Hulking beauty

'Hmm, clouds' I thought as the minutes left in the working day ticked past. 'At least it will keep the sun off' - I tried to reassure myself that clouds were a good thing. It'd been a busy yet productive day - which is one of the better sorts of days to have if you are going climbing. It's no good being catatonic as that makes it hard to shape yourself when the time comes. The time came and like a dog from a trap I was off down the stairs, making the coffee and squeezing my pads into the car.

Predictably, there was noone at my choice of destination. Having seen the Tor so dry yesterday I felt certain there would no be wetness, and therefore I was suprised that it was actually wetter than Saturday, which is quite interesting - as it hasn't rained since saturday, so it must be about a 2 day delay from when it rains to when the crag gets wet. As an example, on Saturday Cherokee lane was totally bone, yesterday the right handhold was soaked. I wonder if the rate of seepage is constant? Conditions didnt feel amazing. It was very still and about 11degrees. There were midges out (which I have never seen at the place in question), and yet again - the old skin was keen to show its face in spite of a patina of liquid chalk.

I worked through my warm ups feeling pretty fruity, but saving the judgement of my performance until I had tried my objective. I could barely pull on. My heart sank. I fumbled a bit more and it wasnt going anywhere. I had a coffee. Maybe I should try the Thing? I do, its hideous. I remonstrate with myself for being so weak willed - we dont get anywhere without trying - are you going to just roll over and die? give up without giving it your best? I remember Dave Mason's comment from last week - 'you did this last time, couldnt pull on for ages and then suddenly were at the top'. I refocus my efforts. Its such a funny move that first one. The left hand is on a wee pinchy edge thing which forces your fingers to stack onto your little finger which is handily wedged in a groove - and it hurts. After a bit more fannying about, I hold the hold totally different (higher up and away from this sharp skin pinching notch) and I can do the move everytime (numbnuts). From zero to hero, suddenly I am hitting the sloper on every go.

Hitting, but not holding it. Shit. It felt better than this last week, then, every time I hit it, I held it. Not today. Risking life and limb I teeter up the ladder and scrub the shit off the sloper. It still doesnt feel great, but I am getting the right hand pinch better and better each time, which gives me more control of how I hit the sloper. From sliding straight off it I am holding it, my feet flap uselessly beneath me, I kick back in and bring my right hand up - YESSSS! I move my left like Jasper said, crimping the ripple thing, put my heel on, look back at the ground to see I am now directly over my bag and loads of ankle breaking detritus - brilliant. I drop off without trying and move the pads into the right place.

The next go is even better, the holds are in the right place, I can pull on them and again, I am on the top holds, scuttling into postion. For much of this my feet arent on anything, but somehow I remain attached. This time I am not giving up! I wack my heel across to the moffatrocity hold and rock onto it, it comes into balance when you commit and I casually reach the crimp. I feel a bit uncertain, but have a video of Tim doing Superman2, he flicks the heel to a toe and pushes back left into the edge, I do, the confidence returns and presto - it's done! I feel like doing a pullup, kissing the wall and then dropping off - but I dont, I dont want a mouthful of dirt.

Thats it - ticked! brilliant. I feel a bit like I should really have done it some time ago, but its ok. I'm in no rush (only I am, but I dont know why). I pop to the tor and bump into Jordan and Naomi Buys. Jordan is on Boot boys, Andy Pollitt's rarely repeated 8a+. I once held Zippy's rope on it, and he made it look desperate. Jordan has applied comp technique/style to pass the mono, and is having redpoints - it looks feasible. I get quite excited about having a go (in the future). Powerband has wet footholds, and I fire out of the slots a couple of times, but ultimately get to the end after a bit of drying (with my long johns). Someone has left their pants at the end of PB. I can only imagine they were so happy to get there, they removed their underwear in delight.