4th March 2011
Carn Barra
Peel Crack – V Diff – Lead
Illustrated Man – E2 5C – TR
Dialectic – E1 5B – TR
I’ve been to Carn Barra twice and both times it tipped it down with rain… so arriving with a bit of mist and low cloud was a vast improvement. The fact Chris and I had managed to drive our way out of the blazing sunshine was not worth dwelling on even though it had taken a degree of skill to find the only cloudy place in Cornwall on this day.
The first hour was spent getting our bearings. We dropped down way too far South and had to walk back (fortunately it was low tide). Still, it gave us the oppportunity to check out classics such as Grand Plage and Crack in the Sky. The latter is a climb I would like to try. It looks like it could suite my climbing, but the proof will be in the tasting. For this day it was the take it easy approach, so we warmed up on Peel Crack.
Described as HVD in the guide I would suggest it is about right at this grade. It is a proper crack climb and and deserves stars being exposed and highly enjoyable. It definitely put a smile on Chris and my face.
So what next. Obviously a jump to E grade climbes but I was not confident to try them on the lead at this stage in the year. In hindsight I would probably have managed Dialectic (easy to say that in hindsight) but just focusing on climbing made the whole experience that much more relaxed. Chris made a good job of Dialectic. Impressive considering this was his first outing this year. Dialectic has a tough section just after the large ledge which takes a bit of thought and some balance to negotiate. All in all one that I will lead this year for sure and it looks well protected.
Illustrated man was harder. I’ve not done many E2’s and this one stood out as a truly great climb though. One day I aspire to be able to lead a route like this. For now just getting upit clean was my victory. Hard work, but I think it suited me with lots of levers and rock overs.
A great day out and the sun finally caught up with us. Oh yes…. I think I’m over red. Maybe I’ll go back to black.
