Saturday, 23rd November
Although the first comp. in the Scottish Tooling Series was on the 9th November, the Glasgow Climbing Centre event was the first we attended, the start of our tooling season.
Tim tackling a particularly tricky problem - a hanging log section on an overhang. Drilled holes for hooking, and a whole lot of wibbling.
An unanchored log, from which to swing across three self belay D links - as soon as you weight each link it starts descending. This one felt very much like a computer game, but from the inside!
Tim does a 'figure four' on a boulder problem. Figure fours are used when there is no where to put your feet - no foot holds or no wall even. It's a self made leg up, but generally quite an inefficient one! Axes have to be kept as still as possible so that they stay on the hold - easier said than done while trying to hook your knee over your arm.
Douglas enters his first dry tooling event and learns to hook holds with axes. A surprisingly hard route to get going on. If Douglas brings his hand any further out his axe will slip off the hold. Nevertheless, Douglas reached the top.
Melissa goes to battle with this almighty tree trunk. Having only climbed ice a couple of times indoor, Melissa comes up with a canny solution for the difficult placements that she must make in to (and out of!) the wood: each placement is made with her right hand, making the problem harder than it already was for everyone else!
James nears the top of the trunk, but there's still more to go.
Most people tip the camera to make a route look steeper than it is...this route is much steeper than it looks! Melissa is using 'Shmools' - a clever little training device for climbing normal indoor climbing holds with an axe shaped handle - leather loops hook the holds.
Sam does a fantastic job as our youngest competitor and his first time ever using axes. Sam may have thought he'd used all his energy and strength early on but seemed so enthused by the whole thing that he kept trying (and succeeding) on routes right until the end.
Although the first comp. in the Scottish Tooling Series was on the 9th November, the Glasgow Climbing Centre event was the first we attended, the start of our tooling season. 
Tim tackling a particularly tricky problem - a hanging log section on an overhang. Drilled holes for hooking, and a whole lot of wibbling. 
Tim does a 'figure four' on a boulder problem. Figure fours are used when there is no where to put your feet - no foot holds or no wall even. It's a self made leg up, but generally quite an inefficient one! Axes have to be kept as still as possible so that they stay on the hold - easier said than done while trying to hook your knee over your arm. 
Douglas enters his first dry tooling event and learns to hook holds with axes. A surprisingly hard route to get going on. If Douglas brings his hand any further out his axe will slip off the hold. Nevertheless, Douglas reached the top. 
Melissa goes to battle with this almighty tree trunk. Having only climbed ice a couple of times indoor, Melissa comes up with a canny solution for the difficult placements that she must make in to (and out of!) the wood: each placement is made with her right hand, making the problem harder than it already was for everyone else! 
James nears the top of the trunk, but there's still more to go. 
Most people tip the camera to make a route look steeper than it is...this route is much steeper than it looks! Melissa is using 'Shmools' - a clever little training device for climbing normal indoor climbing holds with an axe shaped handle - leather loops hook the holds. 
Sam does a fantastic job as our youngest competitor and his first time ever using axes. Sam may have thought he'd used all his energy and strength early on but seemed so enthused by the whole thing that he kept trying (and succeeding) on routes right until the end. 
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