I thought long and hard about how I was going to prepare for my 8-day climb of the Abeni Flue in July. Of particular concern was my left knee; a Tae-Kwon Do accident in early life has left it with no ligament or cartilage, something that has physically bothered me ever since.
I'd considered the usual options: gym, running or cycling, or all three, but as the weather has been so beautiful in Edinburgh lately, the clear winning option was Arther's Seat; an impressive extinct volcano that towers 823 feet above the city. Especially as the start is just 15 minutes cycle from my house.
Since arriving back in Edinburgh at the beginning of June, I've climbed Arthers Seat every other day. My normal route consists of cycling to the base, and then climbing around the Salisbury Crags to the base of Arthers Seat. Lately I've adapted this to scramble up the rock face to the top of the Crags rather than walking along the main path. The views over Edinburgh are incredible from here.
Once I get back around to the base of Arthers Seat, I take the West path to the summit. From the top I take the North face back down, then cycle home.
The other day I was feeling confident and decided to divert from the path and physically climb up the West face. It didn't look too steep from the bottom. The climb was quite tough but enjoyable. However it wasn't until just near the top when a loose rock tumbled down past me and off the cliff that I realised how high I was and how steep the climb was, and what an incredibly stupid thing it was I'd done to undertake this level of climbing with no experience and waring warn down gripless trainers. I was exhausted, the sun was bearing down on me, and I wasn't feeling very confident any more. Suddenly getting to the top seemed impossible. I hung there for dear life for a good 10 minutes debating whether I should carry on going up, try and work my way sideways to an easier path, or shimmy back down on my derrière. Finally I went for a combination of all three, and slid down a little way, shimmied over to my right, then scrambled up to the top.
Overall it was an enjoyable and satisfying experience, and I'd be interested to try it again now I have my lovely new grade-2 North Face mountaineering boots :D
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The view from the top of the Crags, after climbing up and away from the path
Looking down on the Salisbury Crags from Arthers Seat
Standing at the edge of the high point of the Crags, sporting my new Make-A-Wish t-shirt!
Climbing Arthers Seat. Wanted to go for a cooler pose, but I slipped and landed in this position as the self-timer fired on my camera.
Another view of me at the top of the Crags.
Joe is raising money for Make-A-Wish UK. To sponsor him head over to www.justgiving.com/joe-goes-up
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