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!

Mecca Extension

Well some of the dust has settled since I finally managed to complete the extension last sunday so now seems as good a time as any to set down some thoughts. Hopefully the following will cause others to get psyched and get out there to send some things at their personal limit! This might be a bit long for some tastes but if so, just skip to the last paragraph! Ever since ticking Mecca in 2009 I had a vague notion of going higher and had briefly checked out the extension in 2006 when I could barely do a move. You need to put a lot of time in up there to get used to the snatchy and insecure style of movement on poor fingerholds and timebomb smears. Yes, the top half is in complete contrast to the lower part, which is essentially a power endurance fest. Instead, it demands execution of complex and tenuous, technical moves which, once learned, start to feel easier once the engrams become engrained. I had such a battle getting up Mecca since first trying it in 2006 that all thoughts of the extension went out of the window. 50 sessions and 4 years later, I eventually clipped the chains once I got back from the Dolomites in August on a trip with Ben Heason.

Over next 3 years, I moved away from Manchester to Jersey and Dorset before returning to my homeland in 2011. The Tor fitness was not quite there though and it took all of last year to get back up to scratch. I had a difficult decision to make because I had wanted to get on Make it Funky as I had done a good link on this from the end of the crux to the top after doing Mecca and wanted a completely new project. However, the best laid plans are sometimes blown to smithereens and I hyperextended my right ring finger on the famous 7c+ Mirage in Ceuse summer 2011. Having sent 8a on it on the last day of the trip, the finger swelled up and an xray back home revealed that I had an avulsion fracture! A fragment of bone had been ripped away from the joint by the force of the finger bending back...gnarly!! Luckily I was back in action after 6 weeks rest with no ill effects apart from my fingertip being a bit fatter. So, the Make it Funky bolt hole mono move is no longer so feasible, oh well such is life! This is what prompted me to try the extension seriously.

So last summer I went up there again after speaking to Adam Bailes who was close to ticking the route. I was psyched to be able to do all the moves that session. I kept going back up there and managed to gradually link from the pocket before the traverse to the top, a breakthrough at the time. Then from the Mecca belay to the top. It was this link that opened my eyes to actually climbing the thing. Before the winter rains set in, I managed to link from the base of the Mecca groove to the top, another big buzz as it was the first time I had skipped the last clip, which you need to do in order to tick the route, it being too strenous to clip. Sometimes, you need to man up! I knew then that it was on next year.

Gaining the base of the final flake (Credit: Guy van Greuning)

Another big change was embracing the kneebar for the moves up the groove. In the past I had been a little resistant to change but a change of heart made me check it out for the first time only to be blown away by how good the moves were using the knees, although it did make the top section signficantly easier. What used to be moves at my absolute power endurance limit are now much more manageable from the ground with the hands off rest. Having said all that, I can only stay there for 20 seconds or so as the core strength rapidly drains in such a strenous position. At the end of the day, its personal choice on this one....

As the top was wet for much of March and April, I only managed to get back on the route after returning from the Jura in April. Progress was slow in the first couple of weeks and I only managed to repeat the horn to top link after several sessions. Gradually, the moves began to feel easier and I started trying the last link I would attempt before trying it from the ground, from the 3rd bolt to the top (i.e. the old 'pocket link' on Mecca). This felt a lot harder adding in the crux part of Mecca and it was only after a few more sessions that this eventually fell with me pumping out at the base of the flake quite a few times. Shaking out on the big flake above the Mecca belay, I began to feel some fitness building with each session, it was exciting seeing the progress. This brings me to how to train for this route? I think it is really a fitness route for people who can do Mecca. So you need to be quite fit and it was for this reason that over the winter at Stockport wall I trained routes on the plastic (10 tie-ins minimum per session!) as well as regular bouldering sessions. There are 47 moves til the finishing jug (25 for Mecca) so you need something more in reserve than sprinting up Mecca only to slump on the chains.

Evening sessions after work were the key, this way you can get plenty of contact time, which is essential if a project is at your limit. The next problem was getting up Mecca again! I started trying again from the ground after the top pocket on the traverse got frustatingly wet and stayed that way for 3 weeks or so. Progress was slow and I began to fear I was not as strong as 4 year's ago and that I may have blown my chance by not having bouldering enough. Luckily I was wrong and it was a week's rest off the route in flying out to Pisa for a uni mate's wedding that gave me some much needed time off. Doing Full Tilt at Kilnsey last Tues, which I had been trying for years, I knew I felt stronger and this gave me added confidence and psyche.

On Thursday evening I managed to get to the last 2 moves after getting my heel on the flake and getting the next right hand crimp above, so close!! I was mega boxed though and the final British 6a moves to the final jug, which I had never fallen off before, transformed into seemingly impossible barriers and I was off skydiving back into space! 2 days' rest was called for and on the sunday, trying to keep nerves at bay, I set off on my redpoint. This time I was less pumped the whole way on the top section and had something left for the finish. Clipping the chains was a massive buzz I have to say with it being my first 8c. I would recommend the siege of a route at your personal limit to anybody, just as long as you are making progress, however gradual.

(Credit: George Carmichael)

So, thanks for sticking with the above ramble and have fun out there, stay psyched!

Frankenjura 2013

Welcome readers, time for an update from the Jura from our spring trip. Well it would be fair to say that the crags were a bit wet to say the least but we made the best of it and traded in our dreamt of projects for some 1 and 2 star material which was dry and probably almost as good as the stuff we meant to get on. We had an abortive visit to the southern crags where we had planned to get on, amongst others, Hercules, a superclassic 7c at Barenschlucht, and maybe Nightmare, an amazing 8b with an infamous clip off a mono. However, a deluge of rain and seeping crags put paid to that plan and scarcely had the tent been pitched at the deserted campsite when it was taken down and we had bailed back up to our base in the north. 

The crags in the north of the Jura are relatively unsung but boast some pretty high calibre climbs with such lines as Nikita, the standout 8a+ classic and the brutal Raise the Roof, an 8b+ which could not be much steeper! Unfortunately, most of these climbs were seeping but the lads managed to get up a few 8a's and 8a+'s at Holzgauerwand, where Nikita is located, despite the odd spoogey pocket (make that most pockets!!)

For my part, I managed to get up Infiziert, a nice 9+ or 8a at Rolandfels that consisted of a sustained wall on crimps and small pockets leading to a wet crux crimp and shakeout jug. From there the style changed to some awkward pull of slopers and strange pockets leading to the loweroff. Quite a few redpoints were expended on this section resulting in some exciting whippers!

Ethan on Nullkommanix 8a+ (Rolandfels)

We had a rather character building doss in the cave at this crag on a bed of leaves living the true outdoor life! The morning brew sure tasted good made with water hulked up the hill from the nearby river.

The saving grace of the trip was definitely a sunny wall called Kuhkirchnerwand near a charming village called Loch. This crag was dry and south facing but the flip side was that it was hot as hell in the sun and pretty busy at weekends to boot.

Crag scene at Kuhkirchnerwand, Loch

The popular steep 8a+ of Primeur de Luxe that saw sends from Ed and Ethan seemed to often have queues but thankfully it was so steep that people were not on it for long.

Ethan on Primeur de Luxe 8a+ (or 10-)

I went for a bouldery number called Fingerfood 10- (or 8a+). This had a Rubicon style crux right off the deck which was probably V8 involving pulling on a tiny tooth and then rocking onto it to gain a shakeout jug. The final 4 bolts were probably 7b+ or 7c with some intense pulls on small crimps and pockets.

Fingerfood 8a+ (or 10-)

Sam and I indulged in the Wolfgang Gullich classic crack of Heinzin 8 just to the left, originally climbed on trad I believe that gave an exercise in technical bridging with some jug pulling and rattly finger jams to boot, awesome!

Heinzin 8 (or 7a)

Another good find was the microcrag of Andeltodrom, which is randomly located in the middle of some dense woods and rather difficult to find with the limited (to say the least!) descriptions in the Extreme Frankejura Select guide. The crag is tilted at 45 degreees for 30 feet and climbing on it is like going up a giant woodie. Hakuma Madada is the route of the crag at a stout 7c on some tasty pockets, and saw several flashes.  

We had a couple of nights out to nearby Bamberg to sample the infamous weissbier, which at 2 Euros a pint is hard to quibble with! Snitzel was duly sampled along with the ubiquitous sauerkraut. Drinking and hard sending don't tend to mix, funnily enough, but luckily there is a place for both on any well balanced trip.

To sum up, to borrow a quote from Dosage III, whenever the season was, it was not now! We had a blast, didn't we boys!!

Sam on Stalingrad 7b+

Ed on SMS 8a+