After 5 years of dreaming we finally climbed the Devil's Appendix yesterday. It was quite simply the best winter route ever! Beautiful, technical, sustained, varied... what a great line!
The pillar felt pretty bold - there was a small column touching down with a huge spout of free hanging ice in front of it. The crux seemed to be bridging out onto the free hanging bit without kicking too hard! The next 5 meters were insanely pumpy, proper WI 5!
The second pitch which Ed lead was no push over either... It wasn't as steep as the first pitch but the ice was really fragile and covered with mushroom formations. This didn't bode well for people climbing below us!
All in all, the route completely lived up to its incredible reputation!
Just as an added bonus, we climbed the Devil's Pipes afterwards. We must have been the only people in Cwm Idwall to climb two routes and not have to queue for either of them! Walking out yesterday afternoon, we had a great view of the two routes in all their glory... What a day!
Ad
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment