On Friday morning I finally plucked up the nerve to solo "Christmas" on Wee Binnian. It kept me busy the whole way up, and I almost down-climbed from half-way, but there comes a point when it's easier and less scary to just carry on up.
The top section was not as bad as I'd feared, probably because I'd hyped it up in my mind so much. There is a lot of air underneath you on the final few moves, however.
This was quite an achievement for me, in terms of where my climbing is at right now. It's not a difficult climb, I've soloed harder (both in SA and here), but I've had this climb as a marker in my mind, something I've needed to do to prove to myself that I'm really back. I'll never be the climber I once was (and I was never outstanding), but considering all the other things in life that I have started and given up on, I feel I can now truly say that rock climbing is not one of those things.
I can't explain why it took the solo ascent of an insignificant route on an insignificant peak in a small mountain range in Northern Ireland to finally realise this, but anyhow, the job is done.
I've put out a request on the Northern climbers forum to try and get a photo of the climb, or if I figure out how to get photos off my phone and onto the computer, I'll put one up.
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