Wednesday 2 April 2008

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...