Odd bits

I cleared out some odds and ends from some HD cards that had been building up since late last year - nothing of great quality but not worth throwing out all the same... The First problem "One for the Road" is a line Ricky cleaned and let myself, Michelle and Gaz play on. I ended up lanking it first before Gaz swooped in for the second ascent. Nice we problem and a good addition to the Scalp. The second problem is fast becoming the most popular problem in the Scalp, Michael Duffy's "Space Machine" - people often overlook the time spent cleaning and building landings for what soon become classic problems - Space Machine's landing is a constant reminder of the hard work that goes into developing new blocs - The problem gets 10 cool points for the climbing and an additional 5 just for the platform. The final problem shows James Gernon's awesome Arete, "Maniacal Laugh". This thing is a beauty! Big, proud and great climbing - I switched the camera on after the start sequence that begins in the middle of the face to the left. Once on the slab an airy traverse to the arête and then some sweet moves to the top. Rarely tried but a fantastic addition by James - one of my favourites in the area!

Some new problems

A few weeks ago I spent a damp morning cleaning ivy, moss and dirt off a load of roadside blocks in the Scalp. Brian turned up and gave a hand and Tom swung by to talk with some cyclists. Later that week I grabbed a few hours out on the problems and they had cleaned up nicely - still a few more to do but they all require better landings or multiple spotters.

Whackbat – Start on obvious jug under roof, use two big breaks to top
Kristofferson – Start with foot jam under roof and undercut. Climb steep flakes to tricky rockover onto slab
Boggis – centre of the proud slab...
Flynnstone – The arête beside a tree
Ceramic Unicorn – centre of the face to a tricky topout in a v-groove
Maximus – the big arête on big holds (dodgey landing)
Lee of the stone – the smaller arête on smaller holds (careful up there!)
NIMH – start undercutting the block, clamp the fin to top
Nicodemus – start RH undercut, LH crimp crack. Climb the crack to flake and span to nose of prow
Tigerlilly – stand start, LH sidepull. The Sit would be a cool move
James’ Crack – the beautiful crack to prickly topout. FA James Gernon back in the day
Mr. Ages – start on hanging flake with feet in the roof. Nice holds, nice moves

 

The grades might be a bit out but the problems were quality - best ones would be Whackbat, Kristofferson, Ceramic Unicorn and Mr. Ages



The Scalp

Yup! More new problems, you gotta love Wicklow!

A little video

Teaser

Following on from the press release about the wall building plans here is a cheesy clip Dave D slung together to get people interested.... enjoy!


I've been so busy that I've not had much time to do anything physical lately but things are going great on the build and a routine is forming - lots of Blogging to come in the next few days!

Amature Hardcore

A classic from my youth (well early twenties!). Mark put his whole movie up on Vimeo for everyone to enjoy. A bit dark and sombre at times but then again so is North Wales occasionally. Underlying everything is the drive and passion the local scene had for development and exploration. Watching this made me want to get out more and was one of the main reasons I dedicated some time into sending Jerry's Roof - seeing Mark's journey as he progresses and the movie ending with his final well earned send was inspiring!! Everyone should watch this ... and then we should make our own! I've got a HD cam and will try film more when I'm out! What the hell... I'll film all the classics in Wicklow but I'll need climbers!! Anyone else game?

And as a bonus you get "Between the Rain" another classic! Brilliant!!!

Momentum

Apparently its all about momentum – in the correct direction of course. Now being massively gifted I find I can generate quite a bit of momentum. The trick is ensuring that it’s not always downwards! Went bouldering in Glendalough on Sunday and the psyche was high! Met loads of new people and climbed quite a lot, surprisingly. Although all I've thought about is trying problems new to me I found that once out there I couldn’t resist trying the old familiars. You know, just to ease back into things. Trish took us on a journey around some sweet warm up circuit problems before we went over to Superswinger. Felt good to do that again but also a little disappointing. In my current shape I sent it second go proving without a doubt that it’s easy and probably only 5+. Shit. Ah well! Onto BBE sitter – I love that problem. Could do the start, could make the throw, liked Shea’s Shakira-esque hip beta. Momentum is key! But didn’t finish it. Toms brushes died. Then we went to Chillax. Man, Kids these days. Ruining perfectly decent campus burlyness with footwork and the likes. Was actually pretty cool beta and once I tried this heel hooking shite I kinda liked it – though I’m sticking with my ignorant oldschool topout. Sunday was a good day to die. To Chubbachop or whatever it’s called. I only remember bleeding and topping out from my last time on this boulder so with limited skin I bowed out and recalled past glory. John “spider monkey” H lead the way in fine style as Shea, Tom, Trish and Eoin all followed. They sparked my interest but skin was precious and I wanted to play on some other old friends. To the Hidden groove! Wonderland still looks amazing! Michael D you legend! Tom and Shea did King Cobra (Irelands best 6a) and then we played on Spinal Blood Clot (5). Now I remember this being easy and a lank-fest but despite out best efforts, maybe it was the damp rock, maybe we were tired, whatever! We failed. I recalled my sandbagging motivations from when I first climbed and graded this one and smiled, ahhhhhh! I showed Tom FluteBoy (6c) which on revisiting is the more modern of the problems on this wall. It’s a pure bloc style, one move, subtle, body positioning, dynamic dream. It’s the lowest, safest problem on the wall and should be on everyone’s list. My trip down memory lane finished we walked back to the car. Then I regretted not doing more new stuff – theres just so much to do in Dave’s guide!! Next time, new experiences all the way! Monday, with worn arms I hit the arch and began training. Progress!!! No other way of putting it, things felt easier. I felt less clumsy, lighter, stronger. Good session! This morning's run was also the driest and brightest to date – couldn’t resist a few extra kms around the park, beautiful.

Now for some psyche, these definitely deserve a watch – crush!

Ready, Set, GO!

Just like out on the mountains you have to stop and take stock of where you are if you want to get where you want to be without any wrong turns. It’s not pretty but it has to be done. So here is where I’m at in January 2012. I’m 84 kgs (87 at Christmas!). I've been running most mornings now and am building up to the bouncy, upright, feel-good feeling that comes with regular running. Unfortunately it’s all been on road but with a stretch in the daylight due to happen I’m going to try and get out onto grass or sand more. Running down to the coast road and back before the commuter routes come alive with traffic is a great way to start the day.  I've been bouldering outdoors once, into Gravity 3 times and the Arch twice and have noticed a few specific weaknesses (other than just generally feeling shit and wimpy).

·         Lock off power is nonexistent. By that I mean the shouldery static lock that seems to prevail in indoor bouldering moves.

·         Finger strength is ok (not great) but of more concern is the complete inability to squeeze or pinch plastic blobs and slopers. Again, this is a very indoor specific strength that I’ll have to develop over the coming months. Not too worried about this one though as I've rarely found it necessary on rock.

·         Core strength. It’s a healthy dose of L-sits and leg lifts from the Beastmaker for me from here on in. Whenever I do any specific core work I always have to be careful to balance out the lower back with extensions or fit-ball work.

·         And Lastly but not leastly – flexibility. I've been really impressed lately but some peoples bendiness and I’d like to develop some of my own. This ties in nicely with the running actually as I click back into a post-run routine of warming down and stretching.

Great! So plenty to go at. My target weight is 78kgs. I want to boulder V11. Sport climb 8b. And headpoint Divided Years. Just as well I like a challenge, huh? Haa!

Heres some insane, mind blowing, standard defining footage from Font that has been doing the rounds on the web lately. Plus a V14 FA from everybody’s favourite, Dave G – word!

Traverse Time!

My recent playtime on the bouldering traverse I uncovered got me thinking. I enjoyed following Pierre as he pieced together his Full Frontal traverse in Scotland. Also been reading about Chris Davies on his mission to dispatch an unrepeated 8B+ in a single trip – his story is an epic. The focus and drive he poured into training in North Wales with this one goal in mind. Really interesting to read and motivational too! I've also been just enjoying bouldering again. Being able to focus (obsess) on a single move or even on a single hold. It really shows how easy progress is to make once you begin to distil a sequence down into its base components. Below is a short video of my latest – Turmoil Traverse. Nice climbing and subtle too. Poor and often too low footholds and a combination of spaced and frictionless limestone slopers define the crux. Lovely…

Boulder Hunting

Heres a quick vid of our recent bouldering finds. Can't really try too much of the harder stuff without a pad. Saying that I reckon some of the harder highballs we've already done would get E grades back home or in the UK. The harder lines look quality ... so much to go!

A Question of Style

On Sunday morning Caroline warmed up by sending her project at the Wildside. Cuestión de Estilo takes a powerful line up a single striking tufa through consistently steep terrain. It is famous (infamous) for it's wicked crux move that utilises a painful two finger pocket that has to be taken with the front two fingers as an undercut.

It winked at Caroline back in January but she resisted trying it until she had finished her other project. Caroline was inspired to keep trying this route after watching and talking with some members of the Ukrainian climbing team who were visiting and playing on it. One woman, who had to work it a fair bit before eventually redpointing it, was discussing and sharing beta with Caroline as they were of similar height. She reckoned it was closer to 7c+. Later that day her coach informed us that she usually onsights 8a's and had redpointed 8c+, hence her surprise at being spat off a 7c.
Caroline spent some time working on her own sequence through the crux but could never give it more than two goes a day as the sharp pockets would shred her fingers and the powerful style left her wiped out after only a few attempts anyway. Just when she seemed close to sending it the weather stopped play. It turns out that despite staying completely dry in even the heaviest downpour, the route seeps really badly for weeks after heavy rain making it impossible to climb. I suppose all those tufas have to come from somewhere! Sunday we got to the crag and it was the driest it had been in over 2 months. Opting not to take a warm up, Caroline jumped straight on the sharp end and put the project to bed once and for all. A brilliant lead and one I know Caroline is especially proud of for loads of reasons.

Heres the video...

Birthday Boy!

I’m another year older – but not much wiser. Did you know that 29 is the tenth prime number, and also the fourth primorial prime. It forms a twin prime pair with thirty-one, which is also a primorial prime. Twenty-nine is also the sixth Sophie Germain prime. It is also the sum of three consecutive squares, 22 + 32 + 42. It is a Lucas prime, a Pell prime, and a tetranacci number. It is an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the form 3n − 1. Since 18! + 1 is a multiple of 29 but 29 is not one more than a multiple 18, 29 is a Pillai prime. 29 is also the 10th supersingular prime.

Here are some number ones from Ireland back in 1982 (the year I was born) – representing perhaps the pinnacle of music video production – everything since then has just been cooling down









Ooooooh yeah! I know what you're thinking - Quality!

I've also being doing some climbing. The night before my birthday we went to our local cave. I was keen to try an 8a+ that always winked at me. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t climbed on anything this style in a while, instead choosing to focus on developing some Sella stamina. This route was more my cup of tea. It played to my strengths. Technical, reach, cruxy. I gave it a decent onsight go but came off after misjudging a sloper as a decent hold. Conditions were not ideal – the rock seemed moist from the days rain and evaporation but the moves came together really quickly. Lowering off I indulged the thought that this would go this evening. Two redpoints later and a lot of chalk to dry the rounded edges and it did! It can’t be 8a+ though – Felt about right at 8a and possibly harder without my reach – but then again I’m sure the soapy two finger pockets would feel more secure to the smaller folk… yadda, yadda, yadda. So that’s 15 or so grade 8’s but not a single 8b (unless my Popcorn first ascent turns out to be one!) – time to pull the finger out! I Spent the free lessons I had in school on my birthday trawling for information on quality 8b’s on the Costa Blanca. Armed with this new ticklist and 10 new draws I am now on a mission – along with plugging away at all the other routes in Sella :o)

Some other stuff that has interested me of late includes:

Ricky’s new E8 at the Head

Cool Video of bouldering at the Head
http://www.vimeo.com/23933949

New route in the Burren by Ron with a alternative start/second ascent by Colm:

Plus a load of desk jockeys typing about how evil bolts are and questions being raised about the past, reality, history and first ascents – Huh! There was me thinking that the person who actually climbed a line first was the first ascentionist. Go figure – perhaps historical accuracy is overrated?

Anyway… Happy cranking!

Lost in Translation

Sunday was awesome. Caroline had made commitments to help a friend with her business start up so I was sent off to the Wildside with a packed lunch and my Spanish phrasebook. It felt similar to that first day at school memory. I got there early and as usual there was no one around. I spend an hour updating my printed topo to include all the new lines and sorted out the grades to the best of my knowledge. Then just sat down and read till the locals arrived. It's a weird time of year here in Sella. With the season drawing to a close there are no tourists. Just the local scene in it's eclectic glory. Knowing everyone’s names and faces from the previous 3 months of frequenting this rock helps but its a different story when you go scrounging a belay with embarrassingly poor Spanish. Luckily everyone was keen to involve the new kid and unbelievably I never had to wait or even ask for a belay. They're all so sound! I got stuck in with the belaying duties too and also got the beta for a few years worth of projecting. Everyone had their own routes and it was surprising to find out that mine was not the easiest! Everything from 8c+ down to 7c+ was being worked and the psyche (not to mention work ethic!) was high. I gave my route a couple of redpoints - making little progress after a two week break. At one point i was tempted to strip my draws and working something else but then i thought about something i read recently. Work your weaknesses but play to your strengths. And it clicked. At this stage, these sessions are training for the summer's trad. The season is over here and it's not a mission for the next tick anymore. Plus if I can clock 4 laps of a 28m long overhanging crimpfest with one fall each time and then play on all the other equipped routes in the 8's then i'm obviously training for something! All good!

Heres a video from 4 crags all within 40 mins from our house. I was talking to the first ascentionist of the 8b at 2min50 called Clemencia. He was telling me that his original was static'ed through the roof a 8b+ and that the new dyno beta lowered the grade. He also said that it was class and would suit me, a real 3 star route! Oh and theres some shit hard bouldering in there too for any boulderers out there not feeling the love for the climbing with ropes :o)

Playing with Video

Heres a short vid of some of our recent climbing antics... well I should say of Caroline's recent climbing. I have been climbing, honest, but i keep sending routes when i'm not expecting to so i never bother setting the camera up! I'll change that tomorrow though... get some falling off and swearing footage of meself.

Been playing with different camera setups and video settings too... amazing what you can do without school work and marking to be done :o)

After 2 days on my current route I've fallen off the crux hold 5 times on redpoint, each time pulling back on and finishing it to the chains in one. Frustrating but fun. Enjoying the mileage it's giving me as it's a 13 cliper :o)

Inspiration

Nige has sent Monk Life, Font 8B+

I think this is class news and a landmark ascent (in my sphere of infulence anyways) - Legend!!

Monk Life, Font 8b+, Kyloe from Nigel Callender on Vimeo.

Something for the weekend

Well this week I feel like I well and truely need something to keep me going... Shit week on the work front and will probably have to do some over the weekend with a school inspection due to take place on Monday. After that it's full on battle mode and evening cragging can resume :o)

On the interweb this week - A really honest question and answer session between Pierre and Dave "the short span" Bouldering guide Ireland. Nice to see him getting some credit for his obsession and hard work and great to see Pierre taking the initiative and doing an article for the French mag Grimper.

And now the Psyche!!

The Stuff dreams are made of?


Who needs chocolate?

Better Than Chocolate // Trailer from Haroun Souirji on Vimeo.

Update!!

Check this out... probably why he made Dreamcatcher look almost do-able :o)

Cyber Psyche

Fuel for the weekend... I'll post it early this week as some people (Neal) are off to Siurana for half term crushing - Raise the bar dude!!!!

News just in from Siurana - Adam Ondra has sent the project in La Capella at 9b!! I remember looking at this pitch. Really short. Really steep. Really close to the road. Looks nails! Don't know if I'd use the word nice... but nails seems to fit! (I know i've posted this before)

ADAM ONDRA - Working Golpe de Estado in Siurana from BERNARTWOOD on Vimeo.

Also this week I've been watching this... raw power, American comp style!!

The ABS 12 National Championships: Stop #1 of the 2011 UBC Pro Tour. Boulder, CO. from NE2C on Vimeo.

And of course, the wonder French Kid Enzo Oddo climbing a V11 highball in Bishop. Camped beside him and his family for a month this year in Ceuse while he worked and sent Realisation 9a+. Nice people and great sends!

Enjoy!!

Goings on in cyberspace

Wow! I think I miss timed my last post. It was just meant to be an expression of an observation I made about the Irish climbing scene. The up-side of all this has been the positive responses!

I’m going to try and bring a few threads together here...

Firstly Steve from climbing.ie replied with similar feelings to my own. He’s really behind praising any and all achievements on rock but he did make the very valid point that if people don’t make the effort to report their climbs than nothing will ever get said.

Then Pierre summed up the Irish catch 22 very succinctly in his post titled Achievement. Yes, I suppose it really is that simple – it could be down to a cultural mind set.

Meanwhile the grade debate raised its head on Trish’s blog but in a very good and positive way. It seems to me looking at the scene with an outsider’s perspective that the excellent work Dave F has done in producing and publishing his bouldering guide to Ireland is playing a crucial role in the evolution of Irish climbing. The first print edition of grades will no doubt motivate the masses to go forth and repeat all those lovely problems, talk about grades and things should settle – just like what happened with Mr. Pantons first printed guide to North Wales bouldering – Guide gets printed, people get psyched, crush, discuss and guide becomes out of date very quickly. Good news for guide writers :o) They get to work on version 2!

Then today I read Kev’s reply on Stone boulder. "I have heard no song, seen no dance and seen no article in the Mountain log or Outsider mag noting this achievement. People like Caroline, Michael Duffy, Nigel Calendar, Rob Hunter and several more are becoming legends in the ghostly sense - sometimes thought to have been seen out in the boulder fields and crags doing something amazing but how often does the ghost turn into vivid 3D in the climbing consciousness?" I had to smile when I read this. Aside from putting Caroline along side such wads as Michael, Nige and Rob, Kev picked a mental scab of mine. Living away from Ireland the past few years has meant I rarely get a chance to flick through Irish climbing media in its printed form. The last time I did was in Dublin Airport when returning to Spain after Christmas. One article interested me. One. A single grainy picture of Nige at a comp and a small write up about his recent success. Aside from that I couldn’t find much other mention of rock climbing in the issue. Not enough for me to warrant parting with cash to buy the mag anyway! Why? Is it like Steve said – are people hiding their achievements? Are they supposed to write an article and submit it incognito under cover of darkness and then cringe when they see it in print? I don’t know.

Anyway, it’s been interesting reading people’s views on the topic and ‘ve no doubts that with the strength of potential out there things will change in the near future and we’ll be fueling off Irish send psyche in cyber land soon enough. In the meantime and getting back to climbing, here is probably our last vid from the short and sharp Los Pinos crag. This is JogPat a link up of a soft 8a and a stiff 8a+ first climbed by Gaz Parry. It’s brilliant, technical and sustained.

JogPat from Dave Ayton on Vimeo.

Now that we’re working the bigger routes of the Sella Wildside it’ll be some time before the send train stops by I think. But trying hard on these lines is sooo much fun! Sheer climbing joy!

Caroline Sends!

Caroline vs Destroyer from Dave Ayton on Vimeo.

Sat morning Psyche

I came across this clip this morning over coffee - now i'm off to try and try hard on something - I know Caroline will do the same

Happy climbing!