Summer at Stoney

Above: Tony enjoying the traverse of Armaggedon

With the warm temps today and the wind blowing, we opted for another hit at Stoney. As I now seem to be felling good again I was pretty keen to have a look at some of the harder routes that Guido had pointed out. Dan was keen to tick a couple of classic E2's and Tony was happy to follow a few things to get some mileage in.

Dan led us up Solitude E1 5b as a warm up. He made short work of this, but was put off by the moving flake that appeared solid last week. Take care if you venture on to this one. We then moved to Windy Buttress where Dan cruised up Armageddon E2 5c***. This has a tricky start (one for the long man) followed by pleasent climbing in a fine position across the face of the buttress. I managed to get a couple of pics of Tony as I seconded to get a good shot.

Above: Finally reaching gear and a good rest

I then got kitted up and went for the bold and pumpy Wee Doris E4***. A bold bouldery start leads to a good rest and gear half way up the wall. More steep climbing takes you to the crux passing the roof onto the even steeper climbing up the headwall, truly outstanding climbing. The only down side is the grass top out when your pumped.

Below: Eying up the crux moves around the roof

Below: Working through the crux headwall

We finished off climbing Carl's Wark Crack E2 5c** which Dan had a crack at. Tired arms got the better of him today, but a fine effort was given. tony and I seconded to finish are arms off, all good training and all that, and we called it a day. We will definitely be back.

Below: Dan fighting with Carl's Wark Crag