Wings of Steel
Wednesday 22nd August. After another terrible forecast for the weekend I was glad I had a mid week holiday booked from work to get back to Yorkshire. On Saturday I made do with a Ratho session and got surprisingly pumped trying a F7c that took three goes. Also sadly, due to the poor weather the ambitious great climb broadcast was cancelled, which was a real disappointment to all involved. On Wednesday I aimed my new found stamina at Kilnsey. Driving down from Newcastle with Owen the weather looked perfect, sunny with a cool brisk wind. Sadly, arriving at the crag I found out that after the weekends rain Full Tilt had five very wet holds so redpointing was off for the day. I did briefly try the crux again and concluded I’d have to use the sidepull on the crux rather than one of two tiny pockets. I also tried out the knee bar, but couldn’t get it to stick without a knee pad. Hanging on the chain again the line of crimps up to the lip looked inviting for the F8c tick. I’ll have to try the moves soon.
With the hard redpoint off I decided to try a couple of easier routes. After some bouldering to warm up I decided to try and onsight Metal Guru F7c. I made it to the second bolt by the time the tunnel vision and pump set in. After a bit of working it went first redpoint. Strangely I felt pumped at the second bolt again, but just kept pulling through the crux. The final run out up the loose rib at the top was exciting when I messed up my feet and slapped for the wobbly hold. In between tries on Man With a Gun Owen also made light work of Metal Guru. Next I tried Pantomime F7b+, a route I had failed on last year because of lack of fitness. In the closing light I clipped the LO after another good pumpy fight. Through sheer determination I fought the bat fink wings of steel to make the final move onto the slab. It might seem that my power endurance training is finally paying out at the cost of lost stamina. It was great to tick some routes for a change. Hopefully Full Tilt will dry out for the weekend.