"Not like that...!"

[Back-blipped]

Having been there shortly before, Claire is well qualified to provide advice on how to climb out of the ledge upon which Cian found himself. This was in the middle of a wonderful day when two of my worlds collided.

I'd been dabbling in overlapping these worlds over the past month or so, as I have been climbing with a friend from a previous job on and off over the past few months. But this day, four folk that I have met at (or through) work spent the day at Ratho with James and I.

Coincidentally, James had met Laura a day earlier: able to lend his profesional skills to an electical problem in her and Mike's loft extension. That proved a bit of an ice breaker (if one would have been needed) before we started climbing. But pretty quickly James and I got on with passing on our enthusiasm for this way of spending time.

Claire and Laura's competitive streaks were well fuelled as they followed each other up routes, determined not to be out-done.

Cian suffered from the usual bloke-problem of pulling too hard too early on. It didn't take too many routes for the power to be gone.

Mike, another old hand, contented himself with a few boulder problems; still recovering from a recent (climbing-related) injury.

James, climbing at a slower rate than often enjoyed success on a couple of project routes.

I sat back and enjoyed watching.