He's not talking about holds again is he?

To most it must seem like i have a fetish for holds; especially new ones. Well can you blame me? They do make the world a happier place (well the indoor climbing world anyway).

So, to the point of this post:

We have just got some new holds of the spotty nature. Most of the 'Granite' range from Core Climbing. You'll see them dotted about the place pretty easy as they're nice and brightly coloured (bright green with black spots or 'radioactive cow').

There's plenty to go around so we'll get some easy and harder routes on the main walls in the coming weeks with them.

'It's my precious!'

Keep an eye out for three new volumes we should receive in September too!

Winter Warm Up Comp 12th Sept 09

It's nearly Winter again!!! Well Autumn anyway...


But before we say good bye to summer we're running a fun Bouldering comp on Saturday 12th September.



The bouldering wall will be closed all day for it so you've been warned.
The comp is open to everyone 14yrs and up with categories including; Junior (14 to 17yrs), Male and Female.


Normal entry prices apply but there's no cost to register for the comp! So you have no excuse!


Scorecards available from reception on the day. The top 5 in each category will be in the final. The qualifying round will include 1 hour to complete 10 problems. Details of the final will be given on the day.


Comp format includes:


Registration @ 15:00
Qualifiers @ 15:30
Finals @ 17:30



Make sure you hang about to watch the final as it proves to be a cracker and with the offer of food and comfy couches to enjoy a drink or two you'll be in fine spirit to enjoy a sociable evening.

Food & Drinks @ 19:00 with talks and slide shows from the past summer from local climbers.


BYOB!

Yet more holds: Big Yuns!

HOLDZ

Holdz Sloperz! Good condition with plenty of friction (Large £2.50)

ENTREPRISES

A mix of Entreprise Riglos and Bloc holds (Large £2.50 each)

A mix of Entreprise Riglos and Bloc holds (Medium £2 each)

A mix of Entreprise Riglos and Bloc holds (Small £1.25 each)

Some have chips etc. on edges but grip surface holding up well. There's plenty of hanging about to be done on these bad boys. There's a good mix of Jugs and Pockets with a 'Bum' and nasty sloper for good measure (top pic).

MORE Holds for sale

I've put some more holds up for sale tonight.

They include:

Rockworks; foot holds/small, mediums and larges. From 50p to £2

Entreprise; small and mediums. From £2 to £2.50

There's a full set of 20 Entreprise Tech Slopers for £35 (RRP £57.50) They're still in good condition and brilliant as hard hand or good feet. There are also singles of these holds at £2 each.

There will be some more on the go soon once i get time to see what we want rid of; so keep an eye on the blog.

There are also bolts for sale for 10 pence a piece. We only have the smaller 50mm length for sale at the moment.

Kirrie Hill

Last weekend Myself, Rach, Stu (new to the transition team) and Caroline (a regular at the wall) headed down the road to try some sport climbing down at Kirrie Hill. We drove down and after battling our way through some nettles we arrived at the Sleepy Hollow area.












We had a look at the routes trying to figure out what was what. This proved a bit hard due to the fact that we didn't have a guide. We looked for a fairly easy route to warm up on. Rach jumped on the sharp end first and lead Sombre Reptiles a 5+, finding this fairly easy we then tried a route that Stu and Caroline had just tried called Spirits Drifting (a 6a+). I led it and then Rach gave it a go. After doing about 3 climbs Gary (another Transition regular) appeared along with a guide book! Now we knew what the routes we were trying. I attempted Thorny Issue, a 6b+ with an interesting wee crux with bad sandy footholds. This route also seemed a bit like it was squeezed in between the adjacent routes (but this is something that I had noticed about Kirrie). After Rach seconded the route clean we both decided to try something harder. We looked at Gary’s guide and decided to try All Chalk, No Traction (6c) I led it on some fairly suspect rock and then Rach seconded again, this time not as successfully but after a rest or two, she did it.

With the rope up, Gary now decided to warm up on Thorny Issue after not climbing for about a month. He decided it wasn't a good idea and so came back down. After a recommendation from Stu and Caroline, I tried Bon the Edge which is a really nice boulder problem with 3 bolts in it, after that it just turns to choss and lost its appeal.



We did a couple of other routes in this section and then decided we should probably check out the rest of the venue. Stu and Caroline were getting tired and hungry so they decided to go and get some food while we explored the other sections.

Feeling happy with onsighting the 6c quite comfortably, I looked through the guide for the hardest climb while Gary and Rach did some other routes. The route was called Slim Pickins and was graded 7a+. When Rach was finished she came over and gave me a belay on it. After climbing about 9 routes already I was getting tired, but as I was climbing I started thinking that it was nowhere near 7a+ and it felt about 6c. I managed to get all the way to the last move but this is where my energy finally ran out and I fell going for the last move. Even though I didn't do it clean I would say the route still wasn't 7a+, maybe 6c+/7a I was just feeling too tired and that’s when we decided to call it a day and go home.

All in all I think if you’re looking for a sport venue where you can just hang out and relax in the sun then Kirrie Hill is a good venue with lots of routes, although as I said earlier the routes do feel quite squeezed in. My main concern is that the rock is very suspect in places and caution should be taken when pulling on some holds, and a helmet is highly recommended for your belayer. If you fancy something a bit harder (in difficulty and rock type) I would try somewhere else. I’m planning to go to the Arbroath sea cliffs or Legaston this weekend so I will let you know what it’s like if I get out.

Words and pictures by Ash

Bye Bye Gibbon

After working for transition since the doors opened unfortunatly it's time for Andrew to leave and go back to Canada. But before he left Al and myself decided to go out climbing one last time in Scotland with him. He set his sights on climbing an E4 before he went so i recomended we went to the Long Slough as this was the place where i did my first E4. Bob's Overhang E4 6a (Tim thinks it should be 6b maybe cos he has tiny arms.)

We decided to warm up on Brain Death a cheeky wee one move wonder that was slightly wet. Gibbon lead it in the same style as when Al did it (by campusing up it). Al and I then followed.



Feeling happy with the last route Gibbon decided to jump on Bob's overhang. After a we chat about where the route went he jumped on the sharp end cruising up to the top of the flake. After shaking he went into the crux and again just ran up it and topping out with a huge smile on his face as he had just flashed E4! Al followed felling abit anxious as he hadn't been able to do it last time but he made progress and managed to get all the gear out and make it to the crux this time.

After watching Gibbon climb I was psyched to try Double Dyno or Die E5 6b. I got to my previous high point but still couldn't do the crux. Its Hard!!! Failing it I topped out of Bobs so Al could have another go at it. This time he made it to the lip but aparently the rope was in the way. You know what that means Al you have try it on lead!


After finding Bobs overhang 'easy' he tryed Double Dyno. But unfortunatly getting spat off at the same point as me. He did however get on again and did the move after a couple of tries and topped out. Well done Gibbon.

We were now tired and hungry so Al had a quick blast at it and luckily managed to get the gear out so we didn't have to have an epic to get it by abseil. With all the gear packed away we decided to go to Mikes for a beer and a bbq.

Good Bye Gibbon we will all miss you.

Words and pictures by Ashley Dean
Edited by Rachel and Caroline!

Saturday 23rd May

We are closed form 10am to 5pm for the Activity Mix Corporate Decathlon.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Transition Gets Outside!

Whatever you fancy doing whether it a simple Taster all the way through to setting up your own rope systems and getting out yourself afterwards we offer it. Based at a range of the North Easts prime climbing spots you'll find everything you need for some great days out.
We also cater for groups and can tailor the sessions to suit your needs whether it a fun day out our an exciting alternative to the usual teambuilding exercises.

Don't hesitate give us a call now to book your first session!

Tel: 01224 626279
Email: reception@transition-extreme.com

Nice Bit of GRIT

Last weekend i was offered a space in a bus down to the peak with Aberdeen Uni’s Lairig Club. GREAT I thought. I will get a chance to climb on this crazy rock called grit stone! It wasn’t till after I had agreed to go that I realised that I was in for a long weekend. Leaving Aberdeen at 5pm in a minibus full of climbers and gear with a max speed of 62mph and listening to Tom and Ollys techno and electro playlists all the way down. But I guess it’s a small price to pay to climb at one of Britain’s best grit stone venues.
We finally got to Sheffield at about 2:30 where we left Pete, Anna and the rest of the folk that were competing in the BUSA competition at the climbing works at a friend’s house. The rest of us drove to stanage to sleep in a cave to climb early the next day.

We woke up in the cave on Saturday morning to see it was mighty windy and we were mighty hungry. We all agreed to drive back to Hathersage to get some breakfast and see if the wind would ease. After breakfast we were all psyched to start climbing. I decided to warm up on some HVD to test this rock with no real holds on it. I DIDN’T LIKE IT! I got depsyched on a HVD and decided to just play about and take photos. Watching Wand, Joe, Olly and Pete climbing on these non existing holds made me think maybe it is possible to hold these slopey things. After Joe climbed Flying Buttress Direct I decided to second it and I’m very glad I did it was amazing heal hooking, slopers they all worked but unfortunately it was too late we had to meet up with the others to go get dinner and a pint.


The uni team consisting of transition instructors Pete and Anna and transition regular Tom Russell came 7th out of 77 teams. Anna was also awarded 4th place in the woman’s individual scores after not holding the final hold her last problem for long enough.(She would have come first otherwise).


The next day we decided to go back to stanage, this time as I didn’t get much done on the trad front I decide that I would try some bouldering. Along with Anna, the rest of the uni team and Pete the walking guide book we headed to the plantation where Pete showed us the scary crescent arête. After most folk had tried it we moved on to Not to be taken away another scary highball problem. This started with 2 slopey hand holds which I had just learnt to hold but no foot holds. Aaaahhhh when will i understand this rock!!!




Pete sent it first time unfazed by its height or dodgy landing. None of us managed to do the first move it must be easier for the tall. We also looked at the storm but it wasn’t in good condition so we moved on to do some easy problems on a slopey little boulder. With our new grit hold knowledge we decided to try some harder stuff including The Green Traverse, Captain Hook and a couple of goes on Deliverance. After working these for a while the tips were getting a bit pink. So Pete decided to try Brass Monkey font 7c. After a couple of power screams he made it to the edge of the roof but the grit wouldn’t give in and his tips were gone. Good effort Pete. It was now getting late so we decided to go back to a nice non slopey problem called 6c. I managed it second go, Mark flashed it and Anna got it after a couple of goes. A nice wee problem to finish the trip now all that was left was the 8 hour techno fest in the crammed minibus.



All text and photo's by Ashley Dean

Important Notice 6th and 7th March

With Transition hosting Round 1 of the Youth Climbing Series on Saturday 7th March there will be restricted access to some areas of the climbing wall on Friday 6th March and Saturday 7th of March

On both these days the entire bouldering wall and lines 1 to 16 (tower wall) will not be available. However the remaining 20 lines will still be accessible all day Friday and Saturday.

We apologise for the inconvenience.