After all if he was to make the perfect climbing conglomerate why would he put great big pebbles and small lines of crystals that supposedly make holds in the mix?! Torn skin anyone?! OOO yes please! Me first, me first!

This year I have discovered the bouldering in Northumberland and I have to say I much prefer it to the grit. It’s as close to Fontainebleau as I can imagine and for me that makes it pretty damn good. Last weekend I managed to climb 4 days in a row, my tips was onion skin thin each night but with a generous application of Elizabeth Arden I was ready to go the following day.

The other thing I love about Northumberland is the solitude, it appears to be much quieter at the crag, and life seems to slow down upon reaching the undulating farm land around Belford.

My climbing recently hasn’t been quite up to scratch but there were a few climbs I really wanted to get done or at least try. My psyche was high as we left a sunny Sheffield, it was a beautiful spring day and my optimism of it cooling down as the sun fell kept me buoyant. Our first destination was Hepburn. I hadn’t been here before but I had heard a lot about one bloc in particular, Preparation H. People had said it wouldn’t be out of place nestled in between the ‘Big 4’ at Cuvier Rempart! A big accolade indeed!

Preparation H, 8a: Courtesy of Andy Jennings

Arriving at Hepburn it was still hotter than hell and time for a bit of sunbathing whilst we waited for Andy. It is a beautiful spot looking out over Chillington Castle and the small villages nestled between rolling green pastures. For me we can cut the climbing day short and so reduce the blog length dramatically at this point-Preparation H is outstanding and so is Northern Soul to its left, this bloc would be 5 stars anywhere in Fontainebleau. The rock is of the highest quality, the lines are of good height and the climbing is varied and technical. However the day never materialised pour moi; it was too hot, I lost skin and bitched and moaned. Mina did everything! Her first 8a in Britain and in a session (rumours of it being soft, rhubarb, rhubarb), it’s definitely not a stereotypical ‘girl’ climb-beef, burl and a pair of big shoulders are required here.

I slunk back to the van with my tail between my legs like a scolded puppy dog, Mina obviously in a very jubilant mood! The next morning we woke up to rain! Brilliant, this wasn’t forecast. However a stout breeze was blowing which meant that after cereal and bagels, tea and coffee the rock was dry and luckily for me it was quite a bit cooler. Mina dumped me with Andy, Rob and Lee and headed for Team training at Teesside University.

Objective of the day-Preparation H, followed by a trip to Back Bowden to try County Ethics. Arriving at Hepburn conditions felt good but the sun was slowly edging its way onto the sloping sandstone of Preparation H. A few windmills of the arms and I jumped on, after a few flails yesterday I knew what to do and first time up I was past my previous high point, the next few goes I got a little higher each time until my fourth go where before I knew it I was standing on top of the bloc! This really is high up there with the best things I have climbed not just in the UK but worldwide. I then managed to tick a great little bloc of Varian’s called Trivial Pursuit followed by a team tick of the fantastic Northern Soul.

Northern Soul, 7a+: Courtesy of Rob Lonsdale

Off to Back Bowden to try County Ethics. I had never laid eyes on this stretch of crag before but the photos and video footage I had seen made it look awesome, I wasn’t disappointed! The rock is of a board type angle with lots of small slopey crimp rails and pockets, sounding good?! It also is of a good height ranging from 7-10 metres (guesstimation there). County Ethics is at the smaller end of the buttress but is still pretty high, basic board climbing leads to a big throw at a slightly scary height. Upon arrival I thought a good flash attempt could bring sweet success and a need to not test the mats and my knees. First go up I got to the big throw but after not climbing for a while flash pump coursed through my veins and I dropped off. However they weren’t delusions of grandeur, I should have flashed it. Now it was a battle of the mind, I should do it on my next attempt but would I?! Plus skin preservation was important. After a rest I jumped on, arrived at the throw and stuck the sloping edge, don’t mess it up now. Heel to hand and up to more sloping but big ledges and I quested on up to the top. I was happy, really happy! My weekend ticks were complete with 2 days still to go. I conserved skin for the rest of day and spotted, brushed and gave beta at Bowden. As the sun sank low in the sky and a chill filled the air my mind was filled with content, a fun and successful day in truly stunning surroundings.

County Ethics, 7c+: Courtesy of Rob Lonsdale.

The next day we had decided to brave the long arduous walk up to Ravenshugh, a north facing crag in the Simonside Hills near Rothbury. An hour’s slog later and one very sweaty t-shirt we reached our destination. The walk up had been warm but a gale was blowing at the crag making for pretty good conditions. I was awe struck by the size of the rocks here; large grey hunks of windswept sandstone nestled into the side of the remote moorlands gave Ravenshugh a dark, eerie feeling; a place that time had forgotten.

There were two reasons for our hike; Reiver voiced to be one of the finest 7b+’s in the country and the Magician, a tall prow climbed by Andy Earl back in 2007. A brief look around and I wasn’t disappointed-the lines were tall on impeccable looking sandstone. We set to work on Octopus, a 7a next to Reiver-a fairly easy plod up a groove lead to a scary throw to the top, one that was definitely easier for the tall, hence the name! It was time to move rightwards and start working out Reiver. No chalk and the rock was dirty after a winter of little attention (Ravenshugh is a spring/summer crag, winter must be miserable up here). After numerous attempts I finally worked out how to get to a good slopey ramp about ¾ of the way up the wall. A few goes later with a little less scrittle beneath my sweaty palms I managed to hoist my leg onto a bad smear and reach up to a good but small and dirty break, not wanting to fall I went into crimp over drive and lunged for the sloping top, thank god it was a good sloper! This definitely is a classic boulder problem and putting the lichenous scrittle aside must be up there with West Side Story; it requires delicate and subtle movement with a bit of gunnage to reach the top. When it’s clean it must be bliss!

As the sun was dipping low in the sky we headed over to the Magician, on our way, a brief stop to run up the Duergar; a stunning arête that protrudes out of the hillside, watch out for the sloping top!

The Duergar, 7a+: Courtesy of Mark Savage.

So to the Magician-well it’s pretty big, although by today’s standards I am not sure what big is anymore. However I knew that the difficult climbing was quite low down and the landing was a flat grassy meadow amongst the heather and boulders, what more could one want?! I had made the decision to put a rope down it to clean the holds near the top, I didn’t know the last time it had seen attention and I didn’t know when I would be back. I wasn’t keen on doing all the hard part and then coming unstuck because I didn’t know where a hold was. A brief chalk and inspection later I was back on the floor and ready to go. The rock still felt really warm on the first two goes but the short foray’s had allowed me to work out what to do, I knew I could do it but my skin was thin and we were losing light, would the rock cool before darkness engulfed us?! I rested and decided to take my tape off, next go and I found a key bit of beta for me, turning the right heel into a toe before throwing out to the left side of the prow. Time for another short rest to cool my weeping, bleeding tips. As the darkness crept in, I chalked my hands and pulled on. Through the first few moves I turned my heel to a toe and unexpectedly managed to reach out nice and slow to left arête, I had found the balance point. One right hand movement and I was in, I hesitated almost to the point of falling off, heaven knows why and then lurched for the right hand slopey rail. Tagging it a small grunt of exertion escaped my lips; I matched up and started cautiously up the rest of the problem. I was filled with a mixture of fear and adrenaline, and this brought on the pump, the end of the 3^rd day and my body was tired. However I managed to drag myself up and over the top needless to say I was very, very happy!

The Magician, 7c+: Courtesy of Mark Savage.

A long but worthwhile walk down in the dark, we retreated to the bunkhouse to fill our empty stomachs with curry and beer! The next day was a wash out; mist and rain filled the air and snow was coming, we headed south to North Yorkshire to meet my Mum and Sister in Wensleydale; that evening a hot tub and a glass of wine brought much needed relief to our aching, weary bodies.

I hadn’t known how this weekend would pan out, my confidence has been really low recently but I was extremely psyched to be heading to the county and to visit some new crags. After the first sweltering day my psyche was lost along with a lot of my skin but the change in the weather brought me good fortunes and I not only managed to achieve my goals but I surpassed them by climbing the Magician. It wasn’t the difficulty of any of these problems but more the circumstances that made me feel good inside and served to raise my motivation for climbing again. A great weekend with good people in a beautiful place, the only down side was Mina not finishing off County Ethics but she will be back!

A very, very good gritstone boulder problem! I could leave it there but I will expand upon that sentence a little. This bloc is at a craglet by the name of Brandrith in North Yorkshire; it was climbed by Dave Sutcliffe a good few years ago now but seems to have seen relatively little attention. I had always wanted to get it done but kept for getting of its existence; you know how it is-climbs come and go in your mind depending on how many other bits of rock you are thinking about!

Fast forward at least 5 years and my friend Andy reminded me of its existence. Not only did he remind me but he raved about how good it was! Andy only has eyes for good lines; no eliminates, shuffling or low balls here! After trying to fix up a time to mission up from Sheffield we eventually got ourselves in gear and descended upon Brandrith on Wednesday.

Upon arrival it was warm and humid (the midges were out) and the local authorities were conducting controlled heather fires, creating clouds of smoke that engulfed us from time to time! I was gob smacked when we arrived; it really was pretty perfect looking. An immaculate, fine grained gritstone arête of about 5 metres in height with a good grassy landing!

Quite literally 'Heaven in your Hands'.

We set about trying out beta. The first part is techy arête climbing and this equals Andy’s bag, so in no time at all he was up to the crux about ¾ of the way up. I took a little longer but managed to put a halt to the barn dooring long enough to get established for the crux, now what?!

Tom ‘Gangle’ Newman then showed up, having tried this when he was still very tall but much younger he scooted up the first bit and managed to work out a method for the top, an hour or so later he was on top, leaving us to flail around with idea, after idea, after idea!

I thought I had a method but it was a committing jump for the top and the left hand pinch, in the words of Malcolm Smith, was f*%!ing greasy! So back to the drawing board, another method and I was close but next go I couldn’t seem to find the body position, in dismay I reached for the line of crystals Tom had decided to crimp, to my surprise I could reach, in excitement though I hoisted my foot way over the foot hold and fell back to the mats.

A few goes later and my left arm was feeling really pumped, I decided to have a really long rest. It’s funny how seemingly techy climbing can still leave you feeling pumped. After what seemed like a life time I decided to have a go, my skin was thin but I disregarded the tape and went for broke! Of course as the gritstone story goes this time it felt easy. Everything went perfectly; I looked and placed my feet, leading to an unpumped left arm and this lead to the top of the boulder.

One of the finest examples of gritstone arête climbing I have had the pleasure of doing, it left me with a split tip and a cramped left bicep but that was all worth it. Get up there before it gets too hot!

Cue left arm bicep cramp!

Since watching that classic production Consumed I have always wanted to do Grand Potato, which in old money used to get E7 6b but now with a few pads is more like font 7a+. Last year it was popular with a number of ascents but I never managed to get to Baslow to try it.

However as the grit season is drawing to an end and spring is upon us, a moist but cool Wednesday morning seemed like a perfect opportunity to get out and try our luck on the ‘big pomme de terre’. Katy, Ned, Rich and I hauled in some mats to make it as safe as possible. After all we can do this nowadays so why not (cue ethics police onslaught)?!!

A brief sandy break traverse was ample warm up and Ned was off up the big potato quicker than you could say King Edward! A few goes later I managed to scramble (pun intended) my way up the arête to the ‘oeuf’ like slopers at the top. Katy was getting through the crux but was all beefed out from the gunny roof section at the bottom, next time! Rich was just there for moral support and an egg-stra pair of hands!!

Katy eyeing the' oeufs' on Grand Potato

With a few hours spare before I had to be at work we decided to go in search of The Art of White Wearing (7b) at Curbar, or is it at Froggatt, no Curbar, Froggatt, ah who knows! I had heard this was a brilliant highball-technical and tenaciously tiring upon ones toes! After a longer walk-in than necessary, we went off the main path too early and had to fight through felled Silver Birches, we arrived in a sweaty state at our destination. In today’s terms this is probably pretty low for a highball but the quarried ramp line that ascends up the centre of the wall makes for a stunning feature.

A friend of ours, Mr. Dixon had said his toes got tired climbing this and I can understand why. One attempt down and I was changing my sloppy Quantums for a slightly stiffer 5x. A few goes of figuring out beta (we managed to forget each time) and we all got to the top! A very satisfying climb rather like West Side Story but easier and all on the left hand. Thanks for balancing us out gritstone!

A short but successful morning, nothing ground breaking but a nice reminder that the gritstone creates extraordinary features for us to climb at heights that are slightly unsettling and so makes for a great experience.

Well the weather in England has started to warm up, spring definitely appears to be on the way! This renews my psyche for training as it looks like cold gritstone days are a thing of the past for this winter at least!

Time to focus on getting strong for Colorado but also time to get rid of an A2 tweak I have on my right index finger. I did it just before Christmas but foolishly did no massaging or icing over the festive period! Since then every time I climb it has swelled up; it doesn’t hurt that much but I can’t try too hard on it either. Last week I decided it wasn’t going away and so something radical had to be done; cue no actual climbing for 6 weeks (apart from warming up and the occasional potter outside). The idea of this doesn’t faze me too much as the strongest I have ever been was after 6 weeks of just finger boarding, campusing and doing one armers. These sessions are much more controllable than actual climbing and by doing most of exercises in a drag grip position I will hopefully limit any further damage to my finger. After only a week it feels much more flexible, so fingers crossed!

On Friday I decided to go out for a bit of a potter on the sandstone at Churnet Valley, more specifically Ina’s Rock. I had spoken to Ed Hamer earlier in the week and he had said a team of them were going out to try Thumbelina (highball 7a) and Cornelius (highball 7c). I had done Thumbelina previously but had been too tired and bit scared to commit to Cornelius; the chance to have another go with a lot of pads got me really inspired. Friday also ended up being a really nice spring day after a week of glum, low cloud and drizzle around Sheffield.

Reaching around to safety on Cornelius (7c). Photo courtesy of Ethan Walker

After warming up and everyone else doing Thumbelina I was ready to have a go on the intimidating Cornelius. First time I managed to get through the low crux, arriving at a flat in cut ‘jug’ I was totally boxed, not able to recover or even chalk on the hold I put my right foot high and looked upwards, the sloping break looked a country mile away and I was feeling in no state to lock that far! Was I that unfit or was it just flash pump?! The latter I hoped! After 40 minutes of resting and watching the others figure out the moves I was ready for another go. This time I got through the crux and felt much more relaxed, dragging holds instead of boning the hell out of them. Time for the big left arm lock and the point of no return! Reaching up to the break I got the right hand sloper and feeling good came in to match, crossing through to a small but positive chicken head crimp thoughts of falling from here briefly popped into my head! Instant adrenaline started to course through my veins, bringing the ’fear’ pump but I knew I was nearly there. Shutting out the thoughts I reached around the arête to a finger jug and breathed a massive sigh of relief. One more big lock and I was at the top! A very exhilarating experience! Cornelius is one of the best lines in the UK in my opinion-impeccable rock, high but with a perfectly flat landing and a great variety of movement on all manner of holds!

Ahhh jug! Cornelius (7c). Photo courtesy of Ethan Walker

Back to the training for now! Sunday I campussed and then decided to nip out for an hour before work to try Puck (7b); a highball overhung arête of John Welfords with a less than desirable landing! It involves a few easy moves to get you set up for a dynamic throw to a pocket, followed by a few more high but easy moves. After missing the pads and landing on a rock I managed to just catch the sloper on my next go and re-adjust into the safety of the pocket! Another Welford tick and another great problem that doesn’t seem to see much attention!

Right am off to fingerboard!

 

I am not sure what has happened with Britain’s weather over the past few months. We have had unseasonably high temperatures, mixed with humidity and rain; this as we all know does not result in good climbing conditions. There has been the odd spell of cold dry days but just as momentum starts to build with psyche and motivation, in sweeps another warm, wet front to dash any hopes of ticking off those projects. The weather being like this also makes it hard to train- what are we training for?! Why do we do this?! Are questions that circulate around my head. So, if the weather in the UK wasn’t going to supply me with psyche I would need another impetus, and the only way I know of is a.... plane ticket!! A few clicks and phone calls later, a flight was booked!! Colorado here we come!! I have always wanted to visit Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt. Evans, the lines don’t look as stunning as places like Rocklands or Bishop but the movement looks phenomenal. Boulder also looks like a fun place to hang out, eat nice food and live the good life!

It’s funny how a piece of paper promising to take you to a new destination and a substantial decrease in one’s bank balance can increase levels of psyche tenfold, but for me it is definitely the answer to waning levels of motivation.

Training was planned over Christmas in Ireland and after the food consumption it would definitely be needed!!! My family seems to awaken at around 6:00am and cook non-stop till bed time! Amazing!

A wet trip to Fontainebleau over New Year didn’t even dampen my spirits; I managed to complete the Real Thing ticks with Bicep Mou, drink a good amount of red wine and eat some lovely buttery air, that the French call croissants!

After having nearly 3 weeks of very little climbing it was time for the training! The weather even played ball. Rubbish weather means I don’t feel guilty for not going out on the rock! However we managed to get the odd day of nice weather. In early January I went back to Darkstar, a highball 7c+ of John Welford’s that seems to have been all but forgotten. I brushed it up and worked out the moves before Christmas but it was a bit damp to finish it off. A cold, breezy day came and that was the first thing on my mind. After warming up at home and giving the holds a chalk on a rope I managed to send it on my second (and third) attempt. I was made up, it felt so much better because I had had to clean it up and put a bit of effort into making it climbable again. A great problem that will hopefully see a little more attention now. I was lucky enough to get the ascent captured by Outcrop Films and it will appear on the upcoming film Life on Hold.

Darkstar, 7c+: Courtesy of Outcrop Films

The good weather disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and it was back into the training! Always keeping a watchful eye on the weather, as time on rock is really important for me! During this period fellow Moon and Five Ten athlete Phil Schaal stopped over in the UK for a week before heading to the granite boulders and cold temperatures of Ticino. The weather meant he spent most of his time in the wall but he also sampled his first FULL English breakfast, Fish and Chips and a typical pub meal of.... PIE!! He managed a few sends too, of which I am sure he will update you all at some point!

 A cold front seemed to be coming for the end of January and beginning of February. Fingers crossed!

And as we all know a few good days did arrive! I headed up to Bowden for the weekend; having never been here before I was as excited as a child on Christmas morning. There were particular things I wanted to try but I basically ran around for 2 days trying everything!! Both days we were first at the crag and last to leave, it reminded me of times gone by when if you weren’t completely boxed with bleeding tips then the day hadn’t been a success! I will definitely be visiting the County more often as there are a number of climbs I would like to do up there. More restraint will be critical next time!

Staggered, 7b: Courtesy of http://marksavagephotography.blogspot.com/

Another problem on my winter tick list was Brownian Motion at West Chevin in Yorkshire. This was climbed by Andy Brown way back when.... well I don’t when but needless to say it didn’t get repeated for a long time. Andy had used a toe hook around the arête which was a country mile away and given it the paltry grade of 7c+. Strong Bingly based Martin Smith aka Shaggy aka Pencil aka Terrace Ghost decided to use strength (as opposed to seriously long legs) to get the long awaited second ascent a couple of winters ago and proposed a more realistic 8a+ for it. Dave Barrens grabbed the third ascent earlier in the month and after watching the video of Dave doing it I was psyched! A few easy set up moves leads to a long lock off a right hand crimp to a slopey left hand rail, this is followed by poor feet and a number of poor right hand intermediates to the top! It was fifth day on but I had done relatively little (even sacrificing training) the previous day as I knew the weather looked pukka! A friend Dom volunteered to come along for moral support and a spot, he was resting on his laurels after climbing The Pinch at Crag X the day before. Arriving at the Crag I felt good, it looked even better in real life and much higher than I had expected but with a perfectly flat landing. I chalked up the holds and to my relief it wasn’t even damp. I had briefly warmed up on the finger board at home but the rock was cold. Needless to say I jumped on, soon realising that the first right hand crimp was sharp! My goes would be numbered! Thoughts of going home with a split tip after a few tries were not appealing. A few more goes and I was close to the long move up to the left hand hold but my skin was becoming wafer thin. I estimated two more goes at most! The long move for me seemed to be a mix of a lock and a pop at the last minute. I put the poor skin thoughts out of my head and pulled on, hit and adjusted the right crimp and surged up to the slopey rail and this time stayed there, for a brief moment surprise stopped me dead, I re-adjusted the hold-it was worse than I had expected- I brought my left foot out onto a very small foot hold and moved my right hand to the first intermediate, as I did this my foot popped, I tensed everything, getting to the top of my out swing I realised I had just managed to stay on. I steadied myself and campussed to the next intermediate, steadied myself again and went for the top hold!! Holding it and topping out from darkness into sun was one of my best climbing feelings!! I had been frustrated with my attempts at climbing outside recently and with this send it all disappeared!! I couldn’t believe first time after doing the first hard move I had managed to continue to the top, especially with the cut loose and campussing!

Ecstatic was the word and relief, my right index wouldn’t have taken another go. Three hours driving (there and back) and £15 in petrol for 7 goes to climb a bit of rock and it was all worth it, having said that the line between success and failure must have been pretty thin. The mental battle to have done the drive again knowing I would only get half a dozen goes would have been difficult! Oh climbing is a funny game!!

I finished the week off with a send of Zoo York, an overhung arête imported directly from Switzerland and Terry, a highball slab involving a mono pinch on pebbles, definitely a more typical gritstone experience!!

A few other ticks during this week of good ‘nick’ included- Domes sit start (Rowtor), Green Man (Stanton Moor), Salle Goose and River of Life (Turningstone).

River of Life, 7c+: Courtesy of Outcrop Films.

Salle Goose, 7c: Courtesy of Outcrop Films.