close comfort

Since i got back from Germany i've been just as keen for getting out as ever, if not keener, which is unusual as usually after getting back from a holiday i'm up for putting my feet up. I had a crack at a few projects from last year and felt much better on the whole, after splitting a tip on one i took a walk round wyming brook before heading home to train. Wyming brook is 5 minutes drive from my house in sheffield with a free car park and a 1minute walk in to the rocks. It has no decent recorded boulder problems. until now! (actually thats open to opinion but they certainly seem good)

That's not to say it has a lot of boulder problems, yet, or ever will have. But when such a nice venue (peaceful woodland with a stream) and good problems lie so close to sheffield it really is worth the 5 minute drive if you live there. If you don't live in sheffield but 7b is a tricky grade for you then the above picture of, Superbrook 7b should hopefully encourage you to check out a nice problem to try. Its called superbrook due to it being a smaller easier version of superbloc on initial appearance.

We also climbed a nearby problem (named brookside 7b+) under Matthew Thompson's route, parthian shit (great name) it takes the arete right of the crack on its RHS with the crack being avoided for hands and feet. We (me nick and ben

Another nice arete lies on the opposite side of the brook, on the isolated slab, it takes the overhanging LHS of the arete upto the ledge at about 7a and is called the Rhyming Book

All pics Nick Brown.

i'll put these up on peakbouldering.info soon with directions for people to find easily

Down at Nigga rock...

The temps dropped right off on sunday and the cloud was loitering about the sky like chavs in a bus stop, it looked like things would just about stay ok but things could have kicked off at any time. I decided to hedge my bets and try a problem i'd run past for a few months now and admired. So i hooked into my whip and kicked through a few gears down the drag, screaming through the rough suburban neighborhoods and perilous gang land of Hallamshire golf club, where many a clubbing has occurred. skirmishing through the trees i arrived at the treacherous gangland destination of "Nigga rock" (formerly known as Bell Hagg) see pic below, believe me i wish i was making this stuff up.

I wanted to try the whippet (Mike Adams fine addition to the crag) and quickly found out that i was strung out like a banjo trying to keep my feet on the back whilst compressing the crap out of nothing, this way is at least hard 8a+. So i turned to a heel on slightly less than nothing too and worked the angles, 20+ attempts later it stuck and i managed to keep it together on the 6a top out and propped a crap in its ass, or whatever them gangsters say innit.

I thought this was a great problem and with it being 1.7miles from my house it's not like i had an excuse!

Dance your cares away,
Worry's for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Nigga Rock.

Work you cares away,
Dancing's for another day.
Let the Fraggles play,
We're Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, Red.

Dance your cares away,
Worry's for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Nigga Rock.
Down at Nigga Rock.
Down at Nigga Rock.

for some reason i had a east coast hip hop version of that in my head all session, and thought i'd share it with you :)