4th April 2014

Boscawen / Union Star Cove

Luke Skywalker – Severe 4a – Lead
Stone – VS 4c – Lead

The theory was that being early in the year we wouldnt get ourselves completely skagged trying to get into Tregiffian. That was the theory anyway. But it turned out Boscawen was the real villan in this piece and Alex who had joined us found this out when he became trapped in amoungst a dense patch of gorse and brambles.

I’ve been to Boscawen twice before but could I remember the descent route? We ended up going way too left and having to track through some viscous thorn and gorse before finally finding the arch. This always marked the way in to me so we dropped our bags here and abbed into the main face.

Boscawen clearly isnt getting much traffic at the moment. The cracks are very vegetated and placing pro is a bit of a mare. Luke Skywalker is strange for a Severe. A straight forward easy first two thirds followed by a very committing final section which feels very thin.

Mind you, the hardest part for me was finding my way back up. I managed to get myself stuck in a corner and had to aid my way out. Not sure that was the correct way???

The walk to Tregiffian was stunning at this time of year. Its as if the cliff has burst into life shoing off its colours and plantlife. At times you could have thought it was planned but its just nature making the most of things.

Then it was on to tregiffian where we discovered my tide predictions were also lacking in judgement. With a bit of swell running and a pushing tide the main face was no longer an option. Dave and Tom set up for Exit which is out of reach of the tide for a while.

Alex and I went scouting around Union Star Cove and came across a real gem of a climb. It took some finding requiring a short abseil and some scrambling but Stone is a really step and exciting VS. Good pro but some tough moves and quite strenuous with only one real rest spot.

It made for a great climb and Alex who hasnt been for a while did really well cleaning this one. After my first selfie it was pack up for the long hard walk back out to Boskenna Cross. There are two more routes on the Stone face that I will return to. They both look brilliant and this spot is a real find.