Lee Harrison Climbing

At 7am I was slightly worried about our decision to wait until Sunday in order to climb Hægar, which was the planned main event for the weekend. I lay in my tent listening to the strong gusts of wind shake the trees regularly. Strong winds and slab climbing are far from being my favourite combination, particularly when the wind is across the face. However, a quick check of the wind direction raised my optimism that the ridge curving to the east of the main face would block it to some degree. Once we were off the initial slab pitches and into the corner system hopefully we would get further shelter. Hægar is a route that has been on my wish list for a number of years, but only in more recent times has it found its way towards the top. That's partly because I'm generally climbing better (when not injured), meaning the difficulties have become manageable, and also partly because I'm not getting any younger. Waiting until I become an even better climber, or more to point when...

Anna and me tried to climb Gone with the Weed a couple of years ago. I was still getting over my chronic fatigue on that occasion and it had seemed an ideal stepping stone due to its long-ish length, short approach, and easy descent via abseil. It actually proved to be Anna's sore feet that was our undoing and brought about a descent after just two pitches. Big toe pain from too much friction-type climbing on moderate angled slabs to be precise. Gone with the Weed had also been the plan A when I climbed the neighbouring route called Reven a year prior, but on that occasion the route was still wet from snow melt. All in all the route could be described as a little elusive for me, although it had largely dropped off my radar in recent years. Anna contemplating the second pitch of Gone with the Weed on our first visit in 2016 At least we had managed some single pitch cragging en route to and from Hægefjell during the first attempt. Anna's conclusion was that if she were e...