UKC

RAIN FUELLED MISERY WARNING---> There's now zero chance that I'll get two days off in a row this winter and along with the weather it's putting me on a bit of a downer. I'm loathe to head up the road for one day when the conditions are so uncertain. A long, petrol hungry drive, a damp night in the car followed by a day getting blasted by the weather, only to tramp back down in the dark to eat and sleep before going back to work the next day with a stinking car full of wet gear to deal with before trying to catch up on the sleep you've missed when you eventually get home.

So you take your week off in February with your fingers crossed you've picked the right week. You've spent hundreds on gear, you've been through the steep learning curve just to get started in Winter, done all your October preparations, training, winterising your gear, dreaming of routes with a copy of cold climbs by your bed, you've spent hours trawling through blogs and conditions reports and watching the weather like an amateur meteorologist. All for that one week every year, which lets be honest may well see you sitting at home wishing you'd had the clairvoyance to book off the week before instead.

Last year was amazing and it dawned on me how much easier it is when you're getting out every week or so, how much slicker everything becomes, enjoyable even, sunglasses and everything. The ease of choosing routes when you've been able to see them for the last few weeks. It makes scrounging the scraps out of half weekends and poor conditions seem a little less worthwhile. Knitting though, now that sounds like where it's at. Nice cup of tea, sit by the fire, churn out some scarves...imagine how much wool you could buy for a tank of petrol.

In reply to Sharp:

Good rant.

In reply to Sharp:

I think UKC needs to run an article on DIY counseling for cabin fever.

And remember, a day out hillwalking is much better for you than a day sat indoors, even if you don't get to swing an axe in anger.

In reply to Trevers:

Yep - a day out in proper washing-machine weather (and then you can come back and happily knit by the fire, safe in the knowledge that you've had an invigorating day out).

In reply to Sharp:

Top rant. I feel much better for it.

In reply to Sharp:

Well said that man..i couldn't have put it better myself.

In reply to Sharp:


I know how you feel. I'm getting to screaming pitch too. But chin up me old mucker. Keep an eye on Wednesday and Thursday this coming week. The way I read the chicken giblets, there's quite a good chance of something then.

In reply to Sharp:

i know how you feel........I off to Scotland on Mon. but there is other exciting stuff to do in the hills tho.

We scrambled up Gordale Scar on Sat, .....lashed and drenched by the spray and wind it was the best bit of the day!!
image of the scary face of Gordale at::

http://paulhorsmanphotographer.blogspot.co.uk

In reply to Sharp:

Grounds for hope right here:

http://www.winterhighland.info/general/

But today's certainly a write-off. It's already been christened "Ballistic Sunday" on Winterhighland. I saw it coming, and tried to get my skiing partner to go yesterday not today--unfortunately he couldn't. So I worked yesterday, thus freeing myself up for a day off on Weds or Thurs. Here's crossed fingers for a midweeker... the snow sounds amazingly good, it's just too darn windy right now.

In reply to Tim Chappell:

Ma midweek rest day just happens tae be Thursday with a long lie recovery backshift on Friday...ya dancer

In reply to Sharp:

Stay psyched man! Remember great March and April last year? Slow build up now is going to produce stella condition again this year - fingers crossed!

In reply to Sharp:

Stay cool and be patient. You live within day trip range of stuff and the winter is really less than half gone... I've had great days on the Ben in early May.

In reply to Sharp:

Take a man pill and get out there.

In reply to Sharp:



And that, my friend, is what it is all about. Get up there and get it done

In reply to Sharp:

Ah come on man, you live in the borders! Can't be that bad, can it...?

Still, there's much to be said for knitting, how about you knit your self an all-in-one daschstein wool body suit and cut down on the hundreds spend on gear?

In reply to Sharp:
imagine how you would feel if you lived where I do. my winter is yet to start I am beyond frustrated.

In reply to Sharp:

No the feeling, good climbing right through to january, and now that the weather had turned crap, iam going up the wall with boredom making the missus grumpy with me.

Now iam sitting here waiting for good weather and planning the routes for when the sun returns, wishing i had gone spain for 3 mnths....

In reply to Sharp:

Maybe urban snorkelling if this keeps up

In reply to Sharp:



This time last year - was working 4day weeks and had already got 16 winter days out, most of them "good" days with decent weather and decent conditions. Felt "smooth" with things skills wise.

This year - not working at all and have only managed 12 winter days out, most of them "poor" days with testing weather or crap conditions. Feel rusty skills wise.

I think the last 4 winters have lulled us into an unrealistic expectation of how winter "should" be - even with the massive Christmas/New Year thaws, they've generally been good weather wise. This constant bloody storm cycle, coupled with high freezing levels, is doing my head in. I keep telling myself it's for "the greater good" of what could turn out to be one of the best seasons in decades what with the sheer ammount of snow in the hills, but that doesn't help right now!!!!

But knitting? No. Don't do it. Get out mountain biking mate, or road biking if you have to - much more entertaining, better for fitness, and it doesn't matter if the weather's crap, you're probably going to end up with wet pants anyway!!

Chin up, have a beer or something, read guide-books (again) and make plans, then when the good stuff DOES come, you'll be ready!

In reply to Sharp:

...done some sea kayaking

In reply to peebles boy:

What the man says ^^^^^^


What the man says again ^^^^^

I too have serious cabin fever, but the Sufferfest vids have been getting a hammering, and I have built up the Brownie points at Ikea and the like, all ready for when the skies clear and the Polar Continental High sets in..... *it will, won't it?*







*please*

In reply to JohnnyW:

On crappy days when I have cabin fever, I find it helps to pack my mountain rucksack. Then unpack it and repack it so it weighs less and has fewer knobbles sticking into my back. Then unpack it and repack it.

Normally I hate packing for the Stupid O'Clock start the next morning, but not when I can't climb. Because then it's the only thing I can do...

In reply to Sharp:

Oh , get a grip! That's what winter climbing in Scotland is all about. Minging weather, little time. Try to get out if you can and if not, so what...!

And if you are old enough, you'll never get to have two days on the trot anyways as you might have kids....I get out one day most weekends when the weather is alright. It is not perfect, but then you'll take your chances. I would prefer two days every weekend, but we had had a child, so that's that!I But we moved to Scotland to be able to access the mountains easily. So if you can't, maybe move north?

In reply to Sharp:

Nope.
if conditions are good- good.
If not, head to Spain, dry tool the Costa Blanca,
or recite the Serenity Prayer wherever you are:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.

In reply to Heike:

Spot on, I used to think that the essence of playing in mountains was dealing with a certain uncertainty (regardless of grade), enduring a little discomfort, overcoming unexpected difficulties with the possibility of failure and disappointment always present. Bad weather is......well, just bad weather, get over it.

The two lines of thought seem to be:

1) Chin up, it might turn into an excellent winter so just hold back and be ready if it comes, if not then do something else you enjoy that keeps you fit.

or

2) Don't moan so much, Winter climbing isn't about climbing it's about being uncomfortable and getting wet. If you get to climb then great, if not then don't worry because it's not about that.

I have to say I find the first more appealing! There are good days to be had in bad weather and I think anyone who climbs in winter will have had great days fighting bad conditions and not getting anything done. But to me personally, that's second best to actually climbing. There's a difference between heading up, lucking out on conditions and making the best of it once you're up and deliberately spending time/money to go and walk around with no intention of climbing anything just for the kicks. Enjoyable though fighting bad weather is it's not enjoyable enough to spend hundreds of quid a month on without having some climbing to show for it, that's why I go anyway but each to their own. I can get wet for free with a hill run where I live.

Anyway, I'll book my week off and if there's nothing going when it comes then I'll do something else instead, there's always next year.

In reply to Sharp: don't worry according to the daily express this is going to be the coldest winter in a billion years? With ice everywhere you will be able to head up the merrick for a few routes and be back home in time to knock out a few scarves.

In reply to machars:

Man if it's gonna be that cold I'm probably gonna need the scarves first!

Failing that an air lift off liquid nitrogen dropped at the top of the black gairy might do the trick!

In reply to Sharp:

Yeah, there's no doubt that the weather so far this winter has been frustrating for all. On the plus side as others have commented, there's plenty of time yet, and the huge amount of snow etc could make for amazing conditions later in the season.

On the bright side, at least you've not forked out 2 grand to go to Patagonia!

In reply to Sharp:

Monkey tennis?

In reply to Sharp:

I think it's one of the appeals to winter climbing that it's a bit like hard work and that is not a guarantuee that you get something done. That's part of the challenge, but I do take your point that if you live too far away than it becomes a bit of a hindrance (money and driving wise). That's why I live in Scotland. Preferably I would like to live further north, but there is a lack of jobs....On the downside dry rock is more difficult to come by in summer. Hmmmm

In reply to Sharp:

The Vision

Do not expect it in the green of May.
No cleanness in that growth that parturition
as pure as clean as death.

Nor in the bland and flyblown August sun,
in hot banality upon a balding lawn,
in non-event of sweltering desiccation.

Ignore October’s blustering warm winds,
rain-rotted fruit let clog the orchard paths;
it brings no insight eaten.

But when the bloodline’s thin as mercury
when ice flowers white on wood and stars the stream
then head up through the beeswarm of the snow
then climb the Hill of Vision.

(c) TC 8.1.00

In reply to Sharp:




3) Mountainbiking as a wet weather sport! (Or something, I fancy kitesurfing too, but am slow to start..) Soon as the forecast isn't what you want, then plan B makes you happy anyway.

In reply to jonnie3430:

I agree but mountain bikes are also more fun in the dry!

In reply to Sharp:


Haha. You might think I say this in jest Ben but I've actually started knitting! It's almost as frustrating as Scottish winter climbing, and even harder to do by head torch

In reply to Sharp:




know where yer coming from .excellent rant

In reply to monkeyme2:

You could practice doing it in your big gloves to ready yourself for fiddly wire placements and awkward sling threading....