I was back into Sneachda on Monday with Rob and Will. The aim of the day was to climb a tricky mixed climb to push their skills on. We had an early start to try and get a route done before the thaw hit. The chosen route Droidless VI,6** looked outstanding as we walked in, so we were quickly on it. We managed to get most of the way up before the Turbo Thaw stripped the route around us. This meant that the final pitch was super soggy, but still had icy cracks and frozen turf. Back down and in the cafe by midday, with little chance of any mixed climbing for the rest of the week.
As the weather has wiped out all the mixed climbing and any steep ice would be dangerous, Newtyle Quarry was the best option. Rob was on his own yesterday, so we continued our focus on improving his confidence on trickier mixed routes. The easy routes in the quarry roughly work out to be Scottish tech 5,6 and 7, so loads to work on.
Once the rope was up, we focused on precise footwork and placements as Rob had a go on all of the routes. It is all a bit foreign when you first start dry tooling, but Rob quickly improved with every route he climbed. Rob then climbed the 2 easier lines using only 1 axe. This was a great way to focus the feet, find the balance point and trust the small hooks. The progression in Rob's movement was excellent, so it was time to see if he could keep this going whilst on the sharp end. On his first lead, he had a blip in composure and took a small fall. Rather than shake his confidence, this seemed to focus him, and he led both routes in very good style.
The 2 days we have had have been very good considering the weather. We opted to cancel today as there was no way we could achieve Rob's aims and the weather is truly awful in the Fort.
Thing are running with water and may struggle to hold on. Folks here are hoping that the big lines that were fat can stand the torrential rain that we have had for 3 days now. Tomorrow is due to be better and the temperature come down on Friday for the weekend. However, the long term forecast is for warm weather to come again next week. Another week like this and the season could well be over!
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