I’m not going climbing today. In fact, I probably won’t go climbing for a while.
I could have gone climbing, oh boy could I have gone climbing! It’s been dry for days now, the first dry spell in a while. The sun’s out, the dew point is 10 whole degrees less than the ambient temperature and wind speed is low (but not too low). I reckon even The Nose will be dry! Could you really ask for better conditions?
It’s not like I have a job to go to; when will I be in this position again? No work, no prospects, literally nothing to do with my time but make my way through my ticklist: Right Unconquerable, Moyers Buttress, or maybe I could work on Breakfast at Burbage? I live with a climber, we could self-isolate at the crag!
And surely, if anyone should get to go out climbing it would be me? Climbing is my life! Up until last week I worked in a climbing wall, I grew up in the Peak, and I’m an outdoor instructor: I’m sure I have the common sense and experience to avoid injury. What harm will one measly climber do? Just one last outing, before the lockdown…
But I won’t go climbing today, because (it pains me to say it) climbing isn’t essential. Climbing is a risk I can’t justify.
Back in the old days (two weeks ago), I went climbing loads of times when I shouldn’t have. I climbed 3 days after cutting through the tendon in my thumb with a tin can, I climbed with various finger injuries and shoulder injuries, I climbed when I should have been working. Irresponsible, yes, but the chances of risking someone else’s life were slim.
But these days are not the old days. These days going out climbing could harm someone else, whether through infection or unnecessary strain on hospitals. As much as I love getting out on the grit, could I really put a few hours of my own enjoyment before someone else’s life?
And finally, as much as I might think of myself as the exception to the rule, a drop in the ocean, you can guarantee that every single person in Snowdonia on Sunday was thinking exactly that. If we’re all the exception to the rule, there’s not really any point in having a rule in the first place.
Sure, you might be responsible. Sure, you don’t feel unwell and have never had a climbing accident before. But ask yourself honestly if climbing is a risk worth taking: is climbing really worth killing for?
For me it’s not, so I’m not going out climbing today. Instead, I’ll be catching up on years of missed stretching sessions, procrastinating from core exercises and darning my thermals in preparation for days out to come.
It’s not like the grit is going anywhere, after all…
– Hati
Hati Whiteley 