Day 211 - Esoterica

craig y longridge

Quirky, unusual crags, climbs or rock formations are often referred to as esoterica, and today's venue certainly seemed to fit that particular bill!

As we were up in Lancashire, we checked for local climbing opportunities, and found this curious little rock face a few miles north of Preston, and more or less on our route home from yesterday's wedding.

The buildings on the right are listed as holiday cottages, but they seemed just like new homes...it was most odd, climbing in full view of kitchen, bathroom and bedroom windows!

The climbing is all low level bouldering, as the rock face is only about 5 or 6m high at the tallest, and it's all steeply overhung.  Given the height, it seems ironic that the site is owned by the British Mountaineering Council!

pray to the gods of rock

This shot gives some impression of the scale of it, as Anna performs the usual pre-climb rock worship ritual.

It took me quite a while to get used to how the word steep is used in climbing.  Intuitively (to me at least) you would expect that the most steep you can get would be vertical.  But in climbing terms, as it becomes overhung it's referred to as getting steeper.

In fact, a vertical face wouldn't be referred to as steep, generally...less than vertical is called a slab...vertical is called a wall...and more than vertical is called an overhang.  The word steep is really only used for overhangs nowadays.

This rock face is definitely very much steeper than anything we've done outside before!

35 degrees or so?

This photo gives you an idea of the angle.  As climbs get steeper, it becomes increasingly difficult to get any weight onto your feet...and thus it becomes increasingly strenuous and tiring on your arms.

It's difficult to keep your feet on the wall, as they are constantly trying to swing off - and when they do, it's really draining on your shoulders and extremely stressful on your fingers.

footloose

Here, Anna is supporting her full weight on her fingertips, as her feet have cut loose, as it's termed.

In the photo below, you can see how my weight is all on a few fingertips on each hand, I have one foot off the wall, and the other has nothing of significance to stand on...

cling on

...and here's Anna in a similar position, holding almost all of her weight on the tips of 3 fingers on each hand as she tries to get at least one foot back on the wall...getting back on the wall when your feet have cut loose is extremely tiring, as it makes a huge demand on your core...

anna uncut

All of this is hugely strenuous for your fingers and forearms (all the muscles that move your fingers are in your forearm, not in your hand)...consequently, they tire and weaken quickly on steep ground like this, and so you end up falling off a lot...

extravagant dismount

...and because you often swing as you fall, it's difficult to know where the crash pad should be, so we often miss it..although in these two shots we got it right, for a change!

french dismount

When on the wall, every time you need to move a hand up (i.e. all the time!), the other hand has to take as much weight as you've managed (or failed) to push through your feet...no move is easy - every one requires a big physical effort.   

In the constant quest to push every possible pound of weight through your feet, you can end up in what appear to be unconventional positions...

kenny everett legs

Here I'm using what's known as an outside flag utilising the weight of my hanging right leg to try to counter-balance my weight directly underneath my left hand (so that I can let go with my right to move it up)...

lock off and sloper

...whilst in this shot Anna is using her core and her hips to push her weight up and onto her right foot as much as possible, and locking the left arm in this bent position (requiring much strength!), in order to move her right hand up to the poor, sloping hold above...

best possible taste

...and here I'm using a backstep in a similar way to the outside flag - turning my right hip into the rock, so getting weight under the left hand, to release the right to move up.

All of this heavily strenuous climbing can be really tough on your hands.  After two hours on this wall, Anna's hands were shredded...

rock until you bleed

Now that's commitment!!  

I've added a bonus post below, showing the full sequence of moves on this problem, as it took us quite a while to work them all out...and even longer to actually do them!

All in all, a curious little climbing escapade...not our usual thing, and something we'll probably never do again. 

But it was good fun, and broadens our experience...as well as being the start of our strengthening campaign for Fontainebleau in September.

In't bouldering brilliant?!

B-)