Bouldering Day

Woke up to glorious sunshine this morning and so decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, no climbing partners available though so bouldering it would have to be.

I headed over to Brownstones, a famous little quarry just outside Bolton in Lancashire. Many a top climber have cut their teeth and honed their skills at Brownstones over the years and there are many test piece problems put up by such Lancs stalwarts as Hank Pasquill to name just one.

The crag is split into a number of sections with lots to go at even at the lower end of the grade scale. I set up camp beside Ash Pit Slab. This is one of the higher stretches of the crag and the problems hereabouts can be considered high ball. A fall from the top moves here is going to hurt a bit definitely.

I warmed up on a couple of problems I'd done before, Analogue and Degree Crack (4c and 5a in old money). Nexus on the overhanging wall adjacent to Ash Pit Slab is a pumpy little number at 4c with a tricky top out especially for harassed climbers!

Then the main event.......I'd come to do Digitation and Directissima. It had been a long time since I could manage these 2 problems so it would be a good indication of how I'm climbing and progress, if any, that has been made. I manage to get Directissima on my 3rd attempt......foot kept slipping off a crucial smear low down but once I managed to stick to this and stand up, the rest was really nice. I flashed Digitation and was delighted! A rarity this problem, a quarried grit slab! Tiny crimps, mostly sloping for the hands and not much more than smears for feet, the first move off the good foothold being the key move, then the trick is to just keep moving and hope the friction holds out!

I did a few more problems after that, Layback at 5a and Parrs Crack at 5c amongst others before warming down on a neat little traverse along one of the side walls. I managed to tick 11 problems and was really pleased with myself.

Lester enjoying the sun whilst Dad falls off stuff!



The evening session saw me team up with Nathan and Matt for a spot of esoterica up at Ashworth Moor between Bury and Rochdale. It's not the biggest bouldering venue in the world but that said, there are some quality problems and we settled on a stretch of wall in the sun! Pretty much the whole of this stretch sees every problem having to surmount a low down roof. Powerful and dynamic moves were the order of the day here.

We managed to tick From Concnetrate sit start at F6a.....it's all about the body position; Yawning Arms sit 5+; Into the Cleft sit 6a quite a fierce layback number; and then the best til last...Black Hole 6a+ which I managed to flash albeit having seen beta from the chaps!

Me spotting Matt on Black Hole 6a+ on a fantastic evening at Ashworth Moor



I had a fantastic day, although it came at a price! Severe tendon problems in both arms now but mainly the right. A combination of over climbing, not resting properly inbetween sessions and not warming up properly has led me to a place where now only complete rest will solve the problem. It may even be worse than that but I'll see where I am in a couple of weeks time and go from there.

Yep, I pushed myself!