2013....look away now...

Yes it's numbers. UGH. How coarse, how oafish, how uncouth. Well I spend 95% of the year avoiding them other than as a useful guide to a likely challenge, so forgive me if I spend a solitary post amusing myself. As the half dozen regular readers might spot I have done a lot of good climbing this year - not in terms of quantity but in terms of quality and pleasure and personal difficulty. I've not got any philosophical musings this time, just a simple list of the hardest trad routes I did, in rough order of grade band difficulty, and with a few possible corrections.

Of course I've included a more relevant and significant number - a rating out of 10 as to how much I was enjoying the climb at the time, being on the route, going through the process (even if it was hard). For most of these, it's really rather high, in fact some of them I'd have to crank the rating up to 11 to summarise how enjoyable they were ;). And that's all the justification I needed...

E5...
Lady Charlotte E5 6a ***, Dunkeld - 8/10
On The Beach E5 6a ***, Glen Nevis - 9/10
The Final Solution E5 6a ***, Creag Dubh - 9/10
The Purr-Blind Doomster E5 6a ***, Cambusbarron - 10/10+
Neart Nan Gaidheal E5 6a ***, Ardmair - 9/10
Triode E5 6a **, Glen Nevis - 10/10+
Colder Thank A Hooker's Heart E5 5c **, Creag Dubh - 10/10+
Cleopatra's Asp E5 6a **, Reiff - 10/10
Smith's Arete E5 6a *** (E4), Pass Of Ballater - 9/10
Nijinski E5 6a *** (E4), Auchinstarry - 9/10
The Prow E5 6a ** (E4), Cummingston - 9/10

E4...
Breaking Strain E4 6a *** (E5), Morocco - 10/10
Risque Grapefruit E4 5c **, Glen Nevis - 7/10
Wall Of Flame E4 6a ***, Diabeg - 10/10+
Bratach Uaine E4 6a ***, Creag Dubh - 8/10
Macdonald E4 6a **, Loch Tollaidh - 9/10
Cocaine E4 6a ***, Rosehearty - 10/10
Aesthetic Ape E4 6a **, Cummingston - 10/10
Timpani Wall E4 6a ***, Little O Wall - 9/10
Downies Syndrome E4 6a ***, Berrymuir Head - 9/10
Constipation E4 6a **, Stanage - 9/10
The Tube E4 5c ***, Back Bowden - 10/10+
Aussie Rules E4 6a ***, Ardmair - 10/10
Wally 2 E4 5c **, Ratho - 9/10
Exasperated Escapologist E4 6a ***, Ardmair - 10/10
Awesome E4 6a **, Reiff - 8/10
Deep Wells route E4 5c ***, Morocco - 9/10
Infinity E4 5c ***, Morocco - 9/10
Black September E4 6a **, Glen Lednock - 8/10
Pettifar's Wall E4 6a **, Ratho - 10/10
Stanleyville E4 5c **, Stanage - 9/10
The Beautician E4 5c ** (E3), Stanage - 9/10
On The Verge E4 5c ** (E3), Back Bowden - 9/10
Dark Island E4 6a *** (E3), Orkney - 10/10+
Public Spirited Individual E3 5c ** (E4 6a), Cambusbarron - 8/10
Economy Drive E3 6a ** (E4), Cambusbarron - 10/10
Reccoco E3/4 5c **, Little O Wall - 8/10

+ 40 odd E3s

What will happen in 2014, god only knows. I've got some ideas - Pedriza, Berdorf, Pfalz all in colder weather, more grit, more slabs, travelling or moving back down to the UK to do more Welsh and SW esoterica - but nothing particularly pressing other than doing some more great climbing if I can.