These could be the good old days...

Yeh, so Glasgow Uni has rather wisely decided not to give me any exams this christmas except for one class test worth 0%. The weather has been cold but the sky has been blue and I've had a few really cracking days out bouldering. I've been out of glasgow just about every weekend for the past... ages, and escaped dumby as best I could, I'm not sure I really like it there in winter cos the landings are mud baths and theres not much sun till late in the day. In this case, I'd like to big up a few places we've managed to get to without a car but maybe being prepared to walk further than most... Heath warning: I may have enhanced experiences of these places because they're so different to dumby and I was fed up of the place.

Firstly, Kelvin Hall. Yup, it sucks and is too warm, but for me it's fine. I don't like climbing inside so when Ibrox doesn't give you much change out of a tenner and you need a subway journey too, it leaves you feeling under pressure to have a good session which usually means you can't be bothered... Well that's how I feel anyway. Kelvin Hall is £2 with a student discount card and 10min walk so I feel I can go there and make up problems, feet on feature, etc... and maybe not do much hard stuff but have an ok session. It gets me out the flat, which at this time of year is good cos it's freezing.

We went to Arran - up early, caught a train then a ferry and walked to the Mushroom boulder and Corrie Stones. Missed the bus back but luckily hitched a lift to the harbour. Explaining what the we were doing to the driver was interesting... "we like.. to find boulders and err... climb over them."... "Yup". I don't think he thought we were too weird though, and said there were rocks to cliimb over on Millport. Here's some pics...

Snow?!?

Snow on palm trees?.. wasn't like that on Sauchiehall Street

Mushroom Boulder - It took a while to trust some of the massive holds here and some stuff was wet, but probably worth a trip. Corrie Stones were quality granite though well spread out.

Thirdly, I would like to big up Craigmaddie. Right, I know some people have said that this place was a little disappointing, not much there and so on... well, they're probably right, but use you're imagination!! Look at the place, amazing view, lovely 'fake' gritstone, and a handful of quality problems, it's so different to dumby it has to be worthwhile. You may tick the place really quickly but, for me, climbing on different textures of holds is really important in order to re-awake your finger tips! Having the two contrasting rock types so close to glasgow is ace. You'll end up repeating problems or making up eliminates but I'm finding I end up doing that at Dumby anyway. Obviously it can't replace dumby, but I reckon a couple of trips a semester is ideal. Plus, it only takes like an hour to walk from the train station... err. thats not really a plus.

Farmers Trust (more like 7a+?) on low crag

and again..

Loving the winter sun...

high crag action - check the muppet who thought a quilt would make a good pad..

Boost attempting alchemy

So, I went there with Pete Murray on Saturday and again today with Danny and Nic. Both times had great big blue skins, and short walls were warm in the sun. Climbing in t-shirts, it was quals. I managed the Litster problem, Alchemy, which took a while because I had not done my homework of watching elements for beta. When I work it out, it felt not too desperate so I thought maybe font 7B+ for it. It's a really good problem which needs good timing on the moves to the sidepull crimp and the sloper. Today I managed to traverse the low crag for a new problem which isn't too contrived at all really. The crux is reversing alchemy. Not sure about the grade at all really but I feel bad about downgrading one of bens problems, maybe he can down grade this one?? Though reserving alchemy is pretty damn hard... I'm not actually strong enough to do it, by that I mean, I couldn't actually hold one particular move on it so had to really quickly go to the next move (a jug, thankfully) whilst I was falling off. I figure if I can just go really fast then being weak won't be a problem. And before anyone says I'm not weak, the grand total of arm wrestles I've won in my life is probably 6 or something, and most of them have been against my girlfriend who usually gets disqualified for tickling.

Allakazaam, font 7C+
Start at the right hand side of the crag at a jug, go left along a sensually slopping rail, drop down into alchemy and finish up the brilliant abracadabra.

Stuff at Dumby

That's a rubbish title, I'm sorry.

Can't be bothered with projects once again. This is probably because I'm too weak and also because I need variation in my climbing and Dumby all the time just sucks. But recently I've had a trip to the peak and Brin which allowed my feelings for Dumby to breathe a bit.

Back to just arsing around and stuff. This has led me to do some wacky shit, I've got good beta on Deo Gratis left handed (that's the slab right of Imposter's arete by the way), went up and down slap happy for the first time, campusing mugsy is coming along nicely (one foothold allowed) and my bare foot tick list would make you wet your pants. You might think my motiviation for this kind of stuff will wear off (again) but it's actually not just a piss about. At times I'm motivated for grades , but having my own things that I like doing makes my relationship with climbing more personal and involved than if I was just to slug it out with the rest of them on saboutage, and that's what I'm into.

Weather Woes

Not done a whole lot of climbing of late, instead I've taken up the new sports of volleyball and tennis! Also scored a hat trick in last weeks 6-side football game (15-10 to us, the final score) Weather has been pretty shit which is depressing but when I've got amazing volleyball to look forward to it's alright. Some days I've gone to the wall but I think it's a waste of money for me as I don't really like it. Volleyball and Tennis are free so it's good.

Been to dumby a bit and managed the Shield without that undercut which I think is pretty cool considering how impossible it felt when I first tried to pull on. I don't think I've got much stronger since then but understand dumby a bit more and figured out the way to pull on holds a bit more, I don't know if anyone feels me on that one. Anyway, this takes me another step towards some kind of made-up set of boulder problems that I reckon are big ticks. Since last post, arsing around on the dumby 'playground' problems has lost it's appeal. Doing the shield has made me realise there's also something to get out of a project. With the weather also pretty wack, now probably is a good time to crawl under a roof and see if I can climb out by Christmas.

However the otherside of the coin is that I'm pining for somewhere new to climb, but it's too easy to get disheartened by the forecast.

3rd year Uni

Just tucking in to some ice cream after passing my driving test. "Tastes like victory". I had had three dreams about the test, one I passed, one I failed because I had my boulder pad on the back seat and couldn't see, and one strange one where we drove to Magic Wood. Hmm. Now, I just need a car/insurance/good crags to drive to, and my life is complete... 1/4 isn't too bad.

Back in Glasgow at the start of term which means I have the false hope that I'm going to actually work this year and also that I'm getting a spanking from Dumby projects. I want to complain about the grades here, even though I like the whole "Dumby grades" and "No ego-ticks here, sunshine". But I think maybe I'm more up for arsing about than getting stuck in to projects, so I only have myself to blame for not making much progress. Like, I've got a bare foot tick list going...

... I can't help myself - If In Bloom is 7C then fuckin hap slappy is 7A+, Precious is 7B and everything I've climbed in inverness at 7C can come down a grade too! HA.

More Bouldering...

Another day at Dunty on the boulders today with the boost. Was pretty chilled, going around dodging midges climbing the odd problem. I initiated him in to the experience that is knifewound wall. He seemed impressed but the usual sore skin stopped us after a while. Nic repeated the Richie Betts classic of dagger and nearly did The untrained ear. I managed a problem which I'd been looking at for a while but not really tried. It climbs the Dagger for a bit but keeps going right to the Rope. It's a great problem, with a dynamic throw at the end. The Stabber, probably 7B, to be honest I don't have a clue about grades. It's only a few moves longer than the dagger but deserves a name better than "Dagger extension" in my opinion... partly because the landing is terrible.

Back to Bouldering

Pics from Richies flickr...

Last night was bouldering with Richie is his new van (nice!!). I'd come quite close to a line on knifewound wall before heading to Portugal and was really psyched to do it before going back to uni. I was concerned that I would have lost some crimping strength after arsing around on jugs for 2 weeks. There's still no path to the wall, but to my mind it's the best spot for hard bouldering in the area. I couldn't pull off the ground on Wooden Nickles, but that was maybe because I hadn't warmed up. We tried a counter diagonal line to knifewound, another project for the future.

The line I wanted to try consisted of a small mid height roof, one properly tiny crimp and an funky hanging arete to finish. It's great, if a little sharp. And hard, i think... yeh, hard... err.

It something went like this:

"Richie, can you work out the start moves for me, i'm struggling to get a sequence"
"Sure Mike I'll see what I can do"
"Gee, thanks Rich!"
...
"I can't work out what to do..."
"Ah... will I show you what I've got so far?"
"Yes please"
...
"Was that it? Did I actually start from the start??"
"Err yeah, nice one"
"Ah, good."

It was like that on the thing at Farr, I couldn't remember actually starting the problem. Or any of the moves, but, must've done them, you know... how else did I get here? Weird.

The Settler, Font 7C, maybe 7C+, but probably 7C.

DWS - Portugal

Sagres, Portugal, that pointy bit that sticks out into the atlantic, no, not that close to Africa really. Dry red earth and shrubs split by a road upon which we walk from the camping to the limestone sea cliffs. The sky is blue, the sun is hot and it's windy too.

DWS... I had a good idea that ditching the ropes would make things easier... but after 2 weeks of swimming, getting soaked, drying, climbing for a few moves falling in, swim back.. repeat, I think hanging on bolts makes climbing to the top of something way easier. Initailly I could accept falling off everything above 6b+, it takes a bit of getting used to right... but by the end I still took falls of just about anything. It got quite upsetting but couldn't do much about it, so decided to skip 7a+, 7b, and 7b+ and try to ground up a 7c. If I was going to fall off I may as well be falling off something hard...

Ponta Garcia is somewhere for more experienced DWSists so the week we spent there was a struggle, various reasons for this: 1. swimming in to routes. hard to have a good go at a route after a 60m swim through water which, ok wasn't the north sea, but should've been warmer by my reckoning. 2. No chalk on holds. shouldn't really complain about this but I've not done much 'proper onsighting' ever and it makes it harder, but it was a good experience to try climbing like this. 3. Condensation. what a pain this was, the caves and roofs were pretty wet most of the time. 4. some holds had bird poo on them. 5. tides. They weren't big, but they swallowed dry-bag legdes greedily.

Excuses out of the way, I had a good time here, some ticks that I'm pleased with, some quality lines and excitement getting pumped on a traverse, going off route and into desperateness quite a lot. Routes here are a good height mostly and the rock was pretty good. We had a day at Fossile cave, didn't get on that well with it but probably needs a bigger effort to get into the routes here (and to clean the bird poo of the holds).

Match of the Day was my favourite route here even though I didn't actually get very close to it. It's a big overhanging wall with jugs. It feels high, which it is, but the fear is definately there from the start so every move is exciting. The time I climbed my highest, on our last day there, I went left instead of right and in to big undercling moves which increased the fear and down I went, splash... your not supposed to look down when you hit the water but that's harder than you'd think - you get a face full and a fat lip. Compare this to slumping on to a bolt. Then you've got a 60m swim out.

Ingrina was supposed to save us from the difficulties of Ponta Garcia. Not as far a walk, walk-ins to routes, good stuff. It was really cool. One of the crags, the smiley face, was found to have fallen into the sea but there was still plenty to go at for the week, and could've stayed another few days to try the projects and other stuff that's in the Rockfax guide. After spending a few days falling off 6c+'s, enough was enough and I got on superbock, a 7c. It's a 6c for 7m to a through cave, then goes out horizontally for 4m or something. The strategy was to get a little further every time which seemed to work... Eventually making it to the lip of the cave with a good piece of toehooking beta. Cutting loose I fell twice, third go I found a good incut for my left and swang out quite a bit. Held it though and sketched up the slab to the top. Jumping in after, I face planted badly, was quite sore really.

That was on the last day and didn't climb after that accept a climb up a classic called Dromedario for reflections sake, it's a fantastic route.

P.S. Hopefully a film to follow if I can get it to work...

The Bunnet Stane

Wooden Nickles, about 7B

Thanks to Jamie for these pics

These pics were taken on a really warm day at duntelchaig last week.

Since then I've been to Ruthven and repeated the Dude direct which is maybe 7B+ for taller people. Also linked "Mike's problem" from the same sit start as the big lobowski, which is worthwhile to do because it's quite a hard link to make but probably still 7a+ I think? Decided that it deserves a proper name, White Russian. If you've not seen the film The big Lobowski, then rent it from Blockbuster. It should provide entertainment as well as insight to some of the problem names... After that I tried to repeat every other problem at ruthven in the rest of the session. I was thwarted by Ged's Traverse/Crystal Maze whatever it's called and also by not knowing where Pinch Punch goes (didn't have guide). Doing this was a fun challenge for me as I had to get really psyched to do problems first go even if they were hard, or I couldn't remember them, or both. It was pretty dark before I gave up on Ged's Traverse and the midge were being a pain.

I was upset to see that the flake on the underside of the ruthven project is really creaky now and a jammed block has fallen out has the flake flexs. This leaves a good incut but I'm too scared to pull on incase it falls off. Not too sure what to do about it really.

Road Trip

Since last entry I've actually had a job. It only lasted 8 days but this is a good effort for me nonetheless, speaking to some other people, everyone found it hard to get a job this summer. Thinking about it, 8 days of work a year doesn't sound like much, but at the time it was a nightmare. I don't know how people stick at it. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I was leaving at the end of the week...

Well, the week before the Ordeal started, I was psyched to go climbing so push-biked it out to Farr. Those who have been following the blog since it began might recall I cycled out to Brin last year... A year to recover is just about long enough. It takes that long to forget how soul destroying a journey it is. With a boulder pad, in the sun, sweat, sore ass, swear. Add to that an embarrassing number of funny looks - what? what? you're acting like you've never seen a boulder mat before? Or is it the lego hair?? - well, I suppose it was worth it, I did the project at the farr boulder, it's really cool; if anyone's reading this blog any more, you should get on it! Also, a big thanks to Jamie for doing a brilliant brush up.

Betts collection

If you look really closely at the pic you might just see a rather good effort at patching up my trousers. There was a big rip in bottom so I asked to my gran to show the ways of the needle and thread and stitched the left pocket over the torn area. My mum still wants me to throw them out.

I can't really remember what else I've been doing... I do remember doing le tour de dunty with Rich. By local standards there's some good bouldering to be had for sure, I liked The Untrained Ear, 7a, and Trenchmark, 6c, both good problems, and the possibly possible Impossible Wall. We also went to knife wound wall and got wet feet as well as humbled by the sharp, small holds.

Untrained Ear, Betts col.

Last week I spent my unemployed days on a road trip with my friends Murdo and Danny. It involved trad climbing and some sport climbing. On the first first day I met a psyched murdo and danny under a big blue sky in car park. Quickly, we made our way out to the West coast and to Tollie crags. This is where the road trip '07 began, but that's the only time I've been there. So had a lot to do as did Danny, but Murdo knew all the beta, all the gear placements, had ticked all the routes and left me wondering if he'd prefer somewhere else... But he seemed keen for Dan and I to get on Water Lily and Buena Vista, the two classics of the crag. Compared to other Trad climbs of that crag, I only found them slightly boring. Rain threatened... Murdo managed to find an E3 he hadn't climbed and Danny ditched the ropes to solo E3, he said it was brilliant fun. I took his word for it.

Murdo then took us to try an E4, Macdonald, but for him it looked difficult and he backed off. For it it looked bouldery. I went for it and did the initial boulder wall quickly enough but spent ages on the rest of the wall, trying to recover and places gear. What a fight. Staying motivated to fiddle in a wire, to rest, to find holds etc is a hard for me anyway, but I wouldn't trad climb any other way. If I want to climb hard I can go bouldering or sport climbing, it's the onsight factor that makes trad challenging and interesting. You just don't know what lies ahead.

Next day we went sport climbing. After two sessions I managed to do one move. Result! Murdo climbed ???. It rained.

Next day Danny and I were kindly dropped off at Tollie by Murdo who had some guiding to do. The weather was looking shit but soon brightened into some superb midge-less sunshine. We tried to get psyched for some trad but our routes were wet so we had a soloing trip. Soloing makes E1 much less boring, you're free to enjoy and appreciate the moves, placing gear - what that all about? This freedom was prehaps short lived, I got psyched to try an E5 called dangerous legions, a route directly up the middle of a really cool wall. I surmised I'd better rack up but tried to retain the soloing mindset. I think I'd describe it as confident, curious and worried.

It wasn't to be, I think the worry overcame me and I down climbed to some shoddy gear that held my weight as I lowered off, pumped from trying to rest and place shit mircowires on crimps. I abbed down to get the gear and, yeh, if I'd know I was 2m away from a jug, the top out and a bomber size 2 nut I maybe should've gone for it. That doesn't bother me too much, E5 onsight is something I'd love to do, but from this experience I think I've learnt you need to be absolutely confident. Placing better gear might help too...

Congrats to Danny for crushing his first E4 onsight, you looked steady all the way.

Another E1 and it was time to lazy about in the sun with an excellent apricot cake and meet back up with Murdo and back home.

Friday, I got in touch with Jamie who told me my blog has been a loss to his psyche levels recently and we headed back to knife wound wall. It was hot, shirt off psyche. Thankfully, the wall caught the shade and we had a good short session before our skin wore out. I repeated my problem from last year, had attempts at richie's new 7A, magic streets, another betts tall man sandbag. Also managed to do a obvious sit start to a problem starting at a good quartz hold which basically involving pulling really hard on a small crimp side pull for a long time until the quartz hold is in reach. I thought it was about 7B, and pushed it all the way to a highball-ish topout. I think I'll call it Wooden Nickles on account of the Eels are gooood.

So that takes us up to this weekend and although I've not done any climbing, I've had a really good time with my girlfriend. Plans for the next few weeks are few and far between, maybe get another job if I'm erm... lucky?

Stuff

Hello everyone. Sorry, no pictures today.

I've been trying to write a blog entry for a few days now, party because I have so much free time, but also because I can't seem to find the words. Blogging just doesn't do it for me anymore boohoo. But I'm told I won't remember stuff unless I keep a note but I think the time has arrived to invest in a camera. I'd like to express feelings here but I'm struggling so I guess pictures would be better because at the moment it's just words. Anyhoo...

Not much has changed it seems from this time a year ago. I have no job, no car but enough student loan left to tempt me not to bother with either of those things and go to Ceuse.

hmm...

... Anyway since arriving back in Inverness after a 10 day cruise of the med I was concerned that I was weak. This wasn't too much of a problem thanks to the amazing bathroom door frame edge. All the door frames in my house are good first joint edges but the bathroom has tiles which half the width, making it just about holdable but not too painful. Yes!

A few nights ago, I was out with Rich looking at the new "Jamie" Boulder near Farr. I read on Jamie's blog that there was a project that would only be possible if you had the strength of Macleod or Sharma. Big talk, but it got me psyched. The rock of the boulder is really nice, higher quality than Brin or Ruthven and has had a really good cleaning job. The project is pretty good too and still is a project because my foot popped when I was holding the last hold... As if this wasn't upsetting enough, further attempts wore through my tips and they started to bleed.

We then went to Ruthven. I really rate this boulder as one of the best I've been to in Britain. ok, there are lots of places I haven't been, but how many individual boulders are there that have half a dozen or so independent lines at 7a or above, good amount of quality problems below that, perfect landings, good height, really nice setting and reduced risk of midges? The rock itself only gets 6.8/10 because it's so painful... but at least it has holds!

Anyway, we added a new problem on the back wall just left of razors edge. It's another 7a+ to add to the list and is a crimpy wall thing.

Today Murdo and I headed in to the Cairngorms for some mountain trad. I've not done any of this for over a year so was pretty keen to get out, even though the crags would be probably wet.

We walked into Hell's Lum and I quickly got left behind as murdo "don't like walking up hills so just run up them" ... prick. Sure enough the crag was pretty wet but we got up an HVS which had one really good pitch (wet) and 2 vegetated pieces of... but all in the name of Mountain Trad right?

We then walked down to get a good look at the Shelterstone. It looks amazing. No, not the crag, the boulder underneath it. And all it's boulder nieghbours. Unfortunately most the amazing steep ultra classic lines are blank. But it would be an awesome place to boulder and spend a few nights at, maybe even take a trad rack, who knows? In fairness the Shelterstone crag is probably the best mountain crag I've seen and really inspiring and all that, just I seem really up for no faff climbing. At the moment at least.

Walking out, Murdo becomes a distant figure again. By a boulder, I stop for breath. Around me the sound of a roaring stream, full with melted snow. Above me, the huge crags tower, unchanged for thousands of years. hmm...

Mull

Cartwheels

DWS on Erraid - amazing!!

Bouldering at Fidden beach - I've not been to portlethen though imagine it to be something like this...

Cool basalt wall near Loch Buie: holds? maybe...

Barefoot climbing at Fionnphort.

Went with on a road trip/holiday with cath to Mull. It was a really relaxing time which was good after exams. Had a couple of days at fidden campsite and and 2 nights at loch buie. Did some really cool bouldering though midgeys ate me some of the time though not too bad. DWS at erraid was really cool. The wall doesn't look too intimidating from the beach but as soon as I went over to the top of the crag it seemed a lot bigger. so was pretty nervous about falling in, it's a long way to the beach... Went for Brine Shine which was amazing really but I made a desperate bit for safety at the top and wriggled into the horizontal crack you can see in the pic and unfortunatley got stuck. Some 10mins of squirming later and I was very glad to top out. However I was not glad to have scratches all over so did not want to rub salt in my wounds (cringe) and the next line!

So pretty good trip just looking forward to summer now. dunno exactly what im doing though hopefully involve DWS and mountain trad (roadtrip!!!!)

Magic Wood

Danny on a 7a traverse

Hohendrausch - a great problem

Alpine conditions

Ben on his project - Jacks broken heart

Chris on a 7a

Swimming here was not a good idea

Melted snow/poor substitute for a shower

Nice hair - project denied

c-c-cold....

Supernova - amazing
Warmth of a fire... greatly appreciated!

Photos thanks very much to Stew and Ben

Just got back from Magic Wood a couple of days ago. It's such an amazing place, really beautiful and everything from trying so hard on a project to simply chilling out by the river seems easy, you can do whatever inspires you. The main feature of the trip was lots of snow, and freezing temps. Waking up with shoes frozen solid seemed funny at first but the novelty quickly wore out as they thawed and another pair of socks were soaked. But the cold also meant mint friction, the snow meant getting around was a something of a winter mountaineering experience, so what worked best was to get stuck into some projects for the week. For me, I was keen to do Supernova, which is a slopey ramp/roof feature. I think throwing for slopers/heel hooks/roofs are a my weaknesses on account of there is nothing like that at the Inverness Wall where I learnt to climb. I really struggled with the boulder and it became a mental test more than anything towards the end but managed to keep cool and climb it on my last day.

Another project was Piranja. This was much more my bag, slightly overhanging crimp fest! You gotta love it... Welll - I did, and got my first 7C+.

Octapussy is an 8A that ben did last year, I tried that for a few days but upsidedown heelhooking slaps again proved tough but this time too tough - one to come back for.

Other amazing climbs that really inspired me were Blown Away which is beautiful rising ramp feature on a 50 degree boulder the size of a house... Hohenrausch, a perfect face with a highball feel and an amazing crimpy sequence.

The bouldering there seems to just get better and better the harder you're climbing which is just so inspiring - the stuff around 7B is incredible anyway...

New Shoes?

"Put your new shoes on" - V9

Ruthven thing

I'm back up the road in Inverness for the weekend and this means trying to... sort of settle the score with some climbs that have been nagging me at Brin and Ruthven. Being in Glasgow most the time I end up getting really motivated for the stuff up here not just because there's some excellent problems up here but also because I don't get much chance to try them. When I do, it feels like a real privilege and I get very psyched... It's good fun haha..

Well murdo is recovering from his back injury, luckily he can still drive and was kind enough to give me a lift. I don't like taking advantage of cripples normally but he said he gets fed up at home and was up for spending a day at the crag.

We went to brin and Murdo seemed impressed with some of the problems. I was very keen to do Ben's problem from last year, New Shoes, so just headed straight to that after showing Murdo around a bit. After maybe an hour I eventually managed to keep my heel on, cut loose, and enjoy the very funky finishing moves. Tried Richie's new problem the Scientist but its desperate... definate tall mans problem.

Went to Ruthven to try a problem that I've been trying for ages but, after splitting 2 tips, gave up... It's hard.

The Inspiring words of "Stone Play"

The flat was generously given a copy of Stone Country's "Stone Play" and, as I was heading to Dumby solo once again, I decided to read it in the train.

I wasn't sure what I'd think of it... I think John said once that it was "more waffle" but I really liked it. over the past year I think bouldering has become my main focus in climbing so its interesting to read a book like this and see written down things that I had picked up on but not had the wisdom or vocabuary to write like that. So... pretty cool.

Inspired by such creative writing and really nice pictures I joined Michael on Silverback. 7C's are finally becoming more straight forward but I'd been trying this problem for ages and a definate barrier to overcome. To be honest, when I did it, it felt kinda easy and left me wondering what I'd been doing wrong... Pretty good to get it - chuffed.

Then I saw the 1990 trav was well chalked up so went for the flash but fell off. So spent couple of tries getting the moves and got through the hard climbing first go after that... but I didn't know where to finish so shouted down to danny who had his guide at the Sea Boulder and he said that it finished up 2HB, a problem which I hadn't done since my first day at D-bart (to keep in the nu skool hip lingo) but luckily topped it in belly flop stylee.

Anyway, another good day but this blog... I duno if I can be arsed anymore. It's not as fun really... But achh... I don't seem to care much for it...

Good Sesh at D-Bart

D-Bart is the new hip and happ'nin' name for Dumby, it's fresh from the world of sk8rs and sick music, like Metallica and Avril Lavirine... Rad.

I went out there yesterday without my crew, who were doing other things like uni... Luckily the climbers of D-Bart were numerous and happy to be in the sunshine so I wasn't stuck doing power pockets sitstart due to only one pad... for most the time anyway. Not that power pockets s/s is a terrible problem - it's not really a line, but an arbitrary piece difficulty which, if you're trying to climb something new, makes an ok challenge untill your stronger/have more pads to do the better lines, am I right?!

After failing on power pockets, I tried Consolidated extension. After going over the last wee bit a few times I made the slippery walk to the start of the traverse and (hurray!) made it to the end. This was very pleasing and says to me, "if you want better stamina, do some maximum intensity bouldering!!"

After that I felt like sitting in the sun all day but tried a few things... Saboutage is just to weird a sequence to get sorted, and I can't do the second move on pongo, though can get the first every time...

Resisting temptation to go back on power pockets, I went to see what the Watson was up to round the corner. He wasn't really up to much... but going round the corner made me want to try Spam which is a cool roof problem on crimps. With only one pad, I didn't fancy the fall, so just had fun doing the last move. Then a new buddy called Andy offered me use of his pad and after only one big dab per attempt, it was on... Eventually manged to keep my feet on by being super agressive and over crimping, luckily, wasn't too nervous for the top. Delighted, I did a small dance.

Decided to call it a day there. 2 V9's in a sesh.... Can't wait for Magic Wood...

Glen Croe

Thought I'd update this slowly deterriorating blog while I'm in a good mood. Went to Glen Croe with the team... Thanks to Stew's dad for the lift out! Hopefully the photos (thanks to Ben's flash new camera) show that we had an excellent time, this was my first Croe experience.

The boulders are on the backside of the Cobbler and don't get too much sun this time of year. What they do get is a lot of rain, and it wasn't too much of a surprise to find the whole area very boggy. Foolishly, I'd left my wellies in inverness. Wet socks - one of the worst experinces known to man... the thought of them now makes me cringe and wimper slightly.

Anyway, the boulders were (mostly) dry and we had a tarp to keep things from being soggy/lost into a bog. Ben cruised Precious and I came pretty close, falling off on the finishing jug... just have to go back and try again, I suppose.

Then we went to the cutting room boulder. It's pretty cool - we all made ascents of The Nose problem. I wanted to flash the Cutting Room which is 7B or something so got psyched, got some sort of beta and pulled on. Before I knew what was what I was back on the floor, having pulled off the starting side pull... oopsie, it's now quite hard to get off the ground. Eventually got up the problem but not before falling off the finishing jug!

I think Dumbarton is a bad place for training... mental training anyway - you forget what its like to actually do problems, so get lost and confused when you're done the hard climbing and all that's left to do is match that massive hold... and you fall. Something odd is going on, I have a terrible case of summit fever or something.

Next we did Swap Meet, kinda cool problem which seemed really hard for me until I worked out a good bit of beta and sent.

We did some stuff on Fernandez boulder and took a look at Turbinal Nose (yes, it was wet) and went home (to bed).