Yorkshire limestone 2021 - Reflections on the sport climbing season

Now seems to be as good a time as any to look back on the year that is swifly coming to an end as the crags get wetter and the temps drop. Most people bar the hardy few have now retreated into training mode. Its time for a much needed power topup or some well deserved rest and recuperation. Time to dust down that training plan perhaps?

2021 will be remembered as one of the better sport climbing seasons we have had in recent years. The crags started off dry in April and bar a cold spell in May, that continued right up until early August when the first serious deluges rolled through. These proved to be no more than temporary setbacks for the serious Kilnsey redpointers, resulting in some minor adjustments to that all-important redpointing schedule. For those with time on their hands, this summer was the time to bring it all together and make the push to that elusive next grade or bag that pesky long term project. 

The Yorkshire Ripper 8b (Credit: Tim Eley)

For crag regulars, it was excellent to see the influx of recruits to the ranks as some new faces were welcomed to the scene with everybody keen to share beta and psyche. One of the best bits of having a regular attendance record at Kilnsey is the social scene and saying hi to a friendly face, especially after the recent lockdowns, The Yorkshire Limestone Facebook group was a great source of partners for many without a regular belayer or failing that, just rocking up and offering to belay resulted in a catch being secured on many an occasion - who knows just how many spontaneous sends resulted which otherwise wouldn't have happened? I will try and remember some of the many, great ascents that took place at Malham and Kilnsey although with the disclaimer that there were so many that I will inevitably miss out a few - if I have erred, answers on a postcard to give somebody I have missed their rightful place in the pantheon! (Crag coverage limited to the Big 2 crags because that's where I went most of summer!)

Working the crux on Sabotage 8c+ at Malha (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

To sum up some of the high end action at Kilnsey, Northern Lights 9a got sent twice by Will Bosi and Josh Ibbertson. I was lucky enough to witness Will's ascent and saw Josh get very close on multiple ocassions before he did it. It was amazing to see these high level performances and the sheer level of effort and dedication on show. From a personal perspective, my saga with Progress 8c+ finally came to an end in June, which felt strange to be finally able to move on and bring a multi-year siege to a close. It was awesome to see Josh, Eder Lomba de Ipina and Pete Dawson all clip the chains too and share the new kneebar beta that emerged, which proved to get the key to getting over the line, margins between success and failure being wafer thin at your personal limit. 

Northern Exposure 8b+ at Kilnsey (Credit: Andy Gardner)

Alex Barrows succeeded on Preposterous Tales a new 9a through the big roof at Kilnsey; its great to see that the crag is still yielding new lines, it looks like a funky piece of very difficult climbing  through a gob smacking feature. Tim Palmer, Josh Ibbertson, Pete Dawson and me managed to send the tricky Northern Exposure Part 1 8b+ after several years of this nearly forgotten testpiece lying fallow. The extension to this line, Northern Star 9a/+, Steve McClure's superroute from 2007 did see some attention with a crimp or two parting company with the crag most inopportunely back in June, rendering it likely harder. One can only hope that the line is still possible, although with the dismaying levels of strength displayed by today's up and coming young climbers, perhaps it is no bad thing that there are testpieces out there still to be freshly claimed.

Several well deserved ticks of Urgent Action were bagged, both male and female, including by Thea Cameron. It was certainly the year to lay your North Buttress project to rest with the usual worries of impending seepage dispelled for weeks at a time. Rhoslyn Frugtniet swifly despatched Full Tilt 8b, along with several others with some strong teams laying siege to the full line, True North 8c. I am sure next year there will be many clipping those elusive chains! The Yorkshire Ripper 8b received a rare ascent from yours truly which will hopefully lead to more from other climbers. Half the battle seems to be cleaning up dusty holds and getting on the thing, which leads to others showing an interest and helping to clean up the line still further. Indian Summer was sent by Josh Ibberton and his dad James (if I am not mistaken) and Neil Mawson with Tom Newberry adding All Out 8c to his ticklist to round out the action down this end of the crag. 

Mandella 8a+ was sent by several parties including Tanya Meredith and Ella Russell, again a great tick for a dry summer, no better time to add this mega classic to your trophy cabinet! Bullet 8a+ proved popular with Naomi Buys, amongst others, succeeding on a well-deserved tick.

Victor Hugo 8b at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Moving on to Malham, Eder Lomba de Ipina ticked Rainshadow 9a and Batman 9a/+ in the Spring, as did Josh Ibbertson and Toby Roberts, more recently in the autumn. There were a few ascents of Bat Route 8c, John Lawson sending it in the Spring and Tom Frost ticking it stylishly in September. Jim Hulbert ticked The Great Escape 8b+, the link of Cry Freedom into Predator with impeccable timing before the Autumn rains. Many worthy ticks of classics at a slightly lower grade took place. These were too numerous to mention by name suffice to say that many elated redpointers toasted their success in the Listers post-send on GBH, Zoolook, Austrian Oak and The Groove. The tough Victor Hugo 8b, the extension to Thriller 7c+ (above Consenting Adults 7a) got sent twice by Pete Dawson and I, leading to mutterings on a possible upgrade but I digress. 

Attempts on Sabotage 8c+ at Malham (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and by early October, the crag was calling time on the season with some Autumn gales barrelling through and bringing some drastic seepage lines to the crag. My inroads into Sabotage 8c+, Neil Gresham's major extension to Predator will have to wait until next year after I invested a considerable number of sessions into the line from mid August through September. Rainman 9b may just hold out another year before the coveted second ascent, although I may yet have to correct this if last year's late ticks of Rainshadow by Josh and Toby are anything to go on! 

So, happy training everyone, enjoy some downtime from the stresses of redpointing and the at times full-on nature of being immersed in a long term project. 2022 may yet be your year!!

The last shakeout on Predator before the crux of Sabotage 8c+ (Credit: Tristan Roberts)

Progress!

Having recently climbed my 5 year project last month, Progress at Kilnsey, I have just been re-reading my previous blog posts about the route, which become something of a nemesis. Starting in 2017, they follow the process up until last year in some detail - hopefully useful to those planning their own campaign!

Reaching the 'Eyes' by the 5th bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

Success this year came from a number of factors, not least of which was the discovery of a new kneebar by the 6th bolt by Eder Lomba Lopez de Ipiña. I initially discounted this as I was so used to climbing quickly through the pumpy redpoint crux moves between the 6th and 8th bolts without even stopping to chalk and had done my 2nd bolt to top links in this manner. I also was concerned that the 4 extra handmoves required to climb into and out of the kneebar would add in more time on the rock and extra pump, despite the new opportunity to rest. However, after speaking to Josh Ibbertson who kindly shared his strategy with the kneebar (having sent the route the week previously), it became clear that it would be possible to climb straight into the long move up from the 6th bolt straight out of the kneebar cutting out some of these extra footmoves. Therefore, on balance, it was a no brainer for me to use the new rest. Why ignore a perfectly good kneebar?! My Youtube video of the climb (below) shows the discovery of the kneebar for any aspirant ascentionists:

                                    Video of the route 

Another factor in getting over the line this year was building my own board in January during the last lockdown. In February and March, I set some pretty savage problems on dowel pinches and basic birch ply grips which certainly helped to maintain power levels while the walls were closed. Once I got back on the route in late April, I was initially worried that I hadn't got the strength for the crux as I couldn't do the moves from the floor but this was just a lack of recruitment and just like last year, after a few sessions back on the rig, the muscle memory kicked in and all my board training paid off. Before long, I was climbing back up to the eyes by the 5th bolt, an 'entry level' link which is pretty much mandatory prior to getting in some proper redpoint burns. Shortly after this, the crag got one of its regular drenchings and North Buttress was out of commission for a couple of weeks in May with some unseasonably cold weather to boot.

Starting the crux at the 2nd bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

As soon as June rolled around, I got back into gear and with the arrival of warmer weather, managed to do the 3rd to top link and could feel the project coming together. I was about to go for the 2nd to top link after 2 rest days as it was quite warm but a crag regular persuaded me to go from the floor instead. I'm glad I did as I got up to just below the 7th bolt before I even knew about the new kneebar - it was on!

Shortly after this good go, the 6th bolt kneebar was discovered and after commiting to using it, I experimented with different rest times to allow for optimal recovery. From the 6th bolt to the top is about 8a I would say but you have already climbed 8b+/8c to get there so you will not have much left in the tank...unless you are ultrafit and/or strong! On a really good go which was filmed by Marsha Balaeva (starting at 6:05 in my video) after one rest day, I managed my second best ever go from the ground in excellent, breezy conditions getting to just below the 8th bolt before the terminal pump kicked in and I was summarily ejected from the rock!

Tough moves at the 3rd bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

Of course, there is no direct comparision to my high point in 2019 when I reached 2 moves further (but without the kneebar) as the route is now undoubtedly more manageable with the new shakeout for those able to reach the 6th bolt. I guess I will never get to find out if I could climb it without the kneebar and get the satifaction of smashing through my old highpoint. However, this is tempered with the realisation that I had discovered a new shakeout at the end of the season last year at the 6th bolt at exactly the same place as the kneebar (see my post from last year) which allows a similar recovery for the right arm, allowing you to refresh it for the long move. So, in reality I would never have adopted my 'extreme sprint' approach (with only one chalk of each hand at the eyes) again which made getting the perfect go with the required minimum 2 rest days and decent conditions very tricky indeed. I am happy to have ticked the route using the knee which allows me to move on and do some much needed new climbing. Regarding the grade, comparing it to others around this difficulty level, I am confident that the kneebar, whilst making the route more approachable, does not bring the route down to 8c, just a little lower in the 8c+ grade. 

Another view of the crux by the 3rd bolt (Credit: Marsha Balaeva)

After my close go, I rested up 2 days and was confident of taking it down but was torn as to whether to go for it that day as it was pretty warm and lacking a decent breeze. Alternatively, I could come back the following day when conditions would be likely better. Luckily Adam Lincoln convinced me to have at least one burn and after my initial bolt to bolt go and an extra warmup pitch (to kill some time while it cooled down slightly) I found myself setting off on my attempt.

Reaching better holds at the 6th bolt (Credit: Joe Crolla)

The power of the psyche of other climbers is a big factor in getting up rock climbs as I found out over the next 5 minutes as Eder and Josh shouted up their encouragement. The redpoint went well up to the 6th bolt despite the heat as I felt stonger than ever and even not catching the pinch quite right with my left hand on the redpoint crux below the 6th bolt (due to the heat affecting grip on the smooth, rounded sidepull) didn't matter. Relaxing into the kneebar, I decided to allow myself two shakes of each arm only and stayed there 30 seconds rather than the 45 seconds of the previous session. The kneebar is pretty marginal for me at least and is definitely not hands off. At a certain point you start to 'lose more than you gain'! 

The traverse moves between the 7th and 8th clips (Credit: Joe Crolla)

The moves up past the 7th clip went well and before I knew it, I was moving right and up towards to the 8th clip and my highpoint. My fingers bit into the right hand undercut and I stepped my left foot down to a low foothold as I had worked out the last few sessions. This beta tweak added an extra footmove and a few more seconds on the rock but thankfully removed the left foot pop which had been the demise of several previous redpoints. I felt fresh enough for a cheeky adjust with my right hand on the undercut and moving up to the better holds I knew I was in with a good shout. Climbing past my highpoint and reaching the undercuts where I could reach down and clip the 8th bolt (using a long slip blu-tacked to the rock for ease of clipping) was an amazing feeling. The top kneebar slotted in ideally and I was able to recover well for 2 minutes before steeling myself for the top roof. Summoning every ounce of remaining power in my body I threw everything at these strenuous, reachy moves. Standing up into the big left hand undercut and grabbing the big pinch at the end of the difficulties, I could barely believe I was about to clip the chains and finally close this chapter in my climbing. Thanks to everybody who has belayed me over the past 5 years. For those of you with long term projects, stick at it, work hard and success will come!

Send meal with the Manchester crew!