A small cam placed blindly under a roof leaves me anxious about the crux. Instead of committing, I scramble down to a knee bar and try to shake the lactic from my forearms. The cam seems good, but the pieces before it weren’t, and I’m not sure I trust it enough to attempt … Continue reading Summer in N.Wales

A few weeks ago, I had some of the most intense dreams that I've ever known. I don't usually dream much, but for some reason this week was different. I learned recently that we dream something like six or seven times a night, and that each dream is a more developed repetition of the one … Continue reading Icons in the darkness

It's strange that feeling you get, at once in your chest and your stomach, sometimes in your throat. It's not quite a gag reflex but something similar, a sickly sort of feeling that makes your whole body tremble imperceptibly; never quite enough to pin it down, but enough to know its there. Your shoulders ache … Continue reading That strange feeling

After a thoroughly dodgy morning, the rain finally closes play and we admit defeat. We wait for the shower to end, and I run to the top to pack the ab rope away whilst Andy walks round. We meet at the top and I throw my sack over the fence, preparing to vault it onto … Continue reading A close call

I've lost count of how many times I've refused to do this move. Again, I fail to commit, and step back down to the non-rest I've become stuck at. This pitch is relentless, I think, endless. Every single move is hard, the hooks are less than heroic, the angle and exposure maddening. At least the … Continue reading The Winds of Change

Stood on the third ledge of the day, I pull the drawcords of my hood tight. Snow and ice fall on us from above, wind chills us to the bone. The day started with blue skies and enough promise to get us committed, but it's gone to shit - conditions are now full Scottish. Above … Continue reading Coming Home