Cold Fusion Blog

Saturday 30 - Sunday 31 October. This weekend I headed back to the Camel to try a project I had equipped. I had been told by Neil Shepherd a few years ago that there was potential for a couple of hard lines on the right of the Camel up a steep sweeping bulge. Others had put me off checking it out for myself with tales of choosy conglomerate. In late July I finally visited the crag for myself and was pleasantly surprised, the rock looked interesting and was fairly solid conglomerate. Abseiling down the bulge the lines looked impressive and hard but would definitely go. A couple of weeks ago I took a day off work to equip and clean the line but ran out of time before I could try any of the moves.

On Saturday I headed up early to try the route and camped out ready to meet up with Lindsey the next day for a belay. After some more cleaning I finally got to try the moves on a jummar. The bottom section of the bulge had a few stiff moves. I managed to work out a sequence moving right to a handrail using small slopey sidepulls and toe hooks. The top section had slightly easier longer moves on cobblestones panning back to easier vertical climbing. Based the moves and some short links I thought the line might be F7c+.

Trying the new project.

On Sunday I met up with Lindsey. After some problems finding a belay stance on the steep gully I got cracking. I had a lot of trouble trying to link the bottom section and could only manage three links. Regardless I went for a redpoint only to rip off one of the pebbles on the crux quite spectacularly. A found I could do the move without it and continued. As I tired the top section started to feel hard and I could only manage short links with my fitness was waning with so little training. After reassessment I felt the line to be F8a/+.

With the winter chills on the way I’m going to have to get fit quick to complete the line. My finger has been getting stronger every week and I’ve managed to finger board ok, but have been shutdown on my crimpy board problems. Hopefully it will steadily improve so I can get stuck into some PE training again.

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.

Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th August. I headed back down to Kilnsey again this weekend with Iain Moody. On Saturday I was disappointed to find that several key holds were still wet on Full Tilt, too many to justify redpointing. I did manage to workout a knee bar that was good enough to rest the arms a little. Sitting on the lower off I finally gave into the urge to continue clipping up True North to see what the moves were like. I managed to do most of the moves into the hanging corner where technically the hard climbing is over. The moves right of the Full Tilt chain were tough on small finger edges to reach a pocket. A long cross through then allows the undercut horn to be gained. A final span on poor feet to a good hold blocks access to the groove. It would seem there are around 40-50 moves from the ground to the corner or 20-25 from the knee bar. All feasible for the F8c tick. The hardest part however, seems to be getting the whole route dry! In all an inspiring route that I’d love to climb, for now I’ll have to keep dreaming.

Later that evening I tried Subculture F8a again, another route that seepage has denied me for several years. Dogging up I found the crux pocket was still wet. I dried it and stuck a towel in, intending to pull it out from below. Going for the redpoint I quickly cranked out the first two pulls to the resting jugs. I gathered psyche and pulled left into the crux only to look up at the towel still in the hold. Angrily I dropped off cursing, only then to be hit in the face by the towel a few seconds later. Timing is everything. Annoyed, I stripped the route in the fading light.

Exposed crux of the Ashes F7c+ at Kilnsey.

On Sunday the seepage situation had surprisingly improved after a good blast of warm morning sunshine. The hold on Subculture looked dry, but I still felt burned. Instead I decided to try The Ashes F7c+, an impressive route that arches up to the roof on the right of Kilnsey’s south buttress. I’d been told the route had a bouldery crux near the top after the relatively easy bottom section. Dogging up I started to feel the exposure getting to me. The crux moves didn’t feel too bad. I was more worried about how to do the crux clip and the final moves to the break (which I wasn’t brave enough to lead). Deciding that the crux looked to sketchy in the warmth I stripped it and left it for another day.
Lost for something to try I decided to go back on Subculture. The wet hold from the previous evening surprisingly looked a lot better so I decided to go for it. I felt shaky on redpoint from the tension, but soon smoothed out through the crux. Catching the crux undercut with a slight wobble I kept on going to the top for the easy 8a tick, five years on.

Mid crux on Subculture a couple years ago, Kilnsey.

Over on south buttress Iain made quick progress on Metal Guru, even coming away relatively un-phased by the loose run out to the belay. After three redpoints he was very unlucky not to do it. On each redpoint he seemed to be denied by small errors. I’ve been in this position myself a hundred times. It occurred to me that we need to either practice routes to the point where every single move has been practiced several times, or we need to practice error recovery when a sequence goes wrong.

Before heading home I had a few more tries on Full Tilt but couldn’t do the crux I had done first go on Wednesday. I just couldn’t use the pinch in the greasy heat. I think I might have to go back to using the small pocket after all. Frustrated at my lack of progress I gave it a final go, dropping onto the rope the sheath failed quite catastrophically prompting a very tentative retreat.

My rope after sheath failure, luckily not from a high fall.

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.

Thursday 9th, Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th. On Thursday evening I finally managed to get back to Glen Ogle to try Ceasefire with Mike Tweedley. However, the closing light of late summer only gave us a couple of hours. Having nearly done Ceasefire some 10 years ago falling on the top crux, I hoped for a quick redpoint. Putting the clips up things didn’t go to plan when I couldn’t do the middle section. Friction was limited in the evening humidity making it difficult to link more than a couple of moves. Mike didn’t have much more luck. On my final go it clicked and I linked the section: “Match on L jug. RH good slope, LH good sidepull, feet low jug and high L jug. RH dynamically push out to lower press. Move LF toe to jug. Pull through to match R slope with LH. Pull in, lift RF to ? then up to small edge with LH. Adjust RH to ?. Adjust LF. LH slap good edge, RH through to good edge. Clip, then onto the next crux.” I even managed the next section. Progress but not the elusive tick.

On Saturday with wet weather forecast for Scotland I headed south. On hearing that Kilnsey was dry I decided to join Owen and Mike for the afternoon. Owen managed to redpoint Subculture his first 8a which went very smoothly. Not bad after nearly a weeks training beforehand. Mike tried a 7c which he finally tried to redpoint later in the day after watching Dalvinda Sodhi try it while eight months pregnant. I tried Full Tilt again after trying another way of doing the crux using a small pocket. On redpoint I couldn’t make the same high point as early June. It seemed I’d lost a lot of finger strength. Conditions weren’t ideal in the still humidity. Even a chap trying Northern Exposure F8b+ packed his bags after a few sweaty redpoints. I’m sure he’d get the F8c tick if he’d done it, wiping and chalking sweaty fingers mid move the whole way. I soldiered on, but felt tired from the effort by the third redpoint. I’m still not happy with the sequence. I just don’t think the small pocket will work on redpoint. Next visit I think I’ll try using the small pinch again with different feet or the higher two finger pocket. Any which way it has to work every time on the link to get the redpoint. On the up side I did manage nearly three links on the route. Surprisingly, the jug wasn’t that good a rest for the 6c move blocking access to the belay. I’m going to have to get stronger and fitter if I’m going to finish this one.

Paul on the V10 crux of Northern Exposure F8b+, Kilnsey.

On Sunday I headed to Dunkeld with Iain Moody. I had intended to try Burley, but for the ninth visit this year it was again wet and unclimbable. Arriving at Upper Cave, the crag was only just climbable through the wet streaks. After putting the clips up Iain made an effortless ascent of Hamish Teddies F7b+ which he was hyped about. I put a rope on Silk Teddies F7c and got to work. The moves weren’t as bad as I had remembered and I got redpointing quickly. On first redpoint I made a mistake on the crux. On second redpoint things went better and I arrived at the crack feeling very pumped. I fought onwards but slipped just before the rest on the arete. It was a very good fight, so much so it wasn’t spoiled by eventual failure. However, it would have been nice to tick my first route in months! I’m sure I’ll get it next go, then I can start working on the proper finish.

Good news this week is that Malcolm, Alan and Dave have been busy repeating routes at the Anvil. Malcolm and Dave managed to repeat my routes Bloodfire and Fire Power thinking stiff F8a+ and F8b respectively. Alan and Malcolm then managed Body Blow thinking stiff F8b+. I think I’m going to have to get focused on a single project now. Over the past couple of months I’d like to think I’ve been agile with my objectives. I’ve been happy to move between different cliffs in Scotland and Yorkshire, giving a larger geographical area for good conditions. The downside of this I’ve now finding is that I’m not getting enough consecutive visits to complete routes. With summer reaching and end and wetter weather on the way I think I’m going to have to select just a couple of my projects to complete. Finishing any of the Burley Challenge routes is looking unlikely, let alone an F8b/+ down south. I guess I’m going to have to play it by ear and keep my fingers crossed. Failing that I’ll be back at the Anvil and Dumbuck for the Autumn come late September

Richie Betts going for the onsight of Mactalla F7b.

Saturday-Sunday 4th August. I had planned another trip to the North West with Iain Moody after our last visit in March to finish of some routes. Finally better weather and clear calenders landed on the same day and we made our way back to try some routes on Creag Nan Luch and Goat Crag. On the Saturday we arrived at Creag Nan Luch just as the sunny weather crapped out to blustery showers. Luckily (depending on which way you look at it) the crags were sheltered and remained dry despite being very midge. Iain warmed up on a couple of routes then tried Superblue. He seemed to improve on my sequence on a couple of sections which I noted for my next attempt. Upstairs I was back trying one of the projects. After four previous visits I was finally ready to redpoint. After a quick dog I pulled the rope and got going. The first psychological barrier to cross was the fall from the technical crux. Checking knot and belayer a dozen times I finally committed and pulled into the bulge. Missing the crux hold I down elevatored a couple of bolts. The fall wasn’t so bad. Falling on hard routes is almost like a negative move in the sequence that needs to be practiced to be eliminated. On reaching a maximum on redpoint concentration must be focused 100% on psyche and aggression, there is no room for fear and doubt as downward motion becomes more probable. After another three goes I finally made the link from the bulge to the spike on lead. The next section still held a redpoint crux somewhere. After a bit of work I squeezed the last out of my sequence finding a good leg bar in the groove. Another two redpoints didn’t improve on my high point so it was off to the pub.

Iain Moody starting up Mactalla F7b.

On Sunday morning we returned to Creag Nan Luch. However the weather was again hellishly still. The upper tier caught enough breeze for me to have another three redpoints. My second redpoint went fairly well and I found myself at the spike. Gathering psyche I gave it everything I had but was spat off four moves below the easier climbing.
Pulling on again I managed to link to the top from the spike managing overlapping halves. Through the morning various people turned up making it a busy crag. Murdo (whom I’d met before in Siurana) and Megan, Richie Betts, then a bunch of Canadians in midgie suites. Past noon we were engulfed in swarms of midges so retreated to Goat Crag hopping for a breeze. Here Iain and Richie tried Mactalla. Iain pulled himself together for the easy tick. Meanwhile an unfit Richie (so he says) nearly made the flash falling at the last bolt when his foot slipped. I finished the day with a fight to the chain myself. In all a great weekend minus the midges. It was great to have two days to try a hard route without the pressure of having to squeezing out every drop of energy in a day. I think this helps so much to make quick progress on a route if you can be disciplined to stop and rest for the second day. I hope I can grab a few more weekends this year to send some hard routes

A break in the clouds reveals views down to loch Fannaich.

Friday 27th-29th July. This weekend Lindsey and I repeated our journey North making it to Gruinard at a more respectable hour. After checking out Inverewe gardens and relaxing for a bit I coaxed Lindsey into belaying me at Creag Nan Luch for a bit. On Saturday the weather decided walking wasn’t on so we shifted our walking day to Sunday. This turned out great for me as I got a chance to link more moves at Creag Nan Luch in the evening, after pottering around all day on wee walks and drinking coffee. On Sunday we managed to get out for a walk in the Fannaich’s to climb a couple peaks. Sadly the weather was a mixed bag of blustery showers and the paths were like a pig sty. Peaks done we headed back to the car to chomp biscuits and all sorts of crap on the way home.

Pink girl in the rain, tra la la la la.