8th May @ Stony Edge, 6A

No beta. I climbed this loads on the day! I hadn’t climbed it before that day, but you’re probably watching the 5th+ send, after some of the beta had become second nature.

I came to Stony on this day for a bit of peace and quiet, and to try some harder things. However, none of that went to plan. I shared the lengthy walk-in with groups of high school age kids which wasn’t what I had planned, and then found I’d gone a bit backwards on what I wanted to try, probably because it was a bit warm.

After failing with what I had planned, I chose to try this. I can’t remember why, maybe I’d looked on my phone at the crag, or had seen a line I didn’t recognise whilst browsing UKC at home. Anyway, being a fan of low level traverses, I decided to give it a go. In my opinion there are some really nice moves. I climbed it several times, cleaning up my beta as I went, trying to climb smoothly and quickly. Not sure how well that went, but it’s well worth giving it a go if it appeals to you, whether it’ll be your first of the grade, or a warm up for harder things. The high feet may not be necessary, but they were definitely fun, and it’s surprising how much tension you can take off your arms with a well placed high foot.

After this I wandered down to the Warland reservoir beach for the first time to have a go at the easy but fairly tall slabs. Well worth a visit if it’s a bit warm to climb anything hard, as long as you keep your head!