Rivelin and the CrushBoard
Last weekend saw a return to trad with a visit to rivelin. Alas, the slab was not on the list, but there are plenty of worthwhile trad routes to be had.
I picked Ken up at around 8 and we got to Outside just before it opened at half nine. The plan was to meet the Welsh contingent there and decide on a plan. I quite fancied a look at the millstone bouldering, Owler tor, Mother Cap etc, but it was really rather warm, so the concensus was to go trad climbing, and luckily I had the gear to cover all eventualities.
On my way out of Outside I bought a new pair of 5.10s, this time in size 8 as the 7.5s were pretty tight last time, and uncomfortable after a while. We'll see how these ones compare. I was very surprised at how much climbing shoes have gone up in the last year or so, it seems you need to spend upwards of £100 to get a decent pair, especially in a retail outlet. I don't know whether it's the rubber prices or what but they are quite expensive nowadays...
So Blacky, Steve and Darryl arrived from the borders and we made our way over to Rivelin.
I've been here a couple of times, the last time was in February when it was absolutely freezing and among other things, we did Rodney's Dilemma then, a nice but necky Severe (if there is such a thing) which felt nails at the time. This time, however, it just flowed and was fine.
There are some good routes here, and I must admit to a bit of trepidation before arriving. Apart from the odd day, it has been well over a year since I've been trad climbing regularly, so I was mildly pleased to find most of the routes we did fairly pleasant.
It's such a different game. Just getting used to carrying a load of gear up a route felt quite strange to be honest, not to mention the need to carefully read the route for gear before getting on it.
Luckily however I found that my gear placements were as solid as they've always been (I don't think you lose that sort of thing very quickly) and climbing above gear felt better than I previously remember.
Pulling on small holds for a couple of years or so, even with my recent inactivity seems to have paid dividends, as the majority of the holds felt massive.
It was great to see Blacky and the others, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Should circumstances provide the opportunity I'd be keen to go more often. The problem is, my window of opportunity for climbing often lends itself to bouldering as a lot more climbing is acheived in an hour or two by going bouldering rather than getting one or two routes done.
But you only get better at something by doing it more, which is the paradox!
Climbing is a broad church, I guess that's one of the reasons I love it, and I always forget that roping is what I did for the first 8 years I climbed. However, what with JB wanting to get out more, I might be inclined to go tradding a bit more.
Anyhow, regarding the CrushBoard (tm) Here's the latest progress...
Kickboard now on
Rest of the ply has been grid-drilled (6 rows / 11 columns)
Holds have arrived (Metolius slopers/warm up jugs/and a set of crimps)
So all that needs doing is the tee nuts being tapped into place, ply boards mounted and holds attached. I've decided against the Moonboard set up although the angle and grid is the same. I need to make more holds from the off-cuts I've got to vary the holds, which should be straightforward...
I've made quicker progress than expected on this, so I'm pretty pleased.
I picked Ken up at around 8 and we got to Outside just before it opened at half nine. The plan was to meet the Welsh contingent there and decide on a plan. I quite fancied a look at the millstone bouldering, Owler tor, Mother Cap etc, but it was really rather warm, so the concensus was to go trad climbing, and luckily I had the gear to cover all eventualities.
On my way out of Outside I bought a new pair of 5.10s, this time in size 8 as the 7.5s were pretty tight last time, and uncomfortable after a while. We'll see how these ones compare. I was very surprised at how much climbing shoes have gone up in the last year or so, it seems you need to spend upwards of £100 to get a decent pair, especially in a retail outlet. I don't know whether it's the rubber prices or what but they are quite expensive nowadays...
So Blacky, Steve and Darryl arrived from the borders and we made our way over to Rivelin.
I've been here a couple of times, the last time was in February when it was absolutely freezing and among other things, we did Rodney's Dilemma then, a nice but necky Severe (if there is such a thing) which felt nails at the time. This time, however, it just flowed and was fine.
There are some good routes here, and I must admit to a bit of trepidation before arriving. Apart from the odd day, it has been well over a year since I've been trad climbing regularly, so I was mildly pleased to find most of the routes we did fairly pleasant.
It's such a different game. Just getting used to carrying a load of gear up a route felt quite strange to be honest, not to mention the need to carefully read the route for gear before getting on it.
Luckily however I found that my gear placements were as solid as they've always been (I don't think you lose that sort of thing very quickly) and climbing above gear felt better than I previously remember.
Pulling on small holds for a couple of years or so, even with my recent inactivity seems to have paid dividends, as the majority of the holds felt massive.
It was great to see Blacky and the others, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Should circumstances provide the opportunity I'd be keen to go more often. The problem is, my window of opportunity for climbing often lends itself to bouldering as a lot more climbing is acheived in an hour or two by going bouldering rather than getting one or two routes done.
But you only get better at something by doing it more, which is the paradox!
Climbing is a broad church, I guess that's one of the reasons I love it, and I always forget that roping is what I did for the first 8 years I climbed. However, what with JB wanting to get out more, I might be inclined to go tradding a bit more.
Anyhow, regarding the CrushBoard (tm) Here's the latest progress...
Kickboard now on
Rest of the ply has been grid-drilled (6 rows / 11 columns)
Holds have arrived (Metolius slopers/warm up jugs/and a set of crimps)
So all that needs doing is the tee nuts being tapped into place, ply boards mounted and holds attached. I've decided against the Moonboard set up although the angle and grid is the same. I need to make more holds from the off-cuts I've got to vary the holds, which should be straightforward...
I've made quicker progress than expected on this, so I'm pretty pleased.
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