ULMC Bowderstone Meet 28-30 Oct 2011

Hello again :).
I'll start with the club summary. After everyone had arrived there was a fair session of bouldering on the Bowderstone. Most people were trying the rib, and several did indeed send it, so props to them.
Saturday was a wet weather plan, some people went to an indoor wall in Keswick, some to shepherds crag, but that will be covered later, and some on a mountain walk up hellvelyn. The weather could have been a lot worse but the mountain walk group were still soaked by the end of the day; driving wind and rain does that! The indoor group had a good time bouldering and returned early.
Sunday was actually good weather, so after the hut was emptied and cleaned we headed to shepherds crag. Most of us ended up at brown slabs doing routes for the day. Many a second was brought up and at least 2 first leads occurred. Hopefully a good day was had by all.

My section now :). The plan was to leave around half 1. Wiil was late and I blew it a bit so when the car was filled with lots of club gear, brad, myself, Wiil and our stuff we left around an hour later than we planned. Traffic on the way up was abysmal. We got held up on the M1 for at least an hour, then the same again on the M6. Around 7ish as we passed a KFC services Wiil suggested a stop for KFC. None of the services we passed later had one so we settled for a Burger King before we left again. We arrived at the Bowderstone around 9ish I think. About 10.30/11 we started bouldering. Initially the crack (V4) and its direct start (V5). People started to arrive when we were trying a dyno problem we may have made up, and the Rib (V3). Wiil sent the direct start to the crack, as did James. When all the freshers arrived and 2 more mats appeared I tried the crack again and got nearly to the top before bailing due to fear and pump. Next year it will go, I’ve got the Beta for it now :).
Saturday the weather started looking ok and deteriorated. Before anyone had left the hut, Wiil, Frosty and I decided we wanted to try climbing whether the weather turned bad or not so we left before people were ready and rocked up to Shepherds crag. Wiil had been to brown slabs many a time and consistently seconded a VD. I swear he told me to make him lead this meet so the work started. Frosty however led the VD which was ridiculously wet, as an SPA group arrived. When we were all at the top of the wet groove we started the descent, which was probably more dangerous than the climb. The slabby rock was unbelievably slippy and there was very little to hold on to. Various methods were employed to lower one's self to the base of the slope. When we got to the bottom and made our way to the bags Wiil pointed out the VS crack next to the previous route. The crux looked wet and horrible. This is when we discovered how we blew it. I didn't want to lead the route when it was raining so I declined the offer and tried to persuade Wiil to climb it. It was decided that rock boots were required. Wiil then found out he had left them in the car, after saying that he wouldn't forget them. Frosty offered to lead it and wanted to check the guidebook, which had also been left in the car. Frosty led his way up to the crux crack and in all fairness did a damn good job of it. His positioning made me and Wiil think he was pulling on gear. This was found out to be true, most definitely when he started aiding up the crack. Cam after cam got him almost to the top of the crack. He could reach the top of the overhang but not pull over it. Around this time is when he took a sliding fall and a nut popped. A few more tries later and he decided to bail. He did a damn good job to get to where he did so good effort. He down climbed/was lowered to the ground and the ropes were handed to me; Wiil had no rock shoes and frosty had just tried it. I strapped on my rock shoes and headed up the route. By the time I got to the crack it had stopped raining. It was still wet but at least it wouldn't get wetter. A few scary moves out and I was above the overhang. A runner around the tree before a run-out to the top. After bringing Frosty up and mincing probably a bit more than we should of we headed down, by the 'easy' route, which in all fairness was safer, but still bloody slippy. We left the crag around 4ish to go to Keswick for gear shopping. £83, 5 karabiners and a dragon cam later we were having chips in a pub waiting for everyone else. When they got to Keswick we met them in booths and left shortly after. Given the weather bouldering was not really an option so socialising in the main room with alcohol became the order of the night. I'll skip all of this to avoid spoiling fun/embarrassment.
Sunday was much better weather. We ended up as mentioned at shepherds crag. My first route was going to be a HVS; Kransic crack direct. I started and got 3/4 up the crack at the started before getting really scared and bailing. I shouldn't have bailed and I was not seeing some holds that were available to me but what is done is done. I do apologise to Matt and Lilian for mincing for ages after this and forcing you guys to not climb for that long. After about 2 hours I reckon, I started up blown slabs Arête. Gear was sparse for the first pitch and I only place on the red rope. Seconding for Matt may have been sketchy as a fall would have meant a nasty swing. The second pitch I ended up running out a lot. Given the wind that may not have been the best idea but it was fun anyway. After we had all topped out and Matt and Lilian started to head down I stayed to help Jim with his belay set up for his first lead. This kind of set the scene for me staying at the top for an hour or so. It was fun though watching everyone climb up. When I eventually left the top I found Matt and Lilian had left to second Josh up the HVS I bailed on. With light fading the group started to pack up and I tried to persuade Wiil to simul climb Little Chamonix with me. I failed and started to consider a solo. The first pitch looked wet but manageable so after a bit of deliberation I de-racked and swapped to my climbing shoes. With my boots on my harness I started the longest route I have ever soloed. Pitch 1 was wet but not as bad as it could be, I may have gone off route but I’m not fully sure. After scaring myself on the top of pitch 1 with bad holds and bad feet, I quickly scrambled to the base of pitch 3 and checked the guidebook. The next 2 pitches confused me a fair bit so the guidebook came out about 3 times between this point and the top but it could be worse. *SPOILERS* A nice slab led to a block I was scared I would roll off, cue another guidebook check, to another slab/arête. This gained me what I now know to be the saddle belay, home to at least 2 cams that have walked into a crack a fair bit. This was the last guidebook check before the top. Previously I had been told there was a slight overhang at the top but it didn't quite prepare me for it. All the holds were good and only slightly overhanging but it was enough for the fear to appear. The position was amazing however and seeing people watching from below was enough to spur me on to victory on the top. Another Sketchy down climb, that made me grateful I had taken my boots up with me, and I was at the base of the HVS to wait for everyone else to finish. The 2 car groups that were left were split into those with head torches and those without, so my car group stayed to help the other return to the car in the dark. After returning Frosty to an unsignposted train station in Kendal, we left for Leicester. A relatively uneventful trip we arrived back home :).
As usual I can't think of much else to say so see you later :)