Right Angles

Beyond the granite there is slate, Killas slate. It's not like the stuff you put on the roof. Its black and slightly slippery to the touch but doesn't sheer away like the Welsh variety. It is more like rock than roofing tiles. Guranrds head is made of this stuff and hidden away is amoungst the faces is right angle cliff, two sheets of black rock at right angles to each other. The route of the cliff is Right Angle (I sense a theme here). Two pitches of traversing which head inexorable to the a ledge above the sea and the last pitch up the right angle.

Normally climbs go up, may be they wiggle about a bit but on the whole they go up. What I 'm trying to say here is that two pitches of traversing isn't a regular thing to encounter. It makes you think, quite hard some times, about where the holds are and how to tackle the moves, the hardest part is placing the protection, one slip and your going to swing. The early bath was waiting the unwary. More importantly your placing gear for you second, a rather unique occurrence. Once they had cursed and swore about how you placed the gear they then look at the loop of rope to the next point and calculate whether they would get there feet wet. There is no help on a traverse.

We warmed up on the first pitch, Bruce picked his way along the break and made a few exciting moves over the sea to join Tony on the stance, Mike had set off after his customary belay point ciggy. I followed along enjoying the sideways shuffle and thinking that I should have a go at a few girdle traverses that you see in the guide books. I got to the ledge and waited, Mike was taking his time, could it be that difficult ? eventually Tony set off and disappeared round the bulge, I made a quick mental note of the gear placements, gave him a few minuets and started, completely forgetting where the gear was placed but finding that there where more than enough crack and crevices. Just around the corner it got interesting. A crack to down climb, as I was saying climbs normally go up. A big hex at the top ensured that I was safe but half way down the concept of gear to protect Bruce or at the very least stop him getting wet came into my mind, at least he wouldn't known how badly placed they where. At the bottom of the crack the traverse continued over a seemingly blank wall to Mike's smoking room or the belay ledge as it's commonly known. I arrived elated. I had just done a wonderful pitch with just enough of every thing to make me break out in a fit of giggles. Whilst Bruce picked his way across the second pitch and looked worried after removing the Hex Mike explained that he had taken a bit long as he had got to the ledge and realised that putting some gear in would make Tony's life a little easier so he kindly reclimbed the crack to put in some protection. The third pitch made a fitting end to the route, straight up 120 feet with just enough holds to make it challenging.

For me this was the route of the weekend and to cap it off a couple of Basking sharks played in the bay to entertain us as we had lunch.

Pete