It was a glorious sunny evening as a band of three intrepid explorers approached Whitestonecliffe. Abandoned by their more cautious comrades they had the entire crag to themselves, and as they abseiled down the descent gully into the jungle below, thoughts turned to which route to begin with.
Gauche perhaps – an unlikely looking VDiff up a steep wall, one of the best of its grade in the county. Or Frigg, a 2-star HS finishing on a hanging prow? Odin, a fine S 4b which supposedly contains a car jack as in situ protection? The Last Post or Clutcher, a pair of excellent VSs towards the left end of the crag? No, with the whole cliff to choose from, there could only be one choice.
er … Garbage Groove, Diff, described by the guidebook as "a serious undertaking due to loose rock … best avoided … the route’s name says it all". Yes, it was Simon's lead. A bold start led across an unprotected rock bridge above a gaping chasm, and into the bottom of a narrow chimney. The vultures circled overhead as our hero slowly made progress upwards in the full glare of the evening sun. But wait a minute – something was wrong. Where was the garbage? Where was the loose rock? Where was the general all-round grimness? The climbing was not too bad – in fact, it was actually rather good and the situations were remarkable for such a lowly grade.
The others followed. First was Carmen – verdict: "that was good, where was the loose rock?" Peter provided the answer as a crash announced the arrival of a large handhold at the foot of the crag. But that's normal for Peter, who also pronounced himself impressed by the route. Definitely one to do again.
What next? Surely it must be time for The Night Watch, either the best VS in Yorkshire, or the best HS in Yorkshire, depending on your point of view. But no, it was Peter's lead, and he wanted to do something different – he climbs The Night Watch on almost every visit to the Cliffe. So he decided on Confusion – a steep corner crack topped by an overhanging flake, which looked much harder than its published grade of Severe.
But Severe it was, as the holds kept on coming (and most of them stayed attached to the crag). With a short pause for some Epstein-leg, Peter was soon belly flopping into the undergrowth at the top of the route. The others followed, but without the belly flop. Another unsung gem.
By now the sun was low in the sky, but there was still time for another route. Rather than admitting defeat and retreating to the comfort of a familiar classic, Simon headed for Finesse, another never-climbed Severe near to Confusion. The midges were starting to come out now, and they were hungry. Very hungry. So he left the ground as quickly as possible, leaving his companions to fight off the ravenous hoard.
It would be nice to report a hat-trick of unknown high-quality lines, but it was not to be. A hard start was followed up a disintegrating crack line on some truly awful sandy rock, but with a nice bridging finish up an overhanging jamming crack. Peter was next to flee from the midges followed closely by Carmen. Not a bad route but not one to rush back to.
Overall, a tremendous evening. Sometimes ignoring guidebook advice and received wisdom can pay dividends, made all the better by its unexpectedness.