On the 6th July, I headed to Sheffield to climb in The Peak District with Steve ‘OffWidth’ Clarke and on the 7th. Before hand we decided on Burbage North as it was hot and it had easy access and escapes.
The first route I toproped and succeeded on was a an arete, yes an arete, called Overhanging Buttress Arete. The route has a technical start where the first foothold is a smear – this wasn’t made easier by the fact I was wearing downturned shoes that I use at walls – but the smear held in place. After a move after across the arete the climbing is easy – but I made the mistake of pulling too much and getting myself into lock off positions.
The next route I tried but I didn’t complete was Burgess Groove (M).
Two small un-named micro routes – one I did on toprope and the other I did as a second.
After my failure on Burgess Groove I did two small routes that at the time were unnamed and not in UK Climbing log books. One of them, which Steve later Grassy Corner (M), I did as a second after Steve rope soloed it and the one, which Steve named Cleft and Wall (M), I did on a toprope. Both of these routes required some pushing movements which tested my antagonist muscles training. Grassy Corner is a lovely little groove that has nice footholds and tests your bridging ability.
A very short trip to The Foundry Climbing Wall
After a break I headed to the Foundry Climbing Wall which was a short walk from the hotel which I was staying in. After passing my ropework proficiency and warning up I headed to the tip floor bouldering area as there was nobody to lead or with. I am going to say much but I attempted problems of many grades including easy grades and the hardest grade band. During this time I tried to use dynamic movement on steep problems as we were taught in BMC Fundas 3.
A small review of the La Sportiva TX4 approach shoe.
As I bought these during lockdown, this was the only the second time I wore them on the way to a crag and first time I wore them at a crag. On approach to a climb and escaping the climb I found the shoes to be very supportive and solid. On climbing Mod graded routes – as I did in this trip – the Vibram Mega Grip sole worked really well on the grippy rough gritstone. I found that the shoe was supportive enough even on sideward facing handholds and small-ish footholds.
A quick review of The Foundry Climbing Wall
In early mid September I returned to Sheffield to indoor lead climb with a Mini Mansell – yes that is right, all the way to Sheffield from London just to indoor lead climb – who I met in a FB group called Sheffied Climbers, at The Foundry I lead my first F4+ and lead belayed safely. The Foundry had met all the expectations I had for it. The bouldering areas have a wide variety of problems of all styles and grades but the main feature of that bouldering that is loved by many climbers is The Wave where hardcore climbers can train for routes from F7c to F8c – yes F8c. For roped climbers who don’t have a partner there are many autobelays in both The Fridge and the main roped area – I believe that they go all the way to F7a. For top-rope lovers there are many routes and the grades start from easy F3 all the way to F7a I think. For lead climbers there are many areas – including The Fridge where I did my 1st indoor lead – but the biggest area is the Five Ten Overhang where the highest grade was F8b when I was there last. Training wise, The Foundry has an old school pull up bar and dip bars and the original Jerry Moffatt campus board – I used it before I lead climbed – and near the main bouldering area there are several fingerboards and behind them there is an area with weights, mats and a foam roller.
A review of The Black Diamond ATC for indoor lead climbing.
When I lead belayed my climbing partner at The Foundry I didn’t use my GriGri 2019 because I didn’t have enough practice on paying out slack with it but what I had used to lead belay was my Black Diamond ATC belay device. I found that light BD ATC could pay our slack smoothly and efficiently and as well as the GriGri 2019. What I liked about using the ATC was there was not much when setting up to lead belay and paying out slack.
A long TripAdvisor review of The Quays Hotel in Sheffield – I have included this because of the training facilities in the hotel.
A long TripAdvisor review of Novotel Sheffield City Centre – I have included this because of that training facilities and the proximity to Sheffied Hallam University.
Une petite revue de Depot Climbing Nottingham
Last week I met up with Steve again, this time in his home town of Nottingham, to train and climb at Depot Climbing Nottingham and Nottingham Climbing Centre.
In my honest opinion I think it is the best bouldering facility in Nottingham – the Nottingham Climbing Centre has a good bouldering area. It is a large single floor bouldering only wall with a vast amount of problems of different, styles, angles and grades. This wall has the majority of equipment needed to train – I couldn’t see the competition wall or gym area, they may have been out of bounce. I would like to say that like its brother in Sheffield, Depot Climbing Nottingham, has very friendly and very helpful stuff – a member checked to see if they had La Sportiva Skwarmas in size Europe 41.5 in stock.
First Friction Labs products testing – Secret Stuff Liquid Chalk with Gorilla Grip Performance Chalk.
At my last visit to Depot Climbing Sheffied I tested the two Friction Labs products – their excellent Secret Stuff Liquid Chalk and their High Performance Gorilla Grip Chunky Chalk – that I bought from the shop in Depot Nottingham. I tested them out on a competition wall problem that involved huge pinches. The Secret Stuff liquid chalk lasted the whole of the testing part of the session and the Gorilla Grip really held on those huge pinches – I worked the problem as much as I could and each time the chalk gave me the extra edge I needed.
A very small review of Friction Labs Gorilla Grip and Secret Stuff Liquid Chalk
Even though, this is the first time I used these two products together, they work really well as a team. On large volume pinches both products work very well. In my opinion one application of Secret Stuff is very long lasting and can work both as a base layer with another chalk and solo. It is very easy to use and after words can be easily washed off after the session is finished. I have never used Gorilla Grip chalk before, the chunkiness of the chalk made it very easy to break and apply to the hands. During my time using it I only had to apply it or it two times. In my opinion, I think Friction Labs Secret Stuff and Gorilla Grip are two of the best climbing chalks around and, yes, I do hink they are good value for money.
Thanks
I would like to thank Steve Clarke for helping on the way to Burbage North and at the crag, I would also like to say a big thank you to him for driving me around Nottingham and his hospitality in Sheffield and The Peak. I would like to thank Ania Kaminska for her help on the way to that crag and at the crag. I would like to thank the very friendly and helpful staff at both Depot Climbing Nottingham and Depot Climbing Sheffield for all their help and the staff at The Foundry Climbing Centre for letting me lead climb at their wall.
A little bit about the author.
Savvas holds the Indoor Climbing Assistant award and is Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI) and Foundation Coach (FCA) trained. He has attended the majority of BMC Coach Education workshops and is going to do Development Coach Training this January with Ian Andrew Dunn. At present he is working on getting all the indoor leads. He is doing an online NSPCC course on Child Protection in Sport and Physical Activity and will attend a First Aid Course in the new year. In the near future Savvas hopes to do his Foundation Coach assessment and his Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI) training. Last Summer Savvas was told by Ian Andrew Dunn that a certain Kendal based climber would love for him to do the route Sabotage (8c+) at Malham Cove. This April Savvas is heading to that bouldering paradise of Fontainebleau. Savvas is sponsored by Friction Labs.
SavClimbing 