The title of my blog is "It was only meant to be..." but what was it only meant to be? Well, let me explain.
I've been hill walking for nearly 25 years but have never made the move to climbing. I've never done anything major and concentrated mainly around the Lake District with the odd jaunt to Wales, Scotland, Cheviots, Chilterns etc. In my younger days I have crossed Striding Edge 5 times, each time I was aware of a fear of falling off. Actually I'm not frightened of falling off, what I'm concerned about is the sudden stop at the bottom!
Following the discovery of a new walking buddy a couple of years ago, I was introduced to scrambling proper. I really enjoyed it, partly due to the adrenaline rush from that niggling fear of falling off. All was ok until an attempt to summit Blencathra across Sharp Edge. I was expecting to be a bit fluttery on the way over but it turned out to be a whole lot worse. About half way across I had to admit defeat and turn back! If I had gone any further, becoming "cragfast" was a real possibility.
My new buddy is an experienced climber and suggested that I should go with him on his next trip to see if it might help with my fear...
Six months and a fair few indoor and outdoor climbing trips later, I still have my fear but also have the climbing bug to go with it!
So there you go, it was only meant to be a little attempt to cure my fear but has turned into a whole new part of my life!
As you can probably already tell, I like to ramble on a bit about stuff, so why not share my experiences as I move deeper into the world of climbing.
Please enjoy and comment as you see fit...I can take it ;-)
Cheers
Graeme
