The last
three days contained of all the necessary components for a good climbing
trip:
 |
| Ahimsa on Acid Rock, Cheddar Gorge |
·
Dry weather
·
Good friends
·
Real ale
Day 1: Avon Gorge
I rolled out
of my van feeling bored and lethargic after the tedium of the M5 but it just
took a few metres of typical Avon weirdness on Yellow Edge to restore my spirits.
It was one of those days when you really feel that you can climb, you feel fit
and strong, your head’s in the right place and the gear goes in first time. At
the belay I brought up John and Justin and we sat on the ledge and faffed with
ropes and gear until one of us thought we had better continue and set off up the
next pitch.
I haven’t
climbed multi-pitch routes in a group of three for a while and it was a nice
change to sit on the belay and talk nonsense instead of just sitting on the
belay, thinking nonsense. We covered the topics of religion, literature and
whether a fight to the death on the belay ledge would be a good idea. More
climbing, faffing and chatting followed and we finished up the final wild pitch
of Captain Swing.
Back in the
van and on to the campsite in Tintern where we convinced John that pitching a
tent is more fun in the dark and after a couple of pints. He took our sage
advice and we wandered down the road to the pub for food, ale and the making of
ill-advised plans for the next two days.
Day 2: Wintour’s Leap
After a
hearty fried breakfast (the diet of athletes!) and the arrival of a fourth
climber to the group we set of to Wintour’s for adventures on GO Wall. Hyena Cage was the route I had decided to do in the pub the night before and all
plans made in pubs should be followed through to their logical conclusions (in
this case fear and exhaustion). Alexis lead up the start and I followed
trying to psyche myself up for the 50m second pitch. It started well with balancy
moves up the headwall leading to the start of the roofs then a steep few moves
on good holds to a rest on Kangaroo Wall. I managed to resist the temptation to
carry on up Kangaroo Wall and set off again traversing right over awesome
exposure to a technical groove that took all of my willpower and the last of my
quick-draws – the trouble was I still had 20m of the pitch left. After a brief
foray to see if the last section was an easy romp to the top (it wasn’t), I
scuttled off and belayed in Kangaroo Wall.
The sight of the Wye meandering through the Wye Valley from halfway up GO Wall is one of my favourite views in the world (possibly because
I only see it after fighting my way up the crag and when normally when I’m
attached to the safety of a belay). With the commentary from the horse racing
at Chepstow for company I sat and belayed and watched the sun creep round
towards me. Alexis arrived and we sorted the gear, he set off up the second
half of the pitch and I stretched my toes out into the sunlight like a basking
lizard.
The call to
climb came and I started up the pitch immediately glad I hadn’t been foolish
enough to continue on lead. The rock was not above suspicion and swallowed most
of a full rack of gear in the fear that you and/or the holds could fall off at
any time. The final pitch above the terrace proved too much of a challenge and
I escaped, via some rosebushes to the top. A few hours later and we were all
back in the pub for more food, ale and recounting of epic tales.
Day 3: Cheddar Gorge
You know those
days when you really feel that you can climb... this wasn’t one of those.
Justin and I set out for Ahimsa on Acid Rock, the walk-in proved problematic, the
climbing more so. I seconded the first pitch feeling weak and uncoordinated and
started leading the second feeling much the same. Halfway up I ran out of
psyche and decided to run away... at the only speed you can on a crag
where you wouldn’t trust the fixed gear to hang your coat on... very slowly.
It was great
to spend three full days attempting awesome routes at three very different
crags, each has its
own character amd all of them have an abundance of quality routes in wild and exposed locations. But now the rain has set in and I need a rest day...
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