17th August 2023

Carn Boel – Upper Terrace

Bitter End – V Diff – Lead
Kari – V Diff – Alt Lead
Longships Ridge – Diff – Second

What a great day out on the Cornish sea cliffs. I’d not climbed on the Terrace at Carn Boel for 13 years. I’d forgotten what it was like and the previous route I’d done ‘Kari’ was lost in the mists of time, although I was to get a quick reminder as I arrived on the belay ledge after pitch 1.

So, lots of sunshine and great climbing, equals loads of fun. Every route was excellent. Bitter End was absorbing all the way through, with a few tricky moves, a very hollow flake and a surprising top slab full of holds. The top slab looks awful from below, but is actually great fun.

Kari has a burly overhang which is quite intimidating, especially for Chris on the lead. But the holds are there, if not obvious at first glance. The top ramp is memorable. It doesn’t look difficult, but the whole affair is off camber and pushes you out into some exciting territory.

And finally Dave’s lead on Longships Ridge was superb. For a Diff this offers great climbing in an exposed position. Definitely a climb that should be on a V Diff leaders tick list.