Pics

Here are some pics of me doing Brad Pit...

Brad Pit

So Friday last week me and a friend went to Stanage, to try Brad Pit. I had wanted to try/do this problem for ages but never felt that I was good enough to try it. Anyway we had about an hour on it, it took me a fair few goes until I was on the slopers, and eventually was hitting the jug, I did get my hand actually on the jug at one point but was kind of swinging off as I hit it. My mate had two bleeding tips so we had to leave, I'm sure I would of done it that session if we had stayed. Me and Brandon went back on the Sunday, after getting warmed up, I then somehow managed to send it first go, which didnt feel real at all, its fair to say that I was abit disorientated about it, escpecially because Brandon joked with someone that we was guna try and flash it for a warm up, so it looked like I had flashed it. I reassured the guy that I had tried it before, and then asked him if he had a camera so he could take some photos and them email them to me, luckily he did. I mainly just wanted a photo on the crux posistion but I ended up doing the problem again without falling. I'm still waiting for him to email me them but I'm sure it will be within the next couple of days, or today. Brandon was still trying it at this point, it was his second session on it as well. Another guy, called James Jacobs came over and tried it with us, I then climbed it again without falling. Which did seem abit, strange, doing it 3 times in a row. so I didnt try it again becuase I didnt want to fall of it! haha. Its technically not very hard at all, its just, all psychological and technical, once you can find this certain position its fine. So yeah Brandon did end up doing it. I'l post the pictures the moment I get them. Oh If anyones wondering why Brandon has done Brass Monkeys and I haven't, its because I haven't tried it yet. And like Ben Moon said

''Brad Pit, I mean its hard but its not that hard, I could certainly climb something alot harder than that''

Next up: More 7C/7C+'s and The Joker

Grit

Me and Brandon went to Stanage yesterday so I could try Brass Monkeys and Brad Pitt, but, it was all wet and damp, and there was no wind, some other stuff dried so I did end up doing a couple of problems, Bens Reverse - Font 7b and for randomness did the The Full Green Traverse - Font 7a+, first go, I have done it before ages ago so obviously its not a flash but yeah, its pumpy for me! I was so psyched for Brass Monkeys though, I've only tried it a couple of times ages ago but its an awesome problem.

Even though the rock was abit glassy and moist I had a couple of go's at The Joker, the almighty joker! I gave it a go by myself with one pad and got about 12cm away from the top, so I asked Brandon to spot me and I commited abit more and ended up getting 6/7cm away from the top, which is big progress for me, its scary though! haha, I felt asif if commtted fully I would like go flying 100mph or something but yeah, awesome, I know that then you have to hold it but still I feel that im getting stronger, my fingers definatly feel alot stronger, I think my campus board is going to help alot as well. So abit more training, at least 2 pads and 2 spotters, and then we will see if we can be tapping/grabbing whos knows even holding the top!

But, if I do think im going to do it, I will definatly be getting it on video...

Chew Valley Developments

So me...from Red Tips Climbing and a guy called Lee Robinson from Beta Guides teamed up and headed to Chew Valley in the Peak District last Sunday to hopefully find some new boulders, we ended up at The Standing Stones. There is a massive pile of boulders below the crag which all looked good, from a distance, most were not as big and some were as good as they looked but just had very bad landings.

Here as some problems that we put up, if you know that they have been done before please email me.

Mine - Popcorn Prow - Font 6a & Dredger Lefthand - Font 7a/7a+ Video at the bottom of the post- That climbs an E2 6b arete, but on the lefthand side instead of the righthand side, this may not seem like much but it does makes a big difference!

Lee's - Red Tips - Font 5+/6a, Pinchy The Lobster - Font 7a & also The Moors Tiger, its around Font 6b is you find the left hand crimp, if you dont and do it the long way which is cupping the arete with your right hand and pressing off with your left its at least Font 6c, maybe 6c+.

ABOVE - Me finishing the second ascent (?) - The Moors Tiger

BELOW - Popcorn Prow

BELOW - Me on the second ascent (?) Red Tips

BELOW - Lee Robinson on Pinchy The Lobster

Below, The Starting moves of Dredger Left Hand

And here is The Video, again, if you know if this has been done before please email me, oh and it was windy as hell so you might wana turn the voulme down a touch!

Anyway, see ya later guys, oh and I have a campus board in my back garden now, I'l take some photos today.

The Terrace

Last week Brandon did The Terrace at Burbage North, I nearly did it, but after figuring out how to do the second to last move, which was the move I kept falling off on' from doing it from the start, I then couldnt do the first move. So yeah I was abit annoyed that I didnt do it. So I said ''right, next week I'm guna go and do it!''.

So yesterday I got up and got the train to Sheffield>Hathersage and then hitched up to Burbage, by myself as Brandon couldn't come, but in a way I wanted to go by myself as I felt it was some unfinished business that just me and The Terrace had. I warmed up and then headed to it, firstly I tried the second-to-last move, and did it first go, so I was feeling confident then that all I had to do was the first slap and it would get sent. But, I couldn't do the first move, its just, burly and precise and just generally tricky, but eventually I stuck it, but I was abit shocked, which made me abit nervous, came to do the second-to-last move and I was feeling to over-confident and basically fell off. I then took big rests and even had a couple of breaks, but I just couldn't re-do the first move, bearing in mind I couldn't brush the holds and they was getting clogged up, and the sun was blazing the shothole, as it was a warm day. But, eventually, I pulled on and hit the hole, I then went into what I would call ''Execution Mode'' where your mind has no negative thoughts, you not thinking about falling off, you just do each move as they come and do them as perfectly as you can, it was kind of like being in a dream or something, didn't really feel real, so I then did all of the moves and slapped to the top, which is an awesome positive jug thing, topping out felt amazing. So yeah, given the conditions I think soft Font7c+ is about right, although some may disagree, god knows, anyway its an awesome problem with good moves, now onto more 7C's/+'s in the peak.....

Chow

Artificial Intelligence

So, a few days ago the long standing project got done, by myself, 'the crimp project' had been a project for about 12 active sessions, and features a very hard crux move on pretty small holds for the angle that its at (42/3 degrees). If I still had my video camera I would of made a little video about it but, I dont have one anymore. I named it 'Artificial Intelligence' and gave it Font7c+, it is unrepeated. I am hopefully moving to Sheffield around Christmas time, as my mum is moving, if this actually happens I think I will just blow up, like spontaneous human combustion, it will be that good!

Sometime in the next few days I will be going to try and boulder problem called Mossatrocity at Grindleford Train station, its Font7c and is an amazing line, not really my best style of climbing but I really want to try it purely because it looks so good!

Training

So yeah, after my trip to Wales I have been training in my garage alot, which is called 'The Tendon Shelter', me and Brandon have put up a few hard problems so far since the wall got good and we got the Moon Climbing holds, these are the problems/projects:

Air Born Killer - Font7a
Jesus Dont Want Me For A Sunbeam - Font 7b/7b+
Dusty Milk - Font 7b/7b+
Homie I Dont Know She's Hot And Cold - Font 7c

Projects,
''Artificial Intelligence'' - Font7c+ (?)

''Middle Vision'' - Font7c

and a couple other unnamed ones.


There are some more photos on RED TIPS CLIMBING

Wales

I got back from wales last night, it was, pretty awesome...

Day 1 - Tried various things in Parisella's Cave and then chilled out on the beach, (slept in the cave)
Day 2 - Tried Rockatrocity, but then my hands
started to hurt so I had a big rest, except I started doing some crazy traverses which meant I got mega pumped a few times, we then started to try it again, and I fell on the last move! twice!, I was just getting so pumped, this was pretty frustrating, but I will definatly do it next time I go there. (slept in the cave)


Day 3- A full rest day, chilled out on this amazing beach, then we went to Conwy and stuff, (slept in the Car)
Day 4 - We headed to the LLanberis Pass, where the mountains are amazing! This was a good day, we mainly climbed at the Jerry's boulder. I climbed a problem which I thought was 'Johnny's Problem', but it turns out that I missed a handhold out, not sure what the grade is without the hole thing but it was still tricky to flash. I then did Bus Stop Font7c, this was my first 7c and is an awesome problem.

(Me on 'Bus Stop' - Font 7c)

Then I went home...I am now very psyched for everything, escpecially the Grit season!

Keep the psyche people!

RED TIPS CLIMBING

Going to Wales

I'm going to Wales tomorrow, for 5 days, I may climb some hard boulders, who knows, but it will be fun anyway, Rock Atrocity/Lou Ferrino/Jerry's Roof are the ones I am mostly psyched for.

RED TIPS CLIMBING

Oh and I have made my wall pretty awesome now, wiht Moon screw on's, and both walls are now 42degrees, fun fun, pictures after Wales, if you live in/near Scunthorpe you can come and train :) just email me.

Peace out,

Liam

Good

Getting stronger, getting more money, feel very light lately and my fingers keep getting stronger, would now like to climb some hard boulder problems, I want to go on loads of climbing trips, I am excited for the grit season....... www.red-tips.com

Wall Improvments

Sooo, basically, I dont have much money. I knew this would happen so I invested in some new holds for my wall so I dont have to go to Sheffield as much, becuase it's just too expensive. So i'm aiming to buy loads and loads of holds. Here is a link to a video which is a short tour of my woody... http://www.red-tips.com/apps/videos/videos/view/3942372-the-tendon-shelter

Stay psyched!

2009 Grit Trip No.1 - & New Wall

Day One :

• Got up up at 5:45AM and set off to Stanage Plantation at about 7AM, warmed up and then attempted to hold the crimps on 'The Joker' , which went well and eventually ended up with me and Brandon stripping to just our boxers to loose weight, and then attempting to actually do the move (campus method). We could pull on and then slap up (right hand) to about half way to the top, but the holds were also a bit sweaty as it was a pretty hot day. we then tried 'Brass Monkeys' (Font 7c) which is one of the coolest problems on grit, I didn't do it though, it has a pretty hard crux move, but I did all the other moves, which are really good! , I then almost did 'The Green Traverse' footless which was fun to try. by this time the sun was on full power so we just chilled out for the rest of the day, I also seconded 'Flying Buttress Direct' which has some awesome moves on it, Dan Lane filmed me climb it as I gave a fairly comical commentary whilst climbing it. Eventually Brandon and Dan Lane went home and left me and Tom Fenwick to set up camp next to The Pebble...

Day Two:

• We was awoken at 6:20AM by the warden who informed us that it was illegal to pitch a tent at Stanage Plantation, which we knew before hand anyway but we didn't think he would be such an early bird! The rest of the day I just took it easy, as I had decided to rest my skin for the following morning, because I planned to get up real early and attempt Brad Pit, which used to look nails ages ago but now looks more than 'do-able'. So me and Tom settled down for an early night, bivvying underneath The Pebble, accompanied by a gang of Mozes's. All was well until....

Day Three:

• At 5AM, the clouds dropped all their bombs, within about 15 minutes my bed (Moon Warrior Bouldering Pad) was so wet that if you pressed your hand on it your hand would get covered in a litre of water, now, put yourself in my position, you are wearing the best present you ever got given (for Christmas), a £200 Rab down jacket, and you are half inside a soaking wet sleeping bag, half of your jacket is now horrendously wet, I knew what it would do to the down material, and this frustrated me alot. Basically getting from that position, to being stood up with your shoes on was a difficult task. I was wedged underneath a boulder and the floor outside was soaking, and I was forced to 'sideways floor traverse' with my hands on the gravel outside to bring me close to my trainers, but I wasn't close enough, so I had to man-up and slide on the soaking grass to grab my shoes and then come outside to put them on, now, I know what your thinking, your thinking why didn't you just take your down jacket off? well, there was not enough room underneath The Pebble to undergo such a complex task. I think you have a good feel for the experience now. We ended up gruesomely walking back to Hathersage, and then having a fry up at the Outside Cafe, which reminds me, I would just like to point out something, when they put the word 'Sausage' on the menu board (for the £3.50 English breakfast) they mean 'Party Sausage Slightly Burnt and Full of Air', sorry Outside, but it's your fault for taking so long with delivering products, it been 3 and a half weeks and I still don't have my guidebook. Anyway enough ranting,

So, it was actually a decent trip, just being able to feel the moves on the grit any time you want to, meeting some new people, and generally gaining experiences and memories, and even though this morning was horrible, looking back on it now, it's already a funny memory, and it hasn't even been a full day since then!....But I guess I wouldn't be laughing if I was still in the peak, wondering if it will happen again tomorrow. Anyway, it was a good break, back to training on my new wall now, and then to Parisella's Cave sometime in the near future. Below is a link to a video of Tom Fenwick attempting to onsight a route at Stanage, filmed by me and edited by Dan Lane, and also there are some pics of my new steep wall, which I will be extending soon (I made it steeper so I could also make it longer, two birds with one stone you see).

P.S. in the pictures the wall looks no way near as steep as it really is, just thought i'd clear that up.....keep the psyche!

The Video:> http://vimeo.com/5170853

Red Tips Climbing:> http://www.red-tips.com/

Vamous!

Guess what...I have been training hard and climbing trees due to having no money...if you've read any of my other posts then that probably won't come as a surprise. I am really getting into climbing trees at the moment, partly because climbing on my woody in my garage when it's clear blue sky's outside is not very nice. You can find some really cool problems on trees, you have to find interesting ones though, not just standard trees...mind you, what is a 'standard tree'? So yeah, I have some cool lines, and even some hard projects.... I am urging so much to go back to Parisellas Cave, I will go soon..

I went to Raven Tor a few days ago, I biked there from Grindleford train station, it's actually pretty far, it's also annoying that I can't stand up on my bike because the gears a f**ked...but I give respect to anyone that prefers to do it the hard way, and bikes or walks to their crags...it's not easy, but it's worth every mile! Ben's Roof had seeping footholds, I tried to dry them but they only stayed dry for a few seconds. I tried this un-named Font 7c problem though, which has some good moves on it, I didn't do it though, it's weird, I didn't want to commit to this move unless I had some more people spotting and stuff, it's because you have a really high and solid heel hook, so the fall would be...interesting. I will go all guns blazing next time though, I only had one friend there the other day you see, and well, he had to take the pictures didn't he! .....

A Blog Post?

So all of my planned trips didn't end up happening, due to Brandon injuring his finger, which put everything on hold. However, it's now healed, so a few trips will be happening. I am considering moving to New Zealand in September this year, which will be a big thing to do (moving with my Mum), I will be moving for like a year or something, maybe even more is I like it that much. I want to travel to a lot of countries in my life, so I thought it would be good to start early and get NZ ticked, move back to England for a bit, then...Magic Wood? Anyway until then it's just still nitty gritty training, which is always being updated and become harder every week almost! so yeah my skin is always wrecked as well. Really need to get out somewhere, blue skied plastic pulling in Scunthorpe is never a nice experience. However I'm always finding new buildering problems and projects, which is pretty fun, I did two new problems last Saturday, one of which was actually pretty hard, video coming soon for both. Which will be on http://www.red-tips.com/

Keep the Psyche!

Tales From Wales

On Tuesday morning I was on the computer when my friend Scott asked me if I wanted to go to wales, it was a completely random proposal but after taking a couple of minutes, I decided that it was an awesome idea to head to Sheffield and go. Nobody was in my house... except I had my bag ready to go to Wales. My dad returned from the shop and I said ''I'm going to Wales with Scott for 5 days'', he was fine with this and then I started to get excited. I got a lift to the train station and I was away! all within the space of 2 hours. The feeling of ''adventure'' (as some might describe it) felt slightly new but refreshing. At around 8pm that day we set of to Wales, LLandudno to be precise, or actually even more precise, Parisella's Cave. The first morning was immaculate, clear blue sky and hot sun. Seeing the cave for the fist time was amazing, it was like my dream climbing venue. I tried a lot of stuff that day but only managed to send one hard-ish problem which was Clever Beaver Font 7a+/7b, which is a pretty cool problem with big slaps and toe hooks. The first night we drove to LLanberris and stayed there, although in the morning it was raining, so we headed back to the cave!

The second day I was feeling a bit tired from all the previous cave action, although I managed to flash my first Font 7a, however it wasn't actually in the cave it was up the road at 'Pill Box Wall'. The rock on that wall is really good, and the Font 7a, which is called 'Pill Box Original' , is a really nice problem. I tried 'Rock Atrocity '- Font 7c afterwards and managed to do all the moves really quickly, I was a bit disappointed not to have done it, I could almost do the whole problem, except by the time I was trying it right from the start my arms were becoming a bit tired and I was getting pumped more easily. It's an awesome problem and I will defiantly do it next time I visit there, which will hopefully be at the end of this month.

The next day, in LLanberris, I warmed up but found that my arms were absolutely shattered from 2 days of full on cave climbing, so I rested and explored some of the hills and collected beta for ''Jerry's Roof'.

Then, the next day, which was the fourth day, I finally got on Jerry's Roof after collecting beta. There was only two moves which I didn't do first go, one being the crux, and the other being this pressy move in the middle, I did those two moves with two attempts, I did all the other moves first go, so yeah, I was feeling good. Eventually I could do the whole problem from just two not-even-very-hard moves away from the start, except by this time, my arms were just so wrecked, even though I had one rest day, those two days in the cave just blasted my arms. Although the weather was awesome all day and it was fun to just relax in the sun in the mountains, which provide some amazing scenery.

The next day, Sunday, the last day, the weather was amazing all day, not a cloud in the sky till about 3pm, and from then it was only really small white ones. I tried Jerry's Roof again, but my joints in my arms were really aching and I was loosing power on the problem so quickly. We climbed with Johnny Dawes from a couple of hours, after persuading him to join us on Jerry's Roof he had a couple of goes at the crux and then we talked to him for a while, it's easy to just sit there and listen to him, and just recognise and understand what he's saying. He talked about 'Shape, Sound and Face'. Where you imagine the different shapes that your body has to go into, whilst climbing the problem, to explain this further he talked about imagining like hot air balloons, except shaped like people, and imagining them scattered across the problem in the different positions, and then you have to try and fit into those positions as best you can. The sound, is kind of the vibe which the problem is giving you and the vibe your giving the problem, there are different vibes for different problems just like there is different sounds, and you have to understand the type of sound, or feeling, that the problem has and kind of recognise it, and work with it. And the face is the way that you act on the climb or problem, you have to act differently on different climbs. like some may require you to get angry and aggressive, but some you may just have to relax and breathe more. If you can understand all of that and use it I personally think it would help anyone that's reading this, I've never really thought of those things, but it does make sense. I think what I've written is a fairly accurate interpretation of what he was trying to say. But yeah, hes a pretty cool guy that really does understand climbing to a different level.

Basically.........I slept in a van with Scott and Martin for 5 days in North Wales, I flashed a 7a and did a 7b and got really close on two 7c's. Scott did 3 Font 8a's and one Font8b/V13, which was Malcs Start next to Jerry's Roof, however there has been some people, as usual, doubting that he actually climbed it, so if you are one of those people and you are reading this, you kinda need to just calm down because I saw him do it. All in all, despite being crammed in a van with two oher people and eating porridge without milk or sugar every morning and not having any dinner and waiting all day everyday till the evening to eat again, it was a really awesome trip, my most favourite so far, Wales such a nice place, and I want to go back soon, back to the training for now, after at least 2 days of hardcore resting!

Psyched

Yesterday it was the BMC Leading Ladder final at The Foundry, I didn't enter it but I did go to there for a session, to boulder and train.. I've been climbing indoors a lot lately, every other day, and my skin is always bad, I never really have fully repaired skin. But it doens't stop me, yesterday at the Foundry I had a right killer session, I even had red tips on my thumbs. Dan Lane was in the Final, and was ready to represent Red Tips, we tried not to both wear the t-shirt near each other much, as it might of looked a bit, well you know.

I'm planning on sleeping at Raven Tor & Rubicon Wall next Saturday for five or six days or so, a few friends of mine will probably come as well, hence the reason why it's been dubbed the Red Tips Rock Trip, see thread here> http://red-tips.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/538903-red-tips-rock-trip

Buy the Red Tips T-shirt here: http://www.redtipsonlinestore.bigcartel.com

Red Tips T-Shirts!

So, this morning the first batch of the Red Tips T-Shirts arrived, I was pretty god dam excited to check them out and see how good they was, and to be honest I was surprised how accurately them came out, and how clear the logo and colours were. I am going to set my pay pal account up tomorrow so people can buy them online, and have them delivered to them. They are £16, without delivery, I will find out how much the delivery will cost tomorrow as well. I personally think they are good value for £16, comparing the quality of design and colours to other leading climbing T-shirts like the Moon Climbing ones, which are all £20. I do like some of the moon climbing ones though, it's just that the Red Tips ones are cheaper, and in these harsh times of recession, price is important! Visit http://www.red-tips.com/ to buy or for more info.

http://www.red-tips.com/

Training & Buildering

I'm going climbing on Sunday, to Rubicon Wall, as I haven't been out in a while, I've just been training indoors, training quite specifically for 'The Press' (Font 7b+/V9) at Rubicon Wall. I've also been doing some 'Buildering', yeah, it's bouldering, but on buildings instead of rock.

This is what me and my friends have to do sometimes, when were short of money and want to climb outside. Me and my friend Josh Ellis made a video for the other day for http://www.red-tips.com/ . It shows one of the best buildering problems in Scunthorpe, called 'No Parking'. It was first climbed earlier this year and became an instant classic, it starts at the back of a roof, and climbs the full length of the roof outwards on metal girder's.

The link is here: http://red-tips.webs.com/apps/videos/videos/view/2571050-liam-copley-no-parking-font-7a-ish It's about Font 6c+/7a , mostly depending on the degree of heel & toe hooks you use. Regardless of the grade, this is a three star problem and should be on anybody buildering tick-list. Hope you like the video, don't take me too seriously on it please!
More Buildering videos and buildering Topos @ http://www.red-tips.com/

Red Tips T-shirts ready by 1st April! Pre-order now at red-tips-climbing@hotmail.co.uk

OR see the 'T-shirt' page on http://www.red-tips.com/ . I think that's enough links for now, I'll get some pictures and videos on Sunday.

Curbar, Rubicon Wall & The Edge

My dad had the day off, so he offered to take us out climbing in the Peak, plus, he also wanted to get out somewhere. The day started off good, before we set off my Dad found out he had won
£1000 from a draw thing, which is good! he is going to give me and Brandon £100 to produce the first small batcth (20)of the Red Tips T-shirts. These will be available as soon as possible, click the link at the side of this page to get to the website itself. Anyways! we went to the Trackside Boulder at Curbar, and I did some nice easy gritstone problems. Brandon failed to exclaim that he wanted to climb on Limestone, so after warming up, we set off to Rubicon Wall.






We warmed up at Rubicon, and after Brandon taking some violent-un-attended-spotted-falls (I wasn't expecting them!) we headed to the Kudos Wall. I'll cut it straight, we didn't do anything. But, as they say, limestone was made for training, and that's pretty much what we did, mostly. Just trying hard things, seeing how far we can get. All I have to do is this Font7b+ and then I will be able to do most of the other extensions. The 7b+ is a lower start to a 7b which I nearly flashed (got it second go), called A Bigger Splash Direct. I can nearly do the 7b+. And I mean, nearly!





Anyway we then went to the Fox House Inn, I got 'Hunters Chicken', which is chicken, with bacon on top, and then melted cheese on top. and a pint of Strongbow, then me and Brandon had a short and intense session at The Edge, then did some serious core body, lock-off, static wide move shizzle on this pull-up bar thing on the train. Only serious train-users will know about this amazing 2m+ long bar. It's just one of those little perks of being a 100% committed full time climber.

Rubicon Wall - 21.4 Miles

Brandon came and got me out of bed at 5am, although I was awake before hand. We biked to the train station, although, today there was a possible disaster on the horizon. We got the 6am train, and the connecting train in Sheffield left at 7:12, we would have 1/2 minutes to get across to the other platform and get the train, with bouldering mats, bags, bikes, ect.

A train station staff member was very mad at us both because we decided to ride our bikes on the platform to catch the train in time, he was extremely mad, he said that he had been watching us for weeks on the CCTV riding our bikes to catch trains, which I thought was pretty funny. After some persuasion, he let us go catch our train, but as we got close, we thought it might randomly leave, so we got on our bikes and biked again, and got on the train. I was happy to be on the train, but not so happy that the guy had actually chased us and was now on our train coming towards us. He threatened us with various things for about 3 minutes, he also said that he would be watching us on the CCTV when we was to come back later on.

We got off at Grindleford and had a painful bike ride to Rubicon Wall, we went wrong at one point and had to go back on our self to get to the wall. We warmed up on some polished eliminate problems, that we made up our self. After we was warmed up we headed over to the Kudos Wall. The first problem I tried was 'A Bigger Splash Direct', Font7b / V8. The sun was out, clear blue sky, I had my top off and it felt like a summers day, I was psyched. I almost flashed it, slapping for the sharp jug, and almost holding it. I managed to send it on my second go, which is my best ascent so far, and I was pretty happy about it. I tried loads of other things, and got close on most of them. I think next time I go here I will be more familiar with he place and will be able to crank really hard. There is a F8a route which I really want to do called Hot Fun Closing, next time I go, if i get a lift in a car, I will take a rope and try it.

We biked back, and also went to check out some boulders on top of this hill at Grindleford, which we thought was White Edge, although we got lost in some woods and came back. In total we have biked/walked 21.4 miles today. All in the name of climbing.

Training, Raven Tor Tomorrow

So, we're into the third month of 2009, and I've only really had one day climbing outside. This is because I have been training for some steep, fingery and powerful Limestone boulder problems. I've started to go off the Grit for some reason, I guess it's because, in general, I don't actually like the style of climbing that the majority of the problems provide. Except there are some amazing problems on the grit, and too be fair I have only sampled what climbing venues Gritstone has to offer. I've made recent additions to my home wall which is helping, and in general I've just been training on steep problems, with bad/small footholds, and doing big moves. This should help on the Lime. So yeah, me and Brandon are going to Raven Tor tomorrow, except I'm not too optimistic about the 10mile bike ride. And it should be pretty bad for Brandon as well, considering he has no seat! I would tell you what problems I want to try, but to be fair, I am just going to try everything and anything and spend more time on the things that actually inspire me there and then. Below is a picture of me after a 6hour session at The Works yesterday, wearing my new Moon 3/4's which are really cool.

And this is The Motherboard at The Works, which is now my favourite piece of indoor climbing wall.

This Vehicle Was Illegally Parked.

After a really long period of just climbing indoors and training, me and Brandon decided to go outside to Stanage. I did Zippy's Traverse (Font7b/V8) after about 8 tries, I had tried it before, a while ago when I use to go to the Plantation a lot, but never felt positive about it. Generally the moves are good, but if can be frustrating as you swing out, and there are different options of how to control it. I eventually found a sequence, that probably isn't the easiest, but I was consistent with doing it my way. It means I pretty much use every single handhold, my heel kept popping as I went for the jug, if you get the jug without it popping, you can compose yourself and swing off and match the jug in full control. Today, I didn't find any of the moves hard, and none of the holds felt bad, it felt like what a Font7a felt ages ago, last year. But I think it's still a hard 7b. We then went over to Stanage Far Right and tried the '7b Lip Traverse', we had previously been told by people that it was an amazing problem, and to be fair, the moves were really good, except we just couldn't crack it in a small session before the sun went down. We practically did it though, we just didn't link it from the very beginning. At the start of the day our first train was delayed, so we missed our interchanging train, so we had to get a bus, so we couldn't take our bikes, so we locked them up to a pole. this extra £2.50 for the bus, which we shouldn't of had to pay, on top of the £10.55 train ticket, affected my mental state a lot. So we had to walk up to Stanage, and also when we got back to our bikes at the end of the day somebody had stolen Brandon's bike seat, and there was a large yellow sticker on my bike saying "THIS VEHICLE WAS ILLEGALLY PARKED".



Check out this new video from Red Tips Productions> http://www.vimeo.com/3337244

(Me right at the start, on Rons Slab, then The Steep Traverse, then a while later on The Green Traverse)


Also, check out my new Moon Climbing sticker which I put onto the front of my bike, I'm hoping it will make me bike faster on the 10mile+ bike ride to Raven Tor.

Also, I have a few new pictures of my wall. Which is no way near as steep enough as we want it, we will be making it alot steeper next week.

You can also see the wooden fingerboard that Brandon made ages ago.

Training & New Website!

I've been saving my money and spending most of my time training in my garage, as I have some new holds and I've set some sick problems! I might randomly go out on the grit one-day to see how it goes but the trainings occupying me for now. Check out my new website in a few days as it will be ready then, its called Red Tips - Climbing, it's basically a climbing website with forums, videos, photos ect and some funky stuff like information about home-made bouldering walls and we might be getting an online store with some cool stuff for sale, pretty much anything that's awesome will be sold, like oldskool jumpers with crazy patters, slate-climbing-holds, and maybe some big climbing posters and cool t-shirts. It will take time but in a few days it should be ready, for a short while the address will be www.red-tips.webs.com , but we may buy a package thing which will make it a whole lot better, then, the address will be www.red-tips.com . I'll make a post when I know more.

...

So, we went out, and got up pretty early for it, but the rock was soaking wet! and there was no wind so it would just not dry at all. We met Scott, but then he went home, so me and Brandon went to The Edge for a bouldering session. We was there for 4/5 hours and it was pretty fun. Scott got me and Brandon Dosage 5 for our birthday which is awesome!

Right now i'm just training all the time, as I don't have the money to waste on taking my chances with the grit.

Winter Training & Grit List

For the past couple of weeks I have been mainly training indoors, due to bad weather and consistent bad skin. As a result I think I'm getting better at indoor climbing, which might be helpful. Tomorrow is my last day as a 16year old, and I'm going out on the Grit, so, there is a little bit of pressure to climb something hard before I'm 17. Me and Brandon will be meeting Scott at Burbage North, I going t try The Terrace and Western Eyes, and Boyager, and other things. Below is my boulder wish list for either 2009 or before I have been climbing two years (Oct/Nov 09).

• The Terrace - Font7c+ - Burbage North
• Western Eyes - Font7c+ - Burbage North
• Brad Pit - Font7c/7c+ - Stanage
• Danny's Problem - Font7c/7c+ - Stanage
• The Storm - Font7b+ - Stanage
• Bens Roof - Font7c+ - Raven Tor
• Pump Up The Power - Font7c+ - Raven Tor

And Possibly more :)

Another session at the Works, a good one.

I had another good session at the climbing works, I flashed some more problems at about Font7a, I also did a Font7b on my third go! which is like, pretty good for me, I got even closer on the Font7c on the circuit board the crux move is big and is the only real hard move and after that move you just get a hold a tiny bit higher to the left, because it's a big move, last time me and Brandon was kind of jumping for it, but now were doing it slower which makes it easier to stick the hold, but we couldn't quite get it, but its very close indeed!. But next time I reckon it will go! Also I flashed a F7a+ circuit, which is good because I thought that just bouldering all the time would leave me with no stamina/power endurance, but each move is like V1/2 so its just not tiring and you can keep going. I also worked some of a F8a circuit, I can pretty much do it in two halfs but there is like a crux link-up part, but if I get through that move I can rest and then blast the second half, so if I get the F8a circuit on a second session it'd be cool. I tried a Font8a+ which was nails, It has 3 moves in total, I could do the first one with pushing of the ground with one of my legs, and was kind-of-almost doing the first move properly as well...I also tried a Font8a, I could do the first move (5 in total) but the second move is the hardest, still fun to try.

Session at the Works

My mum took me and Brandon to the works tonight, was a pretty good session. I flashed 3 Font7a's and got close to a Font7c on the circuit board, it must be a pretty soft 7c, or maybe even a hard 7b+, mind you, I havn't actually done it so it could be 7c. I made some pretty good eliminates on the campus boards and pinches ect. as well...skins pretty bad now. I'm resting tomorrow then back on it :D

Snow!, So, we Escaped to the Edge

The snow has started melting on the top of the boulders so it left the rock dripping wet. So we retreated to The Edge, I hadn't been there in a while, and me and Brandon both thought the problems were ace. The handholds are all new, skin friendly and positive. Which makes a change to some of the very pollished holds at the works. I flashed some Font7a's there and nearly flashed a Font7a+, I was going good but after finishing one of the last moves I didn't move my foot higher quick enough, so because my body was full stretched out it popped. But I moved it up higher as soon as I did that move next time and got it second go, which is defiantly a measure of progression for me to do a 7a+ on my second go. Rest tomorrow, train Saturday.

Despite D Day, I Guess Its Looking Good

After our bad day out out, we have decided to stay at home more often now and just train on my wall. This is because recently I have not been able to climb much because of the skin and also I have unfortunately been 'wasting' climbing days like I did on Monday. So I trained the day after in my garage, it was a good session and I made some pretty good boulder problems. My dad has decided that he will take me to the peak tomorrow, which is a rare occurrence. So this should be good because we now have two mats and we should hopefully get a full days worth of bouldering. So, I now have my own bike, my own bouldering mat, and I will soon be moving to Sheffield, and if i get a job, then I will just be even more psyched because when I move my mum has agreed to get me a years pass for the climbing works! so far, 2009 is looking good.

D (For Disaster) Day

Got up at 6am, left the house, crossed the road and then fell off my bike rather violently (ICE).

Then next it was the train fair has gone up, not by too much but enough to buy a pie and maybe some munchies with!

I met Scott and bought THE bouldering mat, I was late for 'the' train. Brandon was running late, I got on what i thought was my normal train, well it was but it went straight to the end destination without stopping anywhere, hence Hathersage. So I ended up in Manchester!

I had to get back, but i was not going to pay!, I blagged my way back to Hathersage and was about 2hours delayed in time.

Eventually i got to Burbage North to find it was completely covered in snow!, I managed to do a few warm up moves, but everything i wanted to do was in snow. Except for West side story, But i was completely De-psyched for that. I then fell in a swamp, so i swapped my socks for a hat and some plastic bags. I headed to Higgar Tor for no reason, And managed to do some shitty polished eliminates for about 15mins then the sunset, More deep snow, shoe filled madness followed until i was back at Hathersage. Then the trains followed and here i am. I have been up since 6am for nothing really, no improvement of finger strength no advance in arm power, just the Experience. Oh well, Training tomorrow!

First post of the Year

Me and Brandon kicked the year of with a 6hour training session yesterday, although I must admit it couldn't have been that intense because I am not aching. Tomorrow I am going for a healthy dose of getting shut down on the Comp Wall at The Climbing Works...Only joking, there not that hard!

My Birthday is on 29th January, so, not long now. I'd like to climb West Side Story, or something hard before then. After my Birthday Me and Brandon are planning on heading to the Lake District to camp and climb at The Bowderstone. That boulder looks amazing! If you are up for coming then just email me. Also I just thought I'd remind people of the climbing film my friend is making so if your feeling rather adventurous on the Grit, then email me. And also, here is a little clip from Youtube of me climbing The Green Traverse (Font7a) at Stanage. Sorry about the Strip across the screen. Filmed by Dan Lane

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIa78zJNuQ