Those precious days out...




Looking down Bad Skin Day from belay
 

I don't get out much. That stands as a fact at the minute but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Fortunately that makes me want to try hard when I do get out regardless of fitness etc... I think this is something that I can be quite proud of - I try hard, sometimes really hard. It may not be pretty. I may not have any gas left in my tank at the top. But I'm not afraid to try and in some cases fail. Long may this last :) Since my last post I managed some nice routes during psyche fuelled daytrips with the A-team.

Thoughts on Dalkey

Indecent Assault E8 6C, Dalkey Quarry, Dublin

 

A few weeks back I caught up with Ron and Howard at the Fair Head meet. I got to talking about Indecent assault and the story behind it. Turns out my comment about Ron "working it over a period" is misleading, apologies. He put a few sessions into it before leading it on trad gear - it wasn't a prolonged siege affair by any means and was a mind blowing ascent for the time.

Indecent Assault

On Friday I lead Indecent Assault in Dalkey quarry. This is a route that assumed a fierce reputation and went unrepeated for 19 years despite being located roadside in an urban quarry, right in the heart of Dublin city. Nearly two weeks ago I dropped a rope down it to try the moves and see if it was feasible. Really I was looking for something to occupy me during short windows of free time from home - I found that by using a mini-traxion I could cram more hard climbing into a focused hour than I used to get in a whole day of climbing in the quarry. I figured Indecent Assault could be something I could work on for weeks or even months without any real pressure to get done. On that first session I managed the crux 6C rockover but couldn't fathom the top out sequence. A week later I returned for another quick play. It had been on my mind and at some point during the week I thought of a sequence that might work. It did! I managed to "mini" the crux section from the gear to the topout twice without falls. That was all well and good but my complicated sequence felt so insecure that the prospect of leading it yet didn't really stick in my head. Four days later I met Brian out in Dalkey and was abseiling down the line to check the gear and clean the lower half of the route. Before long I had placed what gear there is in the flake and climbed the route from ground to top twice on the "mini" without warm up or falls. Still felt too touch and go to lead though. It's a weird one, when you're at the crux looking down, thinking of slack and rope stretch the gear looks too low. But from the ground the gear looks 2/3rds of the way up and totally safe. With the mindset that all prep is good prep I cleared some pointy sticks from the landing zone and took some of the branches off the tree that might catch a falling climber and cause a flip. I was ready to sack it off and go climb something else when Pat came up with a classic line "sure lead up to the gear just to get a feel for it". Good idea!

 

I set off on lead with Brian on belay and Pat watching. The lower half climbs like a 3-star HS and then I was standing hands free at the last gear looking up. At this point I was on auto and I rambled up through the increasingly committing moves to the shakeout before the crux. Fuck! A quick shout down to Brian to check for slack and ask him if he's ready to catch me. I begin the rockover to the crimp. Then the hip twist, right heel-toe cam in the undercut, bring my right hand back down, fuck, right foot step through to the blind edge and left foot leaves the good hold to take up position on the piss-poor smear. Then the move I was dreading. Match the shitbrick crimp and smack the left into the base of the groove. Harder than on the mini but I'm still on. Everything felt greasey. I'm about to grease off, can't chalk, might as well fight on. Fuck the sequence, left hand to the next grease free hold, foot slip but I'm locked in between two gastons. Run my feet up to high smear and cross over to layaway and top. I may have screamed :)

 

Felt nice to climb something hard without the fitness to make it feel comfortable and boring. It was a case of fighting to the top on this one and not giving in to a fall. I hadn't had that on a route for years!

 

Psyched for more headpoints and so happy to have climbed this route in particular. Dalkey was where I began climbing and this route represented the ultimate route to me when I first got hooked on climbing. Getting to the top felt like finishing something I started when I took my first steps on rock in the quarry. And the best part is theres lots more to do!

 

Thanks to all the characters who worked hard, went for it or just pricked around in the quarry cleaning, climbing and developing these routes people take for granted - they're superb and under rated and have history which makes them all the more memorable

The holds look bigger on Instagram

Route with a view

A little video

What I've been working on!

World Class Climbing Centre Opening in Dublin 2012

 The UK’s most successful chain of indoor climbing facilities, Awesome Walls, are about to bring Irish climbing to a new level in 2012 and beyond.

Awesome Walls Climbing Centre Dublin (AWCCD) will be located in the North Park Retail Park, just off the M50 N2 junction in Finglas, Dublin 11. The climbing arena will house in excess of 1,500m² of expertly designed and manufactured climbing surface comprising;  a competition lead climbing wall over 13m in height, vast bouldering areas,  traverse walls and children’s climbing areas. In addition to your climbing needs being catered for, Awesome Walls Dublin will have a dedicated climbing shop and a comfy café with wifi, allowing you to sit back and relax in comfort between bouts of climbing with friends.

“For years Ireland’s indoor climbing facilities have lagged behind the standards of our European neighbours. Despite this, the Irish climbing community have remained probably the most enthusiastic and vibrant collective of climbers and have created a truly unique scene. I've always wanted to provide a venue that could cater for the vast potential out there and allow more Irish people to try climbing for the first time. I’m very excited to have the support and backing of Dave Douglas (owner of Awesome Walls) on this project as his climbing centres have continued to set the standard of what can be achieved at climbing walls in the UK. I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone into a modern, friendly, fun and challenging climbing centre of national importance in 2012!”

Dave Ayton

Managing Director Awesome Walls Climbing Centre Dublin

To keep up to date with the project just check in at www.awesomewalls.ie. Alternatively you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

Happy climbing!

Awesome Walls Climbing Centre Dublin

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!

Back to Scratch

 

I'm living in Ireland again!! Woo hoo! Had an epic drive home from Spain in the trusty white van before Christmas and have been on the go ever since. From a climbing point of view not much has been happening. I'm at an all time high (weight wise) and at an all time low (power wise) but my psyche levels are off the chart! Plus there is light at the end of the tunnel - I'm in the thick of my biggest ever project and have begun running again in the mornings. 2012 is a year for meeting and smashing targets! So I'm gonna aim to go large. I'm looking forward to things to come...

Finding Rhythm Again

Well after a hefty three months off from almost all activity between June, July and August I've been spending the past two months recovering some sort of fitness and enjoying rock again. Things got really hot here in June so it brought our roped climbing to a standstill before we drove back home to Ireland for our wedding and what I thought would be a summer of Irish trad and bouldering. I totalled three days on rock. Two days out in Lough Dan trad climbing and 2 hours in Ayton’s Cave one afternoon when Caroline was at the hairdressers. Haa!!

Lough Dan is Awesome. It’s beautiful. Both the setting and the climbing. Probably ten years ago I was motivated to try and climb Surfs up there. Mainly due to the picture on the back cover of the old Wicklow guidebook. It raped me… dry. I resorted to fully aiding the line but swore to return. This summer was a different story. After a long season building mileage on sports routes I did a quick mental calculation and translated E4 6a into 6c sports, then adding in the sandbag factor upped it to 7a in my mind, and racked up for a retro flash without any warm-up. You want to know the sad part? I remembered all the gear – yep, every single wire and cam. I opted to just take the small wires and peanuts. Man it was intense. There is so much more going on while climbing a trad route. It is a classic for anyone climbing E4, brilliant! Solid keyhole wire placements, two pegs, great granite, amazing position, lovely movement and climbing. The top out on the other hand was grim. A filthy overgrown slab awaits. Lough Dan is a crag that would benefit from a belay station above the trad lines. Nemesis conquered we ticked all the other routes on the crag with the exception of Archaos. This route has apparently never had an onsight and the pegs would need replacing before I was willing to give it a go and possible fall off. It’ll have to wait.

My little session in the Cave highlighted something that I had suspected for some time. All this sports climbing makes you weak!! I expected to be able to warm up on the problems I had done before and leave with a few new ticks – wrong! Despite the holds being wet I still actually thought it would feel easy, familiar. Caroline’s traverse went as the warm up but then I had to orientate myself amongst the maze of chalked holds. Eventually I found my lanky sequence again and clung on to the end of Loco despite the wet holds. This time even Afterthought felt harder and I used my feet. I worked some of the other lines but my time was up and I had to run back to the car… wedding business.

After two weddings, a christening and 8 weeks meeting, eating with and drinking with family and friends I hadn’t spent enough time with in years I returned to Spain with an extra 6kgs and low energy levels. Within two weeks of eating right and getting out on rock and running I had shed the weight and ticked a few high 7’s and low 8’s. We’ve visited new locals only crags and the psyche is high.

Then we found a real treasure – a 50m long steeply overhanging bouldering wall with flat landings. It had been found by climbers before and they left plenty of sika holds but strangely no signs of wear that you’d expect to see. No rubber work footholds, chalk on undercuts, polish. The fact that the entire crag was lines with scrub and thorny bushes was another strange indicator that climbers hadn’t been here for a long time – or they just came and sika’ed a load of holds but never worked the lines? Either way, two sessions now has seen the crag cleared and tidy. The rock is perfect and there are problems aplenty. Everything from the MEGA 50m traverse of the Gods to vicious straight up problems. I’d love to get some V12 boulderers up there to check out some of the lines. I mean back in Wales I could work things like Mr. Fantastic on the cromlech in sections without too much problem but some of these features are NAILS! I still feel a bit restricted without any pads but I’ll sort that out soon enough :o) Training season has begun – hopefully with a bit of steep rock to play on the edge will come back on the harder sports routes – psyched!!

Tying the knot

Clare Vale, Co. Wicklow, Éire - July 23rd 2011

Happenings

In the past two weeks I've turned 29, climbed a few 7c's, a few 7c+'s, an 8a and an 8a+ all in single sessions of work (after work). I've fallen off my nemisis 8a at the Wildside a total of 18 times from above the same bolt, but thankfully, from progressively higher and higher holds. I have now accepted that it just doesn't suit me for lots of reasons but I'm sticking with it to the end - it's working me so hard that it has to be good for something, even just mental toughness. It's been raining here and heating up which is playing havoc with the rock conditions too. I also had confirmation that a route I climbed in October was in fact a first ascent and was considered a "hard eight" project - so 8a+? I want to activate some power again so I've started a bit of light fingerboarding after the crag. I've been doing more running lately too - keen to get fit before the summer. Thats about it, heres some cheese...

Busy Dave

As is always the way - the busier i get the less i post. And i have been BUSY! Anyway, easier to just put soem pictures up of recent adventures - the climbing is great!

Exploring the Water Cave above the Sella valley

The Wildside off in the distance... so much rock!!


Caroline warming up

Afterwork sessions at the wildside...

The most enjoyable way of building stamina - warming up on 8a, redpointing 8a, cooling down on 8a. Keep doing it with one fall now but the fall point keeps creeping closer to the chains - no hard moves, just resistance climbing

Mambo the Wildside guard dog and Caroline

Exploring some of the lesser known crags in the area - this one is full of 7c's and 8a's - short steep and fingery.

Into the Swing Thing...

Keeping true to my word from the previous post I’ve been keeping it honest on the rock lately. Saturday was spent clocking onsights and ticking routes that I had never tried before. I had been so preoccupied with working projects that I had neglected loads of quality routes. Warming up with a 7b onsight up a powerful bulge I went on to onsight a 7a+, 6c+ and a 7b+ before finishing with a lap of an 8a that I have wired from previously working it. Caroline returned to work on her project and managed to make instant progress on her previous highpoint – result! Sunday I decided to take a break from trying Bloque as I felt I was getting limited returns from it. The lower half isn’t hard enough to get a pump going anymore and the crux is just so damn fingery and specific. With the cold wind biting I was hesitant to go snatching from crimp to crimp on the crux so instead revisited a neighbouring route that I had a quick play on before – Ex-Pat, 8a+. The top of this wee beasty is what put me off working it. The route starts up a couple of small tufas which steepen rather quickly to about a 45/50 degree angle and lead to a crux snatch to a crimp from some poor footers. Once you stick that and paste your feet back on it’s a match and snatch again; this time with the left. From here it’s just very sustained pocket pulling and the angle remains constant. Just below the lip of the overhang there are two decent four finger 1.5 pad jugs to clip from and maybe chalk up off before the final big move to the lip and a combination of slopey and sharp holds and a poor heel hook get you established on the upper wall. Toping out you feel like you’ve been climbing, put it that way (well I do at least). I gave this thing one quick working to the chains and one redpoint and managed to string the whole thing together very quickly, falling off the last hard move on the lip – mega psyched to do this and then return to playing on Bloque. Tuesday evening after work we when out again – this time all the keenness in the world couldn’t help the tiredness. I don’t know why but since Christmas we’ve both been exhausted. We tried to pick up our usual running and climbing routine but we just keep having relapses of this feckin lurgy or whatever. Energy levels seem low and it’s the classic catch 22 – I know I should rest but I hate resting and want to be doing something (preferably something that improves my fitness and climbing!). Ahh well…

Rest day today and shopping needs to be done. The tooth is better – no pain at all and I’m loving it! At some point the beastmaking will have to be up’ed a notch and the laddering too. I must drink more water and do more pushups. I see on the net that Neal is training hard for Siurana, Sharma is blogging, Paul Robinson continues to crush, Ondra working a new 9b in Siurana, Tom Bolger has sent 9a+ and onsighted 8b+, Doylo is developing new crags in North Wales and in lovely Wicklow boulderers are bouldering. 2011 seems to be in good order so far… nice!

VIDEO PROFILE: Paul Robinson bouldering in Switzerland from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

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

Happy New Year

We spent two weeks back in Ireland over the christmas period. Lots of family days and meetings with people, zero outdoor climbing, three indoor sessions in Dublin's co-op caves, a trip to the dental hospital, two doses of Christmas flu and a few extra pounds. Thanks to everyone to texted about lifts to wicklow and got us into the co-ops! Really appreciate it!

Back in Spain now the psyche is strong - yesterday despite the lingering flu we took our guests to Forada and i jumped on an 8a+ cold. It went well and i'll be back for the redpoint soon. The attempt took it's toll though - i felt it in my shoulders, no power, no umph! After that i clipped up a 7c+ and Caroline worked the moves bolt to bolt. Again, flu symptoms, headaches and lack of energy made everything feel that bit harder but the moves were all done and it's one for her to come back to. By the time Caroline had finished and i went up again to strip the draws i couldn't even pull through the crux without first falling off - completely wasted. after that and with no arms left i had to go up the 8a+ again to strip the draws before packing up. Chuffed that i made it into the crux before draining my fuel reserves.



Today the guests (all 7 of them Irish, Cork, Aussie, Hungarian and American) went climbing and i drove them to the crag but decided a rest day was needed - hard to do when theres a group psyche but i came home to try and do some school work and gobble some more drugs.



2011 is gonna be great! Keep cranking and stay psyched!



Dave

Training for Climbing: Fingerboard, Bachar Ladder and Campus Boards

Right then. The clocks have changed and now there is just not enough daylight after work to hit the crags ( at least not without floodlight technology! We tried this week and i ended having to top out a route in the pitch black!!). And instantly my mindset changes into winter training mode. Without any consious thought process I find myself wanting to train. Regular, recorded and with sufficient rest training baby! Last year marked my most successful training (first?) winter ever. I didn´t do anything very impressive, i just made a commitment to do SOMETHING regularly and stay injury free till spring. The results speak for themselves. I managed 20 routes 7c or harder and 10 8a´s this year. Now lets get this clear, I´m no Eddie Barbour or Ricky Bell or Al Sarhan :o)! I´m weak and lanky. I´m not ripped. And these kinds of grades were always out of my reach. This winter, spured on by this years success i want to continue to train and see more improvements. Living in Spain has resulted in some differences though. Firstly there are NO climbing walls within 40mins drive! None. So any and all training has to be done at home. Secondly and more importantly i have access to quality sports climbing each and every weekend! Projects i hear you say!

Now, we have a Bachar ladder already set up out in the back garden and it´s showing up my basic power weakness. Arms. Guns. Biceps (or lack thereof!). But it´s not working the fingers. Que payday. I´ve decided to bring on the Beastmaker 2000 AND build a campus board. I think finally after what must be a 7 year break i´m at a level in my climbing where i can use a board again and see some positive results without aches and pains. Bring it on! I'll post about the building and design and any training as and when it happens.

During my psyche scavanging forrays on the interweb i came across these... learn and enjoy!

Finding my level

Chaos! Spanish weddings, 3 day maths courses, water companies, telefonica, upcomming school inspections, 3 new schemes of work for A-level, a guest from Oz, two visiting Swizz and my Dad's 50th birthday party! Jaysus wept i've been busy!!! I think things are about to find their level now... fingers crossed.


In the mean time we've managed to squeeze in some climbing. I ticked a 8a+ in under 5 redpoints and managed a possible first ascent in similar time. It could be anything between 7c and 8a and suited my style and reach. Fiercly fingery stuff! I'm still on the lookout for any information of it so i'll confirm what it is when i find out. Caroline managed a few 7b's redpoints after work and we've installed a Bachar ladder and pull-up bar in the garden. Apparently i'm gonna need biceps for this steep stuff so i better start working on them... haa! Next paycheque the campus board is going up too :o)


Also... was beginning to believe that our local crag may run out of 8's for me to play on and then i came across a PDF topo online for a steeper cave EVEN CLOSER to home! Two 8a's, and 8a+ and two open projects.... drool!! The Sleeping Lion. Grrrrrrrr :o)

UK round up

Well it was so manic before leaving the UK that I haven’t written much at all this last month or so. It’s been probably my best time in the UK during the entire 6 years! Lots of friends and family visiting and great nights out, group meals and lots of fun days out on rock. The highlight definitely had to be the Irish invasion. Neal, Naomi, Niamh, Claire, Kev P, Sean and Kev M, Tricia, Daire and Grainne all came to visit and tear the crags up. Naomi, Niamh and Caroline in their 80’s retro gear, classic! It was brilliant catching up with everyone, especially those that I’ve not been out with in years. That night we ate a communal curry and hit the Wine bar for some spinney plate antics and general merriment.

Yes... even Rocky is pretending not to know them :o)

Climbing wise things started to taper off a bit towards our move and the weather began to show signs of weakness too. When I think back to ascents worthy of note only a few come up. Caroline kept bashing away at Bandits till the bitter end. Her best burn got her from the deck, up through the crux and above the 3rd clip before a foot slip spat her off. From there she lead it to the top. It’s a weird route to belay her on because the lower section is so obviously height dependant that I would say for Caroline it warrants it’s original grade of 7c. Either way the grade wasn’t what was motivating Caroline for this line – it was its climbing, its moves and its reputation as one of the most sought after lines at the crag. In the end the packing and bad weather prevented us from getting on it before leaving and it remains unsent despite my gut instinct knowing it was doable very soon.

I went back and repeated “Out of Body Experience” again after the loss of a large hold on the roof section after my second ascent. The start now feels like a much harder boulder problem for me and I have less doubt of it’s 8a status as a result – still a brilliant route and fun, fun, fun! I lead “Highway” again too as Vince was working it and I realised how blinkered I was to stay with a sequence I found nearly 3 years ago despite developing so much since then. I think I was making life difficult for myself! My original sequence felt 8a, Vince’s beta made it feel 7c! Lesson learned. Finally I left my very own little mark on Dinbren (other than a string of broken holds) by linking up two difficult sections of climbing to create a new line. “Elite Deviation” take in all the hard climbing of “Elite Syncopations” 8a before finishing up the crux section of “Bolt from the Blue” E6 6c (7c). This replaces the 7b finish of syncopations with something a little harder. Also the top half of the route is protected by 2 wires in the crack below the final roof adding a little spice to the mix. Although I feel the link is harder than the original I don’t feel it warrants 8a+ so I’m leaving it at 8a.

It has been such a productive 3 months of climbing that I feel I’ve passed a milestone in my climbing as we leave for Espana. I’ve sent every route I’ve really wanted and one or two I genuinely though were impossible for me to booth.

El Rincon, 8a(+)
Out of Body Experience, 8a (x2)
Elite Deviation, 8a
Elite Syncopations, 8a
Rivals, 7c+ (I’ve lead this twice - 8a after loss of good crimp?)
Highway, 7c+ (again!)
Rincon Orgasmatron, 7c+
Dyperspace, 7c
Extreme Ways, 7c
When Saturday comes, 7c

Chuffed! I’m going to miss Llangollen and Dinbren but moving onto bigger and better things. New places and faces are what it’s all about!

Irish Invasion

A week or so ago we had the all too rare chance to entertain some guests and show some people round our local crag, Dinbren. Sean Marnane, Kev Marnane and Tricia Fox got the ferry over from Dublin and Mr McQuaid (he’s old now so we have to call him that) came by train from Sheffield. Right then, 6 Paddys vs Dinbren…. This was gonna be epic! Haa! After the Marnane morning bakery stop we got to the crag in blue skies and perfect conditions. Everyone went up the 6b warm-up to get a feel for the rock and then we split up and the routes were attacked. Tricia’s lead of the 6b was also her first ever lead outdoors, deadly stuff! Caroline got stuck into her 7b+ and I pointed Sean and Neal towards Fat Boys 7a+ while Kev and Tricia played on Resist and Exist 6b+. Knowing all too well how difficult route reading here can be on first acquaintance I was offering beta out left, right and centre but you know yourself – it’s one thing someone shouting up how to do a move and quite another to actually make sense of it when you’re up there. The day went by and routes were jumped on all over the place. I ended up playing on Gwennan, an 8a+ that had apparently never been repeated. A vicious and stretched sequence through a low roof got you to … Blah, blah, blah! This post has been a stop start thing for two weeks now! I give up... Heres what’s still stuck in my head about it all;

Neal onsighted Technicolour Yawn, 7a+
Tricia lead her first 6c
Kev lead his first ever 7a+, Fat Boys
Sean lead Bandits, 7b+, Full respect after putting in two days of siege redpointing
Caroline made 6 solid redpoint attempts of her 7b+, falling at the top of the crux and then leading straight to the top
Myself and Neal played on two 8a+’s and an 8a on top of all the 7’s
The cakes were great!

By Sunday evening I was wiped out!!!

Awesome weekend!

Thanks to Tricia for the use of the pics!!!

Moving on...

We relocated to North Wales from Ireland nearly 6 years ago – can you believe it’s been that long?!?! Basically I followed Caroline over when she began her studies at Chester University. A combined honours degree, PGDE and NQT year later and we’ve accomplished what we originally set out to do. Caroline is now a fully qualified teacher and we are ready for another move. Somehow along the line I became a teacher too. Since being over here I got engaged, bought a house, owned 3 cars, changed career, ran for North Wales, adopted Rocky the wonder dog, climbed 8a sports, E8 trad and bouldered Font 7c. I got my Mountain Leader, Mountain Biking Instructor, Raft Guide, Canoe and Kayak coach, swift water rescue and white water safety qualifications. We’ve mostly been skint … but we’ve had a good time together and continue to grow.

Well while climbing in Siurana over Easter we nipped down to Alicante for interviews at an English speaking private school. We both got jobs!! So this July we pack up our lives and hit the road to Spain and on to a new chapter. We’ve both handed in our notices in work and are beginning to get very excited about the whole thing. I don’t have too much more to give away yet but for now all I can say is that the small village of La Nucia, above Benidorm is going to be our new home. And yes, there is plenty of climbing! The Rockfax Costa Blanca guide lists over 3,500 climbs within an hours drive. Plus we’ll be 4 hours from Siurana and the best rock on the planet and 4 hours from El Chorro. Just check out the 8a.nu crag search… Who wants to visit?

Funny Email and quite topical

THE DIARY OF AN ENGLISHMAN LIVING IN THE HIGHLANDS

"Our First Winter"

DEC 20th It's starting to snow. The first of the season and the first we've seen for years. The wife and I took out our hot toddies and sat on the porch watching the fluffy soft flakes drift gently down clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It's so beautiful and peaceful.

DEC 24th We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white glistening snow covering as far as the eye could see. What a fantastic sight, every tree and bush covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shovelled snow for the first time ever and loved it. I did both our driveway and the pavement. Later that day a snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shovelled it away again. The children next door built a snowman with coal for eyes and a carrot for a nose, and had a snowball fight, a couple just missed me and hit the car so I threw a couple back and joined in their fun.

DEC 26th It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Several branches on our trees and bushes snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shovelled the driveway again. Shortly afterwards the snowplough came by and did his trick again. Much of the snow is now a brownish - grey.
JAN 1st Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tyres for both our cars. Fell on my arse in the driveway. Went to a physio but nothing was broken.

JAN 5th Still cold. Sold the wife's car and bought her a 4x4 to get her to work. She slid into a wall and did considerable damage to the right wing. Had another 8 inches of white shite last night. Both vehicles are covered in salt and iced up slush That bastard snowplough came by twice today. Where's that bloody shovel.

JAN 9th More fucking snow. Not a tree or bush on our property that hasn't been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a paraffin heater which tipped over and nearly torched the house. I managed to put the flames out but suffered 2nd degree burns on my hands. Lost all my eyebrows and eyelashes. Car hit a fucking deer on the way to casualty and car was written off.

JAN 13th Fucking bastard white shite just keeps on coming down. Have to put on every article of clothing just to go to the post box. The little c*nts next door ambushed me with snowballs on the way back - I'll shove that carrot so far up the little bastard's arse it'll take a good surgeon hours to find it. If I ever catch the c*nt that drives the snowplough I'll chew open his chest and rip out his heart with my teeth. I think the bastard hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he accelerates down the street like Michael Schufuckingmacher and buries the fucking driveway again.

JAN 17th Sixteen more fucking inches of fucking snow and fucking ice and fucking sleet and god knows what other white shite fell last night. I am in court in 3 months time for assaulting the snowplough driver with an ice-pick. Can' t move my fucking toes. Haven't seen the sun for 5 weeks. Minus 20 and more fucking snow forecast.

JAN 18th FUCK THIS, I'M MOVING BACK TO LONDON

:o)

Note: I however still love the white stuff and "Snow Days" off school!!!

Summer 2008

Well i'll call it a summer - despite the weather! :)

I've been working non stop to scrape funds together basicially... nuff said.

No holidays, not much climbing - non really. Bits of training .... just managed to keep my head above 40 miles pre week throughout the summer with the occasional week above the 70 mile mark. No climbing indoors. A steady ammount of hanging.

I've been working at Freelance Climbing instruction with groups out in Llangollen and also got my hand into leading Gorge walking groups and White Water Rafting Sessions - All great fun so it's not nearly as bad as it might sound.

Work wise - I got my first set of GCSE results during the summer and the schools poor run of performance in Maths has taken a turn for the better - with a department consisting of two, Tim the Head of the department and Me, we jumped the percentage of pupils achieving between a C and A grade from a Regional low the year before of just 14% to a new regional high of 52% !! So i must be doing something right :)

Got out on rock a few times - it was often wet - and managed a steady bit of mileage on some 7b's and 7c's but made no real progress on the 8b - Well, i got on it twice - now finding the lower section harder, but made huge progress on the top, crux move after watching Nico tryng it way back. Oh, and i'm climbing sans-tape.... the finger feels ok :)

Last night i went climbing indoors and had alot of fun. I failed patheticially on routes by the end of the night that i should be able to cruise! I mean 6b's by the end of the session but instead of feeling like topping myself off the nearest bridge i'm kinda excited. I know i've gotten Way stronger and fitter than before and that i can pull harder off smaller edges now than ever....it's just that i've done literally NO mileage in ages. I'm hoping to see and report back on a steep improvement curve.

Thats all for now Folks.... hopefully more to come