Well, 2013 is going to be a year of change! June will bring the arrival of the Pepperpot, a little baby shaped of bundle of joy. So, the plan for the first half if the year is get in as good a shape as possible before then. I'll be 41 (just) so I need to be as fit as possible I reckon, so that I can be awake long enough to enjoy the experience!
It was all a bit scary to start with, but the 12 week scan changed all that. I'm going to be a dad! Not only does this mean I've got a family to provide for, I've got to try and produce a well balanced, intelligent, world class mountaineer and raconteur! No pressure there then. On top if this I have to develop and hone a whole new range of 'dad' skills and probably get a shed.
It's true that once he/she arrives there will be little time in the rest of 2013 for anything of an even remotely of an outdoorsy nature. But by the summer of 2014 the Pepperpot will be old enough to be packed up in the rucksack carrier and taken out into the great British outdoors. I've already happily been day dreaming of sunny days at the Roaches for picnics and a bit of bouldering, long walks in the countryside, and best of all our regular trip to Cornwall in the van!
Speaking of the van, could the new arrival be the perfect excuse for a proper conversion? ;-)
Anyhow, Happy New Year!
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Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Monday, 2 April 2012
The Year So Far
Well, what can I say; Its been a bush year!
We've got a club trip to Kalymnos booked for the last week of September which has given me a training goal. I've come to realise that I need something to train for, a distant challenge that I ain't fit enough to do now. Well a week climbing sports routes is certainly it. There's no way right now; it would basically be a beach holiday and seeing as I'm already doing that in early September I need to be climbing F5 or even low 6's to get the best out of the week. Mind you this is assuming that Greece even exists by then!
So, here we are, 3 months into the year and I'm a stone lighter and the first outdoor meet of the year (Back Forest) didn't involve abject fear. Just a bit light sweating and cursing. In fact there was a fair amount of that going on with a few others on the Tuesday meet. It would seem its a bit harder without the nice brightly coloured plastic holds to follow.
Anyhow, better hit the sack. Got a meeting with my best client in the morning. Wish me luck!
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We've got a club trip to Kalymnos booked for the last week of September which has given me a training goal. I've come to realise that I need something to train for, a distant challenge that I ain't fit enough to do now. Well a week climbing sports routes is certainly it. There's no way right now; it would basically be a beach holiday and seeing as I'm already doing that in early September I need to be climbing F5 or even low 6's to get the best out of the week. Mind you this is assuming that Greece even exists by then!
So, here we are, 3 months into the year and I'm a stone lighter and the first outdoor meet of the year (Back Forest) didn't involve abject fear. Just a bit light sweating and cursing. In fact there was a fair amount of that going on with a few others on the Tuesday meet. It would seem its a bit harder without the nice brightly coloured plastic holds to follow.
Anyhow, better hit the sack. Got a meeting with my best client in the morning. Wish me luck!
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Monday, 29 November 2010
Congleton Mountaineering Club Christmas Weekend
Well, here I am sat in the office pondering a fantastic weekend at High Moss in Dunnerdale. Brilliant, as the famous Fast Show character would say.
The weather was much better than could have been hoped, ice cold, with mostly blue skies and fairly gentle winds. Just enough to give a proper winter mountaineering feel to things, without too much pain! It would seem that Sca Fell and Scafell Pike was the most popular destination for most of the teams, expect for those pesky mountain bikers. Many made it out on Friday as well as Saturday and so it has been a successful weekend for all.
It was great to see everyone in one place and there was plenty of the young bloods there, although it has to be said the old 'ens would seem to have far more staying power when it came to the jovialities of the evening!
Saturday was an early start for myself and Ralph, we left High Moss at around 7:45; don’t get me wrong this isn’t early by Alpine standards but it is after hitting the sack at 2:30am! We headed off to Wasdale with the intention of bagging the first winter route of the year by climbing Deep Gill on Sca Fell. A couple of club members had noticed it seemed to be in nick, from what they had seen from the top.
The drive over was fairly uneventful, though very slippery, and leaving the warmth of the car was something of a shock. The number of the dashboard told us the temperature was -1, and being a Volvo it’s bound to be right about colder climates! However, the walk up to Brown Tongue was pleasant enough and the views were great, especially looking out towards the Isle of Man. The snow was thinner that we expected but there was plenty of ice around, and forming ice climbs falls were visible on the northerly facing Scafell crag. Given a few more days of cold weather it would seem that there is going to be plenty of fun to be had up there!
When Lord’s Rake came into view it wasn’t possible to see how far the ‘good nick’ extended down Deep Gill and so we decided to opt for Long Gully on Pikes Crag, which seemed to be filled with snow from top to bottom. The walk up was much easier than it would have been to Deep Gill and if it turned out to be rubbish, there might have been time to head over to Long Gully after, though this would have been a much, much longer day.
We were beaten to the bottom of Long Gully by a team of four and were closely followed by a rather chatty and pleasant local couple. It became clear that the team of four were a guide and three clients, who started up, kicking steps into near perfect neve, only to stop a few meters further up to put on crampons, giving us an opportunity to pass them. We’d made the decision to not bring any climbing gear, so gearing up only meant sticking on our crampons, taking the axes off our sack and getting stuck in.
The whole gully was filled with untouched neve! I’m not sure it could have been any better. It’s only a grade I route, but there were several opportunities to tackle small stapes of ice, nothing too taxing but easier on the calves than front pointing all the way up. The whole route was sadly over too soon, though the exit at the top of the gulley was possibly the best bit, which opened up into a wide fan of pristine, untouched snow. Perhaps it could have been a bit more frozen but who cares it was great fun!
Having topped out we had a quick break for a slug of hot Vimto (much better then tea!) and a sandwich and then headed up to the top ofEngland Lingmell Col
As Alex Lowe said, “The best climber is the one having the most fun”, and this is what it’s all about. There will be opportunity for more challenging routes and moments of “what the f*ck are you doing this again for” later in the year and early 2011. But it was a great day out with a great climbing buddy, an opportunity to be a grumpy old man with a huge smile on my face.
The only ruiner for the day was the every present cloud of the “speech”, oh god the speech. As club president it’s traditional to deliver a cutting and hugely comic discourse on the activities of the year, whilst facing a bear pit of harassment and heckling. No pressure there then. Even several beers, a multitude of deep breaths and trips for a quick fag failed to clam the nerves. In fact I almost couldn’t eat my gorgeous sticky Christmas pudding, only nearly couldn’t mind!
Now, it would seem that I did a good job; there were a few laughs, perhaps Graham thought I was picking on him (I wasn’t much) and only a little bit of heckling. Everyone was complimentary, but then again in such polite company its unlikely that anyone was going to walk up, put a gentle hand on my shoulder and say “what a load of shi*e that was; you’re a t*at!” are they? Hopefully not!
The rest of the evening is something of a blur of French Lager, Lapfroaig and joviality. I got to see the Milky Way, managed to do the “rope swing challenge” (see I told you I could do it Dr Paul!) and essentially had a fantastic time with fantastic people.
There’s much, much more to say but that will do for now.
The weather was much better than could have been hoped, ice cold, with mostly blue skies and fairly gentle winds. Just enough to give a proper winter mountaineering feel to things, without too much pain! It would seem that Sca Fell and Scafell Pike was the most popular destination for most of the teams, expect for those pesky mountain bikers. Many made it out on Friday as well as Saturday and so it has been a successful weekend for all.
Saturday was an early start for myself and Ralph, we left High Moss at around 7:45; don’t get me wrong this isn’t early by Alpine standards but it is after hitting the sack at 2:30am! We headed off to Wasdale with the intention of bagging the first winter route of the year by climbing Deep Gill on Sca Fell. A couple of club members had noticed it seemed to be in nick, from what they had seen from the top.
When Lord’s Rake came into view it wasn’t possible to see how far the ‘good nick’ extended down Deep Gill and so we decided to opt for Long Gully on Pikes Crag, which seemed to be filled with snow from top to bottom. The walk up was much easier than it would have been to Deep Gill and if it turned out to be rubbish, there might have been time to head over to Long Gully after, though this would have been a much, much longer day.
We were beaten to the bottom of Long Gully by a team of four and were closely followed by a rather chatty and pleasant local couple. It became clear that the team of four were a guide and three clients, who started up, kicking steps into near perfect neve, only to stop a few meters further up to put on crampons, giving us an opportunity to pass them. We’d made the decision to not bring any climbing gear, so gearing up only meant sticking on our crampons, taking the axes off our sack and getting stuck in.
Having topped out we had a quick break for a slug of hot Vimto (much better then tea!) and a sandwich and then headed up to the top of
As Alex Lowe said, “The best climber is the one having the most fun”, and this is what it’s all about. There will be opportunity for more challenging routes and moments of “what the f*ck are you doing this again for” later in the year and early 2011. But it was a great day out with a great climbing buddy, an opportunity to be a grumpy old man with a huge smile on my face.
The only ruiner for the day was the every present cloud of the “speech”, oh god the speech. As club president it’s traditional to deliver a cutting and hugely comic discourse on the activities of the year, whilst facing a bear pit of harassment and heckling. No pressure there then. Even several beers, a multitude of deep breaths and trips for a quick fag failed to clam the nerves. In fact I almost couldn’t eat my gorgeous sticky Christmas pudding, only nearly couldn’t mind!
Now, it would seem that I did a good job; there were a few laughs, perhaps Graham thought I was picking on him (I wasn’t much) and only a little bit of heckling. Everyone was complimentary, but then again in such polite company its unlikely that anyone was going to walk up, put a gentle hand on my shoulder and say “what a load of shi*e that was; you’re a t*at!” are they? Hopefully not!
There’s much, much more to say but that will do for now.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
What to write, what to write.
Well here we are, its Sunday and its been several weeks since I've done any training. Nothing to train for you see.
I've still got to rearrange the missed Oggie 8, I was considering a go in winter conditions which would be 'interesting' but I think I'll see how the winter develops! Its supposed to be good according to some forecasters. Hope so!
There's been some talk of a trip to Norway for some ice climbing amongst the lads and girls of the Congleton Mountaineering Club. We'll see how the bank balance goes for that!
Anyhow, 1st day of training again tomorrow, whatever I do I need to get something done before the lard round my midriff becomes a permanent feature!
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I've still got to rearrange the missed Oggie 8, I was considering a go in winter conditions which would be 'interesting' but I think I'll see how the winter develops! Its supposed to be good according to some forecasters. Hope so!
There's been some talk of a trip to Norway for some ice climbing amongst the lads and girls of the Congleton Mountaineering Club. We'll see how the bank balance goes for that!
Anyhow, 1st day of training again tomorrow, whatever I do I need to get something done before the lard round my midriff becomes a permanent feature!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
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