Lmst

#LimestoneClimbing

It wasn't all sunshine and sends in Nice... There was quite a lot of rain and whips too. The one had something to do with the other because damp limestone can be a little slick, though the reasons also included grade sandbagging, fatigue and just plain sucking. Anyway, I thought I'd post a little compilation of Nice whips because who doesn't like a bit of schadenfreude?
Thanks to Roy and particularly Alesia for not dropping me!
#Climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie #CoteDAzur #Whipper

This one's just for Helen Finn, who has been complaining I haven't posted it yet.
Helen reckons my music choice for my videos is "a bit dodgy"... So, at the very end of the Nice trip with the ultra-patient Alesia offering a final belay before we headed to the airport, Helen decided to sit, watch, and provide her own soundtrack by playing songs off her phone next to the camera. These are all the songs she chose, roughly when she chose them, edited with a bit of fiddlyness to try and keep a 15 minute+ climb down to a vaguely sensible time and still capture Helen's... wit.
#Climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie #CoteD'Azur #Whipper #DJHels

All over the place with my posts; this is back to the last day, and this one is right next to l'Attrappe Rêve (my last post) on the "La Dalle à l'Oiseau" sector of the crag that went the day before. Did this one directly after les Gauchistes (posted a couple weeks ago) - theoretically the easier route. This was a pretty nice route and @Alesia, after giving me a solid belay made a really fine go of it, too. I'm pretty sure she'll agree this was definitely not the harder route!
#Climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie #CoteD'Azur

I was kinda hoping the impromptu nap while waiting for the rain to pass might wake up my brain after a rather slow Sunday, but when the sun finally came out said brain was more reluctant. Got a couple fun routes in, though, took a whip on a third, then came to this nice line at the end of the day, aided by the patient and excellent Alesia on belay. Let's see if I can locate the light switch...
#Climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie #CoteD'Azur

Nice (well La Turbie in this case) was a fun place to climb; most of the routes had interesting moves on them - even the "easy" ones, the company was good, and the weather (when it was climbable at all) was lovely (especially considering the forecast just a day before the trip!). The extra excitements of the rock being generally damp, polished, and my mojo having been washed away by alchohol and rain on Saturday night meant a slow start and not pushing too much so it's probably just as well the "easy" routes were fun! Finally found a little flow late on Monday, so this Tuesday climb was a bit better. Still, this little beauty was a fine example of the grading at the crag; poor technique aside, this felt around a full letter grade harder than advertised!
#Climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie #CoteDAzur

So there was actually climbing on the Nice climbing trip, too (between the rain... which managed to be both more and less than expected...). La Turbie, as it turns out, felt really kinda sandbagged grade-wise (or maybe I was just sucking?)! But then the fun is in the movement and unlocking the puzzle, not the grade and it was a great trip with a fun bunch; Alesia Sidliarevich (with the excellent catches), Helen Finn, Carole Dawson, and Roy.
#climbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #Nice #LaTurbie

Top! two climbers at the top of a limestone cliff, framed against a blue sky

A climber on a limestone wall, cloudy sky above the crag, top right to bottom left

A climber looking up, midway up a limestone cliff, the belayer on a ledge at the bottom. Another climber sits on the rope to the left.

3 days, 3 crags in one
A picture of the crags at La Turbie labelled as La Roche á roche on the left, La Loubiére middle and La Dalle á l'Oiseau right

And apparently the first shall be last; this was our first day in El Chorro and, after an early morning start and checking in a The Olive Branch, we climbed at Las Encantadas on the road above. Lovely crag with a whole passle of great-looking routes I'd love to try. My camera-pointing skills were clearly still asleep, though; this is the only route I actually captured (almost!) all of...
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #ElChorro #ClimbingIsMyPassion

Final day in El Chorro, second climb; the excellent (and longer than Tall People) route, Small People (6b). Considering how un-braining my brain was that day, this one felt really easy and flowy, which was nice. This crag section was in a little "sheltered" bay, theoretically in the lee of the wind. Apparently, though, the big hole in the sheltering rock about 10m up let the wind through to bounce of the crag and blow right in your face... weird!
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #ElChorro #ClimbingIsMyPassion

"And the last shall be...", Well, not first, but also not the last of the El Chorro vids despite being the last climb of the trip (I just be out here making reels as I come to them...). Thoroughly enjoyed the trip with gret company (thanks for the belay, Robin) and a fun climb, but my brain was definitely flagging by this point; behold the terrible footwork!
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #ElChorro #ClimbingIsMyPassion

This one was still day 3 in El Chorro at Escalera Arabe and, in fact, came before Bladerunner (which was the last send of the day before trying to break myself toproping a 7a in failing light). This is just one of those lines you look at an think, "Oooo! Gotta give THAT a go!"... So we did!
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #ElChorro #CornerClimbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion

Rather out of order as this was actually day 3 at Escalare Arabe, but Bladerunner was definitely one of the more striking lines we climbed in El Chorro. Lots of fun and pretty firmly in my style, but I imagine it would have been firmly "type 2 fun" if it had been at limit! (Loooong run-out and biiiig drop potential!) Excellent belaying, though, by Jeremy
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #ElChorro #RunOut #ClimbingIsMyPassion

So, once again I find myself lacking actual mountains for #MountainsWrapped 2024, but I think @bergmeister 's year's summary of the outdoors idea is great, so Imma go with it again with some crag pics from the year that have some meaning for me. Sparser pickings for me this year as I haven't got much outdoor climbing in for various reasons; mostly the fabulous British summer, my fave climbing partner heartlessly pushing off to another country for a few months, and me doing a bunch of training courses and assessments. This year included finishing my RCI - which would have appeared in this post but for the minor problems of not having any pics, finishing it in the p**sing rain, and Sheepstor being about the least mountainous place I've climbed. So here goes; meaning as well as description in the AltText
#Climbing #Kalymnos #Dewerstone #WintoursLeap #Trowbarrow #LimestoneClimbing #TradClimbing #SportClimbing #GraniteClimbing

A part-sunlit, part-shadowed, grey, limestone face, slab at the bottom and top with a steep/overhanging section at the edge of a shallow overhanging cave. A climber in yellow and orange is high on the route, attempting to move over the lip at the top of the overhanging section.

I don't get climbing in other countries much and in April I got to go back to the fabulous sport climbing paradise of Kalymnos. This route at Cave, Zizanie, was one of the hardest on the holiday and definitely the hardest I've fought to onsight a route. I was especially proud of myself for not giving up - I tried the pictured section probably over a dozen times, retreating to a semi-rest on the overhang with each failure until I finally worked it out. It felt like it took hours.

A climber in red and orange trad climbing in a limestone corner with a the belayer and someon watching at the bottom of the frame maybe 15m below. The climber is setting protection in a crack in the form of a tricam.

So in June, frustrated with the weather and on a bit of a what-the-hell spur-of-the-moment decision, I signed up for a "Tricam workshop" run by Rise and Summit at Wintours Leap. This is Kevin Roet's pic as part of the marketing for the day (the event was sponsored by Camp) of me on Swallow's Nest on the fly wall. It's in here as both the site of my first actual trad fall (onto a brass offset at the start of the route - it held) and also the first route I've finished after getting a faceful of hail about 20m off the deck before the top. The rock was... rather slick after that!

As a bonus, I also met a great guy who I ended up climbing with again later in the year.

By the way, tricams are interesting and really rather versatile (Actually did a route next door using basically nothing else) . If you want to try them out, go seek out Kev Roet, who is an absolute tricam nut!

Looking up at a tall (30m+), striking, granite corner. On the left return of the corner is an arete with a shallower corner above a large, moss-covered block. a climber is bridging wide in the cornerabove the block, mostly obscured by the split legs. half ropes trail down from the climber thrugh other protection.

So this one is in here for a few reasons: Firstly, The Dewerstone is a spectacular crag in a lovely setting and this was a extremely fun lead with a great partner (who also let me crash at his place for the night). If you haven't, I thoroughly recommend going. Also, this was the day after I passed my Foundation Coach qualification with the excellent Garland Mountaineering in Exeter - the afore-mentioned mate happens to live down there so I managed to turn it into a climbing trip too... The same thing I tried when I did my RCI in August, except that failed because of the sucky British weather (seriously? P**sing rain to the point of zero visibility in AUGUST???), so this kinda represents my RCI pass too.

An imposing, dark grey, limestone face, just off vertical and about 30m tall. The face is flat with a number of crack systems up it with mostly blank rock between. A climber in a red top and grey trousers is approx 1/4 of the way up the crack in the centre of the frame, reaching back to select protection from his harness.

This is Trowbarrow quarry, not far from Kendal in the Lake District. It was my first time climbing in the Lakes and I didn't know at the time that this route - Jean Jeanie - is apparently quite famous; a number of people immediately spotted the route when they saw the pic. It's worth the fame - it's a great route! Personally, I found Harijan more challenging (you can see the top of it as the crack on the right - Harijan comes in diagonally under that from a corner further over), but this was a great lead and I loved every moment of it.

Again, I managed to arrange a little climbing for the day after a training course - the time Development Coach, with the most excellent John Kettle (hey, if you want to be better at coaching learn from someone who's REALLY good at it, right?) so this is a reminder to myself to try to apply everything I learnt.

Hardest lead of the day for me. Another epic line, if not quite as striking as the apparently famous Jean Jeanie just to the left. Definitely tougher, despite being the same grade on paper. Such an impressive face of rock and so many interesting lines up it. Weirdly, I almost found this harder than the HVS on the diagonal crack just above, which I managed to second clean despite a couple of awkward gear retrievals.
#Climbing #TradClimbing #ClimbingIsMyPassion #Kendal #LakeDistrict #LimestoneClimbing #TrowbarrowQuarry

Back from a trip to the Lake District. On the negative side, I didn't get three days climbing... On the super-positive side, I did get two days of Mountain Training Development Coach training with the ever-excellent John Kettle PLUS a day of climbing at Trowbarrow Quarry. As a bonus, also a nice stay at Lyndhurst Guest House in Kendal and a play at KendalWall on their long autobelays.
#MountainTraining #Climbing #TradClimbing #Coaching #ClimbingIsMyPassion #Kendal #LakeDistrict #LimestoneClimbing

A compact and Bijou Bed & Breakfast room in Kendal. Clean and neat with a bathroom door with coathooks to the left, a red armchair in the far right corner next to a refreshment tray on a low unit below a mirror. The view is out of a window to a tree, river and grey day. Next to the windows is, weidly, a tissue arrangement in a cosy and a picture.

$Trad climber in a red top with a sling across chooses gear while perched about1/4 of way up a grey limestone face about 20-25m tall. The climber is following a fractured, mostly vertical crack that runs all the way up the nearly vertical face.$

The main parts of Trowbarrow Quarry. Imposing, grey limestone crag including the flat-looking large face where the climber pic is. De-leaved trees in the foreground barely obscure the face.

The excellent Mr. Kettle standing beside a slide entitled "Variety is the spice of life" with a graph on, explaining how different methods of learning affect skill learning rate and skill retention rate.

A little roundup of the other routes from Wyndcliffe with Jeremy that I got footage on, all with something to offer. Just so good to have an actual good weather day to get outdoors and nice to get some sport mojo back.
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #WyeValleyClimbing #Wyndcliffe #OutdoorClimbing

Well, it wasn't sport ALL day; Jeremy decided to "try" an E1 trad route in my absolute favourite style (/sarc). Time to see if my occasional and minimal practice has supplied me with ANY jamming skills at all... For those who don't speak UK trad, 5c English Technical is maybe 6a sport - assuming you can jam! This felt ooooo 6c at least 😂
#Climbing #TradClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #WyeValleyClimbing #Wyndcliffe #OutdoorClimbing #TopRoping

Nice little trip yesterday with Jeremy to Wyndcliffe Quarry to see if I can get my sport mojo back after not having sport climbed outdoors for 6 months. Turns out, yeah, not bad... Including a little fall practice, which did indeed help. This comfy-at-the-grade number was really fun.
#Climbing #SportClimbing #LimestoneClimbing #WyeValleyClimbing #Wyndcliffe #OutdoorClimbing

The rather fun and picturesque "Equals Not" (VS 4b) at Fairy Cave last week with my bestest climbing buddy @SueLambooij
#climbing #climbingismypassion #MendipHills #rockclimbing #tradclimbing #MendipHillsClimbing #limestone #limestoneclimbing #trad #LoveAGoodHex

Some pics from this friday's jaunt back to Fairy Cave... This time with the excellent @SueLambooij (unmarked pics by Sue), who suggested this fun, little number; "Equals Not" (18m VS 4b). Moves enough to be fun, gear enough to be solid plus bonus flowers and hex belay (love a good hex!🤣)
#climbing #climbingismypassion #MendipHills #rockclimbing #tradclimbing #MendipHillsClimbing #limestone #limestoneclimbing #trad

A cracked, grey, limestone cliff, spotted with foliage and wildflowers in red, cerise, white and other colours. Blue sky with some cloud above and on right of frame. Central is a trad climber in yellow and orange with gear on harness, foot up around waist level to the left as if about to rockover onto it.

A cracked, grey, limestone cliff, spotted with foliage and wildflowers in red, cerise, white and other colours. View is dow the cliff towards the bushes and trees in the quarry below. A trad climber in yellow and orange, a purple helmet and sunglasses, with gear on harness, sits in belay position on top
Photo credit Susan Lambooij

A cracked, grey, limestone cliff, spotted with foliage and wildflowers in red, cerise, white and other colours. Blue sky with some cloud above frame. Central is a trad climber in yellow and orange with gear on harness, double ropes below, hand on gear, selecting a piece to place
Photo credit Susan Lambooij

A cracked, grey, limestone slab cliff, foliage either side of a bare rock strip. Blue sky with some cloud above and on right of frame. Central is a trad climber in yellow and orange abseiling down.
Photo credit Susan Lambooij

The first climb from #FairyCaveQuarry last Friday week with @HelenFinn. Another crag classic it seems and definitely worth a climb. 38m of balancy slabbiness.
#climbing #climbingismypassion #MendipHills #rockclimbing #tradclimbing #MendipHillsClimbing #limestone #limestoneclimbing #trad

#LimestoneClimbing

Client Info