 |
| Early-teen-me "buildering" at secret spot, Buckinghamshire, UK, 1979 |
October 2018 will be the 40th anniversary of my introduction to rock climbing. Somehow I have managed to stay engaged with the sport throughout this period; my longest absences have been ~three months at most. I can assert that fact quite confidently as (some people may regard this as worryingly OCD) I have logged all those climbing days in a diary. Yes, all of them, since 1978.
As I have some free time this winter, and I may not still be climbing regularly when the 50th anniversary rolls around, I thought I would mark the event by digging back through the diary and retro-blogging a few stories. Specifically I intend to write about one route for each year that's passed. Ideally routes that have some historic significance for me or offer an opportunity to comment on shifts in style and attitude. My generation has witnessed a lot of change in the sport. Cams, sport climbing, indoor walls, "conditions", bouldering pads, DWS, stick clips, being able to choose from a range of climbing shoes greater than one ... all of these things lay in the future in 1978! Also, though I am an unexceptional climber, I am lucky to have been a fairly well-travelled one. Last time I counted, I had climbed in 28 countries. So I am going to pick routes with some geographical spread.
Obviously this is really indulgent but hopefully it won't be too boring. My plan is to finish by the actual anniversary. Assuming I can only manage one post per week, and factoring in some contingency for slippage, it seems best to start now.
