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NEW ARTICLE: The Aspirant Mountaineer - Grooved Arete - Tryfan

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 UKC Articles 29 Jul 2010
[Knights Move Slab, 3 kb]Regular UKC contributor Sarah Flint climbs the classic VDiff of Grooved Arete, Tryfan.

"...My head wails: 'Off route. Off route', like the most persistent alarm call in the world. My worse nightmare: adrift on a furtive E1. Peering over the rib into a deep groove I can see where the slug has been before. A small and fiendish move over the rib into the groove..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2916

 Will Hunt 29 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

I think mountaineers spend less time worrying whether others will perceive themselves as a mountaineer and more time enjoying the easy VDiff that they're on.
 d_b 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

Scrambling through heather? You do know there is a perfectly good path up to Heather Terrace don't you?

Or is using paths a sign of weakness?
 Justin T 30 Jul 2010
In reply to davidbeynon:

There is? When I went up years back the approach involved much scrambling through heather, soloing up a steep gully, backing off what we retrospectively realised was a route up some corner chimney thing, then popping out into the sun on the terrace somewhat unnerved...
 d_b 30 Jul 2010
In reply to quadmyre:

Yeah. IIRC it's easy to miss the start of it, but once you are on it then it is a bit of a motorway.

To be fair on this occasion I was the one telling her that paths were for the weak
 Mike Peacock 30 Jul 2010
In reply to davidbeynon:
> (In reply to UKC Articles)
>
> Scrambling through heather? You do know there is a perfectly good path up to Heather Terrace don't you?
>

There are two! There's the one that goes right before the fence and up the deep, short gully with steps, and one that goes right after the fence and up a scree/boulder fan.

The first time I went to Heather Terrace I missed both and ended up squirming up the bottom section of Bastow Gully.
 Blue Straggler 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

Wow, it's way more readable than previous infamous SF articles; only a couple of Flintisms crept in:
" Irritatingly there are others there already" - charming, Sarah. Get up earlier!
"everything takes so much more effort with a monkey on your back" - misguided useage
James Jackson 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> "everything takes so much more effort with a monkey on your back" - misguided useage

... and also perhaps a symptom of an over-packed bag?
 Blue Straggler 30 Jul 2010
In reply to James Jackson:

Iw as weighted with lead as well, remember
 d_b 30 Jul 2010
In reply to James Jackson:

It is obvious that the bag was being carried by a trained monkey, but it was too lazy to do the climb itself.
 Pagan 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

Was I the only person who had to keep checking back to the start of the article to remind myself that yes, this really was an account of Grooved Arete on Tryfan and not some alpine gnarl-fest somewhere?

If you honestly think that a pleasant VD 20 minutes from the road represents 'the sheer physicality of a mountain day' you should probably give up.
1
 ClimberEd 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

If you are writing that honestly you have a bit of work to do before you climb the Puig.

But it's worth it
 Simon Caldwell 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Pagan:
Have you read Classic Rock? Or any of Steve Ashton's guidebooks?
All make easy routes sound like major undertakings, and are very much the better for it.

Or would you prefer "went for a bimble up Grooved Arete, it was really easy and took me half an hour car to car, the end".
In reply to Pagan: That's a bit harsh and somewhat elitist. Difficulty like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought the article was well written and interesting.

Al
 Pagan 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Toreador:

Yes, I have. They all fall a long way short of the level of hyperbole on display here.

"It's so much more than climbing"

No - really, it's not.
 chris_j_s 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Pagan:

Wow, sounds like you got out of the wrong side of bed today. Cheer up!
 Simmy 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

Good read; more enjoyable to read than "some guy did an 8c somewhere more news to come when we have a pic".
 lummox 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Pagan: you can get from the car park to gearing up at the bottom of GA in 20 mins ?

I think you might be talking out of your arse.
 mrchewy 30 Jul 2010
In reply to UKC Articles: Well I enjoyed it and it's made me want to do it
 robertmichaellovell Global Crag Moderator 30 Jul 2010
In reply to tradlad: fully agree with this
 Monk 30 Jul 2010
In reply to lummox:

> (In reply to Pagan) you can get from the car park to gearing up at the bottom of GA in 20 mins ?
>
> I think you might be talking out of your arse.

Not really - I too think that's possible, but I am normally in a sweaty mess when I get there. I've been on the summit in under 1h20 from the car park, it's not really that far.
In reply to tradlad:
> (In reply to Pagan) That's a bit harsh and somewhat elitist. Difficulty like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought the article was well written and interesting.
>
> Al

Agree 100%.
 Misha 30 Jul 2010
In reply to Pagan:
It's an enjoyable account of the author's personal experience of a route. It happens to be a fairly easy route in the grand scheme of things but clearly it was a challenge and a new experience for the author and she has managed to convey this to the reader. The fact that you had to remind yourself what the route was is precisely the point. What's important in this article is the experience that's being described, not the particular route. As for hyperbole, a bit of artistic license is not unreasonable. If I were to write up a route that's at my limit, say, Pagan, I'd be sure to sex it up, whereas an E8 climber might think 'Pah, just a Gogarth E4'.
 Dave Foster 01 Aug 2010
In reply to UKC Articles: Enjoyable read and, unlike some of the tripe I've seen on here recently, well written. I think the grade of the route is irrelevant, I'm sure most climbers can relate some of the experiences expressed here to a particular route they've done.
 oldmanofmow 01 Aug 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:
> Regular UKC contributor Sarah Flint climbs the classic VDiff of Grooved Arete, Tryfan.
>
> "...My head wails: 'Off route. Off route', like the most persistent alarm call in the world. My worse nightmare: adrift on a furtive E1. Peering over the rib into a deep groove I can see where the slug has been before. A small and fiendish move over the rib into the groove..."
>
Is this the biggest epic on Grooved Arete?
In the winter of 1961 we tried for a winter ascent of Grooved Arete. It was OK until we reached the arete which was a sheet of continuous ice, so I went up the broken ground to the left of the arete until we came to a steep groove/corner. This I tried using a peg and an ice screw in frozen turf but after about 70ft I fixed a peg and retreated. We got across to the Knights move slab which was verglassed, so I lead it in stocking feet!! I told Brian (a relative beginner to tie my boots to the rope in front of him). Couldnt put my boots on at the Eagles Nest belay so led the rest of the route in socks. When Brian came up I found he had tied the boots on 30 ft in front so when they jammed on a runner, he refused to continue on a slack rope. The only solution was for me to tie off the rope and reverse the top 30 ft to rescue my boots. Brian (Jones NSMC) then finished the pitch. All in all a great day. I went back at Easter retrieved my peg from the groove which we completed, I think it has since been graded at HVS.

In reply to oldmanofmow:
> (In reply to UKC Articles)
> [...]
> Is this the biggest epic on Grooved Arete?
>
I don't know about that but it sounds like, with a bit of effort and imagination it has the makings of a really good article.

Al
 staceyjg 01 Aug 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

It's such a shame that someone has made an effort to write an article, yet so many people feel it is acceptable to come on here and belittle the effort involved. If only those people made a contribution to articles themselves, then maybe their condescention would be more easily accepted!

Congratulations to Sarah Flint, who, depsite constant criticism, continues putting herself in the UKC public eye writing articles for UKC. Well done Sarah, keep up the good work!
 Kemics 01 Aug 2010
In reply to staceyjg: i think it was really only one arm chair warrior belittling it. And lets face it, theres always one. No matter what.
 Sargey 02 Aug 2010
In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice article, always good to read about the type of climbing a high proportion of us punters actually do, rather than dynos onto pebbles etc...
 Dribble223 02 Aug 2010
In reply to staceyjg:
> (In reply to UKC Articles)
>
> It's such a shame that someone has made an effort to write an article, yet so many people feel it is acceptable to come on here and belittle the effort involved. If only those people made a contribution to articles themselves, then maybe their condescention would be more easily accepted!
>
> Congratulations to Sarah Flint, who, depsite constant criticism, continues putting herself in the UKC public eye writing articles for UKC. Well done Sarah, keep up the good work!

Fully agree with you - I remember these type of experiences when starting out - As was said earlier, fear and excitement are in the eye of the beholder.

I found this an interesting and well written article. Far more interesting and comprehensible to the average punter than another 'some guy repeats some nails hard route that you will never even get near' story.

Well done SF, I enjoy your writting
 sutty 02 Aug 2010
In reply to Dribble223:

>some guy repeats some nails hard route that you will never even get near' story.


LOL, I was thinking that the new bloke on the block Bjorn? is wasting his time with the lowdown to me as not interested in hard bouldering things.

Much more interested in some of these threads, you learn more.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/info/search.php?forum=0&dates=1&na...

Article told it as seen and felt. I can remember dithering on Vdiffs, 55 years ago and four years ago. Everyone has a dither grade, for some it is standing on a set of steps, for others it is solo on some 1000m 6b route
 Simon Caldwell 03 Aug 2010
In reply to staceyjg:
> If only those people made a contribution to articles themselves

I enjoyed the article, and defended it against criticism.

However, since I have not written anything myself, I withdraw that defense, along with any suggestion that the article may have been well written.

Apologies for the unwarranted intervention.

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