works comp and team training

Friday night was the last round of the climbing works bouldering league and the last Percy special problem.
Jordan was the first to the top of the special, on his second go as soon as the comp had started, Jordan being warm from the crag that afternoon, and bouncing from someone finally giving him some sponsorship in the form of mr Moon, about time too i say!
So i plodded on with the rest of the comp treating it as a training session, flashing all 25 problems and the perfect score of 250!
Saturday was team training held at Stockport, with problems set by ex team member the Earl, it wasn't going to be an easy day. The first 5 problems in the morning session were anything but easy, and we worked them in small groups, always a good way of improving (or is that just trying harder, not wanting to be outdone!) followed by another ten problems in the afternoon, left my skin feeling decidedly raw, still not fully recovered from font.
On with Sunday and my fourth and fifth sessions of the weekend, a comp style 5 mins on 5 mins off on six problems, three of which were very hard, the other three being easy. i topped one of the hard ones, annoyingly pissing one of the others after.
The final session involved international final style four problems with four minutes to climb each problem but two minutes observation before to look at all the problems. skin was definitely at a premium, and i seem to suffer on my usual forte of slopey pinches, proving the importance of good skin!
It seem s that my fitness is very good at the minute, i just wish someone would invent spray on skin!

City bloc

Visited the newly opened City Bloc wall in Leeds, owned by former British team members, Ben Meeks, Rachael Seymour, Tom Sugden and Martin Smith. It is a nice wall with some really good angles and good problems too. By coincidence Gaz was there too so had a good session climbing with him and Martin. Well worth putting into your regular circuit of walls.

Fontainbleau

Amazingly we actually had some good weather in font, i finally did 8a in font, in the form of Neverland, the most ridiculous feature you will ever see and climb on rock, like one of Percy's volume creations at the works, pure mauling! well that was my tactic anyhow. Pic below.

Finally sent a few nemesis problems too, Hypothese, 7c+ and Sale gosse, 7c one that's been driving me mad for years, no upgraded from i hate that problem to doing it several times as its so cool.
I now have some more projects in font, doing the big move on Total Eclipse with damp holds, a move that i thought i would struggle to span and it was full span but still did the move!
Had a morning session on Karma coming frustratingly close, a mere inch from the hold, before racing for the ferry and the carnage of a snow covered southern England.

Got a load of cool photos thanks to Stuart McNeil and his remote flashes, which i will put up on my website soon.

Here's a vid of me being too close to Karma for comfort!