Petestack Blog

So here I was, on my last day of Easter holiday, leaving a *sunny* Lochaber early yesterday morning to go cragging a good three hours’ drive away up Glen Clova and wondering who to blame… Sonya Drummond from Angus, for telling us all that Proud Corner has got to be the BEST single pitch VS EVER? Simon Davidson from Edinburgh, for hijacking my Polldubh Anniversary thread on Sunday evening to suggest climbing together? Me, for listening to Sonya and suggesting Clova to Simon when he was happy to meet me at a more convenient Weem, Dunkeld or even my home patch of (sunny) Glen Nevis? Or maybe even all three? :-P

Whatever, it got greyer and greyer (which it’s not supposed to do!) as I drove east, with little bar a late re-emerging sun as I turned north at Kirriemuir to convince me that I hadn’t just made a *big* mistake. But it was actually quite nice up Glen Clova in the end, with plenty of sunshine and blue sky slightly tempered by a sometimes chilly breeze. And the climbing’s very good, if somewhat (nay, considerably) steeper than my slabby comfort zone. So we did Wandered, Proud Corner and Centipod, and Simon led all three. Thought I was going to lead Proud Corner myself, but offered it to him after finding Wandered (steep, fairly physical HVS which he led very nicely and I really couldn’t have led right now) quite exciting! Think I’d have been OK if we’d just jumped straight on it because it’s all there and never strenuous like Wandered, but it’s steep enough and could give some VS leaders a stiff test. Also took a look at the Upper North-West Crag (still a bit wet in places and definitely on the steep side for me!) before being seduced by the guidebook photo of Centipod into trogging up to High Crag (nothing like as far as the text makes out) to do that. And it’s a nice wee route (probably only just HVS) at something more like my angle, but wanting some traffic to clean it up a bit.

So, like last week’s trip to Cummingston, it was another long day for a few pitches of climbing, but another good one. I got to climb somewhere new, with someone new, and look forward to climbing with Simon again on some proper slabs where I’m up for sharing the lead at 5a and 5b. Because I might never get off the blunt end if we stick to the steep stuff! ;-)