Thursday - Arrival and The Cuttings
With a prompt departure from uni at 9am, the journey included the statutory midway food shop which made an already overly laden bus that much more comfortable for the likes of Toby - whom sat engulfed by baggage at the back with only the occasional squeal to remind us of his presence.
Upon arrival in the afternoon all the tents were quickly set up bar one. My tent was in need of some serious DIY and as the erection of it very slowly pursued many of those originally destined to spend the weekend in it dropped like flies to the other, more promising, tents.
Finally getting to The Cuttings late afternoon, everyone was excited for some evening sending. Routes such as ‘The Sod’ lived up to its name - the stiffest 5 known to man, while everyone got used to this weird and alien ‘non-trad' form of climbing. For long standing member Rosie this was her first time climbing outdoors and about time!
Friday - Battleship
In the words of James McDonald, I quote ‘that was when Jim f****d the directions (AGAIN) so only me, Howie, James (Thyng) and Emily went the right way’. The rest of us took an ever so slightly more scenic route to the crag.
James M and Howie ‘warmed up’ on ‘When You Were Little You Dreamed You Were Big’ (6b+) with a successful redpoint and self professed ‘outstanding’ effort as Howie liked to remind everyone. Charlie and Remy also redpointed the route.
Other notable ascents were Marie’s lead of ‘Hate the Sin and love the Sinner’ (a soaring arête with a beautiful backdrop of the coastline - now a popular Facebook profile pic) which Katie and Caitlin also swiftly lead and Ellie’s ascent of ‘Buoys will be Buoys’ (6b+).
In the evening the second group arrived, with Jack Knight transporting the rest of the gang.
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| The 'display pic' climb - Marie on Hate the Sin and love the Sinner (5+) |
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| Ellie on Buoys Will Be Buoys (6b+) |
Saturday - Cheyne Wears and DWS sesh
The day of many people’s first deep water soloing experience was preceded with a visit to the Cheyne Wears area. Here the sun cream came out and the mincing truly began (due to stonkingly good weather). Charlie’s impressive red point of the 6b ‘The Truth is Out There’ (after one top rope) and Ellie, Josh and Jack Knights redpoint of the deceptively short ‘The Accelerator’ (6c+/UKC 7a) were among a few of the days successes.
Following this we all went to the DWS venue and donned our swimwear, with many feinting from the sight of a topless Remy including myself. After waiting a while for a more amenable looking tide the Captain lead the way for the troops on ‘The Red Crane Traverse’. Of note was the goddamn heroic effort from Marie - it was emotional. While shaky at times, with Ellie half hanging over the edge to spur her steadily on, Marie finally jumped to victory at the end of the traverse into Jim’s steady embrace.
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| Red Crane Traverse DWS |
A little further on around the bay Jim lead the way on Temporary lifestyle (HS 4b) with Sam, myself, Remy and Ellie following. Cited as a good intro to DWS, after about a third of the way you definitely didn't want to stuff it due to not-so-high-tides. Scary stuff.
After the DWS sesh we headed to the chippy for much anticipated nourishment. Once Connor (Ackroyd) had purchased the majority of the menu we all headed to the beach to eat and enjoy the company of the seagulls. Chips were thrown (mainly at Jim) and the seagulls followed. As Jim was engulfed by hungry birds all that could be heard was Jack Knights unrelenting cackle (infantile giggle) which even the loud ocean winds could not muffle. Back at the campsite Peate was finally presented with a much overdue bag of money given by all the members of the club to say thank you for his time as Captain. This was meant to be done at the ball, as is tradition, but the presence of alcohol caused a certain amount of forgetfulness…
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| Josh getting all spiritual, praying to the rock gods |
Sunday - Blacknor
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| Lovely day to be airlifted |
What a pleasant day this would turn out to be. Unfortunately I can’t provide a very good account of the climbing and general mincing that occurred for part of this day. Josh warmed up on Slingshot (5a) and Ellie warmed up on the pumpy Reptile Smile (6a+). After which I followed her, climbing only half of Reptile Smile before shouting take, inverting and cracking my head against the rock. Josh lowered a semi-conscious Callum down as I painted the route red. Wear your helmets kids! Jim swiftly dialled 999 while Ellie and James Thyng diligently took care of the situation, providing a make-shift neck brace and covering me with enough down to stunt the growth of European geese for a millennia. This was, as far as Harry is probably concerned, his finest hour. That bright fluorescent jacket which he’d stowed away in his Mary Poppins-esque rucksack finally got to see the light of day. The helicopter had no issue finding us as Harry ‘assumed the position’, swaying his arms side to side with an ever calm demeanour. However, as my (rather manly) rescuer was lowered to the cliffside, much to Harry’s disappointment he was not to get a free ride in the helicopter. As I was air lifted out, Harry and former member and secretary Ollie drove to greet me at the hospital where Harry delighted in not allowing me to eat - as per the instructional signs pasted on the dank bare walls. Once cleared we had a leisurely trip to the supermarket, stopping off at the campsite where Harry allowed me to sun cream his very bald head - a real highlight of the trip. May it be said that the man has beautifully soft skin.
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| 'High vis Harry' |
Upon (re)arrival at the crag late afternoon, I were to find a group working ‘The Hardye Girls’ - one of the only routes in the cover of the harsh sun. The ‘not 7a but I’ll take the tick’ route was red pointed by many including Steve, Amy, Josh, Sam, Charlie, James M, Doug, Remy and Connor! Nevertheless, this sketchy steep and rightward trending traverse was very entertaining to watch. Ellie was also rewarded with the classic ‘Downtown Julie Brown’ (6c).
Before the first group had to drive home, of note was Jim managing to squeeze in his third 7a of the day!
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| Mr McDonald 'getting his sexy on' - The Hardye Girls "7a" |
Monday - Battleship (again)
By the final day the majority of us were pretty knackered and much mincing occurred - observe:
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| Damn swagger |
Enjoyable to watch was Remy’s fierce siege of ‘She’s goin down’ (6b+) on the block as well as Katie’s lead of the dare I say it, ULMC classic, ‘Dream of White Porsches’ (5a). During the stress of the climb much abuse was piled on me by Katie (probably deserved) as I belayed her - though all in all a top effort.
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| Katie slaying 'A Dream of White Porsches' (5a) |
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| The preceding questionable ethics - ULMC style |
Peate and Ellie redpointed the stiff 6b+ ‘Raise the Titanic’ for the afternoon and after a couple of toppies they both successfully lead it as the sun was setting. Some say Peate’s victory roar could be heard all the way from Weymouth and that he still holds bruises from beating his chest in pride.
A trip full of many high’s and lows, the remaining group jubilantly drove back to Leicester in great spirits - if not feeling completely wrecked.
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| The gang |
Photos accredited to Charlie Low and Marie Julien © 2015
