Monday 14 September 2009

Welsh Weekend Warmth.


If I were to speculate on a list of Things The Doctors Wouldn't Recommend, it would be something like this:

Climbing.
Roped/harnessed climbing.
Trad climbing.
Multipitch climbing.
Bold climbing.
Steep walk-ins.
Sleeping in a tent.
Long drives.

Thus, I ticked all of those this weekend. On the other hand, I wore a lid leading, I was careful to put the least pressure through my harness I could, I was very diligent with protection, I made sure to sit down lots and take comfy belay stances, I approached any boldness with a lot of consideration, I kept the walk-ins to 5-10 mins max, I got the tent comfy and propped my legs up at night, and Butters did the driving so I could keep twitching around.

More pertinently, I ticked three E1s and an E2, including a total of one 5a pitch and seven 5b pitches, as well as seconding some classic HS-VS stuff. All of it went very well - not bad given a month ago I couldn't walk!! It's definitely the sort of reassuring mileage I needed to get back into trad. My legs were a bit swollen and stiff from DIY on Friday (too much standing around), and haven't eased off much but haven't worsened either despite all the activity, but I'm going to rest well now.

It was really quite a spiffing weekend: Glorious weather, sunburn both days, busy in the Pass on Saturday, quiet at Tremadog on Sunday, good company, great climbing, and the joyous simplicity of a proper climbing weekend: Sleep, wake up, eat, climb, token beer, eat, chill out, admire sky, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Also the routes were all really good, it's been a while since the inscrutable urges of my soul have let me delve below E2+, and I really enjoyed savouring some easier routes this time - quality climbing with less fear. Hangover, Yellow Wall, One Step In The Crowds, Grim Wall Direct, go do them all.

Next I need to let my legs rest a bit, then slowly work on improving my fitness, and consolidating some trickier climbing - whilst taking care, of course...

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