Saturday 23 November 2013

Catch up.....

The Last 3 months I have been training really hard mainly for the Kranj WC in Slovenia. I have also managed some good days out on the grit usually on my rest day.
First up was 'The Driven Bow' (E7 6C) up at Hen Cloud ,Staffordshire. This route climbs up the middle of a perfect gritstone face on small edges, the gear is good but pretty low so after  pulling through the crux your definitely on your own.
Anyway I made a successful ascent and also managed a short video here -


Next to fall was 'Gecko Blaster' (E7 6C) up at a crag called Shinning Cliff which I had never been to before but was really keen to check it out. Ethan and Sam had previously done the route so it was up to Dave, Myself and Andre to try and pull it out the bag. As usual Dave stepped up and made YET another impressive flash ascent, I then went for it and felt pretty gripped but topped out and then Andre climbed it to. Ethan also made quick work of Tom Randalls 'My Kai' (E8 7A - 2nd Ascent) good day all round.



After ticking those routes I decided to head over to The Roaches and see if I could finish off 'The Inertia Reel Traverse' (8A+). This for me is one of the best lines I have ever seen and have always wanted to climb it. Second time round the conditions felt much better and all I knew was I needed a good warm up and then I would do it. To tell you the truth the warm up went like shit but after a few laps on the middle section I felt ready to give it a go from the start. It went well and the toe hook stayed in on the crux which is pretty much the main things thats holding you on. Thats another off the all time tick list ;-)
I climbed to the end and here is the video -


Training continued as the world cup was looming, but I had 1 more weekend before heading off to Slovenia. Luckily it was a stunner so we bombed it up to Stanage and climbed two fantastic routes 'Shine On' (E7 6C) and 'Cemetery Waits' (E6 6B) both of which are solo's with pretty sketchy landings.

Shine On E7 6C

Cemetery Waits E6 6B

I finished my last training session which was spent climbing some easier routes at the foundry and then the next day headed off to Slovenia. The wall in Kranj is one of my favourites, steep and powerful and not to long. I wasn't to sure how I would feel having just taken 2 rest days but after some traversing I started to loosen up and got ready for the first Qualification route. On the first route I felt good and was definitely able to rest before the harder climbing. I managed to climb to the last section but the pump was to heavy to carry on. Next route I felt slightly more tired but again was able to rest where necessary and made it to a similar height as I did on the first. I was happy with how I climbed but hopefully next time I can make a few moves moves to push me into the Semis ;-) I finished in 29th - My highest position in a Senior 
It was great to meet up with old friends especially Jakob, Ruben and Franz. See you in Spain boyzzzz!!!

Ruben buildering in Kranj

Good look for Franz?

Major tosser ;-)

This last week I spent in London. I had some good sessions at The Arch and Westway and then headed over to Bristol to the TCA wall. I havent had a rest day since last weekend at the comp....Wasted :-)!!!!

Tubes are us
TCA Bristol training 

TCA masterclass ;-)

The Inertia Reel Traverse 8A+

SPAIN in 5 weeks!!!!!!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment