I told you! Blogs are like buses, you wait for ages and two come along at once, etc...
The June issue of 'Climb' magazine is out and you should all go and buy it because Micky's on the cover! He features in the 'Bloc Masters' article by Percy Bishton which is about Britain's strongest boulderers. Also included in the article are another two climbers who have made their mark in Northumberland, Malcolm Smith and Dan Varian. There's an interview with Micky, as well as Malcolm's thoughts on 'the next level'. And guess who that is..?
Obviously, the photo on the cover is a belter...
 |
| Climb Magazine. Cover by the Page/Savage dream team... |
I'd also like to give Dan a man-hug (who wouldn't?) for finally getting his 8b+ project nailed. I know he's been working this for a while, and I'm looking forward to seeing him on it for photos.
Check out the 'Dandelion Mind' video here:
http://vimeo.com/23044295
Last week, Chris Graham invited me along to the ASBO 11 competition at Climb Newcastle to take photos. If you want to have a look through some of those, they're here:
 |
| Sidonie Graham in the Womens' Final, ASBO11 |
Ok, so let's get on with the Northumberland round-up.
As I said last time, I've been out quite a bit recently as we've had some settled weather. Lots of bouldering though. I feel like I've been neglecting routes a bit, so I need to get on top of that. I've been practising throwing the camera in the air to get lucky photos. Like this:
 |
| Jimmy Hunter on 'Devil's Edge', HVS 5a, Kyloe |
Also from Kyloe, here's Megan showing her dad how it's done:
 |
| Megan Hunter on 'Conifer Direct', S4b, Kyloe |
Over at Bowden I hooked up with Richard and Jill on another quiet day.
 |
| Richard Gage, 'Tiger's Wall', VS 5a, Bowden |
We went over the hill to Raven's where Danka was working Low Level Traverse. The sunset was a non-event, and I had packed up to leave, but the sky suddenly changed and I got a few photos.
 |
| Danka Kudlacik on 'Low Level Traverse', 6b, Raven's Crag |
Whenever my motivation starts wavering, all I need to do is get in touch with Rob Fielding. He's super-psyched for The County and has an inspiring tick list. Nic Ward and I went to meet Rob at Callerhues. Rob warmed up on The Mall which is an under-rated HVS (that's Callerhues HVS which is probably E2/E3) with some great moves. He cleaned up the direct start and climbed it that way, without using the block in the chimney. So it's definately not the 5a way of doing it...
 |
| Rob Fielding on 'The Mall', HVS 5a, Callerhues |
 |
| Rob Fielding on 'The Mall', HVS 5a, Callerhues |
Rob also spent a bit of time on Stu Campbell's 'Scar Tissue' which is the boulder problem start to 'The Thoroughbred'. It's a fantastic problem, and a bit steep... I've put it down here as 8a, but Stu reckons it's soft and might be 7c+. Rob's keen to get back on it though.
 |
| Rob Fielding on 'Scar Tissue', 8a, Callerhues |
 |
| Rob Fielding on 'Scar Tissue', 8a, Callerhues |
Nic and Rob did all the routes on the detached wall.
 |
| Nic Ward on 'Footpath', E1 5b, Callerhues |
 |
| Rob Fielding on 'Paving' MVS 5a, Callerhues |
Staying on the detached wall, Nic had a few goes at 'The Eyes of Silence' before we left.
 |
| Nic Ward on 'The Eyes of Silence', 7c+, Callerhues |
 |
| Nic Ward on 'The Eyes of Silence', 7c+, Callerhues |
Next blog I should have some exciting news (and photos) from Callerhues, but for the moment I'll just leave it at that.
It was a nice surprise to bump into Paul Carruthers at Shaftoe, and he got on one of the scariest problems there. Two moves into the traverse around The Punchbowl boulder and you're 30ft above a horrible landing. I've wanted to photograph this problem for ages, and although this isn't the right time of year (the sun's setting in the wrong place), Paul was happy to get on it.
 |
| Paul Carruthers on the 6c traverse of The Punchbowl, Shaftoe. Scary! |
 |
| Paul Carruthers on a hard direct start to 'Sloper Masterclass', Shaftoe |
|
Getting back to the subject of motivation, Steve Blake is an inspiration! If he's not out scouting the potential of new bouldering venues, he's out cleaning and putting up new problems. He's a mine of knowledge and a great person to be around.
I was invited to his latest 'Crag X' to get some photos of the first ascents of some of the problems up there. There are a few left to be done before it's made public. but it's a beautiful, quiet place with some cracking looking problems.
 |
| Steve Blake on 'Constant Sorrow', 7a+, Crag X... |
We also went up to Caller. Steve has been cleaning up and re-climbing the problems there. It's a venue that really deserves more traffic as some of the blocs and lines are amazing.
We'll definately get back up there as it was way too windy. Here are a few photos:
 |
| The view from Caller |
 |
| Steve Blake on 'Indian Summer', 7a+, Caller. Incredible boulder, awesome line, three star problem... |
 |
| Steve Blake on 'Cowboy Up', 7a, Caller |
 |
| Steep problem through the roof to the left of the crag. |
Steve also frightened me with stories from Baffin of falling through crevasses and cutting steps with a peg hammer whilst wearing EBs on the final snow slopes to the summit of Mt Asgard. Terrifying.
