Hard Pulling

This year I got into it again as quick as possible. This involved going to Burbage on the 1st of January with Tom, Billy and Will. We were under the impression it was meant to be good weather and got pretty psyched, once we arrived we met up with Will and tried to get into the swing of things. Unfortunately the weather turned pretty grim and the day didn't go too well and I only managed  Definitive 5.12 (6c) and Banana Finger (6a) This was pretty disappointing to say the least, towards the end we moved over to Burbage West and go stuck into Westside Story (7b+) I think it was only at this point around 3pm that we all felt good again, but unfortunately none of us topped.
Before we left we made the decision that after 4 hours sleep and a whole days worth of climbing like punters that it would be a fantastic idea to go back to Billy's house and have a training session on his amazing home wall. This turned out to be great fun and we ended up climbing for hours until we just couldn't continue.

Will on the articulated systems board

The next week I got a text from Will quite late on Tuesday evening saying he was going back to Burbage the next day and did I want to go? Well the simple answer was yes. I had unfinished business with Westside Story and I knew I had to get it done at all costs. So the next day I was up nice and early, met Will then headed off for a day in the Peak! It was fantastic conditions all day, not a cloud in the sky, the sun was shining and it was around 7 degrees. Couldn't of asked for a better day. The day started with a relatively quick accent of The Nose (7a) and from there we moved on to Westside Story. Hours passed and still neither of us had done it, eventually I spotted another little feature to use as a foot hold and tried the climb that way and nearly did the crux move static. After a few more tries I eventually did it. I found it was quite a personal climb, because almost everyone I've seen do it does it differently, some people obviously are tall enough and can just reach up to the jug, others have to full on dyno and quite a few people use different footholds. Since the climb puts you in such an awkward position on poor holds you cant really do much, so the main crux really is just trying to position yourself right!
I was quite pleased getting a 7b+ done, especially since it was a highball problem so anything else I did was just a bonus. We moved on to try Breakfast (7a) which was quite awkward, but very satisfying once complete. After both topping that we tried Famous Grouse (7b+) This took a little while, frustratingly I wasn't even coming off the crux, I got past that and kept falling off the move just above which is basically the finish. I was really psyched to try the sit start to it which gets 7c but in the end decided I'd be more pleased just to get it done then do the sit start another day.


Two days later I went to The Climbing Station without much of a plan on what to do. After a suggestion from someone that I try and do the 8a on the Circuit Board I figured that would be my goal for the session. I warmed up, read the route and chalked up. I walked to the first hold and held it for a second, breathing, relaxing my body and mind, then looked at the other holds near me... Straight away I was drawn to the black holds, which happened to be 8b. I had tried it a few weeks before and did all the moves but couldn't link it, so I figured why not? I read the climb then pulled on, breathing the whole way through, keeping myself calm and relaxed. I passed my previous best, a slightly awkward move down bringing your hand to your foot. But when I got there I didn't think about it I just did what felt natural, got into an Egyptian position and cruised it. I continued on climbing and before I knew it I was at the last hold and stepped off...
I went back again 2 days later with the intention of repeating it to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke and I really did just do an 8b for virtually no preparation. After a really good warm up I pulled on and managed it all the way round again. I sat down and thought what to do next and almost instantly I knew. I was going to repeat it as many time possible. I rested between 5-10 minutes then pulled on again and finished it. Rest, repeat, rest, repeat. After my fourth time finishing it I was over the moon, I finished my rest and pulled on again. Unfortunately this was the end to my glory and I lost some body tension and fell, instantly I pulled back on and got to the end. I tried one more time but by this point my body had, had it and I failed again. But really, it didn't matter. I climbed an 8b four times in one session and that was something I could be proud of.

Finally the next day I went to The Tower and worked with my coach to develop a short training plan to run up to ROCfest on the 2nd of February which I'm quite excited to get started with and to put pieces together for a plan to run me up to the next bouldering team selection. To end the session I managed to get the third accent of a classic feature only problem on the bouldering wall there. To those who haven't been to the Tower the wall is entirely covered in features, It's almost like your climbing on real rock sometimes. So if you ever go this particular problem has been up since forever and always will be up. It's labelled by some blue chalk circling the features with a number 15 next to each hold. Good Luck.