Bob Wightman

A dream restored

2012-01-25T21:31:00.002Z

Many years ago as a young child having been left alone one evening I remember watching a grainy black and white TV programme about an attempt to climb a rock spire. The attempt failed but the fantastical outline of the rock spire was one of my inspirations to start climbing, a dream spire to aspire to.

That rock spire was Cerro Torre in southern Patagonia, Argentina and its climbing history as I was to discover was as amazing as the peak itself. Only 3128 metres high but with the last 1200m of that being near vertical rock, it has long been regarded as one of the hardest mountains in the world. First real attempts were in the 1950s but it was in 1959 when the modern tale begins.

Two Italian climbers claimed to have succeeded in climbing the peak from the north. Unfortunately one of those, Tony Egger, died on the descent and the other, Cesare Maestri was in a very poor state. The climb was hailed as "the ascent of the century" and appeared to be far ahead of its time in difficulty and commitment. Over the years however doubts began to emerge about the climb.

In 1971 Maestri returned to Cerro Torre to silence his critics but rather than raising his game he resorted to hauling a 100Kg compressor on to the South East ridge and placed between 350 & 450 bolts in to the route. Many of these were next to good crack systems which even with the rudimentary kit of the day were protectable and climbable. Quite a few were on pitches previously climbed without by the British attempt. Maestri didn't even summit stating that the summit mushroom "wasn't part of the mountain" and also removed some of the bolts as they descended - the compressor is still hanging from the wall. The climbing world was appalled: Rheinhold Messner wrote his piece "Murder of the impossible"; others spoke of the rape of the mountain.

Following this episode Ken Wilson, then editor of Mountain magazine, interviewed Maestri. The interview was described to me by the interpreter Alan Heppenstall, whom I climbed with for a while in the 1980s, as "abrasive and confrontational".

Maestri's fit of pique backfired as it focused more attention on his previous claim - subsequent attempts on the line failed to rationalise the ground covered with Maestri's description: areas that Maestri described as difficulties of the highest order were found to be simple scrambling and no-one has been able to locate the line taken on the headwall at the grade claimed. Further to this no trace of their ascent has been found above around 300m above the glacier. Rolando Garibotti did a full investigation of the claims and came to the conclusion that the base of the triangular snow-patch halfway to the Cerro Torre - Torre Egger col was their high point.

The true first ascent of Cerro Torre was by another Italian team but from the west side. The SE Ridge route was finally climbed to the summit by two Americans in 1979. Since then the "Compressor Route" as it has become known has been by far the most popular means of climbing Cerro Torre. Incredibly some have seen fit to add yet more bolts - the worst example being David Lama who in attempting to free climb the route added up to sixty more, again in situations where they weren't necessary.

However not everyone was happy with the state of affairs and over the years a series of variations avoiding the bolts were made (usually at a fairly modest standard) that meant climbers could get to the base of the headwall without using any of the bolt ladders. It was only a matter of time. In 2011 two Canadians managed to eliminate all but the last 40 metres of bolt ladders. This year one of those Canadians along with an American partner managed the whole route without recourse to the bolts.

While descending they removed around 100 of the bolts on the headwall. This has angered some people who see it as elitist and denying other climbers of a historic route. In truth Maestri should have left the climb to better climbers - the only real loser has been the mountain itself. After the bolts were removed David Lama returned and free climbed the route at an estimated grade of F8a.

A dream has been restored.

A fine weekend

2012-01-19T22:18:00.002Z

After all the rain in recent weeks (months? - one day without rain in forty) it was nice to get some fine weather for once. With having done no climbing, not even on a climbing wall, I reckoned I was going to struggle after a handful of routes.

After a bit of ringing around I arranged with Simon to go out. We didn't have an early start but then with the clear nights and morning frost time was needed for the rock to warm up, if possible. We decided on Robin Proctor's Scar - south facing and with the unbroken sunshine and no breeze it should be warm.

Mike and Gaz were already there and were on their second route by the time we arrived so it was a case of getting stuck in to the routes. We were worried that the rock would be cold on the fingers but it was actually really pleasant and we were mainly climbing in t-shirts! After four routes I was beginning to fade (I had though four would be my limit) and on the fifth my strength gave up midway through the crux so it was a jump off to get used to falling. I eventually followed it on a tight rope.

Mike on the crux of The Marshall Plan (F6c)

Unfortunately this attempt failed but he got it later.

By this time the sun was approaching the horizon and the temperature was dropping so it was time to go.

Sunday saw me heading out west again, this time with Cath to do some mountain biking near Kirkby Lonsdale. There was a route in the Yorkshire Dales South book that I hadn't done, though Cath had done it a couple of times. Parking up at the Devil's Bridge the first section was all on tarmac on the roads up towards Bull Pot Farm. All a bit of a lung buster, then we turned off the black-top and headed up a track.

The cold weather meant that there were occasionally patches of ice that meant it was on-off for a while on the track over to Bull Pot Farm. The track down to Barbondale was more of the same but rutted as well so all quite interesting. The bridleway back was somewhat muddy as the day had heated up a bit but there was still icy underneath so the riding was quite tricky even if the gradient was essentially flat.

Tea in Inglesport and then home for a clean up of the bikes and getting the fire lit after a good weekend.

Llandegla Mountain Biking

2012-01-11T17:58:00.003Z

Saturday was promised to be fine so we headed over to N. Wales to sample the delights of the new(ish) trails at Llandegla.

After a slight detour to pick up Pat in West Houghton it was back to motorway and good roads to Wrexham followed by a bit of windy stuff to get to the car park. It was packed and we ended up parking way up at the top of the overflow carpark.

Despite the promise of a nice day it was blowing a hoolie so getting moving was the order of the day. The first half of the three graded trails share a common track which is very easy, once at the far end of the forest the fun begins. We had planned on doing the red route but the high winds of the past week had led to various fallen trees so a section in the middle was shut. We did a short loop of the black route which was quite easy and overall the red route was far easier than trails at places like Laggan Wolftrax or Gisburn Forest. Good fun though and some good cakes in the cafe.

Sunday was also meant to be a fine day but it dawned dull and damp and we decided not to go climbing - it began to drizzle about an hour after our decision so it was probably right. I got the turbo trainer set up using a spare wheel and old tyre for the bike and had a 30 minute session which raised a good sweat.

I've had problems with my right hip and knee for some time with everything on that side of my body being really stiff and sore plus a groin strain that's been niggling for a couple of years. After a lot of pestering from Cath I finally booked an appointment with a physio. So after ten minutes of history of injuries (yep, it took that long) and a Q&A about where things hurt she got to work. She couldn't believe just how stiff and inflexible my hip was. A lot of the problems have been due to overcompensation following an injury. If you've never had sports massage/physio before then you don't realise just how painful deep massage can be! After half an hour of this and a bio-mechanical assessment of my stance and movement it was time for a few stretches to do before the next appointment - except that every stretch would cause the groin strain to ache. Eventually we found a couple that I could do.

The leg and hip do feel somewhat easier but I suspect that it's going to take a lot of work to get right.

Website Updates pt3

2012-01-09T17:35:00.000Z

The final member of the web trilogy is JavaScript and this too has undergone quite a few changes over the years. Many of the changes have really been in the way that Javascript is viewed rather than any changes to the language itself. With libraries like jQuery for the browser and node.js for the server it has gone from being viewed as a "toy" language to one considered industrial strength in just a few years. There are also now tools available to help avoid common coding errors.

Initially any Javascript I wrote for the site was in a "C style" since I use that language in my work and superficially the two have similar syntax. It's a bit like English and French using (mainly) the same characters but the resulting language being totally different. Similarly under the hood JavaScript is a totally different beast and what's good, efficient code in C isn't necessarily so in JavaScript. Thus as my knowledge of the latter has increased and newer ways of working in it have emerged I've revisited much of the code to make it neater and less likely to cause problems with other blocks of code. (Note that a lot of the code to be found on the web on scripting sites is of a similar naive level - you need to know what you are looking at! As a rule of thumb, the older the code, the less likely it is to be what is now considered to be decent standard.)

Some of the code was nearly eight years old, virtually as old as the site itself, and was in need of good overhaul - yes it worked but had the appearance of being a hack (well it was a hack!) as basically as soon as I'd got it to work then I'd left it and moved on. Other blocks of the code had been changed over the years but the underlying faults had remained. In some instances a simple tweek or two was all that was needed but for many the changes are a complete reworking to bring the code up to standard. There's the advantage of a working version to refer to and to fall back on but equally having an existing solution can colour how you view the problem (and therefore the solution) so it's possible to end up with something that still has the existing faults without realising it.

An example would be the slideshow code. I'd rewritten it a couple of years ago to be more in line with modern thinking but there were still one or two subtle bugs in there that I hadn't managed to get to the bottom of and fix. I needed to add touch functionality for use on mobile devices so was modifying the code anyway so, rather than simply bolting on the new code, I went for the full rewrite.

By doing things like taking advantage of how browsers handle user actions such as mouse clicks I was able to simplify the workings of the code used to switch between slides which meant that the bugs disappeared! I also took the opportunity to add image caching so that when the user is looking at an image, that time is used to download the next image as a background task so it is immediately ready for viewing. Even with the extra code to deal with touch events and caching, the resulting code is cleaner and smaller by about 25% than what had gone before - I might even understand it when I come back to it in another eight years' time!

The above is typical of work behind the scenes that's led to both fewer and smaller JavaScript files being required for the site. This in turn leads to pages that are faster to load and feel more responsive to user input. I'm still revising the use of JavaScript on the site: many pages no longer require it though equally some pages use more, but I can do this on a page by page basis.

After all this techie stuff - it's time to get back to more active things!

Website updates pt2

2012-01-08T10:32:00.000Z

If HTML is used to structure modern websites then CSS is used to give them their look and feel. Without it they look like plain paper documents, in fact very similar to early web pages.

As with HTML, the technology is being updated with CSS3 being the latest version though not every browser supports these features. This means that there has to be either a fallback for older browsers or that site isn't dependent on the use of the new features, this is known as progressive enhancement. An example would be drop shadows: these are a visual effect that doesn't affect the usage or behaviour of the site so adding them is nice for those browsers that can handle them but other browsers will still work fine if look a little plain.

With (semi) major updates it's nice, though not essential, to give a new look and feel to the site, partly to indicate that the site has been updated and partly to avoid being seen as stale. The changes are minor on the surface: the main menu text is "reflected" and the call-out boxes have a vertical background gradient, but this time the changes have really been about how the styles are generated. The work needed to create a CSS stylesheet for a web site is often rather intensive and with three stylesheets needed for desktop, tablet and phone this work increases at least three fold as you need to ensure some consistency between the devices.

There are several tools and methodologies around to ease this work but I settled on the SASS/Compass combination. This allows you to define a set of values at the start of the file then use them later on rather than rewriting the value every time. You can also perform "mathematical" operations, making colours lighter or darker for example. All this leads to a consistency in the stylesheet which didn't really exist in those I'd created before.

A further benefit is that a lot of the "cruft" that had built up is no longer needed so the CSS is smaller. However I removed all of the CSS that was embedded in individual pages and included that so the resulting size isn't as small as it could have been.

One of the "hot phrases" in current website design is "responsive layout" which is perhaps the antithesis of early web pages that were intended to be "pixel perfect" on every device. Using new features in CSS3 it is now possible to have the browser adapt the layout to match the device or size of window: wide desktop screens might get 3 columns, narrower screens and tablets get the data in two columns and for mobile phones it is presented in a single column. You can even account for changes in how a tablet or phone is being held - portrait or orientation. No change to the core structure of the page is required but the visitor gets a site that is better suited to how they are viewing it.

The next posting will look at the Javascript changes.

Website Updates

2012-01-05T07:53:00.000Z

This posting is the first of a set describing the reasoning and working behind the latest updates to my website.

Over time I've made a lot of small changes to the site, both front end (what you see in the browser) and back end (the fancy stuff in the background that drives it) that have meant that things aren't quite as clearly and logically laid out as they could be. This makes predicting the effect of future changes harder. This nearly always happens with software and occasionally you have to dive in, get your hands dirty and tidy things up.

Sometimes changes are required because of external influences, for corporate websites this could be for legal reasons, in my case (and I suspect for a lot of people who maintain websites) it is the increased use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets being used to access the web. From the site logs, visitors using smart phones or tablets individually outnumber those using Internet Explorer 7 and together they almost outnumber those using Internet Explorer 8 so this change cannot be ignored. Mobile users have different requirements both in how they use a website and how the website should appear and be usable on such small screens.

The main ideas have been to:

reduce how much data is sent;
display the data appropriately;
limit the amount of data initially shown with user options for pulling in more;
incorporate the touch interface.

Any web page can be viewed as being composed of essentially just three elements: content - the words and pictures; look - colours, layout; behaviour - what happens when you click a button etc. These correspond to HTML, CSS and Javascript respectfully, all of which are in the, seemingly almost continuous, process of being updated.

I'd moved the site to use the latest version of HTML (5) a year ago though it doesn't require many of the new markup that the standard introduces.

In one of those "aha" moments I realised that I could replace the multiple slideshow files and that instead of having bowfell_buttress_slides.php, winter-bgr_slides.php, etc. I could have a single template file and pass it a parameter then use that parameter to load the appropriate javascript array of slide details so slideshow.php?s=bowfell_buttress, slideshow.php?s=winter-bgr, etc. This meant that I could replace over sixty (and growing) slideshow files with just one main file (actually one per main section of the site so three in total) but would need the details from those sixty replacing with smaller files holding the data. The benefit is that if a change needs to be made to the slideshow template, I've only three files to change not sixty or more. Chasing up and changing the many links took a while though! Adding a new slideshow is now a matter of creating the necessary data file and then creating the appropriate link.

Along with similar changes to several mainly text pages this means that any future updates to look or behaviour of these pages is much simpler and I'm less likely to miss a file or break something - if one of the pages works then they'll all work.

The next posting will look at the CSS changes.

A Ton up

2011-12-31T16:01:00.000Z

Somewhat surprisingly this is my 100th posting. No personal activities to report but I was marshalling at the Auld Lang Syne fell race so a couple of photos. However I was at the highest point of the race and it was all I could do to keep as dry as possible and not let the camera get wet.

The Brownlees well in front at the trig point. Alistair went on to win.

Some of the following field appearing out of the mirk.

Just time to dry out in time for tonight's festivities.

All the best for the new year.

A Christmas Close Shave

2011-12-28T11:37:00.001Z

Phew! With Xmas done and dusted (and blown away in the wind) it's time to start shedding those extra kilogrammes that mysteriously appeared. I managed to go for a short (very short) run yesterday through the fields round the house though everything was very boggy and I felt like I'd put on weight by the end!

Xmas was a bit of a panic as midday on Xmas Eve I thought I'd check the heating oil tank. It was virtually empty with the level of oil being halfway down the feed pipe! Probably only half a day's worth left. Of course being Xmas Eve all the local suppliers were shut. Our neighbours were also low on oil so no borrowing off them. In the end I managed to borrow some red diesel off one of the local farmers which should last us until we get a delivery early next week, that'll be 1000 litres then. For someone who wants to get some winter climbing done I'm now wanting the weather to stay warm to conserve fuel :-(

Time to start planning a training regime ...

The Stoop

2011-12-21T17:59:00.002Z

After everyone cried off to go winter climbing at the weekend, I ended up taking photos at The Stoop fell race on the Sunday. Photos here on Picasa. It looked like a good turn out but it was a bit hard figuring out who was who as Dave Woodhead had handed out free Santa hats!

It ended up being a nice day so I decided to walk back home via Slippery Ford. It wasn't so much slippery as icy and would have been interesting to say the least on a bike. Along with walking around on the course of the race I must have walked about ten miles in total so a reasonable day.

It now looks like mild weather is around for the christmas period. I just hope things get cooler before too long.

Belgium Bicycles

2011-12-13T17:36:00.000Z

Well a week in Ghent, Belgium resulted in starting with a cold on the journey home on Friday night. Saturday wasn't too bad - I managed a short walk to test out a new pair of winter boots (not bought in Belgium!) but Sunday was a washout - I only got out of bed for a total of four hours.

An interesting point of note was the number of cyclists in Ghent. They weren't your lycra clad, turbo-charged style commuters but people dressed in their work day clothes going to and from work; mothers on converted tandems with babies or toddlers in a covered cot in place of one of the seats; old and young there was no typical cyclist, everyone was doing it.

The infrastructure helps - not just a couple of bike racks at the station and maybe a shop or two but storage for fifty or more bikes every couple of hundred metres. The main train station had bike racks covering an area around at least 100 metres by 200 metres and was packed! See the photos in the post "My Bike is Lost!" and this shot on flickr to see what I mean.

The bikes themselves were nothing out of the ordinary, being the old "sit up and beg" style, in fact I saw only a couple of mountain bikes and no road bikes at all. The bikes at the racks were all locked up but with pretty basic locks compared to what we'd consider acceptable in this country, but then we'd only consider commuting on a bike that cost £1000 or more. If any of the bikes in use cost more than €200 I would be surprised so much less attractive to steal but since virtually everyone seemed to have one there is probably not much point in stealing them. Something like this was probably top end of the range.

The one downside was that cyclists appeared to be allowed to ride anywhere in any direction even against traffic on one-way streets. Given the lack of tooting of horns or shouts about "not being allowed on the road!" I'd say that it was accepted, you did have to watch out when walking though! The speeds most were moving at were less than 10MPH, 6MPH being a much more realistic value, a collision would have hurt only pride, motor vehicles were limited to 30KPH. The only real downside I could see was having to avoid the slots formed by the tram rails.

Why can't we do this in our city centres? The cost of installing regular blocks of bike racks, a decent number not just a couple at each location, is minimal compared to the costs of traffic congestion and the future costs of poor health. Add in a few bye-laws allowing cyclists low speed access to the pedestrianised areas of city centres and the only thing stopping it is the selfish nature of some sections of the populace.

It'll never happen of course :-(

In Defence of the Bowline

2011-12-02T17:41:00.001Z

There has been some criticism of the Bowline as a tie-in knot recently prompted by the sad death of a climber at a climbing wall where what currently seems to be just speculation suggesting that a mistied or partially completed Bowline was to blame.

One climbing wall is now banning use of the Bowline as a tie-in knot, no doubt more will follow. Many walls seem to regard the Bowline as a black art, their employees will look askance at you if you use anything but the "recommended" (by whom?) rethreaded figure of eight. (I've had odd looks for not using a Gri-Gri!!) The main excuse seems to be that the figure of eight is easier to check for correctness by the staff. The argument is that if you mistie the Bowline then it's not easy to spot however if you do mistie the knot then it simply comes undone when you pull the rope leading away from you. A simple check.

I began climbing using the figure of eight as my tie-in knot but after my first leader fall switched to the Bowline and have used it for over thirty years with no issues whatsoever. If I was forced to tie in with the figure of eight I'd probably get it wrong, perhaps even more worrying is that I wouldn't trust it even if I did get it right. I can't remember the last time I tied a rethreaded figure of eight, maybe it was that time in 1981 when I lobbed off a route in Water-cum-Jolly and struggled to undo the welded mass of rope that the knot had become. I may have used a figure of eight on the bight once or twice a couple of years ago but I really can't be sure.

Above and beyond this is a slightly more pernicious creep of there being "one true way" to do things. Climbing just isn't like that, there's too many variables but climbing walls seem increasingly intent on avoiding this variability. Obviously they have a business to run and injuries or worse aren't exactly selling points but promoting the idea that there's only one way to do things is counter-productive. Climbing is about adaptability and if you don't have a variety of techniques to hand then you are severely limiting yourself. Often the "one true way" is so convoluted and time consuming that it just gets in the way of the climbing itself.

I'm more worried that climbing walls are employing staff who aren't able to recognise valid tie-in knots than any risk that I or any one else might tie-in incorrectly.

Phew! On an activity note I enjoyed a very windy day last Sunday walking over the fells to the north of Whinlatter Pass, apart from Whinlatter itself all were on a single walk though with a couple of real outliers in Sale and Ling Fells. I managed to avoid most of the showers and got back to the car about five minutes before a real downpour.

I'm off to Belgium for a week with work so unlikely to get much done this weekend.

Outriggers and Outliers

2011-11-24T17:18:00.001Z

Following on from last week's short walk I was up for some more. A perusal of the map and the appropriate Wainright guide identified two possible circuits in the Eastern Fells suitable for ticking off some more minor fells. I'd a choice between a circuit based on Fairfield or one further north around Glencoyne, both would take in three tops. In the end I decided on the latter as it was an area I didn't know as well as that to the south.

A 6AM start in very thick fog got me to Ullswater for around 8AM with little let up in the fog. After a chat to the farmer at Glencoyne farm it was onward and upward, the initial ascent being interrupted by a fox running past, the first I've seen in the Lakes away from the family farm. Originally I was going to do the circuit anti-clockwise but as I was climbing I figured that the opposite direction might be better. So Glenridding Dodd became the first top, quite a nice top and I'm sure that the view is also very nice, except there wasn't one!

Getting on to Sheffield Pike was just a steady climb with the occasional rock step and boggy section. I pulled out of the fog about 200m before the summit and in to the sun. A runner appeared at the top just before I got there - the only person I saw on this walk. A quick chat and we went our separate ways. As I dropped down to the col and back in to the fog I noticed a Brocken Spectre with Glory (the rainbow).

Brocken Spectre and Glory on Sheffield Pike

Something I'd not seen before was a white ring much further out than the glory, I'm not sure if this is an artefact of the phenomenon or not. The post in the photo is an old boundary marker from the Marshall estate. Brocken Spectres are much more common than most people realise, basically it's your shadow cast on to clouds usually from the sun low in the sky. The rest is simple physics.

On the other side of the col was a short steep pull then it was just a grassy stroll round to the last top - Hart Side - all of 20 metres above the surrounding ground. Getting back to the car was done by the simple fell runner's tactic of straight down hill to join the outward path.

Looking south from Hart Side to Fairfield and Helvellyn. The cloudy col is where I saw the Brocken Spectre.

To the North West of Ullswater are three isolated fells: Gowbarrow, Little Mell and Great Mell, none of which I'd ever set foot on. Getting these done was a simple matter of driving to park the car somewhere suitable and a quick up and down. In the case of Little Mell Fell this took all of twenty minutes, possibly the easiest fell in all the books to achieve. There were quite a few walkers out on these tops also getting the ticks done.

With the day's objectives done it was time to head home.

Lakeland Fells

2011-11-17T18:53:00.001Z

With the rather dull and damp weather we've been having lately climbing has taken a back seat so on Sunday I headed over to the Lakes to do a bit of fell walking.

I'd done some checking in my records and other than the three tops of Skiddaw, Great Calva and Blencathra done whilst recceing or doing the Bob Graham Round I'd only done two fells that I'd not done before 1990! (And one of those, Rosthwaite Fell, was done during the Borrowdale fell race).

An area that I'd only been to twice before was Martindale: once after work for a run on the northern end of the High Street ridge and once to climb at Thrang Crags (so good I never went nor wanted to go back). An early start saw me get to a parking spot at the end of the ridge of Beda Fell.

Steady walking soon led to the summit and from there a long broad ridge led to Angletarn Pikes. Mostly uninteresting ground, only livened by a kestrel and coming across a stag - unfortunately he saw me as I was getting my camera out. A quick drop down to the tarn and then round to Brock Crags, which to be honest isn't the most prominent of tops. In fact a lot of the "tops" in this area are really little more than bumps and in somewhere like Scotland the whole range would only be considered as one or two tops.

After some lunch alone on the summit of Brock Crags I had a choice, either head east and pick up a couple of tops but this would mean leaving Place Fell as a lone top to come back for so I headed west and down to the col and then up the graded path towards its summit.

There were a few people round the summit but once I began heading back north along the ridge there were only a few walkers. The ridge had a steep drop down at the end but soon I was back at the car having another four tops in the bag.

Christmas Cracker Sportive 2011

2011-11-07T17:29:00.000Z

It's been a while since I posted anything which is as much because I haven't really being doing a great deal.

We had a rather greasy day at Giggleswick South a couple of weeks ago, even doing a route or two that I'd not done before. It's not a particularly good crag, though there are some good routes if you look around, so it's best treated as an outdoor climbing wall.

Most weekend activity has been biking in preparation for yesterday's Christmas Cracker Sportive in the Lakes, brought forward as the last two have been affected by severe weather. As it happened, the weather was glorious with not a cloud in the sky and little or no wind.

An early start saw us in Grasmere with me doing battle with the car park's telephone payment system - seven minutes of "press this button", "Did you mean ... ?" only to be told right at the end that my card type wasn't accepted! Coins in the slot worked. Registration done and once the safety info had been given out we were away.

The first mile or so is easy pedalling. This can't be said for the next half mile, also known as Red Bank. Whether it was the cold morning air or me just being out of condition I'm not sure, but there was some serious gasping going on. Fortunately that's the hardest climb on the whole route and I didn't feel too bad once I'd got warmed up. Going alongside Coniston Water I was grabbing an energy bar when I was passed by a couple of riders who were just that little bit faster than I was going so I got on to their back wheel and soon we were at the A590 crossing.

The next section is the fastest of the route and we got to the food stop at Cartmel just on the 2hr mark. I didn't stop too long as I was starting to chill so left them to enjoy the log fire and set off on the return leg. The start is actually the second big climb on the route but it's a series of short climbs of varying gradients and you don't really notice that you climb as much as you actually do, it's only the big descent back down to Haverthwaite that gives it away. Back across the A590 and then up through Rusland to Grizedale (via a short detour because of bridge repairs). I get to Grizedale in exactly three hours and grab an energy gel before the last of the big climbs over to Hawkshead.

A quick check of the cracking views of the eastern fells from the top of the climb before the steep descent down to Hawkshead (quite a few cyclists were heading the other way) then it was just rolling terrain to Ambleside, some of the climbs just seemed wrong and felt hard work whereas others felt OK. Finally there was just a busy (and semi submersed) Loughrigg Terrace where I got my only mechanical - my chain came off - then the main road back to Grasmere.

I clocked 3:49 of actual cycling time but there's the added time of the food stop which took it just over the four hour mark at 4:06. (Results here ) Even so, my time for last year's event, held in Feb this year(!) was 4:47 so much quicker. A quick change and some food later I sat in the sun waiting for Cath. She was also an hour quicker than her previous time so obviously some of the LEJOG fitness is still there.

A quick look at some bike porn in Staveley on the way home and the day was complete. Definitely tired when we got in to the house. This morning was quite frosty so a gentle ride in was in order, I took nearly as long as going home can do! I think it's time to swap to the old bike for the winter commutes.

Curbar

2011-10-20T18:54:00.000+01:00

A sunny day's climbing in the Peak District at Curbar Edge on Saturday. This is another of those crags that I visited a few times in the early 1980s but have not been to since.

Despite delaying getting on to the crag by having a cup of tea in Haversage the sun still hadn't got on to all the crag when we arrived. A few easy warm ups then Mike had a go at Green Crack. I struggled on this but inverted laybacks aren't my forte!

My jamming skills seem to have deserted me and I struggled on the next route, Inch Crack, which is nearer to four inches wide. Another couple of routes and the "Cloggy of the Peak" was getting the better of me. Mike and Gaz did another route before we called it a day and headed home. We didn't do anything hard but it was nice to be out on the rock on such a lovely day.

Sunday we'd decided to get the garden in to shape for winter as there's unlikely to be another opportunity to work with dry soil.

Today was the first day of autumn when I've had to wear long leggins when biking in to work. In fact it was cool enough to need them on the way home as well. I've not biked much this week as the weather has been decidedly autumnal and wild. There's the Christmas Cracker sportive coming up in a few weeks so I need to get some miles in on the bike before then.

BGR Club Dinner

2011-10-09T12:58:00.000+01:00

Last night it was the biennial Bob Graham Club dinner and certificate presentation at the Shap Wells Hotel. The hotel is an old coaching inn located off the A6 which before the M6 was built was the main western road route in to Scotland. It's still used by coach parties but last night it was essentially taken over by around 360 club members, partners and guests.

Normally the dinner is a celebration but this year was the first following Fred Rogerson's death and the first at which he had never been present. An additional sad point was the recent news of the death of Bill Smith who had been out on the Bowland Fells and become stuck in a peat bog and died. It is believed that he had been there for three weeks before his body was discovered. It is perhaps a sad reflection on our times that if he had died at home or in an old people's home only the fell-running community would have taken note but the circumstances of his death led to the spotlight being cast on the somewhat out of sight world of fell-running and Bill's magnificent but understated contribution to it. Sizeable articles in national newspapers and mentions on national media are not something that Bill would have sought but decent men deserve recognition and Bill was definitely that.

The last two years have seen a lot of successes on the BGR and there were nearly 180 certificates to hand out. This meant that a bit of logistical jiggery-pokery and Selwyn Wright had Fred's three daughters along with the new ladies 24hr record holder, Nicky Spinks, to do the hand shaking. And so, two by two we managed to get through the presentations without taking too much time away from the evening's dancing and Ceilidh. Also noteworthy was the presentation, only the 17th ever, of an associate membership to Ian Roberts who has been supporting long distance rounds throughout the UK for many years. He didn't actually know it was him being talked about until perhaps a minute before his name was actually announced!

One of the reasons I was there was to see a couple of mates receive their certificates having been successful earlier this year - Andy Kitts and Steve Brock - both of whom had not long ago stated that they weren't interested in the BG along with Simon Cox who did a very quick time around the 19hr20 mark! I'm not sure of the figures but there did seem to be quite a few women among the recipients, certainly higher than the 6% or so of the existing membership, one of these was Nicky Jaquiery who I'd helped on leg three on a very hot day last year. By a quirk of chance the guy sat next to me, Andy Nicoll, was one of the contenders who went round on the same wild, wet day as Fred's Run and whose support team we'd met coming down Rossett Gill.

Formalities out of the way, copious amounts of beer was drunk(!) with Andy K providing me with suitably embarrassing introductions to various people - "This is Bob, you've used his website."! There were a few suggestions for extra content not all of which are feasible, someone suggested commercialising it with adverts which I have absolutely no intention of doing, my hosting costs aren't huge so there is no pressing need to recover them. Eventually after a lot of chat I dossed down in the car at about 2:30am. A good night!

The weather this morning was absolutely yukk, so just had a steady drive back through the Dales. It's yukk down here as well :-(

Water

2011-09-27T19:12:00.000+01:00

Water is one of those utilities you take for granted unless, that is, your house is on a private supply as is ours. Three weeks ago we ran out of water - "but it's been horrible and wet" might be the response, yes it has but it hasn't actually put that much rain down, the wetness was usually a damp drizzle. Things weren't helped by the fact that the storage tank in the field is also the source for the water trough used by around twenty cows and you can't ask them to drink less.

We were helped to some extent by being away on holiday for one week which should have allowed the tank in the field to fill up which it did but we still had no water. It's no fun when you have to fetch all the water you need: every litre weighs one kilogram (they are SI units after all) so you really know just how much water you are using. Nipping out to the garden water butt to get a bucket of water every time you want to use the loo makes you think about each flush. Washing clothes meant nipping down to the nearest lauderette, a bit of a cheat but you can't subject others to too much smell!

This last weekend was spent digging up the feed pipe trying to locate a joint where one of the neighbours had cut it with his spade when sorting out some drainage. I'd misremembered where this was so it took a bit of finding (read as more digging)

New stop valves and access sleeves on our water feed.

With the joint found we split the pipe and tried pushing water back through it - the neighbours are on a bore hole and can pump water around. With all sections clear we replaced the joint with stop valves so that we could access and push water up or down the pipe in either section independently. Except it didn't work! Water would get to our header tank if fed via the bore hole with its extra pressure but not if fed from the field tank. It seemed like there was an air lock that the pressure of the tank couldn't get past.

Got home this evening to find that the system seems to have corrected itself and the header tank is now filling from the field tank. Phew!!

On a slightly different note, one of our cats proudly brought in a fully grown rabbit on Sunday morning. Fortunately I managed to grab him before he got under the bed to begin dismembering it!

Mine! Give me back my rabbit!

Scottish sunshine and showers

2011-09-17T08:42:00.000+01:00

I got back last night from a week's mountain biking in Scotland. The weather wasn't as bad as first predicted (booking holiday time off from work two months in advance has its disadvantages) but certainly wasn't wall to wall sunshine.

We started with a ride near Sanquhar which was very boggy and very windy, in fact we cut the ride short because of the wind and struggled to pedal down a 20% road from Wanlockhead (the highest village in Scotland) as it was that strong.

On the Sunday we watched the Tour of Britain bike race go over the Devil's Beeftub pass - I was surprised just how much noise 100 cycles on the road make - louder than the support vehicles though perhaps our ears are accustomed to that. We then headed north to Aviemore. This was fortunate since the main path of the remnants of hurricane Katia actually passed over southern Scotland and northern England and the weather further north wasn't too bad.

Our first ride was an easy one up Glen Einich. Mostly vehicle track with a short section of singletrack and a couple of fords.

We may not have been rained on but we still got wet feet! Glen Einich

The next day we rode around in Glen Feshie on some excellent singletrack.

Some of the lovely singletrack in Glen Feshie.

Riding through some rather deep heather above Glen Feshie

After some man-made attractions at Laggan Wolftrax we began heading south and did a great ride up Glen Tilt and round the Beinn a Ghlo massif - this ride but in reverse as the singletrack is better that way. For once the sun was out and we saw a huge herd of deer, maybe 100 animals, and a red squirrel - definitely a red letter day.

Nearing the head of Glen Tilt

Some remote path to the east of the Beinn a Ghlo massive.

Pretty well every day we got back to the car about ten minutes before a cloud burst. However pretty well every ride had a river crossing of some sort that meant wading! But then that's the nature of biking out in the wilds.

Skipton Sportive 2011

2011-09-04T17:59:00.002+01:00

So the day finally dawned ( a dull grey as it happens) and I dutifully headed off to Aireville school in Skipton. It looked like I was going to be on my own as the two Andrews had decided to only do the short version even though they'd entered the longer ride.

Once registered and set up with the timing kit I was ready to go. The route was a bit different from that initially promoted with a teasing set of warm-up climbs on a loop through Stirton then it's a convoluted route to get to Malham and the first big climb of the day, the Cove Road. I've been down this but only gone up on a mountain bike. Fortunately the difficulties are short lived and soon I'm passing the photographers to hit the rolling section over to Arncliffe. Well it's rolling as far as Darnwood House, then there's a steep bit, a very steep bit that's about 800m long. (The OS map has the steep bit at the top but it's actually the bottom bend) Lungs bursting I head over to Arncliffe and down Littondale, getting to the food stop at Kettlewell four minutes later than my 2hr target.

Refreshed and restocked it was time for the big 'un - Fleet Moss. I'd done this a couple of months ago with Cath again on a mountain bike. Time to see what it was like on a roadster. Hard is the answer! It was the first time I've used the lowest gear on this bike, even so it was just fifteen minutes from Oughtershaw to the summit. The descent was a blast, even holding back I got past 70Kph which is a bit scary on a road you haven't ridden before.

I was looking forward to a nice ride down Wensleydale but the organisers had other ideas taking us up to Semer Water via some nasty climbs. Then down to Bainbridge and across to the other side of the valley. I got caught by a couple of riders who asked if I wanted to join them. Cue a 3 man chain gang blast at between 45 & 48Kph down to Redmire and the second food stop. Time to here was just over 4 hours.

The other two soon left me behind on the next section and I just managed to catch them at the start of the climb over to Coverdale but at this point a general lack of biking fitness kicked in and I got left behind, this time for good. After a nasty little loop that seemed to serve no purpose other than to put more climbs in to the route it was time for the long drag up Coverdale. Not my finest hour! I ended up having to walk the two steepest sections on the final climb to the col. Then it was just the headlong rush down Park Rash to the final food stop in Kettlewell.

The final section down through Grassington and Burnsall then over Halton Heights is best characterised by my attempts, not always successful, to avoid cramp. Embarrassingly, I had to stop just 300m from the finish. A few stretches and I crossed the line in 7hrs20mins (though the official time will be a bit longer since that doesn't take in to account the stops).

Some food then the bike home. I managed the first hill but the big one I just got off and walked (thanks to the biker who stopped because he thought I was in trouble!!). The cramps nearly returned on the final slight incline.

Unfortunately rehydrating is going to be slightly hampered by the fact that our water ran out yesterday morning - bottled water and beer then!

Bank Holiday Biking

2011-08-31T07:50:00.000+01:00

Not much to report for a while - last weekend was very lazy as I just felt very jaded so no real activity of note at all.

After a noise began to emanate from the bottom bracket of my new bike it was time to book it in to the LBS for a check and revert to my old bike. I'd forgotten just how harsh it is to ride, it clatters over bumps rather than glides. Got my bike back on Thursday - it was a slightly loose cup on the bottom bracket. Also got a lecture about looking after it! :-(

With nothing really planned for the Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday saw Cath heading off for some mountain biking around Bingley so with the forecast rain not appearing I headed off for a quick spin up to Rylstone, Airton, Otterburn, Gargrave and back. I have to say that the road leading to Rylestone is in pretty poor shape and I just don't seem able to keep a good pace on that sort of surface. Got home in 1hr47 so not too bad.

Sunday I'd been invited on a ride with Andy and Andrew Herbert, just a mere 65 miles. We set off from Gargrave and immediately were heading in to a strong wind. At Airton we headed up over the fell road to Settle, some big showers were passing over the next part of our route but we stayed dry if a little cool. We'd planned a tea stop at Slaidburn and just got caught by a shower as we pulled up to the tea room - with another shower just after Slaidburn this was the only wet weather we had on the ride. The bridge out of Slaidburn was being repaired but there was a footbridge to let us past.

The climb up to The Cross o Greet is one of the main climbs of the day and the wind was again full in our face and made even the few flat sections hard work. It wasn't any easier on the descent as it was now a full on gale blowing from the side which made bike handling a little tricky. Fortunately things eased once we dropped off the moor and headed to Keasden. Then it was uphill again on a road I'd never been on before as we headed over to Gisburn Forest. This time the wind was from our side but it didn't make the climb any easier. Again the descent was interesting with the side wind but we were soon in the forest and heading to Bolton by Bowland for our second food stop.

The last section was known territory back through Halton West, no loose heifers this time, and Bank Newton to Gargrave. The two Andrews were finishing here but I had one more climb to get home, finally reached with 117Km and 5hrs30 on the clock. Rather tiring!

The Lothersdale Alps

2011-08-17T18:48:00.000+01:00

Just south of Skipton is a small area of hills with the village of Lothersdale nestled in its centre, leading over the hills sometimes dropping in to the village are over a dozen paved roads. Time for some hill action!

The first hill, Cowling Hill Lane, is probably the longest at around 3km of continuous uphill and with the steepest section close to the top but with fresh legs it wasn't too bad though the next section up to the pub at Black Lane Ends was a bit steeper. A long blast down to Colne then along to Earby and one of the roads that I'd not ridden before - Coolham Lane. Unfortunately the lower section of the lane is complete with speed bumps, quite annoying at 12KmPH! A short effort and the first of the steep sections is done with but there was a long way to go and another couple of steep sections before things eased off.

Then it was down in to Lothersdale itself and another blast up Side Gate Lane that I'd done the other day. A couple of minutes quicker this time even with meeting a couple of SUVs on the narrow lane. Not much time to recover as my route cut down to the dale again and the only bit of the road I'll do twice to get to Mitton Lane. I hadn't biked this one before and it's hard work from the start but it's the middle section that's hardest. Fortunately it's short and then it's down to Earby and immediately back up one of the longer hills of the route on Moor Lane.

Steady away sees me at the summit crossroads. One more hill to do so down to Carleton via a fast blast before knuckling down and setting off up Park Rd. I've done this a few times, it's never easy but this time I was in a gear lower than normal - the previous hills having had some effect. Finally the top and just a downhill and blast home in a time of 2hrs14.

With just over two weeks to the Skipton Sportive, I reckon I need a bit more distance and hill work to make it feel comfortable.

Competitive Male Instinct

2011-08-09T19:54:00.000+01:00

What is is with blokes? This morning I was cycling in to work and just pulling away from a set of traffic lights when I heard the sound of changing gears on another bike. A quick glance showed a rider in light blue-green. Slowly I began to up the pace and then in to the upper chainring and soon I was tearing along at 40kph with my shadow close behind. All this wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't the one uphill section of my commute ahead, not a steep slope but an uneven surface in places and just long enough to catch you out if you don't pace yourself.

True to form I tore at it, barely dropping below 38kph, by the time I reached the crest I was in severe oxygen debt but no time to stop and we hurtled on to the next set of lights which turned green just in time - I was turning left and my shadow went by with a cheery "see ya!" I looked across at a beanstalk and managed a croak in return. And I was meant to be taking it easy!

Most of this week's activities have been biking related. Saturday I went for a ride over to Bolton by Bowland and back via Gargrave. I set off early in the hope of avoiding the heavy rain forecast for later in the day. I just caught the edge of a shower when leaving Gisburn, not enough to worry about putting a waterproof on for, then it was all clear back to Gargrave (except for the two groups of heifers that had escaped on to the road and calling in on the farmer to let him know). Gargrave to home meant the big hill of the day and I was nearing the summit when I heard the first rumble of thunder, then the first spots of rain. By the time I reached the summit a minute later it was chucking it down, since I was already wet the last couple of Km didn't really matter so I got home soaked. Five minutes earlier and I'd have been home and dry :-(

Sitting at home drying out and the thunderstorm zapped our phone line so our internet connection has been somewhat flakey for the past few days. I rang the ISP who tested the line and couldn't see anything wrong with it (they aren't BT so there's often a finger pointing exercise between the two companies) but after getting passed around a couple of departments I was informed I was on the wrong tariff and that our monthly bill would now be £10 less! Result!! (When I got home this evening the line has been fine all along- strange)

Following Andy's assertion that Eller's Bank above Sutton is the meanest, gnarliest road climb in the area I had to test it, so after work last night I came up with a circuit that also included Side Gate Lane out of Lothersdale which I reckoned could be just as tough. As it turned out the toughest part of the ride was along the tops to Earl Crag right in to the face of the strong westerly. Both climbs felt about equal in difficulty taking 13 minutes a piece to climb.

There's one other road locally that is a steep and reasonably long climb, also climbing out of Sutton: West Lane. So given the strong wind again I decided to try it on the way home from work. It's quite a bit harder than either Eller's Bank or Side Gate Lane and I was glad there was no traffic coming down the zig-zags on the steepest part near the top. Not sure how long I took to climb this one but I was certainly in a lower gear.

All this hill training should help with the Skipton Sportive in a couple of weeks.

Croeso y Cymru and other stuff

2011-07-31T12:48:00.000+01:00

A little while since the last post, oops!

The weeks have consisted of riding in to work with ever quicker times in both directions, I've managed to get the return home time down to 18mins30 but still can't seem to trim much time off the main climb up out of the village which is stuck at c. 4mins between the two marker points. Will have to do some work on climbing - gulp!

Climbing wise, just a couple of days out: one with Simon to Robin Proctor's Scar and Gigg South where we did the usual litany of easier sport climb. I hadn't been out for a few weeks so wasn't sure how I'd be climbing but it turned out that I felt reasonably comfortable but obviously the stamina wasn't up to much. Yesterday was a bit different - went down to N. Wales with Mike. The plan had moved from Cloggy to Craig yr Ysfa to Ogwen where we ended up on Clogwyn y Tarw (the Gribin Facet). We started off with myself leading Diadem, a HVS which I hadn't done before, very pleasant it was as well. Mike then led Yob Route which I'd soloed back in the day, a fact we both expressed surprise at. Our final route on this crag was Hopkinson's Crack a surprisingly tough little crack pitch which needed quite a bit of cam reuse as we didn't have a huge rack of 3.5 sized Friends.

We then slogged up in the humidity to Cwm Bochlwyd to Glyder Fach main cliff. Mike wanted to do Lot's Groove so after a quick run up a couple of introductory pitches I got ensconced on a suitable stance ready for the main event. Mike made steady but good progress on it in the increasingly humid conditions - all the vegetation was very wet and the cracks on the whole face felt pretty damp. After a dismal failure on the cracks on both the direct finishes we scuttled to the top via an easier corner. By the time we got back to our sacks it was 5pm so we called it a day - four good mountain HVSs in the bag though.

Today was the Sunday morning bike ride and I'd decided that I'd ride home from Pip's in Delph. Only problem is that there are at least three significant climbs along the way. As soon as I pulled out of Delph there were one or two spots of rain, uh oh - could be a long ride, fortunately they didn't amount to anything and in a few minutes I was at Denshaw at the start of the long climb up to Buckstones which is reckoned as one of the easier Pennine climbs, just 150m of ascent. Sure enough, 13 minutes later I was over the summit having not had to get out of the saddle. A blast along the plateau then down across the M62, getting passed by Cath in the car shortly afterwards, before the steep descent down to Rippenden and then in to Sowerby Bridge.

The next bit of road was a bit of a shock and I was out of the saddle all the way up to the main Calderdale road. A spin along this and I overtake a couple of cyclists just as we enter Hebden Bridge and I have to cut right and begin the climb to Cock Hill which has around 330m of ascent. The last time I'd done this I'd taken 30mins so had a target :-) Fortunately the lowest section is the steepest though the bit through Pecket Well is on rough tarmac and upsets your rhythm. Shortly after Pecket Well the view open out so you can see your target which though not the summit is the point at which the gradient eases significantly and you can speed up. The summit was reached in 26mins so good going.

As I was blasting down the other side I decided not to head via Ponden but to return via Keighley which meant more blast of a descent, plus the road surface was decidedly better. I got through Keighley and clocked two hours on the road as I was entering Steeton though now I had a head wind. Just the normal commute route home and the final climb of 130m. Not surprisingly I was a little slower on this than normal taking 4:30 between the markers. I got home in 2hr22mins with an average speed of 26.2kph.

Fred's Run

2011-07-20T18:35:00.000+01:00

Fred Rogerson was, with Harry Griffin, one of the founders of the Bob Graham 24hr Club. Somewhat ironically neither man had completed the round. Following Fred's death last October, his family came up with the idea of a relay taking his ashes around the route.

Selwyn Wright, the club chairman, organised things for this last weekend and as luck would have it the generally benign weather broke early on Saturday morning. A deluge of Cumbrian proportions. I'd offered to help from Rossett Pike onwards, hopefully as far as Great End.

A chance encounter in Langdale with another helper - after all who else would be jogging along the valley floor in a heavy rain shower at 7am? - saw two of us climb steadily up the new path up Rossett Gill. Surprisingly we met a couple heading down, we didn't realise it until later but they were actually a support party for an attempt that day, I think the contender got round so good effort on his part!

We stood around in the mirk close to the summit trying to see the relay arrive when a voice behind shouted "Are you anything to do with Fred's Round?" Somehow they'd run right past us. So after a quick chat we set off up Bowfell. Now Selwyn had warned me that the two on this leg were by far the fastest of those helping out - "they might have slowed down a bit by the time they get to you", they hadn't! Whilst they were busy chatting away I was in the red zone, as we approached the ramps leading to the plateau I caught them up - all right they had stopped to wait for me: "fancy carrying Fred's ashes?" Not a problem, except for the occasional stumble where the bag had to change hands quickly to avoid getting split.

Eventually the plateau was reached and we were now not just in a deluge but a bit of a hoolie as well. The summit rocks were slippery and not nice to try and move quickly over but a dab of the hand on the summit cairn and Fred had another one ticked off.

At some point I'd tweeked my groin again so I decided not to continue as I'd only hold the fell hounds up but to descend back to the car. This took as long as the ascent had done and I only saw three people until I was back in the valley.

A lot of effort maybe for such a short section but it was worth it.

Apparently the weather finally cleared up as the relay left Honister and a group of around fifty, including Alan Heaton and Bill Smith, walked the last mile to the Moot Hall in Keswick to complete Fred's round.

Show Time!

2011-07-14T17:57:00.001+01:00

A couple of days' biking at the weekend, one day on the road and one off-road. The road ride was just a quick blast with Cath to Colne and back so nothing major. Sunday we headed up to Langstrothdale for a ride over to Bainbridge and back, however someone forgot their helmet so we had to borrow one before setting off which meant driving through a couple of very heavy showers and about 90mins delay.

Once away it was a long pull up to Fleet Moss with the tarmac feeling very grippy on our MTB tyres, not the sort of thing you need on a climb. At the summit we were watching the paragliders when a stoat scurried across the track in front of us in their usual hyperactive manner. What followed was the longest (and probably straightest) descent in the Dales down the old Roman road to Bainbridge. A bit loose in places so some care needed. Then it was another steep climb to Carpley Green before heading off-road again. There was one section of the track that needed a push as it was both steep and loose, a few more steeper sections and then you are on the summit ridge with wide ranging views. Finally we descended to the road above Cray though a couple of sections needed to be walked as they are washed out and a bit technical. After a pint in The White Lion at Cray it was back to the car with the mewing of a buzzard overhead.

We went to the Great Yorkshire Show on Wednesday, Cath having got two free tickets through her work, so spent some time in queues getting to the ground. Mostly it's like a super large open air market and has little to do with its agricultural roots and a lot of the visitors seemed to be using it for retail therapy.

More interesting were the animals on show. Some of the breeds were new to me, "Lonk" for example (a sheep if you don't know), I thought they were Dalesbred from their facial markings until I caught sight of the breed sign. The rarer Scottish breeds like Boreray, Soay and Hebridean are close to the original wild sheep and compared to the modern commercial breeds are tiny, little larger than a sheepdog. On a walk around the Rare Breeds Trust tent I came across perhaps the rarest breed of all, the Vaynol Cow. Just 45 animals exist which I think can certainly be classed as rare.

A Soay Sheep

A Blue Faced Leicester - they always look rather haughty.

A very docile Hereford bull.

With increasing commercialisation is there any place for these breeds? They take longer to grow and so get to market with all the associated costs of feed and care; they are generally smaller and so less profitable overall; their meat is less suited to the bland, homogenised palate that the modern consumer exhibits and is promoted by the supermarkets. However many of these breeds exhibit characteristics that have the potential to help modern agriculture: disease and drought resistance and the like, so allowing them to die out would be short-sighted in the extreme. Perhaps they are suited to the small-holder who has less reason to submit to commercial pressures with their choice of stock.

Our own retail therapy from the show amounted to a few specialist cheeses and very nice the first one we opened is too.

British Summer and cycling!

2011-07-09T09:34:00.000+01:00

Despite the poor weather recently I've managed to bike in to work every day this week again. In fact I only got wet coming home on Friday night, getting caught in a sharp shower for a few minutes. Unfortunately for Cath, she got caught in a rather sharper shower as she was heading home!

It's surprising just how few times it seems to rain during commuting hours even here on the Pennines. It makes excuses for not cycling in to work even feebler than they already are (and I include myself in that group). Of course it helps to have flexi-time (actually we have core hours so it isn't true flexi-time) so you can try and time your ride to happen between showers but even this isn't truly necessary.

One thing I have noticed is that biking to and from work is becoming much easier and I'm getting home in quick times but don't feel like I've bust a gut at the end of it - it's two miles of uphill to get home so never easy.

As you may have noticed, it's the Tour de France time and fortunately we have a lot of TVs at work so we can get to watch the live coverage - you have to have some perks! There are quite a few keen cyclists at work so we can assert some control :-) It was a bit of a shock to see the Wiggins crash and there's some discussion going on on various feeds about head injuries - there have been three so far in this year's Tour - despite the mandatory use of helmets.

I think most cyclists have conflicting thoughts about helmets with many lauding their use and some jurisdictions mandating their use while others, especially older riders it seems, avoid them. I suppose in the case of the older riders it's what you get used to. The studies on cycling helmets with regards to injuries, both head and elsewhere appear confusing with little robust evidence to support either side of the argument. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting their use - the "I crashed and would have cracked my skull" type of thing - indeed I've had a crash myself where the helmet took the brunt of any impact my skull would have taken though in that case it was the rest of me that took the (big) hit.

Against this is the fact that most cyclists travel at relatively low speeds, < 12MPH, so simply falling off your bike isn't going to be all that traumatic and the main injuries are likely to be gravel rash and possibly lower arm/hand damage. Once you introduce another vehicle, invariably a car, then injuries are going to be similar to those of pedestrians and there is no call for pedestrians to wear helmets. Not an easy choice. For the record I do wear a helmet.

Ennervation

2011-07-05T07:31:00.000+01:00

A bit of a slack couple of weeks mainly due to the increasing heat and humidity. Most activity has been on the bike and I've managed nine out of the last ten days to bike in to work so feeling quite smug about that.

It was our wedding anniversary last weekend so that took a day out, though Cath wasn't too well as it happened. We ended up having a drive round the Dales with lunch at the Tan Hill Inn in very strong wind which was blowing food around and off our plates! To be honest the food wasn't special and it felt that the inn was trading on its location rather than making any effort.

This weekend I got a long bike ride in - had a good average speed for the first 61Km then I picked the biggest hill to get home and things slowed down dramatically. Sunday was spent over in the Lakes climbing on some of the recently developed crags on Harter Fell. We'd originally intended to go to Stonestar Crag but on approaching it peregrines started crying out so even though we knew there wasn't a ban on the crag - the birds didn't nest there this year - we decided to go elsewhere.

The main problem was that we didn't have any descriptions to the routes! In general we got the grades about right though the line that we thought might be a steep E1 turned out to be E4 - we didn't actually try it though. The climbing was OK but it's fair to say that we won't be rushing back. We eventually ended up back at Stonestar to check out the birds. They were making lots of noise without us even leaving the car so we reckoned they were juveniles and there was no reason not to climb. Thus Simon got his third new crag of the day with an ascent of Columbia, E1. A quick pint in Broughton then a surprisingly quiet A65 back home.

The Doldrums

2011-06-22T17:52:00.000+01:00

Well it took all week to recover from whatever I'd picked up last weekend, though I'm still a bit wheezy. The weather forecast for the weekend was pants so didn't arrange anything - bad move! The weather was mostly fine and would have been OK for climbing, oh well.

Somewhat strangely I went for a run up Pinhaw Beacon on Saturday, no idea what made me do it! I was fine on the uphills but ended up walking some of the downhills. My knees were fine so maybe a few more gentle runs might be in order. Went for a mountain bike ride above Wycoller with Cath on Sunday and basically I was crap :-( so I've quite a few cuts and bruises from 1KmPH unintentional dismounts!

Andy Kitts has written up his BGR report here , most of the individual parts were on his blog but here's the full gory details. Yet to see Steve Brock's report.

I've always been surprised at the number of Curlews that we get around the house. On the family farm in the South Lakes I only remember one or two pairs in the area, here though there must be at least ten pairs just in our little area. It's quite odd to sit having a bath and have a Curlew sail past the window less than 20m away! They were mobbing a Buzzard the other day which has a different distribution: lots in the Lakes and fewer the further east you go though I believe their range is extending.

Going downhill?

2011-06-15T17:36:00.000+01:00

A good commuting week last week - biked in four days out of five. OK, it's only five miles each way but it's almost as quick as driving. Got wet on Friday going home, actually got very wet, if I'd left it for another half hour it would have almost been dry.

Saturday saw Gaz and myself at Standing Stones in the Chew Valley, a crag I'd never been to before. In fact I've done very little climbing in the Chew Valley even though Cath is from Saddleworth and I've spent a lot of time in the area. Despite the good forecast it began to drizzle as we got to the crag so we decided to stick to lower grade routes and see how the day went. Gaz had been before and had a couple of routes in mind, however by the time he got to the top of our first route, a VS, it was raining pretty persistently so seconding was "fun". Another couple of teams turned up but decided to head elsewhere so we had the crag to ourselves for the rest of the day.

After waiting a while for the rain to pass we ended up doing another four routes, nothing hard but good climbing nonetheless and jamming uses different muscle groups to face climbing so it all felt a bit different.

Sunday could have been the Roses Round but I got laid low by a cold on Saturday night and spent most of the day (and Monday) in bed feeling sorry for myself. No idea where I picked it up from but it didn't follow my usual "cold sequence" and came on very suddenly. Slowly getting back to normal.

Get the Goat

2011-06-05T21:39:00.000+01:00

After a few weeks (well a month) of no climbing it was time to get back on rock but true to form the fine weather mid-week was forecast to head downhill for the weekend. With a threat of the Peak (yuk!) I had a ring round and Simon was up for a trip over to the Lakes and Goat Crag especially now that it's had a recent clean up. A check in the guide shows that the last time I climbed there was to do Footless Crow with Ed Cleasby, just 24 years ago! Some time after this a rumour began circulating that I'd soloed it - definitely not true!!

Heading over we passed through a series of heavy showers along with some interesting cloud formations near Kirkby Lonsdale.

Weird clouds above Kirkby Lonsdale

As we neared Keswick however the skies were definitely lighter so down to Grange and head through the campsite and flog up the steep slope that I don't remember to the foot of the crag. I was surprised to see the biggest prize in Lakeland trundling still in place.

Having not climbed for ages I was happy to let Simon lead the first, crux, pitch. There was a bit of drizzle on and off through the climb but it didn't affect the climbing too much.

Simon at the start of the steep section of the first pitch

My turn to follow and the steep crack doesn't feel like the crux, the moves on to the ramp feel far harder. My lead next and the guide talks of a blank wall but it isn't too bad, neither is the groove leading to the stance. The stance I'm not happy with: two pegs, two Friends and two wires - all between the crag and a large hollow sounding block!

A team on the third pitch of Preying Mantis

I suggest to Simon that the next two pitches could be combined but he decides to stick to the script so I get the top pitch which is pretty good climbing though I'm glad it's not raining. Then it's time to abseil off - I've never walked off from this crag and don't know anyone who has.

Lethargy took hold and rather than do another route at the crag we decided to head over to Quayfoot Buttress, unfortunately by the time we got there it had begun to rain in earnest so we decided to call it a day and head home. Still I'd finally managed to tick off the Lakeland section of Hard Rock - only took 29 years.

Wild Scotland

2011-05-30T11:30:00.000+01:00

Got back last night from supporting Cath on her LEJOG.

The strong winds of last Sunday grew in to Monday's storm, this was too much for Claire who doesn't like riding in wind at the best of times (which this certainly wasn't) so decided to call it a day at Carlisle. In fact it was at Carlisle that Cath had her only real mechanical of the ride when her rear tyre went all wobbly - it looked like she'd hit a pothole and tore the sidewall so the tyre wasn't running true. Cue find a bike shop and replace tyre.

Give Cath was now on her own, plus the fact that 100MPH+ winds were forecast for the highlands I decided that it would be best to keep fairly close throughout the day. By the time we got to Abingdon services just standing up was difficult so the planned route in to the wind wasn't on so we went downwind and round to Lanark.

Fortunately the winds eased (in the lowlands) on the Tuesday so I headed off to tick some Munros above Glen Lyon where the wind definitely hadn't eased, I had to crawl to and from the first summit where I had my lunch in a snowstorm! I didn't see anything from the other three summits either as I was engulfed by hail showers on them!

Cath's next day was from Stirling to Glencoe over Rannoch Moor which she wasn't looking forward to. Fortunately the wind had changed direction and things weren't as bad as she feared. I, on the other hand had a numpty navigation day on Ben Vorlich and Stuic a Chroin where I failed to find the latter!

Thursday was Great Glen day for Cath and the two Munros of Beinn a Bheither for me, again no views but interesting walking on quite narrow ridges. I got to Drumnadrochit at the same time as Cath having met Ali Welsh in the supermarket car park in Fort William by pure chance.

Friday was reasonable and I took my chance to climb Ben Hope, the most Northerly Munro, for once I got a view from the summit, then it was back to Altnaharra where I was hoping to meet Cath. Her original target for the day was Lairg 20 miles south but it would be good if she could get them out of the way for the final day. It was cold, wet and windy by the time she arrived and she was glad of a warm duvet and the car heating system.

Our overnight stay was thirty miles back at Rogart so there was an hour's drive on Saturday morning back to Altnaharra and then there was just 74 miles to go. I had Ben Klibreck to look forward to - no point in not doing the Munros that are this far north, it's just so far to drive to get to them. However I really didn't enjoy Klibreck, all bogs and not very pleasant walking at all.

A couple of minutes after I got back to the car I got a text from Cath to say she was in a cafe in Thurso so only had 20 miles to go - I had to get a move on if I was going to see her finish! I caught her up with less than a mile to go so had time to get to the finishing post to take the obligatory photos.

Just two metres to go!!

Good effort from Cath in some pretty awful weather for most of the Scottish part of the ride.

Then it was a two hour drive back to our digs for the night in Rogart and a 400 mile drive back home. Both rather tired today!

Wild Wet Westerly Winds

2011-05-22T16:32:00.001+01:00

Well after a year or two of pestering, Steve Brock finally decided to try the Bob Graham this year. With Andy Kitts getting round last week the pressure was on, the forecast however wasn't looking too good with high winds for the whole day and rain promised for the late afternoon.

He tried to move his midnight start time forward so as to avoid the worst of the weather but he couldn't get hold of all the pacers so it had to be the original plan. After seeing him off from the Moot Hall (along with Gavin Pattison) I decided to head up on to Mungrisedale Common to try and get some long exposure shots of them in the back O' Skiddaw. I was there in time but the wind was so strong that I had to hold the tripod down! As a result I didn't get the shots I wanted. Need to sort the technique out I think.

At Threlkeld Gavin was about 15mins up on Steve who was on schedule. A quick changeover then he was off on the Helvellyn leg with Toby, only to reappear a couple of minutes later to get a map for the following leg?! By Dunmail Gavin was about 20mins up on Steve but Steve was still on schedule as they headed up in to the clag.

I go a Text once I'd got home to say he'd finished in 21:59 so well done to Steve.

After a bit of breakfast I headed off to see various family members whom I hadn't seen for a while before heading homewards to meet up with Cath and Claire as they were going to spend the night at home before continuing on their LEJOG.

This morning it was an early start to drop them off where I had picked them up before I nipped up on to Leck Fell to have a look at The Three Men of Gragareth - three ancient cairns. Next agenda for the day was Wild Boar Fell which I've never been up before. I had to wait a while before the rain stopped and I could get out of the car to get changed! Eventually I set off in to the teeth of a gale, it was quite a struggle in the stronger gusts. A bit of lunch in the shelter around the trig point then back to the car and off to Temple Sowerby to meet up with the women.

Seems like the forecast is for more wind and rain but at least the wind will be on their backs rather than having to fight their way in to it.

BGR Success!!

2011-05-16T17:24:00.000+01:00

Well done to Andy Kitts on completing his Bob Graham Round on Saturday! He'd kept his intentions quiet so most people thought he was only going to pace his girlfriend, Stef, on the first two legs in preparation for an attempt later in the summer but a few of us had been let in to the secret. As it happened Stef got hit by a stomach bug on leg 2 and had to drop out but she's already slated another attempt in June so good luck to her.

I had helped Andy on his first attempt last year, running leg one over Skiddaw and Blencathra. That attempt failed around Scafell. With the wonders of modern communication I knew that they had left Wasdale on schedule so headed over to Honister, just to go up to Dale Head or maybe Hindscarth with him, then back to Honister and drive to Keswick to see him in to the finish. As it happened there was someone available to drive my car round to the end of the fell section (no way was I going to run the road bit) so I did Robinson as well.

Andy trying to get some food and drink down at Honister.


Leaving Honister on the climb to Dale Head

On the descent from Hindscarth with just one top to go.

One advantage of helping with the later legs is that the pace is a lot slower which meant that unfit me could keep up! Andy reached the summit of Robinson with 2hrs 10mins to go, so half an hour to spare to get back to Keswick. Disappointingly the clag was down so we didn't get any views until a good way down the north ridge. One of the support crew had come up to show the way round the rock steps which can be tricky in the damp and soon we were down out of the wind following the track down to Newlands Church. I bailed at this point and drove to Keswick.

We had an anxious wait at Keswick as unbeknown to us, Andy had decided to take things easy and use up some of his buffer on the road section. He pulled up to the Moot Hall to log a time of 23hrs 44mins.

The end of a very long road - Andy touches the doors of the Moot Hall to complete his BGR.

Annoyingly both the last two weekends I've done a hard day on the Saturday so have been knackered on the Sunday when I've gone out climbing. Last weekend we went to Trollers Gill and I struggled to stay awake though we did do four routes. Yesterday we went to Chee Dale and I just couldn't be bothered to do any climbing at all! Perhaps more interestingly, the tunnels on the old Monsal railway line have been reopened - they were closed for safety reasons around the time I started climbing so I've never been through them before.

Cath (Twitter: @cathonabike & #LEJOG) and Clair have started their LEJOG, nipping out to Land's End and back from Penzance on Saturday before riding to Galant on Sunday. Today's ride will take them over Dartmoor to Exeter.

Rough Rider

2011-05-08T10:00:00.000+01:00

Phew! Well that was tougher than expected. Managed to get an entry on the day to the Rough Rider Sportive and elected to go for the 75 mile version.

After a bit of faffing about and realising that I'd got an odd pair of gloves(!) I managed to get away by 9am, about half an hour later than planned, and hoped to avoid the forecast heavy afternoon showers. My schedule was an hour to Dent; another hour to Stainforth; then about two hours to get to Settle and half an hour back to the finish. Perhaps a bit optimistic.

A steady spin over to Ingleton then the first big climb of the day up in to Kingsdale, I got to Valley Entrance in 32 mins and the summit of the climb in about 50 minutes before the really steep drop in to Dentdale with several gates to get through which all seem to be at the foot of the steepest bits. I got to Dent in 1hr 7mins so slightly down on schedule. Turning up the valley and there was an immediate head wind which would be present until Malham. The climb out of Dentdale is steady really until you get to pass under the Settle to Carlisle main line when it kicks up to around 16% in a couple of rises. Of course the wind was in your face as you neared the top of the climb. It was a bit of a struggle to get to the junction at Newby Head but it was then a blast down to Ribblehead though the wind was now a cross wind and made it a bit interesting. Back in to the head wind for the section down to Horton where I pulled in to the food stop in 2hrs 11mins.

So after some lovely (and quite spicy) soup, tea and cake it was back on the bike and down the valley to Stainforth ready for the next big climb. Except it was a struggle even on the flat. Eventually the climb started which isn't as bad as you think it is going to be, even though some riders ahead of me were pushing. At the top of the climb there was the option of turning right on the 60mile course but I decided against it and carried on over to Halton Gill and down Littondale (in to the wind of course) to Arncliff from where another big climb leads over to Malham. By now I was getting pretty tired and I only managed the first third of the climb before getting off and pushing. Perhaps more worryingly the weather had turned and was now driving rain, time to get the waterproof on.

Getting to Malham proved hard work and I hit four hours as I passed Malham Tarn. After a rather nervous descent in to Malham there remained the last big climb over to Settle where I had to push again for a short section. By the time I got to Settle I decided to stop and grab an energy gel. This made a big difference as I was soon riding well again and the rolling lanes to the SW of the A65 soon went by and I was at the finish in a time of 5hrs44. My cycle computer had 5hrs28 of riding time.

Basically I don't think I ate or drank properly but the strong winds didn't help.

Hopefully the breeze will dry some crags out for cragging today.

Sunny Wales!

2011-05-04T20:43:00.000+01:00

In an attempt to get away from some fancy do in London we headed over to Arthog on the Mawddach estuary for a weekend's camping.

Saturday saw Cath and Claire heading for the circuit of Cadair Idris in a pretty strong and gusty East wind. I decided to go for a walk up the same mountain having only been up it once before some seventeen or eighteen years ago. Part of my plan was to solo Cyfrwy Arete but the strength of the wind put paid to that so having cut across from the Pony Path I ended up on the screes of the Foxes' Path and up to the summit. I headed down the Pony Path with a bit of pain in my right knee - I'm not sure where that came from. Anyway I was back to the car in just under two and a half hours.

Sunday was just as windy so Simon and I headed for a nice sounding (and west facing) crag on the other side of the estuary. Craig y Merched is one of the outlying Rhinog crags and is composed of Barmouth Grit which is a lovely fine grained rock. We decided to start on the upper crag, once we could find it, with a couple of pleasant E1s. I got the first and Simon was quite surprised at the speed at which I climbed it - more out of seeing the moves and trusting that gear would arrive than anything else. We were a little puzzled by the E1 to the right until we realised that the peg in the description had fallen out. Simon's lead and he managed to get good gear where the peg had been plus a small wire at full stretch above before committing to the crux wall. The top overhang wasn't as bad as it looked.

Back down on the main part of the crag was a fine looking E1 - Magic Mushroom. My lead and the first section wasn't over endowed with gear, in fact none of it would have held and I was now at the crux! A bit of searching and stretching rightwards and I managed to get a good wire which I backed up with a cam. The crux wall reaching the groove was all on side holds for the hands and smears for the feet and not easy to read. Once in the groove there was a good nut protecting the final moves. Definitely hard for the grade.

To the right was an E2 that looked very good but the heat and a lack of water meant that neither of us felt up to it so Simon chose an E1 on the next buttress up and right that was essentially a VS with a 5c move to reach easy ground. Then it was time to go. A nice crag but a pity that there's only route we need to go back for - the E2, yes there are others but equally there are plenty of other crags in the area to sample.

Monday was spent reccying the route Cath and Claire need to take on their LEJOG from Chester to Slaidburn. Mind you we were tired from being up most of the night with the wind threatening to wreck our cheap family style tent!

Spring Sunshine

2011-04-28T11:33:00.000+01:00

For once a bank holiday that had decent weather! A couple of days of it were spent sorting out the garden then on Sunday we were heading over to the Lakes, initially to Gimmer, then it was decided on Dow before we eventually settled on Pavey Ark. Nice, south facing and wonderful bubbly rock.

Surprisingly even on an Easter Sunday the NT car park at Stickle Barn was only half full - we parked in the field in front of the New Dungeon Gill hotel, cheaper for one thing and not a stupid, don't have the right money and we ain't giving change sort of price that the NT car park does. Then it was the steady slog up to Stickle Tarn.

There were a few teams on the crag but it turned out that no-one was heading for our intended routes, at least not yet, so Alex and I set off up Capella, a surprisingly recent find at E1 and a very good sustained route in to the bargain. Steve and Mike were doing Arcturus to our right, the two routes share the same first belay. I was a bit nervous leading at times but soon got going and found the top bit of the first pitch easier than I'd remembered, having struggled previously. Alex didn't want to lead the second pitch (also 5b) so I headed off again and got myself all wrong on the start before wandering up the final slabby walls and grooves.

Once on Jack's Rake we wandered up to the start of Golden Slipper, one of the classic Lakeland HVSs, simply brilliant climbing on lovely rock. The main pitch is a bit bold though so not one for a nervous leader. Having done this several times, including soloing it, before I reckoned that Alex would enjoy it more on the lead than simply following. A couple of friends had turned up to do Aardvark - an E1 with a stiff crux move then delicate rib climbing so I had a bit of a chat whilst Alex dispatched the first pitch. A quick changeover on the commodious ledge, she took her time on the main slab but figured it out without too much fuss. By now Mike was leading Poker Face, another good route. The top pitch is an anticlimax and it would have been better to abseil off but we took the long walk round in rock shoes - ouch!

After a bit of (late) lunch and recuperation and we headed over to do Rake End Wall. I'd only done this once before, solo, and couldn't remember anything about it. Suffice to say, the first pitch is bold and the belay is behind a large loose flake with strenuous moves just above at the start of the second pitch. I think we were both a bit jaded in the heat and although only VS it felt just as hard as Capella.

By now it was getting on so we headed down to the Stickle Barn for a pint and then home.

Wednesday afternoon saw Simon and myself heading up to Great Close Scar hoping to get out of the cold northerly breeze. As it turned out it was a good choice, in fact it was almost too warm! After four routes of variable and debatable quality we'd had enough. Still need to go back though.

Now we just have to find somewhere quiet for the coming weekend to get away from all the Royal Wedding awfulness - I simply can't stand all the toadyism - the papers and TV channels seem to be trying to outdo one another in how obsequious they can be. OBNs to the lot of them!

Somewhere New

2011-04-22T12:48:00.000+01:00

Didn't think I was going to get any climbing done last weekend, with it being Easter school hols, regular partners were away with family. However Simon wanted to get out on Sunday, it being his birthday and all that. We'd only have the afternoon as our wives were out biking in the morning.

After the usual, "where shall we go then?" we settled on Hawkswick Crag which lies opposite Blue Scar in Littondale. Neither of us had ever been so off we went. The approach is a bit brutal: 20m of easy tarmac followed by a blast straight up the hillside to the crag. Then it was a case of find the routes - the crag is quite long, maybe a kilometre, but the routes aren't exactly close together so there are a lot of features that aren't climbed. Eventually we ended up at the right-hand end of the crag where there were some starred routes in the guide.

Simon led the first route, a VS, which was pleasant enough - not polished but not overgrown either. My turn next and the last route on the crag was a HVS but it looked a little bold in the lower half, and so it proved with good gear only coming after you'd done the hard climbing. I was quite pleased that I'm now concentrating on my footwork rather than my hands, usually a sign that things are coming along.

Next up was the three star E1, Simon's lead again and after a bit of dithering getting in the inital gear for the crux wall he did it with no problems. Limestone is really awkward to protect - what look like good cracks for wires turn out to be anything but and it can take some time to sort things out. Don't know why it gets 3 stars as it's only the middle third (about four moves) that's any good.

Final route of the day was a VS crack - Flash Harry (had to do this because of the name) which we both led. Looking at the other routes we've probably done the best of the crag. All followed by a quick visit to the pub in Cracoe on the way home for a celebratory pint.

Saturday saw us at the bike shop in Skipton where Cath bought me a very nice new road bike for my upcoming birthday, she wouldn't let me ride it until the actual day though! When I did get to ride it it was very nice and have done some quick times to and from work. New bike syndrome?

Simply Gorgeous!

2011-04-11T17:42:00.000+01:00

Another Friday off (I have to use up my holiday allowance before the end of April) and it was a cracker! Didn't start out too well though as I nipped in to Skipton to try out a new bike and like a fool forgot to take off my road shoes when going down the stairs in the bike shop and went a right clatter! A few bruises but mostly pride.

As a totally left-field suggestion to Mike I'd come up with Great Close Scar behind Malham Tarn. The last time I'd been to the crag was thirty years ago! I remembered it being somewhat loose and scrappy but that may have been due to us going on the easier stuff, the hope was that once you moved up the grades things would be better. A nice flat walk in and just a gentle breeze with not a cloud in the sky.

First up was a nice looking VS. Good holds and easy climbing but not much gear in the first five metres or so and some of the rock needed careful handling but once I got a couple of runners in I started to feel happier and the upper section though no easier was straightforward. Mike then fancied an E1 he'd done on his only previous visit (11 years ago) so armed with medium to big cams he set off up Gorm. Just one tricky move but quite easy for 5c, pumpy though.

In the middle of the crag is a three star E1, Black Death, that I fancied doing, with a description that talked of hard moves on the lower wall and a difficult overhang at the top. The hard wall at the bottom certainly was, plus it had the same lack of good gear as the VS, cams in limestone don't inspire confidence. After a rest on the gear (to check it would hold of course) I got the moves sorted and reached the jugs at 6 metres and after another move got good gear in. The groove above was steep but on good holds and led to a good rest beneath the top roof. I laced this with gear then went for it - it was hardly any harder than the groove. Following, Mike reckoned that the lower wall was pushing 5c, at least the guide put it towards the top of the E1s in the graded list. Not bad for my first E1 of the year.

To the left was an E2 that Mike fancied, again a lower wall that was awkward to protect then long reaches between good jugs led to the crux: a narrow wall between two cracklines. It was actually really contrived as whichever set of holds you used you got pushed into one of the routes on either side - you could span the pillar without much trouble. We finally finished off with Nomad, one of the routes that I'd done previously and is actually pretty good. All in all a good call and well worth another visit or two, the routes pack a lot in and they are a reasonable length (15 - 25 metres).

Saturday was another fine sunny day and I'd promised Cath that I'd go biking with her as part of her training for LEJOG. The plan was to ride up to Hawes and back. "We could park at Hetton and go from there", "no", "If we parked at Gargrave then we don't have the nasty hill back up to home at the end", "NO!". In the end I gave in and started from home, she was quite insistent :-)

The overall plan was to ride for about an hour and a half then have a café stop then ride another block, café stop, etc. as this is what she'd be doing on LEJOG. After an hour and forty we pulled in to Kettlewell and a cake stop before the first of the big climbs of the day past Cray to Bishopdale. Suitably fortified we pedalled along the valley bottom to Buckden and the start of the climb proper. The first part up to the pub at Cray is steady, typical alpine gradient, but it then steepens up for the last half mile with the last couple of hundred yards being the steepest. The reward was a long sweep down Bishopdale before a short sharp climb in to Aysgarth. The next bit was along the main road to Hawes which was mostly flat but with one or two short sharp climbs to throw you off your rhythm.

More tea and food in Hawes in a rather quirky café/restaurant then it was on to the second big climb of the day, Red Moss. This time the (light) wind was in our faces. The steepest part of the climb is immediately out of Hawes but it soon eases and even drops down again, probably losing all of the height already gained, before the long slog up to the summit. Even going down the other side was now hard work with the wind distinctly fresher. A sharp left turn at Ribblehead and we were soon passing through Horton. Just by Helwith Bridge Cath's chain came off, our only mechanical of the day, but we still made the café in Settle before it shut.

Then it was just a matter of working our way back through the various villages away from the A65 to get back to Gargrave before heading back home. Of course I totally messed up the gear changes at the start of the final steep hill. Final stats were 7:30hrs riding time for 90 miles which wasn't too bad. Definitely saddle sore though!

Sunday's plan was for an afternoon's climbing at Witches' Quarry near Clitheroe so some gardening in the morning in stifling heat. I'd visited the quarry some years ago in damp conditions and wasn't impressed, still it's a nice location. Cath and Pat were going to go biking whilst we climbed.

Gaz on the tricky groove of Crucible.

I was pretty well wiped from the previous two days so was happy just to second things while Mike and Gaz did the leading. I think we did most of the decent routes though another visit would mop up the remaining lines. A post climb visit to the local pub then head home for a rest after a pretty decent weekend of activity.

Gaz on the pleasant cracks of The Reeve.

April Showers

2011-04-06T18:28:00.000+01:00

After one of the driest Marches on record - certainly in the ten years we have been here I can't remember a March being so dry, though certainly we've had one or two Aprils that have been pretty arid.

True to form as soon as we get in to April we get heavy showers! Of course the farmer then decides to spread muck on the fields next to the house so the lane is covered in muck and soil from the fields so you have to be really careful with the power when driving up the lane so that you don't spin, it's nearly as bad as with the snow and ice through the winter.

We went to Anglezarke on Sunday afternoon, first we were going, then we weren't (April shower) then we decided to head over anyway. Years ago we used to visit Anglezarke in the early spring but the trees in the middle of the quarry have really grown (we saw the same last year with our aborted visit to Houghton Quarry) so that it now feels much more enclosed than it used to. Perhaps the BMC should have one of their crag clean-ups, much more useful here than at places like Egerton Quarry.

Kicked off proceedings with Terror Cotta, HVS though it felt awkward for some reason, then the classic VS Metamorphosis before an E1 that I hadn't done before - First Finale. Given E2 in the guide it felt easier than Terror Cotta - a good route to break in to the grade but beware the loose hold at half-height. Then another April shower or two and a bit of mooching around before Mike decided to do Mu'Azib an E1 to the left of Tangerine Dream (an E3 I'd done many years ago). The first few metres looked tricky and he was a bit worried about the top section since that was getting wet but it turned out not too bad. I didn't find it too bad seconding even though it's quite a bit steeper than most things I've been on this year though leading it might have been a different matter.

By the time we'd got back down it was after six so time to pack up and head home. I think I still need more footage to get my head in to gear, going climbing more than once a week is going to be the thing.

Cool Again

2011-04-02T10:16:00.001+01:00

Of course no sooner have you thought that spring has arrived then the temperature drops by six or seven degrees and the cloud and murk return.

Last Sunday we were going to head down to Chee Tor but the weather suddenly turned and going on a north facing crag with a strong easterly blowing wasn't going to be the best idea in March so we relocated to Trowbarrow Quarry to get a few routes done there. With five of us in the team we ended up as a three and a two but since most routes are single pitch or have an easy pitch to get to the main climbing.

Gaz on the crux of Coral Sea, VS 4c

Having grown up not far away from the quarry on the other side of the bay, I've done most of the routes that are worth doing here several times so it was more a case of getting more footage done to get my head in to shape. Whilst we did nothing above HVS, I found everything felt at least a technical grade less than it was given so it seems that things are coming together. Just need more climbing now and I'll start progressing through the grades.

Mike on the middle section of Javelin, E1 5b

Is Spring Sprung?

2011-03-26T18:31:00.000Z

The last week has been lovely and warm, no doubt appreciated by all the new lambs in the fields around us, though this weekend is somewhat cooler. It's also been very dry with several weather stations looking like they are going to have a record dry March.

Last weekend I headed up Wharfedale for a longer bike ride, unfortunately there seemed to be a band of heavy drizzle (certainly no where near rain) in the Cracoe - Grassington area. With a light tail wind I made good progress and got to Kilnsey Crag in under an hour which I hadn't managed before (just one climber looking at the crag and no-one climbing) and it wasn't long until I was at my turning point of Kettlewell. Then it was home along the back lanes on the east of the valley trying to keep out of the wind and avoid the potholes. There were a few other cyclists out along with the usual inconsiderate drivers but it certainly had a pre-season feel to things. The hills to get home felt hard with heavy legs.

Sunday saw us at Crummackdale and in the wind which meant that things were a bit cooler than forecast. The crag lived up to its reputation of excellent routes on the main slab with routes of varying quality and looseness to either side. We all backed off one or more routes, as much to do with this being our first trip out on gear for some time, though one HVS felt anything but - with blind moves and only two pieces of gear (both behind hollow flakes) it didn't feel anything like its advertised grade. In fact Simon top-roped it after I'd led the route to the side and struggled even then! I'm glad we both backed off it.

With the fine weather mid-week I biked in to work on three days with two of those days just needing normal shorts and shirt. This was the first time I've biked to work since before the frosts and snow of last November.

Another long bike ride today - over to Colne, then through Barnoldswick and Gisburn to Bolton by Bowland. This didn't take too long, it was only when I headed towards Hellifield that the wind began to play its part with me struggling to even cycle downhill!! It consequently took nearly an hour to get to Gargrave, then there was just the simple matter of going over the hill to get home. With the steepest gradients of the ride and the wind in my face I wasn't overly happy. I eventually got home in just under three hours, at least I didn't end up horizontal after skidding on diesel like the last time I went round this circuit.

Bring me Sunshine!

2011-03-16T17:42:00.002Z

A quiet couple of weeks though I have managed to get some rock routes in, the first of the year for me. However the main activity has been (road) biking as I've finally got round to doing the training for the sportive I've already done!

After a nastily cold Saturday with overcast skies and a thin northerly wind when I went out on the bike, the Sunday was bright and sunny so we headed to Gigg South where it was just about t-shirt weather! Got a few routes done including some I'd not done before, one of which was unfortunately a retro-bolted E1. The hardest thing I tried was Titter Ye Not (F6c) which was OK apart from the next to last move which I couldn't work out or rather hang on the hold - still there's plenty of time.

This last weekend while Cath was mountain biking around Calderdale I got a lift over then biked back home from Hebden Bridge via the Cols du Cock Hill and Herders. The former is very alpine like in that it's a single long, c. 10K, and steady pull from the centre of Hebden Bridge to the old radio mast at Cock Hill. The climb from Stanbury over to The Herders is a different matter with a series of short(ish) steep climbs interspersed with level sections and with the last climb being the longest and steepest, definitely a lung buster! Only another two climbs after that to get home and my legs felt it on the final climb up to the house.

With the nights pulling out quite a lot now (and the clocks going forward in ten days time) things should be good for evening action. There's a lot of options at this time of year as a lot of the Scottish winter classics are still in good condition as well as more local rock climbing being in nick.

Baptism of Fire

2011-03-04T17:28:00.000Z

It's been a while since my last posting over two weeks ago but then I've not been doing much other than the occasional jog on the paths around home. I've also felt like a cold has been about to start for a while but in true form it never does.

I had intended to get a reasonable bike ride done in preparation for the postponed Christmas Cracker Sportive but on the Sunday I was going to get out I got the bike out of the door and everything felt cold and damp and I wasn't feeling 100% so just went "sod it!" and pulled the bike back inside! Consequently the actual event last Sunday was fine up to about 40 miles when I began to get cramp so the section through Grizedale and Hawkshead wasn't very pleasant.

The rest of the ride was OK if a little like an obstacle course due to the amount of pot holes in the road at some point. I ended up with a time of 4:47 but that was with around 35 - 45 minutes of stops for various reasons (I don't know exactly how much since I hadn't a watch with me and I'd left my cyclo-computer at home).

On a different note - I saw the first curlews of the year this morning along with a couple of lapwings. Looks like spring is on its way, our daffs think so anyway.

It's all been quite dry this week so hopefully it will last over the weekend and I can get some climbing done.

Back to the Grindstone

2011-02-15T18:55:00.000Z

Oh dear!! I've lost a lot of fitness, both aerobic and climbing wise. Saturday I went for a road bike ride, just a short ride of an hour or so to get back in to things, over the hills to Colne and back. Just as well I didn't go for a longer ride as I was knackered! In mitigation my tyres were slightly soft and the first half up the biggest climbs was in to the wind but it did feel very hard work. There's the rescheduled Christmas Cracker sportive in a couple of weeks so I need to have some semblance of fitness for that but the weather forecast for the coming weekend doesn't look promising to get a long ride or two done so it might be a baptism of fire given it's 56 miles and in the Lakes.

Sunday we went to Harrogate Wall. I've not done any rock climbing or even training for it since straining a tendon at the Bridestones in early November and it showed. I struggled on just about everything and by the seventh or eighth route I couldn't hang on decent holds. Oh well, will just have to do more training.

An update on the calculator code from the last posting. After a bit more refactoring (the software engineer's fancy word for moving things about) I got to 85% common code with just 15% being specific to the BGR calculator. I then went for the PBR calculator. The code for this was quite old, probably a copy of the first generation BGR code, I certainly haven't done any work on it for a long time. The PBR calculator needs to be a bit more complicated as there are five potential starting points unlike virtually every other long distance challenge so the code had to be able to deal with that.

Everything was quite straightforward, I added a few elements to the calculator form plus copying and some slight modification of the BGR specific code and it worked! So the PBR calculator can now create multiple schedules for comparison, swap them round, etc. just as in the BGR calculator. Of course I couldn't stop there and I updated the route notes page to have the same feature set as on the BGR side of things - light status information, editable content and dynamic popups with timing details of each top. The page also presents the notes with the same starting point as chosen in the calculator so that everything lines up.

There's still one or two small issues, mainly to do with Internet Explorer, but all in all the new code and methodology has proven that it's sufficiently adaptable for my needs and I should be able to maintain and extend it easily and use it for other challenges.

Wet 'n' Web

2011-02-11T17:26:00.000Z

Well the weather is more like November at the moment, 41mm of rain in Skipton on Friday and all the becks and rivers are well up. Consequently there hasn't been much climbing action though I've done a few of my short run/jogs through the mire.

With the long nights and plenty of time on my hands with not getting out climbing I've been making updates to my website, in particular the Bob Graham pages. So I'll explain some of the reasons behind the changes.

When I first started the site it was hosted on the free webspace offered by my ISP. Unfortunately it was rather restricted in that there was no server side programming allowed, everything had to be done in the browser. This meant that all the code running the site was done in Javascript and also that everything was sort of tied together.

After my ISP managed to lose the site for a couple of months (yes that really happened!) I decided to move the site to another host. I ended up on the same host as the FRA forums as Brett lives in the neighbouring village to us and his offices are close to my workplace so everything is quite handy. Another advantage was that I could have server side code - databases and the like.

The first set of changes were simply converting the site to use php as the extension in the links rather than "htm" plus some use of the organising ability that PHP (and ASP and the like) give you. Once this was done I modified the calculator code to be separated from the form that sat in front of it. However everything still happened within the browser, it just wasn't so tightly knitted together as before. This was the version 2 series of code.

Some time last year I bought a book on Web Gadgets which led me to the current set of changes. The idea behind the new code was that one piece of code on the server along with a central core in the browser would mean a great deal of code reuse not only for the BGR calculator but also for the calculator on the Paddy Buckley pages. Linking the two pieces of code (browser and server) would be AJAX which is a means of updating just parts of a page. This way I could wrap customising pieces of code around the core depending on how I wished to use it. At the moment I haven't got the balance quite right as there is only about 30% of the code in the core!! However it should be possible to change this so that perhaps 80% will be in the core files. I am looking at a single generic core file with supplementary application files which will be wrapped with specific code for each calculator. If I've got it right then implementing the PBR calculator will be simple.

With the first cut of the code released I'm now working towards getting the calculator in to widget form so that users of the Windows Sidebar, the Mac Dashboard and hopefully Google Gadgets will be able to access the same information on their desktop. I've already made the schedule estimator available as a widget that users can embed within their own web pages.

With all that out of the way I just hope that the nice winter weather returns rather than the grey muck we currently have.

Big Bad Ben

2011-01-31T22:02:00.001Z

Obviously not as fit as I thought (or hoped)! Nor had the walking around in plastic boots done much to get my legs used to stumbing around in the dark and half-light on rocky paths. All this is a way of saying that two days' climbing on the Ben and I was knackered!

The plan was for a four day weekend but we ended up using Thursday to drive up to the hut at Roy Bridge rather than rushing it either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning so as to get some climbing done on the Thursday, the plan would have been to do something around Bridge of Orchy. Steve had never winter climbed on the Ben before but was keen as ever, hopefully conditions would allow the sports plan to unfold as intended. A piece of luck in that we were offered the use of the forestry key for the day which would save time both on the walk in and out.

A 5AM wake-up on Friday morning led to us leaving the car around 0615 for the long trudge up to the CIC hut. The path has been "upgraded" in recent years so no more trudging through the infamous Allt a Mhuilin bogs. It was just daylight when we got to the hut, a group of three young lads arriving just ahead. Chatting to them it turned out that one of them was the son of the person I'd last climbed on the Ben with - 25 years previously! They were heading for Tower Face of the Comb. Our original intention was for Point Five but since the last grade V I'd led was the occasion of my last trip up here I was having doubts. We settled on Comb Gully.

After another hour's slog we were behind a team also heading for the same route - b***er! We waited a bit then Steve headed off up the easy part of the gully. 60m later and he's at a belay and my turn. More easy slopes lead to a steepening, this is good neve, good for step cutting, good for axe placements, not good for ice-screws. So it was a case of getting on with it and up to the belay.

I'd caught up with the team in front so we had to wait about half and hour before there was enough room to bring Steve up. The next pitch looked similar to that below but more sustained. Steve set off and made short work of it. The second piece of gear was interesting - a thumb sized loop of wire sticking out of the ice! Steve said he was glad it was there and he didn't care what it was attached to! By the time we were on the top it was a white-out so we headed down the zig-zags as I'd never been down that way then headed back to the Allt a Mhuilin and the car for a ten hour round trip. Some photos of the route here

Saturday: day two and we didn't have the forestry key so it was a walk in from the North Face car-park, another 350m of ascent though plus it was drizzling. We'd been recommended Thompson's Route, again high in Coire na Ciste, so the CIC was only going to be halfway. It was definitely light by the time we got to the hut but it was very murky. Enough so that we spent the best part of an hour finding the route.

Steve set off up the first, short, pitch but after some tooing and froing at the start of the steep ice declared "I've lost my mojo!" and down climbed. After swapping ends of the ropes I head up, a quick look over the gear and onward and upward. The direct line was verglas and looked hard, the previous team had taken a line to the right then moved back in to the main line so that's the way I went as well. An easy ramp lead to a steep shallow corner, in with a warthog then up on some dinner plating ice to an excellent belay.

I offered Steve the next pitch but he decided that it would be quicker if I led it. Again we moved the ropes around and I moved in to the chimney. The climbing was excellent and varied with a definite crux bulge that felt a little exciting but nothing over taxing. It was over all too soon and I was at the large flake belay at the top of the chimney. By the time Steve had joined me the clouds had cleared out and we had good views of the teams at work on the wall opposite.

Kev Avery on the crux of Darth Vader

The next pitch was easy so Steve said he'd lead it. Eventually the ropes came tight but no shout to begin climbing. After a minute or two I set off anyway and the ropes began to pull in. Steve's stance was on the prow of the buttress and was shared with a team on No 3 Gully Buttress. After some time we got going again but rather than follow them across to the right I headed straight up some snowy grooves which were quite interesting even if easy. Eventually I reach over the small cornice and pull on to the plateau and sunshine.

When Steve arrives we decide to head up to the summit as Steve has never been on the mountain at all and it's a chance to get another Munro.

Steve nearing the summit of Ben Nevis

We decide not to head over Carn Mor Dearg Arete as planned since we missed the turn and ended up on the top of North East Buttress. Ooops! This time rather than head down the zig-zags we dropped down No 4 gully. Fortunately the snow was soft so descending was much easier and we were soon back at the CIC hut. It was dark by the time we were back at the top car park it was dark and by the time we were at the car we had been out twelve hours. A long day.

The following morning we consider heading up to Aonach Mor but a quick enquiry at the gondola ticket office reveals that there are 35-40mph winds at the top of the slopes. Probably just as well as we are both knackered.

All Quiet on the Climbing Front

2011-01-27T09:31:00.001Z

With the cold snap gone, it's all gone a bit quiet. The weather at the weekends hasn't been brilliant so I've not been doing any climbing - slightly greasy gritstone isn't my thing. I wonder why? : -)

The weather is more autumnal at the moment so as mentioned in my last post I've gone back to a winter training regime that I used to do around twenty years ago of going for walks with a big heavy sack and wearing my plastic winter boots to get some hill fitness. I used to do things like the Ennerdale Horseshoe like this which is something like a twelve hour day, it certainly got you fit. I didn't go as far as one of the Kendal lads who would carry the crankshaft from a Ford Transit in his rucksack! Mind you he was a fireman so the weirdness goes with the territory.

Now however I just went for a walk up the local fell and back - I did get one or two questions about why I'd got such a large sack on my back though from other walkers. Oh well, makes a difference from the "there's an easy way round the back you know" that you get when climbing.

Rather surprisingly I've been doing some running, not a lot, just a three mile loop, figure of eight sort of thing from the house. About half fields and track and half road. It's enough to raise a sweat (especially since there are a couple of decent hills on the route) but it's not enough to cause my knees any trouble. However I thought I'd try one of my old 6 mile runs, actually the same route as I'd walked up the fell with my winter kit, but it didn't work out too well. For a start I don't think I've "run" it as slowly before, taking nearly 30% longer than my usual time of a year to eighteen months ago, but also my knees hurt for several days afterwards. I'll just have to stick to the shorter runs. I don't think I'll be doing any races though.

Just hope that the winter returns.

Dull and Damp

2011-01-11T17:35:00.002Z

One point I'd not raised in the review of my year was that despite feeling as if I was going to the same crags all the time I visited fifteen crags or venues that I'd never been to before. This equates to around 25% of all days out on the crag which isn't bad. Obviously it gets harder and harder to visit new places though there are quite a lot of crags that either I haven't visited for many years, in some cases over twenty, or have only visited once. Still plenty to go at to keep me enthused, especially in Scotland.

The weather has definitely turned now - mild and wet is the order of the day. No good for low lying ice-falls but it should help bring the higher stuff in to condition with proper freeze - thaw cycles.

Last weekend was a bit of a washout - literally! My usual partners were either busy or not available so I decided to get some winter hill fitness in - walking in plastic boots and with a heavy sack. Went to the Howgills on Saturday for a walk up past Cautley Spout, now back to being a waterfall - there's more ice on the path by the river than on the falls themselves - before heading up on to The Calf. I'd not been up the valley behind the spout before, I'd run along the edge of Cautley Crags then on to Yarlside but it was new ground though little view due to the low cloud level. Out of the mist appeared a sheepfold and what I thought at first to be a hut but it turned out to be a fancy spire built in to the corner of the sheepfold with the inner quadrant removed. Think three quarters of a cake. Whatever the reason it was an impressive example of dry stone walling.

Shortly after I thought I was heading too far along the valley and ought to cut up to The Calf. By the time I got on to the summit plateau visibility was only in the tens of metres and there was a driving wind carrying sleet and hail. After some slight relocation I came to the summit trig point and another party. Easiest now to head along the Borrowdale track, which I'd been only a few metres from on my approach to the summit. This was very icy until down beneath cloud base and it was easier to walk to the side. By the time I got to the col below Yarlside I wasn't too fussed in heading up in to the mirk again so headed back to the car.

Sunday began with driving rain so after a lot of prevarication by which time things had cleared up I set off up the local top - which I used to go up for my training runs - this time with a full sack of winter kit, it felt as if it was all metal! Let's just say that I'd a good sweat going on the climbs. By the time I got home after a couple of hours or so, I was rather mucky so had to wash boots and overtrousers under the outdoor tap. Let's just hope that the winter weather returns...

Review of the Year

2011-01-01T13:26:00.000Z

A quick review of last year while recovering from last night's celebrations.

I only just got climbing again after my accident in 2009 at the start of the year. First up was a bit of winter climbing but unfortunately I wasn't able to take full advantage of the month long super cold conditions due to work commitments. Still a minor first ascent was done along with routes I'd done many years ago.

As the rock climbing season got under way I had some stamina issues to deal with due to lack of activity but that soon passed with more routes under my belt. Most of my climbing ended up being sports climbing on the local Yorkshire crags, though a trip to the north west of Scotland saw us heading in to Carnmore along with some excellent minor roadside cragging kept my hand in on the trad stuff.

A lack of stamina also showed in my running though I did take part in some long races, whether or not that was advisable is another matter! With more running under my belt I was able to support some Bob Graham rounds and a Ramsay attempt though I was struggling in the heat on one BG leg. Events would lead to a virtual cessation in any running later in the year when arthritis reared its ugly head and I wasn't overly keen to do any more damage. In fact I've only done about five miles of running since August.

As a substitute for running I began to do more cycling, both road and MTb, in an attempt to keep the weight down. A week mountain biking in Scotland with Cath got us in to a few places that I hadn't been before and would be unlikely to visit as part of any climbing trip. Biking to work was only curtailed by the wintery weather at the end of the year.

Back on the climbing front, I was improving both in grade and stamina. I was pushing at the door of F6c for a while and got close to a few onsight but did manage to redpoint one at the grade and came close to others. I was definitely prepared to go for things which paid dividends. Being unable to straighten my arm didn't hold me back too much.

Winter returned early with a deep and prolonged freeze and I managed my first ever winter route in November. This was followed with visits to venues that I hadn't visited or had wished to visit for many years. Allied with new kit (leashless axes and new crampons) I hope to continue this winter renaissance.

With luck this new year will be better again.

Out on a Limb

2010-12-30T14:52:00.000Z

I thought that Cautley Spout would be the last route of 2010 since Cath and I were heading up to Scotland for a week's mountain biking over Christmas and there wasn't much likelihood of getting in to the remoter crags in the area that we were going to (Dumfries and Galloway). However a look through John Biggar's site showed some ice close to the road and just as importantly it was close to one of the 7Stanes - Kirroughtree, so we could get the route done and do some mountain biking as well!

The one big doubt was that the route was low lying and close to the sea so it may not have formed but the extended cold spell should have done it's magic. In fact we went for a short bike ride on Christmas day and it was freezing!!! One of my xmas pressies was a new pair of crampons so I wanted to try them out.

Cath did need a bit of persuading - I think that other than the route on Barden Moor last season she hadn't done any winter climbing for ten years, however with the route just a minute from the road there wasn't much commitment in finding out if it was in and with the biking nearby then it wouldn't be a wasted day. The drive over was "interesting" as even though it was a main road, it hadn't been gritted or ploughed. Perhaps more of a surprise was that Clatteringshaws reservoir was frozen over - this large expanse of water is only at 180m A.S.L. A couple of miles downstream and we were at our route - The Grey Mare's Tail. An interesting name given that there is a more famous fall of the same name near Moffat, cue a bit of mischief of which more later.

First looks at the fall and it looked wet, very wet. Cath declared that it wasn't in condition but I wanted to check so scrambled over the icy rocks at the base to the main fall and whacked in an axe - perfect plastic ice! The top of the steep section looked a bit thin unless you were prepared to climb close to the running water but other than that it looked OK.

Back to the car and back with the kit and it's time to head off. Easy climbing up and left to a step where I put in an ice-screw then up and left again to the edge of the running water. Things were steeper now and it took some gentle footwork to make upward progress on the thinner ice. Soon the angle eased and I sauntered back to get a belay round a large boulder - then promptly fell through the ice and got a wet foot! Overall about II 3 which is what it was given originally. After a bit of relayed communication with a watching tourist (and his dog) Cath set off. Other than ensuring the rope was snug she didn't have too much trouble on it.

Scrambling out of the gill we were approached by a single bloke who wanted to know what the condition was like. After a quick chat he reckoned he'd solo it but would like us to stick around just to make sure he was OK. We had a look at the upper fall which would be much more impressive if it froze fully, however even after three weeks of very cold temperatures it just looked too brittle and not well enough formed.

Soloing the Grey Mare's Tail

On the steep bit at the top of the main fall.

Back at the car, the soloist reckoned that ours was only the second ascent and his the third of the route since it had only been done earlier this year.

As for the mischief: well a text to Mike and Steve stating - "Grey mare's tail - tick" did the trick. Might tell them the real story tomorrow :-)

Worth the Wait!

2010-12-23T20:08:00.000Z

Have finally finished work prior to Christmas and a perusal of the usual suspect web forums showed that Cautley Spout was close to being fully formed. It looked like conditions would only get better through the week provided that the hordes didn't hack things to bits.

I'd wanted to do the Spout ever since I lived in the Lakes but it only comes in to complete condition very infrequently, though it was done last year in the big freeze, fifteen years seems to be about the periodicity. A week (well several actually!!) of sub-zero temperatures and if it wasn't in now then it would never be.

I'd arranged with Steve to head over today (Thursday) but had mentioned to Mike that we intended to do it so he'd taken another day off work as it was on his hit list as well. Another fifteen years and we'd be drawing our pensions!

By the time we got to the car park at the only pub in England that doesn't serve alcohol there were already half a dozen cars parked there. Looked like it was going to be busy so no use racing in to the route - we could take our time.

The first pitch is a 30m fall that is the last to form. Now however it was complete, wide enough for a team to take either side and avoid the thin crust over the main flow. A team of four was starting on the left so we'd go to the right. Steve and Mike had both said "Bob can lead the first pitch then we'll do some of the upper ones". Suited me. At least I didn't have to argue my case!

A team on the left and myself on the right on the first pitch.

An easy apron lead to a steepening of slightly brittle ice so in with an ice-screw then sidestep the steep bit and up. It continued like this: steep ice avoided by side steps and moving up to a rest to the final couple of metres where it was easiest to climb the crust over the main flow and so to the belay. Mike and Steve followed together (thus managing to overtake the team of four).

A climber leading at about the same point as I am in the first shot.

Steve and Mike lead the next easy pitch together then we put the ropes away and headed up the gill. After a left turn, the upper falls are revealed. As ever ice when viewed front-on appears much steeper than it really is and so it proved, with the general angle being 45 degrees or so.

Steve on the upper falls.

The main flow was visible here so you had to choose between left or right and stick to it. Soon we were at the top having caught up some of the earlier teams. Gear away and we headed back to the car, the whole route having taken about an hour and a half. The quarter of a century wait had been worth it.

More photos on my website

That End of Year Feeling

2010-12-17T19:02:00.002Z

Surprisingly last weekend was one of the few this year that I didn't get anything done. All a bit quiet really. Everyone else was either injured or on christmas party time. We've actually done quite well since most years the weather craps out and you are forced on to climbing walls. This year I've only been to the wall once, then the weather went from summer to winter almost within a week. One point to note is that I think this is the first time that I've ever done a winter route in November.

On Saturday Cath and I went out for a road bike ride. The problem was I fell off 5 metres from the house! My chain was jumping all over the place so as I set off up the hill I had to stop but with having my road shoes on which have absolutely no grip whatsoever I was on the deck. It took most of the ride to actually get the gears sorted, I think that the cold weather has affected the cabling. Saturday night was spent in Skipton as it was Andy's birthday do. A few pints in the Narrowboat then on to the Aagrah for a curry buffet before deciding on which pub to finish the night in. Avoiding the disco inferno we went for the quiet pub, only for a proper pub brawl complete with broken glasses and stools to break out! I think it's the first one I've ever witnessed.

Sunday was a waste since I obviously can't drink heavily these days and took most of the day to recover! Monday we went christmas shopping in Harrogate for some "bling for a BMX" whatever that is!! Needless to say we didn't find any, a bit of internet shopping is in order.

Completely off-kilter is the observation that the damage I did to my thumbnail at the beginning of September (see Blue is the Colour) has finally grown out to the end of the nail. It's been a black spot slowly crawling across the surface of the nail, a bit like own version of Jupiter's Red Spot :-)

Hopefully the forecast is correct and things are going to get cooler again then routes will come back in to condition.

More White Stuff!

2010-12-08T22:35:00.000Z

While the country moans about having a proper winter for a change, those of us who enjoy the winter conditions were scouring the forums for clues as to what was in and worth heading out for.

Saturday was a funny day, it was meant to be dull but was actually pretty miserable with the freezing level around 200m and a front passing over meant that any precipitation was damp rather than snow and whether you got rain or snow was almost a matter of chance. Steve didn't fancy heading to the Lakes for two days in a row - we had a team ready for Sunday and wasn't fancying nipping down to Cliviger, so out for a walk to get some fitness. Unfortunately there wasn't much to view as the clag was down and it was constantly raining or sleeting. Not a nice day.

For Sunday we had a choice of venue, neither of which I'd been to before so I left the eventual selection to the others. With winter climbing being so popular these days it was time for an early start - which meant getting up at 5am! By six we were away and having to take it slowly as there was thick fog all the way out to the M6. Initially it had been decided to go to Brown Cove Crags but as we headed over, it was felt that it would be better to head in to Haweswater to try something above Blea Water. The only possible fly in the ointment would be the road alongside the reservoir as there had been significant snowfall overnight.

As it turned out the snow had been flattened and Steve had winter tyres on his car. There were only three cars at the car park so once we had sorted out the gear it was time to head off to the crag. An hour later and we get to the foot of the main gill - imaginatively named Blea Water Gill. Despite being early there were two teams ahead of us, one of which - a team of three was just setting off. Time to chill - not literally though. It was decided that I would climb with Pete and Steve would climb with Ross, Steve and I to do the leading.

The initial chimney of Blea Water Gill

By the time it was our turn, the first team had belayed halfway up the pitch proper so forcing the following teams to belay there as well. The climbing was easy but a little thin in places where you could see the water still running underneath the ice. Above there was easy snow leading to a series of short steep steps before the final main icefalls.

There was plenty of variation possible on this section with the teams ahead each taking a different line, there was also another team who had snuck in from the side to avoid the queues below. The first step was steep for a move or two then eased to a large ledge. The next step was a choice between a large pillar with water flowing down its centre or a thinner pillar to the right. I wasn't sure of the larger option so put an ice screw in as high as I could reach and started up the smaller pillar. It was steep but the curved axes I had bought last season made things surprisingly easy - Steve with his traditional axes said he was beginning to get pumped on this bit. If it had been any longer I would have given this grade IV. As it was, getting on to the easy ground above was the hardest bit as the ice thinned out (it often does with ice routes) and needed hooking behind frozen boulders. Above, there were two obvious lines: the right hand one had the two teams we had been following on it while the left hand had only the new interlopers, the left it was.

The right hand line of the upper fall.

The ice to the left was a bit sugary on the surface and took more care than it first seemed, in fact Pete fell off seconding when all points of contact slipped through! Above a further easy pitch of a few short steps amongst snow lead to a bowl. From there it was easy to the top so we simu-climbed in to the sun.

Pete on the easy upper section.

By the time Steve and Ross arrived it was mid afternoon so no time to get another route in. Pack the gear away and head down to Nan Bield Pass then down to the car. Some deep drifts with few footprints to ease the way so the going was a bit harder than you'd like at the end of a day.

By the time we were back at the motorway it was dark and the temperature was again dropping. In fact we stopped at Tebay services in the mist and it was the coldest it had been all day.

Due to having masses of days holiday left I'd got the Monday off and the weather was perfect! One idea was to do some ski-mountaineering - I'd got the gear but never had chance to use it. However the one piece of kit missing was a pair of ski boots (just looked and they are £350 - £500!!!) and skiing in mountaineering boots is really just for very good skiers and that doesn't apply to me! Backing this up was an incident skiing down the Vallee Blanche above Chamonix when descending from a route when I hit a pressure ridge in the glacier, did a somersault and landed on my left thumb. To say it hurt is an understatement! It hurt even more when I did it again about ten minutes later. I didn't get it looked at until I got home (after soloing the Swiss Route on Les Courtes) when it was declared to be broken.

So time for a walk. I'd never been up Great Whernside before, summer or winter, so that would be a good thing to do and if I'd got time continue on to Buckden Pike. The first thing was getting out of Kettlewell - always tricky dealing with buildings and streets. Once away from the village centre, the lanes were hard packed snow which was a bit dicey to walk on. The initial slopes were obviously popular with sledgers as there were masses of tracks in the fields. As I got higher the tracks became fewer and more importantly concentrated in to one path, too often I've come across every walker determined to create their own steps in the snow which just makes it hard work for everyone.

Higher up there were some serious drifts but by the summit rock the wind had removed most of the depth. As is typical, the sun had gone in by now and it was quite cold. There were a couple of ski tracks heading off towards Park Rash so I followed these until they split at a wall. Decision time. Left. A 100m later and the ground drops away in a steep slope of deep snow, the wind direction indicated that it wasn't a lee slope so probably safe, plunge stepping down this was a bit unnerving at first but nothing moved. The ground at the base was covered in deep and unconsolidated snow which made the next few hundred metres very hard.

Eventually I got to the road of Park Rash. Time was pressing now so down the road rather than continue on to Buckden Pike. I got back to the car after about two and a quarter hours, not exactly fast travelling for little more than three miles. Still I'm feeling a bit hill fitter and getting used to moving in plastic boots again.

Early Snows

2010-11-29T19:44:00.000Z

With the TV news getting all excited and blethering on about the "extreme weather", it was time for a change of style this week.

From various blog reports (The Front Point) and posts on UKC it looked like things on the East side of the Helvellyn range were coming in to condition. Steve was keen to head over so we arranged for a 6am start from Skipton. Come Friday evening and Steve was still at work and would likely only get home by 9pm so we decided to be lazy and head over at midday and avoid the crowds that way. It's a problem these days, you either have to be very early or be prepared to climb in the dark to avoid queuing on many winter routes. Since we both have Hope headtorches, climbing at night is not an issue, in fact, Steve has done most of his winter climbing at night!

As it happens we had a dump of snow overnight so we had to spend an hour or so cleaning and gritting the lane so that we could get the car out.

After a stop in Kendal so that Steve could use his Pete Bland voucher (he came 5th in the Tour of Pendle) to get some new fell running shoes, Kirkstone Pass was passable but looked like it would ice up quite easily. Parking is permitted at Glenridding mine through the winter months so it was worth a chance getting up there as it would save 2Km walk-in, and out! As we approached a cattle grid a skier (heading down from the tow at Raise) was walking across it and wouldn't get out of the way so I lost all momentum and ground to a halt about 50m further on. After reversing back down and turning round in someone's drive we parked just above the pub, just 400m from the main road.

Our destination was the Red Tarn area of Helvellyn, I'd never climbed here before - in the days when I lived in the Lakes there were just a handful of grade I gullies - these days there is a bit more to go at. From memory I think I've only ever been down to Red Tarn just once when walking in my teens so definitely a new area. Since it was 2:30pm when we left the car it wasn't surprising that we were the only ones heading uphill.

What you always forget about winter climbing is just how much hard work it is - from the enervating cold to the clumsiness of the equipment needed to counteract it. By the time we were at the outflow of the tarn we had a healthy sweat. A quick change of clothing - not pleasant in a stiff breeze and spindrift but better than climbing and belaying in damp thermals. Then it was off up the approach slopes hoping that we'd correctly identified our climb - V-Corner - before the light faded.

Walking in to Red Tarn at dusk

Off to our right there was a lot of shouting and swearing going on which eventually faded by the time we started actually climbing. As was the light. I'd got first lead so I headed off mainly following steps in the snow to the first ice. The lower parts were nice and thick but above it was mainly a thin covering over rocks which neccesitated keeping to mixed ground leading up grooves to a bay at the top of the ice. From here a steeper corner seemed to be the key to further progress but my last piece of gear was 20 metres below! There was a reasonably substantial icicle but I had no slings with which to thread it - a couple of quickdraws clipped together just went round, it would have to do. A move higher and a perfect peg crack appeared. A few taps later and I'm much happier and step down to retrieve the quickdraws. Once out of the corner I was soon at a stance and took a belay. I'd run out nearly 60m of rope, so much for the guidebook's 20m!

By the time Steve arrived it was nearly dark so on with the torches. As he was leading the next pitch I was sure that I could hear a helicopter flying around and a couple of minutes later so it proved as a set of lights and a lot of noise appeared over Swirral Edge. After circling the combe a couple of times it flew off. The party who had previously been doing a lot of shouting were still in the same place so it looked like something was amiss.

With repeated fly pasts and hovering above the party communication opportunities with Steve were limited but before too long he was at the belay just as he ran out of rope, at least this time it was closer to the stated 30m! I had got cold on the belay so it was good to get moving. The helicopter was still to-ing and fro-ing so it was just a case of getting on with the climbing. The last pitch was described as just a snow slope but early season you never can tell, but the guide didn't lie. Well apart from the pitch length! The rope ran out when I was about ten metres from the mini cornice.

It was now that the helicopter came back and took the casualty off to hospital so I had to wait a bit before Steve dismantled the belay and we simu-climbed until I got on to the plateau. No belay so I just walked back towards the cross walled shelter as Steve climbed. Eventually we get out of the wind and pack our gear away. Then it's stumble down Swirral Edge in crampons and up on to Catsyecam.

I kept my crampons on for most of the walk out as the path had hidden patches of water ice and taking a flyer on a path wouldn't have looked cool. It did make walking awkward though. Just before we got to the car a Land Rover pulled up and a couple of MRT lads had a chat. It seemed that the accident was a woman who had slipped and fallen around 100ft hopefully her injuries aren't too severe. By the time we were back at the car it was 7:45pm. We headed home via Penrith hoping that the road would be clear rather than risk Kirkstone Pass, the car thermometer showed -8C at one point.

Sunday and my legs were knackered from the twisting and knocking on the path due to wearing crampons, my muscles hadn't had such awkward movements for a long while. Thus the planned bike ride didn't happen. Given that the cold weather is meant to last for at least another week it may be that next weekend's Sportive may not take place. Certainly Cath said that she had been frozen on her bike ride on Saturday.

With the cold snap set to continue until at least the weekend things should be good for next weekend as well.

Something New, Something Blue

2010-11-23T20:50:00.000Z

It's rare these days for me to visit a new crag especially one closish to home and not some scruffy over-hyped recent discovery but I'd never been to the Bridestones nr Hebden Bridge. Mike was quite shocked about this, it's one of his favourite venues. Perhaps the answer is that I've never really been in to bouldering. The main reason for this has been that in the day before bouldering mats the regular jumping off played havoc with my knees, more recently my knees have been bad enough that even with mats that I haven't been keen to participate.

Heading over to the crag things didn't look promising, all the roads were damp to wet but by the time we pulled through Blackshaw Head things were a bit drier. Mike was waiting by the path to the boulders, actually more of a small edge than a set of boulders. A short walk and we are at the first of the rocks with a couple of walkers enquiring about our bouldering mats. There is already a small group at play, the climbable faces are out of the wind but there is little sunshine.

A few easy problems as warm up then on to more serious stuff. The rock is strange, the surface is covered in a patina of small grit particles that no matter how much (soft) brushing you do, it always feels like you are standing on ball bearings. Most handholds are sloping, very sloping, and the technique to use them along with the associated footwork takes some getting used to.

Not long after we had arrived, a familiar face appeared - Dave Birkett and his wife Mary. "Got any good jokes?" he asked, "my climbing!" - at least I got that answer in before Mike or Steve! It's always impressive to watch really good climbers in action, they just make everything look so easy and smooth, a bit depressing sometimes though.

Time to move on and we headed to the part of the crag nearest the pub, to an area called Big Brother, Little Sister (or maybe the other way round). Trying one problem here, my fingers slipped in a pocket and I felt a searing pain shoot up my forearm - a pulled tendon. I tried one or two more problems as we worked our way back along the rocks but tried to avoid using my left hand. By now it was nearing sunset and getting quite dark so time to call it a day.

The following day my finger (and arm) were still painful so no climbing. Instead I decided to head off for a bike ride as it's only two weeks to the Christmas Cracker sportive and I need the practice. Heading in to Skipton I was cycling in to a thin strong northerly breeze which made the going a bit harder than I would have liked. In fact heading from Skipton to Rylestone seemed to take forever, whether it was the breeze in my face or the rough road surface or my lack of bike fitness I don't know but I was glad to turn and head through Hetton and on to Airton and Otterburn. Fortunately most of my route didn't involve sustained braking so I could keep my injured finger out of the way. I got home just outside the two hour mark for thirty miles. While not particularly impressive, at least I didn't feel too tired but I don't think I'll be breaking four hours for just under double the distance. I'll need to do another slightly longer ride next weekend, maybe forty five miles, as well then I should be set.

Back to the Wall

2010-11-16T22:19:00.000Z

After a week of not riding in to work at all, I'd put on a bit of weight - about 3lbs - which is a bit disconcerting really as I should be losing more. As an excuse the weather has been pretty bad so biking in would have been only for the really keen.

Unfortunately this meant that the crags were pretty well out of condition - Saturday dawned dull and damp and there was little chance of anything drying out, though it did get sunny for a while. Sunday looked like it would be a bit better but it would be doubtful if anything would be dry so it was off to the wall. First time for me this year, I'm not really in to walls, much preferring to climb outside if possible. As it happens this year hasn't been too bad weather wise and getting well in to November before being forced indoors is good going.

The wall of choice was Awesome Walls at Stockport which has some pretty big sections - up to 22m in places. One of the routines on climbing walls is falling practice - see Dave Macleod's book as to why - but jumping off at the top of the routes is a bit of a big step so there was quite a bit of test falling at lower levels, slowly working up to letting go at the highest lower-offs. To a traditionally raised climber it takes some getting used to - "the leader shall not fall" and all that - but it does work.

One big difference between natural crags and climbing walls, well the crags that I frequent, is that the climbing on indoor walls is much more sustained. On natural crags there is nearly always somewhere to sneak a rest, a little corner or slight easing in the angle. You just don't get that on indoor walls, it's all action from the word go. Still it should improve fitness. After four hours we were all a bit jaded so time to head home.

Back on the bike in to work yesterday - very cold though as there was a thick fog which lasted all day, it was just as cold on the way home, a great temperature inversion though in the evening light. This morning would have been another biking day but the lane had patchy ice which needed gritting (first of the winter) so I decided not to risk it. Hopefully we'll get some proper crisp days rather than the damp wet ones of the last week.

Shock and Awe

2010-11-09T21:31:00.000Z

Well the shock came on Sunday last - I went for a run! Only a short one, about 3 1/2 miles or so and the ground was very boggy but I didn't actually feel too bad afterwards though by Monday and Tuesday I was somewhat stiff.

The week in general was mixed weather wise and fortunately for me I got the car on the wet days :-) One of those days was Thursday which was particularly wet with nearly 50mm of rain! I needed the car to pick up the computer, it had taken no updates apparently but that doesn't make sense as it had been working OK without any updates. Still it seems to be working OK now. Given the heavy rain, Cath asked for a lift home, not surprising really.

Saturday was spent tidying up and planting stuff in the garden. It felt a bit of a waste of a day but the jobs needed doing.

Sunday was looking like another possible wasted day due to most of the team doing other things in the morning which wouldn't have left much time in the afternoon to get things done with the clocks going back the previous weekend. Gaz wasn't so limited so we decided to head up to Crookrise since there was an easterly wind.

As it happened Steve turned up shortly after we had done a couple of routes with Mike and Simon turning up about an hour later. If the sun was shining then things were nice and warm but with no residual heat in the atmosphere, as soon as the sun went behind a cloud then things were pretty chilly.

Steve on Family Matters at Crookrise

With a few routes under our belts and the sun now permanently behind a blanket of cloud it was time to go.

Ooerr Missus!

2010-10-31T09:24:00.000Z

The weather has gone totally bananas! Last week we had sub-zero temperatures, Monday morning getting in to work on the bike was an exercise in keeping the speed down and the cadence up. By Wednesday it was back to shorts!

Carrying a few niggles for some reason at the moment - a sprained thumb on left hand and a sore index finger, feels like a tweeked tendon, on the right. Still things like that don't stop activities.

After a bit of horse trading Mike and I ended up at Almsliffe on Saturday. Now Almscliffe isnt' my favourite crag, in fact it's probably my least favourite Yorkshire grit crag. No real reason for this, perhaps it's the "it's the greatest crag in the universe" plaudits that I'm reacting to, or maybe it's the fact that the decent jams in the cracks are so far back that you can't see your feet, whatever, I do try to avoid it if possible.

The wind of Friday night had died down so we started on the south face, the usual winter pool hadn't formed so it was quite pleasant. The starter for VS was Black Wall which I hadn't done before. The moves were all quite easy but the trusting of gear and the effort in getting it in, the wall leans quite a bit, meant it felt hard in the cool temperatures. Mike then wanted to do Blackpool Boulevard which is a counter diagonal to Bird Lime Traverse. Given E1, the moves are all straightforward, if a little pumpy due to poor footholds, but the final few feet are ungradeable being a stomach squirm along a break!

Then it was round to the NW face, a quick run up Central Route where I wish I'd brought a double set of big cams before Mike had a go at Z-Climb Eliminate. He spent a bit of effort getting the crucial wire in before lowering to the deck and pulling the ropes. Next go he cruised it into the wide crack above and climbed steadily to the top. Following I found the moves on Central Route harder than the supposed crux even though I'd led them just 15 minutes before!

By now it was getting windier and cold so we decided to finish on Great Western, supposedly the only four star route in Yorkshire, in reality it's the most overrated climb around, it isn't even the best HVS at Almscliffe! Fortunately the group of loud swearing youths had moved on so things were a bit quieter. By the time Mike had finished leading I was frozen. There probably isn't a move above 4b on the route if you get things right, getting the gear out was harder as a few of the cams had walked. Mike had taken the right hand finish and it has to be said that it's in a spectacular position for the grade, similar in exposure to the moves to the pedestal stance on Mur y Niwl.

No-one to climb with on Sunday so a bit of general housekeeping, plus it will give my fingers time to rest.

Pushing harder

2010-10-27T21:47:00.003+01:00

Well the weekend forecast was wrong as usual, well around us anyway. Saturday was given as being slightly cloudy but mainly sunny - cue near constant light rain. Bizarrely just a couple of miles away it was hardly raining at all. Consequently not a lot got done round the garden, we did nip in to Skipton to stock up on whiskey though!

Sunday was quite different though, bright and wall to wall sunshine, it was pretty cold though. Mike turned up mid-morning, giving the rock time to warm up, and we headed to the Dales. Mike had a list of routes at Giggleswick North that he hadn't done and reckoned were new. Venue sorted then. We were the first at the crag and the sun had just hit the face.

It turned out that the "new" routes weren't quite as new as Mike had thought and I'd done them with Simon earlier in the year. Still, good for a warm up so Mike set off up a F6a+ and had a few flying lessons! Definitely a stiff route for the grade.

My turn next and there was a F6b+ next to Bad Genie that I hadn't done so I set off up that and came to a quick halt by the second bolt - there were no holds! After a couple of slumps and a rest, I got a hint from a newly arrived team, but it didn't make sense until I made the move. Having dogged around on the start the rest of the ascent was more of a working attempt, the top wall was just jug hauling though. Having seen the secret Mike got it first go and put the clips in on Bad Genie to have a go at that. After a rest I got the route easily on redpoint.

Mike got to the last move on Bad Genie before taking a fall, then we moved left for another batch of F6cs, the first of which was Resins to be Cheerful which I'd managed with one fall earlier in the year. Mike headed up and couldn't figure the move out but with a little hint or two he got to the lower-off. My turn and effectively my second red-point attempt. Halfway through the crux my fingers slid off the hold, aagh! Straight back on the rock and I get to the top. Mike gets the red-point on his first go, on my next attempt I get the hold past the crux at the wrong point and fall again. It's hard work on the fingers so I leave it for another day.

Next door was another F6c and by this time I'm tired and don't make it. The rock is a bit suspect and I was probably too tense. Further left again is an F6b that Mike leads and I'm happy just to second. By now we are fed up with the traffic noise from the A65 so head over to Robin Proctor's Scar.

At the left end of the crag was a F6c that neither of us had done so I set off first. Pulling through the crux I was suddenly airborne and rock debris was hurtling towards Mike. He did well to avoid the falling flake and stop my fall. A foothold under the overlap had come away, fortunately there was still something that could be used. My fingers were tired and cold by now so I didn't get any further. Mike got to the same point. We decided to bail.

A couple of easy routes later and we were definitely fading so it was time to head home.

An early post this week as the computer is off to the repair centre to get its network card sorted out, things are all a bit weird, sometimes I get full connectivity, other times it either finds the access point but won't let me connect or won't see the access point at all. Fortunately it's still under warranty.

Autumn Colours

2010-10-22T07:46:00.000+01:00

You forget just how hard digging over a patch of ground is! Under orders from Cath, getting the final vegetable patch dug over took quite a bit of work - just need a few frosts now to break things up - I was unable to do it last year because of a little accident on Stanage. Then it was on to cleaning out one of the borders, it seemed as if half the border was weeds and brambles!

Sunday and half the team were looking at going to the Peak again but given the driving to climbing ratio from last week I wasn't keen so Simon and I headed in to the Dales for something a bit more local. Contrary to the forecast, things were getting cloudy plus it was quite windy. The initial intent was to get some trad limestone done but the time spent standing around belaying in the cold wind wouldn't have been pleasant so we ended up at Robin Proctor's Scar. The parking area was nearly full so it looked as if the crag would be busy. And so it proved.

A large number of those at the crag were the Leeds Mafia who have been responsible for most of the (retro) bolting of the Yorkshire crags. A good natured banter session was assured!

A couple of warm up routes proved anything but - it was positively Baltic in the wind blowing across the crag - and by the third route, the admittedly excellent Wheels on Fire, we were only just getting going. One reason for going back to RPS was that I'd a couple of routes that I needed to redpoint so I now looked towards "The Marshall Plan" which is borderline F6b+/F6c on which I'd had to take a couple of rests earlier in the year. First I thought of avoiding it due to the cold but then decided to give it a go.

Setting off I had to wait a few minutes while someone on Yellow Edge got out of the way. Immediately you are on the crux, I only managed to get one finger in the target flake - it would have to do - bolt clipped I carried on and realised that I'd forgotten that it wasn't a one move wonder style of route. Getting to the ledge at two thirds height is quite sustained. At the next bolt I wasn't correctly in balance to make the clip and began debating whether to grab it or not but resisted and got to the ledge with increasingly cold fingers. Five minutes on the ledge trying to get warm then it was time for the finishing moves which aren't as bad as they seem. Belay reached it was time to lower, with a quick play on the crux wall of Forever Young, definitely pleased with my hardest clean lead of the year and on such a cold day.

After a couple more routes, we'd had enough of the cold, we could hardly keep warm so headed to the pub. I don't think the other teams stayed much longer, it was becoming just too unpleasant.

A lot of biking to and from work this week, a bit windy on the way home but not as bad as it has been. Definitely cold in the mornings, I had to wear my winter gloves for the first time this year on Wednesday and still had cold hands when I got to work. Somewhat bizarrely I noticed a large bruise on the back of my left thigh the other night - a bit awkward to spot really - now the only incident that has happened to that leg in recent times is the hamstring strain from the other Sunday on Froggatt. I'd noticed some slight discomfort when sitting down but had assumed that it was the strain itself as it was somewhat lower down the leg than the initial pull. It looks as if I've been set on with a baseball bat!

Fun in the Sun

2010-10-16T13:46:00.000+01:00

With both days last weekend being warm and sunny - at least the further west you went - it was looking like the last throws of summer.

Saturday saw Simon and myself head west, stopping en-route in Settle to pick up Lionel. After a bit of umming and ahhing we decided to go to Trowbarrow Quarry as none of us had been there for a while, in my case about five years. Plus it would be a bit different to just clipping bolts.

The further west we went so the weather brightened - looked like a good choice and by the time we arrived at the quarry it was bright sunshine though with a strong easterly wind. This wouldn't matter as most of the climbs face to the west so would be sheltered. Things looked good. So good in fact that after the first route I had to nip back to the car to grab some more chalk.

When I got back Lionel was preparing to lead Assegai, one of the classic Lancashire HVSs. By now it was so warm that we were all in t-shirts and it was distinctly sweat raising when climbing. Once Lionel had got to the top, both Simon and myself took the first half of Sleeping Sickness to avoid the easy corner on the right. I had forgotten how awkward this section is, it's not the crux but I've always felt it to be at least as hard. Further up and left and it was surprising just how polished the route has become.

Next up was Sour Milk Groove, I'd only done this once before, sometime in 1981 shortly after I had started climbing! A quick blast up the Severe to get to the start of the traverse then shuffle out right along the break trying to find footholds - there's plenty of handholds, just get a hand jam anywhere you want. Crux move up in to the groove itself then it's just a matter of reaching between good breaks to the top. Simon and Lionel both suss out the E1 that bisects the route but none of use fancy leading it so it's back to the quarry floor.

After a bit of messing around on Yellow Wall where we get absolutely nothing done, I'm put on the sharp end again for Jean Jeanie, one of the best VS routes in the UK. The last time I had done this was with Cath goodness knows how many years ago. Let's just say that it is even more polished.


Myself on Jean Jeanie - VS. The crux is the wide section about 6 metres above me. (Photo - Simon Harry)

It's all good climbing though and if you were a VS leader then there aren't many pitches of this grade around that can match it for sustainedness and quality. The crux is probably the wide section at about half-height though it is only slightly harder than the rest of the route, this was one time that my bent arm came to the fore as the bend is just right for an arm lock in this section! The main issue for me was that the only large gear we had were cams which aren't the best of gear in polished limestone!

By the time the other two were following me, the shadows were climbing up the wall and temperatures were beginning to drop. Time to go.

Sunday and it was down to the Peak District with Steve and Mike. As ever it took forever to get there, though by the time we got to the car park near Froggatt the sun was coming out from behind the mist. Cath was heading off to do some biking but with only one key for Steve's car we'd have to hope that we all finished around the same time.

Mike on Downes Crack, VS at Froggatt

We started off on an area none of us had been to: the buttresses hidden in the woods below the path. First route was a fine flake crack - Downes Crack, VS. Mike led it then Steve and I just followed. Both Mike and Steve did the top move via a lurch but I thought I'd do it as a rock-over, and promptly strained my hamstring! Ouch!!

The rest of the buttresses looked a little damp having been hidden by the trees so we moved on to the main edge and Strapiombante. After a couple of goes getting to the last move Steve handed the lead to Mike who got to the last move and handed the lead back! Steve got it next go so we had to do it. Most of the route is VS on really good jams, it's just the last move which you can either head left for a mantleshelf or direct for more of a rock-over move.

Mike on Strapiombante, E1 at Froggatt

Steve had gone for the latter so that was what Mike and I also did, except that the rock-over was on to the leg that I'd just injured! The term "beached whale" comes to mind!

Moving along the edge, Mike and Steve had a play on Avalanche at a technical E2, though again it involved left leg shenanigins so I declined to have a go. Then it was on to Sunset Slab at HVS. The gear on this is too low to be of any use for most of the upper part of the route so leading it is just a head game but it's just a walk to second.

Mike now reckoned that he needed just one more route to get his 100th extreme of the year so we headed to the far end of the crag and Big Crack (E1 or E2 depending on who you talk to). Mike had a go but tired before the upper section so Steve went up next. At this point Cath rang - she was back at the car and getting cold so I headed back with the key to sort her out while Steve and Mike finished off. By the time they got back we were in the pub!

The rest of the week has been much better weather wise than the initial forecast. This weekend I'll finally get round to digging up the last of the vegetable patches. I should have done it last year but my accident got in the way.

A quiet week

2010-10-09T09:31:00.000+01:00

After the full weekend two weeks ago, last weekend was a bit different.

With my regular climbing partners on family duty on Saturday and Cath's biking partners likewise we ended up going for a bike ride from Hetton up to Bordley and Weets Top. To say it was wet is a bit of an understatement, I was surprised that things had turned so quickly as there hasn't been that much rain. Winterburn reservoir was full, it was less than 50% just two weeks ago according to Cath. this is the reservoir that feeds the Leeds-Liverpool canal and the low level is what caused the canal to be shut during the summer.

I was getting serious chain suck when in the granny ring so even the short steep climbs had to be in the middle ring, quite hard work! Once back home, a good clean of the bike and it was in to the LBS for a full service.

The weather forecast was giving rain moving north overnight as far as Sheffield or thereabouts. 6am on Sunday morning and we are woken by a deluge on the roof of the house. This continued most of the day so no chance of getting out climbing. The beck in the bottom of the valley had risen so much we could hear it from in the house - it's around 400m away! I've only seen it higher a couple of times in the eight years we've been here.

Annoyingly the rest of the week has been generally fine so I've been biking in to work. I tend to take it easy on the way in so that I don't raise a sweat then push it coming home, this is helped by the fact that it is nearly all downhill on the way in to work so is obviously uphill when coming home. On Thursday there wasn't a head wind for once and I got the various traffic lights and queues just right. It's always amusing to be overtaken by an aggressive driver who then has to pull up by the queue just 50 or 100m ahead and you just cruise past. Going in to the village I was overtaken by a Range Rover but solid traffic in the centre meant that I was nearly at the top of the hill a mile on the other side (the hill itself is a mile long) before they overtook me again. In the end I got home in just over 20 minutes, my second ever fastest time - I've been under 20mins just the once.

It seems like the knee has settled down now. Whether that is due to weight loss or simply that the body has readjusted to me not doing any running I'm not sure. Just hope it continues.

Double Barrelled Fun

2010-09-30T21:45:00.000+01:00

A weekend of contrasts both climbing and weather wise. I actually managed to get out climbing both days for once, it's only taken all summer!

Saturday saw Simon and myself umming and ahhing before heading to another recently developed crag, this time it was Comb Hill which is in the dry valley above and behind Malham Cove. I'd run past this several times on my training for the Bob Graham and had given it a quick once over but hadn't really thought about it. Times and tastes change and after parking at the top of the Cove road we headed down to the crag, maybe ten minutes walk tops.

The place was Baltic!! The thin north wind was whipping down the valley rather than over the top of the crag. Still while we were here might as well get some routes done. Two F6a+s and a F6b later and we decide that we'd be better off out of the wind so it was down to Giggleswick South.

Two groups of friends were already there so it was quite sociable. In the sun it was warm but there was still a distinct lack of heat once the sun went behind a cloud. Another six routes and we've had enough as it's getting towards evening and cooling down.

The following day I have the car so it's plan A for Gaz and myself, down to the Peak and gritstone at Burbage. I hadn't climbed in the Peak since my accident so the first few routes solo (deja vu!) were a bit tense and I was definitely happier once the ropes went on. By the time we'd done half a dozen routes including some delightful gritstone HVS cracks with all they entail :-) it was getting time to go given it's a two hour drive.

This week has been a bit topsy turvy - the cleats on my road cycling shoes were wearing thin so time for a new pair. One trip to the local bike shop and they were fitted Monday evening. Tuesday morning and the weather is fine so I head off to work on the bike. Or rather tried to. My feet were flying out of the pedals so it's the car again. Asking around at work it seems that Look changed their pedal style, or at least the size of them, around three years ago! Brilliant! One web order later and I've the original style heading my way.

With the lack of exercise on Tuesday I actually went for a run on Wednesday evening, only two miles and very slowly but it was a run. My knees haven't felt too bad over the last couple of days though there is a bit of delayed muscle soreness. Today has been fine weather so I went to work on the bike, at least the cleats fit.

Lazy days.

2010-09-24T17:18:00.001+01:00

The weather played up a bit at the weekend so I didn't really get much done. We were intending to do the Bronte Big K on Sunday but we hadn't pre-entered so it would have cost us an extra fiver (making it £30 each) which we wouldn't have minded but when we woke at 7am it was chucking it down so we thought better of it. As it happened, it rained all day and we hardly went out of the house. Saturday wasn't really much better, just lighter rain and a few gaps between showers though it really depended on where you were.

Biked in to work most days this week, Thursday being the exception due to the forecast but as it turned out, it wasn't that bad a day. At least I'm getting some exercise even if it is of short duration.

Following Andy's suggestion of high dosages of Cod liver oil I've been doing a bit of investigation. For once Wikipedia didn't come to the rescue as it appears that the relevant article is currently a thinly disguised advert! Once you've got past the pseudo scientific stuff on the first page or two that Google returns it becomes quite interesting.

An Australian paper looking at the effects of Cod liver oil states that certain oils - namely 1n3 (the omega-3s favoured of advertisers) are beneficial but that it isn't just augmenting your diet that needs to be done, rather you need to alter the proportion of these fats to their close relation 1n6. Guess which society has got it wrong? 1n6, is everywhere in western diets. Margarine, mayonaisse, you name it, it is likely to be based on the 1n6 fats.

The upshot of all this is that taking cod liver oil while not having been proven beyond scientific doubt to be of help, it is not going to be harmful. Though it seems like I should have been taking it for the last thirty years as it's more effective in prevention rather than cure.

Away from all this, my knee has definitely been hurting for the last day. I think it started when baking a cake, actually gingerbread (don't ask!), last night and it locked in a funny way. One one positive side effect of not running is that I'm becoming more flexible in my right hip which has been significantly less mobile than my left for a while. Quite probably because I've been adjusting my gait to avoid stress on my knee.

All in the Mind?

2010-09-19T11:26:00.000+01:00

A bit of a quiet week really. The usual one day out climbing on Sunday saw us visit a new (to us - it's actually about 200 million years old) crag - Castlebergh at Settle. Developed by the Leeds Mafia a couple of years ago, we'd heard varying reports about it not all of which came from reliable sources. Plus there is a lot of The Emperor's new Cloth about new developments and it's usually best to let the hyperbole settle (no pun intended) before trying it for yourself.

So it proved - those routes to the left of the steep part are mediocre at best, crap at worst, definitely not worth the multiple stars that the download from the Leeds Wall website would have you believe. Perhaps more of note was the average age of the teams there - probably close to sixty - we felt quite young! The youngest person there was in their forties.

By the time we'd worked our way in to the steep bit we didn't feel up to the bouldery starts so decided to head over to Giggleswick North as there were some friends there. As it turned out there were lots of cars at the layby so quite a busy day. Our friends were on the first buttress so we nipped up an F6a we hadn't done before and then wandered over to the further buttresses which to be honest offer better climbing.

It turned out that we knew most of the teams on the crag, again most of those present were in their fifties, the only people that weren't were those in the only team we didn't know. A sign of the times I suppose.

Simon fancied Bad Genie at F6c. We'd looked at the start of this before and couldn't figure out just how to make it go at the given grade. Moving a metre or so to the left proved easier. I seem to have trouble with getting going on F6c, I'm fine at F6b+ but as soon as I move up a grade all the smoothness and ability seems to desert me. It has to be a mental problem as the moves themselves aren't difficult but I don't seem to be able to convince myself of this. I couldn't work out the final move over the final bulge on to easy ground so lowered down. Simon managed to get it first go, making a move out right at the top rather than straight up as I'd been trying. I was definitely tired though as even on a top-rope I struggled. Time to call it a day.

I don't know if my knee is definitely worse or I just think it is now that I know the problem. It may be that I sought medical analysis just at the time it was getting worse. Alternatively I may just be subconsciously focusing my attention on it. Whatever I'm wincing at times even when walking and occasionally when setting off cycling. I still haven't settled on a strategy to handle the arthritis other than continue to lose weight. Joint supplements are often recommended but a recent study casts doubt on their effectiveness. Best save my money then. Maybe it's all in the mind.

An Anniversary or Two

2010-09-09T22:11:00.004+01:00

It's been a year since I had my accident. I hadn't realised until Cath started going on about not falling off before I headed out to climbing on Saturday. Perhaps not a brilliant year, frustrating definitely but one that just needed working through.

As mentioned, we headed out climbing on Saturday. Given the recent fine weather we were going to chance Trow Gill, it takes a while to dry out and it was getting late in the season so there might not be another chance to get up there. Another reason was that Simon had never been. We were going to meet Mike and Gaz there.

The crag was rather dirty, perhaps not surprising given the rains through the middle of summer, also it's a 40min walk which puts many off. A nice F6a+ warm up then on to Alick which I've done before but for some reason I though was F6b. At the top I thought I was struggling but then after his ascent Simon felt it was F6b+. A quick look at the guide confirmed it. Doh! Close by were a couple of routes that I hadn't done before so we ticked them off.

Mike Bullough on the crux of Alick at Trow Gill

A bit of lunch and we reckoned that we really ought to get on something harder. The central corner of the face is taken by Clink - F7a and equipped with staples rather than mechanical bolts so bailing out would be a bit easier. Simon had a really good effort, only needing to to rest on the top bolt before working out the crux sequence to the belay. I was feeling a bit jaded so tried it on a top rope. There was a really tenuous move at half height but I couldn't even make the move to the top bolt and struggled with the move past it. Mike and Gaz also had a top-rope on it. One more route and we were ready to head home.

I've been biking in to work most days - the only day that I didn't, Tuesday, the trains were late! This extra bit of exercise combined with being quite strict about what I'm eating means that I've lost quite a bit of weight already. Just need to keep going with it though it would be better if I lost weight at a slower rate so that the body can adjust rather than react. Even on the bike I can feel my knee playing
up at times. Will just have to see how things go.

25 years ago! Dai Lampard on "The Ramp" on the Original 1938 Route on the North Face of the Eiger.

Another anniversary that I missed was the twenty fifth anniversary of succeeding on the North Face of the Eiger. We actually completed the route on the last day of August 1985. Given the increased summer temperatures in the alps summer ascents of the Eiger have become increasingly rare and it is more likely to hear of a winter ascent than a summer one. So I have to say I feel lucky to have done it when I did. Definitely one of my life changing moments, as was last year!

Blue is the Colour!

2010-09-02T18:30:00.000+01:00

Well the bike ride went OK apart from the weather which was a bit pants! Some big hefty showers combined with a strong, ahem, breeze made for interesting riding.

Our route was out of Embsay, home to most of the participants, over Halton Heights, down to Bolton Bridge then along to Ilkley via the steep hill of Langbar then over Addingham and Silsden moors before heading up to Lothersdale then back through Skipton. Quite hilly then! Halton Heights and Langbar weren't too bad as the wind was behind us but heading down in to Ilkley was quite dicey as the wind was now coming from the side and gusting through gates and gaps in the hedges. Heading out of Ilkley we were heading directly in to the wind so it became hard work, as was the climb up on to Addingham moor. We then cut round on to Silsden moor where the others headed straight back towards Skipton while Steve and I headed home - uphill and in to the wind again - it was a struggle to keep moving even on the flat. A total of 26 miles in all. No idea of the average speed but not huge I would have thought.

Sunday was climbing with Simon again. A late start given the showers during the morning. We took a punt on Blue Scar being dry, and it was! Apart from a couple of small streaks it was bone dry. After a couple of warm-ups we headed underneath the arch, an area I'm not too keen on as the path at the foot crosses the debris of a fairly recent rockfall from said feature - gulp! Our target was Scarface - F6c. I headed up to see how far I'd get as much as anything.

Getting the clips in almost proved to be the hardest thing, the bolts were just too high for comfort from the good holds. Consequently a couple of rests later I was at the lower-off. Simon managed it first go. However in the latest guide to the crag this is now given F6c+ so I don't feel so bad, definitely (another) one for the redpoint. After another (undergraded) route we were done.

Monday was climbing with Mike and Steve. They wanted to go to Blue Scar! Slightly different this time in that we headed to the left hand side for some trad routes rather than the sports fare we've been doing on previous visits. It's a long time since I've climbed on this bit, about twenty years in fact! First up was the only real option for a warm up - Some Blue For You at E1 5a. Steve set off first, Mike and I were going to lead on his gear (the craftiness of age!).

Steve leading Some Blue for You at Blue Scar

Now Steve hadn't been climbing for ages so took a while to get going, in fact he probably took longer for the first ten feet than the rest of the route. The upper wall is protected almost entirely by threads, one of which needs two 8ft slings to make use of! After Mike had done it, it was my turn and it did feel very easy climbing, there wouldn't have been much difference in putting the gear in as most of it could be placed from restful positions.

After threading the belay we decided to top-rope an E3 to the left and since I was already tied in then I may as well go first. Let's just say I didn't climb it in particularly good style, though Mike and Steve did. Mike and Steve then decided that they would top-rope Unreal but that meant climbing a grotty VS to set up the ropes so I ducked out of that. Given that I'd struggled on the previous route I wasn't too keen to do so again, plus I had done it several times in the past.

With a little time left we headed over to the right wing and did a couple of sports routes before the midges started to get bad and Mike had to get back for his wife's birthday.

My knees were a little sore after the bike ride - possibly because of the steep climbs and subsequent effort involved - so I don't think I'll be doing much running for a while as that is only likely to exacerbate the condition or at least have me hobbling for a day or two. Have done a bit of internet research on arthritis it seems that one of the best things to do, and one of the simplest and cheapest, is to lose weight. The best way is to take it easy - a pound or two per week at most - cutting out snacks and the like is also an easy hit. I'll just have to be strict about things. Trying to do too much will just cause the famine response where the body hoards fat because it thinks you are heading for a lean time.

With the good weather I've also been biking in to work and so far there hasn't been too much complaint from my knees. Looks like the good weather will continue in to the weekend so more biking and climbing ahead :-)

Not what we thought it was

2010-08-27T17:46:00.000+01:00

Following last week's blast biking in Scotland, this week has been particularly lazy for one reason(excuse) or another.

In fact the only real exercise I've done has been to get out on the road bike one evening for about 50mins, though it was a fairly hilly route but then they are all hilly routes round us. I might have gone for a run but for my knee (more of which in a moment) but since it was a fine evening I thought I'd try the bike, plus I'm heading out for a ride on Saturday with a group of MAMILs (Middle Aged Men In Lycra) who do a lot of biking. A road bike feels totally different to a mountain bike, less efficient brakes for a start, so I took it steady especially, somewhat paradoxically, on the downhills - I'm wary of coming off given the state of my left elbow and that I'm still suffering in my right shoulder from the last time I came off a road bike some two years ago! The middle part of the ride was nice and flat though so I got a good blast in, keeping up at around 22 MPH.

The results of the MRI came back. There is no meniscal tear in the knee but there is moderate arthritis. The original diagnosis of a meniscal tear was based on my description of how it became apparent: a sudden pain when pulling up after a run along with occasional partial collapse of the leg - i.e the leg giving way under me. It makes sense really that it is arthritis since I have it in the other knee.

I'm not sure where this leaves me though - in a way if it had been a meniscal tear then the choices would have been easy - an operation or no op. With arthritis it's going to be along the lines of long-term management. At the moment things aren't too bad but then I've not really been doing much running. Will just have to see how things develop.

Mountain Biking in Scotland

2010-08-22T13:40:00.001+01:00

Just returned from a week's mountain biking in Scotland with Cath. Did some excellent rides and some not so good plus a day on the routes in Leanachan Forest.

We'd booked a chalet at Bunroy Park in Roy Bridge on the basis that if the weather was poor then at least we'd have somewhere to dry and sort things out rather than have to struggle camping. We've been to Scotland in August before! Getting there took a bit longer than we had planned - an accident on the M8 in Glasgow meant an hour and half delay in getting through the city. This combined with the holiday traffic meant that we took nearly eight hours to get to Roy Bridge (it only took six going steady going home).

We'd got a mountain biking guide to "Wild Trails" in Scotland. One was just up the road on the Ardverikie estate. The estate house is well known as it is the setting for the BBC series "Monarch of the Glen" but this ride heads over towards Loch Ericht on good tracks then passing round Loch Pattack before a steep climb and descent back over to the Laggan side before heading back along loch shores to the start.

Loch Pattach. The route went over the col just right of centre.

With good sunshine and little breeze it was a really nice ride with great views.

The following day we headed off for another route out of the guide. We had thought of doing this ride last year when coming back from a trip to the Outer Hebrides but the weather had been poor so we didn't bother. On paper the route, Glengarry Circuit, was similar to that around Ardverikie - easy fire roads then a climb to and descent from a high col before more fire roads back to the start. On the ground it couldn't have been more different! Once leaving the fire roads, the climb to the col was several hours of pushing and carrying over peat hags, tufted grass and heather. The supposed brilliant descent was largely washed out and you'd need to be better riders than us to ride it all. A bit of a disappointment after the previous day.

One of the things I'd wanted to do was a two day ride with an overnight stop in a bothy. The guidebook described one such ride which circumnavigated the Mamores and Ben Nevis/Grey Corries ranges. However the first day was mainly on estate tracks and having walked/run on them before I knew they weren't desperately interesting so I came up with a variation: get the train to Corrour station then head down to Loch Treig before following the river up to the bothy then do the described second day. Bikes go free on the train but you need to pre-book them. That done we got packing, trying to get all we'd need in to 25L sacks.

Our itinerary actually makes a decent day ride but splitting it into two meant that we wouldn't feel rushed, plus we could take time getting used to riding whilst wearing larger and heavier sacks than we were used to. It also meant that we could get the midday train rather than the early one.

Luibelt in the trees on the left. Ben Nevis and Aonach Beag in the centre distance with Meanach bothy to the right.

I have to say that the guard on the train was very friendly, not really had a bad experience on this line. Getting off at Corrour we remembered that we'd forgotten coffee powder so a visit to the cafe (now run by the SYHA) to try a bit of begging was in order - we also bought some tea and cakes while we were there!

The direct path looked a bit boggy following the recent rain so we took the estate tracks heading east before turning and descending to Loch Treig. The good tracks continue around the head of the loch until the remote Creaguaineach Lodge is reached, apparently the postman used to deliver here! From here we followed the Abhainn Rath past Staoineag bothy ( a lovelier spot is hard to imagine) until the valley opened out and we got to Meanach itself. Much of the second half of the route had been intermittent riding, maybe on the bike for 50 metres then a couple of ditches or rock steps to negotiate then a bit more riding etc. It's not like the purpose built trails which are designed to be ridden.

The bothy is well maintained (by the MBA) and has two rooms one of which has wooden flooring which makes a lightweight trip all the easier - we'd only got cut-down sleeping mats. It's also got a resident mouse called Clive! Another advantage of doing short overnight trips is that invariably you get things about your kit wrong: too much of this; not enough of that; should have brought that piece of kit; never used that; etc. Bothying and bivvying is an ongoing art and with practice you do get close to an ideal set of stuff to take.

The following day began with a big push up to the col above the Lairig Leacach, you could ride short sections where it levelled out. Once at the top there was a brilliant kilometre or so of singletrack before it became a recently bulldozed track - apparently the singletrack used to continue all the way to the bothy at Leacach. Once at Leacach it was all good surfaced landrover track down to the River Spean before a couple of miles of road to finish. Since leaving Corrour we had only seen one fisherman in the distance and the crew of two Tornadoes as they flew by the bothy.

Our final day began with heavy rain. By dinner time we could no longer put it off so headed to Leanachan forest to do some of the trails there. As it happened we timed it just right as the rain stopped about ten minutes after we set off on the first trail. After the grandeur of biking in the highlands pretty well any trail was going to disappoint, and so it proved. The "World Champs" trail was effectively a single climb followed by one long section of descent of varying technicality. Having done that we headed out on the "Ten under the Ben" trail. This is used for the annual race of the same name, suffice to say that for three quarters of the trail I was using the big front ring with high gears. Stuck in the middle of all this cruising was a short downhill section, including about 50m graded black. All a bit unsatisfying really, it is as if they are training routes for the main event here - the downhill course - plenty of riders doing that but in the whole week we only actually met two other riders out riding - near the end of the Ten under the Ben course.

In fact we only met a handful of people each day, usually Munro baggers, everywhere was decidedly quiet despite the amount of traffic we had seen heading north on the Saturday.

The forecast now is for "mixed" weather, let's just hope it doesn't put all the crags out of condition.

Marking Time

2010-08-14T07:21:00.000+01:00

It's a truism that the more you do something the easier it becomes. Climbing is no different and getting out just one day each week means that I'm effectively marking time, not really going backwards but, more importantly, not improving either.

Sunday saw Simon and myself back at Blue Scar, it was a fortuitous accident really: we had umm'ed and ahh'ed about where to go and decided to give Blue another go. As it turned out, despite all the rain through the intervening time, it was drier than it had been two weeks ago! A couple of easier routes right over at the right-hand end then it was time to try something a bit harder. On the previous visit I had just top-roped an F6b on the buttress to the left so I'd better get that done. I made a complete mess of the bottom section by using a weird sequence rather than the obvious holds. Simon also did it as well as the F6b next to it that I'd already done.

Next up I thought I'd try something harder - there were a couple of F6cs to the right of this buttress so I set off up the right-hand one. After making a mess of the first hard move I managed to get to the bolt before the last of the difficult moves but didn't have the oomph to do it. Simon managed it as a red-point having taken rests on his previous attempt when we were last here. A couple of cool-down routes back on the main right-hand section and we were done.

My knees were still sore from the running on Saturday, definitely some instability there. Come Tuesday and I thought I'd try another run however lethargy meant that I just went on the roads (for the first time in many months) for a 3 miler. It was definitely hard work and I don't think I broke any records!

On the water front it seems as if the fixing of the leak has worked as we still have water filling our header tank.

Wait and See

2010-08-07T16:42:00.000+01:00

You'd think they'd make them a bit quieter wouldn't you? MRI machines that is. They are like a cross between a washing machine on spin cycle and a pneumatic drill! The other thing is that unlike x-rays which take about a second to grab the shot, you need to stay still for twenty minutes or so. The trick I found was to think about an itch somewhere other than my leg even if I didn't have an itchy nose to begin with then it certainly was by the end of the scan! Now it's a case of waiting around three weeks for the specialist to review it.

Our water (lack of) saga would finally appear to be over! Our neighbour had noticed a damp patch on his living room wall around 18 months ago. It had slowly got worse and on Thursday the plumber finally turned up and they discovered that there was rather a big leak right next to the wall just at the T-joint in the pipe where our supply spurs off. The flow from the leak was rather bigger than that flowing in to the field tank. While things were wet it probably didn't make much difference but once things began to dry out then it was going to drain the tank rather quickly. With one night's light usage it seems to have filled our header tank. Fingers crossed!

A bit frustrating on the climbing front this week. It has all been very showery so Simon and I ended up at Robin Proctor's Scar on the assumption that since it was exposed it would be quick drying. Unfortunately just as we got to the crag it began to rain! The two teams already there decided to pack in and headed off but after twenty minutes of hiding behind a drystone wall from the light rain we had a look at what might be in nick. The crag was a mixture of dry and wet - all leftward facing rock was wet but that rock facing right or forward was mostly dry. Within ten minutes things were dry enough to give it a go.

Two warm-up routes later and things were looking good :-) I decided to have a go at The Shield, F6c, as it had been on my to-do list for a while. I got the third bolt clipped easily enough then launched out on to the shield itself - a lurch to the big jug then a distinct lack of holds to get stood up. I had a couple of goes but I don't have enough oomph in my shoulders at the moment so reversed back to the deck. Loads of blood! In slipping around on the crux I'd taken a couple of flaps off my fingers with red consequences. Also when down climbing I'd pulled a side hold off and cut my thumb. As it happened another big shower was bearing down on us so we called it a day and headed back to the car.

Since it was still early we went for a look at Low Stoney Bank since we'd been recommended it. Looked a bit poor to be honest so we wandered further upstream to check out the High crag. Simon fancied a route but since we didn't have the update with the sports routes in it was just a guess as to the grade. As it turned out it was a F6b and fairly good, even if some of the bolts were clippable from existing trad routes. All in all not a bad day given the weather.

Actually went for a run today, about an hour or so. Nothing too strenuous with not too much up and down. I was pretty slow though, but then I've hardly done any running, just a couple of 3 mile runs, in the last month. Will have to see how my knee copes.

Keep on Truckin'

2010-07-29T20:11:00.000+01:00

Another trip to Blue Scar! Well, even though there has been rain through the week it hasn't been enough to significantly affect things so it was always worth trying. There were a few more damp patches compared to last week but they didn't get in the way of the climbing.

A F6a warm-up (had done this last week anyway) then it was on to harder stuff. A very unbalanced F6a+ then a long sustained F6b+ which I failed to read correctly but I hung in there until the last bolt when I had to rest as I couldn't see any more holds. Needless to say as soon as I'd slumped I saw a jug off to the right!

We then headed over to a buttress that was developed (read - retro-bolted and more routes packed in) last year. One steep F6b later and I'm pumped and have to top-rope the last route of the day, another F6b.

Sunday I went for a slow run round the same loop as I'd done last week. No real niggles this time though my knee still hurts. The appointment for the MRI scan has come through - along with a mass of questions about insertions, implants and piercings! So we'll see what comes about once the results come back.

A bit of midweek climbing on Tuesday with a trip to Wilton Three. Gaz had designs on Brastium which I'd led with Mike a few weeks ago while I wanted to lead Canine Crucifiction which I'd followed on the same occasion. The forecast was for showers passing through and clearing in the afternoon, but no rain actually fell. Unfortunately the previous week of showers meant that when we got in to the quarry the wall containing both routes was decidedly wet. Rather than worry about it we did a batch of HVS and VS routes that either we hadn't done before or done a long time ago.

Last week's post about sorting out our water supply was a little premature. We checked again last night after the feed to our header tank failed again. The cattle trough was half full so it looked like there was no water going there either. A look in the field tank showed why - the tank was empty and the input was a mere dribble. It would take a day to fill a bucket at that rate! It looks like it could be several weeks before any significant water makes it way into the tank. So mixed feelings really - I'd like more fine weather to keep climbing but need rain to get water back into the tank.

Normal Service Resumed

2010-07-24T08:59:00.000+01:00

Back to climbing last Saturday - several weeks since I'd been out - destination Blue Scar now that the bird ban was over. Of course the weather wasn't having any of it and despite a bright start to the morning it soon turned to heavy showers, so it was lunchtime by the time we headed up Wharfedale.

Kilnsey was packed as we drove by, though there wasn't much actual climbing going on, just the usual hanging on ropes and resting between attempts. Though this being Kilnsey you need those rests. There were a couple of cars parked by the farm buildings below Blue and despite the morning's heavy rain the crag looked dry and there were people climbing.

We hadn't brought the supplement with all the new lines in so it was a case of asking what grade things were and setting off. There was chalk on the first line, 6a+ we were told though it felt a bit hard for that on one section (later found out it was 6b). Then it was my turn to get the clips in on the neighbouring line, again meant to be 6a+, though this time the chalk stopped around halfway. It took several goes to get past the end of the chalk as the line obviously hadn't had an ascent this year and footholds needed cleaning. It didn't give up either and by the time I got to the lower-off I was rather pumped. Simon managed it OK with the clips in. Looking at the supplement later, the route was given 6b+ which is nearing my limit at the moment, no wonder I struggled!

Next up was a retrobolted E3, now give 6a+ , again with just one hard move but otherwise straightforward. Simon then fancied a 6c at the right end which he flashed. I decided just to top-rope it as I was slightly weary, just as well as I needed a tight rope. Despite struggling a bit, I have to say I like Blue Scar, it's just a pity that the season is so short.

Finally after over three weeks we have our water supply back - the mixed weather of the last week has helped replenish the feed. After several attempts to charge the system from our neighbours' borehole we seem to have our normal low pressure flow back - the tank in the field is only around 2 metres above the header tank in the loft. We had charged the system last weekend prior to heading off for a wedding so to find that we were without water again just a couple of days later was perplexing especially when the field tank wasn't empty. I then figured that it must be the cattle trough in the field. Sure enough, the ball on the stop cock wasn't set low enough so it was always running and promptly emptying the tank! A little bit of judicious bending and we are now OK.

No running for over a week now. I went for a short run round home last Wednesday and it wasn't pleasant. My quads had just about recovered but my knees were somewhat painful. They were still sore, enough to cause a limp when walking, four days later. The pain was very similar to that when I tore the meniscus a couple of years ago. A trip to the doctor, the appointment was quick as there'd been a cancellation, and an MRI scan is going to be arranged to check them out. So we'll just have to see what the results indicate. I may try a gentle run this weekend to see if it is going to happen after every run.

Up and Down

2010-07-15T21:28:00.001+01:00

Well Andy's BGR didn't go quite as planned.

Heading over to the Lakes to support leg one over Skiddaw and Blencathra the clouds descended and it was quite heavy rain by the time I arrived in Threlkeld to leave the car at the end of leg. One lift later by another member of the support team. Rather worryingly there was a distinct lack of anyone else, well there were a lot of tourists, in Keswick. Even Andy wasn't to be seen.

As the magic hour approach though more and more appeared, including Andy. Still worrying was the fact that I was the only support runner for leg1! With about ten minutes to go the others turned up, traffic jams on the M6 being the excuse. There will be four pacers on this section.

Andy, Frazer and Dave avoiding the rain before the start.

As if to herald good times the clouds began to lift. With a slight delay for photos we were off. No mistakes through the ginnels and back roads of Keswick and into Fitz Park. Then it was a case of stripping off the layers as the uphill work began. A good pace (read - no talking cause we couldn't!) saw us at Skiddaw summit in the clag around 3 minutes up on schedule. Down to the fence then the long pull over to Great Calva.

Heading to Great Calva

Much wetter underfoot than the last times I'd been over this ground but no point in worrying, just get on with it. Just 40 minutes and we were on the summit then a blast down through the heather to the River Caldew which was fortunately low. Then the long drag up on to Mungrisedale Common. Light rain was now blowing across but it was so warm that there was little point in putting waterproofs on as you'd get as wet or wetter.

It was nearly dark by the time we got to the top of Blencathra and distinctly chilly in the breeze that the fell had been protecting us from. Headtorches on then it's down Doddick Fell. This is distinctly slippy with occasional wet slate slabs covered in pebbles! Most of us slip at some point on the descent but eventually we hit level ground and trog through the bracken to the fell gate. We've lost five minutes on the descent but are about fifteen minutes up overall.

The next support team are ready in the rain and within a few minutes they, and Andy, are off into the night.

After dropping off a couple of the pacers in Keswick I head home, getting into bed at around 1:30AM! Unfortunately during the night the weather deteriorated and despite keeping up with the schedule on leg 2 it began to slip on leg 3 and by Great End Andy was 90mins down so with no break in the weather due he decided to call it a day. A good effort given the conditions.

Unusually it took several days for my quads to recover. I'm not sure what I've being doing different to cause this. Of greater concern is my right knee as it feels like the cartilage problem I suffered two years ago has returned. It's OK going uphill but downhill is painful even just walking. Hopefully it won't affect my climbing just yet.

Wet and Wild

2010-07-07T17:52:00.000+01:00

A long intense day at the weekend. Headed up to Glencoe around Saturday lunchtime via taxi, train and lift (with Chris Armour) to help out with Bill Williamson's Ramsay Round attempt. Despite the forecast being for reasonable weather until the early hours of Sunday morning we got low cloud then heavy rain around Loch Lomond and then most of the way to Glencoe. Things weren’t looking good.

Nothing had been heard of how Bill was going until the support team arrived back from Fersit: “Fifteen minutes down but feeling strong and going well”. So after generous helpings of cake from Wynne, four of us headed out to the ruins at the eastern end of Loch Eilde Mor. The rain had eased but even so it was still full waterproofs as we walked up the track. Surprisingly the wind was very light to non-existant, not good for midges, well good for midges, not good for their supper – us!

An hour and forty minutes later and the ruins were in sight. More clothes on to try and keep warm then it was just a matter of waiting, he was due to arrive at 0210. Several pacings up and down the track later and a set of lights appears. By the time they get to the ruins it is 0245 so he has lost more time. Bill’s quite bright though – there’s slack in the times for the Mamores section.

Ian and Bill at the ruins at Loch Eilde Mor

Suitably refreshed and we (Bill, Ian Charters and myself) are off up the rough hillside of Sgurr Eilde Mor. Bill’s line is a rising traverse to meet the path up the south ridge. When we get there I elect to skip this top and meet them at the stream crossing before Binnean Beag. The wind is picking up and by the time I see their lights on the summit the first signs of dawn allow me to see the clouds scudding past. Together again we make good time up the path to the col between the Binnean peaks. My turn to accompany Bill to the summit. The rain makes the quartzite rock very slippery and we both slide a few times. Before too long we are heading back down and heading for the higher Binnean Mor.

Bill prefers the direct approach which looks unlikely to say the least. It’s actually quite straightforward, slightly harder than something like Hall’s fell on Blencathra but not as exposed – well we can hardly see anything to make a call on the exposure! Halfway up Bill finds a camera – so we stuff it in a sack and carry on (later I turn it on, it works and still takes photos!). The ridge suddenly ends around 50m from the summit. No time for photos though as the storm is building. The traverse to the twin topped Na Gruagaichan is much faster than last year but the wind is building in strength.

As we drop into the gap between the two tops, the wind is so strong and gusty that I have to hold on to Bill to stop him getting blown away, Ian is on all fours. We head on over the west top and suddenly the pace drops. Bill has decided it isn’t fun anymore. Down at the col the support team reckon that he can just make it but it takes quite a bit of persuading to get Bill going. Ian and I now head down with half the support while Chris and Karl set off for the next peak to see if the wind is going to pick up or abate. After just a couple of minutes standing around and we are frozen due to our extremely damp state and the wind. Once back down at Mamore Lodge there is hardly any wind at all.

Back at the house being used as a base it is all we can do to wait for news. Eventually we get a call – he’d abandoned after another two peaks with too much running to do in the time left. Luck plays a large part in these rounds and Bill just didn't seem to have any - after weeks of dry fine weather, the weekend of his attempt turns out to be wet and windy. Very impressed with just how far he got in the conditions. With his current level of fitness and better luck with the weather he’ll get round in time.

And the Heat Goes On

2010-07-01T19:04:00.001+01:00

Having recovered from a full week of effort up in Scotland it was back to local stuff and splitting up the weekend into climbing and non-climbing days.

Sunday was the climbing day and we decided to go to Hoghton Quarry. This is only open for a couple of months each year so, on the basis of get to the crags with minimal access while you can we agreed to meet there. This being the day of the England - Germany football match the roads were rather quiet and it was just 45mins to the parking. Mike hadn't arrived so I walked in to the crag to find a couple just leaving. "Turn round and go elsewhere!" was their first advice. Looking at the crag it was obvious why - it was filthy and would have taken all day to clean a single route - and that was just the clean bits! Mike turned up and we decided to head down to Wilton. By the time we got there it was nearly 4pm! Last time I'd been in the quarries, I'd struggled. This time things were much easier so it seems as if I'm getting my trad head back leading an E1 OK and finding an E2 very easy when seconding. Half a dozen routes later, only one of which I'd done before and it was time to go. There seemed to be a strange lack of cars with cheap St George flags on display on the drive home.

I'd got my HRM back the other week but hadn't used it much on local runs so Saturday I headed up the local hill and sweltered in the heat. Still I got round in just over 56 minutes which isn't bad considering the lack of racing I've been doing. My PB on a slightly different route is just under 50mins - the reason for the route change is the prescence of a herd of cows with calves, one of which attacked me last year so I'm erring on the cautious side. I reckon that the new line is somewhere between 90secs and 2mins quicker. By the time I got back I was suffering, I really don't like running in hot weather. Monday night I went out again and logged under 52mins, the only difference I can think of to account for the speed up is that it was about 8C cooler.

Running from home might be a bit awkward for a week or two as the spring supplying the house water has dried up! In a way it's quite interesting to see just how little water you actually need. We are helped by the fact that we have a large bowser connected to one of our gutter downpipes that we normally use for the garden that we can use to flush the toilet.

Coming up are two weekends supporting on long distance rounds. This weekend is another trip to Scotland to help Bill Williamson out on his Ramsay Round attempt. I'm on the Mamores section again so more sitting around at Loch Eilde Mor in the early hours. Then the following weekend is Andy Kitts' Bob Graham round, I've got leg one (Skiddaw) which I've not paced/supported before. Might be quick as he's looking at either a 6pm or 7pm start so it will all be in daylight.

A Scottish trip

2010-06-24T20:15:00.000+01:00

So a week in Scotland and I'm feeling rather tired! Nothing compared to Steve Pyke and his mammoth Munro run though. The idea had been to get some Hard Rock ticks done as well as some lower level cragging. In the event, things didn't quite work out that way.

Our first objective was Creag an Dubh Loch in the Cairngorms, so a two hour blast from the Spittal of Glen Muick got us to the foot of the crag only to find that both our intended routes were very wet. Obviously the winter snows have taken longer to melt than normal, there was some snow still lying in Central Gully. So we headed up on to the plateau and bagged Broad Cairn before heading back to the car and then over to the west coast.

The next bit of the plan was to visit Carnmore, possibly the remotest major crag in Scotland with a 10 mile walk-in, and attempt the two routes there that are in Hard Rock plus a couple of others. Weighed down with suitably heavy sacks we plodded in, set up camp and climbed the classic VS, Fionn Buttress.

I reckon that this would be a bit of a shock if you only led VS as it has some seriously committing climbing. It is absolutely brilliant though and it was 10pm when we topped out.

The following morning another team had the same plans as ourselves so as it was a little cool we thought that we'd give it some time to warm up and we headed off to bag a couple of Munros. Actually the two are reckoned to be the remotest in the list with a complete round trip being some 40Km. An increasingly interesting ridge led to the summit of A' Mhaghdean with its fantastic panorama over the Fisherfield Forest. Ruadh Stac Mor was easily ticked off then back to the crag.

The other team had only just finished the route on the lower tier so we decided to head up Black Mischief to get to Gob on the upper tier. Three pitches of varied climbing got us to the foot of the central bay then another two full rope lengths over very insecure, and steep, heather got us close to the start of Gob. By now it was cold again and I was somewhat spooked by everything so we bailed out up the original route of the crag. Again it was late, 9pm, so possibly just as well we didn't decide to do Gob. On the descent we disturbed a Scottish wild cat, the first I've ever seen captive or wild.

The next day was wet so we walked out and went cragging by the coast. Either the grades were wrong or I had suddenly become much better by not doing any climbing! There followed a couple of days visiting various crags which included doing one of the best HVS pitches I've ever done (Bald Eagle at Stone Valley Crags).

By then it was time to head south but we split it by stopping overnight at Blair Atholl then a little bit of sport climbing at Weem Rock on the final day.

I'd forgotten just how far and big the Scottish hills are and was seriously knackered on the way out from Carnmore with pretty low sugar levels from not eating enough. Walking in to the crags the following days felt easy in comparison with having a much lighter sack though I may have even convinced myself that I was fitter. Ultimately though, ten minute walk-ins to 15m sports crags is not good training for big mountain routes even if those routes are technically far easier.

More Hot Work!

2010-06-13T11:49:00.000+01:00

Having finally recovered from the heat of Nicky Jacquiery's BGR, I was out in the Lakes the following weekend recceing leg 1 - the Skiddaw - Blencathra section - in preparation for supporting another contender (who at this moment doesn't wish to be identified!).

Let's just say that it was hot and that I didn't take enough water. After parking up at Threlkeld (best to have the car ready at the end of a run not back at the start) I cut round to the car park at Latrigg and headed up the main path to Skiddaw. I was soon sweating like a good 'un and it felt continuously hard work. After a detour to Skiddaw Little Man which I had never visited before it was on to the main summit and then out in to the wilds of Back o' Skiddaw.

Except that now it wasn't! The increased popularity of the BGR combined with larger support parties has lead to what was once a very faint path at best into a fell motorway that is visible from a couple of miles away. There is little point in avoiding the "right" line since no-one is going to go through waist deep heather to avoid using a path. The well-worn trail continued up Great Calva making the subtle lines that I had previously used pointless. The improved ground underfoot meant that even in my unfit state I was ten minutes quicker on this section than I'd ever been.

From Great Calva I looped round by Skiddaw House to check out a potential line that had been mentioned on the FRA forums. In my current state it was about ten minutes longer than the direct line to Blencathra. Then the highlight of my recce - what is becoming known as the "Parachute descent" from Blencathra.

I think it was first used by Billy Bland on his record round when he took just 14 minutes to descend to Threlkeld! It was rediscovered by Yiannis Tridimas and has been used by one or two recent contenders. Let's just say it is steep, dropping over 500m in less than a kilometre! You definitely need good studs for this. It drops from just West of the summit to cross Middle Tongue via some easier angled patches and sheep trods before following the beck in the gully bottom to come out by the fell gate.

Back at the car I was exhausted so it was in to Keswick to grab a new climbing sack then ice cream and home. It turned out that I had lost nearly 4Kg through sweat during the day! Not good, I should know better.

The following Saturday, I entered the Duddon fell race - the long one, all 18 miles and 6000ft of ascent of it! Will I never learn? This was only my second race this year, the Wadsworth trog in February was the first and again it was a hot day. My first goal was to finish (always a good start!) and hopefully get round in under five hours.

It was going to be a trial by oven. Just over 180 grouped up on the start line for the mandatory inaudible safety instructions and then we were off. The initial part of the race is on a good track before heading through forestry and out on to Harter Fell, at least on the fell you had a breeze to help cool you. Morgan, a club colleague was about a minute ahead at this point with another Ilkley Harrier, Jonathan, somewhere in the multicoloured dots in the distance that I assumed were runners. A long fast stretch to the summit of Hardknott Pass then up to the next checkpoint before a big descent in to Moasdale and the biggest climb of the day up the inappropriately named Little Stand. I caught Morgan up just before the checkpoint then somehow got passed him on the long traverse to the Three Shires Stone.

In common with the other Lakeland long races the Duddon has cutoff times at each checkpoint but I was nearly an hour inside the time. Things were looking OK. Except they weren't - almost immediately after leaving the Three Shires I began to feel sick and the long drag up to Swirl How seemed to take an age, even on the flat and downhills I was having to walk an increasing amount of the route as my right knee was beginning to lock up. It didn't help that I had lost the group I had been running with so there was no pressure to keep up with anyone. Water offered by a spectator near the Dow Crag checkpoint helped and the long grassy run out to White Pike was helped by trying to keep up with the runner that had just passed me. A good line on the descent from White Pike was negated by having to walk the rest of the way to the final checkpoint on Caw. Unbeknownst to me, Morgan was now rapidly gaining time on me and we passed on the out and back to the checkpoint. It was the spur to try and run to the finish where the boggiest bit of the course awaited just outside the finishing field. I finished just outside my target of 5hrs. Pint needed!

Yesterday I was back in the Lakes again to recce leg one of the BGR, this time with the contender I would be pacing along with another contender. Fortunately it wasn't as hot this time plus I drank properly. One look at the Parachute descent and the contender indicated that it wasn't for him so we headed down Doddick Fell. This isn't the normal descent, that is Hall's Fell which drops directly from the summit, but it is more runnable even if it is a longer distance since you head east to pick up the ridge then have to traverse back under Hall's Fell to get to the gate. It took us just four minutes longer than the Parachute descent but perhaps more importantly it wasn't going to be something weighing on the contender's mind. Surprisingly we were over an hour quicker than I had been just two weeks previously plus I wasn't as tired.

Little climbing done in the last couple of weeks but I'm off to NW Scotland in a few days, hopefully we'll get in to Carnmore as well as other good places. I'm looking forward to it.

Hot work!

2010-05-27T07:13:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday was spent helping out on Nicky's BGR and it was a scorcher!

It was 13 Celsius at 2am Saturday morning (it's now 2pm Wednesday and probably cooler!) at Dunmail Raise. Having kipped out, uncomfortably, in the car getting hotter and hotter with the passing traffic occasionally shaking us, we finally got out at around 0130 to see who else had arrived ready for the next leg. It was rather busy as it turned out that a group of 16 contenders from Pudsey and Bramley were heading round.

Nicky turned up about forty minutes ahead of schedule, so it was about 2:15 when we began the slog up Steel Fell. Despite a good pace we lost a minute or so on her schedule to this and also to Calf Crag. Dawn was on the horizon as we approached Sergeant Crag, a navigation error of turning left too early lost another couple of minutes. High Raise was reached on schedule as were Thunacar Knott and Harrison Stickle, despite not getting a good line on the latter.

It was fully daylight by the time we were crossing Martcrag Moor and we gained time getting to Rossett Pike. Things then suddenly went a bit silly - there's a big climb on to Bowfell, then it gets rocky heading to Esk Pike - Nicky upped her pace and took ten minutes out of her scheduled hour. All this in increasing heat plus the fact that she was suffering with bad guts and couldn’t take food or water for most of the leg.

After a bizarre snowball fight just below the summit of Scafell Pike, it was decision time - do we go via Broad Stand or not? Well it was dry so no real choice. Roy had brought a couple of slings for moral assistance and we were soon over the tricky part (Inov8s may be good for running but unlike Walshes they are useless on rock) and heading up the slabs. It was somewhere near the top of these that the heat and distance got to me and once I was sure that Nicky was on her way down to Wasdale OK, I backed off and just walked down the last steep bit.

In the end she got round in 22:42 - a really good time given the heat. Some photos here .

The following day I went climbing with Steve and Gaz at Attermire but I'd have been as well going sunbathing as I was still suffering from the efforts and heat of Saturday. Still, got some routes done.

The coming weekend may well see more BGR support, certainly I need to recce the Skiddaw leg as I'm supporting on that leg in about five weeks' time and I haven't been on that ground since my own round five years ago.

Summer's here!

2010-05-19T19:42:00.001+01:00

Finally all the sprains seem to be going! A run up the local fell on Monday evening resulted in no after effects, well apart from the copious amounts of sweat now that summer seems to have arrived. Hopefully no more need of thermals. Even better was the fact that my time was quite reasonable without pushing too hard - not helped by the fact that I came across the cow (bovine variety) that attacked me last year and had to make a small detour.

Headed out for a longer run this evening along the Pennine Way. Everything felt much easier though there are still one or two tight spots. What's remarkable though is just how dry the ground is, there must have been a total of 5 metres of damp ground in 11 miles! Mind you it did mean that normally springy peaty ground is now like concrete - you can't have everything.

Climbing wise, I was out both days of the weekend - one day in the Lakes and the other on bolted limestone. Climbing quite well both days though I probably should have had another redpoint attempt on the 6C on Sunday.

We had intended to go to Stonestar Crag in the Duddon but on getting there we discovered there was a bird ban. A quick discussion and we went for Troutal Gorge - we only had the current guide and hadn't got any printouts of the newer developments so were slightly limited. I'd done quite a few of the routes shortly after the place had been developed but hadn't been back since nor I suspected had many other people. I was a bit dubious about how clean/dry things would be but since it's only 5 minutes from the car park there wasn't much to lose.

As it turned out, it was pretty dry, it was however fairly dirty. One HVS then we top-roped an E2, neither of which I'd done before - Mike hadn't been there before so it was all new to him. Mike then did (top-roped) an E3 before we decided that there wasn't much else we could do without a complete cleaning kit. Since there was now bright sunshine we headed across the valley to White How Crag where there's a reasonable selection of routes from VS to E1. I'd done everything, again just after the initial development, and again Mike had never been there before.

After slight detours to avoid dead sheep(!) we got to the crag and it was my lead. A HVS at the left seemed like a good idea so once I'd kitted up I set off and soon came to a halt - I hadn't read the guide and had just headed upwards! A bit of sideways shuffling and I scuttled back to the deck. After reading the description I set off up the right line and didn't have too much trouble with it. Next to this are a couple of E1s so Mike headed up one of these, Natural Progression, all went well until the last couple of metres when his foot slipped. Fortunately he didn't fall but there was more gear in the route from that point than in the the previous 20 metres! Amazing that even after 30 years of climbing we still don't trust ourselves placing gear.

Since Mike had to be away early we just had time for one more route so I headed up a VS. Not in any way difficult, it's just good to be climbing away from gear, especially when it's not bolts. Even though the gear will hold, it is just somehow different being above a wire than a bolt.

Which is ironic since the following day I was back on bolted routes. Sunshine, showers and a thin wind drove us to Giggleswick North again. A couple of warm-ups and we decided to have a look at one of the F6Cs at the left end of the crag. I went first and ground to a halt at the second bolt. After several attempts at leaping for the holds it was Simon's turn - he managed the move statically but then couldn't figure out the following bit. After a bit of faffing he got to the lower off. First redpoint attempt and I got the holds I'd failed to grasp earlier but fell off just as I was getting my feet sorted, back on the rock I figured an easy way through the next section. Simon succeeded on his first redpoint. I wasn't too bothered about another go since it was hard on the fingers so we headed off for some footage on slightly easier stuff. My fingers definitely felt the extra effort the day after but it's over a year since I last attempted an F6C so pretty pleased with how I got on.

Now looking forward to helping Nicky with her Bob Graham attempt, though not the 2am start!

A long time coming

2010-05-12T18:27:00.001+01:00

For various reasons I've kept putting off adding a post, none of which make any real sense in hindsight. So what's been going on? Well my appointment with the specialist down in Sheffield got put back by a month for some reason and along with that my official physio sessions have come to an end; my climbing has come to the fore once again while running seems to have taken a back seat due to other injuries.

My, hopefully, last visit to see the specialist in Sheffield was as short as ever. His prognosis was that the elbow is unlikely to improve much but that given I can work around the issues caused and that I'm back essentially doing what I want there is little need to operate as the benefits would be balanced by the risks of any surgery. Next appointment in a year if I feel I need it.

The groin strain that I sustained on the Wadsworth Trog at the start of February has proven hard to shake off. Perhaps more worrying is that my body's attempts to deal with it have lead to tendon strains in both my knee and the back of my leg which in turn have lead to an altering of gait which has meant that more strain has gone on to my knees exacerbating the arthritis in those joints.

Despite this, I have been getting out, though not racing, I've committed to support a couple of Bob Graham attempts and potentially an attempt on the Ramsay Round Round in Scotland. Two weeks ago I went for a run round Langdale and died on my feet after a couple of hours. Short runs on the moors in Yorkshire are no substitute for big days out! Last weekend I was out on the Grassmoor fells and felt much better. Another long day and I should be OK for the first support stint in a couple of weeks time. One problem is that it takes several days for my knee to recover from each run. Will just have to take it steady.

On to more positive things ...

Slowly I've been building my climbing stamina, not been doing much trad but that is as much to do with weather and not being in the right place etc. as anything else. Normally we have been going to Spain in April for a long weekend bolt clipping to get ourselves set up with some fitness. This year we decided that we'd go to Portland instead. It worked out well in that the flight disruption from the ash fallout from the Icelandic volcano was the week before we were heading away. Fortuitous or what! We had three good days on Portland plus a not so good day at Swanage - at least for me. The day was misty with little sunshine to dry the rock. Now I really dislike damp, greasy rock and this combined with some dodgy rock and gear meant that I got a bit spooked.

Back in Yorkshire, I've been getting quite a bit done and starting to go for it again. Overall I'm about a grade down on last year, so not too bad given the total lack of training over winter. I did have an offer of going climbing to the Lofoten Islands in June but after initially being keen on the idea I've now settled on a week in Scotland getting some classics done.

Slowly Slowly

2010-03-12T09:12:00.000Z

For various reasons it's been nearly two months since my last post, so there's a lot to report!

For quite a while, since before Christmas really, my arm has been unable to straighten out the last 20 degrees. Despite the best efforts of the physio and lots of exercise on my part, it simply refused to move past this point. Some days it would feel like an absolute stop as if bone was the issue then on other days there seemed to be a bit of spring at the end of the travel. In the last few weeks however it has improved to around 15 degrees left to go. Maybe it's just going to take a long time to get it fully straightened.

A visit to the specialist in Sheffield got cancelled and put back to the end of April so I'll have to wait a bit longer to see what he reckons to my progress or lack thereof.

None of this has stopped me climbing however. One trip to Stockport Wall in February was the start then with the winter conditions receding I've been getting out on the crags! First call was Almscliff - not one of my favourite crags but always one that it likely to be dry, or at least drying. I stuck resolutely to the low grade routes on Low Man. It was surprising just how clunky everything felt, probably nerves as much as anything but I didn't get moving freely until the fourth or fifth route.

Last weekend saw a trip to Widdop boulders. Unfortunately the thaw meant that many problems were damp, probably because the snow on top of the boulders had melted. This meant that I had limited things to do, but even Mike and Gaz had soon run out of harder problems so we headed down the valley to Scout Hut Crag and some super steep traversing. The rock here is very rough so it wasn't long before holes started appearing in my soft hands! Fortunately this happened about the same time as my shoulders and arms gave up.

The following day was back to Yorkshire Limestone and the usual suspect of Robin Proctor's Scar. Again I was really awkward in my movements on the first couple of routes, both F5+, but by the third route, an F6a, I was moving much more smoothly. Steve fancied the F7a+ at the right hand end so he led The Marshall Plan a F6b+ to get to the shared belay so he could get the quickdraws in and have a work of the moves on a rope. I followed and again my lack of stamina showed and I struggled, not with the moves which weren't too hard but with linking them together. Still, things will improve. Then it was over to Crummackdale to grab one of the brilliant HVS slab routes - Olympus - in the setting sun.

Monday and Tuesday I certainly knew I'd been out climbing! My shoulders and arms were quite sore.

As for running, I've done very little this year. The deep snow around us has made things awkward plus all the back lanes were icy (and actually harder to run on than off-road) so for most of January I hardly did any running. In fact I nearly doubled my mileage with just one race! The Wadsworth Trog in early Feb was perhaps a little ambitious given the lack of miles in my legs. And so it proved, I got to the halfway stage then really began to struggle. This wasn't helped by slipping Bambi style on ice and picking up a groin strain. Thus I lost about half an hour on the second half. In the end I finished in 73rd out of around 120.

Having done the Trog, the following morning I was on a plane to Atlanta for work! Nine hours in an airline seat is not the best recovery regimen. On my return from Atlanta - a bit of a nightmare in that it took 48hrs due to cancelled and delayed flights following about a centimetre of snow at the airport, plus my bag took a different route to me so only got back home 60hrs after I did - I picked up a cold. So that stopped me from running for a couple of weeks. Currently I don't have much enthusiasm for running and when I do go for a run as I did on Wednesday evening, lovely sunset and just perfect conditions, the groin strain flares up and I struggle to even walk the following day. I suppose I'll just have to take my time with it. Very frustrating though.

Hopefully this year will be better both weather and luck wise - last year nothing seemed to go to plan.

Good to be Back!

2010-01-15T18:59:00.000Z

Well, having got itchy fingers for getting out climbing before Christmas I finally managed to get out!

The cold weather that put paid to getting on the rock continued and as we are all aware is basically still with us nearly four weeks later. This meant that climbing meant winter climbing - yeehah! So the first day out was going to be heading up to Brown Cove Crags on the west side of Helvellyn. However we ended up on Tarn Crag on Dollywagon Pike, it wasn't that our navigation wasn't up to much, rather Steve didn't want to take his new car over a possibly icy Dunmail Raise so a change of venue ensued.

Unfortunately Steve parked at the bottom of Dunmail not at the top so we had a couple of extra miles and around 800ft extra climbing to do. This wouldn't have been so bad if the snow was in decent nick but everything was unconsolidated so post-holing was the order of the day. Very hard work. We had intended to head over to Jogebar Gully on Nethermost Pike but we'd have taken hours to get there so settled on one of the easy gullies on Tarn Crag. To save time (there were three of us) since the wind was quite strong and blowing a lot of spindrift around we settled on climbing on a single rope. Everything was deep unconsolidated snow so any steps that were already there tended to collapse when you stood on them. Four months of not climbing meant that sizing gear (such as there was) took time and the placements weren't that good anyway. Pete (the third man) and Steve tied into the middle and end of the rope so we just moved together with poorish gear about every 30 metres. The cornice was "interesting" as the spindrift meant I couldn't open my eyes! Eventually I was on the top trying to hide from the wind.

After a short attempt to walk up to the summit we decided that we'd better head back. Our footprints from the morning were filled in so it was more hard work. Just before the col between Fairfield and Seat Sandal I went through a snow bridge into waist deep bog! After getting pulled out by the others it was just a case of carrying on - it was no place to stop and change socks. I use the Paramo system rather than Goretex and within ten minutes I was warm and dry. Eventually we got back to the car - Steve had carried skis most of the way up so got a jump on us on the way back. All in all a hard day out, showing just how hard winter climbing can be and that there are different types of hill fitness.

The following Friday Steve and I decided to get a night climb in - Low Water Beck above Coniston. It had been getting ascents through the week and should be in condition plus we'd avoid the crowds. A slight delay in setting off meant that we weren't ready to leave the car until 9:20pm. Also I seemed to have lost one of my axes the previous weekend - to make things worse it was the newest of the pair! Mind you it was still 23 years old! I was thus using one of my wife's axes. An hour or so later and we are gearing up at the foot of the falls. There's still quite a bit of water running and some big holes in the ice but it's climbable.

Steve heads off, he's not done much winter climbing so this will be a decent step up. Plenty of gear, some odd line choices and he's up. Following the pitch his line choices don't seem too strange, mostly to avoid spray from the running water. There's a step or two of Grade IV but mostly it's kicked out. Just above the belay there's an awkward chockstone to get round then some gear up and right before a delicate pull onto the base of the final ice slab. There's nothing to belay to at the top so a ice-axe-T belay is needed. Then it's a wander up easy ground to Low Water and off back to the car. There's more cars parked up now (2am) with sleeping occupants so it's quietly away. It's 4am by the time we get home. Someone posted on UKC that they got to the foot of the route at 8am to find 8 climbers on it already!!

We reckoned that with the long freeze the waterfall beneath Hellifield Crag (Crookstones) would be frozen so four of us headed up there to check it out on Sunday afternoon. I'd been into Skipton and splashed the cash on a pair of new ice axes (DMM Rebels) so was keen to try them out. Deep snow meant slow progress, only to find that there was very little ice there! I reckoned that I could get a line up the edge of the fall where the ice looked solid. Rope around my waist - modern climbers eh? - I set off and removed most of what was there with one tap! It was powder snow covered with frozen spray. What was left was about 30cm wide and maybe 20cm thick at the thickest part. 10m later I'm on top. I drop the rope so Steve can lead it and the others follow as seconds. We think it's a possible first ascent but can't be sure.

Steve on thin ice

Unfortunately the thaw has now set in so I might have to wait a bit to do more ice climbing but it's good to know that I can do some climbing. With all the snow and ice I haven't done any running for over a week so might start getting more done now that things aren't quite so bad.

Itchy Fingers

2010-01-03T09:23:00.000Z

Some time since my last posting - seasonal holidays and all that. Shortly after my last post I began to get itchy finger about going climbing again. Unfortunately on that weekend no-one was available to head out so I went for a couple of long runs instead. The arm still isn't straight (there's about 20 degrees to go before full extension) but I was definitely keen to get out.

As far as running goes, well the last two months of last year saw me do a lot of miles, perhaps because I've not been doing any other sports like climbing or cycling. In fact I felt confident enough to offer to help Mark Smith (Swiss Toni on the FRA forums) in his attempt to complete a mid-winter Bob Graham Round on the weekend before Christmas. His help on leg three had pulled out so he had turned to the forums for help. In the event five of us turned up at Dunmail Raise at 4am on Saturday morning. With temperatures of -6C it was a case of wrapping up warm rather than going light. A few slight mistakes in the navigation during the dark hours but once sunrise came spirits lifted and we had a great session from Bowfell to Scafell Pike. Ultimately Mark got round in just outside the 24hr limit but being out for that length of time in such temperatures it can hardly be described as a failure.

With the holiday season over and the cold weather continuing, yesterday we headed over to the Lakes for a bit of winter climbing. The original plan was to go to Brown Cove Crags on the west side of Helvellyn but Steve didn't fancy driving over Dunmail Raise in case it snowed so we changed plans to Jogebar Gully and headed in from Grasmere! After three hours of post holing through the unconsolidated snow we changed plans again and did one of the easy gullies on Tarn Crag on Dollywagon Pike. The wind had picked up and the spindrift meant that often we couldn't see anything. At the top of the route I was nearly being blown off my feet by the stronger gusts!

On the way back it was more post-holing as our tracks had filled in with drifting snow. I managed to break through a snow bridge and ended up to my waist in bog water! Fortunately since I was wearing Paramo salopettes my legs soon dried out though my feet remained wet inside my plastic boots until we got back to the car.

An accident on the A65 and long queues of slow traffic meant a long drive home. I'm definitely not as fit as I used to be :-( a sedentary job doesn't keep you fit like scaffolding does. Mind you I'm also nearly thrity years older!

My arm felt OK, though obviously it was quite weak since I haven't really been using it in anger, a bit of real life stresses and strains should help it rather than the formal exercises I've been doing.

One down and one to go!

2009-12-02T20:37:00.000Z

Managed to drive down to Sheffield for my latest session with the experts. Finally managed to get to see both of them on the same day so didn't have to waste two days on this. Things started well when heading in to the hospital car park when someone on the way out handed me a ticket with several hours parking time left on it.

First up (after a visit to the x-ray department) was a visit to the wrist specialist. After a quick view of the new x-rays he says that I don't need to see him again and I can try to use the wrist in as normal a manner as possible. Suitably buoyed by this news I head off for some lunch. Actually pain in the hand/wrist is a bit of a limiting factor at the moment, still at least there's no medical reason to hold back.

The afternoon saw me at back at the hospital and queuing (well sat down) and waiting to see the elbow specialist. Soon it's my turn and I'm partly dreading the result of the x-ray from this morning: if the bones are fused then it's an operation and even longer away from being fit again. Fortunately they aren't fused but he's still worried about the lack of progress in the ability of my arm to extend more. I get a partial all-clear : I can bike and go to the gym but he'd like to see me again in three months. No mention of climbing so I'll have to see how that goes.

This Monday was another visit to the physio in Skipton. Again lack of progress in my elbow is a concern. More exercises and pushing and pulling eases things a bit. One exercise I've been given is to hold a time of beans in my outstretched hand trying to stretch my arm until I tire then hold it for ten seconds more. After twenty minutes, ten seconds extra doesn't do much! Will have to use a heavier weight I reckon. So visits to the gym are in order I think.

Onward, ever Onward

2009-11-08T11:28:00.001Z

Well, the physio seemed happy with the progress in my elbow, sufficient for me to be trusted with a rubber band! OK, it's one of those theraband thingies they use but at least now I'm starting to add a bit of strength to the muscles. Apparently the lack of flexibility at the elbow is as much to do with the biceps having undergone trauma as well and being shortened as a result so the exercises aim to counteract this. Despite the effort being very easy I felt decidedly sore after the first session, amazing what eight weeks of little to no exercise does.

The elbow has more movement now but it's still a way to go before it will be back to anything like its companion.

Getting more running done now, including a night run (on road) last Wednesday just to prove I won't fall over in the dark! Everything was soaking though, at one point the entire road was 5cm deep in running water for about 30 metres, the result of the monsoon we've been having for the last couple of weeks. This also made itself felt yesterday when I did my first off-road run to the top of the local fell and back. The only bits where you didn't sink in were covered in concrete! It was really hard work. Somewhat amazingly my time wasn't anywhere near my worst so I still have some aerobic fitness - I managed to run all the uphill bits which I thought I wouldn't be able to do.

Another step (or sit down really) forward today was that I drove the car for the first time in nine weeks. Just down to the village and back but it's a start.

I Feel Good!

2009-10-31T13:21:00.000Z

I meant to post this yesterday but didn't get on the computer!

Another visit to Sheffield on Monday with attendant public transport woes - this time a bus strike in Sheffield threatened to scupper things, fortunately it turned out that the bus I needed was operated by a different company to that affected by the strike. I got to the Orthopaedic clinic with five minutes to spare! The consultant was pleased with my progress but the next visit will need another x-ray just to check that the joint hasn't fused. He didn't say but the implication was that an operation will be required if it has fused - I certainly don't fancy my arm stopping with 30 degrees to go to straight. Even better I've now got both the wrist and elbow consultants in sync - my next visit is in a month and I'll see both on the same day.

So why do I feel good? Well I went for my first run in eight weeks! It's actually the first exercise other than walking that I've done in that time. It was only a five mile run round the roads around home but I didn't want to risk anything by running off-road and falling. I could have gone for a run earlier in the week but with the clocks going back last weekend, it's dark when I get home and again I didn't want that extra risk.

No doubt I'll feel sore in the morning!!

Another trip to the physio this coming Monday. My wrist has improved lots in the last week or so despite a tendon in my thumb feeling quite painful, there's lots of mobility, not as much as in my right wrist but much better than when the plaster came off. The strength is coming back as well, though this is as much about pain as anything. As well as the exercises I've been given I've been trying to use my arm in everyday activities, after all it's the subtle movements that you need to master rather than simple flex and extend.

Bend me, bend me

2009-10-23T21:02:00.000+01:00

First visit to the physio today. Fortunately it had been transferred to a local hospital so no convoluted trip down to Sheffield.

It has been a bit of a strange week following the removal of the cast eight days ago. Work colleagues are still asking "When did the pot come off?" Obviously they never got a boy scouts' observation badge! Allied to this was a depressing weekend. I think it was partly due to it being the first weekend out of pot and the consequent realisation that I can't do what I want to do, the pot effectively hiding this fact, after all I'm not in the habit of running, biking or climbing whilst wearing a cast. Also on the Sunday I marshalled and took photos at the Bronte Way fell race - it wasn't too bad actually but afterwards as I walked home I felt down with the thought that I couldn't join in.

The week slowly got better as the memories of the weekend faded. This morning saw me in one of the local physio departments. It seems that electronic tranfer of details hasn't reached this far north so the first ten minutes or so was spent going over my accident and subsequent treatment. The physio was pleased with my progress given that I'd only been out of plaster for 8 days. A few exercises to do on both wrist and elbow since she could hardly work on one in isolation given they are adjacent joints.

So now it's a case of making sure I don't do too much and ruin things or not enough and slip backwards. Marshalling at the Withens Skyline on Sunday and another visit down to Sheffield to see the elbow guy again.

Please Release Me!

2009-10-16T17:29:00.000+01:00

The BGR dinner went well, I got very drunk! Met lots of folk I knew though it was a bit awkward for Cath as she only knew one or two people. Around 350 turned up but sadly some didn't pay for their dinner which is a poor show.

Finally got the pot off yesterday and it feels weird! I was quite nervous about yesterday as I was worried that I'd either have to keep the pot on for another week or they'd x-ray it and put a new pot on. I'd been counting down the hours for most of the week so it would have been a big disappointment for the plaster not to have gone. The arm looks weird - it's still swollen but even so it's about 2/3rds the size of my right forearm.

Once the pot was off, it was off to the consultant and he began to set me up with some physiotherapy, unfortunately down in Sheffield again. It would have required taking two days off work each week so I asked if I could be transferred to my local hospital so hopefully that will go ahead.

As it was I had a session in the physio dept there. Some odd questions - Did I have nightmares about the accident? As if! Actually I can visualise it but it's just an episode - it happened, move on. Apparently I've been doing the right thing in holding my elbow at the point of discomfort for twenty seconds or so, it's the basis of what they do in physio anyway. I've got about a third of the movement and a quarter of the strength compared to my right wrist/hand so there is plenty of room for improvement. I need to massage the wrist four times a day to help with the swelling.

Back to see the wrist consultant in six weeks, another ten days for the elbow guy.

Three steps forard, one step back

2009-10-09T19:28:00.000+01:00

Well another visit to the (fracture) clinic. More a tale of lack of joined up thinking in public transport than anything major to report as regards my elbow.

A web check on train times had given ten past the hour as departure time for Leeds, so I left work at five to and headed to the station. Only to find that the Leeds trains leave at twenty five past! Get into Leeds on the hour, but the train to Sheffield leaves at twenty five to, well one leaves at half-past but "you don't want that one - it stops at every station and visits a few you don't want to go to!". Quick(er) train taken I'm in Sheffield and have a bit of spare time to get lunch. The hourly bus service gets to the hospital with a couple of minutes to spare so it's a rush to get there in time, but running is somewhat awkward in sandals. I needn't have bothered - the waiting room is packed.

It's ten past FIVE when I eventually get to see the doctor! A few questions (both ways) with a bit of elbow manipulation thrown in and all of ten minutes later I'm on my way home. Progress is good apparently and I've to keep movement going and try to extend the range that I can use. It seems unlikely that I'll be able to ever fully straighten my elbow - "It's in the nature of elbow injuries" apparently. Asked about the likely length of time for recovery and it's stated "many weeks", questions about sporting activity are met with "erm …".

It's rush hour when I get out and rather than wait 30 minutes for the bus I decide to walk - it's as quick as the traffic for the first mile anyway. Then I'm on another bus route and get a ride to the station. Again a choice of slow or quick train, the slow one arrives first and rather than stand around for another twenty minutes I take it - I'll take the quick train next time! Fortunately the connection time at Leeds for the Skipton train is just a few minutes so a rush across the concourse gets me seated and at 8pm I get off the train to be met by Cath after a rather long day.

True to form, I somehow manage to tweek my elbow whilst sleeping and it's felt sore all day. Oh, well.

Repeat next week when hopefully the cast is removed.

Got the Bob Graham Club dinner on Saturday night so something different to look forward to.

You were lucky

2009-10-03T08:29:00.000+01:00

So back at work - at least sitting at work all day is better than sitting at home all day! I can do something even if it's at a slow pace and I have to stop periodically to lif my arm up to let the swelling in my fingers go down a bit - it's just the fact that there's so little movement in th arm that's the problem. There's a lot less pins and needles in my fingers as well now - they don't feefl as "sparkly" as my niece would say.

Of course a lot of time is spent explaining to my workmates what happened. The next thing they invariably say is "You were lucky, you could have broken your back or been killed" Which is actually quite a stupid thing to say. I could have been lucky and walked or hobbled away with few or no injuries at all. What happened, happened and once the hold broke with me in that particular position physics determined where and how I would land. The only possible variable was how tense I would be on landing - I know of an instance where someone decked out and tensed up on landing with the result that his thigh bones pushed through his pelvis, not good.

There's no point going back over events and saying to yourself "what if ...", it's happened and we can't turn back the clock and I just have to deal with things as they are.

A lot of the swelling has gone down - I can already get a finger or two down inside the new cast to scratch itches! As far as itches beyond the reach of my fingers go, all I can say is that happiness is a twelve inch plastic ruler! The wrist seems to be healing up quite well and I can flex my arm to maybe 45 degrees, though it's limited by the cast somewhat. Hopefully things will continue to improve over the coming weeks.

Patience groundthumper, patience.

The next step

2009-09-25T18:28:00.000+01:00

Yesterday's visit to Sheffield saw me leave with a new lightweight pot on my arm.

I had gone down to Sheffield with instructions not to eat or drink after midnight in case the pot switch moved my wrist. If that happened then I would have to have an operation to reset it. Fortunately all went well and there were no problems. Another set of x-rays and a few instructions and I was on my way.

I've got this pot for three weeks by the end of which, the wrist should be set. Then rehab work on the elbow can begin in earnest.

The elbow is currently larger than my upper arm, so still some swelling then. It felt a bit odd to have the elbow unprotected, but I'll get used to it. I've got a "collar and cuff" support and have to avoid extending my arm past 90 degrees but can flex upwards to my shoulder.

Starting to look better

2009-09-22T16:51:00.000+01:00

The trip down to Northern General yesterday went better than I expected. Firstly, where was all the traffic? We headed through Bradford at rush hour and it was quieter than on Easter Sunday. The M62, M1 & Sheffield were the same. Consequently we were nearly an hour early!

The session with the consultants also went well - the elbow has reset OK so I don't need another operation. The wrist also looks fine. I've got to go back on Thursday to have the cast changed and providing that no-one knocks my wrist while it is out of support, that is on for another four weeks. If it does get displaced then they'll have to operate and reset the bones but it will still only be four weeks in the cast. They want to give me limited movement in the elbow for a while so the cast will be both shorter (wrist support only) and lighter - fibreglass not plaster of paris.

With a bit of pestering the consultant reckoned I could go back to work next week. I called in at work on the way back and it is fine with them as well, so I won't be quite so bored.

Alcohol !!

2009-09-19T14:35:00.000+01:00

Now it's one thing not being able to hold your drink because your arm is in a cast but quite another when you feel ill after just three pints!

We went out the other night for a curry and some beer with a few friends. Now the curry was very good (even though I prefer the other curry house in town) as was the beer, but having not drunk anything for the last couple of weeks it rather got to me. I hadn't been taking the painkillers for a few days but there could have still been traces in my system. I certainly had a hangover the following day and don't think I'll be having another drink for a while - how many times has that been said?

Today my forearm is hurting a bit. Don't know why, it just seems as if it's been knocked somehow - far too long after the event for it to be bruising coming out. The cast is starting to get a little loose now as the swelling has gone and my muscles begin to waste. Also, the bandaging around the cast is beginning to look a little shabby so maybe they'll replace it on Monday when I'm at the fracture clinic.

Another take on things

2009-09-17T12:52:00.000+01:00

Nothing of note has been happening the past couple of days apart from the increased boredom so here's Mike's take on the events of Sunday 6th ...

Not content with a day climbing on Stanage yesterday, Bob and I decided to re-create Doug Scot's epic retreat from the Ogre.

Bob kindly offered to take on the role of Doug, while I emulated Chris Bonnington (minus the beard and posh accent). To maximise realism, Bob then threw himself from the top of Stanage (luckily a fairly low bit) clutching a rather large detached block, and landed heavily from a good 20 feet.

To maximise reality, this took place at the far end, furthest from the road, but since we couldn't abseil back to the car, we decided to go for upper body injuries instead of broken legs. We weren't sure at the time, but these later transpired to be a cracked lower vertebrae, dislocated elbow and broken wrist.

Bob comes from tough farming stock who think nothing of getting to hospital minus an arm, so when he'd recovered a bit, he set off walking to the car, while I packed up and followed with the rucksacks. His pace was such that I didn't catch up with him till the car. Unfortunately, this led to the low point of the day, when he had to flag down some 'off roaders' on the causeway to help him over the stile!

We then proceeded to the Northern General, where as ever the treatment was excellent, except for when the Radiographer dropped a lead tablet on said elbow. the screams from Bob were blood curdling, and created some very worried looks from the other walking wounded waiting for an x-ray. Given they had just given him a shot of morphine, it must have been VERY
painful.

Two goes at resetting the elbow resulted in Bob being taken to the operating theatre under a general anaesthetic about 8.30 last night. I got a message from Cath to say he was back on the ward about 10ish, and things had gone well.

So to the kittens: it's their first time to the vets tonight for the first of their immunisation shots. A couple of weeks after the second shot and they should be good to start exploring outside. We'll also have to think about getting them neutered before too long, though really it's probably going to be a surprise Xmas present for them!

To the Left ...

2009-09-14T10:51:00.001+01:00

It occurred to me last night that all my major injuries have been to the left side of my body. I'm not talking just about the last week but throughout my life.

My first major injury, i.e. one which required hospital treatment was when I broke my left thumb skiing down the Mer de Glace above Chamonix in 1987. Not being a very good skier plus skiing in mountaineering boots and carrying a sack full of climbing gear meant that the accident was inevitable. It must have been something to see me nearly make the backward somersault when I hit the pressure ridge in the ice! My left thumb took the full force of that one - and again when I repeated the feat ten minutes later.

It was 1993 following an altercation with a Peugeot 405 estate outside our house that I next made the acquaintance of A&E facilities. A short flying lesson followed by a slightly longer journey in a very nice ambulance lead to three days in hospital and thirteen weeks in a full length plaster on my left leg. The main break was a fracture to the fibula but there was also some knee damage: a fractured tibial plateau and it was this that led to the extended time in plaster. At the time I didn't realise just how bad the injury to my knee was and it was only last year when the arthritis started that I found out.

Now this.

Currently the right-hand side of my body is very worried!

A Week is a Long Time ...

2009-09-13T11:56:00.001+01:00

As I begin this post it is one week almost to the moment since my accident. No doubt there will be quite a few more before I'm declared "fixed".

Whenever something like this happens (as if it's a regular occurrence!) it's not the big limitations - like not being able to go climbing - that get to you but those little tasks that you forget that you use two hands/arms for. An example is brushing your teeth, not the actual brushing but getting the toothpaste onto the brush: put the brush onto the level section at the side of the hand-basin; reach over and get the toothpaste; open the tube and squeeze enough onto the brush without knocking the brush off the edge of the basin. Then you can do the actual brushing. Shaving (with a razor & gel) is similarly fraught. Everything just takes more time, just as well that I've got enough of it!

I've been using my time to update parts of my website - http://bobwightman.co.uk/index.php: some of it I didn't get round to doing when I moved ISPs; some of it needed updating so that I spend less time in updating it (if that makes any sense); and some is just making better use of the features at the new host.

Pepper and Mack provide lots of amusement, though being kittens they are very inquisitive especially when you are eating your breakfast - trying to balance a bowl, eat from it and fend off the marauding pack is quite difficult with just one hand. I'll try and get the camera set up to get some play shots. I'll also need some weekly shots to measure how they are growing - the modern equivalent of the old height chart on the kitchen door for kids.

We'll just have to see what the next week bring.

Indian Summer

2009-09-12T12:44:00.000+01:00

Typical!! Poor weather throughout the summer and as soon as I'm unable to get out, the weather is brilliant. With the full week of sunny and breezy weather, even the high crags are going to be dry. Oh, well ...

I phoned my manager yesterday to explain what had happened - he was fairly relaxed about things. I also posted off my sick note - I think thatit is the first sick note I've ever had! Whenever I've been injured before I've been self-employed so haven't needed to get one.

I must have got pretty bored yesterday as I attempted to weigh (rested good arm on scales then bad arm and took the difference) the plaster cast on my arm - I think it's about 1.5Kg, it feels quite a lot whatever weight it is. The arm was a bit sore last night, don't know why, just one of those things I suppose.

We've decided to call the second kitten "Mack", seems to suit him, he's definitely the happier of the two to sit on your lap. Rang the vets to get them innoculated but they are a bit young yet so will have to wait. They are currently in one of their active periods, racing round the room then getting stuck because they haven't learnt how to retract their claws under load yet. Now that I'm writing about them they are sat watching me type.

Crosstown Traffic

2009-09-11T10:39:00.000+01:00

Well the trip down to Sheffield for the fracture clinic was somewhat tedious but enlivened for all the wrong reasons.

Going through Bradford we ended up in a traffic jam to get on the M606 because the slip-road was shut for no discernable reason other than there was a Transit flat-bed with a load of traffic cones parked there. Half an hour to do 400 metres! Still got to the clinic on time.

Another couple of x-rays of the elbow then ten minutes or so with the consultant. The x-rays of the elbow from Sunday were most impressive (I haven't managed to get copies yet) but certainly not for the squeemish! Those of my back and wrist less so, they looked like the usual translucent lumps - I consistently fail to see how anyone can make a diagnosis from such images but they do. It's definitely looking like I will be having another operation - the ligament have most likely been damaged and will need fixing in a way yet to be determined or revealed.

A bit depressing really - after I broke my thumb skiing, the consultant said I was "lucky", "most people tear their tendon and need up to six months of treatment/rehab. Your tendons were strong enoughto pull the bone apart so three to four weeks"! Basically break bone rather than soft tissue, much easier to fix and heal.

The journey back took 2 1/2 hours - for 60 miles! Most of this distance was on motorway, M1, M62, M606, but just the sheer volume of traffic meant that the M62 was taken at perhaps 5MPH. The vast majority of private vehicles had just one occupant - crazy. Then there were the idiot drivers of Bradford to contend with, now that's worth a rant in itself.

Lows and Highs

2009-09-09T10:51:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I should have mentioned what this blog is about - at least in the short term, I don't know where things will go later on. I thought that I'd record just what goes on after a fairly serious accident and how decisions get made, the ups and downs etc.

So far the lowest point was getting discharged from A&E. You'd think that getting out of a room full of ill people would be cause for celebration but you are moving from a controlled environment where staff can sort out medical needs in short order to a chaotic one. At the same time you aren't "healed", just good enough to be shown the door and free a bed up for the next casualty. In addition I wasn't told what they'd done in the hour long operation I'd had on Sunday night - I'd been in CT scan when they did the rounds - hopefully I'll find out tomorrow when I visit the fracture clinic..

The big problem with sitting at home all day and being unable to actually do anything other than surf the web (write this blog) or watch daytime TV(yeeuch!!!!) is boredom.

I get enough TV as part of my work so tend not to watch much at home anyway. Also the body tends to do its own thing in these situations and diverts resources, i.e. energy, into fixing itself, so consequently you feel weary and tired all the time. Even caffeine doesn't have much of an effect. You just have to put up with it.

Enough of the moaning, it's not the attitude you need to get better. The day before my fall we had picked up two kittens from some friends to replace our previous cat who died earlier this year. Yep, it's cute fluffy kitten picture time!

We are calling the black one "Pepper" and the tabby one either "Spice" or "Mace". They've settled in really quickly and haven't called for their mother at all - I think they were just the right age as they were just starting to eat solids so their mother would have started to turn them away fairly soon. There's about an hour of rushing around, playing, fighting, eating then about an hour of sleeping before more play, etc. At the moment they're in sleep mode. Me typing on the computer must be quite interesting because they'll sit watching me from the back of the settee. Like lots of young kids they've ignored the toys we bought for them and mainly play with bits of newspaper that we had been drying onions on. The tabby one seems to prefer me and Pepper prefers my wife, we'll see if that continues.

Hopefully they'll soon be big enough to venture outside or else all our furnishings will be ripped to shreds!