'The Cave has kinda taken over things...'

Recently all my bouldering has been taking place in one place:

Ayton's Cave...

This summer I've pushed my bouldering, a lot.

I've put in hours of hard work, and have seen real progress. My blog has suffered in it's variety, and it seems to be the same story week in, week out.

Thinking about it today though, I don't really have a problem with that. As a boulderer, I love obsessing over one move, one problem. The fact is, that the Cave is so accessible for me (as a non-driver) that during the summer, I've been there as much as I possibly can be - and that's because the projects are amazing and the climbing is really inspiring and unlike anything I usually get to do in the winter.

I love that I unlocked the crux of a problem last weekend with a slight shift in weight to the right and the use of my right thumb on a crimp. It's not the height of the climb or the gear involved that has me hooked in the sport - it's the detail.

The Cave is full of intricate detailed moves and allows me to revel in accumulating broad amounts of beta for a line, then refining that beta and refining it again and again, until I know it so well that it's an alternate placement of one finger that unlocks a problem.

I love to log my progress and my friend's progress, and at times it reads tediously... particularly this summer...

It might be true to say though, that boulderers can be an obsessive bunch. Problems become inspirations, obsessions, competitions, enemies, secrets even! When they come together, the memory of the process is vivid and like a drug, it spurs me on to the next line I might obsess over.

For sure the Cave has taken over things... and I love it!