It's direct. That yellowy shield thing has a couple of really nice little finger jugs on it. Elliot and Jim had tried rocking left from that onto the slabbier section to finish, but this seemed like a bit of a dead end as there's no holds to pull through with over there. In the second photo I've got my left hand on the crimpy shield and you share on that, then put your foot where my right hand is and rock up to some vague holds on the lip to the right. Left hand also on some slopey stuff on the lip, then you go quickly into that funny little pillar on the slab. The left hand side of it has a little runnel which turns it into a comfortable layaway.
Not too sure about the rock. Marloes has a varied assortment of stuff which I guess is the same rock which has just been exposed to varying levels of battering by the sea. This stuff is kind of like a brown St David's sandstone that's quite crozzly where the waves have lapped at it. Then there's some really highly wave-polished stuff which looks like the boulders at the bottom of this section of the cliff. I presume it's the same rock but has been absolutely thrashed by the sea. As I mentioned in Power Club, there's a possibly unrepeated (it was when the print guide came out) 7A+ friction slab/arete round the corner which was quite baffling in summer temps. There's a couple of other boulders with documented stuff but plenty of potential for more. To the east along the beach there are some ~40m high cliffs with Mousetrap Zawn-esque chimneys that look absolutey terrifying. Great to look at, death to try and climb I imagine. I'd love to know if anybody has ever chucked a rope down the front face of the three chimneys to see if the rock is any good.
The three chimneys on Marloes Sands. by
CharlieCharlcomb, on Flickr
