13th June 2023

Butter Hole – Hidden Amphitheatre

Mores the Pity – Severe 4b – Lead

So another beautiful evening at Butter Hole and this one included an epic. Chris’ words to Mike, “Its always an epic with Ian!” rang truer than usual with an outing to a part of the cliff which can only be described as fluid.

As a start we backed up the pretty rusty in situ belay stakes with a couple of our own. Good job really as the abseil went straight over the cave and we all had a bit of air time. I should have know that the upper sections would be loose when a couple of large blocks detached as I gingerly abbed off the grassy ledge.

The hidden amphitheatre, as it is called, is actually very impressive. On a sunny evening like we had with no swell it was idylic. It probably warranted a swim, but we underestimated how long I would faff on the fairly tough 4b crux of MTP. My head is definitely not quite there yet. I feel good in my climbing, but cant combine the two at the moment. It will come.

The crux is through an overhang, into a groove. Good pro for the move into the groove, but the holds run out just above and so does the gear for a bit. Add a desire to not trust the rock and you have the perfect head game.

It seemed a bit unfair on Mike. Only his second outing in a while and we all ended up on a belay at mid height. It turned out to be the right move as everything above moved, fell off or was grass. The size of some of the boulders Chris was moving around as he threaded his way to the ab rope was definitely disturbing.

But, we all made it out alive which is a bonus. In review, a good lower section and a suicidal upper one. No stars this time, but for drama what more could you ask for. The mist at the end added to this as we all left fairly content with our achievements.

As for the fly I inhaled and which got stuck in my throat on the way in. Well, its the first meat I’ve eaten in 30 years.