Quick update

Last update 19th October! Damn its been too long.
I keep going to write posts then realise that there isn't any pictures and it's all just words.
But whats been going on?
Well I now finally own my own T5 which i am in the process of converting the back out to make it comfortable to sleep in. So a lot of time and money is going into that as a full time project.
Climbing wise well the weather has been dump so not been outdoors in the UK for a while just training a little indoors trying to stay fit and not eat or drink too much.
Font was a bit of an unsucsessful trip with the whole forest being sat in a cloud for the majority of the week a lot of my time was spent drinking. Still managing two 7a's it wasnt a total waste of time just more frustration as i tweaked a finger on a problem.
Focus now is on Spain for a sport climbing holiday, away for christmas? Some people think i am mad but really what do we do on christmas?? Eat too much? Drink too much? See family we see all the time? Exactly so why not have a change.
The psyche levels are high and i have been watching quite a few video two of which stick out in my mind. One got my psyche levels off the scale and made me want to live in Scotland. The other made me want to be able to crush hard trad! Both are embedded below so have a watch.
Just a short one with the promise of more regular posts with plenty of photos of both the van and a full round up of Font.


Scottish Icetrip in Ben Nevis - English by Petzl-crew

Lazy but also busy

I get so lazy filling this thing in sometimes. I think of something brilliant to write but then when it comes to it i can never be arsed.
To sum things up though i've been climbing loads, found my psyche with a week long trip to Font booked for November and 10 days sport climbing in Spain in December i need to get strong and fit.
Spent four days in the Lakes at the bank holiday and had various other days out sport climbing and trad climbing i feel like i can move on rock again and i'm getting that confidence back to go past bolts or gear.
Anyways i promise i will update more regularly from now on, with more pictures less words and more psyche!!
To keep you occupied for now though check out this short video i made from Parisella's Cave:

Mountain pleasure!

So still nursing that dodgy finger! What a pain, all training indoors has been put on hold just been keeping up with the running anf cycling to work (averaging 16mph over 8 miles, not bad ey?).

Well got a day off on Tuesday and so did Roger, so we planned to head over to Wales, to Ogwen to be precise!

Last time we planned to go out we ended up on Catell Helen and freezing then bailing early to the cafe for a coffee.

This time we were lucky with the weather, hoping to climb at Craig Yr Ysfa the sun was shining and the wind wasn't too strong, we went for it and go on with the 1.5hr walk in. Turns out that the walk in isn't too bad, mostly on the road, we reached the top of Ampitheatre Buttress just after midday and little to say i was very intimidated. But the routes looked brilliant, it suggests in the guide to abseil down so we did so instead of taking the loose gully of death!

As we reached the bottom of the climb my feelings turned from nervousness to pure focus on the route! The route in question was Mur y Niwl/ Pinnacle Wall, a route i have wanted to do for a long time now.

WOW was it worth the wait, the first four pitches were all amazing and so different in many ways, i managed to lead a 14m pitch with one piece of gear, which was a number 1 nut ;) . Roger got the second pitch but i have got to say each of them deserve 3 stars!!

Pinnacle wall had some bizzarre climbing and Kirkus deserve some man points for getting the first ascent as a solo!!!!!

What a beast! Time now to focus on the Cornish Granite next weekend!

Back in the Game!!

So the weekend was approaching and the weather was looking good. I was psyched for some North Wales trad action with Heather. With the clocks going forward and both of us partying on Saturday night i knew Sunday wasn't going to be a good day!

But it didn't turn out too badly, we headed up to Clogwyn Y Grochan and i had SS Special in mind anyways after loosing my psyche BIG time we ended up just puntering round up some easy classics that i had never done; Phantom Rib VS 4c and Nea VS 4b. Both of which were amazing climbing especially Phantom Rib. After realising that both of us were terrible at making descisions we finally decided to head to the slate for some more classics!

Not being super psyched to walk we just went to Bus Stop Quarry, and Heather did Gnat Attack E1 5b my head wasnt feeling up to leading it so i blew the flash and just top roped it, kind of wish i lead it now but ah well. After that i felt a bit more confident and decided to go for the lead on Solstice HVS 5a WOW what a class route, it just flowed really nicelt with gear exactly where you needed it.

So after a successful day of not falling off i felt i had some more confidence and would like to up it a bit more on the Monday. We decided we were going to go Tremadog and get some 'E' points.

I had a few routes in mind but didn't say anything to Heather as we get there she suggested Meshach HVS 5a which was one of the routes i wanted to do. This was good as she let me lead the 5a pitch, some technical climbing on smallish holds but good moves and the hard move is protected nicely by a peg. After topping out we chilled in the sunshine at the top for a while. Abseiled down and had some lunch, Heather then wanted to do Leg Slip which i also had eyed up in the guide that morning! So we got on that she wanted to lead the 5b pitch which i was fine with, but this meant i got an awkward corner/groove/tree 5a pitch, very wierd climbing!! But the second pitch was phenomenal, really wierd climbing well protected but felt exposed.

We had time for one last route and i had eyed up Grim Wall Direct when we abseiled down from Meshach so i got on it, didn't even think about falling, my head totally in the zone, and this was good because i cruised it! Felt really confident on it, steady, calm and composed all the way up it.

So this wrapped up a good two days climbing and i feel i have got alot more confidence now than when we went, psyched for a summer of trad and long routes, pushing the grade slightly to nail that E4!!!

On the way home we called into Plas-y-Brenin to see Katy, this was good because we got some well nice food and had some good banter with the guys there.

This in turn motivated me even more to go get more routes done and get my MIA training nailed!!!!

Falling! Falling! Falling!

So for years now i have always been afraid of falling, even indoors i found it hard to pluck up the courage and take a fall. I would always either grab the clip, grab a jug or down climb! I just couldn't get my head around falling off.

A couple of months ago having read Dave Macleods '9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes' i realised how much of a problem this was, but since reading the book i did very little route climbing as it was bouldering season.

So the issue of falling just fell to the back of my mind. Right up until a couple of weeks ago when i took my first trad fall! Started of having a good day down at Holyhead Mountain got my first trad route of the year boxed off managing Bruvers (HVS 5a) and an excellent route, moves round and i thought why not give the classic King Bee Crack a try, from the ground there only looked to be one tricky little section. So as i goes on with the lead i gets to about a meter above my gear when 'pop' my foot comes off and i was in space! My cam held and i was ok, Heather lowered me down i had a breather and got back on the route and finished it off.

As you can imagine i was gripped and boxed out of my mind at the top of the climb and just releaved to have finished it!

Next trip out climbing we headed up to Scotland for what would be my last winter routes of the year. Heading into Coire An T'Sneachda and my trad fall was not even on my mind i was psyched to be getting back out in and getting more winter stuff done!

Turns out that the fall a few weeks before wasn't going to be my last this year, as half way up my lead on Fluted Buttress Direct my axe popped and i was off again! This time falling onto a hex and having quite an awkward fall trashing both my shins and my left knee, although the cuts and bruises only superficial i think this fall shook me up more than the last as i landed hanging upside down!! George i think was just as shook up as me, luckily i managed to keep my axes and crampons away from my body so was ok to carry on with the route. Again getting back on and finishing it off!

The walk back down from the top was a fairly quiet one, i think mainly the two of us just reflecting on the fall. When down and in the cafe Kris said i looked 'wired' and Roger said im due for my pilots lisence soon! Ha.

That night checking the forecast things didn't look good for the Sunday and i was thinking i was going to finish this winter season on a fall! Start trad season on a fall finish winter on a fall!! Not good.

But luckily for me it wasn't and we managed to get back out and do Red Gully back in Coire An t'Sneachda and i got on a lead another pitch which put my mind at ease.

Looking back at the two falls i cant quite think how they have affected me. Hopefully as Rich said i will only improve as i should now not be afraid of falling and i think he is right because it has put my mind at ease that the two pieces of kit i trusted least have both just saved my life. Back out again this weekend over to Wales for two days with Heather so hopefully no more falling but plenty more crushing!