Monthly Archives: July 2010

Climbing

Feathered Friends

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11th July 2010 Carn Kenidjack

Saxon (Original) – HVS 4c, 4c – Alt Lead P1
RockDancer – E1 5b – Second

After our previous attempt (Nick and I ) to climb at Kenidjack which ended in a thorough drenching we were hoping for more favourable weather. We had cancelled our arrangements for both Friday and Saturday because of the weather report so this was our last chance and things turned out well.

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We had targeted three climbs. In the end Thane turned out to be a bit ambitious in the time (especially given my turn of speed) and an attempt at Gneiss Gnome ended in retreat when I found fledglings on a ledge part way up. So it was straight into Saxon and what a climb!

A strenuous start sees you pull up onto a long sloping ramp. The guides are a bit all over the place here in terms of route finding. One says to go to keep going almost to the end of the sloping ramp/crack. The opther suggests tackling the smooth large niche directly. The latter is bold with little gear and does not seem right and the first avoids the main face which is at the heart of Saxon.

So instead I went just to the left of the niche and followed a logical line from there. Great holds and foot placements and adequate gear takes you up the exposed face. Its brilliant fun and once my nerves were settled I loved it. The traverse is straight forward but exhillerating and to cap it I made a hash of the belay in my excitement. Safe, but not making best use of the large block.

Nick finished the top pitch off leaving me to untangle myself. The move off the belay is tricky and you have to move a few metres before gear becomes available, but it caps Saxon off in a suitable way. For me, this is one of the best climbs I’ve done and I want to do it again!

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Climb two was equally as good. Bold in places needing a lot of work to find good gear. Again a strenuous start and for half the climb the holds kepp coming. Then you pass a central horizontl crack and the climb ramps everything up a notch. From here on you have to work hard, culminating in a fantastic move up onto a thin ledge (the crux for me). Find the hidden holds……

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An excellent lead from Nick who as usual climbed with style. For me… I was left feeling really satisfied with the route which challenged me and pushed me into moves I dont often have to make when on my usual VS’s. A great confidence booster making me want more.

The weather held off and Kenidjack provided its usual spectacular scenery from our lunch spot.

Cornwall just keeps providing. Role on next week.

Climbing

Staring into the void

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2nd July 2010
Zennor Cliff – Upper Cliff

The Royal Forrester – VS 4c – Lead
Sheep Crook, Black Dog – VS 4c – Second

In keeping with this years attemp to visit some of the less well known crags, we headed for Zennor. This is somewhere I’ve been to often, but only when walking, never climbing. You cant see the crags from the path, so as we descended through vegetation made lush by the recent sun and rain we were suprised to come face to face with a lovely 30m high wall.

Zennor-Gurnards-Head-View

The upper cliff is split by a destinctive chimney (1923 Route), but there are plenty of obvious lines up the lichenous face. Fortunately, the rock comes through where it counts and the lichen did not prove to be a problem on the two climbs we selected.

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However the main shock was the precipitous drop on the seaward side of the lawn we were sat on. It appeared as is often the case that the cliff sloped away, but take a step near the edge and it is straight down for a few hundred feet. – something that inspired an immediate attack of vertigo in both of us.

The Royal Forrester was a great climb. A tough V groove leads up to a niche below an overhang. This is taken on the right and calls for a step into lots of exposure and a committing move up. Find the ‘thank god hold’ and you’re away.  You then follow a crack upwards and around a flake. Very enjoyable and feels higher because of the height of the base of the crag. Pro is good, but much to Chris’ annoyance it ‘sinks’ and is hard to retrieve for the second.

However Chris got his revenge on Sheep Crook, Black Dog, a steep VS with a real sting in the crux move. Not as high as The Royal Forrester, it packs a lot into a small section. The moves up to the base of the crack put you in all kinds of shapes and Chris did well protecting the crux. It’s there but you need to think about it.

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Chris spent a while summoning the courage to go for the pull up into the crack ( I rekon its a 5a move) but once he went he made a good job of it, even if he did look like he might run out of steam at one point. All credit he hung on and once past the crux it eases and pro becomes easier to find.

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All in all though these were two great climbs, worth stars for different reasons. Having grunted our way up the two VS’s we decided we’d had enough fun for the day and took and early bath. However there are a couple more routes on the crack we will return to tackle.

 

Climbing

You cant climb without ropes

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23rd June 2010
Trewavas Main Crag – West Face

Bending Chimney – V Diff – Lead
Cornel – HS 4b – Lead

This was the first of what will hopefully be many evening sessions at Trewavas. With the amazing weather we’ve had recently the crags are bone dry and in great condition…. in fact it’s better when they’ve cooled down a bit.

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As this was Pete’s first experience with double ropes, we started on a classic V Diff. Bending Chimney is the most prominent feature of Trewavas. You can see it from the coast path as you walk in and it is striking. its also great fun to climb. The bottom section is straight forward with a tricky move across to the bottom of the final chimney. But its the main chimnet that is best, squeezing up and emerging through a slit in the slab above.

We had set up an abseil to make things quicker for descending and after showing Pete how to use a prusic and watching him test it fully by releasing all control (which nearly took both of us over the edge – we were tied in so we wouldnt have gone far) we dropped down to start climbing. However….. without ropes its hard, so I had to walk back up and fetch them.

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Cornel is a bit harder and hard to protect in the top section without a big CAM. Mine was just big enough, although a backup of a chock helps. Remember your seconder needs small hands to retrieve it though as it sits back very deeply in the crack. The climbing though is good, some bridging and an akward mantelshelf to finish with.

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All in all though a good session. Next week we’ll try the East face and some of the slightly longer routes.