[fatneck]

Nice Rich.. Keep blogging lid...

[JohnM]

Damn, thought it was a new one.  Got my hopes up!  I want a progress report on Louis Armstrong!

[Richie Crouch]

Haven't been outside on rock for weeks bar 1 session at rhiw goch for a quick hour hit. Almost got lightweight done but slit a tip. Mainly been indoors after work.

Going to get off my arse and get down the cave on my next day off and find the motivation to try hard again 

[comPiler]

Lacking in inspiration
5 December 2014, 8:00 am

Much like this blog, my mind has been lacking in inspiration for the last few weeks.

I've been working all of the hours under the sun (or lack of) in Llanberis as it's the busiest time of the year for us. The one week of perfect cold and sunny weather passed by outside as I was in every day until after 6 and the motivation to get out with lamps into the hills in the dark was lacking!

This has led to being a bit knackered, not helped by the dog waking me up barking around 4.30-5.30am most days, and I've managed to pick up a grim cold which currently lingers at just over a week.

A rare day out

I attempted to get outside a last Sunday with Paul and Matty D. The warm ups on roadside face felt ok but then I got utterly spanked by the Sting and ripped a fingertip wide open. A bit of taping to stem the tide and we headed over to Gallt yr Ogof.

Split fingertip aside, I got back on problems I thought should go down with 6 years more climbing under the belt (and a bit of improvement in strength/movement skills) but every single problem on this boulder is still hideously desperate! I failed miserably on regeneration and smackhead, so didn't even bother looking at Sway On. (Paul later linked a video which helped lift the gloom of abject failure, showing I was starting on the wrong holds/in the wrong place, making them harder than necessary, so I'll return again in 6 years time)

Indoor stasis

Although getting outside has been a bit tougher, I've managed to retain a tiny bit of motivation for indoors, as the setting down at the Indy wall is excellent. Although I don't feel like I have gotten any stronger, the lure of not getting too far behind in the aggregate and trying to hang on to the coat-tails of Pete Robins and Ducko has kept me going back and trying hard to drag my out of shape withered corpse up some of the harder stuff.

I'll hopefully post about amazing days out on the next blog and be a bit less depressive. I had a laugh with Matt the other day about moving closer to decent climbing and sacking off climbing, much like in his Sheffield days, but it won't come to that... There is still some unfinished business in a certain polished limestone cave :)

Source: Powered by the Noor

[comPiler]

Glassy grips/Soft core
1 February 2015, 7:45 pm

Today was the 4th session on Louis Armstrong this year and as with the previous one around 3 weeks ago, it was pretty much abject failure.

To my utter amazement, the first left hand undercut was dry for the first time this year. This led to being able to climb through from the start to slapping the lip 5 times but with a core resembling a bowl of poorly set jelly, I was nowhere near to holding the move.

For the 2nd session in a row, I didn't even do the crux move to finish link, which had become doable every session for the last 10 or more (sometimes 2-3 times in a row).

Although the undercut was finally dry, the rock was so cold, it was glassy and made the feet slide about a bit as well as making skin feel damp from the contrast in temperature between lime and skin. Poor excuses no doubt, but it definitely felt like a few degrees warmer would make things easier (especially being able to rest longer and keep blood in feet and fingers!).

If I'm going to get near to an ascent, I'll have to stop messing around indoors climbing problems and do some core work again... as it has been a long time and it was definitely found to be wanting today.

In better news

Laura and I are getting closer to organising our wedding venue and reception for this summer and it should be amazing if the weather helps out a bit!

I was chuffed that Si agreed to be the best man for the occasion and we all had a great time down on the Lleyn last weekend for Si's birthday bash, with lots of new problems ticked as well as the odd cheeky F.A.

I'm looking forward to getting Si over for some days out scaling and fishing on the coast as well as the other Merseyside lids, once they've finished exploring the esoteria of dubious quality to be found in Lancashire.

Source: Powered by the Noor

[cheque]

What is "the Noor"?

[fatneck]

The Noor was once the source of all Richy's power - an Indian take away in Aigburth near where Rich once lived. Now sadly closed...

And Rich, I am proud to be your best man and intend to take you fly fishing soon...

[JohnM]

Now sadly closed...

Thank God!  I took Rich's blog name as some kind of endorsement for the place so it was the first name that came to me when ordering a delivery one night.  It was one of the worst (probably THE worst) curries I have ever had!

[Nibile]

A wedding? 
Congrats my friend! All the be(A)st from Italy!

[cheque]

The Noor was once the source of all Richy's power - an Indian take away in Aigburth near where Rich once lived. Now sadly closed...

Cheers! I'm glad the answer was so obscure as I don't feel embarrassed to have asked it!

[fatneck]

It was one of the worst (probably THE worst) curries I have ever had!

I don't remember it being that bad but then you're a bit more cosmopolitan than I

I think it was the source of the food for Rich's (in)famous "Two Bangalor Curries in Two Minutes" challenge! Where's that video Millso?

[Richie Crouch]

I had some decent ones from the Noor. Preferred it to the light of Bengal.. Although both pale in comparison to the new local Asha, down the road in Llanwrst.

I was tempted to blog about a fantastic weekend for fantasy footy but know it would come back to bite a week later

[andy_e]

There's a Noor in Edinburgh that I passed the other day. I was tempted to give it a whirl for the gravity of the name alone.

[Monolith]

Maskellanator, you must have a had a bad one! We lived off them almost solely for a year!

There you go Si. From when we had more training facilities than what we knew to do with them.

[andy_e]

Ah man, that's brilliant! Years since I saw that beauty. Also getting a schooling in the comments there!

[fatneck]

"Mound"

 

[andy_e]

Haha! Forgot all about this absolute gem!

Pex and the City

[fatneck]

There's some gold on your channel Tom

Love the comments on the Haston Dyno vid, especially GCW's!

And how amazing was the Dispensary? Good times...

[andy_e]

The hairstyle in that font vid...