Bloody Fingers

To me, bloody fingers are always a good sign. Had an excellent couple of days climbing and have sore and bloodied hands to prove it. Managed to get a couple of days off to climb (after doing 48 hour weeks for the past month). Yesterday I went to Never Never Land with Ian just tick off a few routes I've been wanting to do. Having not lead anything properly since the 8th of march, I thought I'd be in for a bit of a shock. First up was a new route, Swiss Air F6c. I was a bit apprehensive at first due to the lack of practice, but got on it anyway. Turned out to be a nice steady route with simple climbing and some interesting features. Proably worth F6b/+. My attention then turned to the main attraction of the soaring slab round the corner to our right. The routes I was interested in were Khubla Khan E46b and Small (or is it short) Stories E46a. Both are quite run out with some ground fall - big pendulum swings. Decided I'd go for Stories first, as I'd heard it had excellent climbing. I wasn't dissapointed. Quite sustained, with some interesting thin moves and would probably go at 7a as a sport route. So this was  very good onsight lead for me. Didn't have much of the collywobbles, even going for the high reach to finish.
Second route was Khubla, looking a tad easier, with natural protection and the crux right next to a bolt. The 6b section went smoothly (it's probably 6a) and was about VS climbing with a few bits of pro that weren't very good, up to the last move that felt quite spicy, especially when, because I was using a single rope, as I moved right all my gear down to the bolt fell out, leaving me with a 5c move to do to safety, with the prospect of an almighty ground fall if i cocked it up. As you can guess, I managed it.  Hooking the big spike with a sling was quite a relief!

Today, I was looking forward to climbing on the Rainbow slab, but as Ian's back was playing up, I settled for some carpentry in my grandparents workshop. I was quite surprised and very happy to get a call from Ioan. He was up in the pass and keen for some climbing. I shot up there as fast as you can in an underpowered Peugeot, and we had a short walk up to Bryn Hel. I've been looking for this place for a while, as it looked good in the guide, and was tucked away in a nice little spot. We got spanked, completely and utterly. The grades felt quite stiff, and it wasn't the cleanest of venues. The climbing may have been stiff, but it was still enjoyable and my fingers got completely destroyed as I shoved and cammed them into minging cracks and slowly peeled off, cursing my ineptitude. We soon gave up after Ioan had a quick play on Corridors of Power, a Dave Noden problem, not a very obvious or aesthetic climb, but a good find nonetheless, looks like it climbs well. Hopefully I'll be able to give it a go in the future.
Had a look at Jerry's Roof as well, as I'd never been there, and got a guided tour of the routes. Gnarly. It's just complete power all the way. Didn't do too badly for someone who climbs slabs day in, day out, but it gives me something to work on and get me into a more of an all-rounder, then I can tackle the Cave of Justice without looking like a complete punter, and get stronger for my trip to Ceuse!