Pushing harder

Well the weekend forecast was wrong as usual, well around us anyway. Saturday was given as being slightly cloudy but mainly sunny - cue near constant light rain. Bizarrely just a couple of miles away it was hardly raining at all. Consequently not a lot got done round the garden, we did nip in to Skipton to stock up on whiskey though!

Sunday was quite different though, bright and wall to wall sunshine, it was pretty cold though. Mike turned up mid-morning, giving the rock time to warm up, and we headed to the Dales. Mike had a list of routes at Giggleswick North that he hadn't done and reckoned were new. Venue sorted then. We were the first at the crag and the sun had just hit the face.

It turned out that the "new" routes weren't quite as new as Mike had thought and I'd done them with Simon earlier in the year. Still, good for a warm up so Mike set off up a F6a+ and had a few flying lessons! Definitely a stiff route for the grade.

My turn next and there was a F6b+ next to Bad Genie that I hadn't done so I set off up that and came to a quick halt by the second bolt - there were no holds! After a couple of slumps and a rest, I got a hint from a newly arrived team, but it didn't make sense until I made the move. Having dogged around on the start the rest of the ascent was more of a working attempt, the top wall was just jug hauling though. Having seen the secret Mike got it first go and put the clips in on Bad Genie to have a go at that. After a rest I got the route easily on redpoint.

Mike got to the last move on Bad Genie before taking a fall, then we moved left for another batch of F6cs, the first of which was Resins to be Cheerful which I'd managed with one fall earlier in the year. Mike headed up and couldn't figure the move out but with a little hint or two he got to the lower-off. My turn and effectively my second red-point attempt. Halfway through the crux my fingers slid off the hold, aagh! Straight back on the rock and I get to the top. Mike gets the red-point on his first go, on my next attempt I get the hold past the crux at the wrong point and fall again. It's hard work on the fingers so I leave it for another day.

Next door was another F6c and by this time I'm tired and don't make it. The rock is a bit suspect and I was probably too tense. Further left again is an F6b that Mike leads and I'm happy just to second. By now we are fed up with the traffic noise from the A65 so head over to Robin Proctor's Scar. 

At the left end of the crag was a F6c that neither of us had done so I set off first. Pulling through the crux I was suddenly airborne and rock debris was hurtling towards Mike. He did well to avoid the falling flake and stop my fall. A foothold under the overlap had come away, fortunately there was still something that could be used. My fingers were tired and cold by now so I didn't get any further. Mike got to the same point. We decided to bail.

A couple of easy routes later and we were definitely fading so it was time to head home.

An early post this week as the computer is off to the repair centre to get its network card sorted out, things are all a bit weird, sometimes I get full connectivity, other times it either finds the access point but won't let me connect or won't see the access point at all. Fortunately it's still under warranty.