Tesni Awel Lloyd-Jones 13
Long time no update! Over the
half term my family and I went climbing to Sicily
for a good two weeks. We climbed on marble which is a type of limestone; some
crags were sharp, yet some were smooth. While we were out in Sicily
we climbed many overhangs, caves, a few slabs, but the best routes were on
tufas .I love climbing tufas, they are so much fun with their crazy formations!
It was a great climbing experience which I would love to go do again. I climbed
about sixty routes in total which was good going for two weeks including the
rest days.
Our aim for the holiday was to
try and push our grades a bit more, which was successful. The highlight of the
holiday was when I managed to lead a 7a+ (red point). The story goes like this,
we went to a great crag called Pipeline - Pietraia and we did some warm up
routes. Then on the top-rope I had a go at a route called Blue Elephants which
is a 7a+. I started to climb it just before it started to chuck it down with
rain, but as I had already done the crux I decided to climb it all the way to
the top in the torrential RAIN. To my surprise I had managed to climb my first
7a+ on sight on a top rope even though the rock was dripping wet.....I was
soaked to the skin but very happy! After this we all knew that we had to come
back so that I could lead it, and that is what we did the following day. I woke
up after having dreams of the route and the moves, and then I was ready to
climb. After arriving at the crag we got ready and warmed up, I had a few goes
on the 7a+ as practice so that I felt comfortable on the lead.
ONE...TWO...THREE and then I had completed the crux move. It was only the
matter of getting to the sustained top, with that heavy rope drag. I remember
clipping the top lower off and with that rush of adrenalin. It was my first 7a+
it had crimpy holds and required technique, I was ecstatic. I still remember
the moves now!
We had many other successes, Celt
red pointed a 7a which was very good going for his age. I lead two other 7a’s
and I top-roped another 7a towards the end of the trip. So in total I did four
7a’s to 7a+, which was a big achievement for me on the trip. Now I know that I
can lead 7a+, I will try my best to push my grade after the unexpected
achievement in Sicily, anything is possible! The weather was good in Sicily we
had a few wet days, but we climbed everyday. The sea was warm enough to swim in
which was great fun! We enjoyed the pizza and pasta in Sicily, the cakes,
sorbets and ice-cream were delicious too.
Next Easter we will be heading to
Fontainebleau to do some bouldering, which should be good fun. I want to do
‘Science Friction’ and ‘Marie Rose’ in the woods of Fontainebleau. I can’t wait
for our next family adventure! We might be going to Thailand in the summer
which should be good! J
We will do our best to keep you all informed, as there will be more form us
next year.
KEEP CALM AND CHALK UP! J
Celt
Lloyd-Jones 10
I
went on holiday for two weeks to Sicily rock climbing this half term and I did over
50 routes, lots of them were big 30m routes, I was quite tired and pumped after
all that! I Red Pointed my second F7A which was the highlight of my trip, the
crux at the start was hard and technical, the rest was slightly easier, the
name of the route was Culo Di Gomma F7a.
One
day we went to a crag called ‘The Never Sleeping Wall’ to experience some
excellent tufa climbing which was amazing, steep and fun. On another day I
climbed a route inside a large cave, one of the holds was a scary wobbly tufa
which I’m sure will snap off one day, the name of the route was Canna Biologica
and the grade was F6A+.
The
funniest part of my holiday was when it rained and all of the climbers ran for
shelter inside a big cave. When we had a rest day we saw the salt plains and a
medieval fort at Erice.
The
rock in Sicily was sometimes very sharp and other times very smooth which needed
good footwork. We also swam in the med and ate lots of pasta, pizza and ice
cream!
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