"So, who has climbed before?" asked the instructor, at the start of the first of three weekly 2-hour sessions of A Basic Introduction to Climbing course.
Two of the five put their hands up straight away. "Anyone abseiled?" Another two hands went up, so that just left me.
"Err you must have climbed trees or over walls as a youth Geoff?" he asked with a mix of rhetorical hope and thoroughly misplaced confidence.
I glanced to each side; seeing the other 4 waiting expectantly. I thought, long and hard; then said ..... "Mm, nope. In fact I don't like heights" I replied.
Like a dancer momentarily put off their beat, the instructor paused for a second before continuing with a jaunty and jovial "Well you've certainly come to the right place".
As most of you know, I've decided to throw myself (perhaps the wrong term to use on reflection) into a final series of challenges. Two frighten the life out of me; the rest might just wear me down until I collapse into an ambulance ... but if this is going to be my last adventure, it might as well be one I'm glad to see the back of as well as burst with pride that I did it.
Moreover burst with pride that we (and yes, that probably means some of you too) will raise a big slug of money for some excellent charities.
In fact I'm getting so giddy I'm going to try to get 7 articles published; complete 7 podcasts; get an absolute minimum of 6 other people to join me EVERY day of the adventures AND release 7 micro video clips, to go with a serious one and this one (that's just been tweaked):
But I digress, so let's get back to Challenge #1: the climbing of Tryfan North Pinnacle Ridge. It's 175m high and if you Google it for images, you get stuff like the images below.
I'm making some progress (and getting the motivational support from fellow climbing novice Andy 'look at me I'm really a mountain goat' Smith), but it's tough going ... and before the end of the month we'll be giving outdoor climbing a go, under the supervision of Mountain Man Tom Prestwich.
In the meantime I'll take my mind off that challenge and cheer myself up with the fact the I've already got 3 other climbers for Tryfan; with more wanting to join. Please also bear in mind that at the moment I'm:
Enjoy your weekend.
Two of the five put their hands up straight away. "Anyone abseiled?" Another two hands went up, so that just left me.
"Err you must have climbed trees or over walls as a youth Geoff?" he asked with a mix of rhetorical hope and thoroughly misplaced confidence.
I glanced to each side; seeing the other 4 waiting expectantly. I thought, long and hard; then said ..... "Mm, nope. In fact I don't like heights" I replied.
Like a dancer momentarily put off their beat, the instructor paused for a second before continuing with a jaunty and jovial "Well you've certainly come to the right place".
As most of you know, I've decided to throw myself (perhaps the wrong term to use on reflection) into a final series of challenges. Two frighten the life out of me; the rest might just wear me down until I collapse into an ambulance ... but if this is going to be my last adventure, it might as well be one I'm glad to see the back of as well as burst with pride that I did it.
Moreover burst with pride that we (and yes, that probably means some of you too) will raise a big slug of money for some excellent charities.
In fact I'm getting so giddy I'm going to try to get 7 articles published; complete 7 podcasts; get an absolute minimum of 6 other people to join me EVERY day of the adventures AND release 7 micro video clips, to go with a serious one and this one (that's just been tweaked):
But I digress, so let's get back to Challenge #1: the climbing of Tryfan North Pinnacle Ridge. It's 175m high and if you Google it for images, you get stuff like the images below.
 |
| Whereas if you search for "Does my bum look big in this?" you get images like this! |
 |
| Not sure whether I'd actually left the floor yet. I think I had and it was Jason's telephoto lens that captured this look. |
I'm making some progress (and getting the motivational support from fellow climbing novice Andy 'look at me I'm really a mountain goat' Smith), but it's tough going ... and before the end of the month we'll be giving outdoor climbing a go, under the supervision of Mountain Man Tom Prestwich.
In the meantime I'll take my mind off that challenge and cheer myself up with the fact the I've already got 3 other climbers for Tryfan; with more wanting to join. Please also bear in mind that at the moment I'm:
- Struggling to climb 12 metres on an 'easy' level.
- Getting more lactic acid in my forearms than a de-hydrated Taiwanese wrestler hooked on triple-espressos.
- Starting to prep for a total of 7 very different challenges which, over the course of the 7 weeks in 2017, will each test different muscles, fears and general ability to recover between them.
- Looking to learn to swim further than 6 lengths of a 50m pool.
- Aware it's going to hurt like hell (and that's just the training). This week I've already hiked for 5.5 miles on Sunday; tried 6 climbs on Monday night; spent 35 minutes at the gym last night (mainly driving my legs into the ground on the cross-trainer); will be going swimming Friday evening; doing a long walk with Lucia on Saturday, after Debbie and I have gone to see an open water swim club in Wakefield ..... and I know I'm still only touching the surface.
- Preparing for the Great Wall of China trek in later October.
But hey, I've put me in this position, so I'd better follow the advice I gave to Jenn Richards when she asked me if I thought she'd be able to row the English Channel with us (Challenge #3 btw): "Commit to it mentally and wholeheartedly", I said ... "And then learn how to do it".
Enjoy your weekend.
