That we have planning permission and are able to move in whenever we want so that we can start building you good people a bouldering wall?
Relief would be an inadequate word to fully convey the sense of overwhelming release that this crucial decision brings.
All the phone calls and emails and harassing of Liverpool Planning Department - I think I know them all by name now..... Has been worth it to get the green light to build the first outpost of the empire, sorry I mean dream (mwah haa haa haa)....
Thank you everyone for waiting, soon there will be a brand new blog, all official and professional, we have almost decided on a logo/brand, the proper website is under construction and we are ordering some wood soon for the whole building of a wall thang!
I know, I'm exicted too! Anyway, when I'm not totally smashed from an insane day, I'll post some new pics up and crank this whole media machine into action.
Big Love.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
There could be news in the pipeline!
Nothing official just now, but positive noises of a very positive nature have recently been made in the region of the last two hurdles. Very cryptic I know, but I'm excited so I thought I would share my excitement with you!
Hold your breath....
Hold your breath....
Saturday, 23 October 2010
One down! Two to go...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One of the last big three hurdles is down, our bank has agreed the loan! Yippee! We now have all the funds required to build a monster boulder centre of justice or something equally insanely cool sounding.
Just planning and the lease to nail.
Also I would just like to thank those people who emailed to tell me to keep the faith after the last rant! Honestly that was a real boost to see that you're out there and you give a damn!
More as it happens in a sort of delayed way as opposed to say, BBC News 24 where there are constant updates. Nope, off to make a coffee now, mooch around and recover after climbing in Climb Newcastle's 2nd birthday comp. Dropped some silly problems that i felt daft about, but did manage to climb the legendary Byker Groove. The groove is an annual problem set by Chris Graham (aka Springer) a master of flexibility, dynamic power and sheer technical deviousness. A visionary setter and particle physicist - now thats an unusual mix!
Have a good weekend!
One of the last big three hurdles is down, our bank has agreed the loan! Yippee! We now have all the funds required to build a monster boulder centre of justice or something equally insanely cool sounding.
Just planning and the lease to nail.
Also I would just like to thank those people who emailed to tell me to keep the faith after the last rant! Honestly that was a real boost to see that you're out there and you give a damn!
More as it happens in a sort of delayed way as opposed to say, BBC News 24 where there are constant updates. Nope, off to make a coffee now, mooch around and recover after climbing in Climb Newcastle's 2nd birthday comp. Dropped some silly problems that i felt daft about, but did manage to climb the legendary Byker Groove. The groove is an annual problem set by Chris Graham (aka Springer) a master of flexibility, dynamic power and sheer technical deviousness. A visionary setter and particle physicist - now thats an unusual mix!
Have a good weekend!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Cusp - what cusp? What is a cusp?
You know folks, I believed it when I blogged it, I really did. For some reason I thought the previous three month long pattern of a date being promised to me by someone and then being pushed back was going to stop.
I thought the bank manager was going to stick to giving us our decision on Wednesday.
I thought planning was coming on Oct 19th.
I thought we were in there with the lease.
I was in some ways wrong and in other ways naive.
The bank man is now saying tomorrow.
Planning now due next week.
Lease negotiations practically done (but still incomplete).
In fairness I should have known this would happen, but there has to come a point where somebody makes good on one of these dates otherwise no wall would ever get built. Planning has to be completed by Nov 15th by their own rules, so there is one final date. The bank wanted some extra figures, which they have now, so tomorrow should be a reality. The lease is with the legals folk now so we have done what we can.
The people we have been dealing with have generally been upfront and progressive, Liverpool Planning Dept, despite all the bad things I heard about planners on the grapevine, have been beyond reproach and have really outdone themselves (Vickie V deserves a medal).
I have nothing to calibrate this experience against, is this good, but feels bad because I'm in it? Are we making excellent progress for a startup in a severe recession? Who knows?
What is a blogger supposed to do? Should I just post saying 'nothing definite to report!'? Or should I should I give my opinion based on the best info I have at the time?
I nearly drank a bottle of red wine about midday on Tuesday such was the frustration. I went climbing instead and got on with coaching the young people of the North East at the wonderful Climb Newcastle. I like it there, good vibe, good staff. The value of good staff is immeasurable, not once have I walked in and not been greeted, owners Andy and Chris have been a source of brilliant advice and support and clearly owed some form of gin.
From here on in, the blog should perhaps be my ranting space and then BOOM! out of the blue, without warning (tautologous there!) I say 'People we build now!' and the Liverpool climbing community rejoice. Speaking of you instead of me, is anyone going to the Ron Fawcett lecture on Nov 10th? Quite fancy a look myself, Fawcett being a bit of leg-end!
Rant over.
I thought the bank manager was going to stick to giving us our decision on Wednesday.
I thought planning was coming on Oct 19th.
I thought we were in there with the lease.
I was in some ways wrong and in other ways naive.
The bank man is now saying tomorrow.
Planning now due next week.
Lease negotiations practically done (but still incomplete).
In fairness I should have known this would happen, but there has to come a point where somebody makes good on one of these dates otherwise no wall would ever get built. Planning has to be completed by Nov 15th by their own rules, so there is one final date. The bank wanted some extra figures, which they have now, so tomorrow should be a reality. The lease is with the legals folk now so we have done what we can.
The people we have been dealing with have generally been upfront and progressive, Liverpool Planning Dept, despite all the bad things I heard about planners on the grapevine, have been beyond reproach and have really outdone themselves (Vickie V deserves a medal).
I have nothing to calibrate this experience against, is this good, but feels bad because I'm in it? Are we making excellent progress for a startup in a severe recession? Who knows?
What is a blogger supposed to do? Should I just post saying 'nothing definite to report!'? Or should I should I give my opinion based on the best info I have at the time?
I nearly drank a bottle of red wine about midday on Tuesday such was the frustration. I went climbing instead and got on with coaching the young people of the North East at the wonderful Climb Newcastle. I like it there, good vibe, good staff. The value of good staff is immeasurable, not once have I walked in and not been greeted, owners Andy and Chris have been a source of brilliant advice and support and clearly owed some form of gin.
From here on in, the blog should perhaps be my ranting space and then BOOM! out of the blue, without warning (tautologous there!) I say 'People we build now!' and the Liverpool climbing community rejoice. Speaking of you instead of me, is anyone going to the Ron Fawcett lecture on Nov 10th? Quite fancy a look myself, Fawcett being a bit of leg-end!
Rant over.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
On the very cusp...
So it's been quiet on the blog front. My hands are up, my head is bowed, my body language spells apology. However the silence on the blog front normally indicates that I've been busy like a bee, a notoriously busy insect.
The problem is with the nature of the business that has been going on, is that it leaves very little to actually report, phrases like, 'we might have sourced some excellent bouldering matting' or we have finalised the interior designs on our scale plasticine model etc don't really convey the progress that is being made. The progress is always inching forward, inexorably towards the point where something definite happens. Every single step before the definite is simply a possibility, no matter how possible it seems, until it is signed, dated and binding, it is nothing. Little undermines a man more than a promise unfulfilled!
What I can say for definite is that we have entered a critical phase, within ten days we will make an announcement. What it will be depends on the outcome of various processes over the next week. I am however very positive, but then you need to be an eternal optimist to support the peseverence to survive the string of setbacks and problems that befalls any project of this nature.
Your patience, you willingness to come back here and check to see if anythign is happening, is appreciated and I hope to rewards you soon with seriously cracking facility.
Hold your breath...
The problem is with the nature of the business that has been going on, is that it leaves very little to actually report, phrases like, 'we might have sourced some excellent bouldering matting' or we have finalised the interior designs on our scale plasticine model etc don't really convey the progress that is being made. The progress is always inching forward, inexorably towards the point where something definite happens. Every single step before the definite is simply a possibility, no matter how possible it seems, until it is signed, dated and binding, it is nothing. Little undermines a man more than a promise unfulfilled!
What I can say for definite is that we have entered a critical phase, within ten days we will make an announcement. What it will be depends on the outcome of various processes over the next week. I am however very positive, but then you need to be an eternal optimist to support the peseverence to survive the string of setbacks and problems that befalls any project of this nature.
Your patience, you willingness to come back here and check to see if anythign is happening, is appreciated and I hope to rewards you soon with seriously cracking facility.
Hold your breath...
Monday, 13 September 2010
Inspirational
I have just returned from four days at the World Cup inspired and psyched out of my tiny mind. Filled with ideas for getting young people and normal people and aspirant hard climbers to aspire to dizzy heights and enjoy the bliss of pulling harder than you ever thought you could.
Near five hundred youth from around the world arrived at EICA in Edinburgh to climb on the world stage. Now in Britain comp climbers get a lot of grief sometimes, frequently attacked with cynical swipes of 'What have they ever done outside' or 'I bet he couldn't do that at Malham' or some equally trite quip. I deplore this, I really do, because these people are not taking into account that someone has taken years and months to prepare to to express all of their training and hard work in a six minute window. No second chances, one shot. Competition climbing is a form of expression in the diverse church of climbing and to be overly critical based on deciding it is lesser because it is not outside is to misunderstand the whole art of competition climbing. What I can say is that in that environment, the British Team that I work with were brilliant, four made the semi finals in field where 8a onsight is the norm. Our team supported one another, climbed their hearts out in front of the world and were a slick professional unit.
It reinforced that climbing is a community of people with a shared passion. People prepared to cheer on their competitors, to mingle freely with people from other nations and to be inspired by the grace and style with which the person who just beat you did their route. If the United Nations could conduct themselves like the comp climbers I was privileged to spend four days with, our world would be a hell of lot better.
As for what have they done outside? The best onsight grade of any of the climbers I think was 8b+ and there were a fair few who had redpointed 9a outside, I lost count of the people who had redpointed 8c. This is girls and boys and across all the age ranges. Now is the bit where somebody says, 'Aye but that is long European fitness routes, all steep thuggery blah blah blah' and then moves on to cite some obscure Limestone route in Peak/Yorkshire with loads of invisible holds etc that nobody could ever onsight.
Anyway, enough rant from me - check out the brief review on the IFSC website:
">http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/?page_name=home&category_id=28&item=356
Near five hundred youth from around the world arrived at EICA in Edinburgh to climb on the world stage. Now in Britain comp climbers get a lot of grief sometimes, frequently attacked with cynical swipes of 'What have they ever done outside' or 'I bet he couldn't do that at Malham' or some equally trite quip. I deplore this, I really do, because these people are not taking into account that someone has taken years and months to prepare to to express all of their training and hard work in a six minute window. No second chances, one shot. Competition climbing is a form of expression in the diverse church of climbing and to be overly critical based on deciding it is lesser because it is not outside is to misunderstand the whole art of competition climbing. What I can say is that in that environment, the British Team that I work with were brilliant, four made the semi finals in field where 8a onsight is the norm. Our team supported one another, climbed their hearts out in front of the world and were a slick professional unit.
It reinforced that climbing is a community of people with a shared passion. People prepared to cheer on their competitors, to mingle freely with people from other nations and to be inspired by the grace and style with which the person who just beat you did their route. If the United Nations could conduct themselves like the comp climbers I was privileged to spend four days with, our world would be a hell of lot better.
As for what have they done outside? The best onsight grade of any of the climbers I think was 8b+ and there were a fair few who had redpointed 9a outside, I lost count of the people who had redpointed 8c. This is girls and boys and across all the age ranges. Now is the bit where somebody says, 'Aye but that is long European fitness routes, all steep thuggery blah blah blah' and then moves on to cite some obscure Limestone route in Peak/Yorkshire with loads of invisible holds etc that nobody could ever onsight.
Anyway, enough rant from me - check out the brief review on the IFSC website:
">http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/?page_name=home&category_id=28&item=356
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Ninja monkeys (British Youth Climbers)
Psyched for next week already, nothing to do with the bouldering wall, but it is the British round of the world youth series in EICA (Ratho to most of us). As a British Junior Team coach, you go to these events and get totally inspired by the performances you see and I thought I might just recommend to everyone that you go have a look.
This is a pictorial representation of the juniors - ninja monkeys - some of them may not appreciate this, but basically it is a gesture of respect from me but in comedy form!!
The reason I mention it is that I've been doing a lot of work on the coaching stuff for the wall and it gets you thinking about how you want to help people improve. One thing that occurred to me at the last British team event where we had a superb friendly comp against the French, was that I watching 12 year old boys and girls onsight 7c. This gets you thinking about the average. X years ago 7c didnt exist etc, Sebastian Helenke ((German Junior) has onsighted/flashed every 8a he has tried since his 14 birthday)).
So I got to thinking do we limit ourselves by measuring ourselves against those around us? The weekend warriors of Catalunya in Northern Spain all send 8's at the weekend because it is normal. In Britain on routes, we seem to plateau at 6a+/6b. Many of our female climbers rarely progress past V5 despite women like Shauna Coxley and Suzan Dudink demonstrating that girls can send seriously hard problems.
Would we all climb better if we did what the wonderful Malcom Smith was alleged to have done, locking himself away, whipping himself into a state of paranoia about how everyone is Sheffield was going to kick his ass something rotten. He emerged as some kind of mutant from his bedroom to obliterate! How much of this was due to his punishing schedule/genetics/determination and finally nobody to compare himself to, to then say, it's ok I can ease off now, I have reached the limit.
My personal belief is that everyone is able to climb V5 or 7a sport from climbing twice a week if they think about what they do when they climb and apply a little bit of training theory. I would argue that they should be the average. Cast your minds forward, if the 12 year olds of now are onsighting 7c, what will they be doing in ten year when they are peaking physically and with all that experience behind them? When (as it will become) a regular news event for the pro's to be onsighting 9a and we as normal people all expect to climb 8a most trips out - what will have changed? Only our expectations I would contend. Can we use this knowledge of knowing that even if we are quite good now, in ten years our abilities would make us punters to change how we climb today to liberate us from comparison and begin a journey of exploration of our own capacities?
If you think you can or you cannot climb 'V10' I would argue that you are probably right!
Be inspired, go see the youth climb at EICA (Sept 8-12th).
This is a pictorial representation of the juniors - ninja monkeys - some of them may not appreciate this, but basically it is a gesture of respect from me but in comedy form!!
The reason I mention it is that I've been doing a lot of work on the coaching stuff for the wall and it gets you thinking about how you want to help people improve. One thing that occurred to me at the last British team event where we had a superb friendly comp against the French, was that I watching 12 year old boys and girls onsight 7c. This gets you thinking about the average. X years ago 7c didnt exist etc, Sebastian Helenke ((German Junior) has onsighted/flashed every 8a he has tried since his 14 birthday)).
So I got to thinking do we limit ourselves by measuring ourselves against those around us? The weekend warriors of Catalunya in Northern Spain all send 8's at the weekend because it is normal. In Britain on routes, we seem to plateau at 6a+/6b. Many of our female climbers rarely progress past V5 despite women like Shauna Coxley and Suzan Dudink demonstrating that girls can send seriously hard problems.
Would we all climb better if we did what the wonderful Malcom Smith was alleged to have done, locking himself away, whipping himself into a state of paranoia about how everyone is Sheffield was going to kick his ass something rotten. He emerged as some kind of mutant from his bedroom to obliterate! How much of this was due to his punishing schedule/genetics/determination and finally nobody to compare himself to, to then say, it's ok I can ease off now, I have reached the limit.
My personal belief is that everyone is able to climb V5 or 7a sport from climbing twice a week if they think about what they do when they climb and apply a little bit of training theory. I would argue that they should be the average. Cast your minds forward, if the 12 year olds of now are onsighting 7c, what will they be doing in ten year when they are peaking physically and with all that experience behind them? When (as it will become) a regular news event for the pro's to be onsighting 9a and we as normal people all expect to climb 8a most trips out - what will have changed? Only our expectations I would contend. Can we use this knowledge of knowing that even if we are quite good now, in ten years our abilities would make us punters to change how we climb today to liberate us from comparison and begin a journey of exploration of our own capacities?
If you think you can or you cannot climb 'V10' I would argue that you are probably right!
Be inspired, go see the youth climb at EICA (Sept 8-12th).
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