Wed 13th Jul, 2005
Pule Hill
It was third time lucky for meeting at this crag, as the previous two Wednesday evenings were too wet for climbing. Bonus marks go to Dave Dillon and Trish Cranston a fortnight ago, as they turned up in the mist and drizzle (but these marks were then forfeited as they didn't climb, but just went to the pub!). This time round, the conditions were very pleasant. Not as hot as the previous couple of days, with a good breeze to keep the midges at bay. However, this same breeze actually attracted some larger flying entities: namely half a dozen paragliders, who seemed to be having a great time floating around above us as we climbed! There was quite a good turn out, with ten people turning up from the KMC: Al Metelko, Scott Sadler, Mark Ashley, Dave Wylie, Trish Cranston, Karen Kennedy, Roger Daley, Lucy Bell, Jamie Findlow and John Cox. There were at least two other climbers (not associated with the KMC) out enjoying the evening as well. There are many routes at Pule Hill in the lower grades. However, it seems that either some of us have forgotten how to climb on Grit, or the grades are of the Yorkshire variety. "Amen", "The Swinger", "Pilot Crack", "Blind Buttress" and "Coffin Corner" are all listed as V-Diff, but they proved harder than expected. Some of them proved impossible to ascend cleanly (or at all, for that matter). The "hard men" in the group (i.e. Al and Scott) merrily soloed their way round the crag, leaving the rest of us to have fun failing to do the "unusual" moves required on "Pilot Crack" or swinging our way off the hand traverse on "The Swinger". Despite the "fun" descibed above, plenty of routes were climbed successfully and everybody seemed to have a great time. Off to one of the local pubs afterwards for refreshment and the election of next week's crag.