Early Start at Ilkley

I was up and out pretty sharpish this morning to try and take advantage of the cooler morning before the heat kicked in. It was a little warmer than I would have liked when I got to Ilkley, but I thought I would see how sweaty the Guillotine was. This quality E6 6b** Arete was not too bad after a brush and chalk up. A few quick toproes to make sure I coukld deal with the warmth and it was Thunder Cats are GOOO! I was pretty gripped making the crux moves as you move right around the arete, but with the sun behind the clouds at the this point it felt pretty good. Result.

I noticed that Propeller Wall E5 5c was still in the shade. This is a very bold lead with terrible gear and I had backed off this a couple of weeks ago. I abseiled down and checked the moves, which were fine when you knew where to go. A quick rest and I soloed this as well. Psyched that I had ticked a couple of good routes I went about onsight soloing a couple of other routes that looked pretty good. Peg Crack HVS 5a*, Peg Wall E1 6a, Little John E1 5b* and Short Circuit E2 5c* rapped up the session.

It was 26 degrees when I left and I am now off out on the road bike forthe first time in ages.