Consistency

Consistency is something of a struggle in my experience. There are those who can train like clockwork, diet sensibly and be content with steady progression; not I. Chaotic training schedules, rapidly shifting psyche levels and trips to the shop for ice cream, these I excel in. 

Successfully wasting time above the electric blue Celtic Sea. 

Such has been the gospel for the past few months. A small, niggling finger injury combined with good weather and a chaotic work schedule leave my fairly disorganised winter of training looking, on the scale, pretty damn neat. The one item in which I failed miserably was writing, resorting instead to the fast food social media of Instagram where a quickly shared photograph totally placates the compulsion towards shared experience. 

Standing atop the Staffordshire skyline on a perfect grit day. Who needs training anyway?

Still, even as I gluttonously consumed my frozen dairy product and planned trad climbing trips in the spring sunshine, progression happened. Perhaps not physically, but that was what winter was for. For the first time I felt strong enough to pull hard moves, rather than flopping weakly onto the rope at the first sign of steepness. For this, at least, I am thankful. 

Engaging the power on Zippy's Traverse, F7B

Progression, then, had to happen in other areas. Climbing is a wonderful sport that it is cerebral as it is physical - without strong fingers and a stronger head, nothing will happen. Lacking in the first, I decided to make do with the latter. 

Flying the Charko flag on The Spirit Level, E7/6b

Onsighting Hairless Heart E5/5c on a stunning Peak District afternoon.
Thanks Cora for staying calm and taking some excellent pictures. Apologies for scaring you! 

After a few months of scaring myself silly, my finger is finally feeling less like limp, painful spaghetti and more like a useful climbing appendage - this can only be good. Time to let the psyche creep a little higher. A trip down to the Cornish coastline gave me a taster of the brilliant trad climbing down there - fantastic routes on diverse rock with interesting gear and moves aplenty. Super safe mega-classics and bold challenges are both prolific in quality and quantity on incredible crags that constantly bear witness to a wild sea. Inspiration is remarkably easy to find on the south coast. 

Atop the tower of Lower Sharpnose Point, Cornwall. 

Cora abseiling down the North Fin on Lower Sharpnose

With this in mind, consistency is less of a concern. After all, the sea, the cliffs, the chaotic beaches and coves that lie between, these are anything but consistent. Their roughness attracts us, their wild nature feeds our hunger for chaos. Surely to meet their challenge, I need to be as wild as they are. As adaptable and changeable as that unruly stretch of land between soil and sea. 

Spot the climber!? Soloing Into the Blue E2/5b on Lower Sharpnose as the tide washes in below. 

Inconsistency is not so bad.