A change from last weekends day trip sport climbing Mike and I headed to Slipstones and bombarded Jamie with txts till he turned up (long story). The forecast was ok but with light rain due at 3. On arrival it was spitting so Mike and I chilled away 15 mins trying to decide what sort of tree is at the car park (Ash) using my British Trees App on my phone.
I've never been great fan of Slipstones as I find the bouldering too bloody hard and humbling and remember the trad as being strenuous. We arrived at the far left end after passing 23 walkers out for a bit of solitude. Mike had been here ore than I and pointe out a few routes. We had a good session warming up on the easier lines , S4a on the corner being a tough start and easy finish. We soloed most of the routes. Mike then launched up a VS which turned out to be HVS, good gear but looooooooooog reaches. Seemed to be the theme of all the routes on this wall. Jamie arrived having taken a mere 4 hours or so to navigate the 25 min approach from door to crag. On most routes we dropped the rope and another person led on the gear and one person seconded. I made a complete mess of a VS, sliding off a smear, twice, to my surprise – ho hum.
We did quite a few VS and HVSs around that end in the company of a couple of other teams enjoying some good banter with them. Remarkably 3pm came and went and only a tiny bit drizzle stopped play for while. Mike led an excellent and tricky HVS with a hard start, harder traverse and a butch finish (including lying in a cave) before we headed back along the edge to some short but worthwhile VS routes, and then homeward via the northbound A1.
Must say best visit I've ever had, I really liked the place. A reminder that crags can change their appeal based on picking the right routes on the right days with the right company. Happy to go back 🙂