So unless you have been hiding in a cave you will be aware of the shocking weather that has been her in the UK for the past two months. Opportunities to get out have been limited and the temps still relativelycold for the time of year. After six days out in North Wales with Helen i came to the conclusion i'm going to give the trad a break until it gets warmer, it's just not fun sat on a ledge freezing your nads off! This led to focusing on bouldering again and setting a few goals and hopeully with the prospect of a trip to Hueco in the pipeline i realised it's time to get strong. I've been enjoying working at the wall the past few months and having the chance to set 25 problems for the summer bouldering league i could use it as an opportunity to set some training style problems and that i did. Out of the 25 problems there is still 9 i can't do, some of which are miles away others are in overlapping halves and will be done soon.
A couple of weeks ago i was on a our day kayaking course up in Clitheroe which i realised wasn't far away from Craig-Y-Longridge. After a visit a couple of years ago i had good memories of the place and knew i wanted to go back stronger, i headed there one evening for a short session. Conditions weren't brilliant and things felt quite greasy but i tried a few classics but all without success, one problem i really wanted to try was Big Marine the super classic 7a+, being like a child in a sweet shop i think i tried about 50 problems in an hour so very little rest and little skin. "Oh won't be a good idea to try Big Marine" now i was tired, i pulled on and could barely do the first move. I left feeling disapointed and weak.
Having spent the majority of time indoors still and not really touching real rock i was keen to get back out and the forecast for the bank holiday weekend was good but there was me on another kayaking course! Always the way. Luckily though the course had finished by 4 on Sunday and i didn't feel too tired so thought i would head back via Longridge again. After arriving i had to dig deep to find some psyche to actually go and climb, always find this hard when climbing alone. Pads on my back, bag packed with boots and water i was good to go, as i walks through the gate i seen a regular face of Ian Vickers. But he and Gill were packing up to leave, never a good sign knowing the amount of time he has spent their!! As suspected he said it's a bit greasy and thinks its only just dried out.
I thought to myself well i'm never going to get any stronger if i just drive home so put my boots on and warmed up. Climbing alone is really hard because you have to be very disiplined with resting otherwise you just power out. I was looking for something around the 7a mark to try so got on the sitter to Muscles In Their Imagination which i came close to but just couldn't stick one move! I then jumped on Fertile Delta but got scared near the top so jibbed it off. Time now to jump on Big Marine again with some skin and energy and wow i surprised myself by getting up to the gaston of the last move, getting a bit scared again i jumped off and grabbed the ladder to inspect the top holds and give them a brush. A few more goes and i keep wimping out of the last move again and again! A quick MTFU self talk and i find myself in the same situation but this time a slight alteration of the body and BOOM! i'm hanging off the final jug cheering to myself. I jump down with a massive grin on my face to see a guy in his back garden laughing at me, well at least i had one witness.
Great session with a great tick and i find myself psyched to go forth and crush!
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