rginns blog

I had possibly the worst day of the year at work last week on Tuesday, and to top it all it was in Worksop. It may be just me, but people from Worksop just aren't normal. There's a kind of bubble they live in which means they can't breed outside their own gene pool. Or, at least that's how it seems to me. Anyway, after an unwarranted battering from all and sundry I managed to get free by about half past four. The original plan was to get shot a lot earlier and head outside somewhere in the peak on my way back, but in the event it was nearly dark by the time I left. I had to go to Harrogate before heading back home, so I went there and from there straight to the wall. I was going to go to Preston, but that would have added a good 45 minutes to my journey, so instead I went to Rochdale. I've not been here in a while, and wanted to check out the new problems. I warmed up on a few of the yellows and greens before attacking the pinks (V4/5) in anger. For some reason on

On Wednesday I had a couple of hours so went over to West View. All in all I was feeling ok, but I hadn't eaten enough in the day, so felt pretty dodgy afterwards. Note to self: eat stuff. I managed a lot of easy stuff, then very very nearly did the white V5 in the middle. For the first time, I linked all moves twice in a row, falling on the last move. For me this is a big improvement, especially bearing in mind I was knackered. G was looking strong as ever, and managed all manner of things up to the V6 region. Good stuff. Fast forward to yesterday, and I had a couple of hours free in the afternoon so popped over to Lower Montcliffe. I spent quite a bit of time there last summer and really like the place. There's rarely anyone there when I go, which is nice. There was one main aim, Dinosaur Adventure 3D (6c/6c+) that takes a cool slanting groove. After faffing about a bit, I got on the problem proper, and after a while was palming the groove. Then GCW and troops arrived, ready

I should have known that yesterday would be a failure. I had a morning free, but needed to be back by around midday. I wanted to look at some projects that I've virtually spent no time on this year, so a round of the local quarries was in order. First on the list, is Dinosaur Adventure 3d at Lower Montcliffe. This takes a line up a diagonal ramp feature in the third quarry along. Although it had been raining a fair bit recently, I expected the line to be dry as it is not directly affected by seepage. Or so I thought. In the event, the face was all but dry except for the crucial arete hold and the ramp sidepull. This was due to run off from the patch of grass above the problem. This will need a good couple of dry windy days at this time of the year before it comes into condition I reckon. Other than that I'm pretty psyched for it, and think it will go down as soon as I can get on it. The last time I tried it in the summer I was getting close. A brief look at Indian face, also on

Last week saw a visit to Rockover with Gremlin from UKB. It was my first trip to the wall and all in all it wasn't too bad. The only thing I would say is that it got really busy and I do prefer the less busy wall. The reason could be that I'm an unsociable bastard, but I like to think that I don't really prefer the 'cock on the block' set up that seems to be prevalent in a lot of walls. Other than that, the set up is quite good with variation of angles and moves. The roof could do with better lighting though. I liked the campus board upstairs, even I could 1-2-3 it to the top of those rungs. I could see campussing being addictive if you were strong. As somewhere new to head to, it's good, but it still can't rival Broughton for sheer crimping power variety, and it's an arse to get to in rush hour...