Shiny

So I've sold out and decided to start a blog. Oh well. Here it goes...
I've a fair bit going on these days, so I might as well share it with the world. In two weeks time I move to Glasgow for an engineering placement with EDF Energy at Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station.
 On Sunday passed I just got home from My Summer Holidays.


It was not like this

My Summer Holidays this year were in Kyrgyzstan. Yep, one of 'those places'. But quite a lovely country actually.
We weren't there for a pissup (although the drink is cheap) or for cultural things, well not entirely anyway, we went there to climb mountains n' stuff. Because apparently I enjoy that sort of thing.
To make a bit more sense, it was An Expedition. One of those things that climbers spend years organising in pubs. The capitals are deserved because anything you get grants for deserves capitals. It was this Expedition.

It was more like this



Basically, 6 of us went out to the arse end of nowhere for a month in an old Soviet truck that does 4mpg (but hey, what do you expect from an 11 litre V6?), got dropped off and carried 400kg of stuff up onto a glacier at 4200m then proceeded to lie around in tents for a few weeks, occasionally getting up to climb something.

Glorious Vehicle of Soviet Propulsion                                                22kg of chocolate joy


Tough work, but good craic. We didn't actually kill each other. Did climb some things, (10 new routes, including 3 new peaks). I myself along with Conor Gilmour climbed 3 new routes, including the first ascent of Peak Uighur (4979m) and sort-of first ascent of Moonlight Arete (5065m) by a route called Tramadol and Fingertape becuase it was an ordeal. We also climbed a route on the North-West face of Rock Horse (5189m) which we were so proud of we called it the Gilmour-Kernan route.

The 'Gilmour-Kernan', also known as 'Me and Conor climbed the mountain yay'

So after a couple of weeks of tea, chess, Amazon Kindle (managed to read 13 books including the entire works of Jo Nesbo), semolina and nonspecific meat we got back in a truck and drove back to the capital city of Bishkek. Where we rediscovered beer, bread, butter, tarmac, cotton and beds. And remembered what women look like.

Anyway that's enough for now. Below is some proof that I actually climbed anything. It's Conor and myself  atop a mountain, yay.

off to get my ass to Mars now (or not) and see Total Recall (mk 2).