Phew - what a scorcher !

... and that's not just the weather ! 

This week-end I met up with Graeme & Jason (two friends from the Alps last year) for a week-end of climbing in Wasdale and we were blessed with amazing weather and superb (dry) rock conditions.
On Saturday we headed up to Scafell crag, an area I haven't climbed despite its position in climbing folklore.  In the end we settled on Pisgah Butress Direct, a nice looking Severe which allowed the guys a fairly mellow re-introduction to climbing and me the opportunity to practice my group leading skills.  In the event it proved the perfect route, the guys saying it was as hard as theywould have liked, whilst offering some lovely and varied climbing; for me it was a great route to hone my group management skills.  The rock was lovely, we were sheltered from the wind and had plenty of shade until high on the route and topped off the day by walking onto the summit of Scafell and then descending Broad Stand to Mickledore - neither of which I had done before.

Sunday dawned with same great weather and we headed off fairly early up the valley to Gable with a specific objective in my mind, although I down played it with the guys to keep the pressure off; the objective being the uber classic Napes Needle, for which conditions just couldn't be better. By the time we got there and 'threaded the needle', everyone was up for it ... but we were beaten to first slot by a pair who were already gearing up on the ledge !  Given the weather we were quite happy to sit across the gully in the sun and act as official photographers for the first crew as we waited our turn, during which time another three crews turned up.  We didn't get any real beta,  as the business end of the climb was out of sight, so there was quite a bit of nervous anticipation by the time we got going, taking the 'Wasdale Crack' line to the belay on the shoulder, a slightly awkward but enjoyable pitch to a sunny belay.  The business end of pitch 2 was preceded by placing a cam in the block crack as far right as possible to protect the belay and leader descent.  The top pitch is a bit of a 'one move wonder' on polished but feels very atmospheric due to its history; the situation on the top is superb and in the conditions provided a memorable view down Wastwater and across to Scafell.  the tricky part of protecting the belay was accomplished quite efficiently in the classic manner and my mates brought up one by one and then 'down climbed' as I decided that 3 people and two ropes were a bit of a squash.  this done the belay was duly stripped and the down climb tackled fairly confidently thanks to the previously placed cam :-)  Mission accomplished we had to dash back down via Little Hell Gate - I hate screes  but Graeme is like a mountain goat, running most of the way - to get back to the car and dash south via Graeme's lovely place to Chester again so Jason could get his train. 

All in all a superb week-end of climbing and I'm particularly chuffed to not only climbing Napes Needle but also to lead my two friends up it safely and with a fair degree of efficiency . . . . . more please :-)

PS some pics to follow - hopefully !