Another sunny day in Picos and we headed to the huge sweeping face of Pena de Fresnidiello to climb the 6 pitch route Los capitanes (Pérez Navas-Hidalgo). The route took a particularly adventurous approach to bolting - i.e. a rack was very helpful on the harder sections! The abseil back to the ground was a good chance to hone our technique for the big mountain routes ahead.
With a transfer booked back for the afternoon, there was just time to make use of the good weather on Saturday to run up the North Face of the Petite Verte. We skipped the final 50m of climbing which was shoulder to shoulder with other teams, and descended before taking the much quieter NE rocky ridge back to the lift station.
Finally found time to convert my Petzl Aztars so I can climb leashless. Fitted a Petzl Sum'tec Trigrest to the bottom of both shafts, an operation which involved more cutting and gluing than originally expected. I recommend a sharp scalpel blade and lots of 2-part acrylic glue.
The weather looked a bit suspect so we opted for another easy crag day at Pianokrakken. I climbed Applecake Arete and Lys og skygge with Will and then Ross put a great effort in to lead the photogenic route Tapir.
My final day of climbing in Bristol before moving to Salzburg, and who better to share it with than the Avon Gorge's resident expert - Mr chickin' flippin' dippers, pumped like a lilo, I'm so weak, no worries chicken curry Steve Gibbs. After warming up on a rather damp Fossible, we headed to the sunshine on Main Wall for a combo of The Corner followed by Pink Wall Traverse. A beautiful day, with the roads closed for Peaceful Portway making communication between the many teams on the crag a breeze. Steve's delight at bagging himself yet another leaderboard point was clearly evident.
A dusting of white on the tops
Gave Pinnacle Ridge snowy rocks
The crux was so steep
Photogenic, yet bleak
Chilly hands and big smiles when it stopped!
