Its been a hard couple of weeks. My exhaustion of late has not been helped by losing the car. Somewhere in the middle of thousands of lines of code at work and clouds of dust a home I’ve been struggling to find time for climbing. After yet another winter cold broke late week I decided it was time to get back on Sabotage at Dumbie.
I tried this boulder problem for nearly four months last spring. The sad thing is I’ve found no log of it my old climbing diary even though I have such a vivid recollection of the experience of trying such a difficult problem. Last year I made steady progress taking a couple of weeks to make all the moves. By April I could slap the crux from sit down 6-7 times before feeling completely knackered. Finally I had to give up in late April as cold conditions deteriorated making the crux move feel impossible.
Having not been outside in nearly six weeks I was hyped to be going back to Dumbie on such a clear perfect day. The early spring high pressure returned as predicted despite the consistently shit weather we have been having over the last 8 months. Warming up on the cold basalt I felt achy but there was some comfort to be had of getting back into the old system. Tea is drank, limbs are weighted, warmed and twisted repeatedly until supple. Jackets, gloves and hat go back on and the ground is slowly pounded to keep limbs warm. Starring out over the Clyde coerces deep reflection. Waves move like life’s abrasion against the tide of time, both moving in unison.
As a further warm up Slap Happy, the Railings, Mestiso SS and Mugsy are dispached in nervous labored pulls, fearful of failure and regression. This is after all what the training is directed at. Before I know it I’m back under Sabotage after an 8 month break. I once again mark out the hand holds with chalk across the angled black an orange rock.
A final go on Sabotage at Dumbarton April 2005.
Trying the final moves I’m surprised to hold the crux first go. I’m quickly deposited back on the mat as the mind struggles unsuccessfully to unearth deep routed engrams of movement. I top out after a few more goes finding the correct foot holds and body position, things feeling different but familiar in the typical contradiction that time delivers. The roof moves lower down feel hard and I fight cramp against the chilly wind to complete the link. As I try the sit down start biceps finally buckle and its time to leave. The day has passed again in a blaze of cold psyche dispersed by warming rests. The total for the day was three links on the problem and finding that my power endurance needs vast improvement to complete the problem. More importantly I discovered where to find my peace and discipline again. I’ll be back for more of that for sure.
