Wow, its been ages since i published anything on my blog - i keep thinking i'll be more into it, then i just get busy/lazy etc...in reality, i guess i'm not the best at my online life.
Anyway, to give a recap of the past 6-7 weeks of climbing in england, i have to bring you to brean down.
Brean down is a small but picturesque sea cliff about 45 minutes drive from bristol that offers shelter from the wind, a seemingly permasunny (almost) microclimate and some concentrated classics in the 7a - 8b range.
the climbing is slightly overhanging, and sustained with amazingly cool (if sometimes small) holds - a welcome break from the sometimes strange, beta-intesive holds of the Cheddar gorge.
my first session or two there, i worked through the easy climbs on the left...climbing the 6cs, onsighting a 6c+, and doing a fun 7a...
then a couple weeks in archie and i went over to a 7b (or 7a+ depending on who you ask) called The Roof of Inequity - which Archie managed to quickly flash as its a bit morpho (new word for height dependent) - it took me a few goes, but finally worked out the tricky powerful roof sequence and it felt easy. Here is a shot of another guy on the crux moves of the Roof.
After getting the Roof, i knew it was time to move on to the hard classics of the crag - everyone kept talking about this route called Chulilla, saying it was the best at the crag, and one of the best 7b+ routes in the area (some say quite hard for the grade).
So that day, i got on and surprisingly did all the moves (with great difficulty) - knew it would go but knew it would take some time...i've decided how much I've always sucked at having the patience to redpoint routes over mulitple sessions, and have had many climbers tell me how much harder i should be climbing - figured this was a good route to give some redpoint attempts on.
I spent two more brief sessions working out the moves on chulilla, trying, failing, coming up with new beta. The climb is basically really hard insecure moves off the ground on polished, bad holds, then some powerful throws over a bulge to an akward but good no hands rest...de pump then carry on into a V5 ish boulder problem that involves huge moves on two finger pockets up a blank wall...then a shake out and to on to a 6b slab section top out.
The 3rd day of trying to redpoint the route, i showed up to brean on a beautiful warm sunny day, warmed up and got on the route, and quickly found myself at the rest after desperate moves, milked it for 4 or 5 minutes, then cruised through the crux...i felt like i finally clicked back into reality when i clipped the chains - this was a new level for me in my climbing, and felt like i clicked into another mental game on the send....syyyyyyyked! First 5.12c/d - really nothing in the scheme of things, but a big deal for me. here's a couple pics of me on the route.
I now have plenty of other projects at the crag, including the latest one - El Chocco 7c that involves one of the most interesting moves i've done on a route.Overall, i'm really glad to have found a great place to go to climb hard in bristol and lots of friends that are psyched as well.
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