Well I knew that going to Scotland was going to be expensive, but I seem to be spending more and more cash. Today I had a rest day and tried to find some anti-balling plates for any one of the 3 pairs of crampons that I own. One pair isn’t even made anymore, another pair even the manufacturers DMM don’t have them in stock and nor did any of the shops in Aviemore, and the third pair are my climbing crampons rather than walking. So I had to buy a new pair of crampons with Anti-ball plates at £125.
Then I realised that I needed a watch for my navigational timing, and that an altimeter would help on the navigating as well, so that was another £165 on a Sunto watch, which is currently weight my wrist down. I haven’t worn a watch in over 10 years, and this bad boy is massive!
I then notice my googles were cracked, so brought a new pair of them. Finally I booked myself on my Winter ML assessment at Plas Y Brenin which cost another £550. So my bank has been loosing funds hand over fist! Although I did also get myself booked into do some shadowing at Plas Y Brenin in Scotland at the end of this month in preparation for my Assessment.
I booked on the assessment, as when I did the training back in 2005, i didn’t feel confident at all with navigation, however in those 6 years I have spent so much time with a map and compass on the hill in a variety of weather and conditions that I actually feel confident in the whiteroom! I just need to work on a little steep ground work and teaching winter skills.