2012 highlights

 It's been another rad year for my climbing! Even through all the heinous weather we've had to battle here at home, I have done a whole tonne of amazing routes.  Some took us by surprise and others I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember.
 I have been able to break through into the next level with my bouldering, something that was a big aim for me at the start of the year, as well go on a bunch of cool trips around Europe with my homies.

I spent two weeks with Ted hanging out in the Frankenjura during the spring. One of the coolest spots to climb I've ever been, and pretty excited to return! I then headed to the Gorge du Loup in the south of France with the Hamer boys for most of the summer. I love traveling with these guys, we always have a hell of a lot of fun together and always push each other to the max with our climbing. I've done routes that without their support I can guarantee I wouldn't have made it!
The five weeks in France flew by, but it felt great to escape the UK for a while and chill. We've met loads more amazing people, from all around the world, over the past 12 months and we're looking forward to more of the same next year!

Anyway here is a quick list of my personal highlights of 2012, and some of my favourite photos. Really hard to choose as there are SOOOOO many, however these are just a few that stand out to me.

New Power Generation - 8b
Leftfield - 8a
Wrestling With My Dangerous Soul - V12
Dark Art - V11
Low Rider - V10
Western Eyes - V10
Masters of the Universe - E7 6b FLASH
Nosferatu - E6 6b FLASH
The Bad and the Beautiful - E7 6b
The Power of the Dark Side - E7 6b
Stanage Without Oxygen - E5 6c
The Beast of Bauston - E6 6b

Happy New Year to you all and huge thanks to everyone that stops by and reads my blog, it means a lot! Also a massive thanks to all my fantastic sponsors! These guys give us incredible support and I am very proud to be working alongside them all.
I am super stoked for 2013, its gona be a big one! We have a number of trips already planned and I'm just really looking forward to getting back on the road, seeing more places and to keep on pushing things forward. Bring it on boi, big up!

Peace x

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Pearls of Wisdom

 How totally inspiring was it, watching the BBC Sports Personality of the Year last night! So many world class, dedicated athletes with incredibly moving stories. "Súper emocional" as Daila would say! It has been a magical year for sport and last night did a pretty decent job of summing all that up. Unfortunately we missed the Olympics over the summer as we were all in the Gorge du Loup, but I would get texts from home each day giving us updates on everything that had been going down. Which just about kept us in touch with the world.

The amount of training, commitment and effort that these guys put in is so so motivating and really makes you want to work and push yourself harder. If you want to improve and become a better athlete then you have to really put the time and effort in. So get fired up, make sure you're doing what you're doing for the right reasons, have fun and remember... LISTEN to your body!

 Anyway enough of my pearls ya'll. Last Thursday Ed and myself got psyched to hike up to the very end of Stanage and give Low Rider a burn. Neither of us had been further than Marble Wall before and it definitely felt like a mini adventure as we trekked along and the crag slowly began to peter out. Temps were prime, around -5 degrees and we were both proper stoked to get the tick and not have to walk back up again! If you've not seen the video Ed put together than take a look below.

 Thanks to Jon Fullwood for seeking out this bloc. It feels like you're right on the edge out there, which you are really... you could stay up there for a week and probably not see a single person. A great find and great bit of grit!

I also had another sweet day out a short while back with my homies, this time up at Froggatt. Totally baltic but the sun was out, and after the odd bit of cake we all got onboard the send train. Sam made quick work of The Mint 400, E6 6b and Sole Power, V9. Ed somehow managed to fight the bitter cold at the end of the day and climb Business Lunch E5/V9, and I got a tick of Narcissus, E6 6b. Sketch, but its all in the mind, shut it out and squeeze! Grit mode is for sure in full swing right now!

 Getting prepped for The Works birthday party! 
Ted then did this the next day... after partying till dawn and just 3 hours sleep. Nutter!

Walk On By, V10

A lovely present...

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone and thanks for stopping by. Lets hope the cold, crisp conditions arrive in time for the holidays. Have a mince pie on me. Happy climbing. 

Peace x

Boss day out!

I woke up early Saturday morning and immediately heard the rain hammering it down on my skylight... A lovely start to the day, so it was straight back to sleep. About an hour later we got up and after checking the Met again we had a drive out. Extremely cold and fresh but everything was dry and the sun was out! Time to shine!

About a week ago I went back to Higgar and ticked the old Neil Foster route, Block and Tackle, E6 6c. Not long after the weather closed in big time and we had to bail but not before Sam made a quick ascent of the neglected route Linkline, another E6 that takes the blank wall to the right of Bat out of Hell. I was really keen to return for a blast as well.

After warming up Saturday morning I was a bit unsure about whether it would even be possible for routes with the wind chill making it feel proper bitter, but I tied in, set off and the next thing I knew I was standing on the top of the block! I don't know why this route gets ignored, but its one of the best lines at the crag. More people should go try it and find out for themselves! Don't listen to what others say about it being heinous. IT IS FINE!
I think Higgar has to be one of my favourite grit crags, a lot of hard routes, safe, and steep!

The conditions were feeling amazing and anyone who was out over the weekend will agree that your hands were pretty much sticking like glue to virtually any hold you touched!
Later on we met up with Ted over at Burbage West. We were both up for trying Western Eyes, a full on classic fridge hugging grit mission. I had come close on this last winter falling near to the top, and after warming up again it went down! Fantastic day, just a shame it didn't last longer. But I guess we only have another few weeks before the days will start to get a little longer again.

Ted on Western Eyes, V10

It was good to hear about so many ascents over the weekend. One I was particular syked to hear about was Sam's send of Dangerous Crocs Snogging over at Ramshaw. I know he's been after the perfect weather window for this one for a while now and he nailed it yesterday! Good one bru.

 

If anyone is around in Stockport Tuesday night, pop into Awesome Walls for the Mammut Test Event Tour. We'll be there running some coaching workshops and gear demo's from about 6pm. Then Thursday night we'll be doing the same at the Liverpool Awesome Walls.

We are all pumped up for the Climbing Works birthday party this Friday, as if its a year since the last one! Hopefully we'll be able to get out the day after... maybe. See how everyone is feeling!

Outz ya'll