Wednesday 10th August
The crag (maybe better called a cliff) has been on the list for a long time. Earlier this year we arrived at the venue but the rain was persistent. There was another time we made a plan to go but ended up going elsewhere.
Good weather is nailed on. In the last few weeks some longer routes had been despatched without too much drama. There was finally no excuse but to go and get it done. CB had a window for a short day. A quick drive and an easy walk in leads to a place just off the main path where, without warning, horizontal becomes vertical and the stomach drops, the heart jumps and klaxons start to sound at the the thought of DOWN THERE one hundred and twenty plunging feet to the foot of;
Whitestone Cliffe
Some decent rope plus a steel carabiner was wrapped round a good tree at the start the the abseil into today's mission:-
The Nightwatch (VS 4b).
The edge of everything was just a couple of metres away.
CB added our own gear to the in-situ static.
AT clipped in, racked up and nearly ready to engage with the ab rope.
Well almost, the harness check revealed a minor point of detail if you can spot it.....
AT hanging free here, near the end of a long abseil down out of the dazzle and into the stygian gloom.
Deeply atmospheric.
Note to self, a thin prussik on a thick rope is safe but very hard going. Talk about triple lock!
AT had ambitions for an on sight. But these got lost somewhere in a head full of the daunting atmosphere, the difficulties with the abseil, and steepness of the route over its entire 35m length. All of these turned out to be unfounded, but at the time the drain-cock for these unwanted images could not be located.
So CB loaded the rack and set off. Short clip here
The route requires three dimensions in body.
And a few more in the head.
CB has all those and some to spare.
Shot up there in about 20 minutes.
AT follows with a sequence of moves from somewhere in The Nightwatch dreams.
Stupendous climbing all the way.
Pictures by CB - AT playing with positions on abseil
Is that it for the day?
CB says enough climbing to last us a week, so.......
Time to take in the vista
Tales of derring do at the Old Oak in S. Kilvington
Like a Rolling Stone
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