Page 39 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

Finally, thanks must go to Jack Munnings and Martin Corfield for their hard work organising the meet, and Baz Whale and Dean Russell for instructing.
MATTHEW RICHARDS
Most members had not been to Lundy or an AMA meet before and the group varied hugely in terms of experience. From Military Rock Climbing Instructors through to members holding a Rock Climbing Foundation and keen to lead their first trad pitch. Even in these mixed climbing groups, everybody took something away from each day. Climbing at AMA meets is accessible and rewarding for members of all abilities!
Climbing in a three with two less experienced members led by a fantastic instructor – Baz, the highlight of my trip was a day spent on some all-time UK classics. First up, Baz led the E1 Satan’s Slip on the Devil’s Slide. We were treated well by the weather as we traversed out of the shade and into the summerlike sun on the 100m+ slab. This was my first E1
second, and as somebody that has only ever led severe, it felt like a huge leap forward as a climber. Next up was Freddie who led another classic on the Slide – Albion. I was last up this route and cursed the whole way up as Freddie had seemed to wedge every nut into such bomber placements that they were entirely unre- trievable! After spending a combined total of what felt like 40 minutes taking out the last three pieces of gear, I was feeling spent... and a little moody. Finally, I reached the belay where Freddie told me that he had clipped all the gear that other people couldn’t retrieve onto my rope! You couldn’t make it up! At least I got some crag swag out of it!
The final route of the day was Quadratus Lumborum, a 1* severe according to the guidebook. But let me tell you how wrong that is! Easily a 4* and my favourite ever lead. We abseiled down to a shelf barely a meter above the choppy surf and it felt exactly as cliff climbing should. After a short first pitch and with two wet belayers in tow, there was a 15m traverse around the arête along the edge of a huge sea stack. The exposure was incredible with a shear drop into a raging ocean below! At the second belay, as we felt the exposure during a quiet moment, the three of us sat on a little ledge, legs overhanging the edge and had a good laugh at what stupid life choices had brought us to our isolated little perch. There should be a good picture somewhere.
Overall, a fantastic trip with a great group and I cannot recommend it enough to anybody that thinks they’re not good enough to attend an AMA meet or thinks they don’t know enough! P.S sorry for
leaving your ropes on the jetty Baz, I’m sure you’ll get them back one day.
ELANOR BEARCROFT
There’s no better way to chin off the spreadsheets and the quotas than jumping on the ferry from Ilfracombe to Lundy for a week. Lucky with the weather, the group split into small teams every day to first find the routes they were looking for (easier said than done when all pictures in the guidebooks are unrecognisable from the landward side), and then abseil down and realise the routes they were considering looked significantly more difficult from the bottom.
My favourite day was the total adventure of setting out to climb ‘The Needle’, beginning with an 80m abseil into the bay and a scramble over enormous boulders to the sea stack. We knew that the return journey would have to be made by 1100hrs to give us time to climb out the bay before the tide came in. So, we quickly flaked out the ropes onto what dry rock there was and got climbing, with the belayers catching some spray every now and again. Communication was difficult, the roar of the sea and the wind stealing all shouts from the top and below.
With The Needle done, we just had to scramble back across the bay and ascend the cliff. Quickly finding that the cliff was wetter than the sea stack, our final moves out of the bay were taken with great handfuls of grass whilst easing oneself up over the lip; obviously achieved with grace and style by all participants. With all climbers up and ropes coiled, the rain came and the team returned in triumph to the pub.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 39