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(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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After receiving an email from Gav following a post on UKClimbing, we decided to hook up and have a go at this grade 3 scramble. He’d done it before which was a bonus.
Low cloud had us worried on the walk-in (and drive-in) but we successfully located the route. Probably due to a combination of Gav knowing the approx. location and spotting another party at the bottom.
It was wet and a couple of slips soon reduced confidence in foot placements but we headed onwards towards the canon. It was even more slippy around there. Another climber told us he’d left a rope in-situ on ‘crux wall’ and would be happy for us to make use of it. We did!
I didn’t think ‘crux wall’ (6m) was all that bad, especially as it was enclosed hence lacking any feel of exposure. The next bit which featured an awkward move towards the pinnacles was a different story. This was pretty exposed and a slip would have had nasty consequences. Definitely another spot to use a rope for protection.
After a delicate walk over the pinnacles there was a little down climb off the last one (4m). Here I received some words of ‘encouragement’ (!) from one of the climbers who’d left the rope on ‘crux wall’.
A little bit of easy scrambling and then one final tricky bit led us to the top. I tried to avoid this bit by heading left. That was a mistake and led to an even more tricky bit that involved a hand jam and sort of hop. Best not to think about that too much!!
In conclusion, I’d probably use a rope for the lot next time. Even though I was told by the ‘rope leaving’ party that “it was easy enough for a granny in the dry” 
Stats Distance: 33.1km | Time: 3.02 | Avg. Speed: 10.9km/hr | Max. Speed: 45km/hr | Elevation gain: 704m | 43% on-road , 57% off-road.
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