matt segal

So I’m back on the blogging front… I know… It’s been way to long, I cant even remember when the last blogged but my site tells me April 22 was the last real post, and wow, that was a long time ago… So much has happened in my life since then, I can’t begin to explain. Those of you who know me well understand… BUT what really matters is the present moment and currently I’m sitting in El Chalten Argentina drinking a Quilmes… YEAH!!

I’ve been here for almost a week and the weather has been pretty shitty in the mountains… But we got a few good bouldering days in and some “fun” hikes in humping loads up to the glacier.

Stay tuned for more…

PS: sorry for the lack of photos… the wifi here is really slow… but i’ll get some up soon…

Sorry its been so long! AND you’re gonna have to wait a little longer…. HAHA… This site is under construction but stay tuned for the new and impoved mattsegal.com

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After a great trip in Wales we headed to Northumberland, an amazing little sandstone area. The climbing is similar to the grit stone in the Peak District except instead of being slopey friction climbing its crimpy gymnastic pulling! I was pretty psyched since this is more my style of climbing…

The goal was to repeat Transcendence E8 6c, a Malcolm Smith head point that only has seen one other head point repeat. After scoping the line I thought it would be cool to climb ground up. I was pretty psyched! The climbing looked like my style and the route didn’t seem that dangerous…

Unfortunately I only gave it three goes before I heard this loud POP coming from my left hand… No Bueno! I immediately knew I did something wrong. I hung there for a little in awe of the noise that came from my ring finger; I’d heard people pop pulleys before but never on my own hand. Immediately negative thoughts flooded my head since I knew it meant the trip was over and I was going to need some time off.

I was super bummed! I had just gotten psyched on training and was planning on competing in a world cup bouldering comp not mention I was super psyched to get on some local projects I’ve had my eye on for a while… Oh well, shit happens and I’m sure it will heal.

On the bright side, some time off will be good for me. I haven’t taken much time off in the last 2 years so a month or two will be good for my mind and body. I’m actually excited to climb some easy long routes in the mountains since that wont bother my finger… Could be good…

Photos by Caroline Harvey

It’s been a while… after an amazing time in Pembroke I headed to North Wales and based out of a little town called Llanberis, headquarters to North Wales climbing. It’s an amazing place with a lot of different styles of climbing… maybe most famous for its quarried slate climbing just outside of town.
Most of my time was spent on the slate with climbing legend Jonny Dawes and Hazel Findlay. Pretty fun crew!

Jonny Dawes

Jonny trying Gin Palace 7c

Gin Palace was an amazing route… Imagine a 5.10 chimney in Yosemite except with zero texture and that’s Gin Palace 5.12+. It was like stemming on a marble wall, extremely physical!

Hazel trying Gin Palace with Paul filming.

Climbing images from Adrian Trendall

Fighting jetlag is always a challenge, especially when the weather is perfect and you know its not going to last. I spent the last few days battling my jetlag at one of the most inspiring climbing destinations I’ve ever been to: the sea cliffs of Pembroke in South Wales. Its breath taking, absolutely amazing limestone located right over the crashing sea.

The climbing is tricky and bold, face climbing with funky gear. The exposure can be similar to climbing 1000 feet off the ground except you’re above rough water. There’s something about having moving water below you that makes you feel exposed and vulnerable. Luckily when you top out, you escape the chaotic sea and climbing to a calm grassy field, a great place to unwind after an epic pitch.

Unfortunately I only had two days of climbing before the classic British weather came and spoiled our good times. But those two days were loads of fun. It was the first time I’d ever used double ropes, which was a huge mess. I fully crossed my ropes on my first climb and by the time I got to the top I had horrible rope drag, but it was pretty easy so I didn’t have much of an issue….

I only climbed a couple routes in the E3 and E4 range but was able to learn a lot about climbing in Pembroke and my personal climbing style. The most obvious being that I’m really weak at on sighting and have a lot of work to do in that realm of climbing. I was also amazed at how much passive gear I used in Pembroke, I think I placed more stoppers on one pitch then I did on all of El Capitan, super funny!

Climbing those two days in Pembroke was like finally learning how to traditional climb! I feel I have so much to learn as a climber and realized I’ve ignored it in the pursuit of projecting harder routes. I’ve dedicated so much time to establishing difficult single pitch gear lines and haven’t spent any time on sighting or learning how to place tricky gear on the fly. BUT the time is now and I’m super psyched to explore this forgotten discipline of on-sight traditional climbing.

I hope to make it back to Pembroke before this trip is over.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve sat down to write, I’ve just been psyched on other things. BUT the time has come and I’m back on the road! I somehow managed to escape the bubble of Boulder and after 17 hours of travel, I’m sipping tea in Bristol, England… Whooopie! SO psyched to be back in the UK. Not sure what the plan is for the next month, climbing obviously… I’m hoping to sample the UK trad scene, first area on the list is Pembroke. After that who knows, maybe North Whales or Scotland, I’m simply following the sunshine and I’m sure it will bring me to some amazing places…
So… stay tuned for more updates!

So psyched! Got err done…

After we dropped the bag I went back but it was way to hot, crazy since it’s only the beginning of March. I tied in and was super shaky, I just had this vision of my body smacking the slab as hard as the bag did. I couldn’t fully commit but went for it anyway. I ended up backing off two times before I actually dropped the clutch. When I finally decided to give it my all it felt way to hot on the tiny crux crimp and fell on the first move of the crux section. All the gear held and the fall wasn’t that bad… I was pretty psyched I didn’t get any farther since that fall may not of been so nice.

I went back 2 days later, a little more confident with the cooler temps and the fact that I knew the gear was good. With little hesitation I executed the crux sequence and before I realized, it was all over.

Its funny… the fist thing everyone wants to know about a new route is the grade; everyone wants a number. I’m never sure about grading, but I guess the grade that the first ascentionist gives is just a suggestion, and the consensus comes after it’s seen repeats. When I try and grade something I always take into consideration the beginning and the end of the experience. I Try and remember how hard it was the first time I tried it, then remember how hard the actual send felt…

For this one… I’m thinking the crux feels like a solid V10 boulder problem (maybe even V11) So…I’m going with 5.13+(8b) as for the seriousness, I think it deserves R, I fell at the beginning of the crux and was fine but I think a fall at the end would not be good.

Top Roping…

The last few weeks have been insane… I’ve been unmotivated for bloggin since I’ve been overwhelmed writing for the climbing mags…  Not sure who I’m kidding… I’m not a writer, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I’ve been acting like one: desperately holding onto the plot, stressed about deadlines, looking to substances for inspiration, ignoring my cell phone and locking myself in my room with nothing but my laptop. Never thought it would be me in this circumstance… Oh well, but I do admit… its kinda funny…

Luckily writing isn’t the only thing that’s been keeping me busy. Since ABS Nationals I’ve been super psyched on the “fit kid” program and have been training consistently. So psyched, feels good to be sore after a proper gym session…

But don’t worry… I’ve been spending equal time keeping it real in places like Eldo and the Downer! Eldo has been super sick! Finally found a new project that is inspiring. It’s located in the Kloof Alcove (same wall as the Iron Monkey) and is super wild. The crux is somewhere in the V10 or V11 range, but the real problem is that you do the hardest moves in the most dangerous section.

After many attempts over 4 days I’ve successfully TR’d it twice… So I know it goes… its just a mental battle. The last time Eric and I were at the Kloof we thought it would be a good idea to chuck a bag off the crux to to see what the fall would be like… Not sure if that was best, since the bag showed us exactly what we didn’t want to see…

Bellow is the footage of us hucking the bag…

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Before I got sucked into the Eldo project I heard of a new sport climb established by Wade David that may be a good highball/solo… I checked it out and decided going ground up was bad idea… So I tried it on a rope, flashed it… it’s somewhere in the 5.13b range… Pretty fun… but not sure if its worth going back for the solo… Check it - Photos by Wade David.

I know this was a while ago, but here are some photos from ABS Nationals taken by Tara Gee

Me on problem 2… I was pretty psyched to make finals!

Alex Puccio

Daniel Woods

Ethan Pringle

Emily Herrington

Lisa Rands

I know… Its been a while… SORRY! Not sure where to begin, a lot has gone down… I had a fun week in Hueco after the epic in Albuquerque. It was nice to finally be back in the desert with no worries, but time flew by and before I knew it we were back in Boulder, competing at ABS Nationals… The first competition I’ve climbed in since 2005.

The Van that could… Hueco Rock Ranch

Alex Honnold under the Speed Bump.

Honnold: enough said

Boulder Mom’s Gone Wild!

Tower and I

Vanessa… Only climbing photo of the trip… I swear I climbed in Hueco… I just don’t look as good in photos…

All photos from Andrew Tower at pimpin and crimpin