In my mind for the last three or four months I've been taking a bit of a break from hard climbing. Those that know me well would probably laugh at this, but to me it's been true. I was just to fed up with pulling hard on awkward limestone. I needed to climb on a softer rock with nice lines and slopey moves. Luckily for me this mental shift coincided with being introduced to Lee Robinson (Beta Guides), who is the key figure in the development of bouldering in the North York Moors. I remember the day well; I met some Hull based climbers at what seemed like a random parking place. Wandered across a moor for 45 mins looking at what seemed like esoteric madness, all the time with very little expectation at what was to be found. What followed blew me away literally and a video that James Rennardson made of that day can be seen here:

http://vimeo.com/24682267

This has been very typical of many of my climbing days over the last three months. Lee has graciously shared all his secret places and introduced me to many classic projects. The chilled out pace of exploration was just what I needed!

There is literally so much I have done and so many places I have explored I really should have blogged before now but I let my self get swept away by it all. My mind on lines, venues and hopes of nice moves. I have decide therefore to split my blog into two. The first covering the coastal areas with the main stuff on the Moor to follow.

The Coast.

I have climbed at two areas on the coast. The rock here is not nearly as hard as in the actual moors being a lot softer and redder in colour. They are great places to escape to in the summer. The first place I visited was at a place called Cloughton, here there is an extensive boulder field which is a nice place to relax. There is also a hard project prow, which despite my best efforts I didn't do, I took a nasty fall and was left with a groin strain. Like I explained earlier I wasn't in a good place for a project like this but I did get close though and will be going back in good cool conditions.

Above: Finka 7c. Photo: Lee Robinson

I did however manage the first ascent of a funky short 7c overhanging fin that I called 'Finka', which was really nice. A video, made again by James Rennardson, of the main day spent exploring there:

http://vimeo.com/26480224

I visited the second area whilst on Holiday with my family. It is a lot smaller but I think the quality of the problems is better. It's called Creek point and it's a bit of a bouldering Oasis being surrounded by nothing. I climbed a handful of good lines the two best and hardest I videoed (mainly to claim a free pint from lee!). These being 'Heatwave' 7b+ and the future Classic 'Soft Shock, 7c, the video is here:

http://vimeo.com/27119348