Wednesday 30 May 2012

Work and Wilton

This morning I travelled to Warrington, and then Manchester for a couple of Technical Adviser meetings.  I was finished a little sooner than expected, so met Elliot at Wilton 1 to tick a couple of routes.  Elliot is my man in the know when it comes to routes that have been cleaned in the Bolton area.  The latest is the super classic Isle of White E4 6a***.  This is also on the UKC Lancs finest ticklist which I am close to completing, so I was psyched when I could pop in.  As the route is not steep, with more balancey, fingery moves that plays to my strengths. I opted to jump straight on it.  The climbing is outstanding!  Never hard, with many hands off rests, but the gear is a bit spaced and not all as reliable as you would hope when its in some of the flakes.  It is that reason that the route is E4, so if you can switch that off, you get some pleasant slab/wall climbing on most good holds.  It definitely lived up to what I had hope for.
Enjoying the awesome climbing on Isle of White

Elliot had cleaned and toproped Join the Army and Get Yourself Killed E5 6a**, which has recently had it's peg replaced.  He dispatched the route in good style on the lead today, and left me with the opportunity to flash it.  As all the gear is placed or clipped in easy positions, I led it on Elliot's gear.  This would be quite an onsight if the holds did not have chalk on them, as some would be well hidden.

A top couple of hours.

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