Review of Dumbarton weekend

'Where were you all?' is all I can say. I thought there would be masses of climbers heading to the boulders for what one blog fan elegantly called a 'Pilgrimage'. Thanks to those who did make it, namely Danny, Stewart and Climber Dude Paul. The rain held off for most of the afternoon and we were surprised that there were no other boulders around. Maybe no one reads my blog, or everyone does, and think I'm an asshole? Don't know which would be worse.... ;-)

Danny has a tweaked finger and consequently couldn't pull very hard but seemed to enjoy the one handed climbing fun on the Sea boulder. He also seems a lot steadier when throwing for the side pull on Gorilla - I'm sure it'll go by the summer so make sure your finger heals asap! I got a text from him that evening which read 'Cheers for an excellent Barbecue!' - no problem Danny, glad you enjoyed it!

Stewart was fresh from a week climbing in Font, however not so fresh from what sounded like a rather heavy drinking sesh on Friday where he said there were at least 30 fair game lesbians... nice. However, the 2 day hang over didn't do his climbing any favours, falling on the 4c slab after doing the sit start to Silver's Route (font 6c+) and ran out of time to get the problem before the tide came in. Never mind, Stew... He then tried Gorilla (hanging start), a cool problem which really works the stomach muscles. He came agonisingly close, falling from the big side pull and catching a nasty flapper on his knuckle in the process. Hard luck, Stew. He then tried the Shield but couldn't pull on. Next time, Stew! You may ask why Stewart is getting a hard time in this blog entry - it's because he told me of his plan to launch a rival blog which takes the piss out of mine. I want him to know what he's in for him if he ever does such a diabolical thing!

Climber Dude, Paul turned up mid-way through the sesh and worked a 6a project from last year which he seemed really close to. He also gave Gorilla his best shot, finding it easier to get the side pull from a jump start... impressive!

I wasn't on the best of form, having been out a friends flat party on Saturday night. Perhaps the dehydration after a night drinking made me that bit lighter as I seemed to be able to send 2 hard problems! I tried Dave's new sit start to Tam's Route, hoping for a quick send to start off the day, but couldn't make a move of the sitter :(. Danny and I then headed across to the Sea Boulder where we had a proper warm up and I managed Silver's Route Sitter without too much hassle and to climb (but not top out!) Erewhon, a 5c arete, with one hand!! While Stewart continued to work Silver's Route, I went across to have a few attempts on (one of my many) projects - Silverback. I surprised myself by making it out to the crimp on the arete - one whole move further than previous sessions! This brought a smile to my face but I could only repeat the feat a couple of times before I ran out of crimping power :(. Stewart then came across from the Sea Boulder, reporting no success, but that he was sure he'd get the hanging start to Gorilla. Intrigued, I asked him for the sequence. After some good beta and a series of ever closer attempts, I was able to get the problem much to his dismay!

After this the dehydration started to give a sore head and I lay on the boulder mats exhausted. I decided that if I couldn't climb hard, then I'd climb bold, and headed for the B.N.I slab. I don't see how anyone has the bottle to commit on to the slab - I certainly don't. Instead, I climbed Imposters Arete and soon wished I hadn't due to the descent being greener than snotters. Yum.

The rain came back on in the evening and I left the boulders with the usual feeling of tiredness with the not so usual feeling of success!

All the best Blog Readers,
Mike