at the crag, I take a look at Astoroth, E2 5c in NWR but hinted at harder on UKC... I gear up and prepare for a battle... going up into the 2nd groove is tricky and it keeps coming until a small sloping shelp is reached below the final quarrman-esque groove. I place some high gear, but am tired from the awkward placement and retreat to the ledge. Looking up I see a peg on the right wall, where I am heading. Upwards, I squirm, back and footing, using every part of my body to stay in contact with the rock. I stretch, clip the peg, a disco leg rising in my right leg threatening to part me from the rock. Bridging out over 20 metres of space I see the peg, rotting, and sticking out further than it should, my brain goes back into red alert, the next peg is crap too, damn! I'm scared now, tiring, I wiggle a wire in above the pegs clip it and fight on to the top, shaking all over as I clip the belay! What a route!! Everybody else does it and consensus says E3 6a... wow what a battle, what a route! Jake crushes an E5 6b but I can't even get off the ground... the sun has gone so we all opt for a boulder in the Ogwen on the way home... a fine couple of day's cragging if you ask me, and my last in North Wales for a while.

I headed to the lakes on Wednesday and on Thursday me and Bubbles went cragging in Borrowdale. We headed to Black Crag, the home of Prana E3 5c, but after a warm-up solo of Troutdale Pinnacle, a brilliant Severe, we find it wet in its bottom half. Not wishing to fight a stream we opted for Raindrop, an E1 5b very reminiscent of overlapping wall on Carreg Wasted in the Pass. Afterwards, we head to Quayfoot buttress and Bubbles leads Crypt Direct, a tricky and bold E1. We are going to be selling Bacon Butties, Tea and Coffee on the top of Helvellyn this weekend, and then I am off to Squamish on Tuesday!

I'll try and keep blogging whilst I'm in Squamish, so keep an eye out!

Failure... and Inspiration

“Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible.” - Cherie-Carter Scotts


Ok so here is a bit of an abstract blog that can be applied to all aspects of life I guess, but for me is mainly climbing focussed.  


Failure. It's a word that has some big connotations, pretty much exclusively bad ones, in all aspects of life. For example; I didn't get the job, I couldn't climb the route, I didn't match my target time for my marathon, I failed my exam/driving test, I just broke up with my partner, etc, etc. All these are aspects of failure that are encountered in life, and usually looked upon negatively, and can sometimes even illicit negative feelings in the person for varying time periods afterwards.


For me the failures that I focus in on mostly come down to my climbing performance (I haven't applied for any jobs recently, I don't run, I am passing my exams* and am luckily still with my girlfriend) But I often fail in my climbing life... This leads to a lot of self-examination and soul-searching, often keeping me up for hours or distracting me from uni work. Looking back on my UKC log (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/showlog.html?id=70513), I have failed a lot since 2011 began; Cream, Sai Dancing, Poema de Roca, Yogur de Coca, Pilier Dorada, Stroll On, Bulling-747, just to name a few but I never try and hide my failures and always try to remain honest about them. However, in the past I have been guilty of not being positive or honest with myself about my reasons for failure. 


Since reading the Rock Warriors Way my outlook on failure has changed immensely. Whereas before I would blame coldness or whatever now I will try and look at what I did, the choices I made and work out where I went wrong and where I was just unlucky... This I think is a major breakthrough in my climbing, and one I have found has helped already. I went to the Orme this Thursday with Dave and he had a crack at Gritstone Gorrila, despite the freezing wind! After taking 2 lobs on the crux he got it 3rd go ground up. I had to second with the numbest hands ever, and knowing the crux was a stiff layback I was nervous to say the least. However, on getting to it I remembered why I failed to onsight the laybacks on Stroll On, got my feet high and kept the commitment up. I soon found myself holding the good hold at the end of the crux, though at this point I had to rest as I could no longer feel my hands! We quickly bailed round the orme and back to Mayfair wall for my first taste of Upper Pen Trwyn sport climbing. I chose Julio Juvenito, F7a for its sexual crimpyness. Psyched up for the onsight, I was cautious not to misread the sequence. However once I got into the meat of the climbing, coupled with Al Mason's shouts of; "Come on Dunc, Turn it on", I had to start moving quickly and was unceremoniously spat off. Realising the error of my way and that I had to do an unlikely looking boulder problem to gain good holds more direct, I was at the top and on the way down giving Dave the beta. He consequently crushed it... brilliant! Back up, I blasted on, threw the throw, then completely changed my original poor sequence for a more direct one, and it was done. Another F7a in the bag! I have decided that every time I go sport climbing I will try something of F7a or above, as this will be the way to improve and enable me to onsight F6c (and above) trad routes. I then tried to second Mason on King Krank, E5 6b and found out that english 6b is tres hard! With rain drops falling I pulled through the crux and got the gear out before a massive band of rain passed over! Phew!


Now back to revision I am beginning to gain inspiration from routes and people. Rob Greenwood being one of them, he does everything well, is mad for it and totally chilled in scary environments. Mikey G's positivity is also inspirational, and seems to be seeing him recover exceedingly quickly (along with the amount of sleep he partakes in). I'm beginning to see a trend of 'positivity gets you through sticky situations', which I have realised and put to use in a recent exam and it seemed to work... I am mega keen to put it to use on some hard (for me) trad, but at the moment with poor weather and exams in North Wales, I am focussing on maintaining my current level, so that once I finish exams I can have a couple of weeks of crushing before I head off to Squamish! Luckily the weather is absolutely rubbish in North Wales at the moment, so I hit the Indy yesterday in search of a good workout and some more training. The Indy, is a brilliant way of learning through failure as you can and will fail on V2s!! Unfortunately there was a lack of failure, so maybe no learning? Managed to bosh out my 3rd Indy V5 (albeit a soft one) thanks to some beta from Mr Carroll! I then set to work on what drew me here in the first place... FITNESS! A new circuit set at Fr7a+/b with a potentially 7c extension! After a rest I got on the 7a+/b and flashed it, I had looked at the moves and knew there would be a sting in the tail but once I got there, despite being mega boxed I kept pulling! It's probably more like 6c/+. Now the 7c? ext. This adds a hard, short bouldery section onto the 7a that I reckon might even be V3/4....uh oh. Unfortunately I failed time and time again pulling around onto the last section. I then ran (stumbled) home... today I feel broken and have eaten A LOT! But endeavor to keep doing a bit more than just wall sessions during exams and maybe beyond!


A few blogs to get you inspired: 


Scotch-wad Greg Boswell: http://gregboswell.blogspot.com/

Brenin-wad Davey Morse: http://davidmorse1984.blogspot.com/


So go forth and don't be afraid of failure, there is no other way to learn and become better at climbing/life/whatever you want to excel at... Dunc




*bar one which I will have to return to North Wales... DAMN... to retake :/

The rain in Spain falls mainly in El Chorro....

Hey guys, it has been a while since I splurged my life onto the internet for a number of reasons... firstly there was a lack of climbing and time, then there was a lack of internet and time... now I have both, or do I? I apologise in advance for the monster post... lots to fit in you see!

So the last instalment saw tales of crushing lovely trad routes on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coastline, after this I had work to do and no climbing was done :( Once handed in, I managed to get out for a sneaky boulder in the Llanberis Pass on Saturday morning. First I headed up to the Barrel under Dinas Mot as it was shady. I decided after a quick warm-up to try a V6 called Bulling-747. A powerful problem starting from 2 undercuts and powering up to match two small, slopey crimps and then a lunge for a jug. I didn't quite get that far unfortunately, it is evident that what bouldering power I had in the winter, when I sent two Porth Ysgo V6s in a session each, is now well and truly gone. I managed to hold the holds but could not hang them to match at all.... a sign of the times that endurance is in and power is out... as the tradding season is well and truly dawning. I then went down to the Cromlech boulders for a bit of a potter before heading back to Bangor to miss my train home by literally minutes.

However, most mere mortals would have resigned themselves to not getting home the next day in time for the one day I would be able to go cragging whist at home, but me? Oh no, I am a seasoned public transportee, me lad, I'll find a way to get home this eve or at least get into Newton Abbot early enough  for a quick snooze before the scheduled afternoon crushfest with my good matey Henry. And this is what I tried; I got on the next train to Chester, changed at Crewe, got to Birmingham, all the time texting and ringing my bro for updates on the next train further South in my quest to beat National Rail Enquiries. No more trains from birmingham once you get there bro, ho ho ho I'll find a way me ol' mucker! says I, there must be a way...

Birmingham 10:20 pm no more trains southward bound AT ALL. Woops, looks like for once confidence won't blindly see you through... I know I'll kip in the loos, dozing in a cubicle on my trusty rucksack, eventually I am turfed out into the cold...no wait surprisingly mild saturday night in Birmingham. People fired up for a night out of drinking, dancing and laughing... I am an outcast, no-one knows where a hostel is, but Subway is open to 3:30am perfect, and all for the price of a bottle of coke. Turfed out at 2:30am, damn, ok lets take a stroll my boy, wait the people you want to avoid by curling up in a dark corner will be avoiding the rozzers in the same places... hmmm could kip in the middle of the flower and hedge arrangement? No. Back to the train station, where Ron Fawcett keeps me company with stories of his crushing around the world, then music until at 7:00 am when the cold is gnawing at my bones, I am interviewed by Sheree. A brummie woman with elaphantitis in one leg... she talks to me about life and her woes and asks me mine.... I don't really have any I guess, I'm pretty lucky, I have my health, a slightly disjointed family, loads of good mates a sweet girlfriend, enough money in my pocket to feed me and allow me to partake in my passion, to push myself mentally and physically on bits of rock... Thanks Sheree for reminding me :) I hope your life is taking a turn for the better wherever you are...

Eventually I am back home and my body aches all over from huddling over myself all night, no climbing for me today, I fall asleep in the garden... Damn. Then began a week at work, moody customers, boring stuff to sell (pots, pans, bedding anyone?), being reminded that whatever you decide to devote your life to is pointless in someones eyes, you just gotta do what inspires YOU...

Finally Monday, and I fly at 2:00pm, so hot at Exeter airport, how hot will it be in Spain? Answer: raining, sleep in the airport once Heather and Mason land, wake, hunt out gas and stove to cook on in the caves and train to El Chorro. Get to the caves and then only one thing: CLIMBING.

It took a couple of days to get back into the sport vibe and El Polvorin being a harsh master, I began to see my goals and aims slip away, but managed to try and learn from the failure and put a positive light on it, the Rock Warriors Way, see. Poema de Roca, a classic 7a, you can tell by the polish (Mr Sheen not Eastern Europe), brushed me off tantalisingly close to the chains.Then an attempt on La Orejazo 7a saw me at the chains putting the draws in! This victory was quickly revoked when I was told I had done the 7c to the chains on aforementioned route and it was about F6c+ (Coincidence?). For these days we were mostly dodging heavy rain showers, and were therefore restricted to steepness or those routes with steepness above. Whilst you lucky lot were basking in Spanish weather!

Finally we got some Spanish sun, and Cono Paco was the route chosen to be a new potential first 7a...it is just over vertical and pumpy....yummy. After a couple of nice warm-up routes, I got on it, thirsty for the onsight. Up down like a yo-yo hell bent on not being thrown in the bin, I eventually was as every yo-yo has been. After some grub, and now knowing how to do every move, except I forgot how to do the crux, I got on it and it went like a dream... ahhh finally just above the average sport climber? After this we scuttled round to a different crag and I started up Makita Power a 6c that I was told was hard by both Gwen and Mason, eek! I just about managed the powerful and technical crux, and then managed to race to the top as the first big drops of a rainshower began to drop. Luckily we found a 6b in the rainshadow, and there went my most productive day of sport climbing, 6a+, 2 6bs, a 6c onsight and a 7a redpoint.... nooice..

Next day, semi chill, Florence heads back to conquer the route that scared her yesterday, and I head up a lovely 6b+ cos its in the shade and it is HOT! Back to the campsite for a bit of a chill whilst it is hottest... then up to Encatadas once a bit of cloud comes in. Get on the boulderiest, pockety 6c, and fall literally going for the finishing jug! Boooo.

The final full day, Eugene was coerced into taking us to a crag the other side of the gorge, that is in the shade... Desplomilandia. We start at Buenos Sombres, a crag with a bouldery style to it that I find hard, but Florence is crushing today, we both do the 6a+ and the 6b+ (she cruises, I flail), then I put the clips in on the 6c but mess up the crux :( Florence flashes it! Awesome effort.... It's so easy on redpoint I'm angry... We head round the corner to the reassuring 'pump' symbol in the guide... La Novia 7a, chosen, the guide says its a bit runout... it is aswell. I was lucky and got the sequence right first or at worst second go. Got the aggression and focus perfect and just kept moving, even when I wanted to chill out I knew I had just had to go. On the upper section a big move to a diagonal rail from a horizontal juggy break was too far, but I realised this early and managed to switch to an undercut, get my feet high and exploded onto the rail, in one of the coolest sequences I have onsighted to date!!

After we left the caves we stayed at The Olive Branch, a brilliant little place where there is a range of accommodation from tents to bunkhouses to private rooms... check it out here; http://www.olivebranchelchorro.co.uk/

Another night in Malaga airport and a flight home whilst Will and Kate got all tied up and I was back in the UK, crashing at Jess' in Glossop. After less than a day my hands were itching so we popped up to Stanage for a few VS's, borrowing Jess' dad's old rack... and with Jess forgetting chalk I went old school and almost fell off Fern Crack which at VS 4c, no chalk on a hot, sunny day and precious few bits of gear that would fit, I see now how gnarly people used to be...

Another day was spent chilling in Derbyshire before I boarded the train back to Bangor, thankfully no train stations were slept in.

The next day as it was a Bank holiday, I decided to give myself a break and went cragging in the Pass with Fingers, our third house dosser this year... We first went up to Scimitar Ridge, potentially the windiest place in christendom. Chreon E2 5b was crushed first by fingeroo, then I got on Sparta an E3 5c. However, under the dirt and the no. 1 and 2 RPs was easy climbing warrenting E2 5b at the most, and a soft one at that. I guess I took the worng line. The plan had been for fingers to crush Roc-nest Monster E4 6a, then we would go to the Cromlech and I would do Memory Lane, E3 5c and he would do resurrection E4 6a. But the wind made us feel that maybe the Grochan at the opposite end of the Pass and low down would be better. It wasn't but we climbed anyway, Fingers crushed Stroll On, E3 6a which he had been on last year but not got clean, making it look easy I stepped up to the plate and barn-doored off early on, woops! I lowered down and went back up, this time not choppering the moves up as before! Getting to the rest under the roof, I was pumping but not too badly. placed a couple of bits of gear then set about resting. (It really is quite a good rest). However the next bit was hard and much yoyo-ing was done before I committed to the hard laybacks. Access denied, not enough commitment to the laybacks given, I was spat off. Back up to the rest, next time up I had it, placed some gear a way above and carried on. Another hard layback and I was pumping trying to figure it out, nope not enough commitment, off again. Next time up, just enough juice to pull into the final groove section. Luckily the one cam left fits. Squirming up I get another 2 small RPs in before the final section to sthe the belay and I'm there pumped, panting, petrified. Abbing off into the wind to clean the route I finally reach the ground, spanked but relatively happy.

Now it is on with the revision, until freedom on the 26th May. I am determined to keep climbing, and at worst maintain my current level, so that I can explode back onto the crags once I am free before I head off to Squamish!

Peas out, DC

Limestone Lemurs

After being cooped up like a small rodent from Wednesday to Friday, I handed my essay in, and was picked up by Dave so that we could get an early start on Friday morning.

We woke to thick cloud and rain in Capel Curig, but buoyed by the fact that Capel is the wettest place in the world, we packed the car and set off South, headed for an afternoon hit on Carreg-y-Barcud, North Pembroke. After hours of driving, we saw a few patches of blue sky and forged on, imagining golden sun, blue skies and bikini clad women at the bottom of the crag (or was that just me??). Arriving at Barcud it was clear that few of these would materialise, though I did try and convince Heather to crack her bikini out, but fortunately she declined. Abbing in to the belay ledges, it was obvious that the incoming tide and rough swell dictated a swift traverse to the right-hand side of the Main Face. I ended up on Beyond the Azimuth, with Dave on belay duty, as I set off up the route I began to feel a splattering on me and shouted down "Is it just me or is this sea spray really heavy!?!?" The response being "It's raining get a move on!". 'Right, shit' I thought 'slabby E1 in the rain'. I placed another bit of gear, and began to move up the diagonal crackline, placing gear more often than I usually do on that sort of terrain. Despite being a bit intimidated at the beginning of the route I soon found myself at the top by just taking it a move at a time and getting as much gear in as possible. I searched out a couple of stacked wires for a belay, and bought Dave up. By this time, Heather and Siobhan had also topped out on their route and declared their escape back to the car. Dave decided as we were here he would have a quick top-rope of an E5 he had tried before, and luckily cruised to the top, and we bailed back to the car.

A wild Carreg-y-Barcud

 We headed to Dave's Dad's House for warmth and dryness, and Siobhan russled up a mega chilli, which I ate far too much of! After a good sleep, we headed down to Bosherston Head for some steep Limestone!
It was me and Florence the Machine on Crush Team B whilst Dave and Shivvers went to have a crack at Star Wars...

Florence crushed Cool for Cats at Stennis Head in the shade as a warm up so we headed to St Govan's for some sun and lactic acid. It was my lead, and abbing in I knew that to push myself and get a decent route in I would have to get on The Butcher E2/3 5c or Poisoned Arrow E4 6a. Unsure of how well I was climbing on steep rock I opted for the Butcher. Setting off it felt greasy and I had a hard time believing I would get up it clean, but just took it in sections, and after a tricky section found myself at the Jug rest under the crux...It turned out to be full of water, so with a wet right hand I set about putting in some good gear for the crux. However, in an effort to keep my left hand dry I was using a poorer hold and had to keep swapping hands to place gear and then rest the other hand! After what seemed like an age, I had assessed the crux and decided to go for it, my right hand dry, grabbing the crimp, pulling through to the good hold on the arete, my feet and body moving into position to allow me to carry on upwards, on into the upper crack I plug a cam in and keep moving, riding the pump now, nearing the top, pull over and whoop for joy! Make a belay and my whole body is buzzing, I did it, no in-situ gear to clip, no ledges, hands off rests or respite from the steepness. It felt more E3 than E2 to me but steep, pumpy climbing is not a strong point of mine. Whatever the grade, what an experience and a big boost to my confidence. Florence crushed it on second like the machine she is and we got some grub down us.

Low down on The Butcher E3 5c ***

We abbed back in for the Arrow, a classic E1 I seconded on my last trip to Pembroke, after a few false starts on the wet bottom section, Heather flew up it, and I tried to do the same on second. Not sure what to do next, I decided another classic was in order so blasted up Army Dreamers (HVS 5a) which has some brilliant climbing marred only by the polish. After my battle with the Butcher I felt flowing and confident, enjoying the position and climbing. Satisfied, we headed to the campsite, had some reet tasty food and headed to the pub for some cider...

Sunday began in an overcast manner and with both the Castle and Rusty Walls soaked, we headed back to St Govan's, so I pottered up Panzer II, a shortlived HVS to the right of Army Dreamers. Then the sun came out, Heather then did Tactitian another HVS with a burly, cornery crux...kudos! I then did War Games, an E1 next to Tactitian, its no harder, just a bit bolder and a tad more goey but has hands off rests and the best, most exposed corner at the top. To carry on the Military theme of the day, Heather finished off with Front line a really great HVS to the left of Army Dreamers. A brilliantly chilled day, just enjoying the movement over rock, and being next to the sea in great company, bathed in sunshine!

Florence the Machine fiddling some gear into the Tactitian, HVS 5a ***

Overall, a wicked weekend, with a fair amount of mileage, I also have started feeling far more comfortable on steep ground, and instead of panicking as soon as I begin to feel my forearms fill with lactic acid, I sort myself out and try and find a rest or push on to a rest.

A good effort to Dave for abbing in and getting on Star Wars, the idea of it intimidated me all weekend, unfortunately the send was halted by a dodgy move above RPs, still at least I've got some beta on it now!

I cannot wait to get back down there, armed with a bit more sport fitness and more sun!! I think I will try and get a load more E3s done and maybe have a crack at Bloody Sunday, Poisoned Arrow, or Star Wars all E4... Spicy times!!

DC