I'm not a huge fan of the cold, as my finger's have shite circulation and it stops me climbing routes as i can't feel the holds! Similarly i despise the warmth, when climbing, as i sweat ridiculously.
Anyway, summer appears to have come slightly early to the UK, with temperaturing hitting the late 20's which is nice to lay around in, but slightly unpleasant for me.
Ewan and i, post exam (Gold Occurences in the British Isles), decided to get out to somewhere quickly for an evening. I was psyched to hit the lime but time didn't allow so instead we got to Brandrith. Long story short, we soloed most of the nice looking lines, including Fingerdancer (E1 5a) which is more like HVS 4c. It's a great little line though with wonderful holds, well worth going up for and it was starting to show a bit of greenery!
I also did an E2 that takes a hanging crack from the ** VS on the first buttress encountered. The line looked ok, but when i got up to it and though about the description you don't actually climb the crack at all (at least not at the grade) Instead you crimp up the wall on the right about a metre from the MSevere. Anyway, it's nice enough moves and the gear is 'ok' so it packs a bit in, probably worth doing. The E1 6a there is a bit of a leg breaker too, a tricky move that if you actually fall off, rather than jump off, you'd hit a ledge and topple backwards, not pleasant. Again, though the move is good though - Typical Gritstone really, you either groundfall or slump on gear and dont fall anywhere.
Today was my last day before a weekend of revision, so i was psyched to get on a classic E3. Dib Scar was chosen but in the morning the forecast made me reconsider, quickly.
Arriving at Kilnsey, due to it's East Facing aspect we quite quickly got on with the job in hand. A step down from Classic E3, a beaut of a line, the huge bulging Corner of 'The Diedre' (E2 5b). This brilliant looking route and classic mid grade route had been on my radar for ages but i never could get around to going to Kilnsey just for that.
Ewan quickly despatched the first pitch and i got on with the second. Brilliant juggy pulls through the bulging corner, and then a tricky traverse left gains a Tree. I was a bit put off by the gear back in the corner, i wasn't sure if i had to go straight back right from the tree or not. The Polish on the tree itself made me realise that you clip it and, staying on it's right use it to gain a break that leads back into the corner. Or at least, that's what i did!? A0?
A beautiful traverse right in a great position unfortunately lands you at a loweroff, which i clipped but wanted to ignore, topping out to the Sun. Shirt off, tanning away as i brough up Ewan.
Grade wise, i don't understand E2 5b. It's not sustained as such, it has 3 clear 'tricky' sections. The bulge pull is about 5b and well protected. Then above is a traverse left that i felt was 5cish, with very good gear. The above the tree was another traverse, again i thought 5b/c, with gear a bit lower on the tree. All in all, it's definitive E2 experience but i feel 5c is the grade for at least two sequences? Anyway, lots of gear, not pumpy, not massively sustained, but continually interesting and a superb route, get it done!
It's DRY and could do with a few ascents to clean it up abit!!!!!
After this i decided that i fancied a bit of bolt clipping as it was so warm, so we trotted around to Troller's Gill. I wanted 'Jim Grin' F7a, but decided to give a short F6c+ ago just to see. I Fell off on the O/S due to slipping, but then found the next move hard to discover the seqence for. I did and the route went 3rd go, which i was happy with. It's a nice little route actually 'Shaggy dog Show' i think it's called. Looks a bit poor but is worth the effort in my eyes.
However, i decided that 3 go's on that would probably mean 5 or 6 on a f7a, so feeling a bit lightheaded in the heat departed. Some beasts were crushing F8a. Good work.
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