Leading the way

NB: I haven't got any photos of today, but I should do next time I lead so I'll upload some then.

All has been pretty quiet on the vertical side of things recently, hence the lack of posts. Due to constraints with rowing and uni and work, I haven't really had time to do anything, so until today I hadn't done anything for almost two weeks! However, today training was cancelled and uni finished early so I gave Charlie a bell and we decided to climb, and make a day of it. So with my harness and my new rope (which is one of the most awkward things to carry on the Tube ever...) I made my way down to Westway.

Unfortunately I was somewhat held up by an annoying american tennis-playing couple who were trying to book 3 different courts on about 12 different days (lots of 'ooh, not the 24th, we have a thing that day...maybe the 26th?) but we got in, got harnessed up and tried a couple of top-roped routes to get my eye in and refresh un-used skills. One positive note of the time off: I've been doing a lot of weights, and climbing has gotten a lot easier in terms of the effort involved - I can now almost pull myself up one-handed, which makes life a little more fun and a little less painful, especially helpful when lead climbing when all my weight can be on a single hand hold.

After warming up, we decided to tackle my first ever lead wall. First thing we did was Charlie gave me a brief on the intricacies of belaying in lead climbing. It's quite a lot different to normal - the rope isn't kept taut constantly and it requires a whole load more attention and forward thinking to plan when the climber will need more slack, more space, where they may slip or fall and need arresting and how much rope they'll need to clip in. He had a quick shoot up to show me how its done - I didn't belay perfectly, causing him a little trouble a couple of times but he didn't die so I'll take that as a positive step. After he touched back down and we got me tied into the rope (which is my new 10.5mm, 60m behemoth, which Charlie says suits 'suits its owner as it's thick and unwieldy'. Always a charmer...) it was my turn to lead up the wall.

The route itself was a relatively simple 4+, but with the added challenge of thinking about constantly having to clip in made it a much more interesting climb. You don't just have to think about where you're going to put your hands and feet, but also where you're going to set yourself up to clip in, which hand you'll need free etc. The first few quickdraws I clipped in I did twisted, but once I had it cracked the rest went in clean, no problems. I did have one interesting section where I had to clip into a right-handed quickdraw whilst hanging off my right hand. Apparently I made some really odd shapes and Charlie panicked that I was going to fall, but all was well.

First climb went well, the second not quite so hot. It was a slightly more technical route involving two overhangs (one small, one larger) with some really awkward, crimpy holds. There were some nice big ones afterwards, almost like a reward for making it, but the last hold, the one I had to hang on to clip into the top pair of karabiners was an odd shape and my hand was sweating. I couldin't get my hand to my chalk bag as there was no left-hand hold, and as I hefted the rope to clip in I could feel myself slipping. Desperately I clung to the last hold, clipping in to one, then the second (reversed) karabiner. The instant I clipped into number two I lost my hold and fell, but thankfully not too far or too drastic and was brought down safe but a little shaken - if I'd missed the holds there would have been an extra two or three meters of fall to arrest!

The rest of the day was spent practising on easy-grade lead climbs, before eventually calling it off after two and a half hours of constant climbing, with aching forearms and painful fingertips but a sense of achievement from me at least.

I'll say this - it feels great having broken my duck of leading, I finally feel like I've actually accomplished something in my climbing, something tangible that I can measure my progress by  The challenge is a new one and it keeps everything fresh, both belaying on the ground and up on the wall. Leading is what I'll be having to do when I eventually get up onto a mountain, so learning the basics here is a really good stepping stone on to the technical stuff, when we start to introduce pitons, hammers and clipping in my own quickdraws.

All in all a good day!

Rope Work

Hey everyone, good things happened today: I finally started training!

Although I was really meant to start last week with my University climbing club, today I finally got around to getting to a climbing wall and learning the basics of rock climbing which are core to everything else I will ever need to learn to do with ropes, be it in ice climbing, bouldering or even on a building site. I've done a little bit of rope stuff before, abseiling on adventure camps with the Army or a little rock climbing with Scouts, but that was all at least 4 years ago and if I'd paid attention and learned anything (which in itself is unlikely), it was all long forgotten.

So, with my trusty girlfriend Bailey in tow we headed off to the Westway Sports Center in Shepard's Bush to re-acquaint myself with the finer points of rock climbing, and hopefull have some fun at the same time. After paying for membership, renting a harness and a pair of climbing shoes each we headed out onto the climbing walls for my first lesson.

Charlie reminds me to trust him and the equipment.
I find a man wearing lycra indoors difficult to believe.

First up was simply how to climb; a quick introduction to the double-figure-eight knot that underpins all climbing (which I'm still struggling with) and a lightning ascent of an easy-grade wall to get me confident in myself, what I'm doing and the equipment. The familiar rush hits me as I get further up the wall and as I abseil down I've got a massive smile on my face - even if I never end up on a mountain I know I'll be here as much as I can. Although it's somewhat difficult to put my faith in the equipment and Charlie's belay skills at first, after a couple of slips and arrests and an abseil down I'm feeling more confident in what I'm doing.

Bailey gets a turn and although slightly less confident than me (with a bit less of a head for heights) she's soon rocketing up the walls and doing what Charlie describes as 'throwing the right shapes'. He looks on enviously and mentions something about us 'larger' people never being really good at rock climbing. Not that I especially mind; it's fun but I'd never take it to a high level. When she comes down, Charlie takes his first ascent with me belaying, and I quickly get to grip with maintaining a constant vigil. I'm very aware that to a certain degree his life is in my hands and do my best, although my abseil is a little fast and leaves him nursing a crushed crotch when I keep the rope too tense on descent. But otherwise all is well.

Charlie showing off that he's better than me, whilst I dutifully belay below.

After Bailey is down we walk around and past the self-lead walls, where climbers are attaching their belay rope to karabiners set into the wall or using their own quickdraws to secure themselves to the wall. This is what I'll have to eventually learn how to do, except on a mountain I'd be hammering anchors into ice or rock and leading in that way. But for now, we concentrate on simply learning the ropes. We have a go on a series of other walls until eventually my fingers start to give out. I try one final ascent of a Grade 4+ wall, but even with a healthy dose of chalk my fingers are shot and I can't grip, and I fall less than ten feet off the ground. My forearms are on fire, my fingers are aching and my feet are asking me why I've squeezed them into such uncomfortable shoes but I've competently completed my first proper ropes session.

All I need now is a few months more and I'll be sorted. That is if I can learn all the knots that I need; it really would sruprise you that I was a scout sometimes. Although I certainly know what my next kit purchases will be. Anyone want to give me a lovely new harness?