Leading lady

Didn't make it to Pembroke in the end. Faced with the long drive, contending with the bank holiday traffic, we decided to wait until Saturday morning, but inevitably when the alarm sounded at 7am, the temptation to stay in bed was too great. The weather forecast wasn't brilliant either, and we had stacks of things to do preparing for the trip, such as trying to find somewhere to stay for 8 weeks in Val Thorens. Besides, there's plenty of climbing to be had locally. After a good lie-in, Saturday saw us rooting through the summer season sale at Snow & Rock and Sarah got herself an absolute bargain Pac Lite jacket from The North Face, which at 40% off was almost embarressingly good value. I finally managed to get myself a new set of ski poles at next to nothing. In the evening, we decided on a self-catering apartment in V-T, supposedly capable of sleeping 4 people, which at 27 square metres will certainly be cozy. Good to have this sorted.

On Sunday we made it to Shorn Cliff, where I led 'One Less White...', (HVS 4c), outrageously overgraded, and Sarah took on 'Emotional Dyslexia' (HVS 5a), a route I'd done in the very distant past. A fine effort, and a sign of what was to come. We then moved up the block to the right, and I led the supposed classic of the crag 'Motion Pictures' (E1 5b). It's nice, but its 3-star billing should mean 'of national importance' which it clearly is a long way from being. On reflection, I probably veered too far to the left at the top. Still. Then we did 'Touch the Fire' (E2 5b) next door, a lovely little technical number up the concretions, almost like an indoor route. A bit bold, but never desperate. We then legged it back to make it to Nick and Jo's BBQ for 7. Well, 8.

Bank holiday Monday we headed for Wintour's. Called in to see Paul and Linda, and ended up chatting for a while, playing with the kids. In the back of my mind I'd hatched the idea of trying to get Sarah on the amenable 'Ecliptic' (E1 5b) to try to break the spell of the grade. Sarah's a very capable climber, with more than 200 logged routes, including some gnarly leads, like Stanage's 'Fern Crack'. She's also recently ticked some HVSs on lime stone, and some sport routes in the mid sixes. She rarely fails to second me up anything ('Split Flies' is the only example I can think of recently, but that's a special case anyway with its long reaches). E1 is a huge psychological barrier though. She has done Froggatt's 'Three Pebble Slab' at E1 5a, but it's both well known to be a soft touch, and playing to her strengths as a gritstone ballerina slab meister. Yet, I don't think she's in a hurry to do that one again, as its extreme run-out proved to be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride at the time.

We dropped down on the rope to the ledge. She wasn't exactly extatic, feeling that the route looked hard, butch and overhanging as we abbed down the line. I sometimes let my enthusiasm for her climbing run away with me, and I know I have to let her come to these things at her own speed. She has two faces at the start of a route. The first is the resigned, 'I've failed already' look, all wet puppy dog, and the second is the 'don't mess with me' all British Steel, grit and determination. I could see that this wasn't going to work from the outset. She ummed and ahhed for a bit, bit finally took the sharp end of the ropes, went up to the break and placed the first nut. She swung around the arete, didn't like the look of the next bit, and reversed, disappointed and angry. Mainly with me. We swapped over, and I climbed up to the top, and brought her up on the second. When she came up she was even angrier. "I can't believe you almost sent me up that! It was <expletive> nails". I was somewhat puzzled by this, having now done this route twice finding it very steady, and honestly believing that she'd breeze it. Of course, being a man I have proportionally greater power and a longer reach to my advantage, but this route did not particularly require either. I suggested I lower her off to the ledge again so that she could have another go. This time, pulling over her words were "it actually felt easy..".

We had some lunch, chatting about what had just happened. I know from my own experience how much your state of mind matters in climbing. Some days you just don't feel right stepping up to the plate for that big lead, or grade leap. This time it was me wanting her to do this route, rather than it being one of her own ambitions. It was bound not to work, and I felt like a pushy football dad shouting from the side lines on a Sunday afternoon. Now though, having seconded it once, and then repeated it again rather effortlessly, I could see the change in her face as it was happening. "I reckon I could actually lead that, you know". The steely glint was there in her eyes. I said that we had nothing planned for Wednesday evening if she wanted to get back on it, but I knew where this was heading...

"Why can't I do it now?"

Moments later I was back at the ledge, rigging the belay. When Sarah joined me the difference was palpable. She was wearing her other face, and I knew that this time it would be oh so different. Effortlessly, she swung the arete, moving up to the vintage, rusty peg. A Friend 4 went into the break just underneath to back it up. Now the airy step left - shared undercut in the roof, bridge out, wallnut #2 in the thin seam to the left. A few easy moves up the hand crack; in goes an Alien and a large hex and a few other assorted bits. She's extremely fastidious with her gear placements on the best of days, and she's a bit unhappy with one of the cams in the crack. It sits nicely at the moment, but the crack flares inwards, and one yank of the rope might see it clatter uselessly to the bottom. The other pieces look good. Sinker hex a bit lower down, and another nut #2 in a crack to the left. Now, the crux. From a jam at the top of the crack, smear up high and reach for a couple of jugs over the overlap. No more gear until the top, or at least not until the climbing's all over. Deep breath, from both climber and belayer. "So, from here I'm supposed to just go for it?" she says rhetorically to herself. Moments later it's all over, and I see her feet disappearing over the top. She's over the moon. She looks over the edge, beaming.

"I just led E1!"

Sure did, and very confidently so.

As I get to the top we wrap up the ropes. It's only six o'clock, plenty of daylight left. I tentatively mention 'Swatter' (HVS 5a) which tops out just to the left. We've done this recently, and she found it a bit worrying in places. There's also the top pitch of 'The Split', a VS, topping out in the same area, so if we drop back down to the ledge we have options. Different people react differently to succeeding on a big personal objective. On the one hand you're still reeling from the adrenaline rush, feeling invincible, and on the other hand you also feel that you've done your bit and it's difficult to rekindle that fire within for another route. I fully expect to be leading out. We go down "to have a look", but as Sarah joins me on the ledge I know she's unstoppable. There's the normal banter about what gear goes where, what moves are hard or reachy, but I can tell that the outcome is already clear. Mantling the block she's soon stood on it fiddling in the good wires in the high pockets. The crux is a wide step out right, rocking over without much for your hands. It's a breeze for her, and she's rapidly motoring up the groove above. A few quick wires, and she's pulling over.

We celebrate with beers and a well deserved bite to eat in The Rising Sun in Woodcroft.

Oh, and to top it all, England won the fourth Ashes test with a day to spare, enforcing the follow-on which hasn't happened to Australia for nearly 200 tests. Here's to five days of rain in two weeks' time :)

Rained off

Spectacularly unsuccessful Wintour's session last night. We'd settled on a 2-pitch E3 that Paul needed to do for his guide book work. As I got to the belay (off route, as it turned out) the heavens opened, and slabby, smooth limestone and water is not conducive to climbing, really. I abbed off from the peg and a #1 wallnut. Slog back up, rig abseil from top, send Paul down to retrieve left gear, and retreat to a nearby public house to dry off. At least my recent Crux sack proved nicely waterproof.

Leaving for Pembroke tonight, hopefully. Staying at the St Petrox camp site this time. Cricket's running currently at 235-4.

4th Test

The fourth Ashes test is starting today. Cricket was even referred to as being 'sexy' today on the morning news. "Not since the days of the Botham ashes.." etc.

Anyway. The work Haiku-duel is continuing on the internal IRC channel. Spike still has the lead with this gem of a put-down, referring to Steve's percieved lack of humor:

I see tumbleweeds
A bell tolls in the distance
Tragic joke alert

Finally managed to complete season 5 of The West Wing last night. Was worried about what the lack of Sorkin might do to the quality of the show, but although it started off a bit wobbly, it really took off towards the end.

Got a run in last night, but my running really has gone down the pan. Realistically, my chances of reaching the starting line of the half marathon is diminishing rapidly. At least there's an extra day off Monday. Sarah and I are heading for Pembroke, unless the weather forecast turns nasty. Looking good at the moment, anyway, so fingers crossed. Will hopefully get something in tonight with Paul at Wintour's, too.

Swatter

Sarah and I carried on our Fly Wall mission with an ascent of 'Swatter' (HVS 4c, 5a). The plan had been to have Sarah try something a bit meatier, but she wasn't feeling well so we settled on 'Swatter'. It might be a good route for her to lead next time. Looking back through my notes, I've actually climbed this route before, nearly five years ago. It was actually very nice indeed, with the second pitch comprising of some nicely technical sequences on immaculate rock. The first pitch is shared with 'The Split' (and in fact most other routes in this section, too), and is instantly forgettable. I also had the two cams I sent off to WildCountry for refurbishment back, with new trigger assemblies and tape. Excellent customer service, to a very reasonable price - at £12 a piece, it certainly beats having to splash out on new units.

The Met Office has issued 'severe weather warnings' for the area, so we'll see how the planned run develops..

Messner

Apparently, Günther Messner's body has been discovered on Nanga Parbat (8125m), after he disappeared on descent in 1970 after completing an audacious ascent with his brother, Reinhold.

Reinhold Messner is arguably the most influential mountaineer of all time, being the first to summit all 8000+ m peaks in the world, without supplemental oxygen. There was a lot of controversy surrounding Günther's death on Nanga Parbat. The discovery of his remains appear to corroborate Reinhold's recollection of the events.

Wedding

Cath and Dave's wedding this weekend, which turned out to be spot on. Nice weather, good crowd, and of course the joy of seeing close friends tying the knot. I'll post some pictures here when I can lift them off Sarah's camera - which I so nearly lost :) We danced the night away, and sadly there's photographic evidence of my, eh 'grooving' it up to some 80s cheese. At least I think I managed to avoid the roaming video cameras (Chris was less fortunate in this regard..). Sunday saw us at a lavish buffet layed on by Dave's parents. Pimm's and lemonade works wonders against hangovers. Dave and Cath are jetting off on their honeymoon right about now, looking forward to some African wilderness and remote Indian Ocean beaches.

This week is predicted to be a total washout - it's already begun, in fact. I guess realistically we're approaching the end of the post-work climbing season. Looking at my adventurehut.com logs, this has already been a good year in terms of the logged mileage. The two previous years have been statistical outliers, hardly any climbing at all last year due to various external issues, and the year before that three times my previous top year. This was primarily due to several mad weekends of endless easy soloing on the eastern grit edges - one weekend alone saw me covering 50 routes at Stanage and Birchen up to E1. One of my most memorable days, actually, starting Saturday morning on Pebble Arete, and finishing Sunday afternoon at the top of Crescent Arete, both of which represented personal ambitions at the time. Soloing is an almost meditative experience.

Mo

Mo Mowlam, former Northern Ireland Secretary passed away last night after losing her extended battle against a brain tumor. Always straight-talking, honest and, together with Robin Cook, who also passed away not long ago, she was the strongest, and perhaps most influential anti-war voice in the UK. She was largely credited with getting the Good Friday agreement off the ground in NI, paving the way for peace there. In recent years, she was also Tony Blair's biggest critic, disliking as she did the americanisation of the UK political landscape. With both MM and RC gone, the voice of reason is in dire need of a new champion.

Tomorrow Cath and Dave are getting married near Reading. It will be great to see them, and also meeting up with Chris and Nana for the occasion. The only down side is having to wear a suit :)

Second date

Second date with 'Split Flies' last night. A better effort, but still not clean. Was feeling tired after the previous evening's bouldering, and probably should have left it. However, seeing how easy it went on TR on Monday, I thought I'd have a go. As I clipped the peg, I realised that the cam I'd placed in the break below obscured the little 'beak' where I needed to place my left foot to move up. I slumped on the peg, moved the cam and 'powered' up the crux after a short breather. I felt incredibly weak, and only just made it. The route, with its enormous spans, doesn't exactly play to Sarah's strengths (being 5'4''), and after a couple of valiant attempts I lowered her to the deck, constrained as we were by the fading light. She would need some time on a rope to work out an alternative sequence for the crux. I abbed down for the few remaining pieces of gear. Ah well, there's always next time.

We'd started on 'Freedom', a classic and very popular VS, and no push-over. Sarah had backed off this in the distant past, and was only a few days before vowing never to get on it ever. After her fine performance on 'Swallows Nest' she tentatively suggested that she might try it to dispel her demons once and for all. I took the first pitch, and arriving at the belay realised that we'd left the nut key behind. Sarah had to leg it back up to fetch it (unnecessarily, as it turned out) while I rigged. The top pitch is an open book corner with a thin hands crack, curving slightly up to the right. At the top it's capped by a roof, leading to a galopping hand traverse joining 'Swallows Nest' just before its crux. Sarah was stating quite forcefully that she intended to come down the very moment she didn't 'like it'. She set off, confidence rising with every perfect hex that was swallowed by the crack. The upper third of the crack leading to the hand traverse requires some faith in your footwork, as the little edges that litter the lower part appear to peter out to be replaced by something rather more blank-looking. The crack now closes up to fingers, and Sarah moved up and down a few times to place a couple of nuts and a small cam to prepare for the sprint. It's actually a bit of an anti-climax. The hand traverse appears wild at the start as you can't see what you're going for, but the moment you swing the corner good foot holds (and gear) appear on 'Swallows Nest'. Maybe now, having led most of the VSs at Fly Wall, and seconded most of the E1s, Sarah will realise that she can actually climb... She'd cruise 'Mosquito Bite' and 'Ecliptic', both well-protected E1s, if she could match her confidence to her skill.

Wed

Didn't make it to Wintour's last night, despite the glorious weather. Did in fact go down the wall instead to hook up with Sarah and Neil who have spent some considerable amount of time travelling around Fiji. Based on their recommendations, we may revisit our plans and head into the less tourist-ridden islands instead. Dave and Henk came down, too, and both of them are climbing rather well, actually, despite not going that frequently. Dave was sporting a rather Oasis-esque 4-day stubble, which apparently is the way his lady friend prefers him :)

Hoping for Wintour's tonight though. Plan is for Sarah to get on her old nemesis 'Freedom' (VS 4c) which is quite stiff for the grade. It would be a great confidence boost for her, seeing that she's struggled on it before. Then my rematch with 'Split Flies' beckons if we have time.

Draw

The third test ends in a draw, as England came within one wicket of beating the Aussies. Spectacular play though, and the banter is a bit more subdued from Warne & Co now, compared with at the beginning of the series. England dominated every session, so it's the Aussies that should be thankful that one day was lost to rain for a change. One week to the next test at Trent Bridge.

Wonderful evening at Wintour's last night, with Sarah taking the sharp end for the top pitch of 'Swallows Nest' (VS 4b, 4b). In the fading light I then had a quick go on 'Split Flies' in an, eh, ethically dubious style. It went, fine. Thinking that for the lead the way to go might be to just motor it up to the peg without pausing to place the intermediate wires. Semi-solo. What stumped me on the on-sight attempt was wearing out on the lower wall, plus not having the strength to hang about working the crux. Now that I know how to do the crux, sparing my arms at the bottom should be the way to go. Will have a go this evening.

Folly Farm

Bruno and Jenny have now officially left work and home, and are now living out of their car until the date of departure. This was celebrated this weekend with a gathering/BBQ at Folly Farm, picturesquely placed squarly in Chew Valley. This is a farm used for educational purposes run by Jen's now former employer. Approximately 50 people from near and far were there in an interesting mix; climbers, collegues, school friends. A staggering array of sausages were eaten, and some alcohol was consumed. Sarah and I camped in the farm grounds. It was great to see everyone again, Simon and Pip down from Leeds, Stu and Avril from the badlands of Norwich and all the people from the wall. On the Sunday, after some sore heads had faded, we went to Cheddar for some bolt clipping in the sun at Arch Rock. I managed to take a surprise lob after a hold came off in my hand and smacked me on the cheek. Me and Sarah, John and Vicki went back to Folly Farm with Bruno and Jenny to finish off the rest of the food.

Chew Valley is an incredibly beautiful piece of country side.

Split Flies

Beta for 'Split Flies' follows.

As suspected, 'Split Flies' requires its man. After a sustained first five or six metres off the ledge, struggling with every piece of gear one is faced with a distinct, hard, crux move. Paul was feeding me running beta: stretch up off the low undercut, two fingers in the notch on the flake, lock off, smear both feet on the blank wall to the right, and do the 6 foot stretch up left to the jug.

Fat chance.

I slumped, disheartened, onto the peg. I retreated to the ledge, and Paul led through for his first clean ascent in fine, confident style. Back on the blunt end, the crux move still felt utterly impossible. I could get the top joint of my fingers in the sharp notch, but even taking my weight on it, let alone yarding wildly, saw me weighting the rope. Another approach was clearly called for. Instead of reaching for the notch, I pinched the flake lower down in a sort of half side pull, half undercut. A better hold, one that didn't feel as if it would slice off my fingers in the event of a fall, but one which would make the already long stretch even longer. I could now lay off more comfortably facing to the right, inching my right foot into a small dimple at about knee height. An intermediate sidepull for my left hand kept me in balance whilst stretching for the jug. I managed - just - to get my finger tips on it and now had to face the mantle with my already throbbing fore arms. The rest of the route is a formality. Paul had said this would be an extraordinarily hard on-sight, and he's right - the sustained nature of the moves leading up to the crux gives you very little time to think and work out the sequence. The crux move, even the way I did it in the end, is probably the single hardest move I've encountered on a route. Pretty damn hard for E2 5c if you ask me. But then again, there is good gear, if you have the strength and zen to place it. The crux itself is protected by a peg, conveniently extended by some tied cord to make it clippable from where it counts. The difficulties are butch but brief. Now, looking back, I think I'm able to do this, having had the time to work out the moves, and knowing what gear goes where. But the E2 band at Fly Wall seems to be where it's at.

We then did the top pitch of the neighbouring 'Ecliptic' (E1 4c, 5b), which I at least led without incident. The guide book write-up is unduly harsh on this route. I found it well-protected, steady and not at all loose. Quite nice, actually. To show off, Paul then proceeded to down-climb this route after he seconded it, and then repeated 'Split Flies' again in the fading light. He's climbing better than I've ever seen him.

Tired

I'm knackered. No sleep last night, kipping on the sofa at the inlaws'. Add to that a late night, early morning and 90 miles to work.. nevermind. Did a 5k run at lunch time to clear the cobwebs. Back to Wintour's Leap tonight for some 'Split Flies' E2 action. I have a bad feeling about this, suspecting the mother of all sandbags. "Short & sharp, suits your style" said Paul. Might suggest abbing in to get straight to the point, so to speak, rather than having to do some shitty lower wall pitch first.

The cricket's back in full swing at Old Trafford and England ain't doing too bad, currently 182 for 2. Shane 'The Spindoctor' Warne took his 600th career wicket. The man's a living legend.

Humar

Tomaz Humar is, as they say, as hard-core as they come in the world of modern alpinism. He was recently rescued in Pakistan.

Lady luck smiles on the brave, it would seem.

The dumbing down of America

The Bush administration of neocon neanderthals seems set on turning back the clock to the middle ages, by gradually reducing the status of the teaching of Darwinian Evolution in the schools. They're peddling the common misunderstanding of the word 'theory' as meaning 'unproven conjecture'. Evolution is probably the single best supported theory in existence today, and the probability of it being fundamentally incorrect is infinitesimally close to zero. These people just don't understand the scientific process. What's the next target, Einstein's theory of relativity?

The problem is that uneducated fools are all too happy broadcasting their ignorance. We need a champion of rationality. Step up to the plate, Mr Dawkins.

This makes me angry. Stupidity is worrying when displayed by the powerful.

Yesterday

saw quite a lot of climbing, both the luch time antics at Winterbourne and an evening route at Wintour's Leap, 'African Killer Bee' (VS 4c) led by Sarah. She went through the full spectrum of emotions on this route, ranging from "I hate Wintour's Leap!" to "Really really nice route" when pulling over. It was of course way below her ability (she's really an E1 leader that occasionally manages to convince herself that she can't lead vdiff), but she got a bit thrown by the fact that this route shared a section with 'Mosquito Bite' (E1 5b). Now, the fact that she recently sailed up this route, too, didn't seem to matter. Once she put her head down and got on with it she cruised it effortlessly, as she normally does. Paul was having a rematch with 'Flyover' nearby with Tim, and managed it successfully this time around. I should get on it, too, soon.

Athletics

The Swedish ladies are ruling the roost in the Athletics World Championships, Helsinki. After Carolina Klüft's gold in the heptathlon, Kajsa Bergqvist and Emma Green secured the gold and bronze in the high jump last night. Especially impressive effort from Kajsa who snapped her achilles tendon clean off only eleven months ago. On Sunday it's Stefan Holm's turn to show if he can repeat the gold performance from the Athens olympics in the men's high jump final. Shame Christian Olsson, the hands down favourite tripple jumper, is injured. Something's happened in Swedish athletics, and it's very impressive.

But what have they ever done at Stanage, eh :)

Got my Crux sack in the post yesterday, and very nice it is, too. I filled it with rack + two half ropes, and it's a vast improvement on my old, tired Lowe sack. It's got that bomb-proof feel to it. Paul and I are hopefully off for a cheeky lunch-time boulder session at a near by crag X. My elbow is sore still, but banking on being able to do some lower intensity stuff. Indooring is out for a while. Tonight Sarah and I are heading to the Crag of Dreams and hopefully Sarah will lead something. She did well in Pembroke the other weekend, but Wintour's doesn't work for her for some reason.

[update] Just back from two hours at Winterbourne Down - lovely little sandstone bluff by a creek. Nothing to write home about in the grand scheme of things, but a nice little place for a lunch time boulder session in the sun. Did two recorded routes at E3 and E1, but more like V0 highball over a pad. No one's shouting at me yet for being extraordinary late back from lunch :)

Gardening leave

No climbing this weekend, as my right elbow is very sore. Don't want to develop tendonitis at this stage so will take it easy for a while. Sarah's away in Southampton on a hen weekend. I expect nothing but carnage. Went for a medioker run, and spent the day pruning the trees in the garden which had grown a tad unruly. Woke up from the smell of burning rubber last night and went out to see that some scrote had torched the neighbour's vintage mini. It was parked next to my car, which is now covered in soot, but looks otherwise intact.

Shockingly, Robin Cook is reported to have died whilst walking in the Scottish hills. One of the most courageous UK politicians around, and his voice of reason will be sorely missed in the political landscape.

Oh, and England is actually in the lead after the first innings in the second Ashes test.

More

..sunshine again! I can't believe it. Hopefully should mean not getting wet & muddy running tonight. Anyway, Glyn just handed in his notice after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the way this company is run. Obviously I can't blame him for that, seeing that I've just done the same, but it leaves young Steve as the most senior developer, and he's only been here a few months. Interesting times ahead, no doubt.

Anyway - worked a few problems down the wall last night, but without any real enthusiasm. My toe finally went through the front of my rock boot, so I'll have to pop down to Snow & Rock to get a new pair. I've really liked this pair, even if they're probably not ideal for the sort of stuff we'll be doing in Yosemite. Might look into getting a pair of La Sportiva Katanas, which is reportedly a good all-round shoe.

Sun

I can see the sun, it's a miracle! Shame we've arranged to go indooring working the 7b circuit. Did the 2 x Downs loop last night, at a reasonable 52. That was faster than I had intended, as I foolishly decided to try to keep up with Sarah's pace for the first lap. This got me around in about 25, but then I was suffering endlessly for the next lap. Angus came around in the evening and we finally managed to watch the concluding two episodes of '24'. Apparently, Fox has commissioned two more seasons, but I don't think I'll bother watching it, as it's rapidly becoming a case of deja-vu. Funnily (or disturbingly, if you prefer), there's been quite a few mentions of Jack Bauer and his interrogation methods in the public debate surrounding the recent London terrorist attacks. Apart from the unfortunate octuple-tap of the innocent Brazilian electrician, the police has actually been remarkably successful in wrapping up the terrorist cells, but the old adage still stands - the police has to be successful every time, whereas the terrorists only once.

Anyway. Release your books.

Pembroke

We made it to Pembroke after all. We were umming and aahing for ages on Friday night looking at various weather forecasts that all appeared to contradict eachother, but finally went for it. It lashed it down pretty much all the way there, but it was dry in Bosherston itself by the time we pitched our tent. During the night the heavens opened, and our hearts sank. By the time we rolled out of bed, it was down to a drizzle, and we considered cutting our losses and heading back to Bristol. In the end, we decided to head for the north coast and Carreg-y-Barcud, which turned out to be a fortunate decision. The weather gradually improved, and we ended up having a pleasant afternoon on the immaculate slabs. I had wanted to do 'Sinecure', but the tide was making that impossible. Sarah led a vdiff up the right hand corner of the main wall, and I got on 'Beyond the Azimuth' (E1 5b), a gradually widening blind crack that cuts diagonally up to the left. Very strenuous, as to be able to place gear you have to hang with your hands and right foot in the crack, and the left foot smearing on nothing. I got to within a few moves of the top before it got the better of me, and I slumped spent onto a cam. Sarah got up it very nicely by keeping both feet and only one hand in the crack instead around the crux. This approach would probably have made it trickier to place gear, but she certainly pulled over in better shape than I did. The usual brain/brawn dichotomy.

Sarah then led a very nice HS called 'Metamorphosis'. Of course, 'Kitten Claws' has been a long standing ambition after some very inspiring photography on UKClimbing.com. After standing at its base, it will probably have to remain an ambition for a while longer while I grow some cojones :). I know people say it's not as blank, or hard as it looks, but from the bottom it looks E8, not E3. Besides, (flicking through book of excuses) I don't have any RPs. Yep, that's it.

On the Sunday the weather actually looked a bit better, and we headed for St Govan's. 'Tactician' (HVS 5a) is a multi-star route that was reported to be worth a go, and off I set. It's a gently overhanging corner crack which from the bottom appears to be mostly furnished with good juggery. The crux bulge was seeping and sodding wet. Limestone and water makes an unpleasant combination, and the route felt harder than it should have done as a consequence. We then trundled over and did 'Front Line', also rated HVS 5a. Its start was also seeping, but the rest of the route was a glorious joy. Sarah struggled on the wet starting mantle and didn't enjoy the route. By this time the drizzle was returning, and we decided to bail early, and headed back.

Overall, I think we made the best of it, and we got to see Carreg-y-Barcud, and it's certainly a place to which I'd like to return. Pembroke really is an amazing climbing destination.