It's been a slow recovery and I don't know if my shoulder will ever be perfect again. But considering I couldn't pick up a cup of tea from the floor beside the bed from March until September 2011, by November I'd teamed up with Stuart Wood and flashed an E6 on the main wall in Trowbarrow Quarry. I was pretty happy with this especially because it was the first route I'd led since the operation. It was up a vertical wall which put minimal strain on my shoulder. I was hoping for another cold and snowy winter to get back into the full swing of things but the highlight of the Lakeland winter turned out to be the winter ethics debate and a nighttime ascent of Raven Crag Gully with Mark Greenbank.
I started work again in January which was possibly the best rehab for my arm. I had a lot to catch up on so just managed to keep ticking over with a bit of training. By March I could climb my arete problem on Langdale boulders again which at one point I thought I'd never be able to do again. In April I did the second ascent of Pretty in Pink on Deer Bield. This 15m route follows one of the most stunning and fiercest finger cracks in Britain. Opened by Paul Ingham in 1986, it's been unrepeated for 16 years. Originally graded E6 6c, it's more like E7 7a and at least French 8a.
Dear Dave
ReplyDeleteJust contacting you to see if you'd be interested in giving a talk to the uni of Nottinghams climbing club in March. Every year we have a formal dinner and invite an inspirational climber to speak to the club. As we're having the event in the lake district this year we thought you might be the ideal person to ask. My email is steph_ward93@hotmail.co.uk. Look forward to hearing from you. All the best.
Steph
This is a fairly odd comment to receive from anyone. But anyway I'll go a head with it. Dave are you fairly well up with your family tree, I've been researching mine for many years. I am related to the Rodgers family at Dalegarth in Eskdale. My relative Isaac Rodgers married a lady called Mary Birkett would you know if you had a lady of that name in your history. 1829-1885, the weird thing is I've farmed in the Peak District and iam crazy about climbing and so is my son dean. Give me a call on 07525 968487 or we could meet up for a pint. Cheers Edward
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