Friday 30 March 2012

Team Mammut


Very pleased to announce that I have officially joined the Mammut team. Super syked to work with these guys and to start promoting the brand in the UK! Would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Mammut UK for their support!
You can read more about the rest of the team here on UKC: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=4538

Hope everyone has a good weekend, with maybe slightly cooler temps! Peace.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Turning up the heat!

Since doing Offspring the other week I was really keen to try Masters of the Universe, E7 6b which is the stunning, hanging arete of the Cioch block. So last week I headed back to the place with bold grit man, Nathan Lee, who was equally syked to give it a go. We went through the moves and got set up for giving it a burn. This is another route were you have to abseil in to start climbing after tying off the ab rope at the bottom to back up the rather rusty looking old bolts! I managed to get the flash in the end, after a brief, spooky moment half way up the arete, with a large beckoning fall looming below! We got some footage of Nathans ascent so have a look. It might be soft for E7 and probably more like E6 but who cares, its another sick route and one that should get more attention! You can also get a good view below of Tom and Ed finishing up this route after doing the traverse on Silent Scream.
Big up to Ed as well for his ascent of the 8B, Keen Roof, a few days ago. Word up home boy!





We seem to have been suddenly hit by an intense heat wave since the start of the weekend but we still kept up the grit trad mission on Saturday and boshed out Poached Salmon, E5 6b at Bamford. Pretty tough in the heat but steady as she goes youth.

Today though we decided it was time for some more lime action, so we checked out Squirrel Buttress just up the river from the Tor! Ed and myself both managed the 7C here, Candy Kaned before blasting over to Crag X and doing another 7C Moffatrocity. Then it was time for a feet up sesh in Bakewell with bread n cheese, chillin with the old people! Got a quick video if anyone is keen for some beta on Candy.


Off up Scotland tomorrow for a couple days, building a climbing wall at a school in Edinburgh. Will let ya'll know how that goes. Going for some chocolate digestives now, peace.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

All aboard the wagon

I am full on loving the trad at the minute along with the lighter evenings. Its been really good to finally get some more consistent and settled weather were you can actually go out, get stuff done without worrying about freezing fingers and how long you've got until it starts raining! Burbage South has continued to get a lot of attention, with another hit over the weekend with my revived trad homie Ted! I don't know exactly why I'm so syked for this place just now. Maybe because I have never really done much in the way of routes there before, and there are just so many classic lines to get done.
Offspring has always been something that inspired me, as the whole block is just so impressive and sits proudly on the hillside like the frickin Titanic! Anyway we both got up this and it has quickly become a firm favorite! We also popped down the crag a few yards and did another class E5, Pebble Mill. There is still so much to do in this area and we're hoping we can tick a few more things off before the it gets too much warmer. Cheers to Lydia again for most of the pictures.

Oh and it's looking like we'll be taking a trip to the Frankenjura towards the end of April! I cannot wait to get out there and get stuck into all the short, bouldery routes the place has to offer, and to see our good friend Tanja who we'll hopefully be chilling with for a couple weeks.

Out

Thursday 15 March 2012

CWIF and more grit


Last weekend was a big few days in Sheffield with the arrival of a bunch of strong climbers for the CWIF. I met up with Ted for another hit of the grit bouldering on Saturday morning, and the geezer yanked his way up Zorev. I know he was very keen to get this done so good effort mate! We then moved onto Burbage North to escape the hurricane like winds that were battering the quarries and us! Here we did the classic highball 'Sphinx' 7A+ or E5 6c in the olden days, before walking over to tick 'Zaff Skoczylas' 7C and then a good flash of 'Boyager' 7B. If you haven't done this its definitely worth seeking out as its a real gem of a boulder.

Warming down in the evening light





We woke up Sunday to more amazing weather, but it was all about heading down to The Works for the semi finals and to give some support to our friends competing. It was an awesome atmosphere with a huge crowd and some dam strong guys and gals all fighting it out for a spot in the final on some pretty nails looking blocs.
After stuffing our faces with burgers and scones it was finals time. It was very cool to watch those guys all battling super hard and big congrats to Dave and Shauna who totally crushed and for once it wasn't those French on top of the podium, or in this case, spacehoppers!

Ed pulling hard in Semi's


Adam Bailes Photography

It provided a good rest day for those of us not competing so the following day we all once again hit Burbage, in perfect conditions. I was pretty stoked to top out on The Knock E4/5 5c after warming up, a route I've always wanted to do and with the weather, it meant you could just enjoy the whole thing so much more! We ventured down the crag a bit more after this and 'The Alliance' got flashed before a few more things got sent by the rest of the team, including 'The Rib' and 'Desparate'.

It was really starting to warm up as we walked back for the main event of the day, the E6 6b Nosferatu! The arete was in full sun and we pondered for a good while at the bottom before Ted decided to just go for it. A recce or two later he was at the last move, stretching to the huge bucket of a hold that awaits those successful and it was in the bag!
By this time the temps had cooled loads and everything seemed just right for giving it a go, I tied in, set off and quickly found myself at the break clipping the gear and setting up for the launch to the jug! I pulled over and stood on top in brilliant late afternoon sunshine and pretty syked on the flash, but mainly just to climb a really sick line and another route that's been on the list for a while. Should have a load of pictures from Bailes coming through sometime so I'll post them up when I get hold of them, but cheers to Kitty for most of these! Have a look at Adams facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Minus-Ten-Productions/380115828672510
In the mean time, for those of you not familiar with the route, check out the video below of Katy climbing it a few years ago.


We finished the long weekend with the best carvery in the world and all you can eat ice cream! Nice one youths, and massive cheers to Denise for putting up with us all again!!

The Sheep!

Thursday 8 March 2012

Livin it large on the blocs!

I've been carrying on the bouldering front just lately, mainly because its quick and easy to bail if the weather craps out. Had an awesome session last weekend with Ted again, this time at Burbage South where I came super close to flashing Zorev, 7C only to fall slapping for the top. Managed to get it second go and my brother was standing by with the camera, so check the video below. We then carried on to tick Trellis, Electrical Storm, Attitude Inspector, and Iain's Roof. A pretty good day doing some classics in the sunshine!
I also did the cool bloc of Tetris a few weeks ago now, another one of the essential peak 7C's and something good to take from an otherwise wet day up at the Roaches!





Earlier today I headed to the Tor with Ed and met up with Dave and Zippy for a first sesh of the year at the place. I was pretty psyched to go on Ben's Roof, having never really put any proper time into it before, and Ed was interested in giving Keen Roof a blast with Mason.

After a good warm up and some banter I ticked Ben's, and Keen Roof wasn't far off getting an ascent from Edwardo, but something that will have to wait for another day. Very pleased to get this famous essential tick and feel the benefits of the training.




This weekend its all about the CWIF, and we are all looking forward to watching the finals on Sunday, along with a free burger... and hopefully getting out on the Saturday for some routes! There are going to be some big Wads in Sheffield and it'll be a cool few days hanging out with the crew, with lots of rock climbing!

Oh and I finally managed to upload the video of Gasper doing Thumbelina, take a look at the lad crushing.


Out