It seems that I just can't stay out of the slate quarries lately, even though I've been sitting around at home pinning for solid mountain rock or the quartzite of Gogarth. Soames had other ideas and I smiled watched him pretty much skip along into Dinorwig Quarry, like a toddler on his way to the fair. I on the other hand was contemplating the route we were heading for...
And so on a beautifel day in May I found myself staring up at an almost hanging slate chimeny which then broke out onto the face and ascended the most natural of iron rods and pipes poking proudly out of the wall... patellectomy (E1 5c). Patellectomy itself is a medical procedure (or I assume could also be done with say a gunshot?) where by the patella (or knee-cap) is removed. I could only wonder why the route was so named?
I did put it off for as long as possible, sitting around reading the guide book, making small talk and generally trying to get out of going up. I don't know whats up with me lately but I think it has something to do with all the slate I've pulled off in the last month. It seems to have given me an inherent distrust for this rock. My fear of snapping a hold off seems to never rest. Eventually I just couldn't put it off any longer and armed with a few wires and some long slings I set off.
... and dear god it was hard! I scraped and scrabbled up the chimney bracing warily off the sides and eventually made some progress upwards before being stumped again. In the end I managed to make some progress up the higher chimney before making a desperate grab for the parallel bars. I made it and swung my feet onto the second bar for a dual hell hook rest. Actually getting onto the bars proved pretty easy, and with a shothole for gear I set about making the next move.
This was hard, probably the crux if mantling a pipe counts as the crux? I need to work my my felxibility if I'm to climb any harder I think! but loose pipe mantled, I climbed up the final section (again not actually easy) to top out, phew! This was definatly a climb that bordered somewhere between type 1 and 2 fun. I can't think of a route thats as childish as this (monkey bars to hang on) but has also filled me with so much fear (iron bars to land on). Needless to say, Soames took a no-nonsense approach and back & footed the entire chimney, only to get stumped by a height dependant move. We abseiled back in.
Only to walk out and head for Never never land area. We actually bypassed all the sport and trad routes in the area to head for the small hole in the ground right in front of the route Never Never Land itself. I've looked into this hole often but have never actually been down there to do any of the routes, today was different.
I've not idea what routes we actually did because the clear lines on the wall and the ones in the guide didn't add up completly. Hell this didn't stop us from doing some cool climbing. Soames lead a route of around 5a, which had 2 pieces of gear. I'm pretty sure that at least on of them would have held too. It was a nice line and I seconded it only to find Soames belayed to something odd pipework concreted to the floor. Well after that it was my turn to lead something. I took to feature which had caught my eye as soon as we got down, big scoop which actually had a piece of gear on route (shot-hole). Off I set, and then ran out of gear only to have to make difficult moved to reach for-mentioned shot-hole. In here I crammed a bent over number 7 and set off up the scoop. The climbing was necky but really good (around 5a) but the top-out was atrocious. While I was busy crapping myself and apologising for cleaning off ledges onto Soames, he was busy laughing his head off and dodging rock fall... it was no wonder the peoples sport climbing near us commented on our apparent "madness".
Topping out I slung a house, because it was there and it was nessessary to try and out do Soames. Soamed then went one better with his next route. He managed to climb a flake, about the size of a normal door, that was loose. It got to the point where I'd moved the ropes and myself out from the fall out zone of said flake, and watched worriedly as Soames climbed very carefully and very technically up this flake. Not bad by all accounts.
We then bailed from this deathly little hole in the ground and headed to the better rock of Nuremberg Area. Here I climbing a F6c called Swiss Air, which was pretty good by all accounts but had a few too many bolts for my liking. Sdaly the newer bolted routes in the slate quarries seem to be bolted in the style of yorkshire limestone (clip-ups) rather than the run-out oldschool place-as-little-bolts-on-a-route-a-possible approach that used to be de-riguer. It was still good recreation though. Soames then lead Hot Air Crack, a HVS 5a, which had been retrobolted to make it a F6a. Good route, would have been a better experience without the bolts.
We then bailed from the quarries only to decided on the walk out and that we had not actually finished. Instead we headed to Biggles Flies Undone at Blast Shelter Quarry and I did both the 5b and 5c lines on this little slab.
Everytime I think I've done everything I can do in the Slate quarries, I always find more and more routes or more areas to explore. Hell I've not even made it up to Mordor and the Lost World yet, or even attempted any of the big routes in Twll Mawr!
This was hard, probably the crux if mantling a pipe counts as the crux? I need to work my my felxibility if I'm to climb any harder I think! but loose pipe mantled, I climbed up the final section (again not actually easy) to top out, phew! This was definatly a climb that bordered somewhere between type 1 and 2 fun. I can't think of a route thats as childish as this (monkey bars to hang on) but has also filled me with so much fear (iron bars to land on). Needless to say, Soames took a no-nonsense approach and back & footed the entire chimney, only to get stumped by a height dependant move. We abseiled back in.
Only to walk out and head for Never never land area. We actually bypassed all the sport and trad routes in the area to head for the small hole in the ground right in front of the route Never Never Land itself. I've looked into this hole often but have never actually been down there to do any of the routes, today was different.
I've not idea what routes we actually did because the clear lines on the wall and the ones in the guide didn't add up completly. Hell this didn't stop us from doing some cool climbing. Soames lead a route of around 5a, which had 2 pieces of gear. I'm pretty sure that at least on of them would have held too. It was a nice line and I seconded it only to find Soames belayed to something odd pipework concreted to the floor. Well after that it was my turn to lead something. I took to feature which had caught my eye as soon as we got down, big scoop which actually had a piece of gear on route (shot-hole). Off I set, and then ran out of gear only to have to make difficult moved to reach for-mentioned shot-hole. In here I crammed a bent over number 7 and set off up the scoop. The climbing was necky but really good (around 5a) but the top-out was atrocious. While I was busy crapping myself and apologising for cleaning off ledges onto Soames, he was busy laughing his head off and dodging rock fall... it was no wonder the peoples sport climbing near us commented on our apparent "madness".
Topping out I slung a house, because it was there and it was nessessary to try and out do Soames. Soamed then went one better with his next route. He managed to climb a flake, about the size of a normal door, that was loose. It got to the point where I'd moved the ropes and myself out from the fall out zone of said flake, and watched worriedly as Soames climbed very carefully and very technically up this flake. Not bad by all accounts.
We then bailed from this deathly little hole in the ground and headed to the better rock of Nuremberg Area. Here I climbing a F6c called Swiss Air, which was pretty good by all accounts but had a few too many bolts for my liking. Sdaly the newer bolted routes in the slate quarries seem to be bolted in the style of yorkshire limestone (clip-ups) rather than the run-out oldschool place-as-little-bolts-on-a-route-a-possible approach that used to be de-riguer. It was still good recreation though. Soames then lead Hot Air Crack, a HVS 5a, which had been retrobolted to make it a F6a. Good route, would have been a better experience without the bolts.
We then bailed from the quarries only to decided on the walk out and that we had not actually finished. Instead we headed to Biggles Flies Undone at Blast Shelter Quarry and I did both the 5b and 5c lines on this little slab.
Everytime I think I've done everything I can do in the Slate quarries, I always find more and more routes or more areas to explore. Hell I've not even made it up to Mordor and the Lost World yet, or even attempted any of the big routes in Twll Mawr!
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