So I brought a van.

Everyone's been telling me that it's the way forward, though I feel I should point out that most of these people have a biased point of view. They are already van owners and lovers. It's a little Peugeot Dispatch panel van. I know that Peugeot don't make a dispatch version, but at some point a rear door has been replaced with that off a Citroen. It's pretty much an old beat up van, with more mileage on it than I'd like. If it was a house it was be described as “full of character” and “cosy”.

Why buy a van? I didn't get it because everyone has told me it's a good idea. My car died. This isn't actually true as my car still runs but it'll cost more than it's worth to get it through the MOT and even then I can't guarantee it'll last another year. I can't guarantee that the van will last the year either, but it'll be more of an adventure. A van won't give me any more freedom than I've already got, it'll just make freedom more comfortable... at least in theory.

It is definitely not the greatest van in the world (not yet!) as it's old, slightly battered, the doors'll whistle on the motorway and the engine has got about a year left in it before it'll need a big overhaul (hopefully) but it felt right as soon as I got in it. There was then warm feeling you get in your gut when it all seems right as soon as I lay down inside, amongst the cement stuck to the carpet and looked up as the battered metal walls with plaster and god knows what stuck to them. Aesthetics don't bother me that much as long as it runs.

The plan is to convert the back into some sort of livable area. I've only got a few days before I start work again (for 3 weeks) so whatever is going to be built will need to be built quick and simply. I'm also limited in the cash flow department (as is everyone else at this time) and I don't really want to spend loads kitting out a van for about a years worth of use. I'm already looking into replacements and how much it'll cost so I know how much work I'll need to pick up. It's going to be a long year and climbing might have to take a bit of a back seat for a while.

A livable area doesn't need to be much.

East Gully (IV 3,4)

Somebodies Switched My Medicine E2 5b

A few weeks ago Soames and I had a very Himalayan climbing weekend, whilst camping on Anglesey. Over the course of three days, when only managed to get one new route climbed (but what a route) as the rest of the time was spent laying in the tent, waiting for the weather to clear up. We could probably have left, but the weather was never bad enough to  justify anything other than just waiting it out on the off chance it would improve. At the time I'd not been to Anglesey for a while and just being there seems to calm me down and settle me. I was happy lay in my tent, eating good food and straining my ears to hear the sea.

The route we did put up was a line that we've both been looking at since we discovered the cliff. I think at some point it was Soames's line, but along the way it has become a small obsession of mine. Each weekend away new routing would see me throwing down the abseil rope and cleaning it, checking the holds and looking for gear. It's the first time I've done this for any route and it was quite a big thing for me. It made the actually first ascent very different from the onsight first ascents I've done.

It's called Somebodies Switched my Medicine (E2 5b), but honestly I don't know about the grade. I'm very confident that it's 5b climbing, as I've been over it so much. It's the abjectival grade that concerns me a little. It couldn't grade it for an onsight attempt because I have so much knowledge about the line. I had too much information.

When we first saw it I think it blew us both away a little. The top half overhangs, considerably (for trad) and the gear up to the overhang didn't look like the greatest either. Due to all this I was happy to abseil down it. Firstly it started off with just cleaning the holds and looking for gear placements, but eventually I was trying the moves in short sections (only 1 or 2 moves at a time) to get a feel for the route and where the gear would go. I still can't have abseiled down in more than ten times, but I've stared and stared at the line from all angles. It's been over 9 months in conception.

On our first day (of the weekend) we spent our time walking the coast looking for other lines and possibilities. There is a lot of what I'd call "background effort" that goes into new routing. So many weekends have resulted in very few routes but hours spent at a cliff checking photographs, abseiling and cleaning. There is a lot of mental preparation as as well. You're climbing something that you've almost mentally graded from below or on abseil but you don't know. A lot of the time you'll find the route is surprisingly different in character to how you thought. Somebodies switched my medicine was different to this.

We came round to the cliff we've spent so long climbing on and it felt like meeting an old friend. I must have walked across the top hundreds of times and felt like my feet knew the rocks underneath them intently. The day felt good. It was getting on to late afternoon by the time I'd abseiled the line again, checking for gear. I found a key piece of gear which'll actually protect a ground fall before launching out to the overhanging wall. It was a size 2 cam, but with a difficult move to place it. Satisfied I jugged back up to the rim.

The light was perfect. The sun was low enough in the sky and it was still early enough in year to get that weak winter glow. It turns the rock this beautiful orange colour. The tide was on ourside but my head wasn't in it. I must have sat around thinking the route for ages, Soames waiting patiently to hear my decision. I offered him the lead but he declined. Honestly I was happy about it. If he'd have taken me up on the offer he'd have got my support 100% for the lead, but that selfish egotistical side of me wanted it for myself. In the end we pulled the abseil rope and racked up. Instead of abseiling in we'd scramble round and belay on the ledge at the base.

I sat looking out to sea, stretching out my legs while Soames built a belay on the cramped ledge. All I could see in my view was ocean and sky, with the sun low and off to one side. I was intensely worried. No one knew where I was, only Soames and I. What would be the consequences of failing on this route in a bad way? We would I end up? Sat there staring out to sea I decided that I didn't care. The route would go, or it wouldn't and if it didn't then I'd cope with whatever consequences came from that. I would climb carefree.

Setting off was slow. I cleaned my boots rigorously and shook out my shoulders, chalked up my fingers and set off on the short journey. I placed my feet carefully and gradually made progress up the steep but delicate groove. The gear isn't the greatest until you get a little higher. With my arms clinging to two undercuts I realized that the excellent size 2 cam placement I'd found only hours before, was out of reach. To place it would have caused more problems so instead I made the first of the large moves upwards.

The moves up the overhanging wall are big and powerful. Each of the large chicken head type features means you can get a sling on to protect yourself, but for the feet there isn't much. The second large move means you can bring a heel into play, dangling above the ocean by 2 hands and a left heel. The next series of moves are like a 5b boulder problem, but high up. It involves more heel hooking and more dangling. I fought with my arms and my head. One telling me I couldn't pull up anymore the other telling me I couldn't afford to fall off. The carefree attitude that possessed me setting on the ledge before I started had gone. Each arm felt like a clock ticking down the time till my strength failed. Before this could happen I made the big rock over, converting that magical heel hook into a useful place to stand. I was still 10ft from the top but it didn't matter. With pumped arms I placed the final cam and climbed the last section, happily.

(Somebodies Switched my Medicine E2 5b)