Cold Fusion Blog

Tuesday 10th June. After taking a day off work I was hoping to feel psyched to train to get Full Tilt done but it never happened. A combination of heat, humidity, deteriorating shoes and diminishing returns ended a couple of sessions before they’d properly begun. Still on Tuesday morning I felt psyched leaving the house for Kilnsey with Michael, like a proper full timer. On arrival at Kilnsey it was feeling warm with the crag just out of the sun. I ended up hanging back until 5pm before I started warming while Michael tried other things.

In the evening the wind picked up and the route began to feel sticker as I’d hoped. After a quick bolt to bolt I went for a redpoint. After so much time on the route I’d definitely found my pace sprinting between brief stops. Pulling through on the crux everything felt positive with plenty to spare before taking the kneebar rest. Pulling out I’d never felt as fresh into the crux. Slapping at the sloper finger tips stuck, just, requiring a final udge home. Confident this was it I went to pull through only to hit the wilt of doom before hitting the final jug. So close… On the next redpoint I got wrong handed on the final clip and wasted vital seconds getting back into sequence. It cost me that go. The next redpoint ended in the same place. With another training day before a return weekend visit I was confident I’d finish the job.

Saturday 14 – Sunday 15th June. Thursdays training at 11.30pm just didn’t happen. I waited too long for conditions to improve and feel asleep again. I’m really starting to feel a drop in PE and stamina from these missing training sessions that will cost me redpoints on the crag. Keen to resolve the problem and get my training back under control I went ahead and bought an AC unit off ebay. Hopefully this will help improve matters.

It was back to Kilnsey again for the weekend this time with Niall. Conditions felt brilliant with an October like air temperature. Skipping his usual neck straining warm up Niall cracked on and bagged Full Tilt and Urgent action after a quick dog up both routes. Inspired I got redpointing but just couldn’t stick that last move after two redpoints. The tape over a flapper from Tuesday was slipping each time making it a two rather than three finger move. I took myself off for a walk to reflect on what action to take, to have another go or rest for two attempts the next day. By the time I was back at the crag I still hadn’t decided. In the end I though one more try and I’d be too tired to try the next day, a good way of escaping the pressure.

After the now usual time stalling chat at the base of the crag I pulled on and began. Moving through the crux I felt tired but held it. Moving onto the jugs arms felt pumped. Annoyed I cursed my lack of fitness that how the f&*k I was ever going to climb this dam route when I was always so unfit. Wobbling to the final clip and into the knee bar I felt like I’d climbed 30m rather than 10m. With arms and legs burning I looked at the draw and wanted to grab it. My glassed scraped some grit into my eye and it seemed as good an excuse as any. But I held on. The press right had felt easier. I stabbed and twisted my greasy taped finger into the hold, got setup for the throw and stuck it square on. Wasting no time I pulled through to stare at the final hold thinking failure but fingers slotted in perfectly and I was finally done. I revelled briefly in the success I wait so long to achieve. It felt good!

We finished the day by eating pasta and noodles under the crag and drinking red wine (Niall was well prepared) before taking ourself’s off to the pub for that long awaited redpoint beer.

On Sunday Niall dispatched Grooved Arete and Subculture quickly style before final declaring he was knackered. Meanwhile I had a dog up True North again to asses how much training needed to be done.

The last few days on Full Tilt have been an interesting journey. Its nice to complete routes feeling trained up and fresh. This is when they should go but more than often don’t. Normally as tiredness kicks in a bigger push of determination does the job. By this time technique is refined and muscle capillaries are fully dilated. Every once in a while the subconscious comes into play to carrying a drained body and battered psyche past the finishing line. Like a magic trick the one last go when climbing contains the true prestige. I’d rather be climbing my routes as of the first instance, but its the last that seems to draw me to climbing the most: what can be achieved by pushing through the grey area between success and failure.

Saturday and Sunday 4-5th February. It’s been hard for me to feel motivated after Spain. Training mid week after long days at work, limited climbing available outside, bad weather and small amounts of time have been severely grim. I had managed a couple of days at Dumbuck trying Devastation with my jummar but it was frustrating trying to link moves properly. With a day at Dumbuck and Malham planned I hoped to restore my motivation.

On Saturday I returned to Dumbuck with Lindsey who kindly offered to belay for the day. The forecast turned out to be spot on. Although everything was dry the wind was raw. I struggled to warm up on Tragically Hip and Twister which was made more difficult by a couple broken holds since my last visit. Holding a small amount of warmth a threw myself at Devastation. The first move felt grim until I refined the movement again. Third go seen me at the scoop. Pulling through to the crux I tried my three sequences again but couldn’t get any to work. I decided to stick with the low foot method and found I could hang the left heel and jump my right up before getting the undercut. My joy over finding a sequence was short lived when I found I’d been sitting on a tight rope. The links below and above felt better but frustratingly the crux foot swap still wouldn’t go. As the snow headed in we retreated back to the car.

Malham Catwalk slowly drying out.

On Sunday I headed down to Malham with Owen and Ruth. Arriving in the sun it almost felt too hot. Que cloud and more snow. As the snow fell it felt pretty peaceful like the closing of a huge white curtain. This didn’t distract from the action. I had planned on trying something slightly easier to get a bit more distance up a route for once. Sadly people had already staked out on New Dawn and Zoolook, so instead I got on the Maximum F7c+ again. Working up the start it felt just as hard as my last try nearly a decade ago. I managed to work out a short arse way to do the hard crux using the pocket, small right hand undercut and a press. After tones of practice on the top and a rest I went for it. Braving the cold I stripped to a T-shirt to save weight. It seemed to make a difference as I linked through the crux firmly minus some butt slippage on the undercut smears. I got a little back on the rest but continued quickly to the final moves. With something to spare i made the last clip but as my arms pumped I had to gurn out the final press. Reaching the final undercut I held my breath and closed my eyes not expecting to hold the barn door. I swung back in balance and with another move it was done. I let out a few whoops at the chain. It had been a great fight and it had come together perfectly. A hard 7c+ for shorties for sure. I had another couple of goes on Magnetic and worked a new foot sequence on the start. This seemed to work better and I finally got to the second bolt again after 8 years. The crux didn’t feel so good and I felt too stretched again. I’m still temped to try and move off the crimp but to date I’ve not got it to work. Progress till next time.

Hopefully there will be some progress on the way on Devastation. Its always good to feedback some mileage into the harder projects.

Saturday 20 October. I wasn’t sure when I get back on my Camel project again, luckily a text from Michael secured another weekend visit. Determined to finish the job I got stuck into my midweek power endurance and fitness training. Mid week I was shocked to find I’d gained a bit of excess weight over my average, surprising given all my long walks out to the Anvil. I had been trying to make changes to my diet since March, but the sugary lunchtime cakes have proved overpowering. Frustrated I finally went cold turkey opting instead for humble salad leaves and an apple during the working day.

Keen to gauge my performance I headed back to the Camel on Saturday with Michael. Driving north the weather was noticeably good for late autumn with warm sunshine breaking through the clouds. A good day to be out climbing. I was still worried that after midweek frost the temperature in the shade of the Camel would be too chilly for long routes. Warming up the temperature seemed comfortable after some initial hot aches. After placing the clips on the project and a bit of practice I got redpointing. On my first go I meant only down climb from a clip but ended up pushing onwards complete with thermals. Feeling anxious about overheating and the extra weight I lost concentration before the crux edge. Next go stripped down and psyched I pulled through the crux to the rest in a series of aggressive grunts. I felt apprehensive on the rest, would I still blow it, would I pump off the next section or would a pebble snap. I pushed on.

The first crux sequence of Ubuntu at the Camel (pics Mike Tweedley).

After making the next clip I flicked my arms quickly before firing on through the endurance crux with some energy to spare for once. I moved steadily to the lower off careful not to pump off or snap anything. It felt like a hell of a ride hanging onto the big cobbles and looking down the face from where I’d come. I clipped the lower off feeling uplifted, I’d put enough work in for it to mean a lot to me, but not too much for once that It’d become too stressful. After taking some photos we finished the day by doing some laps on Inverarnie Schwarzenegger F7a. Michael decided todo some alpine training with his duvet and rucksac on, I declined and got just as pumped in the falling darkness.

The second crux sequence of Ubuntu at the Camel (pics Mike Tweedley).

I’ve called the new line Ubuntu, after the South African ideal of which one meaning is “I am because you are”. Such an ideal seems to represent my own life lately. As inspiring lines capture my imagination they shape my life, taking me to different places, interacting with friends old and new and always motivating me to improve. I’ve graded the route F8a given the fair effort its took over the last month. I’ll leave it to others to seen if they can find an easier sequence and adjust the grade if necessary. Big thanks to Michael for coming along and taking the snaps, I’ll be working you hard on those crux’s when its my turn on photo duty. Time to step up a gear for the next project.

Previous high point on La Puta Rue F8b+ in March, Margalef, Spain.

I’ll be heading back to Spain in less than four weeks to try and complete the unfinished projects from my last visit. Top of my agenda is to complete an F8b+ at Margalef I tried called A La Puta Rue which crosses a cool roof. In March I spent 4 days on it and got as far as doing overlapping halves and getting to the crux a few times on redpoint. This time the brutal crux span to and from a two finger pocket might give me problems because of my finger injury. Still I’m hopeful. I might also have a go on the F8c next to it that Dave managed as it looks just my style, but I’m not sure about the mono crux. At Siurana I’d like to try Mr Checki F8b+ again, having only had a brief play on it last year. Finally I need to finish of the F8a+ on the Can Marges boulder that I fell from the final moves on the last day of the trip in March. To make all this happen I’m going to have to get trained up fast to the specifics of these routes. Lots of pocket strength and power endurance are the way forward.

Short Term Objectives

• Finger injury – Icing and massage.
• Shoulder problems – lots push ups to build up antagonistics.
• Fingers board – hang an edge for 5 sec, currently 12 kilos to go.
• Power endurance - create specific problems in the 30 move range similar to target F8b+ routes.
• Endurance – laps in the 30-60 move range to fight the chain fever.
• Target weight 63 kilo – 4 kilos to lose, ditch the cakes and puds.
• More sleep – 6hrs isn’t cutting it.
• Train earlier – 9pm-1am is getting taxing on above.

Training plan

• Mon/Wed: 30min runs.
• Tues/Thur: Finger boarding 45-60min: warm up pull ups, 50 push ups and stretching, strength hangs 7 sets 8-10 sec at limit, 4 min rest. Board work 2hrs. Problems: three harder problems on board. PE: 6-9 sets on PE problems Fr 8a/b+, 7 min rest. One armers: 3 sets. Endurance: 3 sets as many laps as possible on board.
• Sat/Sun: Climbing or more finger boarding and stamina.

Saturday 6th Sunday 7th October. Having told so many people I was keen to visit the Anvil again I was still surprised to have four comrades this weekend. After picking up Malcolm, Alan, Robin and Dave over various pick up points we headed back over to Lochgoilhead. Despite the good forecast the weather gradually deteriorated to cold west coast drizzle. Undeterred we got walking.

The last time I visited the Anvil I was close to sending Bloodfire, but got denied at the last crux. This time I was keen to try the project right of Spitfire and Bodyblow. Firstly I spent a few hours taking some snaps with my new camera, trying hard to balance the concept of shutter speed. Dave and Malcolm were trying the direct start to Body Blow, a potential F9a.

Dave linking Bloodfire into Body Blow.

Dave on the V11 crux of Body Blow.

Alan was trying lots of different things. Robin succeeded on Bloodfire, cruising to the LO, then made made some good progress on the Smiddy. Not bad considering the drizzly weather. After all this I’d was pretty cold and I remembered why odd numbers at the Anvil were bad. The odd one out for the day I couldn’t really warm up or try the routes I wanted. The project right of Spitfire had definitely be superseded by Malcolm’s Blackout F8b. With Dave and Malcolm chomping at the bit on the project I couldn’t really get dibs on Body Blow for a long session. Also it didn’t help that a hold on the crux had snapped off, it was greasy and I was still getting over an injury. With motivation panned for the day I decided to rest thinking I might get something done on Sunday.

Malcolm on Body Blow and Robin on the Smiddy.

Waking to the inevitable Sunday morning alarm my psyche was still gone. Text’s from Richie and Mike confirmed another day solo. Still feeling burned from bad forecasts and long drives I took myself back to bed until lunchtime. I kept myself occupied with some finger boarding (nearly managing a one hander), DIY, moving and the F7b+ traverse at Aggazziss I’d still not done. Other than getting some good snaps, bit of a wasted weekend, especially when the weather improved on Sunday. Bit depressing not getting anything done when another five days in hell are on the way.

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.

Steep caves are on the horizon.

Saturday 14th,15th. I had planned a visit to Griunard with Ian Moody this weekend but the weather put a dampener on affairs. Instead I decided to check out some new sport crags planning on equipping a couple of F7c’s ready for Sunday. Sadly things didn’t go as expected and I ran into loose wet rock and diagonal lines that were too difficult to equip. Without having placed a single bolt I called Iain with a change of plan before heading back to the B&B.

The next day I headed south to met up with Iain to check out some Inverness conglomerate. The crag actually turned out to be much better than I expected. It was good to see Iain climbing well again, as various things seemed to be bothering him earlier in the summer. I felt I was climbing crap I decided it was time to get training again and get stuck into some proper power endurance training for my projects.

It was nice to find some future projects to try, but I’ve decided to put them on hold for now and concentrate on the Burley Shadow routes. Its looking like my travel budget will be limited over the next few months pending referral of my speeding offence to the procurator fiscal. Don’t be fooled by those empty A9 roads on a Sunday night, the police radars are out there!

Sunday 17th June. Inspired last weekends visit to Yorkshire I was psyched to train over the past week and managed to squeeze in three finger board sessions into another long and stressful week. Although this resulted in little or no progress I was still psyched to get torn in to something hard at the weekend. However, the weather transpired to dampen my spirits as heavy rain and flooding effected most of the UK, righting off most venues due to seepage. After plans for Yorkshire fell through I made alternative plans for Sunday to head to Dumbie. Sadly an early call from a hung over Michael also end this plan.

Sulking about the house at 2pm Lindsey finally persuaded me to do something so we headed for Dunkeld hoping to find dry rock. Our first stop off was at Newtyle Quarry was unfruitful as the cave was soaking. Alternatively, we headed to Myopics Buttress which was just dry enough to climb. I had planned to try and onsight Granola Head but ended up grunting up a rather damp and greasy Chopping Block. After taking a spanking on meager 7b I decided to call it quits. We spent the rest of the evening going for a walk in the nearby Hermitage to see Ossians Hall, cave and (former) Tallest Tree in the UK (I wasn’t impressed). On the way back we stopped off for a burger at Dunkeld’s Tay Bank Inn and listened to some impromptu folk musicians which were excellent. It was good to include Lindsey in my plans this weekend and spend more time with her. Those belay lessons could come in handy in the future.

Saturday 12th May. Partners for the weekend were at a premium with the regulars out of town or low on motivation. I was lucky to contact Emma Sutton and find she was up for a return visit to the Anvil. The weather into the weekend was looking poor making a final decision difficult. In the end we decided on a late start hoping for a clearer spell in the afternoon. After biking out we were disappointed to find most of the crag soaking and unclimbable. I was surprised that Emma was still keen to stay and try something after our efforts getting there. A true west coast climbing soldier in the making!

Redpoint X on the Anvil project (Hotaches Images).

We warmed up on the start of Shadowlands, a good bit of steep shelf wobbling. I got on the project again, amazing that it was completely dry. It seemed to be the right kind of rain, although there was drizzle in the air humidity was low with a clear view over to Carrick Castle. Again I couldn’t quite do the crux of the project, so did the top link and started redpointing. My second redpoint was good and I made the same highpoint as last week slapping the top crux. However, light was running out and subsequent attempts didn’t get close to doing the crux again. I’ll put this down to the usually excuses that I need to sort out.

Emma went on to try the rest of Shadowlands. I was impressed to see her do the crux moves first go! I think she even surprised herself, not bad for four grades above her limit. With a bit of work I think she’ll go far beyond her earlier expectations this year. It goes to show how our persistence can shape the level of our climbing.

After a long day we returned to the car only to remember we were nearly out of fuel and the nearest open petrol station was 30+ miles away. After a long stressful drive we just made it to the garage in Jamestown with some nifty navigation from Diff over the internet (cheers!). Must remember to train more, sleep more this week. And top up the car up with petrol.

Writing the past three weeks blog entires up I’ve been slipping into melancholy. I feel like I’m really hitting a plateau in terms of training for my project. Work seems to be taking over completely. It would have been great to have completed it 3 weeks ago, and moved onto other things. Time and time again I’m finding myself back in the same place with all the past projects I’ve failed on, such as Solitare, Snipe Shadow, Devestation, Hurley Burly, Magnetic Fields. Climbing at these high levels takes a lot of determination, persistence and hope. I feel I’ve got no shortage of these. Maybe the failure comes down to getting corrupted by distraction. I’ll keep those Yorkshire trips on hold a bit longer. I need to see this project through.