more cloud formations

Another blue sky day warranted a roaches trip again yesterday. This time to Nth cloud and skyline. We warmed up at nth cloud and i had a couple of meek attempts at a project i'd tried last year. In fact upon returning to try again it last year i'd been sunned off it and that's when i stumbled upon the prow which is now The Darkest Cloud. Today was looking pretty similar, blue skies are lovely but bad news for small grips. And with Caff and Neil running out of eliminate warm ups to do on the 6a's we went and did art nouveau. It was baltic up there and after Neil'd seen off a swift onsight of Entropys jaw. The clouds had returned to save the nth cloud from the November sun. A big fat cumulo stratus infact, so the sun had no chance. After getting going again it was apparent that conditions were way better, So atleast i'm finally old enough for a tiny bit of wisdom to have crept in. Neil and Caff quickly got stuck into the LH project Which looks nice but climbs pretty thrutchily and with no distinct line compared to its looks. I'd come back for the RH line, whilst this is marred a tiny bit by the swivel finger arete visually it is a far better line climbing and hold quality wise. But then again these projects have been known about since atleast 2004 if not earlier, which speaks for itself, basically they're good but remote enough for no one else but a loony cumbrian to bother walking up there (marras were in the crag majority yesterday!).

The Rh Project has no footholds, just naughty smears. Which have a habit of ripping off and i think they are pretty boot dependent (i went for a good worn in pair of Sazi velcros) You basically pull on and undercut the only usable hold, which rags your pinky, Use a half pad mono to stretch upto the Gaston of fury, I'm so stretched when i get this that i can only creep 3 fingers on and my feet often blow. If they dont you snap some lock in your arm then fire through an amazing move to a lovely 3 finger slopey dish (top photo) then a large juggy LH crimp leads to a final lunge upwards for a good drag. From the last good edge it is possible to match and skulk left into the corner via a big but easy move, but this is not the line nor the problem.

Yesterday i had the rarest of bouldering moments. A perfect go. I'd had several shit attempts at getting the initial gaston and foot poppage was bugging me. I decided to just pull really F-ing hard and see what happened, luckily everyhting clicked, i really yarded down on the mono and undercling and finally got the gaston nicely with 3 fingers, a full on emergency crimp and gutteral growl got me through to the dish and still on i lunged for the top move, which is still droppable but a bit easier, i caught it in a good drag and kept over gripping to get the top. Brilliant. I could barely repeat the crux for video which adds a dilemma to the grade. As it felt fine when it went but hard. Then it just felt sharp and hard after. But then doing something this fast means it cant be too hard. For me i think its 8a+ but i can see taller people getting the gaston with 4 fingers and being much better set up (my 6'2" reach was pretty maxed out), so maybe 8a/+ is more accurate. I couldn't be on much better form board wise and this project is pretty basic, which also adds complexity. Thats more than enough space for grade talk anyway.

I decided the Nth Power would be a nice name for obvious pun reasons. And i am fully made up at flooking such a nice project. There are 4 more projects on my little whiteboard list that i'd like to get done before the new guide comes out, it's a nice incentive anyway to make more work for Cofe and Ru.

The Darkest Cloud

Pic courtesy of Nick Brown

I managed to see off a mini project on tuesday with the help of Ben and Nick. Its on the Arete on the back of the 5th cloud. Lovely moves straight up a blunt prow. SS from double undercuts and quest upwards to glory. This supercedes a random route called Ride the Lightning E2 6b which pulled on near the top of the arete off the hill behind. Its called The Darkest Cloud and creeps in at soft 8a at the mo i reckon.

Its north facing so is a good escape from sun and sweat when other problems are out of good nick. The landing is a bit technical with it being a grassy hill, decent sized tent pegs are recommended to prevent pad slippage and erosion.

There is a 7c+ to the left too ( which is worth doing, details on peakbouldering.info to follow.

recent movements

We've been busy of late. Ned's in worldcup mode and has been on the plastic, but his fingjury isn't helping things much.

I've been getting out a bit here and there, and finally found a nice way of climbing keen roof, as this problem has annoyed me in the past by always feeling dicky for my height and like i'm missing something. No proper tick yet though as i'm starting from the ben's roof sit like a good boy, then going straight into keen roof via a big move like a logical person might. Hopefully my exit strategy for peak lime bouldering will all go to plan and i can just be on projects by the end of the year, fingers crossed.

Whilst heading back up to Cumbria the other day I met up with luke and finally managed a visit to Earl crag, which has been the most glaring omission burning a hole in my bouldering crag ticks. Luke was an awesome guide and we just ran round in the belting wind like kids in a playground doing classic after classic, it was one of my funnest evenings bouldering in a long time despite totally randomly opening up a massive flapper on my index finger on a crystal in the start hold of lager lager lager. This was nice but i preferred close range and underworld on the whole as the moves are better and the blocs bigger. It's a fantastic crag though and what it lacks in big lines it makes up for in quality moves and wall climbs. Ned's off in vail hucking for some sickrad fully awesome crazy holds next week.

A Law of Averages

well it's been a good week of weather! and with the evenings getting longer i've been getting out and about.

Friday: Borrowdale volcanics

Before coming back to Sheff I nipped in to say hi to the Bowderstone, it was still there, and so was the hold that bust my finger, i'll be giving that project a few more months I reckon. I had decided it was time to tackle sidekick, the last thing i really wanted to get done on the stone. After getting slapped about trying to ram a sharp bit of rock through my knee for about an hour I figured out that i only needed it for a split second and good old fashioned burl could take care of the rest. This is a brilliant problem and probably the best 8 on the stone. I remember seeing Glenn wilson try this with his half red half yellow hair(when it was v9 and still a project) back in the day in my first year of climbing! The consensus seems to be that its a tough 8a or more like a soft 8a+ and it's certainly harder than special cases. In the end i got it near the end of the session and had to try pretty hard, especially as the oxygen depletion to my brain stopped my feet working properly and my Jet7s turned into clogs before my eyes.

Sunday: Yorkshire Grit

I was driving back down the country so nipped in to see my good mate Kev in't Bingley town. Now I think i've only been to Caley when Kev's been there and I've only been 3 times, and none of those were in the last 3 years! I think i'd forgotten just how awesome it is (except for the prolific victorian chipping) There are loads of things that I want to get done here but an obvious one was the striking line of Ranieri's Reach. After declaring it piss on my third go i then got bored of controlling my limbs properly for the next 30minutes, including dropping it after the crux 3 times, after a bit of a break and a re-warming up of the support team as well as a cameo appearance from legend of the lakes, triple-daddy, Rob Fielding. I gave myself a good talking to and made good on my original declaration. This was much easier than Sidekick and is kicking a good sized hole through the ceiling into the realm of 7c+ . After that it was skin loss time on nothings safe, which went from being painful and jerky in my mind to eccentrically brilliant, especially with the top move being a good value pull off a pinky mono! Now bellies were growling by this point and Kev's easter egg was a distant memory so binge o' clock was called.

Wednesday: Peak Grit

my next chance to get out saw me tired from training but lapping up a bit of afternoon vitamin D at Curbar, i thought i'd check out what the low roof hoo haa was all about. It looked less low than i remember but it looks like some sterling patio skills have been put into place (effort!). After a good chin wag with the a nice Mr Marek whom was there also. I got stuck into la musee. I quickly sacked off trying to use the jug as the ridiculously dabby move spoilt the problem for me (as did the jug). I worked out a slightly harder (physicaly) but less dabby way of not using the jug at all by keeping the toe hook in whilst nipping along the slopers. This flowed nicely and was much more enjoyable. 5 minutes later i linked it up and found it much easier than Sidekick and Ranieri's. To me it seemed to be no harder than ben's roof (at the Tor) or columns at the roaches So soft 7c+ seems about right. I was getting tired by this point but went 1 foot further back to the newly extended start. After working out how to get my leg out of the massive, and slightly painful kneebar without my fat arse touching the floor (this sequence takes you straight into the start holds of la musee) I was getting through things ok but had run out of juice for the full thing. And by this time things were getting pretty sunny under there, so I packed my bags and shot off home. The line from the back is the full line though and a good addition to peak 8's, very unique climbing for grit too.

Friday: peak lime

I nipped out in the afternoon to make the most of the good weather. Cough. really horrible still warm conditions. Cough. My chosen sweat box was Dark Therapy, the perma goppy holds are bloody well annoying on this. Despite that it is a truly great problem slightly marred by greasy crag acne. after battling the grease for a while I had a good go where I didn't slide on the holds too much and luckily ended up on top and not on my back. For me I reckon this is a benchmark 8a, although it is a bit morpho and conditions dependent (if you ever see the start holds bone dry then get on it!), I really like the unique bulge climbing on this and it features a good candidate for legitimately busting out a 1 armer on the last move. After that i spent 45 minutes on another problem reminding myself that i have lost a lot of nouse and now have to compute hard foot moves like a commodore 64 faced with endless lines of code whilst my upper body hangs there waiting for something useful to happen. Basically I can't wait to be able to turn my brain off and just climb again!

So there we go four lovely British "8a"s and all of them completely different to each other in rock type and style and grade, yet apparently all the in the same place on a scorecard.

april fools!

you'd think the first of April would be a safe time of year to head places without getting snowed on. I've just about had enough bloody snow to fill my snow boots. I thought i'd celebrate spring by nipping upto scotland to get back on some nice lines which i didn't quite manage to join the dots on last time. to sum up a long horizontal snowfall filled story I basically I got 1 days climbing in 4 and so left early. That 1 day was brilliant though and i made sure i climbed from sun up to sun down, trying different projects left right and centre along with repeating a few lovely additions Mr Betts the sharp eyed local.

I got one done which i'd noticed last visit, coming through the roof right of "a fridge too far" featuring double toe hooks some lovely quarter pad crimps and then a powerful throw off them round the lip to a drag and a hard front lever-esque foot move. i'll get round to naming and grading it soon (not that it matters it's there either way). Mind you it seems like 8C+ and red tags are the headline grabbers of the moment anyway or (in reality) stirring up storms in teacups with keyboard commandos doing battle for their chosen trooper, along with a good old bit of willy waving on the side. I'm amazed there isn't an RSI injury climbing blog help site somewhere... or maybe that'd be a touch too ironic

Ned bailed out of another likely wet trip to font so stayed and worked last week despite the temperamental weather in the last week i reckon this year has been pretty special so far. Certainly distinctive anyway.

We're cracking on with designing a new machine at the moment to help more people get their sweaty mitts on our boards. we've also been tinkering a bit down the garden shed if you get our drift... Trevor bayliss'd be reet proud.

Oh and i went to the depot for the first time in ages. G-bus C.H.Rist that is a crackalacking wall,

i know we built the board so are slightly partisan but it is heaven in your hands to train on... they should put a vomit bucket at the top of the big roof though, just incase any boulderers get up there and feel the after effects.

ttfn

ideas of march

So since our little county visit i've been getting oot and aboot in this gloriously stable weather. We don't often get such prolonged periods of being able to straighten out our necks and look up into the sky without being spat on by a thousand droplets or by the wind knocking us over. England is ace when the weather is like this, it starts to feel like a normal climbing destination where you can just head out and try what you want when you want without a worry or second thought as to whether it's dry or not. Ned hasn't been so lucky, since the CWIF is in 2 days time and we're hoping to sport the best all UK team he has switched over on the training polarity scale, so now it is easier to mention when Ned is not training. I thought removing all his bed slats except for the two behind his head and his ankles was a step too far, but he assured me that training core in his sleep was the next logical step, the sand filled duvet was my idea after he slept through the night with pleasant dreams. This quick adaption was a good sign we thought. It looks to be a fun comp anyway, and you can watch the semis and finals live from the works homepage, so get screaming at your pc if you can't make it.
Really i think all foreign competitors should be made to climb hard on the grit the day before to equal out foreign skin advantage. as resin is far too easy to crush without massive giblets of skin missing from your tips.

So what else... i've being weighing up whether its worth the time and effort trying to ground up solo hard grit routes, as i appear to have found my mind crumble limit for hard moves (currently at about 8.5m) (the hard refers to tech grade there i.e. 7a and up with ok gear, rather than a font 6c with an iffy landing) as the extra effort required is ridiculous and basically i'd rather just go normal bouldering. Superstition (i didn't do it if your just on a success scan) started this all off... or actually snow balling did. First off i snowballed a bunch of things which i didn't fall off. So i thought i'd step things up and try to use the drifts to my actual advantage. i started to punt about on superstition at the end of one day ( a Gibson route being the obvious choice as you're guaranteed to get slapped about). Ground up beta finding is hard work, especially on a route as you only get half a second to make up your mind and try something. Its even harder when the climbing is at least font 7c (i think at least 7c+ to ground up) and when the only other top ropee beta involves things which'd be suicidal foam up (ground up with foam), like dynos or hurrendous undercling moves which offer the chance of landing on various angular objects from a height with any possible body part. So slow static progress it is then. By my second session i was tickling the last move. But the ridiculous sharpness of the line meant i only got about 6 goes before splitting a tip. So 5 days of healing and snow melt left me on my own with just a few pads and getting to here



Now that is a pretty distorted wide angle lens so i look a lot nearer to the pads than i actually am, anyone who has seen it in the flesh can picture it anyway (basically at the top of the promise) i sat up there facing the last 6aish move of rocking onto my left foot and locking to the top (no jumps here) for about 30+ seconds. guaranteed to be hitting the ground either way whether i committed or not. The coward in me won and i whistled down onto the pads. The fall is actually fine, as long as you take it properly. and here in lies the hard part, the higher you get the more in control you need to climb and land. and even though this is when the johnny big bolloxes of the world go for stuff they don't tend to be doing it on routes like this. So is it worth even bothering, are standards being pushed here or am i just kidding myself? I think i could train up to get better at pushing through the ~7m barrier but it is a risky game. It feels like i've completely missed the ground up with gear stage of the game. But why bother with it when hitting the ground from the last hard moves is fine (i got even further a session later and rocked onto my left leg before the crumble hit). it also removes the massive grey area of gear and rests when ground upping as retrieving the gear never really happens after attempts and many people are content with a quick play after they fall off. So in this sense it is very pure. But still why don't i just ab it get it dialed and send it first HP? and then do another 2 similar routes the same day. Lordy knows thats what i really want to do. the two weigh each other up in my mind but ground up always wins for routes like this (i'll be the first to admit that i've worked hard boulders off a rope, and cleaned many a problem) but as far as repeating routes goes. landing permitting. I'll always choose this style. for the same reason why i solo easier routes if possible and why i love bouldering and DWS. Natural unencumbered movement on rock is unbeatable whether it is above sea or foam or a sea of foam. It's just that the foam part hurts a little right now, nevertheless things like this are to be savoured and not consumed in a slurry of numbers and ticks. That said i don't think i've got loads of attempts at routes in this style in me, nor do my ankles. Which keeps things like this special. Its pissed me off alot this route as it's exposed even more weaknesses which i didn't know i had. And it is so sharp it is barely fun.

One bonus is that normal highballs are starting to feel smaller. The major draw back is lugging all the pads out to the crag. And that repeat visits are worse for the environment.

current trends

Part of me wants to rant on about how annoying it is when it rains CONSTANTLY for a week, and by utilizing a slew of available data, mouth off at how these trends are likely to continue if not worsen for the next 50 years, at least. However i just drove 1 pitiful mile in the driving rain to train at Neds house, a journey which i should be cycling, so to save on the hypocrisy i'll save such rants until my own house is in order.

for anyone interested in a brief glance at recent UK climate trends:

http://ukclimateprojections.defra.gov.uk/content/view/229/420/

http://www.ukcip.org.uk/index.php?id=243&option=com_content&task=view

but for now lets just sit back and enjoy a badly uploaded (suffering from some encoding/compression issues i think) of Ben in the Frankenjura.

Cosseymonster on the loose from beastmaker.co.uk on Vimeo.

custom engraving:

we are now offering custom engraving on beastmakers! for £10 extra we'll engrave whatever you like on your board, yep thats right anything from "ned has a fat arse" to "rip it off the wall!"

this could be a canny christmas or birthday present idea, or if you just fancy a little bit of extra motivation/ personalization.

email our loving customer relations expert:

dan@beastmaker.co.uk (that'll be me then)

and include your desired message, i'll then send ordering info.

The sky must be empty soon mustn't it? what a ridiculous amount of rain we've been having. There will be a new vid tomorrow, and the forecast for sheffield looks better!

voll kraft voraus

first off lets smooth things over with a wideo off wimeo.

mehr aus Deutschland from beastmaker.co.uk on Vimeo.

Since we've been back we've been trying to organise ourselves, and we're beginning to get on top of things, hopefully we can stock some shops in coming weeks as well as get some good R&D done on a few things which are still stuck in the virtual CAD domain. Ned's been in Leicester helping out and pratting about with bits of aluminium. As well as project scouting etc.

Holidaymakers

Oh guten tag, hope you all like the slightly awkward self service website, unfortunately this has made myself and Ned a tad redundant for now, honest, so we are searching for new customers in the DENSE forest of Der Frankishe Sweiz, aside from having an incredibly Horse-killable land lady, our nice German basement accommodation is purely belter, waking up each morning to miniature deer skulls on every wall along with Doris bending over outside picking her veg from her bushy garden. We've been getting shown round by Fabian Chrishof and his girlfriend Mona, whom win the nicest people in Germany award, and the other night in the pub was golden memory central, with our friend Ben arguing with Marcus windisch ( the quiet 8c crusher whom was sat next to us for half the night, of which we were unaware, as we thought he was just a jolly local villager) about the german music scene, apparently techno is dead and metal core is where it is at for hard Jura sends. Nevertheless times are good and some good boulders have been discovered, a few of them have even been climbed, like V2, Billiard, Some huge highball 8a, Knochenmuller, and the worlds hardest 7cs (harder than the 8a's round here).

The Jura is no place for vegetarians and everything contains meat and sausage, and if it ain't then it's pickled. which pretty much sums up how our fingers and backs feel right about now. The G rectification process has begun but is only in its fledgling stages, by the time we leave things will be straighter than an ironed metal rule.

apologies if your boards take a day or so longer to come than normal, we're working Dave to the bone honest, he's pretty big boned though so can take it

auf wiedersein

Deutschland

A few months back we received an extra special beastmaker order to Germany and so we decided that we should deliver the board personally. We felt that a 6 week trip was needed to complete the exchange so all best plans were laid, some Aussies were keen and i've never been to the Jura without an antipodean, or more like they've never been without getting rid of me. So this year we plan on eating more cakes than ever and enjoying herbst and october fest along with some cool crisp days and some serious pockets/slopers/crimps.

Anyway for a bit of flava of last years banterful trip then check this video out. The funny numbers are german grades, if you don't know em learn them. The sound track is inspired by Germany's finest radio station Bayern Drie, which has no shame in milking any resource of classic 80's and 90's hits along with themed days! On one rainy day whilst we were there they played rain themed songs all day, witty chaps.

Jura 08 from beastmaker.co.uk on Vimeo.