Open Canoe course

Over the weekend of 30/31st July, Pure Liquid Kayaking ran an Open Canoe course for a small group of  kayakers who wanted to obtain their BCU 2* certificate. Weather conditions were very kind to us, with very light winds and sunny skies - perfect! After two 'full-on' days of open boating, where the candidates were put through their paces - covering all the necessary paddling skills, I was happily able to sign them off and issue the relevant BCU 2* pass slips. A great weekend with a nice bunch of people. :)

Deep Water Soloing update

Well, after my successful Scillies crossing, for the majority of July, I turned my attention back to the excitement of Deep Water Soloing. In anticipation of the opening of Berry Head sea cliffs, (following the annual bird ban), in August, I put some mileage in on the sea crags over Torquay, with the Aqua Marina wall being my main training ground. However, there were a couple of routes that I'd wanted to bag before the end of the month, before Berry Head opened. First on the list was a route on London Arch, Torquay, called 'Atheist', an F6b+, which I'd tried last year but failed on. On 16th July conditions came together, with a WNW breeze and a sunny evening combined with a spring tide, so I took the opportunity to give it a go and was rewarded with a relatively easy ascent on my first attempt. Result! Next up, was a route that I wanted to have a go at called 'Arapiles Oh Arapiles', but didn't expect to send it very quickly as it is a F7a/7a+! This route is situated at Long Quarry Point, Torquay, in a very picturesque setting overlooking Anstey's cove, and is about 30 foot high with nice deep water below it. On my first session there I on-sighted the first half of the route up to the crux, and down climbed the last part of the route to figure out the last few moves. On my second visit, on 21st July, and armed with some beta on the crux moves, I discovered a hold I'd missed, and as a result managed to figure out the crux sequence. My first attempt of the day resulted in a splash-down from the crux moves again, but I had at least made it a few moves higher than last time. I knew straight away where I'd gone wrong, so after a rest and a change of shorts etc I gave it another go. I still wasn't expecting to do the route as the crux involves hard moves on very small crimps, but I surprised myself by making it to the first good jug beyond the technical crux with relative ease, and after flowing easily through the final few moves I arrived at the top barely pumped at all. I was amazed; almost stunned! It felt awesome and I'd done it! I was so stoked I let out a massive hoot of elation! I think the nearby fishermen wondered what the hell was going on?! It was by far the most satisfying route I've done to date. I can't really explain why, it just was. :) Really can't wait for Berry Head season now! I'm psyched! :D

All photos: James climbing 'Arapiles Oh Arapiles', F7a/7a+.

Scillies 'Solo' Crossing

After our Isles of Scilly trip last September, I had wanted to join the link by paddling from Sennen Cove over to the Isles themselves; a 28 mile open water crossing. A week after my Alps trip, and conditions were looking perfect for an attempt, with good visibility and virtually no wind and swell. Once prepped and packed, I drove down to sennen the evening before (sleeping in the van) and paddled out from Sennen just after 6am on Friday 1st July in glassy smooth waters. Despite a fully laden kayak and full spring tides the crossing went really well, and after just under 5 hours and 40 minutes from leaving Longships, I arrived at the Scillies outer rocks, having negotiated several ships and tankers en route. I also saw quite a few gannets on the crossing, and was greeted by a couple of puffins that circled me for a bit which was nice. I landed on St. Martins just before 1pm in time for lunch and a celebratory mug of tea. My crossing couldn't have gone better, and with favorable conditions and good planning the tide pushed me in on the last leg of the journey too. Perfect! The following day I made the long paddle out to Bishop Rock lighthouse - the most southwesterly point, in good sea conditions and back to St. Martins again. On Sunday I had a more leisurely day, paddling out through the narrow Men-a-vaur rocks, and then spending the day chilling out on Northwethel Island in the sunshine. Monday I got the ferry back to the mainland after enjoying a superb few days in these stunning and magical islands, feeling re-vitalized. Definitely worth the effort! :) 

French and Italian Alps Kayaking trip - June

Mid-June saw myself and good friends Jack Butcher, Greg Laywood and Jeremy van Riemsdyke taking the long drive down to the French Alps for a week of white water kayaking. A fantastic, and laughter-filled, week was had kayaking some great rivers in the alpine sunshine, including; the Lower Guisane, Briancon Gorge, Durance Slalom course, Ubaye Racecourse, Gyr, Guil, and the absolutely awesome Germanasca in Italy. In fact, the Germanasca was so good we went back on the last day of the trip and ran it again. I would even go as far as to say it was the best river I've ever paddled, involving lots of technical boulder garden paddling and tons of drops, and it suited me perfectly. Loved it! :D It was great to go just go paddling with good friends and run lots of class 4 classics. Superb! :)

May Holidays to Cornwall

Well, you can plan holidays, but you can't plan the weather. Due to strong winds and the forecast of wet weather, our planned sea kayaking trip to Scotland in May had to be abandoned. Instead, we loaded up the van and headed off over Dartmoor towards Cornwall. Fresh from some good local climbing at Churston, where I led a fantastic HVS 5a called 'Merlin Rocket' and an E3 5c called 'Satanic Traversities' along with some old favourites, I was keen to send a few more routes on our trip south. First stop was Sheepstor, where I made an early morning ascent of 'Wind Wall', HVS 5a, before spending the rest of the day at the Dewerstone climbing a few classics, including; 'Leviathan', VS 4c and 'Climber's Club Direct', HVS 5a. We had a superb day climbing in the sunshine. Next stop was Polzeath, via Bodmin Moor, where we found the surf was a bit blown out, so we spent a few days walking the coast path with the dog, before finally getting a nice surf for a few hours the next morning in three foot plus cleanish waves. I had some fun rides on my Longboard, and Elisabeth scored a few on her boogie board too. Stoked! ;) That afternoon we headed down to Rinsey Head in Cornwall where we camped up for the night. The following morning we hiked out to Trewavas Head for some more climbing, and found it to be a superb little single-pitch venue in an idyllic setting with old tin workings and stunning views along the coastline. We climbed a bunch of fantastic VS's and HVS's, but the highlight of the day for me was my on-sight lead of an awesome and wildly overhanging prow called 'West Wing', an E2 5c. The first half of the route was very delicate and balancy, while the upper half was severely overhanging and juggy. Once through the nail-biting lower part of the route, I reveled in the wild overhanging nature of the exposed upper half, and topped out with a massive grin on my face. :D Woohoo! The last day of the trip was spent walking the coast path down at The Lizard with our dog Guinness. We reflected on what a great holiday it had turned out to be, and how lucky we were to have dry and sunny weather all week given what the forecasts had said the week before. It was also agreed that we would be back to visit again soon, and especially to explore some of the other quality climbing venues in the area. Can't wait! :)

On our return from Cornwall the weather continued to be kind to us, allowing for a superb deep water soloing session over Torquay, and a fantastic day of climbing up on the moor where I led the classic 'three star' E1 5b route on Lowman, Haytor, called 'Aviation'. Superb! :)

April Update

Well, what a month April has been - such fantastic hot sunny weather! Earlier on in the month, and fresh from our climbing trip to Spain, I had a good burn on the superb Anstey's Cove F7b sport route 'Empire of the Sun', linking all the crux moves and on-sighting the top half. Awesome! I am hoping to put a few more hours into the route, with the aim of sending it later this year. As the hot weather increased we moved to the shade of Churston Quarries for some sport and esoterica climbing. After an easy ascent of 'Supercalorific', I then led the run-out E3 5b, 'Walking Tall'. This is another fantastic route, but due to the lack of gear in the upper half a slip from the last few moves would result in a ground fall, so you'd better not mess up! Still the sun shone brightly, so I turned my attention to my real climbing passion - Deep Water Soloing (DWS), or Psicobloc. Plenty of superb sessions were had over Torquay climbing the many classic routes on quality rock in amazingly warm and sunny conditions. It was like summer, and I was in my element! Stoked! ;) I also cleaned up, and soloed a great route down on the edge of Brixham Quarry called 'Pigeon Street', an F6a+. It featured steep juggy climbing with an overhanging crux right at the top, which I thoroughly enjoyed. So much so, that I repeated it three times! Love it! :) Now eagerly awaiting my next DWS session! What I love about Psicobloc, is the absolute freedom and pure climbing movement - just you and the rock, and no-one and nothing else. :)

Photo: Elisabeth on 'Watchtower Traverse', F5.

Costa Blanca Climbing Trip

Mid-March, in a bid to escape the cold and wet British winter, we jetted off to the sunny Costa Blanca in Spain for ten days of sport climbing. The first four days were fantastic, with hot and sunny conditions, allowing us to climb in shorts and T-shirts. Awesome! We were based near Pego, North of Alicante, and over the first few days we visited some of the superb local crags, including; Alcalali, L'Ocaive, Gandia, and Pego itself. The rock was excellent, and with climbing to match, we were in heaven! (Well, I was anyway). The climbing at Gandia really suited me, with steep to overhanging routes containing loads of pockets and jugs, and it was here that we met local Dartmoor climbing Legend; Dave Henderson, cruising up a crazy overhanging 7a+ on-sight! Mid-trip we had some wet weather, but that didn't stop us getting out and doing a few mountain walks, despite not getting much of a view due to the low cloud. Once the nice weather returned, we headed off to the coast near Calpe for some more sun drenched sport climbing on some steep slabs, which suited Elisabeth much better. Well, it was her Birthday! ;) The next day we were back at the top sector of Gandia, sweating it out in the scorching hot conditions and climbing some amazing routes. As a break from the full-on sport climbing, we decided to give the Bernia Ridge a crack the following day. This is an all day trek/ scramble/ climb which weaves its way along a stunning rock ridge, and climbs to a height of 1126 meters. It turned out to be an epic nine and a half hour expedition, but the stunning views and mind boggling journey made it all worth while. On the last day of the trip, we headed back to the overhanging sectors at Gandia so I could bag a few harder routes before we flew home. I was well happy with three 6b's and a 6c, especially as they were hard for the grade! :) What with that, and Elisabeth leading some hard routes of her own, it rounded off our fantastic climbing trip a treat. Happy Days! :D We are definitely planning on heading back next year for more of the same, but probably two weeks next time, as there is so much more climbing we'd like to get done on the next trip! :)