The car park of the Cremerie was full this morning, unbelievable! There was a cooporate events/team building event happening. All these people walking up with crampons in a plastic shopping bag. I was a little puzzled as how were would find a bit of ice to ourselves. Lost concentration, don't know how I did that but I drove off into a snowy ditch! Great, there was no alternative for now. We would squeeze in...
We ended up walking further in to an ice fall called Moby Dick and we were totally on our own. Judy has climbed before, she wanted an instructional day, a day to learn about all the little tips that make the big difference. What comes to mind right at the start is to try to minimize the "faffing". A neat british word which has no equivalent in French nor American. It is about avoiding loosing unnecessary time. Like lacing up your boots before putting gaiters on. 
The tip of the day for Judy was the fact that I use thethe end of the rope to remove the ice stuck inside the ice scew.
We finished the day by top roping numerous times a very thin wall of ice. I have watched Judy improve her body positionning and her technique in no time. I had sent a text to Rick asking him to get Alex at the nursery as I would be a little late... being in double trouble: no battery and in the ditch. A few hours later, I recieved a text saying: Blue job done!
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