Good to be Back!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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.