CHICAGO, UNITED STATES (Team Geared Up) - Dave has posted a video of his recent time in Pembroke on his personal blog.

After dinner we packed the car to capacity and hit the road to Pembroke. Arriving at 2am we set up camp and got up at 8 for a full day on the rock. Warming up at St. Govans we swiftly dispatched half a dozen routes up to E4 between us and made our way to Huntsmans leap – the lads loved it! Straight in for the E6 onsights – damp holds saw the ladz slip off the cruxes of both Souls and Hunterkiller – lack of trad climbing resulted in me fluffing up the 6b crux slap on Minotaur!! Not too bad though as I was fairly happy with the move once I tried it again and it’s the sort of move you do mess up onsight – a reachey (for me!) blind slap to a hidden pocket.

Caroline finished up with a E2 lead in fine form before we went to check out The Big Issue, E9 6c. AWESOME! It was really weird to be climbing with some strong lads on a visit – they had no reason to not jump on these hard routes because they’d never heard or read about their reputation – the outlook really rubbed off on me [...] – Nico checked it for gear and then gave it a quick toprope – agreeing that it was 8a+ … he was psyched for the lead but the following morning it was chucking rain!! Noo!!

There are some great photos too.

-Robin.

(Image Credit: From Dave’s Flickr account. Check out that t-shirt :-)

Still though, having seen the above photo, I can see why it’s so easy for them to situate the artificial wall there. Perfect sheer walls into an old quarry lake.

Can anyone think of a location in Ireland that might suit this sort of situation? Any of the scuba divers out there know of one? I’ve an old memory myself of diving in an abandoned quarry somewhere in the midlands but I was only a youngster back then so the name escapes me. Throw it in the comments if so!

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Via mountaintraining.ie we’ve been alerted to the man who fell from 6m and somersaulted mid-air out of the fall to land on all-fours rather than his head! It was said his training as a ballet dancer helped him avoid serious head injuries!

Coastguards said the man had been on a 100ft (30m) climb of the ‘Arrow’ on Sunday when his gear came loose and he fell. He injured his shoulder and aggravated an old foot injury after landing on the ledge below on all fours.

He was subsequently assisted by a Coast Guard cliff rescue team who lowered in from the top, and then evac carried out by RAF helicopter winch.

The casualty was a 33-year-old experienced climber from London, and the climb was The Arrow at St Govans Head, near Castlemartin described as fantastic seacliff climbing from mostly non-tidal stances. The Arrow is described as being an E1 5b Classic and the area. It’s interesting that the gear is described as excellent, and this is what caused the accident.

Probably the most popular route in Pembroke follows cracks and flakes up the right-hand side of the buttress. The climbing is never too difficult, the gear is excellent and it’s even got some flowstone! It is becoming a bit polished. Start just to the right of the flake of ‘Cupid’s Bow’. Climb up to gain a rightwards trending line of cracks. Climb this, past the flowstone, to a tricky move right into a groove. Most people finish rightwards to a ledge and easy grooveabove, but it is better to pull straight through the roof with no increase in grade. © ROCKFAX

It makes a good headline anyway. Mind you, I have never seen a ballet dancer somersault ever, have you?

-Robin-

(Image Credit: Howth Coast Guard ‘Cliff Rescue Unit’ on training exercise, by Author.)