Drytooling
Just realised I never posted these here.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Dan and I went along to watch the first round of the Scottish Tooling Series at Glasgow Climbing Centre. Drytooling, for those of you who haven't heard of it, is climbing (usually outrageously overhanging) rock using ice-axes and crampons. It initially developed as a way of reaching large free-hanging icicles (common in the Alps, apparently), but soon developed as a branch of climbing in its own right. If you're careful to protect the walls and the holds you can drytool on an indoor climbing wall, and that's what the STS was. A number of drytooling routes had been set, and entrants scored points for completing them in as few goes as possible.
I'd just been intending to watch, but then I bumped into Mark from Glenmore Lodge, who asked me why I wasn't competing.
"Er, well, it's too late to enter now."
"No it isn't."
"Oh. But I haven't got any gear."
"Don't worry," piped up one of the organisers, "you can borrow mine."
"Great! But I haven't got enough money for the entry fee..."
"I'll lend you it," said Dan.
So I ended up entering after all. Luckily for you all, Dan made videos of my attempts (the first of which has loud music):
tl;dw: I really need to work on my drytooling.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Dan and I went along to watch the first round of the Scottish Tooling Series at Glasgow Climbing Centre. Drytooling, for those of you who haven't heard of it, is climbing (usually outrageously overhanging) rock using ice-axes and crampons. It initially developed as a way of reaching large free-hanging icicles (common in the Alps, apparently), but soon developed as a branch of climbing in its own right. If you're careful to protect the walls and the holds you can drytool on an indoor climbing wall, and that's what the STS was. A number of drytooling routes had been set, and entrants scored points for completing them in as few goes as possible.
I'd just been intending to watch, but then I bumped into Mark from Glenmore Lodge, who asked me why I wasn't competing.
"Er, well, it's too late to enter now."
"No it isn't."
"Oh. But I haven't got any gear."
"Don't worry," piped up one of the organisers, "you can borrow mine."
"Great! But I haven't got enough money for the entry fee..."
"I'll lend you it," said Dan.
So I ended up entering after all. Luckily for you all, Dan made videos of my attempts (the first of which has loud music):
Click to viewtl;dw: I really need to work on my drytooling.