You never really forget or stop wanting your dreams even if you sometimes get side-tracked and your focus changes from time to time. I'm a true believer in never giving up on your dreams, no matter what. Personally, a little side tracking doesn't deter me completely, it can actually make me return even more determined than ever before. Before I could really get myself back in the 'dream chasing' game however, I did have to ask myself 1 important question...
Considering how much I absolutely adore being in the mountains, how did I ever manage to let it become so long since I actually got out there and trekked up one?
You see, It's all about the climbing really. Be it rock, ice or mountains, I just love the climbing sport. I fell in love with it when I tried it a few short years ago and I've never really loved any sport quite as much. A lot of my dreams are centred around it so I guess it's easy to become distracted from one climbing dream simply by spending a little time focussing on another.
So there I was, choosing bouldering over winter and with that came the decision to cancel my pre-planned winter holiday and concentrate on bouldering for a time. I had some excellent trips to my beloved Fontainebleau instead. Now however, with the end of the year fast approaching, I feel that it's time to get back to what I love the most... Winter. Winter mountains and winter climbing and just generally being out there in that environment. I am never more happy and more at ease than when I am up high somewhere in the cold and the snow looking out at the most amazing views and just loving every single second.
The thing that I love the most about it, and perhaps the most addictive part of it for me is that when I am up there, I feel like I am so close to my mum and when the journey is getting a little difficult or I'm getting a little exhausted from all the trudging and cutting steps, I swear I can almost hear her voice again and feel her hand on my shoulder and in those moments, I know that she is there with me every step of the way and I love that feeling.
With my focus back on winter, I have to get hill fit again. I have to get route endurance for climbing for more than a few moves again. I have now booked myself back onto another winter trip, and planned which routes I'd like to try and get done and I am looking forward to it more than ever having skipped the last one. Now all that's left is to get to work.
S xx
Showing posts with label cold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cold. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Day 9: An amazing day out, -26C and the summit of Aiguille du Midi.
Well it seems that my regular sleeping pattern is back big time, another short 5 hours or so of sleep before getting up at 7am for breakfast. I'm actually beginning to get used to eating in the morning though, maybe I should try and keep it up since it is the most important meal of the day so I'm regularly told. Breakfast of champions today, cornflakes topped with coco pops and then 3, yes 3 croissants and yet another 3 cups of tea. I'm sure some people won't believe I managed to eat that much at such an early hour.
Lynette and I decided that as it was her day off and the weather was absolutely perfect, that we would hang out and head up to the top of Aiguille du Midi for some good views, good chat and a way to pass some time. So once we knew the top was open, we hit the street for a 10 minute walk to reach the cable car. It looked like quite a large queue but it moved so fast and before we knew it, we were at the very front of the first car watching as we were wizzed so quickly up to the first station at 2354m. What a difference in the temperature already. After taking in the view and grabbing a few price pictures, we head off to the next cable car that would traverse Les Pelerins glacier before rising up the North Face of the Midi to 3800m. Overall you have an altitude gain of over 2700m in 20 minutes... impressive stuff.
We then headed off for the summit and upon reaching the 3842m that is the top of the midi, the recorded temperature in the pretty strong 120km/h wind was -26C and in Lynette's words; was a trifle fresh. Within a few seconds of having my gloves off to capture the outstanding views, my fingers were freezing cold and my toes, even in my mountaineering boots with 2 pairs of socks could feel it. My phone camera decided that it was too cold to continue working and I was sure I got a little bit of brain freeze. As you can imagine we didn't stay n the summit for too long before we retreated and headed back down to the museum of elite alpinists. It was certainly nice to get some feeling back in my fingers as I basked in the videos and info of all the amazing feats of mountaineering of the past and present. It's amazing to be surrounded by it all, it really does inspire and motivate me to work hard and push the limits of my dreams. Never giving up is the right mentality.
What a fantastic day out I had, not just for the summit of the Midi but for the amazing company that is Lynette, she truly is an awesome person and someone that I am so glad I met in such an amazing place.
For my very last night in Chamonix, I had dinner with the guys again, enjoyed their stories of their day and then randomly bumped into Dave, one of the guys I met in one the ice in Cogne. It really is a small world at times. We all had a drink in the bar and then Simon joined us and after the hotel bar was closed, some of the staff, Dave, Simon and myself all went out into Chamonix Sud to have a drink in a bar called the Jekyll where we drank some beer, played a game that would never be permitted in a central Scotland bar... You hammer a nail into a tree trunk and the loser (the last one to get the nail all the way in) buys the shots. Genius really. I'm so glad I had a week of ice climbing to prepare for this game, my precision was so good that I managed to kick some serious butt... Something to be proud of I reckon. What a great place! Chris, the owner was just brilliant. Good music choices, everyone knows how much that impresses me. So we got our dancing on before finally having to leave 2am. Thank goodness I packed earlier otherwise I'd have to get up super early in the morning.
I definitely had a wonderful time this whole trip and tonight was just a perfect finish. Good memories and new friends to cherish for a long time. I look forward to the day where we meet again.
S xx
Lynette and I decided that as it was her day off and the weather was absolutely perfect, that we would hang out and head up to the top of Aiguille du Midi for some good views, good chat and a way to pass some time. So once we knew the top was open, we hit the street for a 10 minute walk to reach the cable car. It looked like quite a large queue but it moved so fast and before we knew it, we were at the very front of the first car watching as we were wizzed so quickly up to the first station at 2354m. What a difference in the temperature already. After taking in the view and grabbing a few price pictures, we head off to the next cable car that would traverse Les Pelerins glacier before rising up the North Face of the Midi to 3800m. Overall you have an altitude gain of over 2700m in 20 minutes... impressive stuff.
We then headed off for the summit and upon reaching the 3842m that is the top of the midi, the recorded temperature in the pretty strong 120km/h wind was -26C and in Lynette's words; was a trifle fresh. Within a few seconds of having my gloves off to capture the outstanding views, my fingers were freezing cold and my toes, even in my mountaineering boots with 2 pairs of socks could feel it. My phone camera decided that it was too cold to continue working and I was sure I got a little bit of brain freeze. As you can imagine we didn't stay n the summit for too long before we retreated and headed back down to the museum of elite alpinists. It was certainly nice to get some feeling back in my fingers as I basked in the videos and info of all the amazing feats of mountaineering of the past and present. It's amazing to be surrounded by it all, it really does inspire and motivate me to work hard and push the limits of my dreams. Never giving up is the right mentality.
What a fantastic day out I had, not just for the summit of the Midi but for the amazing company that is Lynette, she truly is an awesome person and someone that I am so glad I met in such an amazing place.
For my very last night in Chamonix, I had dinner with the guys again, enjoyed their stories of their day and then randomly bumped into Dave, one of the guys I met in one the ice in Cogne. It really is a small world at times. We all had a drink in the bar and then Simon joined us and after the hotel bar was closed, some of the staff, Dave, Simon and myself all went out into Chamonix Sud to have a drink in a bar called the Jekyll where we drank some beer, played a game that would never be permitted in a central Scotland bar... You hammer a nail into a tree trunk and the loser (the last one to get the nail all the way in) buys the shots. Genius really. I'm so glad I had a week of ice climbing to prepare for this game, my precision was so good that I managed to kick some serious butt... Something to be proud of I reckon. What a great place! Chris, the owner was just brilliant. Good music choices, everyone knows how much that impresses me. So we got our dancing on before finally having to leave 2am. Thank goodness I packed earlier otherwise I'd have to get up super early in the morning.
I definitely had a wonderful time this whole trip and tonight was just a perfect finish. Good memories and new friends to cherish for a long time. I look forward to the day where we meet again.
S xx
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