Glen Carron

Peaks: Moruisg (928m), Sgurr nan Ceannaichean (915m)
Area: Glen Carron
The perfect clarity of the last few days disappeared this morning, and our boat trip from Gairloch was marred slightly by drizzle and a cold wind. But by the afternoon, the rain had stopped and the cloud base was beginning to rise slightly. Inland seemed to offer the best chance of a view, so I went for a quick two hour evening blast from Glen Carron: an entirely unfamiliar area for me, but only a short drive from the cottage. It is hard to find anything good to say about my ascent of Moruisg, however: a featureless whaleback which gave one of the least pleasant runs/slogs I have ever experienced. Bog low down gave way to very steep grass, then a broad and uninteresting ridge: it was like being on Kinder Scout. Some drizzle and a lowering cloud base worsened the experience and I was glad to reach the summit quickly (50 mins) because I was starting to tire after the week's activities. I ran on a bearing through the mist above Coire Toll nam Bian and then things suddenly improved: proving my old adage that days in the mountains always have something. The mist dissipated, the running was smooth and superb, and Sgurr nan Ceannaichean (a much more shapely peak) suddenly appeared directly in front. A pronounced col gave views inland to the more remote peaks of Sgurr a'Chaorachain and Maoile Lunndaidh. An interesting, twisting ascent gained the summit of Ceannaichean, where these views improved further. Then, the peaks to the north started to clear: Sgurr Ruadh, Fuar Tholl and others. Then, very gradually, the entire NW Highlands emerged from the gloom as I began the descent. First, the Skye Cuillin appeared in a halo of blue sky, then the Torridon peaks emerged, then A'Mhaighdean and An Teallach. Superb, as was a very fast running descent down the North Ridge. A rocky outcrop took some thought to negotiate, and the Stalker's Path above the Alltan na Feola was boggier and slower than expected, but it all had a nice Highland atmosphere and I completed the loop in two hours for a pleasingly efficient outing.

Torridon Mountain Trail

The only Alpine-style waymarked mountain trail in the UK, and as it started a mile or so from our front door we thought it might make a good family outing. M agreed to try it with a 'positive mental attitude' as I came over all Californian: so we set off from the shores of Loch Maree through the Caledonian pine woods, with E reading about the points of interest as we passed. I was a little tired after Beinn Dearg this morning, so it made a nice though quite vigorous warm-down: quite challenging for the children with 560m vertical ascent (6-7km). The weather remained stunning, the visibility and clarity razor sharp, which was a considerable help. At first, it all went very well and the children seemed to be enjoying it as we emerged from the trees to take a steep but beautifully constructed path above a little gorge to a fine viewpoint overlooking Slioch and Loch Maree. Morale began to slip after Trumpeter Rock, with a long gap between points of interest. Neither wanted to carry on, but gentle persuasion and some lunch improved spirits and after a while we passed the 400m contour. This was a major boost, and shortly afterwards we arrived at the 'summit' cairn, with wonderful views over the whole Beinn Eighe ridge that I'd done on Tuesday. It was great to be able to share the views I'd been getting all week with the whole family, just a perfect family walking circuit with spectacular views and a genuine mountain feel. We had some peanuts to mark the occasion. The downwards route was just a delight, past 'Lunar Loch' to a winding route along a little ridge above a gorge, then back into the pine woods and a meal at the Whistlestop cafe to celebrate.

Beinn Dearg

Peaks: Stuc Loch na Cabhaig (888m), Beinn Dearg (914m)
Area: Beinn Dearg, Torridon
This is the last piece in the Torridon jigsaw, and the peak that is most often missed by visiting enthusiasts. Indeed, it is perhaps the ultimate illustration of the foolishness of munro bagging because it is two feet under the magic mark, but a superb little mountain and just as interesting as the more celebrated Torridonian peaks. I'd expected it to be less busy than the 'big three' but was still surprised by just how unpopular it clearly was and the consequent trackless nature of the terrain. I started very early from the Alligin car park in more stunning, cloudless weather (early mist dissipating). Very fast running led quickly up the Coire Mhic Nobuil to where the path forks to the Horns of Alligin (familiar from 2005). Above this, more good running led to the Bealach a Chomhla in the wild interior of the range. No hint of a path up the NW spur of Stuc Loch ma Cabhaig, which was if anything even steeper than the frontal assault on the main peak (which I had avoided because I wanted to do the entire ridge). The terrain was comfortable though, short grass and boulders leading to some short rock walls higher up. I finally gained the ridge in around 80 minutes and a vague path. I then had the entire ridge to look forward to in perfect weather, completely alone. Good easy scrambling up the crest led quickly to Cabhaig summit. Then a combination of mild scrambling and brilliant, exhilerating running along the broader ridge led to the main summit of Beinn Dearg. Alligin looks particularly good from here, particularly in the morning sunshine with the early mist peeling away. From the summit, the ridge kinks east above Loch a Choire Mhoir and narrows considerably over a flat-topped tower with good scrambling. After this, a large gendarme lower down blocks the way. I took the crest direct, which gave short-lived but excellent scrambling, reminiscent of An Teallach in that it was easy but nicely positioned. From the narrow top, two chimneys led down to a grassy col. From here, I ran up the next unnamed peak, then descended direct. This was tricky and required a bit of scouting from above, but eventually I settled on a gully that went down from the col. This was untravelled but perfectly reasonable and led steeply down to Lochan a Chaorainn in a wonderful position between Dearg and Liathach. From here, I ran flat out back to the car park - 2:30 for the round - as I had promised to get back to the cottage by 11.30am for our planned family attempt on the Beinn Eighe mountain trail.

Torridon Celtic Jumble bouldering

We only had time to scratch the surface of this superb venue, but M and I nipped up from the road to have a play around on this collection of boulders. Immaculate hard sandstone, so although I've never taken to this discipline even after several trips to the mecca of fontainebleau, this is the sort of place where I could begin to see the appeal. Had no guidebook, so did a good traverse at around 5+ (North Wall?), then moved over to the far end with M. I did North Face Direct (font 5+) on the Ship Boulder up to the final move, then reversed (no mat, M spotting!). After this, we both enjoyed some juggier lines on a smaller wall further north, then all went for a drink at the Torridon Hotel. We sat outside enjoying the sunlit views of Alligin and Liathach. Fantastic.

Applecross

Peak: Sgurr a'Chaorachain (776m)
Area: Applecross
My birthday coincided with the arrival of even better weather: deep blue sky and eye-searing visibility. After a beautiful drive down Glen Torridon, we continued over Britain's only Alpine-style road pass, the Bealach na Ba (which I should have cycled, but didn't have my bike). From the broad col on top we set off en famile for Sgurr a'Chaorachain. This peak looks superb from below in Kishorn, and offers one of the great easy rock climbs up the Nose. From the pass, however, it is an easy walk and therefore an ideal family outing. M didn't fancy it, though, so he waited near a lochan with K while E and I continued over a forepeak on the broad ridge towards the obvious flat-topped tower. Great views from here over the deep Coire a'Chaorachain to Beinn Bhan and more distant Beinn Damh, and down to Loch Kishorn. An unusual range, the Applecross hills, characterised by deep eastern cwms and whaleback western slopes. Then we walked back to M and K and went up to the peak with the mast, for views to the Cuillin and Raasey. After an excellent birthday lunch by the sea at the Applecross Inn, we drove the coast road to Torridon and a quick bouldering session.

Beinn Eighe

Peaks: Ruadh-stac Mor (1010m), Coinneach Mhor (976m), Spidean Coire nan Clach (977m), Sgurr Ban (970m), Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe (963m), Creag Dhubh (909m)
Area: Beinn Eighe, Torridon
This is one of the great Scottish mountain days. Beinn Eighe is an entire massif rather than a single mountain and the standard munro bagging approach doesn't do it justice: I wanted the whole ridge, particularly the less frequented eastern end that we could see from our cottage. It would have been nice to have taken my time, such was the quality and variety of scenery and ridge walking, but as usual a lightweight running approach was more suitable and Kate dropped me off at the Coire Dubh at 7.30am. My aim was to get back to the cottage in Kinlochewe before midday via every peak on the Beinn Eighe ridge without touching a road or seeing another person! I didn't quite achieve this, as I missed Sail Mhor and saw one person on Coire nan Clach, but I did reach our cottage from the nature reserve path direct from Creag Dubh before midday. A superb path through Coire Dubh Mor leads between the steep slopes of Liathach and Sail Mhor to the remote northern corries and great views out over the peaks of Beinn Dearg and Bhaosbeinn. Crystal clear skies and cool breezes as I continued the long run curving east towards the famous Coire Mhic Fhearchair, arguably the most impressive in Scotland. It was indeed superb, although a little frustrating as I would have loved to have done one of the long climbs up the Triple Buttress. Instead, I had to settle for taking a scrambling line left of the main scree couloiur to the col below Ruadh-stac Mor. This was very reminiscent of the Maritime Alps and gave good sustained scrambling by weaving around. I finally gained the main ridge, well over 90 mins after starting out: an indication of the distance. From here back to Kinlochewe was just stunning: one massive gentle run along the huge ridge. I dumped the sac and ran up to the highpoint of Ruadh-stac Mor, then followed the ridge south to mild scrambling up to Coinneach Mhor. The ridge then begins, finally, to head east towards the cottage. It narrows too, giving superb and spectacular running along the crest. Liathach looks spectacular from here. A few little walls give a scrambly approach to the second munro, Spidean Coire nan Clach, where I surprised the only other person seen all day. Then the sun came out for a descent down a large snowfield to the less frequented, but even better, eastern end of the ridge. Good easy scrambling up shattered quartzite led quickly to Sgurr Ban, an Alpine fang from some angles. Then came the fine climax, very steep and quite exposed scree to a deep col with great views to the wild cwm and lake of Tuill Bhain. Above, Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe gives good scrambling up to an along its shattered crest: the 'black men' of the name are a series of gendarmes, quite loose in places and tricky to negotiate with numerous snow patches. One was very reminiscent of Tower Gap on Glyder Fach. A great finish along the crest, which led to Creag Dubh and a large cornice. From here, I could see Kinlochewe far below and pelted down the screes, flat out, only slowing to negotiate an unexpected and potentially dangerous rock band. Below this, the path flattens out in a little valley with ancient pines. This gave excellent fast running for several km before a kink west allowed me to avoid the village and emerge from the pine woods, as planned, directly opposite our cottage at 11.50am.

Beinn Damh

Peaks: Spidean Coire an Laoigh (903m)
Area: Beinn Damh, Torridon
This hill benefits from an isolated position south of Torridon, well away from the more high profile peaks north of the Glen. The day started dry, with a high cloud base, so we'd all walked along the shores of Loch Clair for superb views of Liathach followed by a magical moment as a golden eagle wheeled above Beinn Eighe lit by a sudden shaft of sun. After this, we drove to Shieldaig for coffee and cake in a prolonged heavy shower: all rather unsettled and very different to yesterday's sunshine. For lunch, we walked up the Beinn Damh path from the Torridon hotel through lovely pine woods. A waterfall on the Allt Coire Rhoill made a fine backdrop for our slightly damp picnic. I then continued upwards for another quick hill run. The weather really closed in as soon as I left the woods: heavy rain, brisk winds, and all rather unpleasant as I followed the path up Toll Ban to the obvious broad col below Meall Ghorm. The mist closed in as I ran up the broad NW ridge, skirting the 868m forepeak and following a tenuous path through scree slopes to emerge on another sub-peak. As soon as I gained this top, the mist miraculously cleared giving views over Loch Damh to the west, and down to Shieldaig. For a while, the mist shifted in and out, then dramatically cleared again to the west as the ridge narrowed slightly at a small col: views as far as Applecross this time, but still misty to the east giving photogenic views of the main peak. I got to the summit in 50 mins or so, and the wind then tore all the cloud away leaving brilliant views east to Sgurr Ruadh and the Achnashallech peaks. Finally, I could appreciate what a fine peak Beinn Damh is, typical Torridonian structure, and I decided to give it due respect by making a traverse by descending the steep NE ridge (Stuc Toll nam Biast) to the Drochaid Coire Roill. This goes down rocks to gentle grass, then becomes very steep and hard to read from above. After a few cautious forays too far west, I spied a cairn and located a little path through a series of rocky buttresses which gave an interesting and intricate route down to the Coire Roill. Stupidly, however, in my haste to get back to the family in the hotel I didn't bother to check the map for the location of the stalker's path and just stumbled blindly through the boggy wilderness west of the river. So the subsequent nightmarish aquatic flounder back to the woods was entirely my fault and richly deserved. It didn't take long though, and the family had only just returned to the car when I got back to the hotel.

Liathach

Peaks: Stob a'Coire Liath Mhor (983m), Spidean a'Choire Leith (1055m), Am Fasarinen (927m), Mullach an Rathain (1025m)

Area: Liathach, Torridon
The finest mountain in the British Isles in my opinion, but although I'd driven past it a couple of times in the past, I'd never actually done the full Liathach ridge. It made an obvious early target as it was only 15 minutes drive from the cottage in Kinlochewe, but as ever on these holidays I didn't want to cut into family time, so took an ultra-lightweight running approach (as far as that's possible on a peak like this) while they had lunch. There's certainly no tedious walk-in, as the steep ascent begins immediately from Glen Torridon. A well-constructed path up the side of the Allt an Doire Gharbh leads to a broader upper amphitheatre, the Coire Liath Mhor. The angle eases for a while before steepening as the path curves east to weave up through a series of sandstone walls: nice scrambling, and I enjoyed selecting the most interesting lines up several chimneys to gain the ridge below the sub-peak of Stob a'Coire Liath Mhor. Superb views across the deep trough of the Coire Dubh Mhor to the superb massif of Beinn Eighe (the eastern end of which dominated the view from our cottage window). Beinn Dearg also impressed: for me, this is the best landscape in the UK and, as I had so little previous experience in Torridon (just Alligin and Slioch in 2005) it was a mouth-watering prospect to get to grips with the hills this week. The ridge narrowed immediately, giving exciting jogging to gain the sub-peak. Then the mist rolled away from the main summit of Spidean as I scrambled up snow fields and steep scree to the summit in just over an hour from the road after a 1000m climb. An impressive dominant peak, with superb views over the rest of the ridge. Exposed rubble slopes then led down to a little col and grassy traverse before the famous scrambling section over the Am Fasarinen pinnacles. The sun came out as I began the traverse, warming my hands to perfection at exactly the right time. I stuck to the crest, which gives excellent solid scrambling in a great position above two deep glens: fairly exposed in a few places initially. Some interesting down-climbing led to a gentler section then superb easy scrambling to the top of the highest pinnacle. A little more rock work on the crest leads to a small col then grassy slopes to the top of the second munro, Mullach an Rathain. Superb views from this peak, as the sun broke through even more impressively. Alligin, Dearg, Bhaosbeinn, Ben Damh all sunlit to perfection, as was beautiful Loch Torridon a vertical kilometre below. It had taken two hours to this point, so I had a quick banana and pelted down the screes above Tuill Bhan. This gives a very steep initial descent to good running with numerous tiring twists and turns down to the road: 2:45 road to road, so plenty of time left that afternoon to walk the upper ridge trail from the cottage with K and E. A great start to the holiday.

Drumochter Hills

Peaks: Geal Charn (917m), A'Mharconaich (975m)
Area: Drumochter Hills
These peaks rise to the west of the main A9 thoroughfare near the Drumochter Pass. But unlike most of the moorland puddings in these parts, A'Mharconaich is a shapely and eye-catching peak which seemed worth a quick run up to break the long journey to our holiday cottage in Torridon. The day dawned clear and sunny after a night in Stirling, so I ran up Geal Charn from Balsporran while the family had a drink in Dalwhinnie. Good running led to a boggier track up the front of Geal Charn, a dull whaleback summit: I reached the top in 40 minutes or so. Not as much snow as expected (after big falls last week) but still some big fields (melting rapidly). Great views over to remote Ben Alder and superb running down to the broad snowy col above Coire Fhar. From here, another steep pull gains the long flat summit of A'Mharconaich, which fails to fulfil its promise from the road. The summit is at the North-East end, and great running led to this before a wonderful, memorable descent down the perfectly angled NE ridge. Bogs lower down slowed progress back to Balsporran, and Kate had arrived back by the time I arrived - around 90 minutes for the round.

Montenegro mountain run

After a few days in Bosnia-Herzegovina, found myself with a couple of hours spare time in Kotor. This is a famous and rather stunning spot, on the far side of the large fjord which makes this corner of the Balkans seem like a Mediterranean version of Norway. I jogged through the old town, heading for the hills, and surprisingly quickly located the start of the path up Lovcen. This is the second highest peak in Montenegro (a very mountainous country) and therefore a long day from sea level. I just concentrated on seeing how high up I could get in the time available, and passed a wonderful wild tortoise low on the path (seemed appropriate). Superb, sunny views over the Bay of Kotor - lucky, given that this is supposedly one of the wettest places in Europe due to the unusual topography, up there with Iceland. Subalpine warblers were present in the bushes, and it was with some regret that I ran back down to the old town from my high point.

Burbage Skyline

Race: Burbage Skyline fell race (9k/400m)
Time/Position: 47:54 (71st from 357)
Always nice to have an away day race in an alien region, and having spent the afternoon climbing on the gritstone edges fringing the race route from the Fox House pub above Sheffield I was really looking forward to a relaxed blast round this circuit, albeit nursing my injured knee. I always enjoy a 'skyline' race, as the nature of the challenge is so compelling, and have particularly fond memories of Edale and Stretton: which are both a bit longer! It was also nice to be able to relax and start at the back of the field in warm evening sunshine, although such was the amazing size of that field (compared to Welsh races) that I realised I'd been a bit too relaxed as soon as the race started. I was stuck towards the middle of the pack and didn't get a clear run for 20 minutes, by which time I was miles off the pace! The race went up an absurdly narrow path, just walking, then dipped down towards a stream, and up a boggy path to heathery running up to Over Owler then Winyard's Nick. Then came two short climbs, the second quite steep, to gain the highpoint at Higgar Tor: another famous crag. Finally, I had clear ground in front of me, although the knee pain kicked in quite badly for the steep 'plummet' descent down to Burbage Brook and a tight, scenic little valley. We then crossed the river at the road near Burbage North, where I'd just been climbing, before a superb and long gradual (hobbling with knee pain) descent along the bouldery path fringing Burbage Rocks back to the finish as the sun set beautifully over Higgar Tor. Quality of the field was amazing, although perhaps not surprising given proximity to Sheffield. I ran back to the pub then hopped into the car to get to Jon's house in Matlock before 9pm, ready for a 6am drive back to Chester.

Stanage/Burbage climbing

Crag: Stanage Edge, Peak
Routes: Fire Curtain (VD:sol), Square Buttress Wall (VS 4b:sol), Square Buttress Corner (D:sol), Square Chimney (M:sol), Velcro Arete (HS 4c:sol), Zip Crack (M:sol), Mantelpiece Crack (D:sol), Mantelpiece Buttress (D:sol), Small Crack (VD:sol), Grotto Slab (D:sol), Eeny (HVD:sol), Meeny (HS 4b:sol), Miny Arete (HS 4b:sol), Easy Jamming (HVD:sol)
Crag: Burbage North, Peak
Routes: Little Plumb (D:sol), Cranberry Wall (VD:sol), Cranberry Crack (VD:sol), Steptoe (M:sol)
My old pal Jon, a lifelong Peak resident, had recently been in touch. So I took the opportunity to head across for an evening fell race before meeting him in Matlock. I arrived a bit early, and the sun was shining, so it seemed rude not to take advantage of the fact that my climbing gear was still in the boot from yesterday! Admittedly, getting a few routes in before the race had always been in the back of my mind, but the weather made it even more attractive, so I headed up to the little walls that run to the north of Stanage Popular, and enjoyed myself on some short easy climbs. The corner of Fire Curtain was followed by the more technical Square Buttress Wall up little 4b edges. As ever, my lack of grit schooling shows itself whenever I come here - which hasn't been very often over the years. Still, it was all very enjoyable. I liked Velcro Arete with its 4c start, and the ultra-easy Mantelpiece routes. I went up and down Small Crack from the easy top section, and took in the longer climb of Grotto Slab, which I've done before. Although this section of cliff is less busy than the rest of Stanage, however, it's still far too busy for my taste so I wandered over to the isolated Apparent North section, which immediately appealed to me, if only because you can get a bit of peace. A few short routes concluded with the delightful short crack of Easy Jamming, which does what it says on the tin. I then drove down to Hathersage, got wireless access in a cafe, marked some dissertations over a pint of tea, and then drove back up to Burbage North to do some more short routes (and because the fell race was going to head this way later in the evening and it seemed appropriate). The weather was even better, the warm sun perfectly lighting the crag. I curtailed the visit, however, wanting to preserve at least a bit of energy for the race after a tiring few days, and headed for pre-race coffee and cake at the Millstone pub.

Cwm Lloer climbing

Crag: Craig Lloer, Ogwen
Routes: The Rib (S 4a:led p.1,3), Kirkus's Route (VS 4a,5a,4a:led p.1,3)
I've spent a lot of time up in this wonderful cwm over the years: indeed Kate and I were here on the first day of the 21st century. I've done all the snow climbs, and walked/run the ridge dozens of times: in short, I like the place, but surprisingly I'd only ticked a couple of the rock climbs and had never done the famous Kirkus route, which takes the most obvious line on the crag. It seemed a perfect choice for Vic and I today, and so it proved: an early start, absolutely stunning spring weather, and an ideal way to avoid the Bank Holiday crowds. The crag is east-facing, and as we rounded the corner after a relaxed and very enjoyable walk-in, our choice was vindicated. Apart from one party on the easy North Ridge, which I did with Steve many years ago, the crag was deserted - but sun-drenched. The clarity of light was superb, and there wasn't a breath of wind as I led up the first pitch of The Rib (selected as a gentle re-introduction to trad mountain routes after an even longer than usual winter lay-off). A tricky move gains the top of a short pinnacle, then another tricky move up a mossy slab to an unfortunate vegetated section. As soon as I saw the next pitch, a beautiful clean 120ft rib snaking upwards, I selfishly regretted the fact that it was Vic's lead! It gave a superb pitch with wonderful gentle climbing in the sunshine: completely unheralded, and therefore unpopular and unpolished. A couple of steeper sections gave pause for thought, but it was generally a romp up positive little holds, neatly sustained at the lowly grade. I led a shorter third up a groove to a step left to the continuation of the rib line. A nice descent down the Y gully and a sunny lunch. It was then time for Kirkus's Route, which takes an easy chimney to an steep little groove which leads to some pleasant slabs. The meat of the route is provided by the second pitch, a seemingly vicious off-width crack which actually goes a little easier than expected. Vic made slow but steady progress up the pitch. It is a little too wide for decent jams, but some small ledges on the walls provide the odd foothold to ease progress. That said, the move to gain the chockstone is still a tricky thrutch, but above this a long reach gains an arete hold left of the crack, which then gives access to the big holds on the top of the right wall. The wind picked up for my enjoyable final pitch, which was still sun-drenched. It traverses right to gain the edge of the arete: up this, to moves left to gain the top of an obvious square groove, then easy slabby climbing in a nice position to the top. A delightful descent back into the sunny cwm, then gently down following the stream to Ogwen - wheatears singing all the way.

Llangynhafal Loop

Race: Llangynhafal Loop fell race (7.6km/533m)
Time/Position: 45:17 (20th from 140)
Still tired after the marathons, with a damaged right knee, and no fell races since November: I thought it prudent to start well back! Although I struggled greatly on the descents with my knee, however, this could have been worse and my time was less than a minute slower than last year. I picked up a few places on the fast, flat valley running up to Nant y Ne, and continued the slow plod up the valley towards the gully. Felt reasonably good on the climbs, which was surprising given the road focus of the last few months. But suffered on the descent from Moel Famau, and continued to suffer on the peaks and troughs of the ridge over Dywyll. If memory serves, I went over the top of the final climb last year in second or third place: this year, with a much stronger field and me a minute down, was a different story. A painful and very slow final descent - after which I carried on jogging back to the village to meet Kate at the pub.

Penmaenhead climbing

Crag: Penmaenhead, Colwyn Bay
Routes: Intruder (f5+:led), Go with the Flow (f6a:led), Dead Moggy Syndrome (f6b:sec), The Double Helix (f6a+:sec), Tan y Lan Kids (f5:sec), Big up the Lizard (f5+:sec), Broken Blackbird (f5:sec), Steak Slice (f5:led)
An ideal evening venue, especially in this week's beautiful spring weather. West-facing, so the climbing was in the warm evening sunshine throughout, a nice contrast to previous visits to this crag which have almost all been freezing and sunless. I kicked off by leading the steep line of Intruder at f5+, which looks pretty unpleasant and dirty from below but which is actually a good route. It is steep, though, and not an ideal warm-up given my lack of recent climbing. It goes up blocky rock to a horizontal break, then gets even steeper up a series of small shelves on big holds: all quite pumpy for the grade. Mick and I then moved further left, where I led the excellent Go with the Flow - theoretically a grade harder, but quite slabby and technical (and very low in the grade). I've done it before, it's one of the best climbs here, up delicate flowstone features involving little pinched stalactites and fingery climbing up small pockets - delightful in the warm sunshine. The 6b to its left was tough and bouldery initially, quite sustained, and I finished rightwards. Likewise the 6a+ to its right is also much harder with a puzzling crux which is easy to get wrong. The sun began to drop a little, but continued to light up the face as we finished off with some easier routes, most of which I've done before.