Easy, Peasy, Greekaneezy

Steve Warwick's 'taxi-service' whisked us to the airport then for the third year in a row Thomas Cook did us proud, the flight was on time, the journey was smooth, bags off sharpish and we made the 2:00 ferry with 15 minutes to spare. We rolled into Mryties mid afternoon only a little ragged at the edges.
The theory that Kalymnos is a bit of a trek doesn't really add up as the journey at the far and is so easy - if you connect with the ferries.
It was warm mind at 26C, but we are in no rush, it will cool down and we are here for the long haul!
Day 1 we popped out late in the day and I did 5 easier routes on Summertime. I had done them all before but what the Hell, it was way better than being on Stanage today!

Sixty!

Friday - birthday boy! Where did sixty years go - I sometimes wonder if i made a mistake with the tally somewhere along the way. Evening saw quite a gathering in the boozer which was nice. The nine bottles of malt were welcome, though I am not sure what that says about me.
Saturday myself and Colin had an autumnal walk up Padley Gorge, to the Burbage Valley, over Higgar Tor and back through the quarries. There were quite a few climbers out despite the cool weather, we relived a few glory-days in passing. I test drove my new Nikon P7000 - 1st impressions were very positive.
Anyway no time to retire yet, the French guide is a gnat's away from being finished, and Wednesday we head for a few months on Kalymnos.

Autumn's on the Way

Since we got back from Switzerland it has been pretty unsettled, par for the course I guess. It has given me the chance to get stuck into the last big push for the French guidebook.
Out of the blue Mike Owen - who I last climbed with 21 years ago - got in touch. He has lived down on the Cote d'Azur for some years and offered to help with the guide. His input has been superb - detailing many of the hard routes down there. With less than a month till we print his timing was spot on.
I popped out to Stoney on Sunday to get some cragshots. It was the weekend of the UKC/BMC Stoney Reunion, and I couldn't get parked on the 1st run! Sounds like it was a great 'do' with over a hundred folks climbing, dossing and reliving the glory days. Nice to see the crag busy again.

Suisse Plaisir

That was that then - ten days, 20 routes - a mixture of granite and limestone, stunning scenery, quiet crags, great rock, very acceptable weather, lovely camp-site - couldn't really be better! There was some great leading by Colin and we were looked after royally by Sherri.
Even the journey home was a delight, good old EasyJet - on time into Manchester. Then there was the trip back the 30 or so miles to Sheffield - traffic jams, road works, potholes - welcome home. At least it wasn't raining - that is forecast for tomorrow!

Photo left: a happy man - honest.

Genuine Swiss Movement

A 7:00am flight from Manchester meant an almost sleepless night, the plus side was being on Azalee Beach, in the heart of the Grimsel Granite area by mid-afternoon. A four pitcher was cracked off in good style, then back to base for a snooze!
Friday we dodged the showers up at Susten and Saturday was wet, not a Bank Holiday surely?
Sunday dawned clear blue, and turned out to be primo. We expected things to be wet but found our chosen route almost bone-dry; Foxie (5+) is nine pitches on the most perfect granite imaginable. We swung leads and did it up and down in 2.5 hours whilst Sherri collected bilberries for tomorrows breakfast - I guess it has to be muesli!

The Old Ones Are the Best

Work on the French book has kept me indoors, or at least that and the indifferent weather. Despite the the general clagginess weekends have almost always been fine, chance to get out on the good ole' Grit. Colin and Mark have been making the regular trip down from North Yorkshire, and of course the usual suspects have always been out and about.
I even found three more routes on Stanage that I hadn't done - 1037 is the current tally though they are drying up fast now.
Colin had 10 days off and the forecast is pants - more like October than August say the weathermen. Pembroke, Cornwall and Jersey were all mooted, but in the end we booked a flight to Switzerland - for the day after tomorrow!

Mr Motorvator

I have been thinking about getting a 'smaller' car for a while now. In the event, the salesman was very persuasive at Europa Subaru in Sheffield - I think he saw me coming - never mind, at least we can get all the camping gear in the back! With a top speed of over 150mph and a 0-60 time of around 5 seconds it is an incredible piece of machinery. Of course it isn't about the numbers; the Impreza is a lovely colour!

Not surprisingly the summer is turning into a wet warm and windy one, but Colin has got 10 days off towards the end of the month, we need to go somewhere rocky - and of course this year's expedition to Kalymnos is only six weeks away - bring it on.