Gavin Symonds: Beginnings

A scary realisation came to me resonantly and that was the fact that iv not been on a climbing trip for about a year, this only means two things iv Been working way to much over the last year and the van breaking down last September ment that iv just not been getting out.

So at the moment me and pip are sat on the train in-between both of these as iv got a new van and am going to pick it up with its new shinny poptop roof on it so trips a plenty needed. The other middle is iv just got back from siurana in Spain, and on the weekend I'm off to Sicily for ten days, now the problem with not climbing much and working loads is that you have no fitness and movement on rock is clunky and just doesn't flow.

So Siurana was just a foot in the water to see where I was route climbing wise it was a bitter pill to take as iv dropped down to punter level, the last time I climbed was in Kalymnos last year and i was onsighting 7c+/8a now 7b feels like the living end. Bt she's a fast ladder to climb as by the end of the week idid a 7c+ redpoint and she felt fine I know this is not onsight but movement feels better and I know fitness is there just needs to be slapped around a bit.