DO SUMMIT GOOD: Dull, damp and damn right desperate

The first climb outdoors of 2013 and I'm heading down the M3 thinking, is this going to be on. It was dull, damp and damn right desperate. Fog hovered over the tarmac creating a thick cloud, that resulted in not knowing what speed to have the window wipers on, I hate that. Intermittent spells of heavier rain and the cars sensor kept going off saying its below 4 degrees!!!
I made the routine stop at Fleet services for a flat white and 'Rise & Shine' muffin and the day started to look a little brighter.

On route to the crag we picked up Tommy's daughter Alisha, always a pleasure to have her out with us, although keep an eye on your lunch box as she grazes all day... I don't know where she puts it.

We arrive at Portland and everything appears wet, we take a walk down to the boulders and everything is soaking and there was not a whistle of wind to dry the rock. Our thought was to return to Armageddon, a problem we tried before Christmas, but it was way to wet to climb. We thought if we headed nearer to the coastline, that perhaps an onshore wind may have been present, resulting in drier rock.... No breeze, so no joy here.

We sat down and talked over our options and other areas that could be drier. I pulled out my new Jetboil, a cooking stove Santa brought me for Christmas and made a coffee, not instant, I am talking Italian style.
We decided to head over to an area I haven't visited before called the Hidden Cave.

The swell was interesting in this area, the tide was high and you were always looking over your shoulder to see whether a wave would push its luck and soak your feet. We got stuck in to the climbing and got on with some problems. I managed to on-sight the first 4 routes, a V0, V2, V1, V2 and then we tried a V5, "a local problem for local people", with a tricky start and a really awkward side pull, this problem became a challenge. Attempting time and time again, I got tired and the chance of getting the tick faded. I will be back to tick this problem off.

We managed to find energy for a mess about and hung of some ledges and let the ocean crash underfoot, a bit of dare devil stuff and a bit of fun.

Overall a nice start to 2013 and I look forward to some indoor training next week and heading to Morzine for a few days skiing on Sunday. Fingers crossed for a nice dump of fresh snow over the next few days in the Portes de Soleil area.