Had arranged to climb with Gary outside today and so when Frank texted me last night I had to tell him that I couldn't go to the wall with him, Steve Tree and Gareth. I tried to persuade Frank but he was having none of it... something about it being too cold!

Met Gary at The Quarry and we decided to to a quick blast up East Ridge. In fact it was cold and windy and it precluded us doing much else.

Gary led the way. It was freezing. I was glad to have packed my duvet jacket and put it on at the end of the first pitch. Our hands though were quite numb. We both struggled up the 4c pitch, barely able to even feel the holds.

At the top we scampered back down to our bags and recovered some of our warmth.

Altogether, very enjoyable. It was nice being exposed to the elements like that on a really wild windy and cold day.

This made the Joiners even more enjoyable of course...

In the Joiners, Gary showed me the titanium nut-key that he has made. I promptly broke it, but hey, this was a prototype! Altogether a pretty neat bit of kit!