Doolin Sessions



I just had a few brilliant days in the west of Ireland, after a long cold winter the spring finally arrived and the weather and bouldering conditions lately have been unbelievably good, I plugged into the Burren for a body and soul recharge, the boulders at Doolin, the Guinness and the trad sessions in its bustling pubs have done just the trick :) You gotta love the west coast of Clare, there is a richness of life to be found in its nature and culture alike !!

Looking up the coast at the Doolin Bouldering Area

Me on Hider 7A

A memorable bouldering rampage kicked off with me watching Colm Shannon's recent vid's and getting inspired for a return trip to Doolin, I hopped in the car on the spur of the moment and made the journey over on my own for a day of pulling hard on fingery limestone by the atlantic coast.  On arrival I warmed up quickly and jumped straight on Hider 7A, a problem I have had my eye on for ages, last June Jamie and I gave it go, we thought it looked like an epic problem but we couldn't get near doing any of the moves, this time round I made short work of compiling a sequence and sent it, the moves were savage, bog standard power deadpoints on lovely crimps, excellent problem !! I was suprised and delighted to have gotten it so quickly.  I spent the rest of the day battling on Solid Works 7A, a thuggy slopey traverse into a rough and technical mantle which shut me down complely last time I tried it, this time round I managed to figure out and do the mantle and then I went from the bottom to 3 quarters the way through the mantle before being spit off. It was a sweet day but I had to get back for work and I couldn't wait for my next journey over ...

Me On Solid Works 7A

... I didn't have too long to wait, on saturday Jamie rang me and told me his football match was cancelled and that he had managed to wriggle his way out of school on monday ''SWEET MAN, let's go !!'' This monday he wouldn't be getting educated about maths or spanish, but equally important subjects such as Guinness, ninja studies, crimponomics, music and geology !! A b'n'b was booked and many breads were baked to fuel the impending crushing session ...

Beast Bread

Jamie 'on the mitch'

... Jamie was psyched to get up on Hider and with the beta already figured he beasted it in no time at all, it was class looking as he threw hard and caught every hold, the last move being the most desperate, deadly buzz !!  He was chuffed with the send.  Next up we headed over to the boulder perched on the top of the cliff so I could try Solid Works 7A and J could try The Corner 7A, both problems share the same mantle finish but with significantly different starting moves. I fought my arse off on Solid Works and finally I found beta which switched a horrendous pinch to a crimpy gaston and made the mantle way easier for me, two 7A's in two days, great stuff !! Jamie worked hard on The Corner and figured out all the moves but couldn't get it to go, but there was always tomorrow ...

Jamie Beastin' Hider 7A

Trad Sessions :) Yeeha !!

... we showered and rested up and then hit the pub for a trad session, it was magic, it was J's first trad session and he sunk his first ever pint of Guinness, he loved it :) Not too many drinks though, the rock wasn't gonna crush itself the next day !! We rose early had a nice breakfast and some coffees and hit the boulders, it was cooler than the previous evening and the friction felt great, we both worked The Corner, its proper steep with fingery powerful moves, then a tricky little traverse and the mantle again. I couldn't get near the start moves, they felt nails, Jamie just pulled hard, powered his way through the crux and fought like a beast through the mantle, epic send, we were jumping up and down and shouting with joy, it was impressive and inspiring and served to urge me to try harder, shortly after I sent it too, I did a floater dyno through the crux and ran a sweet sequence through the traverse and made the gaston work on the mantle again, savage problem, really nice and a little harder than Solid Works, 3 7As in 3 days :) chuffed !! After Jamie did the pump machine that is Broken 6B and I had a play on the moves of Body Hammer 7B, but I was knackered and we headed home stopping for seafood chowder in Ennistimon to cap off the best bouldering weekend we ever had :) Happy climbing folks !!

J crushing The Corner 7A