Afternoon on Stob Ban

Hours of sleep have been gradually increasing over the past couple of weeks as Freida settles into life in the outside world of day and night. So I was keen to get more than just training done and make it out onto the hills before I missed the snow completely. I headed out by myself as early starts are a little hard work just now and went for a nice afternoon climbing something new on Stob Ban. 

Sadly my intended route was in the process of falling down due to the warm spring winds, so I headed off up the buttress with no particular aim except to enjoy the movement on snow, rock and turf. I mostly soloed, which I enjoyed a lot. But the rock was quite loose and turf not completely solid, so my rope and the little red belayer came out for a pitch.

Would be nice, but not today in plus 2!

Getting my rope-solo system a little more slick. Long way to go there...

Back on the board, things have been going really good. I’ve managed to surpass my previous strength PB by a good margin and feeling highly excited for the coming rock season. The cumulative effect of simply clocking up the hours on the board all winter long seem to have prevailed. Excellent.

Too early to test it on projects just yet. I tried today but ended up taking my climbing gear for a nice walk in the rain. I did nearly run over an Otter on the way home which was the highlight of the day (seeing it, that is!).

Posted in: rope soloing,winter climbing