April showers - in May!
The promised warm weather arrived and then promptly left again which came as a bit of a let down. Nevertheless I managed a day out and about with an American who is the brother-in law of a mate. I found it amazing that he was so fond of our crags especially since he had visited some of our less pristine gems. Not at all like the American who after a day at Gogarth was asked if they had rock like this in the US and he replied that they had absolutely masses but just didn’t bother climbing on it! I also had a good visit to the Lakes and was pleased to see that some of the crags are looking much cleaner than when I last saw them although I may need recalibrating after spending time down in mid Wales over the last few years (see photo of approach to Gist Ddu). A BMC SW meeting at Chudleigh was notable for the amount of food on offer and some very impressive stainless steel pegs on show that hopefully will go a long way to sorting out spots such as Long Quarry Point and The Sanctuary Wall in Torbay, which are now really in need of new fixed gear. I know that some advocate a no peg/fixed (not bolts) gear policy on our sea-cliffs but if this was put in place in Devon and N.Cornwall so much would be lost to many climbers and although many of the routes could be climbed without pegs etc, at much higher grades, how many would be headpoints or climbed after inspection from ab? Off to pack for Lofoten now so fingers crossed the weather is kind.