I'm Back!

I know what you're thinking...I haven't blogged since November! It isn't that I haven't had things to talk about, I just haven't had time to write them down!

Anyway back at the start of May I had a serious go at Dan Varian's fantastic Ark Royal at Queens. I got through the crux bottom section but fell near the top.

Since then i haven't really climbed for various reasons (not least a head cold that has lasted 2 weeks!) but today I returned and grabbed the 3rd ascent of this stunning line and the 1st ground up. The ground up bit is only significant in that it meant I had to do the bottom several times before success on the top moves which are heavily dependant on body position meaning they have a bit of a knack to them. Indeeed before success today I fell off even higher, hitting the edge of the mat and was probably lucky to only stub my toe!

I should probably mention that I did the 'Andy Earl sequence' to the problem, slightly more sane that Dan's crazy double dyno! Just to clear a couple of things up, contrary to what has been reported in some places the sequence on the starting crux section is identical to Dan's, a low probability snatch for a 2 finger pocket off a very high heel. At the top however it does differ, getting the pocket around the arete on it's right side allows a rockover to just right of Dan's finish. Although finishing Dan's way would have been great, the new finish certainly seems logical from a ground up perspective and removes any chance of the problem being labelled an eliminate which would be a shame for what is a stunning line.

I look forward to seeing the sitter done (not by me!) which will arguably complete the finest piece of hard climbing in the UK.

Climb Newcastle - New Newcastle Climbing Centre Opens

Climb Newcastle, Newcastle's dedicated bouldering centre, is now open. Combining extensive circuits of boulder problems with training and coaching areas, this is one of the largest centre's of its type worldwide.

I'm very happy to have been (one third) part of this amazing project and hope that it brings lots of enjoyment for climbers of all ages and abilities in the North East. If you haven't been yet, go check it out!

There's more info on our website www.climbnewcastle.com

Strong

No not me...Having been manically busy for a couple of months I'm a bit out of training but these guys certainly pack a good bit of power...! After spending a couple of days in Cumbria, a chance coincidence led to being at the Highland Games in Luss on Sunday.

Maybe after lifting the 400 sheets of plywood for the wall I'll be ready for the caber!

Climb Newcastle

Well the cat is well and truly out of the bag...

As some of you will know I have been involved in a project to open a dedicated bouldering centre in Newcastle for some 18 months now. Last month we finally secured a property in Byker and construction has now begun.

Climb Newcastle, the vision of myself and fellow local climbers Andy Earl and Darren Stevenson will open this winter. The centre will be dedicated to bouldering, its coaching and training, using our extensive experience in coaching and competition climbing. The building is an exciting prospect for this; as a former swimming pool it has one giant room which is a fantastic arena and beyond a maze of rooms on 3 floors which you can quite literally get lost in.

More information is on our website www.climbnewcastle.com but now that this is public knowledge I'll be keeping things up to date on the blog.

Val di Mello

Almost perfect timing for a trip with things going slightly crazy, last thursday I met up with andy, suzan, martin and tom (the hulk) and flew out for 3 days of climbing at Val di Mello in Italy.

We touched down late on Thursday in Milan Bergamo but things didn't exactly run to plan as BMIbaby had managed to lose Martin's bag and his bouldering mat!

What was worse than Martin stinking for the next few days would be the fact that we only had 2 small mats and some pretty big boulder problems to go at. Next morning we hit the rocks, it was hot and humid despite being high up and although the problems were very pleasant it was difficult to climb anything difficult. This would be the theme of the trip as the next morning we got up even earlier only to find that the sun was roasting as soon as it was out. Fortunately we found some good shade to get some stuff done.

By Sunday it was so hot we had all but given up on the climbing, turning to our new sport of choice...table tennis...for a big tournament. I think the rankings were:
1: Stinky Smith. 2: Dutchie. 3: Kung Fu panda. 4: Come-back Earl. 5. The Hulk.

As we finished the ping pong, Martin's stuff arrived through an allmighty miracle and so we went highballing to finish the day. A day of travelling later and back in the Uk...let the chaos begin...