Next Event: Day Trip
With cars jammed full of gear, twelve club members set off on Friday afternoon for the club’s last trip of the year, which this year would take us to Land’s End in Cornwall. The journey was as expected; long and uncomfortable, depending on car! But we eventually all arrived at the campsite near St. Just, where tents were quickly pitched, so that we could head into Penzance for a nice meal and a “food” shop, which meant alcohol for most of us. Arriving back at the tents, most went to bed in anticipation of the next day’s weather.
Saturday turned out to be dry and sunny, and after a camp breakfast, we headed down to Sennen for the day. After abseiling in, people set about choosing their climbs. Most seemed to be bearing Cornish grades in mind, and headed for slightly easier climbs. Jacky led up Letterbox Severe 4b, and seconding I found that knees and granite don’t mix very well. At the top we heard that Ed and Em and had some trouble on Sinner’s Route Diff, with Em falling off from 2m, and hurting her ankle. We took tea, food and clothing down, and found she wasn’t too badly hurt, but would need to be hauled up the cliff. This went well, with Tom D, Dave and myself hauling from the top, and Jacky prusicking up alongside Em. It wasn’t long before she was safely at the top, and heading off to Penzance hospital with Ed. We still had time for climbing, so headed down where I led Banana Flake (V.Difficult), and Jacky led No Number (V.Severe 5a), which after having gear trouble, we called it a day. Everyone else had been busy, with Rueben and Gareth also climbing Letterbox and Tim and Greg climbing No Name (V.Difficult - a very hard one!!). After an ice cream from Sennen, we headed back to the campsite, and a meal at the local pub. We then stayed up chatting and drinking late into the night.
The weather Sunday was also hot and sunny, and we went down to Bosigran for the day. Tim and Greg started out on Alison’s Rib (Difficult), Tom Dudley and Dave jumped on Andrew (V.Difficult), Jacky and Rachel climbed Doorway (Severe 4a). Me needing the toilet meant that Eira and I missed our intended climb, so went and climbed the very enjoyable Big Top (V.Difficult). After and bit of food, we started climbing Ledge Climb (Difficult – yeah right!), which although harder than it said, was very good – with a really fun chimney half way up, and plenty of exposure. We then went down for some food, and decided with Jacky and Rachel that we’d climbed enough, and would head to St. Ives, where we had a wander around, and watched some dipsticks get a Landrover stuck in the harbour. The non-lazy people had carried on climbing at Bosigran, with Dave and Tom Dudley climbing Doorway and Ledge Climb, Tim and Greg climbing Andrew and Gareth and Rueben going up Doorpost (Hard Severe 4b). We eventually all met up back at the campsite, and cooked dinner (corned beef hash – proper camp food!). After a few drinks, we decided to have a game of ultimate Frisbee, which got very competitive and lasted until midnight.
Monday started with some rain, which was unfortunate for those who were leaving that morning. After helping them pack their tents, the eight of us left set off to Trewavas; a crag near Penzance, that we’d not been to before, but looked very good. After a nice walk in by some Tin mines, we got to crag and set about climbing. Tim and I headed for Ivy Chimney (V.Difficult) which didn’t have any ivy, or much of a chimney, but was good fun anyway. Tim then went to lead The Groove (Difficult), and had trouble with a rope getting stuck, which forced him off route. After some lunch, we went and climbed Bending Chimney (V.Difficult), which was really good fun, the top moves requiring proper chimney technique. Dave and Tom had headed off to climb a Severe on the other side of the crag, and wandering over, we had a good time doing a bit of bouldering at the top of the crag. Meanwhile, Gareth and Rueben had climbed Bending Chimney and were trying a Very Severe. After everyone had finished and packed up, we set off back to the campsite, and cooked dinner, had a few drinks and a relatively early night.
No-one was really fussed about climbing hard on Tuesday, so after packing up, we went back to Sennen, where Rueben led up Demo Route (Hard Severe 4b), and Gareth seconded him, being hounded by impatient climbers all the way. At around mid-day, everyone who was climbing (I’d been lazy, and sat watching birds and seals instead) had finished, so we hiked down to Land’s End, as none of us had been there. We didn’t fancy paying to have our picture next to the sign, so instead climbed up behind it. The weather was great and the views stunning. After heaving an ice cream from the ‘last shop’ we walked back to the cars at Sennen. Packing the cars was interesting, and after a bit of a struggle, we set off back for Swansea, stopping off so Em could return her crutches, that gladly she didn’t now need. The journey back seemed shorter than the outward one, and everyone was glad to get back to Swansea.
Thanks to everyone who came – I really enjoyed the trip. Also thanks to Dave, Ed and Rachel for driving us down there. Hope everyone else had a good time, and I look forward to next year.