Taking a Bite

You know in the movies when the hero confronts the bully in the car, and the bully gets out of the car, well unfolds his giant frame out of the, frankly small, car. One of those bitten off a bit much moments...


I went in to abseil the Shard last Friday, on the dry day of the latter half of February.

My highball mat seemed very small, and the rope dangled far out from the bottom. 6m high, and about 50cm overhanging at its furthest point maybe. Good solid, rough rock. Not many holds..

By the time I'd found all the useful holds and got them chalked, I was certainly questioning how quickly I could get this done. My calculations soon indicated a need for many more mats and a spotter for proper injury prevention. I'll need at least 4 mats, with a bit of shuffling. I also need to get much more stronger. There's a mono pocket undercut for flip sake...

To console myself I checked out this other block I'd spotted on the last visit. Nothing like a quick send to boost the spirits..

This wonderfully faked footage shows the length of the initial dyno I'd need to make. From there  is another huge chuck to the top. Poor feet throughout. I went and repeated The Goodie to cheer myself up, and then ran of to work (literally, at least as far as the car..)

The View from the top of the Shard. The Right hand circle is the Super prow (this years Patio Project), and the left is a boulder field that I found a photo of from a previous visit recently, some steep rock there.

Enjoy