Craig Y Longridge
I had a meeting in Cumbria today and in spite of the weather fancied getting out climbing. As I came down the M6 the weaather was looking grim, and the only viable plan was going to be Craig Y Longridge.
GCW had grand plans for the weekend that necessitated lots of packing, so was not available to crush, and I remembered that Tom lives a stones throw from CyL so decided to see if he was free. In the event he was indeed free and in spite of having to attend to a calf with a hernia, he managed to make it on time.
I arrived at around fourish and although it was raining, the crag was bone dry, aside from some of the footholds on the right hand side.
We starteed off by looking at a 6b problem that Tom has been working on recently although it became apparant that this was a bit too much of a shock to the system to tackle straight off.
We headed over to the tarot plane area and had a look at Seven A (font 6a) and I flashed it, actually finding it pleasant. Tom all but nailed it too, just not matching the top. Then we looked at Haardvark (font 6a), a really satisfying problem, going off two small holds to a shelf followed by a big move to another shelf. This took a couple of goes, but are really satisfying moves once the shelf is latched.
Then we tried Bomb squad (6a+) but my heart wasn't in it. By this time I wanted to take a look at Tarot Plane, the traverse from Icefall direct to the left of the crag.
The first few moves are really satisfying, with an awesome heel-toe jam, but I found them quite tricky to link, and I opted for the low version, probable a mistake, as maybe it would have been easier higher.
We basically flogged this until it was time to leave. Not a bad session, given my lack of fitness at the moment, and I'm keen to get back on Tarot plane - what a problem! It deserves a french sport grade I reckon, if it goes to the end of the crag...
It was good to se Tom out, bearing in mind his recent mishap at Hoghton which left him dangling unconscious and upside down from a rope over Rhododendron buttress recently.
Epic... it doesn't seem to have affected him too much though, so keep crushing Tom!
Speaking of Hoghton, I've heard recently that a lot of the bolts are being replaced, seemingly propogating the curiously Lancastrian bolting policy of "like for like". I'm not sure I agree with this blanket policy, surely the best scenario would be to assess the suitability of the bolt rather than blindly replacing it? Especially when it comes to belay bolts where there is already plenty of gear at the belay.
If someone creates a precedence by placing a bolt, especially when the area's climbers aren't in agreement, surely there should be more consultation as to whether the bolt should actually be repalced or not when said bolt starts to decay...?
GCW had grand plans for the weekend that necessitated lots of packing, so was not available to crush, and I remembered that Tom lives a stones throw from CyL so decided to see if he was free. In the event he was indeed free and in spite of having to attend to a calf with a hernia, he managed to make it on time.
I arrived at around fourish and although it was raining, the crag was bone dry, aside from some of the footholds on the right hand side.
We starteed off by looking at a 6b problem that Tom has been working on recently although it became apparant that this was a bit too much of a shock to the system to tackle straight off.
We headed over to the tarot plane area and had a look at Seven A (font 6a) and I flashed it, actually finding it pleasant. Tom all but nailed it too, just not matching the top. Then we looked at Haardvark (font 6a), a really satisfying problem, going off two small holds to a shelf followed by a big move to another shelf. This took a couple of goes, but are really satisfying moves once the shelf is latched.
Then we tried Bomb squad (6a+) but my heart wasn't in it. By this time I wanted to take a look at Tarot Plane, the traverse from Icefall direct to the left of the crag.
The first few moves are really satisfying, with an awesome heel-toe jam, but I found them quite tricky to link, and I opted for the low version, probable a mistake, as maybe it would have been easier higher.
We basically flogged this until it was time to leave. Not a bad session, given my lack of fitness at the moment, and I'm keen to get back on Tarot plane - what a problem! It deserves a french sport grade I reckon, if it goes to the end of the crag...
It was good to se Tom out, bearing in mind his recent mishap at Hoghton which left him dangling unconscious and upside down from a rope over Rhododendron buttress recently.
Epic... it doesn't seem to have affected him too much though, so keep crushing Tom!
Speaking of Hoghton, I've heard recently that a lot of the bolts are being replaced, seemingly propogating the curiously Lancastrian bolting policy of "like for like". I'm not sure I agree with this blanket policy, surely the best scenario would be to assess the suitability of the bolt rather than blindly replacing it? Especially when it comes to belay bolts where there is already plenty of gear at the belay.
If someone creates a precedence by placing a bolt, especially when the area's climbers aren't in agreement, surely there should be more consultation as to whether the bolt should actually be repalced or not when said bolt starts to decay...?
Comments
Post a Comment