Gran Techo video edit:

If you've not seen this already then I'm pretty stoked to be able to share another cool video edit from Jon Clark. Featuring my ascent of Gran Techo down the Chee Dale Cornice last month. He's done up another slick looking job on this and I hope it gets people keen to go check it out next year.

It's a massive shame the whole crag is now totally soaked, we really did have a hella lot of rain in such a short space of time a few weeks back. But it was great while it lasted and at least we still have plenty of dry rock to keep us going! Time is flying by, its literally insane how fast it goes. I don't know if its the same for everyone but I really struggle sometimes to get my head around it. Just where has the summer gone??? Anyway here it is!

I had a awesome time in Wales last week with the Mammut team, climbing on The Orme for the first time, testing out a bunch of shiny new gear that's due out next year (there is some seriously snazzy stuff on its way) and consuming a large amount of extremely good cake. I'll get round to writing up something for that later but big thanks to the guys at head office for sorting it all out and to the Plas y Brenin staff for putting up with us all!

Currently on a rest day and gearing up for a mini adventure tomorrow... Buzzing for something a little different!

Hope you guys enjoy the video, I'm off to cook up a tasty chicken casserole!

Cheers

A Muerte!

Chee Dale is where its at right now. Even more so if you want to escape the infernal heat that has appeared out of nowhere and is now providing those endless summer days many of us had forgotten about or even knew were possible this side of the channel!

I signed off my Tor season a couple weeks back with a tick of Revelations, 8b and I'm quite content now to leave the place till the autumn arrives and with it the cold temps needed to climb well down there.

I had two main routes in mind down at the Chee Dale cornice at the start of the season. One I had tried the last time it was dry 2/3 years ago, Kristian's big roof masterpiece Gran Techo, 8b and an uber bouldery 8a+, Devonshire Arms.
With all the hot weather they both quickly came into condition and I was really fired up to get stuck into climbing here again. That summer of 2010 seemed a long time ago and its just fantastic to see the whole scene reappearing, see everyone syked and have everything dry once more.

After reacquainting myself with Gran Techo (which literally means 'big/great roof' in Spanish) it went down fairly quickly, and I had brief thoughts of trying Bob Hickish's harder direct finish, Techno Prisoners which he gave 8b+. I remember him doing this a couple of years ago and it was just something on another planet to me at the time and never imagined trying it. I knew I had the roof dialled up well so started to wonder how hard it'd be to carry on for a few extra moves, even though I'd heard rumours of a HUGE span on the head wall.
Before that though I had a date with Devonshire. Nige had given us all the beta for this very short lived and burly product of the 90's, a couple days previous and I almost sent the morning after climbing Techo! But it wasn't to be so we came back on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year, hardly ideal at all for this route... Much to my relief I made it through the powerful sequence of undercuts, chalking way more than usual to keep the grime and sweat at bay and suddenly the chain was staring me in the face and it was laid to rest.
I think a lot of people are put off by this one after hearing how hard it is and how it should really be 8b. Maybe it should... I don't know, but it isn't as bad as its made out, you just have to be prepared to pull a bit harder! So get to it and ENJOYYYY!

 Gran Techo | Screenshot from an upcoming video short...

I've had to try enormously hard on routes many a time, but yesterdays efforts on Techno Prisoners seem to eclipse previous endeavours. It literally felt like the fight of my life! I could have dropped every move after the crux so easily, spat into the waiting void behind me. Maybe the next try would have gone better, if I had blown it, and quite often I prefer to climb something with the feeling of being in total cruise control on every move. But to have tried so hard and succeed makes it all the more sweeter.
Most sport routes pass us by and we generally forget what it all felt like to get to the top. I've read a lot lately from folk about how it is the 'process' that we all crave and enjoy, rather than the eventual send. With this, yes I enjoyed the whole process immensely but I equally enjoyed, if not more so, the actual feeling of redpoint success. It was a close one, and an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Karma Killin'

There is a route down in Water Cum Jolly that waited over 10 years for a second ascent. Karma Killer was first put up in 1997 by Tony Coutts and given 8b. Although I'm lead to believe it has been tried by a fair few since, it was Jon Clark that grabbed the long awaited repeat of this neglected 90's testpiece a couple of years ago.

"A chequered history. It's the route that mentally broke Tony Coutts (he gave up climbing having done it & emigrated to Australia) & physically broke Steve Fearne & Robin Barker (that mono)."
Andy Harris

It has been on my ever growing 'wishlist' for some time and I finally went to give it a serious look sometime back in May but then it got wet so my attention turned to other things. I like the way Rupert described one of the holds to me when I was quizzed him for beta, calling it a "cornflake". You couldn't describe this tiny undercut better. It's thin, small, and as if someone has got creative with a box of Kellogs and tube of sika. This is what the crux revolves around, oh and a one pad mono thrown in there too. It is a pretty unique rig and wouldn't look too out of place buried in the forests of the Frankenjura.

 Jura pulling dream!

© Jon Clark

I was incredibly pleased and slightly bewildered to get this done early Saturday morning and make the 4th? ascent... It's firmly up there with one of my favourite ticks without a doubt and I'd highly recommend it. Just make sure those tendons are fully warmed up first ya'll!!!

The day after I was keen to look at another route on this wall, Agent Provocatuer, a fierce 8a+ to the right of Karma. The photo below of Jon on the head wall of this always put me off... So I was pleased to find out from someone that Ryan Pasquill had found some new way for these final moves. Basically a huge span... With some heel/toe trickery and a final big dyno to a glory jug. An absolutely brilliant move if you like that sort of thing. The skin felt shredded and bruised so we left to go home, but it was all dialed up for the next time.

 © Pete Clark

Yesterday, fully rested and with nice fresh skin on the tips I went back with the young and keen George Carmichael and JC in tow and pulled my way to the belay. The start is technical, and tenuous on the feet but not too bad and you'd have to say it beats routes like The Inch Test and Caviar for quality... Get to it people, its clean, chalked and waiting!

Jon has been following us around over the last week collecting some cool looking footage of various routes and he managed to get yesterdays send on camera too, so keep an eye out for that. I'll post it up as soon as he's finished doing his thing with it!

Cheers

The Big One

Where to start. Its been another crazy few weeks since my last update. The summer weather we've all been wanting has continued, crags are drying out again and sending conditions have been in abundance.

The Cornice in Chee Dale sounds as if it is approaching something of the state we all enjoyed over that famous summer a couple of years ago... However I've been biding my time a little before venturing back down here, mainly down to the fact I've had other projects on the go.

Yesterday marked a big step forward in my climbing and a major dream realised that I've had for as long as I can remember. Mecca at Raven Tor is probably one of the most famous routes in the country and lusted after by many. My Dad can remember it as an old aid route back in the day and the majority of UK climbers will know of its history.
I've had a fair few friends over the years take down this short, power endurance test piece and I even gave it a try myself a year or two ago but the madding crowd waiting in the blocks behind me, rearing for there turn, always put me off and I decided to leave it.

My psyche returned for it though a few weeks ago after knocking out an ascent of the long 8b Waddage, amongst a few other endurance fests. While its hard to compare the two routes, as one is pure endurance with no totally desperate hard move and the other a short bouldery rig, it suddenly dawned on me that I might actually have the fitness required to have a good go at Mecca. So about a week ago I decided to jump on and see how it felt. The moves came back to me fairly quickly and after various beta from folk I had done the main big 'pocket link'. I was buzzing as all that was required now was to add around 4/5 extra moves and it could be game on... So I went away stoked on the rapid progress and spent the next few days barely being able to contain my excitement for the next session.

One thing about this route is that it can destroy your skin, particular the left hand so I took a few days rest and waited for the temps to cool down. Saturday came around and I ventured back, hoping the extra couple days rest had done me some good. Conditions felt prime when we arrived at around 8.30am and there was a good breeze. I was fairly confident of being in with a chance of pushing on through to the top, using my new found fitness and ability to recover, if I could just get established in the base of the groove. I tied in, pulled through the start fine, set myself up for the crux and before I knew what was happening, found myself at the top of the groove. However the fatigue quickly set in as I attempted to free myself from the tangle of knee bars and egyptians and I peeled off into space.
But I was on the home straight. This was it, the feeling we all know when we suddenly realise something is within our grasp. Four redpoints later and I had gradually increased my highpoint inch by inch, with my last try proving to be the closest yet. A simple foot pop prevented me from reaching the final hold you use to rock over into the finishing flake. Gutted but psyched out of my head at the same time I decided to call it a day and I'd take a couple days off to fully recover and grow some much needed skin!

Driving over early yesterday morning I felt a mix of excitement and nerves clashing together but I was fully confident in myself and knew that in theory it should all be a formality... I met up with the crew and after a good warm up I fancied giving it a try. The bottom moves felt totally solid, skin felt good flicking between the crimps then all of a sudden POP and my right foot slid off. That certainly wasn't in the script to happen, at all. It did throw me for a split second and I felt a tiny sliver of doubt suddenly creep its way into the back of my mind. But back on the ground I tried to focus in, put it down to a false start and keep my eye firmly on the task in hand. After a brief rest I was back up there in the same position but my foot popped again! Only this time I crimped up hard, readjusted and fired up to the horn. Clip, clip, shake, undercut, crimp, drop knee, crimp and I was back at my highpoint, the last hold staring in my face. This time I made sure my foot was solid, tensed my core, boned down on the crimp like no tomorrow and it was there. I stabbed my feet over, reached into the flake and clipped the belay.

A lifetime dream, a route I've looked up at and wondered about since I first visted the Tor as a kid, was complete and it felt dam good! But now I'm hungrier than ever for more and we'll be back out in the next few days and onto the next project. That's how the wagon rolls, and how we progress!

Thanks a lot for reading and checking in folks. Have fun out there!

Yorkshire Trip Trippin

Last week we headed up to Yorkshire for a few days, camping at the brilliant little campsite at the mouth of Gordale. I've not been to Malham in about 2 years so I was mega keen to get back there and change things up a bit. It turned out to be one of the best weeks camping we've ever had. The weather was incredible! Waking up to clear blue skies and bright sunshine every morning gets you really psyched and sets you up good for the day ahead. Nothing is worse than hearing the rain hammering down on your tent as you wake up!

Waking up to this every morning!

I wanted to try and get to as many crags as possible and seek out some of the classics I've never done. So first up was Raindogs at Malham, a must do and probably the most popular and sort after 8a in the UK? Definitely in Yorkshire anyway. We were at the crag for about 8.00am, in a bid to beat the heat, which was building by the minute, and the dreaded midges!
 It was a bit of a race as the sun was moving around fast and our window was small but fortunately it went down without too much trouble and it was time to bail and find some shade!

It may surprise some people but I've only ever been to Kilnsey once, about 3/4 years ago for a very brief visit. It is incredibly impressive and I'm still amazed at its length and size. We spent an afternoon here ticking our way through a few of the classic lines including , Comedy, Pantomime and Tragedy. Then it was back to chill in Gordale and eat a tonne of food ready for more the next day.

I'd heard a lot about Giggleswick and one of its sectors in particular caught my eye flicking through the guidebook. The Hollywood Bowl. Its a very unusual sort of crag for the UK, and something you'd more expect to find on the continent somewhere. Its dripping in tufa's of all shapes and sizes. Big, fat, thin it seems to have them all. While its nothing compared to places like The Loup it made a huge changed from boning down on rat crimps. Along with this and the warm breeze you could easily lose yourself for a second and think you were chillin' at some crag in the South of France.

 

 The Hollywood Bowl

There are a lot of hard routes here with many a FA from Steve Dunning and recently Jordan Buys, that tackle the tufa on the lower walls and then launch through the big roof above. Kleptomania stood out to me, as I'm sure it does to many. An extremely short route that is more like an extended boulder problem up a perfectly formed thin tufa. Apparently some kind of knee bar makes this easier....? I found it to be pretty dam tough and clipping the belay felt like the absolute living end! Anyone who jumps to the chain on this is a douchebag!
I'd love to come back to this awesome crag soon to get on more of the routes here. There is a hella lot to do!

 

Tufa heaven! 

After this I decided to go search out the famous G-Spot sector. Home to probably one of the hardest routes in the world. John Gaskins unrepeated 9a+ Violent New Breed. While I'd already decided to save this one for laters the line to the right, Militia, is a popular 8a+ and after wandering around searching for the crag, which is probably the smallest crag I've ever been to, we eventually stumbled upon it. As soon as I saw it I was syked immediately and quickly set to work brushing the holds and figuring out a sequence. From a distance it looks super short, which in reality it is, but then you realise it starts way down in the cave at the bottom and actually packs quite a few moves in. It suited my style perfectly. Steep, small edges, big moves and even some sneaky toe hooks that unlocked the starting moves. A slight change of foot beta through the crux proved the difference and I was yarding my way to the top on my 3rd try. It must be one of the few sport crags around that you can actually top out on.  I'd highly recommend this rig to anyone, go check it out. It is class!

 

 Post send Creme Egg

It was a perfect finish to a brilliant few days of hanging out with my Dad, chillin in the sun and getting a bunch of cool ticks. Looking forward to heading back up very soon!

Peace

Progression

Since getting back home it has been so good to finally have a settled period of weather with a decent amount of sunshine and good conditions. If you could guarantee something like this every year in the UK I would quite happily stick around and not chase off around Europe as much.

Sport climbing season is now here and in a big way. The crags have been drying fast, even the Cornices! I always find it weird how it only takes one session back on the lime or even the grit for that matter, to suddenly get you instantly hooked again and forget about everything else.

There is no doubt about it that our Jura trip has set us up perfectly for the season and I've been reaping the benefits of this and all the training throughout the winter, over the last couple weeks. I love to see progression and there is nothing better than to see all the hard work begin to pay off.

Heres a short list of the stuff that's been going down in the two weeks since getting back.

Kneedless - 8b+
Zeke the Freak - 8b
Sworn Enemy - 8a
Caviar - 8a+
The Sissy - 8a
The Free Monster - 8a
O'Leanna the Butler Dunn It! - 8a?
River of Life - V11

The day after we flew back into Manchester I got a tick I've dreamed of for quite a while. Zeke at Rubicon. We arrived early, it was cold, perfect for sticking to those holds and I was fired up! We warmed up, put the clips in, got all the moves dialed, had a brief rest and it was done. Such a crazy feeling clipping the lower off on this route. It had felt straight forward all the way, solid on every move.

 River of Life

A few days later another one fell, but not without a bit of a fight first. This time it was down at the sleepy hidden crag of Turning Stone. A small grit outcrop not far from our house. I've been going down here all winter and each time its been soaked so when we found out it was dry I was over there in a flash. Amongst the rhododendrons lays one of the best roof problems on grit, if not the best! River of Life.

This bloc began to mess with my head at one point and started to become quite a mental battle along with butchering my fingers like never before. But it succumbed in the end and I found the whole process to be a great learning curve. Its been said before but you really do have to stick with these things sometimes and basically in the end, just try harder.

No excuses.

Then last Monday I was able to do another route that I've craved after for a long time! Jon Clarks masterpiece 'Sworn Enemy' over in Dovedale. Its probably the best 8a in the Peak and one of the best in the UK... True Euro style climbing through a magnificent limestone arch. Big thanks to JC for having the vision and investing the time into putting up such an awesome line.

Since writing the above I've had a crazy weekend! Even though the rain returned and tried to dampen the mood at times, the crags held out firm. An 8b+ linkup at the Tor and two 8a's on Saturday and yesterday I fought my way up the crimpy piano playing number, The Sissy back at Rubicon. It poured it down for most of the afternoon, but we had fun and that is what matters most!

My psyche is extremely high right now and I'm constantly amazed at just how much stuff there is to do in the Peak and the UK in general. I'm very much looking forward to sticking around for a while and seeing where we can go with things. Lots of projects, the tick-list of stuff that we want to get on grows daily!

Peace out and thanks for checking in.

E

Schnitzel, Kuchen and Pockets

 

So our trip to the Jura was full of its ups and downs and unfortunately we decided to fly back home a couple of weeks early. It seems like the whole of Europe had been hit by a very harsh winter, which we soon realised on our first day over there, with many crags having a large amount of seepage. But its all about learning to deal with these kind of situations and just get on with making the most out of it all.

We spent the majority of our time in the northern parts, revisiting some of the crags we were at last year and checking out some new spots as well. Climbing once again in shorts and t-shirts, nearly everyday felt amazing. Its been a while!

King Lui at Diebsloch | 7c

I really do love the style of climbing over here, it suits me pretty well and I'm constantly fascinated by the vast amounts of crags dotted amongst the hills and around the forests. The countryside is incredible and sometimes you'll be lucky to bump into anybody all day.

Last day send of Nullkommanix, 8a+

The trip didn't exactly get off to the best start as I woke up the morning after our first session with a screwed up finger. I was so annoyed with myself and my motivation quickly slipped away. After a few days rest it seemed it be healing and by the following weekend it felt good enough to pull on again. I took advantage and dispatched one of my favourite routes of the trip, 'Primeur de Leux' a very popular 8a+ at the small roadside crag of Kuhkirchner Wand. This set me up for a brilliant next few days and during this time I really started to feel strong and felt my body fully adjusting to the toll, pressures and joy of sport climbing again.

 

Primeur de Luxe

I'm sure we'll be back here soon! There are so many routes we all wanted to try on this trip but in the end you gotta take what you're given and move on. It ain't going no where! Enjoy the photos. I'll post up some more when I get chance.