Bloodfire
Saturday May 6th. We made an early start to the Anvil this weekend to take advantage of the cooler morning conditions. Earlier on the week Dave succeeded on his project by sending Metalcore F8c+ on May 2nd, another first for Scotland!
Dave working the final crux of Metalcore a few days before the final redpoint.
My initial tries on the project were very shaky and after five attempts I still couldn’t do the crux. As I started to tire I decided to just redpoint rather than getting hung up on trying the same move. Another stressful week at work with poor sleep had worn me down leaving an unnaturally shaky demeanor. I was starting to get annoyed by the fourth redpoint, so I went up and monkeyed around on the crux hold for a bit. From this I summarised my mistake. I needed to keep my arm bent on the dyno and concentrate the swing on my upper body rather than my wrists.
Holding the crux swing for the first time, sadly off crux above (Hotaches Images).
I went for the redpoint again, this time hitting the crux swing in tension. I now found myself in a new place as my foot swung back in and I got past the crux. I kept going steady on the headwall but got slightly tired when my foot nearly slid out my shoe. Moving on I tensed up for the upper crux sure this was it. I jumped and dragged the hold with a big rubbery arm feeling miles away from holding it. I managed to drag it hard enough to rip a deep flapper in my left ring finger. I had to concede defeat from the Anvil again.
A bad tear means the end of play (Hotaches Images).
There were also some new visitors today with Dave Brown, Emma and Sarah visiting from Edinburgh. Dave managed Friendly Fire whilst looking like a fish out of water without his tools. Emma put in a good effort and nearly made the lower off. Sarah moved onto Spitfire and managed all but a few moves. It was good to hear power cries in the air again, just like those across the Siurana valley.