Some great Grivel gear by Stevie Haston.

 This years gear from Grivel was good, I,ll just high light a few which I think are really good.

 Small safety carabiner called the Clepsidra, it fits the Grigri two.

Screw gates, twist locks, safety niners, they all serve the same function-you want that biner to stay locked. The Grivel twin gate locking niners are very good but we listened to the customer and made one smaller- its now a mini, or a didi, lighter with more clearance. Its a very neat belay binder that also won't revolve thru a Grigri because of a widening bump we added, so it ensures it's never cross loaded and always aligned perfectly. Captive eye at the bottom clips in to your belay loop.

 The Tau safety binder, a new concept.

The Tau is brill, its neat its slim and it is a safety binder. It's 55 grams, and it has a very clean nose due to the key lock system. The biner will rotate because the nose is normal size. Its another new safety binder, if you have trouble with the twin gate niners (I don't) you might prefer this new one. I just like its simplicity.

 The Stealth Helmet.

The Grivel Stealth is a good looking, really light, well ventilated helmet. Its a very good price too, check it out. 190 grams ! 

 Grivel trail poles

These poles are simple and great. They come in one piece, two piece and three piece or sections. I love the single piece, but they are impractical to carry or transport especially on planes. Single piece are always very strong and lightest. So for ease of carrying poles are sectioned, but the rub is they get heavier and weaker. Well these are strong. They come with a choice of two different baskets a trail,which is very small and a snow basket.  

 this comp trail sac is small, weight 275 grs.

This is a brill bit of kit, there is not much room on this at all, but enough for things like the Tor de Giants 300km and more hills than you really want to know about! If you find one better than this, tell me. If you are really small or a bit big, it might not fit. Check it for size.

Salamander Helmet on the left.

The new Salamander Helmet is your standard dragging and Alpine Helmet,its a really great price very good value. Its got the same fitting cradle as the Stealth Helmet, simple and light. 360 grs.
And to finish, Helmets save lives, you might not see everybody wearing one in photos, but where things get loose or stones might fall, the prudent and wise where helmets or at least tell their kids to wear them!
  

Scarpa Chimera review, by Stevie Haston.

 I desperately wanted to steal a pair of Chimera's, they are that good.

The Scarpa range of shoes has just been added to by a new king shoe, the Chimera. This shoe fits me like glove, it's common to say this but this is not exaggeration, or hyperbol. My first rule of shoes is, if it doesn't fit you, it won't climb well no matter how expensive or well thought out it is. With this being said, there might be more chance in fitting you than some. This shoe has an interesting lace system that gatheres the shoe bow around your toes nicely. The interesting use of three different kinds of rubber makes the shoe flexible where it should be and flexible and soft in the right places also.

 lots of toe rubber for dragging and toe hooking.

The interesting lacing system shown above really worked for me, people are often two lazy nowadays to appreciate a good lace up, relying more on sticky rubber than technique, but in doing so they loose hight. Even I often favour a slipper over a lace up, especially on a long day or when its hot. But hey you know when your lazy, and anybody that buys this shoe won't be a lazy person they are going to be a rock assassin.

 you can point in this shoe even if you do have an ankle like a Rhino!

The Chimera is a turned down, high end shoe designed to help you climb. You can see in the above photo the pull under the shoe fixing the heel. The heel is very important for me because I love heel hook of all kinds, and heel scuffs and scums, and heel toes, thee moves require a firm well fitting stable shoe-thats the Chimera!

 did I say you can point…

I was looking at this shoe with Heinz the designer, and he was really proud and enthusiastic. His face as I muscled in my rhino feet looked worried, but then we both new that that heel would never come off, its sticky tactile and is firm, locked on.

there you go the Chimera

  Nathan ran me through all the stitching, and very complex things that make this shoe work, which will undoubtedly make it very expensive. The choice with this shoe will be -can you afford not to ware it, not can you pay for it. I had a talk with many old climbers at the show, and we were all agreed that shoes make a huge difference, and the more you wear and climb in good shoes, the better skills you get.

Mark Cole adieu, by Stevie Haston.

 Mark memento mori card.

Mark Cole was a lovely young man, he is no longer here. I remember him at a certain age, like many of my friends, stuck in time, somewhere between passion and growing up. Mark was very kind to me and deserves my thanks, so thank you Mark, thank you very much for your kindness.
  

a small journey that I am on, our lives our journeys, it is nice when we touch people or make contact with love.


Mark had a family and lived and worked in Europe rather than the UK, I offer my condolences to everybody who was touched by him. Mark also was a force within the Edelrid company where he did much good work. I was very sad not to see him at the Summer trade show. 
On the back of Marks photo is a little bit of writing from Saint Exupery. I'll just quote a few lines.
     "In one of those stars I shall be living
      In one of them I shall be laughing….
      You will always be my friend
      I shall not leave you". 

Summer show a few products, by Stevie tired Haston

 New small Clepsydra binder.

 New Stealth helmet 190 grs!

 Trail pole from Grivel, old trail pole with a new stronger system of sections, a very, very strong practal pole.

 Mountain Runner light. This is the lightest of three that we make its a comp race model, its brill.

A beer in a Wolfgang chalk bag,

The show was very good, lots of great gear, not just from Grivel, but from others to. I,ll get something together soon. Catching up on sleep, and looking forward to some cliff climbing, and some diving before I go to America in a couple of weeks. Thanks to everybody who made the German show a success.

Summer is awful for rock climbing, by Stevie Hot Haston.

 When the Cicadas arrive, and make there awful screeching noise, you know it's too hot to climb! They arrived last week, and so did winds from Africa, the heat and humidity are oppressive. Still you can climb, it's frustrating, and the hard routes are either much harder, or immpossible.

 Pleasent routes with big holds are good but your skin starts to feet burt after 10 mins. Climbing in the shade is mandatory.

Normally I give up climbing at this time of year, and train. This year I might try a bit more. But conveniently I will be working at the summer show in Germany, and at the Grivel factory in Italy for a while. I will however miss the sea.

 Pauls auntie is still making lace. All my aunties and mum used to do this.

If people are interested my health is at the moment great, and I put this down to Yoga, eating well (this was a vegan week) and breathing exercises. The breathing exercises are really hard, and although I have done them lots of times, this is still proving, very, very hard. 

 I see this guy most mornings, he was not happy with me taking his photo.

 conditions in the Underworld were really bad, humidity was so high the camera couldn't auto focus!

I managed to squeeze in a couple more climbs with cousin Paul, and expect him to do well this coming year. He managed to do all the moves on an 8a, in conditions where there seemed as much water in the air as on a misty day in North Wales.

a funny little photo, Phantom Lover takes the steep wall above Paul for 13 clips.

When the Underworld is this wet, you get strong, you get seriously strong, your hands start to develop suckers like octopus. Shame you can't develop another hand, or two. I scoped out a few brilliant hard lines to open. I need more Titanium gear!

Don't forget to come and say hi at the Summer trade show.

How to improve, step 49, by Stevie step 1000 Haston.

My cousin Paul got his first 7c, Paul deserved it, by earning it. He came over last year, and helped me do some new routes, notably the Last Rhino, 3 pitches in a huge beautiful cave. But the important thing I think he took from that, was that to climb, you should train, and even if the training is hard, it is worth it, because the stone can be immaculate.

cousin Paul at Fruit Cake Land.

 Paul came back this year after a year training looking "fit as  butchers dog", or more politically correct as vital and victorious as a vegan warrior. He is not Vegan, but he certainly watches what he eats, or more importantly, what he doesn't eat- if you follow me. 

    Lentil and Tofu stuff, german beer.

When I saw Paul and his new body this year, and his strength, I thought he might do well. I put him on an 8a, and he did good, but with limited time as I have other work we knuckled down to Negresse Verte 7c. He got it quick. Congrats.

  

Thanks not only to Paul, but to everybody who has helped me continue to climb and have donated to my Donation button at the top of the page. Special thanks to Richard Abell, and good luck with the Tor des Geants, get the training in Richard!

cousin Paul ruining a pair of trousers and glueing up two new routes.

The summer is in full scorched earth mode at the moment and it's hard to climb. Paul and I had turbans on the other day, it was sweaty while not moving in the shade! Three new routes and a play on an old project, Project might be 8c!

Days of Marvel now, by Stevie chilling Haston.

 It's very hot now, marvellous I suppose, all those tourists roasting various body parts. Me, I hide in the shade. Even in the shade you go brown.

 Painters would like it here, paint my pallet lots of blues.

 Soloing the 100 foot or 30 meter Fisherman's Blues, a very exposed route, the old fishermen used to do in bare feet, with a bucket of fish and gear over the crook of each elbow!

 An old forgotten route of mine, one of the hundred or so not in the guide!

Accidentally got on an old route of mine called Palm Sunday, Jeeze was it hard. Groove climbing section needs feet of a gecko.

 Grooves, love or hate em, I love em.

You take air on this route, scenic great rock , magic moves, it's got colour, it's got it all.

Final mantle shelf with cousin Paul showing how it should be done.

Palm Sunday is fairly hard, but there's lots of grade 6s at Fruit Cake Land. Recently I did tons of Trad routes here, that I will bolt up, time and money allowing. A pleasant summer to you.