It's less than two weeks now until I shall find myself in the promised land of Averstal, Switzerland. A list of problems, as long as my arm, and ever growing longer, forms my aspirations, but in reality, if I even do just one of those problems I shall be a happy man, for there is more psyche per gram in my body than scientists previously thought possible. Yesterday I had a rest day and instead of going out and climbing I stayed in and watched Dosages 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as various videos of Magic Wood and other things as well. I almost couldn't sleep because of the amount of psyche there was flowing through my veins!
I've been climbing a lot with the Scouse crew in preparation for the trip, they're the most close-knit climbing community I know of, and, unlike the Sheffield mafia, are willing to let outsiders like me in to their gang as long as I say "laa" instead of "lad" and promise to not support Man United... They've got me so psyched and they're a lovely bunch of laas ready to crush at a moment's notice! Multiple trips to North Wales and the peak have been very much fun, firstly to Parisella's a few weeks ago to hook up with The Hession and The King and Smooth Pete where I sent Clever Beaver packing. Then a few days later a trip with The Dewhurst, The Hession and The Young to Rubicon (where we were abused by ducks) and Raven Tor, where I sent nothing but had a laugh anyway.
A few weekends after Nicci and I decided to get away from it all and ended up in Ambleside, sleeping in the back of my car. I had a wonderful weekend and did some fantastic problems at the Langdale boulders but failed on Stefan Grossman, but I'm keen to get back on that soon and crush it. A week later, last saturday, saw me doing Screaming Slave properly, and the today I went to Longridge and did Big Marine. YYFY.
Tomorrow? A rest day, perhaps... Wait, nah, screw that.
In the mean time between now and then, here's a video by The Waring featuring The Peckitt, The Waring himself and The Me doing my first 7c a few months ago:
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Welcome back
I've been shouted at by certain regulars on the bloddering blogging scene to get my shit together, book up my ideas and blog out a big fat blog. So here goes, and apologies to those of you who have checked back here on a daily basis to see if my life has taken a turn for the worse.
A lot has changed since the last time I posted (I probably wrote something similar last time I posted) but it has. Climbing, skating, exams, exam results, climbing, a lack of climbing, and so on and so forth. Not just in terms of climbing, but socially, musically, employably, mentally, but a lot has changed. Great people have been met, others re-met, some forgotten about, some lost forever and some brought into the world for the first time. My nephew John is growing up big and strong, and his charming smiles and giggles bring joy to his mother, father and entire family. Another wee nipper, who will no doubt grow up big and strong given he has been born into the Leeds bouldering scene, is bringing joy down Kirkstall way too.
And so spring passes into summer, in life as it does on earth. Summer has dawned dazzling and bright for me, cast into the wide-open world of, firstly, a graduund, and now, a graduate, with no job, no money and one huge mountain of debt to flatten out with a meagre wage which I shall eventually earn. At the moment though I'm enjoying being a climbing bum- no job means lots of climbing. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been playing ball! It's just not cricket.
So, I hear your inner monologue asking, how have you been climbing? Well, I tell you, it's been up and down, as have my psyche levels. They are currently very much up, what with there only being a month and two days until my departure to, firstly, a day in Fontainebleau, followed by a trip down the motorway to Switzerland and Averstal, the Magic Wood. The tick-list is being prepared as we speak, and by tick-list what I actually mean is "guidebook rewritten in a tick-list format." If I even climb a tenth of this list I'll have been going very well to achieve it all. But, after all, that's part of the master plan to get strong. One month and two days. Better start training.
I weigh, according to a quick conversion courtesy of Monsieur de Google, 9.99 stone. This is a good weight, I feel, and one to get strong on before shedding a little before I go. There's no plan to training at the moment, I'm just going to climb every day for two weeks, have a rest day, climb hard for a week, then go easy for a week, then I'll be ready for a trip! Hopefully by keeping up regular climbing my skin shall be prepared for a long onslaught of "granite."
On the subject of "granite," firstly, I'm skeptical as to whether Magic Wood is actually granite, and secondly, I'm now a professional qualified geologist. I only managed a desmond 2:2, which I'm pretty gutted about because I thought I was on for a 2:1. One the one hand, I'm not fully gutted because I still have a place on a masters course which I shall undertake a year in september. On the other hand though, and given the results from Christmas exams, I thought I was a shoe-in for the 2:1st century.
Oh, I digress, the much more important issue of how I've been climbing. Let's start way back when. First I was going ok, still climbing regularly, and then exams, coursework and very hot weather all struck. I lost tonnes of psyche and instead started skating a lot more and, fortunately, a lot better. But this is only a summertime distraction from what is really the only thing I'm any good at- trying to boulder hard. So gradually, as the weather crapped out again, I've regained psyche. A few good fun sessions have put my firmly back on the road to wadsville, these being all in yorkshire with good friends, or back in lancashire, with good friends, or in north wales with good friends. And, as with the psyche, so the strength returned. I finally did Crucifix Kiss first go of the session last week, long overdue but at least I've ticked it. I spent a day at Malham for a change, and tried some routes, but unfortunately my routes head is really not in place and I didn't do anything. Monday saw a trip to Hyning where I shuffled along the first half of Transgenic, a brilliant problem. Sam reckoned the first half to be worth 7b- I thought more like 7a but I'll take the 7b tick! I felt strong on it though, and it suited me, so this could be on for my first 8a tick, having done all but two of the moves. It's got great moves in a tranquil woodland setting, if you haven't got ta know, then get ta know, yagetmeh?
So that brings us to now, and me being sat here past my bedtime with a back-ache after a successful training session at boulderUK. I could have said a lot more about the past few months, and gone into lots of boring personal details and gut-wrenching tales of mirth and woe, but I'll spare you the sob stories and celebratory tales. Let's just say these past few months have been life at its maximum, and have gained every ounce of enjoyment and every last lesson of teaching, as, after all, we learn best when we'er having fun and all of life is just learning. I'll try and update this more often with whymsical tales or just about how much of a punter I am, so watch this space. I must also apologise for the length of uninterrupted prose which has spurted forth this evening, and for the lack of pictures, but then again, all great novels come unillustrated, so deal with it. If you've got this far you probably won't be too bothered about an apology, and I congratulate you. So until next time, farewell, goodbye, auf wiedersehen and ciao.
A lot has changed since the last time I posted (I probably wrote something similar last time I posted) but it has. Climbing, skating, exams, exam results, climbing, a lack of climbing, and so on and so forth. Not just in terms of climbing, but socially, musically, employably, mentally, but a lot has changed. Great people have been met, others re-met, some forgotten about, some lost forever and some brought into the world for the first time. My nephew John is growing up big and strong, and his charming smiles and giggles bring joy to his mother, father and entire family. Another wee nipper, who will no doubt grow up big and strong given he has been born into the Leeds bouldering scene, is bringing joy down Kirkstall way too.
And so spring passes into summer, in life as it does on earth. Summer has dawned dazzling and bright for me, cast into the wide-open world of, firstly, a graduund, and now, a graduate, with no job, no money and one huge mountain of debt to flatten out with a meagre wage which I shall eventually earn. At the moment though I'm enjoying being a climbing bum- no job means lots of climbing. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been playing ball! It's just not cricket.
So, I hear your inner monologue asking, how have you been climbing? Well, I tell you, it's been up and down, as have my psyche levels. They are currently very much up, what with there only being a month and two days until my departure to, firstly, a day in Fontainebleau, followed by a trip down the motorway to Switzerland and Averstal, the Magic Wood. The tick-list is being prepared as we speak, and by tick-list what I actually mean is "guidebook rewritten in a tick-list format." If I even climb a tenth of this list I'll have been going very well to achieve it all. But, after all, that's part of the master plan to get strong. One month and two days. Better start training.
I weigh, according to a quick conversion courtesy of Monsieur de Google, 9.99 stone. This is a good weight, I feel, and one to get strong on before shedding a little before I go. There's no plan to training at the moment, I'm just going to climb every day for two weeks, have a rest day, climb hard for a week, then go easy for a week, then I'll be ready for a trip! Hopefully by keeping up regular climbing my skin shall be prepared for a long onslaught of "granite."
On the subject of "granite," firstly, I'm skeptical as to whether Magic Wood is actually granite, and secondly, I'm now a professional qualified geologist. I only managed a desmond 2:2, which I'm pretty gutted about because I thought I was on for a 2:1. One the one hand, I'm not fully gutted because I still have a place on a masters course which I shall undertake a year in september. On the other hand though, and given the results from Christmas exams, I thought I was a shoe-in for the 2:1st century.
Oh, I digress, the much more important issue of how I've been climbing. Let's start way back when. First I was going ok, still climbing regularly, and then exams, coursework and very hot weather all struck. I lost tonnes of psyche and instead started skating a lot more and, fortunately, a lot better. But this is only a summertime distraction from what is really the only thing I'm any good at- trying to boulder hard. So gradually, as the weather crapped out again, I've regained psyche. A few good fun sessions have put my firmly back on the road to wadsville, these being all in yorkshire with good friends, or back in lancashire, with good friends, or in north wales with good friends. And, as with the psyche, so the strength returned. I finally did Crucifix Kiss first go of the session last week, long overdue but at least I've ticked it. I spent a day at Malham for a change, and tried some routes, but unfortunately my routes head is really not in place and I didn't do anything. Monday saw a trip to Hyning where I shuffled along the first half of Transgenic, a brilliant problem. Sam reckoned the first half to be worth 7b- I thought more like 7a but I'll take the 7b tick! I felt strong on it though, and it suited me, so this could be on for my first 8a tick, having done all but two of the moves. It's got great moves in a tranquil woodland setting, if you haven't got ta know, then get ta know, yagetmeh?
So that brings us to now, and me being sat here past my bedtime with a back-ache after a successful training session at boulderUK. I could have said a lot more about the past few months, and gone into lots of boring personal details and gut-wrenching tales of mirth and woe, but I'll spare you the sob stories and celebratory tales. Let's just say these past few months have been life at its maximum, and have gained every ounce of enjoyment and every last lesson of teaching, as, after all, we learn best when we'er having fun and all of life is just learning. I'll try and update this more often with whymsical tales or just about how much of a punter I am, so watch this space. I must also apologise for the length of uninterrupted prose which has spurted forth this evening, and for the lack of pictures, but then again, all great novels come unillustrated, so deal with it. If you've got this far you probably won't be too bothered about an apology, and I congratulate you. So until next time, farewell, goodbye, auf wiedersehen and ciao.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Sex, drugs and technodnb
A long time since I last had a brain-draining onto here. Some things have changed, some things haven't, and some things have really changed.
I've decided to learn to skate again. Climbers are, by nature, boring individuals who get excited at the prospect of a few pints and would never dream of doing anything as outlandish as drinking every night, having fun and enjoying being alive, sacking off university to sit in the skate park and drink cider at midday and not stop drinking til midnight on the sunday, visiting along the way various drinking establishments, house parties, late nights and altered mindsets... Boring sods.
So I'm learning to skate again. This should be a laugh; this time next week I want to be able to drop in on the mini-ramp, and learn to shred coping, because, let's admit it, mini-ramp skating is infinitely cooler than street skating. I've not felt this young in ages, it'll be good to ride the ol' plank again!
Strong is the word of the moment in terms of my climbing. Fuckin' strong yo. Yesterday I did Underhand Extension and Patta's Arete, both for the first time. Today I made good progress on Demon Wall Roof Left hand. Last thursday at the wall I was crushing everything in sight, making good progress on the V9 yellow problem which I did in two sections. I also did a one-armer on a two-finger pocket on both arms, and I only weigh 9 and a half stone, which is probably why I'm cranking out this ridiculous shizz. In terms of the future, I think DWR left hand is the next goal, and I still need to climb somewhere that isn't the Cliff...
EDIT: since writing this this morning I've learnt to drop in. It's shred o'clock people.
I've decided to learn to skate again. Climbers are, by nature, boring individuals who get excited at the prospect of a few pints and would never dream of doing anything as outlandish as drinking every night, having fun and enjoying being alive, sacking off university to sit in the skate park and drink cider at midday and not stop drinking til midnight on the sunday, visiting along the way various drinking establishments, house parties, late nights and altered mindsets... Boring sods.
So I'm learning to skate again. This should be a laugh; this time next week I want to be able to drop in on the mini-ramp, and learn to shred coping, because, let's admit it, mini-ramp skating is infinitely cooler than street skating. I've not felt this young in ages, it'll be good to ride the ol' plank again!
Strong is the word of the moment in terms of my climbing. Fuckin' strong yo. Yesterday I did Underhand Extension and Patta's Arete, both for the first time. Today I made good progress on Demon Wall Roof Left hand. Last thursday at the wall I was crushing everything in sight, making good progress on the V9 yellow problem which I did in two sections. I also did a one-armer on a two-finger pocket on both arms, and I only weigh 9 and a half stone, which is probably why I'm cranking out this ridiculous shizz. In terms of the future, I think DWR left hand is the next goal, and I still need to climb somewhere that isn't the Cliff...
EDIT: since writing this this morning I've learnt to drop in. It's shred o'clock people.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Training/Snowing/Raining
I've been going quite well recently, which is nice. All this climbing seems to be getting me somewhere. Thursday's wall session, fuelled by Proket and pure fury of TechnoDnB, was very good and I sent a lot of hard (for me) moves and felt quite satisfied afterwards.
Saturday's Almscliff session was really quite good, great conditions and a lovely day. The Dewhurst crushed a lot of classics too which is always inspiring to see. I suggested we started off on Matterhorn Arete which I hadn't done in absolutely ages. Cold fingers and a mess-up of the tricky(-ish) sequence saw some full pants but it got sent and I did it twice more just because it's a real classic - height, good holds where you need them, great moves, great position. After this, we set to work on the sitter which weighs in at about 7b/+. The Dewhurst iced this easily and I gave it a good go but I wasn't properly warm. We then moved on to Top Cat Traverse which the Dewhurst also iced in no time at all, and I got the moves wired, so look out for a send of this in the near future, I hope! We moved on to Underhand, which I retroflashed, and then I worked the extension, which was easy enough, but then when it came to the link I was too tired, but I'll definitely ice this when fresh. Then I tried the impossible 7a+ on the face of the Virgin, along with the Roberto Stallioni, and then Sam joined us and flashed the 7b version. Beast! We then moved on to Pistol Whip where I very nearly got into the pocket and the Dewhurst fell off going for the pocket. He got blown off too and ended up potentially bruising a heel. So we sacked it off to the Hunter's for a pint of Addlestone's and a few games of pool (one match to me, one match to the D) and some usual post-pub banter. It was nice to meet some of the Sheffield lads- Joe le Sausage, Nacho and Jon Bonjoy's wife (can't remember many names!)
Sunday sore us (sorry, saw us) having a slow session at the wall due to it being bitterly cold. Brrr. Rest day monday (involving some shopping) and then wall tonight (Tuesday), which was again quite a good session, and I had a good stretch and some snowball fighting with Thomas E and the Peckitt, which was a right old laugh, Thomas E nailed a passing car and we giggled like school-children as we ran and hid...
Tonight I feel some lower back pain, but otherwise not bad at all. My heel still hurts though, and I've noticed some elbow pain (which isn't very severe) but a few days off now, as I go to St. Andrews this weekend for a bit of partying, should do me a world of good.
I bought some new skate shoes:
(My laces are blue though- much nicer!)
£25 in TK Maxx. Yes yes fucking yes.
Saturday's Almscliff session was really quite good, great conditions and a lovely day. The Dewhurst crushed a lot of classics too which is always inspiring to see. I suggested we started off on Matterhorn Arete which I hadn't done in absolutely ages. Cold fingers and a mess-up of the tricky(-ish) sequence saw some full pants but it got sent and I did it twice more just because it's a real classic - height, good holds where you need them, great moves, great position. After this, we set to work on the sitter which weighs in at about 7b/+. The Dewhurst iced this easily and I gave it a good go but I wasn't properly warm. We then moved on to Top Cat Traverse which the Dewhurst also iced in no time at all, and I got the moves wired, so look out for a send of this in the near future, I hope! We moved on to Underhand, which I retroflashed, and then I worked the extension, which was easy enough, but then when it came to the link I was too tired, but I'll definitely ice this when fresh. Then I tried the impossible 7a+ on the face of the Virgin, along with the Roberto Stallioni, and then Sam joined us and flashed the 7b version. Beast! We then moved on to Pistol Whip where I very nearly got into the pocket and the Dewhurst fell off going for the pocket. He got blown off too and ended up potentially bruising a heel. So we sacked it off to the Hunter's for a pint of Addlestone's and a few games of pool (one match to me, one match to the D) and some usual post-pub banter. It was nice to meet some of the Sheffield lads- Joe le Sausage, Nacho and Jon Bonjoy's wife (can't remember many names!)
Sunday sore us (sorry, saw us) having a slow session at the wall due to it being bitterly cold. Brrr. Rest day monday (involving some shopping) and then wall tonight (Tuesday), which was again quite a good session, and I had a good stretch and some snowball fighting with Thomas E and the Peckitt, which was a right old laugh, Thomas E nailed a passing car and we giggled like school-children as we ran and hid...
Tonight I feel some lower back pain, but otherwise not bad at all. My heel still hurts though, and I've noticed some elbow pain (which isn't very severe) but a few days off now, as I go to St. Andrews this weekend for a bit of partying, should do me a world of good.
I bought some new skate shoes:
(My laces are blue though- much nicer!)£25 in TK Maxx. Yes yes fucking yes.
Friday, 30 January 2009
A rant and a mix
Drum and bass today, eh?
As with most things, there's certain aspects of the scene which I cannot stand. I'm not talking about the ugg-booted daddy's girls and the down-vest mummy's boys from Surrey (no offence harry) dancing to their rahstep (although that is annoying), and no, I'm not talking about MCs (although they are annoying).
I'm talking about how long it takes for a tune to go from production to dubplate to being released. In some cases it can be three or four years. I've been waiting for Gein - The Sermon to come out on Freak for about three years now, and Current Value's Therapist should have been out on Guerilla god knows how many years ago. Now Therapist VIP (which is such an amazing tune, so heavy!) is being played out by people lucky enough to have given it. I get the idea that by the time Therapist comes out, Therapist VIP will be old news and nobody will even bother buying Therapist. It's not just the heavier side of things that suffer from this fate- Lenzman and Stunna's Milk and Honey is a beautiful piece of work and deserves a release, but it just hasn't been released, and it's now at least three years old. I'd heard Seba & Krazy - Arsenic about two years before it finally came out on Innerground. And don't even get me started on Quarter past Time by Dan Intrinsic & Quark!
Hurry up record label owners, get those tunes out!
Anyhoo, rant over:
Twilight Hours - This is what you get when you listen to too many Proket mixes
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BBRMFY7D
92mb - 66 mins - 182bpm
1. Cooh - Noisy Sneaker [Sinuous]
2. Konflict - Messiah (Noisia remix) [Renegade Hardware]
3. Current Value - Tunnel Vision (Donny remix) [Barcode]
4. Glenn Wilson & Mike Humphries - Aural Exciter (The Sect remix) [subsistenz]
5. Raiden & Proket - Skafandr [Offkey]
6. Counterstrike & Current Value - Techno is... [Algorhythm]
7. Dylan & SPL - Dark Soul [Basstard Child]
8. Sinner Inside - Transistor (Twilight Hours remix) [unfinished]
9. Limewax & Proket - Perevorot [Offkey]
10. Raiden & the Panacea - Connect the Dots [Position Chrome]
11. Cooh - Ventil [Position Chrome]
12. Counterstrike & the Panacea - Tinnitus [Algorhythm]
13. Limewax - He will find us (SPL remix) [Lost Soul]
14. Masheen - Trash Bath [Sinuous]
15. DAVE the Drummer - Hydraulix 9 [Proket remix] [Subsistenz]
16. The Sect - Voices [Position chrome]
17. Raiden - The Firm [Offkey]
18. Current Value - Wulf [Offkey]
19. Histibe - Tears of a Machine [Nerve]
20. Amex - Murmor [Future 13]
21. Kano & Tenebra - Hidden Voice [Sudden Def LTD]
22. Dylan - Crimson [Position Chrome]
23. The Sect, Axis & Trank - Victim [Habit]
24. Masheen & Sleeper Cell - Deep Cover [Contaminated]
25. Temper D - Chess Boxer [Temper D Productions]
26. The Dying Punks & Current Value - Love All the People [Offkey]
27. SPL - Sober [Habit]
28. Springbass & Oilygear - Golosa (Oilygear VIP) [Future 13]
29. The Dying Punks - Love your Robots [Subsistenz]
30. Current Value - Fear Machines (Demo duomix) [Future Sickness]
This is my take on the Techno DnB sound and how it should be mixed. Enjoy!
As with most things, there's certain aspects of the scene which I cannot stand. I'm not talking about the ugg-booted daddy's girls and the down-vest mummy's boys from Surrey (no offence harry) dancing to their rahstep (although that is annoying), and no, I'm not talking about MCs (although they are annoying).
I'm talking about how long it takes for a tune to go from production to dubplate to being released. In some cases it can be three or four years. I've been waiting for Gein - The Sermon to come out on Freak for about three years now, and Current Value's Therapist should have been out on Guerilla god knows how many years ago. Now Therapist VIP (which is such an amazing tune, so heavy!) is being played out by people lucky enough to have given it. I get the idea that by the time Therapist comes out, Therapist VIP will be old news and nobody will even bother buying Therapist. It's not just the heavier side of things that suffer from this fate- Lenzman and Stunna's Milk and Honey is a beautiful piece of work and deserves a release, but it just hasn't been released, and it's now at least three years old. I'd heard Seba & Krazy - Arsenic about two years before it finally came out on Innerground. And don't even get me started on Quarter past Time by Dan Intrinsic & Quark!
Hurry up record label owners, get those tunes out!
Anyhoo, rant over:
Twilight Hours - This is what you get when you listen to too many Proket mixes
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BBRMFY7D
92mb - 66 mins - 182bpm
1. Cooh - Noisy Sneaker [Sinuous]
2. Konflict - Messiah (Noisia remix) [Renegade Hardware]
3. Current Value - Tunnel Vision (Donny remix) [Barcode]
4. Glenn Wilson & Mike Humphries - Aural Exciter (The Sect remix) [subsistenz]
5. Raiden & Proket - Skafandr [Offkey]
6. Counterstrike & Current Value - Techno is... [Algorhythm]
7. Dylan & SPL - Dark Soul [Basstard Child]
8. Sinner Inside - Transistor (Twilight Hours remix) [unfinished]
9. Limewax & Proket - Perevorot [Offkey]
10. Raiden & the Panacea - Connect the Dots [Position Chrome]
11. Cooh - Ventil [Position Chrome]
12. Counterstrike & the Panacea - Tinnitus [Algorhythm]
13. Limewax - He will find us (SPL remix) [Lost Soul]
14. Masheen - Trash Bath [Sinuous]
15. DAVE the Drummer - Hydraulix 9 [Proket remix] [Subsistenz]
16. The Sect - Voices [Position chrome]
17. Raiden - The Firm [Offkey]
18. Current Value - Wulf [Offkey]
19. Histibe - Tears of a Machine [Nerve]
20. Amex - Murmor [Future 13]
21. Kano & Tenebra - Hidden Voice [Sudden Def LTD]
22. Dylan - Crimson [Position Chrome]
23. The Sect, Axis & Trank - Victim [Habit]
24. Masheen & Sleeper Cell - Deep Cover [Contaminated]
25. Temper D - Chess Boxer [Temper D Productions]
26. The Dying Punks & Current Value - Love All the People [Offkey]
27. SPL - Sober [Habit]
28. Springbass & Oilygear - Golosa (Oilygear VIP) [Future 13]
29. The Dying Punks - Love your Robots [Subsistenz]
30. Current Value - Fear Machines (Demo duomix) [Future Sickness]
This is my take on the Techno DnB sound and how it should be mixed. Enjoy!
Sunday, 25 January 2009
take me back - the final piece of the jigsaw
Wednesday dawned at some point whilst I was asleep. Yet another Wolfgang start was followed by a trip to Carrefour near Chailly-en-Biere. Carrefour is big. Nay, Carrefour is huge. Carrefour is easily the biggest shop I have ever been in. From one side of the store, it's nigh on impossible to see the other side of the store. We must have spent hours in here, but it only seemed like 20 minutes. A baguette and a coffee, and we were on our way again. The girls wanted to go to Gorge aux Chats and I was keen to get on Sa Pelle au Logis, an excellent 7a that I had had recommended to me. Now, I thought I knew where it went, the line was quite obvious, up the crack then over the bulge. This was easy enough and had nice moves, but the top-out was hard and wet. I managed it, but not properly. Later consultation with bleau.info revealed I was doing it all wrong, and that it goes out left, and so I can't take any sort of tick for it. I then got back on Rubis sur l'Ongle and did a few more moves, and got up to the crux. I reckon I can easily do this brilliant climb next time I go back to la foret. Which hopefully, will be soon...
Squeaky skin saw me giving up on Rubis and I did a couple of nice reds and blues to finish off. We sacked it off home just as Jay, Sam and Baz arrived to crush. Sam had done l'Aerodynamite earlier in the day and was psyched for Rubis, which he ticked without any problems (except messing the top-out and getting himself wet! We ate a lot of food and turned the heating on full clip and watched a few DVDs and drank some cheap, strong and very poorly tasting rum, didn't eat any food, got quite drunk, tried to stay awake to stop us getting hung over, fell asleep, woke with a headache at about 4am, went back to sleep, woke to rain, went back to sleep, and stayed in bed until god knows when o'clock, and then had a session on the board, culminating in a nice traverse on damp pinches. That evening was spent tidying, cleaning, packing, watching House of the Flying Daggers (which I didn't really pay attention to) and pwning Neil's internet...
We set off at around 11 the next morning. I was down, I never usually feel emotions that strong but saying our goodbyes to Neil and the boys, getting in the car and reversing out between the gates for the last time made me feel really down. This week, although seeming nothing special to you who have just read about it, had been an absolute dream for me- no worries, no looming deadlines, no stress, I could get up when I wanted and do what I wanted, when I wanted, climb where I wanted (almost), drive to where I wanted to go, bomb down the country lanes, which I found myself doing now, on the wonderful little road between Boissy-aux-Cailles and La Vadoue. This road had been a lovely discovery, thanks to Lizzy, and bypasses La Chapelle La Reine nicely and takes you from Mainbervilliers straight into the heart of les Trois Pignons. Heading down the little country lane for the last time had me almost in tears, so sad was I to be leaving la foret, the one place where I had felt truly free for the first time in a long time.
Things had changed for me, I was re-assessing everything about my climbing, re-assessing my weaknesses and what I need to train in the future. The unique rock type, which I thought I'd be strong on, frequently had me bent over a table. Something about the unique nature of the rock, the lower friction levels, the much more shouldery, powerful nature of the rock was not what I expected. But I still loved it. Those four brief days of climbing, four days out of six full days in the forest, were all I needed to have my life changed.
The journey back to Dunkerque was fairly uneventful, except a jack-knifed lorry on the N104 and crazy amounts of spray on the A25 due to the bucketing rain and horrific wind. The fast-food in Dunkerque tasted like death with a salad, and made me feel ill. The ferry was thankfully calm, petrol in Britain was cheap, roads were empty. The fast-food at Peterborough services made me feel ill again. Ever increasing dread, the further I got from la foret. Not looking forward to returning to real life, not looking forward to returning to the hustle and bustle of Leeds, the diligent, ever moving city dynamics which couldn't be further removed from the tiny villages, quiet, beautiful forests and laid-back lifestyles of la foret. Miles and miles of A1, occasionally replaced by the even emptier A1(M). the endless roadworks, the endless night, the endless lorries disappearing in the rear-view mirror, miles and miles of dark, stars, being kept awake (thankfully) by Sabrina, who did a grand job of staying awake herself, with Lizzy being asleep all the way home...
Goodbye, Herbeauvilliers, my new special place. I'll try to survive the next few weeks in Leeds, but it'll be hard.
Squeaky skin saw me giving up on Rubis and I did a couple of nice reds and blues to finish off. We sacked it off home just as Jay, Sam and Baz arrived to crush. Sam had done l'Aerodynamite earlier in the day and was psyched for Rubis, which he ticked without any problems (except messing the top-out and getting himself wet! We ate a lot of food and turned the heating on full clip and watched a few DVDs and drank some cheap, strong and very poorly tasting rum, didn't eat any food, got quite drunk, tried to stay awake to stop us getting hung over, fell asleep, woke with a headache at about 4am, went back to sleep, woke to rain, went back to sleep, and stayed in bed until god knows when o'clock, and then had a session on the board, culminating in a nice traverse on damp pinches. That evening was spent tidying, cleaning, packing, watching House of the Flying Daggers (which I didn't really pay attention to) and pwning Neil's internet...
We set off at around 11 the next morning. I was down, I never usually feel emotions that strong but saying our goodbyes to Neil and the boys, getting in the car and reversing out between the gates for the last time made me feel really down. This week, although seeming nothing special to you who have just read about it, had been an absolute dream for me- no worries, no looming deadlines, no stress, I could get up when I wanted and do what I wanted, when I wanted, climb where I wanted (almost), drive to where I wanted to go, bomb down the country lanes, which I found myself doing now, on the wonderful little road between Boissy-aux-Cailles and La Vadoue. This road had been a lovely discovery, thanks to Lizzy, and bypasses La Chapelle La Reine nicely and takes you from Mainbervilliers straight into the heart of les Trois Pignons. Heading down the little country lane for the last time had me almost in tears, so sad was I to be leaving la foret, the one place where I had felt truly free for the first time in a long time.
Things had changed for me, I was re-assessing everything about my climbing, re-assessing my weaknesses and what I need to train in the future. The unique rock type, which I thought I'd be strong on, frequently had me bent over a table. Something about the unique nature of the rock, the lower friction levels, the much more shouldery, powerful nature of the rock was not what I expected. But I still loved it. Those four brief days of climbing, four days out of six full days in the forest, were all I needed to have my life changed.
The journey back to Dunkerque was fairly uneventful, except a jack-knifed lorry on the N104 and crazy amounts of spray on the A25 due to the bucketing rain and horrific wind. The fast-food in Dunkerque tasted like death with a salad, and made me feel ill. The ferry was thankfully calm, petrol in Britain was cheap, roads were empty. The fast-food at Peterborough services made me feel ill again. Ever increasing dread, the further I got from la foret. Not looking forward to returning to real life, not looking forward to returning to the hustle and bustle of Leeds, the diligent, ever moving city dynamics which couldn't be further removed from the tiny villages, quiet, beautiful forests and laid-back lifestyles of la foret. Miles and miles of A1, occasionally replaced by the even emptier A1(M). the endless roadworks, the endless night, the endless lorries disappearing in the rear-view mirror, miles and miles of dark, stars, being kept awake (thankfully) by Sabrina, who did a grand job of staying awake herself, with Lizzy being asleep all the way home...
Goodbye, Herbeauvilliers, my new special place. I'll try to survive the next few weeks in Leeds, but it'll be hard.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Who's even reading any of this?
Here I am, pouring my emotions into nothingness... Ah well, at least no-one will think I'm weird now.
Peace and fucking, yeah.
Peace and fucking, yeah.
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