Mike Lee's blog

Been over to Wales for a few days.. Nice to get away but it was very wet & windy on Wed & Thurs.. Sunny on Friday so that was good.. Went to see Mount Snowden but didn't see it at all!

Flooded roads and low cloud and driving rain hid it from us.. But we found other stuff to see & do..

Always good to get away for a few days though..

Wanted to go on the motorbike but knowing what the weather was going to be like we took the car - just as well..!

Saturday 25th July 2009...

At City Church Sheffield (http://www.citychurchsheffield.org.uk) Tom & Ellen got married at 2pm.

Great day, great wedding, great celebrations too..

They had a whale of a time.. Nice an relaxed, no time pressures as the church is the one we all go too.. Drinks and cake for everyone after the service and before the photos...

The Dam House restaurant was a superb venue for the reception too.. Lovely location by a lake..

Loads of pictures..Just post a few here..

Most will be on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjjtlee/sets/72157621830024978

Mike -

Off and away on our Tiger for a week or so.. Heading to the the south coast of the UK, visiting my daughter & hubby, my parents and my sister who all live somewhere along the south coast from Bournemouth to Brighton! Coming back to Sheffield via London to take our picture again outside the church where we were married a few years ago! The front of the church is the same.. But inside is now a Boots supermarket!

We are also popping over to France for a quick visit via the tunnel - just to see what it is like.. (Both France & the tunnel!)

Bye for now..

Catch up with you later..

Mike

So we did 1032 miles on our Tiger! Not quite as many as our Scotish trip, but this was a different sort of ride!

Visited my daughter in Bouremouth, my dad in Porstmouth, my siter & brother in Liphook and my mother in Cheam.

Also had the one day in France via the channel tunnel (our first time!). We also went to our church where we got married and had our picture taken by a friend, then up through London having some fun in the traffic and visited one of my old ambulance stations at Bloomsbury near Smithfield in the City of London.. Then a dash back up the A1 to Sheffield... Phew! Lovely week, sore bum!

Bike did really well - no problems.. Think about 100 quids worth of fuel bought & used..

Mike

Julian is getting married next week so we went for a climb as part of his stag day events..

Raining outside at first so we went to one of the indoor walls in Sheffield called The Edge - www.sheffieldclimbing.com/index.php

Julian lost his arm to cancer last year and is recovering well.. Climbing and driving and cycling and hoping to get back on his motorbike at some stage!

Pictures are from the session on Saturday, where Julian climbed and belayed in a stile he has had to learn due to only having one arm now! He does so well!

Hooray! Made it out climbing today!

Bamford Edge in Derbyshire.

Went with John & Steve, both very good climbers.

Steve led three routes –

1, Magnum Force VS 5b 1star 14mts.

2, Life During Wartime E3 5C 10Mts.

3, Auricle E2 5c 2star 16mts.

John led two routes –

1, Shadow Wall VS 4c 1star 12mts.

2, Porthole HVS 5b 10mts.

I led one route –

Bamford Wall S 4a 2star 14mts.

Lovely day - well we were out there from 10.30 until 2.30 then I had to dash back for work!

Got some 'grit-rash' so must have been a good climb!

Hello.. Just had five days in Scotland on a mini tour on our Triumph Tiger.. Excellent time - 1122 miles overall.. WEnt from Sheffield to Berwick (1st night) Berwick to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) then coast road to Edinburgh (2nd night) Next day was Edinburgh to Inverness (3rd & 4th nights) via Glen Coe, Fort Willian & Loch Ness and on the 4th day we went to Applecross via the UK's highest road!

We left Inverness on Friday morning at 09.30 and got back to Sheffield at 21.30!! 12 hours to do 411 miles in rain, snow, hail and strong sidewinds! (We needed a few stops on the way!)

Such a great mini trip! The roads especially in Scotland are superb! Made for motorbikes...

The bike did well and so did my poor Jill who suffered on the back of the bike!

I'll be posting a few pictures here.. Most are on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/mjjtlee/sets/72157615999760536

Bye..

Hhmm not posted much recently...

But the weather is getting better - so should be out on the bike again soon.. (Although I am using it to get to work).

Hopefully climbing & bouldering again soon outside as well! It's okay indoors but better pictures outside!!

You can see what else I get up to here on Flickr.. - flickr.com/photos/mjjtlee

Cheers see you soon..

Hi guys, I have just been on the telly! My ambulance service the fire & police here in Sheffield were filmed last year for a few months and now the programme is being shown over six weeks..

It was fun working with a cameraman/woman in the car... Made for some interesting encounters..

I know most of you are not in the UK so wouldn't be able to see it - But someone has kindly put it on U-Tube so here is the link - uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e33FKhzKbHw

This is the third bit of the programme and I am in this part, the first bit of this section is my friends dealing with an OD then it is my part dealing with a head injury chap..

It is always interesting to see how one is portrayed on the telly.. Was a bit worried as to how I would be seen!

Had some positive feed back from my Flickr friends - www.flickr.com/photos/mjjtlee/3180185409

Have a look and let me know what you think? ;-)

I know I am on for a short while in next weeks edition but after that I no idea if I am on again or not!

Have a great weekend guys & gals..

Too cold to climb outside here at mo.. Indoors only for now...

See you later

Mike

Feeling the frustration of not getting much climbing done or photographed....

I have decided to expand my pictures here on Ipernity and include pictures to do with my new (to me) Triumph Tiger.

Jill and I hope to do some touring on it and have started already with some short trips around the area of Sheffield including parts of Derbyshire in the Peak District (where I go climbing!).

We also took the bike to the Lake District - some of which I have already posted.

I hope you enjoy seeing some of our scenery... 'Views from a bike' will be the main group I guess.

Hopefully early next year we will be getting up into Scotland and over to Ireland and mainland Europe too!!

Further afield is calling as well... Love to go to Iceland (meet Pixie- www.ipernity.com/home/pixie) The roads & scenery up there is awesome... Go look at her pictures!

I have friends in Germany too, so must go there..

I'll have to find some extra time & money!!

Where else shall we go??

Hello...

Been back from Germany for a week or so... Now also back from a few days in the Lake District!

Up there with the family for some walking & motorbiking..

Nice in the snow - cold but well worth the puffing & panting up the hills...

The roads were great for the bike too..

Back to work next week, but at least that means back to some indoor climbing too!

I'll try to pop round to see your latest stuff over the next few days...

Cheers..

Mike

Hello.. I'm off to Germany early Monday morning to visit my Paramedic friends that came over here in Feb & Aug this year.

The town where I am going to is called Rottwell and is on the edge of the Black Forest I believe.. (Bears & wolves eh!).

I will be going out on their ambulances for two days (as an observer) as I am not licensed to practice over there!

We have about a day for some sightseeing & perhaps even a boulder, one never knows! My friend Bernd has promised some excellent local food as well, so that is very cool too!

Good ole RyanAir cheap flights!

Back to Sheffield at the weekend and then off to the Lake District with Jill for a few days driving & walking...

Busy couple of weeks coming up..

See you later!

Hi guys & gals... Sorry not been on here much over last couple of weeks... Not done much climbing either!

But hopefully put that right this week...

As you can see in the pictures not much climbing going on except some indoor bouldering (no pics) and climbing a big hill in the Lake District (Skiddaw) and playing on a castle wall in Newcastle!

Any excuse for a climbing picture eh!

I shall pop round all your pages this week and see what's been going on with you....

Cheers Mike..

PS - Been climbing! Indoors though at a local wall called The Edge... Good time - hard work.. Hopefully outside on Friday - photos to come!

Hello just had a busy week... Benny a paramedic from Germany has been staying with us, he is a friend of the two guys who came over in Feb.. (see old post!).

Benny spent four shifts with me, well two with me in the response car and two shifts out on an ambulance with two different crews..

We also managed a visit to The Climbing Works indoor bouldering wall in Sheffield.. (www.climbingworks.com/Html/Climbing-Works-About.htm) That was great, a couple of other guys from work joined us tthere too. No pictures tho.!

Then we got out on to Burbage Valley on Friday morning for some outdoor bouldering, that was great too... Always good to be outside eh! So there are a few pictures of that.. Some more following..

Benny has gone off to Scotland now but will be popping in to us on his way back to Germany which will be good..

Hope everyone is having a great week...

I'l try to catch up with your postings!! Some great stuff is being posted on my 'Climbing & Bouldering' group pages, go look! (www.ipernity.com/group/climbingbouldering)..

Cheers

MIke..

Cor what a corker of an evening... Nipped out with Jim & Matt for two & a half hours on Stanage Edge! Great climbing, great weather too...

Jim led an E1 - Gullible's Travels E1 5b..

Matt led an HVS - South Sea Charmer HVS 5b..

I led a HS - Niche Wall Direct HS 4b..

I'll add to this later cos both Jim & Matt led another one each.. (I didn't!) Had to take pictures you know!

More pictures as well...

PS I will catch up with all your excellent pictures & posts.. Having a busy week... I know it's Monday but have been at work every day since last Friday!!

Coo it's been very warm at work today.. Walked home in the heat.. (Only 2.8 miles but over half that up a steep hill!) So was a bit red when I got in..!

Good job works car has air con..!

Back to climbing...

Both Matt & Jim led another climb each.. Matt one called 'In Ernest' another HVS 5a for him.. He went slightly off route and hence it made it much harder! Jim & I followed up the proper way! Good led Matt... Only used two very small brass wires too!

Jim led one that doesn't seem to be in my book.. But in his it was an HVS as well... In the pictures it's the one where he is traversing along under a overhang.. Hard work.. Good lead mate!

Must go post those pics... And look at other's pictures, comments, blogs etc etc ...So much to do so little time....

Made it outside last evening.. Great to amongst the real rocks again, away from all the hassle of the ambulance/paramedic side of life. Met up with Michelle and then Jim joined us too.. Michelle has not been outside climbing this year at all, so wanted some nice steady stuff. So I had an easy time too, then when Jim joined us, he as usual pushed me into doing a little bit more than I thought I would! Cheers Jim...

It was a lovely evening as Michelle & I got the the crag around 18.00, warm sunshine but with a bit of a breeze on the top of the rocks... We walked through one of Stanage's best known bouldering areas called 'Plantation' as well.. Tempted to hang out by some of those rocks, but we were on a mission to get M up her first outdoor lead..

I choose to lead one called ' Hercules Crack' and the guide book says it will live up to it's name... It did! Boy! I got well scuffed and scraped getting/jamming up the large crack! Michelle seconded it really well.. Better than I led it!

Then Michelle saw one called 'Sand Gully' and decided that that would be her lead.. She got the gear she wanted and set off up the chimney to get some gear in above that. All went well, placing another piece further up. She had a bit of a 'wibble' moment but overcame that and was happy that she had led somart at last!

I led the same one as M and then one next to it called 'Sand Crack' Jim arrived just as I was about to place my first bit of gear.. So I came down a again for a hello chat, then back off up the route getting completely cack handed as usual. So had to come back down again and restart so I could place my hands in the right places in the right order - sigh! I'll learn to read a route one day! The route was great fun and over to soon.. Jim seconded it as Michelle was packing up her stuff to go in a bit.

Jim then got sorted to lead his first route ' Paradise Wall' Some thin crack climbing and a very dodgy traverse as well! He led it really well and very bravely to on that traverse! I seconded it and it was a good one! The traverse was scary but Jim had rigged the top rope so if I did peel off I would not swing miles! Thankfully I managed to stay one - superb route, But I don't think I'll lead that one!

My turn again and I led ' Paradise Arete' which as it states takes you out onto an arete.. The start was awkward and after placing some gear then involved standing on a small ledge with just an undercut at knee level to hold onto with one hand, now above the gear as well... Then I had to reach up with my free hand to just get fingertips on a rounded break, then bring up other hand and move my feet up on thankfully a very 'gritty' scoop to then mantleshelve onto the break/ledge with (very thankfully) good holds and gear placement! Phew! That warmed me up... Yikes! The rest of the route involved moving out onto the arete which was lovely and exposed, then moving up and over large lumps of rounded rock to top out! Superb & scary!

Jim led his last then called ' Pegasus Wall' a lovely route which I think I may well have a go at leading another day..

It was getting dark now so we packed up and headed back to the cars and home..

Great evening, great weather and sunset.. Only a little splatter of rain in the midst of sunshine..

More soon...!

Back to nearly normal now that the ITV film makers have gone... Took two of them out last Friday to do a bit of bouldering... (See photos) Another guy wanted to come but it was a busy last few days for them.. Out for a farewell drink & meal on Saturday as well.. Very nice!

Nice to see some other guys have joined the climbing/bouldering group... Loads of great photos and some col videos from Seb too..!

Hopefully out to do some 'trad' climbing again next week. Half planning a trip to climb some stuff in Wales too.

Had a very busy couple of weeks though - trying to catch up with people's comments & views... Both on here & Flickr.. I do appreciate them... Thanks guys... ;-)

Mike

Hooray!

Been outside today with Tim from here on Ipernity, (www.ipernity.com/home/purpletim100) and some friends of his, Jeff & Vicki.

We went to the famous Burbage Valley in the Peak District but very near the city of Sheffield. We bouldered around on/at Burbage North and West areas..

Had a great time, weather was was sunny but breezy, it was not too crowded (usually is on a weekend, let alone a Bank Hol weekend).

We must of had at least six cameras amongst us.. So plenty of pictures taken and many to be posted soon... Although some have have crept in already!

Finished off with ice cream from the van parked at Burbage Bridge, then off for coffee & latties at a cafe in Nether Edge..

Cheers guys for today..

Will have to have a re-meet again soon..

Mike.

Met a friend in A&E yesterday (he works there!) He said he had a 3 hour window of childless-ness and shall we go out and climb...? So I said rather casually, Yeah I guess, I think I could get up and out tomorrow..

So we did - Destination Stanage Edge (Nice local crag) Heading for the Manchester Buttress and Black Hawk area of the rocks...

We met at ten, the weather was cool & breezy but the sun was due to shine... By the time we were walking in the sun was shining through nicely..

Neil led - Physiology VD 12mts 1star, I seconded it and then went back round and soloed it.

I then led - Gargoyle Variant HS 4b 14mts 1star, superb route I must add, exposed & bold but great fun. Neil seconded it and then,

Neil led - Black Hawk Hell Crack S 4a 14mts 3star, I soloed it and took out Neil's gear at same time..

So apart from climbing the routes we chatted, chilled in the sunshine, took some pictures, watched some guys on a extreme route, met some people we knew and then it was time to head back so Neil could collect his children!

I drew blood from an arm jam one my last solo - so it must have been a great 3 hours session!

Pictures appearing..

Hope everybody is having a great week so far..

Mike