Crag Monkey

This week was my return to Dalguise, but not before a visit to Fort William and a trip up Ben Nevis’ northern face via gully 3. After some slow and painful driving for the majority of the day we arrived in Fort William around 7pm and found a lovely little hostel. The lady recommended a local pub serving meals for £1 and assured us it was legit. Unsure, we went anyway to see what all the hype was about as we ordered at the bar we discovered a small catch… with every meal we had to order a pint, hardly a problem as the footy was also on tv that night!! We decided to order 2 £1 each believing that they would be rather small… how wrong we were. 20 minutes late 6 large plates of food were brought over and the waitress even asked where the rest of the group was; none us wanted to say “actually all this food is just for us!”  Needless to say we went to bed that night on full stomachs, and how we would need that fuel in the morning. After an early start we arrived at the North Face car park about 7am, we then set off around an hour later (after a certain member of the group had finally gotten ready). We approached the CIC hut to be greeted with plenty of snow and there was feeling of great optimism in the group. As we neared number 3 gully the snow became more powdery but at the base the snow hardened to ice and it could be climbed with ease. As we got closer to the top the every present cornice became much more imposing. The route out to the right was non-existent and we found ourselves in a very uncomfortable position. The only route we could see was to climb under the cornice and then out to the left. After a scary belay we all found ourselves tucked under several tonnes of ice.. none of us spoke for fear of disturbing the hanging weight above our heads. As prepared myself to move out, my heart beating rapidly, my foot fell through several feet of snow but this was no time to panic and I continued. The relief of topping out was arguably the best I’ve ever felt but I still had a job to do… I prepared my bucket seat belay and brought the rest of the group out. Once we were all out we could do nothing but laugh at our terrifying but truly spectacular experience! We walked through the cloud to the summit and took shelter in the hut and had a morale boosting coffee. After a coffee we carefully navigated our way through the whiteout down to safety and a well earned pint!!

We might be nearing the end of January and my first month but Scotland offers a wealth of outdoor experience and there are already several trips being planned including Creag Dubh and the famous Ardverikie Wall but first a trip to the sport walls of Weem Hill Crags on monday!!

mike :)

Yesterday was the last day of our 2 day’s of CWA training… there really was loads of stuff to go through, my brain has only just stopped hurting!! My mind is a mess of knots, devices , anchors, techniques and loads of other bits of knowledge (something rather alien to me!).  The first focused on group management which involved playing games and lots of belaying before we moved on to Bradley Woods to focus on abseiling. Our second day was much more fun with the majority of it spent rescuing each other from the dizzying heights of the silos at Rokt. Day 2 was also characterized by some truly fantastic dancing and entertain provided by yours truly if I do say so myself, others my disagree!! All in all this weekend has been one full of learning and more learning which will be of much use in days to come.

mike :)

Today marks the first rest day after 5 busy but amazing days. Thursday was originally planned as a day at Heptonstall but the wet weather, cold and better forecast for Friday meant we decided to postpone until then. Instead we went out for a few hours to Pudsey’s ‘The Depot’. We tried the majority of their competition problems with varying degrees of success from clean onsights to ‘How the hell are you supposed to do that?!!’ Friday’s day at Heptonstall looked more promising as the weather stayed dry and the sun was out. We arrived at Heptonstall full of hope only to be met with what can only be described as a waterfall down every face. The only route that had stayed dry was Bull Crack (HVS 5a). A lovely route up a corner in the dry and warm… however today was not like that. Instead it became more and more of an epic with my fingers and toes become more numb after every move. After we decided getting cold and scared wasn’t the most desired of days we moved on to Bridestones. And what a decision this was. The sky’s were clear, the air crisp and the rock was grippy. We soon got underway with a variety of problems; Last Love (V2 5c) made for a great start and brought me very close to the rock. After a few attempts I sent Bridesmaid (V3 6a) followed by Rampant (V2 5c) and just as I was on a role we tried to work Charlotte Rampling (v4 6a) with much less success… ah well a project for another day.

The beautiful weather on Saturday resulted in beautiful conditions as we approach Blencathra from Sharp Edge. With the sun shining the rock was in beautiful condition for scrambling however the rock in the shade was dangerously icy underfoot and foot placement had to be very careful. We reached the summit shortly after midday before descending by the equally impressive Halls Fell Ridge but in much brighter and comforting conditions. A few hours spent bouldering at Rokt over that evening and Sunday ensured I was in good condition for Monday’s route up the Snowdon Horseshoe. The weather held resulting in beautifully dry rock and stunning views from the top of walls. We were even entertained by a personal air show by one of the RAF’s helicopters. Crib Goch was in full sunshine and so was dry allowing for more technical routes to be taken up, adding to the excitement. A small tumble from Dave left not much more than his blood and pride on the rock less than an hour into day. A few hours, miles and a lot of nonsense conversations later we returned to the car to head back home.

mike :)

So maybe starting a climbing blog in the middle of a particularly wet winter wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. So far this year I’ve been inside, inside again and on a bike ride. Just to add to my misery, this bike ride was wet, cold, windy and just generally miserable, plus I’ve now pulled something in my back which makes me feel like an old man!! Not that that’s gonna stop me. The weather looks to brighten up these next couple of days so hopefully I’ll be able to get out and get  some real climbing done :)

mike

So this is the start of 2012, the Olympic year, Euro 2012 and depending what you believe it’s also Armageddon. Early 2011 I had a major accident in which I fractured many bones including my 5th lumbar vertebrae. Despite it’s physical and mental effects, my accident hasn’t stopped me doing what I want and I’ve grown from strength to strength. Cragmonkey is the story as I continue to recover and progress further into climbing. Initially I wanted to climb E1 by the end of the world but I’ve already done that so although the on-sight still escapes me I aim to climb E4 by the time we all meet our maker so to speak :) This is my honest account as I progress and develop both as a climber and a person.

Happy readings

mike :)

The other day I went to Woodhouse Scar with a few guys from brighouse and Andy. After warming up on the highly rated Twin Cracks (VS), although personally I don’t see what the appeal is – for a VS the first moves are overly unprotected and the finish is just awkward, but that’s just me – and falling a couple of times on the first moves of Parete (HVS 5b) I was encouraged to attempt Woodhouse Eliminate (E1 5b). I was assured my gear was fine and that it was the same tech grade so I could do it. So 20 minutes later I was stood on a chock stone marking the start of a nice and very balancey traverse before reaching for a large pocket offering a couple of cam placements. After protecting the next moves it was onto moving up the slab on a few small but positive pockets before reaching the horizontal break. After placing my largest cam there was just the last move to do. Every limb was getting pumped on this short route as I had to shake out and keep my composure. This was the final move of my first E1 and the end was close!! I prepared myself and reached for a hold above only to find it ribbed wall was rounded leaving only smears and wide pinches available. I settled on a hold and nervously moved my feet higher. Once I was set I reached for the flat top. I put both hands on the edge and far from gracefully pulled myself up. Woodhouse Eliminate – my first E1!!! The greatest feeling was one of relief that I’d made it and knowing I can now climb E1′s.

So this project was set up with the aim of leading my first E1 by the end of 2012 but I’ve done it before the start! The first onsight is still to be achieved so that’s still a target but I think that if I’ve managed to go from VDiff to HVS in just a couple of months, E1 in a year might have been a bit tame. I think I need to rethink my targets and maybe set something a bit more challenging :)

Mike :)

Firstly an apology for a quiet few weeks.. I’ve been forced to work but I’m finishing on Christmas Eve so they’ll be plenty more climbing to be done after then. But there has been work going on behind the scenes. I’ve recently purchased a GoPro to add a new element to the filming so we’ve been trying it out these last few days. The results is a promo video for bouldering down at Rokt which I hope hope you’ll agree is quite good. It’s up on youtube now so you should all check it out.

mike :)

Yesterday I arranged to go down to Burbage to climb with Mike who I hadn’t seen for a fair few weeks. After waking up at 5:30am, in the dark, to catch a train at 6:15, still in the dark, to then change at Manchester, well you get the idea. After I got to Hathersage at about 8am, where it was now light, I then had to manage to find my way to Burbage. After wandering around Hathersage I decided to ask a shop keeper who made things sounds so simple by pointing me down an alley saying ‘turn left, follow the track and at the end turn right’ He made it sounds so simple. After an hour of walking, I had ended up on a road getting increasingly narrow and less road like until I was walking through a field full of angry looking sheep. I still don’t know how but I ended up in the garden of some posh manor house. Finally I arrived at Burbage about 2 hours after I had set off, but not before taking an unsuccessful shortcut through a mile of wet heather. Once we got started we quickly racked up and got plenty of routes done. After warming up on a few short S and VS routes we started moving on to some HVS’s. AS we started feeling stronger we eyed up a route called The Groten HVS 5b, it’s description in the guide book as a finger-ripper was not wrong as the pair of us had significant wounds to show for our efforts. A few foot jams and precarious slabs later we decided that now we couldn’t stand up because of the wind that maybe we should call it a day. Well, we considered it. We did decide that being blown off a route wouldn’t be particularly fun so we decided to drop a few grades back to VS and S, just to stay on the rock. With the last route of the day we decided to head up a sheltered chimney only to find the last few moves were a great wind funnel. Both times when we climbed the second to last move, the wind decided to pick up our chalk bags and through chalk in our faces. As well as I belayed at the top my runny nose become that bit more of an annoyance when the wind picked up some snot and launched it in my eye!! All in all it was a great day and they’ll be some pictures and video up shortly.

Mike :)

Woke up this morning to visibility of about 3 feet and we decided to still go outside somewhere. We settled with Pule Hill and it was a great decision. After driving through thick cloud we broke out at the base of Pule Hill and it was glorious sunshine. We set up the cameras and started on Flying Buttress (HS 4b**). It was a lovely route truly deserving of it’s stars. Afterwards the cloud rose up around us and we decided to call it a day but not before we got some great pictures. Hopefully they’ll be a return to Pule some time this week or at least somewhere outside… if the weather plays nicely.

mike :)

Just uploaded a few pictures from our day at Rokt yesterday. There’s a mix of lead and bouldering pics so have a look. I think they’re pretty cool but I’ll let you decide for yourselves

mike :)