Taking little Fairy Steps...

Went to Fairy Steps today with the family. Met up with G-unit on arrival and he looked glum.

What's the crack daddy-o?

Turns out he's nicky-nacky-nooed his A2 pulley whilst unleashing the uber-crimp. I, ignoring the fact that he is actually quite knowledgable in all things musculo-skeletal 'an all dat, think he's being a girl and should really put his man pants back on.

Anyway we venture cragwards. G ain't climbin nuttin' sucka and her ladyship is wearied by the epic trek in so sits down for lunch with lard. I make an opening gambit by trying Axiom (I think it's called Axiom, the thing to the right of Walk Away anyway), classic warm-up material. Errr, no. It's extra large headed clout nails hard, not helped by the fact that I can't reach any holds. Then I realise that whilst I can't reach the high starting hold I can reach a HUUUUGE pinch out right (which is totally not in for the problem) and easily attain the break. Ergo the line is eliminate and morpho, next...
So then I try the crack left of Walk Away, V4? Ooooof, several goes in I contrive a woefull sequence to the break then refuse the top-out. A few vague attempts at the sitter which largely revolve around sitting and grunting and I'm feeling nicely demoralised. So why not try Walk Away? I'll tell you why not, it's hard. I mean properly hard. Anyway I pull off the ground, then step back onto the ground, shake my head, look at the sitter, shake head some more then Spud does some climbing. She doesn't fare much better and we head carwards feeling dejected and humiliated.

In a last gasp attempt to save face we call in on Aeon. I try the moves and pretty quickly get a sequence together. The hard bit seems to be positioning your feet for one move, rather than any of the actual moves, which is a bit wierd but hey-ho. So then as a break I do the dyno, should have flashed it but put no effort into the move to the top, did it second go. G gets it on videocordergram, and also shows me the footage of his pulley pop, the noise is loud and wince inducing and I start to realise he probably has fooked it, bad pennies G. Get well soon. Anyway back to Aeon, now I'm trying it without using the undercut which is apparently the 8A way. But I'm struggling with this foot movement bit so then I try it using the undercut (which is apparently 7C) and a bit of sequence adjustment and I've done all the moves for the easier way. But I'm not mega syked for it that way, I don't want it this way I want to follow the true path of the JG. But I give it a (completely pathetic) attempt anyway. Scuppered by pretty much the worst power fade I've ever had, criminal. Anyway skin inspection whilst driving home revealed that my tips are well and truly mullered, two weeks in Font, a week working with cement and a day on grit in warm conditions before hitting the lime had done for my skin. I think on a decent day with decent skin and no power fade Aeon should go down without too much of a fight, and no cheaty undercuts for me siree, no it's the way of the JG true believers..

Had another cream tea on the way home, this shits addictive.

First Cream Tea of the Season.

The grit season is over, temps have risen and the lime has been called. With the car thermometer showing high-teens temperatures I though I'd celebrate not touching grit until the cooling grasp of Autumn blesses this land by trundling off to...


Almscliff!!
Hey-ho. I only had one thing I wanted to do there and it isn't especially conditionsey so thought I 'd give it a whirl. Spud wanted to head either there or Widdop and Lard was keen to climb anywhere. I didn't fancy Widdop so we loaded up the beast and made tracks (once I'd jump started the flat battery..). Anyway the Cliff was warm, but there was a reasonable cooling breeze so not horrendous. Spud had a go and Lard dug a hole. Then they had some lunch and I went to attack my nemesis. I started with working all the moves, they all went down first time with the exception of the slap to the lip. But a couple of goes working it and this was in the bag, as it's the crux for me I wasn't surprised that it took a couple of goes to get the timing right. Then I had a bit of a rest and went for the link. The start is pretty easy, but steep so a bit draining on the arms. It went smoothly, very smoothly, I was feeling nice and light when I got to the crux slap. Fling for the slap, boosh hit it. Then a tricky foot movement to get a toe lock with my right which is a bit blind. Then a short sequence of moves that need the foot to stick and uber body tension to leave me holding a hold under the roof with my right and a chipped hold with my left. Feet off and lock-off the left arm and bring the right out to match. Feeling tired I somewhat unconfidently slapped for the high pocket which signals the end of the hard climbing Leaving just the awkward top-out. I hit the edge of the pocket, a quick udge and it's in. I fluff about on the top-out for ages, what a goose. All in all probably fifteen minutes at the problem (plus several previous sessions working the sequence).

And the problem? Keelhaul, happy days.

It would seem there may well be a bit of life left in this blog after all...

I celebrated with a cream tea, very nice it was too, roll on summer.

Honey, I'm home....

I am back from Font. To save you reading pages of my rambling twaddle I'll start by stating that I DID NOT CLIMB 8A.
Anybody still here? No, didn't think so. Oh well here's a slightly deeper analysis of Fontal going-ons.
First off. I want to move to Font. It's amazing. Great pastries, relaxed pace of life and the best bouldering in the world (OK I can't make that statement from a position of knowledge but god is it good). Anyone under the impression that the Peak, or Yorkshire can compete with Font for bouldering is frankly delusional. So that's a new objective, move to Font in the next five years.

Anyway the climbing. I tried lots, most of it was amazing. The weather was pretty good in the sense that we climbed every day but also pretty poor for harder (for me) problems as it was consistently very warm and quite humid, especially in the early mornings when the slightly lower temperatures were ruined by the fairly persistent morning mists. I didn't get to go everywhere I wanted to, on family holidays you never do. But I went to some new places and also visited a few old favourites and a very good time was had.

Specific problems? Well from my master list of 4 we've got:
1) Fata Morgana - didn't get to this one, I felt it was the least likely to fall to my skill-set. Might try a visit next year...
2) Toit de Greau - went to this one morning in the pouring rain, the starting holds were dry but everything else was soaked and conditions were horrible (hot and humid). I pulled on and could reach the next hold with a bit of umph but it was dripping wet. I'll probably head back next year and try it in the dry.
3) Beaux Quartiers - went to this one evening. Again it was crazy hot and humid and we bailed after half an hour when it started raining. Did the first few moves and the last "hard" move and the easy finish. Couldn't get anywhere on the two middle moves but I think on a crisp cold day I could definitely do this.
4) Noir Desir - Got very close on this but the condition of the top slopy pocket coupled with my fluid leaking tips meant no cigar. I think if I get good conditions on this I'll get it in a couple of attempts. Next year.

And other things
Carnage Assis - first 7C in Font so that's nice. Not a classic, would have much prefered Noir Desir but hey-ho.
Coccinelle - I struggled on exactly the same move as Uncle. Neil showed me the numbers but I just couldn't get the heel or toe hooks to stick for the drop with the left hand into the pocket. The rest of this problem is straightforward. Went back on the last day and sorted the move, I use a similar technique to Unc but as I'm shorter my right foot is further left. After a bit of manning up I was sticking the pocket every time, boom. The problem was the next move is a dynamic slap for a pinch which is pretty steady with your right foot on the obvious take-off hold. However in a wide bridging position with your left foot on the take-off hold the trajectory is all screwed so it's much harder to hit the pinch. It's also (at my height) completely blind. I tried swapping my feet but a lack of sufficient body tension/height rendering this a no-no. I managed to hit the pinch and hold it a couple of times but at this point it was last thing last day with a two year old and a wife who were both ready to go. I was battered so left it for next year (are you spotting the theme here?). Again I think this will go down rapidly when I next try it.

Coccinelle failure from nik jennings on Vimeo.

Magic Bus/Barre Fixe - I flashed/onsighted Barre Fixe and did Magic Bus in three goes. They are not problems at earth shattering grades but it was nice to do problems so quickly that last year I would have been ecstatic to even get close to doing after a siege.

Magic Bus from nik jennings on Vimeo.


Barre Fixe from nik jennings on Vimeo.

So in summary 8A didn't happen. Nothing on my list of 4 was crushed. However I am totally happy. I had a great holiday, it was huge amounts of fun. I had my best ever performance in Font. Could I do 8A in Font? Honestly? Yes, I think so. I am confident that in my current condition I can climb Beaux Quartiers, but I need very good conditions coupled with me feeling fresh, an unlikely combination in Font on a two week Easter trip. Next year I will hopefully be a bit stronger, a bit more flexible, a bit wiser and a bit of a better climber so my margin for error will increase and as such my chance of climbing 8A.

This objective has from the outset had a grade based focus, and as such lots of my posting has had a grade focus. However the thing I have really got out of the last 12 months is a renewed enthusiasm for climbing. No matter how much I put in to climbing I always get more out. The grade chasing is inevitable, but more importat is the passion and the pleasure. Most of this blog is the little grade based side story of the much bigger picture.

Will this blog continue? I honestly don't know. The timeframe is over so is there any point? But then was there ever one? Why don't you pop back in a while and see...