Mall Hill Magnificence

Blew off study for the day in order to take advantage of the weather and headed to mall hill. Decided to start over by on the right hill as i hadn't been in years. Warmed up nicely on 7,8,9. Found a forestry road undercutting the A-Bomb boulder which I don't remember, adding a new element of exposure. Found it difficult to try the two lines as a result but it forced me to try the slab between them that i remember we tried to no avail way back at the beginning. Was very pleased to find a delicate little way up, Half Life, we'll say 6c. From here headed up to do the crack in my runners, looked at the steep quartz crimpfest but was a little tired of quartz holds after the slab. Threw on the shoes speculatively for the great white slab above and was very pleased to be able to make it off the ground starting on the leftish side of the slab using a crucified starting stance. Could move right foot up to the right hand starting hold. Looks like if I can get the left foot up I could get established on some better feet and get pretty high.

Up to the big slopey lip by the woods, pulled on a little. Annoying ground drop away, be nice to try with a few pads and a platform. Trees coming along, need to bring a saw next time. From here headed right down to the heart of darkness which was in perfect condition, still not sure how to do it but didn't dispel the feeling that there's a doable line there. Could pull on and go but was a half hand length short of the hold. Pound for pound mall hill must have the highest proportion of worthwhile projects in wicklow.

Tried Piece de resistance going left, a very fine line. Lovely moves, the heel hook's a bomb. Could get the rh up to the little groove and got lh up to the lip a couple of times but skin was too trashed to hold it very well. Need to keep the heel on. Defo on the list of personal projects.

After the conditions in the forest i thought up by glenmac waterfall would be dry so i made a trek in just to check the line but it was wet.

Looks shit but ain't.

Glendalough in the dark.

Went to glendo for a lamper session in the end despite some vaguely complicated logistics but was well rewarded with what felt like the longest session i've had in a while. Headed down with trish ahead of bray and dave, in for about half 6. Rain was threatening vaguely but we kept faith and it was unbelieveably mild at first, climbing in t-shirts with head-torches in february. The friction whilst not perfect was not as bad as this would imply and got better as the sky cleared and wind picked up in to the evening, lovely camping weather.

Warmed up waiting for the lads and tried egg traverse for first time. Feels well hard at the end even ignoring the glaring stamina element. Found if i put my foot in deeper on the good ramp on the right i could hit the sloper comfortably enough. Then was trying dropping left hand to good crimp to work my way around the corner somewhat to try and go for the rib. A long way off. Also had a look at the stepped slab to the right of the warm up ramp, found i could get my foot up on the slab but there was just nothing to put your foot on. While the lads warmed up i tried the egg, couldn't really argue with the left hand just didn't feel strong enough to move through. Then we moved up to pascals briefly, had some weak efforts before going into squamish which kept us nicely entertained despite the vague shades of green, good line for tweaking technique. The right line mantle i wanted to try came in for some sustained ridicule. They'll see.

Up to fuck all left for the first time and was pretty amazed at the line, the steep scoop and perfectly positioned holds. Could hit and hold lip but was not holding the resulting barn door. Can't really work out why the line goes left, there appears to be perfectly good holds going straight up including a worrying but positive foothold on the lip. Back then to behind pascals for beachball, and the arete to the right of it etc, and trish apnea'd her way up the chimney. We left at about 11.

All in it felt like a perfect blend of old and new, proper busted up today.

Headed for mall hill hopefully but the weather was spitting and shitty so we went to look at a solitary little bloc above lough dan. Whilst initially underwhelming and filthy, it's probably got a couple of good problems on it. dave got pictures.

Driving home a little miffed at a bit of a wasted afternoon and we went through the scalp. Again conditions were a bit mixed but dark angle turned out to be pretty good. Reworked out the standing, i think i'm stretchier than i was, and then tried the sitter which i'd tried a little before. Nice unusual little starting move which one can do more or less gracefully. I think duffy did the FA recently.

Enjoyed this brief session (one problem) and reconfirmed the sense that all it takes in a venue is one challenging line to make the visit worthwhile. Worth remembering when i feel initially unenthused about some of the smaller areas.

Hoping to do a lamper tomorrow night.

woke up in a misty forest in glendo hoping for a breeze but it stayed calm all morning. checked the boulders anyway but they were mank so headed out without any distinct idea where we were going. time constraints meant we ended up at s n l again which felt a bit lame, conditions not even that good.

on the way back to the car, bray spotted that someone was rooting around in the front seat. the prick calmly finished and they drove off, not even sure if they saw us. they'd smashed my back side window and grabbed my work bag which i'd "hidden" in the back. drove towards sally gap with james on pointer duty and managed to recover nearly everything including the bag. found several other bags and suitcases in the ditches, including a €50 River Island voucher. the gardai have been informed, I 'm gonna check back in the morning to see if the boys in the crime lab have any leads.

Had 3 hours off all weekend which i used to visit lough bray. did usuals, very windy at rainbow, more annoying than usual, probably underestimated how tired i was from work. finished on away from... cos it was sheltered, felt solid enough but snatching with left hand to cripm, would need to be stronger on crimps.

tried to get some in at scalp between match and darkness on sunday but only had a few goes on dark angle before it started raining. friction was shit.

Oh that stealthy rhythm...

Got into glendo shortly after ten, thinking i was great only to meet ciaran on his way out having done chillax, starting at 7.30 am. Warmed up waiting for john and tim, got a little worried on superstars but got it fine. after the briefest of warm ups the lads were ready to head across the river. john pretty much flashed r&s on the day, very impressive. me n tim plugged away and both succeeded in close succession. real pleased cos last week i was sceptical. found i kept missing the left high hold, going lower and higher but not hitting it. once i hit it properly the rest flowed real well, no fear in the heel, the spike suddenly seemed a grand distance and the top out off right was fine. glad its done, the landing is unnerving when you're working it, a couple of worrying spits. tried leftism after, all the kids are at it these days. found i could move on it relatively well, maybe that's the attraction. worth a couple of good efforts anyway.

awkward start, don't cross hands, left on higher side pull, right lower, paste right foot then right heel hook on high ledge and go to main crimp, shift r heel along, cross through with right h, then john says switch r heel to toe. feels hard bearing only through right hand as left goes for slopey ramp/arete.

after headed to quality control, found the last move uncooperative, but found the initial foot paste fine from the very first go which is a change. the lads got it, it started to spit , then stopped, we tried the egg a bit, annoyed everyone, then pascals briefly, john again nearly flashed it. then it rained.