Insatiable (7b+) Cheddar Gorge

Me and Chris were supposed to head to Bosigran this weekend, However due to the weather and change of plans, we ended up staying home, so headed to Cheddar for an afternoon instead, just to get our fix. We jumped on Raw Deal (7a) which I have previously tried before but failed to link the moves after the crux due to being too pumped! Yeah it's only a few metres high but my endurance is crap. Any way, I managed to get it and clipped the lower off! feeling pretty pleased, I wanted more. There were 2 couples climbing beside us, pretty good climbers as they were doing 8a's, so I got chatting to them and they had suggested Insatiable (7b+) to the left of Raw Deal. I did mention about my struggle up a 7a, but their words of confidence persuaded me to at least try it, at least I could say that I had.

It won't make you climb harder...

Rocking the 'look' on the Grands Montets

May 1953: I'm walking in my brand new, thin, windproof jacket and trousers, made of cotton and Nylon. Underneath I have a combination of  light weight and heavy weight woollen jumpers and a hand knitted scarf made by my sister.

Fast forward to the late 1970s/early 80s and my choice of clothing today is my brand new polartec fleece, Rohan salopettes and 2nd generation Gore Tex.

And finally, we fast forward to today, 2015. I'm about to head outside, clothed in my new Hybrid base layer of Merino wool and synthetic material. On top of that, the latest synthetic mid layer that claims 'put it on, leave it on'. It's a little bit windy so I'll throw on my new Polartec Neoshell hardshell, or shall I put on my new softshell? I might have to open the pit zips if I get too warm. Actually, come to think about it, I think my mid layer might be too warm, so I'll put on the lighter gillet instead, down or synthetic? Or what about my fleece? Ahh but what if it gets a bit colder while I'm out? I'll throw my new, sub 300g down jacket with hydrophobic down, in a pack. Hmm, actually, the forecast says slight chance of rain, best play it safe and throw in my equivalent synthetic 'belay' jacket in too. While I'm at it, I'll chuck on my hardshell, full length zips and drop seat salopettes that I used on Denali...



...Right, where's the dog?

Ansteys Cove 7c+ !!

Now I'm excited and psyched!! A pretty normal sport climbing day out resulted in me coming home super psyched and happy! here's what happened...

Wintours LEAP

My second attempt at Wintours. Harness packed the night before! Me, Chris and Dave now heading towards a vertical world of fun and adventure. First up, Surrealist (E1 5b)

Seven Mile throb (E5 6b) Cont'

The route pretty much follows the line of the biggest tree sapling in the bottom left of the picture, through the overlaps/roofs and onto the top section of the slab at the obvious stepped corner.

Some readers of my blog may remember this Post a few weeks backs about an E5 project at Fairy Cave Quarry. Well, curiosity got the better of me, and so i abseiled down the route to inspect the route at close hand. And how very pleased I had!