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Skip-of-Fools-French8a Land 26th Sep 2012 Jordan Buys - travelling 'sendman' Skip of Fools + Caviar 8a+, and more...

Between the showers and on the not too humid days I've had a good few days out. Llandulas cave down in wales has provided a lot of fun, Temple of gloom is a cool 8b that climbs through some very steep territory to finish up a long headwall to emerge at the belay in the sunshine. This upper section can also be climbed at 6c if you come in from the left. Local Chris Doyle also put up a parallel line through the roof at 8a+ and this is called the last crusade. To be honest i think this may be the better route, it has so many kinds of moves that its a real test of technique.

Jordan on Skip of Fools Ph Mike Hutton
 
On days we weren't felling up to our red points Naomi and myself did a couple of limestone trad routes in yorkshire that we have always fancied. First being Rebel at Gordale Scar. This multi pitch E5 is a stunner. The first pitch is a rumble up easy ground with a few loose holds to a belay in a cave. Here the second pitch kicks in straight away leaving this cave, it was a bit seepy which did not help but a bit a lateral thinking leads you to a smart groove above. The move heading out leftwards will be forever etched in my memory. The last bit of gear is a shoddy peg down in the groove which is all you can think about when you pull leftwards of a poor smear whilst blindly groping for good holds round the corner!! This leads to another cave belay. The third and final pitch is all about turning the lip of the belay cave and having that decision of push on or stop and get really hot and bothered trying to place gear off rubbish jams. We got hot and bothered in the full sun. What a route.
 
Next up was a more roadside route. Wiseblood at Kilnsey goes at E6 6b and has a very bouldery start. I went first and really enjoyed myself. For a trad route its pretty sequency and pumpy, around 7b/+ maybe. This route is hardly dry and it was great to catch it in condition. Nao flashed it on my gear, a sterling effort.
A trip to Rubicon also made for a good day, a new 6b+, 7a and 7c have been put up on the left. Worth a go if you want something new and not polished. I ve always wanted to do Caviar, this iconic 8a+ is tough from the word go. Bouldery moves lead into a great sequence utilising small crimps and a sneaky egyptian and a fun rumble to the top on holds that are part limestone, part cobwebs!! I got this second red point and have to say its amazing. Quality for the peak!!
 
Diamond session is upon us again, we had a trip down after warming up in Llandulas cave in the morning. I had an onsight burn on the 8a+, Skip of fools. Was way to greasy and fell off just after the bit in the photo. This route has no hard moves just lots of medium intensity ones and no good rests. I feel off the top on my first redpoint due to being to cocky and not using all the available holds. Next go i took things a bit more serious and got it ticked. Pete Robins has added an extended finish which takes you up into boat people via a tricky move. Well worth doing.
Whilst I had been doing this Naomi had done the 7c a few routes leftwards. Non Tidal Screamer took a lot of cleaning but Nao sussed it out quick and got it first red point. A few friends had a play and a could not resist having a go even though is was battered. I only just flashed this, the crux is really funky and involves a fair bit of commitment. It was nice to do a route which went all the way to the top. Good value for 7c... Mike Hutton drove down for an adventure, taking pics and of course and sneaky beer....
 
Next up was a trip to the lakes, a few of us found ourselves at Thrang Quarry in langdale. Slate sport climbing as you ve never seen it before, really steep, quite chipped and fun!! We were there as we had been bouldering nearby but our skin could not take anymore. The 7a+ took some thinking about and still feels about E5 but its a classic. The 7c on the left has great moves all on slate smears and hanging blocks. I really wanted to onsight the 8a/+ up the middle, Keep on keeping on. Halfway up and just below the crux I spent ages trying to make the clip but just could not reach it. I decided to just go for the move but partway through committing i bailed, thoughts of dodgy bolts entered my mind and I turn coward.. Anyway the move when i pulled back up was not too bad. I just extended the clip and the next go it went down fine. Pretty much crag ticked.
 
Its great doing tricky routes but at the start of the week Mike Hutton and myself had a mission to Stanage, we just went up and down loads of routes. It was so great to get loads of classic climbs done in a few hours. About 20 routes up to E1. We meet some cool older dude doing some shunting, great to see him still keen. Push on dude.
 
I hope to have more good news before we go to Spain, that is if it ever stops raining!!!

Jordan cruising on Stanage. Ph Mike Hutton

150881 25th Sep 2012 Reel Rock Tour - See the Wideboyz on Century Crack....

Wild Country's Wideboyz, Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker, are finally showing their faces on the big screen with the first sightings of a short version the Wideboyz movie as part of the Reel Rock Tour.
As if that wasn't enough there's also prizes at each screening and a grand prize of a trip for two to California. Wild Country will be sending posters stickers and some other freebies and Clif Bar are giving away product for every audience member.
The tour is running 7 theatre screenings and several climbing gym hosted screenings as well and you can see where below.

The dates and locations of the screenings are:

27 September LANCASTER, The Dukes
28 September PENRITH, Rheged Centre
29 September FIFE, Carnegie Hall
4 October LUDLOW, The Assembly Rooms
5 October COLWYN BAY, Theatr Colwyn
7 October SHEFFIELD, The Climbing Works (hosted by The Climbing works)
13 October PLYMOUTH, Peninsula Arts
16 October LONDON, Conway Hall
21 November, BRISTOL, Chemistry Theatre (hosted by Wilderness Lectures)
8 December, LONDON, Castle Climbing Gym (hosted by CastleClimbing Gym)
27 December, NEWCASTLE, Tyneside Cinema (Hosted by Newcastle Climbing Centre)

 

You can download the Tour program (with an exclusive Tom Randall article) below - and remember if you want to catch up on your crack climbing terms before the event you can watch the Wideboyz crack School videos here...

 

Ed-Hamer-1 24th Sep 2012 Hamer Bros - 3 8c's and much more in a five week spree at Gorge de Loup...

Well, we have just returned back from another amazing Euro trip to the south of France. It sounds crazy to think that we were out there for 5 weeks as it just went so quickly!  Me, Ed and our great friend Ethan all headed down in a very full Mazda bongo!

Sam Hamer on Quassia 8a+

So we spent the majority of the time in this huge gorge just north of Nice called the Gorge du Loup and most of this time was spent climbing at the world famous Deverse sector. It was an incredible place to climb with some of the steepest and hardest routes in the world all packed into this one cliff! Tuffa’s and chipped pockets was the name of the game here. So yeah, a pretty wicked place to be if you like that kind of stuff. So during the time we were there, some fairly amazing sends went down from a lot of people, including three 9a’s by some Euro beasts!! It was a pretty hard place to get used to as everything was just soooo hard and steep! I found the style of the climbing there pretty tough and didn’t quite get the sends that I was hoping for from the trip but still managed some stunners. Ed as per usual crushed most routes he got on and got some amazing sends!

Here were some of the highlights of the gorge Deverse Satanique 8a, Cascade 8a, Sika 8a, Arrow head 8a, Welcome to the jungle 8a, Quassai 8a+.

Ed powered his way up these beasts!- Hot Chili X 8c, Quenelles Trophy 8c, New Power Sacrafice 8c, Hot chili beans volcano 8b+, Honk 8b+, SatanX 8b, New Power Generation 8b, Soul Sacrifice 8b.

Then for the last week we needed a change, so headed across to Chateauverte near Aix and did some awesome 40metre pump fests as well as a few bouldery offerings. It was a tad warm but a great place to unwind and finish the trip off. The top routes were Atlantis 8a, Bill boullette 8a, Le Diktateur 7c+ and Alexandre du blocos 7c+.

All in all a great trip was had with over 100 routes climbed on amazing cliffs in a beautiful area of southern France. It did get fairly stressful at times but we had some pretty rad times as well! Bring on the next trip hey!

Right time to get back into training for the next trip!!  Also looking forward to getting stuck into some trad projects on the Grit!

150881 18th Sep 2012 Wideboyz Video interview....Tom and Pete discuss Century Crack....

With the full film of Century Crack very close to completion - start booking Kendal - and the Reel Rock Tour version with some great action plastered all over the web we have another bit of the puzzle here...

 

An interview with Tom and Pete about the route filmed by EpicTV....

 

You can see the Reel Rock Tour trailer here...

David-Taylor-1 14th Sep 2012 David Taylor on Kalymnos - First 8a for our 13yr old youth teamer...

Just back from a family trip to Kalymnos it was pretty hot, over 30 degrees  but I had a great trip, staying at the Philoxenia Hotel, just below the Grande Grotta!

I was excited to get on the crags. There are so many different sectors to climb at in Kalymnos.  On the first day I was up early and went to Afternoon sector. Spent time warming up on some nice 6’s  and getting used to climbing in the heat.  Its ok to climb in the shade but still very warm.

David on Miltiadis 7b+, Pescatore...

Went round to the Grande Grotta and climbed Aphrodite 7a+, then onto DNA 7a+  – on sighted these 2 routes last year on the last day so wanted to climb these first this year.  I climbed them both first attempt. They were as good as I remember.  I climbed in my Red Chilli Matadors the whole time, these are my favourite shoes for outdoors.
I went to Odyssey on a few occasions.  Tried Orion 7c+ and Andromeda 7c+, 2 good routes  which were both sustained crimpy climbs but had some reachy moves. I climbed Orion in 2 parts but was stopped at the crux move on Andromeda.  Was frustrating but good fun.  I on sighted Kulturistika 7b, this route caught my eye as the name was covered in stars on the crag. Good route. I also on sighted 7b Lucky Strike and on sighted Island in the Sun extension 7b.  Two good climbs.

We got the little boat over to Telendos one day. I warmed up at Pescatore then onto tufa climbs – my favourite.  I onsighted OTR 7a a stunning tufa. Then on sighted Zorbas Restaurant 7a+.  Then red pointed 2nd go 7b+ Padelis – very pumpy but fun.  I went to Irox to try Cuobo 7c – climbed it in 2 halves, stopped by one reachy move.   Then I wanted to climb Magma 6b, a single tufa apparently best on Kalymnos. On sighted it – fab.   Snow White route 7a described as a classic looked good, on sighted it.  Was a good route on crimps.

One day my skin was in very bad condition, my fingertips were very sore, but I wanted to try Star Wars 7b+ at Ourania.  I red pointed it 2nd go.  I didn’t climb anything else that day because of my skin.  I had a couple of rest days during the trip to let my skin recover.  We went to the beach  and my mum was able to climb instead of belaying.

Also went to  Arhi sector.  I’ve never been here before. I on sighted 7a Kastor then climbed  7c Eros in 2 parts.  I could climb whole route apart from 1 move which was reach dependant and couldn’t get the side pull sloper.  I tried  dynoing but couldn’t get it. V. frustrating.

My favourite sector was North Cape. I on sighted Stachelschwein 7a.   Red pointed 2nd go Funatiker 7a+ 25m, found this route really reachy.   I got on Nirvana 7c, was climbing well and thought I was going to get the on sight but went wrong handed on last move and came off going for the clip. Was gutted. I red pointed it 2nd go.  Helios 8a  looked interesting so decided to try it. Trying my first 8a outside. It was an amazing route filled with boulder moves.  It helped to know the beta which I found from my previous attempts. After my 3rd go, I  figured out a way  how I could do the crux moves and as my skin was getting sore and I was tired after the many days of climbing I knew I needed to do the route soon.  I rested and got psyched and did it 4th go.

I absolutely love the climbs in Kalymnos, there are so many sectors to go to and so many different styles to do. I am so excited to have red pointed my first 8a outside, and look forward to trying more hard routes.

Summary

7a -  OTR (Pescatore) On sight, Snow white (Snow White, Telendos) On sight, Kastor (Arhi) On sight

Slachelschwien (North Cape) On sight.

7a+ - Funatiker (North Cape) On sight, Afroditie (Grande Grotta) – On sight last year – flashed first go again, Dna (Grande Grotta) – On sight last year – flashed first go again

7b - Lucky strike (Odyssey) On sight, Island in the sun extension (Odyssey) On sight

7b+ - Padelis (Pescatore) Red point 2nd go, Star wars (Ourania) Red point 2nd go.

7c - Nivana (North Cape) Red Point 2nd go

8a - Helios (North Cape) Red Point 4th go