Britain's first Bouldering Bible

This week has seen the birth of Niall Grimes' bouncing baby 'Boulder Britain'. I got home on Thursday and there it was laid on the doormat; a quick browse and I was hooked. Great job Niall. It's so good to have all those areas to hand, flicking my way around a mass of bouldering trips, new areas, stunning shots and accurate maps. It's a great snap-shot of bouldering in Britain today, showcasing the varied and vast amount of quality rock that this green and pleasant land has to offer. Buy Here

Grab a copy and get exploring

A Christmas Tale

Consumed by Ivy

A wet friday! yet reliable Roache Abbey was in condition, took the GPS this time to plot the buttresses, but woods and valleys rarely have signal, so decided to get stuck into some undocumented walls to the left of Impossible roof, that turned out to have some short but entertaining problems on, some even tested Mike as he was suffering from 'man flu', Moans of "I'm weak' yeah right, no sympathy off me, he is unfeasibly strong.

Spooky Abbey

The Impossible Roof

Cracking move

Juggy Prow

Staring at the Impossible

Life for me is all about staring at the almost impossible, yet the impossible can be useless, we can all look and visualise a line saying "just undercut that, then throw a heel, cut loose and throw for the top!" but the truth is if we don't push our limits harder and improve, get together, climb as a community, smash the grade barriers, share beta and refine our techniques. The impossible will just be something to stared at, so no matter what level we climb at, try harder to make the impossible lines possible.

I always remember looking at 'Monk Life' at Kyloe in the Woods thinking "someone has got up on a ladder and marked the holds?" Then Malc made the ascent. Years later on lesser problem, I looked back at the distance and size of the holds and had a similar feeling, it felt good, hard work and motivation pays off no matter what the grade is.

So get on it, jump for the top, cut loose, curve dyno, bury the nails into the crimp, power off the thumbs, one armer, gaston for your life, slap the sloper,  just get out on the rock, get inspired and enjoy the endless world of bouldering possibilities.

Fallen Canopy

I have been looking forward to the red and golden leaves falling in a few wooded venues, The misty wet conditions in the Moors have been a bit frustrating at the moment! 

Also the Anston guide needed some pictures, with better light on some of the rock hidden deep in the canopy of the woods, thanks to the high winds, most of this has fallen and little did I know how amazing the conditions of the rock in Anston was at this time of year! 

James keeping his cool

Dan holding the swing on the second crux

Perfect Conditions at Anston

Jurassic Coast

Finally got some problems done on the jurassic coast, the rocks have only been waiting 170 million years to be climbed on, but the wait was worth it, conditions were not perfect but we got plenty done, and the quality exceeded my expectations, with the usual "I'll piss that"! 20 minutes later walking away frustrated, I already have three quality projects started, never-mind the rest of the blocks. Looking forward to a night bivi and fishing in summer, watching the sun rise on the blocks while cooking last nights catch for breakfast, what more could you ask.

 James gets a full workout

 Powerful Project

 Short but very involving

Thin and delicate

Coasting

It's been a long day today, but quite productive, I have never in my life passed so many blocks without climbing on them, a first, no time? too much to take in on a first visit, tides were not a worry this time, but navigating the rocks was tricky and for some reason I had taken the pad just in case something took my fancy? Some of the lines were amazing and the I was surprised how good the condition of the rock felt considering the weather? the best laugh of the day was, I had not put the cars hand brake fully on and a woman came running out of a house shouting as my car rolled slowly down the hill! towards the cliff edge, funny, felt a lot more worried how I was going to get down the cliff to get to the boulders.

Blocks everywhere

Perfect Sandstone

Millions of boulders

Miles of rock!

Superb arete

Nice roof

The plateau high up looked good, access however would have to be roped