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.