Alpine Interlude

In August I took a two week trip to Chamonix to attempt a long term ambition of trying the Grand Capucin, an immaculate spire of golden granite near Mont Blanc rising above the Glacier du Geant to a height of 3,838m. Ever since I went to Chamonix on trips as a student in 1997, 98 and 99, I had a dream of climbing the Grand Capucin. A trip out in the summer of 2010 with friends from Jersey was blighted by poor weather and another chance slipped by. So maybe fifth time lucky! This trip, the dream team comprised of my good friends John, Ryan and Duncan.

After a few sessions at Stoney, Millstone and Gogarth dusting down the wires following a lengthy absence from traditional climbing, we began to get a bit of the trad flow back and it was time to practise these skills on the larger canvas that the mountain routes on the granite peaks around Chamonix offer. For me, while I had been doing a lot of sport climbing lately, I have been on a fair few alpine trips in the past, including a successful trip to the Dolomites in the summer of 2009 when Ben Heason and I managed to free climb Attraverso il Pesce or 'The Fish', a classic 14 pitch E6 on the south Face of the Marmolada. Big peaks like the Grand Capucin don't climb themselves and I realised that if I was ever to achieve my goal, it had better be right now!

                                                      Pre-alpine training - London Wall E5 6b at Millstone                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Cruise E5 E5 Gogarth Upper Tier

After a solid 18 hour journey from Nottingham (nice one for driving us all there non-stop John!), we set up base camp in the Ile des Barrats campsite just outside Cham. The next morning we caught the first 'phrique up to the Midi Plan intent on bagging the Aigulle du Peigne via its famous slabby north face. Unfortunately the first day up in the hills brought it home how wet the summer had been. The slabs were completely soaked and we had to abandon this plan in favour of the Red Pillar of the Aiguille de Blatiere. John and I bagged 'Deux Goals' 7a, a cracking, short 5 pitch line that involved plenty of jamming in wet, strenuous cracks!

 Deux Goals 7a, (pitch 1), Aiguille de Blatiere

Next up was an expedition up to the Envers Hut above the Mer de Glace. This was the only time we stayed in an alpine hut and it was a true pleasure to spend 3 nights in such a remote shelter perched precariously on a little rock shoulder under the towering granite needles of the Aiguille de Roc and the Pointes des Nantillons. I suffered mightily on the 3.5 hour walk in up endless iron ladders with my sport climbers pigeon legs! Routes bagged here by John and I were 'L'Age de Homme', an 11 pitch 6c ending on the 1st Pointe des Nantillons which was a warmup to the distinctly stiffer 'Pyramide' 7a, a more well known Michel Piola classic on an asthetic buttress right of the seminal route 'Children of the Moon', which Ryan and Duncan did on the same day.

Pyramide offered a short, sharp crux section followed by some 'meat and potatoes' jamming work in some straight in hand jamming cracks following by a delicate, exposed step out left onto an arete on the second hardest pitch, which John fired off despite the wet conditions. At the base of  the second tower, a burly hand and fist crack graded a stern 6b+ led to easier ground and the summit.

 Classic pose at Montenvers

 The Mer de Glace

 View towards the Deant du Geant and the Seracs du Geant from L'Age de Homme 6c, 1st Pointe des Nantillons

 Pyramide 7a (pitch 4),  Aiguille de Roc

  

Pyramide 7a (pitch 5)

 

 Poco Locos in Chamonix, a calorific feed!

 

Back in the valley, some rest and recuperation followed after 3 hard days in the hills and a raid to the excellent valley crag, Gietroz, which is just inside the Swiss border during which I managed to bag the classic 'Reve de Singe' 8a before a massive thunderstorm. One of the local guides actually said it had been the worst July for 30 years. Next came a run up 'La Fin de Babylone' on the South Face of Le Brevent in the Aiguilles Rouges (opposite from the Mont Blanc massif), an 8 pitch 6c on a dodgy weather day. This provided some good mileage purely on bolts while we were waiting for a 3 day good weather window towards the end of the second week. I even jogged down from the summit of Le Brevent to save the 8 Euro cable car ride down, must have been getting fitter!

'La Fin de Babylone' 6c (pitch 5), South Face of Le Brevent

We were so pleased to have a chance at getting a go at the Grand Capucin as the weather seemed set fair but were initially apprehensive as it looked very wintry up there and by all accounts there had been fresh snow down to 3,300m and the climbing is well above this altitude! We ummed and aahed and had many debates over leisurely beers and coffees in the campsite over whether to go for it or leave it for another year.  Finally we were galvanised into action after meeting a German team who had just done the Swiss route the previous day and said it was OK to climb although a bit snowy on ledges high up and pretty wet in many of the cracks. Sounded worth a punt! 

  

We were all pretty apprehensive heading down the snow arete to the glacier below the South Face of the Aiguille du Midi but excited at the same time, this was finally it, after months of waiting, planning, buying new kit and psyching up for the route, our chance was finally here. We trecked for a couple of hours down the Glacier du Geant roped up as a four and set up camp on the glacier a few hundred metres below the Capucin, which briefly loomed out of the mist before darkness fell. We could all feel the effects of the alitude as we were a fair bit higher up than our previous forays. It was bloody freezing in the night and despite buying a brand new top of the range sleeping bag before the trip, it was difficult to sleep in temperatures that must have dropped below minus ten.  

 

Home for 2 nights! Base camp on the Glacier du Geant below the Grand Capucin

 Early start for the Capucin (v cold!)

We set off as soon as it was possible to warm our fingers and were at the base of the route, having cramponed up the approach gully at 7:30am, while all the loose rock that tends to funnel down this later in the day was well frozen in. Temperatures rapidly rose until we were climbing in T-shirts. John and I had initially planned on doing the Swiss Route but as this was quite busy, we decided to branch off left onto O Sole Mio, a slightly harder line which involved some pretty burly jamming. It was a joy to plug in cams and solid nuts and move quickly over some very high quality, golden granite. The crux 8th pitch was an awkward, bolt protected wall and maybe it was the alititude but it felt a good 7a to me!

 O Sole Mio 6c (pitch 5), South Face of the Grand Capucin

 O Sole Mio 6c (crux pitch 8)

The air temps became distinctly colder later in the afternoon and time was marching on as we battled with some sustained crack work. All our layers came on and we presssed on to the summit even though it was getting towards 5pm, this was too good a chance to miss, how many times in your life do you get this close to the summit of the Grand Capucin? Finally we topped out and took in a breathtaking view across the entire Mont Blanc range. We only had 10 minutes to spare before beginning the 10+ abseils back down to base camp, which took longer than planned due to the (inevitable?) rope jams. At 8pm we crawled back into camp and had several revitalising brews and a tasty meal in the bag cooked on John's jet boil for supper.

 Summit of the Grand Capucin 3,838m, the highest I've ever been!

 View towards the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey from the summit of the Grand Capucin

 A long way (500m) straight down from the summit to base camp!

 Endless, cold abseils. Le Trident (3639m) in the background

The next day we were all quite tired so despite the excellent weather, we took it easy and walked back up the glacier to set up camp below the south face of the Aiguille du Midi. We had one more day of alpine climbing left and managed to put this to good use in bagging the classic 'Contamine Route' 7a on the right side of the south face. I had actually seconded this 15 years previously on a trip here with Andy Pedley and still remembered most of it. Duncan did a barnstorming lead on the crux pitch, probably E4 at sea level - anybody's guess up at 3,700m! We just made the last 'phrique down after busting a gut powering up the arete with monster rucksacks packed full of wet ropes, tents, stoves and gear, probably 70lbs plus each! I think our record time was 39 mins from the glacier up to the ticket station! We were definitely all feeling fitter. 

 New base camp below the south face of the Aiguille du Midi

 Contamine Route, 7a (2nd pitch)

 Mont Blanc du Tacul (plenty of tents pitched)

 Dunc's big lead! Contamine Route 7a (crux 6th pitch)

So to sum up, we had an awesome time out in Cham - it was great to get away from familiar haunts back in the UK and do something different for a change. It has definitely inpired me at least for a return visit in the next few years. The Bonatti Pillar on the Capucin awaits, now that is a king line!

Kaabah

Six weeks have gone by since I completed my long term project Kaabah at Raven Tor and the whole thing has now sunk in. I have since been ticking some easier routes for a bit of variety and have also been on an awesome 2 week trip to the Alps around Chamonix. This required doing a few days of trad at Gogarth, Millstone and Stoney to get back into placing wires and cams, which was thoroughly enjoyable after so much time spent at the Tor.

I started trying Kaabah on the same day I clipped the chains of the Extension back in June last year. It felt like the logical next step to make use of the fitness gained in trying a similar route but even harder! While the Extension stacks an 8a on top of an 8b+ with two very good rests, Kaabah has significantly harder climbing (8a+) leaving Mecca just before its belay and then rejoining the Extension from below in the middle of its final traverse right, with only a poorer, single resting spot in a 'niche' high up on the wall. I knew this was going to push me to the limit when I began trying it but resolved that as long as I continued to see progress I would stick with it  as it would be amazing to do such a cool 'directissima' on Mecca, taking the route to its ultimate conclusion.

 The Mecca Crux (Video Still)

Early Days

I initially spent some time working out different methods for the very thin moves leaving the rest and studied the few videos of the route. I couldn't touch Steve's ultracrimpy method, its nails! Alex and Ryan's way going straight for the base of the Extension flake with the right hand was too reachy so I managed to work out a way pressing out left at the limit of my reach off a nasty thumb sprag to the 'car body filler' undercut of the Extension (don't ask!) I even managed to link to the base of the Extension Flake from the base of the Mecca groove using this early method before realising that by instead pulling on one of the tiny footholds of the Extension slightly higher up with my right hand the move was made a bit easier, although its still a very fickle customer in the wrong conditions. With my new sequence, although you are able to join the Extension a move earlier than either of Steve's or Alex's method's, you still have work to do as you are pretty stretched out and need to semi-dynamically flick you right hand into the tiny black sidepull used on the Extension once you have gained the left hand undercut (which is an extremely precarious move and requires you to drill you right toe into a tiny dink by your feet which is barely visible as you are pasted to the wall and can't easily spy your footholds). After repeated work, I was able to reliably climb from the niche to the Extension belay as part of my warm up on the route. This was the first time I had worked out a new method on a climb for myself so I was quite satisfied with the whole process.

Now just the link in of Mecca to go, easier said than done! In July last year I started the process of linking in sections of Mecca from successively lower stages (i.e. first level with the belay then the base of the groove by the 5th bolt then from the 3rd bolt by the big pocket). This adds a lot of pump to the upper 8a+ as I soon found. Before I was able to complete the key link from the 3rd bolt to the top, I got sucked into trying it from the ground, perhaps too early as this year it seemed that just knowing that you have completed this major link makes a big difference mentally. Progress came incrementally and last summer it turned into a war of attrition. Every saturday morning I would be there for another attempt and eventually got to the stage where I managed to join the Extension from the ground, although in a stage of terminal pump. I tried everything from gaffa taping the final clip into the rock to even using a fluorescent orange sticky tab to mark the hard-to-spot foothold.

On this route you only get very small windows for success as firstly you have to get yourself up Mecca every time. Then you need to be firing on all cylinders for the top wall so just scraping up Mecca is not enough, you need to own every hold and get to the rest with something left in the tank. On too many attempts I arrived at the shakeout with very little or nothing left to give to the top moves. They felt completely desparate from the ground and I found it was pretty much irrelevant how good they felt on the warmup. I got to the stage in August where I was fighting for extra individual moves on each successive visit, pushing my highpoint gradually upwards and routinely trying the hardest I have ever fought on a rock climb. Still, I was making some limited progress, enough to entice me to keep coming back for more.

The Falls

The moves on the top wall are so sustained that I found no place where you could stop and clip a bolt between the one you clip at the resting niche and the next one, which is a fair way above. There is the old 'bean can' aid bolt inbetween which offers a possibility for clipping an intermediate bolt in the middle of the upper crux. This can be backed up with a long sling  but I found that this drained power at a crucial stage so rather than diminishing my chances, I decided to press on and embrace taking the ride! If you fall off on the moves getting both hands on the Extension flake you will take up to a 25 footer (hard grit comes to the lime!) Don't let this put you off though as it is actually an alright fall if you take care to stay balanced, don't tense up and get a nice soft catch - I must have taken this fall over 30 times so I guess I have road tested it!

In order to clip the next bolt after the niche, you must get both hands on the Extension flake and then, (as per the front cover of Alastair Lee's DVD 'Psyche') take you right hand off to quickly drop the rope into the draw. I found that as the bolt was so close in this position, it was easier to use a single crab. This feels the living end from the ground as all your muscles are screaming for you to let go and end the agony! It feels the easiest thing in the world just to grab the draw and give up!

 The Big Fall! Attempt 24 June 2014

Failure

After 14 times reaching the resting niche or higher from the ground in August and September, on my best attempt I got to the move shared with the Extension where you have to put your right heel really high up on the flake while compressing between opposing sidepulls in order to reach up for higher crimps and easier moves leading to the final jugs. I probably only had 1% power left to give and remember squeezing like crazy between the flake with my right hand and the tiny high sidepull for my left hand. I briefly thought this was it, the time I was going to do it (a mistake in retrospect). Then dismayingly my heel refused to go any higher up to the flake as my arms gave out and I was off plummeting back into the void. Close but no cigar!

This last attempt proved to be my best go of the year and due to evening sessions on the route running out in late August, I was never able to regain this highpoint despite quite a few more attempts. I had a trip to Smith Rock planned in the last 2 weeks of October so resolved to get it bagged on my return but unfortunately the crag started seeping, which stopped everybody's campaigns on their projects for the year.

2014 - A Fresh Approach

A return trip to Smith Rocks in March proved the key to getting the monkey off my back. I felt a different climber this year, fitter from multiple laps on many 7b's and 7b+'s at Stockport but probably less strong from doing less bouldering. Ticking To Bolt or Not to Be at Smith was a great confidence booster and although it is a different beast to Kaabah being less steep but with twice as many moves, it provided a great foundation to work from. I had to bide my time up in Yorkshire in April and early May while the route dried out. Eventually the niche dried out enough to allow redpoint attempts. Crucially I managed to do the 3rd bolt to top link in late June, which I then managed on three other occasions. All I needed to do now was get up Mecca again.

 Link from the 3rd bolt to the Top - 1 July 2014

I was also trying to gain more fitness on Kristian's excellent 7c 'Resistance', which is the finish to either Mark Tomlinson's 'Resistance is Futile' 8a+ or a new linkup I did 'Chimes of Resistance' 8b and is conveniently placed just above and to the right of the Extension loweroff. I found that this provided a crucial extra few percent of stamina. Frustratingly in late June/early July, I had 3 or 4 sessions where I couldn't get up the big M. However, I knew I could do it, it was a just a matter of time before I could stick the crux of Mecca gaining the horn - get working your left hand deadhangs for this move!

The Send

The day I did it I had actually had two previous unsuccessful attempts at getting through Mecca. I tried from the ground for a third time more as a matter of routine than anything else but was very relieved when I finally held the horn and then gained the kneebar in the groove. I knew I had a good chance even though the day was getting on and the air temperature was warming up. Arriving in the niche, I remembered not to outstay my welcome and pressed on up the sidepulls and gastons. The moves leading to the Extension flake and making the next clip felt good and in control although I could tell I had only a small margin for error. This time on the compression move was payback time and I was able to get my right heel up just fine, no terminal pump this time round. The last few moves passed in a blur and before I knew it I was hanging off the final jugs shouting for joy. The finish up Resistance felt hard but a fitting finish to create a new linkup 'Kaabah is Futile', no change in grade, just more pump!

It was great to finish this project and finally be free from something that badly needed finishing off. So, onto the next project, good luck with all your sends out there, there is an end to all redpoint sagas...eventually!

Bat Route and Overjustified

For the past 3 months since coming back from Smith Rock, a large number of my climbing days at the weekends have been spent up at Malham getting stuck into 2 routes in particular, Bat Route and Unjustified. Having ticked Bat Route in May and Unjustfied on Sunday, I thought I would share my experiences of both for those who are interested.

After finally ticking Idefix 8b last summer (the extension to Free and Even Easier and one of the catwalk's more desparate lines), I was finally free to try one of the famous routes breaching the bulges over the catwalk. It seems like some of the mystique surrounding these routes may have been dispelled in the last 5 years with the increase in the number of ascents made. I remember 2 or 3 years ago, an ascent of either Bat Route or Unjustified was front page news but now this is no longer the case. I am sure this is due to overall standards rising in the climbing community which is a great thing. With each successive ascent, more climbers become inspired to try them, which in turn leads to even more ticks. Just getting on and trying these things can be half the battle at times; if you don't have a go you'll never know!

So, off the back of my States trip I was keen to use the fitness that I had gained from trying To Bolt or not to Be and to see how Bat Route and Unjustified compared. They are of a similar length and style, and although not as sustained, they are a bit steeper with distinct cruxes. I was in two minds as to whether to try Cry Freedom as I had had 2 days on that in 2011 but heading out with Keefe Murphy who was trying Bat Route and with Cry Freedom being wet, I was persuaded to try the former. Cry Freedom is still a goal of mine, maybe when the midgies have finished taking chunks out of us...!

Bat Route is a magnificent 35m route with a unique combination of power moves, good rests and contrasting climbing styles involving wall climbing, steep roofs and powerful undercutting through bulges. The grade maths is a 7b (Seventh Aardvark) to probably a V8 or so to a big hole where you can get a hands off kneebar rest and then a sustained 8a+ to the top with 2 more good rests. The top crux on the final, gently overhanging wall is hard on some tiny crimps but I managed to find a really good way past this bit involving a wide bridge, which took the sting out of it.

 

                                                        Egyptian to get the 3rd undercut                                                                                       Eyeing up the 4th undercut

 

 Taking the 4th undercut

The real battle for me turned out to be getting through the roof above Seventh Aardvark from the ground. The moves through the roof  involve really powerful undercutting of 4 crimpy undercuts leading to a gnarly tooth/ crimp for the right hand just before the hole. In the end, keeping my left foot a little lower for the move to the tooth took some of the power out of it and after 7 or 8 sessions I finally made it to the hole in a oner.

 Leaving the second hole

 Tricky moves leading to the 3rd rest

Had the upper part of the route not been totally wet that day, I reckon I would have been in with a good shout of doing it as I had by that stage got the top part pretty wired and would do it cleanly at the end of every session. However, this is UK sport climbing we're talking about (!) and I had to wait a week for the route to dry for my chance to seal the deal. It went down on a much drier saturday the following weekend. A pint in the Buck inn followed (remember those, alcoholic drinks!?) which went down particularly nicely if I recall.

The upper crux on crimps

The last shakeout, don't blow it here!

The final 5b moves, beer time!

Hungry for the next route, I got on Unjustified within an hour of clipping the chains of Bat Route, why hang about! Now this route is a very different animal to the latter one, being more of a true stamina route rather than series of desparate boulder problems between jug rests masquerading as a fitness route. On Unjustified, although the moves through the bulge are easier (V6 max) you have to keep climbing to survive with virtually no rest anywhere on the headwall. Perpetual motion is your only hope! In fact there is barely anywhere to stop and clip other than at 2 decent holds out right halfway up. Something Stupid seems significantly harder than Seventh Aardvark to me for 7b and the fact that there is no shakeout on it at the chains makes it particularly pumpy leading into the crux moves over the bulge. It took several sessions before I felt like I had much to give on the crux after trying the whole route from the ground.

Linking through the crux to the top is about 8a but unfortunately, the bolt after the crux needs repositioning as you have a nightmarish long draw to reach up and clip which, because of the steep angle of the rock, hangs out over a foot into space, so it is almost behind your head when you try and clip it. If the bolt was repositioned lower at chest height then the clip would be easier, although still hard I bet, and the whole route would be a much safer and and more approachable proposition. However, bolting costs time which most time starved rock activists don't have much of (lame sounding I know) so this less than ideal setup will remain until somebody does something about it.

Anway, after speaking to the catwalk regulars about this nightmare clip, it appeared that they fell into 2 camps, those electing to clip it or skip it. Twice on the first session I made it through the crux to this clip only to barely get my rope in the draw and then slump onto it pumped stupid in a jibbering heap. When I thought about it, as you are pulling through armfulls of slack in a ridulously strenuous position, why not just climb past it then reach down and left to clip it from the rest out right? Only a the prospect of a 25 footer to focus the mind! I road tested the fall twice on my next visit to the crag and the results are in the following clip:

UNJUSTIFIED - 25 FOOT FALL FROM AFTER THE CRUX

https://vimeo.com/99562067

Its actually a pretty soft (although massive!) fall and you end up around the 3rd bolt of Something Stupid although when I got a move higher the next go, I fell a bit more awkwardly and ended up grazing my hip against the rock a bit, take care out there kids! As is usual with these things, the buildup in the mind is worse than actually taking the ride.

After considering that I may have been held back mentally from commiting to the redpoint crux leading to the rest being so runout, I decided to just go for it. After a 2 week break while the route was wet and a period spent on other projects at the Tor, I came back and it felt a different ballgame. Such a great feeling to come back to the scene of a previous failure and then cruise past it fully in control - this is what redpointing is all about, the moments we train for. Here is the footage of my successful attempt - (I elected to to do 'Overjustified' and finish up the 7a+ extension 'Dudley Do Good', which is really no harder than Unjustified but a fun workout nonetheless).

THE SEND OF OVERJUSTIFIED!

https://vimeo.com/99479012


Footnote on grades - I guess no blog about Bat Route or Unjustified would be complete without an assessment of the grades of both. From having climbed both within 6 weeks of each other, I would say that Bat Route is a fair bit harder for me as a stamina climber as I found the roof section so hard. However, power climbers I know seem to really struggle on the top wall on the link, which I could get through every time. To me, this route was easier overall than Mecca Extension but just about 8c for the difficulty of the crux moves. Ondra seems to question on his 8a.nu scorecard whether an upgrade from 8b+ was really warranted since the first ascent. Although a good hold has come off where the tooth now is and the midsection is now climbed more direct due to the loss of an undercut out right, is this enough to bump it up by a full letter grade?...maybe. 

Regarding the grade of Unjustified, I reckon this must be 8b+ as although it is undoubtedly sustained, the moves are not hard enough in my opinion for the route to be graded the magic grade of 8c. Also, is it as hard as To Bolt or Not to Be, a confirmed (although tough) 5.14a (8b+) of a comparable (pure fitness) style? - the answer is no, it is fair bit easier I reckon.

So there we have it, the number crunching is done, don't let this put you off the sheer quality of both routes, Bat Route in particular is world class. All aspirant ascentionists, get to it!!

To Bolt or not to Be

Hi folks, well I've been back from Smith for nearly a month and the trip has just about sunk in. It was an amazing experience being out there again and much better temperatures for climbing than when I was last out there in October. I was a bit smarter with my fingertips climbing only every other day, given the unique problems for skin that To Bolt or Not Be, the USA's first 5.14a first climbed in 1986 by Jean Baptiste Tribout, poses. I think it was the first time ever I have taken a rest day on my second day of a climbing trip, unheard of! I had written all of the moves down since the last trip (and obsessed over them in every waking moment!) so remembering them would hopefully not be a problem. All my training was done, I don't think I had skipped a saturday in Parisella's Cave since New Year often in the grimmest of weather and the routes at Stockport Wall had taken a pounding in long training sessions with my climbing partner Ant.

So this 2 week trip was time to execute something which I already knew very well; it came down to a brutal 100 move fitness equation. I was a bit worried that my only recent time on real rock had been doing multiple attempts on Hatch Life High in the Cave and most of my climbing had been done on plastic. However, luckily the feeling of some of my friends saying 'you get nowhere training on routes indoors' proved to be illfounded. A pump is a pump, no matter where you're training!

Crag scene - Greg, Tara and Andrew

Anyway, a bit of background about the route and my involvement with it. When I was a kid, one of my first books about rock climbing by John Long called 'How to Rock Climb' had a picture of Ron Kauk (who got the 2nd American ascent in 1988 after Scott Franklin's first) crimping up this incredible vertical wall of volcanic tuff on what appeared to be nothing holds. I was amazed how he could cling onto that face and how long and sustained it looked. I was only climbing VS at the time so the thought of actually climbing this route never crossed my mind. Nevertheless, the seed was planted and as I started sportclimbing and got through some of the grades, I started to wonder if I might someday have a go myself. Visiting Smith in 2007 for the first time, I got to see the climb and was suitably impressed, it looked just as blank as it did in my book. Seeing awesome pictures of Jerry Moffat on the 3rd ascent in 1988 and hearing tales of Steve McClure's near onsight in 2000 only stoked my desire to get involved. Doing Mecca at Raven Tor, a route with the same grade of 5.14a/ 8b+ in 2009 gave me the confidence to believe I could perhaps do it and actually was the reason I flew out there at short notice that year in December, only to find it was far too cold to attempt! (A productive trip to Bishop ensued instead).

                                                                                                                    A lonely place, the 10th bolt shake

 Some different views of the Beast!

I guess the route had always been in the back of my mind so I could come 'full circle' and be like Ron Kauk in that picture in my old climbing book. Funny where inspiration comes from, but best not to fight it, go with the flow! Its a fair point that Smith is 1000's of miles away from the UK and there are many other worthy routes in the UK and Spain/ France of a similar grade but really it is only a 10 hour flight and with routes this classic, I didn't really care about the logistics so much, just getting to try the thing was the main deal for me. My preferred climbing style is faces so where better place to indulge this than Smith!

Since last October, I have been lucky enough to have met some amazing people in Bend without whom I could never have dreamt of fulfilling my goal being a Brit travelling out here without a climbing partner - Andi and Justin, Andrew Hunzicker (who will get his To Bolt send real soon I'm sure), Nathan, Sierra, Peder and Jess, Ian and Kristin, Ryan, Ian and many of the other locals too numerous to mention but you know who you are! Your support is greatly appreciated! When I come back next year, I hope to enlist some fellow Brits, if I can tempt any away from UK lime...

So, how did the route go? On my first day, I knew this would be a strong indicator of how the my chances were. The first time up, all the moves felt desparate! but thankfully I was not properly warmed up and on the next go, I toproped up to the 4th clip without getting pumped and I knew in my mind that it was on. The route itself is characterised by very sustained climbing on moves which are never easy but typically in the V3 - V6 range individually. Here are pics of some of the lower moves. They say the route contains in one route the crux moves of all of the other routes in the Dihderals, which seems fair. A 5.13 crux every other bolt for 14 bolts would be another way of describing it. Having the necessary fitness level is key to success as without it you have no chance of linking it all together so in a way the battle is won or lost before you even arrive, a motivating thought if ever there was one!

                                                                      

                                   First hard moves by the 3rd

                                   The 4th bolt stretch right                                                   Tiny crimps at the 5th

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Gaston at the 7th

On my second day of attempts, I managed to get through to above the 8th bolt and nearly to the first good shakeout at the 9th bolt which was a massive breakthrough as I had not got past the 6th bolt from the ground on my last trip. I knew I was feeling fitter than last time. On the 3rd day, I got to the 9th bolt shake for the first time and shook out well. I attacked the redpoint crux on two opposing razorblade sidepulls (see pic below), which is definitely the hardest move on the route, albeit straight after a reasonable shake.

The crux after the 9th bolt

I couldn't believe I got through this compression move to the next thumb sprag but my foot then greased out of the polished dish I had been using for a foothold on my linkage attempts. I was gutted as both my belayer Andrew and I thought that this was it, the send go! We were buzzing and gutted at the same time when I lowered off. On my next attempts on my 4th day on the route this trip, I should have done it and as I had had 2 full rest days (including one doing the classic 3 pitch 'Zebra Zion 5.10' with Justin). Unfortunately, conditions were pretty warm, even at 7pm when I set off on my second go of the day. Getting to the 10th bolt shakeout for the first time from the ground was a huge moment and I was clinging on there barely able to control the tantalizing thought that only 5 bolts of easier 5.12d/7c climbing separated me from achieving my dream route.

Scott Franklin had said that anybody who makes it to the 10th shouldn't fall there as you can shake anywhere, all I can say is that it depends how fit you are! I couldn't believe it when I dropped it at the 12th bolt at the final tricky rockover move before easier 5.11 climbing through the final 2 bolts. I was just so flamed but discovered that I was outstaying my welcome at the shakes and getting even more pumped in the process. On my 5th day this trip, halving my rest times to just over a minute at the 9th and 10th shakes made a huge difference (I am not one of those climbers who spend 20 minutes camping out at the 10th bolt!), as did refining some microbeta on that final rockover at the 12th. The send came on a much colder, crisper day and even though I had only had 1 day off after the previous massive day getting high on 2 separate occasions, I had now reached the level needed to do the route and it thankfully all clicked into place. Even the final moves were spooky and hard and there are climbers who have fallen even higher than me so beware of relaxing until its all over. Clipping the chain was an amazing feeling and a big relief as I only had 3 days left of the trip and the time pressure to send had been starting to mount. It was awesome too that earlier that day, Andi sent her long term project, Disposable Heroes 5.13b, in Aggro Gully as a surprise send, way to go. Time for a beer and burger in Redmond!

I will leave you with the video of the route I made, I hope it helps any aspirant To Bolters out there! Thanks for all the encouragement from everybody. Good luck and onto the next chapter!

https://vimeo.com/92349114

Unfinished Business and Training

With the crappy weather that we are having, now seems to be a good time to take stock of unfinished business from last year and future projects for the coming limestone season. When you are pushing your limits redpointing, it seems inevitable that you will collect a number 'works in progress' as you go along, otherwise you wouldn't be trying hard enough, right? The question is, where do you draw the line given the available resources you have in the form of time, motivation, strength and dry rock? Some people seem able to have projects hanging over them for years and years. I remember Paul Reeve showing me the moves on Full Tilt 8b back in 2006 and looking very strong on it. It wasn't until a few years later that his well-deserved tick came= due to the propensity of the crag to resemble a waterfall most of the year. 

Using this as inspiration I have tried to not be too bothered by unfinished routes, as long as the list doesn't get too long! I managed to knock a couple of long term projects off my list last year namely Full Tilt and another 8b at Malham, Idefix, so was chuffed with that. I think managing to get a few percent stronger and fitter made all the difference and also Full Tilt drying out sufficiently was obviously crucial (potential aspirants to this and the extension, True North, would readily agree with this!) So, it is possible to dig deep and get shot of those so called 'bogey routes' with sufficient application. 

My unfinished list at the moment is about as long as I would want it to get so I had better pull my finger out in the spring! I haven't included routes where I have only been up them once or twice for the purposes of assessing the moves with a view to maybe seriously attempting them (Cry Freedom and True North would fall into this category). That is not to say these routes won't go into the 'ticked' or 'unfinished' categories at some point in the future!

Unfinished Routes

Kabaah 8c+ (Raven Tor)
To Bolt or not to Be 8b+
Mama Docus 8a+ (Smith Rock)
Migranya 8b (Suirana)
The Inch Test 8a+ (Rubicon, the Upper Circle)
Barracuda 8b (Rubicon)
Gonads 8a+ (Two Tier Buttress)
Freedom Fighter 8a+ (Chimes extension)

Unfinished Boulder problems

Drink Driving V12 (Pill Box)
Hatch Life High V11
Hatchatrocity V11 (Parisella's Cave)
The Joker V11 (Stanage)
Domes Sit Start V9 (Rowtor)
Tarantula V9 (Nuda's Tartan)

Right now, I'm training in the Cave on saturdays to keep up the power endurance and doing lots of routes at the wall, with one bouldering session per week and a separate pullup/fingerboarding session. Its hard to train to be fit and strong at the same time but hopefully it will pay off. The danger is that you feel overtrained all the time and not at full strength when trying projects at the weekend (eg. in the cave). This has certainly been the case the last few weekends in the Cave but I'm hoping that it will be worth it and adaptation to a higher training load will happen. The theory being that when you do eventually take 2 or 3 days rest, you'll be ripping heads off! I'm suffering a bit with some bad skin splits in my finger joints which don't seem to go away for weeks and which have made it difficult to climb to full potential outside at times. These should be got rid of soon with any luck. I also seemed to have quite a sore right bicep coming back from Suirana a month ago but this now seems to have settled down, fingers crossed. This is the first year I have purposely decided to go indoors on sundays to do routes instead of taking my chances at Minus Ten in the drizzle or some other damp hole. Perhaps less character building but maybe of more training benefit, who knows!

I leave you with a link from the Pill Box which I first did in 2009 but repeated the other day, no better venue for fingery power endurance in January.

Smith Rock

After much effort over the summer putting time into redpoint attempts on Kabaah at Raven Tor (close but no cigar), I travelled out to Smith Rock for a 2.5 week trip in early October and have just got back. I thought I would share some of my experiences in case any brits out there were thinking of making the trip over. It is quite a unique spot out in the wilds of Oregon with an extensive history of both sport and trad climbing. The standout routes there have to be To Bolt or not to Be, the USA's first 5.14a done in 1986 by Jean Baptiste Tribout (only the second in the world after Punks in the Gym in 1985) and of course Just do it, the USA's first 5.14c done by that man again, Jean Baptiste. 'To Bolt' as the locals call it, has always inspired me as a line since I first started climbing as it looks so blank and featureless, the epitome of impossible! I had always fancied checking out To Bolt, although I never dreamt I would ever be able to climb at the required level, 5.14a, it sounds outrageous! I must say, having done Mecca in 2009, and climbed 8b+ I thought perhaps I might be ready to give it a shot.

 

Peder on To Bolt or Not to Be 5.14a

I had been to Smith in August 2007 for a week and for a day in 2009, on a trip which proved to be too cold in December, resulting in me bailing to Bishop. 4 years went by and I realised that it was now or never if I was ever to try this rig. Flights were booked and I found myself setting off down the US26 from Portland, destination Bend. I was incredibly lucky to be hooked up with some of the very friendly and welcoming local climbers by my main man Brian MacAlinden from the Climbing Works so a big holla out to him!! Justin Brown was very kind indeed in putting me up for my whole trip and introducing me to the local scene. This proved invaluable in terms of gleaning beta for the route and for the purposes of spraying and generally hanging out.

So, on my first day, I thought I would do some on-sighting and warm into the style of climbing, no tufas here or kneebars in the Dihedrals! Magic Light 5.11d is a great warmup and then it was straight on to the main event, the magnificent 5.13a Darkness at Noon. What a climb! 35m of relentless edge pulling up a gently overhanging wall, very thin at the start, a chilled out midsection and some steeper cranks up near the belay. This was my first 7c+ onsight so I was chuffed. I managed to follow up with an onsight of Full Heinous Cling, a companion line to Darkness at 5.12c, although several notches easier (I had redpointed the lower halfpitch in 2007). To finish a good first day, I did Karate Wall, a majestic 5.12c, again 35m of endless edges on a gently overhanging wall and then a very stout 5.12a 'Take a Powder', my arms were tired after all that!

Full Heinous Cling 5.12c

After a brief look on the first day, on day three, I got down to business and got on To Bolt. There are over 100 moves and it is extremely complex to get it all figured out. It basically boils down to a 10 bolt, 20m 8b+ to a reasonable shake on a good foothold with poor handholds. You are then treated to a pumpy 7c or 5.12d to finish on 5 further, spaced bolts. This is a real test of your ability to hold it together as it is by no means easy and has several very awkward lockoffs, balancy highsteps, foot-changes and cranks for distant edges when pumped out of your brains. People have blown the last moves and indeed have fallen eyeballing the belay, truly heartbreaking for them. There are countless epic tales associated with this route. Sonnie Trotter got through the first 10 bolts only to fall off the last section. He tried to get back up there but could not after repeated efforts and I believe the experience proved so stressful that he quit the route for other projects. This from a climber who has redpointed 9a! (I was actually sat next to Sonnie in the Depot pub chomping on my burger one night, wad point!) Drew Ruana did the route very quickly earlier this year, but bridged out unwittingly into Sunshine Dihedral for a brief rest at the 9th bolt leaving many questioning was this ascent valid? Who knows, opinion is divided, all I know is that the video of him on it is an amazing piece of footage, the dude does not appear to ever get pumped! Paige Classen also crushed the route this year as did some French wads.

 

   Eric on Karate Wall 5.12c                                 Ryan on Latest Rage 5.12b

So, how did it go? I managed to figure out the extremely thin and crimpy moves up to bolt 9 where there is a good shake before a nails rockover using tiny opposing sidepulls guarding the approach to the resting foothold at the 10th bolt; I also linked some sections together in my first couple of days. I did the 'French Connection', which is Alan Watt's link of Sunshine Dihedral, a tricky 5.12a trad route to the right (we used pre-placed wires) into all of the climbing after the 9th bolt, adding up to a testing 5.13b, or 8a. I also managed to redpoint from the ground to the 6th bolt and then from the 7th bolt to the top. I tried to go from the 6th bolt to the top to bag the coveted 'one hang' ascent but unfortunately, I split a tip on my forefinger halfway through my trip which was a bit of a bummer to say the least. Still, best not to get downhearted, at least it wasn't a finger injury and these things easily happen, especially on a route of this nature. In fact, the locals said the temps were really warm for October, up in the 70's for many days. This only left a brief 2 hour window before darkness in which to try the route. Sometimes, it was too hot even then to bother trying. My skin therefore ground down gradually until I literally saw red! In cold conditions, this would not have been so much of a problem.

Peder on French Connection 5.13b (the last half of To Bolt or not to Be 5.14a)

I tried climbing with tape but it was almost impossible to grip the edges properly. I have therefore resolved to come back in the Spring for a rematch, this route is too good to quit on! The last week was devoted to some fun climbing at a lower grade, which was tape friendly. Still my tip was very painful as it refused to heal properly under the tape with all the edge pulling. Regardless, some stellar classics were bagged including Crossfire 5.12b, Last Waltz 5.12c, the stunning arete left of To Bolt, Go Dog Go, a great 5.12c on a spectacular tower with a dyno at the crux, Watts Tots 5.12b, the USA's first ever sport climb, Taco Chip 5.13a and the Quickening 5.12c, a steep pumper of a line in the Aggro Gully. I also had a protracted tussle with Mama Docus, a really tricky 5.13c in the Aggro Gully, which is much steeper than most routes hereabouts. This one got away unfortunately as I found the crux slap, high on the headwall, pretty hard to stick after all the steep climbing to get there.

 

Jess on Last Waltz 5.12c                                                                      Mama Docus 5.13c

The crux, desparate!

The thuggy lower section (shared with Aggro Monkey)

Anyway, enough rambling, here are some more photos of the trip, I would thoroughly recommend a trip to anyone, it is really different to Spain and France, the climate is kind, it never rains and the locals are all super-friendly and speak the lingo, whats not to like?! A big shout out to Justin Brown and Andi Renden-Brown and the other locals I spent time with for making my trip so great and for Justin in sending his first 5.14a Badman (by none other than that man again, Jean Baptiste, he gets everywhere!) Oh and if you're out there, try and avoid imbibing too much of the local beer, which I found to my cost can be rather strong at 10%!

EDIT: Check out this excellent video Justin made of my attempts at Mama Docus, the crux is a true heartbreaker!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3CyER27zcM&list=FLv59lhTjauPzvkot791HhGA

Justin on Badman 5.14a

Last Waltz 5.12c

 

Justin on Mama Docus

  The Mama Docus (off the crux!)

The final moves of Mama Docus

 

Watts Tots 5.12b

 

The crux of Aggro Monkey, keep you eyeballs in their sockets for this move!