The number of sunburnt noses around the office here at Facewest are a testament to the weather that hit us this weekend. Everyone rushed to make the most of the sunshine and in the process completely forgot the sunblock.
Jake and Stu faced off on two wheels for a mountain bike orienteering race (more details of which will follow) whilst John took part in the team competition at the Skipton Triathlon. He was representing the Leeds & Bradford Triathlon Club in what turned out to be a very hot and sunny race but they were apparently unaffected by the weather, coming home in a comfortable first place – congratulations to John, Stuart & Louise.
James and I spent sunday with some friends climbing on the Barden Moor crags of Eastby and Rylstone. In the morning we wandered up to Eastby and ticked the easy classics of Nose Climb and Eastby Buttress and a scrappy but fun variation on Heather Flake which could have been anything from VD to VS depending on which line you took. Then we discovered that someone had left their sandwiches in the car and so we headed down and drove round to Rylstone, the walk up was a bit of a slog in the hot weather but it’s always worth it as it really is a superb and beautiful crag. James took the chance to lead two of the best easy pitches on grit: President’s Slab (HD) and Dental Slab (S) whilst I tackled the straightforward but necky HVS slabs of The Hot Line and Extraction as well as solo-ing President’s Slab for the umpteenth time, it’s a route which never gets dull. Dental Slab was James’s hardest lead to date and it’s a superb climb to mark his introduction to the grade.
Tim had a late start on Saturday heading over to the Lakes at lunch time and went to Shepherds Crag for the first time. He started with Aaros (E1 5b) a tricky long pitch with an interesting crux, then climbed Ardus (MVS) and Brown Slabs Crack (VS), followed by a few solo’s. Sunday he headed to Castle Rock of Triermain; warming up with Gazebo (HVS), then headed to the Hard Rock classic North Crag Eliminate a 3 pitch E1 where the second pitch included climbing a very wobbly yew tree to the lip of an overhang. He finished the day with Harlot Face (E1) a deceptively overhanging two pitch route with a tricky blind crux.
All in all a great weekend for all of us, long may the weather continue!
Sam