I finally managed the 7c+ at Murla which is my hardest lead to date. In the end it took about 4 visits and annoyingly felt easy on the successful go. It’s a brilliant route although not as overhanging as I would normally be tempted by. It does have some cool tufas on it though and generally the holds are pretty positive which is always good!
After succeeding we had a little go on an 8a+ at Murla and an 8a at L’Ocaive. The 8a+ feels to savage for the state of my tendons on my left hand and although the 8a feels much more likely there is a move at half height that felt really hard and it’s not really my style, i.e. it’s long and demands quite a bit of fitness that I don’t really have at the moment. Leah was looking really strong on the 8a+ at Murla after her second go and she should probably get it done pretty rapidly (as always!).
With clients coming out for “Epic Adventures” holidays it was time for me and Leah to fly the nest for a while so we headed to Sella, The Orange House, Wildside and most importantly “Ergometria”.
Ergometria is a route that I saw Leah do last year on my first sport climbing trip. It’s an awesome 25m 8a that has a hard start, some amazing tufas and two good rests. I’ve wanted to climb 8a ever since the trip last year and although it has always seemed like an impossible goal I decided it was time to give it a try.
I got on the route on the first day at Wildside and was pretty overwhelmed by the difficulty level and couldn’t really see a way of doing it. I managed all the moves up to the chimney rest but was tired and it was Leah’s turn to play on something. At least the clips were in.
Over the next couple of days I worked the route and did some fall practice to try to reduce my fear levels slightly (I think it’s working). Each evening we would go back to the spot where our van was parked, one of the best so far.
The amazing spot we found at Wildside, Sella
That evening it started to dawn on me that not only could I do all the moves but I might even be able to piece things together. It was time for a rest day.
Next day was spent on the beach getting slightly pink and playing bat and ball. By the time we were back at our spot and in bed I couldn’t help thinking about the next day, the day.
We had a slightly slow start, ate breakfast, stretched a bit and soaked my finger. Then we made our way to the crag. I decided to warm up on the route to refresh my memory and when I arrived at the knee bar rest it suddenly turned into my first redpoint attempt. It was probably an error because flash pump soon kicked in and I couldn’t push through to the top. After a rest on the rope I went to the top anyway and made sure the top was wired.
A long rest was in order so I belayed Leah on her first redpoint attempt of Celia 8a. She did it super smoothly and chalked up her fourth 8a and second on this trip. After that I was psyched, recovered and ready to get back on the route.
The start went better than before and after a while composing myself I pressed on to the knee bar. As I approached the hole I could hear a bird tweeting away inside, I wasn’t ready to blow another attempt so I pulled up got the knee bar in and hoped I wasn’t going to get pecked to death. I shook out for a while trying to ignore the pain of the rock digging into my leg before attacking the hard climbing above to the chimney rest. I arrived at the rest seriously out of breath and pumped out of my mind, I got my shoulder in and bridged between the two big tufas that form the chimney. I started to get my breath back and some blood back into my forearms and the top gradually started to seem possible. After a rest that was as long as my leg would bear I chalked up and pushed on, I felt good and before I knew it I was clipping the chain of my first 8a. Success!
My successful redpoint attempt of Ergometria 8a
The plan was to get an 8a route and an 8a boulder problem this year and one of them is now officially ticked. Weirdly, although it was hard, I had got it so wired that when I finally did it, it felt quite easy. I’m not sure what that means, maybe I should get on something harder? Either way, after the route was finished I was ready to take it easy for a while and get some steadier climbing done.
The next day we headed back to Gaz and Kates house for some R+R and to make a plan for the climbing ahead. We got on some easier ground at crags near the house for a few days and then it was my birthday. We had a day of kite flying (one of my presents), sitting on the beach and cool little cakes.
The kite on it's maiden voyage
My birthday Cakes
Having spent my birthday money on a new bag, some remote flashes and a traction kite we awaited the arrival of some more British homies John and Fran. The Nottingham mega-wads!
Gaz and Kate then spent the following few days trying to leave the country whilst the volcanic eruption repeatedly hindered their attempts. In the end they both got out of the country on the Saturday and we became in-charge of a wild puppy with a broken leg and 4 cats. Fortunately the horse is being looked after by someone else so it’s not too much like a zoo.
The Beast With new hair-do courtesy of Leah
Next up we went to a bunch of crags with John and Fran and on-sighted some 7a’s and a 7a+’s which were my hardest sport on-sights so far. After a few days of this kind of climbing me and Leah were both craving some hard pulling and I was ready for another project.
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