Day Trip

Richie Betts, pioneer, picked me up this morning at 8.30 which in my opinion is far too early. However, it was Andy Wilby, the machine, who made the decision as it was his first Saturday off in a month. We arrived at Andy's and he introduced his dad, Ray, the wise and I said hello to Clare, the bear, who is Andy's woman friend.

I didn't really know where we were going other than "Torridon", but on the way Rich and I had an ethics debate involving Scott Muir, Si O'Conor, mountain bolts, dry tools, patios, boulder pads and that I was gonna flash Riches boulder problem - The Mission. (I know its not ethics but it was discussed in the car, so seems apt to add that bit in here)

The crag of the day is both unpronounceable and unspellable so I'm not going even try. It's the crag with The Torridonian. It's a good crag with a bastard of a walk in. Rich and I tanked 11 e-points between us, the finest being Riches dogged fight up the Torridonian, E3 6a. The going was initially good with the crag being in the shade but the sun soon strolled round the corner which was actually quite nice but pretty soon it became really hot and the pace of the day slowed. Andy had poor showing falling off every route he tried. Cursing his bad luck, he said the only way that the day could be saved was if he too flashed The Mission.

We went down for a swim in the river which was good fun because I like splashing and stuff. We then made the short journey to the Ship boulder which is absolutely mega. With the beta from Rich, I set about my flash attempt. I fell off the first move... It's hard stuff, but a great line and after a few more attempts, I stuck the first move. Then tried Malc's Arete which is also an amazing problem but I couldn't make the last move. Still a very cool boulder, one which gets Rich very psyched. Andy didn't flash nor send anything and we were munched by midges.

A few days off climbing now, I'm going to visit my sheep.