Cummy and Brin

Well, exams finished last friday and I agreed with myself that it was time to go home for a bath and home cooked food...

It also meant some bouldering at Cummingston and Brin on saturday and sunday with Inverness bouldering's legend-in-the-making, Richie betts!

Cummingston is a good wet weather venue and since it was raining when we left inverness we went there... Most the day was spent in the cave, I was psyched to do Richies new problem and we worked a really hard project --- details of which in the up and coming Bouldering in Scotland guide...!!

Sunday, we went to brin. The weather again looked not so nice but we decided "let's do this thang!" and headed out.

I borrowed these pics from Richies flickr page...

This arete is an excellent feature and has holds!

Richie seems on top form at the moment and crushed one of the big arete projects detailed in the scottish climbs guide. He used a combination of shirts-off-psyche and tall-man-beta to jump past a section Ben and I tried to use technique to overcome. Anyway, I was very impressed especially with the top out on soaking moss, grass and mud. (it needs a rope to clean it, but it shall be a classic!)

We tried New Shoes, which I think has the best rock of all the problems at brin. I linked it in 2 sections but the law of diminishing returns set in...

Next we went to look at a problem that a few of us brushed up over winter but we were too scared to climb. It's a very bold arete and is very imposing. The landing is awful... Couldn't be too much worse. I was trying to chalk up the top out out holds when, richie's hand appeared on it. Puzzled, I peered around the arete to see richie sketching about for footholds. I pointed out a jug handhold and he was up. He said that that was silly. I agreed. I tried to climb it and had one of the scariest, sketchiest and committed bouldering experences I've ever had! It made archangle feel like an afternoon stroll along a beach in summer... or something. It's only like V3, but V3 XXS.

Prehaps the most striking line at brin?

Video from Richie

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3019316677662772719&hl=en-GB

Richie Betts just sent me this link to a short clip he took of a climb at Duntelchaig last summer. It's an Ian Taylor route from a few years ago, but since then a jug and a peg have fallen off and leaves a protectionless boulder problem to a juggy rail with an ok micro wire. From here it's a scary and hard move to the top. Since the jug has gone, no one's climbed it, except for a man in his late 40s who was doing laps on it, according to one local... hmm...

Anyway, it got me psyched for climbing at home and took me away from horrible revision. I have two exams tomorrow and I'm not confident on either of them. It was nice to remember a time when getting eating by midges was my only concern, and I lay in bed at night thinking about nothing but climbing, individual holds and doing hard moves. But now I'm going to force myself back to studying, I feel I'm under some pressure to pass - not least because resits clash with a DWS trip to Portugal!!

Winter Sessions - Third and Final Part

Happy New Year

Been climbing a bit recently, Danny and Stew were up for the first annual Brin winter session which went really well I think... except for Ben who woke up with serious man flu. Good turn out - 7 people!! and we all had a good time running around the forest doing some problems though top outs were mostly wet, yuck. I did a hard new problem - the Guillotine sit start which Dave the Budda pointed out to me a while back... It felt desperate but it also felt like I didn't do the easiest sequence and a hold was running with water, so think its V7? The, "If in doubt - footless" philosophy seemed to work pretty well. We also brushed up perhaps the best line in the forest (ergo the world??)... Won't give too much away but think Archangel on Stanage, only better.

Had a good New Year but I'm a bit of a light weight and couldn't hold down 4 and a half pints!! Oh dear... Maybe better luck next year?

Went to Am fasgadh yesterday with a few people. It was very cold and wintry which made for good friction but hard to feel anything with hands like ice cubes. I did a 7c 2nd go of the day though been on it about a year ago.

Today went to Moy Rock today with Jamie, who's sport climbings most recent convert. Didn't really do anything though tried the Seer but it seemed too hard for my cold fingers.

Now I have to go revise!! Exams start on Monday wahhhh...