[seankenny]

It was a great experience visiting Delhi for archival work even if I did get the inevitable food poisoning.

Were you investigating English language archives or have you developed some pukka South Asian language skills?

Delhi is such a great city though, even taking into account the food poisoning (the food is very often worth it).

[El Mocho]

This is, as for many, my favorite thread on here. I always enjoy reading other peoples list but in the past I’ve made a start on my own but never completed or posted them – I end up feeling a little self conscious especially as a lot of the most memorable experiences do get tied to the harder climbs, either as these are a battle to get done or a time when you climb extra well…

A few years ago my son had a major mental health crisis (I’m happy to talk about this in person but I’ll not share details online as it’s his life/story and up to him to share if he wants or not). Needless to say caring and supporting him has and still is our top priority. 2022 was very much focused on supporting him and my wife. I still managed to climb a lot (of short sessions at local venues as long as I could combine with a dog walk) but climbing did feel a bit different. This past year has felt a lot more stable for us all, he still struggles with lots of things but is slowly moving in the right direction, obv with the ups and downs and slow progress associated with mental health. As someone who has never struggled with my own mental health even to the slightest degree it’s fair to say I have a new understanding for people who do. Big up to everyone on here who has been dealing with anxiety, depression or any health issue and if anyone wants to chat to me at the crag about stuff you’ll hopefully find someone who is nonjudgmental and understanding of the impact it might have on you and your and loved ones lives.

Top 3 f.a.s

Way fewer new boulders this year but the bolting spree of short, damp coastal limestone continued.

Preiddeu Annwn 7C, Fedw Fawr.
A cool little shallow water boulder spot that me and Pete developed during a few visits. This is a fun, relatively easy traverse into a roof/cave followed by a hard boulder sequence out of it. By far the hardest set of moves I’ve done on DWS partly as I am normally way to scared to try hard. As this was approx. 20cm above the water I felt safe. It’s a lovely spot down at Fedw and on a calm, warm summers day the water is actually very inviting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwLsxK7NTPq/?hl=en

Cool Water 8b+, Fedw Fawr.
Bolted this the year before but got a bit stuck on the slightly easier variation (sharing the first 3 bolts) in deteriorating coastal conditions. This year I finished the easier one off, which was still fun but I also felt a bit of self imposed pressure to do – I’d been so poor with my tactics the year before (largely not my fault but simply a case of summer ending and it getting wet) that I was keen not to fuck up and turn it into an epic. This one didn’t have any previous expectations and is a set of really fun, bouldery moves through a roof and along a lip. Pete also had a bunch of projs at the same crag and it’s always fun hanging out and climbing with him. Luckily his life/work commitments means he fits with my life commitments and we are able to get short sessions here together.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwx4UUJNiDl/?hl=en&img_index=1

At some point we are going to run out of stuff to do on this bit of coast (although not yet, still plenty of new lines and crags to go at)

Twi Wig 7C+/8A, Sutton Roof.
Ace little spot. Treebeard is superb and when I climbed that a few years back I spotted a potential line through the roof. Cleaned the top wall a bit and played on those moves and then failed to get back to it for a few years. Obv in my head one of the Yorkshire locals was going to get on it at any moment. Finaly went back with a rope again and kinda managed the top wall and aided/tensioned in to fondle the roof holds. A few weeks later and Sutty had offered to come spot and then Jordan asked to come along too. Me and Jordan played on the top on a rope and unlocked the sequence. Sutty and Nez then arrived to see how we were doing. I was pretty keen to give it a go but we only had 2 or 3 pads at the crag. Sutty and Nez were really happy to walk out with me to get all the pads we had stashed in vehicles. Pad arrange, tied down spotters, rope on me to stop a 20m bounce down to the stream… and then I had a great go where the climbing clicked really well and had zero commitment issues on the top wall – it’s not super high but the drop off down to the stream does play on your mind a bit.

Top 3 sport routes

I think the only sport routes I did were at Fedw and 1 day at Benllech.
 
Pool Party 8a & White Horse 8a+, Fedw Fawr.
Two new ones of Petes. Are they (or any down here) any good? Who knows. Me and Pete have had a great time developing this crag and I’ve enjoyed every route I’ve done. A bunch of interesting and hard moves. Nice spot by the sea.

Dharma E7 6c, Duke’s Quarry.
Pushing the definition of sport but all the gear except a couple of easy to place wires are pegs and it kinda climbs like a slightly bold grit sport route (again a slightly weird definition!). In the past I’ve been pretty good at getting stuff done, especially in the only slightly bold genre but I guess a year or two with my head being in a strange place meant I didn’t have quite my normal resilience. Although good cons for this wall it was greasy and humid, the crux section still felt hard and I had my 75 year old 8 stone mum belaying me. Could easily have just left it for another day but told myself to get on with it, nerves disappeared as soon as I was climbing and it felt easier/more flow than the top rope go.

Top 3 boulders

My Orange 7C+, Froggatt.
The ascent was actually pretty smooth but I felt this might have got away from me a bit. Had 1 go with Sam, Jase and Adam but literally had a flash go and had to leave. Sam then did it as had most of my other mates so I though logistics might stump me – on paper the boulder suits me perfectly so I was confident I could do it. Luckily managed to drop into other crews sessions so pads and spotters were never a problem (although a tree did fall on the climb between sessions which I had to chop down). The problem was I couldn’t do it. I resorted to abbing down the top to clean and fondle the holds when I got there early one time and that did the trick.

Victorian Overmantle 7C+, Stanage.
It’s shit but it’s ace. Crap line, horrible moves. Brilliant.

Hurricane 7C, Curbar.
It’s also a bit shit. Played on it a couple of times but never been super inspired and I find it hard. Went to Curbar to look at routes but it was way to windy so slunk into the boulders. Luckily there were pads here and I found a really satisfying static way to do it. I’m also 3 weeks into the apparently massively on trend Dave Mason coaching plan (and just like Dan T I have also run an equivalent of a Bob Graham round this year but only if you take all my runs distance and add them together) and I feel stronger than ever already. “Look at me, this was piss, I did it static, chalk and blow, font 9a here I come” etc

Top 3 trad headpoints of routes from the ‘80’s

Ha, don’t know if I placed a runner in an onsight situation this year (edit I did but on nothing particularly good or tricky)

Golden Boy E5, Stoney.
This wall looks a bit meh but it actually has some good climbing. Best of the bunch. Such a nice setting.

Plectrum Maxilla Direct E7, Rubicon.
Felt this was a bit of a mystery. Rumours of harder than Caviar, missing holds… sorted it out on a rope and was then thinking of going home. Luckily Stu and Jules came by and encouraged me and offered a belay and some punter called Will had some pads I could use. Grunted up the start to the new bolt which is an ace 7B/C highball, cruised to the top. Will then pissed it after me, although once he got to the trad gear bit he did slow down.

Apoplexy E7, Milstone.
Luckily I abbed this first as the bottom arete is bolder and harder than I remembered and I would have got scared on it now. The top is fun monkey on a stick/fridge hugging. About font 6C but feels fairly balls out.

Top days out

Far fewer days out with my mates than in the past. People get jobs, kids, life shit and it gets harder and harder to all meet up. Spent many days with Pete which were all fun, a few days with Caff, a few coffees with Ray.

Panorama & Ilkley with Jase. Great couple of problems this day and nice to get out with Jase – he is always keen to climb but often struggles to get the consistency. Good to make the effort to meet in Yorks rather than expecting him to drive here all the time.

Crook Hill & Burbage West with Adam. Two dif days but good to see Adam going reasonably well again. We had a day at Black Rocks earlier in the year and I think he had been struggling with his climbing a bit/injuries/motivation/being in the right headspace. 2 big notables (sorry Adam!) were him backing off soloing a VS at Black Rocks and failing to do the Storm at Stanage. I thought the day would never come for either of those (edit he might have done the Storm, but he def didn’t retro flash it). At Crook he was enjoying the climbing and place and after what could have been a slightly frustrating struggle on the 6C arete he pissed the harder wall. Obv at West he was still lapping Westside (and I repeated it for the first time in 25 years which added to the day for me – I put it down to the Mason plan). When his feet and mind work well he can still produce the magic.

Life shit.

Getting our son back into education after a 2 year hiatus. A mainstream setting was not going to work for him so we had to go through the whole EHCP/battle the local ed authority process but he is now in a really great specialist Autism school. He’s not managing full time yet but he enjoys it there and fingers crossed it carries on like that.

Dealing with the various shit the last 2 years has chucked at us and still managing to maintain a successful happy marriage etc with neither me or my wife having any huge emotional breakdowns. This is largely due to my wife being so amazing whilst I just get on with the day to day shit of (badly) looking after the house, dogs, food etc.

Not getting too pissed off with the dick head dogs. We used to have 3 of the them, we now have 4. Who would have thought 1 more would make such a difference. He is extra annoying though.

I won’t post on the aims thread as I have no real specifics but here’s some:

Sons health still top priority as is supporting my wife who takes the majority of the mental load associated with it all.

Try to follow coaching/training plan at least to some degree, especially the stretching, yoga and conditioning. I’m not really looking to climb much harder (sure we all want to) but to make my slightly ageing body feel more resilient and put me in a place to be able to continue climbing as long as possible. Would be amazing to get to a point where I don’t hate stretching.

Career/job??

[reeve]

Top three boulders UK
Darkthrone – definitely number 1. I love everything about this – the style of climbing is me all over, the height gives just the right amount of spice, and I really enjoy being in the woods there. Cold yet bright and airy, cloud inversion just tickling the bottom of the woods where frost remained on everything throughout the whole day, and great supportive friends willing me up it with their encouragement.
T-bone Wilson – I’ve really enjouyed exploring the less mainstream crags in the last few years, and that’s where you’ll usually find Fiend, a day out with whom is always memorable. I thought this one climbed particularly well.
Black Rhino – I’ve been meaning to get up to Howshaw for years. Fabulous windy conditions on a June evening mission. This is a great problem. A gritstone prow for limestone climbers who like a walk.


Top three boulders Fontainebleau
Outil de Coupe, J.A. Martin – I was finding this tough going but eventually worked out a sequence and thought I’d take a good rest before having a go from the start. I took a walk through the woods to digest the brie and baguette that I’d smashed in, but before I knew it I was totally lost in the forest! It took me about half an hour to get back to Marie who was snoozing away on the pads, feeling full of panic as I really thought I was never going to return. I needed a second lunch to calm down enough to have a go at the problem, which fortunately I still had enough energy for.
Coup de Cymbale, J.A. Martin – opposite style to the above, and much more my kinda thing. Made more fun by an uncontrolled spill from the top before doing it!
Le Pilier de sa Dame – Boutte aux Dames – I really enjoyed this area and we had a bit old day at it before making the drive home. I could have chosen about half a dozen problems from here but this one was particularly nice. Ah Fontainebleau! I hadn’t been for seven years prior to this trip – so so good.

Top four trad routes UK
Now we’re talking.
Nosey Parker, Tintwhistle Knarr – Cheque had spent a week cleaning the crag, so we went to take advantage. This route is brilliant – genuinely as good as anything at Millstone but sledom done. Quality quarried cracks in the first half lead to a good rest which is juggy enough that you can psych yourself out for the top boulder problem which is punchy and athletic with perfect gear protecting a lash for the top of the crag.
Muscular Art, Sandray – This trip was the highlight of the year for me. A quieter version of Pabbay and Mingulay, albeit without an iconic 100m high showpiece cliff. Think 15-30m single pitches and a broader spread of grades. This one goes up a beautiful clean sheet of solid gneiss, good gear and sustained climbing but nothing desperate, but really for me it represents the remoteness, tranquility, and adventure of just being there with a dozen mates. Oh and the weather was perfect for the whole week, which probably helped.
Into thin air, Crafnant - "Well, do you want a chilled day, or something we're more likely to fail on but is potentially more rewarding?" Beholden to indecision, we flicked a coin. It landed tails, and so with ours between our legs, we set course for Crafnant. The sun shone brightly through the drive, right up until we arrived, replaced by rain. Despite being otherwise rational people, we walked up through the drizzle to take a look at the crag. It stopped raining for just long enough that neither of us dared to suggest bailing: group-think overcame us and Dan set off. The Astoroth groove pitch hasn't become any less off-balance or insecure in the last five years, and so with much effort I joined Dan at the stance. Fortunately, the starting crack was visibly wet. This meant i could take a cursory look then back-off with my pride intact. Which is precisely what I proceeded to do; except upon my return to the stance, Dan expressed a willingness - nay - enthusiasm to try to find a way through the wetness. Which is precisely what he proceeded to do. With good gear placed in the crack he fiddled and cajouled with all his will, finally placing the best rock 6 on the planet to protect the crux. He then fell, too pumped to continue. He may not have opened the door all the way, but it was definitely now ajar. I'm up next. Cold from the wind and damp from the intermittent spitting, and having warmed up only my legs on the groove below, a flash-pump go sees me part way through the crux but unable to think another move let alone pull one. Dan goes again, iterative progress. The gloom of an October evening encroaches. Such fools to arrive at the crag at 3pm in autumn! I set off, pessimistic. But knowing the sequence up to our high-point means I climb decisively: crimp, cross for the undercut, crimp the side pull and lash for the jug, clip the top wire from a toe hook on the arete. My confidence increases, hardening to a deep determination: a slap and cut-loose for an out reach pinch on the arete, heel by my left hand, stay right as you take the ripple with the left, then just within my peripheral vision there's a sloper around the arete! Arms tiring so no time to think just go. The exposure intensifies the experience as I smear on the very point of this massive blade of rock, and scream as I hit the, now damp, finishing jug. A quick ab takes me back to the stance, we're really against the clock now. Dan, cold again from the incessant inclement, departs on his final go, catching the pinch, moving around for the sloper, and finally, silhouetted against the grey sky, moves from poised, into pounce, as he grabs the good holds. It's been the best part of a decade since we climbed together, yet here we are. Me making Dan put in the hardest to reach gear, me working out a sequence, both falling and heckling and trying hard and encouraging. Nothing's really changed. 
Crimson cruiser, Craig y Clipau – I don’t think I can describe our experience better than my partner that day, Ramon: “I like climbing with you Reeve: we turned up, we did the best route at the crag, and now we can fuck off”

Top three trad at Annot
Spitalgie – Like climbing on very solid swiss cheese. Steep, juggy, threads and cams in pockets, and heaps of exposure.
Hand training – a pure hands splitter hidden in a cave – really classy. Best bit was Marie doing it too, although it took her four goes as she kept on having to borrow extra cams from other climbers, then accidentally leaving them on the ground.
Fan de la Reine – now this is an offwidth! About 25m tall and intimidating as anything from below! It was a bit of a circus with every man and his dog on Le Voyage, which is on the opposite wall, which only made it more intimidating. However, I was there, this crack was there, and someone leant me an extra #5 cam, so ready or not, up I went. A baby Monster OW, and no less satisfying, especially as I had to leave a cam and make a 6m run-out sprint for the top. One of my favourite experiences of the year.

Top spankings
Aberration – I can’t help but compare myself with my previous form when it comes to sport climbing, and this was the year I was going to get back to climbing 8’s in quick form. Except, I didn’t. I’d been saving this route for a flash-go for years. Turns out that I can’t redpoint the sod. Two sessions in awful sweaty cons, one in what I thought was good conditions (but I think that was just relative, others at the crag were complaining about the humidity but at least it wasn’t high 20’s!), and a last-ditch go in mid-October in between hail storms. I fell off the last hard move – accidentally using the wrong foothold – on one occasion. Stupid route. Against my better judgement, I feel compelled to return.
Circular saw – this route has managed to make it into this part of the list two years on the trot now. Last year I said “Circular Saw (E2), Kinder. An E2 offwidth on the most pebbly Kinder grit. Like dipping your ankles and arms in acid then using a pummice stone. It’s only 5 metres high and I’ve still got the top 2 metres to figure out. One for next year!” Well I made it an extra 50cm this year I think. I need to grow bigger fists for this fight.
The Weather – along with everyone else.

[reeve]

Just wanted to add a well done to everyone who's shared their real talk about their and their family's struggles. Great to hear of those who are making progress, and for those who don't feel like they're getting anywhere then best of luck - keep at it - without wishing to sound trite I'm sure you will.

[petejh]

Great thread, it's inspiring and entertaining to read what others are up to/have got up to during the year.

Climbing
Font, January
Had my first visit to font in the new year, stopping in on the way home from an abortive alps ski trip. Weather was a bit damp but I climbed 2 days and did enough to get keen for more. The highlight was the first afternoon spent at a deserted 91.1 doing the orange circuit. I think I saw 3 people all afternoon. By myself with just a towel, shoes/chalk and 36 low-grade boulders.. how hard can font 4 be?
After a few hours of climbing the light was fading, I'd reached the 35th problem - a grooved slab leading to a tenuous friction move and committing slap for the top. High enough above a small boulder sticking up in the fall zone that you wouldn't want to blow it without pads. I went up and down, unwilling to commit to the tenuous smear and slap for an unknown finishing hold. It did feel that I could potentially spanner myself if I fluffed this font 2+ test-piece. I was on the edge of quitting, with thoughts creeping in of 'what if I break my ankle in the middle of the forest by myself in the dark', but it felt shameful to give up on #35 out of 36 problems. So I went up again and this time committed to the smear, released my right hand and slapped for the top. I promise this next bit actually happened: mid-move as I was slapping for the top I heard my inner voice declaring 'I am Adam Long!'.  I don't know why! I've met Adam once briefly and have never seen him climb. I guess it's lore of the tecky slab-miester, him in strong is it. Whatever the reason thank-you ghostly spirit of Adam, I stuck the top. It was font 2+ and it had felt at my limit.
Problem 36 went without drama and I'd done it I wandered out of the forest buzzing from my first experience of a font circuit, and thinking the 'AD' felt justified.

Palm-print on problem 35, trying to dig a crimp into the slab. 



El Mancho VI 7, March
Winter conditions appeared fleetingly for a week in early March. On 2 days conditions were perfect, with deep rime coating an icy Clogwyn Du. 'Young charger' contacted me to ask if I was available to climb, I hadn't been out in the last two winters winters but I agreed. He's super keen and I know what it's like to be keen and without partners when Welsh mixed comes into condition. He'd never winter climbed in Wales so I suggested El Mancho, I think it's a brilliant winter route - one of Pantontino's finest couple of hours climbing without a pad.
It turned out that 2 days prior 'young charger' had nonchalantly run the Welsh 3000s in 9.5hrs in the snow, without properly knowing the best way and at times getting a little off-track. Despite this he was still fresher than me on the walk in. (He went on to do a double Welsh 3000's 'there and back' in under 24hrs in the summer).
I've climbed El Manco a couple of times before so I directed YC at the crux pitch. When I topped out he was still buzzing saying it was the best mixed route he's ever done. He is only in his mid-20s though On top we had the amazing alpine version of Wales you sometimes get in winter, with snowcapped peaks as far as we could see poking above a blanket of cloud hiding Bangor and the rest of the green world below.

I'd made a plan to sail with 3 friends from Conwy to Pabbay/Mingulay in June to go climbing. I bailed a couple of days prior to departure when my dad was taken into hospital. Friends reported it was a rough journey there and back with sea-sickness all-round. 4 people on the boat would have been a tight squeeze and based on previous ferry-to-Bilboa experience I definitely would have been puking. Sounded like not a lot of climbing got done due to limitations on where they could moor the boat with the winds as they were. With everyone ashore, no comms, and thinking they were alone on the island they said were bit concerned about the boat slipping its anchor in high winds (turned out they weren't alone as the bird counter was there). Despite the lack of climbing it sounded like they had a great all around adventure.

Pembroke, late August
This was the first climbing I felt like since my dad's funeral in July. Had three good days getting back into the swing of things doing classic low extremes that I'd not done before at Mother Carey's and Mowing Ward. Among others Deep Space, Heart of Darkness/New Morning, Seal Hunt, Strait Gate, Brazen Buttress and Sunsmoke were all good for the soul. But I woke up the morning after getting home with a torn knee meniscus and knee ligament/tendon strain which I hadn't felt myself doing at the time. I think I probably did it drop-kneeing through the bulge on Deep Space on the last day. Didn't realise how bad it was at first and tried to climb on it, which just made things worse. Only now tentatively getting back to being able to climb, following 4 months off and a lot of walking backwards uphill as rehab (thanks for the link to 'knees over toes guy').

Life
Felt like 4 life events happened in quick succession during an intense first half of 2023.

Bought a house and moved in the first week of January. This is my first house in the UK, having previously owned a small cheap place in Canmore in the early 2000's. It's likely my forever home, it's in a lovely location with a bit of land and a sunny aspect, surrounded by nature and with solitude but not far from civilisation for sociability as I feel like (grandstand view of cloggy from the front door if anyone wants a conditions update).Finding it was serendipity, I was told about it coming up for sale via a friend and I dealt direct with the seller without ever talking to an estate agent. Despite that the process was torturous at times and still took 4 months, with lots of solicitor ..'stuff'. Since moving I've been consumed at times getting things how I'd like them. First big project was getting a big solar system installed, which covers power usage for ~9 months of the year. Next year I'm going to investigate a micro-hydro scheme to cover winter usage. Lots of other projects have got done/are getting done. All worthwhile and satisfying, however I can see how this domesticity could, if I let it, divert enough energy that I wouldn't be fit for more than occasional puntaneering, I don't feel I'm ready for total punterdom yet.

Made redundant. Following a 3-month notice period I 'retired' in January, two weeks after completing on my new house. I'd decided last year that I was going to stop working in summer this year, as I'd reached a point where I was free of the need to continue working. Hadn't told my employer obvs. They must have clocked in me the absence of giving-a-shit, and so pre-empted my plans by paying me to go . I'd spent 12 years with the company and in that time I'd grown my little part of the business from not existing to it being a successful little business. Most of the time it was good satisfying work with lots of autonomy and the right level of challenge and incentive. Things deteriorated in 2020 following a 3-way merger with two other large companies, which resulted in ridiculous amounts of 'big blob' idiocy and very little autonomy or incentives to strive except for self-preservation. Luckily I didn't need to stay or I could see it would have been stressful. But it was sobering to watch what was once a great place to work turn into a wasteland of people just going through the motions. I was glad to be out of the door in January and have never missed it, but it was still a big change and a bit earlier than I planned right when I had new-house stuff to cover. Since then I've been adapting to a new lifestyle without employment income to cover costs, with hopefully 30-40 good years still ahead of freedom and adventures. It's a work in progress and this year has been a good intro into how I can make it work.

Split up with partner early in the year. By mutual agreement that it wasn't right and was/is amicable, but it's sad when a relationship you'd once hoped would last, doesn't. 

In June I lost my dad. He'd been in and out of hospital over the spring. He was a great guy - gentle, smart and well-liked by everyone in his community. We'd always had a good relationship but it can take someone dying to make you really appreciate how great you think they are. He saw me finally settled in my new place before he died and he was really stoked about this. I felt a lot of responsibility in tryin to arrange a funeral that I felt would honour him. A period afterwards was spent with being executor of the will and trying to make sure his partner was financially looked after, which at times was difficult.   

Life changed a lot in a short time this year. At times it felt like I was a small boat in a rough sea, trying to plot a course and keep things steady in a storm. It took time to process and reflect on stuff. Mental/emotional energy was consumed by events and when I eventually felt like climbing in the second half of the year, injury stopped me. This has been my quietest year for climbing in the last 20 and the first in many that I haven't put up a new route or climbed abroad.  I was out on the rope yesterday getting the bolts in a new route and I'm looking forward to 2024, and getting back to travel and climbing plans in between pottering around at my new place building timber garages and chicken coops.       

[spidermonkey09]

It was a great experience visiting Delhi for archival work even if I did get the inevitable food poisoning.

Were you investigating English language archives or have you developed some pukka South Asian language skills?

Delhi is such a great city though, even taking into account the food poisoning (the food is very often worth it).

Very much English sources. My Hindi is non existent which I felt bad about and some of the Indians I ran into clearly felt I'd made a shit effort!

I enjoyed Delhi, having never been to India before I was struck by the poverty and general chaos as I imagine many Westerners are. After a few weeks I had largely for the hang of it but it was a steep learning curve!!

[yetix]

Top 3 UK
Impropa Opera SS - probably the most cumulative sessions I've spent on a boulder. Most people say if you can do the first move easily (which I can) and the stand easily (I was running laps of it) then it shouldn't be hard. Honestly I have no fallen on the final move of a boulder close to as many times as I did on this one. It really got into my head. Somehow snuck up on it after a break away from it and  a few niggles meant I couldn't try other things I'd been working on. Not the most inspiring boulder, but one I'm proud of myself for sticking with it on.

Theia - amazing boulder, amazing setting, top quality rock. What's not to love?

Levi Roofs - loved the moves on this, but then again Ive always been a fan of limestone roofs. Struggled on it last year but was able to quickly execute this year which was a nice marker of progress.

Top 3 Font
Roc à Dos - it was wet the whole time we were in Font and some life shit hitting the fan meant we needed to leave early, but somehow 3 dry days in a row just before we needed to leave gave me a chance to try this bloc. Despite being very left hand crimpy (chronically bad left hand means left crimps aren't allowed normally) I was somehow able to get through the crux and not fuck up the end section. Brilliant moves on a striking bloc in a less busy area in Font.

Coup de Force - my first 7C in the forest and managed it 3rd try in 20+ degrees, as a climber who relies on confidence to do most blocs this was a massive boost for me mentally during a period that I was lacking confidence.

Djembé - just really enjoyed the way this one climbed, also went from being no where near to done in a matter of moments.

Top 3 spankings
Tourniquet - tried to take my time with this and not add too much pressure by having short sessions as I was living close by. But then all of a sudden I fell off the end in June and then pulled on lower and went to the top, after that the temps spiked and I never managed to get back in sub 20 degree temps before going to Font.

Mental health issues - don't fancy going into this on here (power to the others who have) but as per 21&22 this has been another turbulent year, to those on here who reached out through the year it's appreciated.

Losing my grandad - he passed a couple of weeks ago and it really rocked me in a way I hadn't really expected.

[Coops_13]

Top Five Boulders in Colorado

Return of the Mossman V9 - The first boulder I've ever "projected". Dynamic, slippery gneiss perched on the hillside. five sessions total but opened my eyes to the possibilities of trying a boulder more than once

Dark Horse V10 - First of the grade and a corker of a boulder. Proud line on nice rock with crimps, toe hooks, heel hooks and tension. Great way to start my Alpine season

Slander V9 - Perhaps the best V9 in Colorado. Sat in an Alpine Meadow at 11,800ft. Perfect crimps up an overhanging groove to a heady top-out

King Critter V10 - Opposite of the two above, lowball and in a cave but great power boulder. Four nails moves that felt impossible at first. Very satisfying to piece together

Sage V8 - Perfect slopey granite, have wanted to do this one for a while

Top Three Boulders outside of Colorado

The Swan V7, Moe's Valley - Perfect movement on perfect holds. Just a joy to climb.

Mantra V8, Squamish - Again some of the best and most satisfying moves I've done all year

Water Paintings V7, Joe's Valley - Mega classic, glad to take this down. on an impromptu trip West

[bolehillbilly]

Good reading this thread and seeing what people have been doing/enjoyed and battled with in the past 12 months.  2023 for me has been year 2 of the long covid recovery, it's still ongoing, into year 3 as of October, but finally feeling like the end is in sight. Getting back on the bike has really helped and now feeling like my general breathing pattern and control is back to normal.  18 months ago I was struggling to hold a decent conversation but some speech therapy exercises worked wonders and things have very gradually returned to normal since April/May.  Fatigue levels and frequency have improved but still have random bad days and the slightest hint of a cold seems to floor me. However I've now had 8 weeks without a proper bad 'can't function' day and felt like I've been able to push myself more consistently physically, maybe that's the big corner turned. Reducing hours at work further has made a big difference.
Climbing wise it's been a funny year, I've definitely come to the end of the road in terms of living off pre covid reserves and harder bouldering feels a way off but I've managed to fill the gap with other back yard adventures. 

Climbing wise it's mostly been business as usual doing new stuff locally so this list is obscure stuff unlikely to ever see more than a handful of ascents, mainly by people I know.

Natural grit
Bank Manager Left Hand 7A Hillcar Wood
Lovely moves into the original super top out on this Bonjoy rejuvenated buttress. There's not a huge amount of stuff at Hillcar but it's all top quality.

Harland Stars n' Bars 6C Harland Edge
Sustained traversing on crimps with tricky to see footholds tucked under a roof. I just love Harland, a trip up there never disappoints. This was one of the few decent days post October which might be why it makes the list.

Smells Like Mean Spirit 6A+ Shining Cliff
I spent the early part of the year rummaging around at Shining Cliff. This highball arete was the main objective, it was a good afternoon also involving tea and cake from some kind folk staying the hostel. E3/4 in old money.

Quarried Grit
Athletic Green 6C Black Rocks - High Peak Incline
The last of the three highballs on the buttress was easier than I anticipated. A shame these all need a pad stack to tame the slope, it's a really good set of problems.

Fools Gold 6A Chasecliffe
Great hidden highball in the outer reach of Chasecliffe, I think this took 3 visits over 21/2 years to sort out the landing and finally climb it properly without jibbing off right at the top, that doesn't include at least 1 aborted mission when I couldn't remember how find it.  Full quality esoterica.

Scud U Like 6B+ Barreledge Quarry
Another worthwhile bit of groundwork. Named after Grimer's comment on p.468 of BMC Froggatt to Black Rocks.

Lime
Dunder Mifflin 7A Colehill Quarry
Decent limestone compression prow, 2 mins from home.  Nearly didn't bother with this but turned out to be much better and way trickier than first appeared.

Belphegor 6A+ Demonsdale
Demonsdale is an obscure bit of limestone in the Amber Valley. There's not a lot there but it's a nice quiet outlook.  I tried this a few years ago but backed off. This time I decided to abb down and clean it which was a good idea as I pulled off a fairly big hold. Soloing up to the damp ledges to get the rope fixed was quite exciting, not the best plan.

Inner Demons 6C Demonsdale
A roof line in the cave cutting across Bonjoys problem Bumcrack Pigeon. Similar fare involving toe hooks, knee bars, a 180 spin and some unusual flowstone

Trad
Old Guy New Tricks E4 5c Far Side
Nice quarried arete that climbs like natural grit. Solitary half height rock 2 is good placement but I'm  not convinced the rock it's in would hold.

Make Do and Mend E5 6a Far Side
Same low rock 2, much harder, reachy moves up the scoop to the left.

Babycham E1 5b Eatswood
Helped clean up a few of the old trad routes here with Mark20 through Autumn and a few new ones were spotted. This one is a lovely bit of slab on a long neglected buttress that wouldnt be out of place at Froggatt. Originally traversed in due to dampness but added a direct start a couple of weeks later on a great afternoon out with the 'Off Piste Harlem Globetrotters' of Peak climbing.

Sport
This summer was all about revitalising Lime Kiln Quarry. Great effort by everyone involved, and some memorable bolt fund team scenes.

Pop Bottle 6c+
I first cleaned this over 20 years ago but it never got finished after the drill I was going to borrow moved to USA. Cool to finally sort it out, much harder than I remembered or am I just getting older?

Flight of the Phoenix 6c+
The crazy plan of jetwashing the soot and fire damaged rock off the whole buttress came together, a good team effort including UKB residents Neil F and Fatboy Slimfast. As well as cleaning up Amethyst Wall, one of the 'Shark's Big Five South Peak Masterpieces',  it gave this great long pitch up the centre of the wall.

Paridae Parade 6c Jug Holes
Early season sport with Mark20. A good line through some very unlikely territory for the grade.

Non-local new problems
Shipwrecked 5 Hunstanton Old Beach
Random cycling trip and as a bonus found this beauty which is the hardest problem in the whole of Norfolk. It's also the only boulder in Norfolk. Quiet lowball! Scenes on the beach as holidaymakers looked on and scratched their heads in puzzlement. 

Burnsallectomy 6C Air Scar Crag
Another early morning Burnsall excursion. I spotted this arete through binoculars from the cottage and chanced it was worth the walk up. I ended up doing a great easy circuit on some brilliantly rough grit.

Britannia Band 6C Britannia Bridge Boulder
One of those tiny blocks with lots of holds and variations where you go expecting very little but end up having an embarrassingly good time. Its in a cool location on the Menai Straight, ideal for a quick hit. Had a couple of enjoyable hours here late one evening working out all the options.

Other highlights
Wilton Fest was brilliant this year, decided to do some trad rather than bouldering. I took on Fiend's challenge and cleaned up Disappearing Aces E3 6a before breakfast, blagged a belay and led it after a couple of warm up routes. Under normal circumstances would probably have had a rest after the crux but pushed on because Fiend was shouting various positive vibes. Need to say thanks to all the random people I grabbed a belay from over the weekend.

Top 3 UKB partner/spotter ticks this year
Fiend Mild XS 5c no stars, dagger symbol
Always expect the unexpected.
Mark20 E7 (again)
Inspired exploring suggestions, adventures and football banter.
Neil F E4 6a 3 stars
Thanks for the Lime Kiln stuff. Obviously class is permanent.

Costa Blanca trip with family, some brilliant cycling, walking, via ferrata and a bit of climbing. Lockdown and illness had robbed us of 3 years of doing stuff like this so great to get away, get some sun and all feel reasonably well at the same time.

The best bit as every year has again been meeting friends, talking bollocks about climbing, cleaning up dirty climbs, resurrecting and re-equipping neglected climbs and very occasionally doing some climbing. Hopefully more of the same in 2024.

[Ross Barker]

Always love reading these threads, nice work everyone.

Top three boulder problems, UK:

Caseg Groove. Lovely laybacking to a wild throw between two big flatties. Quality rock in a tranquil setting.

Stallone Arete. Perfect slopers at just the right angle, only two moves but they're so brilliant.

Clear Spot. Some of the nicest slopers in North Wales, really chuffed to have got up it after spending ages finding the ideal sequence.

Honourable mentions to Severus Snape, Lizard King, Brad's Arete, Patch's Problem, Feral Streak.

Top three boulder problems, Fontainebleau:

Guerre et Paix. I remember looking at this and thinking "looks like a good 6B" before finding it in the guidebook! Promising flash attempt to the lip, spent a little while sussing the mantel and then boshed it out next go.

Le Bloc a Bertrand. Perhaps not objectively very good, but I had a great experience where I was about to walk away having punted the easy end bit. Thankfully, my friends coaxed me into one more go...

La Voie Michaud. Bearing the slippery scars of its success, this is pure class. Big slaps and decent holds.

Honourable mentions to La Balance and L'Aerodynamite even though I didn't manage either!

Top three boulder problems, Magic Wood:

Tropischer Sandsturm. A hidden prow over a rickety landing platform, this has some great moves and took a bit of working out.

Heb da Arsch. Great holds, athletic moves, high heels, and a slightly off balance pop for the lip! Wonderful.

Zilliman. A masterclass in working around physical ailments, the conventional right heel beta was off the cards as my calf was cramping up. I found a distant toe hook with the left, allowing me to slap up to a sloper in a perfect starfish pose. Probably wouldn't be on the list if I had just done it normally!

Top three longer-than-boulders:

Spittle n Spume. Had all the beta, but with a bit of a choppy sea the traverse section felt a bit heart in mouth. I also failed to remember/spot a useful crimp which made the last move slightly less secure than I wanted!

True Blue. Really quite easy, but some good shapes and lovely holds.

Loftgroover. Pretty exposed for a frightened and crippled boy, but good holds just where you want them.

Top spankings:

Quite a few this year really. The main one is the relentless injuries on my left hand, mostly A2 pulleys but also a shoulder impingement which was a tough couple of weeks. I think it's the result of overtraining, simply having too long board sessions and not stopping before the injury risk gets too high.

Second main fail was with my DWS headgame after a frightening incident in Pembroke. Since then I'd lost some confidence in my (admittedly not great anyway) swimming ability, and in my exiting-the-water judgement and ability. I may have been able to resolve that if I was uninjured on my Devon weekend but c'est la vie. I think I was too keen to be DWSing all the time and it sort of backfired, so I'll try and be more chill next year. I'm also going to try and swim some more in general.

All that said, I've generally managed to keep my head pretty screwed on even when I feel like things are going against me, so I'd like to thank my wonderful fiancée and the BDC for being a great support network.

[GazM]

Superb. Like everyone else says, the best thread of the year. Flippin' heck, you guys are productive. Top work all round.

For me, 2023 was another year of settling further into my very specific niche of local boulder development. The hills and glens close to home keep throwing up new walls and boulders to clean and climb and I've found some really good stuff that I'm sure others would enjoy if they made the effort to try (and I made it easier for people to find stuff). An aim for 2024 is to put together a decent topo of the area.

Local stuff fits conveniently into the only times I'm able to get out: last-minute weather-window sessions squeezed between school drop off and pick up. Between the arrival of kids, Covid and previous partners being less active or harder to meet up with, I've become a bit of a hermit and very rarely climb with other people. For the most part I'm OK with that as I'm very happy in my own company, but it's something I'd like to work to change in 2024. Especially as I'm really starting to miss routes and I suspect the new local bouldering will start to dry up soon. The opening of The Ledge, the new wall in Inverness, has made me realise that there is a wee scene in the area, and I'd like to get a bit more involved in that.

Saying all that, I did manage a few brilliant things further afield this year.

Top 3 Boulder problems:
The Essence, 7B+, Torridon. A lifetime goal realised. Absolute king line in one of my favourite places in the world. This one was all the more special as I spotted Rich when he was working on it before his FA 13 years ago and helped carry pads and film when Murdoch made the 2nd ascent a few months later. I didn't even try it back then as it was so far above my pay grade, so coming full circle and being able to do it 13 years later felt great. Rich seemed dead chuffed for me after I told him I did it, which was lovely.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgFZlnhmwSBm9wt5vL9STtJSrUSV

TP&QC, 7A(+?) Reiff in the Woods. I'd wanted to do this for years as it's one of the original north west classics, from the first proper era of boulder development by Lawrence Hughes, Ian Taylor et al in the early 2000s. But it doesn't seem to get much attention these days and the start always seemed really hard and committing, moving between double heelhooks on teeny crimps in a roof with a big block almost underneath you in the fall zone. The day I did it Lawrence came out to spot me, and having the first ascentionist there obviously gave me a couple of extra kilos of pulling power on the crimps.

The Faith, 7A+, Ardmair. Objectively, this isn't an amazing problem, but it meant alot to me to finally do. I spent loads of sessions trying it a few years ago only to drop the easy finish and then give up on it after it started giving me elbow issues. A few years later (and maybe wiser and stronger) I managed to get it done.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0j9eJ1t5zn/?igsh=anpicDd2bjJ6em94

Top 3 Boulder problem FAs
Hypernature, 7Bish, Landmark Roof, Strathconon. The hardest straight-up line following a hanging ramp through the middle of a roof. Took a while to work out.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwQGplftHrN/?igsh=MnhyYTB4Nzc0ZTNo

Gauger's Groove, 7Bish, Scatwell Wave, Strathconon. A very cryptic problem up an obvious hanging groove. Slopers, undercuts and a blind foot swap.Very satisfying.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpScCaGjemF/?igsh=eGpqczlxa3VzcjM0

The Trap, 6C+ish, Càrn na Cloiche Mòire, Strathconon. A truly memorable day that brought together so much of what I love: a boulder I spotted on a run years ago squirrelled away in my memory, a long sweaty approach laden with pad and cleaning gear. The quiet and solitude of the hills. A quick clean on a rope and then a while to unlock the moves. Did it. Did it again for the camera. Did it again cos it was so fun. Then the long descent back to the car. It'll never be repeated, but that really doesn't matter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwsUB8ltPsv/?igsh=djRkcDRtbW5oZXI=

Top Trad Route
The File, Higgar Tor
A lowly VS, but back when I was climbing way more trad and onsighting E3s and occasional E4s I'm confident I would have fallen off this. Older, wiser and more proficient at jamming, I just about got up it unscathed. But only just.

Only trad FA
Afterdrop E3 5c (ish), Wee River Wall, Glenmarksie
While boulder hunting on home turf I noticed this neat wee wall and arete above the River Conon with a handy belay ledge just above the lapping water. It's a shame there's not anything else on the wall as it's a good little route.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsEdUYON9VN/?img_index=1

[lagerstarfish]

I went to Font and it was ace










and these lads were fucking great

[scragrock]

Did some climbing....which was nice

[scragrock]

Superb. Like everyone else says, the best thread of the year. Flippin' heck, you guys are productive. Top work all round.

For me, 2023 was another year of settling further into my very specific niche of local boulder development. The hills and glens close to home keep throwing up new walls and boulders to clean and climb and I've found some really good stuff that I'm sure others would enjoy if they made the effort to try (and I made it easier for people to find stuff). An aim for 2024 is to put together a decent topo of the area.

Local stuff fits conveniently into the only times I'm able to get out: last-minute weather-window sessions squeezed between school drop off and pick up. Between the arrival of kids, Covid and previous partners being less active or harder to meet up with, I've become a bit of a hermit and very rarely climb with other people. For the most part I'm OK with that as I'm very happy in my own company, but it's something I'd like to work to change in 2024. Especially as I'm really starting to miss routes and I suspect the new local bouldering will start to dry up soon. The opening of The Ledge, the new wall in Inverness, has made me realise that there is a wee scene in the area, and I'd like to get a bit more involved in that.

Saying all that, I did manage a few brilliant things further afield this year.

Top 3 Boulder problems:
The Essence, 7B+, Torridon. A lifetime goal realised. Absolute king line in one of my favourite places in the world. This one was all the more special as I spotted Rich when he was working on it before his FA 13 years ago and helped carry pads and film when Murdoch made the 2nd ascent a few months later. I didn't even try it back then as it was so far above my pay grade, so coming full circle and being able to do it 13 years later felt great. Rich seemed dead chuffed for me after I told him I did it, which was lovely.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgFZlnhmwSBm9wt5vL9STtJSrUSV

TP&QC, 7A(+?) Reiff in the Woods. I'd wanted to do this for years as it's one of the original north west classics, from the first proper era of boulder development by Lawrence Hughes, Ian Taylor et al in the early 2000s. But it doesn't seem to get much attention these days and the start always seemed really hard and committing, moving between double heelhooks on teeny crimps in a roof with a big block almost underneath you in the fall zone. The day I did it Lawrence came out to spot me, and having the first ascentionist there obviously gave me a couple of extra kilos of pulling power on the crimps.

The Faith, 7A+, Ardmair. Objectively, this isn't an amazing problem, but it meant alot to me to finally do. I spent loads of sessions trying it a few years ago only to drop the easy finish and then give up on it after it started giving me elbow issues. A few years later (and maybe wiser and stronger) I managed to get it done.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0j9eJ1t5zn/?igsh=anpicDd2bjJ6em94

Top 3 Boulder problem FAs
Hypernature, 7Bish, Landmark Roof, Strathconon. The hardest straight-up line following a hanging ramp through the middle of a roof. Took a while to work out.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwQGplftHrN/?igsh=MnhyYTB4Nzc0ZTNo

Gauger's Groove, 7Bish, Scatwell Wave, Strathconon. A very cryptic problem up an obvious hanging groove. Slopers, undercuts and a blind foot swap.Very satisfying.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpScCaGjemF/?igsh=eGpqczlxa3VzcjM0

The Trap, 6C+ish, Càrn na Cloiche Mòire, Strathconon. A truly memorable day that brought together so much of what I love: a boulder I spotted on a run years ago squirrelled away in my memory, a long sweaty approach laden with pad and cleaning gear. The quiet and solitude of the hills. A quick clean on a rope and then a while to unlock the moves. Did it. Did it again for the camera. Did it again cos it was so fun. Then the long descent back to the car. It'll never be repeated, but that really doesn't matter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwsUB8ltPsv/?igsh=djRkcDRtbW5oZXI=

Top Trad Route
The File, Higgar Tor
A lowly VS, but back when I was climbing way more trad and onsighting E3s and occasional E4s I'm confident I would have fallen off this. Older, wiser and more proficient at jamming, I just about got up it unscathed. But only just.

Only trad FA
Afterdrop E3 5c (ish), Wee River Wall, Glenmarksie
While boulder hunting on home turf I noticed this neat wee wall and arete above the River Conon with a handy belay ledge just above the lapping water. It's a shame there's not anything else on the wall as it's a good little route.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsEdUYON9VN/?img_index=1

What a cracking year Gaz, great effort

[jwi]

A year of two halfs

2023 begun well. On the first of january 2023 I did

Al Andalus 8a, St Léger du Ventoux I have tried this route a few times over the years, in various shape, and always found it great and increadibly hard. My highpoint from a few years back was falling on the second to last move. Al Andalus shares it start, a rising traverse on bad slippery holds with Esméralda, which has to be one of the harder 7c France. A short respite leads to a pretty slappy sequence on good crimps to a big hole. This year I found to my great dissapointment that you can stuff your leg in this hole and get a no-hands rest before the final boulder. On previous visits I've just shaked out briefly here and tried the final boulder, which is very intense for us with sausage fingers as we have to avoid some of the obvious slots. Previously I was sure that the route was hard 8a+ for my morphology, but ---helas!--- with a no-hands before the final boulder, solid 8a is probably the correct grade. Fantastic climbing in a nice corner of the world still. Should be high on the list for every visitor in the winter. There are many other  great routes on this sector, such as Moby Dick (7c), Arquée Pieds Tendre (7b+) and, maybe the second-best route in all of St Léger: La Porte des Champs-Élysées (7a+)

Sport-climbing continued in the spring with one of my worst spankings/failures/redpoint-hell ever. I continued to work the extension to Bad Attitude, 8b+, Supermajoc from last year. In autumn 2022 I could reliably do the first pitch (8a+) three of four times per session and got within four moves of doing the route (those four moves are unfortunately a condition-dependent 7a boulder on crimps that I could not reliably do even after resting on the bolt). I had dreams of being the first non-famous climber to do this route but that was not to be. My physical condition and the weather was never good enough. Despite that I kept dragging people, chiefly my better half, to the crag for no particular good reason.

In the spring we did also some really great multipitch routes:

Le Vent Souffle où il Veut, 7b/b+, Parois Rouge, Verdon
(The wind bloweth where it listeth, I guess?) I was happy that I onsighted all my pitches, and my bh with which I alternated lead only had one hang on second, but onsighted all her leads, including the well tricky pitch eight (7a/b). The first half is maybe not mind-blowing, but quite nice overall and would be a classic anywhere else then in the Verdon. The second half is very good on bullet rock. Absolutely well worth doing.

One of my goals for 2023 was to train to be in reasonable shape for a trip to Taghia. This I failed on pretty bad. My delusional attempts on Bad Attitude combined with the endurance training we tried to panically cram in while spending time driving back and forth to Barcelona searching for appartments while working full time turned out to be too much for my elbows - and they hurt pretty bad in the run up to our trip, during our trip and ... eh... a bit still....

That did not stop us from having a great time.

Les Rivieres poupres, 7b+, Gorges du Taghia (not in free!)
Almost as good as its reputation, so pretty mindblowing. This should be on the list for anyone who can reliably onsight a couple of vertical 7bs per day in somewhere like Siurana. We should probably have taken a rest-day before trying this, but whatever. Even with a few falls I had a great time. Some of the earlier pitches where a bit meh... but the climbing on the red pillar is really good! Train by getting milage on vertical rock, not by gettin elbow tendonpathy in the gym!

Baraka, 7b, Gorges du Taghia
(The benediction of the Lord) Both me and my bh found this superb. I found the 7b pitch nails, and the 6c slab nails and of utmost quality. I've seen comments from folk that says that only the first 6 pitches are worth doing, but for anyone who loves to move fast over rock in the mountains, the remaining 9 pitches are great fun. Doesn't need much of a rack, 3-4 friends and a few midsized wires. We were also pretty happy that we managed to keep the chamoniard couple below from catching up!

Second half of 2023: Move to Barcelona


After returning from Morroco all our energies went into moving to a new city and a new country for the nth time.We also both started new jobs two weeks after the moving truck drove down our stuff across the Pyrenees.  Not much climbing happening, except a few visits to some climbing gyms.

I've been climbing mostly locally around Barcelona. Nothing much to write about in this distinguished forum. The best of the bunch as probably been

Sueños de piedra, 8a, Sant Llorenç del Munt
(Dreams of rock)The first half is almost completely manufactured. But what an artiste! The second half is pumpy on natural rock. The second half is almost impossible in warm, humid, conditions. That did not stop me wasting time trying of course. Thanks to out-of-control globabl warming it did not get cold enough to perform at Sant Llorenc until late october.l Fun fact: the guy who put up the completely natural route next to Sueños was less impressed and called his route Mierda de Sueños (Shitty dreams)

Between work, admin, building a home-wall, studying Spanish and finding my footing in a new country I have had some crazy one-day missions to Rodellar (2h40min one way) where I have failed to get up Botanics, 8b/+. My best attempts came in the dying light of the first day of the new year (aka yeasterday) where I managed to get through the last crux, pumped out of my mind, forgetting my sequences and promptly falling off jugs nine moves of "easy" climbing from the top. I guess that was my second spanking of the year, but I could pilot an ocean-going ship in the gap of difficulty between Botanics and Bad Attitude. Superb route though, and I think the rule is that if you are over 50 you are allowed to take 8b+ for it?

[Wellsy]

Best of 2023 was doing Rasta in Font.

When I started climbing someone told me that if I ever did a 7A in font I could consider myself a decent boulderer. I didn't even dream of doing it on my first trip but when I did Rasta (amazing 3 star problem!) on a beautiful day it was a bit of a dream come through. Incredibly happy.

[sherlock]

Timing my hits for when my MS isn't too bad and the weather plays ball is never easy and sometimes I'm just content to haul pads and spot Mrs S. in nice surroundings but....
Hitting the good hold at the end of the hardest climbing on an obscure problem (Augean Blue Basalt anyone?) was one of my top ten moments of the past decade.A deserted beach, end of a 2 month trip last December/January to a Greek island.We never saw another soul bouldering.
Beautiful granite boulders in a stunning location, enough for several millennium worth of climbing and discovery.
A great trip driving to Prague to catch the World Cup then Innsbruck for the next round and fitting it around some good (but too warm days) on Czech and German sandstone with a healthy dose of Austrian granite.
Going back to CZ later this year, love that place!

[Fultonius]

Timing my hits for when my MS isn't too bad

Have you tried HBOT treatment? No magic bullet, but many find it helps with symptom management.

[Fultonius]

Echoing other's, I bloody love this thread and take so much inspiration from people being out there "having at it" at all levels, 4a to 9a.

Whether it's due to age, other experiences in life taking precedence, waning interest in climbing or some other distraction I'm not sure, but I had to look through my logbook to even remember what I did this year...

Top three boulder probs, UK

Another one rolls by, and another year with effectively no outdoor bouldering. I had a few sessions at Dumby, and I managed my two benchmark's - Slap Happy and Mestizo Sit Start, so that particular cliff edge had not yet been crossed.

Actually, I did Nemesis SS at Dumby - not very memorable, and took a good few goes more than it maybe should have. Classic Dumby angular weirdness at 6B.

Top three trad routes UK

I had high hopes for this year - having had a solid winter's base endurance training (the first year I've put a lot of effort into this) managing to shift my critical force up from 34 to 45% or something like that, then getting solid low-mid grade mileage in out in Slovenia in March, I got back to Scotland and jumped on an E4 I'd not previously done at Upper Cave - All Passion Spent, which went pretty well. I spotted the required deviation, climbed reasonably confidently, got to the pegs then kept trucking upwards. 

A promising start for my 40th year.

Those high hopes were pinned on may Pabbay trip with the usual reprobates from Glasgow and elsewhere in Scotland. It started ominously with a scared and sloppy attempt at a damp E3 (The Craik), then getting utter owned trying to follow Si up The Raven, he somehow climbed it in almost piss wet conditions. A forecast the next day for rain meant we all got dug into the beers, then multiple bottles of whisky started doing the rounds...…

Anyway, back to the Top 3!! Otherwise this could get very rambling and loooong winded.

If we're going for top 3 experiences, I think it would have to be:

1. Endolphin Rush, E3, Pabbay. At the end of a hard week, where I'd had a few falls routes I'd hoped or expected to be more successful on, it was very, very nice to just chill and cruise up something utterly in the moment, with no stress.

Honorary mention for In Profundum Lacu which I followed Si up. With my headspace that week, leading might not have been a good experience, but with a rope above I kept the pump at bay, executed the moves well and could just focus on the purity of the movement. A reminder that I have the ability, I just need to tame the demons. (not something I've had much of an issue with wince I was a beginner...)

2. Shiboleth, E2, Bauchaille Etive Mor. Somehow this one had never quite aligned - most of my regular partners had done it years ago and in some ways I was maybe saving it for later years when E2 might be my limit...   But this was the year!  After a few weeks of drought in the west, my mate Sally said she'd be keen and we both had a midweek day off. Phenomonal climbing at the grade, and no pushover. Some bits really are getting quite ludicrously serious with the rotting of old pegs and nothing to replace them, but the holds keep coming. Shorts and tee shirts, only one other team in the area. Bliss.

3. The last one has to be Stone Bastion on the Shelterstone, It's in the guide as E4, but often considered E3. Not one of the super classics, but still - it's the shelterstone!  We went very direct on one pitch, which we found out later is not considered to be the true line, but actually a pitch on The Needle Direct. (but in our version of the Garry Latter guide it clearly has a photo of Paul Thorburn on the "FA" of that pitch, saying it's on Stone Bastion...anyway, route trivia digression over... it was a bloody hard pitch, not very clean, my anti-style with thin feet and groovy tech. Very glad to get it clean as the gear wasn't the best - probably my "top onsight" effort of the year.

Top three sport routes UK

I had high hopes of completing my two projects, Endurance at Dumby and Railway Children at Tunnel Wall. Sadly they both remain projects. I only managed one session on Railway, and I was recovering from a knee tweak so a bit out of shape. Struggled with a section I used to cruise, but then found beteer beta at my highpoint. Only 3 sessions in, and quite spread. But annoying as I basically did the crux 2 sessions in, but came up short on the last move before jugs. (shouldn't really be a redpoint crux, but alas it was for me). Similar story for Endurance, except I'm now 10+ sessions in. Have made it through the crux and fallen higher where you're on Sufferance. Oh well - luckily I enjoy each session! Still...one aim for this year will be to find the killer instinct again!

Digressing again, so the top 2 in the UK:

Paralysis by Analysis at The Camel. A notoriously tricky to onsight 7a+ which I'd not been on before. Managed it with a little bit of margin, but not much. A good confirmation that working base endurance weekly through the winter is beneficial for me! Long, sustained, tricky to read (this pebble, that pebble, this pocket, that pocket?) - conglomerate stamina fest at it Scottish best.

Uncertain Emotions, 7b at Tunnel Wall. An afternoon session with my mate Es and his son turned out to be slightly too time constrained to bother butting the clips in Railway Children, so I put this one to bed. Depsite having done harder at the crag, and it being very good, I just hadn't ever got round to redpointing it, having fallen from the last hold on my 3rd go many moons ago. Nice to get this done - the top wall was still no pushover with minimal knowledge having not really been up there in years except for putting the clips in that day. Love tunnel wall - pretty much my perfect type of sport climbing - mildly overhanging, edgey, but not savagely crimpy,  never too desperate (except for Axiom) and succumbs to a siege.

Most of the rest of my outdoor sport this year was overseas:

Top three routes abroad (any genre)

Notable mention for a nice quick tick, good rock, good setting with Dai Animo at Chitta Dei Sassi in the dolomites during a week of via ferrata, 7b+ in the guide which went down fairly quickly - 2nd RP.

One of my best overseas sport experiences was actually a "DNF" in Tenerife, mainly down to feeling like my approach was spot-on during onsight, and I climbed about as well as I could imagine doing. Gofio Canario, which gets given 7b in then guide, but even about 1/3 on logs on 8a suggest an upgrade (which is notable, given 8a users' usual tendency to downgrade). Anyway, grades aside, the route gave sustained big moves, mainly to good holds, but blind, slappy and very powerful climbing, often with poor feet. I had no inhibitions, and hit all the big moves well, even doing some committing smears and tenuous presses (nemesis). I got to the main rest, but was too far gone and just couldn't recover - from there on it was a dog fest, but I doubt I'd ever have figured out the crux on an onsight go - either technical knee bar, rounded slapping, or a massive dyno - so I really wasn't bothered at all about not getting further. Next go was smooth, but I didn't have a good crux sequence. 3rd go I was powered out so that was that.

I'd almost forgotten about the very start of the year - a new year's trip to spain, and the best route just squeezed into the start of '23, and actually quite memorable, as I nearly "did a Caldwell" with a sharp Japanese pull saw 4 days before the trip. For the first half I had to take it easy and climbing with it well taped up, only using back 3. Towards the end of the trip I had Sally, our resident GP, take out the stitches and then I could use it a bit more. She and Kev wanted to try this cool looking 7b+ slightly overhanging crimp fest, Viaje a la locura, at Busot in Costa Blanca. Well, after putting the clips in on our first day at the crag, it had felt surprisingly ok so I gave it a redpoint go a couple of days later after a bolt-to-bolt and it went pretty well - surprised and chuffed after nearly losing a digit.

There's no doubt about the best one though!

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/tofana_di_rozes-2633/sognando_laurora-336412

Sognando L'Aurora, 7b+, 625m, Tofana De Rozes.

You know what...I'll save this for the Fairly Long, Moderately Hard thread....

Top Spankings / Fish that got away / Unfinished business.

As mentioned, my long term, local sort project, Endurance, at Dumby still eludes me. It's savagely technical and very core/body intensive. I'm 11 or 12 sessions in, redpointing from around session 2/3 as I actually got all the moves sorted fairly quickly. I've been through the crux once and fell on the sufferance upper crux after the junction. Very keen to put this one to bed in the spring and the new job situation should help.

Where Seagulls dare, E3 in Pabbay - probably still suffering a bit of self-inflicted whisky based sandbagging, but still - E3 in the Islands should be plain sailing for me, and what's more - it's a splitter crack!  An abject lesson in how not to approach a trad route. Poor pacing, poor resting, just trying to rely on superior stamina and crack ability, forgetting I had NO crack stamina!  Got pumped out of my tree and slipped out of jams, taking quite the ride! In fact, the whole Pabbay trip was basically a big spanking for me after having very high hopes.

Afrikana, f6b+, Lijak, Slovenia. 4 rests on the onsight. It was at this point I decided for the next couple of years, we (my partner and I), should just check the ego at the door in Slovenia, and work through each grade at each crag, starting from the bottom. Greta chance to get a load of mileage, have fun, keep more options for later and actually technically improve in the process.

Final mention for a great route at Pass of Ballater that I hoped to get back to in the autumn, but weather never played ball. Had a good few days there in the late summer while literally everywhere is was minging. Drambui (or Brambo direct) is a brilliant little E6 technical, bold face climb, with just enough gear. Andy was keen to do Drambo, so we threw a rope down and had a few goes. I was a bit dismayed to not only not flash the crux, but not even flash the starting boulder - took me around 3-4 goes!  Anyway, after a few TR laps I had it pretty smooth, but I ended up with the perfect mix of it just getting a bit more humid, the wind dying a little, my tiredness and lack of killer instinct meant I decided not to have a lead go on the day and save it for another day. Quite glad I did, as I had to go back up on TR to re-dig and had a bit of a flail on it! Quality route though, and keen to go back.

Life stuff.

A year of significant change, and generally in the right direction with a few waves along the way. Having heard other's struggles with Long Covid, mental health, performance etc. I can't complain too much. My bouts of long covid seem to be shorter and less acute, especially after the first one in 2021 ( think?) where I had about 6-8 week of severe brain fog, low mood and concentration problems. Strangely, Ive always had energy for exercise which has been a total blessing!  Anyway, other than the odd fortnight of unexplained low mood and slight lack of mental sharpness my health during my 40th birthday year has generally been ok. Decided in May, after one too many big nights around my birthday to stay off the sauce for a while. 1 month was the aim but it ended up being nearly 2 I think. It was good in some ways, and I was surprised how easy it was for me, but also found that it wasn't a magic bullet! (some of the old mental struggles remained). Good to know it's possible however!

The first quarter of the year was a bit quiet on the freelance front, meaning I was spending too much time looking for work and not enough being able to make the most of the free time, so I put the feelers out for some permanent jobs. Got a few offers, and then, with a great stroke of good timing a contract position came along that was highly flexible, 4 days a week and doing exactly what I was looking for - technical engineering role in wind life extension and reliability engineering. 6 months in and I'm still loving it, and I've just extended for 12 months so I think I'll take that as a major life goal tick!

We also got out and started on our doer-upper project in Slovenia, which is also exciting pretending to be on grand designs, despite the designs not being grand at all - mainly just picturing Kevin McLeod querying our self-project management, budget and timelines.

[Droyd]

Like others this is my favourite thread of the year, but I wasn't very psyched to contribute this year due to how unremittingly shite 2023 was. I initially wrote the below and then reread it and shelved it, but having now read some of the posts on here and seen others be so open about what they've struggled with, I feel a bit better about posting it. Fair warning though: it's long and whiny, so an obligatory skip for anyone not interested in self-indulgence, although on the plus side there's some Tor slating.

In July 2022 my partner started with medical issues that are nowhere near being resolved, and has gone from a generally active person who climbed multiple times a week and was one of my main trad partners, to struggling with mobility and pain to the extent that leaving the house and even getting out of bed isn't always possible. Together we've attended dozens of medical appointments, and there have been scans and operations and physios and mobility aids and bits of improvement, then complications and new issues and regression and her being stuck in bed again.

It feels a bit weird to talk about how my partner's medical issues affect me, in that it's obviously not my body and pain, but it has had a massive impact on my life in terms of changes to both long-term plans and day-to-day life, and at times I've essentially been a carer. It’s brutal watching someone that you love experience pain and lack of hope and inability to do the things that they enjoy, and hard to go off and do some of the things that they can’t do in order to meet your own needs. On that note, she’s also been superhumanly compassionate and understanding on days when she’s been bed-bound and I’ve come home from a day out climbing and complained to her about poor conditions or a split tip.

Because it's been so all-consuming I feel like I've bored a lot of friends droning on about medical appointments and conditions (when I've managed to see them, having cancelled on everything from days out to a week in Magic Wood due to fluctuating health), and at times have worried that I've not actually been a supportive friend to others or been psyched for them with their positive life developments (trips, kids, houses), given how far away these things feel for us. My focus on work and professional development has always been poor but this year was largely non-existent, and I've had little time or energy for the things I do outside of my personal climbing that bring me joy.

Unsurprisingly this has all massively impacted my climbing, and in a number of ways: the silver linings have been that I've focused more on training and bouldering and seen improvement there, and at times been so grateful to simply be out of the house that I've not put much pressure on myself and hence performed really well. In the late spring/early summer I had a good run of knocking off old projects and doing new things quickly, I suspect because of the combo of a good block of training in the winter and then losing weight in the spring due to stress, as well as because I had so much to do looking after my partner that I had quite a relaxed attitude when I was out, and didn’t actually care all that much about outcomes. However as the summer wore on and the improvements in my partner's health that we had been hoping for completely failed to materialise and then were eclipsed by new health issues, both ability and motivation nose-dived. I largely stuck with training and going out out of habit and in an effort to keep my mental health together through routine and familiarity, and between that and the horrendous weather/conditions we’ve had started getting quite frustrated; I wanted a small win in my climbing to make everything else feel a bit better. And of course that desire for success in climbing to make up for difficulty in other parts of life resulted in too much pressure, very little enjoyment, and few successes (and of course the successes I did manage gave me momentary boosts but nothing more). Where I've managed to get out climbing with other people I've been enormously grateful to have had their company and be able to talk about things and get away from it all (even if it's not seemed that way), and although many of my relationships have suffered through neglect, a few people have been hugely important in keeping me sane. I’m not bothering with a ‘Top Spankings’ section for obvious reasons, but do have a few things that are worth writing about for positive reasons:

Campusology, Kitty’s Crag
Really I should put The Ramp Up in here as a call-back to reading about it in last year’s thread, and because that’s the problem I went to the crag specifically to do. In many ways it deserves that as it’s an amazing problem, but I’m putting Campusology here in its place because of how unexpectedly joyous it was. I got on it early in the session to find that it suited me perfectly, with heel/toes and nice positive edges allowing me to lank my way out of the roof. I was able to get all the way out to a couple of lovely positive edges above the lip of the roof with my feet still at the back, just at the point at which maintaining tension was getting tricky, so ratted down on the edges and took a massive swinging cut with utmost confidence, whacked a heel on, and then wombled up some jugs to the top. Just lovely; I did it again a couple of minutes later as it was so good. The Ramp Up is clearly the better line and likely a superior problem, but I just didn’t have as much fun on it, so there we go.

It was also the first day of the one trip I and my partner went on that wasn’t either cancelled or very derailed by her health: we had a week in North Wales and stayed in a cottage, went to the beach a bunch, barbecued, I had a few bouldering sessions, and we generally did as much as we could within the limitations we had. We stopped at Kitty’s Crag on the way over to North Wales and it was such a good day that it set the tone for the rest of the trip; she made it up the pretty steep hill surprisingly easily and we had a nice time at the crag, but arguably the best bit for me was when a couple came over and asked her if she was on crutches because of a climbing accident. She said that no, she had a disability, and we both got to enjoy watching them go red and stutter and apologise as they backed away. She’s had a lot of that kind of on the surface harmless but actually really intrusive question over the past 18 months, I guess because people aren't used to seeing a young person with mobility aids and so are unable to mind their own business, and they were initially total day-ruiners for her, so it was ace to see her finally get her head around dealing with them in a positive, take-no-shit way.

Ben’s Original, The Tor
I was chatting with a friend recently about reflecting back on your year and coming up with these lists and we joked about the fact that the hardest thing you do is always going to make it on there, or at least the temptation will be there to put it on. That’s unfortunately the case here, and is compounded by the fact that it’s a technique-eliminate + alternative-finish version of a bum-scraping traverse that I’d done earlier in the year. Plus I absolutely despise some of the holds on this problem – I find it weirdly skin-intensive, and the left-hand crimpy undercut/sidepull that you use during the crux sequence tweaked a pulley and just generally needs to do one. What’s more, I just don’t really enjoy being at the Tor all that much in terms of the vibe. Worst of all, the day I did it I was supposed to be in Magic Wood but had had to cancel, and I distinctly remember thinking about that during the process of warming up and feeling a bit sorry for myself. So why include it?

I had what’s probably a pretty representative experience on Ben’s with knees: back in January I’d gone out to do something or other on grit and it was wet and I ended up at the Tor, where I found Ben’s vaguely climbable and between the drips started piecing together some of the moves, most of which felt absolutely nails. The holds all felt tweaky and uncomfortable and the positions quite weird, and I concluded that it didn’t suit at all and was shit and not something I wanted to put any time into. But then over the next couple of months that same ‘ending up at the Tor’ thing happened and the moves got a bit easier, and it seemed not totally tweaky and uncomfortable and weird and shit. And then in the early spring I basically had caregiver responsibilities and so the Tor, with its non-existent walk-in and reliable dryness, was enormously appealing, and all of a sudden I was heading there on perfectly nice days and falling off the last hard move of Too Hard…, then driving home planning my rematch while acutely aware of how painful my skin was and being a bit concerned about the soft tissues in my fingers. Eventually I got the knees + left finish done, tweaking a pulley in the process, and was happy because I’d had that experience of going from not being able to do individual moves to doing them, then refining them to the point where I could link them all together and just about scrape my way up the problem, largely through having learned how to rest on the knee. And I was good with never going back to the Tor.

And then the second half of this summer happened and it rained a bunch and I was back to short windows of time to climb, and ended up at the Tor with a mate who quite fancied getting the beta for Ben’s, and I figured it’d be interesting to see how the crux felt without knees and what the original finish was like… And suddenly I’m right back to tweaking beta to make up for the lack of the knee to rest on, and falling off the last move (this time of the right-hand finish) and driving home planning my rematch while acutely aware of how painful my skin was and being a bit concerned about the soft tissues in my fingers.

Ultimately the start-to-finish ride on Ben’s Original is the purest expression I’ve had so far of what I found really interesting about bouldering when I started getting into it: trying really hard individual moves and thinking ‘bloody hell, I’ll never do this move, let alone the problem’ and chipping away until they’re not all that hard, then linking them into other really hard individual moves, and slowly but surely making what once seemed impossible and the domain of good climbers, possible and the domain of shitters like you – eking out the subtleties and ratty heels until you bring something quite hard down to your level. If this year hadn’t been so shit I wouldn’t have been at the Tor, but it was and so that’s where I ended up, so in some ways Ben’s Original feels like a good one to include because it exemplifies the year I’ve had. But more than that it was just properly hard for me and required work and pain and continuously turning up, and realistically that’s a good part of what bouldering is about for me.

Colour of the Sky, Lound Hill
I’ve not felt very brave this year, so doing this at all felt like something of an achievement; doing it alone is something I’m quite proud of, even if it’s not really all that high or scary, and doing it on a pretty marginal, drizzly day, topping out five minutes before a day-ending deluge, was extremely satisfying. It also, in the week before Christmas, brought an end to my period of not having any success and generally lacking inspiration in my climbing, and was done on a day when the Peak and Yorkshire grit were rainy and unclimbable, which adds satisfaction for me in terms of feeling a bit smug. Plus I wrote this problem up as one of my top spankings last year, so doing it was always going to be rather special.

In spite of the fact that it’s in a grotty hole on the outskirts of Doncaster, climbing Colour of the Sky is one of the best climbing experiences I’ve had, I think because it’s the complete package. The first section has some lovely bouldery roof moves on crimps and heels, there’s tonnes of ways of getting through the crux, and that leads you to a nice rest on mega jugs while you decide whether to commit to the headwall, which consists of cranking on some small-ish crimps while on massive feet. You can drop off there without issue, but cracking on felt to me like trad headpoints used to feel: switching off the brain and letting the body do moves it knows how to do, then suddenly realising you’re through the hard bit and now need to keep it together for the last easy bit, way above your gear, with falling off feeling like it’s definitely not an option. All likely a bit melodramatic, but as someone whose moved away from adventurous trad and towards lowball roofs was particularly eased by the fact that I've always struggled with my headgame, it was good to challenge myself a little, put time into something that I found intimidating, and eventually do it.

It was also a lesson in just turning up: on the day I drove over there in the rain; got out of the car and figured I’d walk in in spite of the drizzle; got to the crag and figured I might as well refine my sequence on the bottom section; linked the bottom to the jug then dropped off, and figured I could finish off by refreshing the top section as the drizzle was only intermittent; realised it was brightening up so had some lunch, then figured I might as well have a go; did it; hid from a downpour under the roof; got bored and walked out getting completely drenched, and not caring a jot.

Honourable mentions:

Special K, Crafnant
Not for the problem (which I thought was a bit overhyped), but because it was the one trip I went on with mates this year, and because it was ace being a moron at the crag with them, then going to the pub for a burger and sleeping in a van in a layby, then waking up and doing it all again. I didn’t even manage to climb on the third day as on the second I managed to lose all common sense and try to break in new shoes at the crag and shear the skin off toes on both feet, but I didn’t care as I was out with mates and got to watch them try hard and succeed on things.

Roller Bowler Currant, Filthy Crag Q
One of the few days this autumn where I managed to luck my way into the middle of the Venn diagram of ‘not raining’, ‘being out with mates’, and ‘getting up something’. Even better because it was a marginal day and optimism had waned on the drive out and tanked on the walk-in, only for us to find lovely dry rock and a decent breeze; because we both did it, I think back to back, having taken a while to figure out our respective methods; because I’d been on it several years before, watched my mate piss it, and been a bit baffled; and because it’s such a good, under-rated problem.

[sherlock]

Timing my hits for when my MS isn't too bad

Have you tried HBOT treatment? No magic bullet, but many find it helps with symptom management.

I haven't tried that yet, need to talk with the consultant but it's been a year since my last appointment.
I had a pal who used it after an accident nearly crippled him and his response was excellent.
Thanks, I will chase it up.

Did you do th True Finish to Shibboleth?
It was 30+ years ago and still fresh in my mind...

[seankenny]

It feels a bit weird to talk about how my partner's medical issues affect me, in that it's obviously not my body and pain, but it has had a massive impact on my life in terms of changes to both long-term plans and day-to-day life, and at times I've essentially been a carer. It’s brutal watching someone that you love experience pain and lack of hope and inability to do the things that they enjoy, and hard to go off and do some of the things that they can’t do in order to meet your own needs. On that note, she’s also been superhumanly compassionate and understanding on days when she’s been bed-bound and I’ve come home from a day out climbing and complained to her about poor conditions or a split tip.

Coming at this from the other side, it’s absolutely okay and not weird to talk about the impact of your partner’s illness on your life. It’s a huge thing that turns your life upside down… they stuck the “in sickness and in health” bit in there for a reason, the temptation for many partners of sick people is to run away and you didn’t, that is awesome.

I’m very aware that my period of sickness has affected my partner in many ways, I don’t feel guilty about this but I do know it’s there and do everything I can to make space for her to express her feelings about the situation. I’m sure that your struggles will still be important to her even if they seem trivial in comparison; that’s what loving someone means.

Chronic illness is an absolute fucker and very good at wrecking friendships. It seems this is almost unavoidable and can be really upsetting. No answers from me on that one! I just guess some people get it and stick around, and some don’t, just when you need them. It’s brutal.

I’m obviously coming at things from the sick person’s point of view, but if ever that might be useful then just DM me on here. 

[edshakey]

Not a great year but it came good in the end.

CLIMBING

Trad
Pruning The Tube, E2, Australia
Felt like a proper onsight (had done Looning before, but that's not exactly the hard bit), no chalk on the holds after a load of rain, and a healthy amount of moss at the top. All the traversing was fine, but couldn't work out where the line went at the top, ended up just blasting up what presumably was correct? Absolutely gripping up top, no idea if I was on route and the fall would be a sizeable one. Proper experience.

Giant's Cave Buttress, VS, Avon
Absolutely roasting day in August, taking out a friend who enjoys seconding trad, but rarely does it. Scramble up was very overgrown, adventurous considering the urban location. First pitch was alright, second was kinda shit, third was great, particularly the positions around the arete - unfortunately the viewing ledge was closed so no spectators to surprise. Not really sure why exactly this makes the top three, I think mainly just for the easy climbing in hot weather with a great, albeit novel, view? Whatever the reason, it's a fond memory.

Spartan Slab, VS, Beinn Trilleachan
First day of a trip to Glencoe. Started as it was drying from the rain, quickly got drier and cleaner after the first half a pitch. Crux was bizarre, surely not 4c, but ended up circumventing it across the slab to the right - almost certainly technically harder but more my cup of tea. On that note, baffling that this and GCB above get the same grade! Also first time climbing as a three and it not feeling really slow and inefficient, which made it actually fairly pleasant. This was the only route/boulder from the trip that made by Best of... lists, which is probably just a reflection of my head at the time rather than the actual climbing (see Bad Bits). I think we did a lot of good routes!

Solos/scrambles
Grooved Arete, HVD, Tryfan
Up in Eryri alone so planned to solo a few of the classic rock routes. Got to the base of the crag and found I had a message from someone asking to climb in the Pass that afternoon! So had to choose one route and head down, so went straight for this. Clag was in which meant it wasn't very exposed (probably best), but still a bit spooky on some of the polished sections. Overall great moves on the groove and slab pitches, linked by nice easier climbing, making it an excellent outing. Did the two Carreg Wastad CR routes in the afternoon too so productive day.

Aonach Eagach Traverse
Also part of the Scotland trip, but basically just a big walk - technically very straightforward. Memory is hazy tbh, but it's mainly on here because I wanted to do a big walk/scramble on this trip, and managed to get this done on a cloudy drizzly day. Felt very steady throughout, as expected, just tough on the knees on the long descent into Glencoe.

Morpheus, HVD, Avon
Before GCB (above), went and did this in the morning. Picked a load of blackberries at the base of the crag (great spot for any Bristol locals looking next year), then headed up. Pretty sweaty, a few tricky sections but nothing of note - hardest bit was off the floor? Was already happy enough with the day before finding out we were trad-ing, so that must mean something!

Boulders
Pebble wall, f6C+, Almscliff
Last climb of the year, after trying nearly two years before. Had to work it all out again, then finally sussed out a way to make the last move (I'm about 1cm off doing it the lanky way) and it was done! Perfect conditions, cold blue skies, great day.

La Marie Rose, f6A, Cuvier
A brief visit to Font in October while travelling down to Lyon, and it was surprisingly successful. Spend most of the time wandering around taking pictures of friends, getting used to a new lens, with the occasional climb if I was particularly psyched. This was the most notable ascent - immediately got higher than I had on a previous trip, and then within about half an hour was stood up top. Not sure why it clicked: I'm not objectively stronger, nor have I spent a tonne of time on rock this year, nor was it amazing conditions, but something has clearly improved.
This was maybe the best of all these ascents this year - clear progression, on a brilliant holiday, iconic boulder, didn't even feel that hard. Perfect.
As an aside, it's interesting people find this one so hard compared to other 6As in the forest. It seemed very fair to me, there are hundreds of other sandbagged 6s in Font, this felt just like them!

Sport
Can't really remember much about the routes, only did 3 or 4 days of sport this year and just bashed through a bunch of 6s. Maybe top days were
Dib Scar: beautiful setting, had the crag to ourselves on a hot day in June. Onsighted a bunch of routes on the south wall, got nicely pumped.

Rhossili Beach: not exactly perfectly timed with the tide, but still managed two routes before a dash across the incoming surf. The routes weren't even particularly good, but the day was generally lovely.


Spankings
Noonday Ridge, E1, Caley
Below is my UKC log:

Wtf is the top of this route! Start was tricky, fell once or twice. Moving round the arête was actually fine, with some locked in crimps (and well protected after having George send up the nuts I forgot oops). Got into the top groove, where all the holds ran out. Managed the foot step far out left (dirty) and then it all just ran out. Ended up grabbing heather, then grass, then moss, before it gave way. Managed to lie there motionless for about 5 seconds before giving in and taking the whip. Huge swing, but nice catch from George and all was good! Growing darkness probably didn't help, but i'm still a bit lost for what to do. I guess I'll work it out next time.

Says it all really. Guess I should have seen it coming, pulling on at dusk, and not checking if the top was at all clean. Will give it another go next year probably, having cleaned the top first!

Brimham:
September heatwave, 30+ degrees. Had arranged to meet a friend, and went anyway, but bailed after two routes on the Cubic block, far too warm. Nice ice cream though, and got his partner up an easy route which she actually enjoyed (apparently she last seconded him at Almscliff a few years ago and ended up in tears, so this was a very good result)

Giggleswick:
This time, June heatwave, another 30+ degrees. Did a few routes but really not psyched for more. Need to remember this in future - easy and non-grit only on these kind of days, can't get my head in gear to try when I'm overheating.

OTHER

Bad bits
Breakup
Got broken up with in early May, after 6/7 years together (almost all of my adult life). Ngl, it fucked me up. I'm not one for much emotion in general, but that was a rough period. I'm going to copy something below which I wrote in a thread to offer a UKBer some thoughts when they were in a similar situation:

I always understood toxic masculinity to be men actually bullying each other for crying and shit, but it was quite a moment when I realised it also can apply to the feeling of not wanting to talk about it, out of some sort of deep self defence mechanism. Like I knew consciously that nobody would laugh in my face for wanting to talk, but somehow I always convinced myself out of it for all sorts of nonsense reasons.

(It sucks that it took the breakup of a long relationship to have this realisation, and speaking to others, that seems a common theme. If only we (men, maybe just people generally) never backed ourselves into this self destructive corner in the first place!)

When I finally did start to speak to people, it changed everything. It's no miracle, but I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it was just me in my own head.

While in Scotland, I was surrounded by friends, and yet managed to go a whole week without really talking about it at all. I can look back at that now and think I was being stupid, but I honestly felt unable to bring it up, and these are good, compassionate people. I'm very thankful I've made it through that and in a much better place now, but for anyone in a similar boat now, or find themselves there in future, please please find someone to talk to. I managed to force it by going home for a few days and saying to my parents "you have to ask me about it, because I'm worried I'll go these few days without saying anything", and then doing similar when messaging friends in advance of seeing them. Most people don't ask for fear of upsetting you, which is very understandable, but they will help if they know you need it.

Having reflected on my year to write the paragraphs above, I think I can see it reflected in my climbing. Scotland was literally days later, and it's a blurry memory of feeling shit and not much else - sure there are highlights, but there's a darkness hanging over all of them. Did the soloing in Wales later that month, and although I don't think I was massively reckless, I do think I was in a headspace where I felt more inclined to solo. Giggleswick was early June - given the forecast, I'd probably have turned it down generally, but just needed to be out the house while my ex was still moving out, so went anyway. Most notably, I just didn't climb that much this year compared to what I'd have expected, primarily because she was my main partner and so I no longer have that. Simply, it's just sad - I don't view it all as a bad thing, but there are certainly things that stand out as a shame that we've both lost something.

Fortunately, I've come a long way since May, so I am optimistic for the future generally, but it resonated with me a lot when I read people's posts about 2023 being a crap year for mental health reasons - my issues were far from the worst I'm sure, but it does really affect your view on the year, even if there's lots of good things at other times.

Injury
Last autumn I picked up a knee injury, and went to get it scanned. Just before Christmas, found out it was a bruise in my knee, which would take at least 5 months to heal, and in that time I couldn't impact it (running and falling while bouldering are included in this). This was completely out of the blue, just the night before I had been planning races on the expectation that the doctor would say "take a fortnight off and ease back into it", so it was not a great start to the year. Managed to work around it in a way, engaging a lot with my running club by organising a XC league race, starting taking pictures at races, but it basically wrote off the whole rest of the year as I had initially planned it. Got the all clear in April/May, but then got told to wait on running and do some physio. Finally made it back to running by the end of June, about 7 months after stopping initially, and since then have just been enjoying it as much as possible. See below for the good bits.
On reflection though... injury just sucks, doesn't it? I didn't really process it properly at the time, but I think I felt like I couldn't really move forward while unable to run or climb, which is clearly not a good mindset to have. Who knows what would have happened had I not been forced into taking that time off. At least it gave me renewed motivation for running, which I'm still using now!


Running
No running from before last Christmas until late June, but backed it up with a decent second half of the year
Ilkley Incline
First race in nearly a year, felt like a good way to return considering I did it the year before, and it was only uphill so no downhill to worry the knees! Surpassed all expectations by taking a full minute off my previous time, which was hard to believe given my previous prep was a load of hill training, compared to this year's injury and easy running.

Nearly 5km PB
Did a parkrun in September and was 2 second away from a PB, and it was only the second time I've gone sub-20 in any sort of event. This was absolutely mindblowing, considering I wouldn't have said I was training well or anything, just getting out 3 times a week, running up some hills, etc. Picked up a niggle not long after so never converted it to an actual PB in a race, but I'll be hoping to train for my other goals this year, and then pick a fast 5km result along the way. If this doesn't pan out, I know I'll be able to do some specific training for a few weeks and get it done then.

Fell relays
First time at the fell relay champs. Did leg 1 (4.6k/460m), and performed much better than anticipated given the quality of the field, and my less than ideal year. Absolutely emptied myself, raced really hard for the duration, and felt it with the thigh DOMs for a few days after, but was over the moon to manage to do as well as I did. It's in Yorkshire next year so I'l be aiming to do it again, improve on that placing, and enjoy it - it's a fab event.

I think my overall running in the last few months has taught me I've got a good head for racing, seem to be able to try a lot harder than I thought I could, and than I thought my body could manage. It has its downsides - feels like it does some damage sometimes, mind writing cheques my body can't cash, etc - but it certainly bodes well for future races/challenges, which will require a fair amount of mental strength.


Live music
Saw a fair amount of music this year, more than usual. Enjoyed almost all of it, but these were probably the best
Tapir!
Once supporting BCNR (never heard of Tapir! before this), then also Nottingham Dot to Dot, then also Live at Leeds. Brilliant every time, will try to go to their tour in the spring.
Catmilk
First act at Dot to Dot, and the best of the day.
Shame
Last act at Live at Leeds, exactly what was needed to round off the day. Great energy, crowd was loving it. Rarely for a day like that, I didn't even drink, and still loved it, so must have been good!

[Bradders]

Thanks everyone for the posts so far, great reading!

My year was defined by a great stint of grit early on, long trips to Ireland and Austria and two awesome shorter visits to North Wales, hence doing some from each country. Bit of a long one, sorry. Been a good year!

Top 5 England
Ben's Groove Sit || Caley - where to even start.... First and foremost, I can't think of a better problem anywhere. It's incredibly powerful, yet requires perfect technique and clean footwork, every move is brilliant with zero respite, meaning the overall sequence is both sustained and flowy. The rock is bullet hard grit, the line is obvious and striking, all the holds are nice and it's even pretty kind on the skin for grit (in 30 sessions I only ever drew blood when it got too dry and my joints cracked). I know it's close to a busy road but that was a big plus for me considering I spent so long on it, mostly on my own, and you're far enough away that it's not intrusive, plus it's a good view across Wharfedale to Almscliff. It's high, tall and imposing, yet the nature of the landing, slightly awkward as it is, means both that the stand start exists and the rest is very workable. I just love it. And I suppose you need to when you spend that long on something. 30 sessions in total spanning 7 years from doing the stand. I don't know for sure but I've done the stand something like 80 times now, yet it still never feels totally solid. I did it from 3 hand moves in something like a dozen times, but somehow those extra moves add so much on.

Real talk time; the vast majority of my sessions were in early 2021. At the time, having a local project made lots of sense as my wife was very ill with pregnancy sickness, and it was convenient to nip out, hammer myself trying it, and be back home quickly. In the depths of lockdown as well it was a lonely, miserable time, but continuing to get out was my salvation. I always enjoyed trying it and I genuinely felt like I could do it on any go, albeit I suspect the weight of otherwise being a carer for my wife didn't help at all. Inevitably, I ended up totally burnt out on bouldering and I didn't get my pads out at all from April until September.

Fast forward and in hindsight, without really knowing it I actually started preparing for it again in July 2022, having to level up my shoulder strength in order to do The Golden Shot, which I managed in October. This proved to be perfect preparation, and so my winter training block felt like a breeze. Sticking two fingers up to the "replicas are aid" community, I ended up with 4 different replicas of it, 2 easy ones on the Pudsey Depot 30 for running laps on, an orange in the main wall which I managed in about 20 mins the day after Boxing Day 2022, despite having not done a Depot orange for years, and a hard one on my home board. The plan had been to aim for a peak around the end of February, but I felt great early on in the year, the weather cleared up and I went for my first session on 18th Jan and had two of my best ever goes, both times my left foot inexplicably popping off on the first move of the stand, which I'd always found no trouble in isolation. Incredibly psyched, I planned to go back on 21st Jan. I had people lined up to come along and everything. Unfortunately a sickness bug hit me the night before and I spent the day in bed instead! Gutted. I rested up, and by 25th Jan I felt better so had a board session and finally did my hard replica for the first time ever, after about 6 months of trying it at least once a week.

The day after was forecast to be good conditions, with a strong wind. I dropped my daughter off at nursery, which is only a few minutes drive from Caley, however as I drove through Bramhope it chucked it down! Despairing, I took my dog for a walk around the Chevin. Miraculously it all seemed dry, as though the rain had completely avoided the crag. I dropped my dog off at home and headed up, finding the problem dry and with a perfect wind blowing. The air was still a little humid from the rain, great for me as my skin is quite dry and I'd suffered previously with glassy feeling holds in very dry Northerlies. Despite how many times I've done the stand, I wanted it to feel totally safe so I hauled up 3 more pads than I'd normally have had.

I set about working out how I could make the first move of the stand more secure, and thankfully found a way using an intermediate and sacking off a foothold, then inspired by a comment on UKC worked out a new way of doing the move into the crack in the stand, which made it feel more reliable. People always seem surprised when I say I changed my beta 30 sessions in, but I think you should always be looking for options.

My first and second goes were great, falling off transitioning into the stand. Given it's so powerful that could have been that, but I often found my later goes were best and, that day, I just kind of knew I was going to do it. Third time was the charm. Happily, I don't think I've ever felt so present on a successful attempt on anything. I was conscious of everything I did, really felt how hard I had to try and how I had to keep everything together. It was brilliant.

Very grateful to everyone who responded to my Instagram stories about trying it, it really helped especially in those dark months of early 2021. Dave Mason has been mentioned already on here but also very grateful to him for all the support. It's the hardest problem I've ever done (for me), and doing it post parenthood both fulfils a big personal goal and gives lots of confidence for the future.



Domes Sit || Rowtor - one of those that I'd seen in a guide and thought I must go and try that, then years pass before you even go to the area. Finally made it to Rowtor for a maiden visit on a simply stunning winter's day, happily coinciding with my day off during the week, meeting a good friend there, with my daughter at nursery and wife at work. After several recent previous failures on all these fronts I was already winning. Luckily the problem suited me well and I did it quickly; all the more satisfying. It's a great sequence, on lovely rock, in my favourite part of the Peak.

Father I Compress || Wyming Brook - simply because it came together so unexpectedly. Moments of pure flow are fairly rare in bouldering I think that when they come along you have to highlight them. I did the first couple of moves, tried really hard and then woke up at the top! Especially satisfying as close compression is not my bag usually. Only wish I'd had a video going, but then I probably wouldn't have done it.

Diddy Kong || The Chevin - I had a great little run in February of sneaking in lots of quick sessions in the Chevin, feeling very fortunate to have it so close by. I suppose this is what Sheffielders feel like with the Eastern edges so accessible. I could have picked a few different things from this run, but it was especially good to get this one done, fortunate again in having a very generous friend who let me do the FA and in being able to add something so completely my style to my local area. I honestly thought it'd be really easy when I first saw it, but the sheer width and lack of footholds add up to a brutal bit of compression climbing, very reminiscent of its much bigger sister up North.

Synesthesia || Lound Hill - possibly mag lime's most fickle venue? A place where you need to take your chances when they arrive. I tried this when I did Colour of the Sky (Sept' '21) and couldn't do one of the moves in isolation, plus struggled on a couple of the others too meaning it all felt a long way off and quite a bit harder. I went back in July '22 and did the moves and linked the second half, and then endured the patient wait for good conditions there. I went back at least once finding it condensed. On the day it was cool, very low humidity and there was a strong breeze. I lugged 9 pads in by myself, worked it on a rope, then had a work call for 20 mins as a perfect little rest, then did it 1st go. Felt brilliant to just execute like that, and to find moves I struggled on previously so doable.

Top 5 Ireland
Bradders' Sit || Killarney National Park - a big part of the draw of visiting the Ring of Kerry was to do some exploring and, hopefully, find some FAs to do. However, a week or so in I realised I just wanted to do as much climbing as possible and with time pressure from work and family as well, the exploring went by the wayside. I was therefore pleased to find that this sitter to an existing problem hadn't been done and I managed it in a couple of sessions. It's a great bit of slappy, squeezy compression, on a great feature, much like a harder version of Diddy Kong so very much my style.

https://youtu.be/MrSzg_n01RQ?si=86Mf3qyfBd86Xb_7

Super T || The Stone Circle - I was very lucky to get in touch with two 'locals' (if living 2hrs drive away can be considered local!), who had apparently spent a lot of time in the hills around Kerry looking for bouldering venues. Even more luckily for me, they'd found this amazing venue hidden away in the wild Atlantic peninsulas, and having spent the prior 2 years developing it were now willing to share! This one proved to be a perfect trip mini-project, taking 4 sessions over a couple of weeks. It's sustained, powerful, technical and finishes up one of the most incredible highball 6B+s I've ever done, on amazing rock.

https://youtu.be/ESdtug8vnUY?si=wrQCpEhk5hzqL7gT

The Pit || The Gap of Dunloe - it's a bit squeezed in, but it's a banging line up a massive block, in a beautiful place. A pleasure to do on a gorgeous evening. Encapsulated my experience in Ireland very neatly too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Csq0UG5Ncjs/?igsh=b3gzaTYzbm15NnFl

Nameless II || Killarney National Park - having been to this block and done Nameless Arête the previous year, but been absolutely destroyed by midges, I knew I wanted to return without the little biting bastards. This one is a perfect board style problem on great rock, lovely holds and quality moves, done on a beautiful evening with gentle sunshine filtering through the trees and not a midge to be found.

The Scoop || Killarney National Park - just a great problem on perfect sandstone.

Top 5 Austria
Black Beauty || Zemmschlucht - this was top of the list in Zillertal (excluding Sundance Sit which I decided was too high to be worth attempting on my own) and it was the second area I visited on arrival, however what no one tells you about the river boulders here is just how tricky accessing them can be. I don't know if the same applies elsewhere, I've not been to Brione yet for instance, but getting around here, especially on your own whilst bringing sufficient pads to make sure things feel safe, is a nightmare. On that initial visit I gazed longingly across the river, unable to commit to a jump across the, rather fast flowing, river. Combined with my fan breaking on day 2, struggling with the family / climbing balance and sky high expectations, it all put a massive downer on the first week which I didn't snap out of until a wonderful walk up in the mountains. Thankfully I went back to it later on, on the last good day of conditions. The moves took a while to come together but once they did the sequence seemed to work perfectly, and I managed it second redpoint. Felt redemptive as much as it was satisfying to climb that hard in a session, which I've not managed before.

Agent Orange || Zillergrund - super classic for a reason. Burly, powerful, board style. Quality rock, nice holds, in a lovely spot. Tweaked my knee on the heel hook in my 1st session, but luckily found a toe hook sequence, which I always much prefer.

Remixed || Zillergrund - another satisfying little trip proj, being in that perfect sweet spot of doable in 3 sessions. It's an eliminate link up but the rock is quality and the moves are brilliant, with a heartbreaker finish which I dropped twice in session 2, leaving me wondering if I'd be able to finish it off with the limited time left on the trip.

Cockpit || Zillergrund - the first harder thing I managed in Austria and an indication I was starting to move again after the drive. Brilliant, twisty sequence.

Jackson Drehhaggal || Magic Place - all I wanted to do at the start of my Austria trip was do a good steep problem next to a river. After roundly failing for the first couple attempts, it was a relief to find this fitting the bill perfectly. Magic indeed.

Top 5 Wales
Jerry's Roof || Cromlech - as a time poor Dad, I don't often get to do big days out. When the opportunities do arise, it's therefore especially good when they're also successful. In the morning I'd been for my second session on Leviathan, and despite trying hard I'd been disciplined enough to leave something in the tank. It'd rained in the pass earlier, but it was a glorious summer evening, cold for August, with a lovely breeze blowing. I'd tried Jerry's a few years ago but couldn't remember much of it, so had to work out all the moves again which took time, skin and energy. Luckily I met some friendly people there, one of whom managed it first and I was able to follow him up it straight after. It's a great bit of burly roof climbing I reckon. Topping out to a great sunset, with a bleeding finger and sore muscles will live long in the memory, topped off with an excellent burrito from the van in Llanberis.

Leviathan || Rhoscolyn - one of the UK's best features I think, great movement, mostly wonderful rock, super involved and burly yet very workable at a perfect height for bouldering, in a beautiful place which I mostly had all to myself. I would say it's lucky there's a version of it which is attainable for punters like me, but the original developers seemingly made their own luck in this case, if you know what I mean. Not that I'm complaining, but it did leave me with a bit of a sour taste that took much of the edge off the satisfaction of doing it. The full thing going from the proper sitter all the way to the high finish will still be one of the hardest problems in the UK when it eventually goes, not to mention one of the best. Ended up being a perfect objective for a week long trip in August, and I definitely did get lucky with the weather at least which was great throughout. This is exactly how I like my boulders anyway; squeezy, slappy and beta intensive.

Special K || Crafnant - a great marker of progress, having struggled to do the moves in a session in 2022. This time it went first go after a brief warm up. Felt like I'd properly levelled up my shoulder strength.

Paul O'Grady Sit || Afon Lloer - the day after Special K, second year in a row I've managed to get over to Wales for a weekend of utterly glorious conditions in late winter. This must be one of Wales' best lines, on perfect rock, in a stunning place. It should suit me on paper, but I found it really quite hard, only just fighting my way through the lower compression bit into the stand, after lots of earlier failed attempts.
 
Ultimate Warrior || Cwm Pennant - pretty much a perfect boulder problem, in a lovely place. Lucky to get to it on a very pleasantly cool Summer's day. Was almost a bit disappointed to do it quickly, but doing so meant a bonus rest day chilling in the sun watching the world champs (hooray for 4G in remote Welsh valleys), paddling in the stream and blackberry picking, so it wasn't a total loss.

Top Spankings
Grit proj - 15 sessions in over the last year and a bit I think, not including turning up and finding it wet a few times, mostly falling off at the same rough section and therefore seeing little in the way of progress. Simultaneously I've battled with my possessive and jealously protectionist thoughts over it, despite my really having no ownership of it beyond having spotted the potential and then miserably failed to do it for a full year! It was my sole focus in April but couldn't get it wrapped up before going away. Came back to it after lots of training through summer, having ticked all my other goals for the year only to sink another 9 or 10 sessions in. Tried to keep it quiet but couldn't resist telling a few people when asked what I'd been up to, meaning word seems to have gotten out and now I'm even more protective of it! All very stupid and I'd like to get it done now. Last session found some amazing new beta, only for the weather to crap out, so fingers crossed it clears up soon.

Transmutation || The Stone Circle - after doing Super T I'd hoped to get a little bonus ascent, and had a promising 'do all the moves 1st go' initial acquaintance. It didn't happen though in the 1st session, so I went back for round 2. It was 7pm by the time I got there, having done a day's work and then got my daughter to bed before going out. I'd never normally then drive 40 minutes to go climbing but when you're keen and time limited... The crux move uses a weird hold with a little double lip to it, and on my best go I got through the crux, moved feet over, set up for the next move and my foot popped. As I cut, I felt the extra lip basically skin my left ring finger. Worst flapper I've ever had! I mummified the finger and had one more go, dropping the crux and splitting my right index as well. Luckily then had 6 enforced rest days travelling to Austria so could have been worse! On the plus side, it's been the inspiration for one of the best problems I have on my board.

The Roof || The Gap of Dunloe - it's the classic of the Gap, and I was really keen to try the sit start too, but I just couldn't get it feeling safe even with 4 decent pads. The landing is hemmed in by blocks and I couldn't get the thought of hitting my head out of my mind. Cool to see that the sit has since been done by a local wad.

https://youtu.be/Rd96giufr8o?si=4WCZsBJpLv8uZ8Zd

[webbo]

Not a lot to report.
2023 started with major mobility problems due to having no cartilage in my left hip.
I had a full hip replacement on January 25th.
High lights.
Being able to walk up Dodd fell by end of February.
Back on the board by May.
Doing 125 mile ride by the end of June
HebCelt in Stornoway in June. Niteworks, Peat and Diesel and Skerryvore lived to expectations.
Holiday in the Alps in September. First trip in many years.Seeing friends who live there and having friends who always put us up on previous trips coming and staying with us.
Daughter, son in law and grandson returning to the UK although they still miles away in Wiltshire.
Spankings.
Mother in law being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and dying in December. But we took her with us to Lakes in February where she got to see a life long friend for the first time in many years.
Wife employing someone to take over her job when she retires who turned out to be a Bunny boiler and worse she moved in to our village in a friends property.
Having to have Kitty the cat put down due to failing kidneys. Smartie the cat also appears to be on borrowed time.
Although hip is great, my arthritic wrists, fingers cause a fair bit of gip. Currently having shoulder rehab due an impingement as a result of over developed traps and upper pecs.
 I hope to climb outside again in 2024 and see more live music and maybe take my grandson to see a live band.