June has been a seriously good month for climbing.
Four weeks of more or less wall-to-wall sun has lead to a completely unsustainable mix of late-night weekday sessions and packed weekends.
Early June demanded a day escaping the sun in 'The Gap' (Methyr Valley) which has a great selection of powerful sandstone 6b's - 7c. It gets the standard Welsh valleys graffiti / general disrespect from a minority of locals, however the place has cleaned up well with the burned out car and majority of glass removed - it's pretty pleasant these days. My personal favourite was "Land of the Dinosaurs" which has been retrobolted from E3 to make a sustained 6b/+. "Encore Magnifique!" is also one to come back to at softish 7b+.
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| The Gap - Looking Cleaner than before (Image belongs to SWMC Wiki) |
The week after saw the arrival of Bez Beryl Edan Erusalimsky's flying visit to the UK. A mini Opinel reunion followed definitely partaking in the three core principals of 'Steak, Smokes, Banter' with the aid of our 'newfound purveyor of optical solutions' Tommy Segwin, and Glyn 'Energy' Hudson. A little help from the ladies also prevented Bath's Royal Victoria park from being completely trashed post-beer playtime.
Edan was taken back to his real homeland - South Wales - and a pleasant day in Tirpentyws ensued. The highlight being unlocking the sequence on a line-to-be (at about 7b), only to be cut short by a torrential downpour.
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| Scoping out a new line at Tirpentwys - Snapped by the Chavwin |
The week after took us to Portland, with a group of 12 of us staying in the Portland Bunkhouse, this was a great opportunity to catch up with Warwick, Bristol and Oxford friends, get roasted in the sun, and chill in an ex MoD bunker. The climbing wasn't half bad either, with a speedy ascent of England's Dreaming (7a+) (I first tried this in 2009 and have failed on many trips since!!) and some descent mileage. The sun perhaps got the better of me however, failing to climb Lazy Days in the Summer Haze, which I first O/S'd in 2009!! It was good to see Tom Jordan, Segwin and Charlotte climbing well, as well as Jen blasting the moves despite a wrecked finger - watch out all!
It was nice to see that most of the crag and access has been preserved despite the huge winter landslides.
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| Chillin in the Portland Sun - Reptile Smile Area |
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| Charlotte using her trad skills on Cakewalk - 6a |
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| Charlotte finishing "Cakewalk" classic and varied 6a |
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| Portland is pretty, despite its rough reputation |
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| Battling the sun on Reve d'un Corbeau (7a) |
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| Jen enjoying the scenery from Reve d'un Corbeau (7a) |
What looks like the last sunny week of the month was topped off with a chilled Saturday on Dartmoor with Jen and Rosie, followed by a Warwick descent on Cheddar South Side, with Chris Davis, Chankles Patty Pattinson, Segwin, Charlotte and Jen making a Sunday venture to Pig's hole. I started early with a send of my first 7c, the power enduro "Follow the Slick Red Road to Gdansk", this turned in to a 'send train' with a quick Skelhon 1st RP and a Flash by Chris Davis, then, out of the blue, Patty climbed his summer project "Straw Dogs", 8a+ in fine style.
Dartmoor Photoshoot Below!:
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| Aerobic Wall Traverse - Balance your way to V2 |
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| Little Prow (V2) |
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| Latching Little Prow (V2) |
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| Feeling the Heat.... Skin Graft Boulder - V4 |
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| Stretch! |
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| Girls Enjoying the Easy Highballs |
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| Shark's Fin |
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| Rosie using all skin avaliable on 5c wall sit start, V4 6a/b. |
Ticks in fine style, with only 10 days left on the South side!
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| Patty on "Follow the Slick Red Road" (7c) or "Straw Dogs" (8a+) |
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| Chris Flashing Slick Red Road (7c) |
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| Chavwin Making Quick Work of Slick Red Road |
Thanks Segwin for lending me your camera after I rigged up and the battery ran out. I have some photos of you to come!
So that's a lot of climbing, not to mention a good trip to the recently bolted Avon New Quarry, including my very-nearly onsight and TJ's 1st RP of Paiste 2000 - 7a.
All in all, my UKC diary 10/23 days climbing so far in June, with Patty picking me up at 7:50am for yet another after work session....
....I best get some rest.
| Climb name | Grade | Style | Partner(s) | Notes | Date  | Crag name |
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| Ready and Waiting | 7a+ * | Lead dnf | Chaz Mc'Dee | Y | 25/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| Bushmen Don't Surf | 6b ** | Lead O/S | Chaz Mc'Dee | Y | 25/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| No Crag for Old Men | 6b ** | Lead O/S | Chaz Mc'Dee | Y | 25/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| En Trend | 6b * | Lead O/S | Chaz Mc'Dee | Y | 25/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| Scarred Mind | 7c | Lead dog | Dave Pattinson | Y | 24/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Sheer Lunacy | 7b * | Lead dog | Dave Pattinson | Y | 24/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Follow the Slick Red Road (to Gdansk) | 7c * | Lead RP | Jenni | Y | 22/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Loser's Choice | 6b ** | Lead O/S | Jenni | - | 22/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Follow the Slick Red Road (to Gdansk) | 7c * | Lead dog | Dave Pattinson | Y | 19/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Bitter and Twisted | 7b | Lead dog | Tom Jordan | Y | 18/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| Paiste 2002 | 7a * | Lead RP | Tom Jordan | Y | 18/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| Bushmen Don't Surf | 6b ** | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan | Y | 18/Jun/14 | Avon Gorge (New... |
| Reve d'un Corbeau | 7a * | Lead dog | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 15/Jun/14 | Battleship Main |
| Lazy Days and Summer Haze | 6a+ ** | Lead dnf | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 15/Jun/14 | Battleship Main |
| Margaret on the Guillotine | 6a ** | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 15/Jun/14 | Battleship Main |
| Reptile Smile | 6a+ *** | Lead rpt | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 14/Jun/14 | Blacknor North |
| Cake Walk | 6a * | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 14/Jun/14 | Blacknor North |
| The Tea-Cake Path | 6b | Lead dnf | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 14/Jun/14 | Blacknor North |
| England's Dreaming | 7a+ *** | Lead RP | Tom Jordan, Jenni | Y | 14/Jun/14 | Blacknor North |
| One for the Money | 6a+ * | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan | - | 12/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Follow the Slick Red Road (to Gdansk) | 7c * | Lead dog | Tom Jordan | Y | 12/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Follow the Slick Red Road (to Gdansk) | 7c * | Lead dog | Dave Pattinson | Y | 10/Jun/14 | Cheddar Gorge South |
| Shrew | 5 | Lead O/S | Jenni | Y | 08/Jun/14 | Tirpentwys |
| Yank my Chain | 4 | Lead O/S | Jenni | Y | 08/Jun/14 | Tirpentwys |
| Paw Me | 4+ | Lead O/S | Jenni | - | 08/Jun/14 | Tirpentwys |
| By deFault line | 5 | Lead O/S | Jenni | Y | 08/Jun/14 | Tirpentwys |
| The Cragmeister | 6b ** | Lead rpt | Jenni | Y | 08/Jun/14 | Tirpentwys |
| Bluster | 6a+ * | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan, Jenni, Dave... | - | 01/Jun/14 | The Gap |
| Fluster | 6a+ * | Lead O/S | Tom Jordan, Jenni, Dave... | Y | 01/Jun/14 | The Gap |
| Land Of The Dinosaurs | 6b | Lead RP | Jenni | Y | 01/Jun/14 | The Gap |
| Pleasant Valley Sunday | 7a+ ** | Lead dog | Jenni | Y | 01/Jun/14 | The Gap |
| Encore! Magnifique! | 7b+ *** | Lead dog | Jenni | Y | 01/Jun/14 | The Gap |
