New Discoveries

Again the weathers been awesome, with a lot of crags drying out nicely and the days are getting longer! We were joined at the weekend by Jerseys strongest crimp meister Ted Kingsnorth and were keen to check out some new crags that we hadnt been to. First on the list was Eastwood rocks near Matlock. Ed had quick hit to the crag last year sometime where he had ticked the classic traverse and had given it high praise. So we headed over to check it out.
Its a small but great little crag tucked away in the trees on the side of a hill. After a quick look around we got stuck into the brilliant traverse which goes at around V9. Its got nothing too desperate, but is fairly long and sustained and is a real joy to climb. The crux involves a knee bar and some heal-toe tension. After putting together a quick makeshift knee-pad (ie t-shirt rapped around my leg), I sent the traverse with Ted nailing it soon after. Ed then reversed it making it look slightly harder than the original. Other problems that were ticked were Hats for Clowns V7 and the wrongly graded Ten Inch Zombies V7 (given V5?? I couldnt do it!).

We then changed venue and headed over to Gardoms South which is anouther venue we hadnt yet been to. This is where the highly rated Suavito V8+ lay hidden. This problem is with out dought one of the best blocs I've ever climbed. It is truely awesome! A magical line up a steep prow of decent height with a spicey top move. Everything I look for with a boulder problem. Ted showed us the way with a quick send having already done it in the past. I then got it 2nd go and then Ed smoothly flashed it. What a line! Ted then cooley balanced his way up China in your hands V8+ and The Jackalope V6. A great day out.

The other thing that I forgot to report was that we competed in the CWIFF a couple of weeknds ago down at the Works in Sheffield. Had a wicked day with Ed narrowly missing the Semi-final at 17th and me 34th.