Tuesday, January 30, 2007

God's Own Yorkshire

Went to Yorkshire to visit Bruno and Jenny last weekend and managed to pick the first sunny weekend since early December. Had a glorious day out at the Slipstones on the North Yorks Moors. Set in truly picturesque surroundings, it's a sort of miniature version of Stanage, but without the crowds and polish. A grit boulderer's paradise. The quality of the rock is nothing short of spectacular in its roughness - as my ragged tips still bear witness to. God's own rock indeed. Haven't been bouldering on real rock since November '05 back in Bishop and gradewise didn't get anywhere near, unsurprisingly. It was inspiring though, rattling through V2s and 3s and trying a few harder ones together with a spectacularly strong and enthusiastic team.

On Saturday night we reconvened to Simon and Pip's for a surprise birthday party for Simon. Lots of food (and in Bruno's case, drink) was consumed, and the party soon deteriorated into a set of mad physical challenges, like holding front levers etc, culminating in an olives vs jelly babies first to finish 400 grams eating comp between John and Stu. Olives won, but kudos to jellies for not throwing up.

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