Motivation, Why Bother?

Warning doesn't contain climbing anecdotes!!! 

Why do I feel the inability to sit still? Why do I want to push myself and try and improve who I am? Life would be a lot simpler if I couldn't be bothered and sat around watching films. I've tried that recently, I was training for a half marathon and the few days before I sat around to rest, I found myself agitated and unable to function I couldn't climb(I also had a back injury I needed to rest) I just sat playing guitar. This has lead to me thinking a lot about what makes me function. I have recently been lacking motivation to try and excel at my guitar playing. I think this is because I have reached a level some part of my brain deems acceptable. So therefore my attention has been diverted to the things I can't do, which is climb well.  This has got me questioning my motives not in a bad way just a curiosity to understand why I am who I am.

Why would anyone want to do this? I've done it 3 times. Photo Freddie Waters

I am no psychology student I'm a musician and climber. I have been wondering why I climb, remembering times I got angry because I couldn't do a route, wondering why I was frustrated I couldn't climb a bit of stone. I first thought is it peers, am I looking for acceptance in this new world of climbers I am now a part of. But that doesn't fit with my personality I have never really gone after a crowd or tried to hard to fit in, so it doesn't make sense that I'd be trying to climb hard to fit in. I've always been an easily distracted person but somehow I spent 7 years dedicated to playing guitar and I've recently been training for a half marathon. As a guy with very little natural musicality and rhythm it took me years before I could even play in time, now I am at University studying Music. As an asthmatic I was always terrible at running, but now after 2 years I can run 13 miles with relative ease.  These things share a pattern that I was terrible at them to start with, but some part of my brain wouldn't let them lie and kept working at them until it deemed them to be an acceptable level. I didn't think I did but I must like to push myself, I like to try things that seem really hard, then when you do them it just makes sense and the feeling of accomplishment is unparalleled.

Post Half Marathon Photo Carol Foster

So where I am at at the moment is a critical moment, my music for some reason in my head has taken a back seat so my brain can focus on something that I completely suck at. Its this motivation this want for something better that I think drives me to climb, its what makes me frustrated when I can't do something, its what makes me stand around in the rain until I've sent a route. It can't just be the world I've grew up in as I was never competitive and never raised to win, it must be something I've inherited the need to be better than I am, the strive for self improvement.  I like to think of myself as the worlds laziest most determined perfectionist. I am always to trying to improve myself it might not be noticeable even to me, but somewhere in my head something is squirrelling away trying to go from crappy to scrappy to good. So I wonder if it is my want to prove something to myself that drives me, will my motivation for climbing decrease once I reach a certain level, only time will tell. Although I seem unmotivated for my music when I am not working on my pieces but messing around and exploring I still get a sense of joy. I think its that sense of discovery and creativity that makes me enjoy playing guitar and enjoy climbing. Its that sense of adventure that moves me and gives me the short attention span, it means I struggle to sit down and learn something. I want that sense of adventure that you get from discovering a new lick or sending a route, I enjoy the journey from impossible to possible. I am a result of adventurous genetics and adventurous upbringing. My motivation may change but I'll always be the worlds laziest most determined perfectionist that's who I am.

Sorry there hasn't been much climbing in this blog but  I hope it makes you think about your motivation.Thanks for letting me indulge myself.

Try Harder,The Only Advice You'll Ever Need

I'm a pretty crap climber by all accounts I can only lead trad at HVS/E1, I can only lead sport at 6b and I can only boulder at F6b(see recent article about climbing grades). Why am I not better? Well the simple answer is I've only been climbing properly for 2 years. I also started climbing when I was around 19 meaning that as I had never really ventured into sport before my body was pretty unprepared for the stress's of climbing. For example an issue a lot of people have when they start climbing especially males is they can build up strength quite quickly, but tendons take a lot longer to get stronger meaning injury is very likely when you  push yourself to get try and be the best as quickly as possible. These issues mainly arise when you're out bouldering, sport climbing or at an indoor wall. Trad climbing is weirdly a safer form of climbing because it takes on a higher risk you are less likely to push yourself into injury territory, whereas in the cocoon like warmth of an indoor wall  you can push it as hard as you want until you inevitably injure yourself. This doesn't mean you can't try hard warm up and just be selective about what you can try look at the holds and angle of a route and have a feel of the holds to see if you can do it without injury.

Trying hard at some Scottish boulder problem photo by James Laing

Recently I went bouldering at Almscliffe an outstanding gritstone crag in Yorkshire, it was a bit of grim day with a few showers and quite a hefty amount of wind. I did a few easier boulder problems and soloed a couple of easier routes. Then towards the end of the day I set my sights on a F6c called pebble wall which Freddie had flashed. After a few goes I got the start wired but kept dropping the crux move I even hit the final hold a couple of times. Heavily hangry (until I ate my PB&J sandwich) and a bit frustrated I was trying it for a couple hours. I was really annoyed that I couldn't do it even though I had many attempts, because for my considerable lack of climbing ability and talent I do have a pretty healthy dose of determination. I had to leave it for another time. But is a good days climbing judged on how many routes you send, or is it the routes you can't do that are more memorable, as they leave you with a sense of unfinished business, an area of improvement and a reason to return.

Trying hard at some Welsh boulder problem photo by Jamie Swales who taught me the sage advice of try harder

Back to the point. Its hard  to look at people climbing super hard amazing routes and not be jealous because you're not at that level. But you can reach those heights it just takes time and determination, those who start running don't expect to be doing a 4 minute mile within the first year so why do we expect ourselves to be able to climb a F6c boulder problem after one year bouldering. I know they are not directly comparable but in the 1950s when the 4 minute mile was cutting edge a F6c boulder problem would've been pretty hardcore and required a lot of training. I kind of blame indoor routes for setting us up for the fall. When you climb indoors the routes often have softer grades and the holds are usually obvious and its a pretty safe environment. So try not get yourself down because you haven't reached the top in a year, when I think about my climbing ability I have come a long way since I started. Its easier to look at where you are heading and not think about where you came from. When I started I was terrified by the thought of leading HVS now I find most of them pretty amenable(see recent article about climbing grades). Even though I'm not talented through sheer tenacity and passion I have managed to become a much better climber. Each persons definition of the top is different and it changes as you improve when you start someone climbing HVS might seem incredible but then you get to that level and think you are still crap and you definitely should be better. Its all a matter of perspective, how hard you climb doesn't really matter just try hard and have fun.

Whats British Climbing About? Cafes and Wet Rock

Living in Manchester due to university gives me amazing access to some of the best rock climbing in the world(if you like your rock short and scary). As the university term starts in September and finishes in May it means I'm  usually trying to climb during the winter. Which on paper is a great idea as you envisage going to crags in your down jacket on crisp fresh days with slight frost on the ground and the gritstone being in amazing condition. The reality however is usually a fruitless search around the peak district looking for any glimmer of dry rock. At the start of 2017 a group of us from uni Sophie, Edwin, Shaun and Myself started going out on Sundays looking for dry rock. It is such an expedition looking around at all crags as the rain lashes down on the car, running to Minus Ten Wall (a really polished bit of limestone that is permadry)  eventually spending two hours trying to climb then running away to Grindleford station cafe( I could write an entire article about peak district cafes but I have only included the best one) for a mountain of chips and a pint of tea(the diet of a true athlete). These were dyer days with Shaun and Sophie never really knowing what dry rock was and never really knowing the joys of friction.

Recently I had planned to spend the weekend climbing with Freddie Cindy and Oscar the weather forecast looked amazing(well questionable it was cloudy, but it wasn't raining), So excitedly we scampered off to the peak district only to be greeted by ridiculously low cloud that had soaked all of the rock. Residing ourselves to a slippery diff and once again the Grindleford station cafe we eventually manned up and went to stanage to some super sketchy bouldering on drying gritstone. After a few problems had been sent we ran off back to Manchester to work out the plan for the next day. A trip to Malham was on the cards as its usually very dry. Upon arrival we discovered the only thing we could was wet so we played about on it for a few hours eventually bailing to another damp gritstone crag.

Classic view of a British Crag this one is Malham

Anyway back to the point as a climber of average grade in this country I could spend the wet days training inside and building up strength and becoming a better climber, however spending days searching for dry rock with friends is a great adventure no matter how frustrating. You are also learning how to climb in the worst conditions possible so when the weather does dry up you can crush everything. In theory. On the last day of the weekend trip with Freddie and Cindy they had to leave so I went to the peaks with Edwin, expecting another day in the cafe eating chips and drinking tea as the forecast looked pretty bad. But upon arrival at Grindleford the sun was out and the rock was dry and although I had a pretty bad day performance wise it was amazing to be out in the sunshine. So I have found that although spending your time in cafes and at damp crags won't make you stronger it will give you an appreciation of the days its not raining. So go forth try and climb in the rain if all else fails Grindleford station cafe serves tea by the pint and chips by the kilo.

Finally a sunny day

British Trad Grades E Is For Extremely Stupid

So British Trad Grades WTF. Everyone thinks they are pretty stupid (aren't all climbing grades stupid its a piece of rock) but we love them because they are traditional the same way we love Christmas cake even though its not that great. It all started because we graded our climbs with words not numbers, it wasn't until the late 60's early 70s there got to be more than one E grade and then they started adding technical grades as well. But most of these don't make any sense as basically every e9 is 6c and they can't all be the same difficulty, add that to the fact there are hardly any routes harder than British 7a and its been 20 years since the first one, something is wrong. But it is in the average climbing grade of Britain where things are really stupid and sandbagging often occurs. This is because there was only one extreme grade for a long time a lot of routes put up by top climber like Joe Brown, Don Whillans and Arthur Dolphin were left at E1 or HVS because that is what was said at the time. This has left the UK with an amazingly broad grade that makes you think twice about calling yourself a HVS climber. I have included the conversion table courtesy of rock fax at the bottom which theoretically works and should help you compare it to your local grading system.

When I had lead my first HVS this time last year I was feeling strong and I was feeling stoked to try all of the HVS's. Then on a club trip we had the chance to climb at Tremadog an amazing collection of roadside bastions of rhyolite hidden beneath the trees where many great routes have been forged. Because I now considered myself a HVS leader I wanted to do the fang it is given HVS 5a and was first done by Joe Brown. I lead the first pitch it was a very burly pitch that was probably the hardest pitch I'd lead up to that point and I took one minor fall as I was trying to avoid jamming. I got to the supposed belay ledge and realised how inexperienced I was, this ledge was no wider than a skirting board so I had to build a hanging belay with slightly dodgy nuts as I didn't have any cams small enough. I slowly weighted the anchor to try and start belaying, but I hadn't adjusted my knots enough so I was half hanging half crouching being to scared to adjust in case my gear fell out. Cindy wanted to try it so feeling kind but still uncomfortable I said fine all the while in my own bubble of pain and fear. After a good 20 minutes of trying Cindy declared it too hard(she could definitely have done it)and Freddie rampaged up to the ledge. Upon seeing my dishevelled state he just started laughing and said we are totally out of our depth. We were we didn't have anywhere near enough experience to be trying this, but the best place to learn to swim is when you are drowning. Anyway Freddie started up the delicate second pitch thinking the crux was just getting off the belay ledge once he was around the corner he thought it was easy not placing much gear, he then charged for the top only to find out the top was very slabby and exposed and ultimately terrifying. I only know this from his account as when seconding I slipped(maybe down to the 1 hours sleep) and fell under the overhanging with no way of getting back on the rock(prussick next time) I had to be lowered back to the ground through a ridiculous amount of thorn bushes. We were late for the group meal but came away with a burn to our ego and a fear of Joe Brown HVS's.

Me on Desperation Crack only HVS but feels pretty tough Photo by Rob Kempster

Anyway back to the point HVS is a messed up grade, but a lot of the best routes in the UK are HVS as they often follow the king lines and obvious weakness's in the rock. E1 is very similar to HVS as the ones I've climbed sometimes feel similar to HVS but they are often more scary and bolder although the line is very blurry. In British grades you get a number which tells you the difficulty of the hardest move on the climb but these can span across the word based grade so a HVS 5a is pretty safe with a 5a technical move on it, whereas an E1 5a is quite bold with a 5a technical move on it also be a little more sustained. What we have tried to create here is a grading system that describes the whole experience but it just gets confusing. I like the American system where everything gets a numerical grade to describe the route then a film style rating to tell you how dangerous it is, this good because it gets you to think about the technical aspect and does not put you off by intimidating you with scary words like extreme. But it still is flawed. At the end of the day we are trying to grade how hard getting up a piece of rock is and it'll be different for each climber depending on style height strength boldness so the best way to get to know it is to get out and do it get used to it and in no time you'll be speaking fluent HVS.

Best Routes Of Each Grade I've Done So Far

Mod-Afterthought Arete, Stag Rocks, Scotland
Diff-Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis. Scotland
VDiff-Heaven Crack, Stanage, England
HVDiff-Helfensteins Struggle, Stanage, England
Severe-Sphinx Nose Traverse, Wainstones, England
HS-Twin Cracks, Park Nab, England
VS-Nozag, Castle Naze, England
HVS-Todys Wall, Froggat, England
E1-3 Pebble Slab, Froggat, England(It is argued its HVS which I agree with)

The list of routes I want to do is 10 times longer than this and I may find a better one of each grade next week who knows.

https://www.rockfax.com/publications/grades/

Disclaimer-Don't take my word for the grades its all relative to my experience sport climbing wise I climb french 6a+/6b. In other words don't blame me if a Severe feels hard welcome to British grades they are stupid

Friends (No Not The Cams)

Climbing alone is something I don't mind and happily do whether it is bouldering or soloing(more on that later). But having recently returned from a university climbing trip I was reminded of how much fun can be had when climbing with friends(no not the cams).

When I started to get into climbing more it was primarily down to a group of 3 friends Oscar, Freddie and Cindy we had many a fun climbing trip in Freddies awesome Mitsibushi Colt, it was because of this we named ourselves Colt Mountain Adventures. I ended up living with Oscar in my second year and had a great time as Freddie and Cindy lived round the corner so we were always hatching plans of where to go climbing. All the while slowly improving. As I was/am the worst climber in the group I always thought it was good to get out with better climbers, as that is the easiest way to do routes that are too hard for me. At the end of the year Oscar had finished uni and had moved out and gone to Ireland cycling with his girlfriend. So myself Freddie and Cindy went on a road trip to Scotland that involved amazing adventures up Agags Groove where I got soaked/hypomthermia, we had a great day on Tower Ridge and a sunny scramble across the Aonach Eagach none of these routes were harder than VDiff(Stupid British Trad Grades Lengthy Post to Come about that but its pretty easy) and we came away with some superb memories as well as many tick and midge bites. Then the summer started great to be back home in North Yorkshire and seeing the family. But although my dad climbs it was still easier for me to head to the cliffs and spend an afternoons soloing by myself. Once uni started again as my core group of climbing partners were no longer in Manchester I started the search yet again for more people to climb with. Being part of the university mountaineering club is a great way to do this and I got climbing with various people yet again. But due to the winter being a bit dyer its being hard to get a good days climbing in still some good memories with friends searching for dry rock. Also a great week in Scotland with the club scrambling tradding and bouldering, but these amazing memories quickly fade when you are down New Mills Torr alone trying to boulder in the rain and wind.

Me Topping out on Valkyrie with Freddie belaying Photo by Cindy Lin

So back to the point our club trip. All of my friends from the club were there including Colt Mountain Adventures and on the Saturday optimistically the club headed to Froggatt Edge in the Peak District for some sublime sweeping slabs and cruel contorted cracks we had an amazing day (apart from one slight mishap regarding someone fracturing their spine) everyone got some good routes in. For me there were two highlights one a damp disgusting route called Cave Crawl which funnily enough involved crawling through a cave, Myself and Eric did it and its so grim you just have to laugh but you laugh twice as much watching someone else go through it, the other was Valkyrie a classic multi-pitch route that I lead with Freddie(as the air ambulance was arriving) which involved a steep crack (nice lead Freddie) a homoerotic switching of leads and a daunting second pitch which I lead. Cave Crawl is HS 5A and Valkyrie is HVS 5A(beware the Joe Brown HVS). I know the trad grades can be confusing for non-climbers or non UK climbers, but these are routes that may have once being ground breaking but are now trade routes classics of the crags everyone can do not especially hard but memorable especially when surrounded by friends. I have found itt comes down to finding the balance between climbing on your own and enjoying the solitude and sharing the experience. Friends are not just pieces of gear used for getting up routes they can help make a sufferfest worth doing.

Colt Mountain Adventures L-R Freddie,Cindy,Me,Oscar Photo by Freddie Waters

Welcome To Another Blog

Welcome to the world of a sheep, a man who has decided that what he wants to do is what everyone else does and write a blog. So welcome to just another blog this is going to be dedicated to my adventures and mishaps as a standard British rock climber. I've always been a man/boy of the outdoors joining scouts and following my dad up damp Scottish mountains, but it was at university  I started rock climbing taking a light interest in my first year then ramping it up as I have progressed through the academic years, I am by no means a good rock climber climbing British HVS/E1 (for those who don't know what that means I'll dedicate a blog to that specific subject) but I thought it'd be interesting for people to hear what the average climbers adventures are like. I'll write about my recent adventures in the land of trade routes and sandbags, I'll write reviews of gear I like and I may end up rambling on about ethics. If you are new too climbing and need a reference for climbing terms there is a page where I will write the definition of terms updating it with each blog. I don't expect you to find this interesting just laugh at my stupidity and try and be inspired for your own adventures.

Myself on Tower Ridge an unremarkable achievement in the world of climbing a pretty standard adventure but a great day out with friends (Colt Mountain Adventures there will be a blog about that as well) and a brilliant personal experience.

I don't even have long hair anymore shorn like the sheep I am