Gwilym's Adventure Blog

A great morning on Commando Ridge at Bosigran with Rich before he had to head home. I have done this a number of times including soloing, pitching, guiding  clients and moving together. All give a great day out. Climbing kit away for a few days now as the weather is changing and the activities change to work around the weather. 

Rake's Progress, a very interesting (but not recommended) route at Chair Ladder which was supposed to be the warm up but turned into the only route of the day.  By the time we eventually found our way down to the bottom (the first descent attempt was a bit early on the tide and we couldn't get to the route without getting wet) we were already starting to cook. 4 pitches of which only pitch 2 was enjoyable. Pitch 1 was soaking wet and pitches 3 and 4 overgrown and covered in lichen. The heat ramped up and any exposed skin was starting to burn. By the time we topped out it was gone midday and the sun was baking. And yet, when we considered it over a pasty, we put it down as an adventure and laughed about it. An evening SUP at Marazion and a chicken kebab finished off the day.

A great day with Rich on day one of my little Cornish Holiday. 3 routes done at Porthgwarra during the morning followed by a pasty lunch once the tide started to come in towards the base of the routes. A few hours back at the cheapest campsite in Cornwall (£3 per night) chilling out before an early evening SUP and fish and chips down in Marazion (St Michael's Mount in the back ground). 5 more day of fun to go.

After a morning of admin, I headed to Sennen for a surf with the SUP. I was in the water for a few hours and had one of the biggest wipeouts I have had for some time. Complete nose dive with a 10' 6" board. Fortunately it is inflatable so the collision I had with it was no great deal. The water clarity was amazing and a number of times I tried to swim down to the bottom that I could see so clearly but the leash stopped me short. With 40 mins left on the parking ticket, I popped round to the crag and soloed a route I had not done before. Seniors Route (Diff) was a nice little number to climb on sight and I got back to the vehicle with 8 minutes to spare. To be honest I now regret not putting another hour on and doing a few more of the low grade routes but as the aim for the day was a surf, even 1 route was a bonus.

Once the rain stoopped and the sun came out I spent the afternon bimbling around at Bosigran soloing a number of the easy routes. So Alex Honnold , you aren't the only one and you didn't have to descend wet grass slopes in Tennie Guides! The routes I climbed were Alison Rib, Gendarme Ridge, North East Ridge and the classic Commando/Bosigran Ridge. All on dry rock and in warm sunshine.

A great day down at The Minack Theatre today having a look round and discussing my future role there as their Technical Advisor for accessing the cliffs around the stage. Although very wet at the start of the day, it cleared up enough to have a poke around the crags and enjoy the views. I am looking forward to going back in the new year to work with the staff there in some hopefully drier weather.