Vertical Highs

First Part of Cave Overhall

2010-10-14T16:35:00.002Z

The first part to the new cave improvements is complete. The walls have been painted and touched up in time for the new mat to arrive later this week. The new set of problems will be set in the next two weeks. It's looking good.

The Big Rev Set.

2010-09-25T08:48:00.004Z

Its been a while since Ive had a chance to update the blog as most of my time has been taken up with the centre as the Winter draws in and climbers are forced more and more into the indoor environment. In order to keep everyone psyched for when the warm weather returns Revolution has started a big clean of all the holds in the centre, over 3000 of them. Each individual hold is being pressure washed and all the walls are being re set with the clean holds.

Ive tried many different methods of cleaning holds over the last five years but by far the pressure washer doe's the job the best. So far we have cleaned and re set the whole of the 9m walls plus the huge five meter roof and cave area. The rest is due to be completed over the next week or two.

Not only this but the roof has seen a brand new set of problems being put up by both myself and Rob Hutton, our resident route setter. These range from the jug fest yellow route which although big will be sure to pump you out to our very technical Blue route. The routes across the ceiling range from 5c through to 7c so there really is something for everyone to go at. Not only this but the higher 9m walls have also been re set with grades from 3a through to 6c.

Ill update the blog as and when we the other walls are re set with our nice and shiny holds. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the problems and if you've got any idea's regarding what routes you'd like to see then feel free to either speak to me at the centre or drop me an email sam@revolutionclimbingcentre.co.uk

So, i know we live i one of the flattest areas in the whole of UK but here at Revolution, were make sure your still in good shape for when the warmer weather returns.

No excuses now, get down and crank hard!!

Revolution Climbers Hit Portland

2010-08-02T10:45:00.007Z

Over the week beginning 19th July 2010, four climbers who frequently climb at revolution visited the sport climbing crags in and around Portland. Kieran, Dave and Jack headed down on the Monday into Portland itself and started out by visiting The Cuttings to get their first taste of UK sport climbing. Wisely they picked a great crag to start on, with it small easy buttress coming into view first as you approach, with grades for all climbers.

The guys spent the next few days climbing on different crags in the area as well as visting some of the brilliant bouldering areas that Portland has to offer. By thursday Rob Hutton, another local climber and route setter at Revolution appeared on the scene. The boys then stepped it and started to hit some of the harder routes with multiple ascents of The Sod 6a at The Cuttings as well as nearly everyone getting on the classic easy route of Slingshot 4b.

With the boys not wanting to stop climbing some days the bouldering sessions lasted late into the night with headtorch sessions becoming the normally way to end the day. Kiaren and Jack also wanted to find out what Portland had to offer in the way of DWS so on hot day the boys headed over to the sea and tried a few of the V1 classics on the old Dock.

With the boys now running out of time they headed for a bit more bouldering with Rob taking away the top prize finally getting all the tough moves on an unnamed V5. With this being their first visit to portland they were unsure of what to expect but judging by the tales and the smiles when they came back, i reckon its safe to say they had a great time and it wont be long till they go back!

Revolution Climbers Perform Well at BMC Youth Final.

2010-06-17T21:59:00.003Z

On Saturday 2nd June 2010 the BMC Youth Climbing Series Final took place at the awesome Ratho Climbing Centre. Two of Revolutions climbers had won the right to take part. Ellie Bacimester had a brilliant series by winning all of the qualifying rounds held throughout the South East to ensure her place at the final. Not bad for her first ever BMC competition!
Our other regular climber Izzy Cooke had also won her right to attend the final by finishing 3rd overall in her qualifying rounds.

The final sees a different setup with competitors now working in there areas team, with both Ellie and Izzy helping out the South East Team. The Girls spent all afternoon battling it out against the best youth climbers in Britain with Izzy flashing all three of her boulder problems to score full marks. On her rope attempts she managed to flash the first of the problem and getting a score of 94 on the second problem. The third problem was the hardest yet with Izzy managing a very respectable half height before peeling off.

Ellie had a similar good run on the boulder problems and being older had to lead all of her routes wheres as Izzy had the benefit of a top rope. Ellie managed a Flash on her first route and gaining very respectable points on her last two problems. The South East on the whole performed well with many team members placing high in the final results.

At the end of the day ellie had scored the highest team place for her group with a respectable 21st place. Izzy, who had already attended previous BMC finals for the last few years used her experience to good effect finishing in 9th place.

You can view the full results and the BMC take on the event here: http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=3743

With the South East scoring high it looked promising for the team to place high and at just after 6 the scores were announced with London and South East winning just beating the Peak team.

Well done to the whole team with special congratulations to Izzy and Ellie.

Round 3 in Kalymnos

2010-05-13T16:24:00.011Z

Its been under 24 hours since i got back from my third trip to the Greek Island of Kalymnos. Its was another fantastic week with great weather and some world class rock. It was a bit of an epic getting out there with a 12 hour wait at Gatwick as the Greek airports decided to strike. The flight boarded around seven in the evening but then we were informed that we had to wait on the plane for another 1.5 hours as we had missed our take off slot. Because of the delay it meant we had missed the boat on the other side and we had another five hour wait in a restaurant in Kos before the boat came at six thirty in the morning. The eight hour trip out there from my front door to the hotelended up taking over 29 hours so by the time we arrived we were even more keen to hit the rock as we had wasted a day traveling despite being very tired.

Its been a while since i last tied on to the sharp end and i struggled with my head a bit for the first few days but soon started to get into the swing of things. No such problem for the other Revolution local Rob Hutton who got straight into the swing of things with ascents of upto 6c meaning he was back on track and on form to make his holiday goal of a 7a onsight. The other members of the trip also started well with Mark Croxall, Danie Rushmere, Ben Read and John Samways all climbing well.

This form continued with Mark and Ben attempting routes upto 8a with Mark making a successful ascents of Helios 8a at the North Cave area and Ben coming very close. Rob climbed as good as Ive ever seen him and came close to his 7a onsight goal. He climbed Kastor at Arhi on his first ascent but could not claim his onsight badge as he had already worked the route on a previous trip but it was a great effort. He did up his game when we visited Kasteli with an ascent of Krotdebiki 7b on his second go after belaying Mark Croxall on the same route giving him some beta.

It was fantastic to watch Mark, Ben and Danie climb making everything they climbed look easy and effortless. After Marks success of Helios he laid his sights on a quick ascent of Gaia 8b at Oddessy. With only a few days to go he started to work the route with good progress making all the moves but struggling on linking them. Next day he was back up at Odessey and tied on for the lead. Marks effort was amazing and he made it half way up the route before peeling off. After speaking with Mark he thinks it will go next time when he plans to go back in October with bit more fitness and stamia in tow.

We finished the week with an evening multi pitch climb. Ben, Rob, John and myself headed upto sector School to attempt the 125m routes of Kalymnos 2000 and Platon. I had previously done Platon on a trip back in 2007 so me and Rob jumped onto Kalynos 2000 will John and Ben went on Platon. The climbing is easy (upto 5c) but the view from the top is fantastic with views across the island and out to sea. The abseil off of the route proved more interesting. Ben and John went first abseiling from the top to the previous pitches anchors and then tying off their 70 meter rope and abseiling down all the way to the bottom. After dropping their rope me and Rob set of on our single 60meter Joker. Because we could only abseil 30 meters at a time we had to ab everything pitch making our descent alot longer. On pulling the rope at the end of the third abseil it became stuck and no amount of pulling would budge it. The decision was made that Rob would climb up on the other end of the rope belayed by myself and try and free it. I came close to dropping my belay device and before we had finished the light had faded. It was a long hot walk out made worst due to having no water. We arrived back in the hotel and hit the bar where we could finally laugh about the experience.

All in all we had a great trip and I'm already looking forward ed to going back. Its been great coming away with such talented climbers and its really pushed me to train harder and focus on becoming stronger. I only hope that the urge to train lasts. There are some photos of the trip in the toolbar to the left.

So its back to work tomorrow fresh with ideas of new routes. The centre will be reset in the next week so be sure to pop by and try them out.

Two weeks till Kalymnos!!

2010-04-22T10:20:00.003Z

Its now just under two weeks till our trip to Kalymnos and preparation is going well. Ive been climbing more than ever to try and get in some kind of good shape for our trip with regular sessions focusing manly on my worst weakness.....Stamina. But with the new roof sections at Rev and the ability now to do long traverses over steep terrain on the bouldering walls means i have no excuse to at least try. We were slightly worried about our flight what with all this volcanic ash grounding all planes but at it seems we might be good to go now after speaking to the airline.

I'm really looking forward to it and it will be a great way to blow away these winter cobwebs with a bit of foreign sun. I'm off to Craggy Island Sutton in a bit to put to test all my training and to see how I'm performing.

Update on new B uild at Rev.

2010-04-22T10:00:00.005Z

Right so its been a little over a week since i last updated you on the new upstairs build at Revolution. Its been all go with the floor going down last tuesday which looks really good and certinaly makes it look so close to being finshed but theres still quite a bit to go. The glass came this week for the main windows and the windows in the staircase walls and looks really good. Were just waiting on the sliding glass for the other window and the glass for the door and thats the glass done.

Downstairs is pretty much done with the main climbing recpetion looking really good. The walls have been re painted and the stock has come back into the cabinets and above the reception desk. The old kitched has been transformed as well with the walls now plaster boarded and painted and given a good clean along with its own lights. It looks and works really well.

Hopefully it wont be to long before we can open it to the public. Its now just a case of touching up and finishing off a few more odd jobs as well as the glass then we are ready to get it signed off by the building regs.

On other news the new lead wall above the arch has started to be set with Rob and myself putting up four routes. The far left line is open now as a top rope line only and the other two lines are still out of action. As soon as we fix in the quickdraws and some metal supports for these two lines we are good to go. Hopefully this will be done in the next week. The routes explore both the vertical and horisontal parts of the new section with the easiest of the routes being a jug fest of yellow holds going straight through the roof and up over the yellow wall. The hardest moves are gaining the new yellow wall via a thin rock over. It wont be long till you guys can find out for yourself. Three more routes have been added to the left hand top rope line with a fierce yellow and blue route as well as a good 5+ red line that will put to practice your bridging abilities!!

UPDATE: There is now a fierce green route taking somewhat of a wandering line through the longest section of the roof and over to the new yellow wall. This was set by rope and require a lot of stamina and good finger strength to overcome the small pockets on the roof. Again we hope to have this open to you in the next week.

New Build at Rev Update.

2010-03-30T22:57:00.007Z

Upstairs Party Room

As promised below are a few photos of the new build i mentioned in a previous post. Its really coming along now and tomorrow we start the painting which is a good feeling. Were still waiting for the glass and the floor but these wont be long although we wont be finished as quickly as we would of liked.

Oh and if anyone asks you if you can give them a hand to sand a ceiling after dry lining it, run.......run away!!!!!

After Sanding The Ceiling. Nice!

View From The Upstairs Area Of The Centre

Revolution Climbers Perform Well in Recent Comps.

2010-03-30T00:20:00.004Z

Two of the regular Revolution climbers have been busy on the competition scene of late with Isabelle Cooke and Ellie Bacmeister competiting in both the SIBL and the BMC Youth Climbing Series. Both girls entered all rounds of both competitions with Ellie winning every single round of the BMC comps to finish in top place and secure her place in the final in Scotland later on tis year. She also finished a very respectal 7th place in the SIBl in a category with over 40 climbers competing.

Isabelle has been just as pro active and has had a good competition season so far. She finihsed 3rd over all in the SIBL beating some much taller and experienced climbers. In the BMC Youth Climbing Series Isabelle finished 3rd overall which means she will be joining Ellie on the long trip up north to compete in the final at Ratho.

Both Girls have continued to improve with regular training sessions at the centre and have now got their sights set on the final. Both girls and their families joined me on a trip to Harrisons over the Autumn and managed to climb problems upto 5b. Not bad for their first trip outdoors.

Ill keep you updated as they continue to perform well. Hopefully the new walls at Revolution will be of help in their training.

Peace

Okay gonna promise to keep more updated.

2010-03-29T23:59:00.003Z

Right so ive been pretty slack of late, alright really slack. Its been almost a year since my last post but think i might of got the bug back to post again. Its been really manic over the last year, so i thought id post up whats been happening. The 2009/10 SIBL series came and went with six fun packed round. I really enjoyed this years series with some great rounds and working with some of biggest names in the business. Was great to have a day setting with Gaz Parry at Evolution climbing wall and visiting walls id never been to before. Really looking forward to the next series. I have afew months break from it all now and will start the organising of it come late May.

In the mean time however i am still keeping busy. At the moment we are building a large extension at Revolution with the addition of some sick new lead lines and we are currently building a new upstairs specator area over looking the wall. It should all be completed in the next week or two and its gonna make the centre feel and work so much better. Its gonna be sick when its finished. Ill have some pictures up in the next day or two of how progress is going.

Ive also got a trip planned to Kalymnos again. It will be my third time out there and am really keen to finish off some of last years projects. Ill be heading over with some good mates from the centre, John Samways the Lyon rep for the centre and two sponsored climbers: Mark Croxall and Danie Rushmere. We leave on May 5th for one week. Really wanted to get the first flight out but that booked up within days so second flight out will have to do. Time to treat myself to some new shinney things me thinks.

Apart from that work has kept me busy. i have my brothers stag do and wedding in May too and im looking forward to making sure the stag do gets messey. Car is playing up and is gonna cost too much to fix so ebay awaits for it me thinks. It has however meant i have been getting out on the bike of late and to my surprise im really enjoying it. It takes only a few minutes more than my car to get me to work so ive no excuse really.

Keep an eye on the SIBL website for more updates on the up and coming 2010/11 series.

Climb On!

Sardinia 2009

2009-05-24T09:46:00.002Z

Okay, so while my Internet connection has been down I was away in Sardinia for a week with some guys from the centre. Again another fantastic holiday with its usual ups and downs and some great laughs along the way too. Below is a quick summary of our trip.

We left Sunday morning around 1am for Gatwick Airport. I had just finished a 12 hour shift so was defiantly not in the mood for the drive up but knowing your going away kind of keeps you up for it and before long we were at Gatwick buzzing.

After picking up the hire car over in Sardinia we started the two hour drive down to Cala Gonone and before long had arrived, dumped the gear in the apartment, and were at the first Crag of the holiday, a nice warm up and refresh days climbing at Cala Gonone. Some of the guys had done limited sport climbing before so we re capped on some the techniques used in sport climbing and before long they were away and climbing.

Next day saw us up at 'I Tornanti/Aguaplano' on the hill going out of Cala Gonone. The sport climbing newbie’s really started to shine with Flashes of 6a's on their second day and good attempts at harder routes. Myself and Rob cranked out a couple of nice 6+ routes before getting totally shut down on SunnyGirl. This route is defiantly going to make an appearance again next time im over there but its fingery all the way and fingers of steel are recommended. In the evening more guys turned up in the form of Tim and Jenny who had flew out at a later date to see us.

Next day and with a slight Hangover! we were out again and as team began visiting new and old crags climbing at our respective grades. Tim had unfortunately hurt his finger and was out for the week but came along anyway to offer his belaying assistance. The week was spent much in the same way visiting crags both in Cala Gonone and further afield. Unfortunately on the second to last day i pulled my tendons in my left hand and was unable to climb again for the holiday and became chauffeur to the guys. Highlights of the trip Include:

Robs 7b Red point at Cala Fuili
Branding
6b On sights my team members
6a flashes from the new guys
and good good food.

There are some pictures in the toolbar on the left hand side of the page of our trip away.
Until next time!!!

Update on Competition Team

2009-05-24T09:34:00.001Z

Unfortunately I have had big problems with my Internet connection but i think the problem has been solved now so im back.

First off a rather late update on what has been going on with our competition climbers. The main news is our young star at Revolution, Isabelle. She has now finished all three rounds of the BMC Youth Climbing Series and achieved a personal best of 2nd place overall. This means she is on her way to the Final to help support the South East Team in retaining there winning form in the competition. The Final is to be held At The Westway climbing centre in June.

Izzy is hard at work training and is now visiting the centre more and more often helping to maximise her chances of success.

We wish Izzy all the best for the competition along with the rest of the South-East Team.

Round two- More success for Izzy

2009-04-14T17:34:00.001Z

Izzy has managed to continue her recent good form in the BMC youth climbing series
by climbing to 2nd place once again. The event was held at the castle climbing centre in London with the same layout of three top
rope problems and three boulder problems.

Izzy now has one round left to decide weather she makes it into the final and join the other
south east winners to battle it out for national region glory.

A massive well done to Izzy once again and good luck for the third round on 25th April 2009

Competition climbing - Isabelle Cooke

2009-03-27T17:44:00.001Z

Isabelle has now been climbing at the centre for over two years and has managed some great competition results already. In 2007/08 Izzy entered the SIBL (Southern Indoor Bouldering League) competition and after six rounds at different centres she managed a very impressive 10th place. Not bad for a first competition. Izzy then tried her luck at the BMC Youth Climbing Series in 2008 and came third overall to secure her place on the South East Team who went to battle it out against the other regions teams at Rathro in Edinburgh were the south East team won first place in her category. Izzy kept up her good form in the 2008/09 SIBL were she finished 7th overall.

Izzy managed to get her best result in the first round of 2009 BMC Youth Climbing Series by climbing to 2nd place. She managed clean accents of all three lines
up to 7a. Not bad for 11 years old. She managed all but one of the boulder problems falling from near the top. There are two more rounds left and to reach the final Izzy must finish in the top three competitors. I will update the blog as news comes in of her results

Revolution would like to say a massive well done to Izzy and good luck for the next round!

Peak Trip Feb/ March 09

2009-03-07T20:36:00.002Z

Well, I have just got back from a trip to the Peak District with a couple of guys from the centre. We started of by driving the five and half hours to Almscliff and spent the day bouldering there getting up to V5. The next day we spent a damp session on the boulders at Caley which were certainly very impressive but the large majority of climbs we had come to do were not in condition so we made do we what was available and had an easy morning on the lower grade climbs round ‘The playground’ area climbing up to V4. We then visited Ilkley on the same day and viewed some of the impressive trad lines and the newly climbed ‘Getty’ which stood as one of Grit stones last great problems. We finished off by driving the hour or so south to Widdopp which proved to be a very isolated crag on the edge of widdopp reservoir. We had the whole place to ourselves and I pleasantly surprised to find the boulders in good condition.

Sam on the V5 eliminate at Almscliff

Next stop was Stanage and time to get the trad gear out. Conditions went good with very strong winds and some small outbursts of rain so we passed the day climbing some of the three star routes up to VS.
The next day conditions were not good again so we passed the day by visiting some of the other crags for a look around including Cratcliff, Frogatt and Cubar. We managed to squeeze a few climbs in but again conditions weren’t that confidence inspiring and the friction was not as good as we wanted to try some of the harder lines.

The weekend was clear and at times sunny (a first for me on grit climbing) and we were finally able to get to Stanage and climbs some the E1’s we had come for. After a bit of practice we managed to climb Elephant on a dog house which is graded E1 5b. Rich later went onto solo the route which was very impressive. We finished the trip off with a session on the Plantation boulders at Stanage with ticks of the Green traverse V6 and very close attempts on Deliverance being had by some of the guys.

Sam On Sunset Crack, Froggatt

All in all a good trip and everyone went home happy if not with sore Grit bashed hands. There are some photos of our visit on the Left hand side of the page.

Success!!

2009-03-07T20:35:00.001Z

So, finally managed to get the V9 problem finished about a week ago. As for the grade im really not too sure. The Crux more is a blind semi dyno round the corner of the overhang and although a hard move in itself its made harder by the fact its blind and I find I do it quite inconsistently. For me id put it about v8 compared to other routes I have done. Im just not that sure that it is V9 as although it has taken me longer to complete than other v8’s I think that’s down to the fact I am inconsistent on the blind move and that’s not because it’s a V9 move its just because its blind. It has had other repeats by some of the guys working it and grades have range from v7 to v9 but most agree its around v8. Anyway, onto the next creation. Route setting should be completed in the next week so no doubt our setters can come up with something equally as hard.

Update on Project.

2009-02-13T18:31:00.002Z

Well I've been on and off with the project since the last post as i have damaged my hand holding that horrible 'sharks fin' hold. But i got back on it today and fell from the last move so I'm still pretty pleased with it and with any luck it will go soon.

Half term is steaming towards us now so i doubt ill get much time to play on it during next week. I plan to have a few days on it and hopefully i can get it ticked before i head off to the Peak District the following week. I still have not got round to getting a good shot of it but hopefully i will do soon (when i remember my camera).

Its the last move which is proving to be the hardest but i have done it as a move on its own just not with the rest of the route before hand. Ive been training real hard lately with special attention to replicating that move so fingers crossed the next time i report it will be ticked.

My V9 Project

2009-02-07T15:12:00.002Z

So again. its been awhile since i updated this but I'm gonna try and keep it updated a bit better now. As some of you who have visited the centre lately your see we have installed three new volumes and re built the old slab area. If you haven't seen, then get down here and try it out!!!

As for myself, Ive currently been trying to work on a V9 problem which was set when Gav Simmonds visited the centre for his lecture. The problem is on the smallest blue overhang and starts with a small crimp to a long layaway feature. Its then straight up to a medium size flat hold on the side of the wall with your right hand. This hold is fairly poor but because of your body position is holdable. In this position you then lunge out left to a small 'Sharks Fin' hold on the roof of the overhang. This is hard to hold but by wrapping my whole hand around the 'Fin' its a little easier. Now up to this point i have wired and is only around V4. From here it gets a little tricky. With your hands were they are you have to work your feet up the layaway feature and then with your left foot toe hook the small flat hold in your left hand. When you feel you have the toe hook secure you have to realise your left hand. At this point you are now hanging by your right hand on the small Sharks fin on the roof and with your left toe around the corner on the flat hold. From this hanging position its a full stretch out to a small cup hold on the lip of the roof with your left hand. This move has be done with your toe remaining in place which is fairly hard.

The next move is the first crux of the problem for me. Once you have your left hand on the small cup and your right hand still on the sharks fin with your left toe on the small flat hold you have to realise your toe and working with the momentum of the swing let go with your right hand and grab a small egg shaped hold around the corner of the overhang. Landing this is very hard and is worthy of a V7 move in its own right. On the few occasions i have landed this its then all upper body strength for the next move.

Once landed you find yourself in a hanging position with your right hand on the egg hold and the left hand on small cup. From here you pull up and put my left heel where my left hand is on the cup hold and match hands on the egg shaped hold. From this its a huge pull to a small flat pebble with my left hand and then comes the second two move crux. For me this is for sure the hardest and boldest move on the route.

You have to pull up on this very small pebble by rocking over on your left foot still in the cup hold. half way through the rock over by turning my right hand down on the egg shaped hold it allows me to push up a little higher. Once 'locked' in this position you have to work you right foot to your right hand and then drop your left foot to hang directly underneath you. Its then a case of standing up and reaching through to the last medium size hold whilst still crimping like mad to with your left hand on the small pebble. This last move warrants a grade of V8/9.

i have done every move now but so far have failed to link the problem. i will update shortly with pictures of the route. If you fancy giving it a go then come and speak to me at the centre and ill show you the problem .

Dave and Rob back from Spain

2008-10-26T19:21:00.002Z

Just had a call from Dave and they are now back from there Deep Water Soloing adventures in Spain. They managed some great ascents for a first taste of DWS with Dave getting a Red Point of a 6c+ line after a few splash downs. Rob had a few shaky starts but soon got used to it all and i think by the sounds of things dave has now found a new passion within the sport. I Can see many DWS trips in the future and hope this time ican get in on the action.

I hope to have some pictures from them soon so will get these posted up.

On a different note Revolution has now been totally re-set with problems from V0 to V8 so come down and check them out. If your interested in getting in on the route setting action email me at sam@revolutionskatepark.co.uk as we are always on the look out for new setters.

Long Awaited Update.

2008-10-17T23:28:00.001Z

Its been a while since i posted so thought id give an update. its been a manic summer so far with everything being full on apart from climbing!!!!!!!!. I have only mananged training sessions at revolution with the odd day out at the local sandstone. I have managed to regain my previous form on sandstone by ticking two 6b's on the north boulde at harisons. Sam On the 6b Aligator snatch

Currently i have no trips planned but both Dave and Rob who i regular climb with and are punters at the centre are both away for a bit of Deep water Soloing in Spain. I had one phone call with reports of highball splash downs and alot of elvis leggs but they are slowly getting used the fact they have no rope. Gonna try and keep more regular updates as the winter season is now slowly upon us and next year is already looking fully booked with personal holidays and work holidays. Until then peace out!

Update On Izzy's Competition Climbing

2008-06-06T17:46:00.001Z

It is with great pleasure i am able to announce that Izzy managed to finish in the top three
by coming third in the last round at The Castle Climbing Center in London. In doing so, Izzy has
secured her 3rd overall position in the competition, which means she'll be on her way to Rathro
climbing Center with the rest of the South East team to compete in the national finals.You can
check out the results of the competition here: http://indoorsout.co.uk/. Izzy is now training hard for the finals with weekly visits to the Westway climbing center with her fellow team mates. We wish Izzy and the south East Team all the best for the final. Keep an eye on this page for the results.

Izzys competition Success

2008-04-16T18:50:00.002Z

After attending Climbing Club for the past 12 months, Isabelle placed a respectable 3rd place in the 2nd round of the 2008 BMC Youth Climbing Series. Izzy still has one more round to go at The Castle in London. To qualify for the finals, Izzy needs to finish in the top three after the next round. She is currently in fourth place so if she can perform as well as she has done in last two rounds she should be in for a chance of qualifying. This is only Izzy's second ever competition so to finish third is brilliant.
Izzy competed in 2007 SIBL's and finished in 10th place. Keep checking this page for Izzy's progress.

Tim Emmett Lecture at Revolution

2008-04-06T13:22:00.001Z

During March i was lucky enough to attend a training session up in north wales hosted by one of Revolutions suppliers. Amongst the guests speakers who were up there explaining about new products was Tim Emmett. After a few beers at the bar we came upon the idea of a holding a lecture at Revolution with Tim Emmett being our guest speaker. Tim seems super keen to get down to the south so were are currently trying to sort out possible dates and venues. keep an eye out on Revolution's climbing news page and this blog for confirmation of dates and ticket sales.There are a couple of photos of Tim during our climbing session at the R.A.C boulders on the left hand side of this page.

First Climbing Session Of The New Year

2008-01-30T19:05:00.000Z

Some people hate it some people love it.

Southern Sandstone on the outskirts of Tunbridge wells is one of the souths only inland crags. The style of climbing is totally different from anywhere else and has put plenty of people off. But stick with it and there are great rewards to have. Having recently past my driving test i can now look forward to the freedom this brings with regular visits to the sandstone. I have pledge to climb as much as i can this year. Sandstone is incredibly soft and for this reason extreme care is needed when you climb. NEVER climb here when its wet or even damp. The holds can break very easily and permanent damage can be done. They are a load of helpful tips and hints as well as the Sandstone Code of Practice avaiable here for anyone thinking of venturing down.

www.southernsandstone.co.uk

So if the weather is good i aim to get down there as often as possible in between work and other trips abroad.

Monday 28th proved to be a good start with bright sunshine. The rock had already had two days of sunshine with a good wind to dry the rock out so i headed up nice and early for the first boulder around of the year. I opted for Harrison's and the North boulder. The boulder was in great condition apart from the west face which was still slightly damp so i stayed clear of this. The sun was soon shining and i happily bouldered the day away without seeing another sole all day. Here is a list of routes that i managed to get done:

Groovy Graeme 5b +
Layaway Cure 5c+/6a
Orginal Route 5b
Trigger 5b
Ok Coral 3b
Ragtime 5c+/6a
Monch 3c
Hard Furka 4c
Grimy Grimsel 5a
Eigahhhhhh 5b
Verbier 3b

Flying visit to Stanage

2007-11-23T17:13:00.000Z

The other week myself and Dave made a flying one day visit to Stanage. Because Stanage is about five hours from home we had a early start picking Dave up from Canterbury at 4am. After a long drive along very boring and monotonous roads we finally pulled up at Stanage around 9am to find it lightly raining. Typical!. Any other day we would of pulled the car around and gone home but due to the length and effort we'd taken to get here we were not just going to go home. We decided to a have a warm up on the boulders beneath the plantation area. after a few hours we had a good number of ticks under our belt including a favorite boulder problem of mine Hourglass. Its a one move wonder really but its a good one. we got kicked back on a fee of the classic hard problems such as Brad Bit and Deliverance but its all part of the fun. Something to work towards!. Neither of us had a guide book for the bouldering so spent most of the time just playing on what we thought were good and interesting lines. There are some videos and pictures of us bouldering in the menu to the right.

The weather was still poor and due to the cold beginning to take effect we decided we would head back to the car for a bite to eat a blast the heaters. After lunch we got the rack out the boot and headed back up for a few climbs. Dave had no experience of trad climbing so we broke him in gently with a few serves and by the end of the day he was comfortably leading VS. We had enough time before dark to get some practice in with anchor management and then headed back to the car. The drive home seamed to take forever but service station coffee is a remarkable wake up especially when they tell you the price.

Greece Sept 2007 Write Up

2007-09-27T14:55:00.000Z

So, just got back from Greece about five hours ago and thought id update you guys with what went on. Everyone had a great time and got plenty of climbing done as well as the occasional drinking session in Club Loca where Richard found out that him and Ouzo don't mix to well him. Ha ha. At least it only took him THREE days to recover from the hangover. Lightweight!!!!

Dave and Rob roping up in Kastelli.

Anyway back to the climbing after a mix up with transport which resulted in a few laughs the highlight of which was when Rob crashed the scooter into a wall why trying to prove to the bloke he could drive it. the guy then resulted in taking out his anger on me as if i was Rob's dad. First class effort by Rob. Nice one. This meant i had a scooter (oh yes) and others shared a car and we headed down to Kastelli to kick off the week with some easy to mid grade climbing. Unfortunately i went into holiday with pulled muscles in my hand so took the first day easy with a few easy climbs which also meant i was able to tick off the whole of that sector which was pretty neat. I also managed to a couple of 6a's which i had not done before. Richard and myself suffered in the heat the first day and found out the hard way that climbing in 40c wasn't much fun. meanwhile Dave and Rob had headed round the corner to a cave to try out a couple of 7b overhanging routes which looked pretty neat. we hooked up with them looking very burnt about an hour into there session. They had met a German guy who had just soloed one of the routes and spent the afternoon climbing with him. we managed to get the saying of the holiday off this guy because every time he made a move and liked it he told us "We must taste it". Brilliant. Li stern out for it at Rev as its quite catchy really.

Next day we decided on a bit of multi pitch climbing and headed to Sector School for a competition. Two routes which run next to each other at the same grade of 5c at a lenght of 125m meant we could split into teams and race up the two lines losing team buying the beers tonight. So Dave and Myself where one team and Rob and Rich the other. Dave and myself got the route called Platon and the other team got kalymnos 2000. Me and rob went first for each team and raced up joining the first and second pitch together and after a little cheating on there side by stealing my line meaning i had to wait for a bit we reached the chains and brought up our partners. Dave and rich led the next two pitches and as i followed i broke off a hold which i still have which scared the hell out of me. If its slightly harder now you can blame me!!!! The race ended with Dave and myself clear winners sitting onto before Rich and Rob. The view was amazing.

Rob and Myself at the top of the multi pitch climb.
Just gotta get back down now!

The next few days were spent climbing at various sectors with Rob and Dave really turning up the heat with some amazing climbing of 6c+ and 7a's. Dave gets the award for the biggest fall at Sector Ghost kitchen with an impressive 8m lob whilst trying to work the moves on an 6c+. Good effort mate. Finally he managed to clip the chains just before night fall. grades kept falling as Dave and Rob tore apart various sectors climbing up to 7a with Rob managing the highest redpoint of 7a. Fantastic work.

Days went past and more sectors were visited with various results and always plenty of laughs out of rich. We were able to hook up with Neil Gresham, one day at sector Oddesy were we had a cool chat and watched him breeze up a 7c. Amazing climbing. We all visited club loca one night with rich getting plastered and riding the back of some guys scooter home and then deciding it was to hot so jumped in the pool!!! We also got introduced to the crazy ways of the local taxi drivers when one decided to crash into the side of our hire car and then laughed, waved at us and drove off. Oh well!!. After eating like kings for the week in every restaurant in town and tearing apart some of the local crags it was time to say goodbye for another few months. Everyone made some great climbs and personal bests were broke.

there are some more photos and videos on the Right of this page. Nice one guys and thanks for a brilliant holiday. Laters.

Off to Greece!!!

2007-09-18T11:45:00.001Z

Tonight sees rob. Rich, Dave and myself flying out to Kalymnos one of the Greek islands for a week of sports climbing. Rich and Dave are way in the lead at the moment being full of confidence as they only got back from a weeks climbing in Sardinia under a week ago. They will be fully pumped and ready for the stamina testing routes. We will be getting back Wednesday next week and i will update the blog then with pictures and trip report. Fingers crossed it all goes well.
laters.

Glad we did not go.

2007-09-18T11:36:00.000Z

So as you know due to bad health we were unable to get over to mount blanc for the week we had intended. This turned out however to be quite a blessing in disguise. It has been reported that the week we were due to bew on the mountain was one of the worst weeks for weather and in fact our summit day push would of been in near white out conditions. Not to much fun. The following report is from Alpinist.com

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"In one month, a series of tragedies in the Swiss and French Alps took the lives of about thirty people.

At the end of July eight climbers were surprised by incoming bad weather while climbing Mont Blanc (4808m) from Chamonix. Lost halfway up the French Normal Route, heavy snowstorms kept the party from finding a way out. Rescue workers from the PGHM (high mountain police) tried to find them in horrible conditions, and were forced down by thunderstorms. Finally there was a small window of clear weather when a helicopter was able to pick up a group of four from the Italian side of the mountain. The other four (one Frenchman and three women from Great Britain, Chile and New Zealand) were found dead the next day.

hat same day six German climbers got in trouble on the Italian side of Monte Rosa (4634 m) and were forced to spend the night, without bivy gear, outside in a storm. The next day one woman was found dead and another seriously incapacitated due to hypothermia. At the Grand Combin (4314m) a Polish climber fell to his death, and in the Swiss Bernese Oberland rescue workers saved the lives of six climbers who were stuck near the summit of the Monch. Through a storm they climbed the mountain to find all six shivering in the snow. The helicopter winched some of them; the others descended by foot. The chief of the Grindelwald rescue station said it was one of the most strenuous rescue operations in recent years.

In the week following, two climbers died on the Matterhorn. Both fell to their death while descending via the Hornli Ridge. The same week Air Zermatt, the helicopter rescue service in the Swiss mountains of Wallis, was extremely busy. Many times they successfully brought help, but for some climbers it was too late. At least three fell to their death after stumbling on hiking paths, and two Polish climbers fell several hundred meters from the Allalinhorn mountain near the Swiss village of Saas Fee. In two other accidents, three young Swiss died by falling from the Obergabelhorn, and a tragic accident on the Aletschgletjser took the life of Claude Rey, President of the International Guides Association (IFMGA). He was, early in the morning on July 28, walking from the Konkordiahut towards the glacier, when he fell through a snow bridge on the moraines. Air Zermatt was able to recover his body, but he died later that day in the Hospital of Sitten.

A Chamonix-based PGHM (high mountain police) rescue chopper. The PGHM has been working overtime to accomodate the large volume of rescue calls this summer. [Photo] Menno Boermans

Another accident occurred on Mont Blanc, taking the lives of a French man and his son. They fell through the cornice of the Arete de Bionassay. Some days later a climber was descending through the Grand Couloir of Mont Blanc when he lost his balance and fell about 100 meters. Also dead.

On August 2 another cold front hit the Alps. Two German climbers at the Weismies, above Saas Grund, got in trouble when lightning struck and seriously injured one of them. Air Zermatt rescued them after his partner called for help. Last weekend also was busy for the rescue services. Air Zermatt answered--in two days--more than twenty calls from mountain travellers in trouble, most of them with "only" light injuries. A remarkable number of alpinists were evacuated because they couldn't or wouldn't climb further. The PGHM of Chamonix for example winched "stuck" people from hard routes on the Dru and the Grandes Jorasses. Mont Blanc took again three lives last Saturday. The German woman and men were missing for two days when they were found dead near the Grands Mulets. They had tried to take a more difficult variant of the Standard Route. Finally, today, three climbers were hit by falling ice at the Dome des Ecrins, also in the French Alps.

2007 has become one of the darkest summers in the past half-century. Only in 1997 did so many climbers lose their lives in such a short period. The reason is generally unclear. It is known that in some cases, climbers were not well prepared. The group of four who died on Mont Blanc, for example, did not have proper clothing to protect from the elements, and they did not attempt to dig a shelter in the snow. Bruno Jelk, Chief of the Zermatt Rescue Service, confirmed that many climbers this season have entered the mountains without proper equipment and training. He also adds that everyone--even those prepared--must be more careful in the mountains, which are becoming less stable every year due to the changing climate. "

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so i guess in all it was good we did not go but at the end of the day this is the game that we play...........!

Stanage Trip Report

2007-07-31T12:08:00.000Z

Well have now just got back from A weekend in Stanage. Myself and Matt travelled up on Sunday morning around Four o'clock and were up in derby shire in an impressive 31/2 hours. Sunday started nice and bright and we were able to get a couple of routes in with Matt getting his first serve and me a few serves as well as a HVS which was cool. I found an ideal E1 for myself but did not like the landing on it so we decided to head back to the B&B to get the bouldering mat and have ago. on returning the weather caved in on us and it started to drissal. unfortunately the slabby E1 i had found did not take long before it turned into a waterfall so had to call it off. after a few wet bouldering problems and trying to find some dry boulders in the forest we decided to head back to the B&B for some food and rest.

The next day dawned fairly promising and with us both nursing heavy hangovers we headed back up to Stanage for another go. this time we left the rack at home and just took the bouldering mat for an attempt at some of the Peak districts classic problems. after warming up on some great low graded problems we headed over to Brad Pitt a renowned and famous Boulder problem which goes at V10 8a but due to fairly drissaly weather i just could not slap the slopping holds. next time maybe. Photos from the trip are available in the side bar on the right. We are planning some long day trips up there so i will post more when i know. Laters.

Good and Bad news.

2007-07-13T21:57:00.000Z

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our Alps trip. Richard has developed a bad injury in his leg which is going to serverly hamper any progress on the mountain. Any attempt on the mountain would be unwise due to the obvous large walking distances that we would be covering. But the mountain will still be there next year so we plan to try again then.

On the other hand this has freed me up so Myself and Matt are heading to Stange for a couple of days on 21st July so i can update my SPA and show Matt what Trad climbing is all about. Photos and videos of the trip will be avaiable the day we get back.

Mount Blanc Trip details

2007-06-26T18:43:00.001Z

After some debate and fitting in work we have finially found a spare week that fits in both with us and the French weather. Rich and myself will be heading out to France on Sunday July 29th with the intension to climb Mount Blanc which lies at a height of (4807m / 15767ft) being the hieghtest peak in Europe. Although Mount Elbrus in Russia is higher most Scientist count this as being outside Europe. We have one week out there with the normal route which we intend to do first taking two days staying in the hut over night. The first few days will be used for acclimatization making sure we adjust to the lack of oxygen.

So far the trip has cost around £400 and we have not even left yet. Most of the necessarily gear has been brought with only a few item remaining on the shopping list. We intend to drive down and to save money we we will be sleeping in the car as much as we can, that is if we can hide from the French police. If all goes well on our first ascent we will be trying another more difficult route to the summit. So with weather permitting by the end of the week we should have two routes under our belt and truly knackered.
More reports and links will be avaiable soon.
Laters

Greece Dates Confirmed.

2007-06-17T20:25:00.000Z

We finally got everyone together and worked out the dates for the next trip Away. September the 19th will see us heading back out to Kalymnos in Greece for a weeks climbing. It will be my second trip Kalymnos and the other lads first. Personally, I'm looking forward to the scooters the most but having experienced the climbing out there and failing on some of the routes I'm feeling good about going back out

So far six of us will be heading out with a few of them staying on for two weeks. So it gives us a couple more months of training yet before we head out there. So far most days have been spent trawling through the guide book trying to remember the best places and day dreaming of being back there. Our Olympus flight leaves on 19th and it cant come to quickly.

But before Greece.........................

Before all this me and rich are off to France to attempt Mount Blanc via two routes. We will be heading out to attempt Europe's Highest mountain in late July early August as this is the best time for the weather. with any luck and decent weather and providing we acclimatize well we should manage it. The first few days will be spent acclimatizing to the thin air and moving up and down the lower parts of the mountain slowly gaining height and later on in the week we will push for the summit. If time allows then we will then come back down and try again via a more difficult route. Updates and links will be available soon.

Day 7. An easy one.

2007-06-15T19:08:00.001Z

Today was a fairly relaxed one. It was just myself in from early doors till close putting up a couple of the new routes and cleaning a big batch of holds. I also managed to make a few of the volumes today and finishing touches will be made to these tomorrow when we plan to install them. The place is really looking brighter now and already good positive feedback has been made by our regular climbers.

The Beginnings of a new Volume

I also ordered are first batch of new holds today with over 250 coming next week. This should help to really set the center of nicely. So tomorrow is set to be another busy one with the volumes being finished and put up along with finishing some of the routes to various walls we should of completed by tomorrow.

Some of the new routes on the 9m wall

Day 6. Thursday.

2007-06-15T19:02:00.000Z

Another crazy day today seeing us getting loads done. It was cool through as the center was closed meaning we didn't have to worry about working around climbers. We managed to completely strip, put two coats of paint on and replace the anchors. And it only took 8 hours!!!!!!!!! although it does now look good. Dave Rich and myself spent the time hanging in harness painting section by section and then going over it again for its second coat. the features were then painted in blue so they are now easily recognizable from the ground.

Sam loosing all feelings in his legs

New routes and replacement ropes will be put up tomorrow along with the volumes that we are currently making. the wall will feature routes from 3a to 7c so will offer everyojne something to climb. So hopefully a chilled out day setting routes tomorrow with any luck!!! as always massive thanks goes out to the guys for there hard work.

The finished article

Day 5 and back wall almost complete.

2007-06-12T20:02:00.000Z

Sunday 10th saw us complete the back section of the center. the only thing missing now is the two volumes. these have been forced on hold due to me completely knackering the electric plane so badly that not even dewalt can fix it. but no worries as i have drafted in another from one of the climbers, Jez Reed so many thanks for him. Hopefully the new volumes will be up and climbable by the end of this week.

Back wall as we left it sunday night
The next task is the 9m wall but we got to carefully work out when we can do it as we have to work it round groups and busy periods. Looks like Thursday when we are closed will be our best bet. Once thats done not much more will be needed to be painted. A few more volumes need to be built and T-Nutted then the centre is pretty much done. Massive thanks to Dave Rob and Rich for there route setting skills and helping get the centre climbable in time. Nice one Guys!!!!

Day Four.

2007-06-09T21:40:00.000Z

What a day today was. We managed to do what we aimed for a striped painted and re coated a huge chunk of the centre. It was an absolute mission but now its done it looks good. Starting a midday Dave, Richard, Rob and myself started to strip the holds off the wall and prepare the surfaces and started to apply the paint.
Rob provided to be vary handy with his useless tips and general lazying around the place although we found him useful for some jobs but fair play to him. Oh, and he has proven to be vary handy at painting certain pictures on the walls. Enough said just don't look behind the overhang!!!!

Dave and Rich got stuck in from start to finish and with the exception of a few phone calls to be made on Rich's behalf, mainly to organise piss ups. Lessons still had to go one though so i had to teach for a while which left the lads to finish off and a what a great job they done. The painting is now being left to dry over night and tomorrow we will put in the routes ready for the evening.

The whole task took about seven hours to complete. fiddle little sections to paint and stuck holds held us up for a while but aggression got rid of them with the help of hammers

We are still waiting for the volume as reported yesterday to finish off the wall painted the other day. We will also be putting a different volume in under the overhang in the yellow section pictured above but again your have to wait and see as to what shape it will be.

Tomorrows job is to set the routes and clean all the holds we took off today. Route cards will be done for all of the routes already set up. The future jobs are set to be the hardest i reckon with the big 9m wall still left to paint. Hopefully tomorrow evening i can report on the completion of the back section of the centre and it will be open for use.

Massive thanks has to go out to the tremendous effort put in by Dave, Rich and that other guy........... oh yeah Rob!!!!!! Great job guys and session on soon!!

Day 3 and wall one and two completely finished........almost!!!

2007-06-08T19:41:00.000Z

Today was an easy day compared with the others as all we need to do was set routes on the walls we had already painted. The paint had dried over night and within two hours the routes were up and the wall was open once again to the general public. So the wall is now complete.......... Almost. It is just waiting for the volume to be put up which has almost been built. Unfortunately i knackered the power plane needed to finish the edges off so needless to say work stopped. However a replacement is due Sunday so should be done by then.

The 'almost' finished wall. The middle of the red wall where there are no holds is were the volume will go.

So tomorrows plan of action. A big one tomorrow with a huge chunk of the wall being striped painted and re routed. Its a risk cause its a Saturday and bound to be fairly busy but the sooner this is done the sooner we can start on the extension upstairs. Smithy is away now until late next week and im on orders to complete it by the time he gets back. But as you can see above it has certainly brightened the place up.

Day 2 of the Re-Vamp

2007-06-07T23:43:00.001Z

Day 2 of the Re-Vamp.
Well the slabs were finished off today and touched up with paint a the first of the new routes went up. The main task was the wall next to it which we striped and painted. Did not all go to plan though as smithy had a hell of a time trying to paint the top section hanging in his harness for over an hour. Not nice!!! the wall took about five hours to do which was longer than planned but we took our time having too coats of paint on and features removed and painted as well.

Second wall completed. Just the holds to put back on.

Tomorrows job is a small one as its my day off. Repainting a few of the features and setting new routes on the walls ready for use on Friday.
No work will be done over the weekend as the centre will be too busy but it will all resume at the start of next week. Again a massive thanks go out to Smithy as well as Dave and James for helping out. would of certainly took longer without them. Cheers guys !!!!

New Look Rev under way!!!!!

2007-06-05T19:35:00.000Z

Day 1
Today was the first day of a new look Revolution Climbing Wall. Work has been started on the painting with the slab area now re-painted in some real bright colours. Features have been added and all holds have been cleaned ready for some route setting tomorrow.

New Slab area freahly painted. Holds still to be added!!!!!

Plans for Wednesday are to start on the wall next to it. We just have to strip it of all the holds and Features and Paint the wall surface. One section will be red the other will be yellow. Plus a giant new feature will appear on the wall but your have to wait to see what it is. Massive thanks to Smithy and Joe for helping out today. Nice one guys!!!!!

Training update. Injuries already.

2007-05-29T18:14:00.000Z

A few days into the training now and already certain members have picked up injuries. Luckily only skin injuries and soft tissue ones but enough to hamper progress. Smithy managed to some how open up quite a large whole in his knuckle whilst bouldering today but we are still unsure of how he done it!!!!!!!!

Smithy's mystery injury

He sure holds the record in the group of injuries with his personal best being a broken ankle on the first day of a week long trip to Sardinia. Needless to say he was not a happy bunny but comforted himself by spending the week chain smoking and creating a new sport called off road crutching.

Sam training upper body strength on the ladder

The rest of us however have avoided injury so far and are working on methods of protecting our hands whilst on the ladders with a certain degree of success. Pictures and videos are avaiable in the right hand tool bar.

Multi pitching in Sardinia.

2007-05-28T09:13:00.000Z

Just got the photos in from the last trip to Sardinia in April 2007. This trip was slightly different from the rest due to the fact that the objective this year were higher grades and pushing our selfs rather than mileage and route numbers. As reported earlier we managed to beat our personal best with climbs up to 7b. The new photos are available in the gallery section in the right hand side of this page. Another first out there was Robs first experience of multi pitch trad climbing. A perfect 100m, three pitch route up the right hand side arete of Budinetto. Me and rob completed the route in about 40mins and by the end Rob was confident in setting up anchors and placing protection.

Sam Setting off to lead the second pitch. Rob On belay. Around 40m up the route. The valley floor visible below.

Deutsch wall was our next objective at 90m high and grade 6c. Unfortunately bad weather and high winds forced us down after just one pitch. This is three years running now were we have not been able to get to the top of the route. Our highest point being the 6c third pitch. Plans for the next trip include Deutsch wall and a few routes on the 180m seven pitch crags just outside Cala Gonone.

Chase The Eights.

2007-05-26T16:16:00.000Z

The Race is on with the Boys at Revolution Climbing Center. The Challenge??? First one of us to Boulder to the grade of 8a. Currently bouldering around 7b/7b+ this is quite a mammoth task. Especially when our trip to font in France is coming up in September. So the race for the eights is on and training has begun already. Newly installed at the centre is our rope ladder designed by Smithy in order to help train strength. Using it a few times a week, the lads should start seeing some big changes in strength. Over use it though and big damage can be done to muscles. Updates will be made avaiable as well as a rough training guide to what the lads are doing.

Smithy Training on the new ladder installed at Revolution Climbing Center

Greece. Kalymnos Rock Trip May 2007

2007-05-26T11:44:00.000Z

Just got back from an amazing week in Kalymnos, and i thought Sardinia could not be beaten for rock quality. The place certainly lives up to the hype about the climbing.

May 16th saw John, Joe, Bruce and myself catching our flight over to Kos and then a short ferry journey over to the island of Kalymnos. Unfortunately the plane was delayed which meant we missed our ferry over and had to wait to gone eleven at night to catch the next one getting to bed by 1am.

The next few days were spent getting up early to avoid the heat of the day and climbing on various crags including Odyssey and Arhi both very impressive to look at and climb. Whilist John and myself hit some of three star 6a's and 6b's, Bruce and Joe started off hitting some great 6c's and 7a's climbing some very impressive lines where ever they went.

Joe climbing Neolithic Line 7c at Jurassic Park Sector

After a few days John and Myself decided to up the game a bit and went to try Harakiri at sector Spartacus. Unfortunately thought we went off route at mid height and onto to the next route graded at 6c+. After bailing off this we went up to Jurassic Park sector to meet up with the lads and climbed Themelis a beautiful line of 30m with crux at the small roof half height. The next few days saw flashes of 6a's, 6a+'s and the odd 6b, as well as on sights and redpoints of a few sevens from Bruce and Joe.

Later on in the week Joe and Bruce tried to attempt there first 8a with Helios at sector North Cape. after clipping the draws both made great attempts at it but just fell short of the chains. a great effort and fantastic to watch.

Joe coming down after just falling short of the chains on his 8a attempt

John and myself finished the week off by heading to Kasteli for the morning and climbing some off the three star classic from 5c+-6a+. I managed around thirty routes in my week out there with higher leads coming in the last few days as it took me quite a while to get used to the lenght of the routes out there. another trip is planned for September / October 2007 and details will be posted here.

Sam climbing Joggel and Toggel 6c+

Revolution Climbing Center

2007-05-25T22:55:00.000Z

The link below should take you to the Revolution climbing Center and give you an idea of what i do for work. Any information on the center that you cant find on the site just email me through the links and ill answer as soon as possiable.

http://www.revolutionskatepark.co.uk/climbing_new/index.html

Dave Collom attempting the dyno at the back of the centre

Scotland 2006.

2007-05-25T22:06:00.001Z

In July 2006 a small group of us headed up to scotland for a few days climbing on and around Ben Nevis. The group consisted of Paul, Matt and myself with the aim to camp in Fort William and hike to the north face of Ben Nevis each day. After driving up there for nearly ten hours we made our way to the campsite and sent up tents. After sorting everything out and having a little sleep we headed up the tourist path that leads up Ben Nevis and round the side to the North side.

Looking at Ben Nevis from the North Face Car Park. Tower ridge and Douglas Boulder viable left of centre
Our Fisrt day was to be a warm up and practice so we choose Castle ridge which follows the right hand side arete if looking from the CIC hut. After the inital scrambing start to the route up easy slabs the route becomes more vertical and most tend to use ropes at some point. After one or two short rope lenghts the ground eased up allowing us to scramble to the top. A mistake was made which lead us up an exstemely loose and rock fall prone gully to the left of the route which provide an interesting finish.

Looking down Castle Ridge from the top.

After descending down a never ending scree slope we made our way back out via the tourist path and down to the pub at the bottom. Next Day we were out again this time on walking in from the other side via the north face car park. Our Objective this day was Tower ridge. Graded at VDiff is was well with in our grade. We decided to tackle the douglas Boulder start and through trial an error made it to the top only to find the weather close in and the heavens open up leaving us no choose but to abseil off the route and down climb via the right hand side gully back to the CIC hut and out along the path to our tents in the valley below.

Matt and Paul at the top of the Douglas Boulder just before our forced retreat.

Day three saw us hit a few trad climbs around the base of Ben Nevis completing climbs up to VS including multi pitch routes. We had intended to stay the night again but decided to make the long car journey back instead hoping traffic was not going to be bad. All in all it gave all of us a good insight into long mountain routes and more trips are planned for 2007.

Sam outside the CIC hut with Tower ridge in the background

View from the top of the douglas boulder lokking back along to the North Face Car park

Sardinia Climbing April 2007.

2007-05-25T18:48:00.000Z

April 2007 saw our third trip over to the island of Sardinia. The main objective for this holiday was to try and get up our first grade 7a. Team members were me, Rob Hutton, David Collom, James Heatie, Richard Collom, Katie (long second name i cat spell beginning with S) and Sally Ann Harris. This would be a return trip for many of the climbers on the team. Staying in Cala Gonone our first crag was Cala Fuili. We hit this on the day we arrived and treated it as a day to re-accustom to the rock. Rob,David,rich and myself headed over to the left hand side to do some high fives and low six grades whilst Katie,Sally and James hit the slabs on the steps.
With everyone feeling confident and up for more, the next day we headed up to Biddinetto which has plenty of lower to mid grade climbs up to 6c. Whilst the girls and James headed for the main bowl area, Rob and me headed for the Right hand side arete to try the three pitch trad route which follows the the obvious line up to the top of the bowl. Graded in the guide book and 3c this route was well within our capabilities. After racking up and our camera man in tow (David) rob set up the first pitch but soon hit difficulties. The first pitch looks to of been affected by Rock fall since the time it was put up which now leaves a clean slab which proved to be interesting with poor to no gear to place until the angle mellows off and jugs appear. Around Grade 5a/b now. After following we slung leads and i took the next pitch which gives great exposure for the grade climbing along a narrow ridge line but with big holds and plenty of gear leading to a few delicate moves over a slab avoidable if you take the right hand side up to the next belay point. Rob lead the final pitch which is again great for the grade. There is an alternative route going directly over the overhang but beware of loose rock. the original line takes the left hand side and is protected by a rusty Bolt. Don't trust!!!! Easy ground then leads to the belay point and provides a great view over Cala Gonone. (Pictured Above) After topping out we set about heading down via the left hand side which is easy scrambling ground. More photos to be added of the ascent soon.

Once down we join the others who had been playing around of Some high fives and low sixes including the route that broke a team members ankle in a fall earlier on in the year. Most of the team took falls on these with some impressive ones being taken on the low down crux of the 6c. Me and Katie then decided on Doing the two pitch route Hulu and were forced down after a mini epic on the belay stance of the second pitch and due to the intense heat and no water we abbed down to the find some shade and rest up. Later that day we hit Poltrano with its impressive 90m slabs and the classic line of Deutsch Wall. this route hand eluded me for the past three years as various events forced us down previously. Me and rob had plans later in the week to make another attempt. The evening was spent climbing easier to mid grades with David, Sally-Ann, James and Rich all doing a brilliant 5c which takes you over a small roof providing some superb exposure and great climbing positions.

The next view days were spent playing around on various crags with ascents up to 6c being had by Rob and myself. But still 7a eluded us. Trips to Biddiscotti saw me and rob attempt a stiff grade 6c+ which took a good few tries to work out the low down crux before finally cracking it only to realize the line of bolts shared the same as one next to it which was being climbed by a group of German climbers. Rob hung on the bolt for around half an hour whilst they finished but in the end we decided that the route above was much easier and the hard part had been done some came down. Katie Dave and James attempted a 6a in the corner of the cave which proved to be much harder than the guide suggested but was eventually completed by Dave using a series of interesting moves. Great effort!!!!!

A few days later saw us Back in Cala Fuili were after completeing a few 6a's and 6bs me and Rob headed for a line we had seen the year before. Dubadabur is graded 7a+/b the crux is a low down boulder problem involving Monos and pinch to a long reach to poor holds. Once the first two meters are done the grade eases off to around 6b+ until you reach a ramp line close to the top were the grade eases again to around 6a. After a load of attempts trying to get the start rob finally managed to hold the poor slopers and having clipped the next bolt finished the route to complete his first Grade seven. After retrying the start over and over again i finally managed the sequence with a little help with small intermediate holds and soon found myself at the top of my first Grade seven. Video of robs ascent coming soon. that night the beers flowed!!!!!

Whilst this was going on Katie had a mini epic thanks to a miss understanding between belayer and climber on a pumpy 6a with James almost pulling her off the route after mistaking thinking she had called take when actually she wanted slack to clip. She pulled through though and although not her style of climbing made a good on sight of the route.

Climbing at Cala Fuili

Over the last few days team members climbed some impressive grades considering there short length of time climbing with ascents of up to 6b+ been climbed on sight. A sure sign of some promising talent. Mine and Robs attempt of Deutsch Wall was again cut short because of high winds and rain after reaching the bottom of pitch two. All climbers surpassed the grades they wanted to climb and all was left was too hit the booze one last night and hit the road for the journey home.