My first lead was fairly uneventful but involved a steep learning curve. The rock at Pontesford just outside Shrewsbury
In guide book style I put the first nut in at arms length while still on the ground and started the ascent. But, just as I drew to waist level with this first bit of gear it pulled up and out of position leaving me without any security – first lesson learned: don’t climb above the gear with a tight rope and expect it to stay in!
A few moves later and there were enough bits of gear inserted randomly in the crack below me to steady my nerves on what now felt to be an unfamiliarly hard route with a ridiculously heavy rope – lessons two and three: grades are significantly harder to lead than to top rope and lots of gear equals lots of friction so the rope gets to be a real drag.
The next hurdle was a real surprise – “heck I’ve hardly any gear left to protect the next 60 feet or so” – lesson four: plan well ahead with what gear to take up and budget its use for the whole route.
By the time I reached the belay I was much wiser and more than a little pumped with adrenaline. Brilliant… I vowed never again to top-rope, well for today at least.
My climbing gradually improved and was regularly leading to VS but grades beyond that would leave nerves ragged and knees wobbly. So Roger my climbing buddy, sought gritstone edges with plenty of low grade routes to keep up the interest without ever really getting stranded with an undoable crux ahead. It was on one such day at Froggat Edge that late in the afternoon we decided to just finish off with one easy climb before packing up for the day.
So it was we settled on Grey Slab a 35 foot Severe which starts on a slab and finished on a crack so looked just perfect from the guide book description. In Paul Nunns guide book ‘Rock Climbing in the Peak District’ has photos of every crag have been taken from a mile or so away so the features are not always easy to identify when up close and personal. After spending a few seconds incorrectly locating the start I found myself leading the infamous Three Pebble Slab with the utter confidence that accompanies total ignorance. Lesson five: ensure you are on the right route before you start.
For those in the know, Three Pebble Slab is an absolute classic Joe Brown route, a real test of nerve and footwork and balance with virtually no protection. The first few feet were strenuous but straight forward. I managed to place a friend in the wrinkle about 12 feet from the ground and made my way up to a pocket large enough to jam my foot in. In agony, with my foot wedged and fearing to make the obvious rock-over move I paused and figured that I would put a nut in the tiny pocket on my right. By some miracle I jammed a nut in until it looked safe enough to take a rest on. Although I doubted it would hold a fall I judged it good enough to help unjam my foot. It was at this moment I discovered that placing a safe nut on this route is actually not possible. I leaned back transferring my weight to the nut but the pain relieved from my foot was instantaneously replaced by the knowledge that I was falling. The nut had popped out. Roger reeled in rope as fast as he could and luckily the friend held just as the rope stretched sufficiently to bang me hard enough on the ground to let me know I had just had a lucky escape. Lessons six and seven: always climb with a trustworthy second who knows how to belay; wear a helmet as the ground really, really hurts.
After bushing myself off and licking the blood from my wounds and just like falling off a bike as a kid, I decided to try again so that I didn’t lose my nerve for climbing. This time it went well – I avoided the crushing foot jam that had clouded my judgement and made the rockover to finish up a virtually blind slab with only the merest wrinkles to climb on and dabs of chalk to indicate the route, it was fantastic delicate footwork and tiny crimps to the finish on the ledge to round off a superb day. Rechecking the guidebook revealed the truth – an unprotected HVS (now rated E1 in more modern guides.) Lesson eight: It’s great to be alive !
