Back to the Motherland

I returned to home for a few days, home of course being Yorkshire. I only managed 2 days out, and they weren't really very successful, but here they are anyway.
On my way down I stopped at Almscliff. After a bit of a play on Stu's Roof Left Hand I tried Si's Arete. I had come close on this a number of times but never managed to do the final move. After a quick work of the start I was soon back to my high point, going to the final hold. This move isn't big I just always find it hard to commit to. I tried a number of different foot positions and finally settled on a frogging approach. I did it on my second go after working this out. Im really pleased to send this as I have been trying it for a while. It is also the hardest problem I've climbed all summer at font 7a+.
The next day I went to Brimham rocks. This was a pretty bad trip. I left late so I didn't have much time to climb. I then managed to hurt my back whilst warming up, which has been giving me bother ever since. I did however manage a few nice things, most notably of which is a font 6b+ called Bellyflop. This problem is aptly named as it is the best way to top it out. I tried to do a stylish mantle on my first attempt but that failed so on my second go I just belly flopped onto the top. This problem goes through a roof close to the car park. I had been here on my first visit to Brimham but I couldn't do anything on it, which makes this tick quite significant for me. It means that atleast I have improved in the last year!
Sorry about the lack of photos again!

Not much of anything

I have had 4 trips out since by last post managing to tick pretty much nothing.
I have been making use of my new Scottish Sport Climbs guide (review to follow soon!), visiting Kirrie Hill and Robs Reed near Forfar. They are both old quarries composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate.
I went to Robs Reed with Jamie Sparkes and Alex Toomey. I climbed a 6b+ called Welcome To The Big Pocket, which as the name suggests features a big pocket. The crux was by far the mantle into the pocket, which I took a number of goes to get. After this I climbed on my second attempt a 6c+ called Get Shorty! and onsighted a 7a+ called Short Haul. On the left end of the crag are some steep roofs which have some short hard routes in them. I tried one called Dead Pull (7b+) but I dogged it. It didn't feel too hard but thanks to the nature of conglomerate it would be very hard to onsight.
A couple of days later I went to Kirrie Hill with Joanna Lisowiec. I spent most of the day climbing easy things, managing no more than 6b+, however I did manage to climb a 7b on my third attempt when we moved to the other section. The 7b was called Slim Pickins and feature a bouldery start followed by some big moves between jugs in the middle and finished with a hard crimpy boulder problem with very bad sloping sandy footholds.

Slim Pickins

Into the crux

I have also managed 2 days out bouldering. I had an afternoon at Cambusbarron and a day at Back Bowden. At Cambusbarron I tried Monkey Spanking. This route takes the left side of the Spanking the Monkey arete and gets font 7b. I took about an hour to work out how to get off the ground as there are no footholds on the overhanging face. I eventually managed the first move before falling off again. Maybe I need more body tension or maybe there is some sort of trick that I missed. Ill hopefully go back and try it again when I'm a bit stronger.
I had a nice day at Back Bowden yesterday. I only managed to tick a 6a+ but I did try lots of others. I managed to get to the last hold on Little Pixxies (7a), but I didn't hold it. I also climbed Low an Hard (7b) from a sit, it was just in the wrong place. The route starts very low on an under cut with a powerful move to the lip of the roof. After trying the start a few times and failing to do it I attempted the problem from the second hold and managed it. Unfortunately I can't claim this. I also worked a problem called Four Mats Wall (7b+) but I couldn't quite managed to finish it off.
You may have noticed if you have read back through my blog recently I have a new rating system based on thumbs. The maximum is 2 thumbs up and the minimum is 2 thumbs down. Its a 5 point system, a bit like conventional stars but its better as it has my name on it.

Excellent

Good

Distinctly Average

Poor

Disinfect Hands After Use

Orange

So post names can sometime be hard to think of so I chose a colour which sums up my climbing recently. Its been sunny and warm, I've climbed on a lot of sandstone and feldspars in dolerite can look a bit orange at times.
I haven't posted since my return from Pabbay and Mingulay but don't think that I haven't been climbing. I have climbed in Yorkshire (Caley Crag, Caley Roadside and Shipley Glen), Northumberland (Rothley, Simonside, Kyloe In, Bowden and Shaftoe) and in the Central Belt (Dumbarton, Auchinstarry and Limekilns). I have mostly climbed by myself but I have been partnered by Oli Read, David Mayes, Greg Brown, Chris Williams and Karen Munro on occasions.
Describing each of my days out would he hard (there have been 12 of them) so here is a quick summary.
I had a nice run of form managing to climb font 7a on 6 consecutive climbing days. This all started at Shipley Glen on the 29th June where I climbed Parker, a nice little 1 move wonder undercut arete. On the 30th I stopped at Rothely crag where I climbed 2 font 7a's. These were Reclaimed, which is very soft, and Numbian, which is very hard to grade.
A couple of days later I returned to Rothely and despite spending most of the day working a 7a called Gloom, and failing to link it, I managed to climb another called In The Corner. I had tried this on my previous visit but I didn't get it. It went down pretty easy in the end though.
On the 5th July I went to Simonside and managed to flash a 7a called La Proue. I feel I must have done something wrong as it felt very easy and I did it in about 3 moves. It was mostly compression moves on slopers, and Im climbing pretty well on those particular holds at the moment so maybe it just suited me. I also almost ticked a 7a mantle called Baps but I kept on falling off with my hand in the finishing juggy pocket.
On the 7th I headed to Kyloe In were I managed to tick Jocks and Geordies sit start (font 7a). I had previously climbed it from standing but on my first attempt I couldn't remember the sequence at the top and fell off. I managed it on my next go though.
On the 10th I made my way to Bowden and spent lots of time falling off things, but I did managed to tick Y front direct, which really is a little more indirect when you look at the line, which gets 7a. This was my final 7a in my run of bouldering form.
In the last few days I have been getting out in the central belt. On the 15th I headed to Dumbarton for a day of polished bouldering. I spent lots of time working hard things before getting on a route called Physical Graffiti. PG gets E5 in the guide but I think high ball font 6b is more reasonable. This was only my second E5, although I don't really feel it is one. I have been on the shunt in the last 2 days at Auchinstarry and Limekilns. I went to Auchinstarry to work a route called Nijinksi (E5). This route takes a slabby arete next to the car park, and due to it situation and that it has bolts at the top it gets top roped a lot leading to it being quite polished in places. My initial attempt was quite poor as I worked out the moves but I managed to climb it clean on my second go. I wasn't really feeling the solo so I went home. I returned the next day and shunted it clean twice more before jumping on the solo. I managed to climb up to the crux (8m?) but I didn't want to commit to the moves around the arete. Luckily I could reach my ropes so I descended. Maybe this is one I will have to lead. On my way home I went to Limekilns were I attempted to shunt Slow Handclap (E7), but I didn't finish it as it's very hard!
I have bought the Scottish sport guide so hopefully I will get out on some sport routes soon. Sorry for the long post and no pictures!

Pabbay and Mingulay

I have just returned from an amazing 10 day trip to the islands of Pabbay and Mingulay in the Outer Hebrides with 8 friends from uni. The group consisted of Jamie Sparkes, Morgan Trigg, Robert Taylor, Anne Peale, Liam Ingram, Fergus Cuthill, Alistair Rocke and John De Leyser.

If you look through the guide for the islands lots of routes are graded with 4 stars, as are lots of routes on many other crags in the North West. I don't generally agree with stars on routes. I feel they are often over starred. Routes are usually graded 0 to 3 stars, although some 4 star routes do exist. I feel a 3 star route should be really good climbing in a nice place. 4 star routes need something a bit extra on top of the 3 star criteria. This should be in the effort required to get to and from the climb. A road side crag doesn't cut it. A big mountain or inaccessible island does. Pabbay and Mingulay are one of the few places I feel deserve 4 stared routes. You may ask why I stop at 4 stars. Well I don't, however 5 stars should be an unobtainable goal.

The trip started on the 12th of June with us catching the ferry from Oban. It almost ended then for me too as I nearly missed it as I had to drop the car off and run back across town. When I arrived they were removing the ramp onto the ship! The ferry drops you in Castlebay in Barra, named after the castle in the bay. From there you get picked up by "The Boy James" with captain Wee Donald, which dropped us off on Pabbay.

So much stuff

Aborad "The Boy James"

Pabbay is a playground of Gneiss, cross cut with dykes. There is an interesting abrupt change in vegetation at the northern end of the island which may have been affected by the geology, but I haven't been able to look t a map yet and I only realised on my way back.

Sand Fortress

Day 1 on Pabbay saw us take our huge amount of gear (77 cams, 82 quickdraws, over 1km of rope and more) up a stash at the top of the hill near the climbs. We then made our way to the Poop Deck for some nice steep single pitch climbing. The stand out effort for the day was Fergus who climbed the majority of The Raven, an E5, before taking quite a large fall.

The Great Arch

So much gear

The trip had quite a nice weather pattern. It generally rained in the morning and was dry in the afternoon, allowing us to have a lie in and plentiful water for tea and coffee whilst waiting out the rain. The crags are generally steep enough so as not to get too wet too. Day 2 was Hoofers Geo, for more single pitch fun. I climbed with Jamie again and managed an E1 lead each. On Day 3 I went to the Grey Walls with Jamie, Anne, Liam and Robert. To access the Grey Walls you need to make a 90m free hanging abseil onto a wave cut platform. I found this a bit scary, but once committed it wasn't so bad. We climbed U-Ei in 2 teams. I climbed with Jamie and Anne.

U-Ei

For our final day on Pabbay Jamie and I went round to 3 different crags to climb as many routes as we could. After trips to The Poop Deck and The Galley we finished the day off on The Banded Walls. Here we climbed Endolphin Rush. The first pitch has to be the best pitch of climbing I have ever done.

Wiggly Wall

Endolphin Rush

Monday was our moving day to Mingulay. The weather was amazing, and maybe even a little to warm to climb. Donald picked us up at about 11.30 and took us around Mingulay so we could see the crags we were going to climb on. Once on Mingulay and having set up the tents we had a look around. Robert and I went for a climb on Waterfall Geo and had a look at the Puffin Colony. I only had one more day of climbing in the trip, it was a holiday afterall. This was on the Wednesday before leaving. The entire team went to Dun Mingulay. Robert, Liam, Fergus and I climbed Voyage of Faith and John and Jamie climbed Sula. Dun Mingulay is a big sea cliff, which happened to have a big sea at the bottom of it on the day. After some hopeful looks over the edge we decided to give it an hour or so for the tide to drop before we could abb in. This meant that we didn't finish till 11, but its ok as it was still light! 

Voyage of Faith

It rained quite a bit on Thursday so we all went for a run back up the hill to get the stash. Friday saw us return to the mainland, smelly and tired but content with our Hebridean adventure.

Wet weather activities

I really enjoyed hanging out with the people in our little group but the people we met along the way made our trip even better. We shared Pabbay with another group of climbers who were all retired, and even had an ex EUMC president within the midst. One morning on Pabbay we were joined by Roger Wild and friends for tea and biscuits. They were kayaking around the islands as they retired too. On Mingulay our campsite had an extra tent in it, which belonged to a guy called Will, who was counting seabirds on the island for the NTS. Will had just finished a degree at Swansea Uni in Marine Biology, which he found out he got a first for during our stay.

Nice weather on Mingulay

The wildlife on the islands was also pretty cool. We saw eagles on 2 separate occasions, once on either island. There were lots of seals too. Seal song isn't as nice as it may seem, they just sound like winning dogs. There was one particular seal which endeared itself to us. It must have been cast away from the rest of the group and being British we backed the underdog. I think the decision in the end was to call it Tom H Seal. One night on Mingulay we even saw a basking shark swimming around the bay. A worry of mine before the trip was Fulmar vomit. I've heard it smells really bad and fulmars are like proximity puking devices that go off when ever you get too close. Luckily I avoided this peril, but John wasn't so lucky.

Tom H Seal

Ticklist (stars are my opinion)

Pabbay: 

Endolphin Rush - E3 ****

Corncrake for Breakfast - E2 **

U-Ei - E2 ***

Who Shot RJ - E2 ***

Bint There Dun It - E1 **

Hoofers Route - E1 **

Geovannie - E1 *

Wetter Than A Day At The Beach - E1 *

Illegal Alien - HVS **

Wiggly Wall - HVS ***

Mingulay: 

Voyage of Faith - E3 ****

Not so Diff - HS

Gneiss Slot - VD

Spank the Monkey

Yesterday I managed to tick a couple of boulder problems that had evaded me for a while. Not that long ago I mentioned in a blog post that I had had a look at a boulder problem at Cambusbarron called Spank the Monkey. It takes the left arete of a slabby boulder and gets font 7b in the lowland outcrops guide, although this is probably well over graded. The font 7a that it gets on UKC seems more on the mark. I managed to climb it after about an hour of working out where the foot holds were. I then managed to climb the right arete of the same slab. It gets font 4 but it didn't feel very much easier.

Spank the Monkey boulder

Later on I went to Wolfcrag and managed to do a dyno which I had never managed to latch before. It is called the Wolfie and get font 6b+.

Road Trip 2013

Sunset at Reiff

At the top of Blankist, Arran

Since the18th May I have managed to pack in loads of climbing. I have ticked a total of 123 routes and boulder problems and only had 2 days without climbing anything outdoors, although one of these days I went to Red Goat climbing wall in York. It is needless to say that I don't have much skin left. I have been to nearly 30 different crags in this time too. It would be a very long blog post if I described everything I did, so here is a summary.
The interesting part of my recent climbing, and the posts name, starts on the 25th May. Here I set off road tripping with Matt Harle and Sophia Borgeest. Our desitnation for the evening was Arran but we decided to stop off at Dumbarton rock on the way past. After Dumbarton, and on the way to Arran, we climbed on a cool little erratic boulder in the corner of a field called the Clochoderick Stone. Arran saw me head off on a solo trip up to the Rosa Slabs where I climbed Blank (VS) and Blankist (HVS). The plan after Arran was to road trip for a while, with Anne Peale as well, but unfortunately the weather wasn't looking very good up north, so we went to the county. Kyloe In seemed like the best bet and we had a nice day climbing around the steep crimpy sandstone walls. Matt and Sophia had to be in Edinburgh on Wednesday so Anne and I set off up North together. We were headed for Reiff but stopped off at Creag Dubh on the way past and climbed a nice HVS called Inbred. At Reiff we met up with some others from Edinburgh Uni.

Scooped Wall Traverse, Reiff in the Woods (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

On Wednesday John De Lyser, Alistair Rocke, Katie Main, Anne Peale and I made the long walk into the leaning block cliff at the North of the peninsula. Here I onsighted The Quickening (E5) and Freedom (E4), among others. They both felt very easy, so I may have been having a good day. The Quickening is my first E5 onsight, and first E5 clean (I don't think I have even top roped one). It takes a traversing line of massive buckets with good foot holds along a steep face and onto a slab. The next day we all went to the seal song area at Reiff. I managed to climb the route Seal Song (E3) which gives the area its name. I thought this felt much harder than The Quickening. On Friday Anne and I went out East in preparation for the EUMC's Dinner Meet in Dornoch on Saturday. We went to Cummingston and Huntleys Cave.

The Quickening, Reiff (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

Seal Song, Reiff (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

On Sunday Matt Harle, Sophia Borgeest, Anne Peale and I went to Sheigra to climb its famous steep sea cliffs. On Monday, after a morning at Sheigra we made our way south, climbing at Ardmair Crag on the way past. We spent that evening in Gairloch, climbing at Aztec Tower and Grass Crag the day after. The rest of the week was spent in Torridon, although I made a short trip to Helmsdale to do some work.

Bloodlust Direct, Sheigra (Photo Credit: Matt Harle)

Western Skyline, Ardmair

This trip has not only taken me around a large number of amazing locations, and featured some amazing sunsets, but the geology has also been very interesting. I have climbed rocks from the Dalradian, Lewisian, Torridonian and the Cambro-Ordovician within the past 11 days. Im not sure if I climbed on anything that was from the Moines though. This is possibly the best way to cement my knowledge of Scottish stratigraphy possible. I have even climbed within all the terranes of the Lewisian, those being; Richonoich, Assynt, Gruinard and Southern.
I'm having a rest for a few days now before I head to Pabbay on Wednesday!

Northumberland Wall, Diabaig (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

Here is a summary ticklist:
E5: The Quickening, Reiff (o/s)
E4: Western Skyline, Ardmair (o/s)
Unleash the Beast, Ardmair (o/s) (2nd)
Freedom, Reiff (o/s)
E3: Brave Heart, Reiff (o/s)
Seal Song, Reiff (o/s)
E2: Cross Eyed, Reiff (o/s)
Huntleys Jame, Huntleys Cave (o/s)
Pete's Wall, Huntleys Cave (o/s)
Bloodlust Direct, Sheigra (o/s)
Wanderings, Sheigra (o/s)
Northumberland Wall, Diabaig (o/s)
The Pillar, Diabaig (o/s)
Colours Fly, Limekilns (o/s)

Font 7a: Problem 37, Edlingham (o/s)
The Groove, Caley
Fony 6c+: Haven, Reiff in the woods

Malcs Arete, Torridon

Font 6c: The Prow, Hepburn
The Wall, Hepburn (o/s)
Jocks and Geordies, Kyloe In
Avoiding the Main Issue, Reiff in the woods (o/s)

F 7a: Like It Hot, Grass Crag (o/s)
F 6c: The Dump, Grass Crag (o/s)
All The Arts, Grass Crag (o/s)

Like it Hot, Problem 37 and The Quickening are all personal best onsights for me!

Petzl Helmet Review

I am in a position of having used all 3 of the adult mens petzl climbing helmets. These are the Sirocco, Metero III+ and Elios. They also make a womens helmet, the Elia, and a childrens helmet, the Picchu.

Metero III+: My first petzl helmet was the Metero III+. It is made from expanded polysetser allowing it to be very light (235g!) and well ventilated. Despite its lightweight feel it is quite hard wearing. The helmet is fully adjustable, and after a bit of practice you can even do it with one hand. This type of helmet is abit different from a conventional climbing helmet. The expanded polyester is designed to absorb impact, and not deform then rebound like a normal plastic lid.

Trad in the Meteor III+ (Photo Credit: Joanna Lisowiec)

This means that if you were to get hit my a falling rock it is more likely to break. However, like a bike helmet, if you hit your own head on a rock then it does a much better job than a conventional helmet. This might seem a bit hard to get your head around at first glance. Depending on your fixed point of reference then either the rock or the head can be moving in either situation, but does it work. I bought this helmet as I wanted something that would be able to withstand a side impact, which the meteor III+ does very well. Before this helmet I owned a Grivel Airtech, but it really didn't fit as nicely or cover as much of my head as the Meteor. The Metero features easy to use headlamp attachments. The Meteor is a very good trad or sport climbing helmet. This gets a harry rating of 1 thumb up.

New Elios: I won a new Petzl Elios helmet at the STS in 2012 and since winning it I have used it more than any other helmet I own. It features an ABS shell with a polystyrene liner, protecting both against falling rocks and falling heads. The fitting system is pretty much the same as that of the Meteor III+ and again is easy to adjust.

Elios at Newtyle (Photo Credit: Dom Scott)

The Elios also features headlamp attachments. There are a series of vents down either side of the helmet which can be closed if it is really cold or windy. At 330g (size 2) the Elios isn't exactly heavy either. The Elios feels more durable than the Meteor and is my main helmet for winter climbing and general cragging. The Elios is an all round helmet for the all round climber. This gets a Harry rating of 2 thumbs up.

Sirocco: The new Sirocco from Petzl is a super lightweight climbing helmet, that comes only in orange. It weighs in at a measly 165g and is made from a new expanded polypropelene. I used the Sirocco at the final round of the STS at Glenmore Lodge as a Petzl rep. brought it with him and I asked to borrow it for the final. The helmets lightness isn't just it the special foam used. A new adjustment system has been made for the Sirocco which doesn't use the plastic clips found on other helmets but just relies on some small buckles. This means it is much harder to adjust, but this just shows Petzls dedication to make a super light helmet. The new foam has allowed Petzl to remove the plastic outer found on their other fully foam helmet, the Metero, which has reduced its weight but means you have to have it in orange with foam effect.

Sirocco at the STS (Photo credit: andrewrutherfordphotography.co.uk)

There are headlamp attachments points, but there are only two unlike the four found on other Petzl helmets. The chin strap has a magnet inside the closing buckle. This is claimed to make it easier to close. I have never had any problem doing up a helmet and seeing as Petzl seemed to have abandoned ergonomics in favour of lightness for the rest of the helmet I think this is a little unnecessary. The Sirocco bends quite a lot when you press on the sides. The Petzl rep. who first showed me the helmet assured me it had been designed like this. The Sirocco is a nice concept and after they have worked out how to put some sort of design on the foam it will be even better, but I don't really see where it fits into my personal climbing. It is very light so it would be good as a competition helmet but if there was a large danger of falling rocks I think I'd rather something a bit more durable. This gets a Harry rating of 1 thumb up and 1 thumb down.

All three helmets have their place in climbing but from my personal all-round British perspectve the Elios is ideal. All of these helmets are available from outdoorkit.co.uk.