Ice Factor

Is it just me, or am I the only one here wondering how we got to November so quickly?  I probably say this every year, but where has the year gone?

Puzzlement aside, I'm quite fond of November.  This is traditionally the time of the year when Golf Boy and I suddenly realise that we're still nowhere near any sort of plans or agreement to how and where we would spend our January.  Luckily, our last-minute no-fuss approach hasn't resulted in any major disasters so far (perhaps with the exception of the time when we missed the flight back to Hong Kong from Borneo the day before Chinese New Year's Eve...), and our January adventures have become our highlight of the year.

However, this year we will be deviating from protocol, and there will be no expedition east until the summer.  In order to maximise the opportunities of my work travels, our month of indulgence will not be until the summer, in Japan.  While there should not be any complaints, summer 2011 is a long way away, a small distraction is required...

I guess this is my way of pre-answering all your questions of "Why?" and confess to my moment of weakness (or madness) when I quite excitedly agreed to join my climbing partners on their annual trip to ice-climbing in Norway in January.

Thinking back to my whole two winter climbing attempts to date, they were both epic outings; somehow Norwegian frozen waterfalls don't strike me as a 'gentler' option.  I think I'm coming to terms that stopping procrastinating and starting training is inevitable.

Was it one of my moments of madness?  Let's see - hand me a couple of axes, then spend a week with me, in the middle of nowhere...

'Dear climbing partners, there's no backing out now!'