Trewellard
13th November 2011

West Face
Solo – Severe 4a – TR
Microcosm – V Diff – TR

A strange day not helped by one of those hangovers which doesnt make you feel ill but reminds you that you’ve drunk a little too much wine the night before.

This also manifested itself in the form of early memory loss, which in turn messed up all our carefully laid plans. Our initial target was to have a look at the Pedn Kei Area, but a howling (and I mean howling) wind put that in jeopardy. Being a North Easterly we new the cliffs would be sheltered low down, but the walk in via Gurnards Head proved to bracing – bracing enough to make me remember that my climbing shoes were nicely tucked away in my garage on the trailer. Doh!

Unfortunately the previous days rain had made the whole area greasy and damp so we decided to have a look at what I though was Sensible Shoes at Robins Rocks but turned out to be Carn Gloose. There were two climbers coming back up from the point and they kindly put me right explaining they had been looking at Astrol Stroll but had backed off because of the wet.

The views all around the headland are pretty primeval, especially in this days conditions. Its a fantastic setting for climbing and we will return, but on a day when I have shoes and the rock feels abit more grippy.

And so started a hunt for a climbing spot. Being a Sunday and with the wind from the East the North Coast was busy… or as busy as Cornwall gets.

So we moved on from Rosemergy and Bosi and ended up at Trewellard. A new venue for me. Trewellard looks like it has been stripped of everything living. A real reflection of the mining activity of this area. The rock is fractured and worked with strange coloured liquid seeping from it. A total contrast to the natural cliffs, but just as dramatic. Getting your bearings is difficult. The guide was fairly precise but given the random nature of the rock formations obvious landmarks seemed hard to find.

We ended up on the West Face, the most protected from the wind. Given that I only had my walking boots I decided to set up a top rope so that we could play on a couple of climbs. This turned out to be a good call, giving us a few hours of quality climbing. The best climbing looked to be on the main face, but I want to lead these so we saved them for another day.

Overall a quirky day but really enjoyable. More of an opportunity to explore some areas I’d not been to and yet again an assault on the senses with the combination of breath taking views and raging weather.