UKC

My First Outdoor Lead (66) - The Mists of Time - 1962

© chrisw
photo
not the author, Pontesford Rocks

I certainly do not remember as though it were yesterday (probably about right in my case; anyway what can an aging rocker remember about anything, right?). It was at an unheard of crag called Pontesford Rocks which is, I think, in Shropshire. Don't ask me what we were doing there. The rock climbers had an arrangement with the walkers – the walkers could go where they pleased, so long as it had a rock or two, and the walkers paid for the bus. It seemed like a good arrangement to me.

It was my second day out and I was feeling pretty macho, the galloping terror of the first day out on limestone having receded into some distant bit of memory. Al took me up some route or other – it may have been a V Diff or Severe (big numbers in the days when VS was super league stuff) and I kept thinking things like, 'why did he stop for so long there?'

I must have been daft enough to give voice to some of this because it was suggested, in a friendly shark sort of way, that I might like to lead it. Of course, at 15 you don't know how to back off and I was tied onto a hawser -laid rope and bedecked with Al's pathetic collection of slings and drilled nuts - the deck began to look like the probable destination.

It was not that hard and the thrill was something else, but you had to wonder how your foot would stick, placed on a small edge in bendy boots with a big welt (that's how it felt – someone else was doing the climbing, I was a spectator at my own downfall). I'd watched where Al had got his nuts to stick and wrapped a sling round the same bits of tree so I figured I might not die, but it still strikes me that I recall precisely why Al had lingered. It may have been the beauty of a crystal or some such, but I bet it was the whimpering of the mind, asking why it was being put to this much stress before getting on and doing it anyway.

I don't remember the start, so I suppose it was easy. About two-thirds height the route moved right. I had had no trouble following this bit (and therefore probably did not realise that a traverse fall would result in a big swing) but on lead, with what we would now call a rockover to manage, it became a big thing. The trouble was all the bad-mouthing I had given Al. I got it back with interest from a large and interested audience, all intent on seeing the young lad get his comeuppance. It did mean I had to make that move (no back off at 15, remember). Of course, the bullshit flowed fast and free afterwards. These days I would consider my options with care and see if there was a suitable runner on which to draw on my experience.

dmm-writing_comp

www.dmmclimbing.com

Write approximately 500 words about your first outdoor lead and supply an image of you climbing (not necessarily your first lead) and submit to: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/send.html

The competition will be judged by us here at DMM and the winner announced on Monday 24th December and will win a complete DMM rack worth £500.

But more than that, everyone who submits an essay will receive a spot prize.

More details HERE


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