Climbs all have names, and mischievous some of them are too. Bank Holiday Monday saw me doing no routes at all with any relevance to her Majesty's Jubilee, but did see me doing climbs named such things as Sheer Delight, Chopping Block and Cannonball Express. And it was a gentle start to the day.
I am a bitch. Let me explain further ...
A few years ago I did a navigation skills course with a friend of mine. She carries the kind of karabiner you'd put your keys on and a bit of cord on the outside of her walking rucksack. Her purpose in doing this is (IMHO) so she can identify herself as being "a climber". It gives her a sense of one upwomanship and prestige I suppose. Logic and reason suggest this is a crap idea because actually if you're doing scrambling through small gaps etc. you really don't want something on your bag which can snag and get you tangled. So, when the instructor challenged her as to why she was carrying the bit of tat on the outside of her bag, she was flustered and put on the spot and made the outrageous and simply untrue statement that she'd "abb'd off that". Which was laughed down. Being the bitch I am, I spread the tale to a few mutual friends so much so that it became an in joke "I've abb'd off that".
And this is why an Asda mug with a karabiner handle became, on the face of it, part of our Ab system.
And weirdly, even with the mug in situ (along with three other sturdy points) other folk didn't pay attention and descended the same rope without question. Nowt as queer as folk I guess.
And the whole Abseil experience became a positive joy ... not quite so certain of the climbing though!
In the words of David Bowie:
The Jean Genie lives on his back
The Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
He's outrageous, he screams and he bawls
Jean Genie let yourself go!
No comments:
Post a Comment