M - Fingerboard pick-ups, left hand only, progress to 10mm edge, 4 finger crimp x 36kg. Swam 1km in the murk. Proms: BBCSO playing Bruckner’s 8th symphony, the El Cap. of the classical repertoire!
T - Early start, drove down to the Dewerstone. A few other teams made for a good atmosphere. Soloed Mucky Gully, Colonel’s Arête, Pinnacle Buttress and Route B; all excellent at their grade.
On to a deserted and spooky Cheesewring quarry. Started with Traitors Gate which was a bit wet and green; soloing didn't feel a great idea. After this I decided to use a rope on Simanon Direct; awkward self-belaying, good climbing. Pottered around on the Cheesewring itself: highball Font. 5 or E1 5c? Fabulous to be up on the moor in the early evening with the place to myself.
On to the Devil’s Jump. Soloed South East Climb, a hidden gem. I got the approach wrong and was completely lost returning to the car, spending 45 minutes grovelling up steep brambled slopes in the dark and more time extracting prickles afterwards. Partner for Penwith bailed and the Count House was booked-up so drove back to Dartmoor and slept under the stars.
W - Chilled start due to the previous day’s efforts and ridiculous temperature. Drove down to Brixham in the late afternoon to take a look at Magical Mystery Tour. No one else was on it but the glassy flat sea tipped the balance in favour of climbing. I still anxiously overgripped everything, inexperienced and feeling the solitude. Conditions were not great: 30C and 88% humidity, my glasses misted-up, and most of the climbing was greasy. A towel would have been much more useful than my chalk bag. I stayed dry as far as the Blue Grotto but chose to swim/wade this as it was quite shallow, the rock was gopping, and I could avoid the jellyfish. Met up with a bunch of coasteers who suggested following them swimming around the point and back to the Great Cave rather than scrambling up the headland. Drove up to Weston.
T - Quiet day with Mum. Walked 7km.
F - Anstey’s for some gentle sport climbing: did a couple of routes on Tom’s Wall and failed on Crook Bruce, now fully-bolted making it a steep 6c or thereabouts. Would have been a challenging E4! Elbow just about survived this. Long drive back to London.
S - Fingerboard pick-ups, both hands, 10mm edge, 4 finger crimp x 31kg.
S - Short swim.
Some good easy trad. including eight more Pat ticks. First ‘proper’ DWS: MMT was memorable and satisfying but I’m not yet sold on the general idea. Eyesight is a problem, glasses don’t work, and I need to sort out contact lenses if I do more. I need to be going with a group of people, or at least not on my own. I should try some short, unserious, routes and get used to falling into water (I tried to arrange this but health got in the way). If I manage all this I’ll think about Rainbow Bridge. I’m mildly hydrophobic, let other people jump into the sea on my behalf, and wouldn’t have dreamed of swimming the 400m or so back to the great cave a couple of months ago. Graded exposure has worked! Thanks to AJM for moral support and Adam for keeping an eye on me in the water.
Plan: climb some routes in Verdon, don't completely screw elbow in the process.
T - Early start, drove down to the Dewerstone. A few other teams made for a good atmosphere. Soloed Mucky Gully, Colonel’s Arête, Pinnacle Buttress and Route B; all excellent at their grade.
On to a deserted and spooky Cheesewring quarry. Started with Traitors Gate which was a bit wet and green; soloing didn't feel a great idea. After this I decided to use a rope on Simanon Direct; awkward self-belaying, good climbing. Pottered around on the Cheesewring itself: highball Font. 5 or E1 5c? Fabulous to be up on the moor in the early evening with the place to myself.
On to the Devil’s Jump. Soloed South East Climb, a hidden gem. I got the approach wrong and was completely lost returning to the car, spending 45 minutes grovelling up steep brambled slopes in the dark and more time extracting prickles afterwards. Partner for Penwith bailed and the Count House was booked-up so drove back to Dartmoor and slept under the stars.
W - Chilled start due to the previous day’s efforts and ridiculous temperature. Drove down to Brixham in the late afternoon to take a look at Magical Mystery Tour. No one else was on it but the glassy flat sea tipped the balance in favour of climbing. I still anxiously overgripped everything, inexperienced and feeling the solitude. Conditions were not great: 30C and 88% humidity, my glasses misted-up, and most of the climbing was greasy. A towel would have been much more useful than my chalk bag. I stayed dry as far as the Blue Grotto but chose to swim/wade this as it was quite shallow, the rock was gopping, and I could avoid the jellyfish. Met up with a bunch of coasteers who suggested following them swimming around the point and back to the Great Cave rather than scrambling up the headland. Drove up to Weston.
T - Quiet day with Mum. Walked 7km.
F - Anstey’s for some gentle sport climbing: did a couple of routes on Tom’s Wall and failed on Crook Bruce, now fully-bolted making it a steep 6c or thereabouts. Would have been a challenging E4! Elbow just about survived this. Long drive back to London.
S - Fingerboard pick-ups, both hands, 10mm edge, 4 finger crimp x 31kg.
S - Short swim.
Some good easy trad. including eight more Pat ticks. First ‘proper’ DWS: MMT was memorable and satisfying but I’m not yet sold on the general idea. Eyesight is a problem, glasses don’t work, and I need to sort out contact lenses if I do more. I need to be going with a group of people, or at least not on my own. I should try some short, unserious, routes and get used to falling into water (I tried to arrange this but health got in the way). If I manage all this I’ll think about Rainbow Bridge. I’m mildly hydrophobic, let other people jump into the sea on my behalf, and wouldn’t have dreamed of swimming the 400m or so back to the great cave a couple of months ago. Graded exposure has worked! Thanks to AJM for moral support and Adam for keeping an eye on me in the water.
Plan: climb some routes in Verdon, don't completely screw elbow in the process.