Prompted by Euan writing about climbing, I found this quite raw post on the experience of climbing, unfinished from July.
climbing is a personal experience, it is difficult to impart the feeling and thoughts of lead climbing in an intelligible manner.
So, despite having said that, here are some thoughts and a narrative description of climbing the route Ringo, which I posted a picture of earlier.
there is a rythm to climbing and an order
setting up the belay
tieing in to the rope
checking one anothers harness
checking the rack
eyeing up the moves
getting to the first position
climbing
first gear above head height
finger jams
the bulge
leg jam rest
horizontal break
then layback / rockover to the rest
fiddling the gear
getting pumped and resting
gear in teeth to hold it whilst wrestling to choose the right size
last piece and feeling safer
make the move and haul over to the top
then set up the belay at the top and let your partner second it
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