Tag Archives: Dave

No Joy Here

September 25, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

25th September 2023

Trewarvas

Joy – Severe 4a – Lead
Side Step – Hard Severe 4b – Lead

Many years ago Joy was one of the first climbs Bart ever put me on. Obviously seconding it or it could have been a top rope, I had an aweful struggle on it. Unable to unlock how to get through the big flake and onto the ledge.

So on this occasion I figured that with all the added experience I now have, I would manage it fine. Uhhmmm…..

Nope, still an epic. This time I missed the traverse onto the ledge completely, carrying on into the VS version and pumping myself out, loosing my confidence and then down climbing back to below the flake. I needed a stiff word with myself to have another go, this time getting it right and then wondering how I made such a gaff of the low crux.

For Dave, it seemed a similar experience. I think its one of those routes where if you get the sequence wrong initially you end up in all kinds of difficulty.

Still a much better effort on Side Step helped to restore confidence. Always a good route, its all about the exposure as you come out of the nice cosy chimney onto the face for the final crux moves on the headwall.

All in all it was a fine day out and so good to be out with Dave again getting some great routes done.

Climbing

Difficult = Fun, Very Difficult = even more fun

August 17, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

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.

Climbing

Pick a rope… any rope

June 9, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

9th June 2023

Dewerstone

Central Groove – HS 4b – Lead
Mambo Slab – V Diff – Lead

Climbing as a foursome, with one leader is always going to lead to a considerable amount of faff. The art of using 3 ropes isn’t easy either. On a single pitch you can get away with it. On a multi pitch with a snug belay… well to describe it as carnage would be accurate.

Tony below the impressive corner of Central Groove

For Tony, it was a return after a long absence. He is pretty much a natural climber though, due to his tree-surgery work. However to plunge him into a multi pitch was quite an introduction.

Mambo Slab is nothing exceptional. It has a tricky lower section because of polish, but overall fits the grade. It was why I thought Central Groove would be a good call. Follow average with amazing. And it duly delivered. But with a bit of a sting. Rigging a belay to accommodate 4 people was tough and despite careful planning, everything went out the window at the first possible moment. This led to coils of rope everywhere, kit scattered between all of us and a failed attempt for an orderly departure onto the second pitch.

Dave nonchalantly finishes laybacking the final corner of the second pitch of Central Groove.

Still, it was fun and by time we ended (with a very late lunch at 4.30) everyone was smiling, and also a lot more familiar with each other.

Climbing

Charlie Brown you Blockhead!

May 23, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

23rd May 2023

Predannack Head – International Buttress

End of Daze – VS 4c – Lead
Chopper – VS 4c – Lead

Dave has a unique ability. Despite all of us watching him coil a rope, no one has yet to identify how he manages to get a mystery loop included. The result of the mystery loop inevitably concludes with a tangled mess and many minutes of fun having to re-flake the rope before it can be used. It reminds me a lot of the old Shultz cartoons where CB tried to fly a kite which always ended up in a tangle.

Looking across at End of Daze with the square cut niche obvious on the top pillar

Today of course proved no different, but once sorted I set off to conquer the innocuous looking End of Daze. However I could be accused of not reading the guide properly which might have helped. All went well until the traverse at the square niche. I would add that whichever way you approach this move it feels bold. All is at your feet except for a small bunch of micros in dubious cracks within the niche.

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to move into the niche, which was hard and felt very insecure. It was only after moving along the rim that I realised I was way too high. The guidebook does remark on this. Having completed it, it all seemed obvious, however for me it was a minor epic and it felt like I was there hanging around for ages. It was good though to get confirmation of its difficulty from both Tom and Dave who found it unerving.

Dave starting out on the tricky traverse on End of Daze

Chopper was a contrast. No delicate traverse here. It was a get stuck into the wide crack and then go for it with a layback in the top half. Very satisfying and a fitting partner to the other VS because it was such a contrast.

We’ve now all but climbed out International Buttress with the exception of the E1’s and HVS around on the left wall (facing out to sea). We did drop down to take a gander. My advice here is go off the top block straight down the steep face. The rock on the left is a teetering mass of crap and should be avoided. We used it as an escape route, which didnt go well as big klumps kept coming off in our hands. Queue a saftey line from Dave to just settle the nerves. Avoid this if you can.

The East facing part of International Buttress

Climbing

Its not Witchcraft you know!

April 18, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

(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 Pillar. Note the sling on the left which we used as a final abseil

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.

Climbing

Return of the Piper

March 27, 2023 dillwat Leave a comment

27th March 2023

Predannack Head – International Buttress

Entente – Diff – Lead
Cordiale – Diff – Lead
Golden Slab – Diff – Lead

So Dave and I are feeling our way back into climbing and Predannack Head seems to have an abundance of low grade routes, ideal for testing the body, but not stressing it.

It is also an advantage that International Buttress is relatively close to the parking so provides a short walk in. However what is not so good, is route finding. At least until you ab in when all becomes clearer. The topo diagram in the Climbers Club book seems to distort the actual positions of the climbs. Basically, if you drop down what is an obvious, not too steep gulley to the right of the main buttress you will start to recognise the descriptions.

The line of Entente, just to the left of the ab rope on the lighter coloured rock

Considering we spent the day on Diffs, it was great fun. They are all nice routes. Not demanding, but interesting, and ideal for getting your head back in the right place for leading.

Todays highlight was of course seeing Dave get a soaking while trapped down in the gulley. Ahh, so now you know how it feels Dave! On a serious note, had the swell been bigger it would have been quite dodgy. One to do when things are calmer I think.

Predannack of course just keeps delivering on the entertainment front.

Climbing

6 go wild at Trewarvas

July 12, 2020 dillwat Leave a comment

Well, to be honest there was no wildness at all, but it felt great to be out at last after lock-down. This was mine (and most of the rest of the group’s) first outing on the rock post COVID 19 round 1. And it felt good to be back on the rock.

Lock-down has been OK on the whole for me, with a massive increase in my surfing and MTB’ing activity. But there’s nothing like climbing.

First things first. Piers is now a qualified Ski Tour instructor. What a fantastic achievement. All we need now is to get away with him and get into the back country in the alps. Might have to brush up on my skiing though 🙂

This was a chilled session with Tom, Dave, Chris, Piers, Pete and me. All top roping so no drama, with the exception of Pete trying his best to kill himself by falling off the top of the crag – fortunately while still attached to the top rope and with Chris using a Gri-Gri. Funny; but also not funny.

Chris and I remembered that we still have muscles although very unused ones with a voyage up both variations of Avalanche and by finishing on South Groove. Always one to make you think, grunt and swear. Most importantly we were on the magical cliffs of Cornwall. About time this was re-awakened.

Now to get my lead head back on and start eyeing up thiose pesky E1’s I’ve had on the list for a while. Oh and the big elephant in the room E2. Dave and I have unfinished business with that one!

Overacting? No, Daves just topped out on Avalanche

Climbing

Should have gone Surfin…..

January 24, 2020 dillwat Leave a comment

24th January 2020
Aire Point
Night Flight – Severe – Second

On the odd occasion you realise you’ve picked the wrong sport. This was one of those days. We rocked up to Gwenver for a stroll to Aire Point, only to see an amazing left peeling in towards the point. Low tide with the bank almost exposed, I rekon it was about as good as it gets.

Unfortunately there wasnt a board between us and so we had to settle for a chilled day mooching around the point. It was just the wrong side of damp so many of the routes were not in condition for climbing, but our explorations identified a cluster of routes tucked away at the head of the small zawn that cuts through the seawrd face. These are going to be worth a return visit, but maybe when it is warmer and drier. Would suit a nice sunny evening.

Instead we sat around a lot (either side of Daves excellent lead on the cruxy Night Flight) and talked about how luck we were to spend relaxing days, doing very little with good mates. A little bit ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ really 🙂

Climbing

In a bit of a jam!

November 29, 2019 dillwat Leave a comment

29th November 2019

Porthguarnon Cove

Iron Bells – HS 4b – Lead (rpt)
Seik Shaker – HVS 5a – Second
The Fixit – VS 5a – Lead (dgd)

So we’re currently up to our eyes in ‘Electioneering’ as Corbyn goes head to head with Johnson. Its so depressing. If I’m honest I cant see anything good coming from this and then we’ve got the dying breathes of Brexit to deal with. God help us!

So any day climbing is a good brain cleaner. Leave all the nonsense behind and focus on important issues, such as ‘how strong am I today?’ or ‘Will the sun shine?’. And the answers were ‘reasonably’ and ‘yes’.

In fact we were all down to T Shirts by time we arrived, which made the days routes seem all the better. I was with Joe and Dave and Tom teamed up for a go at Fences, a tricky HS that I did last time out.

We kicked off with a classic, ‘Iron Bell’. Such a nice route. A bit of lay backing into the slab, some small holds and an overhang. Has it all. I like the small indents and bulges for your feet on what would otherwise be a steep slab.

Joe’s pick was Seik Shaker. An innocuous looking arete which has a real bite. Its straight forward until it comes to moving onto the upper head wall which is bounded on the right by a thick blade of rock. The crack looks fine and there seems to be foot placements but as soon as you move onto the slab it all gets a lot more difficult. I tried to Jam but I’m shit at it so I kept right and used the arete to layoff. OK on the second but it might have made placing gear more difficult on the lead.

I was trying to avoid another session of going up and down but I still managed it on our final VS. As usual the jamming let me down, although once I’d worked out I could lay off the opening moves it all unlocked. Lack of confidence and fitness cost me this one, but on a more optimistic note I felt good climbing it, so it’s just going to cost me some training in the long term.

Still not sure what the best way is to get into Porthguarnon. We met a couple of other climbers who parked at the campsite which I think is a lot shorter. I think you just have to ask the owners which is fair enough. Mind you, you lose out on the stunning walk in if you do that. Wellw orth the effort 🙂

Climbing

Beginners Luck

November 15, 2019 dillwat 4 Comments

15th November 2019

Predannack Head

The Beginners Area
Sexygenarians – V Diff – Lead
Moonlight – VS 4c – Lead
Zig Zag _Mod – Alt Lead

Weeks of rain and shit weather led to this. A fleeting chance to get out for a climb in a weather window predicted by BBC weather. My poll on Facebook suggested Porthguarnon which was t’the peoples’ choice. But what do they know! I over-ruled them as any good dictator would and so we headed for the Lizard, the one area predicted to be dry.

And yes it was. The doom and gloom ‘its too cold to be outside’ mob off the telly f@#ked up good and proper. We had sunshine almost all day and a totally chilled session in an area only 10 mins from the car. Bliss.

The Beginners Area is easy to find as long as you pick up your bearings on The Diamond Wall. Also it helps to know that North (as per the guidebook) is down the coast to the right facing out to sea. Very disorientating when its not strictly ‘North’.

I paired up with Pete (his first climb of the year! no less). So we started on a nice crack climb, Sexygenarians which is straight forward but nice climbing. Its amazing when you haven’t been on the rock for a while how alien everything seems until you get back into your rhythm. By time we moved onto Moonlight, a technical VS I still wasnt quite on it, hence the mad attack of disco leg which Pete could even feel through the ropes. Anyway, it went well after a nervy start. And it made me feel better getting a more difficult route under my belt.

Zig Zag, looking harder than it is. The crashing waves made it feel epic.

Our final routre was Zig Zag, as sets thundered into the cove below. Very atmospheric and warranting a quick belay station about 5 metres up to avoid Pete getting swept away by a rogue set. Its basically a easy ramp, but with great exposure and even a waterfall at the end. What more could you want.

Days like this are precious. Sun, great mates and great climbing. Take your packed lineups and stuff them up your arse. We had this to ourselves. Viva the outdoors and viva Cornish Rock!

The Magik Rock

Tag Archives: Dave

No Joy Here

Difficult = Fun, Very Difficult = even more fun

Pick a rope… any rope

Charlie Brown you Blockhead!

Its not Witchcraft you know!

18th April 2023
Wicca Pillar

The sloping ledge climb – V Diff – Lead
The Cracks – Severe 4a – Lead
The Little Mermaid – Severe 4b – Lead

Return of the Piper

6 go wild at Trewarvas

Should have gone Surfin…..

In a bit of a jam!

Beginners Luck

Why it never rains on a Friday!

18th April 2023Wicca Pillar

The sloping ledge climb – V Diff – LeadThe Cracks – Severe 4a – LeadThe Little Mermaid – Severe 4b – Lead

Why it never rains on a Friday!

18th April 2023
Wicca Pillar

The sloping ledge climb – V Diff – Lead
The Cracks – Severe 4a – Lead
The Little Mermaid – Severe 4b – Lead