Spring is in the Air

Plateau de Beille

It is nine weeks since we left the UK - the time has zipped by as it always does down here in the mountains. We have passed time in the usual ways, walking, climbing, snow-shoeing and working.
The days have drawn out nicely, when we arrived the sun went off the village at 1:30 in the afternoon, now it is nearer 4:00 - almost time for the 1st BBQ of the year!

Auzat - mint February conditions

Only three more weeks now until we head back to the UK for five days (a bit too long but we will doubtless cope) then onwards to Kalymnos for the spring season. It will be nice to have a few weeks there before the crowds start to arrive around Easter time.
Unusually we have no plans beyond Kalymnos - though there are plenty of options. I would like to go back to Corsica, there is all the new stuff Aris's Greek guide and of course there a big chunks of France that are in prime conditions in the later spring. A final possibility is a flight up to Northern Norway for a few weeks of midnight sun - time will tell.
 It is always nice to have options.

Eastern Promise

Eastern Grit 3 - Wharncliffe to Black Rocks

Millstone sample page

Great news - almost two years to the day since I dropped the 1st photo-topo into the Eastern Grit template the book is just about finished and it has turned into a bit of a monster. Currently with all the layout tied down it weights in at a massive 560 pages - it will be the biggest Rockfax ever. It should be headed to the printers in the middle of next month so should be available in the shops in good time for the spring season.

Stanage sample page

Alan James has worked his magic on my text, topos and photos - and the whole thing is looking exceptional.
This time round the book will continue 4000 routes, amazingly that is over a thousand more than the last version and double the content of Peak Grit East - the book that started it all.
It is filled with some great action shots, the best set of cragshots ever seen and over 30 ticklists - from pretty easy for anyone to complete all the way up to almost impossible for anyone to complete.It will have full index this time round, an extensive introduction and all the usual Rockfax whistles and bells.
Quite what I am going to do with my time now that my baby has left the nest remain a bit of a mystery, though I'm sure I'll think of something.