Tuesday 1 April 2014

Nearing Summer!


Blog Update!

Been a bit of time between the last blog, I have been living the typical university life, lack of food, lots of drinking and constant life questions every day. I now have a job working in a cafe, which will help my money saving (hopefully) I also have a lot of uni work to do, assignments and the like. But what about the climbing? Well, I have been trying to get as many outdoor days in as possible, with the weather improving and the rock drying out, I have recently been to Lower Scout and Helm Crag, and climbed one the best routes I have climbed to date! The climb was an MVS, it was very exposed climbing yet it wasn’t extremely technical, the run outs were massive, yet only occasionally did I seem out of my depth. In fact the trip to Helm crag was full of reasons why I love climbing. Just a short bike ride out of Ambleside (4 miles) and we were scrambling to the foot of the crag. The crag has a distinctly blocky look, and some parts simply look like someone has placed block on block. We had just finished uni for the day and it was very warm weather, we had roughly 3-4 hours of sunlight left, and the routes although slightly damp in the cracks, were in perfect condition. Looking back on the day, there was a E1 that I would really like to give a go. One of my mates Ben Roe, climbed it and described it as easy climbing yet ‘simply dangerous’. Watching him there were very long run outs and in fact only three pieces of gear on the whole route, yet the style of climbing looked well and truly within my reach. Until next time! I will hopefully of done the classic routes on upper scout by the time I reblog! Photos to come!
(Just bought the Western Switzerland and classic climbs in the Dolomites guide books, more of that plan coming)
Joss