Extended Entree (siege alert!)

I'm not bothered about watching other sports, or really our sport. Its not watching that floats my boat - its doing. There are some sporting events I would sit in front of - the gymnastic rings for instance - thats well impressive, but football? naaah. Not bothered. We did watch on Friday though, although I almost wish we hadnt. Thing with football in particular is that it seems massively variable. Sometimes its just log, and in my untrained eyes, I reckon that which was played on Friday was definately log. Anyway, theres enough hype and commentary about that particular sport that you dont need more ill advised comment from me.

Bless Ned. He's one of the good ones. Poor guy usually gets up mid morning, not so Saturday. I'd bullied him into coming down Cheedale with me 'to finish Entree', so he was round at mine at nine, and we were trotting down the hill at half past. First to cross to two tier, and doesnt the stream feel warm and is low this year? Ned had bought with him his portable fingerboard, so we hung that from the first bolt on kali yuga and set about warming up. This is a genius idea - why waste skin and time on something you dont care about? get warmed up on the fingerboard which can be taken anywhere and then get straight on with it. Plus, Entree is effectively all over by the second bolt, so after a bit of a warm up I clipsticked to the second and then furtled to the top.

Rob Smith and Dan Cheatham arrive. Rob is here to do Entree, and Dan to do Minos. We discuss sequences - interestingly they are both totally different. As I keep nearly doing it my way, I'm not gonna change now, but its interesting to see if theres anything I could make easier. My first go is rubbish - the undercut crimp feels a bit serious, and I lower off to do some crimping on the fingerboard. Ned has a go, trying a wild new method which involves pressing the blocky pinch all the way to the gaston - he is about to do it when a foothold spings off the wall. Its the one you (i) use to step up in to the undercut, and whilst its now a tiny bit harder, that tiny bit is quite tiny. I dont ever fail to do that move for instance, but I would say its a bit harder.

Go 2 is better, but I dont get the pod right and lurch out of it. Go 3 is 'the' go. I should have done it. The holds just feel better, I have them more positively, everything goes well, the pod feels like a jug. I am able to shake out and have a chalk and everything, but I just feel massively out of balance trying to get my right hand to the jug and after much furtling I fall off. I knew that was the one as well. Work out what to do again, but it just doesnt feel as easy as I think it should. Rob has a go and shows us his more direct sequence - to be honest, I think it looks harder. They go back up to Minos and I try to summon the force. I dont really manage it and just feel a bit dull. It doesnt go down, and so I replace my rope and draws with those of Rob before wading back out. Frustrating, but its ok - I will be back. Already I start to wonder when this could be....

Saturday night we have dinner guests, I spend most of the afternoon cooking then we eat and get drunk. Nice. Sunday is beautiful, so we sit in the back garden drinking tea and reading books. The afternoon finishes meeting friends in Graves park to climb trees, throw boomerangs and attempt to fly kites.

This week we are under an area of high pressure bringing sunshine and sweaty hot temps until at least the tail end of the week, so any hopes of late night Cheedale action are probably daft - whilst the wall is out of the sun by 7.30, it wont cool down until its nearly dark. Plus, I know Dylog wants to get back down WCJ Cornice to finish FM. I'm happy to go there, and there are some drawers in rumble, so I could go on that - or Yorkshire 8b.... Anyway, keep you posted...