Last weekend was spectacular.
In a hurry to update before the coming joys of this weekend I thought I should mention the fun we had last weekend.
Friday night my soon to be best man and I headed to a bunkhouse in Northumberland and promptly opened the beers. Through the evening the rest of the party arrived and my stag do had begun. Nothing but beer and chat till 3 in the morning and then up again at 8. Bacon sandwich.
The over-riding sensation of a light unhealthiness started to override at that stage but without fear of rain or hangovers we were straight out to Bowden Doors. A few classic routes and a good bit of mid-grade bouldering happened as we moved along the crag in our pack of 10. Lunch and a nap after a very wobbly ascent of the classic highball Crunchie (E2 5c) went down extremely well. By the early afternoon we were down by The Lightbulb, an ultra-classic Font 6a boulder problem. For some of the party the final right foot was a revelation in just how much hidden technique and belief they had while for others it was as miserable and sandy as the worst of family beach trips.
The final problem of the day was a whole of group attempt at an unnamed but wonderful off-width. At around 4m tall and 8″ wide its a great little leveller and a very suitable venue to learn the trade. In T-Shirt and shorts I’d like to think I gave a fair example of useful technique and young Matty B also proved his worth with a quick jog up the main extent of it and a good battle round the final bulge. Sadly, yet not for want of trying, the off-width won 8-2. Valiant attempts came from a good number of the party but more skin was lost than pride won.
Beer, Bunkhouse, Ball games, Beer, Silly mind games, Beer, Bed.
Beach. Cobwebs were suitably blown away on a spacious and gusty Northumberland beach and the 2m kite managed to pick up a couple of entertaining gusts despite the dunes blocking a lot of the power. A cracking fish and chips and some stone throwing on another beach and then the weekend was all over and we parted to our different parts of the county.
In brief summary I have a group of wonderful and very relaxed friends. Together we’re as happy doing nothing without plans as we are egging each other onto push our respective envelopes. Success for one of us is fun for everyone and thats just lovely!
Monday however was another story. Dave called up about 9pm to say that there was still snow in the Corries and did I want to go snowboarding!? Yes, I did. Early drive and we were hiking in at 9:30 in hope that the snow would soften in the sun. Once we were stood in the base of the corrie we decided that the Windy Face was our best bet, being by far the least intimidating as Dave hadn’t skied in a month or so and I had only had one day (new years eve) this season! The bootpack was in the slope and in 20 minutes we were looking down the face from the top, which always seems much much steeper!
The first run was a little icy, and I hadn’t done my boots tight enough (article on my boots to follow very soon) but Dave made it look exceptional and the turns in the run our were magnificent. After a couple of budget range sausage rolls we headed back up the cut steps in 24 minutes this time and both put in a much more satisfying and far quicker run down the face. What a rush coming in to the corrie bottom at what feels like 30+mph! One more half run from the start of The Message and we picked up our stuff and hiked out of the corrie to the top of Cairngorm (if you’re counting our altitude gain its getting on for huge!). The Coronation Face was in beautful condition and felt cruiser after the steepness of the corrie and we were soon slashing our way down the slush moguls that covered the ‘piste’ all the way to the mid-station. Magnificent.
A steady hike back to the car, and ice cream and a backflip into the icy cold waters of the Glenmore Loch was undoubtably a very classy finish to a top-of-the-range weekend!
