Well, the weather in November wasn't the best with some wet weather to start, followed by much colder conditions to finish. We managed to get some white water kayaking in on the River Dart whilst the levels were up, which was nice. Then, on a brief warm and sunny day in the middle of the month, we managed to get to Chudleigh for a bit of lead climbing. I'd wanted to climb a route called 'The Spider', an E1 5b, for some time now, and finally decided to give it a go. The first pitch was great, if a little run-out on the final slab. Pitch two contained an exposed crux near the top of the 100 foot route. When I reached this point, I discovered that there was quite a lot of water seepage - not ideal! The climbing was hard enough here, being overhanging on small-ish holds, without the rock being all wet! After placing some protection I gave the last portion of the route a go, managing to make it up and over to, and across the delicate slab, to the safety of an old tree stump - though not without a remarkable struggle! It was one hell of a battle, but I finally emerged triumphant onto the top of the crag in glorious sunshine! Yahoo! Fantastic! :) During the latter part of November, much of our climbing activities took place within the warmth and dry of the DartRock Climbing Centre, near Buckfastleigh. This is a superb venue to train in, work on your technique, strength and climbing skills, and bang out some great routes with your friends. And they have nice tea and cakes too! Ideal! :) Can't wait for my next session!
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