Sunny Simon's Seat



Galaxy Prow, Font 7a*** and the Mapping Area behind



After a few months of very little climbing, a few potters around running along the canal and some vain attempts at Fingerboarding, we finally went to a crag proper.

Simon's Seat, up above Bolton Abbey is a great little crag, the North buttress was cold and wet but the suntrap, south face was beautiful.
The climbing is on awesome, pebbly gritstone, the really good stuff worth shouting about! I've only experienced grit like it at Healheugh, another quality gritstone micro-crag.

Anywho, myself and Huw were psyched to try the Classic highball E3's, 'I'll Bet She Does' and 'And She Was'. We stuck a couple of pads under the arete and then, faultered quite quickly in the heat...

Huw then managed to get quite high to a crimpy rail but decided against it, it was skritly and sweaty.

I was struggling to gain the crimpy rail, from the large flat crimp.

So we moved onto the wall climb, 'I'll Be She Does', however climbing the central wall without the crack was a bit eliminate, but it was possible, climbing up via a mono and tennis ball. We however didn't really get any higher than this either, so i went for a walk around the north wall and Huw spotted a good looking chipped prow.

I wandered back and found Huw finishing off the final moves of the prow, so i gave him a spot and he did it well, it looked good but i was keen to save the tips and strength for the Arete, so didn't get on it probably worth going back up for a day bouldering there though in the future. The Prow was Galaxy, Font 7a.

I then wandered back to 'And She Was', pottered up to my previous highpoint, left hand on the slopy-crimp on the greenpatch on the arete. I then found getting a foot up fooking tenuous, slippy and committing, then sketched a pop for the big, obvious pocket which wasn't deep and bomber... but it was big enough to stick with a bit of adrenaline! Topped out and felt happy to have salvaged the walk up!



Me above the hard climbing on 'And She Was'

 






Pretty relieved at the top.

 

Finished the beautfiul day highballing at Lord's Seat on yet more, pebbly rough Gritstone - really nice day to get the psyche back :-)
Very keen now for more Moorland Grit, perhaps' i'll be become a convert? Yeh, I doubt it too!