Dead shit birds who stop climbing

Got the Randall assessment thru the mail last night. Not too much controversy there; I was pretty amazed to hear him praise my above average technique and footwork, and totally unshocked to find that I'm a bit stronger than I am fit. Other than that, the take home message seemed to be that I'm reasonably well rounded, but with some weaknesses we can work on. He reckons with a couple of weeks work I can be onsighting 8b+. Well, maybe not, but there are things to work on at least...

This weekend we were full-bore, all guns blazing up to Malham so Jules could put some more time in on the proj. My goals were less clear; the hurty elbow is still quite hurty, and I've received some conflicting advice about cause and treatment. I think this means I must exercise some caution and restraint with the hurty elbow. Still, after warming up it seems to hurt a bit less, so I figured I'd put in some big links on Bat Route. After many, many days struggling with the crux on this, it is starting to come together, thanks to slightly larger biceps, and a radically different sequence. In fact, in the back of my mind is a little feeling that the route might actually go sometime soon. This feeling is elusive, and scurries away every time I notice it. To be honest, I'm trying not to pay it too much attention. If I ignore it completely, there's every chance I'll tick the route before I've had a chance to stress out about it. This is going to take some mental fortitude, and a bit of luck on the route itself...

Unfortunately, mother nature has failed to bend meekly to my will. A swift has made its home in just about the only hold you can't climb round. Damn birds. I hang on the rope looking bemused at this turn of events and debate in my head whether the route is worth becoming an evil bird-murderer for. My better angels win out, eventually. I need another project for the nesting season.

Idefix won't do. It's quite horrible and sharp. I make sure I tick it quickly, so I never have to go on it again. Urgh. On Sunday I have a quick look at Cry Freedom. My previous on this route involves yarding past most of the climbing to get to the top crux and completely failing on it for a best part of an hour. I've always felt a bit disappointed in this route. The climbing to get to the crux is fabulous and really involved; it really makes me want to climb it. Unfortunately the great climbing only takes you as far as the decidedly reachy and totally un-great crux. I can just about span between the two holds, but only with a couple of fingers, and only with very high and burly feet. With an extra inch it would be much easier, and that's not a very satisfying kind of move to spend your days falling off.

This time up things go a bit better and I actually manage to do the moves about one go in three from hanging on the rope. Bizarrely, this makes be even more ambivalent about the route. At least when I simply couldn't do the moves, it was a clean cut not-project. Now it occupies the hazy nether world of the possible project, which makes the prospect of repeated reachy failure high up both more realistic, and more intimidating. One to leave until I've ticked Rainshadow, or grown a bit, whichever comes first.

Still, Jules doesn't tick, which means I'm still in need of a Malham proj; Totally Free II? Hmmm..