It's been a busy week, I'm writing this on the eve of my imminent trip to the French Alps for my first big Alpine experience, and extended test at photography in a big outdoor arena.
The big news today is I finished my last day with the Deansgate branch of Cotswold Outdoor in Manchester. I've learnt volumes working there, as well as acquiring plenty of new gear and gaining great new friends that has ultimately culminated in the trip I'm about to embark on tomorrow. Anyone in the Manchester area in need of decent knowledgeable advice on any gear should really pay them a visit, unlike other big outdoors stores I've been unfortunate enough to buy from in the past, they really do have a big drive to provide sound experiential advice!
On the Photography front, this week I bought a Canon S95 and have so far been really impressed with its speed and quality, having a compact that shoots in RAW will be brilliant for those days when weight and bulk are a big downfall for the DSLR. I'm still debating whether to take my laptop or not so I can do some processing while I'm away, the though of coming home to thousands of images to develops isn't amazing. Then again, I will have no job to come back to, so it might well be a blessing keeping me occupied! Also I've decided I'm going to take 30m of some static rope, a jumar and gri-gri-2 for playing around abseiling and taking photos of mates on some big bolted crags, should produce some nice results I hope..
In other trip news, I finally sorted my travel insurance with the BMC, great quote and covers everything from touristy walks about to Alpine climbs. Really worth the investment in case I have to be plucked from a ledge by a French helicopter :)
That's all for now, I've yet to finish packing and we plan to leave for Dover around midday tomorrow. So far, despite a few attempts and outbursts, I've got a full 100L kit bag, an almost full 70L duffel, a half full 45L rucksack, and an empty 33L daybag to cram into a 3 seater Vauxhall Corsa - Along with that we have bags of food (more tins of beans than a cornershop) and all my climbing partners gear including bouldering matt, chairs, more food, tents, and so on. Still very anxious yet excited and very worried I will forget something essential. Worst case scenario we kill the car, can't fit it all in, or we miss the ferry. Not to worry. It's not an adventure until something goes wrong, I think Yvon Chouinard said that....
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