ULMC christmas bouldering competition 14th December

This Wednesday we had our first winter bouldering competition. 21 people turned up to compete in 4 different categories (beginner and advanced male and female). 2 hours to attempt close to 30 routes. The walls were pretty busy after we started with everyone trying all kinds of problems. Most people started at the beginning and worked their way to the harder routes, while others started harder and worked their way to the easier routes. The harder problems tended to gain small crowds attempting them. A large overhanging dyno did just this with everyone getting behind the climber attempting it. The community feeling was definitely there, despite the competition between people help was always around for analysing routes or help when on the route. Various people managed to send pretty hard routes, with V2 sends not uncommon and some V3's sent by a few people. The results were close in all groups, with some places separated by just 1 or two points. The full results are available at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lusu.climbing/doc/10150462298692346/ . I will just say congratulations to the winners of each category:

Ladies Beginner

1) Nikki Perrin - 122

Ladies Advanced

1) Amy Rose - 140

Men’s Beginner

1) Benjamin Tanner - 207

Men’s Advanced

1) Joshua Eilbeck – 267

All these scores are perfectly respectable and 1^st was closely fought in all cases. To the people who didn’t get a ‘podium’, be proud of your effort and keep improving.

Everyone did well and put in a lot of effort, hopefully there will be a visible improvement when you look at your score sheet in the Varsity against DMU next semester.

See y’all later :)

Christmas Meet 9-11 December 2011

The Christmas meet. This post is late however, I apologise.

2 days before the massive ASDA order had arrived at my house. As such the gear van was coming to my house. The driver (James) however did not know the way to my house so I left to be at uni to help pack the van and to help it get to my house. Having got almost to the house however we had to head back to uni to pick up the harness bag that had not arrived before we left. We got to my house maybe 10 minutes later than planned, but then of course had to pack the bus with all the gear and food. Despite forgetting the fridge goods i.e. butter quorn and cream et.al we (myself, Amelia and James) were packed and leaving by 7. At this time the other buses were leaving Fosse Park. We got to Fosse Park, worked our way round the horrible road system there and filled up. Then we aimed to catch up the other buses by the M54 stop we had for Tesco’s. Several wrong turns later we were on the right road and looking good. The Tesco stop was rather fast, we got there and were told we had 5 minutes. A frantic search round the alcohol aisles and we were done. Starting the 3 bus convoy we left and I witnessed a bus war pass. This was the only one I saw but I gather there were others and I approve of the tradition being continued. The long dark drive in Wales followed with some low cloud that I mistook for snow proving interesting viewing.
We all got to the hut with Wiil, Lianne, Vicky and Henderbox already there. I managed the unloading of the bus then went in. The zip line was put up pretty quickly and ran for a few hours with many people going down the short line from the building to a tree. I am still surprised no one broke anything or suffered major injuries when using it but I guess it was rigged and run well :). Further drinking followed before people began to call it a night and go to bed.

The planned 8 o'clock wake-up failed due to alarms not working but we were ready only an hour or so late and heading for the days destination of Holyhead mountain. Luckily the weather was surprisingly good, barring a devilish wind, the skies were relatively clear, the sun showed up sometimes and there was no precipitation. The lack of leaders led to 4 top ropes being set up at the top of a ramp. The wind up top was ferocious but not long after Sergeant, Frosty, Howett, Wiil, Wicks and myself (may have forgotten other people, I do apologise) had got to the top we had created 4 massively extended top ropes that still jammed. Unfortunately nothing could be done about that so Sergeant, Wicks, Tron, John and James left for other routes. Cole and Henderbox started on a HS route while myself and Wiil scouted a Diff that we were about to do when Cons topped out on his route. Sorting that out took a bit but once the rope was back at the ground Wiil started up the Sump; the original route that Cole was doing the HS variant for. A quick jaunt up a relatively unprotected slab led to the belay where I took a small rack for the second pitch which turned out to be a few moves long. Still it counts as a lead. A short lunch break and Wiil Frosty and Myself began soloing up the Sump. Wiil did the entire route no problem, but frosty seemed to have a bit of trouble with the second pitch. He was pretty hungover but still. 3 points of aid led to Frosty finishing in a bit of a state. Using frosty's beta I did the second pitch easier than when I was on lead and we all went to the ground :). A fair amount of mincing occurred while all the freshers seemed to be going on walks around the area. After a while I decided to attempt the HS I had been looking at for a bit. The starting runout went well and I was at the arête trying to place gear before it really hit me what the fall would be like. A few moves up and there were a few more gear placements I tried to use badly. One scary move later I was topping out and bringing Wiil up. The top ropes were taken apart and after a fair amount of time wasting we went to the bus and Llanberis. A nice look in the gear shops and we were returning to the hut for the Christmas dinner. The meal was nice and cooked well :) thanks to the rest of the committee for cooking it and lianne for joining them and letting me climb.

After the meal and ‘surprise’ everyone sorted out the hut and began to socialise. This continued in various ways until the morning. I didn’t join in until around 10/11 ish after a nice talk with Amy :). This was when I unveiled my costume. A Top Girl skimpy elf outfit :P. Apparently I have nice legs. It was a poor effort from Amelia however who had the same costume but refused to wear the stockings, and had both trousers and a top on underneath it. The banter that followed was impressive and I started enjoying the night a lot more. Several drinking games and a bit of roof bouldering, sorry to the people watching me do that, and it was early morning and I was going to bed.

Sunday dawned a lot later than planned I think. I was woken up and made to get out of bed at around 10/11. After getting everyone to pack up the plan was changed to tidy the hut afterwards and just get people doing stuff while we had the light. 2 groups left, one for the Beacon climbing wall, and one for the Llanberis slate quarry Dinorwic (Dinorwig slate quarry). I went on the slate walk so cannot comment on the climbing wall trip. The quarries were epic, despite the trespassing necessary. Pools of water were ridiculously clear and long drops redefined long. We visited several sections of Dinorwig and I scouted a few routes to try another time. The weather was too wet for the planned bouldering after the walk so we went back to the hut and tidied everything up. Unfortunately there is not much more to say about the trip bar the KFC/McDonalds we stopped at on the way back. Several people wanted to go to KFC, which apparently had no chips and would not replace them with anything. McDonalds just had a staffing issue; there were too few of them and they were not efficient enough.

Well I think that’s pretty much everything that you might want to read about, so I’ll stop there. Hopefully I will have more posts over the holidays but if not I will see you all again after the next meet, sometime in late Jan/early Feb.

Lakes Meet 25-27 Nov 2011

Hello again :)
This meet started a bit late due to an issue involving a lack of driver. By the time the minibus had arrived at my house it was around 7.15, so not that late in all honesty. The journey was rather uneventful barring a stop to pick up Mr Bullock :), Holmes Chapel was interesting given the time; we arrived at the coop with only 4 minutes left until it closed. After we parked in the car park and walked to the hut we discovered that it was in fact rather small. Cosy could be the right word, with the communal area in the same room as the beds. A bit of drinking/socialising followed before sleep.

The forecast for the Saturday was not good; light-heavy rain 10mph wind gusting 40mph. Even still, we went out with the intention of climbing/having a mountain day. Cons and our lovely driver Simon decided the weather looked too bad and went to the Ambleside climbing wall. They took part in a crimping boulder competition and last time I checked they had unfortunately not heard anything. Meanwhile everyone else was walking to pavey ark up a giant hill. I was rather optimistic and took both my rack and double ropes in case I got some climbing done. This turned out to be not the case and a bad idea. The long climb up the path was hard work and I am grateful for Sergeant, frosty and brad for taking the ropes off me halfway up. When we got to the tarn beneath the mountain the conditions were not suitable for even the scramble we had planned. We ended up ascending via a 'path' up the side. The sheltered gully thing we were going up by was a nice change, but the top of the mountain was horrendous. The winds were very strong and, with the rain it was just plain nasty. A trek across the top led us to a descent route which we followed being battered by driving rain and very gusty wind all the way down to the pub. Props to Nick for being very helpful to me, Lidiya, Jim and anyone else he may have helped. The anchor point you provided definitely helped keep things moving in very windy points despite the high possibility of being blown off our feet. After the pub was an hour or so in Ambleside, which for me was mostly spent trying to find Bullock so I could get my wallet but that is passed and I have forgiven him. The evening was spent eating and drinking. Many games were played and later on it was less drinking and more mind games such as 1 up 1 down.

Sunday dawned new and brighter. Rain and wind however were jealous so came back. Given the forecast it had been decided that we were going to see what it was like in Hodge close quarry as there was an area there relatively undercover. When we arrived it was seeping and wet, but the routes we were trying could have been a lot worse in all honesty. We ended up with only 3 routes for everyone. Thought to be E2, HVS and VS they were E1 5c, F6a and F5+. I didn't try the F5+ but I’m assuming it was as scary as the others, so to the people who led, well done, and to the people who didn't, nice work on climbing them anyway and leading does happen, slate just might not be the best place to do it. On to the day itself. Bullock led the HVS F6a while Brad led the F5+. The routes were used as top ropes for most of the day, apart from when Jim led the F5+ and brad and myself, did the HVS to finish the day off and remove the karabiners left at the top. While all this was occurring frosty and Sergeant attempted the E1. Neither of them managed to do the moves and both lowered to the ground. Still not sure how, and I swear frosty had something to do with it, but shortly after sergeant was lowered down I was harnessed up and tying into the sharp end. The plan was to see what its like, after all E2 is harder than my best top rope. Some interesting moves later and I was halfway through the crux sequence feeling relatively strong. A few power screams and sketchy high feet moves later I was established on the slab with just a runout to the top. Waiting for the space at the top to clear I had a calm down session for a minute or two, then worked my way up to the top of my first clean Extreme lead. Still thinking it was E2 I didn't quite get a buzz until I was on the ground, but it was a pretty hefty buzz when I got it :D. Feeling really good that I had managed to do a route frosty and sergeant couldn't do despite being taller than me I hopped around for a bit. Many many people top roped the route and rightly so, it was fun :) Bullock led it after a top rope attempt and the ex members petered off throughout the day. Eventually we were all in the minibus on the way home. Not sure if there s much else left to say so umm see you next time :)

Roaches Meet 11-13 Nov 2011

Hello agains :) After a slightly late departure we arrived at the lay-by probably around 9ish. Heavy ish rain and a big walk up the hill were not the nicest of things to do :P. As it was Amelia’s birthday and the crag was next door we started the drinking games. Ring of fire with a pan was played followed by a ring of kings. The final dare ended up incomplete but with me also having to do a route the next day in just boxers and shoes. Lally drank a lot and was slumped on the floor for most of the night, hehehe.

When the day dawned an hour earlier for me and Dave Laithwaite it was misty and horrible. He offered me an option; sleep or get up, based on the weather I chose an extra hours sleep. When everyone was up we split to groups and left the hut. On advice of Wicks we went to the upper tier as it would dry faster. We all started on routes around the great slab. I rocked onto Black and Tans. Top-outs were sketchy and wet. The top was rather windy and cold too. After bringing up my seconds (Helen and Nathan), on not the best belay I have ever done, we went to the base of the sloth. Bullock was thinking of trying it but couldn't make his mind up. As I started up Technical slab, he was starting up the sloth/pedestal route. By the time I was pulling the massively run-out crux he was at the pedestal, debating. I continued up the route and heard nothing more, until Helen was up and I heard bullock yelling at me that he did it. Props to him for powering through it. After Nathan came up and I manned up a bit, I persuaded Blairs to belay me up the sloth. A bad runout up the slab took me to the pedestal. The awkward climb above it was harder than I expected, until I did it and found 2 holds. Just my luck :P, placing the sling was fine apart from my bad karabiner placement which caused it to drop to the ground when the sling was in my mouth. I apologise to the person it hit. Weighing down the sling with most of my rack I downclimbed to the pedestal to psych myself up. When that eventually happened I launched up the flake system strongly. I got good heel hooks first try and was feeling solid. I got the jam in the crack however and just wasn't confident. I placed the bomber hex and downclimbed awkwardly to the pedestal. Resting for what was probably too little a time, I tried to psych myself up again. When it happened I launched up again confidently, however the heel hooks weren't as good and at the lip I cut loose accidentally. Trying a different technique for the jam I was even less solid, got freaked and attempted to downclimb. Panicking however, I lost my holds, and took my first trad fall, on a downclimb of all things. I ended up getting lowered down and abseiled off the top to get the gear back. The hex was reachable but jammed into place, twas a bomber hex :). The sling however was much harder to get. 5 minutes after I got to the height of the sling I worked out a method using the abseil rope. Shortly afterwards Blairs and I were heading down to the lower tier to meet up with anyone else. The dare I had was to be completed too. The original agreement was to climb a mid difficulty route with just boxers and shoes, I was going to do the sloth like this but changed my mind. In hindsight that was a good idea. The replacement dare I did was 2 easy solos in just boxers. It was rather chilly up top in the wind, but somehow I managed to stay relatively warm until I could put clothes on again. The night was a relatively standard meet night; drinking until the early hours of the morning. The last king was mine, and hence an attempt to hide Amy’s hat the next day.

The next day really did dawn 1 hour early at around 8ish. The weather was again very misty and horrible. Laithwaite decided to go for a walk, while I decided to give bouldering a go. Everything was wet but I managed to send a few problems before heading back to the hut to help tidy up before the day. The plan was to have prospective leaders taught by brad in the morning about gear placements and setting up and to get them leading on a top rope in the afternoon. The weather didn’t really improve until midday. Myself, Amy and Howett went bouldering before sending Amy up a HVD. Despite a bit of a panic attack she soldiered up it :).After a pretty long lunch break people started to lead more. Brad and Matt started up Valkyrie, Laithwaite up Sifta’s Quid and Ammo up the HVD that Amy led. Cons, Davey and Nathan all did top rope leads next to chalkstorm. As it was beginning to get dark and Ammo finished her lead, I tried to start Valkyrie. Given that Brad was just starting the second pitch, I attempted to rock up onto Via Dolorosa. A message from Amy later I was attempting a severe that still seems hard in my mind. After some sketchy moves I decided to try it later. I’m glad I did, as just as the ropes were packed into the bag brad requested a top rope. Ledge fever had hit bad, so I went up to the slippy top of Valkyrie. Half an hour was spent with Howett trying to find a good belay set-up. When we actually got a ‘good’ belay set up we started to lower a rope to brad and matt. Eventually they were both on the ground and we were leaving the top. A final clean up before the journey back and before long we were home :).

N.B. This was also the first meet that lidiya was not able to come on. We missed her :( RIP the missing no meet streak

ULMC Bowderstone Meet 28-30 Oct 2011

Hello again :).
I'll start with the club summary. After everyone had arrived there was a fair session of bouldering on the Bowderstone. Most people were trying the rib, and several did indeed send it, so props to them.
Saturday was a wet weather plan, some people went to an indoor wall in Keswick, some to shepherds crag, but that will be covered later, and some on a mountain walk up hellvelyn. The weather could have been a lot worse but the mountain walk group were still soaked by the end of the day; driving wind and rain does that! The indoor group had a good time bouldering and returned early.
Sunday was actually good weather, so after the hut was emptied and cleaned we headed to shepherds crag. Most of us ended up at brown slabs doing routes for the day. Many a second was brought up and at least 2 first leads occurred. Hopefully a good day was had by all.

My section now :). The plan was to leave around half 1. Wiil was late and I blew it a bit so when the car was filled with lots of club gear, brad, myself, Wiil and our stuff we left around an hour later than we planned. Traffic on the way up was abysmal. We got held up on the M1 for at least an hour, then the same again on the M6. Around 7ish as we passed a KFC services Wiil suggested a stop for KFC. None of the services we passed later had one so we settled for a Burger King before we left again. We arrived at the Bowderstone around 9ish I think. About 10.30/11 we started bouldering. Initially the crack (V4) and its direct start (V5). People started to arrive when we were trying a dyno problem we may have made up, and the Rib (V3). Wiil sent the direct start to the crack, as did James. When all the freshers arrived and 2 more mats appeared I tried the crack again and got nearly to the top before bailing due to fear and pump. Next year it will go, I’ve got the Beta for it now :).
Saturday the weather started looking ok and deteriorated. Before anyone had left the hut, Wiil, Frosty and I decided we wanted to try climbing whether the weather turned bad or not so we left before people were ready and rocked up to Shepherds crag. Wiil had been to brown slabs many a time and consistently seconded a VD. I swear he told me to make him lead this meet so the work started. Frosty however led the VD which was ridiculously wet, as an SPA group arrived. When we were all at the top of the wet groove we started the descent, which was probably more dangerous than the climb. The slabby rock was unbelievably slippy and there was very little to hold on to. Various methods were employed to lower one's self to the base of the slope. When we got to the bottom and made our way to the bags Wiil pointed out the VS crack next to the previous route. The crux looked wet and horrible. This is when we discovered how we blew it. I didn't want to lead the route when it was raining so I declined the offer and tried to persuade Wiil to climb it. It was decided that rock boots were required. Wiil then found out he had left them in the car, after saying that he wouldn't forget them. Frosty offered to lead it and wanted to check the guidebook, which had also been left in the car. Frosty led his way up to the crux crack and in all fairness did a damn good job of it. His positioning made me and Wiil think he was pulling on gear. This was found out to be true, most definitely when he started aiding up the crack. Cam after cam got him almost to the top of the crack. He could reach the top of the overhang but not pull over it. Around this time is when he took a sliding fall and a nut popped. A few more tries later and he decided to bail. He did a damn good job to get to where he did so good effort. He down climbed/was lowered to the ground and the ropes were handed to me; Wiil had no rock shoes and frosty had just tried it. I strapped on my rock shoes and headed up the route. By the time I got to the crack it had stopped raining. It was still wet but at least it wouldn't get wetter. A few scary moves out and I was above the overhang. A runner around the tree before a run-out to the top. After bringing Frosty up and mincing probably a bit more than we should of we headed down, by the 'easy' route, which in all fairness was safer, but still bloody slippy. We left the crag around 4ish to go to Keswick for gear shopping. £83, 5 karabiners and a dragon cam later we were having chips in a pub waiting for everyone else. When they got to Keswick we met them in booths and left shortly after. Given the weather bouldering was not really an option so socialising in the main room with alcohol became the order of the night. I'll skip all of this to avoid spoiling fun/embarrassment.
Sunday was much better weather. We ended up as mentioned at shepherds crag. My first route was going to be a HVS; Kransic crack direct. I started and got 3/4 up the crack at the started before getting really scared and bailing. I shouldn't have bailed and I was not seeing some holds that were available to me but what is done is done. I do apologise to Matt and Lilian for mincing for ages after this and forcing you guys to not climb for that long. After about 2 hours I reckon, I started up blown slabs Arête. Gear was sparse for the first pitch and I only place on the red rope. Seconding for Matt may have been sketchy as a fall would have meant a nasty swing. The second pitch I ended up running out a lot. Given the wind that may not have been the best idea but it was fun anyway. After we had all topped out and Matt and Lilian started to head down I stayed to help Jim with his belay set up for his first lead. This kind of set the scene for me staying at the top for an hour or so. It was fun though watching everyone climb up. When I eventually left the top I found Matt and Lilian had left to second Josh up the HVS I bailed on. With light fading the group started to pack up and I tried to persuade Wiil to simul climb Little Chamonix with me. I failed and started to consider a solo. The first pitch looked wet but manageable so after a bit of deliberation I de-racked and swapped to my climbing shoes. With my boots on my harness I started the longest route I have ever soloed. Pitch 1 was wet but not as bad as it could be, I may have gone off route but I’m not fully sure. After scaring myself on the top of pitch 1 with bad holds and bad feet, I quickly scrambled to the base of pitch 3 and checked the guidebook. The next 2 pitches confused me a fair bit so the guidebook came out about 3 times between this point and the top but it could be worse. *SPOILERS* A nice slab led to a block I was scared I would roll off, cue another guidebook check, to another slab/arête. This gained me what I now know to be the saddle belay, home to at least 2 cams that have walked into a crack a fair bit. This was the last guidebook check before the top. Previously I had been told there was a slight overhang at the top but it didn't quite prepare me for it. All the holds were good and only slightly overhanging but it was enough for the fear to appear. The position was amazing however and seeing people watching from below was enough to spur me on to victory on the top. Another Sketchy down climb, that made me grateful I had taken my boots up with me, and I was at the base of the HVS to wait for everyone else to finish. The 2 car groups that were left were split into those with head torches and those without, so my car group stayed to help the other return to the car in the dark. After returning Frosty to an unsignposted train station in Kendal, we left for Leicester. A relatively uneventful trip we arrived back home :).
As usual I can't think of much else to say so see you later :)

Slawston Bridge 23/10/11

A nice day trip to a bridge that is now used for bouldering. Lidiya, Wil, Hencherson and I left around 1ish and returned about 6. 4-5 hours bouldering was a pretty good workout. We started on an 'easy' route discovering the height and sketchyness of the top-outs pretty fast. I am still unsure what grading was used (font, French sport or British tech) but we moved from the first 4c to a 6b- tetrion traverse. This route was the project we all wanted to send but stayed out of our reach all the time. We tried a fair few other routes including a 5c face that got pretty fine at the top and a laybacking 5a that was easier than seemed. The run down of the routes I did is: 4c onsight, 4b onsight, 4c onsight, 5c second try with sit start, 5a onsight with sit start, 5a second try with sit start, 4b repeat, 5a onsight, 4c repeat(as an escape from the 5c next to it). I thought it was a pretty good training session and am quite happy to return and eventually send tetrion. We returned and watched Life of Brian so there was a nice endpoint to the day. I honestly can't think of what else to say other than see you guys at the next post :)

ULMC Pembroke Trip 14-16 Oct 2011

First meet of the year, first camping meet of the year, only limestone trad meet, and it's a good one. I went down with Lidiya and Wicks early, but not as early as it could have been: I blew it. But it could be worse; we still left before the minibus. We were in Gloucester for a stop before the minibus had left Fosse Park if I remember correctly. Travelling is boring so I’ll skip to the campsite where many jokes were had with Bellamy and Wil while waiting for the vans. When the vans eventually arrived with our bags and freshers everything was unloaded pitched and filled pretty quickly. It turns out that the two tents I brought weren't needed at all but ah well. I now know what it is like to sleep in a 'cosy' 2 man tent and in all honesty it could be a lot worse :).
The first day was Saddle Head. The abseil was to be set up by myself and Wicks before anyone arrived. We were late leaving but we were at the crag by half 7, probably at least half an hour before everyone was up. After setting up the abseil we went to stennis head for a route or two before everyone arrived. The plan was to do a HVS traverse but the tide was too high for us to find the start so we bailed and went on a VS a bit further up the cliff. Nice route with a bit of a fine traverse at the top, the 4c move was definitely moving from the slabby top section into the groove at the end, bit exposed and steep but brilliant. After the top-out we saw the group going towards the crag. Wicks managed to persuade me to belay him up an E2 next to the route we had just done before we left so we went back down and started the E2. Really nice route up a steep face, before pulling the small roof at the top on good jugs. I did fall about halfway moving off the rest holds, but I argue I was not used to the style and pumped :D. The roof was surprisingly easy, but looked intimidating, hence the cluster of gear placed beforehand :P. When we moved to Saddle Head I was at the back of the queue for the abseil so my group had to wait a fair while to do a route. More annoyingly, when I got to the base after everyone else there was a group on Sea Mist; the route I was planning to do. When it was free I headed up, realised just over halfway I was placing a lot of gear so ran out the next quarter of the route to save gear and try and return to the trad way of mind. Topped out without much trouble and hung around for a while before returning to the base. Brad led a Severe so I waited for the rest of my group to try it and then seconded to inspect the gear. At the top it was decided that the route could be a top rope so I helped Brad set up a top rope that he could use. Nearer the end of the day I attempted Pink Un but bailed after it looked wet, laybacky and that it would get dark shortly so there was no time for faffing. It turns out the route I escaped up through may have been a HS/VS but I’m not sure. The pub was the order of the evening before a nice nights sleep through rain and wind.
The second day was Becks Point. I had planned to do both Cow Pat and Pull Trough, but the first route was a Diff crack to teach my group how to belay. We split the now 5 strong group into a pair and a 3. I had 2 freshers due to experience and brad had the most experienced fresher, seemed fair to me. After the crack we all abbed down to try some harder stuff. Brad had tried the start of Pull Through and bailed so while he was trying Cow Pat I hopped on it. As I was pulling the crux for my first try I realised I had said I was ok with freshers belaying me up easy stuff as I wouldn't fall off, and that I was on a hard route with a fresher belayer, well given the gear was bad it could be worse. When I finally pulled the crux the gear popped just as I was getting established. Somehow I was less scared than I should have been. The top crack was fine and before long I was bringing my pair up. The blowhole abseil had been set up by this time so my pair left to try it at this point. Still wanting to try Cow Pat I stole Howett as a belayer and marched up it. Then I decided to give the blowhole a go. This ended up involving me manning the abseil for 3 people and belaying someone up. James decided to climb up the overhanging face which he did admirably. He offered to let me do it, so when I had my shoes on courtesy of Lidiya I abseiled down to a good ledge and started to climb up. The starting section was massively juggy and solid but higher up...... still juggy but loose. A block at least the size of my upper body came off at one point which majorly freaked me out. When I was at the top it was kind of decided to never climb it again, which makes perfect sense. We basically left after that which brings me to the journey back.
I was in the gear van with Howett. We stopped for a takeaway on the way back and the guy behind the counter called me a doctor who person for my hair which was interesting. We nearly witnessed a crash on the motorway as well. A car undertook us going very fast, (80 at least) and turned into our lane. He sped on and must not have noticed the car in front because he suddenly swerved to avoid it and nearly span out. Was a scary thing to watch. Another thing was coming onto the M1 we saw 3 police cars with blue lights going at least 100 down the inside lane, two were undercover too so it must have been interesting at least.
That’s pretty much all I can think of so until next time :)

ULMC Freshers Meet 2011 9th Oct

Again a late post, my apologies. Myself Lidiya and Wil had aimed to leave at 8 I believe but both me and Wil blew it and we left only 10-20 minutes late. We drove through an accident that happened on the M1 and decided that we had the time to have breakfast in hathersage. Bullock and Blair’s arrived while we were waiting for the cafe to open. A nice cheap meal later we were on our way to a windy roadside bay. Unluckily for us there was another SPA group at the top. This limited our choice of routes so Lidiya, Bullock and I went to gingerbread slab for some more options. Carefully avoiding the group that were already climbing we set up our 3 top ropes and went to the base to be ready for our groups to arrive. When the group you are managing have all belayed and climbed before you kind of become redundant. Rain came shortly after the group had climbed the first route, which put a damper on things. I'm not the best group leader but I think I tried. After a few hours (I think) we left gingerbread slab for the roadside bay and the abseil. By this point I had kind of given up with group management. It does suck but I seemed to be Irrelevant, so I tried to help other people. Ended up belaying a few people and trying the new abseil rope out. With the rain being pretty bad we went to the pub early. Despite the committee being made to spread out I somehow made it onto a table with Wicks, Howett and Lidiya. The meal was awesome as expected :), and the games that followed were also amazing :). My team came second on the passing the ropes through clothes despite having the 60m rope, thanks to Wil Hooke for a helping hand at the beginning for that :). Not much else of note happened that I can remember I think, so I will leave this until the next post :)

Rivelin and Reel Rock Tour 02/10/11

This may be a bit late, I blame fresher’s fair. The plan for the day was to climb in the morning and go to the reel rock tour in the evening. We (me, Lidiya, Bullock, hencherson and Wiiil) piled into bullocks car and headed for the peak. I believe we decided to go to Rivelin that morning but it may have been decided the night before. Either way we parked up next to the reservoir and headed to the crag. We may have taken a wrong turn as we ended up a fair bit away from the needle; where we had intended to arrive at the crag. Wiiil and I started looking at a face climb to see if it was possible while everyone else disappeared left to start climbing, after deciding shoes and a warm-up were advisable me and Wiiil headed over to everyone else.
I started climbing with a severe as bullock was climbing a HS next door. As the routes crossed over there was a bit of a wait near the top but after this was negotiated I brought up Wiiil and we went back to the base to scout the next climb.
There was a slab that was to the right of the one we were at (bad description I know), with 2 HVS 5b's on. I managed to persuade Wiiil to start leading the face climb route. The first section (2-3m) was pretty easy and gave good breaks for gear. The section above it however was blank, with the last piece of gear a cam that by all rights was horrible. The lower lobe contact was good, but the upper lobe, while good contact was a very small contact area. It was scary to behold. Wiiil tried the upper section and nearly fell; a good finger-lock saved him until shortly after his recovery he slipped off. The fact that the cam held was impressive. It was the first trad whipper that I held. He bravely tried again, but unluckily fell again, this time a slip with no recovery, not for lack of trying though! After this he decided to hand over the baton to me. Hardest ever lead with groundfall potential from the top even if the cam holds :S, I was bricking it. I got to the ledge and it was only then that I realised how bad the cam was. But I pressed on, till I got scared :P. I started and then down climbed the first section of the crux at least 3 times until I manned up. Being small really does suck on face climbs but I pressed on and after a few meters I could ignore the gear problem, I just didn't want to fall. I may have powerscreamed at the top few moves but I was very scared. Was soooo happy when I finally had done it. The route ended up being a top rope for Howett and Mason, but after a while I was free.
Me and Wiiil walked right to try and find Lidiya and bullock, who had left for other routes. We passed our previous face climb and found out it was an E2, we left that place pretty fast after :P. When we found bullock and Lidiya we minced a bit before Wiiil led a Severe, harder than it looked so tops up for leading it after seconding the HVS 5b. More mincing followed, with a bit of rain before I was coerced into leading croton oil; the Top 50 Peak route up Rivelin needle. Now I faffed on that like a beast. Thrutchy start that I just powered through before placing gear in the main face. Too far right as I would find out near the top. I worked my way up to the two finger cracks which lead to the crux got gear in and tried to work out the sequence. This process took far too long and did pump me out, but I managed to turn the crack rest into a better rest somehow and de-pump. Still not sure how I did that, made the exposed move out and up to a good crack and up to a ledge. It is after this ledge that you climb a flake that is described as rickety. This doesn't exactly cover it; when you tap it the echo can be heard from the base of the route albeit a faint one. This didn't inspire confidence, thus some more faffing occurred before I manned up and topped out. Bringing Wiiil up was horrible at the start due to some horrendous rope drag. Just after he pulled the crux he commented on how ballsy it was and that leading would have been sketchy, made me feel happy. He mentioned something of the sort after inspecting the flake at the top. We abbed off the pre-placed ring and then packed to leave for a BBQ that we were told was happening next to the reservoir.
The BBQ was indeed present and we hung out for a bit before leaving for the reel rock tour at the works. All I will say on it that it was good overall but last years was better, but there are some really good films in it.
I think that about covers the very longwinded day at Rivelin:) see you all later :)

Portland and Ansteys Cove

Firstly i apologise for the lateness of the portland update, secondly i thank dan wicks yet again for the trip to anstey's and the opportunity to try the hard stuff.
The portland trip was decided pretty much on the spur of the moment by my dad, so we headed off for an afternoon at cheyne wears. Started on the bouldering to warm up/tick a few, ended up spending a while doing a fair few. I ticked about 4 onsight and 2 more worked, 3 problems did elude me, but i blame not seeing rock for a while, and being scared up high :).
After the bouldering session we ended up by the routes. I tried about 2 4+'s the first with a bit of a dyno start for someone of my height. Good route overall :). The second wasn't in my guidebook, but the people on it before us didn't have my route in their guidebook so we swapped routes :P. Shorter and weirder. The crux about 3m up was a kind of muddy bubble thing, plenty of holds, it was just finding the good ones and the ones alligned correctly. The last route i tried, was partially for the cool name (brace yourself sheila) and partly for the undercut that was mentioned in the guidebook. To be fair the undercut was pretty cool, but the top was a right swine to figure out. I spent too long going right to the large overhang and trying to pull through getting pumped. After probably 30-45mins of trying various techniques i got the beta and did it second try with those moves. Was bricking it at the top clip though when i nearly slipped. Typically found the jug just after i have the heart attack.

Ansteys Cove then. Dan Wicks felt the need to get outside and ended up taking me down to torquay after bunking in my house as a midpoint. The weather forcast was, lets face it pretty dismal. But there were a few cool routes that were on the possible list so we headed down through torrential rain in places to reach a relatively clear skied crag. We headed down and Wicks started working empire of the sun, in the wrong place we found out later. The top would go but it was the lower section that was being annoying and not yielding beta. After probably an hour or so it started to rain and the top of the route got soaked. The bottom was fine so i was nice and dry :), but it was wierd to see leaves barely a meter from me getting wet when i felt barely anything. We moved to the cocytus area in search of different climbs, as empire.. was out of reach with the wrong beta. Discovering it was a slab Wicks started More steam, bigger women F7b. Working out the crux took an attempt and a few goes. I rolled onto it and with a fair bit of weighting ended up at the second bolt (the top of my section), which i found rather impressive. Wicks tried the route again, rested on the crux due to the key hold being greasy, and got to the top in the next push. Naturally annoyed he had a break then did the route nicely next attempt. We left the rope in the first two bolts for me to try the crux again and set up the next route, cocytus, more steam connection F7a. I tried the crux of the 7b again and with barely any weighting did it :D, rather wierd to be honest. after a bit of a high from succeding on something i thought out of my limit that was just brilliant climbing i belayed wicks up the 7a. When he was done he offered the option for me to second it to try the roof which was shared by both routes. I accepted and headed up the 7a (first section E2 6a trad). Rather strenuous and tenuous :P but i worked my way up to the top without weighting or falling, woo me :D. Sadly i was too pumped for the steep section which would have been tricky even on fresh arms due to reachy moves. so when i found my self at the top quickdraw i removed it and got lowered down. On our way back we passed by empire of the sun and shared a coversation with other climbers trying to work it out. We went to a beach for a dip in the sea i chose not to partake in and headed back to warminster.
Onsighting a british tech 6a, french 7a crux and actually doing a french 7b crux hmmmm maybe i need to rethink what routes i am doing, or build stamina like a monster so i can actually stay on the routes at the grade i may actually be able to do (6a/b ? )
Things to think about for the future. anyways peace out and see you at the next update

Swanage Trip 20-26

The trip that follows was composed of climbers in the ULMC that decided to do some climbing over the summer.

Along with myself the climbers on the trip were; Amelia Lees, Josh Eilbeck, Matt Lally, Lianne Burtonshaw, Greg Smith, Sapphire Wanmer, Lillian Garratt - Smithson and Francis Cade.

20th June - Arrival day. Amelia, Francis and I were the first to arrive and with a long wait befofre the others we went to dancing ledge for a while before we returned to the campsite due to rain. I managed a lead with a scary fall just after i clipped the first bolt, and as a group we did some abeiling and top roping. When we returned everyone bar lillian and josh had arrived and the large 6man tent that was to be the main tent was being erected. A few people walked to swanage but overall the night was pretty uneventful.

21st June - The main sport day. The plan for the day was to go to dancing ledge and then hedbury after a while however when we got to dancing ledge, we found a group already set up on the easy slabs and another group coming down the hill, so we headed to hedbury first. Plenty of ropes allowed us to split pretty well into pairs for leading. We all parked next to the sea cut platform by the easy routes and climbed. Over time people stopped climbing until josh lillian matt and I were pretty much the only ones still climbing. I attempted a fingery 6a+ and lianne managed to end up with a hole in her trousers. People split into groups again as lianne went back to change and go into swanage along with amelia and francis. Everyone else headed to dancing ledge for some abseiling and a bit of sport. After some time greg and sapphire left for the campsite leaving a sunbathing/sleeping matt and josh lillian and me climbing a scarily run out 5+. When we decided we were tired enough to warrant leaving we headed back. Nothing much interesting happened in the evening i think and before long we were all asleep.

22nd June - The first trad day. The plan was to go to cattle troughs, the closest place with a large amount of easy trad however on our way there the weather started to come in and the rain settled. Our path took us along to coast until when we reached subliminal the rain had stopped. The wind was still blowing something fierce but it was at least dry. Myself josh lillian and matt decided to stay and see if the weather would improve/we could climb with the wind, while everyone else went for a day in swanage. After an absolute mission to get the abseil to the bottom of where we wanted to be we started a very careful operation to top rope High Street. Over time the wind dropped and we could afford a little more movement. The top rope was shifted to Bypass and i hopped onto the sharp end for 2 trad leads. After that we went to swanage as it seemed the best option and we wanted fish and chips. On the way back tot he campsite we stopped off at a play park with a small bouldering wall and created 3 routes, by my guess around V1/2 , V2 and >V3 but i could bvery well be wrong. By the time we got back to the campsite it was pretty much time for bed so we did just that.

23rd June - The Main Trad day. We actually made it to cattle troughs with good weather this time. Top ropes were set up on chockney and the chimney and climbing started, slower than i would have liked but still pretty swiftly. As people worked their way through routes i hopped up Bunneys Wall until i was stopped by a nesting bird. I brought up amelia and traversed out rather than angering the bird more than i already had. As the weather came in again a few people left early and we started to pack up. Back into swanage we went again for fish and chips. The walk back was easier though with more people to carry the ropes and gear we had taken. The evening followed much the same plan as before; planning the next day and going to bed.

24th July - The 3rd Trad Day. Josh and Lillian left this morning before we departed the campsite. With Greg and Sapphire taking a day off for health reasons we headed again for subliminal. Th wind wasn't as bad as it was when we first went to subliminal but it didn't let up so we resorted to just top roping stuff and after a stretch of not doing much and getting cold we headed into swanage and then back to the campsite.

25th July - Another sport day. This day was probably the most relaxed/non-starter of a day. With sapphire and lianne leaving during the day and my brother climbing with us sport climbing seemed the best option. We went to dancing ledge and kind of hung out i think. I attempted to redo the routes clean and the easy slabs were top roped. We watched a pair try a 7b, and succeed. We called it a day relatively early and returned to the campsite. A relaxing evening followed before bed.

26th June - The Last Day. Due to unfortunate timings no climbing was done on this day. We packed up and lounged around until it was time to leave. Not really much else to say about the trip beyond the fact that it was epic :P