...and by trying I mean actually getting rained on. We headed to north wales for the weekend, under the premise that the weather report said showers and it actually would just shower! Instead it rained saturday, pretty much none stop and the showers? well the were just periods of heavier rain!! Didn't stop us from getting out climbing though.
Instead we headed out into the rain for a short multipitch route on Milestone buttress. This was to be Edd and Stu first mutlipitch route, but I figured that they could handle it. I took the first pitch, a horribly damp slab which quickly moves into a groovey squirm sort of move before another section of slab. I belayed trying to avoid the rain, before just giving it up, accepting I was going to get wet. I brought both Edd and Stu up together and tried to shoot some footage of them climbing at the same time. I guess the short video I'm trying to make with show the mixed results I had.
Stu then took the second and probably hardest pitch of the route. This he managed fine, even thought it was soaked through and it was his first multiptich route. While he was leading I explained the whole "multipitch thing" to Edd, who was still unsure of the whole deal. Then Edd set off and left we standing around on my ledge, getting cold.
After what seems like forever (but was probably only 5 minutes) I set off up the damp second pitch. I've done it before but it was a pleasure to do it in the wet as it was hard. It's not often I find a VD really hard and scary, and major kudos to Stu for leading it but I was scared. On a lighter note I manged to get a jammed nut out on the way up (this replaced the size 6 I'd just retired the day before for a frayed cable).
Then came our third and final pitch and what could be more traditional than doing a chimeny in the wet. The chimnet itself was actually reasonably dry, but getting into it on the polish was HARD. I actually fell off it, a very humbling experience I can tell you, but it made me put that little bit more effort into it second time round. I did get up it and so did Edd after much complaining and trying to get out of seconding it (and he loved it). Stu just seemed to flash up it like most things. We then pitched the last 15 metre second, as it was soaked and it wasn't worth the risk.
We descended very carefully down the right hand gully. It has a stream flowing down it, but we where all soaked or at least pretty damp by this point to care. The down climb was almost as hard as the upclimb and just as much fun, especially when Edd decided to sit in a waterfall. I've not seen someone that wet in a while. Making it back to the bags Edd proved his worth by producing a cherry pie from his bag and sharing it out. We bugged out to Pete's.
Infact we were in for more luck in Llanberis. I found a £10 note on the floor which provided us with a pint of tea each and a plate of chips to warm us up, then the obvious course of action was to find somewhere dry to sleep. The rain by this point had stopped we we chilled out under the Cromlech boulders and cooked up. Edd had alot of fun burning things with his new pocket rocket... namely his sausages. Then off to the pub for a couple of pint and a warm fire to dry our kit!
Instead we headed out into the rain for a short multipitch route on Milestone buttress. This was to be Edd and Stu first mutlipitch route, but I figured that they could handle it. I took the first pitch, a horribly damp slab which quickly moves into a groovey squirm sort of move before another section of slab. I belayed trying to avoid the rain, before just giving it up, accepting I was going to get wet. I brought both Edd and Stu up together and tried to shoot some footage of them climbing at the same time. I guess the short video I'm trying to make with show the mixed results I had.
Stu then took the second and probably hardest pitch of the route. This he managed fine, even thought it was soaked through and it was his first multiptich route. While he was leading I explained the whole "multipitch thing" to Edd, who was still unsure of the whole deal. Then Edd set off and left we standing around on my ledge, getting cold.
After what seems like forever (but was probably only 5 minutes) I set off up the damp second pitch. I've done it before but it was a pleasure to do it in the wet as it was hard. It's not often I find a VD really hard and scary, and major kudos to Stu for leading it but I was scared. On a lighter note I manged to get a jammed nut out on the way up (this replaced the size 6 I'd just retired the day before for a frayed cable).
Then came our third and final pitch and what could be more traditional than doing a chimeny in the wet. The chimnet itself was actually reasonably dry, but getting into it on the polish was HARD. I actually fell off it, a very humbling experience I can tell you, but it made me put that little bit more effort into it second time round. I did get up it and so did Edd after much complaining and trying to get out of seconding it (and he loved it). Stu just seemed to flash up it like most things. We then pitched the last 15 metre second, as it was soaked and it wasn't worth the risk. We descended very carefully down the right hand gully. It has a stream flowing down it, but we where all soaked or at least pretty damp by this point to care. The down climb was almost as hard as the upclimb and just as much fun, especially when Edd decided to sit in a waterfall. I've not seen someone that wet in a while. Making it back to the bags Edd proved his worth by producing a cherry pie from his bag and sharing it out. We bugged out to Pete's.
Infact we were in for more luck in Llanberis. I found a £10 note on the floor which provided us with a pint of tea each and a plate of chips to warm us up, then the obvious course of action was to find somewhere dry to sleep. The rain by this point had stopped we we chilled out under the Cromlech boulders and cooked up. Edd had alot of fun burning things with his new pocket rocket... namely his sausages. Then off to the pub for a couple of pint and a warm fire to dry our kit!
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