8b Plus!

Dr Crmp. Finally. The route has given me lots of ups and's downs. I have learnt a lot from it. I feel like so much pressure has built up to do the route, and it was becoming a bit of a drag to get on it.

The main thing was my sequence. No one else does the crux like me, and wasn't even sure i could link the route with my method. I could pull on at the crux,doing the moves, and climb to the belay. Adding the french whatever it is start into it took too much of an edge off me. Until the other day. I went from the ground to the second crux, and fell off. I breakthrough.  I still wasn't sure i could do it again. The funny thing is with climbing though, if you can do something once, no matter how improbable it feels, you can do it again. It has made me mentally stronger doing the route.

The next issue was it was very conditions dependent. The pocket is prone to seeping. It needs to be cold, but not that cold. You only get 3 or 4 redpoints a session due to the nature of one of the holds. You also lose fitness quickly on it as the crux is fairly low, so redpoints end early. This means you have to keep you PE, and strength topped up on other routes. This leads the mind to be distracted by other projects.

But anyway, it is done. I can move on. I have other fish to fry now. I have Northern Exposure to finish off from last year. This is a similar 8b+ to Dr Crimp, but the crux is at the top. I need to wait for good cold temps on this too. My other goals for Kilnsey this year, are Indian Summer, and Full Tilt. Both of which i have had a couple of days on. I feel light at the moment, so think i will concentrate on Full Tilt. Indian Summer might evade me this year. I also have the idea that i might get 8c this year too.

On top of this, I am going to open my account on Unjustified as soon as it is cold enough for Malham. It might be a bit much for me this year. Sensible people might want to do a few more 8b+'s first, but hey, if you don't push yourself, you can't experience failure.