Once i got back from the Peak, it all went a bit quiet. Not that you can tell from my Instagram feed…
But then, slowly, the sessions started coming back. My Friday night coaching session with the Anglesey Adventure Club, started up again after a summer off, i continued route setting at work and was looking pretty reasonable to be honest.
Then, after the weather took a turn for the better, i managed to sneak in a couple of outdoor sessions too.
At the start of October (far too long ago to remember details to be honest) i managed to get out with Tess in tow on a solo Monday session up in the Pass. I’d been thinking about The Crook Roof for some time, keen to repeat and have a better look at the Crook Roof LH 7b, sad at the fact they couldn’t think of a better name…
To begin with, though, i got distracted. The ground under Jerry’s Roof is undoubtedly eroding and more to the point, seems to be progressively sliding down onto the road. Time and again i drive past and see a large collection of stones, all kicked down, and it’s only going to get worse.
It’s as much my problem as anyone else: while i don’t often climb there, i am local and have climbed on this iconic bloc. I figured i might as well do something to help.
While i finished my smoke, i stood in the road, chucking the stones back above the wall. Granted, i had to repeatedly jump up and down the wall to avoid being run over but it didn’t take long and made a big difference. I’d ask anyone else going there to do likewise; one handful from everyone and it’ll make a huge difference very quickly.
Eventually though, this grew tiresome and i went off to warm up properly. As much as warming up on a 7a doesn’t normally phase me, there was a nearby boulder that looked interesting and i figured it was worth checking out first.
The Dash bloc is indeed cool, with good landings and next to no-one to bother you, other than Alice, who had happened across me while waiting to head off on trad. (Always a lovely person to spend time with, she deserves a huge congrats today as she passed her MIA! Nice one!)
She didn’t stay for long, enough to see me tick off The Dash 6a, The Dash sds 6b+, The Dash Right Hand sds 6c and Dash Arete 5a. Seriously, if you’ve never stopped to marvel at the imagination of climbers when naming routes, you really should…
After she’d gone and i’d fished out the camera – i’m still self conscious of taking photos/videos of myself when others are watching me – i quickly finished off The Dash Traverse 7a and found it so good, after i stopped the camera, i stepped on and did it again.
Foolish move. The moves are good but the rock is sharp and it put a genuine hole in the index finger on my left hand. I can verify it was a hole: it was bleeding. Yet again, the Crook Roof would have to wait.
The sporadic nature of my climbing sessions continued until Wednesday gone. I’d been supposed to be climbing at the Indy on Tuesday evening but had actually lucked out when the session was cancelled. As pissed as a i was that the battery on the truck was dead and that i was stranded with the shed keys in dad’s pocket 30 minutes away, Wednesday was truly glorious and inside was insane. When my brain became fried early afternoon, i sacked off study and headed out to clear my mind.
I called in to work, printed my project to make annotation easier and bumped into local climber and wall-designer Michelle. We both pondered which venue – we had two options each at first – would yield good conditions before i cruelly decided to hijack her decision to head to Clogwyn y Bustach. She obviously didn’t mind as she appeared later on.
Before she’d arrived, i flashed Problem 22 6b+ and realised it’s actually a lovely little warm up line and worked on repeating Sick Happy now given 7a/+. Much as the first time around, i bottled the top out and even the arrival of three more souls to ease any fears of lying crippled alone, and without the excuse of a wet topout, i still couldn’t bring myself to finish it properly.
Instead i joined Michelle on Rudder’s Wall 7a+/b, indeed a line i’d had in mind for ages but couldn’t figure out the beta. It was awesome to have Michelle to work on it with, and to steal the beta from, even if she wanted me to get it first to show her the topout. Turns out it’s not me that struggles getting onto the top of that bloc…
We climbed almost until dark, bidding a hasty retreat in the twilight. No blood loss this time around and a great little evening!
