Overhang overdosing, 21st April
Francis on the crux of Veritas Splendour; it certainly is!
Had a great work out on Tuesday following Francis through the overhangs on Veritas Splendour, E3 5c and then the even huger ones on Mother’s Pride, E4 5c.
The fine finishing arete of Veritas Splendour
For my lead I choose Ogmorian, one of the few routes here I hadn’t climbed before. Being pretty dirty I didn’t feel it really deserved the 1 star recommendation when there are so many other quality routes on the crag, but others may think differently.
Mother’s Pride, by contrast, is an uber-classic pitch that follows a crack splitting 2 massive overhangs. If you lower off the 25m route from the top you land 15m away from the foot of the climb!
It’s also really hard to grade with absolutely enormous holds all the way. Although generally considered low in the E4 grade the position is uttelry wild. Samurai Groove is another wildly overhanging route on big holds in North Wales and graded E3 5c. I’d climbed it probably only 3 years before my first time on Mother’s Pride and remember clocking the Elgol route as distinctly more outrageous. If you are feeling very strong and are good at placing your gear you should certainly give it a whirl!
Francis is very strong just now; not only did he pose for a pic at the top but he also climbed back down the final few metres for an in situ wire once I’d sweated my own way up pumped out of my mind.
