Ivan gearing up ready to start working his first F8a at Malham...

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Comment by Leo Woodhead on March 27, 2014 at 16:52

Nice one Ivan! Hoping to get up there soon myself, Malham not the 8a. I need to bag my first 7a, never mind 8a!

Comment by Graham Stevens on March 20, 2014 at 10:29

This is Malham cove, James. I put the photo up with tongue in cheek as there is a bit of a story behind it. Ivan and I had some projects planned there and after a lot of training and psyching ourselves up, we headed over to try them. Ivan's project is a 7b called Bongo Fury, but I managed to leave the guidebook in the car, which left us guessing where the routes were. Ivan was pretty sure he knew the line of Bongo Fury, so he got on it. Almost every move was very hard and he eventually got to the chain with lots of grunting, swearing, falling, and liberal use of the clip-stick. As he has climbed a few 7bs before, he felt pretty dejected that he couldn't get near to this one. The punch line came though when we got back to the car and checked the guidebook: the "7b" was actually Raindogs - probably the most famous 8a in the country! (Even better, if you clip the chain without grabbing it and carry on to the next lower off, it is Rainshadow 9a+, so maybe Ivan has a very long term project on the go...)

Comment by James Goss on March 20, 2014 at 7:20

Good luck! Where abouts is this?

Comment by Ivan Guardia on March 19, 2014 at 23:37

just only start working...