Our legs were feeling fresh(er) and our skin was thick – time to return to the battle field. The walk in had certainly not got any easier during our two day vacation but slow and steady wins the race and we arrived at the crag at a respectable hour, not too much out of breath. Cascade is usually the first port of call as the morning sun is yet to turn the corner and the shade is a welcome relief. Well not today; the air temp was so cold that people were belaying in gloves and down jackets and numb fingers were all around. We quickly fled for warmer climbates.

I was pretty keen to get back on Bah Bah and was feeling quietly confident. I felt like the individual sections were reasonably straight forward and that the starting 3 bolts would not tire me for the crux and remaining tricky section. The first few hours were spent belaying Emily as she knocked off her ticklist, and as she began to tire, I decided it was time for a look-see.

After spending a while refining my sequence and linking the upper sections a few times I ate lunch and went back to belaying Em until I felt ready for a redpoint. The sun had moved on and I was cold from my rest. I guessed the first try on the route would end prematurely due to numb fingers, which it did, after just entering the crux. Not to worry, this was to be expected, next go will be much better...

Once my fingers were warm again and my forearms felt good I set off again. What followed can only be described as a shambles; a shocking display of climbing ability, or more precisely lack of! My feet were slipping, I missed holds on my first slap attempts only to scrabble around and get them on my next go. Safe to say I fell at the start of the crux and to make matters worse, realised Arnaud Petit had been watching. Arnaud kindly offered beta on the route, which I think will be useful. I say “think” because I couldn’t actually try it out. My body felt like lead and I could no longer even make the individual moves. Dirt me...

I don’t really understand how ones performance can change so dramatically in such a short period. Is it physical, mental, spiritual, I don’t know but guess it’s a mix of them all? We began the long walk home which allowed lots of time to think about those very things. We have one day left at Ceuse, my skin hurts and I feel tired. However, my bag is still stashed at the top of the hill, I have not given up hope, bring out the garlic!