Where have all the pictures gone Phil?!

Well, I'm changing host as I was unsatisfied with the service my previous host was providing. The upshot of this is that it could take a week until the pictures come back.

Pathside Traverse

Here is some of the path side traverse. This problem is a Font 6a+ which can be quite tricky as it includes some nifty foot work. I sent it first time this season which has never happened before.

Leah Crane Cranking Hard

Leah Crane has been cranking hard lately, Ben's Roof (Font 7c+) at Raven Tor in recent weeks followed by the imaginatively named Problem 3 (Font 7c) and then over to font for the sit start to Carnage called Carnage Assis (Font 7c).

My own bouldering is okay-ish I suppose. Bit lardy in the midriff area but that is being dispatched through regular runs. In fairness I'm not doing to bad at the moment, my base level has risen giving me a better foundation than I had a year ago.

I'll note that at the time of writing http://www.climbing.com/ was down. Pfft! You know where to get your bouldering news first.

Will that do Tim?

Otto

This is my new dog Otto. He's about a year old and he's a rescue dog. That's our couch he's standing on even though he's not allowed up on the furniture. Sadly he doesn't like other dogs (probably because of past bad experiences) and is a terrier so he doesn't always do as he's told. This means he'll probably never get to come bouldering with me as he'll run off to start fights, the little fecker.

New bouldering season, new bouldering year for me. Didn't get to send my 7a after all as the weather completely crapped out over the summer and I lost all motivation. But I'm back in the driving seat so to speak and back training as of this week. Have to identify my weaknessess and start on a new training plan.

Oh yeah, happy hallowe'en!

To move or not to move

My year bouldering is nearly finished. In fairness its kind of fading away towards the end instead of building to the grand finale I thought it would. But I won't go into that now.

What I want to know is should I keep this blog or start a new one once the year is up? I've a poll posted in the side bar (it's over there >>) so please vote and let me know.

Yes means that ayearbouldering.blogspot.com stays. No means I start a new blog elsewhere.

Too scared to climb. Stuck on the Climbing Plateau.

I've just bought The Rock Warriors Way by Arno Ilgner: haven't read it yet but its in the post. However, I have read this article by one *Cider Nut* on UKC. Its a very good article, go read it. Its inspired me to write this entry.

My fears have defeated me time and time again and I've always got an excuse to avoid going climbing or avoiding the routes I really want to climb. For me the fun in climbing always came after the fact - I felt totaly stoked after I'd climbed but never during. Why? Because I'm afraid.

I guess this is why I love bouldering so much, the fear factor isn't present for me, although I've seen it in other people, and I can experience the pure joy of moving across rock. God how I wish I could have that joy on lead. But I've always had an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. Here's some of the more common ones.

• I'm shy. Being a shy person is a great excuse to avoid climbing as its necessarily social. "You need a belayer and I don't mix well" (accept I do).


• I've been too busy. Another great one. "I haven't being training so there's no way I could climb that!". In fairness we're talking single-pitch E1 routes here, how strong do you need to be?


• I'm too weak. See previous point.


• I'm tired, I'm dehydrated, I've a sore toe. - Various physically handicapped excuses.


• I'm not able for that.


• I'm a shit climber.


• I haven't climbed enough recently so my gear will fail. - Again we're talking E1 here: How poor is the gear going to be?


• Various other whingey complaints.


• I'm bored with Dalkey. - I haven't been in Dalkey in a year and its a gem of a crag.

The really noticable thing missing from that list is the following:

• I'm really fucking scared.

This, in truth, is the only honest excuse I have and I never acknowledge it. This is not like me, I'm honest with myself and don't avoid emotional issues. Except I do avoid them it would seem. As I've re-read that list I've realised just how poor and downright ridiculous those excuses are. I'm shy ... WTF?! I know half the climbers in Ireland and, this is something I found suprising this last year, half the climbers in Ireland know me. And what about all those people I boulder with? Shy my ass.

So what's to be done? I need to push my comfort zone - I need to embrace the fear and start enjoying it. I'm going to avoid climbing routes I've already climbed. I'm going back to Dalkey, then the Burren and the Mournes and Fairhead and all the other fantastic crags we have on our wee island. So here's my plan of attack for now.

• Push my comfort zone by climbing new routes at the limit of my current game. This is HVS at present. Cider Nut made the point that a situation is more familiar the second time around hence your comfort zone expands.


• Climb more.


• Train train train - all the training techniques I've learned this last year will come in useful. I'm going to need lots of stamina.


• Keep bouldering - it will remind me of the joy of moving across rock and I can combine that with some NLP techniques to help me when I'm scared.


• Climb with as many people as possible - this will open me to new techniques and more importantly give me lots of oppurtunities to go climbing.


• Climb more.


• Read read read - nothing more inspiring than a good mountaineering book. I can recommend loads.

One last point I should mention, its from Dave MacLeod: He recommends shifting your working life to compliment your climbing life - not the other way around. To heed his advice I've quit my job! I'm planning on being unemployed for a couple of months only but it should be enough to get me to that coveted E1 grade.

So if anybody wants to go climbing with me, I'm based in Dublin, and will be free all week long from July 11th. Can climb about E1, good at multipitching, and I love climbing.

Irish Bouldering News

Turns out I've been asked to write for a website. Its not the first time I'll have had something published, it'll be the third time, but this time it's a regular gig. Probably got a thumbs up from Neal in the background as Team Geared Up have asked me to write a weekly bouldering column - which I've agreed to do. I was beginning to wonder what I'll do with this once the year is up. Well now I know, I'll be writing for TGU and it all starts at the end of June.

I doubt it will focus exclusively on Irish bouldering because let face it there's not enough of us doing exciting enough stuff on a weekly basis but I do hope to have an Irish bias.

Bouldering Sligo

I've really been slack with this blog haven't I? Well it is summer I suppose. Does anybody even read it anymore? Answers in comments please

I am developing a small area in Sligo which shall remain secret for the time being. Mostly because at present theres a couple of Font 5s, a 6a and a 6b(ish) project and that's it. Not much interest there yet. I'm also at odds on how to publish the problems. The rock is sandstone and while the problems are fingery and strong there's always a huge jug within reach. How do you say this is such and such when following the line on jugs makes it easy as hell? Anyway I've several trips back to Sligo planned and should *hopefully* put together a little guide at some stage during the summer.

In other news there's a rat-race planned for Belfast in August. I'm entering avec le future wife and we're starting training for that.

New E11

Beth Rodden has climbed a new route - Meltdown - in Yosemite. Not a bouldering story I know but E11 is big news. Meltdown being the third given such a grade. Rhapsody and Cobra Crack being the other two.

Full details from UKC and Climbing.com.

Free Tibet

Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? A free Tibet. Or even a Tibet without torture. We (me and Jenny) have be wondering about how to support the Tibetans and I've happened upon the Sad Smokey Mountains project. Italian artist and mountaineer, Alberto Peruffo, has setup the SSM project in protest of the ongoing situation in Tibet. You'll find details here: http://www.sadsmokymountains.net/.

The protest is going to take place on 8 August 2008, my 35th birthday, to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. Ban Ki-moon won't be attending it would seem, neither will any other world leader with any integrity. Here in Ireland we don't have any significant peaks, Carrauntoohil wouldn't qualify in my humble opinion. I suppose if we got enough smoke off the top of the Dublin Mountains to be seen across the capital it might be good enough.

However to really make an impact (i.e. get on national television) it would have to be a significant structure or building in Dublin with a roof that is attainable.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Evolve FFS!

Ha! Made me laugh anyway.

Grades

Yep, guess I'm a grade whore. So for the benefit of my non-European readers I'm including a grade conversion chart. Reproduced with permission from the nice people over at Rock Fax. I found a conversion chart on camp4.com but it was rubbish. According to them I've climbed V7. I wish.

By the way, the sit start to Andy's Arête is 7a+, not 7a as I had originally thought.

Here you go:

St Patricks Day

So I headed up to Glendo in fine weather expecting a crowd but was pretty much on my own. A couple of others were working projects on the far side of the valley but I was over by Big Jim and Jane for most of the day. My apprenticeship on Andy's Arête starts today. Being ill during the week seems to have taken a bit of a tole and it took me ages to get going. Easy warm up problems were spitting me off like so much chewed tobacco but I persevered and managed to get my head in the game.

The 6b on the face of Big Jim was first to be worked. Those of you who know me will have seen my on this problem at some stage or another this winter. Its probably way over due a send but I haven't cracked it yet, until today when I cracked it, except I didn't crack it at all. After my bouldering master class last weekend I've been reviewing my technique and seeing problems in a new light, which has inspired a new solution to this problemo. Its a much more technical solution that involves a tricky rock over onto a tiny edge which requires a lot of trusting in feet. But it works. I was so surprised when I eventually latched the top jug that I forgot to hold on, so it didn't go. I tried again in vain for 30 minutes and latched the jug again one more time only to have my foot slip. Its been a long time since I got fed of with my bouldering but I was very un-impressed today. In hind-sight this is probably a good thing as it will give me drive.

Then I moved on to Andy's Arête. This is my big tick for my year of bouldering. Well my big tick is a 7a, I've decided to work this one. Andy's Arête by a standing start goes at 6c (I think), ad the sitting start and you've got a 7a. So today was my first day and it was the standing start. To be honest it went okay, I've worked out a sequence that may work, time will tell, and have started working it. It start off with getting established on a right smear and then latching an small edge with the left toe. At this point you rock up onto the left and then move up for the next hand hold. Managed to get the rockup twice but have to work out what to do with my right foot to stop me from barn-dooring. Probably spent to much time on Big Jim before hand. Ah well, it looks like a plausible project though.

To finish off I did the path side traverse, the sequence is photographed below.

Piclens

Time to start up this blog again. I know I've been of line for a while, this was due to a family bereavement. So I've news to talk about it my next couple of entries.

But first of all I want to gush about Piclens. There are very few browser addons that get me excited, I mean Sage is about it when it comes to recommendations. I tend to consider a lot of them a gimmick that I won't use in my day to day life, most of what I use are developer tools and probably aren't much use to anyone who isn't a developer. But piclens is awe inspiring. I don't know if any of you are familiar with it but get yourself firefox (which you should have already), install piclens and get on over to UKC's top 200 photo's. Its amazing, truly amazing. I'm hoping it becomes a web standard like Flash.

In upcoming news I've been bouldering, attended a master class and we've a new climbing wall in Dublin. Keep an eye on this space.