Photo by Adam Long

For some reason I failed to mention that a month or so ago I climbed Johnny Dawes’s two amazing slabs; Angel Share and Jumping on a Beetle at Black Rocks.
These we originally climbed as routes and as they have no protection were given pretty high E grades. I wanted to climb these routes ground up with out breaking every bone in my body, so I padded it out- think I had about 8 pads in total.
I have tried to get onto the slab once or twice before but failed to do the hard weird mantle onto a chipped rail start. Some how this session (must have been all the one legged squats I have been doing!) I got up first go. I wasn’t really expecting this and was then faced with climbing Jumping on a Beetle. The first move is the hardest, which is a weird step through once you have trusted your foot you then just carefully climb up some gritty pebbles to the top.
I managed this first go today, so next up was Angel Share. There is literally nothing for your hands on this except a thin seam at the top that is hard to get anything from anyway. So this involved the same mantle start as Jumping and you just had to have an unbelievable amount of trust in feet and pad up the slab.
I think was one of my favourite slabs because you had to think so much about body positioning and weighting your feet correctly, which is what I love and am reasonably good at.
I took quite a few big falls from the top but eventually managed to scrabble my way over the very sloppy top out.
Next up is Velvet Silence the classic of the block…might have to wait till next winter now though.
 

II am always keen for a bit of grit climbing and have been trying to get out as much as possible over the last few weeks. It has got a lot warmer recently but I figured this would be the perfect time to go and do all the classics I haven’t yet done from VS to E5.

Brads Arete 'the presence of absence' 6c+

Photo by Si Wilson

 

A few weeks ago I climbed The Angel’s Share an amazing slab climb at Black Rocks. There are four climbs that go up the slab on this block but to begin three of them you have to do a desperate rock over/ mantel on a thin chipped rail, which until that day I have never managed to do.

I did Jumping on a Beetle first which has one hard step through off the rail and as soon as you trust your foot it is not as bad as you think it might be.

Ned was trying Angel’s Share so I decided to have a play on it to. The slab has nothing for you hands, not even a pebble so it is all about getting your body positioning right and weighting your feet correctly. At the very top you can then reach a thin seam with your hands and at this point my feet would generally rip off and I would go sliding down the slab. I finally managed it towards the end of the day with a very ungraceful panicy top out!

 

In contrast to all this smeary short grit climbing I have just spent a week on the tufery cliff of Terradets in Spain. Totally amazing and I got totally shut down! Every single route was a battle and at around 15m I was boxed out of my mind and it would be a proper fight to get to the top, chicken winging all the way. I managed a really cool route called Energia Positiva 7c+, finger jugs to half way, then tufa, then a little bouldery finish right when you can’t hold on any longer!

 

                   Pete Whittaker climbing the beefy L'Anarkista 8a+

Sooooo I did my first V10 the other week called 'Walk on by' at Curbar.

It is definietly my kind of terrain, steep slab climbing!

The original way went leftwards but since a hold broke (is now totally nails going left!) it seems most people (well Caff and Ryan.) now trend right at the start to a pinch then do a tricky slap to another pinch, then get an intermediate and slap straight up to the finishing ledge.

 

Photo by Ryan Pasquill