Looking out the window this morning, it was dry with high cloud and not cold again. Not ideal conditions for winter climbing, but prime for the gritstone like slab at Upper Scimitar. I had done all the routes on this buttress until Johan put up Bad Life Choices E7 6b** in April last year. I had toproped the route 2nd go in March, but knew Johan had put in quite a bit of time and effort, so chose to wait until this year when I was back up for the winter. With no chalk on the holds, it took a little working out to get the sequence right again. The rock is outstanding on this buttress, and the friction was amazing. The occasional drizzle blowing over the crag did not affect the route, so it was game on. Once I had the crux move wired, and after a rest I soloed the route. It is short, but committing over a less than perfect landing. I feels like a solid V6 boulder problem, but is high enough that it is definitely a route. A good effort by Johan.
I had noticed that the best wall on Scimitar crag was dry as I walked in, and went to look at a couple of the routes I wanted to do on there. With work and other pending commitments, I am in self preservation mode, so opted to toprope Precious Cargo E5 6a* first. This is pretty much a solo anyway, but not knowing much about it, it seemed the sensible option. One quick send on the rope and a rapid solo to tick the route. Awesome climbing on big holds all the way. I the flashed Fingertip Finale E4 5c*. This has the same start, but an easier finish. Last up was a headpoint solo of Evil Eye E5 6a*. This was the trickiest of the 3, with a hard lower section to join Fingertip Finale.
An great few hours on superb rock.
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