16th April…Somewhere over Greenland I looked out of the window and saw vast open spaces, filled with ice and water. I stared until my eyes hurt and my neck was stiff from twisting in the seat. It was sublime. I made myself scared as I thought about trying to survive in such an environment. The…
Author: blocspenwith
Llanberis and Ogwen
My first night in a CC climbers hut. I rationalized sometime ago that sitting in a warmish hut was a better option than crouching and squatting in a coldish van. It transpired that I was right. It is though a bit weird, alone in a mountain hut, the wind howling outside, doors creaking and banging,…
between the see-er and the visible
Early January. What does it mean to have a project? I want to call this a curve of possibility. This experience occurred on the project I was on today as I added a move to what was already an existing problem. ‘I really don’t know if I can do it. So much seems to go…
Sintra, a bit like Carn Brea
On what has been declared the ‘most depressing day of the year’ Monday, January the 26th. We left a wet and cold Cornwall for a short flight to Portugal. Tuesday morning and we look out of the hotel window at bright blue sky and sunshine, the light of warmth. Later heading out up winding roads…
West Cornwall’s hardest and unrepeated problems
I got thinking about the number of unrepeated problems down in West Cornwall. Not many, but worthy of a list! As a starting point, I had a peek at the list from ‘hard bouldering in West Cornwall’, compiled by Barney Carver in 2006, found here. It’s interesting to note that in the last nine years…
Boomerang chipped!
I’m reluctant to say but am pretty certain a hold has been chipped on ‘Boomerang’ 7A+ at Clodgy Point, St Ives. As a first ascentionist and the fact that I’ve climbed this problem many times, familiarity suggests its been chipped. It doesn’t show any evidence that a storm may have have thrown up a…
stingray 7B+
Pretty sure this a new problem, starts very low left hand in a pocket, right hand on the lowest rail. Three hard moves then it meanders over into ‘blue ray’. Good news is it stays dry, bad news is that it isn’t very good…actually I like it and it kept me occupied on my visits…
reasons to be cheerful
I guess I must be free [in the way Bukowski rambles about in a depressing manner in the video below] as I scuttle around like a child on a freezing and cold day on a recent trip with Jane to Glendalough, in Ireland. We are free and happy! In very cold and windy conditions, I…
projects and process
Today I went out and had a bright and windy session on a new project, out on the north coast; I’d first checked this problem quite a few years ago. My memory though had played some tricks on me because on revisiting it a few months ago, it seemed very different. It was in fact…
andywhall.com 