Tuesday 20 January 2015

Slow Season

Its been a pretty slow grit season this year, hence the lack of writing.

Aside from a few days in November its just never really got going, well for me anyways...

Those few days were great though, using some of the new confidence from a summer of trad and sport to go ground up on some of the grit routes that have been burning a hole in my ticklist for the past few years.

Perplexity, Linden and Defying Destiny stand out. All climbed in better-than-usual style for me and mostly in control! It really is all about momentum on the grit, get one thing done and belief flies up, giving you a real advantage in a type of climbing based almost entirely on confidence.

The main enjoyment of the last few months however has come in the form of sport climbing. A few years ago I had a nice but somewhat frustrating trip to El Chorro, having climbed some hard boulders on the grit I thought it would be a breeze out there. Oh dear, what a chump.

Anyways, it was nice to return a bit fitter and despatch some of the routes I could only belay Dad on last time, the best of these being the ultra classic Lourdes.

Jack immersed in the steepness