22nd March 2011

Zennor Cliff
The Royal Forester – VS 4C – Lead

With thick mist around on the North Coast we wernt sure what the conditions would be like at Zennor. However after the walk in we discovered that the coastline itself was clear. A hundred yards further landward and you hit the mist.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Royal Forester the last time I climbed it so we decided on another crack at it. It was Gillians first time at Zennor and the suprise of seeing the cliff for the first time had its usual effect. Zennor really is spectacular and incredibly well hidden.

On this occasion I made a much beeter  fist of the overhang, but still found the initial groove awkward. Once above the overhang the route eases but the final niche is testing as well. Trying to sort the ropes for the belay proved a challege as the anchors are set back, but we managed.

Gillian made the initial groove seem easy, but the exposure on the overhang had its usual effect. You dont get to see the zawn below or get an indication of how high up you are until you clear the overhang. Its always a revelation. Pete found the overhang sequence tough and decided to leave skin on the cliff as payment but as with last time I think he thorouughly enjoyed the outing.

Time prooved our unding for further climbs, but on a mooch I found another crack on the far left which will be my next target when we come.

2nd July 2010
Zennor Cliff – Upper Cliff

The Royal Forrester – VS 4c – Lead
Sheep Crook, Black Dog – VS 4c – Second

In keeping with this years attemp to visit some of the less well known crags, we headed for Zennor. This is somewhere I’ve been to often, but only when walking, never climbing. You cant see the crags from the path, so as we descended through vegetation made lush by the recent sun and rain we were suprised to come face to face with a lovely 30m high wall.

The upper cliff is split by a destinctive chimney (1923 Route), but there are plenty of obvious lines up the lichenous face. Fortunately, the rock comes through where it counts and the lichen did not prove to be a problem on the two climbs we selected.

However the main shock was the precipitous drop on the seaward side of the lawn we were sat on. It appeared as is often the case that the cliff sloped away, but take a step near the edge and it is straight down for a few hundred feet. – something that inspired an immediate attack of vertigo in both of us.

The Royal Forrester was a great climb. A tough V groove leads up to a niche below an overhang. This is taken on the right and calls for a step into lots of exposure and a committing move up. Find the ‘thank god hold’ and you’re away.  You then follow a crack upwards and around a flake. Very enjoyable and feels higher because of the height of the base of the crag. Pro is good, but much to Chris’ annoyance it ‘sinks’ and is hard to retrieve for the second.

However Chris got his revenge on Sheep Crook, Black Dog, a steep VS with a real sting in the crux move. Not as high as The Royal Forrester, it packs a lot into a small section. The moves up to the base of the crack put you in all kinds of shapes and Chris did well protecting the crux. It’s there but you need to think about it.

Chris spent a while summoning the courage to go for the pull up into the crack ( I rekon its a 5a move) but once he went he made a good job of it, even if he did look like he might run out of steam at one point. All credit he hung on and once past the crux it eases and pro becomes easier to find.

All in all though these were two great climbs, worth stars for different reasons. Having grunted our way up the two VS’s we decided we’d had enough fun for the day and took and early bath. However there are a couple more routes on the crack we will return to tackle.