Simon Hammond grew up in Bude and was drawn to the diverse and challenging climbing on the Culm Coast. In this film, made by his son Keiran, he pushes himself to climb his first E3: Diamond Smiles (E3 5c) at Lower Sharpnose Point.
During lockdown, Simon fashioned himself a state of the art ladder training system in order to keep himself fit. With Diamond Smiles in mind, he set to work lapping the ladder.
The three precariously balanced fins of rock that loom over the Atlantic are intimidating, to say the least. Diamond Smiles takes a direct line through the south face of the spectacular north fin. In the film, Keiran uses a mixture of drone footage and tighter shots to show Simon on the route and as he nears the top, you can sense the nerves.
A fantastic film of a climber pushing themselves on one of Britain's best:
Comments
Lovely. Nice one gents.
Great to see a polished production that effectively captures the experience of climbing that most of us have.
If ever a crag was made for drone photography, this is it. Great little film.
"Have I got an E4 in me?" - well Diamond Smiles used to be E4, so it's not a soft touch. Crooked Mile has also been downgraded to from E4 to E3. I suggest Break On Through, if they haven't downgraded that as well, although it's definitely a bit more sustained.
Love the crag, agree a drone really brings out what's special about it! I don't think there are many better E3s out there, this along with Stargate at Mother Carey's rank as some of my favourites, good effort! Fay next?
One of the best E3's in the country