Birthday fun!

I have always liked the idea of a birthday week, a tradition I believe started by Al Bull, but correct me if wrong. So for those out there wondering what I get up to in a typical week, the last one went something like this:
Mon: Fly back from Paris, watch Amelie and recognise all the places we visited. Relaxed.
Tues: Dinner at our friend James place. Salmon starter, roast beef, open fire, red wine and whisky. Yum.
Wed: Jo had dinner out with workmates, I went indoor climbing. Knackered.
Thurs: A nice meal then out to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Northern Ballet Theatre. Cultured.


Fri: Fish and Chips, and DVD at Kate and Steve's place. Saw some Flight of the Conchords and The Wickerman. Disturbing.
Sat: Get up nice and early for a drive up north (Cairngorms) for some winter climbing. Rains on walk in; it is a challenge to maintain high group phsyche levels. We pass people walking out. Fools, can't they see it is clearing? Well it sort of does. Sam and I struggle up a fine route (Fallout Corner) then have a huge faff abseiling down with stuck ropes on dark in heavy snow and strong wind. Challenging.


Sun: Ben Nevis today. Again we walk in the rain, but the forecast is better and it clears as we plod up Observatory Gully. Heaps of snow, but not much ice about. Decide on Observatory Buttress, a nice thin ice route. A good bold lead by Sam on thin ice, with little protection, and a long dig to find a belay. I lead off towards a chimney, nice climbing, but no protection. Suddenly the wind changes and the route becomes a maelstrom of spindrift, loose snow pouring down the route from above. I back off to a more sheltered spot to wait for it to stop. It does a bit, only to start again. It is impossible to climb on, so I downclimb to Sam. My first failure on a route in Scotland. Had to happen eventually. We take over an hour to excavate a decent abseil anchor. We dig through snow and ice to find rock, only to find blind seams with no cracks. Patiently a crack is dug out, and we are on our way home. Meet lots of friends in the carpark back early after pretty much the same experience. Heaps of snow has fallen making everything very pretty. Interesting day.


So there you are. A week in the life of. So that's what I get up to for fun. What a weirdo.