Time to Think...

After sustaining a Horrible knee injury I have had allot of time on my hands to think about what my future adventures involve and what I want to achieve in my life. Like most people I am always dreaming of doing amazing things that you never thought could be possible. Most people dream about these adventures but never really try to make them come true. I am different from most people, I look at life in a way that if you want to achieve a goal in life then you should reach out and do all you can to make your dream come true. when I was little I used to go hill walking loads with my dad, I used to read lots of climbing books and magazines and dream of climbing some of the worlds famous mountains that were scattered across the pages, but these were only dreams and I was too young to venture off on my own. I never really got into climbing properly to around 8 years ago, Since then I have never looked back! I now look at climbing in a different way, I don't feel it to be a sport or Hobby to me anymore, but more of a religion and a big part of my life, I feel my life would be lost without it, its hard to explain these feeling unless you are a climber and you have ventured out and had your own adventures and goals. Once I complete one of my adventures I feel myself being drawn to a harder and more serious challenge, I wonder will it ever end, will I ever seek what I'm looking for. What am I looking for? All I know is that when I stand on top of a mountain and it has taken all my courage and all my strength to get there for one second I feel the truth of my life, And I have to have that! Most people I know (Non-climbers) ask why do I do it, They inform me that I have a family and small children and that I shouldn't be risking my life. I know I have a family and small children but I need to live my life, I will always be a good father to them and a good man to Sarah and give them everything they need, but I must live my life and do the things I need to do,when they are older I would never want them to hold back on there adventures to make others happy, I hope one day they will be guiding me up one of the worlds toughest mountains and living out there wildest dreams.



I am off to the Alps again this year to try and achieve some of my goals, Last year was a good year for me in my climbing adventures, one of my highlights of the year was to climb the Matterhorn in a weekend (See earlier Blog). This was one of my childhood dreams that I reached out and made possible. This year I have a number of routes I want to attempt, I will attempt the Mittilegi ridge on the Eiger. Although I am happy to attempt this route I still feel that I want to try the North face, Even know I have read and Know about all the Deaths and how dangerous the face is I still find myself being drawn toward an attempt on it.









Other routes I plan to attempt this summer are the Frendo spur on the North face of the Auguille de Midi, the Kuffner ridge on Mont Maudit. These are both graded at D and should be pretty straight forward, Depending on how these go and how good I feel I have another route I wish to attempt, I am not sure If I have the experience or capable of this route but How do I know unless I attempt It. I read a book not so long ago by a truly inspiring gentleman, His name is Andrew Kirkpatric, At first I couldn't decide whether he was mad, crazy or just had a death wish but After time I come to realise that he was just reaching out and taking a chance to achieve his dreams and goals in life. I now know that Experience is a wonderful thing but You can be the best climber in the world and still die just as easy. I know that I am capable of climbing these routes But I need to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons and I make the right decisions along the trip. My Friend is pretty keen to attempt this route as well so only time will tell.

The Walker Spur

Despite my injury I am going to train every day to ensure I am ready for this trip, my leg will be out of plaster in three weeks and I will be back stronger and better than before. If you are still reading this I hope it makes sense, but when you are normally a very active person and you find yourself being sentenced to the couch for three weeks you tend to think about allot of things in your life and where you want it to go.