Tyrannosaurus Rex
Did You Know?
T-Rex is also an awesome 7B in Pfalz Germany
Tyrannosaurus Rex ... vicious, cold blooded predator, large teeth, tiny hands, likes to swallow things. T-Rex Germany ... ferocious, heinous boulder problem, small crimps, big drop knee, likes to spit things off.
Jamie On The Opening Knee-Bar Move
... we were sad to leave Magic Wood and the astonishing Alpine landscape behind, but we left on a high after a truly sweet little visit. The rain poured heavy on the motorway as we drove north to our basecamp in Germany, where decent temps and dry rock awaited us. Deep in the Pfalz woodland a monstrous challenge lay before us, a hunter, a killer made of sandstone in the bouldering area known as Jurassic Park, T-Rex 7B. What a sumptuos beast of a problem !! Immaculate movement through steep, powerful terrain, definitely the problem of the trip for me. The first move is a big load bearing knee-bar, which takes the burden of over half your body weight off, right foot pushing on a smear and thigh muscles nestling comfortably on the side-wall. With less weight to haul your fingers can cling to tiny crimps as you match your hands on a small rail before doing a huge span move out right to an arete hold with a crucial thumb catch ... and now the technical bit, your bring your left foot into the groove where the knee is still snug and you do an awesome compression toe hook move, your left toes pulling outwards on the side wall to allow the release of the knee bar ''oh jaaayysusss me shoulders are gonna pop out'', you kick your right foot out twice and must be pin point accurate under pressure to ensure it finds its target a laughable smear, now the crux begins, the toe hook is released and the left leg is swung back and thrown with momemtum in to a mammoth drop knee ''Aaaaaaaaaaaaagghhhh !!'' fight like a deranged barbarous fiend as you slap up a slopey, sloping, sloper ledge to gain a pinch ''me bleedin' fingers are in bits'' with feet, calves, knees, core, shoulders and fingers burning all that remains is a small dyno to pinch, yes a pinch and a campus move to a jug, then just another jug for glory. Pure bouldering ... impeccable climbing.
Me On The Drop Knee Move
Rabid squirrel mode engaged !! We were psyched, all the moves felt a little easier than they did when we tried the problem on the first day of the trip. Two weeks solid bouldering serving as ideal training, all the while this problem and the challenge it represents in the back of our minds. It would be my first 7B ever and Jamies first 7B that wasn't a dyno problem. We went to work on it feverishly. Jamie and Adam could do the crux move to the pinch pretty easily, I couldn't do it at all, I had the finish moved dialled in though and the lads had a bit of trouble with that. We besieged the ''Tyrant Lizard'' for a few hours, the lads got to the pinch several times, I couldn't get near the thing at all, on one burn the planets alligned and I managed to get all the movements just right and combine it with a super human effort, I slapped desperately along the slopey rail, I felt the pinch come into my hand, I engaged my thumb, I squeezed 6 years of training and fighting into one pinch, ''holy shit'' I jumped to the next pinch and caught it, one tiny campus move left before jugs and glory ''I'm gonna fuckin' do it, I'm gonna climb 7b'' I thought to meself as my fingers released their crab-like hold and I fell away from the rock and the glory hitting the mats with a thud. Sheer determination wasn't enough, apparantley my fingers and muscles needed more energy and oxygen to complete the job, it was the closest I got, within a whisker, I had so much fun on it and such a great fight it was almost irrelavent whether I made the top or not. Jamie got real close but couldn't do it either this day, but there was always tomorrow ...
Fred Nicole ? No it's Adam, majestic fro in development :)
The next day we went back for more. Last day nerves, we went to the bouldering area on the way to the airport. I knew shortly after the session began that I was too tired to do it, the accumulative punishment from 2 weeks bouldering and from yesterdays siege left me feeling weaker than was necessary for the send. Jamie was fresher, he had troubles and frustrations with injury all trip and as a consequence had climbed less, this was an awesome chance for him to redeem the trip a little and finish on a mighty high. I told him he was a gobshite for not practicing the finishing moves properly, he kept getting througth the crux and then falling off because he hadn't got a concrete plan of action. He listened to me and ironed out the problem. The next time he grasped the pinch his beta kicked in and he jumped and campused to the jug ''Yessss'' I roarded, one more easy move and it's his, I was sure he had it, he launched for the last jug and he missed it, instead of seeing him swinging out of the victory jug I saw him hit the dust and have an absolute fit on the ground he couldn't believe he missed it and neither could we, Marco and I stared at each other in disbelief. Next time he made the pinch however there was no mistake, he kept cool and latched the jug, there was hootin' and hollerin' and warm brotherly embrace as I hugged the fecker thinking ''well done ya little boyo'', super effort no stopping this lad !! I was gutted at not getting to do the problem, after a rest day or two I would surely have gotten it, but I couldn't stay down for longer than an hour or so as another great chapter in my climbing journey was coming to a close, another awesome climibing adventure was over, remaining as only fond memories and mental images to be remembered through the ages :) What a trip was had, and what a crew I shared it with ... thanks again to Marco and Christain for their hospitality and generosity and thanks to Brothling and The Whippersnappers for another quality trip. Happy climbing folks :)
Pfalz Beauty
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