Time for something new

So days are passing by and i feel stuck in a rut, i've heard plenty of people say "life's to short!"
What next i keep asking myself, I am enjoying work at the wall but the simple fact is i don't want to be here for the rest of my life! Looking at what other people have done since finishing university makes me think why aren't i off doing that? There is people in Canada, Fiji, Nepal... people have been working the UAE. And here is me still in Liverpool.
Before this gets on to a rant i'm going to stop myself and get to the point of the post.
The job i was hoping to apply for at Plas y Brenin came up on their vacancies the other day and i read through it and decided that i haven't got the relevant experience at this time, so i called up a few friends who are in similar positions but with a bit more experience and they suggested applying for the Nightwatch scheme at Glenmore Lodge, so i looked into this and it sounds perfect.
I mean being based in Scotland for a full year (a full winter) i got super psyched and downloaded the application form and started to fill it out, turns out when i think about it i've got quite a lot of climbing under my belt. Pretty varied as well from bouldering font 7b+ to leading winter grade V. One vital thing i think is missing from my CV is my D1 so i got on to sorting it all out.. more complex than i thought it would be have to apply for a provisional, and get a medical from the GP at £80!! Well i know it will be worth it when i get it as it is like another NGB award in itself.
I feel I am actually making a concious effort now to move on and get the experience i require, also my finger is feeling better so gently started to train on it again indoors over the past week and it feels good, now to get fit for Fontainbleau in November!!
Even feeling slightly down i realised it wasn't just me who was feeling like this after reading Owens blog (Raw Edge Days) i realised the psyche level in Liverpool is pretty low. Lets hope the weather picks up and people get more motivated!!

Mountain pleasure!

So still nursing that dodgy finger! What a pain, all training indoors has been put on hold just been keeping up with the running anf cycling to work (averaging 16mph over 8 miles, not bad ey?).

Well got a day off on Tuesday and so did Roger, so we planned to head over to Wales, to Ogwen to be precise!

Last time we planned to go out we ended up on Catell Helen and freezing then bailing early to the cafe for a coffee.

This time we were lucky with the weather, hoping to climb at Craig Yr Ysfa the sun was shining and the wind wasn't too strong, we went for it and go on with the 1.5hr walk in. Turns out that the walk in isn't too bad, mostly on the road, we reached the top of Ampitheatre Buttress just after midday and little to say i was very intimidated. But the routes looked brilliant, it suggests in the guide to abseil down so we did so instead of taking the loose gully of death!

As we reached the bottom of the climb my feelings turned from nervousness to pure focus on the route! The route in question was Mur y Niwl/ Pinnacle Wall, a route i have wanted to do for a long time now.

WOW was it worth the wait, the first four pitches were all amazing and so different in many ways, i managed to lead a 14m pitch with one piece of gear, which was a number 1 nut ;) . Roger got the second pitch but i have got to say each of them deserve 3 stars!!

Pinnacle wall had some bizzarre climbing and Kirkus deserve some man points for getting the first ascent as a solo!!!!!

What a beast! Time now to focus on the Cornish Granite next weekend!

Indoors Outdoors

Well turns out the time has come to be getting ready an packing for our trip to Kalymnos.

Wow the training has gone well.... not!

Although i haven't been specifically training any form of endurance i have been climbing LOTS, had a four day period off work where i managed to get out bouldering for 3 days.

Day 1 - Caseg Boulders

what a beautiful setting right next to the river sun was shining, no wind, climbing with tops off in October?? if anything it was a little bit too warm. Either way that didn't stop the crush, with Rich, Sean an Mike managing to all make short work of Don't Drink Think 7a+. And i managed to get Caseg Groove 6c done which i was very pleased with also an outstanding climb amazing moves.

later that day after a chilled coffee in V12 Llanberis we went to Jerry's Roof where i was trying the tourist tick an felt fairly strong good sign.

Day 2 - Parisella's Cave

After a long day i felt like a wreck so wasn't expecting much, but with the finger feeling fairly strong thought i would try Bust Lip and about 4th go when i got the heel-toe to work i managed to dispatch it so another 7a+ for the year which brings the total tally up to 6 for the year! So psyched.

Day 3 - Wavelength and Beyond

Lordy Lordy had caught my eye in the guide book and with a couple of recommendations off other people i thought it might be worth a visit. What a trek to get to it though felt like i was out on an ML day. Turns out it was totally worth the walk in, such a technical style problem so all down to balance and body positioning.

Then we headed down so Sean, Mike and Rich could try the Lotus, which is an amazing looking problem, with a quality V4 next to it.

Down then to Wavelength where after a couple of goes i managed to get King of Drunks (7a) done, what a tick for me as i tried it earlier in the year and was so close to it. Really good to see the training and just generally climbing more is paying off.

Also my first 7a in the mountains!

Back to work for 6 days then and time to squeeze in a route session before i head away.

Really productive session as well, managed to get the 7a i was trying on the back wall done and plenty of 6's feeling a lot more mentally prepared now for the trip.

So will keep you posted on how it goes when i get back.