Tis The Season To Clip Up.

Back from Font with a goal ticked it's time to move on to the summer objectives. These being somewhat unchanged from last years brief forays into the wacky world of sport climbing. So a sport 8 is required to complete the triumvirate. To add a bit of spice and impetus to proceedings I have foolishly set the goal of ticking a sport 8 this month (i.e. by the end of next week!). Meaning that both a Font 8 and a sport 8 will be ticked in a single month. These silly goals and aspirations are nice little waypoints that I can (fail to?) reach as I head towards an ultimate goal.
Anyway the sport started with a trip out with the Guru. A revisit of a couple of new route projects started last year. One is in the 8a+/b ballpark and the other is likely to yield no change from 8b+, so neither is particularly suited to a quick "tick this month" ascent for a man of my meagre means. Anyway I feel as though good progress has been made with a couple of nice links starting to emerge. There are these two projects and one other project line (about 8b) to finish off from last year and to get one of them would be great. I won't say I'm confident, but to get some links going so early in the season is at least encouraging.
Then today I visited Malham again with the Guru. The aim was Raindogs. I had three top-ropes of the line. The first one I struggled with one move but did all the other moves in a go or two. Second time up I got a sequence for the tough move, but got footwork messed up so no significant links and found another move tricky. Third go I linked from the ground to the first tricky move, then worked out a better sequence for that move, then went up to the top(ish) in three or four sections. For some reason I was really struggling to remember my foot sequences, and remembering sequences is usually a pretty strong part of my game. Oh well, at the time I felt a bit disappointed with my performance but with retrospect I've realised I haven't even had a go with a properly worked sequence yet so I think a bit more refinement (and a bit more fitness) and it will go.
The Guru seemed to hit a sequence pretty quickly and after two top-ropes working it he cleanly top-roped twice. He's got it in the bag. Especially as it was in the blazing sun and warm and sweaty. A bit of shade and cool and it will feel easier (for both of us I hope).
So I'm still really enjoying the sport climbing and I'm confident an 8 will go down this season and I'm hopeful for something a bit more than 8a. Bring on the b :O)