Wilton and Great Manchester Swim
The last two weeks weather has been fantastic, very warm even early in the morning, which has meant I've been super keen to try and get out climbing as much as possible without disturbing the normal routine. This has been challenging especially with a new baby in the household.
The best plan of attack has been to get out in the morning, I can normally get an hour before work, and if I'm focussed I can normally get a bit done. I've been out before work 3 or 4 times in the last couple of weeks and sometimes half an hour at lunchtime. I've been working my way through plenty of easy problems in the Wiltons, and there are some really good ones even if you do feel a little strange bouldering on a 20m tall crag...
Amongst others, I've managed to tick the following (W1)Horrobix 6a, Horror arete 6a, Remembarete 6a, Pocket Wall 6a+, Break Dyno 6a, Big Frenchie 5, Leading Question 6a, (W2) Bish Bash Bosh 5, Wam Bam 5, The Urkling 6a, Iron Orchid 5, (W3) Final walls 1 5+, Final walls 2 6a+. I've also had a play on other things, and I've also managed to get footage of most of these, which I'll most probably edit together as a video of good quality easy problems in the South Lancs area.
It'll give me something to do when the good weather stops and it starts to rain.
This reminds me of a chapter in Macleod's book 9 out of 10 climbers... when he talks about time management - by moving close to a crag, and making best use of (literally) any available time, you can still fit climbing in with a busy routine even if you can only get out for half an hour, it's just a case of believing that it's possible. So this is what I'm aiming for, even if it means that for the majority of these sessions I'm climbing alone. Then again, this has never bothered me, I'd rather have W1 to myself to be fair, it's a great place to be early in the morning when the sun is shining.
I've been getting used to the new camera and I'm quite happy with the quality of the footage that the Canon 650 produces, although I've only viewed the raw files, so overall quality will depend on how well I can get Prem Pro to behave when rendering. Having been forced to turn my back on tape and go digital, I'm very impressed. Overall it's much more friendly to deal with. Whether it will produce the best feel remains to be seen.
The plus point is that it is easy to get a very short depth of field just with the 200mm lens without having to resort to some complicated set up I'd have had to do with the HV20. I really like the way this looks. It has meant I've been able to get some nice handhold/foothold shots to edit together. Anyway, we'll see.
On other news, I recently took part in the great manchester swim, swimming a mile in the Salford Quays. I decided to do this after playing a full afternoon of 20/20 cricket, and then going on the lash with the boys. I also did no training, having not swam for nearly a year. So, to say I was broken on Sunday is not an understatement. I opted for breast stroke as I really can't do front crawl effectively, and managed to get a time of 44 mins 41 seconds, a time I'm pretty happy with as it gives me plenty to improve on next year. All in all it was pretty good actually, I was swimming with my elder sister who managed a 29 min time. effort!!
The best plan of attack has been to get out in the morning, I can normally get an hour before work, and if I'm focussed I can normally get a bit done. I've been out before work 3 or 4 times in the last couple of weeks and sometimes half an hour at lunchtime. I've been working my way through plenty of easy problems in the Wiltons, and there are some really good ones even if you do feel a little strange bouldering on a 20m tall crag...
Amongst others, I've managed to tick the following (W1)Horrobix 6a, Horror arete 6a, Remembarete 6a, Pocket Wall 6a+, Break Dyno 6a, Big Frenchie 5, Leading Question 6a, (W2) Bish Bash Bosh 5, Wam Bam 5, The Urkling 6a, Iron Orchid 5, (W3) Final walls 1 5+, Final walls 2 6a+. I've also had a play on other things, and I've also managed to get footage of most of these, which I'll most probably edit together as a video of good quality easy problems in the South Lancs area.
It'll give me something to do when the good weather stops and it starts to rain.
This reminds me of a chapter in Macleod's book 9 out of 10 climbers... when he talks about time management - by moving close to a crag, and making best use of (literally) any available time, you can still fit climbing in with a busy routine even if you can only get out for half an hour, it's just a case of believing that it's possible. So this is what I'm aiming for, even if it means that for the majority of these sessions I'm climbing alone. Then again, this has never bothered me, I'd rather have W1 to myself to be fair, it's a great place to be early in the morning when the sun is shining.
I've been getting used to the new camera and I'm quite happy with the quality of the footage that the Canon 650 produces, although I've only viewed the raw files, so overall quality will depend on how well I can get Prem Pro to behave when rendering. Having been forced to turn my back on tape and go digital, I'm very impressed. Overall it's much more friendly to deal with. Whether it will produce the best feel remains to be seen.
The plus point is that it is easy to get a very short depth of field just with the 200mm lens without having to resort to some complicated set up I'd have had to do with the HV20. I really like the way this looks. It has meant I've been able to get some nice handhold/foothold shots to edit together. Anyway, we'll see.
On other news, I recently took part in the great manchester swim, swimming a mile in the Salford Quays. I decided to do this after playing a full afternoon of 20/20 cricket, and then going on the lash with the boys. I also did no training, having not swam for nearly a year. So, to say I was broken on Sunday is not an understatement. I opted for breast stroke as I really can't do front crawl effectively, and managed to get a time of 44 mins 41 seconds, a time I'm pretty happy with as it gives me plenty to improve on next year. All in all it was pretty good actually, I was swimming with my elder sister who managed a 29 min time. effort!!
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