The long Easter weekend dawned bright and early as we made
our way up the M5. Being, as I am, a full-time climbing bum, who is only
employed in the vaguest sense of the word, the concepts of Bank Holidays or even
weekends are alien to me – marked only by the crags being busier that mid-week.
Justin, however, is constrained by a full time job and as a result it's Easter
and we're heading to Pembroke.
Day 1: Stennis Head
A few hours later and we were peering into Huntsman’s Leap, a terrifying
looking crag filled with routes ranging from hard to HARD! I fancied a gentler
warm up to Pembroke trad and headed down to Stennis Head to get on a truly awesome
looking route – Pleasure Dome.
Pleasure Dome has everything you need from a route: a
perfect line on a pristine section of rock, guaranteed exposure with a drop to
the sea beneath your feet and holds and gear galore. It was a perfect wake up
after hours in a van and the route didn't disappoint. I topped-out revelling in
the un-Swanage-like nature of the rock – it’s not even loose!
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| Enjoying Pleasure Dome |
Justin’s lead and he picked the mean-looking line of Flash. One
smooth lead later with only one, very controlled shout of ‘watch me’ and he reached at the top. I climbed it and got the fear, seconding is a scary business.
It was my lead again and true to the rules of ‘Add a Grade’ I had
to climb something harder than Justin’s last lead. I flicked through the guide
looking for a low in the grade E5 that I could check out from the bottom before
committing to, that doesn’t have words like ‘outrageously strenuous’ or ‘finger-shredding’ in the description and that
isn’t accompanied by any of the following symbols in the Rockfax guide:
Unsurprisingly this narrowed the field somewhat.
Trevallen
Yellow Pearls at Trevallen fitted the description – apart, possibly,
from the low in the grade bit but the guide says it’s French 7a+ and I can
climb 7a+ right? Wrong! The route started well; I performed the vertical
bellyflopping move that is required when the route, and the cliff, start over a
metre off the ground, I mantled with surprising ease, I even climbed some moves
and placed some gear. Soon, however, I reached a point where I needed to place
a wire in the slot that I was eye-balling but couldn’t take a hand off to do so
due to the irritating lack of footholds. I considered ignoring the gear and
carrying on, citing the old motto ‘if in doubt: run it out’ but I felt too
close to the ground to justify it. I settled on the only option left open to me
and fell off.
A few more attempts later and I surrendered the lead to
Justin who found the same difficulties but reach the top via a few quick-draw
shaped holds. I seconded it with some rests and much fighting with firmly
wedged-in gear. I was annoyed at falling off but pleased that I
had got on the route to start with and psyched for some serious endurance
training.
The day ended with a typical camper’s diet of beer, pasta
surprise and mini eggs but I felt lost without my trusty van that, at present, is
in the garage having the engine re-attached.
Day 2: St Govan’s
We woke to drizzle and the sounds of an entire campsite
complaining that 'this wasn’t on the forecast' but after a brief trip to stock up
on supplies of cake and tea it cleared up enough to risk an abseil. Strong
offshore winds hassled us as we sorted our kit at the top of St Govan’s Head; at
the cliff bottom it was another world, in the lee of the wind with the sun
sneaking out from behind the clouds to warm our backs and dry the rock it felt
like paradise.
Justin led first, climbing The Butcher (E2.5) a lovely climb
which made me feel that I was about to barn-door off around the arête on nearly
every move. Back down, out of the wind, I eyed up Charisma; the guidebook
description suggested that it was a bit of a one-move wonder with the move
protected by an aging peg and had upped the grade accordingly.
The route went well until The Move; from a good rest I
placed some gear, ignored the rusty peg and tried to figure out The Move. I
must have spent 30mins climbing up and down, trying to ignore the increasingly apparent
fact that The Move was a big, committing slap to a flat hold. I don’t like big
committing slaps, I don’t like them above a bouldering mat, I don’t like them
above a bolt and I especially don’t like them above (admittedly bomber) gear.
Eventually I had faffed enough and had nothing left to do apart from commit to
The Move, which I did. I hit the hold and didn’t fall off, a bit of an
anti-climax really. The rest of the route passed in an over-gripped and pumped
blur.
Justin’s lead and sticking true to the game of Add a Grade, he
found a classic E5, Get Some In, and set off. The route looked pumpy and
greasy, rests were taken. My experience of the route was made far more pleasant
by chalked holds and the absence of a lead-fall potential but I still fell off.
We abbed in one last time to retrieve the bag and escaped up
Army Dreamers, a classic HVS, which had both holds and gear and was delightful.
More beer, pasta surprise and mini eggs followed.
Day 3: Stennis Head
Easter Sunday dawned grey and cold, we started the day by a recce
of a couple of committing routes that Justin and I had our eyes on: Out of my Mind at Stennis Head and Star Wars at Bosherston respectively. We managed to talk
ourselves out of both routes due to the lingering sea grease experienced on our
first climb of the day, Stuntsman.
Trevallen
A wee while later and I was staring at the bottom section of
Trevallen Pillar eyeing up the grease and psyching myself up. The grease didn’t
prove to be problematic and the first half of the route (originally the first
pitch) went well; technical climbing, enough gear and a pleasantly committing
crux. Then a ledge offered a welcome rest and a slab above offered a far less
welcome series of unprotectable, unreversable moves on spaced crimps. I tried,
I failed, I got scared and ran off, sideways, to belay around the corner
leaving a 5b pitch for Justin.
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| Contemplating Barbarella |
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