I love finding new stuff. The latest find has signs of abuse in the form of sloppy sika dotted around the crag but otherwise no signs of wear. No rubber marks, chalk or even cleaning of loose rock as far as I can see. I spent a visit with gloves and tools clearing all the vegetation away from the base of the wall and pruning back the larger bushes. Then I set to work on levelling the landings and moving the larger "back breaking" rocks from below potential lines. Eventually I ended up unearthing/clearing an entire band of rock at the far left of the crag that had been completely untouched. No sika. And best of all it is home to an awesome natural line taking a rising traverse up leftwards above an obvious sit start. There is another sit start that joins the traverse at half way too which went down pretty quickly after cleaning loose rock and chalking the holds, probably around 6C. The full line is hard though. The first sequence is a long reach to a half pad undercut and feels really powerful. After that things stay steep but the holds turn slopey and the foothold options are few and far between. I've managed all the moves through this section but one. Then the route drops down to join the 6C for a energy sapping finish. Brilliant! I have a project!
I've played on some of the more manufactured lines too. One of them is like a cellar dweller’s dream. Tiny and well-spaced crimps, poor and limited footers and all on an angle similar to a moonboard. Reminds me of Pool of Bethesda in Llanberris – but limestone. The crag traverse, not even including the new rock I uncovered at the left end, warrents a hefty sports grade beyond where I’m at currently. The perfect training ground.
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