Nathan C
05 August 2010
La Congrelle
Nathan C
02 August 2010
Havelet Wall Traverse
The GMC have a social, and what happens? Another adventure is planned! Well when I say planned I mean discussed, agreed by a drunken few, never mentioned again, then it takes place. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you The Story of The Havelet Traverse 1st August
2010......
During the course of the social it was mentioned that the tides would be pretty good for an attempt on the Havelet Wall. Many were up for it, but the following day many were not. I wasn’t sure if people were going to be there, or if it would actually take place so on Sunday morning, I thought I’d go for a bike ride and head to the wall to see if anyone else was there, I packed my shoes, a towel, a t-shirt and off I went. All the way into town I was wondering who, if anyone would be there. If no-one was there then my plan was to carry on around the island on my bike and maybe go for 2 laps of it. As I turned off the main road and headed towards Castle Cornet I still wasn’t sure if it would be a goer or not. The I saw them......Greg, Stina, & James B. 5 minutes later Laura turns up with 2 friends from Uni. Ed & Robyn. It was on! We looked at the wall and all decided it was a long, long way but hey we were here so no point messing about, we may as well get on with it.
Greg took the lead and Stina became the official photographer for the days event. Next up was Ed, followed by Laura then Robyn, James B & I took last place on the wall. We all started right up the top of the slipway, Greg, James & me all took the decision to come off just before we got over the water then rest before going for it. I did 25 metres so I “won” the bet with Greg & Nathan so another £50 gets donat
ed to Cancer Research, thanks both!
Luke turned up, but hadn’t got his gear as he thought we would have been too far along and would have missed us. Then Tom turned up, who had got his gear and decided to go for it. Luke helped out by moving the dinghy someone had placed against the wall.
I was slipping off the wall for fun at one point, but knew I had to go for it. I had a target in my head then I thought I’d look at the next bits after that. I got to a nice big boulder a few meters over the water, which was still clear, it was a good place to stop and evaluate the next moves, unfortunately I then climbed myself into a dead end, and whilst trying to get back to the big one, my feet slipped and that, was that I was in, top to toe. I did jump back on the wall a few more times, but with the wind blowing and the rain starting to come in, I decided enough was enough. I had completed my challenge, I had raised another £50, and I knew we would be doing it again before the end of the summer so...
At this time only James & Ed were still on the wall and were just past the bunker, after getting changed I walked down to them. It was still raining at this point. I asked how they were getitng on, and Ed said it was starting to get slippy and quite moist. And then boom, Ed came off and began the swim back to the slipway. James B – Last Man Standing. 
As usual folks plenty more pictures on the Facebook group pages.
The GMC have a social, and what happens? Another adventure is planned! Well when I say planned I mean discussed, agreed by a drunken few, never mentioned again, then it takes place. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you The Story of The Havelet Traverse 1st August
2010......During the course of the social it was mentioned that the tides would be pretty good for an attempt on the Havelet Wall. Many were up for it, but the following day many were not. I wasn’t sure if people were going to be there, or if it would actually take place so on Sunday morning, I thought I’d go for a bike ride and head to the wall to see if anyone else was there, I packed my shoes, a towel, a t-shirt and off I went. All the way into town I was wondering who, if anyone would be there. If no-one was there then my plan was to carry on around the island on my bike and maybe go for 2 laps of it. As I turned off the main road and headed towards Castle Cornet I still wasn’t sure if it would be a goer or not. The I saw them......Greg, Stina, & James B. 5 minutes later Laura turns up with 2 friends from Uni. Ed & Robyn. It was on! We looked at the wall and all decided it was a long, long way but hey we were here so no point messing about, we may as well get on with it.
Greg took the lead and Stina became the official photographer for the days event. Next up was Ed, followed by Laura then Robyn, James B & I took last place on the wall. We all started right up the top of the slipway, Greg, James & me all took the decision to come off just before we got over the water then rest before going for it. I did 25 metres so I “won” the bet with Greg & Nathan so another £50 gets donat
ed to Cancer Research, thanks both!After a few minutes Greg was back on the wall, then James then I went for it again.
Suddenly Robyn was in the water, Havelet had claimed the first victim of the day!
The tide was still on the up and ledges which looked good were soon getting covered with water and the wave splashing up the wall and covering your legs, surprisingly the water wasn’t that cold. The unwritten rule of the day was that you couldn’t give up on the wall without getting a good dunkin’
The tide was still on the up and ledges which looked good were soon getting covered with water and the wave splashing up the wall and covering your legs, surprisingly the water wasn’t that cold. The unwritten rule of the day was that you couldn’t give up on the wall without getting a good dunkin’
Greg suddenly came off the wall, and took a swim back to the slipway.
Luke turned up, but hadn’t got his gear as he thought we would have been too far along and would have missed us. Then Tom turned up, who had got his gear and decided to go for it. Luke helped out by moving the dinghy someone had placed against the wall.I didn’t see Laura come off as I think I was more concerned about staying on myself at that point but I saw her swim back. Apart from James and Ed I think she got the furthest so fair play to her. We were falling like flies now!
I was slipping off the wall for fun at one point, but knew I had to go for it. I had a target in my head then I thought I’d look at the next bits after that. I got to a nice big boulder a few meters over the water, which was still clear, it was a good place to stop and evaluate the next moves, unfortunately I then climbed myself into a dead end, and whilst trying to get back to the big one, my feet slipped and that, was that I was in, top to toe. I did jump back on the wall a few more times, but with the wind blowing and the rain starting to come in, I decided enough was enough. I had completed my challenge, I had raised another £50, and I knew we would be doing it again before the end of the summer so... 
At this time only James & Ed were still on the wall and were just past the bunker, after getting changed I walked down to them. It was still raining at this point. I asked how they were getitng on, and Ed said it was starting to get slippy and quite moist. And then boom, Ed came off and began the swim back to the slipway. James B – Last Man Standing. 
About 15 minutes later, Martin and Chris turn up, then Nathan arrives. Chris and Nathan decide to give James some encouragement so they clamber over the top, down the rusty chain and start doing the traverse. Well they were supposed to be doing the traverse, Nathan seemed more keen to go for a swim and Chris was happy just doing horizontal handstands. James mentioned he was starting to get tired and I’m not surprised he’d been on the wall for about 1hr 45 mins if not longer, then his leg slipped once, then his arm went then splash!!! He was in. How far did he get? About ½ way...............
between the rusty chain and the ladder.
between the rusty chain and the ladder.
Good effort Sir! And that was that the Havelet Traverse remained unbeaten but the battle isn’t over.
As usual folks plenty more pictures on the Facebook group pages.
14 July 2010
The Crocker Cronicles!
Martin Crocker on Salt 'n Wound E5 6b
Martin Crocker has kindly given the GMC his route descriptions which detail many routes, up to E6 6b, which he climbed during a number of trips to Guernsey.
All his route descriptions can be found on the New Routes section of the club website. If your after inspiration its a good place to find it.
See you out there!
Steve Le F
07 June 2010
Two Projects Sent!
After coming back from Font all I wanted to do was boulder something hard! During a club session at Port Soif I started looking at a line straight up the middle of the barrel boulder. Although there are already some problems on this boulder the obvious line up the middle using the lonely hand hold remained unclimbed.
I wasn't the only one bouldering hard. Chris Smith had just sent his project at the Pecqueries boulder. "He's not Queer, he's just a Hobbit" takes the undercut pinch rail to the right of "The Classic" and could well be Guernsey's hardest boulder problem weighing in at V7.
After many sessions the barrel project finally went to give "Potential Difference". As for the grade I have no idea as its probably the hardest thing I've done and therefore hard for me to assign a number to it.
See you out there!
Steve Le F
I wasn't the only one bouldering hard. Chris Smith had just sent his project at the Pecqueries boulder. "He's not Queer, he's just a Hobbit" takes the undercut pinch rail to the right of "The Classic" and could well be Guernsey's hardest boulder problem weighing in at V7.
After many sessions the barrel project finally went to give "Potential Difference". As for the grade I have no idea as its probably the hardest thing I've done and therefore hard for me to assign a number to it.
See you out there!
Steve Le F
02 June 2010
The Adventure of Petit Port
Chapter 2 – Assault on the Chimney 29/05/10
After we bailed on the initial attempt we’ve been talking about going back and finishing the job. We’ve arranged days but each time decided against it, too cold, too wet, looks like rain etc. Messages sent via Facebook and we agreed we would go for it on Saturday. The day started looking miserable and wet I sent a message “Let’s do it. 1300” I text’d Chris, he replied saying he would rather do anything else but the chimney, so I asked him if was coming or not, his reply was along the lines of “**** it, I’ll come” We were on!
we quickly geared up, and Nathan decided to lead the 1st pitch the chimney was dirty and wetter than last time we were here, and was full of fly’s. Nathan started well and got to the point where he bailed last time really quickly with no issues, then the inevitable happened; DISCO LEG, this was like no disco leg I’ve seen on Nathan before, it was so bad I could feel the rope shaking through the belay device. But fair play to him, he stuck with it and got over the chockstone, and then I heard some rather strange squeaks coming from Nathan I did shout up and ask if one the Bikini Boulder’s was already up there so weird were the noises. The call came that he was safe, so I took him off belay and got out of the chimney for a few seconds just to breath some fresh air as it was horrid in the chimney with the fly’s all around you.
I started to climb, clearing the gear as I went, this time remembering to put it on the right so that it wouldn't get stuck as I did the headlong dive onto the top of the stone. However this time I tried a different approach and tried to get into the tunnel more elegantly, I failed. This time I nearly managed to get my entire body stuck. But I managed to get in and Nathan commented it was more entertaining watching me from the top then it was from the bottom.
Chris joined us in the tunnel and we were where we were the last time we came. As we walked up the tunnel, Chris was leading the way then he came across his nemesis PIGEONS, they were still there and they were waiting for Chris. Eventually and probably due to the noises Chris was making the pigeons flew off and we were up at the top end then Chris pointed out why he had wanted to do this on a dry day, the start of the 2nd pitch was soaked. we looked around for t a belay point, but the only option was to belay from the top of the tunnel roof, so I scrambled up a took a look, there was a solid enough ledge to stand / belay from but getting there looked a little tricky. There was a narrow ledge to walk on, but as I tested it for weight it started to crumble, it was basically just collected mud. So the only way onto the ledge was by bridging across the chimney and going for it. As I said the ledge was solid, and when we got there realised it would have been an easier escape then the one we used last time, as we had a big boulder for a sling and steep but not vertical slope down to the outside of the chimney and down onto the beach.
Chris was leading the 2nd pitch, and off he went. Just as he started so did the rain. Fortunately it was blowing in off the sea so we weren’t getting the full brunt of it, just enough to make us damp. Chris was having a tough time placing gear, as the rock on the 2nd pitch was just as flaky as the 1st if not more so. But he managed to get in some friends on the right and micro’s on the left. Each piece of gear was being tested thoroughly as the rock was so flaky. After a while Chris was on a ramp and about to go chockstone weaving. I did hear him say something about it being polished but didn’t really grasp what he was saying. Chris carried on up and then we lost sight of him as he went behind the 1st chockstone. We got a shout from Chris about how much rope we had left and as we hadn’t passed the ½ way point, Chris was going to set up the belay and I would clip into the rope and Nathan climb on the ends.
I started the 2nd pitch and started to take the gear out, I was pretty cold by now as we had been standing on the ledge for quite a while. However I did manage the climb upto the ramp, and only kicked off the one lump of rock. When I got on the ledge I realised what Chris had meant by “polished” it was smooth + wet = lethal! I could hardly stand up on it. Then it was time to go weaving, Chris had followed the route description and had gone in and out of the chockstones. I managed to get up to the 1st chockstone quite easily, but couldn’t get the nut out Chris had placed there. I tried but was losing the feeling in my leg due to the way I was positioned so had to move on. I stood on the chockstone and waited a few seconds for the blood to go back into my leg so I could carry on. Getting onto the next chockstone was slightly more difficult, primarily because I’m 6’4” and Chris isn’t. It was an awkward move for me but I got there. By this time my legs were pumped and I couldn’t have got much further. As I poked my head around the chockstone I saw Chris on a ledge and started looking to see how I could get round him. The Chris gave me the good news “I need you to sit there, as there’s no room up here” . Great!! So I sat down and got as comfortable as you could sitting on a rock lodged between 2 cliff faces about 50 metres above the sea, and tied into the system.
Nathan started climbing and soon was on the middle chockstone just below me. At this point I did think it was a shame there was no-one on the beach to take a picture as Chris on the ledge, me on the chockstone and Nathan just below on another one would have made a great pic. As Nathan was standing up on, it was decided he would take the lead for the last pitch as the belay Chris had set up was bomber, and it would save time if he just carried on climbing, so off he went.
Chris said he would go next and I would follow up. As the rope tightened we responded with the calls but we really couldn’t hear anything from Nathan. I was tight on one rope and Chris was on the other, so Chris undid the belay and began to climb the last pitch. As we couldn’t hear we agreed that when he got to the belay he would give 3 sharp tugs on the rope to signal me to climb and I would respond with the same to say I was climbing. Not to long after I got the 3 tugs so I started to climb, this pitch was unlike any other climbing I had done. There was rock there but it was overgrown with gorse, ivy, brambles, ferns and just about any other vegetation you would normally find on the cliffs. I could see the rock but only below all of the vegetation. Then I heard Nathan talking to Chris, “I can hear him grunting he must be climbing”, only the first 10 – 15 metres were like this, and eventually it flattened out into a gentle slope, with fern on both sides of a well worn path, Nathan had found a belay tree to set up on and that was it the chimney was ours. Wasn’t it?
Whilst Chris and Nathan were dismantling the belay I said I’d look for the walk out and see where we could go. I followed a path between the ferns and just kept walking, in and out of gorse bushes, Then the path stopped. I backtracked and followed another path, then it stopped. Backtracked again, nothing. A small scramble and we should be back on the path, nope, nothing there. Chris and Nathan came up the slope with the gear, then we started to discuss if we would need to climb the white wall and ab down the other side in order to get out. Nathan recognized where he had set the belay up from his last abseil so we had a little 2 metre solo, scramble down the other side, walk around the wall. Up on another rock, turn right, cliff path. As we had left all of our stuff down at beach level we then had to walk down the steps to the beach, pick everything up then walk back up the steps. But it was over.
Petit Port Chimney
First Ascent –
FH Grenfell & Brother – 1908
Second Ascent –
Chris Smith, Nathan Crabb, Dean Cooper - 29/05/10
A true classic adventure, which overtime will increase in the telling, and the rock will get flakier, and the rain will get heavier, & the wind will be stronger as the story is retold.
I suppose the question is would I repeat it? Yes I think I would, on a beautiful sunny day, if only to sit on the top chockstone and feel the sun on my face, looking over Petit Port bay hearing the waves crash against the shoreline, knowing that I was part of the team which freed this route after more than 100 years. - Special
After we bailed on the initial attempt we’ve been talking about going back and finishing the job. We’ve arranged days but each time decided against it, too cold, too wet, looks like rain etc. Messages sent via Facebook and we agreed we would go for it on Saturday. The day started looking miserable and wet I sent a message “Let’s do it. 1300” I text’d Chris, he replied saying he would rather do anything else but the chimney, so I asked him if was coming or not, his reply was along the lines of “**** it, I’ll come” We were on!
we quickly geared up, and Nathan decided to lead the 1st pitch the chimney was dirty and wetter than last time we were here, and was full of fly’s. Nathan started well and got to the point where he bailed last time really quickly with no issues, then the inevitable happened; DISCO LEG, this was like no disco leg I’ve seen on Nathan before, it was so bad I could feel the rope shaking through the belay device. But fair play to him, he stuck with it and got over the chockstone, and then I heard some rather strange squeaks coming from Nathan I did shout up and ask if one the Bikini Boulder’s was already up there so weird were the noises. The call came that he was safe, so I took him off belay and got out of the chimney for a few seconds just to breath some fresh air as it was horrid in the chimney with the fly’s all around you.
I started to climb, clearing the gear as I went, this time remembering to put it on the right so that it wouldn't get stuck as I did the headlong dive onto the top of the stone. However this time I tried a different approach and tried to get into the tunnel more elegantly, I failed. This time I nearly managed to get my entire body stuck. But I managed to get in and Nathan commented it was more entertaining watching me from the top then it was from the bottom.
Chris joined us in the tunnel and we were where we were the last time we came. As we walked up the tunnel, Chris was leading the way then he came across his nemesis PIGEONS, they were still there and they were waiting for Chris. Eventually and probably due to the noises Chris was making the pigeons flew off and we were up at the top end then Chris pointed out why he had wanted to do this on a dry day, the start of the 2nd pitch was soaked. we looked around for t a belay point, but the only option was to belay from the top of the tunnel roof, so I scrambled up a took a look, there was a solid enough ledge to stand / belay from but getting there looked a little tricky. There was a narrow ledge to walk on, but as I tested it for weight it started to crumble, it was basically just collected mud. So the only way onto the ledge was by bridging across the chimney and going for it. As I said the ledge was solid, and when we got there realised it would have been an easier escape then the one we used last time, as we had a big boulder for a sling and steep but not vertical slope down to the outside of the chimney and down onto the beach.
Chris was leading the 2nd pitch, and off he went. Just as he started so did the rain. Fortunately it was blowing in off the sea so we weren’t getting the full brunt of it, just enough to make us damp. Chris was having a tough time placing gear, as the rock on the 2nd pitch was just as flaky as the 1st if not more so. But he managed to get in some friends on the right and micro’s on the left. Each piece of gear was being tested thoroughly as the rock was so flaky. After a while Chris was on a ramp and about to go chockstone weaving. I did hear him say something about it being polished but didn’t really grasp what he was saying. Chris carried on up and then we lost sight of him as he went behind the 1st chockstone. We got a shout from Chris about how much rope we had left and as we hadn’t passed the ½ way point, Chris was going to set up the belay and I would clip into the rope and Nathan climb on the ends.
I started the 2nd pitch and started to take the gear out, I was pretty cold by now as we had been standing on the ledge for quite a while. However I did manage the climb upto the ramp, and only kicked off the one lump of rock. When I got on the ledge I realised what Chris had meant by “polished” it was smooth + wet = lethal! I could hardly stand up on it. Then it was time to go weaving, Chris had followed the route description and had gone in and out of the chockstones. I managed to get up to the 1st chockstone quite easily, but couldn’t get the nut out Chris had placed there. I tried but was losing the feeling in my leg due to the way I was positioned so had to move on. I stood on the chockstone and waited a few seconds for the blood to go back into my leg so I could carry on. Getting onto the next chockstone was slightly more difficult, primarily because I’m 6’4” and Chris isn’t. It was an awkward move for me but I got there. By this time my legs were pumped and I couldn’t have got much further. As I poked my head around the chockstone I saw Chris on a ledge and started looking to see how I could get round him. The Chris gave me the good news “I need you to sit there, as there’s no room up here” . Great!! So I sat down and got as comfortable as you could sitting on a rock lodged between 2 cliff faces about 50 metres above the sea, and tied into the system.
Nathan started climbing and soon was on the middle chockstone just below me. At this point I did think it was a shame there was no-one on the beach to take a picture as Chris on the ledge, me on the chockstone and Nathan just below on another one would have made a great pic. As Nathan was standing up on, it was decided he would take the lead for the last pitch as the belay Chris had set up was bomber, and it would save time if he just carried on climbing, so off he went.
Chris said he would go next and I would follow up. As the rope tightened we responded with the calls but we really couldn’t hear anything from Nathan. I was tight on one rope and Chris was on the other, so Chris undid the belay and began to climb the last pitch. As we couldn’t hear we agreed that when he got to the belay he would give 3 sharp tugs on the rope to signal me to climb and I would respond with the same to say I was climbing. Not to long after I got the 3 tugs so I started to climb, this pitch was unlike any other climbing I had done. There was rock there but it was overgrown with gorse, ivy, brambles, ferns and just about any other vegetation you would normally find on the cliffs. I could see the rock but only below all of the vegetation. Then I heard Nathan talking to Chris, “I can hear him grunting he must be climbing”, only the first 10 – 15 metres were like this, and eventually it flattened out into a gentle slope, with fern on both sides of a well worn path, Nathan had found a belay tree to set up on and that was it the chimney was ours. Wasn’t it?
Whilst Chris and Nathan were dismantling the belay I said I’d look for the walk out and see where we could go. I followed a path between the ferns and just kept walking, in and out of gorse bushes, Then the path stopped. I backtracked and followed another path, then it stopped. Backtracked again, nothing. A small scramble and we should be back on the path, nope, nothing there. Chris and Nathan came up the slope with the gear, then we started to discuss if we would need to climb the white wall and ab down the other side in order to get out. Nathan recognized where he had set the belay up from his last abseil so we had a little 2 metre solo, scramble down the other side, walk around the wall. Up on another rock, turn right, cliff path. As we had left all of our stuff down at beach level we then had to walk down the steps to the beach, pick everything up then walk back up the steps. But it was over.
Petit Port Chimney
First Ascent –
FH Grenfell & Brother – 1908
Second Ascent –
Chris Smith, Nathan Crabb, Dean Cooper - 29/05/10
A true classic adventure, which overtime will increase in the telling, and the rock will get flakier, and the rain will get heavier, & the wind will be stronger as the story is retold.
I suppose the question is would I repeat it? Yes I think I would, on a beautiful sunny day, if only to sit on the top chockstone and feel the sun on my face, looking over Petit Port bay hearing the waves crash against the shoreline, knowing that I was part of the team which freed this route after more than 100 years. - Special
14 April 2010
10th / 11th April
Luckily for team 'send stuff' we had foreigner Adam over who doesn't back down so easily like myself, he spent the day trying his project but after he was done he had a quick top-rope attempt on what looked to be a blank direct start to 'Corridors of Power' E3, it turned out to be not so blank of holds and Adam was off before I even had time to get him on belay! Although the route was easy(ish) climbing (easy if you're Adam) Adam described it as 'bold', his first estimate is possibly E4 5c, my first estimate is that I NEVER want to climb one of Adam's E4's!
Also doing the team proud was Mark Page who led 'Rat Trap' seconded by Dean a.k.a the 'Chimney master', the 'Chimney Hunter' or the 'Chimney Crusher', and Olly and James W continued to gain experience & sunburn doing the first pitch of 'Shot in the dark'. Dean was especially pleased to make it to the top although he did leave half the gear in as he was in such a rush to top out! Mark found the route amenable but would like to see an ascent by someone not as tall as himself to see if it is the 'desperate struggle' the guidebook says it is!
Day 2 we headed to the main area at Mont Herault but first off Mark gave us a tour of the island, in this 2 hour tour we saw some good potential bouldering and a very nice-looking wall that Mark had discovered and named 'Tiger Wall', if anyone's hungry for F.A's then they should head there, or anywhere in Guernsey will probably do.
First off I tried 'Cosmo's Crack' E3 but fell off, Adam then went on to send it with ease. Big Nathan led 'Jam Sandwich' VS, for anyone who's never watched Nathan lead climb I highly recommend it, his disco leg is ridiculous. The route was seconded by Mark and little Nathan. I then sent 'Reptile', the island's first E2. To finish off, Adam tried 'Joker's Arete' E3, however the problem with this route is it is mostly protected by a rusty old peg which is probably 24 years old! Although this didn't put Adam off climbing the route, it did stop him trying his hardest on the crux so in the end he backed down (getting into some crazy positions downclimbing), it was still very impressive to watch!
as usual pictures are on facebook
See you all next weekend, Chris.
08 April 2010
Font - Easter Weekend
Little Chris, Big Nathan, Rich, Luke and Steve had an awesome trip to Font. The two day round trip was worth it as the weather was kind providing us with two days of excellent bouldering. Keep an eye out for the trip report on the GMC website.
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