The mountains will still be there...
I’m writing this one on a perfect afternoon in the garden, during the Great Covid-lockdown, May 2020. After months of home-schooling and the occasional strangely distanced walk with friends who I’d normally climb with; having missed 3 planned trips this year, we are starting to hear that mountains may be “open” again soon. Thoughts are turning to previous trips and future aspirations. The Napes - October 2015 Long before the idea of a Classic Rock challenge took hold, the appeal of climbing the phallic cover-shot of Napes Needle was on the agenda, for many reasons. Historically, “the birth of British rock climbing”; aesthetically, stunning and out-there; physically, challenging and adventurous. Having only a one-day window we travelled from the midlands on a Friday evening, walked up from Seathwaite in darkness and wandered about the hillside, hoping our nav skills could find the perfect bivi spot we’d identified on the map. We were near enough and slept as well as expected (i.e. not v