The weather looked grim, increasingly so as we travelled north from Cornwall, but we had an appointment to keep on the Culm Coast. Both John Temple and I had harboured thoughts of climbing Wrecker's Slab, the classic 400', VS at Cornakey Cliff, but we were still wondering whether this was the day on which to do it even as we left the car. Walking across the fields we could barely see the cliff edge, let alone find where we were supposed to descend, but after scrabbling around for a while we found a likely, albeit wobbly, abseil post. Using a reclaimed piece of tat – just as well I collected it from Terrier's Tooth – John disappeared over the edge and into the gloom. Soon it was my turn, only I had to retrieve the back-up and rely solely on what now appeared as very thin tat. On the beach we retrieved the now sodden ropes and began the few hundred metres of slippery walk to the base of the slab. Unsurprisingly we had the cliff to ourselves. More of a surprise though, it was dry enough to climb, even if we were unable to see the top through the mist.
Now this climb has a fearsome reputation, despite its relatively benign grade. The guide books all describe it as alarmingly loose and with scant real protection, unless you take along a hammer and an armoury of long pitons. Fortunately we were well armed since I had my peg hammer with us and we had collected suitable chunks of driftwood to use as makeshift belays en route. As it happens, none of this is necessary unless some previous visitor has selfishly removed the bomber pegs already positioned at the standard belays. The climb itself is a delight, and not at all the piece of choss that I was led to believe. Of course, you can remove many of the hand holds, should you be that way inclined, but John and I left them all in place for posterity and the benefit of future climbers. Perhaps they will still be there when you climb the route at some later date. Not only that, there are numerous reasonable gear placements between the belay stances, so there is no need to die on this route even if the odd hold parts company from the slab.
OK, so Wrecker's Slab is an exposed climb, but it is technically straightforward, is in a remarkable situation, and is a truly worthwhile route – a must for the tick list in fact, especially on a fine day!
Derek
7th October 2001