Watch Dirt Tv's Finally, to re-live Fort William world cup action, plus an additional Adam Brayton destroying his home tracks at the end.

Video of Misericorde 7c+

We have been in Fontainebleau for another month since I last wrote. It has been a slightly mixed bag in terms of weather but has definitely been fun. There is a line in Fontainebleau that I have always wanted to climb: Misericorde. It is a stunning, high arete at Cuisiniere that I have always stopped and looked at in awe on previous trips; it is, for me, quite an intimidating line. I had played on the start a year or two ago with a friend but this trip I was determined to make a real effort to climb it. It is very high and, despite the good landing, I was nervous having recently hurt my ankle quite badly. I decided to go down it on a rope to give the holds a clean and some chalk and to try out the top moves. This really helped me confidence wise as I didn't find the top too hard and knew that if I could keep it together mentally, I could do it. The crux for me was a move about half way up where you go for a good crimp with your left hand (before setting up for the high rock up) and I knew in my mind that if I held this move then I could finish it if I kept my cool. After this session we had a bout of rain but next time it was dry I headed back over to try it. It took a good few attempts for me to warm into my sequence for the first couple of moves and then a few more to hold that left hold half way up. When I got that hold I switched my brain off and just climbed! For those of you that have done it you will know that the top hold is a massive jug and it is a great feeling getting that.... even better feeling when you are safe on top though!

Go check out:

http://gloves.arcteryx.com/

and

http://baselayer.arcteryx.com/

Dave Mason on his new route... Pink Lady 8a

misericorde from mina leslie-wujastyk on Vimeo.

Snatch, one move, 8a, Stanage plantation.    Photo by: Nick Brown

Climbing gear review UK just released a positive review on the Phase AR base-layer from Arcteryx.

Check it out HERE

Chris showing Fall-line through the range....

Photo: Keith valentine (phunkt.com)

Harry was 6th at the 2009 Junior World Championships in Canberra, despite a crash in his final run, and in 2010 was pretty much doing everything himself at World Cup level. Now with this new level of support his ambitions for the upcoming season are much higher: “I want solid top 20 results at all World Cups.” Harry’s goals are very clear and with the support of his new team quite realistic: “Last year I saw Unior Tools Team in the pits and could see they have got a great program with everything accounted for. From full mechanical support to a really professional team area, all of which takes stress off my mind so I can just get down to the racing; this is big advantage for me.”

Team Manager Tine Mahkovec explains how Harry Heath came onto the team: “Idea was developed in past season as part of the business strategy to promote Unior Tools in the UK. Harry is managed by Martin Whiteley’s 23 Degrees, always a good reference for a rider. We saw what Harry can do and realize that he could also have positive influence on other riders.”

This UCI MTB gravity team, full of national champions and talented riders, is supported by Slovenian hand tools manufacturer Unior, as well as Trek Bicycles, SRAM, adidas Eyewear, SixSixOne, Muc-Off, Edelweiss RS and other partners. This will enable the team to support five riders on the UCI MTB World Cup events, some iXS European Cup events and of course other national and UCI Class events. All of the riders are also strong candidates for national teams for both World and European Championships.

Not everything is about racing and results with Unior Tools Team – it’s also about having fun and riding for the pure enjoyment. And since the team riders live very far away from each other it will be very important to spend some time together during the events. Most of the time in Slovenia will be spent in Kranjska Gora, venue of the 2009 European Championships. Harry Heath is excited about that: “I’ve ridden Kranjska Gora before and was blown away by how cool the place was. This is a place I’m looking forward to spending more time riding mid-season. It will be a perfect training ground in between World Cups, so that is when I’ll be there.”

Unior Tools Team roster for season 2011: Men: Harry Heath (United Kingdom, DH), Nejc Rutar (Slovenia, DH), Ziga Pandur (Slovenia, DH) Ladies: Neza Knez (Slovenia, 4X), Maria Michalogiannaki (Greece, DH) Team staff includes Team Manager Tine Mahkovec, Mechanic Rok Jurca and Media Manager Grega Stopar.

Official website www.uniortoolsteam.com is on-line with all the latest news and information about riders. You can also follow the team on Facebook or Twitter.

Taken from UKclimbing.com:

"Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall have climbed two new routes at a 'new' crag - Rainroach Rock in Staffordshire.

The routes, Captain Cutloose (E7 6c) and Pieces of Eight (E8 7a) took a fair bit of cleaning, but after the hard work produced two good lines.

Tom Randall explains how they were tipped off:

...I got chatting to Gary Gibson about new crags and new routes to be developed in the Churnet region. Quite surprisingly, he actually gave me a rather good tip-off about this place called Rainroach Rock...

After trekking through quite a bit of dense woodland and the dreaded Rhododendron bushes we eventually found the fabled Rainroach Rock. As promised, the crag was totally obscured by vegetation, so we got work with a load of bow-saws and cleared a substantial area of land. Once cleaned up a bit, we were greeted with a really awesome bit of rock – perfect Churnet grit, capped with a massive horizontal 7-foot roof!

...We returned on Friday to find perfect conditions. A quick check of our routes from the comfort of a tight rope confirmed they were ready to go, so we later dispatched them that day. My route features a huge cut loose move across the roof and a bit of spicy climbing up the final arete, which was very enjoyable – this created 'Captain Cut Loose' probably about E7 6c. Pete crimped and gnarled his way up the very bold lower arete of his route and ran it out on the upper headwall to create a desperate E8 7a – 'Pieces Of Eight'."

Check the video out HERE