Post trip summation

I have now been home for four days, since cutting our trip short and retreating in shame from the Great Norge.  Truth be told, it wasn’t a very good trip – actually that’s not fair, the trip was fine with the laughs and comedy disasters that usually occur (including the now mandatory ‘driving the car off the road’ episode), but the climbing were a bit shite.  We climbed eight of 18 days, and only got to the top of four of those eight routes (the easiest four I would add).  That’ s no success rate to write home about – I usually bank on climbing two-thirds of the time (and don’t often consider not getting to the top).

I didn’t even get the chance to climb anything particularly hard.  This was due to backing off routes – a set of decisions I haven’t really had to make before.  I have decided against things as they look to hard before, but never really backed off at the crux pillar due to dodgy ice – at least not on three climbs in a row.  Very frustrating as they probably would have been fine.  Or they could have collapsed, shattering into a million pieces, crushing me to death in an instant.  So I can’t say that I regret the decisions.

Really? The tangle that required me to reclimb a 60m pitch in the failing light

The worst thing about being sat on your ass in a cabin with naff all to do is the feeling of rot.  At a time when I should be at least getting better at ice climbing and probably staying reasonably fit from walk-ins, I am in fact getting weaker and fatter and worse at ice climbing, rock climbing and running.  I do tend to turn to cake too.

I guess I have to think long term – one duff trip over four years isn’t too bad.  It’s just horrible when it is that duff trip.  These things are too expensive in time and money and energy to be duff.  But, such is life, and perhaps it’s a good omen for the rest of the year – now the duffer is out the way.  We are already considering next year – I will be a home owner by then, so the brakes will have to be applied to the spending – a euro-road trip seems like a good idea as it should be substantially cheaper and allow more flexibility to consider conditions.  I have set my sights on ‘Le Dame du Lac’ in Morzine – not sure why as it’s way too hard really...

At least we saw these this year

So in terms of athletic endeavour, now it is time to re-focus on a) running and b) rock climbing  and nothing else.  Today was my first run in to work for over three weeks.  The run itself was a breeze, but my hamstrings are a bit whacked now, low down near the knee.  Every time I run I seem to get aches and pains in different places.  I guess as long as they keep moving around my body there isn’t too much of a problem.