Grand Illusion

After all the rain, it was nice to meet up with Pete at a surprisingly dry Almscliff today.  After soloing around on Lower Man to get the body moving, with ascents of Matterhorn Arete HVS 5a and V Crack HVS 6a being the trickiest things.  We the headed up top, where Pete cruised Z Climb Eliminate E1 5b*** to continue our warm up.  I then on sighted Grand Illusion E4 5c***, which was excellent.  At this grade I was expecting it to be either bold or sustained, but it was neither.  Excellent cams at foot and knee height protect the crux, which is short lived and boils down to 3 moves really.  However, each one of them is worth a star.

Pete doing what he does best

I then soloed Syrett's Roof E3 6b**.  It took a few goes, as I was struggling with the slopers in the sun.  Pete then cruised up Wall of Horror's E3 6a***, so I took advantage of his gear to flash it.  This means I have completed the Almscliff big 3, which I'm psyched about.

We wrapped the day up with a quick flash up the Flying Arete V3.  Let's hope the summer improves.