Years Passing

Okay so this is a month out of date now but the last month hasn't been particularly conducive to communicating about climbing.... Rewinding from to early November in recent years....

2017 - Great summer climbing, wet autumn, but still very psyched....then made a couple of wee mistakes (more on them below).

2018 - Mediocre summer being ill but at least doing sport climbing, great autumn having recaptured my trad psyche and ability, pretty reassuring.

2019 - So-so summer having regressed with trad psyche and ability, but a great autumn bouldering and exploring in Wales, a fresh perspective.

2020 - Okay summer sport climbing and getting fully fit, then complete emergency stop due to double injuries, lost all of autumn trad season, and then the weather minged out just as I'd started to recover. Bollocks.

So I'm writing this because it's the 3rd anniversary of contracting norovirus, not recovering, and getting a mild but chronic digestive disorder, that still persists and inhibits me, from potentially nice days out, to indoor wall training when Lord Bozzer graciously allows us, to home workouts when he doesn't. Still there, still nagging me, still holding me back. It comes and goes but when it's there, life and climbing still feels a bit grayscale. But it is getting better year by year, who knows I might not be re-hashing this tedious shite for the 10th year anniversary.

More usefully for me to note (and hopefully my sporadic climbing partners to tolerate): I've had a realisation recently. I had assumed that my decreasingly frequent but still existent nausea bouts would have mostly physical after-effects on climbing: Queasiness, lack of energy, tiredness, lack of core tension etc. And thus that I'd struggle to do physically hard climbing, but be okay with easier but more committing climbing. 

BUT. Experience has shown it's the other way around. The subtle psychological after-effects, particularly an underlying vulnerability, seem to consistently make easier but committing climbing harder to cope with than simple, less-psychological, but physically harder climbing (in which the initial wobbliness seems to get overriden by adrenaline and focus). 

Looking back on various bouts / attempted climbing, this has been a fairly common correlation: A bout in El chorro - couldn't climb the day after but the next day fine on the sport despite feeling ropey. Ditto with a mild bout in Pfalz. Double bout (two nights in a row) in North Wales whilst bouldering, managed to boulder both days after again despite feeling wasted. 2018 when they were really regular, I managed to get into redpointing and cope fine. Minor bout before Egerton early summer 2019, felt iffy all day, couldn't cope with trad and started a downward trend that year. Smurf Zawn late summer, mild bout the night before, just felt spooked and timid the day after. Standing Stones recently after prior and slightly recurring bout, couldn't deal with any boldness (but could visualise how okay bouldering would be). 

Sport / bouldering / training (subject to being uninjured) have been more suitable than sketchy trad (as glorious as that is). Something to take into account and hopefully use to try to halt and revert the vague downward trend of recent years. At the moment, my knee has recovered to at last 90%, my elbow rehab is going much slower but seems to be progressing and I'm being cautious, I'm working on flexibility more....and now we can train indoors for a while at least (until the great post-Xmas covid spike / granny massacre gives an excuse for another lockdown...).

Anyway here's some photos of a nice sky from during lockdown2 when I travelled a short distance for outdoor exercise whilst meeting a single person from another household:

Bonus: A bit later on, here's me at the same crag also doing outdoor exercise whilst meeting a single person from another household, alas without a comparable sky, but with butchered brightness levels at dusk ;). Bonus points for guessing the problem:

Happier times

Rewinding a bit to earlier in the year, in that brief window post-lockdown-recovery and pre-MCL-and-elbow-injury, where things were bright and happy and full of climbing potential. Okay, okay, so things were mostly full of sitting on bolts at Peak Lime chossholes, but sometimes that sitting was interspersed with upwards motion and sometimes that motion resulted in success and confidence. Confidence that I was just about ready to apply to trad.....just before I found myself with two limbs out of action. Before then I'd just been dabbling, keeping my hand in, whilst using the sport for training, but still managed a few nice routes...

Frostbite, Wilton 2. 

I'd given this a thorough clean at last year's Wiltonfest (before trying to casually romp up Falling Crack, slipping off whilst casually clipping a cam, and ending up tangled in the rope, sizeable arse over tit, in front of Hank Pasquill, and then slinking off in a sulk). The diligence of my cleaning was rewarded as when I came back this year, it was both obviously unclimbed and obviously still in great condition. Thankfully a summer of anal retentive micro-beta note-taking about redpoint projects had erased all useful information gained from my abseil cleaning, so I could set off with a clear mind and discover that it was a very good, pushy little multi-crux two-star testpiece.

 

Jasper, Stoney Middleton

Notable for two reasons. The first was a sign that pushing myself regularly on sport was having some benefits: Coel was initially appalled by the idea - "You're REALLY warming up on an E3?!" - "Well yes, that's about F6b+, and I'm regularly warming up on/above that, and I can see the gear should be pretty obvious too". When F6c is not longer hard and F6b feels like a rest.... And yes it was fine, and yes this was a good indication I could have done okay this summer / autumn. Secondly....JASPER! My friends' Dunc and Berie's tabby tomcat whom I used to hang around with / cuddle / harass / get scratched by quite regularly when I lived in Sheff. Lovely grumpy old oaf! I'd always intended to climb this route with Duncan, but after a mere two days climbing with him this summer, he'd spannered his wrist with his mid-life crisis choice of skateboarding and trying to show off to teenagers, and I couldn't wait any longer. So sorry Dunc, but here's to the memory of Jasper <3.

Anyway....

It's now been nearly two months since I injured myself. I am still injured but things are easing off, just as the weather has started crapping out more reliably of course ;). Plentiful gym rehab, a fair bit of moorland romping / recceing, and sporadic light climbing is helping my knee feel more mobile and resilient, although I haven't tried running again after the last debacle. Easing right off on my climbing and tweaking my eccentric / rehab program is helping my elbow.....not get any more injured at least. Physio consultations imply it's not too bad, but it's certainly inhibiting me a lot. However there's a glimmer of hope! I started some tentative falling practise the other day (on lead, I'm still too wary bouldering) and that was fine on my knee swinging directly into the wall, so at least there is something (important) I can train. In the meantime, more bumbling recaps:

Piggy And The Duke, Crowden Towers

Coel was keen for Arabia, I was unusually willing to give Kinder a go as an alternative to the gym for leg rehab, so I forced myself up there. Fuck me it was grim. I had to rest 4 or 5 times on the final slog up Crowden Clough. No....it never gets any easier with DVTs. All I can do is be more gentle on myself and take it slower. Anyway, Arabia was in a howling gale, so we did a circuit of the South Eastern Edges, via this scenic sandbag, then on to Herford's Route on the Pagoda, an even worse sandbag on which the final ankle-breaking mantle-above-a-ledge had me seriously questioning whether this was sensible knee rehab, and finally down Jacob's Ladder and a vow never to go up there again until I've forgotten what the walk-in is like, which given I was just browsing Nether Tor whilst trying to find this route name, I might have already done, sigh.

Emmenthal, The Range

Now on to the proper stuff. Proper knee AND elbow rehab as it's ledge shuffling in the most ledge shuffly sort of way. Proper spirit-lifting mental rehab as as well as being easy it's also bonkers, fun, inspiring, characterful and intriguing. The weather was good, the scenery was lovely, Jodie and Kai were game for an adventure and liked the fun of it all, and we got to watch an amusing seal ruckus . And my knee only got one tiny twinge, standing up from rigging an abseil. Okay I did get multiple torso lacerations from failing to post myself through the chimney slot on Big G's The Old Steam Piano (one to go back for when it's dry), but it was a small price to pay. After warming up at The Range and another tentative but eventually pleasing day at Smurf Zawn, I managed to nourish my soul further doing Mantrap in Mousetrap Zawn which was just brilliant and my route of the year I think, cheers Luke for coming along for the ride. All of which was perfect, if expected, confirmation that adventurous / esoteric sea-cliffs are exactly what is good for my mind and body in the current state, despite the rarity of being able to rouse partners for such pleasures. It's still in my mind for some winter sun days (albeit depending on how draconian the Welsh covid-5G rules AND associated racist vigilante nationalism get too).

The Crunge, Craig Y Forwyn

Williams and Muzza P were bleating on about how great Craig Y Forwyn was. I turned up and almost all of it apart from the Great Wall looked like a direct and dire mixture between Wye Valley and Willersley. Ugh. Turns out that despite most of the crag being less aesthetically inspiring than a single hold on The Range, the rock is actually quite decent, full of hidden horizontal breaks, and actually climbs really well for limestone. I should have more faith given it's A55 / Llandudno area which is infinitely superior to any greasy crumble in the Pennine dales. Talking of which, the BMC should stop pissing around renovating the world's worst sport climbing on the fringes of Horseshoe, and instead purchase Forwyn main cliff, nuke all the ivy, install some bolt lower-offs, and purchase a caravan in the park below as a climber's mini-hut #realtalk

The day after we did a bit at Marine Drive and Crinkle Crags which was great as usual, saw a goat, lots more seals, wind turbines, etc etc. 

Anyway that's it for now. I'm cultivating a fine balance of being grumpy that I've missed getting away, but also being vaguely inspired for gritstone which is pretty essential at this time of year.

Extremes.

Let's talk extremes. No not those extremes like Mild Extremely Severe i.e. E0. But extremes of media taste, in my case, music. I post a lot of stuff on Facebook and elsewhere that gets universally ignored so why not do it here too. Although this is a post with a purpose. Sometimes I wonder if I like extreme music through habit, or for the sake of extremity itself, or to keep playing the role as "that sociopathic weirdo who likes devil music". And then I hear some pure banging evil filth on my MP3 player and am headbanging to it at the wall or gym, and know that it's genuine. So in the spirit of that, here's some of the more extreme tracks I have genuinely loved recently and every time I hear them:

Kilbourne & Plexøs - Pain Becomes Pleasure (at 1:51:50 in video)

(Skip to 1:51:50 because fuck blogspot's inability to embed timestamps)

Only available as part of Kilbourne's mixes (including a better quality example here: https://soundcloud.com/discwoman/discwoman-94-x-kilbourne , an excellent mix overall). This is my headbang-of-the-year track, I can't resist it any time. In an era when a lot of hardcore is trying to be too clever with samples drops and chopping up tracks, this is refreshingly direct and banging as fuck. In fact it's as much like double speed techno as it is normal gabber. Fresh bleeps and stabs carried by relentless kicks and it works perfectly for me.

Leeloo - Sexta 

Also heavily featured on Kilbourne mixes. Christ, this track. This is the sort of track I heard partway through a mix and had to do a double take when it comes out of nowhere. Just listen to the melodic intro, this is the 1% of hardcore that is so fresh and invigorating. Uplifting and mesmerising and paired with beats that are bewildering and hard-hitting (do they run at 220 bpm.....or 440 bpm?!). Pure beauty and the beast vibes. I love it.

Drokz - Failure

Terrorcore (for those poor uncultured oafs who don't know) is a harder faster version of gabber (and actually used to be called speedcore before that got even faster) and is often a bit purposeless and pointless for me, speed and hardness for their own self-referential purposes. This 13 minute epic, rolling at 250 bpm after an intro longer than most actual pop songs) is NOT, it's a flagship example of extreme dance music that is properly crafted, atmospheric, melodic and constantly evolving as well as furiously intense. 

The Satan - Gangzta Cash

One of the anthems of the year thanks to PRSPCT records continued good taste and output, it's been featured in many of their mixes, and gets me grooving every time. In particular the organic wood-style breakbeats, a nice throwback to older gabber in which breaks were an important part of the flow energy. Throw in some bouncy bass, ravey stabs and a clear crisp production, and it's irresistible. As a bonus the artwork is brilliant.

Monolog - Hook Echo (End.user remix)

https://soundcloud.com/monolog-madsl/07-hook-echo-enduser-remix

Another absolute gem that I first heard on a PRSPCT Quaranstream mix, from End.User himself. He applies his notorious breakcore skills to Monolog's dark EDM / DnB styles, and the result is fantastic. As soon as I heard it in the mix I knew I had to get it, and after a listen in the car I knew why I loved it so much - both the hugely expansive swirls of crystal clear sound, the wall of crisp breaks.....and the drop at 4:50, jesus fucking bass. Otherworldly sci-fi dnb masterpiece!

Dom & Roland  - Beach Bum

Well this might be a bit of a cheat as not only it is a fairly tame track by the consistently excellent DnB legend who created such ferocious masterpieces as Imagination, Maximus, Jungle Beast, etc, the main reason I like it is for the pure mellow surf twang vibes of the intro. Okay so the rest is pretty gnarly with a "grizzly bear with indigestion" bassline and militant beats. But it's the combination with those guitar licks that gets me. Who says harder DnB can't be fun??

...And Oceans - Cosmic World Mother

I'm not really a black metal fan, and I'm pretty not sure I'm not a symphonic black metal fan, so these Finns have done something pretty damn amazing to make this my album of the year. I listened to a bit one evening, thought it was promising, then listened to half the album on headphones in bed, and was mesmerised. A couple more listens in the car confirmed it: this album is a hell of an experience with the intensity starting immediately at 00:00 and finishing at 47:30. It does evolve somewhat from the starting blitz to a beautiful finale, but the wall of sound built from machine gun blastbeats, frenetic yet catchy guitars and soaring keyboards is epic, relentless, and to me, thrilling.

Ingested - Where Only Gods May Tread

Kings of SLAMchester!! I don't usually feel much affiliation with the city in which I skulk, but I'm happy to be sharing it with these guys. They sometimes get called slam metal or deathcore, but fuck it, I'm calling them the most reliable modern death metal band around. The whole sound is spot on, fast, heavy, varied, crunchy riffs, melodic leads here, blasts there, bassy drops now and then. But for me the vocals stand out - yes of course they're shrieked and growled, but Jason not only has a broad enough range to make you believe there's 2 or 3 vocalists at work, the vocal pacing matches the music perfectly, much better than most other death metal I hear. Having that extra "harmony" of sound, vocals used as an instrument as well as a weapon, it's great.

Disentomb - Collapsing Skies

A short but perfect intro to their "Decaying Light" album (with it's general high quality death metal and great cover). I just love the epic riff at the start of this, heavy and haunting. Throw in some methodical blastbeats and extra lead melodies, and it's pretty much perfect. 2 minutes is not enough!

Konvent - Puritan Masochism

I've got an entirely predictable "thing" for women doing extreme music, I find it particularly enticing to hear brutal sounds created by the so-called "gentler sex" (is that even a thing any more? who knows, who cares). But of course the music has to stand in it's own right, and bloody hell does this track and album. Mid-paced doom-death built on riffs, riffs, and, well, you've got proper vocals from the abyss and a lovely guitar tone with fuzzy distortion like a gentle caress of barbed wire, but....riffs!! Catchy as absolute fuck. If you're not head-nodding immediately.....there is no hope.

*BONUS*:

Technical Itch - Creature Of War VIP

Okay I had to stick another DnB track in to balance things out, albeit an older one from a few years back. This is utterly ferocious and that's pretty much why I like it. It's still recognisably drum and bass with all the rhythm and complexity that entails, just turned up to a level of intensity that perfectly befits the name.

Finally. If you like any of this stuff, go to Bandcamp or similar, search for it, buy it and more. Support these guys and girls, they're putting the effort in to creating amazing sounds.

Rituals

N.B. This was originally supposed to be published in the subversive counter-cultural "steer the wavering ship of the climbing scene by gouging a hole into it's hull" fanzine UFCK, but god knows what's happened to that so I'm posting it here. Given the nature of the 'zine I went for a deliberate and unashamedly flowery / OTT style of writing but at least it's not as torturous and po-faced the old Moles / Cookson "wannabe-Redhead" word-soup. Normal service / moaning may resume next time.



RITUALS

Runes align, signs condense out of the e-ther. A freshers' meet here, a send train there, maybe a bank holiday swarm. The portents push acolytes into directions both obvious and obscure.

Candles or maybe headtorches are lit, casting the dark into light and the surrounding world into darkness. Tomes are scoured and revised, the beauty being the message is hidden in plain view: Condensed paragraphs after main crags, hollow stars, sub-notes squeezed in before the next honey pot.

Attire is donned - Adidas instead of Arcteryx, Sports Direct instead of Sportiva, shiny consumerism will get caked in grimy chimneys and shredded on old barbed wire, so why bother. Similar are tools of the trade - crowbars and blades.

Acolytes are summoned to the chariot, an understated approach is recommended - V.A.Group instead of a #vanlife, a scruffy hatchback easier to squeeze in to corners, easier for locals to ignore. Fellow explorators are chosen according to enthusiasm or gullibility or more usually availability regardless of personality. A mascot or companion may provide resolve or moral fibre - 4 legs being preferable to 4 spinning rotors.

Belatedly, subject to the vagaries of lift-sharing, coffee-imbibing, and Google Map's willful obfuscations or indeed outright objection to the chosen destination, the temple may be approached. This is usually from a tangential angle - a rear assault may be optimal or just thematically pleasing for the team. Eyes must be kept open, there are auras to be discerned - greens and browns - as well as the existence of rock and stone, sometimes separate from the base earth, sometimes all too separate.

At the place of worship, rituals postures are settled into. Lying collapsed amongst rucksacks, kneeling in the dirt, scrying and scrutinising, squatting in nooks drinking tea and avoiding looking upwards at the horrific edifice.

Phrases are intoned to bring joy to the participants: "Why the fuck are we here instead of Malham?"..."Are you sure this bit hasn't fallen down?"..."I wish we had a pad party with us"..."We'll have to ab and clean it won't we?".

At last, excuses fade away before the mighty open-ended proclamation "Well we're here now...", and the suffering commences: flesh is torn in descent gullies and abraded in clefts, fingernails are chipped and worn excavating slots and mis-timing brush strokes, legs cramp up and numbify from prolonged abseils, all the senses are full of grit and moss and dust, torsos stiffen and corpsify as the ritual mercilessly extends and ropes must be held "One more go, I'll get it next time, I wish I'd brushed that fucking pocket"...

As the physical form is flagellated, the mind is set free from the shackles of convention - reliable descriptions, informative grades, conventional styles, hive mind shared knowledge, successful ascents.

Eventually enlightenment might be attained, but through more earthly pleasures. A soothing drive home, a hot bath, the relieving de-vegetation of clothes and crevices. And finally the dilemma of either smugly posting "Well who knows what THIS crag is then?" photos on social media and basking in the knowledge of obscurity, or defacing and destroying pages with a solemn vow never to attempt a farce like that again....and knowing that both choices are entirely correct.

...

As should be obvious it is about exploring esoterica which is what I was "commissioned" to write about, and mostly inspired by actually doing so with UFCK himself (and Pippin of course). In honour of that here's a few relevant photos, some of which have been posted before:

Can / Can't

Things you CAN do whilst recovering from a torn MCL:

• Fingerboarding
• Campussing
• Intense upper body work
• Intense low-level traversing
• Systems board training without going too high

Things you CAN do whilst recovering from golfer's elbow:

• Hard slabs / vertical walls
• Thrutchy routes with a focus on legwork
• Run-out routes with good fall potential
• Falling practise in general
• Running and similar lower-limb fitness

Things you CAN'T do whilst recovering from golfer's elbow:

• Fingerboarding
• Campussing
• Intense upper body work
• Intense low-level traversing
• Systems board training without going too high

Things you CAN'T do whilst recovering from a torn MCL:

• Hard slabs / vertical walls
• Thrutchy routes with a focus on legwork
• Run-out routes with good fall potential
• Falling practise in general
• Running and similar lower-limb fitness

Hmmmm.....

So yeah I was heeding the DMac advice "If you come out of a lower limb injury without getting stronger, then it's been a wasted opportunity" (more like "If you come out of a lower limb injury without sinking into a pit of slothful, comfort eating, nihilistic depression.....then well done" - I think the first quote was in the era when DMac wrongly assumed that all other climbers, irrespective of grade, had his robotic dedication to training and militant self-discipline). At any rate I was motivated to try to maintain some of the strength and fitness that I'd clawed back since the end of lockdown, and thus jumped straight on the fingerboard a couple of days after fucking my knee.....after a sluggish day doing fuck all, and with the barest minimum of warming up. I tweaked my elbow a bit. Then climbed the next day. Then went to the gym the day after and tweaked it further on elbow intensive stuff. At the time of the last post I hadn't realised....but yes I fucked it too. 

Depending on the circumstances, the elbow is more of an inhibition than the knee. On the Depot circuit boards with their convenient matrix of footholds, I've managed to carefully front-point and inside edge my way along the lowest level without any knee pain.....but increasing and subsequent elbow pain as I ramped up the difficulty. Same with Awesome Walls with the vertical lead wall of endless controlled rockovers (fine) and deep locks (less fine). On the other hand, after walking on flat ground, uneven ground, uphill, downhill, upstairs and downstairs (the latter at a distinctly normal pace compared to a week ago) all without pain, I tried a light jog the other day and lasted 1 (one) step before a sharp pain stopped me, and now my knee has felt the worst it has since the first tweak.

So whilst last time when I had tennis elbow, I could do some cool slabs and highballing and running and stuff, and last time when I mashed my leg I could do plenty of deadhanging and campussing (which I did feel progress with) and weights, this time I'm not sure what the fuck to do (apart from burying my head in the sand and pretending it isn't Sendtember because that ain't fucking happening). What I am doing is antagonistic weights and stretching, and, errr, a fuckload of rehab from wobbleboarding and eccentrics to light gym work on the leg etc etc. And hope to get one of the limbs healed up enough to go on some adventurous sea-cliffs before winter....

Dropping...

 
So last week I felt like I'd regained my fitness and strength and was climbing as good as I have in recent years - on sport onsighting and redpointing at least, I hadn't put it into practise on challenging trad, but I'd even got enough confidence back to be ready to do so. Not only that, I felt generally fit and good (digestion aside), and notably had walked out of Chee Dale to both Wormhill and Topley Pike without resting - almost as rewarding as the climbing, feeling that my body had re-adapted to regular usage and activity.

This week I can still walk, slowly, in a straight line. And that's pretty much it. I can't run, I can't boulder, I can't fall off, I can't do any sudden movements, I can't twist my leg, and I can't climb at any more than 30% capability (which feels more like 60% challenge as I've got to hang on every single move and test every single left foot placement to make sure it's safe and not going to aggravate my left leg). And I probably couldn't dance to gabber either, even if clubs were open.

What I've done is tweaked my MCL (the stabilising ligament on the inner side of the knee) on my left leg, doing a deep drop knee move. Or more specifically, doing a deep drop knee move that I'd never done before, which is the crux of a route right at my very limit, and in particularly doing it in poor conditions which forced me to try too hard as I was slipping off a handhold, and twist the drop knee far deeper than it should have been and far beyond what was safe. It is hopefully a relatively minor tweak, as there just a mild twinge - an unusual warning sign which caused me to drop off immediately - and no sharp pain, no pop, no sudden loss of stability, and no noticeable swelling. Nevertheless, it is definitely injured and inhibitive as above (and any inwards motion, especially with a bent leg, is definitely painful), and will take plentiful rest, rehab, and avoiding relaxed climbing motions.

I could write about the usual bollox this entails: how gutting it is to go so abruptly from good climbing fitness to hobbling around again, how particularly gutting that is after fighting to get that fitness back after lockdown, how even more gutting it is as I'm coming into potentially prime late summer / early autumn trad season (Red Walls and Range South unbanned etc) rather than coming into a dank winter, about how, despite what people say, I *WILL* lose fitness and strength that quickly (reading DMac's Make Or Break, there is some acknowledgement of this: "It is well understood that training gains in muscles strength and endurance are reversible, and that the losses of tissue status begin within a few days of ceasing training" // "Climbers tend to underestimate the effect of even a week of de-training on your ability to absorb hard physical work"). So far so dull.

Instead there's one issue I want to write about that isn't actually an issue. In the depressive state this sort of "emergency stop" injury brings on, it would be easy to lament "I can't try hard in climbing, I can't push myself too hard, my body can't take it, if I'm getting near the top of my game I'm just going to crash out again". Thankfully, this one worry isn't actually true (although it can happen that way).

In this case, my body was coping with and adapting to the demands of regularly fighting hard pretty well, and what went wrong was an outlier:

1. Drop knees are a risky move. Apparently so. I've heard rumours about them. Referring back to MOB: "Drop knees....are the most dangerous movements on rock" // "Drop knees....are used comparatively infrequently, yet demand large forces when they are used" // "Moves where you drop the knee and then move the hand all in one rapid motion may be particularly risky for knee ligaments" // "Possibly the most important preventative measure of knee injuries in climbing is awareness and concentration during dangerous moves such as drop knees."

2. I've never done proper drop knees before. I've done egyptians, sure. But never a proper drop knee where you dip the knee right down. If I have it was very brief and I can't remember it and I certainly haven't used one to try hard. I tend to climb either a bit more flaggy, or a bit more front on and squatty and rock-overy which suits my heavy but relatively un-weak thighs. So I have little experience in the technique and no whatsoever in the limits and risks. 

3. I was pushing too hard and losing judgement in poor conditions. I was, somewhat shamefully, getting a bit desperate for "the tick" and "getting the route done". Sure I was still enjoying the experience of the climbing and of trying it, but part of me was getting a bit obsessed and wanting to get it "out of the way". Shallow motivation that is easily aligned with a weak state of mind, including ignoring the increased difficulty due to poor conditions and still persisting to try to get that possibly unsuitably distant end result.

4. I may be more susceptible due to lack of gym training. According to the physio, the cruciate ligaments are the primary stabilisers in the knee joint, whilst the joining muscles are secondary supportive stabilisers. I don't know if regular gym work helps strengthen ligaments although it might well stimulate them, but the sort I do (short sets of heavier leg work) definitely strengthen the muscles and certainly tests knee stability on squats. I haven't been to the gym for 5 months (the longest period I can remember) due to the lockdown and gym closures and this might have been a problem.

5. So the cause was pretty much ignorance and susceptibility on a risky move. And that is both something that's not a particular problem with my body nor climbing, and something that I can learn from and be aware of. If I'd had a heel-toe in on a similar move in similar conditions, I'd have probably sacked that session off already due to the risk of ankle amputation - because I know the risks. Same with a high heel-hook. If I'd had to do a slap or lunge on a similar move in similar conditions, I'd have probably been fine as the consequences would have been a flapper or something minor. 

So now that's out of the way, what now??

Rest. Rehab. All the physio theraband / wobble board / straight leg etc exercises. Try to strengthen the ligament and the muscles. Avoid re-injury. Train my upper body as hard as possible whilst also avoiding injury. Gently experiment to see what climbing might be possible as I start to recover (my gut instinct is that the ledgiest and shuffliest ledge-shuffles of Anglesey and the Lleyn might be the best as the nature of the terrain not only rarely requires excessive exertion through the holds, in some ways it actively discourages it - whilst at the same time providing enough beauty, inspiration and fun to nourish my soul). Remain diligent. Remain open to possibilities. If recovered enough, try to extend the routes "away season" into autumn as far as the weather allows, and similarly try to start it as early as possible in spring, taking advantages of available sun-traps. 

777

As a change from grotty Peak lime, I was out for some grotty Clwyd lime (what it lacks in vegetation, it makes up for with in looseness) with mr Andy F the other day, and it was a 777 kind of day. After a warm-up, with both did What's Going On F7a */**/*** which was delightful steep slab climbing that suited my trad bumbling, Atmospheres F7a *** which was an antithesical battle through hanging overlaps (Andy at the belay: "I've been brutalised!") and good training for trad bumbling with both the style and a leg-pumping essential rest, and finally Prickly Heat F7a+ ** (conclusion: 3 hard 7a sections back to back with one shakeout adds up to more than 7a!) which Andy put the draws in and I somehow flashed via an absolute battle that has little to do with my trad bumbling except that if I could put that much determination in on trad I might actually get somewhere.

Anyway What's Going On was both the easiest and most enjoyable, just a lovely style of climbing, engaging but not stressful, exposed but not scary, and apparently "better than almost all 7as in the Peak". Which it might well be. But then again there are a lot of good / well-reputed 7as in the Peak, so what could be more suitable / boring / anally retentive than list most of them....

Done:

Exo6, Masson Lees? - was 7a when I did it. Remember it being heavily glued.

Hilti Sound System, Masson Lees - also heavily glued etc. Dunno if Masson counts as proper outdoor climbing?

Tucker's Grave, Intake Quarry?  - again 7a when I did it and can't remember fuck all.

This Is Not A Drill, Darlton Quarry - much better than a lone star, intense crux and nice finish.

Aperta, Hidden Quarry - ditto, nice wall with a balancy first crux and a cool go-for-it finish

Scratch Race, Plum Buttress - also underrated, cool boulder problem and very photogenic

Cairn, Harpur Hill - obvious, but it is that good

Lies And Deception, Smalldale - only one star but makes the list for quality.

Want to do:

Straight Jacket, Wildcat - no idea but worth an explore

Handy Wallhole, Dale Quarry - need to do this with slab ninja Coel

Supercrack, Lorry Park Quarry - keep putting it off but will get there one day

Too Monsterosity, Slaley Brook - went once but got distracted by Marble Wall

Fuck Your Gods, Masson Lees - when I've got over my masson tantrums

I Hate You, Stoney - great name, I've had good experiences of Stoney sport.

Demolition Man, Horseshoe - one for a nice winter's day?

An Ancient Rhythm, Horseshoe - ditto

Lead Vein Thrombosis Deep Rake - gotta do this just for the name

Red Mist, Goddard's Wall - no idea if it's good but 1 star 7as around these parts usually are!

Rubicon, Water-cum-jolly - put it off for 15 years....maybe I will be strong enough soon?

Max Head Room, Max Buttress - max routes are pokey

Up The River, The Cornice - almost dry enough the other day

Clarion Call, The Cornice - still putting this off, or getting distracted

White Gold, Chee Tor - one for a fresh bone dry day as a warm-up for the trad?

Go Cat, Dog's Dinner Buttress - just for the name!

Case Adjourned, Two Tier - obvious

Darl, Two Tier - lovely spot

Quality Control, Two Tier - this too

Monkey Magic, Cowdale - probably nails but worth a shot

The Prophecy, Harpur Hill - will get around to it at some point

First Offence, Smalldale - ditto    

Can Boys, Smalldale - ditto

Attempted:

Long Black Veil, Masson Lees - blew the final move inches from success. massive tourettestantrum

Une Crime Passionel, The Cornice - now 7a due to hold loss in upper groove. was close. nails but cool start.

Armistice Day, The Cornice - 7a+ in reality so not bothered, especially since I don't fit the kneebar.

The conclusion being.... I really don't have enough experience to make any judgements about it. Not that should stop me normally, but maybe since I'm kinda getting used to inland lime, I should try to tackle some of these this year. Perhaps 7 of them...