Me and Sam went to Shining Cliff, my most local crag, which still has a major project! The aim of the trip was headpointing - which i've wanted to do properly for a while, as my trad onsight grade is higher than my headpoint grade!
My target was the ultra-bold stunning arete of Lazy Day E5 5c.
I had toproped this before as a warm up for my attempt on the project, and had onsighted it then - so hopes were already high :) Today i threw a rope down it and, again cruised to the top. Gear-wise though, things are not so simple! The route is about 20m high and the first reasonable gear comes at about 17m... and the 5c climbing starts about 3m up and ends at the top! I found a sandy little pocket at about 12m which i managed to fiddle a small microwire in - i doubt it would have held a fall though :s At the good(ish) gear i found a sneaky hands off rest! Which certified the 3 stars it gets! The last few metres go through a small roof and crack, adding some variation to the route :D
Superb route and the best start to the holiday i could have asked for!
And congrats to Sam, who got his 1st E1, a lovely route up a groove with spaced small wire protection, the bonus of course being that the 1st ascentionist is a friend!
Matt
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