As a little birthday treat I had planned on meeting a friend at either the Plantation or the Cliff. However the early morning weather reports were not good. Snowing in Sheffield and gloomy mist doom in Leeds. So I decided to bin the trip and hang out at home, maybe making a start on phase 4 of the boards development. Not as exciting as getting out but hey-ho. But by 10 things were looking pretty good here so I ventured out to Mytholm Steeps just 5 minutes away to try work some previously mentioned projects. As I arrived things were looking good, it was cold and crisp, a good breeze was blowing on to the rock, I felt light and fresh (after not climbing yesterday despite having planned a session), the flask was full of fresh hot coffee and I had a stash of chocolate and malt loaf. Sometimes things just fall into place and you know it's going to be a good day.
I warmed up by cleaning off the upper section of the easiest of the project lines. The top is a slabby face with lots of vegetation above, it gets very green up there and is quite highball. So I went up on a rope with a yard brush, a scrubbing brush, a nail brush, a couple of toothbrushes and a healthy dose of chalk. Then I started working the start. The problem climbs up a forty-five degree-ish overhanging face to finish on the slab above. You do an easy big move from a jug to a very slopey shelf/rib. Then a hard match and traverse slightly left using cheeky footwork. Then the crux move a dyno up and leftwards to a good flake hold, it's a wild move and amazingly improbable. You end up with your left hand on the flake hold and the rest of your limbs flailing wildly. Get your feet back on, match hands then up with your left to the lip and finish rocking onto the slab for an easy topout. The climbing from the flake hold upwards is an existing 7A+ but the bottom is desperate.
Anyway long story, short story I managed to do it today, very unexpected and very very nice.
Titus Gaukroger - 8A+
A photo showing the line:
A photo showing the sloping shelf/rib:
There are still a couple of projects I'd like to do here, but they are very hard.
1 comment:
Absolute beast! Good work nik, and happy birthday too!
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