Pembrokeshire Sea Cliff Rock Climbing.
My good friend Tom came to stay over on Sunday evening and we got out on Monday to South Pembroke. We headed to Block House Buttress Left Wing, in search of some fun - we found it... Tom kicked off with a nice E1 called Amnesia, taking a rising crack line with a steep start. I had spotted some blank sections in the guide book to the right, so we went for a look. I jumped on a line heading up to a good looking roof section, that turned out to be a surprisingly amenable E1, taking in some impressive ground on quality rock. Tom, feeling keen for his first new route then blasted his way up another steep unclimbed line, that also went at around E1. Tom decided on the name Crack My Pitch Up, in homage to a favourite Prodigy track and I settled on House Party. Two cool routes, both deserving of a star! Feeling very happy with our selves, we got on a two pitch, two star E2 traverse called Across the Universe. we abseiled into the massively overhanging cliff and looked up at the route with trepidation. The first pitch was a real esoteric struggle - much harder than the technical grade that was described, but extremely absorbing. Tom then took the second pitch, which although was the stated crux, felt a lot easier! Then with the evening light, it was straight to the St. Govan's Inn for a meal and a pint.
The following day Tom assisted me with a morning family group climbing session at Wolf Rock - one of the few inland crags in Pembrokeshire. Tom Is coming up to his outdoor rock climbing instructor award assessment, and needs to log many sessions shadowing qualified instructors. It was a great session and everyone got to the tops of the climbs and we had a lot of fun. Well done to you all :-)
After that we had arranged to meet up with a mate called Ian up in North Pembs for some climbing at Trwyn LLwyd. Tom was keen for the three pitch E1 classic Barad, which we climbed first. Ian - being the monster that he is was keen for Raging Out - a Two star E5. Ian (being the monster that he is) dispatched the route, then I was up second. I got to the top, without the flare and style of Ian but did get up it... Tom then joined us and we packed up and headed back to the vans. A very full on couple of days. Love it!
