Cold Fusion Blog

I’ve been lost for something to do this week nursing an injury and being unable to train. Organising the house I found an old copy of On the Edge from 1996 that listed all the hardest UK sport routes of F8a and above. Since I’ve been unable to find an up to date online version I decided to start my own list of the UK’s hardest sport routes on wikipedia. Based on my own knowledge and with some help from scottishclimbs and ukclimbing users we’re now a step closer to an authoritative listing. Some people did mention that it would be exhaustive to list all the routes above F8a, so we’ve decided on a cut off point of F8b+ (since F8a isn’t that hard any more). There’s still some subjective rationalisation needed in sorting routes within the grade by their difficulty. Hopefully people will keep updating it over the years. It’s fantastic to see how much progress has occurred in the past decade. Even better to see the OTE project list completed: Transform, Northern Lights and Ring of Steall.

Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th September. After getting past the crux on Full Tilt last weekend only to pump off I really tried to clock up the hours on the board this week. I was rewarded by completing my long standing F8b PE problem this time pulling through on the final 6b crux 33 moves in. To address those fitness problems from last weekend I did more running and lots of laps on the board to really feel the burn. Confident I finally had what it took to finish the job I headed back to Kilnsey along with Alan Cassidy and Malcolm Smith.

On Saturday I made a 6 am start in order to catch the bus to Glasgow to meet with the guys. Maybe it was the tiredness but it felt strange to be at the crag with Alan and Malcolm, like being at a foreign crag. The normally imposing north buttress was but a Olympic standard play park to these guys. First off Alan got a rope up True North F8c, a route he’d come very close to completing in June, only to be denied by a foot slip 3 moves from easier ground. It was impressive to watch Alan working the moves and I had to keep reminding myself again and again that the climbing wasn’t as easy as he made it look. I was silently taking notes on the moves. The knee bar in the sideways position looked good and less strenuous than my higher variation. After the nesting birds had finished with it the pocket at the top looked good, breaking up more of the hard climbing. Alan’s redpoints began but after a long break from the route he was frustrated to have lost his previous level of fluidity. After a few redpoints he’d had enough.

Alan Cassidy on True North F8c.

I got back on Full Tilt and worked though the moves to warm up. I tried out Alan’s sideways knee bar but it felt too strenuous. Sticking with my own method I got redpointing. Second RP I managed to pull through to the jug again and into the knee bar properly. As my legs burnt out I pulled out with fresh arms into the final crux just failing to stick the final hold. Next RP I changed clipping position to save a few moves but couldn’t get the kneebar in place properly and vibrated off under the tension. On the Final RP I pulled out again but was too knackered. Finally, I did manage to find a better position for the final move using a lower foothold such that my feet weren’t round my neck, a position I wish I’d known about earlier on in the day.

In between Alan and I’s tries Malcolm succeeded on Northern Exposure F8b+ second go that day, finally managing to move from the minging crimp at the top. Next he dispatched Urgent Action F8a+, second go and nearly did the Thumb F8a, after playing on these routes previously over the years. Not a bad recovery from the man flu.

Malcolm clipping on Northern Exposure F8b+ just before the V10 crux.

On Sunday redpoint service resumed. I waited my turn as Alan and Malcolm made easy ticks of Bullet, Cold Steal and Stolen between them. I got back on Full Tilt. After straining my RH ring A2 pulley last weekend on the crux pocket my finger ached. Redpointing was becoming a real minefield balancing desire to finish the route with the increased amount of injury time off. On two out of my three redpoints I managed to touch the last hold again but just wasn’t recovered enough from the knee bar, a rest that was far from relaxing for me. As the Autumn rains began I dogged up the remained or True North to strip it - knackered and without the two links I had hoped for this summer. Time was up and the game was over.

I’ve waited until writing up my thoughts on Full Tilt. I had hoped to have made light work of my many projects this summer but have failed on all of them: Burley, Ceasefire, Bloodfire, Snipe Shadow and Full Tilt. I’d hoped to have ticked this lot after completing Fire Power back in May and from pushing my training intensity and frequency. Even my final strategy of picking a project and sticking with it to the bitter end has failed due to injury, seepage and loss of interest in the crag. In all reasons to feel pretty down! I have to keep reminding myself that success is infrequent, short lived and sometimes unfulfilling . Each day trying a hard route I take away much more by competing, working out the moves, doing the training and always making progress. Not so much a means to an end as to the start of the next project. Injury permitting the start of the next project is but a few weeks away.

Sunday 9th September. After last weeks disappointing effort on Full Tilt I was resolute to improve. To improve my fitness levels I ran for thirty minutes each evening mid week. Tuesday’s training was nothing special but on Thursday I found myself breaking a six week plateau by nearly climbing one of my PE problems. Instead of failing two moves into the second problem again, I just kept on flicking between the small edges. I still failed on the pumpy finale indicating I still need work on my 30-40 move endurance range but my 20-30 move PE had definitely improved. The only factor in improving this week would seem to have been the running! I was keen to see if these improvements would be mirrored on Full Tilt.

My late night street pounders.

On Sunday I headed to Kilnsey for the day with Lindsey who was kind enough to belay. The route was now completely dry after nearly a month without heavy rain. Equipping the route the individual moves felt good. After explaining and practicing all the clipping positions to Lindsey I went for the redpoint. On reaching the third bolt I felt confident in my sequence after quickly practicing the other variations. Flicking through I caught the edge badly but felt strong enough to pull through. On the sidepull I was rapidly tiring but fired on. The crux pocket felt dry and positive for once. Fingers arching I slapped left in control but was stopped by the undercut move to the jug. Second go I made a more determined effort and caught the spike badly. Signalled by my wobbling Lindsey took the rope tight. Against the tight rope I managed to match the spike yell for slack and reach for the jug, yelling for slack I rapidly flash pumped off. On the next two redpoints I was stopped at the undercut again. I tried a final link for the day from the crux to the top. Everything felt easy until the final throw before the belay. I reckon I need a little more practice on the hands off rest. It currently works my thighs hard and I can’t bear the pain for more than a minute. I might even gain some ground if I go straight to the knee bar before clipping and avoid getting pumped on the jug.

As much as I have improved this week I still wasn’t fit enough to complete the route or even make the proper overlapping halves. All the effort in completing this route is starting to tire me out but the motivation to complete it remains. I’ve had eight visits to Kilnsey this year to try it but on three occasions I’ve had a bad sequence or the route has been seeping. So filtering these out it can’t be that many successive days really. Given that October is on the way and I’d like to climb elsewhere before the year is out so I guess I’ll limit myself to another two visits then move on. Whatever the outcome my efforts this year should hopefully pave the way for a future attempt of True North.

Saturday 1st – Sunday 2nd September. With the late arrival of the Azores high things have been quiet on the weather front across most of the country so at a push I agreed to a trip to Kilnsey and Steall Hut crag this weekend.

On Saturday I headed back to Kilnsey with Iain Moody. After last weeks defeat Iain was hungry for success on Metal Guru which he dispatched first redpoint without incident. I got back on Full Tilt which looked temptingly dry, a light wind fending off the humidity. Firstly I tried the crux using the small pocket which went first go in the cool air, an improvement on last weekends defeat. The move still felt sketchy through the barn door left but the pocket held. Further up the knee bar felt terrific and I managed to get the complete hands free (at the expense of a now lumpy knee). First redpoint I got spat off moving right on the edges from the third bolt. Pulling on from below I managed to link through up to the jug but suddenly got pumped and couldn’t get into the knee bar. Trying the link to the chain from here I kept on failing on the hand shuffle on the right, three moves that take you no where. Deciding that I definitely blow it here on redpoint I persevered to find another method. After a few goes I found I could crimp the foot hold in the groove to conveniently cross into the pocket saving two moves. With the improved beta I felt I’d squeezed 90% out of the route. Psyched I made another two redpoints but again failed on the crimps moving right. Considering that I’d got passed these moves back in June I was getting very frustrated at the lack of progress despite two months of training. I found another hold to play with but still couldn’t find a smooth sequence to get me to the crux every time. This would have appeared to be the remaining 10%. Each way I tried my left foot always ended up too stretched, when I needed to walk it through. It later occurred to me to try using the crimp to move my feet, or to bend my knee more when using the edge. Further up I’ve been thinking about moving straight into the knee bar avoiding the 6b move to the pocket. I guess I’ve got another frustrating wait to find out which works best.

Mike Tweedley findng the hands off rest on Stolen.

On Saturday I headed to Steall Hut crag with Mike Tweedley. Although I kept promising people I’d make it here this summer I’ve just never found the time. I was keen to try Dave MacLeods new route Stolen which takes the ambitious line on the left side of Steall Hut crag, zig-zaging between obvious weaknesses. I was surprised at first to hear that Dave had climbed the route first redpoint and offered such a low grade. Mike had already tried the route so I let him jump on for the demonstration. After a powerful start moving left (F7c) a hand free rest can be had, a novelty for a Scottish F8b. From here steep powerful climbing leads further left to a series of good underclings. Moving back right is hindered by the lack of footholds sapping crucial strength before the final crux. Just when you think your done a further technical traverse left blocks access to the belay. In all a truly epic adventure similar in character to the existing Steall routes where undercuts and sidepulls with polished off cracks are the norm. On my turn I managed all the moves and some short links. After one session I was aching and done for the day, muscles aching from exotic moves I wasn’t accustomed to.

Gearing up for Stolen on Steall Crag.

I can’t help feel disappointed at my progress this summer. Despite training much more and varying my training I still can’t seem to improve to the level I want and get those elusive routes ticked. I’ve not been seeing the progress I would like from my PE training but know that there is no other way to improve this aspect. I know I shouldn’t have plateaued only after a couple of weeks after changing from power to PE training. At the crag I’m feeling the dreaded performance spike where I warm up, peak then feel tired very quickly. I think these two problems are occurring because my fitness has dropped as I’ve had no remaining time or energy to train this too. This week I’m going to run every night and make sure I get those laps done on the board. Here hoping for a break through.