Not a Lazy Sunday Afternoon

[clovehitched]

zoeimogen, the_local_echo and I thought, since it was a nice day, we'd go and get some practice for our holiday this year...

Zoe is not entirely convinced by the start to this one, as Sylvia stands by below ready to belay just in case.


My turn - this was not my first attempt of the day; that one went quite wrong. The anchor and start were awkward, there was an overhang on the cliff, and I hadn't abseiled for seven months. The upshot of this was that I ended up with my centre of gravity in a suboptimal position, and suddenly found myself hanging upside down against a cliff face, 8 metres up in the air. I never let go with my brake hand, so it was never unsafe, and Sylvia belayed me the moment she noticed me invert anyway, but it was awkward and undignified. Subsequent goes worked a lot better.


And here's Sylvia, practising a tie-off technique she's been reading up on, so that she can stop mid-air to take photographs. It seemed to work quite well.


All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.