So, I have been a bit busy since Sunday which has left me with little time to blog.
I haven't even been climbing, because I have been working most days.
On Sunday I miraculously made my way up my first 7c sport climb.
The strangest thing is that it wasn't really a battle, and it wasn't in incredible style.
I had been on the route a couple times, exactly a week before hand. I had maybe 4 passes at learning the moves. On Sunday I warmed up a little on the route, avoiding the first hard move. I then rested while others climbed, and when my turn came around I messed around. I couldn't remember how the moves to the first clip went. It was a mess of feet, and repeating those few moves allowed me to warm up a little again. On the 6th attempt at the start I smashed it out, through all the hard moves, a broken hold and up to the finish.
I couldn't quite believe it. Neither could the others who were there.
One of the other had broken a crucial hold, which was a point of fear when I pulled on its remains, a big crack fresh in the mind. In any case I made it to the top, clipping all the way from the second (having had the first two pre-clipped) up to a slightly extended belay to cover the final run out. I didn't know the belay had been extended though, so I still class it as a good show.
It just goes to show, you never know what you are capable of. I certainly don't. The biggest concern on the route was that you hang your back three stacked in a pocket, then a series of tenuous moves bring you to a poor hold for your right hand and a big move up locking off your left. I managed to flick some blood back into the fingers on the way, but that was literally the most tenuous part.
The route is called 'Ozone Bozo, and is a soft 7c on Garage Buttress, in Stoney Middelton in the Peak District. I will next attempt its left hand start, into the same finish at the same grade.
It is totally my style, short, sharp and just off vertical with lots of crimps and pockets.
Who knows... 8b by the end of next year? Unlikely.
There were two elements of true note to this ascent for me.
First of all, I was happy to lead the hardest bits. Considering I previously led a 6a and long before that a 6c+, that is quite a turn around in attitude. I don't know why, but I feel like I can manage that fear a little better, as long as I am clipped into the first bolt. This is a massive step in some regards, and will eventually lead to 'proper leading'. You don't lose the fear, you just learn to turn it down a bit.
The second was that, during the ascent, I was yelling take at the broken hold and breathing hard, but I felt totally outside myself for most of the process. It was only in a rest before (what I still thought was) the run out, that I tuned back in for a few moments to check all the engine lights were good. This level of focus is what I need to work on a develop, because I think it will lead me well beyond what I ever thought I was capable of. To be fair, I don't have a clue what I am capable of, and this seems to ring more true all the time.
Anyway.
Rest week (at least from climbing) this school week, with a double session on the weekend.
Happy days!
Dave Macleod has put up two very prominent posts recently. Both plugging his book which I have yet to buy, but still totally valid.
The first is about how he got from 8b to 8c+ in 18 months. The message seems to be, to get everything right before getting everything strong. This includes technique, tactics, psychology, how to handle yourself. Have everything else dialled, and then just throw in some fingerboarding.
Unfortunately, I don't have the thatcherite dole system to rely on, and I don't have time to climb all day every day. I also can't rely on my climbing EVER supporting me. Therefore, I need to do what Steve McClure suggests and find the balance. A bit of dissertation here, a bit of fingerboarding there. I need to put serious hours on the rock, but I need to compensate for the time it takes to accrue strength and power-endurance by throwing in some fingerboarding and hard wall sessions.
This is what I have been doing for a little while, and it seems to be working in my favour.
I just need to keep it up, and optimize.
