Tuesday 12 January 2016

The Message

Yesterday was Alex's last day with me.  The efforts of the previous days had taken the toll a little, so we opted to just do The Message IV,6.  The was a lot of snow blown in from the previous day, along with more fresh snowfall.  This made things hard going.  We took a cheeky approach through the rock still showing which is a good option in these condition as it takes the angle out a little too.  That said, it was still knee deep and waist deep next to the buttress.  It was worrying watching large groups plough straight up towards Jacobs, never even stopping to take stock.

Lots of snow on the easy angles of pitch 1

The climb itself was buried, and gave the full Scottish climbing experience.  Even the main corner required excavation, with no cracks visible.  All the pegs in the side walls were easily dug out knowing were to look without a metal detector.

Alex finishing off the crux
It was a great way to finish my first stint up North this season.  I will be back up in Feb for some more work, and have some bit down in the Lakes too as long as the snow lasts.

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