But I was down at saltdean by Brighton at the weekend, working out quite how to climb with crampons and ice axes.
Used a pair of DMM superfly's, and stuck a pair of crampons on my new Charmoz'. bouldered around for a short while- and was given a bit of advice and some idea by Sasmojo, which helped.
When I originally got on the chalk, it was a very daunting experience. I mean, really quite daunting. I wasnt quite sure what would and what wouldnt hold, ended up trapping my axes on top of each other, and at one point was very suddenly spreadeagled on the ground after being 6ft up.
Watched Sasmojo trying to link up a couple of figure 4's, which looked fun- but my primary aim of this weekend was to get a bit of experience with sharp tools, and not to injur myself this close to going to Norway rather than piss around with stuff that really would have ended up in a bad way.
Followed Sasmo up a II, then led it, and then a IV, which was a whole heap harder. Not just physically, but mentally. All very much about placing feet and axes very carefully and making sure that it would hold weight. All good fun.
And now, I cant wait for the 26th.
Roll on Hemsedal and Rjukan.
No comments:
Post a Comment