Peak Mountaineering
The climbing blog of Paul Lewis
Archive for August, 2008
August 30, 2008 at 11:52 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
Today I’ve been at Gogarth for an ascent of the brilliant route ‘A Dream of White Horses’ (HVS 5a) with returning client Tom. The route arcs its way across the amazing Wen Slab and is arguably the most famous route of its grade anywhere. The climbing is reasonably straight forward but the exposure and commitment is incredible. Fortunately Tom knows his stuff and our ascent today went very smoothly, but the first time I climbed it many years ago it nearly ended in disaster…..
Tim, Alan and I abseiled down and Alan quickly climbed pitch 1 to the start of the rising traverse. Pitch 2 was my lead so I headed across the slab with only a vague idea of where I should be going. I had expected the line to be obvious (and looking back it is pretty easy to work out!) but as I traversed on that cold autumn day I never realised how off line I was going. I had also expected excellent protection but all I seemed to be able to find was a tiny micro wire placement.
I ended up further left and much further up than I should have been before it dawned on me how astray I was and how exposed my situation had become. By now I was balanced on tiny holds and the lead ropes arched down to Al and Tim in a huge, unprotected sweep. This was serious! There was no way I could climb down and the route ahead looked horrific.
I hung on to those tiny holds for what seemed like an age and I didn’t come up with any solutions. Eventually, my saviour flashed before me. Alan had left the belay, traversed to the abseil rope we had left hanging down the face and was now swinging it across to me. After a few very impressive swings I was able to hook the rope with my toe and using teeth, knees and everything else I could muster, I managed to tie a figure of 8 on the bight, clip it to me, and with a banshee scream I let go of the rock and took the swing of my life until the rope straightened above me and my nervous laughter filled the zawn.
Needless to say, I let Tim take over the lead but at least we managed to finish the route and the beer that night had never tasted so good! Little did I know that my troubled sleep would later be rudely interrupted by the local police moving us on in the early hours - but I guess that’s what you get if you choose to sleep in one of the shelters along Holyhead beachfront on trips to Gogarth!
Don’t worry. Current trips with Peak Mountaineering don’t include such interesting sleeping locations and misjudged route finding…..although it can be arranged if you really want the full Gogarth experience!
Cheers,
Paul
August 29, 2008 at 8:14 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
I didn’t rush. For at least the first 20 minutes I just sat and watched. The sheep nibbled happily, a buzzard glided overhead and the breeze slid gently through the leaves. I was back. My rockshoes felt a little tighter than I remembered and, as I gazed up at the perfect line, my hand fell naturally to my back and the first chalk bag dip in 33 days………
It may have been around for over 300 million years and I have only been parted from it for a month…but today I was climbing on gritstone for the first time in nearly 800 hours and it felt something close to spiritual.
For some unknown reason when I return from a trip I always go to Millstone edge. And, for some reason, when I make that first visit, I always end up at the bottom of Great North Road. No special reason and you know how sometimes those traditions just evolve, but it’s a route that I never tire of climbing because it also happens to be one of the finest gritstone routes of its grade anywhere (in my humble opinion!).
An easy rampline accesses a strenuous layback which brings you breathlessly to a small ledge. Make the time to enjoy your exposed position and place some good gear, then follow the superb crackline to a leftwards step around a small roof and more fine climbing to the top. All well protected, all intricate and interesting, all with that big route feel.
If you’ve climbed it you’ll know what I mean and if you haven’t it needs to be right at the top of your hitlist for the future. A route from the God’s on God’s rock - I might never go away again! (put probably will!!).
Have a great weekend.
Cheers,
Paul
August 26, 2008 at 2:23 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
The end of another tough day in the Livingstone Mountains
Jambo! 4 airports, 6 take offs and landings, 7 airline meals, 5 inflight movies and lots of welcoming faces at Manchester Airport. The feel of carpet between my toes, proper toast, lots of cuddles, Peak District gritstone, British Olympic success and overcast skies. It’s great to go away but it’s always great to get home too.
If you read my blog regularly you will know I’ve just got back from an expedition to Tanzania (If you are reading it for the first time I hope you’ll now be inspired to check in with us again once in a while). For the regulars I had promised regular progress reports but I had completely underestimated the remoteness of the locations we were in and the rubbishness of the internet connections we did occasionally find - sorry about that.
Anyway, a month is a long time and although I could fill pages with exciting memories of a fantastic trip, I don’t think anyone would really stay awake. So, instead I will just mention my personal highlight - our traverse of the Livingstone mountains.
The range is described by the Tanzanian Tourist Board as “remote and difficult to reach. Climbing is largely uncharted and for the most part the area remains unexplored by trekkers and guides” - perfect! Having said that, its relatively low altitude (highest summit of 9,600ft) and adventurous terrain, combined with the warmth of it’s people, mean anyone willing to take the time to visit is guaranteed a great experience. Forget anything UK style with OS maps and guidebooks - in the Livingstones an innaccurate hand drawn sketch map and sense of adventure are the order of the day.
The highlight, of a trek filled with highlights, was our 1160m ridge descent to the shores of Lake Nyasa (third largest of Tanzania’s lakes and also known as Lake Malawi) on day 5. Stunning landscape, stunning scenery and a challenging route meant the team were more than happy by the time they reached the chilled coke and sugarbeet shops in the village of Mabubu. A great achievement by a great team.
While I’ve been away Dave and Matt have been fronting Peak’s UK operations and they have had a busy time in Snowdonia, Scotland and the Peak District. Matt reported his personal highlight to be Jodie’s first Vdiff lead on an August Learn to Lead course while Dave (a man of simple tastes) reported his highlight as being the first pint of Theakston’s enjoyed after a major mountain day with Alice and Mike in Snowdonia. A big thanks to the Tanzania team, Matt, Dave and Cal and all the participants on our UK courses this summer.
I had hoped for some downtime this Autumn to sort out our winter courses schedule and the 2008/09 courses calendar but it’s already beginning to look rather busy over the next few weeks - looks like I’ll be burning the midnight oil again! Finally, a quick ‘heads up’ that we are planning more Costa Blanca climbing trips as well as Costa scrambling and Via Ferrata adventures for the Autumn. These will undoubtedly book up fast so please let us know if you are interested. A bit of Spanish sun after a gloomy UK summer - who wouldn’t be interested!
Cheers, Paul
(oh yes…..’Jambo’ is Swahili for ‘hello’ and ‘Sisi Kwa Sisi’ means ‘together we can’)
