Mid 'Winter' Training

With summer conditions prevalent in Scotland, I headed to Saltdean. Mike Stephenson and Mike Moss joined me. With plenty of chalk mileage under the belts in recent months we were keen to try some of the steeper routes. Tide was high in the morning so we were forced to climb on the West side to begin with. We led Back in Time (C5), then climbed the wall and arête to the right on top-rope. The latter has an obvious loose block at half height so take care if attempting this line. We then climbed Back Up (C5) before heading across to the East side where tide had now dropped.

Mike on Back in Time (C5)
Back Up (C5) - Below the overhang
Back Up (C5) - Above the overhang
From what we can fathom, our first route was a right-hand version of 7-UP (C7), which started at a bulldog and climbed up and slightly left to a belay.It proved to be a cracking route with tricky sequence of moves in the upper half. We then top-roped what I think was a left-hand version of the route (Also C7), which had little gear remaining. It was another A1 route which, although steeper than the route to the right, offered a simpler, more efficient sequence of moves. In fine form I felt the urge the seek revenge on S Club 7 (C7), which I had dogged on last attempt. Once again I pumped-out at the top and needed to retreat to the fourth belay. I tried to top-rope the route and found it much easier due to finding an intermediate hold that I had overlooked on previous attempts. Next time I will lead this clean!
Mike leading S Club 7 (C7)
Location: Saltdean, The City of Brighton and Hove BN2, UK

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