EGCC Newsletter Twenty One
Cornish Cream and LagerStarring Eddie Church and Martin Upfold.As Eddie had been attending a course in Devon and I had nothing better to do we arranged to do a little cliff climbing in Cornwall. Not having to work on a Friday afternoon meant that I was able to meet Eddie at the Wreckers Inn at a reasonable time before camping at the Kelynack campsite near St.Just (£2.50 a night but you have to book). Saturday, and like a man on a mission I headed to the Penzance pasty company to purchase a huge box of pasties followed by a browse of the Groovy Poodle (purveyors of extraordinary hats and other ridiculous Garb). And then to Bosigran to attack Venusberg (VS 4a,4a,4c,4b). I got half way up the second pitch when the heavens opened and my bottle went. Thankfully Eddie lead the rest of the pitch and we high tailed it back to the campsite to await developments. Whist waiting we indulged in the full teashop experience (but without bacon butties and scones it was in no way satisfying). By late afternoon the Sun had returned and we tried to salvage the day at Sennen by Eddie leading me up Dextrose (HVS 5a), Double Overhang (VS 4c) and No Number (VS 5a). All this late into the evening action meant all the local food sellers had gone home and we where forced to go into Penzance to find a chippy, drink larger and gawp at scantly clad young things. Eddie started wondering if he could get into any of the clubs dressed in fleece, lycra leggings, big boots and old tee-shirts. (you’ve more chance of getting a f*** of the pope says I). On Sunday the gloom returned but the rain held off so
that we could have another go at Venusburg and follow it
with Little Brown Jug, both super routes which made my
body ache. I was glad that Eddie was able to drag me up
both of them. The next club trip to Cornwall is on August Bank Holiday, I’ll be there will you ?? Martin Upfold An Afternoon At the Dewarstonewith Martin Upfold and Jody Keane28th June 1998 After a tedious 4 hour drive from Burgess Hill we arrived at the crag with a sense of forboding, the sky was full of black clouds, we did not want to turn round and drive all the way back without touching rock. Luckly the rain held off and we set about tackling Colonel’s arete, a wonderfull V.Diff which ends on a small pinicle from which I could admire the view over the Pym valley whist Jody made light work of seconding. After Lunch we decided to have a go at Route B and add in some of the variations mentioned in the guide book. The first pitch is a little mucky until the the small overlap at the top makes you think. The second pitch has very little to recommend it except that it is followed by the third, which throws a wonderfull feeling of exposure at you as you traverse out onto the face and climb up on big holds to finish. (oh and yes Shirley my nut is still there after the last trip). All to soon it was time to head back east and play with the traffic. Famous Pierre
A Grand Day OutMartin & Harvey 4th JulyHarvey and I took a short drive up the M4 to celebrate
American Independence day by climbing up the sun soaked
cliffs of Wintors Leap. Any excuse to go climbing will do
for us!
Wintors Leap -Wye Valley20 - 21st JuneAs this was my first time in this area I decided to make a weekend of it. Rather than camp, Robert Hall and I decided to stay in a converted chicken hut which masquerades as a cavers hut in the Mendip hills. We had the whole place to ourselves, I can’t think why. Wintors leap was only 45 mins away, but it was raining, so we sheltered under some rock debating our first route. As the sun appeared we had decided on Central Rib and Rob had decided that I was too lead all of the pitches. Central route is a little like a pick and mix stall in that there are three or four similar lines in close proximity that you can mix and match depending on your mood. We started on the Vdiff as it was all wet and we are not very good first thing in the morning, switching to the Severe halfway up and then finishing on the VS line. It was a good laugh swapping routes frequently and thoroughly confusing ourselves but we slowly got to the top by which time the humidity turned the whole place into a tropical rain forest. We retired to Mendip to waste away the day . On Sunday we had a look at the north wall area and decided to have a go at Right Hand Route (HS). The first pitch wobbled about a bit as we wobbled to a tree belay. Next we tackled a few small overhangs and blocks (These were, of course, huge monsters when I was going over them but Rob hardly noticed them). At the third pitch I was unable to get my customary 8 bits of gear in the first 10ft but as it was only 10ft to a rusty looking peg my normal practice went straight out of the window, any way it’s a well know fact that no one dies on an HS and all climbs can be talked up into an E number over a few pints. The next pitch made me struggle, being short the hand holds where miles apart and I had to carefully wobble from one move to another finally ending in a “praise the Lord and go for it” move that can only be seen at this level of climbing. The sun shined and all was right with the world Martin Upfold
Teton AdventuresConundrum: Nick and Alison are in the USA, we were
going to the USA, and both Nick and I like to climb. The
solution seemed simple. We meet up at some suitable venue
and get some routes in. Just one small snag; this was
Jill's summer holiday! That little problem solved, we
agreed to meet in the Grand Teton National Park, very
conveniently located close to Yellowstone. With the
promise of just a few days under canvas, even Jill seemed
happy with the arrangement. So, just 4,000 miles for us
by `plane and some 2,000 miles for Nick and Alison by car
and there we were - at South Jenny Lake camp site ready
for the off so to speak. The weather was ambivalent on
arrival, but a good day was promised. The traditional
early start (only 5.00 am this time) and we were on our
way to the trailhead leading to Middle Teton (12,804').
For a summer climb there seemed to be rather a lot of
snow, we thought, but that should make the SW couloir
route that we had chosen more interesting. The developing
low cloud also added interest, but careful map and
compass work eventually convinced us that we were
climbing the right mountain! A very long time later (as
usual we had not acclimatised) we reached the col between
Middle and South Teton and were looking up at the grade
I/II snow couloir. No need for roping up - fortunately
since the rope along with all our communal gear had been
dumped some 400' lower down - so we soloed to the airy
summit in somewhat less than record time. The
implications of Teton climbing very soon become apparent
when considering the implications of a high mountain
range rising without foothills from the surrounding
plane. Longish walk ins (8 miles each way) and almost
6,000' of ascent are never going to be quick, or easy.
Anyway, we had arrived, missed the view of Grand Teton
(and virtually everything else!) and began the steep
descent. Nothing much untoward here, just a very long
plod and a little rather mobile snow. Something over 12
hours after leaving we were back at the car in scorching
heat.
The Boy Done GoodRoute names can tell you a lot about the route, the
first assentionist or both. for example if a route is
called “Ordinary Route” or “Buttress
Direct” you can be sure that it was first climbed by
a tweed clad climber in hob nailed boots and with the aid
of a couple of servants. If on the other hand the route
is called something like “Psychedelic Chalk bags”
in was undoubtedly put up in the 70’s by a spaced
out hippy. Sometimes the name describes the climb, for
example “Three Pebble Slab” is a slab with
three pebbles on it. This has, however, been shortened
from the original “Three Pebble Slab with a funny
shaped hole half way up for your one and only bit of gear
which won’t stop you from hitting the ground once
you get to the wobbly bit”, but that was always a
bit of a mouthful.
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