2016 has seen a fair bit of climbing and saw the ticking of a few classics and a few FAs. It was a nice change from my Moors-centric years previous and it was brilliant to finally get on a few 'wish list' routes.
Chalking >= Climbing from Dave Warburton on Vimeo.
The spring saw ascents of grit routes Calvary (E4 6a) and Psycho (E5 6b) at Stanage and Caley. Two routes i'd thought about doing but never really bothered with. However, there's only so much esoterica you can do before you need to do the routes everyone else does. It's weird. They're great routes, but i've certainly done plenty of forgotten, or unfashionable routes and boulder problems which are equally as good. Also ticked a few pleasant routes like Carnage (E2 5b) and the first pitch of Mulatto Wall (E3 5c) at Malham.
During this time Katie also did her first real headpoint, Ephedrine E4 6a at Caley. A pleasant route on pockets and smears. A just about paddable landing and no reachy or hard moves really. Katie liked the moves and as a result was happy to take the risk. Only a few TR's were required before she got her first taste of the subtle mix of danger and difficulty. More to come i'm sure!
Katie and I also had a great three days in North Wales, with some Holyhead, Rhoscolyn, Gogarth and Ogwen routes. The best being Dream of White Horses (HVS 4c) which we inevitably did wrong, as its a classic. I enjoyed it, it was probably about E2 5b whatever we did, but a bit of a shame we got it wrong. Nice being the only people in Wen Zawn though on a golden sunset evening. I also got on Warpath E5 6a down in Rhoscolyn. It was swelteringly hot, rank, but I was pretty psyched and it went without much issue. Scary abseil to get the gear mind you!
Tumble E4 6a. A route I have wanted to do for years. I'd pulled onto the start years ago and it was damp so i retreated. This time around it was a cruise, a climb I seriously enjoyed. Very glad it was wet a few years ago, as i doubt i'd have done it back then. Brilliant line, sustained and one of the few routes that truly lived up to its expectation, to be honest, it probably surpassed it. Also did Nimrod E1 5c while we were up there. A classic E1 of the Lakes which I think it certainly deserves. Tricky customer?
So a year of ticking classic routes and not really grade chasing, a pleasant change...
Chalking >= Climbing from Dave Warburton on Vimeo.
The spring saw ascents of grit routes Calvary (E4 6a) and Psycho (E5 6b) at Stanage and Caley. Two routes i'd thought about doing but never really bothered with. However, there's only so much esoterica you can do before you need to do the routes everyone else does. It's weird. They're great routes, but i've certainly done plenty of forgotten, or unfashionable routes and boulder problems which are equally as good. Also ticked a few pleasant routes like Carnage (E2 5b) and the first pitch of Mulatto Wall (E3 5c) at Malham.
During this time Katie also did her first real headpoint, Ephedrine E4 6a at Caley. A pleasant route on pockets and smears. A just about paddable landing and no reachy or hard moves really. Katie liked the moves and as a result was happy to take the risk. Only a few TR's were required before she got her first taste of the subtle mix of danger and difficulty. More to come i'm sure!
Katie and I also had a great three days in North Wales, with some Holyhead, Rhoscolyn, Gogarth and Ogwen routes. The best being Dream of White Horses (HVS 4c) which we inevitably did wrong, as its a classic. I enjoyed it, it was probably about E2 5b whatever we did, but a bit of a shame we got it wrong. Nice being the only people in Wen Zawn though on a golden sunset evening. I also got on Warpath E5 6a down in Rhoscolyn. It was swelteringly hot, rank, but I was pretty psyched and it went without much issue. Scary abseil to get the gear mind you!
Tumble E4 6a. A route I have wanted to do for years. I'd pulled onto the start years ago and it was damp so i retreated. This time around it was a cruise, a climb I seriously enjoyed. Very glad it was wet a few years ago, as i doubt i'd have done it back then. Brilliant line, sustained and one of the few routes that truly lived up to its expectation, to be honest, it probably surpassed it. Also did Nimrod E1 5c while we were up there. A classic E1 of the Lakes which I think it certainly deserves. Tricky customer?
So a year of ticking classic routes and not really grade chasing, a pleasant change...
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