UKC

A Coffee-Fuelled Gaz Parry Hits South Lakes

© Graham Desroy

A cold Tuesday, 20th of March in the South Lakes saw Blackburn based Gaz Parry - who has been in the news a lot recently with his bouldering successes - fire off two of Uber-bouldering god John Gaskins' Font 8b's at Trowbarrow and Woodwell (not O'ert Road) in the company of Ian Vickers. (For an in depth profile of Vickers click here)

After three cups of Joe to recover from a brutal training session at BoulderUK in Blackburn the day before, first off Gaz Parry repeated, Isla De Encanta, on the Shelter Stone South Face at Trowbarrow - that big bloc you walked passed on your way to do Jean Jeanie. Greg Chapman, Lakes bouldering guru, describes it thus, "Trowbarrow boasts one of the hardest bloc problems in the country, “Isla De Encanta” (V13) is John Gaskins' hideously steep arête and is situated on the largest of the boulders. Gaz got it third go in this session.

Then not happy with just that, the duo commuted to Woodwell to attempt another Gaskins masterpiece, Anesthesia V14 – Chapman describes it thus:Traverse the overhanging lip left to right: The grade rather depends on where you start, for the full V14 tick start as far left as is possible. Ian Vickers got the second ascent of Anesthesia.

Gaz Parry remembers like it was only yesterday, "Now it was time to pick a new project so it was over to Woodwell to start work on Anesthesia 8b a problem I have wanted to do for many years. After chalking the grips and getting a sequence off Ian Vickers I had a go at the flash, to my disbelief and Ian's shock I managed to get through all the hard climbing and fell getting the jug with very numb fingers. Five minutes working the end and I managed to link it on my first attempt."

Videos of these ascents will be posted at gazparryclimbing.blogspot.com as soon as Gaz gets out of bed....or maybe in a few days, I'm sure he needs a rest.

Plentiful downloadable topos to South Lakes limestone exists for your climbing pleasure at Greg Chapman's Lakesbloc emporium, just turn your browser here to his palace of glittering delights at lakesbloc.co.uk and all the crimping potential of the low white stones shrouded quite often by trees, shall be yours.


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21 Mar, 2007
Effort Gaz! "The slightly more obvious/comfortable start (I.e. 1.5m right of the end of the buttress) has been repeated and is V12/13 (by route technician Ian Vickers and was in his words "like redpointing an 8c+ route" The above quote is old info, Ian Vickers has in fact completed the full traverse and this was the 2nd ascent. Unless of course you count Si O'Scrimshaws ascent, ha ha.
21 Mar, 2007
Thanks Apollo for the clarification.
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