http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123 Climber | the latest entries from OFF THE WALL's blog post http://www.climber.co.uk/img/rss/rss_icon.gif http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123 88 31 en-gb Copyright 2005-2012 Warners Group Publications plc. All Rights Reserved. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:11:11 GMT 5 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1368 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1368 It was a good start, despite the 12 months gap. Blue blue Italian skies, deep deep snow and a wall of glacier hanging from the white peaks at the far end of the valley - It all looked exactly the Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:10:53 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1354 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1354 People were staring. I felt guilt; shame. Could I really go through with this? A dull dreary damp grey Christmas Eve. Not much good for anything but oddly perfect for relentless rehab exercises. Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:57:58 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1344 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1344 Shoulder still whinging so it’s a no climbing trip to Snowdonia. No matter: It’s November and it’s all wet and greasy. ‘-What shall we do? -Let’s wander about a bit. -What? No summit chasing and Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:20:34 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1332 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1332 Head fights don’t just happen in climbing. In this case it’s not the ‘I can’t’ when I can, it’s ‘I can’, when I can’t. I’m an expert in the art of denial. Aches and pains are part of an active Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:06:42 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1323 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1323 ‘I did the half marathon last week...thinking of having a go at a full one this term. How you getting on with the Badminton Club?’ ‘Yeah. Great. I thought I might try the hockey team this Wed, 5 Oct 2011 13:26:24 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1315 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1315 Here I am again, pressing the parsley between my fingertips and sniffing its sweet sharpness. I still don’t understand how it grows here. All summer I’ve moaned and groaned about missed opportunities Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:48:34 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1297 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1297 I returned to my roots. I had been feeling out of sorts with this strange vertically placed activity. The fact I was seeing it as ‘strange’ indicated all was not well. For some months now the fun Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:20:46 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1287 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1287 I’ve lost my Alpine virginity. I wanted to know what the fuss was about; I wanted to be one of the grown ups but I was too immature last year. This year I was ready... and I made it there and back Mon, 8 Aug 2011 19:58:38 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1271 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1271 The world turns, creaking slowly, just in time - before I turn into the spoilt child at the party who hasn’t won the prize (actually I think I did for a short while there). Anyway, the sun comes Mon, 4 Jul 2011 20:10:17 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1260 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1260 Life just stops sometimes. Despite everything you try to do to get the wheels spinning again, it just gets stuck. It feels like a beached whale – large, cumbersome and reluctant. When there’s a halt Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:09:31 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1239 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1239 Slings: love them; hate them. I love slings when I can drape them around a pointy rock like lights on a Christmas tree, or drop them through a welcoming hole and see it emerge at the other end - Tue, 17 May 2011 16:41:04 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1233 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1233 Funny how books get into our heads and take us to places we think we can touch. Inspirational? Maybe, or perhaps just plain misleading. I read Gwen Moffat’s book ‘Space Below my Feet’ and I had Sat, 7 May 2011 18:45:20 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1216 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1216 2 years ago I was careering happily up ‘Mucky Gully’ at The Dewerstone steadfastly ignoring the most obvious gear placements in the southwest and ineffectually trying to work out which way up the Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:38:35 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1187 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1187 Crazily up before 8am on Saturday. I open reluctant eyes to a blue sky and instantly remember the fantasy of the day ahead. I scrape off the frost on the car and know, with absolute surety, that it’s Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:40:46 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1166 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1166 I’ve pretended to go climbing twice now. I wake to sunshine and something in my subconscious reacts to the fact the days are longer –a voice tells me with great assuredness: ‘It’s May. It’s warm Sun, 6 Mar 2011 10:06:25 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1155 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1155 The good news is that spring has sprung and I’ve uncluttered both my room and gear. The bad news is that there’s little hope of any more ice and snow play within 5 hours drive this season, and Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:15:57 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1145 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1145 Day one: The Grey Corries. A superlative horseshoe of spectacular alpine-like ridges nestling under the gaze of the Ben. Good start to the week – I forget both my winter boots and axe, so am Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:05:59 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1132 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1132 I’m almost disappointed. There’s something missing: Where’s the excruciating long haul uphill in deep fresh powder snow? The spindrift-needling blizzards? The all-obscuring shifting cloud? Where’s Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:10:20 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1119 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1119 The blade hits the wood and settles in deep – deep enough to have difficulty extricating it... And now the left hand: can I hit that small mark with the tip of this sharp toothed weapon? This isn’t Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:37:27 GMT http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1106 http://www.climber.co.uk/blogs/blogShow.asp?blog=123&post=1106 I am a victim. At least I look like a victim. A woman with a black eye is a worry to observers - domestic violence? No. I am a victim of my own ambition. The cause of the spreading purple stain Wed, 8 Dec 2010 14:15:46 GMT