Silence on El Cap

OMG Christmas already?

 

Like it or not Christmas is nearly upon us.  It may seem like only yesterday that you banged down that last mince pie and vowed to work it off in the gym, all the while swearing to your self ‘this is the year I will master the one arm pull up’.  But the panicked look in the faces of those frantic shoppers doesn’t lie, Christmas cometh.  In the Westway this means we have been busy planning our Christmas party.  For those of you who don’t know this isn’t a the usual Christmas shindig, with what in 2012 will most likely involve drunken office workers doing the 'gangnam style'.  

No, the Westway Christmas party involves top climbers throwing dry tooling shapes on our outdoor lead wall, in the world’s only FigFour dry tooling lead comp.  The main event is a team competition with climbers competing from Alpkit, Lyon Equipment, La Sportiva and of course Westway.  Each team will be pitting their best climbers up against some of the most exciting dry tooling routes ever set in a competition.  There will be product demos from all the manufactures and a FigFour mega speed bouldering competition.  Along side all of this there will be an alpine BBQ, DJ, mulled Cider, a local brewery and you’re all invited. 



Andre taking time out on a route to snack on
an Up Raw



In the mean time there are some interesting talks happening at the Westway to keep you motivated.  The first is from Sol Fernandez who is the inventor and owner of a new sports snack called Up Raw.  Sol has based the design of his new sports bar on his unique ethos towards nutrition and healthy living.  Sol’s talk will be giving plenty of information on the right foods to eat to maintain a healthy life style and give you energy to train hard.  Sol is a devoted climber and personal trainer as well as a member of the fire service.  His talk should give us plenty to think about before we attempt to get our five a day by eating five Terry’s chocolate oranges.  That’s probably just me though.



 The second talk will be the story of our very own Andre Hedger’s recent attempt to climb the Nose of El Capitan in a day.  Andre’s tale starts during a trip to Mali where the seeds of the idea that he may be able to climb this 1000 meter climb in a day are planted.  For those who don’t know Andre he is one of the most self driven and audacious climbers you will ever meet.  His abundance of energy and positive outlook is incredibly infectious.  His talk will leave you motivated and inspired to get out there achieve those climbs that you have only dare read about in magazines.  Andre will be giving his talk in the function room just past the café on the 3^rd of December, doors open at 19:30.

Last week the Westway hosted the first round of this years London Universities Bouldering Event or as UCL who organise the event like to refer to it, LUBE.  




A rang of emotions on the faces of spectators.  Happiness,
fear, curiosity and confusion.



Student pulling hard to send a comp
problem





                                                                                                                                                               
The event consists of a bouldering competition spread over 4 rounds with 29 universities competing in teams.  At the Westway we set 25 competition problems from V0 to V9 that would put even the most powerful student climbers to the test.  The comp was very well organised with some very talented climbers showing there stuff.  At the end of the day Cambridge topped the table with the most points.  The next round is taking place in Mile end climbing wall on the 1^st of December.  The competitions problems are still up on the Oven bouldering wall so go give them a go during your next session.



The expert wall building team in action

 Out side of the wall, and I mean just out side the door we have built our latest climbing wall.  A small traverse wall has been built between Urban Rock and the gym for us all to warm up on. We all know how cold it can get during mid winter and even with a warm cup of tea by your side warming up to climb can be a tricky thing.  Now you will be able to stretch and traverse in the warm before plunging into the wall to crank.  For those of you with a monthly pass you can use the gym and get some traverses in at the same time.  In the wake of this new wall the rest of the sports center has been warned that if they don’t keep a close eye on there areas we will build climbing walls there.  So keep on the look out for other walls around the center.  That or we will be bolting the bottom of the A40.  We could possibly market the idea to Boris Johnson as a new eco transport solution.  Lead climbing your way to work.

Warming up is a subject that feeds allot of discussion in climbing centers.  Some people will do a couple of press ups and then jump straight onto some easy climbs, while others spend an hour preforming an entire Yoga routine before even touching a hold.  I have been in some gyms where warm up routines have gotten competitive.  One person will be stretching a ham string when suddenly the person on the mat next door will stretch their leg over the back of their head.  The original stretcher will then retaliate by standing on their head all the while the rest of us have sacked it in and gone climbing.  You have to be careful that competitive stretching doesn’t get in the way of your climbing.  At the Westway we are lucky to have a resident physiotherapist who is always ready to give advise on the best way to warm up.  Cristiano Costa has been treating people’s injuries at the Westway and has also agreed to contribute his expertise to the blog. He has started by writing a little information for the blog on the different types of stretching that climbers should be aware of.

Get your stretch on as part of your climbing warm up and warm down

Clinical Climbing by Cristiano Costa

I will be writing a series of articles that will be based on my professional knowledge from theoretical and clinical experience, acquired over the past eight years as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

I thought it would be interesting to start by talking about stretches and try to demystify such a topic.  ‘What is the best kind of stretching?’ is a question that I am constantly being asked when I am down for a session in at the Westway.

Therefore I will start by writing a few lines about the different types of stretches, which will be followed by its benefits and the reasons why we should do it.

I truly hope you enjoy it and that it will shed some light on this rather controversial subject.

Types of Stretches

There are four different types of stretching: ballistic, dynamic, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, and static stretching.

Ballistic stretching is a rapid bouncing stretch in which a body part is moving with momentum that stretches the muscles to a maximum. Muscles respond to this type of stretching by contracting to protect itself from over extending.

Dynamic stretching is a walking or movement stretch. By performing slow controlled movements through full range of motion, aimed at reduce risk of injury.

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF, stretching is a type of stretch for a particular muscle/muscle group, so resistance should be applied, then the muscle should be relaxed.

Static stretching is a type of stretch whereby a person stretches the muscle until a gentle tension is felt and then holds the stretch for a period of time without any movement or bouncing.

Stretching should not be painful and always carried out under control.  It is critical for a person to perform stretches properly to protect their muscles from injury.  Dynamic and ballistic stretching should be performed before a workout in order to increase blood flow, strength and power and to reduce tightness.  However ballistic stretching should only be preformed by experienced climbers who know the limits of there own individual flexibility. 

PNF stretching should be performed during rest days to specific muscle groups or/and before a work out as part of a warm up regimen.  PNF stretching techniques are more commonly associated with clinical applications but are very effective in helping athletes improve performance.  The stretching techniques in PNF are considered far safer than those in ballistic stretching and over short periods of time can result dramatic gains in range of motion.

Static stretching should be performed at the end of a workout in order to increase the extendibility of muscle tissue and remove the lactic acid build up. Stretching properly and in the correct time frame of one's workout is vital for gaining all the benefits from these stretches.Ÿ

Cristiano Costa has been a devoted climber for 22 years and is a practicing physiotherapist. He has worked in both the NHS and private sector with years of experience treating sports injuries.  He is available to treat patients at the Westway so if you have a niggling injury get it seen to the next time you’re in for a climb.



Ondo and its rock ready for new routes



Over the next couple of weeks Liam Halsey will be busy getting ready for a special climbing trip.  He and other prominent climbers from the UK have been invited to Nigeria for this years Mare festival.  The festival is organized by the Nigerian government to help boost climbing tourism in the country.  The Mare festival takes place in Ondo State in Nigeria’s southwest. 



Wooden holds bolted to rock and then climbed bare foot



 Liam will be looking to spend some time opening new routes in the country and the Westway will be providing the hardware to help him do just that.  We will hopefully have some news on his progress just before Christmas.   

I hope this edition of the blog has left you psyched to get out there and climb.  Just to let you know that the 8c on the comp wall still hasn't had a first ascent.  I don’t understand what’s taking you all so long.  Get in there and send it people.

Alpine Adenture

Have you been to the alps this summer, or are you planning some winter alpine adventure this coming season?  In this issue of the blog we have a fantastic report from Kamil Jutkiewicz on his recent trip to climb Mont Blanc.  But first some news from the wall. 

Over the last couple of weeks at the Westway we have busy getting ready for the launch of some special sessions.  The first is our new Wednesday morning ladies climbing session.  This is due to start this week with our lady climbers being welcomed with some free tea, coffee and of course biscuits.  Naturally we had to test out these facilities last week to check that they worked.  A few extra routes went down due to free flowing cups of tea that morning.   I will be making sure I am having a climb this coming Wednesday morning and snatching a sneaky Hobnob or two.

The next session we are launching soon is the Westway’s new climbing exercise class, Bouldercise.  This is a bouldering based fitness session that will be running on Thursday evenings at 19:00.  This class will last for 90 minutes and will use our bouldering wall and training area to give you a major workout that will be sure to improve your grade.

Last week we welcomed home Kamil Jutkiewicz, who has recently returned from one of his characteristic mountaineering trips.  Kamil used to work at the Westway as a duty manager and was always going off on trips to climb in the Alps.  This autumn Kamil was joined by his two friends Jan and Iwona on a trip to Chamonix to climb the highest summit in Western Europe, Mont Blanc.  Their plan was to climb the Mont Blanc traverse.  This route starts in the Valley Blanche and leads to the Mont Blanc du Tacul then on to the Mont Moudit to finish on the Mont Blanc summit.

Kamil was kind enough to write us a report of this amazing trip.

A week of Mountains

Kamil Jutkiewicz

‘On day one we arrived in Chamonix in the early afternoon.  We headed to the camp site and quickly set up our tents which would be our base over the next week.  Once set, up we made a b-line for the guide office to get the weather forecast and the report on the conditions up high in the mountains.  It is the standard tradition that in the event of a bad conditions report that you immediately visit all the climbing shops of Chamonix.  The weather when we arrived was clear and sunny but any mountaineer will tell you this, is no guarantee of good conditions up high over the coming week.’ 

‘Once in the guide office the news wasn’t good.  Over the coming 7 days the weather was changeable, with strong winds and rain expected.  In the Valley Blanche the wind was blowing up to 100kph.  Furthermore due to the avalanche earlier in the year that claimed the lives of 8 climbers on Mount Moudit, the route had seen very little traffic.  This could lead to problems with navigation due to a lack of a well-trodden track.  After much discussion it was decided that we would ascend Mont Blanc via the Gouter route, which was previously set as our decent route.  The wind on the Gouter route was blowing at around 80kph which we could deal with and since there was much more traffic on the route, navigation would be simpler.  It was not the route we wanted to do but it did mean we wouldn’t be stuck in the valley, gear shopping.  With the plan set the three of us began the process of acclimatising and went for a short walk into the mountains to the Chalet Flora. '

The garden of the Chalet Flora

'From here we drank in the amazing view down into the valley.  We all thought of the adventures that were in store for us over the next seven days as we gazed on the Aiguille du Dru, Aiguille du Grepon, Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc.’

Panorama of the Mont Blanc massive

‘On the second day we continued to try and acclimatise to altitude.  The summit of Mont Blanc is at an altitude of just over 4800 meters. Attempting to climb to this altitude without first acclimatising can lead to some terrible effects of altitude sickness.  Nausea, headaches and disorientation can leave you vulnerable to costly mistakes when high in the mountains. '

Sunrise over the Argentiere Glacier

'Prior to our ascent of Mont Blanc we selected a number of lower targets to allow our bodies to adjust to effects of altitude.  Our first of these targets was the Refuge Lognan. This involved hiking up to  the Argentiere Glacier and then climbing down to the refuge where we spent the night before returning to the valley the next day.’

‘On day three we woke to the sound every climber hates.  The sound that is unmistakably water colliding with the taught fabric of a tent.  Emerging from my nylon house it was clear to see that it had rained all night.  Was this it, had the good weather broken and left us with this downpour for the rest of the week?  A quick check of the weather forecast revealed that it would continue to rain all day.  However there was a glimmer of hope with the bad weather looking like it would only be a short spell that would clear up by the next day.   We spent the day walking in and out of gear shops asking each other why west London didn’t have more cool stores like these. In between we could lounge in coffee bars constantly checking the weather report hoping that the bad weather would pass as promised.’

‘Day four began with glorious weather.  Our prayers had been answered and we could continue to climb and acclimatise.  We couldn’t pick just any route though.  What had fallen as rain in the valley had fallen as thick snow high on the mountains.  This fresh dusting would be unconsolidated and would be perilous to climb on.  We devised a plan that would offer some safe climbing but would take us on a rewarding journey.  From Chamonix we took the cable car to the Planpraz .  From there we traversed via the Grand Balcon Sud to Lake Blanc (2353m altitude).  From the lake we descended to Argentiere where we took a bus back to our campsite in Chamonix.’ 

Lac Blanc

‘Day five, this was it, we were finally going to start climbing Mont Blanc.  The plan for the day was to go from Chamonix to Les Houches where we would head onto the Refuge Tete Rousse (3167m altitude).' 



The Refute Tete Rousse among the rocks



'At the Refuge Tete Rousse we would stop and spend the night which would help us better acclimatise.  On the way to the refuge the weather suddenly broke and the final stages of the climb were made in high winds and snow fall.  Reaching the hut was a great relief and we rewarded ourselves with a hot tea.'



The 73 year old Lithuanian Climber



'In these huts you meet mountaineers from all over the world and a great part of being there is hearing their stories.  In the hut this day was a 73 year old Lithuanian climber who came to Chamonix together with his son and friend to climb Mont Blanc.  It was really impressive to meet this old man who as it turned out climbed harder and faster than many of the younger men around that day.’

‘On day six the objective was to reach the Gouter Hut (3817m altitude) where we would rest before the final push to the summit.  On the way to the Gouter Hut the route crosses the Grand Couloir.  This is the most stressful and dangerous part of the route with the risk of rock and ice fall being ever present.'



The scary Grand Couloir



'To minimise the risk we decided we would set off extra early.  The cold temperatures at this time would mean that the loose rock and ice above would be frozen in place.  That was the theory anyway, but it didn’t do much to calm our nerves as we made the journey across the Grand Couloir as quickly as we could.  On the other side of the Couloir we began to climb the pillar on top of which stands the Gouter Hut.'



At the top of the piller, the new Gouter Refuge



'The acsent of this piller was by far the most gruelling part of the whole ascent.  It was only on all fours that progress could be made as we crossed steep ground over thick snow and loose rock.  You had to be constantly vigilant to ensure you remained on route throughout the hard slog.  The moment you step on the platform of the hut is one of the most rewarding feelings in life.' 



Life behind the Gouter Hut



'For me stepping onto the summit of Mont Blanc didn’t give me the same feeling of elation and relief as entering the Gouter Hut.  The weather at the hut was fantasticly clear and we could bask in the rewards of our hard work.  With the hut sheltering us from the wind we could take in the amazing view while enjoying a hot tea.’ 

The amazing view down into Chamonix from the Gouter Hut

‘On summit day most people will wake at 02:00 and after a quick breakfast will head up the mountain.  To avoid the crowds we woke at 01:00 and after quick breakfast of a power bar and cup of tea we headed for the summit.  The weather was bad.  Strong winds wiped up sharp bits of ice and blew them into our faces.  The three of us were bent over double to make progress through such a head wind.  We had 1000 meters of altitude to gain before the summit which the guide book suggested would take us between 5 and 6 hours.  The more we stomped on the higher we got, and the higher we got the stronger and colder the wind blew.'



Sheltering in the Vallot Hut



'Finally at 05:00 we arrived at the Refuge Bivouac Vallot at 4362 meters altitude.  This hut is mealy a tin shed, but out there on the cold route to shelter behind it was a salvation.  In really bad conditions these huts can be real life savers.  A stricken climber caught out in a storm would swap five Chelsea mansions for one of these tiny shacks.  We decided to hold up in the shelter, brew tea and wait for sunrise.  After a few hours, when the sun finally came up, the air temperature began to warm slightly but the strong winds continued to batter the route.’   

‘We finally made the difficult decision to leave the relative warmth of the hut and head on up the route.  I say relative because, although warmer than outside, the temperature in the hut was only 0 degrees. From the Vallot Hut the summit is less than 500 meters altitude gain and should only have taken 2 hours.  However with the strong winds whipping snow into our faces going was tough.  We knuckled down and put one foot in front of another and after 3 hours we stood on the highest point in Western Europe, the summit of Mont Banc.' 

Happy people on the Summit of Mont Blanc



On the way down just below the Vallot hut



'We quickly shot a few photos and ate some power bars and started our way down.  Any mountaineer will tell you that the summit is only the halfway point of a route.  The aim was to make it back down to Chamonix the same day.  The trip down the first 500 meters to the Vallot hut was done at half the time and after a quick drink of water we headed down to the Gouter Hut.  Once in the Gouter Hut we stopped to brew tea and have a snack.  Then it was back on the route with the hope of catching the train back to Chamonix.’ 

‘This was where things started to go wrong.  Being residents of London and being accustomed to all sorts of transport running into the early hours of the morning, we had forgot that, in the Alps everything stops at 16:00.  Of course we had missed the last train and we had to make the long slog back down into the valley.  We arrived in Les Houches at around midnight and still had to find some way of getting to our campsite in Chamonix.  There were no night buses and in the small mountain villages there were no taxis.  The only option was to try and hitchhike.  As you can imagine being three strangers walking along at night with ice axes made this a difficult task.  Soon we heard music and found our way to a restaurant that was being closed up by the owner.  After a bit of broken conversation he kindly offered us a lift back to Chamonix.  We arrived back to our campsite at 01:00am and after 25 hours of action we could finally get into our sleeping bags, knowing that in a few more hours we had to be boarding a plane in Geneva.’

‘In the morning after a frantic packing of bags and a coach transfer we were in Geneva airport.  To celebrate our achievement we headed to the duty free and brought ourselves a particular brown liquid, sold in a square bottle and made in Tennessee.  Thanks to the square bottle the flight to London was unbelievably fast.  It was an amazing trip and another great adventure.  What was most important was that we came back in one peace and still friends.  We are all looking forward to going back to Chamonix again, even if it is just to drink tea and look at the mountains.  Yer right.’

Kamil currently works as a freelance photographer.  If you do need some photo work done drop him a line. 

jutkiewicz@live.com

I hope Kamil’s tale has given you some inspiration to get out there and have your own mountain epic.  Soon at the Westway will be offering workshops that will equip you with some of the fundamental skills to keep you safe in the mountains.  Until then it’s back to training for you, go on, 10 more reps!!!

Bachar Ladders, portaledges and cash that was crimped for

Bachar Ladder

There is never a slow week at the Westway.  Given even the faintest slice of free time and we will put some strange scheme into action and this week was no exception.  Between the meetings and belay watch we managed to set up a massive Bachar ladder. 

For those of you who don’t know where this crazy training device comes from here are the facts.  Using inverted rope ladders as a training tool for climbing was first associated with the American climber John Bachar.  During the 70’s and 80’s John Bachar was a prolific climber known for his daring free solos and first ascents of ground breaking lines.  He was one of the free climbing boundary pushers applying the new style of climbing to routes of incredible technical difficulty. In the mid 70’s John Bachar, Ron Kauk and John Long made the first free ascent of Astroman.  At the time this was the most continually difficult climb to have ever been free climbed.

When back at Camp 4 John was commonly found training on one of his devices that he had crafted around his pitch.  Amongst the contraptions there was always an inverted rope ladder that he would perform different campusing exercises on.  As other climbers recognised the benefits of training on this apparatus it became known as a Bachar ladder.

The Bachar ladder should be climbed while campusing.  The ideal technique is to campus from rung to rung in a controlled consistent manner.  Upon reaching the top you should lower yourself down one rung at time avoiding dropping suddenly onto one arm.  The goal is to be able to increase the speed at which you can perform the exercise as opposed to how many reps you can do.  We plan on putting the Bachar ladder up every Wednesday afternoon so keep your eyes open for it around line 1.

Student Wednesday

This Wednesday has seen an unprecedented number of Students attend the wall, many for their first taste of climbing.  Mountaineering clubs from UCL, Imperial College, and Kings College turned up creating a queue that stretched some 25 meters out of the door.  Despite the wait spirits were high as everyone managed to get inside and get cranking on the plastic.  Those in the know put the new guys through their paces, gearing them up to register the following week.

  

Yosemite news

Last week Antoine and Alvar finally set of on their mission to climb the Nose of El Cap.  We have been watching them hone their rope skills on the outside walls of the Westway for months now. There they toiled away the hours practising hauling and jugging past gear.  In the wall they would climb laps to gain that high level of fitness required for a big wall ascent. The two of them even managed to test out their portaledge with a full dress rehearsal.

Antoine and Alvar took the portaledge with them cragging in the West country and after a days climbing set it up without much trouble, fixed their lines and descended to the pub for some refreshments.  After the night’s festivities instead of making the easy trip back to a tent, the two of them were faced with their first experience of jugging up a 60 meter line, in the dark, with only one head torch.  The two managed to make it through this post beer jugathon epic and even admitted that the portaledge was probably more comfortable than a tent on the ground.

Their other training involved a recent trip deep water soloing in Croatia.  However we are still unable to see how this translates to the skills needed for the granite of the Yosemite Valley. The guys did get some good tans though.

For those of you looking for news on the exploits of the rest of Team Westway in the valley I am afraid details have become sparse.  The one thing we have learned is that Andre and his partner managed to make a one day ascent of the Nose.  He will be back with us soon and we will get all the pictures and details to you then.

Crimp for Cash £££

The Oven was reset this Friday with Slim, Adam and Tricky putting up the usual array of brilliant problems. With the reset of the oven comes the Crimp for Cash competition.  For those of you who don’t yet know, the Crimp for Cash competition involves only one single problem.  If you manage to climb this problem your name is put in a hat for a chance to win £20 that evening.

The Crimp for Cash problem this week was a particularly fiendish one that was unexpectedly dropped by some strong climbers.  After a lot of crimping and pulling we eventually ended up with about 20 names in the hat and Dan A’s name was pulled out as the winner.  

Dan actually flashed the problem without much bother.  We may have to put a harder one up for him next time.

Over the next couple of days the fridge is being reset which means a lot of new problems for you guys to solve.  So if you've not been away climbing this weekend and have instead been driven mad by the audience of Strictly come Dancing clapping like trained seals then get down to the wall and crank out those frustrations.  

Princesses, Comps, Biners and the Rostrum

It has been a super busy week at the Westway with plenty of new routes being set and competitions being planned.  You guys have been busy too, with lots of intense training and tea drinking going on in the wall.  The new routes on our fresh featured wall have been taking a pounding with loads of you perfecting that foot work by using only features for feet.  

Add a plus to that grade you people.  Check this guy out with that cross arm clipping.  Such a cool new wall.

It has been getting chilly in the wall which can only mean one thing. Competition time is on its way. On the 3rd of November The London University Bouldering Event comes to the Westway.  This multi round bouldering comp affectionately named LUBE will be holding its first round on our front bouldering wall, or to those in the know, the Oven.  We will be setting some killer problems to try shut down the best student climbers in the land.  So be sure to come down and try and send a few yourseves.  If you’re a student and want to take part, click on the link below.

                                                                      

                  http://www.kclmc.org/lube

We are also busy organising this season’s Super League.  Last year was a massive success with climbers of all abilities throwing down on, undoubtedly the sickest comp problems ever set at the Westway.  The atmosphere was great and we are so excited to be putting it on again.  So excited in fact, we are making it even bigger, better and way more super.  

This season’s Super League will be four rounds instead of three and will have some amazing prizes, as well as the usual tasty doughnuts.  You guys had better get training, I saw this one guy last night doing one arm pull ups on the Beastmaker.  But don’t freak out just yet, there is still plenty of time.  The Super League has been moved and the first round will now start on 15^th January 2013.

Over the pond Team Westway are continuing to climb the famous climbs of the Yosemite Valley.  Andre has been tussling with the mega steep crack line, Separate Reality.  Check out the pictures for tickets to the gun show.

           

After their characteristic epic on Royal Arches, Shan and San had retired to Lake Tahoe for some five star routes, mountain biking jet ski debauchery and general beach action. This ‘chilling out’ had to end though, as Liam Halsey, the Walkers Crisp speed lead champion had arrived in the valley and had warmed up by soloing Royal Arches, fresh from the plane, POW!  With the team assembled and ready for action it was time for something big..... only for disaster to strike straight out the blocks.  While leaving a car Shan closed the door behind her but left her thumb behind.  This could have spelled an end for her climbing adventures for this trip.  Being a hardened South African, drastic measures were considered but full amputation was ruled out.  Instead she popped a couple of Nurofen, taped up and went jamming.

The group of Westway’s finest made a team ascent of the Rostrum.  The Rostrum is considered to be the best climb in the Valley.  Although saying that any climb in the valley is ‘the best’ climb will be met by many other alternative suggestions.  Nevertheless the Rostrum is an amazing 8 pitch crack system that offers consistently fantastic hand and finger jamming action. The route is 240 meters long and takes most parties around 7 hours to ascend.

Seeing these pics makes me angry, I just want to be climbing crack too! I guess in the mean time I will just have to keep training.  There are lots of cool routes up in the wall at the moment to keep us fit until we jump on that plane to the states. 

Back in the wall more excitement this week came in the form of a royal visit.  Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice is back from a trip to the Alps where she and a team climbed Mont Blonc to raise funds for the Big Change Charitable Trust.  They have been paying the Westway a number of visits to work on those important rope skills before undertaking their big adventure.  This week they were in to talk to the BBC for a live broadcast on breakfast news.  Follow the link to check out the video. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19646425

While climbing in the wall lots of people have been asking us about the new quickdraws we have been putting up all over the place.  Well, they are the new DMM Alpha Sport Gates and they are the smoothest gates I have ever clipped.  You just have to put the rope near the draw and KAPOW the things clipped.  DMM claim that it's the most ‘clip friendly’ biner they have ever made.

We have had some great feedback from all you guys that have been using them.  Compare them to the other biners around the wall next time you're in for a climb.  Just don’t take too long because soon we will be going full Alpha gate. They are available at  Urban Rock.

We are eagerly awaiting the new steel versions that will be longer lasting.  You guys and your crazy whippers really wear out our quickdraws.

Now get on that Beastmaker and try those one arm pull ups. The Super League is coming!