CAMPUS BOARD AND 30 DEGREE WALL

After a long non stop weekend the latest additions to the climbing centre are complete!!!




With only finishing touches of perfectionism to go the corner of the bouldering wall has been converted into a 30 degree board making a great addition to the range of angles already there.








In the vacant corner next to the fire door we have erected a campus board for all you training junkies and novices alike. It leans at 15 degrees with small, medium and large rungs. As with all aspects of climbing using the campus board can cause injuries (tendons beware) especially if not used properly. We'll post up some information about this in due course but if you want some info now then check out www.metoliusclimbing.com/ or try the training articles on http://www.planetfear.com/.

Bouldering wall over the holiday season

There will be some work being carried out to the bouldering wall over the holidays. We aim to keep disruption as low as possible but there will undoubtedly be some restrictions.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th will see at least the 45 board, vertical and barrel (basically that whole corner) closed off. We hope this will be ample time and if not keep an eye out on the blog for any change to this.

The work is aimed to improve the bouldering wall so please have patience with us whilst works are underway.

If you have any questions please email me at duncan-paterson@transition-extreme.com.


Cheers

Xmas and new Year opening times

Alas!!!

Not too many sleeps until santa will be coming down your chimney. Or for those of you without it; squeezing through the AC.

Transition will be open as usual except for the following days:

24th 10:00 - 17:00
25th CLOSED
26th CLOSED
31st 10:00 - 17:00
1st CLOSED
2nd 15:00 - 22:00

Usual opening hours outside this are:

Monday to Friday 10:00 - 22:00
Sat & Sun 10:00 - 20:00


Have a great Christmas and an even better new Year

Bouldering League Round 3 Results

Here it is folks; another great comp! Thanks due to everyone that came along to make it a success. There were some heroic attempts and spectacular falls. Special note goes to Liam who managed to add some style and flare whilst resting on a route before cruising it...

Thanks again to all and we hope to see you on the 16th January where there will be some new additions and surpsises!!!



MENS ELITE:
Gordon Lennox 187
John Brown 181
Marcus Bean 173
Piort Wisthall 172
Wayne Sherry 157
Stuart Munn 148
Kwong Ching Tsang 144
Ashley Dean 142
Andrew Gibbon 135
Ben Woodward 131
Alan Tait 119
Dave Cowan 111
Stuart Adams 107
David Milne 104
Mark Chambers 101
Tom Russel 100
Andy Watt 94
Martin Findlay 83
Jin Han Lim 74
Pier Luigi Di Giovanni 73
David Marshall 57

WOMENS ELITE:
Anna Wells 177
Eva Sparreboom 159
Claire Anderson 131
Megan Hine 129
Abbey Niven* 127

JUNIOR BOYS:
Liam Watson 187
Rhys Maslen 180
Scott Wilson 166
Jonathan Mann 161
Ollie Banks 137
David Mann 101
Duncan Anderson 87
Matthew Johnstone 70
Bruce McKay 50
Jamie Davidson 24

FOR FUN
Mark McVey 167
Stuart Gillan 128
Dwayne Coutts 120
Mike Jennings 112
Joseph Hidson 112
Sarah Woodward 109
Doug Niven 109
Scott Gourlay 100
John Chambers 97
Chris Maslen 90
Pollu Zeigler 68
Kevin Morice 60
Kyle Gasking 59
Michael Payne 42

LEADING COMP FINAL SUNDAY 7TH DEC 5PM

With the 2 weeks of hard climbing out of the way the scheduled final is upon us...

The set date was 7th December and the time is now finalised as 5pm to give the setters some time to prepare some interesting routes for the finalists.

All are welcome to come along and watch the climbing spectacle!

Photo's and banter to follow......

Relentless Photo Incentive Update

As you are no doubt aware, Relentless Energy Drink is backing a Transition wide photography contest during the Winter 2008/09.

There are 5 categories:

Best Indoor skatepark shot
Best Outdoor skate/BMX shot
Best Indoor climbing shot
Best Outdoor climb/mountain shot
Best Overall Entry

Get your entries in now and you could see your photo blown up and mounted on the wall within Transition….permanently.

We’ll be displaying all entries throughout the centre during December until we announce the winners in the New Year.

Please provide us with your image in a digital format, saved in the highest possible resolution.

The outdoor shots should be taken at local spots and be recognisable to other users.

Good luck.

Getting out to play!

Just as the nights draw in the drive to get out to the hills grows...

Myself and Ash took the brothers Paul and Mark out to the northern corries on Sunday for some winter fun. Mark came out with me a few weeks back for his first experience of winter climbing. Due to the lack of consolidation and nice firm nevey we ended up on Aladdin's Mirror (Grade: I) kicking around in wet snow.

Sunday saw a lot better conditions with turf getting more solid the higher we got and even some ice to use in a belay!

After setting off at around 9am from the car park the walk in was quite easy with only slight winds and reasonably firm conditions underfoot. As it was Paul's first day out this time we ascended The Runnel (Grade: II**) as two pairs. Towards the last pitch the wind picked up and the spindrift hit hard; which made the climbing harder as there was a lack of ice in the chimney to use; forcing us to come up with some interesting bridging and maneuvers.

On top out winds were very high and walking/visibility conditions were dire. Ash made the first ascent of the last pitch followed by Mark on top rope, then myself on lead taking Paul up after me on the rope. Paul; in true Wilderness Man/Yeti Style appeared over the top of the climb; arms in the air, covered in snow and ice with every bit of gear imaginable hanging from his harness, and a loud roar of achievement!

After ten minutes walking around the edge of the corrie towards Corie Ciste the decision was made to drop down to the base of the corrie as at 3.30pm the light was soon to fade.

After some fun falling through powder drifts and tripping over the obligatory boulders we toddles back tot he car park for 5pm.

All in all a good fun day out with great banter!

AMAG Self Protection Workshops

Aberdeen Martial Arts Group Presents:

Self Protection

as taught by SAS specialist Bob Spour

Don’t be a victim! Take control of your environment, take control of fear.
Friday 21st November 18.30 – 20.30
Aberdeen Martial Arts Group, XTS, Transition extreme
www.amag.org.uk
Cost: £10 for amag and TE members £15 Others.
This course is open to women as well as men.
Wear comfortable clothing.

Call XTS on 644139 (4-9pm) for further details. Please on pass this mail to men who you feel may appreciate it!

Bob Spour
Director and founder of SAS Survival, Bob has served extensively in the military spending many years with the SAS. During the course of serving with the latter he saw action in number of different theatres.
Bob is a highly qualified and well respected Martial Arts Instructor spending many years instructing Self Protection and Thai Boxing, and is the Chief Instructor to the Phraya Pichai Muay Thai Camps International.

A Licenced NLP Trainer with The Society of NLP , a member of the Association of Professional Hypnotherapists & Psychotherapists and the Professional Organisation of Stage Hypnosis; Bob has extensive experience working with individuals and groups in a variety of settings as diverse as sales, military training, drama workshops, and the comedy circuit in London. He also works with individual clients over a wide range of personal and professional development issues. He recently appeared on a Channel 4 programme demonstrating some of the techniques of NLP in the context of fear management.

Holding a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts Bob also worked as a professional actor and stand up comedian.
He is also a Survival Instructor, Corporate Trainer, Writer and NLP Trainer.

Bouldering League Round 2 Results

Hey hey,

Thanks to everyone that came along to the comp and made it a great success!!!

Pictures on the facebook page.

Here's the scores (in descending order for round 2):

MENS ELITE
Ally Coull 197
John Brown 191
Marcus Bean 189
Alessandro Bao 184
Piort Wisthall 182
Andrew Gibbon 175
Neil Morrison * 163
Ashley Dean 162
Stuart Munn 158
Brian McCreadie 157
Ross Hewitt 151
Pete Benson 150
Wayne Sherry 149
Adrian Crofton 147
Dave Ogden 145
Johannes Lorenz 139
Andy Watt 137
Stuart Adams 137
David Cowan 134
Ben Woodward 133
Kwong Ching Tsang 130
Bruce Roberts 121
Colin White 120
Geoff Knight 120

WOMENS ELITE

Anna Wells 190
Eva Sparreboom 175
Sophie Franoux 175
Megan Hine 140
Lucile Franoux 134
Rachel Bennet 117
Claire Anderson 114

JUNIOR BOYS

Rhys Maslen 194
Jonathan Mann 194
Liam Watson 180
Ollie Banks 170
Callum Temple 112
Duncan Anderson 102
Thomas McGrath 100
Bruce McKay 98
Rhys Jones 70
Matthew Johnstone 51
Stuart Fraser 35

JUNIOR GIRLS

Abbey Niven 147

FOR FUN

Mark McVey 185
Stuart Gillan 159
Mike Brockie 158
Joe Astell 155
David Lumsden 152
Mark McKay 147
Scott Gourlay 145
Mike Jennings 144
Ryan Slater 135
Paul Matthews 124
Dwayne Coutts 119
Doug Niven 117
Kevin Morice 112
Laura Benson 110
Sarah Woodward 106
Jo Horne 106
Sam Parkes 98
Alan Martin 98
Richard Fox 90
Michael Payne 87
Laura Ried 85
Tom Stork 84
Kyle Gasking 69
Rob Menlove 68
Matt Springer 58
Duncan Stewart 48
Clare Shepherd 47
Stewart Reid 35

Winter Leading Competition 2008

Competition details:

• Routes graded between 5 and 8a will be set between the 16th and 19th November,
• Competitiors can collect their score/registration cards anytime from the 19th November onwards,
• Competitiors will have from the 19th Nov to the 3rd December to attempt as many of the routes as possible,
• All routes will be marked on the bottom of the wall where they start and on the score card,
• Competitiors MUST NOT climb any of the routes set between 16th and 19th Nov where marked 'COMPETITION ROUTE'.
• All routes are to be climbed on the lead clipping ALL quickdraws,
• Score cards will detail the points available (1st attempt 10, 2nd; 7 etc. etc.),
• Belayers of each competitor are to mark the score card honestly,
• Scores count for a completed ascent without any rests on the rope or cheating using other holds (clipped the top lower off whilst holding the finishing blue hold or top of the wall),
• Route rules will be described at the bottom of the wall,
• Scorecards MUST be handed in before 10pm on the 3rd December into the marked 'Post Box' in the climbing centre,
• The final will be held on the 7th December for the top competitiors in each category.
  

If you have any queries please email me.

Enjoy!!!!

Bouldering League Final date change

As it has come to my attention the 13th of February Final Comp coincides with a local holiday!

Goes to show it takes a parent or teacher to point out holidays!

The final for the league has been changed form the 13th to the 6th of February...

Halloween in Transition

Yes its that time of year again!!!

Friday 31st October is Fright Night...

Normal admission and entry applies but if you make a good effort to dress up in something creative then you can get some free munchies and refreshments form the cafe!!!

Fancy dress welcome all day, cafe refreshments during the evenin. Poster to follow!

See you there

Price Updates

Please note that as of 6th October there have been a few price changes.

Please contact Recpetion for more information as there have been issues updating the website to the correct information.

REMINDER Dave Graham Lecture 8pm 11th Oct

Don't forget about tomorrow night its not everyday you get the chance to hear and see a true world class climber in the flesh in Aberdeen! This promises to be a great and inspiring night we are reliably told Dave is a great talker who will have us all chapping at the bit to make our next big progression no matter what standard we climb at.

But its not just for climber tell your friends and family they shouldn't miss the opportunity to see a world class sports person on their door step in the North East of Scotland.

Those of you who make the effort will be richly rewarded, enjoy.

The Relentless Photo Incentive

Relentless Energy Drink is backing a Transition wide photography contest during the months of October and November 2008.

There are 5 categories:

Best Indoor skatepark shot
Best Outdoor skate/BMX shot
Best Indoor climbing shot
Best Outdoor climb/mountain shot
Best Overall Entry

Get your entries in before Monday 27th October and you could see your photo blown up and mounted on the wall within Transition….permanently.

We’ll be displaying all entries throughout the centre from the 31st October until we announce the winners on Friday 28th November.

The opening night exhibition will be on Halloweeen…make sure you head down to TE for a soiree that night.

Please provide us with your image in a digital format, saved in the highest possible resolution.

The outdoor shots should be taken at local spots and be recognisable to other users.

Good luck.

Bouldering League 08/09 Round 1 Results and aftermath

Well,

With over 60 competitors Friday's comp was a great success. All of the comp routes will be kept up until the next round on 7th November (they're marked in red on the route board). New problems have been put up over the weekend; so get down and give them a go!

All problems got sent on Friday which was a boost since there were some courageous fighting against the seemingly easier problems spitting the climbers off! Photo's can be found on the Transition Climbing Facebook page as its easier to throw lots and lots of photo's onto as well as folks leaving comments on them... http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1537692485&ref=profile

Points were typically a maximum of 200 but with a bonus problem this year many managed to pick up some well earned extra's! Well done to all and we look forward to setting you some more interesting, fun and challenging problems!

The results are as follows:


BOULDERING LEAGUE 2008/9
Mens Elite
Name Round 1
Ally Coull 197
Marcus Bean 187
Andrew Gibbon 184
Piort Wisthall 181
Neil Morrison * 169
Brian McCreadie 167
Alessandro Bao 166
James Prowse 160
Chris Everett 159
Dave Ogden 157
Wayne Sherry 154
Stuart Munn 146
Ben Woodward 144
Mark Chambers 139
Tom Russel 136
Bruce Roberts 133
Stuart Adams 132
Gus Dixon 129
Andy Watt 125
David Milne 122
Michael Brockie 122
Paul Matthews 122
Alan Tait 121
Ryan Slater 121
Colin White 112
Geoff Knight 99

Womens Elite
Name Round 1
Anna Wells 202
Rachel Hutchison 182
Megan Nine 160
Claire Anderson 157
Eva Sparreboom 152
Lucile Franoux 145
Melanie Hayes 127
Mandy Ponton 100

Junior Boys
Name Round 1
Scott Wilson 192

Rhys Maslen 189
Liam Watson 169
Ollie Banks 163
Thomas McGrath 148
David Mann 138
Duncan Anderson 134
Dale Thomson 117
Bruce McKay 110
James MacDonald 92
Scott Field 62

Junior Girls
Name Round 1
Abbey Niven 147
Fionidi Parker 100
Kirsten Berry 92

For Fun
Name Round 1
Chris Carr 200
Jonny Aspden 195
Paul McVey 172
Jin Han 171
Joseph Hidson 157
Mike Jennings 148
Scott Gourlay 145
Kevin Morice 144
Lorenz 140
Sarah Woodward 139
Doug Niven 121
John Hunter 111
David Weir-McCall 83

Until next time...

Facewho? Facebook!

To keep in line with the world of the internet and all things technojiggery Transition Climbing is on Facebook.

Check it out for up and coming events, photo's, general chit chat and a million other things that would apply to randomness...

Share your experiences, photo's, banter and even videos...

Look out for Transition Climbing on the Facebook site and add us as your friend (if we don't find you first!!).

Cheers

October Holiday Camps

For the first time in history, Transition Extreme is offering kids an exclusive jam-packed week of alternative art, music and sport activities in our Extreme October Holiday Camp. The camp offers so much variety for all kids including skateboarding/BMX/inline skating, climbing, break dancing, martial arts, halloween costume making, badge and t-shirt design, drumming and art workshops and swimming. The week will culminate in an exclusive pre-Halloween party including face paints, a fashion show and lots of Halloween treats!

Extreme October Holiday Camp will be running for two weeks from 10am-4pm:
Week 1: Monday 13th-Friday 17th October
Week 2: Monday 20th-Friday 24th October
Kid’s sign up for either Week 1 or Week 2 (no daily rate offered).

Our ultimate aims are for kids to:
- build friendships
- learn new skills
- increase confidence and self-esteem
- discover hidden talents
- and generally have an unforgettable week at Transition Extreme.

Prices: £115 for one child for the whole week. £220 for two children. £325 for three children
Note: this discount is only applicable to siblings (same family name and booked at same time).
For further information or to book a place, please contact Reception on 01224 626279.

Transition will also be running individual sessions in both the Skate Park and Climbing centre for 8 to 17 year olds (separate from the above).

Getting ready for the Competition Season; Neil Morrison parts with words of wisdom

Bouldering Comps Top Tips
With our bouldering series running this winter we asked comp veteran Neil Morrison for his top tips. Along with Neil Shepherd from Arbroath, Neil organised the Vango Scottish Bouldering League back in the early 90’s with the two of them setting the problems. Neil’s first comp was actually organised by the other Neil at the Olympia Wall in Dundee. He won that and competed variously at Alien Rock, The Glasgow Wall, a couple of times in the Northern Indoor Bouldering League in England and an inter league comp in Keswick. He also took part in the North East Winter Woody Leagues’ which took place round different folks indoor boards. Creaky fingers have now forced on semi retirement so he can get back to setting devious problems.

Here's what Neil had to say:

Before the Comp
A couple of weeks before the comp get off that lead wall and get in some bouldering. Use all the angles and, with a mate or two, set your own problems using mixed holds and then try to flash them. This will give you a feel for working out new problems and sequences. Usually your mates will set problems that suit their strengths and you will set to yours, so trying each others problems will test you more. The existing problems are too familiar and won’t hone your comp skills. Also make sure you get in some serious stretching and practice those high steps and rockovers. An added bonus of moving over the wall is that you will gain familiarity with the holds on the wall. So that when you are looking up at that purple hold on a comp problem you will have an idea whether it’s a sloper or a crimp.

A couple of days before the comp take a rest, you want to be fresh and keen on the day of the comp. If you are big on your running avoid it for a couple of days before as it is bad for stiffening up those limbs.

On the day

Get their good and early so that you are not rushing about, stressed and playing catch up.
---------------------------------------------
Warm up before starting with stretching and a bit of exercise (you might look daft but run round the building 2 or 3 times) to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing. It is far too easy to get caught up in it all and get a cold pump which you don’t get over or worse you tweak something in your haste to get going. If you tweak something, STOP, get some ice and rest it straight away. You’ll only make it worse by continuing and will then have a longer lay off.
---------------------------------------------
Read the rules for the comp and the rules for each problem carefully so that you know what you are doing. e.g. If it says to finish with both hands in control on the top then make sure you do or you have not done the problem. Make sure you understand which holds are for what as some problems may allow the holds to be used for Hands and Feet only while others will use marked handholds but feet on any holds. Check if arêtes and blank panel surfaces are allowed or not.
---------------------------------------------
Do a recce of the problems so that you can work out which ones you are likely to do easily and which ones will be harder or simply too hard. Try to decide when you will try them in the comp. With the harder ones aim to have a go when you are warmed up and have had success on a few problems but before you are too knackered and powered out. Leave some of the easier ones for the end. Do the recce before the comp if you can or at the start as you work through a few of the obviously easy problems.
---------------------------------------------
Spectate, spectate, spectate. Watch others and you will get an idea of how to do problems. You might even see easy or successful ways of doing problems you thought were too hard. Try to team up with someone round about your own ability(or slightly better) and work round with them working out how to do each problem and sharing first goes at problems.
---------------------------------------------
Pace yourself, don’t go off like a greyhound. Ease into the comp and dot about the angles, don’t do all the slabs and vertical walls then leave yourself with the 45 degree board and ceiling at the end.
---------------------------------------------
Go for the flash and don’t wear yourself out trying to repeatedly crack a problem you have failed to get the flash on, you can come back to it later and try to pick up the points but save your energy for those Ten pointers.
---------------------------------------------
Keep eating and drinking throughout it to keep your energy levels up.
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Sit down when you are eating and drinking, it’s too easy and tiring to spent the whole time of the comp on your feet, buzzing about and tiring yourself out with nervous energy. Conserve your energy for when you are on the wall.
---------------------------------------------
Remember why you are in it and have fun.

Dave Graham Lecture and Masterclass 11th Oct

Dave Graham is a phenomenon. Exploding onto the scene only a few years ago he pretty much instantly established himself as one of the strongest climbers on the planet with very quick repeats and first ascents of many of the worlds hardest boulder problems and routes. On top of that Dave can talk! His enthusiastic philosophy on life, climbing and everything else is evident in the many climbing films he’s starred in and in his online writings (see his Blog - http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/problog/davegraham/). His lecture will combine all of the above in a whirlwind hour and a half highly energised performance, focussed on the progression of hard climbing and where it is headed.

Adventure Films showing in VUE

Vue Cinema are showing three short films together as part of an Adventure Film series from the 22nd September.

These films include:

King Lines (portrait or Chris Sharma and his climbing career; 40minutes)

Play Gravity (Snowboarding and Speedriding in Europe and Alaska 52minutes)

Farther Than The Eye Can See (Erik Weihenmayer’s historic attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest 75 minutes)

Previous series that VUE have shown were a good success and enjoyable viewing so get down there and go see them!

WINTER EVENTS 08/09!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The summer is almost gone and as you sigh and grunt with the prospect of bad weather and darker nights let Transition brighten your winter up with some great events. Here's a SMALL selection of what's to come:

First off the Transition Bouldering league:

Each round is on a friday with setting of the problems during the day.

Round 1 3rd October
Round 2 7th November
Round 3 12th December
Round 4 16th January
Final 13th February

The wall will be open for public access until 3pm on each of these days but there will be no access to the bouldering wall at anytime.
Each round begins at 6:30 so make sure you're in and warmed up in time. They will finish at 9:30 with raffle and prizes being given out after the scorecards have been taken in.

Cost of entry is £3 plus your regular admission rates (memberships and session passes can be used for admission).

Categories include; Junior Girls & Junior Boys (14 - 17yrs), Male & Female Fun and Elite ad well as Veteran.

All welcome, problems ranging from very easy to very hard, very wackey to very technical.

Secondly is the Dave Graham Lecture and Masterclass on Saturday 11th October.

Dave will be taking up to ten folks of any ability looking to improve and get some great tips on their climbing for a couple of hours then a lecture in Transition afterwards.

6pm to 8pm: Masterclass Price and booking date will be released soon.
8:15 ish: Lecture Price and booking date will be released soon.

Tickets will be available from Transition extreme for the Lecture. Booking for the masterclass will be available in the beginning of September through email (MORE INFO TO FOLLOW).

Cafe Promo/Social nights:

Friday 26th Sept, 31st Oct, 28th Nov, 19th Dec, 30th Jan, 27th Feb and 27th March.

Come on down to the wall and have a climb then fill yourself with some great food from around the world in the cafe from 8pm onwards. Refreshments will be available for those that wish to delve into a bottle or two of the foaming ale or you can bring your own.
Just remember not to try and go back intot the wall if you've had a wee drink!

So if you normally go out after your climb of you come down on a Friday anyway why not join in and have a laugh or just chill out.

Leading Ladder:

Heats: November and December
Final: January

Try your hand at named routes in the wall and compete in the Heats then in the finals! Lots of prizes and lots of fun. More info to follow.

Winter events

There's a new board up in the wall displaying our winter events calendar...

On it you'll find dates of lectures, comps, promo nights etc etc...

Further information for each event will be posted in the centre and on the blog nearer the time of the event.

Cheers

Bouldering wall re-setting

Work is under way to re-set the bouldering wall between the 25th July and 5th Aug inclusive.

Please bear with us whilst certain boards (typically one at a time) may be out of use for a couple of hours a day between these dates. The disruption should be minimal as access to the rest of the bouldering wall will still be available. And hey, clean holds are better than dirty ones!

Cheers

Gift aid donations

Transition Extreme would like to encourage all members and prospective members to sign up for Gift Aid donations.

As a charity Transition is entitled to get Tax back on any donations you make and have made in the last six years (well, since we opened at least).

We rely on grants and donations from various companies and organisations to help the centre continue and improve its services. Paying customers are obviously a huge part of our business too so why not do something that costs you nothing and gives us some extra funds to improve the centre.

For more information or to complete the declaration form please see reception.

Thanks to all and hope to see you soon

2 Awards in one week!!!

Transition has been very lucky this week as we have won two prestigous awards.

First of all we were awarded 'Socially responsible Business' by Crimestoppers. This was profiled by events such as the Urban Arts project amongst others...

Then, last night we were overjoyed to recieve the 'Business Success' in the under 3 years category. Competition was stiff for all categories and this makes it all the more special...

The Transition team thanks all of you out there that have supported us since we opened our doors in April last year.

Still Getting Stronger!

Here is the evidence as if we needed it! Transition has had a positive effect on the North East Climbing scene its now June and still folks are trying to get stronger and send those projects!

Amamda Lyons demonstrates immaculate technique on The Pain 7a a porty classic

Mark Scott makes like an orangutan and prepares for the swing on the uber classic The Pit 7a

Look at the monkey swing!!! Mark taking the swing before the final pull over the lip!

Gordon Lennox and our own Duncan Paterson trying to pull the Pit Boulder over!!! You'll need more than the 2 of you? Duncan employing some cunning foot work on The Buzz 7a+ and Gordon mid way through his marathon 5 hours session on Kayla 7c+!

It seems assured now wither summer or winter you will always get a crack down at Porty! Thanks to Stuart for taking some pics and check out his and Amanda's flickr site link on the left for more inspiring photos of porty bouldering.

We're selling climbing gear!!!

That's right; we have a sales counter set up for all customers to purchase climbing gear.

At the moment we are holding limited stock or basic necessities such as; finger tape, chalk balls, chalk bags, loose chalk and some krabs and belay devices.

If it is a success then we will look to increase the range of items we sell from it to include harnesses and other hardware.

The counter is located just outside the climbing wall door. If you whish to purchase anything from it then simply speak to the reception staff to get it for you and pay at the reception desk. If you have any technical questions please seek out an appropriate member for the climbing staff.

Happy climbing!!

How the West Was Won!

The Superb West Coast Weather over the last 6 weeks has been hard for us East coasters to ignore! A strong posse headed west form Aberdeen for a long weekend of action on Friday 24th May.

First up we hit the the Creag Mhor Thollaidh crags. Guy Roberson warmed up on the massive Destitution Man on Loch Maree Crag a 50m E4 5c of stunning quality unlike the photo!

Mean while another strong party of Pete Benson and Ali Coull were limbering up on some fine Loch Tollaidh routes. Ali Coull demonstrates east coast living doesn't need to be tan free on MacDonald a fine E4 6a.

Sunday was to full of climbing for any one to pick up the camera but Monday was a treat, climbing as a 3, Pete , Ali and myself headed to Rieff.

I lead of first on the superb and great named "If You See Kay" the lengths some people will go to to have a swear word in a SMC guide book?

Ali made lite work of another steep neo classic Miss Money Penny E5 6a

Pete felt obliged to stuff his finger into the alluring crack of Strongbow the classic E2 at the Stone Pig Cliff.

I tried in vain to keep the momentum up but narrowly failed to onsight arguably the most under rated route at Rieff! Clatterbridge is a great sustained wall climb(E56b).

We then made a quick dash to take advantage of the dry conditions at the Boulder Cliff

Pete dawned the gloves to send the outrageously overhanging classic Wyatt Earp Surely the hardest or maybe most under graded route at Rieff at E3/4 6a?

Bouldering and its problems!

We've started to re set the bouldering wall again...

There is a new board up to display the problem grades and rules. Please use this to help with the specifics of the problems on the wall as there will be certain rules that will apply to some but not the others.

Here's a list of some of the abbreviations of the boulder problem rules:

SS or Sit = Sit start

Stand = Standing start

Jump = Jumping start (using closest handhold and any foot holds available)

AF = Any footholds allowed

FF = Features and smears only for feet

No Feat = No features for hands or feet

+ Feat = Includes features for hands and feet

No Arete = None of the corners/aretes are allowed for hands or feet

No Bridge = Bridging between walls is not permitted

Why not try some of the problems with a mix up of these rules? Its a good way to get your imagination flowing. Also; if you really want to play on those nasty nasty holds with your hands but the problem is too hard using one colour of holds... use them all for your feet!!

Your ability and the scope of the routes and problems in the climbing centre are only limited by your imagination.

Ever heard of add on? Its a great game to play with others down at the wall. Someone starts a sequence and everyone else has to repeat that sequence and add another hold on to it... By the time its your turn again you'll have to have good skills and an even better memory! Its great for trying out new sequences and finding new ones that you would have never thought of.

There are loads of ways to liven up your session from games, altering rules all the way to simply not matching hands or feet when trying a problem or any movement on the wall.

Get climbing and get those creative juices flowing!

Baker Hughes 10k Event

Hey hey,

On the morning of the 25th May our car park will be closed for the 10k event. It will be open from midday onwards.

Parking should be available in nearby streets during this time but nothing is guaranteed.

See the event website for further information...

Need i say more?

I think the picture says it all!!!

From hosing holds to teaching kids, the dedication of Al is remarkable! Appearance obviously doesn't matter too much when it comes to instructing!!!

BOULDERING MASTERS POSTPONED

It is with regret that we have to postpone the competition on Sunday 27th April.

We will try and reschedule for a later date but may have to leave until after the summer.

Keep a look out for competition series over the summer for those days you're not out on the crags!

These series will be along the lines of a set number of problems or routes to be done in a few weeks or a month, and a super final at the end of it..........

See you soon.

Sun and Hail

Despite the mixed weather over the passed 10 days the determined or the plain obsessed like me have managed some great routes and some crags have been positively mobbed!

Gordon Lennox kicked it off on Wednesday the 9th when an "optimistic" evening hit to Meikle Parton provided the long awaited good conditions essential for placing the crucial cam on Paul Mather's "Blind Optimism" E6 6c. Sending its 3rd ascent and proving its already a classic and excellent addition to one of the north coasts most popular cliffs. (right)

I then stunned myself when I managed to link the super direct finish on top rope! Having been alerted to the great potential of the line I had been on it 2 times previously but never been able to link more than a couple of moves. "What a wonderful thing a northerly can bring!" The rock felt sticky and I felt obliged to stick myself to it! So I took to the lead! Sheer shock at my own progress brought failure the first time but second go I linked it to give the coast one of its toughest E7. "Sonar" maybe short but it packs a punch.

Gordy was at it again the following Sunday unperturbed by the heavy showers he got on Upside Downies (E5 6b) at Berymuir Head and stunned the on lookers as he pushed on boldly up wet holds with only a lonesome nut! (Left)

Berrymuir was a great place to be during the squally showers and it was great to see 3 separate parties there making the most of the sunny spells and the banter was great as we accused each other of being mad!

Shame then that I drew the short straw seconding Gordy with the hail bouncing off my napper!

Finlay Bennett managed a quick ascent of Quickdraw McGraw between showers, surely one of the coasts steepest E1's? This was its second ascent of the day and another classic The Niche also saw 2 ascent, there was nearly queues forming! (Right)

I returned the following Wednesday the 16th of April with Dan Richardson and a length of hose pipe to take another look at a new line! After growing inpatient at the speed the rock pool was draining I decided that a smelly mat and potential broken bones where worth the risk to capitalise on the excellent conditions the northerlys were still providing. It paid off as I added possibly the south coasts first E8 up the overhanging arete left of Recess Route. "Sarlacc Pool" will have to wait on a second ascent to gauge just how serious it is?

Just before the birds got to settled on their perches Gordon and I made a mid week dash to the Red Wall. We braved the chilling Northerly winds and repeated some excellent routes.

Gordy made light work of repeating Mike Reeds excellent understated wall climb "Shrinking Violet". Well worth the effort and probably quite high in the grade at E4 6a but worthy of 2 stars in my book!

We then reversed "Phaff", I warmed my hands and made a dash for the top up the most desperate looking crack in the north! There was plainly a reason it had remained unrepeated for 25 year! But I blew the cobwebs out the crack and and got on with it speeded more by numbing hands than the pump to successfully top out of"The Arrow" E5 6c

All that was left was to send the remaining hard line "Hundred Acre Woods" E5 6b to complete a stunning day on the North coast granite.

What a great place to live with all this on your doorstep?

4 Peaks Challenge: The aftermath

Well,

After a busy day with 7 teams and around 50 people even the staff were sweating just watching the flurry of ascents throughout the day.

Teams consisting of local climbers, companies and outdoor stores as well as the Air Training Corps Cadets fought hard and they all completed the challenge of climbing the height of the 4 heighest peaks from around the UK; 4,190metres!!

Special note goes to Team 'Tangfastic Six' for not only climbing the greatest height in half a day buit also the total for the whole day! Also to Joan Love for having 90 ascents to her name over the course of the day.

Competitors had the luxury of Massage Therapy throughout the day thanks to Gail Selbie and her team

Thanks to everyone who took part and we hope you enjoyed the day!

I will update with the total Sponsorship money raised when we have the final tally.