Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Bike Problem?
Well I've started getting out on my bike, just across fields, along footpaths etc (the joys of living nowhere near the mountains) and I've noticed that the chain and the derailleur (sp?) if thats the right term (I'm new to this!) are not alligned but I'm not sure where this is meant to be the case although I seriously doubt it. I have put lines on some pictures to try and help show the scale of the difference but I'm not sure if you will be able to see them, anyway heres the pictures and any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
New Videos Up
New videos are up on my YouTube channel, my best bat hang yet with a point of view version as well, enjoy!
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
I'm Done!!!!!
Today I had what will hopefully be my last bit of treatment on my teeth until I have to have them replaced in 20 or so years time.
The full story of what happened is on the blog, under the title of 'first leader fall' I believe. I now have three root canals and four crowns, on my front four teeth.
The fall happened in July and I've just finished treatment in May, so that makes it 10 months of treatment that I'm quite pleased to see that back of!
The full story of what happened is on the blog, under the title of 'first leader fall' I believe. I now have three root canals and four crowns, on my front four teeth.
The fall happened in July and I've just finished treatment in May, so that makes it 10 months of treatment that I'm quite pleased to see that back of!
Monday, 10 May 2010
More YouTube Videos
Uploaded some more videos of bat hangs at school, please comment and subscribe if you have the time, thanks
http://www.youtube.com/user/AdrenalineIsMyDrug
http://www.youtube.com/user/AdrenalineIsMyDrug
Saturday, 24 April 2010
My First YouTube Upload!
Well I've just uploaded my first video to YouTube, it's a video of me doing a bat hang from a roof at school, check it out if you have the time.
My Channel is AdrenalineIsMyDrug so you should be able to find it on there, I would appreciate the views!
More videos coming soon, so keep checking every so often and let me know what you want to see and I'll see if I can do it!
Thanks
My Channel is AdrenalineIsMyDrug so you should be able to find it on there, I would appreciate the views!
More videos coming soon, so keep checking every so often and let me know what you want to see and I'll see if I can do it!
Thanks
Amazing Video!!!
My mate sent me a link to this video the other day and I thought I would share it with you, enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9F1QT86b1U&playnext_from=TL&videos=dDPMtgrouUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9F1QT86b1U&playnext_from=TL&videos=dDPMtgrouUA
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Duke Of Edinburgh Gold and Tour de Trigs
Well I'm now back from my Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition and to be perfectly honest I'm pleased I never have to do another one! As much as I love being in the Mountains and everything, I hate being told what to carry and where to go as I find it really takes the fun out of it. This expedition took place in the Lake District and we got told that due to potential icy conditions (I know we had a lot of snow this winter but it is the end of March!) we were not allowed to walk along ridges. This meant that we had to change our route drastically at the last minute and instead walk in the lowlands. It was still a fun expedition and it made me realise quite how much I love being outside and has also inspired me to get into fell running and doing longer walks on my own. The expedition was made better by the fact that I was in a strong group and we have done all our Duke of Edinburgh expeditions together since the beginning of our Bronze award, this meant that we did our routes quickly and we all know each other limitations etc. for example on our last day we did our 20km route in just over 5 hours which meant that we could go home earlier. We also got more time every evening in the campsite compared to the other groups because we would always finish before them. This meant that we were happier and led to an enjoyable expedition for all of us.
One of my mates and I have also decided that we will do the Tour de Trigs again this year. As we are over 18 we will have to do the 50 mile race and therefore will need to train for it! For those of you that don't know, the Tour de Trigs is a 50 (or 35 for the juniors) mile race around Oxfordshire. The course has to be completed in under 24 hours and you have to map read the entire route, this means that there is a lot of night navigation involved as you start at approximately 11:00 in the morning so you are walking throughout the night. It takes place in December so we have time to train and find another team member (has to be a team of 3) and we both finish school in a couple of months which will give us a lot more free time to train and prepare.
One of my mates and I have also decided that we will do the Tour de Trigs again this year. As we are over 18 we will have to do the 50 mile race and therefore will need to train for it! For those of you that don't know, the Tour de Trigs is a 50 (or 35 for the juniors) mile race around Oxfordshire. The course has to be completed in under 24 hours and you have to map read the entire route, this means that there is a lot of night navigation involved as you start at approximately 11:00 in the morning so you are walking throughout the night. It takes place in December so we have time to train and find another team member (has to be a team of 3) and we both finish school in a couple of months which will give us a lot more free time to train and prepare.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Easter
Well the Easter Holidays are here which means more free time for climbing! I went climbing at Oxford Brookes University's wall yesterday and did my first V3 boulder problem, I did it on the second attempt after spotting some holds that I hadn't seen before.
I've got my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expedition later on this week but then I've got 2 more weeks of revision/climbing to enjoy, as well as a potential trip to the Peak Distict with some mates from school so I'll keep you posted about that!
Until then however its climbing on my wall at home and training on the fingerboard.
I've got my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expedition later on this week but then I've got 2 more weeks of revision/climbing to enjoy, as well as a potential trip to the Peak Distict with some mates from school so I'll keep you posted about that!
Until then however its climbing on my wall at home and training on the fingerboard.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Leg hurting again!
Well I thought my leg was now fine but I guess I was wrong. When I was playing indoor football the other day, my leg started hurting again just as it did when I was recovering from it the first time. So I guess it's more rest for me and see how things go, with this and my current finger issue, I'm relli not in perfect climbing shape! Hopefully I'll be back soon and can start pushing my grades again.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
More dental treatment
I went to the dentists the other day for another check up on my teeth (after my fall in summer 2009, story is on the blog) and I got told that another one of my teeth needs a root canal treatment. So I'm having that done soon and hopefully after that and the bleaching of the dead and blackening tooth, I will have finally finished the treatment and can put the whole thing behind me. So after 8/9 months of treatment I should be finished soon!
Thursday, 18 February 2010
First Alpine Fall and an Update
Once again I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while but I haven't really been able to do much climbing, this is down to 3 main reasons:
1. When we went to the Alps we managed to have another fall, we were coming down a very exposed, (approximately 500m in height) very steep snow/ice slope (roughly 70-80 degrees at a guess) that we had already gone up earlier in the day. However as I'm sure you know, climbing down is a lot harder than climbing up and the sun had been beating down causing the snow to melt slightly, and therefore lose the good firm holding that it had had on the way up. This meant that the snow/ice under my dads feet gave way and he started sliding uncontrollably down the slope and wasn't self arresting, (when we stopped we realised that he had lost his ice axe so he may have lost it as soon as he slipped, this would explain the lack of a self arrest.) We were roped together with him climbing above me, in hindsight this was probably not a good idea and we shouldn't have been roped together at all. As soon as I saw him slip I dived into the self arrest position and dug the pick of my axe as far into the snow as I could in the hope that I would be able to stop him. However as soon as the rope went tight I started getting pulled down the slope with him, still in the self arrest position. There just wasn't enough solid ice to help slow us down. We slid for approximately 200m, for most of which I was convinced we were going to die as there was a large cliff on one side of the slope halfway down. We slid until we hit a pile of rocks level with the top of the cliff but just off to the side. I still don't know if we were both unconscious or just dazed but I certainly do not remember the final bit of the slide or hitting the rocks at all. My dad woke up in a lot of pain and it was easily understandable why as his helmet was completely caved in, he must have hit the rocks head first. As soon as he came round he got to his feet and started staggering around on this very exposed patch of rocks and I had to keep trying to persuade him to sit down until his balance came back. He then realized that he had no idea where we were, where our campsite was, what the campsite looked like or anything. It was fairly obvious that his short term memory had taken a serious bash and I was getting worried because you always hear about how unpredictable head injuries can be. Dad then immediately went back to his army training and was trying to assess the situation in terms of what kit had we lost, how injured were we etc. This was when he realised that he had lost his ice axe, he then proceeded to ask me at least 10 times in a row where it was, completely forgetting that he had just asked me and obviously wouldn't believe me when I told him this. Instead he told me to, "stop being so stupid" and to go and get my axe which had ended up just a couple of metres above me. It was at this point that I realized I couldn't stand on my left leg at all and as soon as I tried I felt a numbness start creeping up my leg. As soon as felt this I knew there was no way I was going to make it down another 200m of steep ice/snow, across a few crevasses, a kilometre walk to the cable car station if it was still open by the time we got there and god knows how far if it wasn't. So I told him we needed to call mountain rescue, this was not greeted with a particularly enthusiastic response but eventually he agreed. As soon as the helicopter arrived the medic gave me a dose of morphine and put my leg in a splint. Getting airlifted was certainly an experience, even more so as I was considered an emergency patient as they had no idea how bad a break it was in my leg. This meant that the helicopter flew off to the hospital as I was being winched up which is a fairly scary procedure! Dangling well over 2 kilometres above the ground on just a thin cable certainly does wake you up! When we got to the hospital I was put on a drip and we were both given a couple of X-rays before we were told that we could go, they gave us a prescription for some painkillers and that was it. It turned out that I had broken my fibula and the bone had actually bent inwards under the force at the break, I've been told that the bone will be bent for the rest of my life but as it is not the main weight bearing bone it shouldn't be too much of an issue. So due to this I had a few months off climbing.
2. As I had the two biggest falls of my life within 3 weeks of each other in the summer holidays it severely knocked my confidence. This meant that I wasn't as enthusiastic about climbing as usual, due to the fact that I was climbing much easier grades and generally not enjoying it as much.
3. As soon as I started to get back into my climbing and started training again, I was training on my fingerboard and whilst doing pull-ups on the small two finger pockets all my fingers except my ring finger on my right hand slipped off. This caused all of my weight to shock load onto the one finger which instantly popped out. Luckily it popped straight back in as well but it has left me with a serious lack of strength, and as I'm still unsure exactly how much damage I have done to it I'm not going to be climbing seriously for quite some time.
So there you have a few reasons why I haven't been out climbing and putting posts up. Unfortunately I've also got exams coming up which will mean that my parents won't let me go climbing at weekends so there not be any more posts till after then.
However my friends and I are planning a trip to Fontainebleau this summer so I will give you an account of that when we get back.
1. When we went to the Alps we managed to have another fall, we were coming down a very exposed, (approximately 500m in height) very steep snow/ice slope (roughly 70-80 degrees at a guess) that we had already gone up earlier in the day. However as I'm sure you know, climbing down is a lot harder than climbing up and the sun had been beating down causing the snow to melt slightly, and therefore lose the good firm holding that it had had on the way up. This meant that the snow/ice under my dads feet gave way and he started sliding uncontrollably down the slope and wasn't self arresting, (when we stopped we realised that he had lost his ice axe so he may have lost it as soon as he slipped, this would explain the lack of a self arrest.) We were roped together with him climbing above me, in hindsight this was probably not a good idea and we shouldn't have been roped together at all. As soon as I saw him slip I dived into the self arrest position and dug the pick of my axe as far into the snow as I could in the hope that I would be able to stop him. However as soon as the rope went tight I started getting pulled down the slope with him, still in the self arrest position. There just wasn't enough solid ice to help slow us down. We slid for approximately 200m, for most of which I was convinced we were going to die as there was a large cliff on one side of the slope halfway down. We slid until we hit a pile of rocks level with the top of the cliff but just off to the side. I still don't know if we were both unconscious or just dazed but I certainly do not remember the final bit of the slide or hitting the rocks at all. My dad woke up in a lot of pain and it was easily understandable why as his helmet was completely caved in, he must have hit the rocks head first. As soon as he came round he got to his feet and started staggering around on this very exposed patch of rocks and I had to keep trying to persuade him to sit down until his balance came back. He then realized that he had no idea where we were, where our campsite was, what the campsite looked like or anything. It was fairly obvious that his short term memory had taken a serious bash and I was getting worried because you always hear about how unpredictable head injuries can be. Dad then immediately went back to his army training and was trying to assess the situation in terms of what kit had we lost, how injured were we etc. This was when he realised that he had lost his ice axe, he then proceeded to ask me at least 10 times in a row where it was, completely forgetting that he had just asked me and obviously wouldn't believe me when I told him this. Instead he told me to, "stop being so stupid" and to go and get my axe which had ended up just a couple of metres above me. It was at this point that I realized I couldn't stand on my left leg at all and as soon as I tried I felt a numbness start creeping up my leg. As soon as felt this I knew there was no way I was going to make it down another 200m of steep ice/snow, across a few crevasses, a kilometre walk to the cable car station if it was still open by the time we got there and god knows how far if it wasn't. So I told him we needed to call mountain rescue, this was not greeted with a particularly enthusiastic response but eventually he agreed. As soon as the helicopter arrived the medic gave me a dose of morphine and put my leg in a splint. Getting airlifted was certainly an experience, even more so as I was considered an emergency patient as they had no idea how bad a break it was in my leg. This meant that the helicopter flew off to the hospital as I was being winched up which is a fairly scary procedure! Dangling well over 2 kilometres above the ground on just a thin cable certainly does wake you up! When we got to the hospital I was put on a drip and we were both given a couple of X-rays before we were told that we could go, they gave us a prescription for some painkillers and that was it. It turned out that I had broken my fibula and the bone had actually bent inwards under the force at the break, I've been told that the bone will be bent for the rest of my life but as it is not the main weight bearing bone it shouldn't be too much of an issue. So due to this I had a few months off climbing.
2. As I had the two biggest falls of my life within 3 weeks of each other in the summer holidays it severely knocked my confidence. This meant that I wasn't as enthusiastic about climbing as usual, due to the fact that I was climbing much easier grades and generally not enjoying it as much.
3. As soon as I started to get back into my climbing and started training again, I was training on my fingerboard and whilst doing pull-ups on the small two finger pockets all my fingers except my ring finger on my right hand slipped off. This caused all of my weight to shock load onto the one finger which instantly popped out. Luckily it popped straight back in as well but it has left me with a serious lack of strength, and as I'm still unsure exactly how much damage I have done to it I'm not going to be climbing seriously for quite some time.
So there you have a few reasons why I haven't been out climbing and putting posts up. Unfortunately I've also got exams coming up which will mean that my parents won't let me go climbing at weekends so there not be any more posts till after then.
However my friends and I are planning a trip to Fontainebleau this summer so I will give you an account of that when we get back.
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