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Winter 25/26: The curse of the weekend warrior

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Post expedition blues  On coming back from Peru I wanted to make the most of my freedom. I went to north wales for a week with Bri and enjoyed a lot of roadside cragging. Afterwards I went to Lost Village to engage in some mindless hedonism which was a welcome change to the hard but satisfying work of climbing. As an aside, high altitude mountaineering is great training for festivals - no sleep, little food, all day on your legs - maybe it goes the other way too! However the come down made me realise I was well and truly spent. I went home and spent the next three weeks immobile from my couch. Afterwards, I settled into work nicely and was able to start indoor climbing consistently for the first time ever, as well as getting regular weekend trips to the Peak District. I tried to lead my first HVS, Great North Road, but couldn’t commit to first crux. I tried to lead my second HVS, Meringue, but couldn’t commit to the first crux.  Looking towards Llanberis from the top of the ‘T...
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July 2025: Climbing in the Cordillera Blanca

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As my first trip climbing outside of Europe, and especially to high altitude, I had been very worried about the kit needed. Any research I did would only confuse me more, with some sources saying I would need double boots and a borderline down suit whilst others said I could run up in B2s and t-shirt. I ended up taking a beefed up version of my Scottish winter kit which proved more than enough and, for what we did, a cold summer alpine kit would have been sufficient. My partner for the trip was Alex (why are so many of my climbing partners called Alex) who was my boss when I was working in London the year prior. We had never climbed with each other and had barely interacted outside of work. We had gone to the Alps for a week, with a good forecast and high psych, but Alex had injured his ankle a few weeks previously. After approaching Contamine-Grisole (for the third time!), it caused him too much discomfort. So we decided to prioritise his healing and just hiked for the week.  Neva...
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