Finally a new post

Which will be followed my at least a couple more as I get round to writing about various things.

So what have I been doing? The good news is that before Christmas I got out to Froggatt with Tomtom and Nai and sent my (according to the guide book at least) second Font 6b problem - Joe's Arête. Whether the problem is actually 6b is a bit debatable to my way of thinking – comparing it to the only problem that I can relate it to - Mr. Smooth at Caley - I would say that it was closer to 6a\6a+ than 6b but until the new guide comes out I will take the stance that the guide book doesn't lie. It also should be noted that regardless of the grade it is a nice problem though if it remains at 6b it will be a slightly better problem to my way of thinking. 8-)

Christmas was spent working and then after a few days back in Suffolk with the family I flew out to Italy to spend time with friends though the joy of seeing the Albanian Rat Hound again was tempered somewhat by him getting so excited by my arrival that he pissed all over my foot. Useless bloody dog... Withstanding that it was a good trip – didn't get any climbing done but had a good time anyway and it was pleasant to be in temperatures that while only single figures were on the plus side of the scale for a change. I don't think it had dawned on me just how debilitating the constant levels of sub zero temperatures had seemed till that point.

Getting back to good old blightly has also seen a slow return of the SYKE and with that a bit of time spent at the Climbingworks just trying to get back into some form which does seem to be coming together. While I haven't been pushing myself with circuits at least I am doing something in-between getting out and about doing the odd thing which I will detail in another post soon. It is also good for the social side of things as well – just catching up with people and having a chat and – astonishingly to me at least – being remembered by The Dawes.

I also seem to have made a brief foray into the strange world of fingerboarding which is an odd way to spend an evening to say the least but which has made me address the (probably long known) fact that I have no crimp strength worth speaking of. This in turn has repercussions on my unfocussed plans for the limestone (bouldering) over the summer and ultimately my somewhat more focussed plans to get A Miller's Tale in the bag. The sit start to it seemed OK when I spent some time on it .last year though the transition into the standing start needed a bit of work. From there through the steep section was pretty solid but it all broke down at the crimp for the right hand and while getting the crimp wasn't a guarantee by any means the sheer though of pulling on it was incomprehensible. As I am typing I can almost feel the awful sharpness of that right hand crimp so the the hope is that it will seem a bit less of an issue with some finger strength in hand (pardon the pun).