Getting ahead of the rope!

Fear is real, just danger

The first steps in my lead climbing career began on the 21 metre monster walls at Beacon Climbing Centre in Caernarfon, North Wales. I had seen plenty of people stepping onto the wall at Wolf Mountain in Wolverhampton and knew the basic of climbing ahead of the rope and basically not killing myself. But as they say proof is in the pudding (or leading in this case) and I was jumping in at the deep end as I liked to do. I set out on my first couple of climbs on the smaller and less daunting wall to the side of the main room, however I could feel the presence of the giant over hanging beast staring behind me. That sick nervous feeling was in my stomach at this time (Commitment to my resolution!). These shorter routes when without a hitch and observing Dan fly up an easy 5+ I knew the time to strap on a pair and take to main wall.

How to catch 14 stone?

Before making my attempt at the main wall Dan needed to teach someone the essentials of lead belaying to allow him to climb himself. Steve was the obvious choice a trusted guy in the group with Scout leader climbing experience behind him. However, Steve isn't the biggest of guys and Dan is a fairly large unit (14 stone see the link), after the basics Dan decided to test what Steve has learnt. The test involved him climbing off way up the wall and jumping off (To be honest fair play to him for doing that), the equation of events didn't favour Steve. All Steve had to do was lock the rope off and hold on for dear life and he did it brilliantly. What also happened was 14 stone + gravity + 6 to 8 fall = Steve getting fucked up by colliding with the wall (ultimate war wound). 

The climb

I set out on the biggest climb of my career so far 5+ overhanging monster, 21 metres to the top clip and safety. Well I hoped! The first section was fairly easy and I remembered to clip in correctly ( rope next to the wall) and reached the first section of the overhang. I was out of reach of the quickdraw, Shit! I began to panic and sweat profusely from ever pore, some I didn't even know I had. I thought to myself come on get to clip chalk and rest. I made the move and clipped in, the security settled me down and being able to shout "Take" knowing I wasn't going to fall before I could refresh my grip was a relief.

 
Topping out

I manage to amble up the rest of the route fairly easily and had got within one move of the top clip. That's when the wooden arms set in like tight weather perished rubber. COME ON! One last push and I was face to face with the clip. The rope went slack as Dan feed it through so I could pull it up to the clip. I got it to the right height and the fumbling began and continued for what felt like minutes. With my grip ever weakening I had the sobering thought "If I fall now its a 12 to 16 foot drop and definite collision with the wall". Ping! That sound was like heaven, I could now relax and be lowered like Aladdin on his magic carpet to the ground.

I managed 3 more leads that day all the way to the top and pushing up to a 6a grading which is a reasonable standard especially on those monster walls. And after that first route I haven't looked back since and I have had a few scary moment along the way!

Joe    

(Thanks to Steve, Dan and Mark for the support and encouragement! Top guys)

The start of one big adventure!

Disclaimer
What you are about to read will contain poor grammar, spelling and generally make no sense at times. Please stick with it as you might find some good shit mixed in with it!

Where to begin?
All my life I've lived in Cannock, my parents have lived in Cannock and my grandparents have lived in Cannock. And to be honest I love Cannock I have a great family, an amazing group of friends that have started to begin a life away from Cannock.

My point is that where you live becomes a part of who you are and I knew that it could begin to hold me back by making me become comfortable. If I didn't start to venture out and experience new things, see new places and meet new people. My New Years resolution for 2014 was not to lose that half a stone and get ripped for summer, or get my handicap down to single figures like it has been for the past four years. My resolution was a plan to begin living on the edge and having that sick feeling of nerves in my stomach more often, my saying was going to be screw it and just do it! Whatever opportunities were offered to me I was going to grab with both hands.

The reason I'm talking in past tense is that usually that's what my resolution turns into, something I was going to do or thought about doing. But for the first time I've started to achieve my resolution and that bored and monotonous feeling of the gym regime is no where to seen. This blog is remind me of what I have achieved so far and plan to achieve over the next few months and beyond. Hopefully, it will make for some interesting reading at the same time, make you laugh at some of the funny things I done, seen and heard and maybe inspire you to take on a new challenge or explore outside of your comfort zone.

What I've done so far
The year began on a high a week spent on my first alpine trip skiing with one of my best mate's in the beautiful St Anton just outside Innsbruck in Austria. Then joining Wolverhampton Mountaineering club for a weekend in Wales taking on my first indoor leads on 21 metre climbing walls. I then travelled north of the border conquering my first Munro and my first taste of winter mountaineering also meeting my new climbing buddy Sam. The pair of us over the past month have taken on some great climbing locations right on our doorstep. 



I've also heard and witnessed some of the most inspiring things this year from the stories of Andy Kirkpatrick one of Britain's top climbers that added more fuel to the fire for me to take on some big challenges. I was also blown away at times by the moving footage at the Banff Film Festival tour and seeing the best of human curiosity and adventure for the pushing the limits and enjoy life. (I will put on some pieces in the future about these!)  

What lies ahead?
I plan to continue to build my skill and knowledge with the Wolverhampton Mountaineering club over the next few months and visit some great climbing areas around the country and maybe Spain. I will then be heading out to New Zealand in November on an ultimate escape from Cannock to experience nature and wilderness in one of its purest forms in the Fiordland. I also purchased some cross country skis on Saturday which I must admit make my room look like it belongs to real hardcore backcountry kind of guy. (I have some plans in mind for those when the snow begins falling in Wales or Scotland).

Thanks for reading and more to follow soon.

Joe