The rabbit move

The Baron, drinking coffee from on high and without the benefit of sound, seemed quite amused as the Simple Chick and I apparently embraced, undertook a short dance routine and started imitating rabbits between climbs. In reality, of course, we were discussing the moves of the Simple Chick's project, going through the sequence before she climbed again.

The rabbit move

A few weeks previously, I had belayed as she climbed her hardest lead. I was so proud of her breaking through another grade barrier, particularly as I knew that she was perfectly capable of climbing the route, but that she just didn't THINK that she could do it. Following this success, and the accompanying mini high that I think all climbers chase, she set her sights on the next grade and a lovely route on the same wall. We spent a few sessions working it, concentrating on the little traverse sequence at the top.

On her next attempt, as she neared the top, I think the man next to me was quite amused as I shouted 'it's the rabbit move' and watched her execute the sequence smoothly and easily. She smashed it!

The Simple Chick post crush

Later on, I think for the 5th time that night, having taken a proper fall from the hard move, another silly fall and having backed off twice, once due to the shock of actually doing the hard move(!), I gave my project one final try. The Simple Chick said we were not leaving until I had done it (and promised me a pint if I did), but in truth, I was getting tired and running out of chances.

Reinvigorated with high calorie tiffin and yet another coffee, before I knew it, I had clipped the 6th clip and faced the hard move, now slightly refined with the Simple Chick's help. There was no choice, I had to keep going this time. Stepping up, my hand landed solidly on the triangle and I tried hard to compose myself for the final sequence. I heard the Simple Chick cheer me on as I moved my right foot, clipped, brought my left foot in and right foot out, frogged, moved my body over, stepped up and reached up for the jug, letting out a rather loud 'YES!' as I clipped the anchor.

A very happy Long Legs

I was buzzing when I reached the ground - it was just such a rush to finally get a route clean that I had been working for a while and which at times had felt completely unachievable. And for me, the most interesting part was that the very first time I went near the route, I could barely get past the second clip on top rope - at that point I never believed I would ever lead a 6c.

Long Legs and the Simple Chick enjoy a very well earned celebratory beer

And so, this all made me start to think... Perhaps I can achieve what I want to achieve if I put the work in, maybe I really can climb harder, perhaps I haven't reached the limits of my abilities after all? Clearly training and trying harder routes each week has reaped rewards, my fingers are stronger and I feel that I am getting a little better at reading sequences. There is no doubt that Main Wall Monday has paid huge dividends, steep angles that a few months ago were exhausting, seem so much easier now. 

Dave MacLeod (my hero!) talks in his book about being open about your goals so I am now going to share mine - I would like to lead a 7a indoors and a 6b on the Main Wall before the end of 2016. In the past, I would have said there was no way I could do either of these things, but now I think, why not? If I plan my approach and train accordingly, I can certainly give both objectives a damn good try.

More than anything, I am really looking forward to the fun that the Simple Chick, and my other friends and I, are going to have, as we work our routes, get outdoors and train hard for the rest of this year.

Climbing is always a very, very serious business

New beginnings

Leaving my life in Orkney behind in 2013 was more difficult than I think even I realised at the time. I went from being unable to shop in Tesco without meeting at least 3 people I knew, to knowing almost no one - my best friends all hundreds of miles away. There are no traffic lights in Orkney, no dual carriageways or motorways but suddenly, after 6 years on a wonderfully idiosyncratic island, I was thrust back into this alien urban environment. In my quest to adjust to a new home and a return to student life after 11 years as a commercial archaeologist, I didn't paddle, I didn't climb, I didn't run and I was miserable. It was as if I had lost myself.

By the end of 2014, things were improving but my boats were still in the garage and my box of climbing kit remained untouched beneath the coffee table. I felt sad and frustrated when I looked back at the photos from all the paddling and climbing I used to do. It felt like another lifetime. But then I met someone who made me see that despite this huge change in circumstances, I was still the same girl, with the same interests, the same dreams and passions. It was as if I was a broken boiler and my pilot light was suddenly reignited.

Perhaps things didn't take the course I expected, but through the shit, that pilot light stayed lit and I regained the drive to start making some changes. I found out a friend at uni did some climbing, I wrote a UKC post to find a regular partner and I started running again, with week 6 of Couch to 5K. And slowly but surely, I rebuilt a life. As a result of that post I met the wonderful Simple Chick and together we climbed, through good times and bad. I battled with a severe, vomit inducing fear of falling, wimping out of leading 4s and kept going until the grades kept increasing and the improvements were even noticed by others. At times my own health was far from good but through it all I kept climbing and I kept running until I could run 5K, then 10K and over 20K, ending up as a member of Queensbury Running Club. 

Witnessing a near fatal climbing accident was an obvious low, but paradoxically, it was climbing, and those that I climbed with, that helped me deal with that and everything else - it gave me a purpose and at times the only reason to get out of bed. Things got better, of course, and as they did, my climbing continued to improve. I found the climber that I had left behind in Orkney and then I overtook her.

On a local paddle, in another lifetime...

In my other life, sea kayaking was a huge component, I lived 5 minutes from the sea in two directions and at one point I seriously considered starting a summer kayak guiding business for visitors to the island. Although for various reasons that never happened, I did obtain my coaching qualifications and coached extensively for both local clubs. So as I climbed more, it made sense to me to also qualify as a climbing instructor. So I did. And of course, the more I shadowed, the more instructors I met and with that another part of life was rebuilt, as I made friends and climbed with these new people.

So, although it is a cliché to look back at the past year, 2015, for me was somewhat pivotal. I still miss my friends desperately, and the network of climbers and paddlers that I left behind, but at least things are now going in the right direction. I wish I had a 'go to' friend who would greet my mad cap ideas with even better suggestions for summer and winter mountaineering, camping, fell running, climbing and anything else in between; there are so many things I want to do that I can't, merely because they are the sorts of things that need two.

This year, I have to finish my PhD and I suppose I have to decide where my life is headed, but I like it here and I like the life I have started to build. What I do know is that in 2016 I will climb more mountains, strive hard to make my own adventures, continue to build a network of friends, jump at all opportunities to get outdoors that come my way and most importantly, I am going to run my bloody stove on petrol. Gas is expensive and I am now an adoptive Yorkshire woman...

New Years Day - starting 2016 in the right way...