Hidden In Plain Sight

I was bouldering yesterday. At my local block - a lump of granite embedded in the middle of shore ditch park. I’ve been climbing on this block pretty much since the week it was put in place.

Yesterday I saw that a hold I’d never noticed had been chalked up. It’s a great hold, at about shoulder height. It fits that pads of two and a half fingers, and in spite of being quite small, it feels pretty positive. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to use it, but the pony is that until yesterday is never even noticed it before.

That’s one of the things I love about climbing at an area you know well. Even after years there are small little details of the rock that constantly reveal themselves. It might be the pattern the rain runoff makes, or subtle colours seen on a particular autumns evening when the light hits just so, or even a hold unnoticed for several years.