(although by definition Wicca is)
18th April 2023
Wicca Pillar
The sloping ledge climb – V Diff – Lead
The Cracks – Severe 4a – Lead
The Little Mermaid – Severe 4b – Lead
Its not often that we go to a completely new venue, Why I’ve overlooked Wicca Pillar in the past I dont know, but its a really beautiful area. Surrounded by ancient bronze age field systems and on a not so travelled part of the coast it has quite a remote feeling. The walk in from Wicca Farm (bargain £2.00 parking) is lovely down lanes and tracks full of spring flowers and birdsong.
It was Tom, Dave and me today. Looking for some relatively easy climbing as Dave continues his rehabilitation and tests his body on what is and is not possible. To be fair it suits me, as I am still very much in ‘post op’ recovery so gradually easing my way back into things.
The Pillar is basically a volcanic plug, sticking out from the base of the cliff. Accessible even at high tide, if there is no swell. Be warned though, any swell and the spray is likely to get you wet. Queue Dave who took another soaking. Seems to be a habit at the moment.
The rock is pretty crystalline and definitely needs care when you pull on it. The higher you go the more fragile it gets. There is also a surprising dearth of protection. For V Diff’s and Severe’s you would expect a lot more. But the climbing itself is straight forward. Getting off again is not as straight forward as the guidebook suggests. We rigged a temp abseil so we could go up and down, but the final climb meant throwing an old sling around a spike and leaving it there. I think we could of done the downclimb of the southern end of the pillar, but sea spray made it a bit slippy so we took the easy option.
The gully containing The Little Mermaid is a good option when waves are spraying the main pillar. The rock on the flat topped ridge is even more unsound, but its sheltered and makes for a continuation of the day. The latter climb is given 4b purely for the opening moves. Its then all over. Again protected by micro’s which seem a bit extreme for a Severe.
The best of the routes I did was the V Diff in fact. Bold to start, but interesting technical moves. This is a good location for when you just want to rock up and get some easier routes done. Once again, Dave paid for past indiscretions with another soaking. You could say this is Karma. The sound of a raging sea around us definitely added to the atmosphere. Once a again a great day out with good mates.
