Atop Rhythm and Stealth (7a) Glendalough

Me on top of Rhythm and Stealth... Good times! :)

Photo taken by: Mark Hand.

Weak as Tim?

There was little else I thought about for the last week... It was plainly obvious to those I work with that my mind was somewhere else - I spoke to various non-climbing folk about it but they just looked puzzled... Rhythm and Stealth meant nothing to them but everything to me.

I crossed the river over to Big Jane this morning and I knew I had it in me... I just wasn't sure it would all come together. Dec sounded certain as he repeatedly told me that I'd get Rhythm and Stealth today...

So we arrived at the problem having warmed up in the ruins. I was strong on the opening sequence and slapped up to the crimp, but like last week - I narrowly missed out each time, spinning off only to be caught by Mark who's spotting made working the problem easy as I never had to think twice about going for each move. Dec sent it after 2 or 3 attempts and I said 'right, one last go'...


I moved easily through the opening sequence and slapped up to the crimp and caught it, I looked down to the right to move my heel up but my left hand greased off the crimp and I was spat off the line again.


I was delighted I'd caught the crimp - and it felt positive from the angle you catch it - but I was so disappointed to have fallen off. I said I was happy to walk away, but the guys were so encouraging of me to try again. I slapped up but failed to catch the crimp and fell once again.


I said 'ok that's it, I'm done'


Again I was delighted to have caught the crimp once and knew I'd be back in the morning...


Mark said he'd like another go on the problem and I kept my shoes on, happily using his last go as an excuse to take one final shot at sending Rhythm and Stealth after he was done.


I stood under the problem knowing that I wouldn't waste this attempt. Dec had suggested marking my arm with chalk to know how much of it disappears around the boulder before the crimp is caught. I did so and felt like I was writing notes on my forearm before I went into an exam!


I pulled on and felt really positive through the opening moves. I slapped with way more effort than ever before up to the crimp and caught it. My heart was racing as I easily moved my heel into the opening jug. I reached up with my right hand to the finishing hold and thought, 'oh my god, this is it - I can send this!'


I knew the top out was hard, but had just seen Dec make it look easy, so I thought just do it his way!! I matched my left hand up and moved out right... I asked Dec to give me some beta and standing on the boulder behind he talked me through it.


With arms shaking as I refused point blank to let go, I moved my left foot up to the finishing jug and rocked over.


It was mine, Rhythm and Stealth was sent!


My first 7a.


Haven't stopped smiling since.


We had icecreams in the car park after.

Irish Bouldering Meet 2011

Claire and I on our way back after checking out (and I mean looking at!) Wonderland (8b)

Tim and John

Dec on The Goat (7a)

Looking back on this weekend, it was a whirlwind of boulder problems, smiles and far to much drink and food!

I had never been to a boulder meet before and I was really looking forward to this weekend. Last week was torture as I sat in work with a sore back, looking out at a clear blue sky that was forecast to hold for the weekend.

I counted down the minutes to the end of my working day on Friday and sulked my way home after what seemed to be the longest 9am-5pm in history! I couldn't get psyched when I got home on Friday and spent the evening halfheartedly packing things for the weekend. It was really only just before I went to bed that I it hit me... I was going bouldering in the morning...

It took me ages to get to sleep then as I lay in bed thinking about all the problems I wanted to do in the morning...

As usual, the alarm clock went off far too early and it was time to get up and go! I met Jack and Jonno down in Dundrum and before long, Dec pulled up and we all piled into his car and set off for Glendalough... PSYCHED!

It was our impression that we were running behind the guys who had stayed down in the IMC Hut the previous night. When we arrived in Glendalough we were expecting the boulders to be well warmed up, but to our surprise we were the first ones there, with the exception of Barry who met on his way out of the valley after a very early start!

So we got warmed up and finishing on 'The Rails' before we saw more boulder pads with legs wandering along the path in the distance - the troop had arrived! We all made our way over to Big Jim and played on some more bits and bobs before Tim asked: 'Trish!, Andy's Arete?'

Hell yeah!! Over we went and it was the same story as last time, I felt solid then my foot popped, time and time again. I just haven't figured it out yet and knowing the amount of problems I could potentially get on to during the day, I made myself move on from it and we went to try Rhythm and Stealth again.

Kev Power on Rhythm and Stealth (7a)

For me, I think Rhythm and Stealth was the high point of the day. Jonno nearly flashed it but his sleeve got in his way as he went for the crimp, he quickly got back on it with his sleeves rolled up and sent it. Tim looked solid but ran out of steam on the top move and had to step off the problem. Again he tried but this time peeled off the top, in slightly more spectacular style, but third time lucky, he sent it - really great effort from him!

Dec then sent Rhythm and Stealth and it seemed to me that the energy for the day was just rising and rising the whole time. John Howard then got on the sit start to Rhythm and Stealth - the much famed line 'Leftism' (7c). He had it wired and he made it look easy. Once he got the opening sequence out of the way (which was awesome to watch) and hit the start of Rhythm and Stealth there was little doubt in my mind that the problem would be topped out. He grabbed the top hold and really took his time shaking out and preparing for the top out which is pretty demanding after the long and very over hanging sequence that leads up to it. It was fantastic to see the problem being done and John sitting on the top of the boulder chuffed to bits!

This is his send:

Though there's no doubt that Leftism was the high point of his day, John didn't finish there. He ticked The Goat (7a) and F@*K All Left (7a) as well. Not a bad day at the office!!

Tim got so very close to ticking F@*K All Left, but it seemed his skin just hadn't recovered from a long day's climbing the previous Thursday and with the sharp unforgiving holds on the line, it just became too much of an ask to hold on anymore... Next time for sure!

Went up and had a go on 'The Fin' (7a+) and I remember about a year ago sitting under it and not even understanding how to get off the ground. A year ago I could barely get into the opening position of the sit start. Yesterday I could pull off the ground and make a fairly decent effort at throwing for the opening hold, so I was pleased with that.

I suppose my lack of actual projecting on any particular problem means that I'm not ticking anything at the moment, but it's nice to be experiencing small steps of progress on everything I'm trying each time I try it!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly miffed that I didn't tick anything this weekend, but as I said during the day to Tim, you can't have as much fun as the lot of us did and come away in a grump! It was a really great day.

By the time we left we were all shattered. After a quick stop at the IMC Hut to change clothes and wash hands etc we headed off to the pub and so the craic began! It was pretty tame at first, we ordered food, then all got a bit sleepy before the rest of the guys arrived and breathed new life into the night! There were loads of beers, some great moves on the dance floor and even a cartwheel display on the way home!

We got back to the hut and all sat around having great chats and I laughed so hard my cheeks were sore by the end of the night. So much fun! Though a few people were sensible (kind of) and nipped off to bed before it got really really late, Dave sent the rest of us to bed in the wee hours.

Waking up this morning was a struggle and getting out of bed was even worse! When we all finally did, and looked out the window it was not the weather we were promised. Misty rain hung in the air and everything was damp and cold.

'The rain's kind of a relief' Tim was the first to say it, and despite my disappointment, I knew he was right - we were all feeling the effects of a late night and we had all put serious effort in the day before and had no skin and aching muscles. I sat this morning in a daze at the table in the hut and realised I had no breakfast with me... reluctant to eat anything at first with my iffy stomach, I was aware that hunger would hit me at some point... It was then that a full irish breakfast was unceremoniously slapped down in front of me... I've rarely been so happy and have to say a big thank you to Tim and James for rustling it up!! Yummy!

I have to say It would have been nice to go hang out at the boulders and try some problems if it was sunny but between the hangovers and the weather the day was doomed to be a write off and as I sit here smiling as I think about Saturday and the Irish Bouldering Meet 2011, there are no feelings of remorse over not getting out today.

Yesterday had it all!

Me on The Goat (7a)

Thanks to Dec for the lift down, Tim for the psyche, James for the torch and Dave for bringing it all together!

:)

Damn Ice!!

My enthusiasm and psyche was rewarded yesterday by a thick layer of frosty ice covering Glendalough. I was not a happy camper! There were probably more boulderers down there yesterday than I'd seen in a long time, and everyone seemed a bit shell shocked that the perfect weather forecast had led us all to probably the most popular bouldering location in ireland, only to be shut down by ice.

The river was calm, the sun was out and the air temperature wasn't too cold (though my toes were blocks of ice, as usual!) It couldn't have been more perfect for good friction and loads of sends... Which is why the ice was all the more frustrating!!!

With the river being so calm, it was straight over to Big Jim, and I realised that indoor bouldering is one thing... but outdoors I wanna top out! It's not the same to reach the top of a problem and have to jump off cause the top is covered in ice. It's real king of the castle stuff, but I found myself a bit uninspired to attempt anything I knew I could send, cause I didn't care about it unless I could sit at the top!

So it was off to try something I didn't think I'd get close to! There was a bunch of climbers over at Rhythm and Stealth and I thought, 'perfect! loads of spotters for this highball problem!' Even better than that, Steve McGowan was there, and with his 9 foot of reach, how could you not feel safe!

With good beta and loads of spotters, the first moves on the problem were quickly figured out, though I know that's the easy bit! Over hanging and with cool hand swaps, knee bars and heel hooks, it's a problem I can't wait to try and try again! I love that feeling of finding a problem that I'm excited to do! The initial reach out to the arete (after the first couple of moves that saw me established on the problem) is great. From the climbers angle, the arete on the left looks pretty similar all the way, but there's this perfect handhold low down and when you hit it, you can really relax a bit and take a breath before swapping your right hand from the jug to the adjacent sidepull...

That's as far as I got and I was happy with that - I wouldn't say I tried my heart out on it, but the first moves are dialled for me now and I feel like the next time I get to it, I need only worry about the top (which is the second half of it, it's definitely the highest boulder I've ever tried) and I reckon my reach will help me there - all I need to do is bring along the courage to commit to it!!

Headed off after that for a bit of a wander and found ourselves at 'Jiggery' I believe it's called! I've been on it a few times before, but it's very very dynamic and I struggled on it yesterday... so did everyone though, well except Leo who sent it first try (aside from jumping off the last handhold cause top outs were out of the question). Impressive stuff!

I did find the toe hook though which enabled me to free my right hand completely and statically reach towards the jug, only to realise that my reach isn't long enough to grab it statically and so I'm just going to have to throw for it (Damn!)

I was full sure heel hooking was the way to go too, and there was a heated debate around it, but in the end and rather unusually... I was wrong ;) Leo was right... It was a toe hook and I don't have any photos of him heel hooking as I said I did!!

below is the only image I have of Leo on Jiggery!

I was pretty frustrated yesterday because it could have been a really great days bouldering and for me it turned into a day of trying the starts of things, but as was once said to me, 'it's all money in the bank' and it was great fun to be out with everyone, as usual!!

In a disastrous turn of events though, having been dropped off outside my house and with my boulder mat, rucksack and grocery shopping in hand, I tripped up and SPLAT! hit my knee, squashed my groceries, lay under my pad in a heap - I literally thought I'd broken I knee, but it turns out it's just very badly bruised and I'm missing a good chunk of skin I think I'll need to grow back... pretty damn sore this morning and I'm stuck at home today because of it :(

Note to self: Lift your feet when you're walking!