Bouldering near St Helen's Church, Siccar Point

An old map of the coastal crags between St Helen's Church and Siccar Point

Bouldering at Hummell rocks (III)

Hummell wall - Gullane beach (near Edinburgh) 

Conditions were good at Hummell Rocks (Gullane beach) yesterday.

I managed to climb a couple of hard lines. I doubt that these are FAs but the moves are cool and not recorded anywhere, so just in case someone would be looking for ideas, here they are.

I've given them Gaelic names, just because I can - It's my blog, so I make the rules, but who cares about obscure climb names anyway :)

1. Àirde An Làin, 6a : cool crimpy moves. Topping out is high and dodgy (mosh and bushes), Not recommended. Best is to escape rightward and down climb. 
2. High & Dry, 5 - see previous post. It did not feel like 6a after all. 
3. Leum, 6a: from a good side pull right hand, step up and reach high to a break. 
4. An t-sliseag 6b+: Sit-start both hands on an edge in the red part. Pop to slopers above the lip, move right then pop up again high to a hidden hold. Get over the overhang's lip and finish diagonally up and right. Top out or down climb. 
5. Àrd-ealain, 7a: Sit-start on poor crimps below the lip. Deadpoint to sloper above (hard not to dab) and again to better crimps above. The rest is much easier. Requires a good dry spell and cool conditions (an evening with no sea sea). 

Remember:

Don't use any hard/wire brushes ! 

Hummell Rocks is a soft sandstone crag by the beach. So holds will always be sandy here. In many cases, you will need to brush the holds before climbing but please, brush them very gently, using soft (not wire!) brushes, to avoid any damage to the rock. Soft nylon are the most popular, but at Hummel Rocks, even soft brushes need to be used gently! If you want to compete with the next guy, give him a chance to try the same climb ;)

Don't climb here less than 24 hours after the rain 

 Climbing on wet sandstone destroys it. Hand holds and footholds are softer and break apart more easily. Wait as much as possible, at least a week when there's been high humidity, cold temperature and already moist conditions.
So late summer is probably the best period to climb at Hummell Rocks.

Bouldering at Hummell rocks (III)

Hummell wall - Gullane beach (near Edinburgh) 

Conditions were good at Hummell Rocks (Gullane beach) yesterday.

I managed to climb a couple of hard lines. I doubt that these are FAs but the moves are cool and not recorded anywhere, so just in case someone would be looking for ideas, here they are.

I've given them Gaelic names, just because I can - It's my blog, so I make the rules, but who cares about obscure climb names anyway :)

1. Àirde An Làin, 6a : cool crimpy moves. Topping out is high and dodgy (mosh and bushes), Not recommended. Best is to escape rightward and down climb. 
2. High & Dry, 5 - see previous post. It did not feel like 6a after all. 
3. Leum, 6a: from a good side pull right hand, step up and reach high to a break. 
4. An t-sliseag 6c+: Sit-start both hands on an edge in the red part. Pop to slopers above the lip, move right then pop up again high to a hidden hold. Get over the overhang's lip and finish diagonally up and right. Top out or down climb. 
5. Àrd-ealain, 7a: Sit-start on poor crimps below the lip. Deadpoint to sloper above (hard not to dab) and again to better crimps above. The rest is much easier. Requires a good dry spell and cool conditions (an evening with no sea sea). 

Remember:

Don't use any hard/wire brushes ! 

Hummell Rocks is a soft sandstone crag by the beach.
So holds will always be sandy here. In many cases, you will need to brush the holds before climbing but please, brush them very gently, using soft (not wire!) brushes, to avoid any damage to the rock. Soft nylon are the most popular, but at Hummel Rocks, even soft brushes need to be used gently!
If you want to compete with the next guy, give him a chance to try the same climb ;)

Don't climb here less than 24 hours after the rain 

Climbing on wet sandstone destroys it.
Hand holds and footholds are softer and break apart more easily.
Wait as much as possible, at least a week when there's been high humidity, cold temperature and already moist conditions.
So late summer is probably the best period to climb at Hummell Rocks.

Bouldering in Galicia - Zona Norte (around Ferrol)

The last problem is called "Home de ferro" (Iron man). It's a classic 6c in Cabo Prior near Ferrol. The granit is rough but the location is really beautiful.

For more info, get the topo for all the bouldering spots in the north of Galicia:

Boulder en Galicia, Guía Zona Norte, (in Spanish), 
By Alejandro López Sánchez, 2013, 
Published in A Coruña, Galiza (Spain) by Campo IV 
Available at: Terra Deporte Aventura, Pi y Margall Street, no 53, Vigo 36202  (Tfno: 986 439 431) 
and also at www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/boulder-en-galicia/9788493990718/

Coastal bouldering (part 3)

Earlier this year, I sent my latest project at the local seaside venue that I discovered last year.

It's called "ìosal". It means "low" in Scottish Gaelic, because it is a low traverse and well... you can't climb it when the tide is high.

I haven't got a clue about the grade. It felt like the hardest climb I've ever sent, but then, every time I send a project, it feels like that. Still, this one is 5 or 6 moves long - the end part being much easier, so it's a solid 7b problem, probably harder.

There are a few other cool problems around but I won't give more details here - there should be plenty within the next edition of John Watson's Bouldering in Scotland guidebook.

Bouldering in the Burren at Oughtdarra

Leaba Na hAon Bho in Oughtdarra is an inland crag a little further up the road pass Ballyryan crags in the Burren (park at the Crumlin stone sign).

It's a bouldering option when Doolin boulders are soaked by sea spray - because the same sea wind that sprays the boulders in Doolin dries those further up inland.

Tayto Boulder - South Face

The cracks and features of this boulder were filed with empty crisp bags. 

This may be part of a local cult but given the proximity to the crags, it is possible that this dirty practice belongs to various social groups including hill walkers and climbers. 

I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

I've removed many of these bags but if you find some more, please take them home. 

The Burren is no one's backyard. 

1. Tayto, 5. Sit-start in the groove crack and go straight up to top out.

2. Mister Tayto, 6a. Same start but traverse the diagonal crack to reach holds beyond the round prow then top out.

3. The man inside the jacket, 6c. Traverse from far left (sit-start on big vertical crack) and link into 'Mister Tayto'.

The reach (6a?)

The cool moves of this problem are actually the start to a trad route called The Reach (E1 6a).
Start to the left of the slab with both hands on a sharp pocket and reach far right for an obvious crack. After this, it's either an easy highball or a jump off back to the bouldering mat.

 Arán Is Im 

1.  Arán, 5. Sit-start on the bottom right of the prow and climb it straight up on sharp holds. Top out.

2.  Im, 6a. Stand start on the left side (north facing) and climb up using a system of cracks. Top out.

3.  Arán is im , 7a. Hard link. Sit-start on Arán but cross leftwards using a slopey crimp (right hand) on the arête to reach the cracks to the left. Then finish up as for Im.

Location

Mini Font glossary

Everyone speaks English these days, right? So will the French understand the following climbing terms?

Arete ✓ 

An “arête” is a “ridge” in French. And in English too, the word is written with that little funny accent that they call a circumflex – according to Oxford dictionary anyway.

Beta ✗ 

Although more terms get into French thanks to the supremacy of American English, this term supposedly coined by Texan climber Jack Mileski in 1981 is unlikely to replace its French equivalent, méthode. Interestingly, method is probably a rare example of jargon that was first used by boulderers. In the context of climbing, it was first used by the Bleausards.

Crux ✓ 

This is the Latin word for “cross”, which for Christians, is synonymous of “crucifixion”. The French share with the Italians the belief that their language is more Latin than the Pope’s. So while French climbers will certainly know and use this term, they will firmly believe it is a French word. And wrongly so: the word is not in their dictionary and was probably borrowed to English. Incidentally, to tick a problem is faire une croix in French (to make a cross mark) and a tick list is a carnet de croix (cross mark book).

Deadpoint ✗ 

Supposedly first used by John Gill in 1969, this very useful word started to infiltrate the French climbing jargon only recently. It would be a great addition to French climbing lingo as it has no equivalent.

Dyno ✓ 

Short English words tend to be perceived as cool in French, especially if they look like something familiar, which is the case of this shortening of mouvement dynamique. Having said that, the French did not wait for John Gill to practice dynos – and they could have waited a long time since he’s never travelled to Font. Before the Internet was invented, dynos were called jetés (throws).

FA  ✓ 

Thanks to the popularity of web platforms promoting the competitive way of life, everyone is aware of the importance of first ascents. Yet it is unlikely that the English term will replace the French term. Indeed, FA are called openings (ouvertures) in French, because after all, FAs are about sharing.

Figure-4 ✗ 

The name of this climbing move was supposedly coined in 1982 by British climber John Arran. But the French don’t know who John Arran was (er… is?). They do know Tony Yaniro however, who popularised this move – so in French, this is called Le Yaniro.

Flash ✓ 

French speaking climbers and boulderers climb à vue (on sight), après travail (red point) or, like in English, flash. All three expressions are used as adverbs, not as verbs, duh.

Font ✗ 

This popular nickname in not used by the French. As far as the Bleausards are concerned, Fontainebleau has always been called Bleau – pronounced a bit like “blow”. Why would you change the name of your pond? Plus, everyone knows that a font is a type of printing characters, right?

Gaston ✗ 

This was a popular baby name in the French city of Marseilles in the 1920s. So it was the name that Mr and Mss Rebuffat chose for their son when he was born. He later climbed lots of mountains including the Grandes Jorasses and the Annapurna. Despite this fame, the French call the gaston move a shoulder move (épaule). Shameful really.

Highball ✓ 

According to Sherman, the term “highball” derives from the similarity between a highball climb and a highball cocktail glass. Both should be enjoyed with moderation. The French know what moderation is, but they usually think highballs have something to do with balls. And getting high.

Mantle ✗ 

French climbers don’t climb on their mantelshelf, they prefer to “re-establish” themselves, hence the climbing term réta (for rétablissement). Réta Authenac, for instance, is a famous 6b mantel of the Cuvier sector in Font, first climbed by Charles Authenac, in the 1930s, in his hard walking boots. He originally graded it 5+ but it must have taken him more than one session.

Rose move ✗ 

The English term derives from the world known French sports route La Rose et le Vampire, at Buoux. The French may feel honoured by this English choice of words, but they prefer to use the word derviche tourneur, or derviche for short, which in Farsi language refers to someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path in poverty and austerity. That’s because derviches from the Mevlevi Order perfom a famous whirling dance, hence the name given to this move.

V-scale ✗ 

John Sherman was born in 1959. The First Fontainebleau guidebook was published in 1945. Do your maths and you’ll understand why Font grades take precedence.  

Voilà!

Réta Authenac, in bas Cuvier, a famous mantle from the 1930s

Who's the True First?

The making of authenticity requires mysticism.

Roots cannot be authentic without legends, heroes and Gods, figures who newcomers can look up to.

As early as the 1940s, kids were riding boards on each side of the Atlantic.

This is a fact. 

There are photographs and written reports - US army auxiliary Betty Magnuson, for instance, reported in her letters having seen children in 1944 Parisian Montmartre riding boards with roller skate wheels (info sourced on Wikipedia).

That's what kids used to do. They'd screw the wheels of roller skates to a wood board, like this:

Actually, four-wheeled roller skates were patented in 1863, so it is likely that kids started to build skateboards even at the time of the rinkomania.

But such activity is not perceived as ‘proper’ skateboarding by today's skateboarding community because, authenticists argue, these kids were ‘children'. 

They were not skateboarding for the sake of it. They were ‘messing’. They were ‘just’ playing. 

Authenticists claim that skateboarding ‘as we know it’ or ‘as an end in itself’, was born when adult Californian surfers decided to invade the urban realm while sea waves were flat. 

In the authenticist discourse, the people who give the legitimate birth to the practice are often called ‘pioneers’. They’re usually described as the ‘first’ to have done something.

Here are the actual words of an authenticist, John Severson, publisher of The Quarterly Skateboarder, in his first editorial in 1964:

Today's skateboarders are founders in this sport—they're pioneers—they are the first. There is no history in Skateboarding—it's being made now—by you.

The authenticity of skateboarding had been forged in a couple of sentences. The coronation of 1964’s skateboarders as ‘founders of the sport’ forged the myth and initiated a cult. 

Even more striking is the denial of any pre-existing skateboarding facts – ‘there is no history in Skateboarding’ - which means that any previous recorded skateboarding activity, such as that of kids having fun in the streets 20 years earlier, is considered as pre-historic and therefore illegitimate. 

By writing up history, the authenticist forges history, never mind the facts.

To conclude, here's an inspiring video archive from the 1930s (maybe?), featured on Gizmo!, a documentary by Howard Smith, released in 1977. Among the daredevils could be John Ciampa, the ‘Human fly’ from Brooklyn, and the German stuntman Arnim Dahl.

Does this qualify as authentic buildering? Or as parkour, perhaps? Gosh, no, wait... They're not doing it as an end in itself, right? 

Well, never mind, let's call it ‘fun’.

Bouldering near Vigo - Parque da Penacova

While civilized celebrations were going on at home at the Edinburgh festival, I was enjoying myself, abroad, at a primitive fiesta.

Stones and rocks were to primitive people what cats and dogs are to us. I was bound to find boulders.

Unga Unga, 6b+/7a

The event was held in a clearing among the woods. The woods were full of big stones, many of them holding prehistoric marks, which gives the locals an excuse to get stoned:

They also use babies. They throw them at each other or use them as cushions. Some females even use them as fashion accessory:

The local granit is as rough as its primitive masters, but I survived anyway. 

Here's the climbing info:

Reta Cromañón, de pies, 6a

Matapiollos, sentado, 6b

3. Lance, sentado, 6c 

4. Saida proyecto

5. Proyecto eliminante, fenda
6. Unga, de pies, 6b+
7. Unga Unga, sentado, 7a 
8. Variante Unga, de pies, 6b+ 
9. Piel de troll, 6b+

Otro proyecto a cepillar

Our local guide, Bob the boulder:

Can you fix me?

Hai moitas pedras entre A Gándara e As Regadas no campo de festas prehistoricas do Parque da Penacova:

Usted esta aquí

The traditional gogomap locator:

And finally, the flyer of the Festa da Prehistoria:

Bouldering in Galicia - Corme

 Sector Gulich

El Gulich, SS, 6c+

 Sector Cerebro

Levitación en movimiento, 6c

Topo: 
Boulder en Galicia, Guía Zona Norte, (in Spanish), 
By Alejandro López Sánchez, 2013, 
Published in A Coruña, Galiza (Spain) by Campo IV 
Available at: Terra Deporte Aventura, Pi y Margall Street, no 53, Vigo 36202  (Tfno: 986 439 431) 
and also at www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/boulder-en-galicia/9788493990718/