With a good weather forecast, myself, Robin and his father Marcus, headed to Cheddar Gorge.
We headed straight for the Landslip Quarry, where a few weeks ago I lead my first 7a ‘Raw Deal’ on the ‘Wave’.
I warmed up on ‘Dead on Arrival’ 6a+ and then repeated ‘Raw Deal’ 7a twice, before moving to ‘The Remnant’ crag where I would start a red point project on a 7b called ‘Skullduggery’.
The route guide summarises the line as ‘fast start; brain-teasing finish straight up groove to jug above belay’. I found the first few moves tough, powerful and bouldery, with not great feet. I made things harder for myself with terrible foot placement unable to move confidently, but clip by clip I pieced the route together and topped out.
I seem to have all the moves, just not the strength endurance to stick it all together. The thing about red pointing is it’s a project outside your comfort zone, so it’s beyond your limit and something to work towards, although at the time it feels like your getting nothing but fall practice and frustration management. The muscle movement and memory that is developed during a session like this, means the sequence training will only put me in good shape for a lead attempt next visit, which I’m confident I can achieve.
I remember watching Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra on ‘La Dura Dura’ and these dudes tried this project over 125 times, before sending it. With perseverance, practice and patience, oh and power you can push your limits.
Robin and Marcus were on ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ 8a. They were working together to suss out the route. It was great to watch the father and son duo on this project, inspiring stuff. Marcus has a lot of experience in the mountains and on vertical faces. His knowledge and experience was encouraging and motivating.
So, we need the weather to come good for a return trip to the Gorge in the coming days/weeks, but for now it’s back to the training wall for some hard sessions. Fun times ahead working hard to tick this project and hopefully many others.
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