Sleeping comfortable and sleeping warm.

'I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting' - Mark Twain

My Bed for the Week

'I have never taken any excersize except sleeping and resting' - Mark Twain

 Mark Twain it would seem could have been a successful and well respected mattress tester, and hell would he have written the most urban and engaging of mattress reviews wouldn't he? However in a world all the poorer for no longer containing Mark Twain you, my readers, and multimat will have to make to with me. I'll do my best, I do sleep quite a lot.

Just over a month ago I was very excited to be tweeted by multimat with regards to taking some of their great sleeping mats to the Arctic with me this summer. Needles to say I leapt at the chance to daub myself with the title of 'Kit tester' particularly when the helpful staff I was in contacted with me directed me to summit 25/38 and the summit-xl, the mat arrangement Rannulph Fiennes and the Coldest Journey team were using. Which needless to say makes me feel all the more like a proper explorer, albeit one with significantly more regard for his fingers.

Straight out of the box I was already impressed by the thoughtful little features which make these mats really user friendly.

My two favourite features

The foam roll mat has two large metal eyelets at the top with tape attached for fixing the mat once rolled. And the Self inflating mat comes with a fleece lined storage sack (possibly the most useful feature of any piece of gear I have encountered to date) so that once the mats are out and bed beckons the days clothes that you have taken off go into the inside out stuff sack and form a fleecey comfortable pillow. Neither of these features is integral to the manufacture or function of the mats but both indicate the care and attention given to the design of the products. It is reassuring to feel that the outdoor sporting products you are using have been design by people with an understanding of the needs and wants of the end users. These two small add ons re-enforced for me that the products I was using were designed by outdoor enthusiasts to be used in the outdoors.

These two features are very easily forgotten if the mats to which they are attached do a bad job of keeping one, comfortable and warm in ones, sleep. I am pleased to be able to say that these  features were not forgotten however as the mats performed brilliantly all week.

I am yet to put them through a full Arctic conditions test but over the 5 nights camping at my recent training course the mats proved functional, comfortable and warm.

Check out the multimat website for more on their mats.

I have always been a particularly mobile sleeper, it not being uncommon for me to wake up at the other end of the bed in the middle of the night. As such I have struggled with other mat combinations in the past not being able to cope with that mobility. At the previous training weekend I had a terrible nights sleep as I had to wake up every hour to drag my inflating and roll mats back onto one another to go back to sleep. There was no grip between the two and I was woken up frequently lying on the cold floor. 

This week however I am pleased to report no such problems. The non-slip water repellent base fabric lived up to its name ans gripped onto the roll mat with great sturdiness and I spent all night comfortable and well placed on the mat.

The two thicknesses in the inflating mat helped to reduce pack size but will require full blown Arctic testing to test their limits. for this week though it performed admirable and kept me warm and comfortable.

The only real draw back with the mat set up was my own impatience with the self inflating mat. I have never been one to wait around for the mat to inflate. This is not too much of a problem with most of my camping as I simply inflate it with breath ( Although this is an ill advised tactic in general). On the icecap however this will be particularly counter productive as the cold temperatures could freeze the moisture in the air I breath in to the mat forming crystals which can damage the mat and cause it to de-laminate. As such I need to work on my patience or find a way of getting cool dry air into the mat. Any suggestions welcome !

All in all the mats performed brilliantly and I am happy (and excited) to take these mats with me to Norway this summer !

A huge thank you to Multimat for all their help so far !

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.

On a rope on a rope...

'it is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves- in finding themselves'

- Andre Gide

My adventure, despite its infancy at this point in the Journey, has already lead me along way down the road to knowing myself. This weekend was no exception.

Arriving home Sunday night around 19:30, exhausted and armed with a vague air of damp and a faint waft of unshowered body, I plonked myself on the edge of the bed and removed my left shoe. Upon completion of this task, I proceeded to fall into a deep, contended and certainly very welcome sleep. Awakening only once before 8 o'clock this morning for just long enough to struggle out of the right boot.

The weekend was damp and grey and tiring and busy and..... One of the most rewarding experiences in the last six months of my life. 

Meeting with the Leader Team for our expedition and getting to grips with rope techniques left me with a lot to think about in the run up to the expedition. The weekend has really brought home to me the reality of the situation and I can feel a palpable sense of excitement beginning to smolder  and as time goes on and more preparation and plans are put in place that excited ember can only grow into an ever greater flame.

Friday was taken up mostly by travelling down, and short of  a couple of sketchy moments due to an apparent lack of road signs, and one successful attempt to ford a river in a Mondeo the journey was quiet and uneventful. Arriving just in time for dinner I took a place among my fellow trainee leaders one of many long benches laid out in the Barn like kitchen at the Great Tower Scout Camp. I eagerly tucked into  my plate of chilli con carne and for a time little other than brief greetings were shared as many of us hungry from our travels merrily filled our bellies with warm hearty fare. Soon enough the meal was finished plates were cleared and we had time to catch up with each other about our exploits since our first meeting. Similar such discussions were being had in numerous other groups and the barn was a hive of hustle and bustle.

most of the Finnmark 2013 team

Soon after we divided into our relevant expeditions and retired to our training rooms to be introduced to one another. The evening that transpired was, for me at least, a fascinating experience, as we took a whistle stop tour of the Careers and experience of each of the members of our leader team. Frankly I would have given an arm and a leg to have one of just about any of the careers they described. Lives of excitement and adventure coupled with educating and inspiring young people were described in a myriad different combinations, all of which I found particularly inspired me to get back to University and get qualified to go out there and do all this.

Soon enough it was bed time and we retired to our campsite (or as it shall more appropriately be referred to hereafter 'The Rockery') in order to to pitch our tents in the best and most persistent rain Windermere had to offer. Needless to said ubiquitous drizzle eliminated the chances of Bivvying out for the night. Instead I chose to throw all my gear into the Bivvy bag to keep it dry and Dive into a larger tent with a friend.

Awaking early on Saturday we were met by the sick-makingly fresh face of Dr nick ( Hi everybody... )  one of our expedition doctors (a serving paratrooper and fitness fanatic) eager to lead us all in a merry yomp around the scout camp with regular stops for plenty of military-esque jumping and shouting. Then quick spot of breakfast heated up on a camp stove and it was time to spring board into the day.

The day was spent practicing, re-practicing and then continuing to practice the techniques for crevasse rescue and glacier travel. Ascending ropes on Prussilk slings and then descending by Lowering off  or abseiling took up 90% of the day.

 One of the TL's  'Dumaring' up a rope on prussiks

Two basic prussik knots on a rope

The remaining 10% was taken up by an introduction to the plans for scientific study on the expedition followed by a heavily Antipodean themed pub quiz... maybe the Australian Science Leader had something to do with it ?

The explanation of the science was more than enough to wet my appetite despite the fact that it was heavily centered on geology rather than biology. And I was given the opportunity to put forward the numerous Ideas I had for zoological Research ( My personal area of study) Aided with support from the afore mentioned Australian science leader I was able to make a strong enough case to the chief scientist that I have I am being allowed to plan and run a schedule of Zoological study for the whole expedition. To date this is the single most exciting prospect I have encountered. In appreciation of this I have appointed myself the title of chief expedition zoologist (an entirely unearned moniker mostly there to massage my ego).

The infamous Aussie-phile Biologist

Basking in the glow of my prestigious position and warmed by wine a night on 'The Rockery' Flew by and it was soon time to go back out on a run minus the fitness mad Dr Nick. That morning however my shin splints were back with a vengeance and I barely manage to struggle through a short section of the run. This was annoying to say the least as it says nothing for my ongoing training to get fit for the  expedition. A situation not helped by a pinch of patronizing tone for the fat guy who 'can't' run.

Embarrassment aside it was time for a little more 'Dumaring' and rope work to round off a thrilling weekend.

Me (in blue) about to lower down a crag.

One last lunch all together and the weekend was sadly over. Far too quickly if you ask me. A quick summary and a few goodbyes and it was time to pack up the tents and head home back to civvy street to prepare materials for my zoology study program.

As for the drive home I don't believe there were any river crossings but I couldn't comment on much other than a dusting of snow on the Lakeland hills as we left:

Because soon after this picture was taken, My weekend caught up with me:

preparation. ready. aand......

'Before anything preparation is the key to success' 

- Alexander Graham Bell

With that in mind I am rushing around at the last minute packing for the training weekend. I'm making up for this last minute rush by bringing plenty of spare gear for my fellow Trainee Leaders. pictured below is my personal gear: bottom left pile. The rest of the picture contains  an additional 3 tents and 2 sleep mats.

My weekend in Windermere (incidentally the title of my first hill-walking romance novel) will be accompanied by the best of the lakeland weather. Three days of rain.

Will orate for cash

'Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion'

-Cicero

I'm not sure that my fluency is up to the standards of a Classical Roman Orator and I know for a fact that I'm have far to much of a loud mouth to be considered discrete. And so with a little trepidation I have started offering my services as a 'speaker'. My family will happily reassure you that for me speaking will provide no challenge at all. Shutting up on the other hand....

As part of my Fundraising for the Expedition I have taken to letter writing, sending out a description of myself, the society and our expedition along with a request for donations to any local charitable groups, Round tables, Rotary clubs, Organisations and people on the street as I can find addresses for. In Return for any potential donations I am offering myself as a provider of post consumptorary oration and light entertainment, i.e. an after dinner speech and maybe a juggling act or magic show.

Batch no.1 hot off the press and ready for shipping out.

I am also organising  to provide talks to a few schools and Youth Groups about the Expeditions British exploring offer and benefits, costs and funding options, in order to further the cause of the society and hopefully recruit a new generation of keen young explorers to take off on adventures around the world.

So with these in mind I have to start planning speeches, rehearsing charming and hilarious anecdotes and preparing for potential hecklers. Luckily for the school talks I can rely on the thrilling prospect of adventure and a certain degree of authority based largely on the size differential between me and the children I am talking to, to keep my audience silent and attentive.  Talking to large groups of adults who are not legally obliged to remain in the building with me until at least the home time bell, is  another kettle of fish.

Pitching to crowds which could potentially be so varied really is leaving me with a knotted feeling in the pit of my stomach. As already mentioned most people who have met me will attest to the fact that I will win gold the day verbal diarrhea makes it into the Olympics  Despite this, and the fact that I seem to receive relatively good reactions to a greater proportion of the sentences which spew fourth; I have, to date, employed a conversational technique inspired by the US military, i.e. put enough conversational rounds in the air and eventually some will land where you want.

After dinner speaking is going to call for some sharpshooting rather than Full auto spraying and for this I will have to resort to practice. Well planned speeches, rehearsal in front of the mirror and a pocket full of flash cards just in case will all be called into action. But developing these skills can only serve to benefit me in later life, and so begins the first of many Areas of personal development which this trainee leader scheme is going to assist me with.

You never know, by the end of the process I may be able make a blog post that takes less that half an hour to read. I might even start reining in sentences under 100 words . And one day, if I work hard I may be able to accurately express myself in 140 characters or less ( I mean come on twitter can't I go a little over Even my dissertation allows 10% either way on the word count. My messages to Stephen Fry are so groundbreaking they need to go over that limit I'm sorry).

But as Shakespeare said through the lips of Polonius (or the actor playing him):

 'Brevity is the Sole of wit'