Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head...

This morning was awesome. The views across the valley from the balcony with my morning porridge just rocked so decided to document what was going on a little bit. Geeky I know but hey - I'm a nerd.

Step 1. Make porridge (1/2 milk, 1/2 water - 2 spoons of blackberry jam) and sit on balcony chewing thoughtfully. Look over the three areas I can see:
Rays of sun coming over Mont Blanc and zapping Chamonix.


Les Houches waking up in warmth.


Pure blue skies over Servoz.


Step 2. Drive into Chamonix (6 minutes) via the scenic route through Les Bossons. Find car parking place (dependent on tourist density) and then walk to office on the Rue Paccard:


Step 3. Meander to boulangerie and buy rustic bread and jam for secondary breakfast/snacking:


Step 4. Enter office on Rue Paccard and check mail (our mailbox is second from the left on the bottom row):


Step 5. Eat second breakfast looking out of office up at Aiguille du Midi/Mont Blanc and read mail:


Step 6. Work!

Adventure Saturday

Chris, Sarah, Abi and myself chipped off out on Saturday for a barbeque in the woods and a spot of climbing. Was really nice to hang out and have some munchies, go for a monkey around a small crag that none of us had climbed before and generally just have a nice relax.

We bumped into a scottish guy and girl who were climbing the same crag and ended up laughing with them a while - culminating in us all going to Le Vert bar for a few gin and tonics after the day's exertions. We all eased our way down to Le Delice back in the Houches to carry on the weekend's celebrations and then at the end of the evening some of the guys went off to a birthday party in the woods further up the valley. Yours truly was a good boy however and retired gracefully.

Climbing Frison Roche at Brevent

Going to climb the right-hand face under the cable car station with Lousie soon. Looks wicked doesn't it? The route is called Frison Roche (5+/6a, 250m - 820 feet) and is continually visible from Chamonix. It's a 6 pitch route with a bit of traversing and a bit of slab and a bit of crack - lots of different types of climbing.

I've wanted to do this route for a while, looking forward to having a crack at it. Will take the camera and snap some shots and do a posting on the day's fun.

An avoidable tragedy on Mont Blanc

Normally I wouldn't post up about this but I want to this time. 4 climbers have died of exposure climbing Mont Blanc today. I offer my deepest sympathies to the familes and it's a tragic event - but was it an accident?



The BBC News story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6916549.stm

We've all been moping around waiting for the weather to break - waiting for the rain and storms of the past week to abate so we can go out climbing and up into the mountains. It really cleared up yesterday early evening and the sunset was one of those that really take your breath away. The rocks glowing red as the setting sun lit up the pure white peaks - a stark contrast to the blue skies behind. Blue skies peppered with a few clouds. Beautiful eh? Well it is but it set alarm bells ringing in my head.

I was actually outside with Brian looking up at Mont Blanc last night during the sunset as I met him outside his house to go for dinner. We actually chatted about how amazing it looked then passed comment on the lenticular cloud sitting atop Mont Blanc. When these clouds sit over peaks they generally mean high winds at the summit. Warning 1. The bright white peaks covered with fresh snow gleaming against the blue sky - so there's lots of new snow (warning 2) and it's obviously cold as it was pure white and looking through binoculars this morning could see lots of crystalline formations (warning 3).

Obviously these warnings aren't set in stone but they all add up. To have climbed Mont Blanc means that these guys had to either be up there already or going up really early first thing in the morning. Whichever way it's talking about being on the mountain a few hours after the weather has broken.

I was talking to a guide friend of mine, Mark, last year who said that the old rule of leaving a mountain 3 days to settle after a storm is no longer there. Backcountry skiing and more people wishing to climb mean that this timeframe has shortened considerably. But the mountain and atmosphere still needs to settle and get safer.

I really feel sorry for the families of these guys, and offer my deepest sympathies to them and it'll be something we talk about and chew over in the bars and between friends this week. Unfortunately there's a lot of accidents out here and they come in regularly (every week or so) over the winter and summer seasons.

But how many of my friends chose to go out into the mountains today? None. Not one.

Doing the dev

My brain's fried. Proper fried. Was up til 4am trying to pull apart a 56MB MySQL database dump file on 3 different operating systems. Turns out that a combination of shell scripts, Red Hat Linux and nano text editor is the best combination for splitting the file up.



Mailed it into work and retired gracefully to bed ready for loading it into a database this morning. Turns out the data's corrupt in it and so Chris and I have been trying to sift and clean it this morning. Bah!

All this energy on geekiness is because of the contract which we've started recently. We're having to create a full mirrored dev environment from the production servers in the states to be able to work from here effectively. It needs to be done but my word it's really mentally fatiguing. The good news is that it only needs to be set up once - then it's just the fun part of development - building new things, making them work properly and making it look pretty. The bad news is that the rain and storms of late are no longer with us and there's blue skies and bright sunshine. I really want to get out and do some exercise and be in the fresh air but alas - have to prioritise.

Chris has chipped off to a music festival near Geneva this afternoon and after bashing my brains against the computer for another couple of hours, think I might knock work on the head, grab Digby the Dog and my iPod and go for a run up into the thinner air.

P.S. Had refried beans last night - went for mexican food around Brian's with two of his friends travelling around Europe who dropped in to Cham. Was very cool. My dad's given me a penchant for refried beans over the years and these ones imported via Switzerland were very good indeed. Happy days!

24

This weekend I've managed to watch the entire series 3 of 24. It rocks. So addictive to watch and therefore extremely handy for a rainy weekend. Might see if I can get another series and store it for a later date when the rain rolls in once again. Like today for instance!

A bit unwell

A little bit unwell today. Must have eaten something yesterday that's not been perfect. It's been a while since feeling ill - several months in fact - maybe it's just due? I've been turning down invitations for quick drinks and climbing left and right for the past day now, but will no doubt be back on form shortly and whisk out and about soon.

The good news is that it's enabled cracking on with a load of work. Loafing around the house in a cap, a towel and a tshirt is prime coding apparel with comfort and function highly rated. Obviously the tshirt and cap work well with any Skype video call but the towel is crucial. It's soft, comfortable and multi-functional. The clear issue here is how to wear the towel.

When younger, I had the pleasure of living in Malaysia so wear my towel (if for any extended period) like a sarong. Demonstrated below in the picture of the rather attractive girl waist down.



Notice how good it looks? This also an added affect for anyone pitching up unexpectedly to the farm. They look at the whole ensemble and think, "Hmm, stylish and continental - that boy knows how to dress even when relaxing". This is the very definition of an added bonus.

Of course the classic style is just to wrap towel around waist and tuck it in - useful for shorter periods of wear. And then there's always the highly informal "chuck towel over shoulder". This last towel wearing option should never be employed in company. It's a conversation stopper but extremely effective if just moving a towel from its resting place to the bathroom.

I hope that from here on in you treat the wearing of your towel with the importance it deserves.

Rain over Chamonix

Still raining! Mont Blanc is hidden by cloud when looking from the office. Thinking to finish up here and head home for a bit in a few minutes and see what's happening in the Delice in Les Houches before tootling off home for a spot of dinner. There's a few rumbles of thunder in the heavens too - might even get a evening show of electricity over the evening meal.

Raining over the Bossons Glacier


More rain up on the Aiguille du Midi (peak far right) and the Mont Blanc Massif.

Stormy nights and peaceful sleep

It's 12.38am and I've been unable to sleep because of the continual thunder echoing up and down the valley and the arced flashes of lighting shattering the dark of the night. But I'm not unhappy, far from it.

I've been feeling good for a while now and better still in the recent past. Things are truly going well and I have no real worries - the future looks extremely positive, the present is solid and happy and the past is history and reflection. I can lay my head down at night these days without the shadows of doubt and negative thought shouting through my mind and I can sleep - albeit when the weather decides to calm down! But even if it doesn't, I know tomorrow I will still wake up looking forward to the day.

I'm going to pull the sofa in front of the computer and get my duvet and a pillow and crash out watching Die Hard. Hopefully the thunder outside will fit nicely into watching Bruce sparking cliches out and shooting terrorists.

Rose Marie, Triolet and the Refugio Dalmazzi - Part 1

Got a call on Friday afternoon from Brian asking about going across to Italy and try to climb a multi-pitch route called Rose Marie (TD+, 440m (1,444 feet), 6c) relatively high up (around 2,800m) on the backside of Mont Blanc and the Grandes Jorasses. The plan was to get all the equipment together quickly then drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel and follow the ridge on the other side of the Mont Blanc massif until the road ran out then walk up to a refuge for an overnight stay - the Rifugio Dalmazzi (2,584m) below the Aiguille Triolet (3,876m).

The tongue and shoulder of the Triolet Glacier


A touch later than planned, all the gear was collected and stowed in Merv the Swerve and we set off bound for the altitude. I have to say Merv performed admirably and we scooted through the tunnel and turned left just before Courmayeur and went through the small villages on the south side of Mont Blanc following the road winding its way carefully through the less and less inhabited valley. When it started to get pretty bleak and the scenery reminded me of the Lake District on steroids I figured we were closing on the point where size 8's would be the order of the day as transport. Sure enough the dusty gravel path soon became an option no more and packs were hoisted as we set off on foot towards the refuge that looked ominously miles away and even more knackeringly far, far higher.

A small sign claimed that the refuge was 2 1/4 hours away and we left Merv at around 7pm. Whomever wrote that sign obviously had a keen sense of humour. The rocky path was littered every step with large rocks making the walking relatively warming and making sure one kept one's foot placements just so. Brian had booked dinner at the refuge and as I was in no mood for a sprint, he set of at hare's pace to get some food in. After an hour or so, thankfully the hot temperatures of the lower valley started to fall away a little and unthankfully the "path" on the top of the increasingly steep ridge it followed started to steepen yet further and fixed ropes could be seen assisting the route ahead. I passed a family of ibex standing on and around an enormous boulder spat out by the glacier dominating the upper end of the valley. They were really amazing creatures with huge curved horns looking like they should overbalance at any time but sure-footedly worked their way around the loose rock. The glacial water was cascading down waterfalls from the tongue of the glacier creating a constant rumble echoing around the valley and amazing panoramic views.

Sunset looking out from the refuge


After a brief drink and a scramble to cut through the start of the moraines proper it was time for the first roped section - a traverse across the top of an exposed small snowfield. With that carefully negotiated the steepness really began with a vengeance and it was necessary tackle the extremely steep rocky roped sections - something akin to grade 3 and low 4 rock climbing! Another hour of this the refuge loomed ever closer perched high up on a large rock step. The altitude was kicking in with happy abandon and I could feel myself breathless after a minimal amount of time but was recovering well after a few gulps of air so figured all the fitness training of late was pretty effective. I finally arrived at the refuge a little before 10pm as the light in the valley really started to dim. A sandwich and a drink followed then loafed around with Brian waiting to feel sleepy (ably assisted by a quick beer - it was Friday night after all!). At around 11pm we headed off to bed to arise at 6am to head out to the climb.

Rose Marie, Triolet and the Refugio Dalmazzi - Part 2

A relatively good night's sleep passed and before you know it we were finishing off a morning cup of tea with breakfast and heading off towards the climb. The route meant we had to cross the moraines by the shoulder of the Triolet glacier above us then hike up the glacier a fair way to get to the starting pitch. Unfortunately we only had about 100m of easy pathway to work with before we were downclimbing a rocky shelf to get to the moraines. These damn moraines - just endless boulders and unstable rocks on often treacherously steep slopes really were an effort in concentration. I had visions of broken ankles and we carefully picked our way through them and jumped onto the clear ice of the glacier with a certain amount of relief. The sound of rocks falling away under your feet and bouncing and cracking their way down the steep slopes was thankfully past!

Ascending on the glacier - the target of our climb is the highest of the three rock pinnacles on the right hand side


We donned crampons and pulled out the ice axes almost as soon as setting foot on the glacier feeling pleased that the blue skies and clear sunlight were providing a good amount of warmth and creating the most magnificent views. The refuge was by now out of sight and we were pushing through the unseasonably deep snow on the glacier fighting for breath and taking care to walk around crevasses. The feeling of only seeing your own footprints on the glacier and being completely alone is really breathtaking and exhilarating. The air was clear, the sun was shining and we were marching off in the middle of an adventure - it doesn't get much better. The noise of all the ice creaking and cracking continually permeated the air with noise and we knuckled down to the business of getting where we needed to be.

Coming up the top section of the Triolet Glacier


After an exhausting couple of hours wading through the deep snow on the glacier we reached the berschrund (a crevasse formed where the moving ice of the glacier meets the rock). Brian weighing as much as a gnat, skipped over the snow bridge to get to the rock but as I stepped on it both feet went straight through and I slammed my arms out to each side trying desperately to get as much surface area as possible onto the crumbling snow - as per the book says. I could feel my feet hanging in space whilst slowly working one leg free to lay on the bridge.

My heart was absolutely pounding in my ears by this stage and I could feel by breath coming in guttural chokes. I worked my other leg free and then slowly and carefully eased off the unstable snow bridge and back onto the glacier proper. A quick glance into the holes my body and feet had made confirmed my fears - the crevasse was deeper than I could see - just an inky black abyss reaching down. Obviously I was absolutely shitting it but forced myself to swallow it down and then try another route. Well I'd obviously not been to church for a while because I managed to do the same thing 2 minutes later on another part of the bergschrund. Luckily I'd probed pretty well with my ice axe and only one foot went through. I wriggled out of it to above the crevasse onto the rock and caught my breath.

It had taken us a hard 2 1/2 hours to get to the climb.

Rose Marie, Triolet and the Refugio Dalmazzi - Part 3

After sorting ourselves out switching alpine equipment for climbing we did a bit of ad-libbing to get into the main climb with Brian leading across a 5+ shallow dihedral and me following pulling out the safety gear. We hooked into the anchor and looked up the next pitch (a 6b/6a) and set off. Brian led out again slotting in the odd piece of protection here and there going well up to a small chimney about 30m above. It started to get a bit sketchy here with Brian taking a few minutes to have a look at the chimney and then worked his way over it. A few minutes later he called down to say he was anchored in and I was on belay to start climbing. I've got to say, I was really, really happy with the way I climbed - a flake to layback and a few crimps here and there, a bit of delicate slabby stuff - was really climbing well - but tired. Pushing with the legs and removing the gear fluidly. I had to leave a cam behind because I couldn't get my fingers into the crack to release it but realised it was in our abseil path down and would be able to get it then.

Climbing up the second pitch of Rose Marie


The rock we were climbing on was the most beautiful golden colour you've ever seen with these huge crystals embedded into it. Nothing like the rock in the crags up and down the valley worn smooth by the endless sport climbers. Of course bits of it were flaky, crumbling and there was loose rock everywhere. Tapping holds before placing weight on them was the order of the day and more than once I had to brush some loose stones off hand and foot holds to get proper purchase. But the colour was the thing that got me - I don't know if we were climbing a giant vertical gold nugget but it felt like it.

I realised Brian's problem he paused at when I reached a black rock chimney with meltwater running down it and an obvious layback move required with poor, wet holds. I tried several times failing to get more than two moves up. Eventually I prussic'ed up the metre I couldn't climb before finding a solid jug hold and hauled myself up the rest of the way up the chimney then positively climbed the rest of the way to join Brian at the anchor.

I still feel frustrated at what I said to Brian next, "I'm gassed, I don't think I've got much more in me". I had plenty left in the tank - all I needed was a 5 minute breather and felt stupid as soon as I'd said it. Brian smiled and said, "well we're nearly over the most difficult part of the climb, just these two 6c slabs up here". I duly got into position and hung from my sling over a 450 foot sheer drop above the glacier to put Brian on belay to continue. He set off upwards and I could see that he was struggling with the first slab but managed to wrangle past it - the second slab was the crux. One move with nothing to hold on to. Brian tried many times, trying new ways past, trying to use gear to get past - all to no avail. Damn - it was the crux of the whole climb and we both felt sure we could go on from there as the rest was only 5+. Slightly deflated Brian came down to the anchor and we swiftly abseiled down the rest of the way to the glacier below.

I'd been seeing a few wet snow avalanches trundling their way on farther slopes away from where we were above the glacier and had been keeping a wary eye out for anything that looked dangerous. Brian had obviously been thinking the same thing and abseiled down to the side of the rock above the bergschrund to pick up the packs and gear we had left there and then performed a rappel traverse to continue down to below the bergschrund so we we didn't need to cross it on foot again.

About two minutes after completing this, a wet snow avalanche slowly trundled it's way down over the bergschrund a bit farther out from where we had stashed our gear and stopped 6 feet from Brian who was looking at the swishing snow rather quizzically! Of course we knew the safe spot (the avalanche was heading down the side of Brian, protected by the rock - and most of the snow would fall into the bergschrund) but it was still strange to watch the whole charade being played out from my rocky perch.

I hopped down the rock and exchanged climbing gear for alpine, roped up with Brian and then headed back down the glacier to the refuge. The snow had softened in the sun (hence the wet snow avalanches of earlier) and so we were sinking in deeper than in the morning ascent - sometimes up to our waists! We made good progess however glissading where possible and laughing and joking as we made good progress down past the crevasses to the moraines. We should have taken boards up there as it would have been fantastic riding!

All ready to go up the glacier


We removed the crampons and untied each other then set off to the refuge. After a nervously cautious but uneventful re-crossing of the moraines I didn't fancy the climb up the rock step we had down-climbed earlier so scrambled up a 50m 45° slope back to the path. By now the sun was in full force and was blasting off the white snow reflecting it's heat into the center of the valley. I wasn't particularly looking forward to the hike back down to the valley floor by myself. But as Brian was going to spend another night in the refuge to climb with a friend the next day I needed to set off and so after a pause to organise equipment I duly set off from the refuge. Rather stupidly - most likely from the fatigue I was now feeling - I forgot to refill my water bottle at the refuge and the walk down became tortuous with a dry mouth and failing energy.

I pushed onwards however until I came to the valley floor a couple of hours later and refilled my water bottle from a fast-flowing meltwater stream that I could see had come straight from one of the glaciers. I few swigs later I felt at least some energy return to my body and so wolfed down a chocolate bar and drove home.

It's a day and a bit later now and I can now feel my body's actually recovered from the sheer exhaustion that it's been put through. On one day there was some 8 1/2 hours alpine climbing through mixed terrain and around 3 hours rock climbing. My hands and arms are covered with nicks and cuts but are healing quickly and my head is much clearer. I don't think I've ever felt exhaustion like that after doing an adventure, I've tan stripes on my head from the cooling gaps in my helmet and my nose is sunburnt but I really can't wait to do it all again.

Fatigue

Spent the last 2 days climbing on the Italian side of Mont Blanc. Got back last night and was so tired I could barely speak. We got a load of photos from walking up to the refuge were staying, up the glacier to the climb then coming back. I'll post them (and a full report on the activities) later today or tomorrow. For now I'm just trying to get the energy back in my body and heal up.

Funny Dilbert

Image © Scott Adams
Original post: Dilbert Blog

I saw this on the blog written by Scott Adams - the writer and artist of the Dilbert comic strip (Wikipedia)and it made it me laugh. Thought I'd plaster it on here so you all can have a giggle too. Weirdly I don't actually read hardly any Dilbert, but I read the blog.

Gun to my head I'd have to say my favourite comic strip is Calvin and Hobbes (daily strip). Just too funny for words. Depending on how you look at it, fortunately or unfortunately the creator Bill Watterson didn't allow anyone merchandising rights to the characters and artwork and so the Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt I've always wanted and never found is going to have to be a dodgy bootleg one. So if you see one when you're out and about, my size is medium or large. Thanks!


Image © Bill Watterson

Hyphenated surnames that should never have been

Found these in one of my RSS feeds today and it really made me laugh. I mean hyphenated surnames are, well, hyphenated. That's pretty much as far as my enthusiasm goes with them. It's just that I just get a vision of a footballer and a page 3 girl getting hitched. Weird innit.

I think it just proves that you can find anything on the interweb. Get ready for them:

Stormy Weekend

Woke up this morning and there was absolutely no hot water - not even lukewarm. Had a dig around with Andy's missus - Bex - amongst all the workings of the house to try and sort out the problem but no chance. Looks like the continual, massive thunderstorm last night at some stage knocked all the power out to the farm and reset a load of the electrics - including the water pumps.

By continual, I mean continual. It's been raining solidly for the past day and a bit (aside from a brief 1 hour window yesterday when I managed to get out for a quick run). Torrential rain, thick cloud, misty forests, the rumbles and growls of angry thunder echoing around the valley bouncing of the mountains, flashes of lightning - it's just been non-stop.

After having spoken to Bex, it seems that those downstairs were awoken at around 4.30am by the same really long, loud peal of thunder that shook the farmhouse and rattled the windows. Apparently Crampons thought it was an avalanche it was so loud! Anyways, looks like we all had an interrupted night's sleep so everyone's looking a little tired and bedraggled today. I feel resolutely fine though (aside from the current no-washing issue), and feel even more pleased to have gone further and higher up on my run without having to stop for a break yesterday. Must be getting fitter!

I'm not feeling the love for taking Merv out to Cham through the pouring rain, so might just carry on working from home today.

Productive Saturday

It's a beautiful day up in the Alps, with blue skies and bright sunlight. A great change from the recent poor weather - summer is hopefully here to stay! It would be a great day to go climbing - Chris gave me a shout this morning to see if I fancied it - but unfortunately I've got a bit of an eye infection and prudence dictates it's going to be better to not agitate it and leave it to heal up. It's one of the downsides of wearing contacts but hey - at least it's giving me time to do other things.

So with that in mind I had a dig around and found loads of cleaning products and have been giving the farmhouse a really, really good clean. The kitchen went first today - the sink was fully scrubbed with Ajax and drawers and cupboards cleaned out and wiped down with disinfectant. A new covering was found for the kitchen table so it's now there's a sunflower yellow glow to match the sparkling white of the sink.

Next to go down was the toilet. A nasty job at best and frankly I wasn't going to enjoy it. A heavy dose of bleach, ajax and scrubbing the floor made it look better and a wipe down of all the wooden panels is a marked improvement. The doors to the bathroom and toilet looked like they needed a clean so duly got the treatment.

By this stage I was really get into the flow of things so dumped a load of washing in the machine and gave the bathroom floor and sink a quick clean. A cursory glance towards a window saw dust and dirt and not the clear pristine view so this was duly put right and all windows got a good wipe down with detergent then a dry cloth making sunlight stream into the house. Doors were all opened to push out as much dust as possible and the flowers on the balcony were watered.

The washing machine finished and so that got hung up on the balcony, flapping away in the light breeze. The wooden fire got a de-ashing and a wipe over with a cloth to bring it back to some glory and then for a finale there was a quick whip round with the hoover on the rugs and wooden floors.

There's a few jobs that I'd like to do like mopping the floor and piling up all the logs outside ready for the coming fires. Also I'd like to get teh spare troughs outside filled with earth and plant a lod of herbs and flowers in them but for the moment I think that's about enough. I'll grab my camera tomorrow and post up a photo or two of the results.

The house is now filled with a delicious aroma of spicy merguez sausages frying away on the cooker. Perfect.

A testing start at Servoz

It's been crap weather here for a week. Really crap. So when the clouds lifted for a brief second earlier whilst on the computer in the office it was no surprise to hear my phone ring with a voice on the other end of the phone saying to grab all available climbing gear and meet up at the crag at Servoz. After a bit of nagging Chris eventually gave in and said he'd be down a little after Brian and I were to due to meet. I'm really pleased he did because he brought a camera and snapped a load of absolutely incredible photographs (Flickr). Some are included in this posting. Chris didn't climb but made use of a small winding path that leads up to the top of the crag to watch and take shots.

So a brief fly to the farm from Cham to pick up the bits and down to the crag to meet Brian. It was pretty cold leaving Chamonix with hairs on your arms standing up due to the distinct chill in the air. The mountains have been dusted with a small coating of snow down to around 1850m (6,070 feet) and felt more like December than early summer. The portent of abandoning the evening's climbing loomed larger with a rain squall in Les Houches but with backup plan in mind set off determined to get some exercise and fresh air.

A dark and broody peak above Servoz


I'm pleased we did, as although there was a good bit of cloud there was also enough blue skies and bright sunlight to strip off the tshirts and warm our bodies in the golden rays before setting off upwards. Had a funny moment stifling a giggle at Brian trying to remove all his thermals in the blazing sun after being caught out by the unusually hot weather. A brief discussion later and Brian was duly sent to lead a long single pitch to the top of the crag. It looked like a testing sort of 60m (196 feet) pitch with some interesting features the whole way up to the final large overhanging section extending down from the top by 5m. I've got to admit, anything that Brian takes his time to climb generally means it's going to be a tad sporty for the rest of us. This hypothesis has yet to be disproved and stood up once again here as Brian tackled the top overhang. Grinning insanely to myself, I set off after him and the early part of the climb went relatively well - some good sections, some really cool moves, some not so good and one minor slip on a piece of wet rock. Challenging might be the right word for it. Felt good though and was very pleased to get up to below the overhang at the top.

Brian closing in on the top of the crag.


This is where said hypothesis was proven. There was a feeling of being a little tired after a long pitch with arms starting to complain about the state of affairs and feet barking away about being stood on tiny ledges for too long. Looking up at overhangs I always find it uncomfortable as you're arching your back and craning your neck to see where the holds are. I could see where my hands and feet were supposed to go so had the first (of several) cracks at it. A slip and a fall back to the ledge made me chuckle and have another go. The next I set my jaw into what I'd like to think was a steely grin in the face of adversity but probably looked more like a vicar with hemorrhoids. Another slip and by now the steely grin (or purturbed vicar look) was starting to be replaced with a rather nervous twitching smile. It's all good climbing indoors and falling. It's even fun falling close to the ground or half-way up a small pitch on a crag. It gets subtly less amusing 180 foot up a rock face with nothing more than air betwen your arse and the ground.

I must have tried climbing the overhang maybe 7 times but it was just too much. I was too tired and maybe not had enough to eat. It was also technically very difficult. I called up to Brian to say I was having a bit of a sketchy time of it and did he have any suggestions on alternative ways to get to the top. After a couple of goes of pulling myself up a rope purely by my hands and arms I felt myself starting to topple back in my harness. This was when I felt things turning a tad feisty. You step into a harness much like you fill a kettle with water. Much as in the same way of making a nice relaxing cup of tea - you turn the kettle upside down and the water empties out providing a refreshing beverage. Turning upside down and the feeling being poured out of ones harness was however neither relaxing nor refreshing. In fact I started shaking like a shitting dog. I've never had a panic attack before but this one kicked in with a big insane grin.

Luckily I've spent a lot of time over the years in precarious situations and have had a lot of experience making decisions and trying to keep a clear head when things could get messy - backcountry and freestyle snowboarding and wakeboarding as well as hiking mountains in the winter all bring a certain level of risk and subsequent important decision making. Also included in this list could be the time when I tried dating two girls at the same time whilst in my latter stages of life at school - an extremely precarious situation.

Brian managed to rig a pulley system by me clipping a spare carabiner into my harness and clipping the run off rope from the belay device into that. Very effective, and a half dozen or so heaves later I found myself sitting on the top of the crag with Chris and Brian feeling a tad shaky but otherwise OK. I rolled a much needed ciggie and unbeknownst to be me Chris snapped one of the best photos I've seen for a long while.

Brian and I at the top of the crag.


I love this photo because it says a lot. It tells me that my friends and I will use lateral thinking and ingenuity to solve problems as well as heart and strength. It tells me that I can push myself to my absolute limits and still know when I'm beaten. Earlier in my life I'd have pushed myself more in that situation to get up the overhang and probably end up hurt. Not this time. It tells me that it takes more than just meaty arms to push yourself mentally and that if you work at something then you can achieve it. Most of all it tells me how I know my life to be - full of challenges that I know I can overcome, even when I'm really really scared. The simple thing the picture says is friendship. I'll look at this photo and think of what happened beforehand, but as a snapshot the picture looks serene with two guys out for a bit of adventurous exercise.

We did do a bit more climbing afterwards - Brian did a few more pitches whilst I belayed him from a shelf much lower down. I had a smaller climb and got some really useful tips which I'll definately remember and use in future. Brian got beaten by a 7b pitch (so he IS human!) so it was kind of comforting to see we'd both reached our limits. AFter a good few hours we returned to the Delice for a quick mango juice and then I retired home for a spot of dinner.

Addendum: Brian and I had both forgotten our guide book for pitches on the crag so we didn't know what route was graded what. We later found out that the start route was a 6b+ - one of the hardest pitches on the whole crag and the hardest pitch from the bottom! Feeling dead pleased to get as high as I did!

Where's the summer gone?

So it's been raining for the past couple of days. The forecast is that it's going to rain cats and dogs for the next two. Bah. I thought this was supposed to be summer!

Things I've done in the past 3 days:

1) Went climbing to Gaillands with Chris and did a multipitch to the very top of the Forestier crag. We had an adventure around the woods on the top of the cliffs then abseiled down a chimney after doing a rather cool little traverse on a rock knife edge ridge.
2) Went out for a beer into Cham with Chris and met up with Brian (just returning from spending the past couple of days climbing enormous routes high up in the mountains) and Emma and had an MBC burger.
3) Been strimming the grass and undergrowth around the farmhouse to make it look pretty and nice.
4) Worked from home.
5) Looked at clouds being pushed around the valley below.
6) Listened to the rain fall (a lot) and gotten woken up by storms regularly.

Standard stuff really - nothing terribly exciting to report unfortunately but next week looks awesome for the weather. Looking forward to getting out for a bit of monkey activity on the rock and this period of inactivity is pretty cool for going for runs in the breaks in the weather and letting the fingers and hands and rest of body heal up from small dinks and bruises.