Mind the birds!

Neither Chris or I could climb on Tuesday as we both had less exciting but more pressing things to do but I managed to get a cracking run in at lunchtime.  I was aiming to do a sub 50 minute 10k and jumped on the treadmill at lunchtime with a gradient of 3% and ramped the speed up to 7.8mph.  I sustained this really well but really started to cook towards the end and had 3 short walks (literally a couple of steps), but by the time I was at 5 miles I was absolutely busting for the loo!  I managed to get to 6 miles but couldn't risk the extra 0.2 miles and jumped off and ran to the loo.  I managed 46:31 for 6 miles so I'm really chuffed.  I think given a cooler day I could do 10k in less than 46 mins which would be excellent.  I'll have to try that on a flatish road or grass circuit when it is cooler.

Anyway I picked up Chris from his house yesterday and we headed to Pontesford.  There are some Peregrine Falcons nesting so the crag is heavily restricted.  First off Chris lead Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff), between us we have a lot of gear now as my DMM Dragon cams arrived (I'm very pleased with them!  £115 for a size 2,3 and 4 from http://www.theoutdoorshop.com which is quite a bargain :)  Chris set off up the route with enough gear to free climb El Cap!

Chris leading Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff*)

I scampered up and got the gear out and was thinking about my next climb.  I thought I'd like to try the HS 4a Eliminate G route but to be honest I wasn't really feeling it, it wasn't inspiring me.  I got the iPhone out and looked at the topo from http://www.westmidlandsrock.co.uk/.  Because of the restrictions on the wall due to the birds nesting I thought it would be best to go and have a go on the Pontesbury Needle which is at the bottom of the crag.  There are two severe routes on it as well as a couple of moderates and a couple of E grades.  I picked Hawthorn Crack (S 4a*).  The climbing wasn't too bad once committed but it did take a little time to make sure I was confident about linking up the moves which in the end were fairly static.  Because the crack runs up to the right you can push yourself back against the wall to find stability and in doing so and blindly pulling up the rope I ended up clipping the rope from below another piece of protection.  I didn't realise this until after I'd finished the route, I think it would of still been effective but less than ideal as it would of put strain on two bits of gear in a kind of pulling fashion.  I used mostly cams on the route (mainly because of ease of placement but you could get away with much less gear than what I took, in actual fact having a lot of gear in small places is a hinderance).  I was pretty pleased to top out, it's a nice route but the first part is very broken and just a scramble - the crux is one move but well protected so nice for a step up in grade for VDiff leaders.

Me leading Hawthorn Crack (S 4a*), approaching the crack

Me leading Hawthorn Crack at the crux

Chris seconding, just reaching the crack

Chris seconding, pulling around the bulge

I'm off to the AlpKit Big Shake Out which runs along side the Cliffhanger festival in the Peak District over the weekend with my family (Kate, Grace and her mate) so I should get some photos to post of various outdoor activities including the World Bouldering Championship.  I'm really looking forward to it and am hoping the weather is kind to us.  

On a seperate note; all in all the cardio and climbing are in a good state so I'm hoping the Alps should go very smoothly in a couple of weeks time :)  Here is a description of the route I'm most looking forward to   attempting in the Alps on Tour Ronde (conditions/bottle permitting!).  I think I have got everything I need now apart from a bit of tat for abseiling.