Don't pee in the sea

'The joy of leading is not born of pushing one's own limits but seeing

the sense of achievements in the eyes of others when they believe they are pushing theirs'

-Me , yesterday

My climbing pal, a seasoned climber and qualified instructor

leading Amen Corner D*

Yesterday I spent a vaguely windy and wave splashed day on Grey Mare  slabs north of Cruden bay Aberdeenshire. The rock was grippy the angle was shallow and in general the climbing was nontechnical  However for me having not climbed outside in ten or more years and certainly never on a trad route with gear to consider, the experience was great.

Whilst pondering on my lonely wave battered belay I realised that the art of leadership is not in strapping on a pack and leading a group of novices up the multi-pitch E5 6b,precarious mountain ridge, double diamond black route or continuous grade 4 river run. It is a case of facilitating others in experiencing and enjoying the outdoors to whatever degree of their ability's limits that they wish to. Certainly one should never be leading outside one's own ability that is, as my training with BE has taught me, a source of many Lemons.

My pondering place

The climbing yesterday, A couple of D* routes from the guidebook and one S route which we have yet to find a listing for, may not even have been within my technical limits but it certainly taught me a lot. Practicing  abseiling and rope work, confirming thing I already thought I knew with a qualified instructor, setting up belays and rope systems, and getting ready to start leading trad soon. All valuable lessons for me as a leader and as a climber

The final and most valuable lesson I learned is that Peeing into the see from you little belay slab seems to anger the sea god and so he minces you with a huge wave that has not crashed in before and will not crash in again for the rest of the day. A genuine one off, don't pee in me or else threat. Lesson learned Poseidon, my bad.

As an aside Whilst searching for a crag map that I could upload to mark my routes on to show you here I found this Bomber little climber putting me to shame ! 

It just goes to show you don't need to leave Dave Macleod quaking in his boots to have a great day on the rock.