Onwards and Upwards

First up is a continuation of the last blog,  Last Rites was despatched standard slow style.  Leaving me with only Mr Whippy and Pete s new problem Screwball.  After these its Traverses and Sit starts. Think I am done with it for a while.  I would like to do Mr Whippy, Millenium Drive and Chris's Link as these were the three I went there for in the first place to continue my guide ticking mission.  Guess we shall see what the weather brings.  Which brings me neatly on to the present project,  after hitting the top for the last 4 sessions, landing all round the block and risking my legs a bit, I finally got CJD to come up and spot, sods law the clouds cleared and wind stopped instantly I failed to get anywhere near it.  So in an effort to do it (very) soon I have analysed all the footage and worked out what is missing.  Its because I am only going for the move once a session I think, having landed sideways with both feet on a block, landed on my knees between 2 blocks and just generally missing the 4 pads from a quite unpredictable fall.  I have to really build up to a big effort, and given it wears out my skin quickly as its summer and I shouldn't really be trying it now if I had any sense, it a tricky balance to get up there feeling good before I hurt my skin, (or what I thought was a big ball of scar tissue on my finger till I felt Sam's the other night when I realised it was tiny and I should man the fuck up).  But I don't have any sense other than the sense that I am a tiny % away from doing it any session.  Hmm,  reminds me a bit of Clyde but we wont go there, that would be negative.  Anyway the up shot of it all is that I found the best goes and looked back in my book to see what I was doing at the time, and quel surprise I was campusing a bit at the time.  Which makes me laugh, given the fact that in November when I first taped the top hold I said to Chris that if I was still campusing lots the move would have been easy.  Genius it only takes 7 mouths to implement what I know is a good idea.. So its back to the Mill and the Indy and swinging round on strips of wood, hanging on the Beastmaker with weights attatched and hopeing for a window before the baby comes. 




Next up its my most/least favourite thing GRADES,  ugh.  Feel free to ignore everything from here on in if I was wise I would.  When I wrote this last year  I thought yes I am going to leave it alone stop using 8A nu as I think it did encourage me to be optimistic sometimes.  I also said I was going to Font as that's where they came from, well the upshot is I must be better at climbing in Font than I am in Wales.  I failed to stop using it so this time I have obliterated it, it took a while as the only way I could find to do it properly was to delete each ascent individually.  This turned out to be quite a cathartic experience, it feels like I am no longer a slave to what I did and the need to prop up my ego on the fact that I did  X 5 years ago, instead I can move forward get better and hopefully climb harder, not necessarily as in  a harder grade, just as  in harder to do for me.  These are 2 very different things I am learning.  And that's the point as long as I am learning I am progressing, and as long as I am progressing then this silly little game of bouldering makes me very happy.  And when I am happy I climb better.  Look out boulders of Wales, I am going to get you, definitely not today definitely not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of my life.

Pill box

Well the quest continues, except I have lost a bit of steam with the ticking and am in danger of developing a new obsession.  The venue of hatred has ensnared me, forcing me to accept some things.  Crimping hard on edges and shuffling sideways is hard, hard is good so the Pill Box is good.  

Once I found my stepladder and got over myself I am starting to get into it.  It has also reminded me of one thing, I love climbing things that I cant!  For a little while I think I got carried off into a distant confusion of trying to climb harder grades, now I realise a 7b you really struggle with is better than an 8a you find easy. Well in every way except for talking shit, but maybe I can get over that too.  I forced Jack to come with me at the weekend and CJD was keen too, so we went down and continued to attack the up lines, we did Pill thrill awesome jump to the pinch (if you avoid the 'orrible mono)  Jack Daniels, and I got the Original Party link.  Unfortunately this seems to be a little blinkered climbing it from the right, but fuck them I am still doing it my way.  (See you can tell I am getting into it starting to develop opinions on how other people should do sequences!)

No photos this week so lets see what Google can find.  Pre-emptive guess, thank you Si Panton and http://www.northwalesbouldering.com

This leaves:

Last Rites, (next session) 

Doylo on Last Rites
Si Panton

Mr Whippy (any time soon) 

Old favourite,   Mark on Mr Whippy  
Si Panton

Gaskins Problem (hmmm, Would happily settle for hanging the positions).

CJD on Gaskins Wall
Si Panton

Then its either traversing or sit downs, unsure which yet probably back to the cave.  But I do need to do Millennium Drive for my ticking.  New computer is on the way so soon I will have Pill box the Movie.  Oh I bet you can't wait!

The Puerile Ticker

So what do you do when North Wales becomes hotter than Greece?  For a few years that would mean getting wasted.  Then last year it would mean going to the mill.  This year with a new guidebook approaching it means frantically trying to tick as much of the graded list before there is a new one I will never tick.  As a puerile ticker, I have been busy and its sent me to some good problems.  Starting at the bottom:

The cost of living 5, this is a stunning problem now my very favourite easy one in Wales.
Accomozos Wall 6a, nice to find this and climb it the perfect venue to combine a few beers and a few problems.
Middle bluff line 6b, Brilliant Slab in the pass.  Shame I failed to complete the Lower Bluff 6c, have to go back best taken with a cold cider.
Harris Arete 6b, done before but forgot how good it was.

Last Orders 7a a Pill Box problem thats good and feels easy!
5 Knuckle Shuffle 7b, brilliant and well worth the long walk.

Message to Rudy 7b+, after trying the FA with Katz and then the second FA with Hock, finally I managed to climb it, careful with that brush though!

So that's all lovely and good, but they are not the stoppers on my list, for example the first one I went to try was
Nicks Sexual Problem, 7b+.  Fail to get off the ground.  Nothing new there then!
Mr Whippy 7a+.  For fucks sakes how many times is it possible to fail!  remember almost doing this when I was climbing 7a, still almost doing it 14 years later.
Chris's Link 7b+ on the Pill box, its fair to say if this was my problem I would have over graded it.  2 proper sessions now.  Hopefully it will go next time.  I will beat the Pill box black hole, it destroys me, but one day as Doylo put it

"The clouds will part and a golden ray of light will pour down and you will understand" 

 And I guess when they do I will turn Pill Box into another roadrunner, however I doubt I will ever pull on these holds, for the Final Exam.

Crux hold on Pill Box Wall

The good crimp? on Pill Box Wall

So there we go lots of easy climbing and enjoyable failing, that's what to do when Wales is hotter than Greece.