The year coming up I decided to resign my contract with Plas Y Brenin. I’ll be running some of my own courses, doing more MLs for Phill and Lisa George and will be climbing more. I’ll be joining the RAB team which is great as even with Calum on it they are a great bunch.

   Myself, Calum, Fran Brown, Shauna Coxsey, Fran Brown, Molly Thompson-Smith, Steve McClure and Hazel Fundlay have become Ambassadors for the BMC. The BMC have always done a lot of good work on behalf of climbers and walkers in Britain so I’m looking forward to helping them in any way possible.

   I was a little disappointed not to do Parthion Shot as an end of year tick, partly because I’m nervous of someone pulling what is left of the flake off while I’m away in Patagonia. I tried it 3 times on the lead on 2 different days. The first time was with Ben Bransby. I’d mentioned to someone the day prior to trying it that Ben could easily do it but might be a bit too cautious. After a quick re-check of the moves and the gear Ben goes first and I realised he meant business, getting to the high lead crux I think he’s in when suddenly he’ mentions’ he is coming off, I take in some slack wondering what to tell Kath if Ben spoons himself. He slams in a bit but lands well. The belay had been more stressful than I expected and the cautiousness I mentioned before was most assuredly with me. On my turn I prevaricated on wether to set off, feeling nervous and not in the mood. I give it a go and with numb fingers get to the top shelf beneath the lead crux, there is no way I was continuing, fingers numb and not into it. Next go Ben goes for broke and spending an age on the footshare at the top with numb fingers he tops out and I took him off belay with relief. My second go I did intend to give it everything as it would have been nice to do it together as we did on Careless. Shaking out at my previous highpoint my fingers in my left hand felt stiff and I knew they were useless, I drop off broken and awaiting laser eye surgery the following day. It was the most powerful effort I’ve seen from Ben for some years and at the end of the day it was hard to say if it was the belay or my 2 attempts I was most tired from, either way I was impressed and the footage of Ben on it is well worth a watch.

   A week later with a big team I gave it one more lead effort whilst back in the Peak. Body feeling tired from the day before but with considerably warmer conditions I get a few moves higher before dropping it and at least felt happy my head was in gear although I felt a bit of a pleb. There were 3 other people looking at Parthion and another 3 on Dynamics of Change with Pasquil nipping in for a quick OS of Balance it is, not that he was under any pressure. Compared with ten years previously I think the physical standards of everyone at the crag was at a great level and there just seems to be a lot of bloody good climbers around at the moment even without Pasquil to help boost the average. Half the people there had climbed 9a and the others could easily do so, half had climbed a few font 8bs and all had onsighted and/or flashed (thats a flash where you’ve never been near the climb on an abseil rope!) E7s and E8s.     
   Some days later I encountered the prophet of purism, John Redhead in the Heights at a great talk by Paul Pritchard. Chatting about some climbing experiences I could see where John was coming from with some of his views on modern climbing. I think this year more than ever ascents of ‘big number’ climbs E7-9 headpoints have probably been more regular than E6s getting onsighted. A meeting with Johnny Dawes some days later involved a similar conversation with him (not him) mentioning that they were 'only' climbing 8a and doing similar levels, I think Al Hughes video 1980s...the Birth of the Extreme was very well named. There are more E8s and 9s to go for nowadays and although physical standards have improved a lot we all still get as scared as they did in the 1980s. On sport climbs as you progress up the grades the risk of serious injury doesnt increase like it does with the UK grade system. I’m afraid I’ll be one of the first out with my top rope next year but will try and keep it for special occasions.

   I’m off to Patagonia for 5 weeks from 9th of December with Tim Neill. It is somewhere I’ve thought about visiting since I got into climbing and Tim is a contender for the keenest climber around so I think it will be a great way to see in the New Year. We’re hoping to try the Compressor route, some big routes on Fitzroy and climb routes like Exocet. Worst case scenario is I stand on Tims shoulders to get a good axe placement in the Cerro Torres snow mushroom. Calum Muskett and Dave Macleod are coming out with the same objective soon after and I’ll be sorely disappointed if we get most of the way up, have to retreat for whatever reason and these punks have it all chalked up!

    I was pretty nervous about the laser eye surgery booked in for the 20th November. I’d managed to drain my adrenal gland somewhat the previous day trying a tricky climb called Parthion Shot, which my friend Ben Bransby succeeded on via a valiant effort.

   Everyone I’ve spoken to who has had it done said it was the best thing they’d ever done, and just before going into the ‘laser room’ I read peoples’ accounts on the wall of how great the experience had been to give myself some last minute positive affirmations. Ray Wood had come along as a friend, filmer and driver, so I knew if I did a runner out the door I’d never live it down.

   I went in and after a surreal five or 10 minutes I was thanking Antonio, Margaret and team for their speed and efficiency, and I was on a high knowing the crux of it was done. Ray got some suitably cheesy footage of me walking out the shop with shades on and we went for a nice lunch a few doors down chatting about how it had went and felt.
  On the drive back from Liverpool to North Wales the anaesthetic wore off, which after a few minutes meant I had to strip my t-shirt off and use it as a handkerchief as my sinuses started to wake up. The two days post-surgery I was told could be discomforting, and I was impressed with how accurately the instructions ‘what to expect post laser eye surgery’ were in predicting how I’d feel. I never felt what I’d regard as pain, and the eye infections I had in the past from using contacts in dry dusty areas had been a hundred times worse.  The recovery mainly involved being sedentary for a few days, which was actually quite nice and was perfect timing to get through some Michael Thomas CDs on Spanish in preparation for the trip to Patagonia in December.

   As the days progressed post surgery I found out what 20/20 or better meant, although my eyes were still settling I was able to see details in the lichens and mosses in the garden I couldn’t define before. It felt a bit like being ten again, which would have been around the time I still had good sight before it took its rather large deterioration from early to late teens. At day six I found my glasses in the bottom of my OE bag thinking I’d left them there and a bit gutted not to have the memorabilia. Putting them on it’s how I’d envisage an ‘acid trip’, this was why people I passed them to over the years to try on would always say “OMG, your eyes.....”.

   One week later I went out climbing for the first time post treatment with Emma Twyford and Ray Wood. We put up a new climb on Holyhead in the late afternoon, having been there quite a bit over the years I’d noticed a few unclimbed lines. This route follows a short, steep arête, quite exciting for its size. Setting off up it involved a big move to good but odd guppies allowing some tricky gear to be placed before cheval style moves to finish, probably about E5 6aish. It is yet to be named but we’re going to do something slightly special for it in conjunction with Optical Express. At the top of the climb Ray asked me: “So what is it like compared with before?”

   Well, for a start it’s a hell of a lot clearer, which is hard to describe how much so to people who have always had great vision.  I don’t have to wear contacts, thereby reducing the risk of the eye infections which had become more frequent the last two years. It means that I don’t need to wear glasses when out on the hill, so I’ll be less likely to be unable to see where I’m putting my feet when it’s raining or unable to use a map on ML night navigation exercises.

   It has felt more liberating than I was expecting and I think my semi-blind friend Ben Bransby, the most squeamish person concerning eyes, is contemplating it seeing as how both myself and Adam Long have mentioned its merits.  I’ll be one of the people now singing the praises of laser eye surgery and hope to put it to good use on the rock in 2014.

 Massive thanks go to the Liverpool Optical Express crew for the new eyes, Ray Wood for loads of help and of course the team at Optical Express head office for supporting it and organising everything.