Cosmos… On my last post I said to ‘watch this space’, well I hope no one’s holding their breath. After another hour of effort I was shut down again (plenty of time left for another shot another day though), 2 minutes later the friendly faces of Andy, Hannah and pooch River walked round the corner. Having lived here for the past few months (Lucky buggers) we are now abusing their local knowledge of the crags, and it’s great to have a couple of mates from back home to climb with.

Thankfully Andy confirmed my thoughts on Cosmos saying he found it really hard too, not just me then! Andy has been making some great ascents whilst he has been here including Esperanza sit 8b (Beast!), so it’s nice to have someone to try and keep up with; even if our styles are comically different, with Andy having ape arms and favouring powerful and compression style problems, and short arse here loving the razor blade crimps and techy footwork. Together we make a great team, neither wanting to back down even if pushed out of our favoured styles, perfect motivation! As a result of this, I made a quick ascent of La Fuente sit 8a, fully my style bearing down on tiny crimps. Then a fast repeat of Zombie Nation 7c+, big burly moves, Andy’s forte.

This last week has been freezing during the day, which meant Kay hasn’t managed to climb, but has cowered at the crag trying to stay warm offering moral support. I have been braving the snowy conditions and climbing as much as possible, warming my shoes in my down jacket during the walk-in has become and essential and daily routine. True Northumberland fashion! The weather is set to get a bit warmer, emphasis on ‘a bit’; meaning we’ll be here a little longer, so stay tuned ; )