Sam and Matthew have been busy, finally climbing the once-pegged crack at Clemmitt's found just to the right of 'Yellow Brick Road'. Franco, Twig and I had jokingly claimed the line and called it 'Welcomed Back to the Beaver Pack', after looking at the route in the pouring rain. We estimated a grade of E4 6b for the crack in full.
Sam and Matthew climbed the crack flash, climbing from a tree up the crack to the rocking-but-solid block and making an excellent move to the arete at E3 6a. A brilliant addition and better for ignoring the overhanging start by stepping in from the ledge. The upper crack remains though, so I gave it a quick shunt and it indeed does climb at about E4 6b. A shame that its eliminate to go direct, as you can move left at 6a, as otherwise it would be excellent. Still worth doing I might do them both on lead in the future.
Sam and Matthew also quickly dispatched a slab to the right of the crack. I gave it a top rope and agreed it was worthwhile climbing, which starts with an unprotected 6b move, before decent but tricky to place gear and an exciting 6a safe finish. E5 6b for this route I think they gave it and I agree.
Yesterday, alone, I wandered up to the Wainstones to see if my recent board training and mental thinking about Psycho Syndicate had made a difference. I have elected to shunt this line as I was a bit scared of jumping off higher up as the ground is uneven and is probably about as hard, technically as i can climb. Anyway, I quickly found I was much stronger than last time I tried and found I could indeed make the moves which I was delighted about.
The start is a tad reachy but you soon find yourself on a foot ledge with hands in slots. From here Franco made a move up using a mono pocket and high step. I found my finger was unable to fit in the slot so I decided to try it another way. Martin Parker had posted beta on Franco's blog so i decided to try that. It felt like it would work on my last visit. Martins method is to gain a poor left hand sidepull/undercut, which you can get 3 fingers on, but you end up pulling on just one (which is currently wrapped in tape! Ouch). From here I found I had to get very 'straight on', rather than sideways as i'd have expected, in order to get my right foot to step through on to an edge. I had failed before on this not trusting my shoes but here with a newer set i found the move much friendlier. A powerful stand up to a mono/ or two finger razor edge if you crimp the outer part of the hole before and technical foot move and heel use. Scary. A powerful and bold feeling cross through leads to the top. Wild!
Sam and Matthew climbed the crack flash, climbing from a tree up the crack to the rocking-but-solid block and making an excellent move to the arete at E3 6a. A brilliant addition and better for ignoring the overhanging start by stepping in from the ledge. The upper crack remains though, so I gave it a quick shunt and it indeed does climb at about E4 6b. A shame that its eliminate to go direct, as you can move left at 6a, as otherwise it would be excellent. Still worth doing I might do them both on lead in the future.
Sam and Matthew also quickly dispatched a slab to the right of the crack. I gave it a top rope and agreed it was worthwhile climbing, which starts with an unprotected 6b move, before decent but tricky to place gear and an exciting 6a safe finish. E5 6b for this route I think they gave it and I agree.
Yesterday, alone, I wandered up to the Wainstones to see if my recent board training and mental thinking about Psycho Syndicate had made a difference. I have elected to shunt this line as I was a bit scared of jumping off higher up as the ground is uneven and is probably about as hard, technically as i can climb. Anyway, I quickly found I was much stronger than last time I tried and found I could indeed make the moves which I was delighted about.
The start is a tad reachy but you soon find yourself on a foot ledge with hands in slots. From here Franco made a move up using a mono pocket and high step. I found my finger was unable to fit in the slot so I decided to try it another way. Martin Parker had posted beta on Franco's blog so i decided to try that. It felt like it would work on my last visit. Martins method is to gain a poor left hand sidepull/undercut, which you can get 3 fingers on, but you end up pulling on just one (which is currently wrapped in tape! Ouch). From here I found I had to get very 'straight on', rather than sideways as i'd have expected, in order to get my right foot to step through on to an edge. I had failed before on this not trusting my shoes but here with a newer set i found the move much friendlier. A powerful stand up to a mono/ or two finger razor edge if you crimp the outer part of the hole before and technical foot move and heel use. Scary. A powerful and bold feeling cross through leads to the top. Wild!
No comments:
Post a Comment