All I Wanted for Christmas was Winter....Fuck you Santa.

Taking a trainee instructors role in North Wales I hoped that the last two years snow fall and freezing temperatures would continue and give me at least a couple of Welsh winter routes in the bag by the time I headed home for Christmas. But alas it wasn’t to be with driving rain and high winds characterising our winter through December. So planning ahead I got myself and a friend organised for a trip up north to Scotland for some education on becoming squalor proof following on from last winters trips.

It wasn’t to be however with the early Scottish conditions disappearing with sky rocketing temperatures across Scotland and as only 2 days possible climbing would be gained I stay home and did battle with the shite weather, mostly by drinking and seeing old friends.

Managing to get only 4 days out climbing in 3 weeks if fucking shocking especially as they were all rock days- no ice to speak of! Unheard of for me- particularly in the last few years. Its pretty depressing really and the only thin making me not top myself is…. Laziness probably because this ‘winter’ is actually looking that bad!

Driving back north to the Cott today I was surprised at how down I was feeling, Ive had a few phases of being very down just before Christmas but that was to do with feeling useless and lost mostly. And I guess it’s the same now, if I cant go climbing and often go for days without seeing friends or speaking to anyone but myself what the fuck am I doing here. Im here to work my balls off and get as much personal and leader experience as I can over the next few months. So my New years resolution is to firstly GO BIG or GO HOME! And secondly to treat this opportunity as I did when I first got to North Wales and do everything I possibly can to have fun and go to bed at the end of everyday tired from exertion not essay writing.

Boom. So Happy New Year everyone and hopefully the next posts you read will be of adventures come what my regarding the bollocks British Weather. Either that or ill divulge some of my Christmas antics involving golf.

For now enjoy some pictures from the festive period and a video a friend made of our trip to Frankenjura in the summer.

On Khartoum (E2 5a - but could have been F9a for all it mattered as none of the rock where i am in this picture was stuck to anything else, it was like trying to swim up overhanging weetabix....not ideal)

Ian abseiling into Ogmore for his first fun times experience

Rob on a F6a+ at Portland (Consumme)

Frankenjura from Michael Bamford on Vimeo.

A Week Of Life

The last 7days have been some of the best ive had in a long time. And it was all down to sacking off all my uni work and jsut getting a 'normal life' for a bit.

On the friday i managed to get on a cheapish train back to Cardiff for a weekend of climbing before my volunteer work kicked in on the monday. As my partner for the two days only had a few hours to spare each day (it was his sons birthday- thats dedication!) we had to go in all guns blazing. So the saturday started us off with a sport climbing session, dogging and attempting a soft touch Fr7b, which i didnt make in the end but got later in the week. The sunday was more of a proper day out as we only had 3 hours and a high tide to play with we did Exposure Explosion. A route ive been meaning and attempting to do for a good few years, despite its easy grade (HVS 5a) i had never managed to get the partner, weather, or tides right before for this 7pitch, rope drag mammoth.

Photo: Puling through the wet look cave crux

The route went really well with me getting the crux wet 5a pitch through wet look cave, it probably isnt 5a moves but the fact its always wet even in the sun makes it feel committing, especially considering you relaly dont wanna fall off at any point on the route. Finishing up the final corner i was pleased that i had finally put the route to bed and get started on my 2011 challenge ticklist..only 24 left to go....

On the monday my volunteer work started at Cardiff Outdoor Activity Team and it was really good, finding out about play centres dotted around cardiff and the work the people in them and behind them do is really inspiring stuff and makes me want to go and help out more there during the summer, which at the moment looks like it might happen. My volunteer work only lasted 3 days and so kind of stopped climbing play aside a quick hit tuesday night where i onsighted my first Fr6c at Taffs Well the route called Daggers goes up a faint groove line and provided ample interest in our game of grab and pull.

After my volunteer work ended on the wednesday i was keen to put Rise Fr7b to rest so phoned around everyone i knew in Cardiff and managed to drag Gary out of his sick-bed to come hold my ropes in exchange for a lift to Cwmaman to tidy up a route that was falling to bits.

After dogging up the route with 2 rests to put the quickdraws in i lowered down the route, and popped on another to get warmed up (only in South Wales do you have to take trad gear for sport routes- am gunna redo the route with jsut trad gear at E2 5c at some point). Had a rest and cruised the route, it felt easy! Redpointing makes stuff that seems impossible, possible. It did all feel a bit hollow though. Ah well another rotue down on the list...now only 23 to go!

Once i was done and had stripped the route we headed over to Cwmaman to do Garys bidding. But when we got there the route was still in the shade, so whilst waiting around i abbed down a Fr7a, his mate had put up the previous summer, to give it a clean. Then did the route on the second attempt with no Top Rope practice, i must either be getting better or jsut hadnt cottoned onto this sport climbing thing before. They were both soft touches and it did feel a bit hollow but was in numbers terms a pretty good day out.

We then got down to the business of cleaning his route. Im not going to go into detail but i climbed it (about Fr6a) and lowered down as someone had said it was in a bad way. I thought it was a bit sketch but made nothing of it. Gary then jumared up the rope and pushed a lot of big blocks off, including one that had previously had a bolt in it. Nice. Heres a video of him cleaning...

After a day of rest i headed back upto Sheffield, the promise of a lift to the Roaches and glorious weather enticing me back up north. Getting to the Roaches on the saturday morning i held a sight before my eyes ive never seen before. The place was crawling. Like Stanage popular on a bank holiday but more so! After eventually doing Valkyrie behind some utter retards (from a London Uni club i might add) we ran away to the upper tier and had a much nicer day soloing about and occasionally getting the rope out for dirty or harder routes.

Good week in all, but am coming crashing back down to Earth now with the prospect of all the work i need to get done before my spring trip to Cham hits home.