Monday, September 26, 2005
爻 Commiting to the dynamic extension 爻
MacGill mo charaid... climb out of the v12 cave roof of Mini-Hooligan, go up the holdless arete, put a left heel-toe out to tally the balance & make a skin of the teeth campusy move rightward [it's all compression & holdless here], which leaves you hanging from the nose dangerously highball & crossed up in the arms, ready to go inverted. Pump up the body tension & get a deep left leg flag as you arc over backwards with the left hand. Get the pocket on the lip -lh- & let the -rh- free [almost feels like a drop down 360] & use the swing momentum to do a one armer [lh] From here it should take you footless up into the shelf on nasty fingertip slopes facing the right way. [The right foot placement deep under the roof is crucial for creating torque into the rightside]. Well done if you make it through, it's worth mid V13 all in. This is a photo of the move rightward that I forgot to put on the web a few years back, or simply couldn't be arsed to...there's one of holding the invert also. The extension was never submitted to SC either, hence you never saw it in the nrdb...although it did get dubbed The Crossed Swords extention. A true frightener with waves growling away below in a wild raking chasm of shore boulders. You could also check out that still unrepeated v11, Atlantic Bridge left wall at Skig, or the excellent Hydrophobic on the Stone Tsunamis at Port. A bargain at the grade, & a doozy of a steep traverse with a hellish cruxy finish up the nose which comes with free foot wash for the unlucky. As a note, if you were to lead the Hooligan to the top with the original start it would wiegh in at a wierd E4, 7b [f8b]...errrrr..
爻Finishing Hydrophobic 爻
Remember- lock it into the chin strong - take care above that rocky shore young guga, & good luck on the mini-adventure aye. I hope you do it, & remember this - If one day, you find you can piss all over v9/10 barefoot, flash with no mat below, or use your bare toes to cross the Disintegration roof, it's gonna upset a few gobshites...hopefully. But do not be distracted, or fear what the conversationalists might think, young protege. My choice was always to do it quietly & never release photies like these...hundreds in fact...the Isla de Encanta series - 2nd ascent of Ian Vickers route The Prince E8,7a - cruxing out Chimera - Chouca at Buoux -Tabou Zizi f8b - La Voie f8b+ & sheds more, [it's the Scottish ethic afterall isn't it?]...I'll see you up there soon mo charaid anyways, & for some Carn Liath after...barefoot maybe.
爻 Concern yoursefl with the art at hand - not the hyperbolic artistry of others - & go west young man -concentrate- do not be distracted, as you enter into the understanding -Si O' 2003 爻
As for trad mo charaid, most of the time for me, it's about stickin yer testicles in yer mouth, shuttin' the fuck up, & soloing out there through the roofs, 26 mtrs above a death-drop, to recce the gear [& believe me, you would'nt want to fall off at this point, you have to have it in hand]. Inadvertantly however, you may find youv'e added another insane v9 into the equation. The only problem with that is, you need to be able to climb E9 to get to it. The other alternative start lays on the cliffs in the background, soloing out above the arch round to the foreground arete & nose. Doing that is Robbery Assault & Battery - v9 & its probably worth an E grade really. As for the E9, sure you can abb down the line as part of the pre-inspection proccess, or top-rope it to death, but for me, monkey handing down a fixed rope tied off & running through the cave, without a harness & one leg curled round the rope to a fixed crux point in the roof, is often an essential part of how I generate the headstate for ascents of this caliber. If you can leave the system behind & treat the dangerous sections of the climb almost as boulder problems, you have a superb chance on the overall lead becuase the physcology is set up. You have already, willingly put yourself in the danger zone without back-up. Sounds fantastic? An implausible method? It's out & out dangerous, that's all I know, but it's alive with what climbing is about for me - calculated risk taking. As is frontal freefall abseiling or fast-roping, but to most climbers who judder at the edge it's insanity. It's just as funny as classic abbing [without a harness etc] straight down the main Malham ampitheatre after sinking a bottle & a half of Vodi while everyone else runs around headless & freaking. Oh those were the days!
Warning: Problem child at work [i think only Cubby & Jo have ever seen this photo before, of my Lakes raiding years] I can only report back that the rock is a lot tougher than the locals. But then they knew that judging by the amount of gaps they left for me to fill in.
爻 Often when teaching people how to improve their climbing I've used the analogy that if a sequence is 2 or 3ft of the ground they will do it without a problem; but put that exact same sequence 100ft off the ground & it becomes a different game altogether.Yet the sequence isn't any harder or at all changed, it's the individuals perception of the risk that has changed. At height is where the climber needs to precisely & calmly execute the moves, yet, at height, the climber will be more aware of the result of failure than success. He will ultimately force himself into a mistake, when it's imperitive that he doesn't. He can't be up there with an, oven left on at home head whirring away. So why does the climber climb fluidly where there is no life threat but scratch erratically at height? It seems crazy when you look at like that aye. Seeing through the illusion, is what I've tried to show people, through practical demonstrations as well as getting them to look at the physcological aspects involved. The reverse physcology of climbing exposed sequences in a modified headstate is wholy tapable, with a good patient guide who is able to immerse the client into some practical referencing. A simple analogy is that all of us can walk a curb stone indefinately. Put the curb stone 5 ft off the floor & everyone wobbles. Understand what the brain sees & how it talks to the perephiral vision & the climbers physiology, recognise the change in focus, however subtle, & you have the key to the room where climbing that same sequence we just talked about, 100ft up, will flow as if it was 2 or 3 ft of the floor...What's beautiful, is seeing novice or intermediate climbers suddenly understand it. A week ago they were clung to a slab, shaking, unable to shift their geometry, this week they are taking it on board, scoping out their centre of balance & trying it no hands, confidently. The word teach, I remain uncomfortable with in many respects, becuase you are not so much teaching as unlocking & bringing about an awareness in an individual, of values they already possess, becuase you understand the path of your own experience & learning processes. The number they are climbing is irrelivent. h.v.s...E4...E9...Numbers are a constriction, a torniquet around the neck of imaginative & infinite processes of movement. The rock doesn't know it has a number. The persons physical frame is also unaware ...only the mind knows, only it's eyes defeat the will as they relay information, & that also, is often the wrong focus to be wrapped up in, becuase it's a concept that inhibits free movement. A big wave is a warning sign to a one armed man who can't swim, but to a seasoned surfer it is adventure realized. Only you can choose if you are a beached observer or a participant in something special. When I'm asked by a novice for a lesson in free movement, I do my best to go & see that they get it. Knowledge passed on is knowledge well spent in my book. [aye mo charaid] 爻
Ah yes, anyway, where was I? Here's 1 of 6 photographs I forgot to publish amidst all the forum wailing about a new hard trad line. I mean, I'm pretty certain I don't look like a bitch, so why they were tryna fuck me like one in a, marginally significant, but nonetheless, small corner of the interweb, is way beyond me, which points nicely at this piece of writing on Mark Scaryvilles 爻blog 爻 ...I guess that's why alot of us don't check in as much these days, not even on the sly. I rarely check on the web for what I've apparently been up to, or the home sites becuase of unfounded shite, never mind places like 爻uk.mutual-dick-stroking.waffle爻 The importance of actually going climbing takes precident all to often aye. That & pissing off the smc guide writer in the bar by hounding him to donate me bolts. At least you can have a good brawl face to face & know what you're dealing with. Add to that, our imported barman used to hang with Johnny Dawes quite alot, & you can imagine the funny late nights we have while the forum wise men do their weakest...
Oh, & on the forgotten photo submission issues...oh dear, what a shame...boohoo...cry me a river. I mean, do you give children exactly what they want when they can't behave & throw tantrums?...think about it.
爻 Nearly out! - after a solo through the top roof crux sections of what would become Lewis's first E9,7a. Shite peg just visible on lower roof lip. [f8a+ on crap gear - quite possibly f8b] It was abit greasy on the gneiss that day, & a close run thing through the last 8-10 moves...brrrrr. 爻
As for pride in what we achieve in Scotland I'll let this fine bugger sum up it up, where he speaks about John Watsons, Stone Country:
“This is perhaps the best bouldering guide I've ever seen. It is entirely literate (somewhat at odds with a great deal of what is published in this country), there is a lack of grading emphasis (how refreshing!), there is much interesting philosophy woven into the fabric of the text (unusual and highly appreciated), and the B&W photos are among the best I've ever seen - sharp and clear, showing form over mere image. A marvelous book.”
John Gill
My point in quoting that is simple. If we have within this community, the positive potential to create together such a beautiful document, & incite such positive commentry from observers outside the fold, why does this community hang it's head so quickly & slip-slide back into half-baked mumbling, half-remembered truths & the shadow of mis-information with such apparent ease...Anyways, climbing & bouldering is as much about using your brain, as your brawn. I'll find you after I get back from the Uists jolly.... Stay safe young MacGill Finn.
爻 爻
