Pull up your life, by Stevie Haston

 It's getting powerfully hot, too hot to climb almost. Sometimes the idea of going out, and just failing on a route  doesn't get me excited, so I train inside. I open up the doors, and windows, listen to some classical music, and dream about not failing on routes. The grease on my fingers disappears as the draft through my apartment whooshes thru. I'ave been doing pull ups a long time, they are still hard, I'ave been climbing a long time-routes are still desperate! Nothing changes. I was wondering if I could actually say, "Pullups have improved my life" without laughing, so I said it, and didn't laugh! "Running has improved my life", no laughs either. A wooden pull up board is a god send, I have to say, no laughs.

 These little squares of paper can be found where ever I live, some times more often than others. They are like some weird bit of Japanese calligraphy, or a numerical poem. I love seeing them, it means that I haven't given up, maybe next week, but not today, today I did my training.

 A dragonfly came in out of the heat, and found some moisture on the sink. The last time I had a visiter like this  was in France. Doing pull ups, and you get a visiter like this, what can you say except hello! And thanks for popping in.

These thistles are hybrids between thistles, and artichokes. I think they are cute, they live at the bottom of some of my routes. Did you know that Lichen eats rock, and can be older than any person has ever lived. There's a lot I don't know, but pull ups have improved my life, this much is true, don't laugh! Now I am laughing!

Breath control and climbing, by Stevie still breathing Haston.

Breathing while climbing is very important, indeed breathing is a cool thing to do if you want to stay alive! Breathing is something you can control to a very large extent, but only a few sportsmen, or women pay it the slightest attention. I tend to pay it a lot of attention, and it really helps me climb. I advise you to do the same.

 A little solo above the sea. Breath!


Stephen Mifsud has held his breath for over 11 minuets! He didn't do this without training. I train in my modest way, with Five seconds breathing in, and Five seconds out, while holding yoga positions. I sometimes do 10 secs. I practise pull ups, inhaling in on the pull, and sometimes exhaling. I just play with my breath!

a little toppo for Fruit Cake Land. A few Five star routes.

The view this morning at 5.

Have you noticed how you tense up on hard routes? Have you noticed how your breathing changes? Do you know the mechanism of breath? I have done a few  activities that work on breath since I was a child, and am still relatively crap at breath control, but at least I have a couple of strategies to help me.
An expert climber should really be in control, don't you think. When we punch, or kick in the fighting arts we are told to exhale! When you do a big bunch up and dyno, your breath in, and your powerful exhale will propel you to the summit of that sequence. Do it right.

I do a bit of Yoga, a bit a fighting Art, and a bit of free diving, I am not very good at any of them, but I try. I know where my deficiencies lie. And one of them is breathing. I can feel my breath change when I am on a non standard route where the bolts are 4 meters apart. My breath is so easy to control with a bolt clipped above my head! With the same move, and the bolt 4 meters beneath my feet, it gets ragged real quick! Exercise your breath, control your breath, expel it forcibly, soften it up, and smooth it out, calm your mind, power your muscles.

Union City Blue, by Stevie Blue Haston.

 Life aint easy, you got to climb in heat, and get what's left of your brains baked! Am complaining a bit much, to be really honest, it was a great day, did a new route called Union City Blue. It's 6b, and mega beau, got a bit of everything including obligatory slab move above zee bolt at the top, when all you can think of is having a Shandy, and not a Hand Shandy  at that!

 This is one is gonna be toxic for the avant bras, bros- it's steep, zee wood in the forearms will be agony. It's gently over hanging pockets, then a groove with some nasty poisonous bridging at the limit. It's gonna be good, oh so good.

Just watched Valley Up Rising last night, and it's very good, there's the usual  American hyperbole at work, but if you ignore that it's a good film, and is a very fitting tribute to Dean Potter who died recently. I do recommend this film immensely. But I find it odd  and reprehensible that all the fat cats who have million dollar companies did nothing to stop this Park turning into a car park for townies, complete with gun toting Park rangers. Their money was in no small part  based on the climbing in Yosemite, and they  did so little  to stop  this stunning National Park and treasure, turning into such a sacrificial pile of touristic Mac Do Play station drive thru Shite Burger Land. I was last there When Dirty Derrick Hersey died, he was the last of the real dirt bags I ID'ed his body, and pissed off, sick of the overcrowded place.  Now a climber can only stay a week there, that's it. So much for freedom.  And maybe Dean is better off flying around free, sorry for his loved ones, and sorry for the world we are loosing. So  fat cats, who earn money out of our sport, do something, you tossers. 

Co-operation, rock and harmony, by Stevie Haston.

A little cliff at the top of a big one, a little sunbathing or roasting belvedere.

 Yesterday there were about 40 climbers enjoying themselves on a Gozo cliff! It's a neat little gorge with  a lot of routes, but it could have 150 or more routes. Gozo needs the visitors, and their money, and we all need some time in nature away from the stress of modern life. Yesterday was important for the small Maltese climbing population, because we were trying to work together to make our sport better for us, and touristic climbers, and visitors. There was one party of 18 students from Oxford University who said our climbing was more interesting than Turkey, Kalimnos and Sicily. Gozo I have to say is at least their equal, and might exceed them scenically.

Our climbing has a large palate of colours, rich and deep, and warm.

Much thanks to all involved in putting in new anchors, removing rusty bolts, establishing paths etc. Thanks to Malta Climbing Club for glue, bolts, and a few of their members who turned up to do lots of work, We had Spanish climbers helping too, sorry if I can't remember all your names, Victor I hope your shoulder gets better. Didi from the Gozo Climbing club was there as usual attacking the Brambles. I did a modest amount of work.  Big Jeff was there doing much more work, as was Stephen. Anyway a big thank you to all, let's look after Mgarr iX Xini, and yes local council, and tourism office, a bit of help would be appreciated.

At the bottom of a beau cliff on the North Coast, a summer shade venue.

This route is called Aero Rambler, it's very, very nice, all aero pockets and huge friction, it's sandstone, it's beau. This cliff could have a hundred routes, but it's hard work equipping, especially the overhanging routes, and most of them overhang. Anyway it's a new month, new routes will come, but slowly. I need to climb for my self a bit, loose weight and climb more. Prosit.

Reversibility in Climbing, By Stevie Irreverent Haston.

 Reversibility in Sport is a very understood phenomenon, but it is no less worrying because it is understood. In fact I found three spellings on my spell check, and so got even more confused. If you want it in one sentence, "it's better to keep doing something otherwise you forget how to do it". Now then I am generally doing a lot even when I am not even climbing 8a, but if I am not doing 8a, how can I do 8a?

Well, and it  is very complicated, but a hard climb is often the same as a an easier climb with smaller holds! It can be that simple, but small holds or sloping holds are not a simple thing of simply pulling up.
Unfortunately  technique plays a huge part, it's the submerged part of the iceberg. Above is a photo of climbing in boots, light Alpine boots, the techniques to placing the foot and pushing are so different to friction on a pair of slippers as to feel like a different sport to many. When I climb in boots like these I always come back to rock climbing way better. But if I stay climbing with these I just get good with these boots, and forget friction smearing, and pushing the rubber into the features.

Lots of things are reversible, some things are not, you could say they are reversible in both directions, but you would have no front and back then. High standard rock climbing although a narrow band of the broader mountaineering has an immense number of parts which constantly need using, otherwise they reverse back to a lower level. People sometimes can only climb on one cliff, because it has crimps or pockets, but not on another cliff. 9a climbing doesn't translate into high end crack climbing. This may all sound obvious but it's amazing how people forget this. 
My message is unless you have a very special task, try and keep hold of your skills, muscle memory and whatever stamina and power you have. Or at least stay in contact with it. 
A good example of all this was when I went on a 40 meter pitch that had loose rock, crumbling (even more disconcerting), biggish run outs, a 7c+ bit on finger jams that hurt, and finished with a nice crack. Wow, by the time I got to the top of that I was a mess. A real mess, bleeding, bruised and battered, the rope had taken a severe work out too. Yep I was out of touch with my skill sets. There you go, but knowing these things doesn't protect me. You have to protect your skills and muscles, and energy systems, otherwise they fly away. 

Mates, climbing partners and friends. by Stevie Sociable Haston.

Didi Scissor hands.

 My mate Didi is East German he lives here on Gozo. If you have climbed in Mgar Ix Xini it's him you have to thank for the path de-bramblinig! So thank him. If your old you might remember we were supposed to fear zee East Germans, and zee Russians come to that, but the truth is  Didi is just a benevolent kinda guy who likes to work in climbing, and help people have a good time.Viva La Vida.

 Thistles, the national plant of Scotland, but in Gozo our's of course are gigantic! Nationalism doesn't play any part in my life how could it, my parents come from different countries, so do my daughters, my grand children will spend time in three different countries including Spain.

 Nationalism came to me today in another guise, because I was reminded about the great Antoine Le Menestrel, who soloed the UK s supposed desperate 8a Revelations back in the day, the mid 80s to be precise. Antoine comes from a climbing family who are pretty tight, dad was an old Fontainebleau hand, and his younger brother Marc pushed standards while still a teenager.  Without this family standards would not have gone where they went. I find the idea that Wolfgang could ave done anything hard at Font ludicrous!

This is rock Gozo rock, its lovely, today it was warm in the shade, it's featured, its great to climb, its Gozo. Gozo means orgasm, or joy in Portuguese.  Come, and have an orgasm of rock. Particularly if you are above the big blue hanging upside down.