The spell of good weather coincided with a cancelled ML assessment and an
extra week off work which led to a varied and great week of climbing. The
quantity of ascents of most of the tricky routes on the Final Judgement Wall on
Cloggy has been unprecedented that I know of and shows how many good climbers
there are operating in North Wales at the moment. Routes which have been getting
ascents apart from the obvious are It will be alright on the Night, Authentic
Desire (3 ascents) and Shaft of a Dead Man, the culprits are Calum Muskett,
George Ullrich and Alex Mason.  
    I’ve wanted to try Margins of the Mind for well over a decade. A John
Redhead route from 1984 its second ascentionist Nick Dixon suggested it may have
been the first E8 in Britain. At a party some years previously Johnny Dawes had
mentioned that it was a ‘feral climb’. Neil ‘the Youth’ Dicksen hit a purple
patch early in 2008 and got close to an onsight going back a few days later to
polish off a groundup, but you know how they always ham things up in films?
Having done a bit of climbing with Neil I thought I’d save a separate report for
him at a later date. On his first effort Neil spent about 4 hours on the climb
and I was intrigued as to what took him so long.

   On the Monday I had 2 top ropes on Rare Lichen on the Gribin Facet with
Alex Mason, working out the moves and the gear before leading it. It’s a great
route, serious but after working out the moves the climb felt ok and the
Longhope was a considerable step up in difficulty. For some of these hard routes
the American grading scale does make a bit more sense 7c R/X for Rare  compared
to 8b R for Longhope gives a better idea of the difference in difficulty. After
a quick top rope on the Gribin Wall Climb I decided to leave it for being fresh
one day after work as I’d enjoy it more, it's probably easier technically than
Rare Lichen but a tiny bit bolder.


    The following day myself and Calum headed up to Cloggy with Ed Booth.
Calum cruises up Authentic Desire for a warm up and Me and Ed second up. A great
route, the more microwires you have the better you can protect it. 

On the top I get racked up and with Ed belaying I set off on unbeknownst
to me one of the hardest unsuccessful ‘efforts’ I’ve given. Shuffling over loose
crap at the start I was struggling to work out where to break through the first
roof which Neil had mentioned was an issue. After some mincing I commit to
slopey backhands and make the pull to ok fingerjugs. After plugging cams into
rattly thin downward pointing flakes I shimmy up to the peg and thread a sling
through it. After going up and right then down and left then up then down then
right then up then down then left then up,(you get the point) eventually I crack
a sequence for the mid crux and reach for a small flake. Making steep moves to
get stood on it I try and place a poor RP and can’t resist shouting Redheads
iconic line down to Ed "you’ve let me down Ed, you’ve !!!!!!! let me down you
!!!!!!!". Ed went quiet but it was meant to lighten the mood.
     I reached the juggy shakeout on the left and realised Neil the Youth had
in fact let me down by saying the wire was good. 2 Rps 'sit' next to each other on
the top of the block with, I bluetacked a big skyhook down and equalised the lot,
thinking the hook to be the best piece. It had taken some time to reach this
point and I grew well acquainted with the next section. Up and Down, up and
down, Sorry Ed. Up and Down. Locking off the sidepull youth used I was still a
mile off the jug and definately felt the route was pushing my comfort zone of hard
moves above shit gear when knackered. On one effort a small pinch offered extra
height gain and spurred on I started to move up but the bugger snapped. Somehow
I stayed on and prevaricating on the shakeout I wondered if I was trying hard
enough. It was a progressively loosing battle from this point really.  I had
felt tantalisingly close to success on a few goes but I was KO’d. Joe Brown had
told me he never did a move he didn't think he could downclimb and I felt kind of
similar on much of this route. Rather than lowering off the gear and going up
Octo then rapping for it I got Calum to throw me a rope (when he’d put his
rescue on facebook I wondered if it may have been better to have fallen and
died) and pretty much hoist me out as it was a swifter affair. Ed Booth who is
taller than me came up saying he couldn’t lank that move either but having
belayed for hours its surprising his body worked at all . Although the effort
had ended in social embarrassment I was actually pretty happy with my effort at
the time and a bit blown away by Neils efforts some years before and Redheads
effort in 1984. I’m sure I would have backed off sooner without having seen Neil
going for it.  At 20.00 Calum was keen for one more route, having poured the
rest of my water over my shaking toes to cool them off I said I was going
down.

After a rest day involving ice cream and chores the Thursday found me back
on the same wall with George Ullrich. After climbing Octo George started to get
racked up for Shaft of a Dead Man. I can’t resist abbing down and looking at the
move which had stopped me. Pulling on with my feet at the high point I couldn’t
believe it. Having thought it to be a solid 6c move, the move appeared easy. I
pulled on again for good measure and did the move again. How could I fail so
near, the move felt easy whereas I was adamant it was 6c on my attempt. I jugged
back up thinking I hadn’t given it 100%. George makes a sterling onsight of
Shaft and having had a pretty derisive kicking on it many years before I was
happy to second it clean still feeling a bit baked from Tuesdays effort. Unhappy
with how easy the move on Margins appeared and being 2 routes from completing
the climbs in John Redheads book One for the Crow we leave the kit and return
the day after. We climb the Hand Traverse to warm up which feels pretty cold and
windy but in a great position. Wondering if I should have a rematch with
Margins, I did. 
    Setting off at 11.00 the face was still in the sun. I climb the first roof
which is about E5 6b. Reaching the peg I go into the mid crux (like the hard bit
on a 7b+/7c) immediately followed by the next few meters ( like the crux of an
E6 6a)to the shakeout jug where I placed the poor wires and put on 2 hooks and a
pap hook beyond for good measure. It’s probably hard E7 6c to reach this point
and the crux for shorties lies beyond. Pulling up into the reach move I crimp a
small thing and hop my left foot high. At this point things are starting to feel
wrong and a few seconds later eyeballing the 2 finger sidepull crimp for my left
hand things not only felt wrong but I began to realise I’d made a mistake. When
looking at this move on the abseil the rope must have been taking most of my
weight, the pap hook falls off and I have to lay it on for the jug which feels
miles away.  The easy move was in fact a pretty grim one. Thankfully the gear
didn’t get tested and expecting George to come up saying all the gear was fine
he concurred with my fears. We guestimated the climbing to be between 7c and 7c+
depending on wether you can reach. It is certainly harder than Sping in the Slate quarries.
   It’s a serious climb which would have been a bad joke at E7. The best
protection on it is the peg but the guide says it’s poor and sawn off. I had
visions of falling, all the gear ripping and the loose flakes the cams were in
coming out to finish off an already battered body but to be honest that was
looking at it with a pessimists eye. I’d recommend taking a few skyhooks and
some bluetak as they are the best bits of protection. The route would have been
properly cutting edge in 1984 and youths ascent in 2008 I rate as one of the
hardest ground up ascents seen in Britain.Cheers to Ed and George……not sure
about Calum.

Having finished work and set off up the M6 to pick Ben up from Preston train station
 the weather was perfect. Alex Mason kept us company until Kendal where he was
 staying with George Ullrich, the car had an holiday atmosphere. After a night in Applebly we
continued North in convoy with George and Alex. Ben was in charge of the music
and by the time we hit the border my ears had had so much hiphop I was imagining
an ejector seat button on my gear stick. Pulling up beneath the Buckle and
stepping out the car I couldn’t believe our luck, it was shorts weather. The
base layers left behind we all set off for Craig Y Banchair/ Tunnel Walls. 
   
The last time I’d climbed here was 13 years ago with Stuart Wood, Nick
Wharton and Dave Birkett. We’d had a good day climbing the extreme rock route
the Risk Business and some other routes further left but rain had stopped play
there the day after. Romantic Reality was a route I’d had on my list that year
and I’d not gotten around to climbing. 
 
The first pitch looked grim, a 6a Whillance pitch it was filthy with moss and lichen,
 I managed to get Ben to lead it. After a few kg of crap coming down he arrived at
the belay and having expected him to come down saying it was too dirty and that
we'd do some of the sport routes to the right. I thought shit I’ve got to try the 2nd pitch
now.

I climbed up to a roof about 20 ft above the belay which thankfully had great pro.
 I pulled up above it and feeling like I’d had too much for lunch had a few moments
 on the ‘slopey holds’ which were a bit dusty before reaching the good gear above.
 I was chuffed to get an awkward hands off rest in the damp corner above to help
 get something back from a flash pump for the brilliant steep moves up right leading
 to a huge sinker jug. The rock beneath the dirt is great and the route is well deserved of
its place in the Extreme Rock book. Its got me well keen to head up to some of the great
 Scottish cliffs and I may even rekindle some keeness for Indian Face but only to tick the
 Extreme Rock book. The teenagers had a great time on The Risk Business. We stayed at
 the CC hut in Roy Bridge and got to Gills Bay for the Ferry over the day after to eventually
 make a base at Rackwick Bay Bothy.

The next 2 days it was COLD. We walked up to deposit the ropes and abbed over.
The ropes blew horizontal and making the mistake of having my gloves off for a few
 minutes meant I had hotaches soon after. Looking up at Ben having trouble negotiating
 through where I’d redirected the rope in the top roof I was concerned I’d have to use his
corpse as a ledge to help clamber back out. We went back up and worked out where
the descent was. The lads did TOMOH being a bit sheltered from the NW winds. The
day after felt even colder and with all of us having a midday pint in Longhope
town shivering by the fire the route did seem a long hope with daydreams of
Southern France becoming a recurring theme. The day after the wind thankfully
dropped and myself and Ben managed to get on the climb. I’d remembered a lot of
the sequences from September and we cleaned the holds and did some links on it.
The pitch definitely felt harder than the year before as I couldn’t do the last
hard move the same way locking a low crimp and getting a jug static so I did it
similar to Macleod with a higher drag/crimp. Having the Meltdown to aim for
previously had meant I was a lot fitter then. Ben made the hard bits look easy
and the easy finger jam bits look hard. We walked back down and got prepped for
the day beyond.

Waking up the next day at 3.30 we both felt pretty baked and my little toe was
 throbbing like in a cartoon. We reached the top before 6.00am and I actually perked
up a bit from the walk. A twitchers paradise a few Peewips were trilling as we found
our gully where lots of fun bumsliding down lilies and avoiding fulmars led us to the
boulder beach. This area feels a little like the Lost World and brings thoughts
of Hitchcocks ‘The Birds’.Lots of Shags made loud rustling noises before
shooting out from beneath boulders, Ben was often shocked by them but I told him
not to worry as I'd dealt with birds like this before.


 After working out where to start I set off up the 1st pitch which
involves climbing like Pacman to avoid the Fulmars. Ben leads through making
short work of the E6 corner beyond. We made pretty good time. The Vile crack was
slimy and felt like some of the green E3s you get in the Lake District, with
some reasonably pap rock beyond. On the 4a traverse left disaster struck. As I
walked along the outside of a ledge system with numerous Fulmars I crouched past
the last one, victory in sight when one‘got me’. I was gutted. The Vice/stomach
truffle was a unique pitch neither me or Ben had done anything quite like it, I
was thankful the Fulmars had disappeared from it as a facefirst puke attack
doesn’t bare thinking about. Ben bombed up the Guillotine and I actually used my
knees to get on it, very poor style. I thought about stomping on it to get rid
of it but I think it will do another few years and wasn’t certain I could manage it.


  
We arrived beneath the final pitch around 15.00. Both of us were feeling
the session the prior day and I was wishing we hadn’t gotten up quite so early.
Having been on the pitch more times than Ben I went up. I was hoping to climb
fast and confidently but it didnt end up that way. 
Climbing the lower wall I placed the cam.5s above off a good fist jam,
they didn’t go in how I’d like and I made a quick reverse to the belay to warm
up and nurse my tired arms. After 15 mins of shivering in the cold I set off. I
reached the crux reach halfway up and couldnt decide whether to campus my foot
on like I did last year or to use a small foothold like Macleod. I tried to
campus it on, and fell off. I pulled back on and do the move with the foothold
and lower down to the belay thinking we were going to have to come back up on
the Tuesday if the weather was any good. I was not looking forward to this as
there were some great looking new routes to try on the rest of the island. After
a half hour rest I managed to lead back up and get through the crux. Climbing
badly I reached the poor shakeout beneath the last hard moves before rejoining
the Arran/Turnbull link. After 10 mins here I spooned my way through the slap to
the double knee bar rest feeling elated. I was pretty confident of doing the top
crack when tired and having told Ben that it'd be E3 6b on the grit I'd of
looked a bit of a knob to fall off it. 
I did however cock up extending one runner and with a heinious amount of
drag I nearly blew the very last move for a jug above the last roof. Ben came up
and together with Adam Long we had some drams of Orkney Whisky to celebrate. The top
pitch is as good as it looks in the pictures and video. Heading down Kath, May
and Dan had joined the Rackwick bothy basecamp party. Bens slotted a short vid
together of our ascent. https://vimeo.com/67457960

   
I was impressed with Dave Maceods ascent as it was fall free and the top
pitch is a slippery devil which when placing loads of kit will feel 8b, to do
similar we would've probably needed another session and a rest day as well as
the fact that me and Ben were swinging leads. Drummond and Hills effort hanging
out in the land of the birds for a week back then left me dumbfounded, a
stunning effort. The crag feels like it belongs to the Fulmars and the less time
spent on it for me the better. 



  
I think the Longhope may well be physically the hardest sea cliff climb
at the moment, in terms of having the hardest pitch with the top pitch being easier if you
like jamming and crimps. It’s not that sustained a climb with the lower
pitches being a good laugh but most of them are possible in a pair of scrambling
boots if you’re capable of climbing the top pitch. Something like the Impossible
Wall that the Belgians did is likely to be another contender for the hardest sea
cliff being super remote and with lots of hard pitches.    

   
The following day I guided Dan Vajzovic up the Original Route on the Old
Man of Hoy which was a great day out. I’d managed to climb around a Fulmar
knowing it would have plenty of puke left for Dan to give him the full Hoy
experience.

George and Alex had a good epic attempting the Turnbull/Arran link of Longhope
 involving a headtorch traverse across one of the green breaks into a gully high on
the face they arrived back at 3 in the morning. 2 days previously Alex had managed
 to scald his leg with boiling water, he had a cold and the weather was poor when they set
off so it was a great effort. They are thinking of calling it the Long Hopeless link.

After 2 rest days I was really stoked to try what I’d naffley dubbed as the Death Corner
project. This ended pitifully low, getting belly height with a ledge where I was going to get
rock shoes on a chock I’d put a sling around moved and I looked at the huge
flake I was on dubiously. The tide was about to block escape back to Rackwick
bothy and the breakfast scenes so we retreated. I think I’d chosen a shit line
to access the corner and further left may be better. We’ll be back. Later that
afternoon I watched Alex and George climb the classic 2 Wee Laddies. Reading a
French Phrasebook I knew very little when they started but felt pretty fluent by
the time they reached the top. I eyed up lots of fantastic knew lines right of
the Mucklehouse Wall area which will be where I head first next visit before
I  climbed and prussocked back out for hopefully the last time.

The final day on the islands we had a great morning on Yesnaby where the quality
 of the rock feels close to grit. Me and Ben soloed a few of the easier classics with
 Ben spotting me as we went before we tied on for Dragonhead, a little gem.
 I'd placed some chalk on some poor holds hoping to red herring Alex but his route
 finding skills were too good and to be honest I would have felt guilty as we all thought
he looked like a teddybear with his beard! The food in Julias café in Stromness was a perfect
finish to our exploits. We did try to get up to the Cobbler on the way back but
in a gap between 2 hills in the cloud and the rain we were lost and wet. I was
thinking of using ip dip dog shit as a method for choosing the way but we went
down and went home. Something to look forward to for next time.

Thanks a lot Macleod for some inspiration and cleaning efforts to mum for giving us a nice cake to take up, Kath n May for the Pancakes, Ben for still climbing with a git and to James the Rackwick Bothy Warden+Trust for taking excellent care of the best bothy in the world.

 


    
Driving Northwards on Monday to try the Longhope route in a day with Ben Bransby. We are going in Convoy with the super youths Alex Mason and George Ullrich who are also going for a 1 day attempt on the Longhope via the Turnbull/Arran route. Gritstone extroardinaire Adam Long is also coming up for part of the trip keen for some sandstone action.

 


    
I’m looking forward to trying to climb the full height of St Johns Head with Ben. I’ve been involved with 2 trips with Bransby and Long both of which were very memorable. The first was 11 years ago when we put a free route up the Nose on Eigg in the Hebrides. Ben and Adam along with Robins had attempted it ground up on a previous visit
and got shut down with loose blocks and later a stomach bug. Adam had attempted to aid it and this also proved futile. We resorted to abseil and in the blankest looking bit one of the hexagonal columns came away leaving a jug exactly where it needed to be. I couldnt believe our luck. We had a look at it on a rope and tried it the day after. Ben had cruised up to the last move and was about to reach for the finishing jug when the pump set in and a monster fall onto the RPs in loose columns was tested. Adam Long got a picture about a second before the fall which was on the front cover of an OTE magazine. We both got back on it and led it. It was a fantastic feeling partly because it is a great knew route and partly climbing it with Ben. I wanted to call it Picking the Nose but the others were’nt into
it. It was 7 years later when with the same team we repeated the Vouie Petit on the Grand Capucin in the Alps, this
was one of the highlights of the last decade or so of climbing for me with a congratulatory email off Arnaud Petit who had set the climb being a cream topping to the trip.

 


    
Bransby is sounding super keen and watching him walk up an 8b the other
day and shakeout halfway through the slappy crux reminded me of how good Ben is,
as Pete Robins put it he’s quite often the‘best at the crag’. The person who
most obviously could climb 9th grade sport routes but hasn’t got round to it/been boring enough to put
in the days.  After winning the youth comps for years Ben came to the Lake Distict in 1999 and blew me away with
how well he was climbing.  After pathing many of the E6s and E7s of the Lakes he set off up Impact Day on Pavey
Ark totally onsight!  This route was given E9 6c at the time and he got within a whisker of it, with a hand on the scoop right at the top but with nothing left to hang it. An unbelievable effort to have the confidence to set off and he literally stunned everyone not least his belayer Pete Robins. Adam Hocking phoned to tell me what had occurred and I thought he was pulling my leg. Nobody has tried a climb graded E9 in the same manner since that I know of without knowing everything about the climb although the stuff that Honnold and Favresse are doing is probably near the mark! We are talking 14 years ago now so it was well ahead of its time.

 Ben missed out on the Yosemite trip last year due to his Labrynthitus, literally having to pull
out 2 days before so it will be great to get him up on what I believe to be one of the best trad routes in Britain, with pictures of Dave Macleod giving inspiration for a preliminary trip last year with Dan Varian and Adam Bailes. The plan is to drive up hopefully doing some routes like Dalriada and/or Romantic Reality (xtreme rock tick) on the way up. Get the ferries then brush and work the top pitch to make sure we’ve got a chance and on the 1st dry day set off from the sea level to the top. I think we’ll both be keen to lead the top pitch and if we go the same day
as George and Alex it should be a sociable affair. I intend to stash some nice beer on the summit to have something to look forward to and maybe help the energy levels for the crux top pitch as well as taking a good headtorch just in case we're going slow. Dan Vajzovic will be making a flying visit for an ascent of the Old Man of Hoy as a lead up to a potential big wall trip next year on the Naranja de Bulness. If the weather is good and all goes to plan maybe there will be time to try a knew route around Rora Head which is good quality sandstone and full of impressive lines. But if not we may enjoy travel scrabble and cards back at the hut. I’ll go with Dave Macleods philosophy of just going to give it the best effort we can. Climb more, tweet less.

  A good weekend in Pembroke left me wondering why I’d only been down once last
year.  Myself and Jim McCormac rushed down Friday night from Llanberis to make
it in time for drinks at St Govans Inn.  We started the Saturday on Pleasure Dome
 where I enjoyed belaying in both the sun and sea spray before heading into Stennis
 Ford to try Bubbly Bosun. It was a bit more serious
than I expected and placing a wire blind halfway up with it being the first
proper protection gave me flashbacks to doing some of the Pete Whillance climbs
in the Lakes as a teenager. I wondered what I was doing there for some minutes
before getting pumped clipping the 2 crap pegs beyond my wire and reversing the
dusty crux 3 or 4 times in the process, deciding wether to commit. Having
extended my wire to stop it flicking out I did eventually commit wishing I’d
worn my smeary boots rather than brand new ones but gaining a good hold, wire
and last tricky moves to the top. It’s amazing how pumped a 7a+/7b can get you
when climbing carefully and reversing some of the hardest moves because of anxiety 
about the unknown. The climb is marginally easier than Souls but with none of
its good protection, I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody less than 5.7 as the
gear would be very tricky to place, it has good climbing, shame it’s not got more gear.
    After doing a brilliant E3 corner in Huntsmans Leap called Strap Up we finished
the day on an E6 I’d been meaning to do for years called Fortune Cookie which
felt like a well protected E5 after the mornings route and gave great wall
climbing.

   
The same day a strong North Wales Team were in the middle of a great
holiday. Calum Muskett and Dan McManus were cruising up lots of hard climbs
doing three E6s on the Saturday having done similarly the day previous and doing 
 more hard climbs on the Sunday even managing to finish the holiday on Pat
Littlejohns stunning 2 pitch E6 on St Govans, Crimes of Passion. Worth keeping
an eye on what they get up to this summer. Alex Mason and Gemma Powell were also
on a mission with an ascent of Ghost Train and other tricky routes. The banter
in St Govans was great Saturday night even with Calum and Howard there. Calum
gave his best joke yet:


 “What did the egg say to the boiling water?”


“You’ll have to try your best to get me hard, I just got layed this morning”.

   On the Sunday we started in Stennis Ford on the Mysteries/Hysteria
combo before repeating a great route of Dave Pickfords called Nightflight which
accesses the Point Blank headwall from the left. About E4 to a great shakeout
jug and good cams before a techy crux on sidepulls with a runout it deserves to
become popular at the E7 grade being about 7b+ rather than the 8a of Point Blank
and considerably nicer than Bubbly Boson. We finished our Sunday with 2 quick
routes on Govans before the prerequisite tea and cream Scones at Ma Westons’ Old
World Café and the dreaded drive back leaving friends who were lucky enough to
be staying an extra day. 
    Thinking about Pembroke on the journey home I realised that I’ve done
more great routes there then on any other crag. With all the new guides coming
out I’ll be down there again soon. Big up to friends doing great deeds on
Wimberry and of course to Jordan who got the 3rd ascent of Rainshadow. Very envious.

  
   Highlights of the rest of the week were having a nice boulder down the
Pass with Neil Gresham, a great day on the Lleyn with him Mark Reeves and Llion
Morris, Neil Gresham repeating the ‘king of the pass’ challenge and repeating
Chicama on Trearddur Bay with Neil Dyer.
   Having driven back up from London having only been in Wales 2 days before
Neil Gresham was psyched for the Pass challenge. I met up with him down the Pass
for a great day bouldering and hangout and with Reeves and Llion in tow we
headed down the Lleyn the day after as Neil hadn’t been down there before and
was keen for some sun having been shivering up the pass the day previous. 
    We repeated Dan McManus’ fantastic route The Apprentice on Porth Ceiriad,
E7 6b. Starting more or less off the beach it follows a crack system with quite
good gear and holds which appear just as you need them, combined with some of
the best rock on the Lleyn I think it’s destined to become a classic. I think
it’s best to do it in 1 pitch just in case a loose hold comes off and you wipe
your belayer out. Reeves and Morris put up a new route up some choss and Reeves’
dishevelled look when we met them after it told the story of their climb well.
We finished the day climbing Cripple Creek on Dorys and the views back towards
the snow covered mountains were spectacular.

On the Saturday Neil Gresham was off to try the Pass Challenge with
Robin Thomas and myself and Neil Dyer headed down to Trearddur Bay to look at
Chicama.  I’d watched Tim Emmett on
his first attempts on the line in 2003 and was impressed that he led it with
pretty minimal pegs which were of dubious worth and also did a tricky looking
DWS to get into the start which would definitely get your arms going. Tims jump
off the top into the gap was also terrifying stuff. I was also impressed with
Hazel Findlays speedy ascent as most of the moves seem to be big reaches between
good holds and Hazel is only ~4 ft 7 . Hazels psyche and Pete Grahams pegging
skills were the main reasons some of us ‘locals’ got interested.
 
  I’d been down it once with Hazel but it had been wet and a little uninspiring at the time.
This time it was dry and having lowered down and warmed up on the upper wall I did it
 from near the bottom first go but with arms that felt a bit baked from the previous days.
Neil hadn’t climbed since being in America last year but still looked like he
could have climbed it without his feet! I went down once more to assess some
gear and sequences and belayed Neil again. The hardest climbing is to gain the
halfway mark where a good shakeout and cam are had before pumpy steep climbing
beyond. Being 45 degrees overhanging and tidal gives the climb an intimidating
nature. I thought I’d give it a go as it seemed reasonably safe with the current
in situ stuff although the start has a poky feel to it and it has a hard move
off a ‘crescent’ sidepull high up which would make for an exciting fall. Neil
built a belay on the slab left of Treacherous Underfoots crack and I climbed up
to place the first key cams and wires and down climbed to Neil for a breather.
Clipping the first peg I found an easier method for the next bit and the rest of
the climb went smoothly although I did feel tired on the crescent move. We
stripped the gear and headed for ice creams. 

   
That evening Robin Thomas dropped by with news of Neil Greshams success
on completing Jerrys roof, Lord of the Flies and Central Ice Fall in a day. As
they were coiling the ropes at the top of the ice route they heard a loud roar
and when they reached the base they discovered the top 2 pitches had collapsed.
I thought Robin was pulling my leg at first. I’m pretty sure my robust friend
Chris Guest who climbed it the day before must have destabilised it in his
passing. It was great seeing how Neil was stoked for the climbing in North Wales
again, although with the sobering climax Neil must have felt he was back on the
Indian Face. Good skills Neil and Robin.

Luckily 9 days off work coincided with some of the finest weather North
Wales has seen in some time making the area into a ‘Little Chamonix’. A
recommendation by Calum Muskett of the quality of Stevie Hastons route Harmony
on Craig Dorys led to a visit there on Saturday to escape the bank holiday
crowds. After a warm up on the beach boulder and a lengthy belay for Sophie I
managed to top out on yet again a stellar route by the Haston/McGinley team,
definitely owe them a pint. The route felt like a trickier version of the Great
White on the White Tower of Mother Careys in Pembroke but with pumpier climbing
before reaching the thin crux high up. Care is needed on the first roof but
after that the gear is quite good (take plenty of cam 2s) and this climb
deserves more attention together with its next door neighbour Tonight at Noon
one of the better protected E6s in North Wales.

The day after was a great day delving into a few different aspects of
climbing down the Llanberis Pass with Jim ‘Big Guns’ McCormac. The ‘Man of the
Pass Challenge’ was thought up by Neil Dyer some years ago involving climbing
Cascade, Jerrys Roof and Right Wall in a day. In January 2 years ago he did a
fantastic effort having climbed Cascade and Jerrys Roof in foul conditions Neil
scampered most of the way up Right Wall only to find verglas and snow on a ledge
leading to a big fall, a better tick than climbing it in my mind. Neither myself
nor Jim had climbed Central Ice Fall Direct and with clear skies it seemed
perfect conditions to try a Pass challenge as Dyer had thought up. Gareth Ashton
having been disappointed to have missed Neils effort the 2 years prior was keen
to come out and get some footage along with Neil Dyer himself.


    Being a Bank Holiday weekend we expected a crowd to be at the base of
Central Ice Fall when we arrived but we were delighted to be first on the scene.
The night before 2 friends and Pass/world climbing pioneers, Tim Emmett and Neil
Gresham had climbed 3 of the best ice routes in Wales starting on the Devils
Appendix and walking over to Craig Y Rhaedr to climb Central Ice Fall and
Cascade finishing at 4 in the morning. I was a little disappointed that the top
icicle still had lots of damoclean icicles and a txt from Tim saying watch out
for the top pitch ‘its fragile’ wasn’t great for the morning nerves. Another
friend Gareth arrived and made a swift solo of Cascade and when myself and Jim
arrived beneath the top pitch 3 friends, Jon ‘the Hobbit’ Ratcliff, Andy Scott
and Tim Badcock were perched at the first belay. I told them it would be like
being in Vietnam to be where they were and they said to do whatever I had to!
Shouting "ice" a great deal it was Andy Scotts whoops which let me know they
were enjoying dodging the pieces and were still thankfully ok. After cleaning
the bit to gain the icicle I pulled above and noticed the inch wide horizontal
fracture Tim had warned about. The route had 3 fantastic ice pitches and me and
Jim were made up. We got to the base at 11.20 and a handful of locals and Mick
Lovatt had arrived, unbelievably quiet, we weren’t complaining. At the Cromlech
boulder Clare Carlsen was a total star and brought our team a breakfast butty
each before we headed up to the Cromlech.

Arriving at the base with Jim I was disappointed to see big wet streaks
down the top of the Lord of the Flies and an ice chandelier which looked like it
could go and if it did could knock off the leader or injure the belayer. Dyer
comes up and being a legend pronounces he’ll boot the chandelier off and get
some shots from above. Tim Emmett (the ever stoked furnace) and Sophie arrive
along with ‘Fluff’ and Adam Wainright making the atmosphere pretty sociable. The
first ¾ of Lord were dry so I thought to do that and finish up the top of Right
Wall but reaching the girdle ledge I ask Neil if the top looks climbable, he
gives the green light and a few goppy moves later with some yells of
encouragement led to the top. It was the 4th time I'd led Lord of the Flies and
to be honest it felt as good as the first time. Climbing it reminded me of
Liveseys foresight, Fawcetts skill at climbing it in welly boots, Leos at doing
it by headtorch, Dave Thomas by soloing it and the first time I climbed it at
the end of a great week in Wales in 1999 with Colin Downer and Wesley Hunter.
During the week staying with Ken Thoms in Deiniolen we did loads of Welsh
classics, the Cad, the Moon,  Sexual Salami, Cardiac Arete, Silly Arete, Central
Sadness, the Dervish, Edge of Time, Weasels, and finished the week on Left Wall
and Lord. It was one of the best weeks of climbing I'd had at the time and doing
Lord was the cream topping of the week. Tim and Sophie bomb up Right Wall having
mentioned him and Leo had done it in trainers with a crap belay on the girdle I
was both impressed and disturbed by their antics.

We pile down to Jerrys Roof with Neil mentioning it should be a formality I
wasn't as confident having woken in the morning with painful aching strap
muscles and bingo wings from the Lleyn the day before. Jerrys is a problem I
must have done around 200 times or more and could do a few laps quickly when
fit. However I've gone from warming down on Statement of Youth to having to
redpoint it again in the course of a few months and ten goes later on Jerrys
things were not looking optimistic. Considering it was some poxy fun challenge
for locals I felt a ridiculous amount of pressure to get up it knowing I
wouldn't be trying the trilogy again nor would conditions necessarily come
together to allow it. After a 15 mins rest I managed to drag my sorry self up it
feeling considerably relieved. Tim Emmett comes down and having not done it for
years gets it done super quick. A burger fest at the Heights bar with most of
the people who had been out was a great finish to a day incorporating some of
the great types of climbing in the Pass. Thanks to Jim, Gaz, Dyer, Clare,
Hobbit, Andy Scott, Tim, Sophie and everyone else for making it an ace day.

 After working 16 days on the trot with some overnight camps, night navs
and late sessions I headed up to the lakes via LPT and gave a talk at the
 Kendal climbing wall, the start of 3 days off.
   The weather had taken a turn for the worse and the day after the talk
involved brewing in the Square Orange Cafe catching up with Adam Hocking for 2
hours waiting for the rain to stop planning to visit my sister and godson in the afternoon.
 Around 13.00 I head down to Falcon crag, climb 2 routes and with the weather
 improving I txt my sister that I was going to be late, 7 routes on shepherds requires
 another txt to my sister. I leave borrowdale and drive round to Thirlemere.
 Looking up at Castle Rock and feeling somewhat selfish I send yet another txt
and with a trip up Harlots Face to finish the afternoon re-acquiantance on Lakeland rock
 Ipromise to return again asap.  
 In terms of climbing great routes in a fantastic landscape there are few places like it.
I drive back to Wales late that night musing over which was most dangerous
between soloing a few extremes or driving down the M6, it seemed that more could
 go wrong on the motorway in terms of mechanical failure and human error. 

    The next day involved a trip to Treaddur Bay with Hazel Findlay to check
Tim Emmets E9 6c, Chicama out. The tide was high, the rigging complicated, the
downclimb toprope to check it a pain in the arse, the route was dripping wet and
seemed very reliant on rotting pegs which all reminded me why I’d not tried it
before. The moves were thankfully really good so a return visit is in order especially
 seen as how Hazel and Pete Graham have replaced the rubbish old pegs, a great
effort as it wouldn’t get climbed without them so it would just be left neglected.
Hazel made the 2nd ascent after very few trips down and did it in pretty cold and poor conditions.
 Hopefully the weather will improve for Hazel to make light work of some more
 hard Welsh trad. Emma Twyford is also keen for this climb having been on it once
 with Hazel. Watch this space!

  
After my 3 days off 7 days of mountain navigation courses resumed which
were great if a little cold and windy. My first day off I was very stoked to do
some climbing and with Mark reeves in tow we made the pilgrimage through the
rain to Craig Dorys where the rain stopped and thankfully the crag was dry. The
previous year Leigh McGinley and Stevie Haston had put up a knew E7 going up the
left side of the Stigmata buttress naming it Box of Blood with Leigh saying it
was the best climb he’d ever done and Stevie pronouncing it a 5 star route. I
get racked up with a huge rack to embark on my first trad route of the
year.   
    The first half of the climb is shared with an E5 called Crucial
condition, bridged in a shakeout at about 20 meters where that route sneaks left
to ledges I feel pumped already from the careful style of climbing which is
dictated by the loose rock. With a nest of cams in weird wafers that Leigh had
said were good I pull up and climb fast for a few meters as there is no
protection. Wedged into a groove I put a sling over some iron coloured crusts of
rock and plug in a poor cam to help hold it on. I found 2 very poor rps and try
and work out where to go. There were 2 possible paths, the continuation of the
groove on the left or where the first groove fades and forms an arête. I go up
the arête, arms tired I make some steep moves and reach up for what appeared to
be a good ledge, feeling a crumbly sloper I stare for 2 seconds at a sloping
crumbling choss section and feel ill at the place I’ve climbed into. Thoughts of
a big fall or worse were in mind and it was 50/50 on wether to scrabble for dear
life or reverse the steep moves on tired arms and a swift reverse to my perch in
the groove ensued. After a few words with myself I found the true line up the
continuation groove which led to good gear in a break thankfully and an awesome
'crack' in a vertical headwall. Hanging off hand jams on the final shakeout
having climbed up and down from the last 6b moves on the headwall 3 or 4 times
trying to work it out my mouth was parched, fingers on a timer as soon as they
used small holds and there was a deep ache in shoulders and legs-this was a
pretty familiar feeling and if the gear is good with a clean fallout zone it’s a
position I highly recommend. I wasn’t convinced the gear Leigh had mentioned in
the final crack would hold a fall so it would be a good ride from the top.
Having tapped a very loose looking flake to check it would hold my foot I
committed to the final long rockover out of the crack to a good edge and final
lunge for a porthole just beneath the top.  
    The route was incredible and gave me the feeling of deep satisfaction
like a game of chess which you had to try hard to win. I was blown away Leigh
McGinley had climbed the route a few months after a hip operation- knarly git.
Mark Reeves seconded up having belayed for more than 2 hours I got him a brew
and cake in Abersoch. Nice one Mark. Yet again 1 climb on the Lleyn is enough.

   
In the realms of bouldering Pete Robbins continues his development in
Ogwen valley giving yet another devastatingly difficult arête called Madame
Allure which at font 8b makes it one of the top 3 or 4 hardest problems in the
Welsh mountains. In Spain Ryan Pasquil continued his run of good form making a
swift 2nd ascent of Vacuna Matata, 8c+/9a and doing a few 8b+ in a session. Strong
buggers!

CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

I was going to start the report positively but thought I’d give warning of what lies beyond. The big flop was another potential title. For the first week myself, Ryan Pasquil, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, Calum and Ray shared a small cabin before me and Ryan set up our tents in Siurana Camping, the place of much wind. During our stay in the cabin Calum dealt with the cooking, Ryan the plumbing, Mina the positivity and press ups, Ray took care of the twittering and I looked after the sarcasm; as well as being overall winner of the iron bladder contest each morning.

The positive elements at the start of the trip apart from a great crowd of people shifting through the campsite were Ryan and Minas’ performances. I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t DMM climbers’ finest week but neither Mina nor Ryan had any decent quick draws so we just gave them ours and pointed them at various climbs with me and Calum shouting encouragement.  Although Mina hadn’t put on a rope in ages within a few days she had great day flashing an 8a and doing an 8a+ and looking more than fresh enough to have scored a hat trick. This was combined with pretty much scoring the high point for the team on her first session on La Rambla as Mark Reeves texted me soon after, although with the spelling it was hard to tell! Mina massively reduced the drudgery of hanging out with the less charismatic members of the team and I/we were all sorry to see her go. Mina is thinking about a sport trip next autumn and I can’t wait to see what she does.

Ryan Jancyn Lankyn Pasquil.  It’s hard to know what to say really. I’ve seen Ryan climb amazingly well many times and at the start of the trip he was on fire (he got a bit tired from the windy nights and helping to commiserate my side of the trip). After onsighting Siouxie and Anabolica he had 30 mins on a 9a called Jungle Speed at the end of the day doing the crux moves almost straight away. I told him there was no way he was talented enough to climb 9a but he didn’t listen. Next session on it he nearly did it and 3rd session he got the send, which I believe may be the fastest ascent of a 9a by a Brit. A few days later it looked like A Muerte was going to get the same treatment with him linking from beneath the crux to the top second session and on the 3rd he made it to the last hard move to the under cling 3 times.  

He is about 6ft, has a +6 ape index, is quite scrawny with small ears and is very good at timing moves. His athletic diet is well known to those in the Sheffield scene, which is partly what blew me away with what he could climb after pretty minimal ‘preparation’. There is no doubt in my mind that Ryan can climb 9b. Fact. He did manage to put one foot wrong falling on a 7c, which both Ben Moon and I did not but I didn’t make a big deal about it. Did I mention that Ryan did put one foot wrong on a 7c...Apart from watching Ryan make short work of really hard climbs it was also great that he had a propensity for losing at cards to decide who washed up. Very good skills Ryan.

I suppose I should mention La Rambla seen as how it’s what I intended to try. After a month or so of pulling on more plastic than I ever had before I felt I was where I should be to get started on the first 2/3rds having had quite a few 2/3 session days and 2nd session doing most routes in the beacon between 7c and 8b once or more before finishing on a fingerboard. I got on it and checked the first half again, to my dismay it all felt desperate and after 3 goes my arms and body felt rinsed. I was totally gutted and couldn’t face another go for more than a week.  The dream felt broken the first day. I had 3 or 4 more goes on it which were all focused on getting up the starting crack and each ended with butchered fingers and morale. I likened my attempts to a Redhead painting: something not to be taken seriously but with images which could portray how I felt. Sitting on the third bolt looking up at the chain 35 m away life seemed pretty grey but at least it was more colourful than hanging out dry tooling in the slate quarries. 

The list of debacles which went on in the first 2 weeks were too many to name, like a seismograph going from bad to worse. Ray and Calum had come out partly to support my dream, having faith in my ‘ability’ and I have no idea how I cocked up so badly. I was feeling as emotional as Gascoigne, obviously minus the tears, this may be attributed to something in the Soja drinks according to some friends but I think this is best left out of this report! On my final ‘look’ Ryan lowered me to the ground and I was truly disgusted with myself.  A nice guy from Holland had asked why I didn’t do something else but to me the question was like asking someone who had come to try the Nose on El Cap, why not try one of these others. I'd already built it up too much in my mind. About 2 weeks in I gave up on the idea of getting on it again and to be honest as most people who have done it have onsighted 8b+ or harder I probs should have stopped sooner. If I get back to the fitness level I got to in 2011 I'll go back just to try and squeeze up the start.

The last few days involved some late nights and some fun days out climbing. A big team of friends cooked up a feast in Cornudella, French Fred was chef, and the team included Ben Moon, Gavin Ellis. Craig Smith, Nick Sellers, ‘Barcelona’ Ben and Dave the spy who gave me and Ryan a lift back later on. The chat during the evening ranged from Craig regretting not going back up Salathe with Skinner for the first free ascent to Barcelona Bens explorations in Barcelona and even a Yorkshire chipper got mentioned.  Ben Moon was the first guy to give me some money for climbing which proportionally makes him my biggest ever donor, I was totally blown away when he said it was the first year of his business in 2002/3 and I was a bit ashamed by his lack of return. The talk was of a big wall trip in 2014 so I’m hoping I can repay him through some Hauling guidance. 

The last night at Siurana was one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Myself and Canadian Nick kicked everyones’ arse (Ryan, Iris, Alice and Colorado Terry)at cards, we didn’t brag about it though, it was the cards, the cards were the stars. After a Paella in Siurana camping things really got going in the Barn, Adam Mulholland lost arm wrestles with both Bob Hickish and myself and turned his ire on Ryan with a Cumbrian wrestle, I’m not too certain if it was the north or the south that won but both got dirty. Bob Hickish snuck off to bed early but Bobs tent was soon found and dismantled with Bob nearly catching his first air time into the Manzanita bushes.

Camping in Siurana varied between paradise and life after the apocalypse depending on your attitude. The final night of the trip was spent groggily at Barcelona airport having been rescued from being lost on the trains by a super nice guy called Fernando. Mulling over the trip that night I tried to pinpoint the lowest point on the trip, was it day 1 when realisation that there was no chance dawned, the middle of the trip when realisation had been tried and tested to failure or the end when I became an mass of sarcasm oozing round the cliffs. Hanging out in Spain is no hardship and Malcolm Tucker from the Thick of It had correctly pointed out that you can stick some people in paradise and they’ll be walking round moaning about not having a mobile phone signal.

Why was I so gutted about my pitiful efforts? Letting down friends, family, sponsors, failing at the first hurdle? A few years ago a friend was surprised when I Paid £50 for a cam that protected Masters Edge, I had a few hundred quid in the bank and would have paid most of it to have bagged the climb, the cam was certainly what I regarded as a necessity, not a whim. These climbs can end up meaning a lot for the ardent climber, more than they should perhaps. My build up for La Rambla got me 8m up it (probs head height) and the 2 trips cost more than a big wall trip to America which is an economists guestimate of the value I placed on it. This makes the first 8m on La Rambla my most priceless bit of climbing yet. I got home binned my boots, chopped my ropes and burned my beastmaker.

Only kidding. I’m off to work to do some great work now for Phil George and Plas Y Brenin.

I'll be back Ryan, just you wait!    

There are many climbs which have a good element of history about them which can add to the desire to climb them and in the realms of sport climbing La Rambla is up there amongst them. It’s 40 metres long and follows a crack and amazing headwall. The majority of it was climbed by Alex Huber in 1993 who placed a chain 5 metres from the top next to a 2 finger pocket. He gave it 8c+ and it’s regarded by many as a sandbag at the grade which having a v8+ boulder sequence after an 8c it probably is a toughy. In 2003 Ramon Julian made the first ascent of the full link to the top, pipping Dani Andrada to the post who himself had been getting very close.

I had a look at the moves last time I was there wanting to make certain the dynos Chris Sharma does in the middle section of the climb are possible for a weak shorty like myself. I managed all the moves thanks to some good info off Alizee Dufraize for 2 of the reachy bits and if I was going to try a route of this calibre La Rambla would be my number 1 choice.  With this in mind I'm postponing my Brenin contract and am heading out to Siurana on the 21st January to be out there until the 16th of February trying it a few times as well as some other great climbs in the area. A good team of people are coming out for the first week or the entire trip, partly on a recommendation on the quality and feasibility of this climb.

Long drawn out red pointing is quite possibly the most boring past time of climbers and I am a little disappointed my most boring friend Pete Robbins can’t join me for these first few attempts. Luckily my next most boring friend Ryan Pasquil is psyched to come out for the duration, taking time out from his plumbing. I know he’ll find the big moves in the middle easy and the headwall at the top will certainly suit him as well. Speaking with him over the phone the other day made me concerned over how seriously he’s taking it having reduced his alcohol intake and even his tabs!

Having seen Mina walk up Pump up the Power first go on lead a few years ago I thought she’d get on well on the headwall. She’s coming out for the first ten days to check what it's like and it wouldn't surprise me if she starts racing Alizee for the first female ascent. Calum Muskett is also coming out having been training with his cheat sticks in Norway over the New Year Calum is taking time out from his memoirs and is looking forward to the steep limestone of Siurana. I'm especially glad Calum is coming as last time I was in Siurana the little turd put rocks in the bottom of my rucksack which I didn't detect until at the airport! Ray Wood is joining Calum and Mina on the start of the trip, having not been to the region before he's likely to be blown away by the landscape. As well as climbing Ray is hoping to get some piccies of DMM kit with a slightly brighter backdrop than found in North Wales.

 For any sport climbing nerds like myself the route is essentially a stamina fest, the first 30 metres involving a burly 8c with big moves on good holds leading to a reasonable shakeout beneath the 10 metre headwall which is about 8a+/8b with 2 quite droppable moves on it. Thankfully the top headwall is less steep and has smaller holds which are not as far apart so it's a bit more like UK climbs.

It has spat off many great climbers over the years so I’m not too hopeful about doing it this trip but will be chuffed if I get onto the headwall and if it felt close I’d think about going back out in November for a rematch. Ryan is unlikely to need a return visit, not to put too much pressure on him. Climbs beyond my normal limit generally involve giving up certain luxuries for a short period be it cakes, alcohol, coffee and lbs. I've given up on giving up these things since Christmas but I'm hoping to have more discipline whilst out there as well as a stiff breeze and a miracle.

The general theme of the research was that climate change was very serious with a changing pattern of weather distribution and much higher likelihood of extreme weather events being just 2 of many grim consequences. No scientist would say climate change causing the heavy rain but it's probable that it’s a major factor affecting the weather.

After a year of depressing people I changed my general interest talks to showing exotic climbing destinations like Madagascar and Yosemite. The hypocrisy of my change has not been lost on me. The first talks implied it was morally unacceptable to waste energy willy nilly and the next talks were helping inspire people to blow their energy consumption sky high with international flights. If you are a climber who would like to become a true environmentalist I'd recommend becoming like one of Britain’s most low impact climbers, Chris Doyle who was born on the Orme and is looking unlikely to ever leave it other than for the odd trip to Dyserth down the road.

Being a 'low impact' climber and a climber keen on going on trips abroad are never likely to go hand in hand. If anyone knows how to reconcile the 2 without spending weeks on a yacht please get in touch.

The media seems to have put climate change on a back burner in recent years other than for random reports on 'leaks' that bare no relation to the full findings of the reports. The next few decades are likely to show how accurate the IPCCs predictions are going to be. I see wind farms and solar arrays as a very small price to pay for mitigating some of the effects of climate change and any way that energy consumption can be reduced and offset seems to be a worthwhile venture. There is nothing to lose by doing something although with a possible long flight this year and next I think I'll have to do more than most for it not to be 'business as usual'.