Technical Dancer

The crux of Technical Dancer font 7a+

Going bouldering for an hour has turned into a military operation. More time is spent sorting things out to be ready for poo and vomit Armageddon , than actually climbing.  That said, we managed the first family cragging mission to Heptonstall.

Crux done, just got to finish

Despite the rain, Red Wall is steep enough that it stays dry most of the time, especially at the bottom where Technical Dancer V7 6c* traverses.  It took me a couple of attempts to sort the crux moves out, but was quickly sent in 4 goes.  Pretty happy with that, we headed back to do some more feeding.

Rose less impressed with Heppy than Dad

New Arrival and No Sleep

Close to the Edge 

cheeky V3 6a

I have been home bound and happy about it for the last 2 weeks, due to the arrival of our baby daughter Rose Isla Hughes.  Em did an amazing job bringing her into our lives, and Rose has done an equally good job disrupting it.  It's impossible to be mad as she is just too cute!

Piton Crack

Today I have managed to fit a quick hour down at Woodhouse Scar, despite the rain being on and off most things were dry.  I did the usual classics, and even found a cheeky V5 I had not done before.  The stress of the last 2 weeks has definitely help will keep me climbing well with a little unforeseen weight lose.

My editing has been a bit shoddy and the problem names are out of sync, sorry!

Heptonstall's Hidden Boulder

I went in search of a single boulder problem on a boulder that is tucked away in the woods below Heptonstall. It was actually very easy to find and in a nice spot.  The problem, Scarface V6 climbs out of a steep roof, then up an arete using a poor sloppy hold.  It was quite dirty and needed some committed cleaning to make the slopper feel good.

Scarface

Topo for the boulder

After a quick dispatch of Scarface, I decided to add a sit start and an Extention at the same grade.  The Extention starts at the left arete and traverses low under the roof to join the normal start.  It adds some nice moves to make a fuller problem.  The left arete did not seem to have been climbed either, so I climbed this to give Pramface V4.

Below is a short video of the slappy first ascent of Pramface.  I had brushed and chalk the holds, but not tried it until this go.

A nice couple of hours somewhere new!

Nice few hours in the sun

Sentinal Wall HVS 5b*

We are still waiting for baby to arrive and I have had a stinking head cold for the best part of a week.  Put this together with the DIY and I was very keen to get out and take advantage of the good weather today.  Again a quick trip to Eppy so I'm close to home, and to keep ticking off the last few easy routes.

The right hand outcrop was in the shade still, and conditions very good.  I soloed around 15 routes here, a couple that I had not climbed before.  The best of these was Dogged Arete E1 5b**..  This means that I only have a couple of routes in the main quarry now to tick the crag.  I also soloed Afro With a Chin Strap HVS 5c** and Miss Rags Tantric Mistress of Mazland E4 6b which I have not climbed for around 10 years.  There is a section of wall here that has no route on it in the guide and does not look traveled, so I onsight soloed that at HVS 5b.  Some nice climbing, but I would be amazed if it had not been already done.

I went to the main quarry and soloed Curving Crack and Main Line both VS 4c**, but it was quite warm.  I called it a day, but it was nice to be out.

The ROOOOOOOOOST!!!

I took my first visit to the Roost of the season with Dan today.  This is an under used crag that has a fantastic selection of hard trad routes, that makes excellent early season mileage.  There are only the E7's here I have not done, but they are all excellent and worth repeating to get fit.  Dan has only been here once before, so he still has loads to do.

Dan Flashing Chip and Pin Indirect

Joining the normal route before it's crux

I put a rope up Chip and Pin E5 6a*** to get warmed up.  Despite not being here for a while, the moves seem to be cemented in my mind now, thankfully.  Dan took advantage of this to warm up as well, as this is the only route he had already done here.  I then led Chip and Pin Indirect E5 6b***.  This gives a more sustained and tricky start to join the crux section of the normal route.  Whilst Dan continued his warm up I tried Con dem Nation E6 6b***.  I was hoping to climb this ok, but soon realised that it was dirty.  Rather than over grip and get pumped, I cleaned and put the clips in as I went.  This paid off and I led the route without too much trouble.  The conditions on the whole today were excellent, where the routes where clean.

Entering the harder climbing

Great moves

It just keeps going

Dan then stepped up and flashed Chip and Pin Indirect, which made good viewing.  I tried to wrap my day up climbing Sleepy Hollow E6 6b***.  This was pretty dirty and damp, which along with my tiredness contributed to my less than perfect performance.  We did a few more top ropes to get the gear back and take advantage of the training opportunity.

The video shows Dan's ascent of Chip and Pin Indirect to the normal crux of that route and me climbing Con dem nation in a sports styley!

Lancashire's Finest

Today I took a trip over to Bolton to visit Ousel's Nest and specifically one route, Pigeon Toad Orange Peel E5 6b***.  This was first climbed back in May 1985 by Geoff Hibbert and has probably not seen too many more ascents since the end of the 80's.  Elliot had been a hero and spent an hour cleaning the route at the end of last week, but I still had to put in a good half hour myself to get the holds through the crux free of their greasy film.

Technical and physical starting moves

Poor sidepulls as you start the long crux section

One more hard move to finish the crux

Why bother? I here you ask, when there are so many other routes that are already clean out there.  Firstly, I stupidly entered into the Lancashire's Finest Ticklist on UKC, and quiclky realised that I could probably do them all.  Secondly, this has taken me to crags I would most likely have not bothered with and climbed some outstanding routes, this one being another.

The climbing on Pigeon is steep, powerful and technical, so it plays to 1 of my strengths at least.  From the start to the end of the hard climbing at 3/4 height it just gets harder, bit by bit.  there have been a few holds break off at the start, but this did not really effect the route.  I fell of on my first go trying to get gear rather than push on to the jug, but took the winning option second time around.  This is an absolutely brilliant route, and well worth doing if you are in the area or combining it with a trip ti Wilton or Egerton.

It was getting really warm by 1pm, so I called it a day with the one route.  My apologies for the extreme whiteness in the pics.

Check Out Those Pants!!!!!

I met Dan at the Heptonstall (yes again) car park this morning armed with the new Orange pants of power!  The aim was to cover some mileage and get rid of those early season jitters.  It was a cold morning, but things improved through the day as the cloud burnt off. Dan had not done a lot of the classics, so it was the perfect time to tick them all off.  We warmed up on Main Line VS 4c**, Grindley's Grunt HVS 5b** and Pulpit Route HVS 5a*.  These are the less commonly climbed routes here, but well worth doing.  Tony and Tom turned up as Dan set off up Thin Red Line E2 5b*** and found the 2 cheeky hands off rests.  I then led demerara E4 6a**, before Dan led Brown Sugar E2 5c**.  Getting tired we nipped up Curving Crack VS 4c** to give the arms a chance to recover, before Dan led Forked Lightening Crack E2/3 5c***.

Dan about to start the second crux of Brown Sugar

Dan pulling hard on Brown Sugar

Tony Seconding Bull's Crack

Dan cruising Forked Lightening Crack

Tom Leading Main Line

The Pants of Power! in action on Demerara

A pretty good haul for 4 hours climbing.