...go climbing at Birchens of a Sunday - it was bloody rammed to say the least.
Decided to warm up on Porthole Arête for starters which was, according to the Rockfax guide, VS 4c. It was all going reasonably well taking into consideration the generally rounded nature of the holds till I got to the top where a very tenuous move from a decent jam and a really sketchy step up on an even more sketchy foothold provoked much thought. Protection was a thrown in nut that looked good from what I could see but in all honesty I had no way of being 100% sure of so I was having a bit of a crisis of faith with that but at least the cam placed underneath the slab was good. Eventually committed to what I was telling myself was only a 4c move but in reality felt a lot closer to a pretty serious and off balance 5a - reached up for the break which I had assumed was good - it wasn't - decided that I was still going for it and pulled through, smeared on the arête and with a final couple of moves it was over. Not the warm up I had assumed I was going to get to say the least and so I silently cursed Rockfax for some pretty crap grading skills. As it was when I got back to chez Butters I checked the new BMC guide expecting to see that it was high in the grade, dodgy moves and generally expecting heroic things to be said of those who dare to lead it. Therefore, it was with a little bit more than a modicum of disappointment that I found the route graded HS 4c - which in all honesty it probably is if you don't go off line. Still, route finding skills aside, I was pretty pleased with backing myself to be good enough to do the move (eventually) and committing to it.
From there we went to the other end of the crag to see if we could get away from the two Student Uni. groups that were there, something we managed to do but only at the expense of finding ourselves next to some sort of climbers crèche - in essence a hellish mix of climbers, parents and screaming\crying\miserable kids. Somehow shutting out this unholy din, Skippy was eyeing up on a couple of lines on Trafalgar Wall, both of which I told him, were pointless taking any gear for as all the higher placements were marginal at best having looked at them before when soloing. Ignoring this he went and found out for himself that they were as bad, if not worse, than I had told him they were while I belayed to the sound of Frank or Freddie bawling away incessantly. In an effort to shut out the noise I silently pondered whether it would be murder or manslaughter that I would be more likely to be charged with given what I thought was reasonable provocation and whether le grand ventre would be any use should it come to needing legal representation.
In the end it didn't come to such extreme lengths and so it was back to the other end of the crag again which was thankfully getting a bit quieter as the day progressed where I led Emma Royd - a route that is about as good as the pun it so painfully aspires to. The start is OK and the middle section isn't too bad either but it really loses it towards the top - low in the grade but on the plus side my gear selection skills had improved markedly - I was on the money with regard to nut sizes as many times as not so pleased about that anyway.
Finally Topsail - I drew the short straw and seconded it but even leading it I think the levels of disappointment wouldn't have changed much - it is a one trick pony route and while that move is really good it also has to be balanced against the horribly polished nature of the route that precedes it. Add in the state of the cam slot that I had heard so much about but which was even worse to look at in reality and the sense of disenchantment was complete. A pity really as I had heard a few good things about the route but at least I spied a couple of decent looking lines that I haven't done yet so there is scope for probably one more visit - just not at a weekend.
Decided to warm up on Porthole Arête for starters which was, according to the Rockfax guide, VS 4c. It was all going reasonably well taking into consideration the generally rounded nature of the holds till I got to the top where a very tenuous move from a decent jam and a really sketchy step up on an even more sketchy foothold provoked much thought. Protection was a thrown in nut that looked good from what I could see but in all honesty I had no way of being 100% sure of so I was having a bit of a crisis of faith with that but at least the cam placed underneath the slab was good. Eventually committed to what I was telling myself was only a 4c move but in reality felt a lot closer to a pretty serious and off balance 5a - reached up for the break which I had assumed was good - it wasn't - decided that I was still going for it and pulled through, smeared on the arête and with a final couple of moves it was over. Not the warm up I had assumed I was going to get to say the least and so I silently cursed Rockfax for some pretty crap grading skills. As it was when I got back to chez Butters I checked the new BMC guide expecting to see that it was high in the grade, dodgy moves and generally expecting heroic things to be said of those who dare to lead it. Therefore, it was with a little bit more than a modicum of disappointment that I found the route graded HS 4c - which in all honesty it probably is if you don't go off line. Still, route finding skills aside, I was pretty pleased with backing myself to be good enough to do the move (eventually) and committing to it.
From there we went to the other end of the crag to see if we could get away from the two Student Uni. groups that were there, something we managed to do but only at the expense of finding ourselves next to some sort of climbers crèche - in essence a hellish mix of climbers, parents and screaming\crying\miserable kids. Somehow shutting out this unholy din, Skippy was eyeing up on a couple of lines on Trafalgar Wall, both of which I told him, were pointless taking any gear for as all the higher placements were marginal at best having looked at them before when soloing. Ignoring this he went and found out for himself that they were as bad, if not worse, than I had told him they were while I belayed to the sound of Frank or Freddie bawling away incessantly. In an effort to shut out the noise I silently pondered whether it would be murder or manslaughter that I would be more likely to be charged with given what I thought was reasonable provocation and whether le grand ventre would be any use should it come to needing legal representation.
In the end it didn't come to such extreme lengths and so it was back to the other end of the crag again which was thankfully getting a bit quieter as the day progressed where I led Emma Royd - a route that is about as good as the pun it so painfully aspires to. The start is OK and the middle section isn't too bad either but it really loses it towards the top - low in the grade but on the plus side my gear selection skills had improved markedly - I was on the money with regard to nut sizes as many times as not so pleased about that anyway.
Finally Topsail - I drew the short straw and seconded it but even leading it I think the levels of disappointment wouldn't have changed much - it is a one trick pony route and while that move is really good it also has to be balanced against the horribly polished nature of the route that precedes it. Add in the state of the cam slot that I had heard so much about but which was even worse to look at in reality and the sense of disenchantment was complete. A pity really as I had heard a few good things about the route but at least I spied a couple of decent looking lines that I haven't done yet so there is scope for probably one more visit - just not at a weekend.
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