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Rob Lamey has completed an outrageous 25m F8a deep water solo on Little Orme. The Heel Hook Look climbs across the obvious right-to-left rising break on Craig y Don Lower.
Last year Rob climbed the first section of the break, exiting upwards onto slabby ground when the jugs ran out; Small Town Boy rates F6c, a classic route on perfect rock.
Rob then tried the leftwards continuation, but couldn't work it out. Returning this year when the water had warmed up again, he got stuck in again and gradually broke down its defences over four separate sessions, with numerous splash downs into the sea. Each time Rob was getting a little further, and in the end he made it through a very sustained series of steep heelhook manoeuvres and powerful swings, climbing out to the top with much relief. Follow the link below to see a film of Rob's epic ascent:
The Heel Hook Look film
The line is accessed by climbing down Game For a Laugh (HS). It is possible to solo here above the water for up to two hours either side of high tide. There are no rocks under the water, just sand, and at high tide the water is around 4m deep.
Elsewhere in North Wales the action has been focussed upon the Llanberis Slate quarries and Gogarth.
Firstly at Gogarth, on the radical front face of Penlas Rock, Jack Geldard took the lead on a steep and challenging three-pitch route. After an E2 approach pitch leading to a hanging belay, Polymastia Traverse (E5 6a) takes the obvious rising traverse line heading rightwards. This gets progressively harder and looser, until a harrowing pull around the final roof leads to an easier slab and a junction with Callipygian Groove. The crux, which is the same for both routes, follows. Given that Callipygian Groove is E6, and that the Adam Wainwright and Pete Robins specifically invited Jack to lead the hard pitch, the mooted E5 grade does seem a little suspect. When questioned, Jack admitted that he wouldn’t recommend it as a first E5: "Remember, it's not a sweet shop - we're not giving them away". During the ascent Pete Robins hung on the abseil rope and took photos; Pete had previously climbed Callipygian Groove, and was keen to give Jack some helpful beta having blagged him into leading a rather nerve wracking pitch. Jack explains: “As I got nearer, Pete shouted over - "Make sure you save a size three cam for this crack - it's a bomber" I sketched my way along the traverse, and in extremis, stuffed in all my cams - except the size three. As I got nearer I noticed Pete looked a bit shifty. He then said, "Did I say a number three? I meant a three and a half..." With eyes on stalks I gibbered onwards past the empty three and a half placement. I think he felt a bit guilty, as when I rocked over on to the slab a rock nine was waiting - wedged in to a perfect placement.”
Also on Penlas Rock, both Jack and Dave Pickford made repeats of Pre-Cambrian Wrestler (E7 6b), a full-on George Smith special blasting through the steepness on the right side of the Rock of Ages cleft.
Over on the dusty, spider web-clad Red Walls, Neil Dickson and James McHaffie added an alternative start to the neglected Paul Pritchard E7, Super Calabrese. The Super-Duper Calabrese (E6 6b) makes a hard lip traverse of foot holds on Heart of Gold, until a powerful sequence leads up into the groove of the original route. This new version avoids the nasty original start, which had repelled a number of teams, and looks likely to open the whole route up as a classic three-pitch E6. The route was climbed ground up, with two falls being taken when some quartzy holds broke; apparently the remaining rock is now ‘solid’.
Also on the Red Walls, Mike Waters and Graham Hoey swung leads to complete an epic eight-pitch girdle reversing The Missionary into The Maze, skirting left-to-right all the way across both Left Hand Red Wall and Red Wall itself. The link-up rates E4 5c – although needless to say the difficulties are of a sustained and mentally taxing nature.
On the sun baked walls of Holyhead Mountain Gary Smith climbed the ‘so-obvious-it-must-have-been-done-before’ direct crack line above the start of Relief. In the absence of any other previous claims this is now known as Sisters Crack, a good quality E2 5b/c.
The Dinorwic Slate quarries have seen a surge of activity from Ian Lloyd Jones, Phil Targett and friends. Around twenty new routes have been added over the summer months, mostly in the Looning The Tube and Railtrack Slab area of Australia. There is a good mix of sport and trad lines amongst the new routes, with a grade range of F4 to F6c and HVS to E3. For full details of these, check the Slate wiki:
slate.wetpaint.com
In Vivian Upper Mike Raine and Mark Reeves climbed One Step Beyond (E2/3 6a), which extends Two Tone up left past three bolts to a lower off. Whilst up in Gideon Quarry on the other side of the valley the newly re-equipped Bone People (E4) has become a popular excursion once again. Nearby, Tony Hughes has equipped and climbed a new ‘designer danger’ route up the blunt aręte right of Giddy One. The position of the first bolt on The Hand of Morlock renders it a scary E4 6a, (or a F6c if the first bolt is stick clipped). Tony also climbed The Gnarly SPAR Kid (E2 5c/F6b), the short blocky, bolt protected arete about 10m to the right.
Finally, a note about the approach gully leading down to Lower Pen Trwyn from opposite Parisella’s Cave on the Marine Drive. The gully is showing increased signs of wear. Further stabilisation will be difficult, and to an extent unwelcome, due to the eroded steps having worn down to the bedrock, and the desire not to attract ordinary tourists on to the beach. An alternative descent has been suggested; it would be good for climbers to experiment with this and post feed back on the wiki:
northwaleslimestone.wetpaint.com
The suggested alternative approach is as follows: Just beyond the toll house, where the road narrows at another gate, cross the wall and head directly down a grassy spur which leads to a short easy rock scramble and the beach.
The North Wales Bolt Fund re-equipping programme continues apace. There has been a spurt of activity in Vivian Quarry by Mark Reeves, Simon Panton and Pete Robins; Bolt Fund chief organiser, Chris Parkin has also been keeping himself busy re-bolting the long forgotten Fedw Fawr crag on the north coast of Anglesey. This limestone crag, which was developed circa 1990 by Chris, George Smith and Perry Hawkins, sports ten routes from F6a up to F7b+. Full details will appear on the Gogarth wiki, and the crag, along with a few other neglected crags in the Benllech area, will feature in the forthcoming Gogarth guide.
Relevant links:
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