30/06/09
Went to Deeply Vale again tonight for a climbing session in the rain. We took Barry from work too. He's given us a whole host of excuses as to why he couldn't come in the past. So it was actually a shock to see that he was ready to go when we knocked on for him. Thing is Barry had come up with excuses when we were planning on going to the indoor climbing wall, where as this is outdoors. A different kettle of fish.

To break him in gently we picked The Crack (12m) VD again as it's a nice diagonal climb with some good hand holds. He had no harness or climbing shoes, but Vinny let him use his and I let him use my approach shoes, which have good soles. As an easy climb it is good to use as a warm up and as a bit of a confidence builder. Baz wanted to test out the rope, but also the belayer - in this case Paul. He had no issue with Paul, of course, just was new to the whole "don't worry, I've got you" thing. As he fell back on to the rope the stretch caught him off guard and he ended up back at the bottom with his arse nearly hitting the deck.  He didn't fall far, but it was a wake up call to how much elasticity there is in the rope.

He climbed slowly and carefully, straining between moves; but handled it all pretty well.  Especially so considering it was not only his first climb ever, but it was outdoors. The abseil was interesting as it took him a while before he gained the confident to lean back on the rope with straight legs. In fact at one point he looked like he was going to lose it a little, but managed to sort himself out.
In fact I think he fancied himself as being in the SAS towards the end as he zipped down; though he forgot there was ground coming towards him and ended up on the deck again.

Next up was Crack Variation (12m) HS 4a. I struggled at the first part of it and it felt more like a 4c climb. The climb eased off to more like the  grade it had been given and I really got into it.

After this we tried Central Arête (12m) VS 4c. Paul seemed to shoot up there showing off with some difficult looking moves. I wasn't particularly confident about this one and in true Matt style I had missed Paul's moves for the start of the climb and really struggled at one bit. I lost grip a couple of times and ended up swinging like a pendulum and bashed into the wall. A scrape to my elbow this time - I wound myself every where I go. I ended up giving up and coming back down. Vinny tried the same climb and Paul said he climbing the part I got stuck with slightly differently. So once Vinny got to the top Paul had another go as if to show me the error of my ways :)

Finally I had another whirl on Slab Dab (12m) VS 4c. I like this route, it's got some varied holds, which includes some deep crack holds (ooh-er) which are great for confidence - they are different than normal hold and so you employ a different techniques, but they are solid enough for you to feel secure. At the start of the climb I wasn't sure how I managed to get my leg into the hold. I couldn't work it out as the one which seemed about the right height was poor - perhaps because of the wet conditions. So instead I went for the next foot hold above, but used a heel-hook technique to gain some leverage. It worked perfectly despite the pang of cramp in my thigh. Then at the over hand I had an awkward move pulling sideways on a crack. My back twinged! I thought it was game over and I'd have to come down, but I carried on regardless. I got over the top and despite my back pains I shot up quickly. Sorting out the rope provided a welcome back rest.

Same again next week? Oh yes! and I think we've got a new interested party...

25/06/09
Sorry for being a little slack with updates, but I've had quite a few hectic weeks and have been too tired to bother with updating the blogroll.

Last night I went climbing outside for the first time and it was amazing. Much better than indoor. Climbing outdoors is actually quite different as the gritstone seemed to almost crumble meaning that smearing was tricky. My climbing technique actually improved as it meant that I had to bring my foot higher to match the hand hold, rather than relying on smearing on the hard sections.

We went climbing at a crag in Ramsbottom called Deeply Vale. Renegade Corner (12m) is a VS 4b climb and was our first. The first part was possibly the hardest. I couldn't seem to find any purchase to get around the over hang. It was a shock to the system not to have nicely shapes hand holds. What was more of a shock was how sandy the rock felt, as it would provide little traction. Free of dirt and tiny gritty dust, gritstone provides plenty of traction, but this crag was either rarely climbed or the rock was very old.

The second climb was called Slab Dab (12m) VS 4c and although was roughly at the same level I found it much harder than the first. In fact one section both my feet slipped and I lost grip with one hand leaving me dangling with just a few fingers on rock. A tennis-scream later and I'd managed to get my other hand secure and then smeared my feet up. I think that was the closest I came all night to falling off. We were top roped so I wasn't going to fall any where, but it was more about saving face. 

Finishing off the night we chose a large crack - actually called The Crack (12m) VD - running diagonally up the wall. It looked much easier than the others and it was! I felt much more confident when starting off and flew up to the top. I even climbed right over, rather than abseiling down - in fact that was the hardest part as my feet had no grip and I was trying to pull up on heather. I looked like Worzel Gummidge with twigs sticking out my hair. I can't went to go again.

05/06/09
Yesterday was a big day with an even bigger let down. Laser eye surgery is something I've wanted to do for about 2 years. I'd always been put off by technique, side effects and cost. Technique because I didn't revel in the thought of a surgery cutting my eye manually. We all have our bad days at work and I would have been concerned if the surgeon had been on the sauce the night before. My appointment was at 2:50. Initially I had to wait for around 40 minutes in the reception area with another 15 or so people. My first part of the screening process was to visit the Topographic room. I had a scan of my eye which included the thickness of my cornea.

After the tests were complete I had to sit in reception for the next part of the testing. This time it was to check my eye sight, essentially a normal eye test. This is where the problems started. I'm not sure whether the lady was an ophthalmologist or optometrist, but she went through the usual, "1, 2.... and 3, 4... 1 and 2..." flicking things over my eyes to check my vision. After the eye tests she questioned when I had my last eye test. It was about 3-4 years ago now. Immediately after telling her her face changed to an 'oh dear' expression. Basically my prescription has doubled in that time frame and she couldn't let me have the procedure until my eyes sorted themselves out.

It's fair to say that I was a bit gutted about it, in fact I'd almost say devastated. Such a long time of waiting with having it on my mind nearly every day and I then get told I can't have it is a proper kick in the mummy/daddy button. I'm going to get contact lenses - I struggle to get them in, but I will just have to force it - and see how that goes. You can order them online without having someone watch you put them in before they can let you have them - Thanks Boots! NOT.

So I'm sure it's all for the best and that I'll appreciate it even more when I finally get it done. However, I'm now concerned that I wasn't allowed to complete all the tests on the day. So should my eyes stabilise and I go back for another round of testing but then fail on a test after the eye test, then I will lose the plot.

Since all this I've started to wear contact lenses and am loving it. Not only the clarity, but the freedom is something I'm still impressed with. Being able to wear sun glasses, or go climbing without the rope pinging my specs of is amazing.