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For the first *real* rock climbing trip of the year (we don't count Southern Sandstone!) Martin took Derek to Wintours Leap for his first taste of trad climbing and his first multi-pitch routes. The weather forecast was good.... but after an hour's driving the windscreen wipers were still going. It didn't look good. But then all of a sudden, the sky changed, the rain stopped and the nearer we got to Chepstow the better it looked! By the time we arrived, at around 9:30, the weather was nothing short of perfect.
The first route of the day was Central Rib Route I (Severe). This is described in the guide book as a three star route, with a "classic second pitch and testing finish". It's 63m high in total and climbed in 4 pitches. Martin had led some of its pitches before but this was the first time he'd led the whole route from bottom to top. Very enjoyable!
The second route we climbed was Zelda (Hard Severe, 55m). Martin had led this once before, at the start of the 2008 season. This is another three star classic "with bold and exposed moves". The first pitch was pretty challenging to lead, especially as it was now quite a hot day and arms were still feeling it after the first route. But all went well and soon Martin was belaying Derek up to the stance. We didn't hang around, and after handing over the gear that Derek had recovered on the way up, Martin headed up and across to the "nose", allegedly the crux move of the route. To be honest.... it's hard to see this as the crux... it's actually very easy provided you manage to position yourself to lean a little around the corner, where awesome juggy holds materialise just when you need them. There are definitely harder sections on the first pitch... the move up and across out of the first corner under the peg for example. Anyway, the route was soon finished in only a couple of hours.
A truly great way to spend Easter Sunday!
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Derek and Martin at the foot of Central Rib Route I |
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Derek on the way up the first pitch | ||
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Derek approaching the top of pitch 1 |
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Martin, just after belaying Derek up to the top of the excellent second pitch |
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Views up and down the River Wye |
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Derek about to finish Central Rib Route I at about 200 feet above the ground. |
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We didn't get any photos of Zelda... so here's the one from the guidebook. This is the corner at the start of the first pitch. Martin's kind of climbing.... |