Not Local…

The North Wales Climb by Rockfax has just been reviewed on UKClimbing which is a great thing, obvious they had to get someone from outside the UKC/Rockfax camp. The review is great and fair.

“For only £29.95 Rockfax have created another professionally produced guide describing over 1000 climbs, enough routes for a lifetime of climbing trips, all clearly described on stunning photodiagrams. This is an excellent climbing guidebook to a very popular area.”

However like everything people can post into the associate forum post. Whilst in the main these are generally positive there always seems to be one person who seems to think that because rockfax are not local that the guide is not.

Virtually every thread in the forums about the guide at some point someone says, well it’s not local. I have started to think am I here sometimes. Yes me, the first author in the list, the person who has lived in North Wales since 1995. The same person who when he contributed the GU guide over 10 years ago was deemed local apparently. Now because someone all the way from Sheffield thinks I am not local, then the whole guidebook has been written by a bunch marauders from England.

I give you I am Saesneg or saes, this is the welsh slang word for the english. ‘Locals’ use it in the same way that people have used the N word for coloured people back in unenlightened times. But apparently according to ‘local’ police calling someone saes isn’t racist, just slightly xenophobic. I accept that I will never be a local by the definition of a very small minority of welsh who claim to be 900th generation cymru, but who are probably more mugblood than I.

Personally though I find it kind of insulting that living somewhere for nearly twenty year and all that experience climbing the routes and working as a guide and instructor in the area, that some people define me as ‘not local’ in the context of this guidebook.

Whilst I should have probably made a comment on the forum, I noticed that someone who can see the woods from the tree already pointed out that I might just be local. I ranted on here because it is easier for me to manage the conversation. I also think it is funny, well I am laugh anyway as I received my first royalty payment from the guide this month, whilst I am not going to retire early it certain sold more copies than ‘How to Climb Harder

Happy New Year… Time to Get Training

Well, I have had a great christmas and new year, probably sat about and drank and ate too much. Which meant that the first time I went to the wall for a climb the gravity seemed to have increased some what. I have had a couple of session bouldering and it all seems to be coming back slowly.

I am trying to making an effort to train a bit more, although how long it will last I don’t know. So amongst surfing which has been really good the last few days, I am trying to get strong again for the summer.

I have also managed to get a bit of work writing for Climber magazine this year, after putting together a few proposals. Hopefully you all buy the magazine, I won’t say what I am writing about but it should be varied. Along with the royalties from my books and some coaching work I am hoping that 2014 will be a good year work wise.

Anyway, I hope you 2014 pans out all right for you.