OFF THE WALL

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Climb, Climb, Climb

Things are going well. Blue skies have yielded plenty of climbing opportunities but I’m worried I’m becoming a climber cliché. I think I should get a real life.

I’ve adopted a strategy – one based on the ambition to climb the 13 pitch Puig Campana in autumn. That’s the pointy looking mountain behind the Spanish Babylon otherwise known as Benidorm. It’s 1046m of HS with bolted belays. It should be possible to do efficiently, comfortably and quickly - and it has a reputation for holding onto climbers out after the dusk curfew if these adjectives aren’t followed.

Old hands/hacks tell me the best approach is to climb, climb, climb – anything, any grade, as a lead. And also to second hard. If I follow this advice I won’t be stopping to scratch my head about which rope goes where – it’ll be a seamless flow - and I won’t want to go home half-way up the first pitch - it’ll be within my comfort zone. Well, I can hope.

After the Battle of Portishead Quarry (that I definitely won), there was the Battle of Bosigran – which was a disappointment in some ways. A nice airy Diff (Alison’s Rib) went as it should – easily, despite the couple in front who made it look like a HVS. Their farting around didn’t instill confidence, but it wasn’t a problem: I deftly placed an appropriate cam and nut in a micro-second and did the crux with the grace of a gazelle. It made me think I really am getting the hang of this. I felt a bit different later on when I found myself in a soggy groove on Fafnir (Diff) at one of those angles that defy gravity – I was disappointed in my overwhelming desire to go home.

There were short friendly routes at Trewavas Head the following day but I was put off a severe that experienced climbers were struggling on and stuck to a bunch of V Diffs. It seems so easy to find an excuse…what happened to that rush of Portishead confidence?

I think I’ve got severitus. It happened again at Dartmoor this weekend. Under vapour- trailess blue skies we played at Sheeps Tor. Again lots of short climbs, which the ‘group’ unanimously decided were under-graded (mean bald starts). I struggled with a warm-up Diff (Slab Route). The V Diff I did next (Barking Crack) made me retreat back to another Diff. When someone suggested we went bouldering it seemed a much more pleasant idea than attempting a severe.

Grading is a mixed up misleading thing. Perhaps us Limestoners aren’t used to Dartmoor Granite? Perhaps I should start to make my own judgement about a route rather than watch others fumble and fuss? I wish confidence came in a bottle.

While I’ve been wrestling with the grades game at leading, I’ve been seconding with alacrity. I’m enlisted on someone’s ambition to re-do the climbs under the Bristol Suspension Bridge. So far we’ve knocked off Suspension Bridge Arête, Suspense and Hell Gates (HVS 5a): scary, sustained, classy and engrossing. Next up is Limbo – an E1. I’m apprehensive.

I need to forget the grade game and stick to the recommended plan of attack. Climb, climb, and climb. I’ve still got a few months – provided it doesn’t start to rain…

Posted by fishinwater