The trip that follows was composed of climbers in the ULMC that decided to do some climbing over the summer.
Along with myself the climbers on the trip were; Amelia Lees, Josh Eilbeck, Matt Lally, Lianne Burtonshaw, Greg Smith, Sapphire Wanmer, Lillian Garratt - Smithson and Francis Cade.
20th June - Arrival day. Amelia, Francis and I were the first to arrive and with a long wait befofre the others we went to dancing ledge for a while before we returned to the campsite due to rain. I managed a lead with a scary fall just after i clipped the first bolt, and as a group we did some abeiling and top roping. When we returned everyone bar lillian and josh had arrived and the large 6man tent that was to be the main tent was being erected. A few people walked to swanage but overall the night was pretty uneventful.
21st June - The main sport day. The plan for the day was to go to dancing ledge and then hedbury after a while however when we got to dancing ledge, we found a group already set up on the easy slabs and another group coming down the hill, so we headed to hedbury first. Plenty of ropes allowed us to split pretty well into pairs for leading. We all parked next to the sea cut platform by the easy routes and climbed. Over time people stopped climbing until josh lillian matt and I were pretty much the only ones still climbing. I attempted a fingery 6a+ and lianne managed to end up with a hole in her trousers. People split into groups again as lianne went back to change and go into swanage along with amelia and francis. Everyone else headed to dancing ledge for some abseiling and a bit of sport. After some time greg and sapphire left for the campsite leaving a sunbathing/sleeping matt and josh lillian and me climbing a scarily run out 5+. When we decided we were tired enough to warrant leaving we headed back. Nothing much interesting happened in the evening i think and before long we were all asleep.
22nd June - The first trad day. The plan was to go to cattle troughs, the closest place with a large amount of easy trad however on our way there the weather started to come in and the rain settled. Our path took us along to coast until when we reached subliminal the rain had stopped. The wind was still blowing something fierce but it was at least dry. Myself josh lillian and matt decided to stay and see if the weather would improve/we could climb with the wind, while everyone else went for a day in swanage. After an absolute mission to get the abseil to the bottom of where we wanted to be we started a very careful operation to top rope High Street. Over time the wind dropped and we could afford a little more movement. The top rope was shifted to Bypass and i hopped onto the sharp end for 2 trad leads. After that we went to swanage as it seemed the best option and we wanted fish and chips. On the way back tot he campsite we stopped off at a play park with a small bouldering wall and created 3 routes, by my guess around V1/2 , V2 and >V3 but i could bvery well be wrong. By the time we got back to the campsite it was pretty much time for bed so we did just that.
23rd June - The Main Trad day. We actually made it to cattle troughs with good weather this time. Top ropes were set up on chockney and the chimney and climbing started, slower than i would have liked but still pretty swiftly. As people worked their way through routes i hopped up Bunneys Wall until i was stopped by a nesting bird. I brought up amelia and traversed out rather than angering the bird more than i already had. As the weather came in again a few people left early and we started to pack up. Back into swanage we went again for fish and chips. The walk back was easier though with more people to carry the ropes and gear we had taken. The evening followed much the same plan as before; planning the next day and going to bed.
24th July - The 3rd Trad Day. Josh and Lillian left this morning before we departed the campsite. With Greg and Sapphire taking a day off for health reasons we headed again for subliminal. Th wind wasn't as bad as it was when we first went to subliminal but it didn't let up so we resorted to just top roping stuff and after a stretch of not doing much and getting cold we headed into swanage and then back to the campsite.
25th July - Another sport day. This day was probably the most relaxed/non-starter of a day. With sapphire and lianne leaving during the day and my brother climbing with us sport climbing seemed the best option. We went to dancing ledge and kind of hung out i think. I attempted to redo the routes clean and the easy slabs were top roped. We watched a pair try a 7b, and succeed. We called it a day relatively early and returned to the campsite. A relaxing evening followed before bed.
26th June - The Last Day. Due to unfortunate timings no climbing was done on this day. We packed up and lounged around until it was time to leave. Not really much else to say about the trip beyond the fact that it was epic :P
