The British summer has been the wettest for years but I have been making the most of the dry days. Two more routes have been ticked off my pyramid, Ken Wilson's Last Stand took a few more sessions of working but went and I also was able to tick Mindmeld a 7a+ which is at The Cuttings. I have been working Valcanites a 7a and have been very close to ticking it. I am not where I wanted to be on my pyramid but I feel confident that I will complete it but maybe over two years.

This year I have been able to experience sport climbing abroad for the first time with first a trip to Frankenjura and now I am currently in the Dordogne area of France. My first climb in Frankenjura threw me straight into the deep end with a 30m route with a thread and 3 bolts then the lower off. I hoped that this was not a taste of things to come and luckily it was not but the many of the run outs were not what I was use to. This did wonders for my head for climbing and confidence in my climbing ability. I was also amazed by some of the really step routes there, the three dimensional climbing really captured my imagination. Frankenjura is also a beautiful area of Germany that is full of climbing history and would recommend it to any climber for a trip.

The Dordogne does come across a steeply graded area but the climbing is amazing and seems a very quiet area. We have had the crags to ourself mostly except for Mountain rescue and the French army training. Many of the routes are of excellent quality and just like in Frankenjura the crags have very little approach.

Photo by Sam Ferguson