Although the summer has been poor, looking back at the log on iphoto the prominence of blue skies and seas would appear to indicate that it wasn’t a complete washout. I made a few rather wet and windy sorties to Cornwall which ended with truncated trips although I did manage to do a good route in the form of String of Pearls the girdle of Bosigran. I am normally a bit scathing of girdles but I enjoyed the climb and as always hanging about at Bosigran is hardly a bad way to spend a day. A couple of visits to Swanage also provided some superb weather and as usual hard climbing especially on the first pitch of Facedancin’ at Guillemot Ledge. Off of my normal patch I have started work on a South Wales sport climbing guide with Gary Gibson, Roy Thomas and Goi Ashmore that has provided me with some great days out and visits to a number of surprisingly impressive crags and sport routes as good as many on our shores. The publication of the El Chorro Rockfax draws ever closer and will be out for xmas even though the printer has gone bust. Anyway the fully open Cheddar season starts today so lets pray for dry weather!

A quick trip to the Avon Gorge prior to my trip to Lofoten resulted in a bit of a tussle with the excellent Hocus Pocus, a tough line that 15 years ago I breezed up, and now felt a little guilt that I had rather undersold its hard climbing to my present day partner. Still, nursing nothing more serious than very pumped forearms I packed for Norway and travelled happily northwards to a magical first nights stay under the midnight sun in a little Rorbu (small hut). The next day a swift ferry ride deposited Alan and I on Lofoten and our first sampling of the rock under the expert eye of Chris ‘The big feller’ Craggs and Colin ‘El Cap” Binks – it was magnificent and set the scene for two weeks of memorable experiences. With tales of the bad weather that can engulf the Islands we quickly picked off the classics such as Bare Blabaer, Lundeklubben and Vestpillaren and waited for the rain – it never arrived. In fact on my return I was a bit dubious about the bad weather claims and looked up the longterm June rainfall averages for Lofoten and Fort William and found that Lofoten has exactly half the rain that Fort William does!! Two weeks later we headed home having climbed far more routes than we could possibly have hoped for at the outset and I had to admit that I had been completely charmed by the area and will hopefully be able to return and explore further afield around Tromso and Stetind. Back home and a quick visit by friends Ali and Phil on their way back from Cornwall resulted in a happy day at Ansteys Cove along with some very nice people from The Southeast, Sheffield and Exeter. Just one thing to note is that the parking for Ansteys Cove etc is now only free for 2 hours and is patrolled (£75 fine). Alternative free parking is available across the road just uphill on the left.

The promised warm weather arrived and then promptly left again which came as a bit of a let down. Nevertheless I managed a day out and about with an American who is the brother-in law of a mate. I found it amazing that he was so fond of our crags especially since he had visited some of our less pristine gems. Not at all like the American who after a day at Gogarth was asked if they had rock like this in the US and he replied that they had absolutely masses but just didn’t bother climbing on it! I also had a good visit to the Lakes and was pleased to see that some of the crags are looking much cleaner than when I last saw them although I may need recalibrating after spending time down in mid Wales over the last few years (see photo of approach to Gist Ddu). A BMC SW meeting at Chudleigh was notable for the amount of food on offer and some very impressive stainless steel pegs on show that hopefully will go a long way to sorting out spots such as Long Quarry Point and The Sanctuary Wall in Torbay, which are now really in need of new fixed gear. I know that some advocate a no peg/fixed (not bolts) gear policy on our sea-cliffs but if this was put in place in Devon and N.Cornwall so much would be lost to many climbers and although many of the routes could be climbed without pegs etc, at much higher grades, how many would be headpoints or climbed after inspection from ab? Off to pack for Lofoten now so fingers crossed the weather is kind.

Waiting for the warm weather to arrive seemed to drag on and on but a couple of good days in April allowed a day with my old school days climbing mate Bruce and his family plus my nephew to enjoy a day a Sheeps Tor on Dartmoor. It was packed with groups but friendly enough although I don’t think that the SPA guidance on not hogging routes/crags was being adhered to.
A last minute call from the BMC saw me handing in evidence of historically unhindered access to Vixen Tor on Dartmoor to the authorities that are Devon County Council. I grabbed the chance of publicity and ended up on the BBC regional news and managed to link Vixen Tor with an ascent of Everest which was not bad for a 20 second spot! Fingers crossed this action works although I suspect it may be along time coming and might favour walkers with a footpath but no general access.
On the climbing front things have been a little faltering, the weather being a bit of a let down after Spain. Nevertheless I held my old friend Dave’s rope on a successful ascent of Tuppence at Ansteys Cove, had some great days in West Penwith and Portland on the crag and in the pub with my friends Lee, Guy, Coxy, Bernard and Jan and got some mileage in checking routes at Avon, The Dewerstone and Cornakey Cliff. Perhaps the highlight of my week has been repeating a route called Matchless on the Culm, a route that I first climbed nearly 30 years ago just after it was put up. Whilst there we also climbed the modern classic More than a Match which lived up to its name and was surprisingly clean. A good tip here is to walk in along the boulder beach from Stanbury Mouth which is pretty quick and pleasant.
Finally I am booked to head off to Lofoten in Norway with Alan James to try and sample the awesome looking climbs. Alan and I must be due some decent weather as our last meetings in Mallorca, Pembroke and at my wedding have been extremely wet!! (having said that we did grab some good sun in Cornwall last year).

I have been lucky enough to have escaped the worst of the recent storms by taking up residence for a couple of weeks down in El Chorro to finish off the last of the topos and field work ready for the publication of the new guidebook before Christmas. Every day was perfect for climbing and not for the first time did the idea of spending longer periods away over the winters again occupy my thoughts. My stay at Finca Los Llanos was once again both relaxing and entertaining, not least because of the number of good eating and drinking places in Alora just down the road. Access to a number of crags in and around the Gorge has now eased and crags such as Poza de la Mona at Desplomilandia are now climbed on throughout the year without problems. My climbing was restricted to route checking and looking back on the ‘tick list’ I seemed to have climbed an unusually high number of 6c+’s, a grade I would normally shy away from as from experience they often prove to be either desperate, troublesome or painful (this is possibly why I have had so many to check!) I also could do with some help proofing the Valle de Abdalajis section from anyone who has climbed there in recent times. So with snow forecast for Easter it looks like it might be back to the wall once more! But then again the Met office has been known to get it wrong once or twice in the past!!

The weather has been pretty kind since the pre xmas monsoon and the crags are now very dry down here in the Westcountry. Another trip to El Chorro is imminent so I have been out and about trying to get the fingers and forearms in shape. Cheddar has been in good early season nick and I managed to redpoint the tricky little nut of Sing A Mean Toon, Kid at the Pride Evans Cave which is a fine companion of the cave classic House Burning Down 7b+ but a grade harder. I also gave Wintour’s Leap yet another go after many trips there over the years. I was lucky enough to get a perfect afternoon in on the GO Wall but came away with the feeling that the crag is at its best as a trad venue and that the attempts at producing some worthwhile sports climbs has fallen short of the mark.
The Cuttings clean-up on Portland was a well attend event and yet again proved what can be achieved in such a short time. (nice one Steve and Neal) The après event food and sunset from the Cove House were superb.

December was a month of great weather contrast for me. The first half blessed with immaculate sunny conditions down in El Chorro, Andalucia, and the rest of the time cold and very wet back in England. El Chorro was a fantastic trip made even better by the find of some superb accommodation close to the busy little town of Alora at Finca Los Llanos. The English owners, Alan and Helen, made us extremely welcome and I am very much looking forward to a return visit in the very near future.

El Chorro itself was pretty busy with much of the accommodation full even though the rumour mill has written it down due to the access through the tunnels being policed. As it turns out access to all the climbing is still on and the free MicroGuide I have put together gives the latest state of affairs and some useful info on approaches. A vast amount of new climbs have been opened up since the last Rockfax came out in 2001 and we will have the new Rockfax book, dedicated solely to El Chorro and its surrounds, out for this coming xmas.

One of the better spots for new lines is at Sector Sombre at Desplomilandia which now sports a wall of 30m+ lines catering for all from 6a to 8a.

Back at home the motivation gained from the Spanish trip soon evaporated after a few soggy trips to Portland normally fairly reliable at this time of year. So it has been indoors for some training at Bristol and the newish wall - The Mill at South Molton in mid Devon.

First off this month is for me to report the demise of the loose flake just above the half height break of the classic 7b+ Chullia at Brean Down in Somerset. The remains are on view at the base of the cliff and it was a good job that it did not come off when anyone was belaying someone on Storm Warning or Brean Topping. Chullia and Storm Warning have been reclimbed and are still the same grade but Brean Topping could well prove to be harder now. The weather has been pretty kind with hardly any rain and has allowed me to get up another of Brean Down’s great sport routes El Chocco 7c.

I also cleaned up and lead another ’should go and do’ Crimson Dynamo at another of Somerset’s little gems Split Rock Quarry. Whilst there I have also given the other routes a good pruning and the face is now in excellent nick.

I have helped organise a clean up at Chudleigh rocks which went very well and has really made difference, with vast amounts of ivy now consigned to the base of the crag! Phase two is planned for the winter which will see the removal of a number of big trees at the base of the crag and some more work on the faces.

I was also pleased to get the good news about Mike Robertson’s Deep Water guide which won best Exposition at the Banff Book Festival in Canada. Working on the book with Mike was a lot of hard work but also entailed a lot of laughs as well as a memorable rush from the computer to undertake a bit of salvage on my local beach when the container ship the Napolli went aground.

So I now leave for a few weeks in El Chorro with my old Lakes mates and a good dose of warm weather, fingers crossed.

The ‘near miss’ of the season was when a huge, and polished, block parted company from the first pitch of The Preter (an Extreme Rock E2) at Avon narrowly missing me on the belay and not taking my partner with it to the bottom! The rest of the climb was superb but the first pitch is now very loose in its mid section and the original start to Malbogies would now seem to be the best start.

My sport climbing fitness has been on the decline but I have managed to onsight a few 7a+’s and redpoint a good number of the better new sport lines at Cheddar such as Star Spangled Banner (7b+) on the perfectly named Spacehunter Buttress.

I have been lucky with the weather down in Cornwall that has allowed some memorable days out ranging from solo’s of the easier Bosigran classics finishing off with a late afternoon saunter up Commando Ridge, a perfect afternoon ascent of Astral Stroll and some brilliant but tough days at Cheesewring Quarry.

A Blog! Well you’ve got to start somewhere so to let me get going with a brief summary of some of the year’s more interesting (to me) outings and events.

Climbing wise so far this year it has been a mix of ticking off some classic trad routes that have been on ‘The List’ for a long long time, picking off the odd sport line and repeating some of the SW’s climbs that I first did well over 30 years ago. Roaring Silence (E3) on Scafell’s East Buttress and Ahimsa (E3) on Cheddar Gorge’s Acid Rock were worth the wait. Ahimsa’s top pitch is one of UK limestone’s best E3’s giving immaculate bridging in a sensational location and with excellent small wires all the way and is one those lines that looks like it might be a lot more of an undertaking than it turns out to be.

I always new that Roaring Silence would be a good route but what I hadn’t expected was a deserted East Buttress on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, allowing the rare luxury of climbing in shorts and a tee shirt and not being cold even when belaying. I was just about to start questioning the whereabouts of all the trad climber’s but did not have to look far as the next day they were all at Dow! Still ‘every cloud..’ spurred us on to find something new to do and we headed to Great Central Route (HVS 5b) away from the crowds. GCR turned out to be a tremendous climb and for my money must have been one of the Uk’s hardest when it was first climbed in the early 1920’s even with combined tactics on its crux pitch.

On the work and domestic front early spring was spent putting together Mike Robertson’s DWS guide and the summer getting married! But now my attention is turning to finishing the El Chorro and surrounds guide over this winter.