What would clifford do?

its been a funny couple of days over here in Mortonland. I last posted after a very early morning on the way down to London. Got into town for 8am and can heartily not recommend being dog tired and dazed amidst the peak rush hour commuter chaos. Made it to old broad st, started doing what I had to do which I anticipated finishing about 1300 in order to get to a climbing wall for a few hours. Everything went badly wrong from the off and continued to do so through the morning. It got to 1530 before I could get off to my hotel to drop off my bags and do some testing. I felt fully jaded. Found the hotel and it was grim. Not happy. Checked in and went up to my room. Nothing actually wrong with it, just dilapadated and impersonal. So, I do a bit of testing, have a cuppa and head straight back out. On the tube on the way back round to Liverpool street I feel shocking. cant wait to get to bed, get back on site early and do what I have to do, eventually finishing around half 8. I'm walloped and go straight back to the hotel to sleep.

the next morning after I do about an hour of work in the hotel room, its apparent I wont have to do too much more and can head home. Dash off to St pancras and make the 1025 train north - psyched! this means I'll be home at 1245 and out on the grit by 1330. Awesome. Where shall I go? half form a plan to go to the plantation to do help the young and then look at this brass monkeys, then head to burbage. thats settled then, thats what I'll do. Suddenly for some reason I am reminded of vicky Barrett's text about rubicon being mint and I start to weigh up going back there.... the thing is, I've really enjoyed the grit of late, plus, because of Roy's list - which contains lots of easier problems, I feel like I am actually doing things, I'm ticking my way through loads of cool stuff and its boosting my confidence and straightening out my neuroses. So, initially, I'm a bit reticent to go and fail on tsunami again, but as the journey north continues I talk myself into it and thats where I plan to go.

 

Deliberately I dont tell anyone my intentions - In case I fail, I can just not mention I went in the first place. Get off the train and I run through the station to the taxi rank (would have got a bus, but a: I'm not paying, and b: i am psyched). By the time I get home I've noticed that the normal pre rubicon nerves/excitement arent present, theres excitement, but I dont feel as nervous. I think about what Ned said - just relax and see what goes down as I drive out. Theres loads of cars there - must be walkers I hope inwardly. My heart sinks when I walk in and theres about 5 guys on the kudos wall. Shit shit and shit again! I take my stuff over. the floor is fully slithery but its only mud, theres not actually that much water about. I can see now that the guys on the kudos wall are trying that jump start thing - phew! at least I wont be queuing to get on my problem. I get chatting, and they seem sound. Young, but nice enough. One of them is trying the press with wack foot beta, I point out the foot hold but he dismisses my advice, continuing on his way. I go off and warm up. When I get back he still hasnt done it, and I reiterate the knowledge - the first time he tries it, he does it! You can lead a horse to water etc etc.

I start on Tsunami. The holds all feel pretty reasonable, but I really do have this problem pretty wired. Pull on and nail the sloper - feels mint, cant fault the conditions anyway. Walk feet across rightwards, but they feel really insecure and ultimately, my right foot plops off into the mud. I clean everything again, start the stopwatch and put a little chalk dab on the right bits of the footholds. More goes happen and I get to the last move a couple of times, but it feels miles off. The lads loose interest and wander off to try rubicon. I feel around the left hand pinchy undercut thing, and wonder if the little finger catch has shattered a bit more - I think it feels a bit different. Work out there is somewhere for the little finger that changes the move from being a full on slap to being a controlled slap. This doesnt sound much when I write it out, but on the link from the sitter it might be all thats required. Theres another sequence change I've found that I havent mentioned - This session, I've started moving my center of gravity right for the move left into the pinchy undercut thing. It means that instead of having to snatch the undercut, I can take it in complete control - and, crucially, settle that all important little finger on the notch.

The 'I'm going to do this' pre-ascent nerves set in and I wonder if I've had too much coffee. Sit myself down and give my boots a squeak, pull in to the wall and set my hands up in the slot. Because the very back of the pocket is dank, I'm really not using my right hand, just sort of starting with it resting on the lip, as I pull up to the sloper with my right the thought 'What would clifford do' flashes into my head, I smile inwardly and think that he would have done it ages ago and refocus on the job in hand. The subtle changes in position, the nuances of individual holds all come back, I'm in the zone and I know I can do it, with my right hand crimping seven shades out of the sloper, I step right to the spike, stretch underneath with my left foot, then right again onto the good foothold, out of the corner of my eye I can see one of the lads has come back, but is considerately waiting silently a little way down the path, I come in for the match and my thumb locks on to the pinchy thumb catch under the sloper, I move my right hand out of the way and lock up to the press hold in good control. I take it just right, and because I've moved to it slower, I weedle my fingers just perfectly into the hold and move my feet until my right foot is on the square cut hold on the rail. Really bone that right handhold now to pull my weight over my right foot and theres a sweet spot at which it becomes easy to reach back left into the pinchy undercut thing, I'm moving slower and am able to adjust so that my little finger is on the notch. Pull into the position pasting my left foot down on an unhelpful smear, and again, theres a point at which the outward force becomes undercutting force, comes onto your biceps and feels more probable. Stare at the finish jug and bang - I've nailed it! yes yes yes! let out a gurgled cry and it doesnt feel as hard as it should have felt considering how long I have spent trying to do it, but its a slow burning sinking in of happiness that I mute out until that evening. Amazing. I think I have been trying it off three fingers in that undercut until now, and my own advice about wack beta has been borne out in practice!

As soon as I've dropped off and exchanged pleasantries with the lads I've put my stuff away and legged it to the car. Stanage awaits!

Yomp up to Help the young and it feels dead hard. Am being an idiot, and two mins later its done. Turns out that this lovely problem was retro claimed by paul mitchell after char did it. Try the stand and have no idea what to do, plus, theres a fair wind blowing and its fully freezing. I sack it to find brass monkeys which would appear to be more sheltered. What a great problem this looks! Dylan has sent me some beta, but it involves left hand sidepull, then right all the way to the crimp - hellfire - thats desperate! I try it, but end up flying backwards down the gully and with visions of breaking my legs I back off and walk back to the car.