Several shades of lime

Not a lot to report since returning from Magic Wood. I’ve been back on five day weeks whilst Nige is away in Scotland so haven’t had as much time to get out and about. Evening sessions have mostly been spent at the Tor where I’ve been trying to boost the finger strength with some bouldering. This hasn’t been very successful, in part because I don’t really enjoy failing dismally on things I’ve already done and also because it’s aggravated an ongoing wrist injury.
Other than the Tor I’ve had a couple of plays on the project I bolted last year at the Cornice, managing all the moves despite some wet holds. Although I can do the moves I’m struggling to string many/any together and it feels a lot too hard for current levels. I’ll give it some more effort if/when it’s properly dry, but at solid 8b+ I might have to give this one away.
Had a fun day at Thor’s, though most stuff was still a bit wet. The only new thing I did was Twilight of Tired Gods, a rather hard E3 (E4 in some guides) in the West Window. Went on it as a warm up but it ended up taking ages and having a bit of an epic, ho hum. As well as getting on (and later completing, see Beastmaker blog) Slavek’s old project, Dan had a go at Spear of Odin, one of the 7c+s I put up in ‘05. It had too many properly wet holds for him to do in a oner but he did do all the climbing nonetheless and reckoned it was one of the best sport routes in the country. The only other person I know who’s been on this route is Zippy who repeated it in ‘06 or ‘07, rating it at the time as an even better route than Thormen’s, high praise indeed! Please excuse me shamelessly plugging my own route, but I do really think this one and nearby Escape to Valhalla are something special and worthy of more attention. The cave may not be as pretty as its Spanish brethren but the climbing is very similar and really unique for this country. Here’s a gallery of old Thor’s pics for anyone interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56501452@N00/sets/72157620100371265/

Back at the Tor the other night with a sore wrist I decided to refresh my tick on Indecent now that the tree start is gone. The new version dubbed Half Decent is now 7c and starts up the newly bolted RH start to Body Machine. Managed to redpoint first go despite getting rather pumped. Lowering off in the evening sun high above the river I was reminded how much I prefer getting on a string here rather than scrabbling around among the dust and polish attempting to climb the first 3m!
Saturday was Nettle Buttress down Cheedale to try the newly rebolted Toys for the Boys. What a great route! Immaculate rock and moves throughout. I lacked the finger endurance to complete in a session, but looking forward to a rematch on Tuesday. Third best 7c+ in the peak?
Late start, yesterday then a trip to Stoney Quarry. Having recently done Millionaire Touch I was keen to have a go at Oliver. Warmed up on Jasper which was better and more independent than I’d given it credit for. Oliver was brilliant. The ‘runout’ bit turned out to be fine having a decent RP and sideways wire halfway through, but the stopper move to get on the ledge was very perplexing. Blaring sun, dust filled breaks and a lot of effort trying to mantel the ledge too far right didn’t help. In the end the move wasn’t too bad, but I won’t spoil anyone’s onsight by giving away the details. Every route I’ve done on this wall has been a belter, just a shame about the proximity of the ever buzzing and clicking sub station.