This weekend just gone had originally been intended to be a weekend of intense cragging – get a good number of quality routes done in the Pass. Didn’t quite work out that way…
Saturday: decision made to head to Gogarth to do A Dream of White Horses, a route that I’m absolutely desperate to climb because of it’s supposed awesomeness. So – what happened? I bottled it. For some reason (and I’m not going to even try to justify this) I just couldn’t commit – I could not get myself to abseil in to the start. So we headed back to the Pass where things didn’t exactly improve…
The Direct Route, Dinas Mot. Yet another super classic. No head issues with this one, or at least not until it started raining and turned the route into a frictionless slime-fest…THANK YOU PATRICK for leading that horrible slimy crack to the ab point!
Sunday: gorgeous sunny weather. Bank holiday weekend. Llanberis pass. No parking. Drive to Tremadog.
So Sunday was actually a rather nice day – we did One Step in the Clouds (see picture), a lovely VS I’ve been wanting to do for a while, then stopped for a drink and some cake in the sun, then decided to have a crack at Scratch Arete…The first pitch I led and found quite terrifying (note to self – get out climbing more!!!), and unfortunately, Patrick decided to back off the crux second pitch – a real shame but we will be back!
As a positive ending to the day (because Patrick was just kicking himself and seemed rather down about Scratch Arete), I drove us back to Bus Stop Quarry – a seriously easy access Slate venue in Llanberis, where I made him lead Equinox – a cracking VS that I did a while back. He seemed pleased at the end of it :-)
Yes, an enjoyable if rather less productive weekend than it might have been. Never mind.
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I didn't find the crack THAT horrible despite the wet. It just needed the right mindset to get up to the top.
I will, however, admit to being an utter pathetic wuss on Scratch Arete. Must try harder.