Met up with American John at the Gower Inn at 11:00 and headed for
East Ridge for John's first multi-pitch climb.
It was quite cold as we got changed at the "col". I guessed that we'd
be out of the wind on the ridge itself and I was right. At the bottom
of the ridge it was rather mild and in the sun it was positively warm!
John led all the pitches no problems but as he was a little unsure of
fixing up the top anchors I soloed up and checked them before removing
the gear. John's good at learning quickly and seems to take in
everything I show him.
At the top we stayed
for a while and admired the view. Looking down we
saw two parties at the bottom. we raced down off the summit and
walked half way down to watch them fall off pitch 2 (the 4c
variation). They did too, and after a while, even that became a
little boring and so we headed off to West Tor.
John led Curving Crack and
Popsi's Joy. By now the sun was really
strong and it was almost hot standing in fron of that slab.
Anyway, a good days climbing from John. 3 4c pitches and a couple at
4a.
Perhaps we can try something a little harder next time. Fall Bay
maybe?
John's keen to go back to the quarry. He likes it. Perhaps we can
manage an hour after school one day.
Joiners afterwards.