The Lockdown Diaries - Encroachment

How's everyone doing? How's the id? The hope? The mental equilibrium?

I have been very aware of the delicate balance going on inside my head as lockdown continues. Its as if it wears away the protective shielding and the emotional stuff is a little sensitive and amplified. In practice I have had some amazing times with the kids, and some frankly dog dirt encounters on social media..

Getting to do more bed times.. 

I find myself, like many climbers getting obsessed about the little tastes and simulcrums of climbing, seeking out random walks skirting unknown and potentially pebbly territory, as well as an unhealthy amount of time on Google earth.


Yey we can go climbing again!


Sort of..

The demands of Welsh lockdown means keeping out the national park and keeping ep near your house. When most of the climbers live in the same valley keeping cool stuff for yourself is rather tricky.
Already during the Lockdown I was seeing a rise of page views on my blog, particularly the local Esoterica.
Most of the clegir blocs were getting hits, and I found out one local star has almost sent my Old Man Logan project on the Skadoosh boulder. Good on him.

In fact Skadoosh has now had more ascents by other people than by me! Everybody by necessity has become an esoterrorist (I believe that is the term) and they're in my territory!

More eggs lobbed onto the scales of mental health, fear of losing projects to better climbers with nothing better to do. Fear of upsetting better climbers by wittering on about some obscurity that's now their secret(pah) project.

Add to that a distant but life enriching mate lost his bar brawl with Cancer.. And in the words of Ian Drury I'm needing "reasons to be cheerful"

Here are a few:

Stay safe. Find a safe mate and talk to them. There's treasure everywhere.

The Lockdown Diaries - I've got 99 projects..

And I can't climb one.
That has been the situation in sunny Wales. I made a moral choice to respect the BMC's request that we pause climbing for now. This was due to feeling a bit unjust when there was the masses who couldn't walk to their boulders, and not wanting to make the BMC's position harder.

Can't touch this 

Well actually I think climbers being climbers, especially in the North Wales scene, I think they have. To be honest I can't blame them. Lowball esoteric lumps barely gazed at by man abound in this area, my blog is littered with them. Judging by the viewing stats, it appears that people have cottoned on to this too. So with my backwater projects preyed on by bloc hungry freedom fighter's what's a man to do? 

I started with what I was allowed to do. I noticed that the national park had moved their no play zone back south to Nant Peris. This meant I could wander from my house to the mysteries of Fronllwyd. 

And have a gander into Penrhyn

Even gaze into the Carneddau (which has always remained open, lucky Bethesdarites) 

The road ahead is uneven and frustrating. Tonight our prime minister has allowed Englanders to drive to their "unlimited" exercise. This week gone, the BMC's advocated bouldering and top roping as phase 1 appropriate.

The stable door is open to the masses, and keeping my bouldering mat locked away won't save any lives. Obviously I don't want to go anywhere anybody else is (I never do really). Also the science is beginning to indicate that if someone gave my boulder cooties, it wasn't likely to give it to me. Certainly less likely than the trolley at Tescos. 

Controlled and polite rebellion may save minds as well as lives. 

Stay safe.