3 Star Classics at Wilton

I met Elliot at Wilton 1 today with grand plans, but the bird restrictions are still in place meant we had to tweak are planned routes for the day.  As I was there a little before Elliot, I returned the favor for his route cleaning efforts over the years, and brushed Loopy E4 6a***.  It was very dirty, and I unfortunately needed to try some of the moves to workout what to clean.  That said, it was good that I did, otherwise the wrong holds would have sandbagged Elliot.  After a quick warm up traversing around and soloing some easy routes. Elliot got stuck in.  He had a bit of a fight, and despite getting pumped battled through for the on sight.  I quickly dispatched the route on his gear, which was really enjoyable.  One 6a move after you clip the pegs, leads to steady climbing and the top.

I chilled out whilst Elliot flashed the Max E3 5c***, again working hard.  Having got his first pump of the day out of the way, it was much easier to manage this time round.  Taking advantage of now knowing the start of Loopy, I opted for the longest route on the buttress Clean Sweep E5 6a***.  At 28m this is quite pumpy.  It takes in the hardest climbing on Loopy, then traverses the finger break across the overhanging wall to join Wombat, and finish up that.  Half way across the traverse, I started to feel tired, but it seemed to plateau and I could keep on trucking.  Thankfully the traverse was not technical, which meant I could move quickly into Wombat.  The climbing to the top was excellent, and made for an awesome route.

Elliot returned the cleaning favor, brushing Sleepwalk E4 6a***.  This was another great route, with no hard climbing.  6a+/b climbing, but bold with very fiddly gear in the top half.  Falling off would not be a good idea going for the break.  Elliot then wrapped the day up flashing the route as well.

Tony and Ian turned up after us a went on a  sending mission, climbing Cameo E1 5a***, Spider Crack HVS 5a* and Ann E1 5b* before we left.  They were heading over the road to Wilton 3 for move routes, so it will be good to hear what they did.