With ten days free of any work duties and no marital ties to keep me in Town I suggested to Mr. Forrester that we make the best of the weather and head South to explore new climbing grounds and put our techniques and skills to the test by climbing on different types of rock.
First stop on the road trip was Kyloe crag in Norhtumberland. A crag john had visited before. High on his recommendations.
We warmed up on Slab and arete, E1 5B. Then John led the classic Spacewalk, E2 5C (below). This turned out to be easy for the grade though a tad bold.
Feeling confident i moved on to lead Wasted time, E1 5b. This consisted of a pumpy little climb with a thought provoking crux. Next to fall to Mr. Forrester was Headbanger, E1 5c. A technical bouldery start led to easier ground. And all this before lunch. Kyloe seemed to be putting up little resistance!
After a short break I gave Wasted time direct, E2 5c a closer inspection (below). A fingery steep crux with ground fall potential made for exciting climbing.
We followed the sun round to the quarry to see what treats were in offer. John led chicken run, E1 5b. Good climbing on poor gear. Last but not least was the plumb line of Devils edge HVS 5a (below) .
With our bellies full and time to waste 'til dark we headed to the nearby beach and walked over the massive sand mass to look at some shipwrecks (below). The sun set as we headed back to the tents.
Monday dawned as fine as Sunday ended. John spoke of a Stanage like crag called Bowden doors nearby so we packed up and headed over. This proved to be a poor choice as I could not get into the climbing and John had a stiff elbow. John led main wall HVS 5b (below). Then long crack HVS 5a, to retrieve a cam! I then had a pop at Broken crack E2 5c, which duly spat me out.
Feeling a bit low and looking for something new we debated where to head to next and both agreed that Wales was calling with a stop off at Roaches first. So we headed south.
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