Viva Cologne by Stevie Haston.

Gregor  from the Cologne climbing wall gave me some money for a new route, so I picked him a good one. The name is Viva Cologne, and I thought it was 7a when I put in the expensive corrosion free titanium gear. When I got on Viva Cologne again it didn't feel 7a, it felt decidedly more!

 this is another little new route in the making.Viva Cologne is the arette behind the climbers back in the above photo.

It's a lovely sector where Viva lives, sumptuous rock, iron work and fragile lace like plates. A few easy trad lines were done which should be turned into sport routes soon as we get some new equipment. Viva Cologne takes an easyish arette in superb position followed by a precarious groove without much for the feet, it's one of the best quality routes I'ave done. It felt hard on a cold windy day, with the void pulling at my sphincter.

 tricky! tricky!

To the right of Viva Cologne is a dark slot with two or three ways out, that then land you on a slab of massive, magnificent, pulchritude. Haven't really worked out how to make the most of it as it would be a waste to just abseil down, and do the slab without first sampling the evil darkness of the slot.



 a different finish less tricky!

Crisp little finger holds on very good rock is rare on the island so we have done the easier version a few times now just for fun.

thank god hold!

Checking out the holds on a winters day, can be fun, or not. Airy abseils are one thing, but abseils that get you immersed in the splash zone are another! The North Coast has charm and a little bite, hopefully you will find it charming and it will only nibble you.

Busy Future, by Stevie Haston.

 Tower of Power, busy, busy.

Be careful what you ask for, in case you get it. Well Gozo climbing is slowly getting popular. It is what I wanted, but every now, and then you get the odd feeling of discomfort. I like seeing people enjoying themselves, climbing, walking, swimming, but it will effect my own enjoyment, and the locals. Respect for other users is necessary, especially the land owners. Wow, nice climbers from Germany hitting the Tower on hard routes for a change, instead of moaning, they were all smiles.   

 My local bar, run by relatives, glue delivery with a coffee, thanks Malta Association climbers!

Routes are a lot of work. People should help. How do they help? They should donate to maintenance, and improvement, and access. They should trim the odd branch on the path, they should pluck a weed, or two, out of the holds, they should clean the holds etc. Small things add up!

tuffas, fat colonnettes, these ones are not to be climbed on, local interdiction. Mgarr Ix Xini one of my old routes!

It's been a busy start to the year, hopefully people will respect our climbs, leave no litter, and help with our fledgling organisation. The Gozo Climbing Association info site is up and running , we will try to maintain it, and keep it up to date. Info about  loose, absent, rusting, or otherwise compromised, please send info me. I'll try to get around to them. 

Daffodils, at Sopu, please tread lightly where ever you go. Don't pick the flowers please.

Climbers today learn their sport at climbing walls where climbing is a more social activity, and a noisy one, than at the cliff where it should perhaps be a more comtempletative and quiet. Cliff and climbing etiquette is needed so that our access and the pleasure of all can continue. Magazines and guidebooks could be a bit better at educating users in cliff, and climbing etiquette, common sense and courtesy and  good manners, are a minimum. Happy climbing in 2016. 

Icons of an overhanging church. by Stevie upside down Haston.

Gregor and his climbing Wall in Cologne (Koln) have donated to my climbing project on Gozo , I'll be buying some Titanium, and glue for the new year. Thanks to any body who donates, Donation button is on right top of page.

 A street car named Desire, no it's a route called Bernd!

Gregor wants me to call a route Viva Cologne to celebrate their donation and I will do so! If any body else who has donated wishes me to name a route for them, please tell me. It's the least I can do, and some of my names can be a bit crass!

 Gozo remains beau even now.

Visiting the crack of Bernd, it felt a bit easier. Storms this week might stop play. My old stomping ground in north Wales had record rain and floods, 1100 cm of rain! It's not like that here, you can climb because we have over 300 days of full sunshine!

A fairly typical photo of Fruit Cake Land, this is an easy passage, believe it or not!

Tempus Fugit, and all that, use your time, climb if you like to climb. With the death of Motorhead head man Lemmy, an age seems to have passed. Men deceive themselves into thinking they are important. Climbers have some of the largest egos, more in proportion to a Blue Whale than a small weak Ape! Congrats to the Slovenian girls for knocking down 9a lead, and an 8c onsight. Inspiration is always welcome, thank you. 
For this new years resolution I will give up cows milk, do an 8c, and grow a Mullet. Failed last year, need support this year!

The Abyss stares back. by Stevie Wall eyed Haston.

Freddie the happy fisherman, fishing at the top of one of my routes.

I dislike Nietzsche, primarily because I can't spell his name right, but hey the guy could string a few words together, right! You know the old chestnut "do not stare into the abyss, or the abyss will stare back", climbers like that one, or pseudo pullers. It turns out Nietzche was a bit of a fraud, or like Freud the psychologist, a bit of a psycho with a penchant for the perverse.
  

The Abyss quietly doing nothing!

Spent a few days exploring cliffs and rocks, and angles of dangle!  And did a few other things bolt related. Did a few pull out tests on some bolts, which was interesting. Some of the local stone is very soft. 

A beautiful easy new route, with stone immaculate. A classic, 30 meters.

The MCA (Malta Climbing Association) is giving/ donating 6 tubes of glue, thanks very much Ken and the guys. I really appreciate it, as other sources have dried up!  

Scarpa  Furia, its a toss up between this, and the Drago, as to which is the best boot of the year!

After the recent storms I went on an old project and it felt a bit easier, maybe I am climbing better, I certainly can't be stronger. Possibly it was that the fierce waves have cleaned the rock. Above is a photo of a shoe that makes me climb harder. People don't want to understand that a good shoe will add two grades to your climbing, over a bad ill fitting shoe! Wake up guys pay the cobbler!  As Nietzsche said "its all about the Cobblers".

Climbing in the sun, flooding in Uk. by Stevie Haston.

Donation button to help me make climbs etc, on top right of page, thanks everybody who has contributed. Should be doing a bit more work soon, some belays on a few popular climbs will be changed to Titanium as well as finishing sector Titanium.  Thanks Rob Fox for Donating.

  

This is the web site our little web site, click on and have a look it might be helpful if your planning a visit;    http://gozoclimbinginfo.com

 Sopu tower, home to lots of grade 5s and 6s.

I have two daughters living in flood prone Llanberis area! I have loads of friends living in the aptly named Lakes, can we blame it all on the rain or can we blame some of it on bad planning in these areas? I have always tried to live on hills because I like views but clearly you might be safe from flooding on a hill!

 local cake, modelled on a weapon, it was a hoop filled with chemicals and sticky inflammables, thrown over soldiers or sailors. Big hoops that would catch a few people at a time. Not nice as weapons, nice if you like cakes!

My fellow islanders likes to eat cakes, so we are often fat! We are the fattest in Europe with the highest rate of Diabetes, perhaps we need some education, some moderation, and some sport consideration!

 xmass present of brushes to my self.

Climbing is a good sport, it's varied, and promotes self reliance and fitness, with problem solving thrown in for good measure.  Personally I am looking foreward to another year. Last year twice to the Americas once to east Germany, this year I won't sadly go ice climbing-well, I'll just have to suck it up, and climb in the sun!

 follow these to climbs.

A Welsh team will be visiting Gozo, my Daughter Kate will come over for a week also, climbing with her ancient creaking father. The Gozo Climbing Association Web site is up, take a look please, like it if you find it likeable. The most important thing the Gozo Climbing Association has done is to switch to Titanium for a longer lasting and safer material. A small measure of progress is taking place. And some of this is due to all you- so thanks for being there, and reading my blogs.

 sunset, sun rise at the moment, always colourful.

Each day seems very precious, it should be. As the old saying goes, this isn't a rehearsal, it's the only life we got. Go climbing, be good, pick the weeds out of the holds please, trim the verge on our paths, leave the odd flower to brighten our passing. Help create climbs for others.

 a big block with two routes higher than it looks, the routes start three meters further down by the farmers pond, don't drop rocks into the pond please!

The sea is 19 degrees C at the moment. The air temps for climbing is perfect, perhaps too hot in the sun without a good breeze!

bees still alive, local strain of honey bee is ancient and more healthy than common honey bee!

Thanks every body who has helped me, and the Gozo Climbing Association.

Once a future King, by Stevie Has Been Haston.

It's hard being a has been, but at least you were a once been! The public, I hesitate to call them people for humans should be kinder, seem to take cruel pleasure in a fallen sporting "hero" or celebrity caught drunk, fallen over, ass over breast, on the pavement, with their knickers visible. Occasionally this mean spirited, ungenerous trait floats to the surface inside my retina, and I have to blink really hard to get rid of it.

The great boxer Prince Nazeem, in slightly less svelte pose.

I remember, for I am old, many quick slips on the slippery slope towards ordinariness. But the above seems like an avalanche. Maybe it's better, or way better than the slurring speech of the great Mohamed Ali, once Cassius Clay. The disturbing German tendency to laugh at other peoples misfortunes Schadenfreude , seems to be spreading. So we can laugh at Nazeem gaining some buoyancy, but not some one hitting the ground, and going splat! After all we are English, perhaps it's Sharon froide we have caught not Schadenfreude! 

But only those who have risen to great heights can fall a long way! Although you could perhaps argue that its only the heavy that can really splat from any height at all.

There must now, in our modulated, politically correct lives, be an ideal weight, perhaps an agreed level of sporting prowess that we must not exceed, and a regulated clean toothed smile that we must flash. Where are the UIAA regulations penned by this Uber Mensch in his Union of International Associated of Alpinists, because I truelly wish to conform. What after all is an Alpinist? The Americanoes do not have Alps, so can perhaps not have Alpinists. An Alpininst is not, as one of my intellectually impaired girlfriends said, a man who is "all penis"! She picked up the huge volume entitled how to become the Complete Alpinist with a wicked dirty grin. Alas she was disappointed with the bland, boring content!

And the moral of this little piece of gibberish is, hope you didn't over eat at Xlarge portion Xmass, for gravity is cruel my heavy friends. Welcome to Schadenfreude.

Happy days to you, by (from) Stevie content Haston.

 Gozo  Free diving is brill.

Donate if you can, or want, to good routes on Gozo. Donation Button at top right.


The Balmy weather continues. The climbing is if anything too hot in the sun. Yesterday after a quick two warms up we were in the shade. We met a young British couple climbing on a 3 month holiday, how clever, how wise of people so young, to do the right thing. Your youth is precious. And so is the sun. The suns power and glory is being squandered by the government here, as elsewhere, More Solar Power next year please, less reliance on wars, and killing, to turn the Establishments profit.

 Ah, the Sun.

I am gratified to note that four people have donated to helping me make routes, and use better materials. These are Mr Ashton, Mr Gore, Claudio Cecchin, Paul Sammut and Ian Parnell. Thank you all.  It is interesting to note that Ian Parnell is the editor of the UK  climbing magazine Climb! He is the second editor to donate, Ian Smith of Climber Mag has already donated twice! It is immensely pleasing to me that these two people, think I am worthy of their gifts. Indeed I took Ian Parnell up a route called the "Gift of Small things", Gifts that are well meant, are big things!

 the 50 meter abseil into sector Calypso.

Paul gave me some money, he is my NewYork "cuss" and we climbed among other things the Last Rhino. This big route of three parts took 5 days altogether, Paul has donated twice and given his time also. 

Sopu tower, grade 6, pleasant, delicate, perfect.

So yes the year in passing has been mixed, and I am very thankful I live on a small (tiny) island with peaceful folk. So Gozo thank you for giving me a home in troubled times. The Sun I salute you as I do every morning, the yoga Sun Salutation should be done by us all! Sadly Malta is now officially the most Obese country in Europe! It is also at the top of the Diabetes.  So next year Government of Malta please consider Climbing as an interesting cure for these two Big problems. Because Climbing is the Gift of Small things!