Climbers in the Peak District. As I believe I've mentioned before, I’m not a big fan of climbing, having, in my youth, been regularly persuaded to have a go by friends, only to be dragged up rock faces by the safety rope, trembling, sweating and cursing. It’s the terminology that is the problem. “Lift your foot a bit and stand on that ledge” means “If you lift your foot to level with your ear you will find a slightly bumpier bit of rock”. Oddly enough, I don’t mind abseiling, which many find terrifying, since it involves stepping backwards over a long drop. In fact I abseiled quite recently, when assisting at a Jaguar-Landrover corporate challenge. Two of us were “roping up” competitors for abseiling, before sending them up to the professional instructors at the top of a rock face. We took advantage of a quiet period to abseil ourselves, the first time for a few years. Once over the edge, the exhilaration of a controlled descent at a reasonable speed left me more breathless and smiling than any theme park ride.
Great to see these guys who probably just love it!