South to Slipstones, north to Cuddy's Cave

Slipstones 


Yesterday I travelled down to Slipstones to meet up with Dan, Ned, Michele, Nick and Ben. Dan was going to have another crack at Cypher, Ben Moon's three star 8b. He'd been on it last week and fallen off the good holds a couple of times, so I knew he'd do it if conditions were good, and the conditions were perfect.
Sure enough, once he'd warmed up he almost got it on his first go, sticking to the good holds for just long enough to make me think he was home and dry before coming off. A couple of goes later and he was up.

Dan Varian on 'Cypher' 8b

Dan Varian repeats 'Cypher' 8b. Sorry about the poor quality animation...

Michele Caminati is over from Italy to sample the grit. He's an 8b+ legend and is climbing super-hard problems all over the world. Here he is mid-crux crux on Cypher:

Michele Caminati

Michele Caminati on 'Stipule'

Michele, Nick and I had plenty to talk about as we're all photographers. Nick is working on a bouldering film which you can check out here:   www.facebook.com/outcropfilms

Michele's website is here:    http://www.michelecaminati.com/

Nick was working Lay-By Arete, and it wasn't long before he got it. Entertaining.

Nick Brown on Lay-By Arete

Cuddy's Cave


While there was a gap in the bad weather a couple of weeks ago, I met Chris Miele up at Cuddy's Cave. He'd recently found this lone outcrop just outside Wooler and got to work developing it. At first it's not that impressive, but the problems are great and it's in a beautiful location. After seeing a few pictures on the UKC website, I knew I had to get some photos of Chris on a couple of his problems there.
The obvious line for photos is the steep traverse, 'Bepanthen Battle' 7a. It just looks fantastic!
Chris is a great climber and he's really into doing a bit of exploring in the County, so I'm looking forward to tagging along on a couple of trips and getting a few more pictures.

Chris Miele on 'Bepanthen Battle'

Cuddy's Cave