I have arrived in Scotland, but where is the winter? 23rd Nov

Its great to be back up North. I have been busy getting settled in at a mates house and hunting for work. I can't believe how warm it is. Not even a hint of a snowflake. It was 2 foot deep in Aviemore last year. What a contrast!

The Morning After the Day Before! (19 Nov)

Well, I don't have a sore head, but it was a great night. Good food and great company. I haven't seen some of the people at the dinner for 10 years or more. It was great to catch up with friends and climbing partners and hear about climbing trips to far flung corners of the globe. Now off to Scotland

November

Just a few days working for Duchy College, a couple of days surfing, then it's off to Scotland I go! The plan is to spend the winter reinforcing my knowledge and expanding my experience of winter mountaineering so that I will sail through my Winter Mountain Leader assessment at the end of March! I'm looking forward to some winter climbing too, and have dusted down my ice axes and crampons, once I found them! On the way north, I shall be stopping off in the Lake District for my mountaineering club's Annual Dinner - the social event of the year!

October

A busy month for me, work-wise. I had two great weeks at the beginning of the month working for EBO Adventure, who were hosting Physical Training Instructors from the Royal Omani Air Force. The guys were over here to learn 'the ropes' and give them more experience on supervising rock climbing sessions for their subordinates back in Oman. Despite the language and cultural differences, we all had a great time and the guys were fun to work with and keen to learn. Assisting me was Karen from Salt Air Adventures, and together, we visited many of our favourite local crags to give the guys plenty of opportunity to learn and practise their climbing/belaying/ropework skills. Fortunately the weather was good (although the Omanis kept saying how cold it was) and we discovered that Crantock Bakeries produce halal pasties! This was a good thing, as sourcing food to meet the Omani's religious diet laws provded to be a challenge in this part of the world!

Next up was a week in the Lake District working with Infantry recruits. Four days of navigation, climbing and paddling in a variety of weather conditions. I'm glad I packed my waterproofs! Despite not having done many of the activities, the troops were full of enthusiasm and enjoyed a more, relaxing time than they usually get back at barracks. In 3 months time, most of them will be out in Afghanistan, most of them are under 25. Stay safe guys and keep your heads down.

September

Oooooooo! More climbing this month and not just in Cornwall! I had a few trips north of the border to climb at The Dewerstsone (Devon), Subluminal (Dorset), Three Cliffs Bay (The Gower) and Wintours Leap (Wye Valley) as well as the usual forays to West Penwith. September is a great month to be in Cornwall as most holiday makers have gone home, the kids are back at school, the sea is nice and warm and the sun usually shines all day. This made both the climbing and the coasteering I did for Extreme Coasteering very pleasant. There was some great surf at the end of the month and I had a couple of fab sessions at Llangennith (as well as some great climbing). I had some superb company too. Special mention must go to Simon, Emma and Sue (you know who you are). All great people and great company.

August

August - lots of climbing with lots of different people in lots of different places! Some of it work and some of it, pleasure. Had a fun day out at Bosigran with 3 guys from The Lizard, cuminating in a mass ascent of Bosigran Ridge. Took one of the mature students at Duchy College out to the Dewerstone to do some multipitch climbing for her Logbook - it was grey, damp and windy but the crag was dry. Took my boys to Roche Rock for an afternoon of bouldering. Did some coasteering in Devon and Cornwall for Salt Air Adventures and Outposts, all good clean fun! I also led the whole of Beowulf (E2) at Bosigran, which has been on my 'hit list' for a long time. Great climbing, on perfect rock, with just about enough gear. That said, it's best to have a steady head for the middle pitch!

Who's Been a Naughty Boy Then?

Well, I guess I have, seeing as I haven't got round to updating this Blog since the beginning of August! But, to be fair, I have been rather busy! It's been a very active second half of the year with lots of climbing, coasteering, surfing, mountaineering, kayaking AND even some Mountain Biking, phew! So I think the best thing I can do to get up to date would be to post a months worth of photos and comments, rather than individual days....(yes, I know it's lazy, but Christmas is coming)