Team Geared Up

NEWBRIDGE, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Sun. Blue skies. climbing in a t-shirt. Am I still in Thailand? Amazingly, I’m home: Ireland. After going through all the confusion of jumping multiple timezones, it’s been a shock to find myself arriving in weather just as good (if not as hot ;) as what I left.
And back to home turf. There’s always things you’ll miss (old friends, still can’t beat a cup of tea here!, the scenery) and things you won’t (is it possible that traffic has gotten worse?!). My only worries? Losing all my hard-earned fitness for sport, and the mild consideration of future plans……
Still though, it’s been a busy few weeks which hasn’t left much time for doodling. Some days in the wonderland of Glendalough in Wicklow, sunning ourselves while bouldering on the sea cliffs of Doolin bouldering and scoping out new rock in the hills of Kerry, it hasn’t left much time to thinking about the ’settling down’ concept :)

And then there was the discussion with good friend, and current hard climber in Ireland, Dave Ayton to check out some sports climbing in Wales. A quick hop across the water on Ryanair (don’t ask about my airmiles this year, it’s embarrassing), fight the urge not to start climbing on Dave’s own bouldering wall in the spare room I’m crashing in, and we’re off to check out one of the UK’s bigger sports venues: Malham. Jeebus! Why haven’t I been here before. Dave is feeling especially guilty having lived in the UK for the past three years and never being here…….

A rough description: take an old waterfall of limestone, 60-ish meters high, split it into two tiers, and this is it. To say it’s pretty impressive is an understatement as Steve McClure (UK super-sports climber) says, if it was anywhere else in Europe it’d be famous.
Essentially a lot of the routes in the sensible grades are only 10-15meters (30-45foot) high, and expect lots of crimps. For those thinking about it, you’d want to be climbing in the low 7’s (low 5.12) to enjoy this place. Considering most people we saw were just working and routes, make sure you have a stickclip and you’ll be fine :)

 

In traditional Irish fashion, we unknowingly ended up going at the worst 7a (5.12a) on the crag first. Wasn’t too bad and all I was thinking was if that was the worst……… Jump on a 7b (5.12c) next and fall off the final moves. Still though, I was getting psyched after having not being on routes in almost 4 weeks.
In between all this, Dave was showing that he’s been putting some training in too, and Caroline was proving that after only 30-ish sports routes ever, she’s well on her way to settling in the 7’s.
So myself and Dave had been quietly eye-balling one of the local (and UK) classics, Raindogs (8a/5.13b). All I can say is that after only one working of the route each, I’m optimistic. I’ll have to check the calendar to see when I got over again.
In all, we tried 3 7a’s (5.12a), 2 7b’s (5.12c), and an 8a (5.13b) over two days. Not bad and I can highly recommend about 5 of them (one was a little sharp and loose).

Understandably I’m back home now feeling a little stiff and sore as I’ve never used so many crimps, sidepulls, and undercuts. But with a trip to Spain coming up in two weeks (did I mention settling down? ;), I’ve already had my first session on the fingerboard.
But having said that, I fell asleep dreaming of the sequence of moves on Raindogs last night so who says Euro rock is where it’s at………

signing off….

- Neal :) -