Week Notes S1 E2: The Mountains are calling
Originally published on Medium on July 20, 2018.
Mountain air and learning at pace
Short week given I was only in the office for a single day clearing house before heading into the mountains.
The disconnection between resource supply and demand management in large engineering organisations continues to baffle me; on one hand we’re told priorities and budgets are too tight to deliver to users expectations. On the other hand, with some deft wheeling and dealing, priorities can be changed and resources magicked from somewhere.
My feeling is a organisation that relies on such politicking to get stuff done is one that is well due closer interaction with and accountability to its users.
Wales Ho!
Work done for the week, I shot up to LLanberis in Snowdonia to meet a couple of colleagues for a few days climbing, hiking and teaching. The focus for the week was really to introduce one of our number to outdoors climbing for the first time. Yet with the others turning up later on Tuesday I couldn’t turn down the opportunity for a push up, and bash down Snowdon.
It may have been cloud covered, but the descent down the Rangers path and Telegraph alley always brings a smile to my face. Pretty tricky on a hard tail though admittedly.
The rest of the week has consisted of helping our ‘student’ tick off as many firsts as possible;
- First single pitch (Severe)
- First Abseil
- First double pitch (HVD)
- First ‘Mountain route’ (5 pitch VDiff)
It’s always a pleasure to introduce someone to ‘real’ climbing and ‘real’ (ish) mountains. The majority of climbers spend their entire careers indoors without truly understanding the reason for training is to enjoy the freedom of the real mountains.
Bothy Time
I was lucky to meet Mark and Pippa Crawford earlier in the week who’d taken the leap a year ago to sell up their life in the Big Smoke and move up to North Wales to start a BnB (Aberconway House, great reviews and lovely hosts!).
In passing they mentioned Bothy near Tryfan and having never stayed in a Welsh bothy I simply had to visit.
As luck would have it, I turned up in the middle of a volunteer work party, renovating the place, so I was put to work in short order with hammer and nails (Dangerous I know…). It’s great to see such a great community around these communal spaces, especially for those who’ve travelling half the country from the South Coast to help out for a few days.
Learnings of the week
A. I sleep so so so much better out of the city, something about the fresh air and lack of noise I think. A reminder that city living really isn’t healthy for me.
B. Financial and professional success are only two life metrics; prioriting new experiences and engaging with communities is just as valuable.
C. The learning curve when you start something new is amazing; the 80/20 rule definitely applies. I reckon we gave our student the same breadth of experience in <3 days as he would have gained on a formal course in 2 weeks.
D. Monitor your student/mentees/colleagues wellbeing; yet don’t fall into the trap of talking yourself out of pushing them on when they’re obviously capable of doing more.
Currently reading
Still on Sapians….. slow progress still, even if I’m on holiday since I’ve been dropping to sleep instantly.
Currently listening/watching
ElectroSwing has been my companion this week; I’d love to see some live bands.
Plus Luke Cage season 2 has been loaded on the iPad. The soundtrack is just as good as season 1.