Friday the 13th

So where was I?

ah... last post I was infatuated with my new Beastmaker (BM from now on) and I still am. I think since last posting I've had one board session with Dan and Dense, and a fingerboard session with Ned and Dense. The former went very well, I came stupidly close to doing half (one side) of a project we set only the session before but being a dunce I forgot where I needed my feet for the end. The problem involves yarding off a small Bleaustone hold that was initially designed to be a keyring. Its far from kind to your tips hence you don't get many goes at all. The fingerboard session was a bit poor. I was tired, Dense kept making me laugh and it was all a bit much like hard work. About 45 mins of decent exercises were managed but not as much as I'd hoped especially as that included warming up.

The BM boys have left for Font so no more board sessions for me.

As the weekend approached Nat kept pointing out that the forecast looked amazing. After seeing Bonjoy pointing out how lazy everybody is on UKB I decided not to go to any of my usual bouldering spots and instead head to Rowtor having only been once.
On arrival it was cold, a little damp and very green. Not the best choice then? Various problems were attempted by myself, I ticked a few but nothing earth shattering before Nat got involved with Raw power the 7a+ ish Mantel thing. She did extremely well narrowly missing out on ticking it when her foot popped at the last second. She'd used up all of her energy by that point and the next go was poor. A little frustrated she admitted defeat.
I went down to Short Seans Reachy Roof, which frankly is a poor problem. A quick tussle and some awkward foot locking got me out to the lip and I rumbled to the end. Something new to tick I guess but I doubt I'll try it again.
Nat got stuck into the 6b next to it and again was looking good until she ran out of power again.



The reason I wanted to head to Rowtor was to try Andy Harris' new thing, it was dirty and the hold IS DIRTY. It looks worth going back for but I'll let someone more knowledgeable pick when conditions will be suitable.
Today with snow forecast we thought we had a cunning plan. Head West and miss the snow. A delayed start meant we arrived at Gib Tor with just enough time to watch the sun disappear and the snow/hail to start. Nat didn't bother doing a lot as she was just simply too cold. I had to do stuff as I managed to forget my down for the first time ever. I ran around ticking all of the classics which somehow drew blood from my palm (again, what's with that?) before retreating to the car. The verdict; an OK crag but not great. The fin would be an uber classic without the scrittle, the landing makes it intimidating which is fantastic!
We stopped at the tor on the way back past, it looked bare without the foliage and a lot of things were damp. I was about to climb but then the snow re-appeared and I couldn't stomach getting cold again.
Back in Sheffield Dylan called to let me know he was at the workshop. I needed to build a backing board for the BM in order to mount it. A large amount of time was spent, cutting, sanding, checking, drilling and countersinking the backing board. Back at home four large coach bolts were drilled through the plasterboard. Six plasterboard fixings were also placed at strategic points. The plan was to have four large bolts with large washers to spread the load throughout the plasterboard. The board itself was to be screwed through the backing board and into the relevant fixings. So that's what I did. It seemed solid but looked SHITE and whilst mounting it I was fairly certain that the plasterboard fixings alone would hold me and the board securely to the wall and transmit the load through the door frame. So... I took it down and mounted it in a more simple, less messy fashion and it is perfect. So, I wasted the afternoon making a board, making a mess and then filling in four massive holes. Oh well.

Natalie was very jumpy today, it was the 1st of Feb and to me that's like Friday the 13th on heat so its not really surprising. 2 years ago I messed up my leg, 1 year ago an idiot in an Alfa tried his best to mess the rest of me up as well as a fair portion of Nat. Today we were driving across the Peak, with snow forecast and boy was she nervous. I was banned from overtaking, going too fast or generally playing with the car. Everything went swimmingly until we got to the top of Froggat bank on the way home. You know the bend just after the parking (or before if you're coming up the hill)? The bend that curves and curves? Well, as we approached this uphill a cyclist came into view in the opposite direction followed shortly after by a bright orange overtaking gritter, on my side of the road. A massive "Oh Shit" moment, harsh braking and a lucky escape for a cyclist left both of us cursing loudly. Funnily enough she wasn't too happy later on when I was using a jigsaw with the safety guard removed...

However, I survived the day. Hurrah!