Daily Archives: April 21, 2011

Climbing

Benchmark!

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19th April 2011

St Loy Cliff

Monochrome Men – E1 5b – Lead

The previous Saturday ahd reall been bugging me. I was hyped and ready to go for M Men, but the weather put paid to any chance then. Feeling slightly deflated I spent Sunday winding myself up to the point where on Monday morning I collared Pete and begged him to come and belay me.

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Given that Pete had a bad finger this was a little unfair but Pete with his usual generosity agreed immediately. And so I spent a nervous Tuesday Psyching myself up for the climb.

Whilst Pete spent the walk in gazing at the fantastic views I was very much pre occupied with working out how I was going to approach my first E grade lead. As it happened, events have a way of just taking control and in double quick time we were set up and ready to go. Monochrome Men did not disappoint. It’s an amazing climb. A tricky initial mantleshelf followed by a strenuous pull onto the face and then the best bit. Twin cracks leading up a fantastic open face. Lots of holds and pro right up to about 8ft from the top when suddenly I was faced with a very hard finish.

My recent use of hand jams came in ‘handy’ so to speak, enabling me to pull through to the thank god rim of the slab. I spent the next ten minutes thinking I was going to be sick. All that adrenaline had to go somewhere, but what a fantastic feeling. 

I’ve now achieved my aim in climbing for my 50th year on one of the best climbs I’ve evr been on. It cant be bad and many thanks to Pete for his time.

Climbing

The sunniest and warmest place in Britain….. or not

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16th April 2011
St Loy Cliff

Sabre Dance – E1 5c – Top Rope
Smear Fear – E2 5C – Top Rope

St Loy has a reputation of being one of the warmest places in the country. The old bronze age field systems were said to be the first in the country to be harvested. So therefore why was the only place in Cornwall not to have sunshine and warm weather St Loy! Look either way along the coast there was blue sky, but ovel the crag there was a nasty dark cload which proceeded to unload an hour and a half’s rain on us.

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This was going to be the day I did my first E1 lead but having been forced to top rope for the morning and with the pm feeling chilly in the wind we chose to spend the day top ropping. There is something to be said for top roping though, in that it allows you to climb with complete focus on the climbing without the responsibility associated with placing protection. Not as exciting or challenging, but equally as enjoyable. Under these circumstances and with Steve along with us on his first outing on Cornish rock it was eminently sensible.

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We moved to the Test Piece buttress because of its accesibility and also the variety of climbs available. Starting on the East end we tackled a few un-named climbs which gave Steve a chance to test himself out. On my go I drifted left from a starting crack and ended up on Smear Fear an E2 5c with small holds and foot placements. It was hard work but I made it. It’s amazing how grippy the rock is at St Loy. The guidbook calls it immaculate granite and for good reason.

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Then the anti was upped as Chris tackled Test Piece another  E2 5c with a thuggish final sequence. The holds are their but it pays to keep moving as your arms tire quickly.

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The best of the E numnbers though is Sabre Dance. Graded E1 5c it is hard and very fingery. Again good foot placement helps a lot. Having been grossly unfair on Steve with the E climbs we moved West and finished on a couple of grooves. These were made much harder by the fact they were so covered in moss and lichen. Its a shame because under all that growth there are a couple of good climbs here. Again not in the guidebook but, worthy of being listed. I’m sure someone has recorded these as first ascents, but they need a lot more traffic before they came into condition.

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The walk out as usual sapped our strength, but the beauty of the area is always inspiring. My only regret was that I didnt get to do my E grade on the lead.