October 19, 2008

The flight from San Francisco to London began in the afternoon on October 13th, a date I had been long awaiting. Our eastward flight hastened the sunset to the west and the sunrise to come. Too excited to sleep, I watched passively has the turbulence threatened to slosh the water out of the cup sitting on the tray table of the vacant middle seat. Hours blended into one another and soon the reflection of the moon on the right wing of the plane was replaced with the pale glow of the coming sunrise over England.

Alex Honnold and I made it through customs relatively easily and by 7:30 AM had staked out a corner of the terminal in which to sit through the delirious hours of the night (according to our body clocks). After 7 hours of waiting, Matt Segal and Cory Richards finally arrived and we all piled into the rental car for the long haul up north to Salford.

Our first day included a tour of three areas: Caley, Almscliff, and Ilkley. Caley was a bit too “green,” a fitting term for an area or climb that has grown a layer of moss/lichen over it during the wet season. Almscliff was the first area we climbed at. With scattered boulders below a small cliff line that caps a rolling, green hill, we each climbed the same easy boulder problem before realizing that this wasn’t going to be a communal session at the rocks, but a personal exploration of the area. Just as quickly as we
arrived, we began running around the area, soloing easy routes and admiring the landscape from perfectly textured handjams. A stiff, brisk wind picked up and added to the intensity of each moment. After what felt like days of sitting, it felt amazing to move on the rock in a new area, with a new landscape, a new smell, with a different feel, a different style, and no pressure. Unforgettable.

The last area we visited that day was called Ilkley, and it hosts one of the most beautiful, classic, and hard routes on the Grit: The New Statesman. Given E8 7a, the grade means that it is both bold and sustained with very difficult climbing. In short, it breaks down to 25’ of v9 before you get to your first protection placement. Above lies another 25’ of highly technical 5.12 climbing on perfect stone. The climb tackles a striking arete on the right side of the wall (pictured below).

After top roping on the climb on day 1, I felt confident that I could put it together on lead given the right conditions (cold and windy). Our third day provided just that. With two small wires and a small cam clipped to my harness (see picture), I waited for a cold wind to tell me it was time to go. When it came, I stepped onto the wall and climbed to the top.

Climbing on the Grit is an interesting mix of highball bouldering and trad climbing. With the New Statesman, I felt pretty comfortable because at the height that I am used to highball climbs topping out, I get in a piece of gear to protect the next bit of climbing.

Each new day out exploring reveals at least 4 more lines that I am psyched to try. It is a bit overwhelming. Yesterday, Saturday, we went to Burbage South, an area outside of the famous climbing town of Sheffield. Burbage hosts a high concentration of the most demanding routes on the Grit, including Parthian Shot E9, Equilibrium E10, Braille Trail E7, and Samson E9. With perfect conditions, I took the opportunity to try the moves on Equilibrium on a top rope. After 2.5 hours of hanging off a gri-gri, with maybe 60 seconds of actual climbing, I deciphered a subtle, complex, yet powerful sequence of the beautifully blunt arete. Success comes in small steps when the climb is only 35 feet tall. Two moves can actually be the majority of the serious climbing on one of these routes. With Equilibrium however, it is a series of body position dependent moves with nothing more than pebbles for your left hand and a blunt arete for your right hand. Just unweighting the rope and holding a single body position was a great success. With each move so uncertain and difficult, I could only do so many in a row before I would have a dangerous amount of slack out on the static rope. In the end, I managed to do all but three foot movements on the climb. But how devious and difficult those foot movements are! What I have discovered about climbing on the Grit is that it is getting into the correct body position that’s difficult, not the individual hand movements. This new style takes a lot of getting used to, but I am having a blast adapting my style and learning new techniques on these amazing climbs.

That’s all for now! The rest day continues. When we climb next will be dictated by the weather, which insofar has been great. However, the forecast looks to be dubious in the next few days......

Until next time,
KJ