Natalie Berry's Blog

Malham, Goredale…and Midges!

Last weekend we made yet another trip down to that old haunt of ours - The Yorkshire Dales! It gave us a strange sensation of “déjà-vu” as me, Robbie and Will Carroll drove down on the Friday evening. Almost one year ago we had climbed and camped together surrounded by the stunningly beautiful landscape of the Dales. Our aim for this year’s trip? To spend 3 days focussing our efforts on completing some new and exciting routes whilst avoiding rain and midges. Unfortunately, it is near impossible to avoid midges at this time of year in the UK, yet on every other front I’d say we were fairly successful in achieving our goals.

Ready to go!

We set up camp upon arriving at Gordale Campsite and settled down for the night, dreaming of a dry Malham Cove. Unfortunately our dreams were shattered as the rain continually pelted down onto our tents throughout the night. We arrived at the Cove to find the majority of the normally glimmering white and grey rock covered in slimy black streaks. However, luckily there was one section of the crag that appeared to be bone dry - the Upper Tier or “upstairs” as it ‘s known locally (and ever more increasingly by those who frequent the crag and get to know the local lingo!) We warmed up “downstairs” before setting off for the Upper Tier.
A bit wet…
I had only ever climbed at this sector once before about 5 years ago and recalled the precarious path along which you have to meander in order to safely reach the tier. Despite the slippery wet grass we all made it in one piece and chose our routes. Me and Robbie had our sights set on Herbie 7c+, a typically technical Malham test piece. Robbie had a good onsight attempt and I geared up for a flash go. It looked very bouldery in the mid section and I wasn’t sure how I would feel on the route. I hadn’t climbed outdoors much since Spain and certainly hadn’t been on form when it came to flashing and onsighting. However, at the wall recently my attempts on new routes - despite being few and far between in number - had been quite successful. I recently onsighted my first indoor 8a which gave me high hopes for this trip. My only other concern was my left arm, which has been suffering from a minor tendon tear over the last month or so.
I started up the route and surprisingly managed to pull off some hard moves before falling at the crux. I worked out the rest of the route carefully despite my usual impatience to do so and rested before attempting it again. Robbie had completed it second go and claimed it felt a lot easier once the moves were figured out. I hoped this would be the case for me too!
I psyched myself up and went through the crux in my head. It involved a powerful move from a poor open tufa-like splodge up to a wide blocky jug (for want of a better description…see Robbie’s blog!) I calmly cruised up the bottom section, finding it easier than before and gaining confidence with each upward progression. I pushed on into the crux and squeezed the tufa and set my feet ready for the big reach to the block. I tickled my hand closer and closer before I latched it enough to swing my feet free and continue towards the top tufa section. One of the last moves involved a long span out to a poor slopey tufa and it took a lot of composure to be summed up before finally committing and carrying on to clip the chains. I was very pleased to tick this route 2nd go, I have heard to much hype about it and it felt great to tick a classic quickly.
Meanwhile Will was making steady progress on his new obsession - Obsession 7b+! I had tried this route once or twice 5 years ago and knew exactly how tricky it was. Will managed to pull off one of the craziest moves I have ever seen whilst working this route, a sort of controlled barn door cross- through which both amused and inspired everyone watching. Me and Robbie were now looking to try L’obsession 7c+ upon recommendation from a climber at the crag. I watched Robbie on the onsight and prepared for the flash attempt. No matter how much Robbie tried to convince me that I could flash it, I still wouldn’t believe what he was saying and settled with my normal happy go lucky approach when attempting to flash or onsight a climb.
With the moves in my head I started up and found a rhythm of hand and foot movements that just appeared to flow. Lots of high feet and low locks on tiny holds, my strongest kind of move. I was soon past the crux and thought “oh” as I reached a good hold and shook out. Robbie mapped the next sequence out for me, but as I am terrible at multitasking by means of listening and following beta whilst en-route, I only absorbed some of the information and so battled on short-sightedly up the white wall. I could see all the holds but was unsure of the sequence to follow. Pumped and insecure, I stubbornly tried to work it out my own way but eventually tired out and dropped off. I had reached just below the second last clip and was throughly exhausted but quite proud of my efforts! I worked the top bit briefly then came down. I decided to leave it until the following day for my second go, as my skin was wearing thin and my arms were eternally pumped! I watched Robbie climb it second go and he assured me that once again it was “easy if you now the answer” I.e. if you know all the moves well enough!
Pulling through the crux of L’Obsession Photo: Will Carroll
The next day was a big day for me, as I was being filmed by professional filmmaker Jen Randall for her upcoming movie about female climbers pushing themselves to their limit whilst having fun and living the dream in the process! It was a beautifully sunny day, which was warmly welcomed by everyone despite making the rock appear as bright and blank as a sheet of paper as the sun’s rays were reflected off the cove. It was difficult to see the holds and my perception of where the holds actually were was distorted slightly in the blinding sun. I began my second attempt on L’obsession after a brief warm up whilst Jen and Dom were setting up the cameras. Will was also busy getting into his usual dangling-on-a-rope position ready to take some photos. I had intended to go up the route again to film it in sections if I ticked it second go, and there was no pressure to catch it on film, so I thought I would focus purely on getting the route done first. I got through the crux fairly smoothly and rested before the sustained top section. I visualised the top sequence, although my memory of the very top was slightly cloudy. I battled on regardless, I felt more in control than I did on the flash up until the few moves before I had fallen last time. I completely blanked and messed up the sequence but kept fighting until I was too pumped and confused to go on. I fell off, annoyed that I hadn’t worked the top out properly beforehand.
The final touches to the cameras and rigging had been made and after a short rest I decided to go for it again in full view of the cameras. I must admit it did add a bit of pressure to the ascent, yet I have become accustomed to on-the-spot pressure over the years through competition climbing. I knew what to do now and there would be little room for excuses on my third go. I felt strong on the crux and had the sequence dialled. I looked at the next section and knew what to do - I had to climb quickly and efficiently if I had any hope of getting through the tricky bit. I left the rest position rather prematurely in my over-exuberance to carry on and felt slightly pumped in the first few moves. Somehow it all came together and eventually I found myself pulling onto the top jugs right beside Jen and her camera. I had completely forgotten about the cameras being there right up until that point, I had been so focussed purely on my climbing!
It is a great feeling when something you envisage in your mind comes to fruition, and both these routes at Malham are examples of occasions when I managed to focus on the climbing and get into the “zone” without any external influences distracting me. To top it all off, Robbie ticked an 8a second go and Will completed his project Obsession 7b+. In all a great day for the crew! Thanks must go to Jen, her Dad, Dom and Will for taking the time to film and photograph me, and to Robbie for his support and encouragement.
Jen in position! Photo: Will Carroll
After a homely pub dinner with James, Catherine, Chris, Cathy and Nicola, the trio headed back to Gordale campsite to rest up before climbing in Gordale Scar itself the next day. I first visited this crag last year but never climbed on it - an amazingly gusty ravine complete with waterfalls, bulging rockfaces and of course, tourists! Me and Robbie had our sights set on Supercool 8a+, a route for which I had heard a lot of praise. Robbie went up and scoped it out, putting the clips in and giving a good onsight burn up until the tricky mid section. It was freezing cold and windy yet it was my turn to step up to the wall. The sheer face loomed over me as I set off, I composed myself under the first bulge. I pushed on, half listening to Robbie and half focussing on what would happen if I fell off. I have a peculiar dislike for certain formations and textures if rock, if it is bulgy and sharp, I am much less likely to go for things as I am always wary of swinging into bulges, especially after a fairly scary fall in Spain this year (I was fine, just a badly bruised knee!) To add to the fear of the bulges, the exposure of the rockface is rather daunting with high winds sweeping around, which in my case uplifted my chalk bag and tipped chalk everywhere, causing a tornado of chalk to fly into my face! Just what I needed to add to my disorientation, much to the amusement of Robbie! My flash attempt was decent until I refused to commit to some hard moves just over the bulge. I came down, composed myself and then had another go.
This time round, probably due to having hung about up there before and through getting used to the experience of being high up in a windy valley, I focused on the climbing as though I were in a competition. Much like on my successful climbs at Malham, I managed to focus purely on the moves and reached over 3/4 of the way up, coming off on the last hard move of the route. I struggled to find a sequence to get past this large span and eventually gave up. Robbie’s beta was not much use to me and a lack of footholds made things a bit more tricky for me! I would love to get back on this route at some point and hopefully work out a suitable sequence that works for me. It was inspiring watching Robbie climb the route third go, a route which he too has been planning to complete for a long time now.
Cranking hard on Supercool. Photo: Catherine Speakman
My final endeavour of the trip was a 7b+ called Revival - a truly epic line which traverses across flakes and spikes before eventually meandering up a technical headwall. Will had given a sterling performance as per usual in trying to complete it, falling at the crux but looking smooth and calm all the way up. It was now up to me to get the quickdraws out and then we could leave! The first section was slightly daunting in that there were many loose blocks and a lot of tourists not too far below. I climbed cautiously and traversed across the lip of the roof until I came to the crux. I did a bizarre cross over move on poor footholds and stuck the crucial press move before coming to an easier section on good holds. I thought it was all over! Then came the last moves up to the chain. I saw an obvious undercut and then not much above it leading to a big juggy break. I hung around and kept calm. I took the undercut, tried to stand up, then came back down. I needed to shake out a bit more and then reposition. I went for it. In a stroke of luck I just so happened to grab blindly for a good side pull which was previously invisible to me. I pulled up, stood up and clipped the chains. What a relief! My first completed route at Gordale, and a quality one at that!
Finally we could head back along the path to the car to leave for Edinburgh. It had been a busy few days and we were exhausted. A stop off at Westmorland farm shops services, however, was enticing enough for us to delay arrival at home that little bit longer. After a delicious dinner we set off again and arrived home, complete with midge bites and good memories. Here’s to next year!